NZPA

Tough economic times are causing “food stress” in poor and middle-class households as they cut back spending on food to cope with costs such as rent or mortgage payments, researchers say.

“Households with low or moderate food security used food as a flexible part of their budget they could manipulate…depending on what was happening that week,” Otago University nutritionist Claire Smith said today.

This was done so that families could pay for accommodation, power, petrol and insurance, she said.

“If we could ease the economic constraint of those expenses, it would probably have an flow-on effect in terms of how much people can spend on food.”

But proposals for behavioural solutions, such as getting households to budget properly, buy less ready-to-eat food such as takeaways, spend more time cooking, or shop more usefully were largely ineffective, according to Ms Smith, a speaker at a three-day national conference being held in Dunedin from tomorrow by Dietitians New Zealand.

She said research in 2007 and 2008 showed 60 percent of the households she surveyed in Dunedin and Wellington were “food secure” but 10 percent had low food security and 30 percent had only moderate security.

“Nearly half of the low-income families – those with an income of less than $30,000 – were experiencing food insecurity,” she told a Science Media Centre briefing for journalists before the conference.

Since the start of the Family, Food Environment study, economic recession had been accompanied by wider income cuts, redundancies, and increased food, electricity and fuel prices.

Earlier work had shown that a lack of food security was more commonly found in households in deprived areas, and those with children or those headed by younger adults, and in Maori or Pacific Island homes, single parent homes, or those reliant on welfare payments.

An adult woman in a “food-secure” household was spending an average of $55.64 a week on food.

The equivalent spending in a home with moderate food security was $49, and a woman with low food security spent $36.52, mainly by buying fewer snacks, cakes, and biscuits, less non-alcoholic drinks, and lower-quality bread.

“They weren’t spending their money on empty calories,” Ms Smith said. “They were maintaining their spending on foods such as milk.”

She said secure and insecure households bought similar numbers of ready-to-eat meals, but the poorer families were opting for unhealthier takeaways such as fish and chips, rather than eating in restaurants.

An associate dean at Flinders University in Adelaide, Professor John Coveney – who will attend Dunedin conference – said the Otago research was important because it showed calls for poor people to simply eat less junk food was based on a myth.

On 22 May the Alliance Party and Socialist Worker jointly launched the Tax Justice campaign. The focus of the campaign is a petition calling on parliament to:

1. Remove GST from food; and

2. Tax financial speculation.

The reception to the campaign has been very encouraging. So far 7,000 signatures have been collected.

A growing list of supporters outside of Socialist Worker and the Alliance are offering to help with the campaign.

And 1,800+ people have joined the No GST on Food Facebook page.

The Tax Justice campaign is connecting with people angered by the hike in GST and the escalation of basic living costs, who are also worried by the economic situation following the world financial crisis and its impact on the New Zealand economy.

10,000 signatures in two days

On 1st October GST will increase from 12.5% to 15%. The GST hike is going to be a big issue in the media and for grassroots people. This will be an opportunity to promote a just solution to New Zealand’s unfair tax system.

The Tax Justice campaign is going to organise a Double Day of nationwide petition stalls on Friday 1st October and Saturday 2nd October. Our goal is to get 10,000 signatures in two days.

It’s hoped that through a heavily promoted Double Day of signature collecting we can reach more supporters and break into local and national media.

You can help

With your help we can reach our ambitious target of 10,000 signatures in two days. If you want to be part of the Tax Justice action on 1-2 October get in touch with us straight away. Contact campaign coordinator Vaughan Gunson, email svpl@xtra.co.nz or ph/txt 021-0415 082.

To take the campaign to another level we’re establishing a national Organisers Team. That team is open to anyone who wants to help. We want to cover the country with Tax Justice organisers.

The Tax Justice Organisers Team will communicate largely by email. If you want to be part of the team, contact Vaughan.

In solidarity,

Vaughan Gunson
Socialist Worker

and

Victor Billot
Alliance Party

The following article appeared in the Winter 2010 issue of The Maritimes, magazine of the Maritime Union of New Zealand.

Get GST off food

The Maritime Union of New Zealand has endorsed a new campaign remove GST from food and tax financial speculation.

The Maritimes magazine is urging all workers to support the Tax Justice campaign.

Organizers say GST hits workers on low to middle incomes hard and that is why they want GST taken off food.

