Oil Free Wellington is calling for the government to take GST off food and ensure all people have access to a liveable income in Budget 2022.

As we start this Easter holiday, food prices are 7.6% higher than a year ago - with fruit and vegetables up a whopping 18% - and a significant group of renters are paying 40% or more of their income on housing.

"Some of us will have enough to enjoy this holiday time, but for far too many, it will continue to be a time of stress and struggle," says Spokesperson Michelle Ducat

"A livable income and GST off food will enable people to put enough food on the table and have enough to live with dignity in their communities."

"Recent increases to benefit levels are not enough," says Michelle. "As Max Rashbrooke says “there is still a mountain to climb to reverse 40 years of neglect” since the benefit cuts of the 1990s."

Auckland Action Against Poverty (AAAP) says the current system treats people as if "our worth is determined by our labour and the colour of our skin".

"This way of valuing people is the same exploitative economic model that treats the land as a resource to exploit - which has led to the climate crisis," says Michelle.

"It continues to lead to the growing gaps between those who have and those who don't, exacerbated by the pandemic."

Oil Free Wellington supports AAAP and Fairer Future's demands for a liveable income for all because it is one step towards making a world where people and the earth are valued and can thrive.

"If the government truly wants to be transformational it will guarantee a liveable income for all this Budget 2022."

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