Waatea News Column: Tax the rich to pay for the poor
As we face the rebuild from climate change and as we struggle with the cost of living crisis, Banks continue to make obscene profits in the billions.
If we are to live up to the promise of the Treaty, the promise of Kaupapa and the promise of Pakeha Egalitarian Meritocracy, we must fund the rebuild of our community infrastructure along with our physical infrastructure by taxing the rich.
Labour and National bicker over moving the tax brackets, but that will only seek to put band aids on the change required.
Only the Greens with their Wealth Tax and the Māori Party with their GST off food (alongside their financial transaction tax) are the parties currently in power with specific policy to tax the wealthy for the people.
There are over 3100 individuals in New Zealand whose net worth is over $30million plus 14 Billionaires. Some of those very rich individuals have pumped millions of dollars in donations for National and ACT to ensure their interests are protected.
If we as citizens want a tax system that removes the taxation yolk off the working people and places it on the wealthy, the Greens and the Māori Party are the only place to put that vote this election.
First published on Waatea News.
I’ve been a Green-Left voter all my adult life (nearly retired now), but I can NOT bring myself to vote for any of those parties any more. They have BETRAYED their original aims. For what I don’t know, but I guess for serious black-money ‘later on in life’.
Given I believe the ONLY way NZ will ever be somewhat egalitarian is if we have CGT, inheritance tax and NO GST on any essentials !
So, as of today it would seem I have two options, vote TOP or Maori. But which (if not both) will be the wasted vote?
Will Maori MPs do as the previous ones did and sell-out for ‘baubles of power’ and lovely ministerial pensions?
Or TOP, who might not get above the INSANE (and purposely harsh) threshold or an elected MP.
Seems we purposely have NO choice in NZ politics. Just shades of right wing neloiberalism.
A bank in America has failed with huge losses to those with money invested in it .I am sure they would have been very pleased to have seen their bank make a profit. The bank return is 11 percent on investment which is not over the top as compared to most businesses