BOOM! Grant Robertson destroys National & ACT economic narrative with massive billion surplus (thanks to his craven capitulation to corporate capitalism)
BOOM MO’FO’S!
Big Daddy Grant Robertson just blew your minds with his announcement today of a staggering $9.3billion in corporate profit tax!
Corporate profits give Grant Robertson a $9.3b surprise, as Government books inch closer to surplus
Finance Minister Grant Robertson unwrapped a $9.3 billion surprise today, revealing the Government’s books were nearly $10b closer to surplus than forecast in May, helped by a tax take that topped $100b for the first time.
The bonus was partly thanks to healthy year for corporate profits, with companies paying 26.2 per cent more in tax on their earnings than last year – an increase of $4.1b.
Workers had a good year too, as rising wages and low unemployment pushed the tax take from individuals up by 11.2 per cent, about $4.3b.
BOOM!
I say BOOM BITCHES!
All you right wing trolls be hating on my Labour Party and claiming that National and ACT (who will tax cut their way into a steep recession like Truss did) are the best managers of the economy when Grant is actually making your rich mates more money than National or ACT ever will!
Of course our corporate friends have had a fucking staggering day at the races, Grant rigged the game, handed out $60 odd billion and created the largest transfer of wealth to the richest in NZs history!
Wealthy nearly $1 trillion richer since Covid began – Hickey
An economic and political commentator says since the Covid-19 pandemic reached Aotearoa, the rich have become richer and the poor have become poorer – in part due to the Government’s policies.
That’s why the economy debate in this country is always so shallow, so fucking stupid and so dangerously self interested!
The debate is always rigged.
Like a Parliament of Landlords and property speculators.
Look at how the Real Estate market saturate news media with advertising and then turn on that media when they talk down real estate?
Look at how the farming interests saturate Talkback radio with advertising to always promote their political world view.
Look at how free market capitalism is NEVER challenged in any media.
We are not an over taxed, over regulated economy!
Our top tax rate is the 39th highest in the world behind all the Scandinavian countries plus Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and South Africa!
Australia’s top tax rate is 47cents!
Our GST rate doesn’t even get us into the top 50 and our corporate tax rate is 40th while Government spending against GDP ranks 56th!
And we are voted easiest to do business by the World Bank!
I’m not looking for socialism here folks, just basic garden variety regulated capitalism!
When I set MANA up with Matt McCarten, Hone Harawira, John Minto, Sue Bradford and the incredible Annette Sykes, there was an understanding that at the core of Left wing politics was a need to use the State to materially better everyone.
At the centre of that philosophical core was an understanding that the very tax system itself needed to be reset by taking the burden off the working poor and placing out upon the wealthy.
MANA argued for a Financial Transaction Tax that would be a base rate on all automated bank transactions, it would raise enough tax to bring GST down to 10% while allowing the first $20 000 to be tax free. The extra revenue would allow for a mass State Housing rebuild plus free public transport plus more money for education and health.
The total tax take from workers would lower while forcing the Banks, Corporates and Speculators to finally pay for their greed.
This is why the Tax debate every fucking election is such a shallow and hollow joke. Labour says blah blah blah and National scream tax cut. They are both fighting over an ever diminishing pie!
It’s the Great NZ Tax Cut Scam that never actually fixes the problem!
We need a radical means to place the yoke of taxation onto those who are causing the most economic damage and greed – the Banks, the Corporates and Speculators!
The true political division in a Capitalist Democracy is not the colour of your skin or gender identity or genital tribalism, it’s between the 1% richest, their 9% enablers and the 90% rest of us!
Labour must think big on funding universal provision of services to survive the economic downturn and the new post-Covid reality in a climate warming world!
To fund these big services we need a new tax system. A Financial Transaction Tax penalises those who are the greediest while funding the services that benefit everyone.
