Greens promise free doctor visits, childcare but new taxes, higher borrowing
YES! YES! YES!
By God they’ve got it!
Thank you Chloe, thank you Marama, thank you the Greens!
Their alternative Green Budget is EXACTLY what we need on a burning planet during late stage capitalism.
We need new taxes specifically aimed at the wealthy, we need to take the tax yoke off the poorest and place it on corporations and we need properly funded public services, the greens do all that with this amazing alternative budget…
The Green Party has laid out its alternative Budget, pledging free GP visits and free childcare funded through new taxes and increased borrowing.
It comes just over a week before the coalition government reveals its spending plans in Budget 2025.
On Wednesday, the Greens released a suite of proposed policies and taxes – some new, some previously campaigned on.
They include a wealth tax, a private jet tax, ending interest deductibility for landlords, restoring the 10 year ‘bright-line’ test, doubling minerals royalties and changes to ACC levies.
The plan would see net debt climb from 45 percent of GDP to above 53 percent by the 2028/29 financial year.
According to the Greens’ calculations, the new revenue streams would fund a free public health service providing GP and nursing services, free annual dental check-ups and basic dental care, as well as the restoring free prescriptions.
On the childcare front, it would give 20 hours free care per week for children from six months until school age, and cap fees at $10 per day for hours above the 20 per week entitlement in the short term, transitioning over time to free provision.
The alertnative Budget also includes an “Income Guarantee” which would ensure anyone out of work or studying has an income of at least $395 a week, plus top-ups of $140 a week for sole parents.
…this is as close to eco socialism as we are going to get comrades.
Childcare payments are crippling working parents.
Dental care is unaffordable for most as as Dr visits.
The neoliberal economic straightjacket of debt that we refuse to leave ensures that we never have the money to pay for our social and physical infrastructure.
This is an amazing piece of policy work from the Greens, and every left winger should rejoice that we have something as intellectually substantive as this from a political party.
The Greens get a lot of criticism for the more extreme elements of their social justice platform, but this economic justice alternative budget wipes the slate clean in terms of any previous judgement.
The Greens alternative budget is the sort of place where the debate needs to be, I applaud the Green Party for having the courage to step up in a significant way.
Thi would make real material change in the lives of all Kiwis, it would upgrade our base line of being.
Well done Comrades, you have changed the nature of the narrative with real mana!
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Good overall and just to focus on a couple.
The best: Cancel National’s tax cuts for landlords by reversing interest deductibility and restoring the
Bright-Line Test to 10 years
The not so best: The wealth tax is a 2.5% tax on net assets, such as property and shares, over an individual
threshold of $2 million (or $4 million for assets jointly owned by couples). For example, if someone
owns $2.5 million in assets, but owes $1 million on their mortgage, their net wealth is $1.5
million and falls short of the threshold. If they own $2.5 million in assets mortgage free, then the
$500,000 over the threshold will be taxed at 2.5%.
To prevent evasion, a 1.5% tax will apply to net assets held in private trusts, and a 33% wealth
transfer tax will apply to significant gifts and inheritances received, over an accumulated lifetime
threshold of $1,000,000, similar to Ireland’s Capital Acquisitions Tax.
The Greens ‘wealth tax’ plan is going to be a boon for accountants, financial and property investment advisors. Property values and the cost of compliance and administration is the devil lurking in the detail. My intuition tells me the term ‘wealth tax’ is anathema to ordinary NZ voters. There has to be a more acceptable way.
A Financial Transaction Tax?
Great work but for gods sake give us some real good candidates to vote for .I have not had a green candidate to vote for in the last few elections .
Green and Brown would get my vote and tip the current lot upside down and throw them out with the trash .
The “Income Guarantee” offer ($395 a week) is pittance.
Nothing about increasing the accommodation supplement?
Take note that income guarantee abolishes all the relationship rules currently applied by Work and Income.
So if you are in a relationship your partners income wont affect your ability to get it.
That’s the difference.
As for the accommodation sup it should be abolished.
It is nothing more than an excuse for landlords and property managers to jack rents by the same amount.
That doesn’t help those that are single.
Abolishing the accommodation supplement won’t stop rent increases and will leave many worse off
Surely, replacing private insurance with a publicly-funded alternative is the only real option?
Have the Greens done any work on this (see link below) serious issue?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/560815/as-insurance-gets-harder-to-buy-nz-has-3-choices-for-disaster-recovery-and-we-keep-choosing-the-worst-one
Yes here.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/171564126882442/permalink/1600509780654529
Agency for Comprehensive Care
From 2025/26, we will increase Jobseeker Support (Health Condition and Disability) and the
Supported Living Payment to 80% of the full-time minimum wage. This recognises that people
with health needs require a higher level of support, especially when these needs are likely to
continue long-term.
Over time, income support for everyone with work-limiting health conditions will be delivered
by an expanded ACC – renamed the Agency for Comprehensive Care. This will close the gap
between the income support currently available for injury compared to that available for illness. In the first two years, these payments will be funded from returns on the ACC investment fund. This will allow time to develop a progressive levies system to provide long-term financial recovery for the expanded scheme.
