National's proposed childcare rebate policy won't work, ACT's deputy leader Brooke van Velden says.
Yesterday National leader Christopher Luxon announced a new election-year policy that would give low-and-middle-income families a 25% rebate on their childcare expenses.
The policy was part of Luxon's "state of the nation" address that saw him again push the cost of living as a dominant issue ahead of this year's general election.
Luxon said the new policy, called "FamilyBoost", could give families up to an additional $75 a week. The policy would cost about $249 million per year.
Speaking to Breakfast this morning, van Velden said she wants to see tax cuts "across the board", not just for those with children.
National’s promising help for Kiwis feeling the pinch. (Source: 1News)
"I think this is a good start by National to acknowledge that a lot of families are really facing cost pressures with the cost of living crisis that we're under but I don't think it will work because it's essentially what Labour could've put out.
"What I would like to see is a policy that accepts there's a cost of living crisis not just for people with children but for people who had children and people who don't have children."
She said she wants to see "everyone who's an earner" be able to expect more money going into their back pockets.
Also speaking to Breakfast this morning, Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick said New Zealand has some of the most unaffordable early childhood centres in the developed world.
"Over the past 40 years political leaders have basically cut taxes for the wealthiest and the richest and have decided to starve the public good, our collective well-being and then blamed the public good, our public services for failing in that environment, then sought to effectively privatise it.
New Shoots director Michelle Pratt and Education Minister Jan Tinetti joined Breakfast to discuss the proposal. (Source: Breakfast)
"In the early childhood space, 62% of provision is in that private space and look, freely and frankly when you have a middle man who's key driver is to make profit, of course they are laughing their way to the bank, you can't expect efficiency or affordability out of that."
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson earlier said the policy showed National "completely misunderstood the reality of what it's like to live on a low income".
"National has opposed action to boost the incomes of families trapped in poverty, they want to put harsh penalties on solo parents and will make life harder for people who rent," she said in a statement.
Earlier on Breakfast, Education Minister Jan Tinetti said while she's pleased National "have finally realised that families do need assistance with their childcare", it misses the complexity of the issues existing within the sector.
"It's a lot more complex than saying 'this is what we’re going to do, we're going to give out more money in this way'. It's about looking at the sector and working with the sector to work through those complexities," she said.
Tinetti said the Government is currently working "with elements of the sector, experts in that area and looking for how we can make that so that those are achievable, those are affordable for our providers".
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