-Free Public Transport: Rather than welfare increases that the cruel and insidious MSD clawback, put money back into the pockets of the poorest with free public transport, while reducing climate pollution AND making roads more free for those who need to use them. Free Public Transport would make voters care.
-Free Dental Services: Our lack of free Dental is a disgraceful outcome of free market neoliberalism over public health.
-Free Breakfast and lunches in all schools: Again, rather than welfare increases that the cruel and insidious MSD clawback, put money back into the pockets of the poorest with free Breakfasts and Lunches at school. With inflation and mortgage rates soaring even the children of the middle classes will benefit.
-Legalise Cannabis: FFS, it generates half a billion in revenue and justice system savings, just do it for Christ’s sakes you gutless wonders!
-50 000 State House Build: Rather than simply trying to fund flawed models of a rigged property market built for speculators, do mass State Housing builds for only State House tenants and owner occupiers with rent to own options. Build these on Golf Courses we seize back from Auckland using the Public Works Act.
-4 day working week in all public services: Build a post growth movement by adopting it in the State sector first. Employ more state servants.
-Basic Pharmaceutical Industry: The continued post Covid world of geopolitical threats demands a level of self sufficiency we are no where close to.
-Tidal Energy Production: Towards our 100% renewable energy target.
-Universal Free Internet: Available through all Churches, Marae, Libraries.
-First $20 000 Tax Free: Most people earn barely $40 000, making the first $20 000 tax free would benefit the poorest first and most.
-Vice Tax on all Gambling, Tobacco & Booze: A special super tax on top of the total tax paid for products that are a blight upon society. Why should the Gambling Booze Vape Barons peddle their harmful products with the barest of responsibility?
-Sugar Tax: The Big Sugar Drug Dealers have been allowed to sell their highly addictive drugs directly to market with no penalty for too long. Time too pay punks.
-Remove GST from fresh fruit and vegetables: Make healthier choices cheaper, works best with a sugar tax.
-30% Stake-hold in Supermarket Duopoly: The broken market is creating a million dollars additional profit each day to the Duopoly. Fuck them. A new supermarket chain will reduce cost and voters need to see that in an inflation explosion.
A Financial Transaction Tax, Sugar Tax and a taxed Cannabis Market could fund new services, old services PLUS take the tax take off the poorest and put it on the richest.
Removing the tax yoke from workers to place upon those who are benefiting from the rigged casino of under regulated capitalism is the true challenge of the Left, not appeasing the corporations with mild taxation and allowing the Right to frame that mild taxation as out of control Government spending!!!
The sooner we start seeing it as the 90% vs the 10%, the sooner we can get actual change.
The corporations made so much money we got an extra $9.3billion in taxes, folks, something is horribly wrong when we still have 27 000 on emergency housing wait lists, more kids in cars than when Labour came to power in 2017, 200 000 kids in poverty, entire generations locked out of home ownership and a million spent a day kettling beneficiaries into dangerous motels while the wealthy become more obscenely wealthy.
I don’t want to hear we can’t afford helping those on the bottom when Labour are spending a billion per year on consultants!
We, the people, suffered over Covid, the corporations did not.
We need to be kinder to individuals and far crueller to corporations.
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I agree. We have comparably lower tax rates here in New Zealand than what they have in other westernized nations.
And with ACT and National’s proposal of a 20% flat personal tax, 20% business tax and 20% GST, there is certainly room to move for this new surplus to allow for Martyn’s suggestions of tax-free fruit and vegetables and the first $20,000 tax-free.
It’s a deficit.
Plus 7 day work week for the public service except doctors nurses cops, firies.
The natzo/ACT trolls will never admit the basic dishonesty of their position. They enjoy their free shots on TDB at Parliamentary Labour and Greens, who yes, along with Nashnull, support the neo liberal consensus on Reserve Bank Act, State Sector Act, Aussie Bank rape and pillage etc. etc.
