A resident of Karori has some somber news for us
Of course the Government is short of revenue, having the perquisites and privileges of rank to maintain is expensive.
New Zealand had to get out of the tax-cut "mode" it had been in for the past five years, he said, because of the new economic conditions, which see budget deficit forecasts of up $12 billion for the next 10 years.
"There is no possibility of just cutting taxes," he said after his speech. "The Government is short of revenue. The only question is whether there is a different mix of tax.
"Over the next five years or so we will need to get in as much revenue as we can without actually raising the tax burden."
His message was that any cut in personal taxes would have to be offset by increased tax revenue from somewhere else in what could be a new mix of tax.
"The fact is tax revenue is managing to cut itself very dramatically so there isn't scope ahead for us to go around saying we are going to lower your income tax, full stop," he told delegates.
Of course the Government is short of revenue, having the perquisites and privileges of rank to maintain is expensive.