Closing the Gap is urging voters to take a hard look at where the parties stand on the core issue of inequality, and not be distracted by the kind of short-lived scandals that always emerge in last days of election campaigns.
“New Zealanders have said clearly that inequality is their number one concern, and we’re urging them to vote on that concern,” Peter Malcolm, spokesperson for the income equality project Closing the Gap, said today.
“We see fairer taxes, support for families in poverty, and decent affordable housing as absolutely necessary to reducing New Zealand’s high levels of inequality,” Mr. Malcolm said. “And fixing that first issue — taxes — would go a long way to fixing the other two,” he said.
“Tax policies need to take aim at high incomes and wealth, including a capital gains tax, and to support those at the bottom end of the income ladder through a higher minimum wage and beneficiary support,” he said.
As scandals flare up and die down, Closing the Gap hopes voters will make use of some of the great new tools out there to quickly and easily compare party policies, like The Spinoff’s “Policy”, “On the Fence” and the “Equality Network”(links below).
“We’re a non-partisan group, part of the 37-member Equality Network, so we’re not in the business of endorsing parties,” Mr. Malcolm said. “But it’s very clear that in terms of policies if not parties, New Zealand needs to make a change this election.”
Policy tools for voters:
https://policy.thespinoff.co.nz
Polling on issues:
http://closertogether.org.nz/roy-morgan-poll/