Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

With any promise there’s always an element of wiggle room, misinterpretation, or perhaps reversing out at high speed.  Although I have huge admiration for anyone who keeps their word and sticks to a promise verbatim, the coalition government’s promise of tax cuts isn’t a promise I’m happy for them to keep.  Anyone who only heard that promise in the runup to the election and based their voting decision upon that one fiscal soundbite possibly has a dubious voting history. But then again, it’s promises like that which ultimately attract the low hanging fruit pickers to any party.  Yesterday, we heard Prime Minister Christopher Luxon reiterate his governments promise of tax cuts, as we head closer to this month’s budget announcement.  He made the comments in a speech to the Auckland Business Chamber yesterday afternoon; and used the opportunity to bat away criticism of the coalition's promised tax cuts, saying "the squeezed middle" deserved support given the tough cost-of-living.  The ‘squeezed middle’ he refers