Who's Counting?

Certainly the government can’t count correctly.

The IRD, Treasury and Dr Michael Cullen featured in a scenario the writers of Yes Minister would have loved. It seems that the $400 million “deficit” we had for the seven months to January was actually a surplus of $200 million – as Mae West said when she went into the movies “I just love those round figures”. What a massive balls up. Quite apart from the obvious questions – can we trust anything we are told by the unholy triumvirate? The so called “deficit” couldn’t have come at a worse time for those of us who worry about these things – and that would be all of us who have mortgages or buy petrol for example. Many Kiwis have been looking for Cullen’s tax breaks to help make ends meet. A “deficit” makes tax cuts unlikely and there is no doubt that it had helped undermine business and consumer confidence. What an absolute farce – weak comments explaining the mistake as “human error” just will not wash.