But the fact is National ACT will make things much worse for the NZ working class than it is already–their policies say so explicitly. Tax cuts = less social spending, repealing FPAs, closing various Ministries and reducing payments for WFF and Kiwisaver is just more robbery from taxpayers.
Tell us how the ACT and National’s proposal of a 20% flat personal tax, 20% business tax and 20% GST is dishonest?
It’s out there for left and right and undecided to critique?
A democracy is about a frank and honest sharing of ideas and we are willing to concede there is room to move with Grant Robertson’s new surplus to allowing for tax-free fruit and vegetables and the first $20,000 tax-free.
He hasn’t destroyed the Nat/ACT narrative of course. They’ll keep rabbiting on and their brain dead supporters will deny reality.
Crime, poverty, co-governence and Three Waters will dominate and how Ardern is ruthlessly destroying democracy.
Stuff as ethereal as actual figures are beyond them.
Actual figures, facts and evidence, Peter. I have yet to see any by these brain dead right wing supporters offer anything meaningful other than ugg Labour bad, ugg, Nact good, ugg.
Labour are keeping all this money so next year they can dish out a lolly scramble just before the election.
They could give tax relieve now to off set the mortgage rate increases but they will not.
free transport good idea but not enough buses or drivers to handle what we have and Auckland will be a OT case for the next 3 years with work on rail link
Not enough dentists now They are 18 months behind on child care and you wait for a least a month on full cost
Free food in school good idea
Legalise cannabis?
50000 houses not enough trades
4 day week some department give the impression they only work 2 days now Immegration especially and Oranga Tamariki
vice tax and sugar tax good idea
remove GST ON fresh fruit would be expensive and of no real value ask businesses in Australia
Keep State out of business they cannot run them well
Awesome Grant, with the Weimar rate of inflation about to hit I will be able to buy a head of broccoli and a small block of cheese for 9 billion. Maybe start eating politicians to get our protein?
Boom. Thank heavens!
So now we can obviously expect to see the ship righted and party polling return to the sane levels of 2020? Jacinda’s third term is clearly in the bag!
$9billion. Please Grant dont pay down debt, instead squander it on 18,000 new State House revenue earning assets. Which should keep at bay the recession the rest of the world is suffering.
How to sell a Financial Transaction Tax and win an election. Its simply a tax reallocation stupid – your better off and the tax on the finance industry is so minimal they’ll hardly notice. And whats in it for everyone?
Gst off food and vege.
First $25,000 earnings tax free for the poor.
Income tax rate cut for the middle class (really it would only compensate for bracket creep).
1% off the top income tax rate for the wealthy to dampen their anti-FTT media action (but what goes down inevitably goes up.)
Plus it shoul recoup a big bunch of additional money for other essential govt. projects
Economic ideology is wrong; it is not science based. Govt deficit is a measure of public equity, a govt surplus is a deficit for the public. The public must avoid negative equity. The Govt because it is the real backer of the currency is able, exclusively, to continue with a negative equity. The public must balance their books, the govt does not need to. When the USA achieved a big surplus they created a big depression. Orthodox economics is a dangerous delusion. Economics is like a religion not a science. Look at those supply/demand and the cost of production graphs of economics and try to find empirical data that could produce those plots! Economics is the most dangerous misinformation being pedaled to the public because economists make the policies.
QE = Money Printing= Inflation.
Numbers bigger same buying power.
We’ve all been fleeced.
Martyn, will you ever pick up on economic reality. TAX DOES NOT FUND GOVERNMENT SPENDING.
Taxation is about conditioning the economy – improving fairness, supporting or sanctioning certain activities/businesses, taking any heat (potential for inflation) out. So, whilst we can all applaud such things as increasing taxes on the rich, and a financial transaction tax, these do not prevent government spending to sort out all New Zealand’s massive problems. Deficits are generally for the good of an economy, and most countries with sovereign currencies have been in public debt for ever. A government surplus mean private debt, to the detriment of the economy.
Please lean something about macroeconomics and central bank, treasury accounts and their uses.