Maritime Union of New Zealand General Secretary Joe Fleetwood says the campaign is “an important cause for the working class to get behind.”

Mr Fleetwood says the Maritime Union is the first union to endorse the campaign and would be promoting it to the rest of the Union movement in New Zealand.

The petition kicked off with a national day of action on Saturday 22 May, with nearly 900 signatures collected at the seven petition stalls organised around the country.

Since that time hundreds more signatures have been collected.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tax Justice media release
23 July 2010

Peter Dunne, Revenue Minister in the National-led government has said “it’s not New Zealand’s policy to have a non-universal GST.”

“This is not true,” says Vaughan Gunson, Tax Justice campaign coordinator. “GST is not applied universally today. The major exemption is for financial services.”

Inland Revenue lists the following financial services as exempted from GST: dealings with money; certain dealings with securities; provision of credit and loans; provision of life insurance; provision of non-deliverable futures contracts and financial options; the payment and collection of interest, principal and dividends; and issuing securities such as stocks and shares.

“The main users of these financial services are rich investors, speculators, banks and other wealthy corporates,” says Gunson.

“Why is it okay for them to get off paying GST, when grassroots people struggling to make ends meet have to pay tax on food?” asks Gunson. “John Key needs to fess up to the people of New Zealand and admit that our tax system has a rotten core.”

“GST on food makes up a big chunk of the government’s tax revenue, but that could easily be replaced by introducing a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT),” says Gunson.

“A small percentage tax on financial transactions would net billions from rich speculators and wealthy corporates, who are today enjoying a free ride from GST,” says Gunson.

The Tax Justice campaign has been launched to promote a doable solution to New Zealand’s unjust tax system.  The focus of our campaign is a petition that calls on parliament to:

1. Remove GST from food; and
2. Tax financial speculation.

“In the last two months we’ve collected 5,000 signatures,” says Gunson. “We’re picking up a lot of anger on the street about the upcoming GST hike, which will stretch the budgets of low-to-middle income people to breaking point,” says Gunson.

“The issue of tax justice for grassroots Kiwis is not going away. We’re confident the campaign is going to get bigger and bigger.”

See Tax Justice media release (18 July): “It’s New Zealand’s tax system that’s unhealthy” says Tax Justice campaign

For more information on the campaign, contact:

Vaughan Gunson
Tax Justice campaign coordinator
(09)433 8897
021-0415 082
svpl@xtra.co.nz

Victor Billot
Tax Justice media spokesperson
021-482 219
victor@victorbillot.com

John Key says ‘no’. Grassroots people on the street are saying ‘yes’.

Join the Tax Justice campaign and force the government to listen. Our petition calls on parliament to: 1) Remove GST from food; and 2) Tax financial speculation.

In two months since the launch of the campaign we’ve collected 5,000 signatures. The number of signatures being collected is accelerating as more people offer to help. To get involved contact Vaughan Gunson, Tax Justice campaign coordinator, email svpl@xtra.co.nz or ph/txt 021-0415 082.

‘We won’t support GST removal’ – PM

from NZ Herald
21 July 2010

Prime minister John Key

A bid to remove GST on healthy foods to lower costs has been slammed by the Government.

Prime Minister John Key said the Government will not support Maori Party MP Rahui Katene’s bill, which defines healthy food as fruit and vegetables, breads and cereals, milk and milk products – excluding ice cream, cream products, condensed and flavoured milk – and lean meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, nuts, seeds and legumes.

The Government would not support the removal of GST on particular items, he said.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tax Justice media release
18 July 2010

The debate around Rahui Katene’s private members bill to remove GST from healthy food needs to be broadened. That’s the message from Tax Justice campaigners.

“We need to address the core injustices in New Zealand’s tax system,” says Vaughan Gunson, Tax Justice campaign coordinator. “Grassroots people are forced to stomach GST on food, while something as destructive to the economy as financial speculation goes untaxed,” says Gunson.

The Tax Justice campaign launched on 22 May is proposing a healthy alternative to what’s being served up today.

“We’re advocating that GST be removed from all food,” says Gunson. “This would deliver a tax cut that wouldn’t be unfairly tilted in favour of the rich.”

A family spending $200 a week on food after 1st October will be paying GST of $26.09. Take the GST off food and you’ve got a tax cut more substantial than most people are going to get from National’s tax changes.

