Letters: We don’t have a debt problem, we have a tax problem

Finance Minister Nicola Willis will deliver the Budget on May 22. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Letters to the Editor

New Zealand has a tax problem

Nicola Willis is wrong. New Zealand doesn’t have a debt problem, it has a tax problem. Our tax base is simply too low and unfair to finance the government spending we need.

If we had proper capital gains, inheritance and wealth taxes to even the playing field, just like most other developed nations, we would have enough to pay for good infrastructure and public services.

The Government’s imposed austerity is because we don’t tax capital gains or accumulated wealth. Great for the wealthy but tough on those who aren’t, which is most of us.

With proper reform of our tax system, we could give a tax-free base for low earners and have good public services.

This would be good for all of us, rather than just a few, as it currently is.

This is also a lesson for Labour, too. Nothing can improve in this country until everyone pays their fair share to fund a good society.

Jeff Hayward, Auckland.

Mother of a Budget

The front page of the Herald (Apr 30) provides a foretaste of what we can expect in the Budget this year. What it does not say is why are we in this parlous position.

Governments get their revenue mainly from tax and services. The tax reform introduced last year was meant to speed up the economy. Unfortunately, cost-of-living increases have wiped this incentive out. The Government also embarked on a series of planned spending cuts so that its reduced revenue would zero out. Part of those cuts included a reduction of 7% of the public service workforce. As a result, the number of unemployed is creeping up with more on benefits. The exodus to Australia does not worry this Government as it obviously regards these people as cost liabilities.

If we are honest, could we say we are better off or not because of the ministrations of this Government? Remember Ruth Richardson with her Mother of all Budgets? Well, if you don’t, Nicola Willis does.

Reg Dempster, Albany.

Trumpish politics

Your editorial (Apr 30) on Tory Whanau’s gracious departure from the Wellington mayoralty chase in the face of unbearable trolling and harassment has somewhat unhealthy comparisons with Simon Wilson’s analysis of Trump’s first 100 days in the same edition.

Wilson points to commentaries that the perceived loss of white male “imaginary power” is leading to a “Great Resegregation” to restore traditional hierarchies of race and gender on the grounds that “competent white men must be put in charge if you want things to work”.

Is this what we are tragically seeing in increasingly Trumpish politics here in Aotearoa?

Peter Beyer, Sandringham.

Tackling congestion

Two letters in the Herald (Apr 30) talk in terms of free public transport as a way of relieving congestion. Any strategy, to achieve a satisfactory level of success, must use the combined carrot-and-stick approach.

For the problem at hand, that means making public transport more enticing and private transport more painful.

For Auckland public transport, I would suggest a unified card (replacing area cards) that is valid for the bus and the train, covering all the Auckland conurbation.

For the stick, I think the metropolitan surcharge on fuel is/was a great method, particularly if one of the uses for the surcharge is more/better cycleways.

The killer problem is that politics and efficiency are often diametrically opposed.

Ken WJ Lynch, Northcross.

That sinking feeling

The US Navy lost a $112 million F/A-18E fighter jet this week when it fell off the USS Harry S Truman to litter the Red Sea.

Meanwhile, Genesis Energy (51% owned by the New Zealand government) has opened the country’s biggest solar farm, with capacity to power 13,000 households per year, at a build price of $104m.

Given the planet is a finite asset, which direction might be better for us all? How might we remind governments near and far the lesson that history shows? War burns money while producing temporary winners and losers but achieving nothing of lasting value … unless it might be ownership of munitions company shares.

Nigel Meek, Raglan.

Butchering the trees

Once upon a time, trees adorning neighbourhoods were seen as part of nature’s beauty, providing shelter to various creatures while protecting us humans from the sun. Cars can even park in the shade.

“Leafy suburb” was a complimentary description of high-end housing.

Regrettably, the butchering of trees within our communities is becoming commonplace, especially when new residents’ views are obstructed by branches on neighbouring properties, council berms and reserves.

Instead of consulting a qualified arborist and/or their local council, residents are taking it upon themselves to climb the tree and to remove offending branches, leaving behind an unsightly, stunted tree that will take years to recover.

Where are the checks and balances?

Paul Hickford, Massey East.

The price we pay

Funny how we gave out more than $12 billion in tax cuts to people who didn’t need them, and now we can’t afford anything.

Ken Taylor, Māngere.