Low, Fixed Income Kiwis won’t get GST compensation
new-zealand-labour-party
Fri Apr 23 2010 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Low, Fixed Income Kiwis won’t get GST compensation
Friday, 23 April 2010, 1:13 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Labour Party
Stuart Nash
Revenue Spokesperson
23 April 2010 Media Statement
Low-income and fixed-income Kiwis won’t get GST compensation the Government has promised
National’s promise to compensate low and fixed-income Kiwis for a 2.5 percent GST hike is now even less credible in the wake of a small business survey showing many prices may jump five percent or more, says Labour revenue spokesman Stuart Nash.
Stuart Nash said almost half the 500 firms in the survey said they intended pushing up prices 5 percent or more to claw back margins eroded in the past two years.
“This is frightening news for the 70 percent of Kiwis, including superannuitants, who earn less than $40,000 a year.
“Well-off New Zealanders, like Finance Minister Bill English, who is about to get a $300 a week cut in his tax, won’t worry about the GST or other price hikes,” Stuart Nash said.
“But it’s a different story if you are already struggling to make ends meet each week. If you’re in that position, the GST increase to be announced in the Budget looms as a menacing reality, and the news that other price hikes are about to hit will be the last straw for thousands of Kiwi families.
“John Key and Bill English have piously promised, hands on hearts, that those who are already finding it hardest to cope will be adequately compensated for the GST increase.
“Their promises are now being shown up for the hollow and cynical words they really are,” Stuart Nash said.
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“Their friends and backers will do very well indeed out of this year’s Budget, but the vast majority of New Zealanders will be dealt a major body blow that they in no way deserve. The Budget will benefit the few and hurt the many.
“The many are the people who have already borne the brunt of the recession. They are now about to be forced to try to bear much more. Tragically, many of them will be unable to.
“It is imperative the Government reassures New Zealanders now just how they plan to provide meaningful compensation. They won’t do so, of course, because they know that their promised relief won’t go nearly far enough.”
ENDS
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