Labour Wellington MP’s want to Axe the Tax

“Balancing your budget and having something left over at the end of the week isn’t easy for a lot of Wellington families and higher prices won’t make that easier. The National Governments proposed increase in GST will push many Wellington families into further hardship; say Labour MPs Annette King, Grant Robertson, Trevor Mallard, Charles Chauvel, Chris Hipkins.

Labour Party MP’s have been travelling down the country on the “Axe the Tax” bus – protesting against the National Governments proposed increases to GST.

The bus will be in Wellington on Sunday 7 March.

“If GST goes up, increased prices are a certainty. That’s not good news for the 50 per cent of New Zealanders who didn’t get a wage or salary rise last year while prices went up, says Labour list MP Charles Chauvel

Fifteen per cent GST means a twenty per cent increase in the tax on the basics.

MP for Wellington Central, Grant Robertson said “An increase in GST means Wellington residents will face 20 per cent more tax on bread. 20 per cent more tax on milk. 20 cent more tax on electricity and petrol. 20 per cent more tax on rates. And 20 per cent more tax on a block of cheese.

High GST means higher prices. Cost of living is already an issue and this just makes things worse, even worse than that is the fact that no one voted for an increase to GST said Hutt South MP, Trevor Mallard

Annette King, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and MP for Rongotai said “Under National’s package, people on the top incomes will get more then lower income earners. Does that sound fair to you? People on the bottom of the heap, the minimum wage, got a huge 25 cents an hour more earlier this year – enough to buy a family size pack of Weetbix. As for the rest of the population, you’ll also get more than National promised – more GST and higher prices.

Labour opposes unequivocally the increase in GST. Labour wants fair tax changes that benefit everyone. If we tell the Government No now, then we can still stop the GST rise, says Chris Hipkins, MP for Rimataka.

All for the Wellington Labour MP’s agreed that “We can make the tax changes fairer, and look after the many, not the few.

ENDS

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