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A Māori economist says New Zealand needs to have a conversation about how we want to take care of ourselves.
Labour has released its 10-point cost of living plan including taking gst off fruit and vegetables and adding to working for families payments.
Matt Roskruge from Massey University’s Te Au Rangahau business research centre says the political parties are arguing about relatively small shifts in spending, without looking at the bigger picture.
“At some point we need to have some mature conversations about the amount of tax that we’re going to pay because we don’t pay a lot compared to other OECD countries. People of higher incomes don’t pay a lot of tax in New Zealand. We don’t have a lot of wealth tax. That might be fine, but it comes with less money for the public to put towards public goods,” he says.
Dr Roskruge says while dropping gst from fruit and vegetables may appeal to some of Labour’s working class supporters, economists can argue there are more effective ways to use $400 million a year to reduce poverty.
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