The Government earlier this year increased the accommodation supplement for people in private rentals, but at the same time increased effective rents for people in public housing.
The switch was not quite neutral, saving the Government money, although the Government’s estimates of the savings are smaller than what the Labour Party and the Taxpayers’ Union have been warring over, and could be as low as $14m.
The higher figure in the Labour plan appears to come from adding an extra year to the forecast.
The original line in Labour’s Fiscal Plan. Photo / Thomas Coughlan
Taxpayers’ Union head of policy James Ross said in a release: “Labour has made a nearly $90 million error in its fiscal plan by incorrectly recording a $44.8 million cost to reverse the Government’s Income Related Rent Subsidy and Accommodation Supplement changes as a saving”.
“The figures in Labour’s fiscal plan appear to use the Government’s published fiscal impacts without reversing the signs to account for Labour undoing those changes. Between 2026/27 and 2030/31, Labour records a $44.8 million saving. Reversing the Government’s policy would instead produce a $44.8 million cost, overstating Labour’s fiscal position by $89.6 million over the forecast period,” Ross said.
“Labour seems to have taken the Government’s own numbers and forgotten to reverse the signs when undoing their policy, turning a $44.8 million cost into a $44.8 million saving,” Ross said.
A Labour spokesperson admitted: “The Taxpayers’ Union has identified an error in our Fiscal Plan relating to the Income Related Rent Subsidy and Accommodation Supplement”.
“A cost was incorrectly recorded as a saving, and a saving recorded as a cost. We’ve checked it and will correct our Fiscal Plan.
“This is a straightforward and small correction, and does not change the fact that we are fully able to pay for our commitments,” they said.