Mana Party's bid to abolish GST

Mana Party economic policy spokesman John Minto. The party is seeking to abolish GST altogether. Photo Herald on Sunday

The Mana Party is seeking to abolish GST altogether and bring in a financial transactions tax to make New Zealand a more equal society.

At the party's economic policy launch at Aotea Square, with the Occupy protest camp in the background, economic policy spokesman John Minto called for a "dramatic, revolutionary change in our economic policy".

"Labour and National policy for the past 27 years has been captured by the 1 per cent. And that 1 per cent in New Zealand has become obscenely wealthy while we have hundreds of thousands of kids living in poverty.

"New Zealand has had the fastest increase in inequality of any country in the OECD in the last 27 years. And in those 27 years Labour has been in Government for 15 years and National has been in Government for 12 years. Both of them have contributed directly to this problem.

"When you increase inequality, you drive up social problems."

Minto said National and Labour were "tinkering around the edges", and Mana's economic policies were "dramatically different" to Labour's.

While Labour are backing calls to remove GST from fruit and vegetables, Mana is calling for the abolition of GST entirely.

"It is a tax on the poor. The poor pay about 13 per cent of their income on GST, the wealthy pay 5 percent of their income on GST," Minto said.

Other policies include a $15 dollar minimum wage from April 1 next year and then pegging the minimum wage to two-thirds of the average wage from April 1, 2013, and making the first $27,000 of income would be tax free - which Mana said would give workers on minimum wage an extra $200 per week.

To pay for the tax changes, Mana plan to introduce a financial transactions tax, which Minto said would recover the $15 billion of revenue lost through the removal of GST.

While the party has not worked out the exact rate of the tax, Minto said it would be less than a per cent of transactions.

"Every year in New Zealand we have $93 trillion in speculation of money coming in and out of New Zealand through speculation on the New Zealand Dollar. A very small percentage of that would enable us to get rid of GST altogether."

Minto said financial transactions tax would also help stabilise the New Zealand dollar.
He said France and Germany were also looking at bringing in the tax and Mana was putting the issue on the table for debate in New Zealand.

Mana also call for a progressive income tax system where the increases "rapidly" for those on higher income, and a capital gains tax and a reintroduction of an inheritance tax.

Minto was realistic about the party's chances of enacting the tax changes, but hoped to create a debate around the ideas.

"We're not planning to control the Government after the election but we are planning to have a major influence in the next Parliament, and these ideas we'll be fighting very hard for."