Can we get better than GST off fruit and vegetables from Labour?
Maybe, but we have to be smart about it.
The most important political lesson I’ve ever learned in NZ Politics is from the Laila Harre School of change.
Back when she was in Alliance, she had to force Labour to agree to maternity leave.
Can you remember and imagine that?
Having to force Labour to give maternity leave?
Laila teaches us that if we ever want the Labour Party to actually serve the people and not the vested interests of the Professional Managerial Class, then you need to smash Labour’s head against a wall, put a gun to their head and scream ‘do it’.
That’s the only way Labour will act in the interests of the people, if you force them to.
Look at the resistance Labour are digging in to stop any debate on Tax despite the IRD showing us NZ Capitalism is rigged!
There are 14 Billionaires in NZ + 3118 ultra-high net worth individuals, let’s start with them, then move onto the Banks, then the Property Speculators, the Climate Change polluters and big industry!
Labour’s acquiesce to the neoliberal economic straightjacket is the price they pay to remain in power because as we have seen they are beholden to the Professional Management Class and corporate lobbyists.
The only way we get anything actually progressive out of them is if we force them.
Labour’s greatest fear is a Bernie Sanders type of left wing populism, as food inflation continues to burn working people, the Māori Party’s demand to remove GST from food and to tax the rich is terrifying the interests of the ultra wealthy and that is why we are seeing the kind of insane donations difference between Labour and National/ACT.
ACT and National have promised to give Landlords the power to evict and build a new prison empire, they have declared class war and yet Labour are refusing to fight back.
The difference between the Māori Party and the Greens in making these demands is that John Tamihere is the kind of hard arse that can force that change through while the Greens couldn’t organise a BBQ at a vegan kink munch.
The only hope we are facing this election is a Labour led minority Government with a supply and confidence agreement with the Māori Party, the price of which will be a range of policies that will have an immediate material impact on poor peoples pockets.
After those policies are passed in the first 100 days, the Māori Party will go to the cross benches and if their demands on policy are too extreme for Chippy, then he can go to National instead.
There won’t be a ‘Coalition of Chaos’ because Labour can work with National if the Māori Party are on the cross benches, but before that we could get the greatest upgrades to our State since Michael Savage.
The left love Michael Joseph Savage. Every Labour MP who wishes to push their left wing credentials have photos of him hanging in every electorate office and Minister’s room.
Only by voting Māori Party and Greens (but mostly Māori Party)
Savage is lauded as the creator of the welfare state in the wake of the Great Depression.
The truth is that Savage was incredibly centrist and not a radical at all. Backed up by the neoliberal Walter Nash and conservative manipulator Peter Fraser, Savage did all he could to stop transformative change, it was actually Savage’s Caucus who forced his hand repeatedly to be transformative.
Labour only do anything meaningful when the Leadership are pushed into it.
So, can we get better than GST off fruit and vegetables from Labour?
Only by voting Māori Party and Greens (but mostly Māori Party) and forcing them to.
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Martyn – I wish it was true…however, both the Greens and Te Pati Maori Parties have shown a lack of good judgement over and over again
I think that is the truest thing you have said here nathan but…we have to utilise poor quality materials and procedures these days – just think of the CTV building as an example. Do the best and hope that the edifice will hold together through shaky, trying times is what we have to do. A matter of calculated risk though, not emotional response of disgust, anger, blind loyalty etc that might drive others – who don’t deserve to have a vote – No Brain, No Thought, NO Vote – I say on my placard.
“….if we ever want the Labour Party to actually serve the people and not the vested interests of the Professional Managerial Class, then you need to smash Labour’s head against a wall, put a gun to their head” MARTYN BRADBURY
Yeah, of course. But no one, not the Labour Party, not Chris Hipkins, not anyone, likes having their head smashed against a wall or having a gun held at their head.
Labour is losing and losing badly
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/132787135/labour-drops-while-national-jumps-ahead-in-latest-1news-varien-poll
The Labour Party Centrists blame the activist Left’s intransigence and “unreasonable demands” (and for holding a gun to their head).
Labour Party Centrists also blame Labour’s traditional working class and Maori/Pacifica constituency for not being engaged and loyal enough to get out to vote.
Left activists point the finger at the Labour Party Centrists refusal to abandon neoliberalism and stand up to the capitalists and the rich for the disengagement of Labour’s traditional voters.
When Labour Government Ministers like David Parker walk away over disagreement on taxing the rich the Left may have a point.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/07/david-parker-s-resignation-as-revenue-minister-huge-spanner-in-the-works-for-labour-bryce-edwards.html
2 4 6 8 – David Parker is Our Mate
2 4 6 8 – C’mon Chris it’s not Too Late
David Parker one of the few sensible people in the Labour Government has made it clear he has no faith in Chippy.To a lesser degree so has Grant Robertson.