“And we’ve got the answer for how we maintain enough tax revenue to properly fund public services,” says Gunson. “We’re saying tax the financial speculators, who are getting away with paying no tax at the moment.”

“A Financial Transactions Tax (FTT) would be the best way to make financial speculators pay tax at the point where their profits are accumulated,” says Gunson. “A small percentage tax on financial transactions would net huge sums from mostly overseas speculators, but also local ones.”

We’ve been taking our message onto the streets with a petition that calls on parliament to:

1. Remove GST from food; and
2. Tax financial speculation.

The response from people has been terrific. In two months we’ve collected 5,000 signatures,” says Gunson. “We expect the pace of signatures will continue to increase as more people find out about the campaign and offer to help.”

“Grassroots people know New Zealand’s tax system is unfair. The Tax Justice campaign is promoting a doable solution.”

For more information on the campaign, contact:

Vaughan Gunson
Tax Justice campaign coordinator
(09)433 8897
021-0415 082
svpl@xtra.co.nz

Victor Billot
Tax Justice media spokesperson
021-482 219
victor@victorbillot.com

by Vaughan Gunson
Tax Justice campaign coordinator
10 June 2010

On 1st October a long black cloud is going to descend on the lives of grassroots New Zealanders. GST will increase from 12.5% to 15%, making everything more expensive. The new rate puts New Zealand in the top bracket of countries with equivalent taxes on goods and services (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_added_tax).

On the same day, the National government’s other tax changes will come into place, including across-the-board lowering of income tax rates.

For low-to-middle income people the small improvements in take home pay resulting from the tax cuts will be mostly wiped out by the increase in GST on food, electricity, clothing, rates charges, and other items that must be accounted for in weekly budgets. As has been widely reported, it’s the rich and wealthy corporates who get the most out of the tax cuts.

Read the rest of this entry »

Eager petition signers in Auckland

The tax petition to remove GST from food and tax financial speculation was well received at the campaign launch on Saturday. The numbers tell the story, with nearly 900 signatures collected at the seven petition stalls organised around the country.

The stall in Auckland outside the Onehunga supermarket was particularly successful, with nearly 300 signatures collected over three hours. Some people took away bundles of the petition to collect signatures themselves. A dozen people helped out on the stall.

A steady stream of positive feedback on the campaign, and evidence from Saturday’s stalls, suggests that the petition and its demands are going to connect with the majority of people. Especially after the reality of National’s budget starts to sink in. Factor in inflation, on top on the GST hike, and most people will either be no better off or receive only a tiny benefit from the income tax cuts. National’s budget delivered to the rich, not grassroots New Zealanders.

That’s why a broad campaign for tax justice is needed. Removing GST from food would provide an instant and lasting benefit to ordinary people struggling to pay the bills. This common sense tax cut could easily be funded by taxing financial speculation.

How can you help?

Over the next few weeks and months what’s going to matter most, is numbers. The more signatures we collect the more support we’ll attract from individuals and groups. And if we start to record really good numbers of signatures, we’ll be more likely to get local and national media attention, essential for growing the campaign.

You can help by collecting signatures from friends, family and workmates. Every little effort will count.

You can download copies of the tax petition from the respective websites of the Alliance Party and Socialist Worker. Or if you want to be sent copies of the petition directly, email Vaughan Gunson (Socialist Worker), svpl@xtra.co.nz or Victor Billot (Alliance Party), victor@victorbillot.com.

If you would like to help out at tax petition stalls – like the one in Auckland above – in any centre where we have organisers, get in touch with us. If we don’t have a local organiser in your centre, you can become the organiser. We can give you some advice and other assistance.  Contact campaign coordinator, Vaughan Gunson email svpl@xtra.co.nz or ph/txt 021-0415 082.

“The 15% GST hike announced in the budget today is unjust,” says Vaughan Gunson, coordinator of a new campaign for tax justice.

“Grassroots people who spend most of their income on the basics of life are now going to be paying more of this horrible tax, while it’s the rich and big corporates who reap the benefits of the tax cuts,” says Gunson.

“The GST hike will increase the pain at the supermarket for grassroots New Zealanders. The weekly budgets of people on low-to-middle incomes are going to be blown to bits,” says Gunson.

“In these tough economic times we need to urgently shift the tax burden off grassroots people,” says Gunson. “Removing GST from food would deliver instant and lasting benefits to the majority of us.”