Agency for Comprehensive Care
From 2025/26, we will increase Jobseeker Support (Health Condition and Disability) and the
Supported Living Payment to 80% of the full-time minimum wage. This recognises that people
with health needs require a higher level of support, especially when these needs are likely to
continue long-term.
Over time, income support for everyone with work-limiting health conditions will be delivered
by an expanded ACC – renamed the Agency for Comprehensive Care. This will close the gap
between the income support currently available for injury compared to that available for illness. In the first two years, these payments will be funded from returns on the ACC investment fund. This will allow time to develop a progressive levies system to provide long-term financial recovery for the expanded scheme.
Chloe and Marama are cunts.
I would say that. But this will be very disappointing for many
Correction. I wouldn’t say that (re cunts)
Another typically snivelling, negative, uneducated and unintelligent piece of very basic drivel from misogynist Gary who also once said that he disliked Jacinda because her teeth protruded (according to him). I feel sorry for your wife if you have one and for your daughter/s if you have any.
Also, don’t you think it is a bit dangerous to use you entire vocabulary (5 words) in one sentence Gary? I guess one good thing though – five words from you is all that it takes to describe the type of individual you really are – always negative and angrily aggressive.
How about you pop back into your own echo chamber and argue with yourself there?
Gary please seek counselling.
Cunts are very useful things…you came out of one Gary…
Are you sure about that
No help with the soaring cost of power?
“The big income raiser in the plan is the wealth tax, which would raise $72.4b over the four years. ”
To raise that volume of money from wealth requires (and you can cut the numbers anyway you like) say a 10% tax on the return on invest that the principal $724 Billion wealth is calculated at. Where is this tax generating “wealth”?
The flaw is calculating the value of an asset (be it cashflow bearing or not) to assign a :wealth” to it. If it is a static asset not generating cashflow, it’s value (wealth) will diminish due to the tax required to keep it. Who will buy an taxable asset without cashflow to pay a tax on? The value will diminish and lessen the tax payable till it all balances out to nothing.
If the “wealth” asset is tax bearing and paid, it its already taxed (and now at an increased Green rate to 38%). Is this cashflow sustainable?
The wealth tax income ($72,4 Billion over four years (and every year after that to maintain the UBI for beneficiaries) figures don’t add up.
An inheritance tax would have been a better choice But economics doesn’t seem to be their strong point
Greens lost power in Australia. As soon as they get power they find they cannot carry on with their impractical policies
And yet there is no ACT party anywhere in the world, say’s it all really.
As soon as ACT get power they find they cannot carry on with their impractical policies.
From what I’ve heard from friendlyjordies the Greens over there blocked a lot of big reforms Labor wanted to bring in last term and have done so going back to when they blocked the ETS under Kevin Rudd.
Say what you will about the NZ Greens but they work with NZ Labour faaar mor effectively
Current Jobseeker Support for those Single, 25 years or over is $412.51 before tax
dont think so
So thats why this government is making 100k redundant as it helps no boats do her budget .Instead of having people in work and paying tax and spending in the community we are paying them to stay at home and live in poverty so they can send the kids to school hungry to eat, imported pig food,as my 12 year old grandson describes it ,as their only meal of the day .
All good stuff but they need to totally renounce neoliberalism or else all their policies are just another layer of band aids on a compound fracture of the whole planet.
And to renounce neoliberalism they are going to have to change their policies on free trade, globalism, immigration, labour markets and consumerism.
Ironically, this might make them almost “green”.
So, pretty much any one who owns a house in Auckland will face the tax.
Don’t believe there will not be any creep as to take and spend other peoples hard earned money is the holy grail for some.
This is from the party with the highest average flyer-miles per MP, right?
It’s called getting their message out there Andycapped.
How’s your party going that’s promised ALL kiwis a better life?
Glad to see the Green party under Chloe returning to a semblance of left-wing politics and stealing some tax policy from the much cannier Maori Party.
Breath Care Observe.
Their budget sounds better than the rumors of what Nicola is going to dish up, I suspect that wild Australian mushrooms would be more popular than Nicola after the budget this year.
I understand why people want free health care although I wish they put the same effort into looking after their health as in complaining about the current inadequate system. As already mentioned they need more high quality MPs and candidates before I would consider supporting them again.
It’s the job of minority parties to “campaign” on policies unlikely to ever see the light of day.
It will never happen…. So don’t bother getting excited.
What most anti tax bleaters are missing is if you want shit now you have to pay for it .For fuck sake do a bit of thinking and look into why we were able to build roads schools and hospitals in the 1960s and cant do so now .the big difference is the tax system which has now been turned around so the big earners pay fuck all and the basement dwellers pay shit loads .
We cant have it both ways ,pay no tax ,and build 20 billion roads to no where and expect our grand kids to fund it while they are still at school .
Spot on Gordon.
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