Letters: Cost of living, electric vehicles, Working for Families, Boomers, and maunga trees

Should tax on fuel be reduced until prices come down? Photo / Getty Images

Opinion

Inflation relief
What the Government should be doing right now is removing GST from food and children's clothing, and temporarily halving fuel tax until prices come back down. That would give families struggling with rampant inflation the chance to take a breath.
Furthermore, there should be an immediate raising of income tax thresholds and the first $10,000 should be tax-free.
We all know though that this will not happen as the Government has to reduce some of its debt somehow, and the long-suffering taxpayer is such an easy target.
Peter Brooks, Mairangi Bay.

Emptying pockets
With soaring prices on fruit and vegetables, plus all the other essentials, surely it's time for the Government to stop charging GST on fruit and vegetables? With one stroke, this will encourage healthier eating and benefit people from all walks of life.
Also on petrol, the Government should take a fixed amount of tax rather than a percentage based on the market value.
Cancelling local 10 cents tax would also help Aucklanders, who suffered the most in the past two years.
Swee-In Blackeby, Golflands.

Subsidised vehicles
The Government takes 45 per cent tax of every litre of petrol and is in the best position to cut taxes.
A review taken last year on price-gouging went nowhere and the Government won't lower taxes because they want people to buy EVs. Interesting to note that new EVs are being purchased by higher-income earners.
The $8625 tax discount on EVs is being subsidised by lower and middle-income earners.
Neil Hatfull, Warkworth.

Better outcomes
Until recently there has been coverage of the inequality in New Zealand and now the theme is the cost-of-living crisis, both of which are real but not dissimilar.
Naturally, there is politicking over this with proposed tax changes, of benefit only to the well-off, hence not addressing the crises.
Something like making the first $14,000 of income - currently taxed at 10.5 per cent - tax-free for everyone and, yes, dropping the property rules for interest deductibility and the overly complex bright-line test but replacing with a proper capital gains tax with no change to the top tax bracket would be a better outcome for all. Namely reducing tax on people at the lower end and simplifying for those at the higher end.
Jeremy King, Taupō

Targeted help
I fully support your correspondent, Maurice Robertson (NZ Herald, March 14) in his plea for governments to ensure that our children have access to adequate resources for day-to-day living. However, is reducing the rate of GST overall or say exempting food from this tax (as some other letters frequently suggest), the way to go?
Not only those families who need it most would benefit from such changes but also the majority who are doing okay with the current GST regime. Each of these "solutions" would also leave a huge fiscal hole in any Government's budget which would need to be plugged up elsewhere. Surely a better way would be to have a targeted approach for those most in need by providing or increasing cash benefits through systems already in place, such as Working for Families.
Ian Magee, Mairangi Bay.

Suffering children
Julie Chapman reports (NZ Herald, March 14) the reality for many people in our wealthy country. Christopher Luxon should read it, then consider what to do to make New Zealand a better place to live.
The number one problem is rent. Paid to well-off New Zealanders by those struggling to feed their kids. Labour has done nothing. What is Luxon's plan to alleviate this misery,? Forget the Accommodation Supplement, a $3 billion a year gift to landlords from taxpayers.
Rents have to be regulated – an immediate drop followed by indexing to the cost of living. Has Luxon the courage to do this?
Remember that Jesus cared only about the poor, not the comfortably off.
Susan Grimsdell, Auckland Central.

Taking flight
As Christopher Luxon and Simon Bridges plan their tax reform it is a pity that they aren't thinking of helping the New Zealand economy. Weighting the tax relief in favour of low and middle-income earners would mean that these people would be spending the money locally, thus benefiting small businesses and local producers. Those on higher incomes, who already have taken their skiing and beach holidays here, patronised our restaurants. and are buying our excellent produce don't need a further incentive by way of the most favourable tax cut. Now that our borders are opening they are likely to take postponed trips abroad. Who can blame them?
But instead of helping our businesses, they will be assisting those of other countries.
Is National really the party for business and the economy?
P. Belsham, Mt Albert.

Boomer debt
Matthew Hooton (NZ Herald, March 11) has obviously has never studied intergenerational economics.
Us Baby Boomers paid for the Second World War. Our parents gave us a free world and we paid for it.
Our marginal tax rate was as high as 66 per cent in doing so in the 1970s.
I am not aware of exactly when New Zealand paid off her last dollar of Second World War debt but I know Great Britain did so only a few years ago.
And now Mr Hooton wants us to pay for the Covid debt?
We will hand over a Covid-free world to the young generations, so let them pay for it as we did our free world.
Trevor Smith, Takapuna.

