In addition to being April Fool's Day, April 1st is also one of the traditional dates when new policy comes into effect in New Zealand. And today, we have a pile of it. The minimum wage goes up to $12 an hour, youth rates are abolished, employers must start contributing to their workers' KiwiSaver accounts, and businesses get a tax break and credits for R&D. All of this is part of a plan to raise New Zealanders' living standards and boost productivity by raising the price of labour, thus forcing capital investment. It's integrated, its comprehensive, it's long-term - all things I like to see in policy.
Against, this, National has put up a "Crim Tax" which won't even cover the costs of its administration, based on the ideas of a pro-death-penalty vengeance group, and which initially appeared to be a bad April Fools Day joke. It's short-term, it's knee-jerk, and designed to pander to the worst instincts of New Zealanders, just like their "iwi/kiwi" campaign in 2005.
And that, pretty much, is the election in a nutshell. Please vote wisely.