Labour will have 3 to 9 years in the wilderness to think about the utter clusterfuck that is the state of this country.
Without Labour the Greens and TPM are toast.
Thanks Labour.
Capitalism isn’t rigged – the tax system is rigged to protect real estate owners.
So don’t complain we don’t have high paying jobs after we made buying a house the best investment, not building a factory.
Fiddling with GST has cost Labour support. I do not know many Labour supporters but 2 I do know have turned their back on the party due to the silly idea of mucking up the best and easiest GST in the world to try and gain brownie points .
I heard Hipkins this morning on the radio say he did not formulate a tax on the rich because he listened to the experts but their own experts said GST off food was a clumsy way to help the poor .
Right…I’m off to buy a cowboy hat…Let’s do it…
In a nation under stress people are self medicating.
What is self-medicating?
Exerpt:
….Everyone deals with stress differently. And, the last year has been filled with a ton of different emotions – anger, anxiety, stress, sadness. Everyone is looking for a way to relax and just shut everything out. You may find yourself reaching for a drink, lighting up a joint, or taking prescriptions to fall asleep or reduce anxiety…..
…..Self-medication is a response to tough issues. Self-medication happens when a person turns to prescription drugs, illegal drugs, or alcohol to deal with situations they find hurtful, stressful, or emotional. Self-medication, however, can take place without alcohol and drugs; some people develop behavioral addictions, such as gambling, food, and sex. Self-medication can lead to alcohol and drug dependence, which can lead to addiction…..
Dealing with the root causes would upset the rich and powerful and their lobbyists, and wealthy political donors.
What is the Labour government response to people, (especially young people), self medicating?
https://www.health.govt.nz/news-media/news-items/new-policies-will-help-reach-smokefree-goal-and-address-increase-youth-vaping#
Policies approved by Cabinet include:
New vaping policies
…It is expected new regulations will be made in August 2023 and phased in over time with more operational detail available at the same time….
….There has been a dramatic reduction in smoking rates, with the overall daily rate in New Zealand decreasing from 14.5% to 8% during the past seven years. Since 2015, daily smoking rates for wāhine Māori halved, with the steepest decrease in the past two years.
The availability of vaping is likely to be part of the reason for this reduction, but the data published today also shows an increasing number of people, mainly youth, are vaping now who have never smoked before.
Most daily vapers aged 15 or older were ex-smokers (56%), with 22% vaping as well as smoking. Daily vapers aged 25 or older were nearly all ex-smokers (64%) or current smokers (26%). However, data also shows there is a relatively small, but growing (18% in 2021/22, up from 7% in 2017/18), number of vapers that never smoked.
Rat Park
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Park
…..Alexander and his colleagues built Rat Park, a large housing colony 200 times the floor area of a standard laboratory cage. There were 16–20 rats of both sexes in residence, food, balls and wheels for play, and enough space for mating.[2] The results of the experiment appeared to support his hypothesis that housing-conditions affect the consumption of morphine water.[1]…
…..The caged rats (Groups CC and PC) took to the morphine instantly, even with relatively little sweetener, with the caged males drinking 19 times more morphine than the Rat Park males in one of the experimental conditions. The rats in Rat Park resisted the morphine water. They would try it occasionally—with the females trying it more often than the males—but they showed a statistically significant preference for the plain water…..
So what’s the lesson here?
The government could make vaping compulsory and people still wouldn’t want to do it. That is, if the government addressed the underlying issues that lead to self medication.
No wonder Labour is going down the tubes.
I completely agree, Pat. And those least financially stressed turning to crutches like vaping less, yet enjoying the ‘superior’ buzz of tut-tutting the ‘lower orders.’
Once again, Labour panders to the rich, refusing as always to be Labour, and (also as always), getting the boot into the poor. With mutual smug back-slapping with their besties, the wealthy.
” The left love Michael Joseph Savage. Every Labour MP who wishes to push their left wing credentials have photos of him hanging in every electorate office and Minister’s room ”
LINO MP’s don’t have or understand left wing credentials unless it suits the audience they are trying to impress.
The last left wing MP’s were in the Alliance 1991- 2002.
All the ones since were career seeking self entitled people pretending to have ” left wing credentials ”
Your words Bomber.
The ironic thing is, that people who choose to grow their own produce will still pay GST on the implements needed to cultivate.
To be honest, I think the government should be funding urban farms run by local co-operatives. By pass the supermarket barons and give people skills in horticulture.
I like the ideas of individual tub/large bucket vegie gardens. Crowded plants with a bit of dilute fert. lightly watered in regularly, and debugged daily or so, and the perishable greens could do a lot of good. I’ve been thinking of it for myself – not done it yet but others are a way ahead of me. If all gave it a go, and get kids included in the tasks for their pocket money, which is a great incentive, it would be a useful skill at many levels.
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