Labour is sending a clear message to New Zealanders that the Green Party is the only way we will get progressive change.

“Households are struggling, our tax system has never been more unfair, and the solutions have never been clearer. The time for tinkering is over, the time for political courage is now - the only option this year is the Green Party,” said co-leader of the Green Party, James Shaw.

“Everything we need to make life better for people in Aotearoa exists. What’s missing is the political will power to use it. So, my message today is clear: if people want a government that will build an Aotearoa that works for everyone and a fairer tax system to pay for it, then we need more Green MPs.

“Political leaders don’t get to decide what will and won’t happen after the election. That’s the job of the New Zealand public. Nothing Labour says now will stop the Green Party from fighting for a fairer tax system.

“Polling shows the majority of New Zealanders support a wealth tax. Our plan will cut taxes and make 95 percent of New Zealanders better off by asking the wealthiest 0.7 percent to pay their fair share.

“If that’s what people want then they need to help us get more Green MPs. If we will be in a position to form the next government, every single person who wants a fairer tax can be sure that we will take a wealth tax and our income guarantee into negotiations.

“For too long, governments have been tinkering at the edges - constrained by self-imposed refusal to tax the wealthy - instead of taking the bold decisions people need right now. If political leaders are not willing to take those decisions on behalf of the people of the country you purport to lead, then why be in politics at all?

“What we do to prioritise the lives and livelihoods of those who need our support the most should be a measure of every political party.

“The Green Party’s plan shows that poverty is a political choice - and it’s possible to lift every single family out of poverty through better social support paid for with a fair tax system. I would argue that any party that stops short of promising to change the tax system so we can lift every family out of poverty, is actively choosing to make life harder for thousands of people.

“Right now, just 311 families own more wealth than the bottom two and half million New Zealanders. That inequality is not an inevitability. It is a political decision. Aotearoa is a wealthy country. We have all the resources we need to give everyone a decent standard of living - we just don’t have Green Ministers at the table pushing for fair and sensible solutions on poverty, housing, climate, and nature,” said James Shaw.

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