KEY POINTS:
John Key yesterday attempted to dispel the notion that National would outbid Labour on tax cuts, however big they are.
The National leader believed his party's tax cuts probably would be bigger but he would not promise that they would be.
"I don't think we should say 'committed'," he said on TVNZ's Agenda programme when asked if he was committed to outbidding Labour.
He believed it would be unlikely that Labour would "out-tax-cut" National.
Mr Key had some hesitation, though. He said Labour would try to buy a fourth term and could have "a rush of blood to the head" and make tax cuts a big priority.
"This is a desperate Government that will now be reckless with whatever they do, so they might not only spend $2 billion, they will throw the kitchen sink and the microwave and the rice maker at this particular Budget because they are trying to buy a fourth term."
Labour has seized on its rival's comments as a flip-flop.
But Mr Key's prediction that Labour would not "out-tax-cut" National is no different from what he said in late March in responding to Finance Minister Michael Cullen's statement that Labour's tax cuts in the May Budget were likely to be smaller than National's.
Mr Key's comments since then have been widely interpreted as National promising to outbid Labour no matter what.
He also said on Agenda that it was "unlikely" that bulk funding for schools would be part of National's policy and hinted at a major funding boost for private schools, possibly double the present $40 million cap.
Dr Cullen said yesterday that Mr Key seemed to be "slipping and sliding" around the issue of whether National's tax cuts would be bigger.
He said the Cabinet today would be looking at the broad shape of the cuts.
In his speech to the Labour Party congress in Wellington, Dr Cullen said he would like to "refresh" Working for Families but said later that would be for a fourth term.
He hinted that there might be some relief for people without children.
"There are many people who aren't in that position. There are single people or couples without children who feel in effect that it is time they had some recognition and that can only be done for them via the principal parts of the tax system."