It started on Monday with its daft idea of taking GST off fruit and vegetables. And then, yesterday, it announced that it wants to sting us for more tax on fuel to help pay for all the new roads it wants to build.
A plan which I think National is quite rightfully calling a copycat plan - given that, what Labour is talking about, is pretty much what National is already promising if it forms the next government.
National says there’s a truckload of money around the world that it would tap into to pay for these new roads. Labour, though, says ‘if you want it, you’ve gotta pay for it’.
So $1.4 billion would come from extra fuel taxes; and $2.9 billion would come from other taxes we pay. Then there’s other money from down the back of the chair.
But Labour's hypocrisy is astounding. This is a political party that is out there right now saying it’s “in it for us”; that it’s got a "laser-like focus" on helping us deal with the cost of living. That’s what Chris Hipkins said a while back.
So it starts the week saying it’s going to help us out by making the supermarket shop cheaper for us all by taking the GST off fruit and vegetables.
Which has, very quickly, turned into a complete farce because - ever since the announcement - we’ve had our most senior government politicians in the news talking about canned fruit, salads and chopped-up watermelon.
If Clive James was still around, he’d have a field day with all of this wouldn’t he? Remember that time on one of his TV shows when he took the mickey out of New Zealand’s Crimewatch show because all the stories seemed to be about really minor stuff? An egg being thrown at a Hillman Hunter or a Vauxhall Viva - that sort of thing.
Imagine what he’d be saying now? Seeing our Finance Minister answering questions about whether-or-not we should be paying GST on the tomatoe in our burgers? Or whether a salad with mayonnaise qualifies for no GST versus a salad with no mayonnaise.
So I think we can safely say that the GST thing’s been a real cluster for Labour this week.
But then, it takes the cluster next level with this announcement that it wants us to pay more tax on our petrol and diesel.
Taking the GST off fruit and veges and then adding more tax on fuel is utter nutbar behaviour.
I don’t know how many people have said to me this week that, if Labour was really serious about helping us deal with the cost of living, it would be making fuel cheaper because whether or not we drive a vehicle, the price of fuel has an impact on us.
The more expensive fuel, the more expensive anything and everything that has to be delivered somewhere gets.
The last time I looked, there wasn’t a giant veggie garden out the back of Pak n Save or row and row of fruit trees. They have to be transported. So you make fuel more expensive, what’s going to do to the price of fruit and veggies?
I just can’t believe Labour on this one. Yes, we need more money to build and maintain roads. And, yes, one option is for us to pay more tax to make it happen.
But just say that and we’ll decide whether we like it or not. But don’t come out one day and say ‘ooh, we know life’s really hard at the moment so we’re going to do everything we can to make things cheaper for you” and then, a few days later, tell us that you want us to pay more tax on fuel.
It’s almost like Labour has decided that yeah, it was really cool winning that huge majority last election, so let’s see how far we can go in the opposite direction this election.
Because that’s what it’s going to do with this plan to rob Peter to pay Paul. The stupidity of it all blows me away.
John MacDonald is the Canterbury Mornings host on Newstalk ZB Christchurch. This article was first published HERE
So $1.4 billion would come from extra fuel taxes; and $2.9 billion would come from other taxes we pay. Then there’s other money from down the back of the chair.
But Labour's hypocrisy is astounding. This is a political party that is out there right now saying it’s “in it for us”; that it’s got a "laser-like focus" on helping us deal with the cost of living. That’s what Chris Hipkins said a while back.
So it starts the week saying it’s going to help us out by making the supermarket shop cheaper for us all by taking the GST off fruit and vegetables.
Which has, very quickly, turned into a complete farce because - ever since the announcement - we’ve had our most senior government politicians in the news talking about canned fruit, salads and chopped-up watermelon.
If Clive James was still around, he’d have a field day with all of this wouldn’t he? Remember that time on one of his TV shows when he took the mickey out of New Zealand’s Crimewatch show because all the stories seemed to be about really minor stuff? An egg being thrown at a Hillman Hunter or a Vauxhall Viva - that sort of thing.
Imagine what he’d be saying now? Seeing our Finance Minister answering questions about whether-or-not we should be paying GST on the tomatoe in our burgers? Or whether a salad with mayonnaise qualifies for no GST versus a salad with no mayonnaise.
So I think we can safely say that the GST thing’s been a real cluster for Labour this week.
But then, it takes the cluster next level with this announcement that it wants us to pay more tax on our petrol and diesel.
Taking the GST off fruit and veges and then adding more tax on fuel is utter nutbar behaviour.
I don’t know how many people have said to me this week that, if Labour was really serious about helping us deal with the cost of living, it would be making fuel cheaper because whether or not we drive a vehicle, the price of fuel has an impact on us.
The more expensive fuel, the more expensive anything and everything that has to be delivered somewhere gets.
The last time I looked, there wasn’t a giant veggie garden out the back of Pak n Save or row and row of fruit trees. They have to be transported. So you make fuel more expensive, what’s going to do to the price of fruit and veggies?
I just can’t believe Labour on this one. Yes, we need more money to build and maintain roads. And, yes, one option is for us to pay more tax to make it happen.
But just say that and we’ll decide whether we like it or not. But don’t come out one day and say ‘ooh, we know life’s really hard at the moment so we’re going to do everything we can to make things cheaper for you” and then, a few days later, tell us that you want us to pay more tax on fuel.
It’s almost like Labour has decided that yeah, it was really cool winning that huge majority last election, so let’s see how far we can go in the opposite direction this election.
Because that’s what it’s going to do with this plan to rob Peter to pay Paul. The stupidity of it all blows me away.
John MacDonald is the Canterbury Mornings host on Newstalk ZB Christchurch. This article was first published HERE
3 comments:
If they had any sense (of decency), they would have a plan to implement road user charges for EV's ASAP. Lets see now, 85,000 EV's, PHEV's etc x average 250km/week x 7.6 cents (should be more as the extra weight causes more damage to roads, but lets be generous) x 52 weeks = $84 million. Not a fortune but it would certainly fix a few pot holes. The only challenge would be deciding for Plugin and hybrids how many of their km are done with tax paid petrol vs road user charge paid electricity.
Maybe behind the scenes Labour know it’s not going well and they are throwing in the towel. Next minute they will be saying, “there’s no gas left in their tank, regardless of the fuel price hike!” I think we all know that already.
The ugly beast of socialism, led by the stalking horse of “democracy,” is killing New Zealand from the inside.
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