This Saturday 22 May, tax justice campaigners will be out on the streets launching a nationwide tax petition which requests parliament to:

1. Remove GST from food; and
2. Tax financial speculation.

The petition is jointly sponsored by the Alliance Party and Socialist Worker.

Gunson says the two demands address the core injustice in the current tax system. “Why should we have to pay tax on one of life’s necessities, food, while financial speculation goes untaxed?”

“The one-two counterpunch contained in the tax petition, to (1) remove GST from food, and (2) tax financial speculation, hits back at the pro-corporate and pro-rich tax policies National is pursuing,” says Gunson.

“If we taxed financial speculation by introducing a modest Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) we could easily afford to remove GST from food,” says Gunson. “A FTT would help discourage financial speculation, which destabilises the economy and causes untold harm to ordinary people, as the global financial crisis has proven.”

We expect the response to the petition to be overwhelmingly positive when we hit the streets this weekend. There will be petition stalls in these cities on Saturday 22 May:

Whangarei
8am-10am, Whangarei Growers’ Market, Water Street.

Auckland
12noon-3pm, outside Onehunga Supermarket, cnr Church Street & Selwyn Street, Onehunga.

Rotorua
9am-3pm, Rotorua City Focus, Tutanekai Street.

Tauranga
9am-12noon, Chadwick Road (opposite the post office), Greerton.

Wellington
11am-12noon, Lower Hutt Markets, Riverbank carpark.

Christchurch
11am, The Square (next to the chalice).

Dunedin
10am-12noon, The Octagon.

Regional media spokespeople will available for comment at the tax petition stalls in each centre.

For more information and comment on the national campaign, contact:

Vaughan Gunson
Campaign coordinator
(09)433 8897
021-0415 082
svpl@xtra.co.nz

or

Victor Billot
Media spokesperson
021-482 219
victor@victorbillot.com

from Socialist Worker and Alliance Party

The Alliance Party and Socialist Worker are jointly launching a nationwide tax campaign on Saturday 22 May. The campaign will champion tax changes of benefit to grassroots New Zealanders.

The focus will be a non-CIR petition sponsored by both Socialist Worker and the Alliance Party, which requests parliament to:

1. Remove GST from food.
2. Tax financial speculation.

These two demands will address injustices in the current tax system. Grassroots people have to pay tax on one of life’s necessities, food, while financial speculation goes untaxed. These injustices will be made worse when the National government this week delivers its 2010 Budget, where GST will almost certainly be increased to 15%.

The GST hike will compound the pain at the supermarket where food prices are already shooting upwards, driven by international speculation in the necessities of life. The budgets of grassroots New Zealanders will be stretched to breaking point. In this context we expect the petition demands to be very popular.

Targeting neoliberalism

GST is a regressive tax that has strong support within corporate, banking and government circles. And unrestrained financialisation has become the central pillar of neoliberal capitalism and the source of an escalating proportion of the profits made by the world’s super-rich over the last few decades.

The one-two counterpunch contained in the tax petition, to (1) remove GST from food, and (2) tax financial speculation, hits the heart of neoliberalism. The petition will be an important mobilising tool in the strategic struggle around tax policy in New Zealand, with the grassroots facing-off against those who continue to promote the neoliberal agenda.

Taxing financial speculation through the introduction of a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) would easily fund the removal of GST on food. At the same time an FTT would help discourage financial speculation, which destabilises the economy and causes untold harm to ordinary people, as the global financial crisis has proven.

How you can help

Socialist Worker and the Alliance Party are extending an open invite to other individuals and groups to support our tax campaign, which launches on Saturday 22 May, two days after National’s budget. The most obvious way that you can help is to collect signatures for the petition. The Alliance Party and Socialist Worker will widely distribute copies of our tax petition to everyone who wants to help.

Numbers are going to count. The more signatures we get, the more chance we have of building enough campaign momentum to connect with multitudes of New Zealanders and thus increase the pressure for fundamental changes in government policies. As our campaign grows, more opportunities may well emerge for wider cooperation among the broad left around tax justice and many other issues. We’d like to get your feedback and hear your ideas.

In solidarity,

Vaughan Gunson (Socialist Worker)
and
Victor Billot (Alliance Party)

For more information contact:

Vaughan Gunson
Campaign coordinator
(09)433 8897
021-0415 082
svpl(at)xtra.co.nz

Victor Billot
Media spokesperson
021-482 219
victor(at)victorbillot.com