Tax breaks over child poverty targets political choice

Adam Gifford Carmel Sepuloni | Tax breaks over child poverty targets political choice

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Labour Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni says the decision to scrap child poverty reduction targets was a political choice.

Child Poverty Reduction Minister Louise Upston has rejected Treasury advice that it would cost $3 billion a year to reach the target set by the last Government and says she will reduce child poverty through other means, such as tax cuts and growing the economy.

In 2018 her predecessor Jacinda Ardern set the target of reducing the number of children living in material hardship from 13.5 percent to 6 percent over a decade.

StatsNZ says it’s now about 12.5 percent or 144,000 children.

Ms Sepiuloni says $3 billion is about what the government is paying out by restoring tax breaks to landlords.

“Who needed that $3 billion more? It is children that are living in poverty but the Government chose to invest in landlords instead – political choices that reflect the ideology and beliefs of this Government and New Zealanders are seeing it for what it is and feeling quite cynical about what the Government is doing,” she says.

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