the problem with bringing in more competition is that, in a lot of areas, NZ simply doesn't have the population to support it. of course, this was initially the case with telecom and the solution was proper regulation. probably the case here too, though i'll admit to not being so familiar with the details. of course, mismanagement of such things is as bad as none... it'd also help if our government stopped focusing their economic policy on promoting exports (which really just drives up local prices due to 'well, that's what we get overseas' and triggers trade deals which lead to more imports that undermine our local production and then require More exports to balance the books.) more useful to focus on replacing imports. (which means More tariffs, properly applied, not less) replacing an import with local production frees up the resources that were used to import that thing to import other things, creates local jobs, can be step one in seting up Other industries, AND can result in more things to export. bonus: tariffs bring money IN, unlike subsidies which take it Out. (of the treasury that is). remember the last time things were subsudiesed to support more exporting? (wait, that was a different article. oh well, the rants sort of run togeather a bit.)
Taking the tax off wouldn't create any sort of lower food prices in the long term. Most supermarkets/suppliers would more than likely take it as an extra profit. Sure, orignally it would appear cheaper. But prices would just creep right back up. Leave GST as it is. Doing this only opens it up to loopholes. However, why does there have to be a trade off. Could we not just have a capital gains tax without messing with GST.
Take the tax off any food in its raw form. It is like this overseas, and it works. If the item is 'processed' it is taxed. I don't think NZ needs any more taxes, as we are taxed to death as it is. ETS is a scam and we are basically paying a tax on air, yet no one appears to be bothered by this at all. They tax us coming and going (income and spending) so that there is only about 20% of our own money that we can keep - the politicians exploit our labour for their own benefit. They need to come up with a way to keep skilled NZers in this country, as many are just getting fed up and leaving for Oz. We need a govt that works FOR the people. Taxing healthy food is akin to criminal activity - and I agree that the wealthy duopoly of grocers will not lower prices even if the GST is taken off. We need MORE competion; bring in Aldi's and Trader Joes like they did in Oz, and then see what happens to Foodstuffs and Progressive once they have some viable competition. Competition is good and keeps everyone honest.
The people this will theoretically benefit will still queue at KFC. No change.
Robo We have enough overseas shit hitting our stores already.And any food stuffs should be very stringently controlled,as in China and Taiwan they eat snake and dogs also Vietnam,these are places Key has just visited and Indian food would be a no no on the dinner plate after seeing the programme on India last Sunday night,just disgusting and if Key is not carefull we will end up with beggars like there scroungering through the rubbish dumps for plastic rubbish, wire copper any thing that they can make a living on.Maybe that is what the NATS want to happen here.
40,000 New Zealanders are fooling themselves if they think taking GST of certain foods will be of benefit. Yes food will be cheaper initially but then the greedy Foodstuffs and Progressive Exucutives / Accountants will put prices up with any given excuse becuase they will see a gap of "well we paid it before why not now". The best the government should do is create competition, encourage large overseas retail outlets to compete against Progressive and Foodstuffs on retail supply and also at the same time create new employment possibilites. It will also give growers / wholesale suppliers a better oppurtunity to not be "slaved to the dreaded 2"
Taking GST off all foods is not going to help people make healthier food choices, just taking it off fresh fruit and veges and milk will make the most impact.
Entering a minefield just taking GST off fresh fruit/veges, keep a new Govt Dept set up to rule on it and of course the lawyers busy!...coleslaw is raw vegies with a dressing, bag of apple slices are raw, but been processed into a bag etc etc.Sooo Clarke, what was the point of Goff and his 'Axe the tax' bus trip up and down the country? and when quizzed if he would 'axe the tax' he couldn't/wouldn't say, so it's just coming off fruit/veggies, why not take it back to 12.5% if it's such a bad tax increase Clarke?....once again National do the hard stuff and Labour squeal and moan, but don't reverse it...ah la Rogernomics eh?, keep it as we can always blame the others for it, Goff has no credibility on GST, HE was in Govt when it was first introduced.
The labour party will come onboard as will the greens as well as mana.Its National, Act and United Future who will vote against this and wont allow it to happen.If National removes GST from food then they will increase indirect taxation elsewhere, National will however vote this down even though it is in the best interests of the country.National are not about appeasing the majority, we have seen them completely ignore the anti smacking referendum, so even if this had 90 percent of the countries support... it still wont pass under a National government... which I guess is why the tax justice group are hoping labour will support it... which is kind of a given as one of their election promises is the removal of GST from these items anyway which will be covered by the introduction of a capital gains tax which is long overdue.Kiwis should support a capital gains tax as it doesnt hurt the majority of kiwis and remember its only a tax on the sale of a property so it wont affect rental prices at all, in fact other countries that have introduced it saw little to no increase in rental prices.