Economic sense
Thank goodness for the economic common sense of Brian Fallow (NZ Herald, March 11). His sensible critique of the "throw it all out" tax plans announced by National Leader Christopher Luxon. Hopefully, this will be noted by their finance spokesperson Simon Bridges.
Particularly, Fallow's criticism of National's rejection without debate, of the OECD-supported idea of an income insurance fund, where he concludes National's reasoning is indeed "facile".
Neil Anderson, Algies Bay.

Strategic reserves
Correspondent Rachel Lewis (NZ Herald, March 11) is dead right. We need to reopen the Marsden Point refinery and expand gas and oil drilling immediately so we can at least be a little bit insulated from world events. Having our strategic reserves offshore is a silly and dangerous idea.
Putin has shown us just what happens when the Western world is more afraid of Greta Thunberg than him. Europe, and especially Germany, import so much gas and oil from Russia that they are afraid to take really decisive action in Ukraine. Sanctions imposed now by the US and Europe will be quietly reversed in coming months to appease Russia, just as they were after the Crimea invasion. Fracking in Germany and the UK could provide energy independence, but Greta and the Green lobby say no. Let's not fall into the same trap.
Alastair Brickell, Whitianga.

Mystery trees
Following on from the previous correspondence regarding lack of trees on the maunga. In early 2019 when macrocarpa were felled on Pigeon Mountain/Ohuiarangi, a helicopter was used for several days laying the trunks around the summit.
Then the Tūpuna Maunga Authority erected a sign saying, "from May to August 2019, we will plant 500 native shrubs on the tiki/summit terraces, 1200 native shrubs and trees around the quarry slopes and some of the 30,000 native shrubs and trees in the swampland to the west.
This sounded too good to be true.
To date, there are about 100 flax bushes in a crater, 60 karaka crowded into 30sq m, and 50 other trees scattered around the base of the maunga.
The sign is now removed.
What is worse is that the tennis courts, which have been a huge community asset for 100 years, located on the Ohuiarangi land, are being demolished.
Maybe making room for more trees to be not planted?
Jeanette Waters, Half Moon Bay.

Tennis inaction
It was sad to see Naomi Osaka in tears after a women spectator yelled out nasty, hurtful remarks to her during her tennis match against Veronika Kudermetova at the US Indian Wells Tennis Tournament. And sadder that the authorities there did not take any immediate action. Obviously, this is not a level playing surface.
Tiong Ang, Mt Roskill.

Short & sweet

On polls
The Government's reactions to Covid were generally defensible. However, it is losing popularity as a result of the incompetence and lack of "kindness" of state servants. Nick Hamilton, Remuera,

On Boomers
We Boomers rebuilt our world and achieved prosperity. Today's youth has the opportunity to do the same. Trevor Elwin, Half Moon Bay.

On Ukraine
What is the purpose of the United Nations if they can't stop this genocide in Ukraine? Sue White, West Harbour.

Why is Russia still a member of the UN, let alone on the Security Council after breaking the main tenet of the UN Charter? G Thompson, Epsom.

On bottles
The Government's latest proposal to implement a 20 cents charge on drink bottles is actually 23 cents, i.e. plus GST, with only a 20 cents refund. If a billion drink bottles are sold this will net the Government $3.333 million in additional tax i.e. the GST component. D B Kennedy, Greenlane.

On tax
James Shaw says we have "a tax crisis" and he's right. Ute tax, carbon tax, work tax, landlord tax, petrol tax - all new this political term or on their way. Steve Dransfield, Karori.

Take the GST off fresh food. This not only reduces the price by 15 per cent for everyone, but it could improve the diet of many children. P. A. Tobin, Waiheke Island.

The Premium Debate

Inflation now Jacinda Ardern's problem

Has Jacinda even acknowledged there is a cost of living crisis? No doubt, she rejects the premise of the question. Anna K.

Imported inflation would be just as bad a problem for National as it is for Labour, but they would try to fix it by austerity and tax cuts, exactly the opposite of what's needed: more progressive taxation and more Keynesian spending on public works. The hard nut to crack is the housing crisis, which is behind the difficulties ordinary households face. That's been so long in the making, especially by the Key/Joyce regime, and I haven't heard any politician propose a real fix. Nixing a capital gains tax was, of course, a blunder. Brian C.

If 30 per cent of inflation is import-driven and the other 70 per cent is domestically generated, then Ardern has to bear the blame for that 70 per cent. Vicki K.

They probably don't mind a period of high inflation as it makes all their borrowing effectively cheaper to repay while collecting more taxes and GST. They don't care about petrol prices as they want people to be driving EVs so the high fuel price will help accelerate that change. Bruce V.

Inflation is a global problem now, but reckless government spending here has exacerbated it, and the RBNZ, which Robertson sits on the board of, has kept interest rates too low for too long. Of course, the Government needs to take some responsibility. It's but one of a long list of areas where they've dropped the ball. Judging by the polls, their combination of incompetence and arrogance has finally worn thin. James C.