Wednesday’s announcement that former Reserve Bank Governor Dr Don Brash will head the ‘Catching up with Australia’ taskforce is good news for New Zealand. Closing the income gap with Australia by 2025 was a key part of the ACT-National confidence and supply agreement. The taskforce is expected to provide policy advice on how to grow the economy and bridge the gap.

in New Zealand, central and local government spending has blown out to 45 percent of GDP

In the early 1990s, Australia was in 19th place in the OECD, but has advanced up to 12th place with a goal to move to the top 5 OECD countries by 2012. Meanwhile, New Zealand has gone into reverse, slipping from 20th place in 1999, to 22nd. Our income per capita is now some 31 percent lower than that in Australia. That is a reflection of our economic stagnation since the days of financial reform in the 1980s and early 1990s, and a sorry reflection on the calibre of our political leaders and the lack of concern they have given to our economic well-being.

“This is the message to New Zealanders: under National, tax cuts are a priority—under National, personal tax cuts are a priority. Most of all, New Zealanders will be able to believe our tax cuts, they will be able to trust our tax cuts. Most of all, our tax cuts will not just be about putting dollars into the pockets of hard-working New Zealanders. They will actually be about delivering the right incentives in the economy. Tax cuts let New Zealanders get ahead in their lives. They encourage New Zealanders to work hard, to get extra responsibilities, to save, and to get further education. We believe in tax cuts, we believe in the power of tax cuts, and we will deliver them.”- John Key.

Well, that was last year, when John Key delivered the Leader of the Opposition’s speech about the 2008 Budget.

The National Party’s promised tax cuts were the central component of their election campaign. After nine years of taunting Labour for not delivering tax cuts, they were very clear that they would be able to deliver on their promise because the cost of the tax cuts would be covered by cutbacks they were proposing to research and development and KiwiSave: “Taken together, the removal of the R&D tax credits and the changes to KiwiSaver mean National will not have to borrow or cut public services to fund our personal tax cuts. This is a prudent and responsible tax package. National will not undertake additional borrowing for tax cuts.”

National cancelled the tax cuts because it was easier than cutting government spending.

On Wednesday, eight central North Island tribes will take control of 170,000 hectares of forests in the Kaingaroa region in the country’s biggest Treaty of Waitangi settlement to date. The total cost of the claim is over $400 million of taxpayers’ money.

Maori grievances over Treaty settlements date back to 1840. In his iconic booklet The Treaty of Waitangi, written to educate the public about the Treaty, Sir Apirana Ngata explains that under Article One of the Treaty, Maori Chiefs "do absolutely cede to the Queen of England forever the Government of their lands". Under Article Two, “the Queen of England confirms and guarantees to the Chiefs and Tribes and to all the people of New Zealand the full possession of their lands, their homes and all their possessions”. And, under Article Three, “Maori and Pakeha are equal before the Law, that is, they are to share the rights and privileges of British subjects”. In other words, the Treaty gave New Zealand a Sovereign Queen, it created private property rights, and it established equality under the law - no more and no less.

The financial redress includes a cash settlement of $25.025 million, along with an additional contribution of $4.859 million to cover the costs associated with the claims process.

Over the years, many of the Treaty related transactions between Maori and the Crown have been the subject of on-going protest and litigation. The deals were claimed to be unlawful or unfair, and any compensation provided by the government, inadequate. These grievances were often brought by the next generation of claimants, and successive Parliaments have dealt with them.

While socialists have blamed capitalism and the free market for the global financial crisis, economist Richard M. Salsman holds “altruism” responsible. In his article “Altruism: The Moral Root of the Financial Crisis”, he explains that altruism, which is based on the notion that being moral consists of sacrificing oneself for the needs of others, has long been a driving force of government policy. In the US, not only has this resulted in a burgeoning welfare state, but altruistic home ownership initiatives targeted at minority groups, created a house of cards of catastrophic proportions.

Salsman describes the welfare state as the political ideal of altruism, since it facilitates “the sacrifice of the successful to the needy”. He reminds us that Karl Marx was the pre-eminent altruist of the 19th century advocating that in a truly socialist world, wealth would be perpetually transferred “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need”. The popularity of progressive tax systems around the world - long-favoured by socialist politicians - bears testimony to the power of political altruism.

New Zealand has always had a strong welfare state tradition. In its original form - as introduced by Michael Joseph Savage in 1938 - state welfare was more pragmatic than altruistic. It was designed to be a hand-up to work,