Pay now, pay later

The consensus at work is that Labour have lost their vote. There is only so many times you can read about the annual Oz personal tax cuts or pass the WFF billboards announcing hand-outs to families on $120,000 a year before one gets resentful. Even if Cullen finally prises open the government purse next year for a lolly scramble, it is way to late mate.

With a wall of interest-bearing debts to clear, there are no chances of any of us taking even a $20 a week pay cut on the never-never of retirement. We will retire when we die. Tauheinotts has a long list of questions about the scheme in this thread at DPF's. There are so many catches, we'd all be much happier with the money not the bag. On the slim chance that any of us would use KiwiSaver for buying the first home, those vague hopes are dashed when the fine print reveals:

"you will not be able to take out your accumulated tax credits to buy your first home. The only way you can get your tax credits out before age 65 is if you fall seriously ill and have to stop working."

KiwiSaver is middle class welfare at its finest. But for the lower classes, who still bear the residual unconsciousness of the Great Depression, there is just no way that KiwiSaver is a goer. Due to compulsory employer contributions, future wage rounds will be tinted and dampened. Great for curbing inflation, not so great to keep up with the CPI or those elusive first homes. Speaking of which, a leader's budget would have at least allowed the capitalisation of WFF for first homes.