Tax Justice media release
29 May 2011

Su’a William Sio the Labour MP for Mangere will receive the Tax Justice petition in front of Parliament Buildings on Tuesday 16 August.

The Tax Justice petition requests parliament to: 1. Remove GST from food; and 2. Tax financial speculation.

“We’re very pleased to have Su’a William Sio receiving the petition, because we’ve had good support in his Mangere electorate for the campaign,” says Vaughan Gunson, Tax Justice campaign coordinator.

Mr Gunson says the Tax Justice campaign is on target to present 50,000 signatures to Mr Sio.

“Removing GST from food is an immediate action which would address rising food prices that are hurting low and middle income earners,” says Gunson.

“And we want a debate in this country about why financial speculators are allowed to profit in New Zealand markets and pay no tax,” says Gunson. “We pay tax on our food, while mega-wealthy speculators pay zero tax – it’s obscene and must be reversed.”

Su’a William Sio says he looks forward to tabling the Tax Justice petition before parliament. He says having 50,000 signatures on a petition is enough reason for Parliament to take note and consider the merits and substance of this petition.

“The large numbers of people signing this petition also reflects the significant numbers of New Zealanders who are struggling to make ends meet due to the high cost of living, which I see everyday in Mangere,” says Mr Sio.

“Labour recognises that the cost of living is a huge issue in our communities and that’s why it has already set out its initial policies – removing all GST off fresh fruits and vegetables, and no tax on the first $5000 of income.”

Mr Gunson believes the issue of Tax Justice will not go away. He is confident that progressive organisations and political parties can build a broad movement for Tax Justice that challenges the National government’s mantra of lower taxes for the rich and more GST for the rest of us.

New Zealanders can sign an online version of the Tax Justice petition at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/taxjustice/

For comment, contact:

Vaughan Gunson
Tax Justice campaign coordinator
(09)433 8897
021 0415 082

Su’a William Sio
Member of Parliament for Mangere
(04) 817 9870
021 245 3522

by Jomo Kwame Sundaram
United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development
9 May 2011

Lack of food is rarely the reason that people go hungry. The world today produces enough food to feed everyone. The problem is that more and more people simply cannot afford to buy the food they need. Even before the recent food-price increases, a billion people were suffering from chronic hunger, while another two billion were experiencing malnutrition, bringing the total number of food-insecure people to around three billion, or almost half the world’s population.

Global food prices are at the highest level since the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) started monitoring them in 1990. The World Bank estimates that recent food-price increases have driven an additional 44 million people in developing countries into poverty.

The rapid rise in world prices for all basic food crops – corn, wheat, soybeans, and rice – along with other foods like cooking oils, has been devastating for poor households all over the world. But almost everybody’s standard of living has been reduced. Middle-class people are increasingly careful about their food purchases; the near-poor are losing headway and falling below, rather than staying above, the poverty line; and the poor and vulnerable, not surprisingly, are suffering even more.

Food production increased greatly with the quest for food security and the Green Revolution from the 1960’s to the 1980’s, owing to considerable government and international not-for-profit support. But agricultural experts have warned of the risks of the flagging efforts to boost food output since the 1980’s.

As food-supply growth has slowed, demand has continued to rise, owing not only to population increase, but also for reasons such as growing use of food crops to sustain livestock. The problem is exacerbated by the significant drop in official development assistance for agricultural development in developing countries. Aid for agriculture fell by more than half in the quarter-century after 1980, as the World Bank cut agricultural lending from $7.7 billion in 1980 to $2 billion in 2004.

With cuts continuing, agricultural research and development – needed to improve crop productivity – has fallen for all crops in all developing countries. Meanwhile, in the private sector, agribusinesses spend much more on research than all public agricultural research institutes together.

Developing-country governments also stopped subsidizing farmers or being involved in food marketing, storage, transportation, or credit provision. Meanwhile, rich countries continue to subsidize and protect their farmers, thereby undermining food production in developing countries.

The World Bank and the World Trade Organization still insist that further agricultural trade liberalization is the best medium-term solution. Since the 1980’s, governments have been pressed to promote exports to earn foreign exchange and import food. As a result, many poor countries have turned to the world market to buy cheap rice and wheat, instead of growing their own. Some countries and regions that were previously self-sufficient in food now import large quantities of it. This drives up food prices, causing even more anguish for the world’s poorest people.

Other factors have contributed to the food crisis. Climate changes resulting from greenhouse-gas emissions exacerbate water-supply problems, accelerate desertification and water stress, and worsen the unpredictability and severity of weather events, all of which adversely affect agriculture in much of the world. Deforestation, growing population pressure, urbanization, soil erosion, over-fishing, and the impact of foreign domination over marketing, inputs, processing, and even farming also play a role.

Increased oil prices are also affecting the price of food. Commercial agriculture uses petroleum, oil, and gas to operate machinery, transport goods, and produce agro-chemicals needed for fertilizers and pesticides.

Moreover, food crops are being grown to produce bio-fuels, reducing their availability for human consumption. Rich countries have provided generous subsidies and other incentives for increased bio-fuel production, while poorer countries encouraging bio-fuel production have provided far fewer market-distorting incentives to farmers.

Certainly, some bio-fuels are far more cost-effective and energy-efficient than others, while different bio-fuel stocks have very different opportunity costs (for example, sugar has not experienced any significant price increase). Hence, the debate over bio-fuels needs to be far more nuanced.

Speculation and hoarding have also been contributing to food-price spikes. More securitization, easier online trading, and other financial-market developments in recent years have facilitated greater speculative investments, especially in commodity futures and options markets.

As the financial crisis deepened and spread from late 2007, speculators began investing in commodities, and the dollar’s decline relative to other currencies has also induced such investments. Indeed, this may explain recent food-price surges better than the factors underlying longer-term gradual upward price trends. In that case, the problem that many people around the world are facing today is one of food security, not a lack of food. Of course, if you are hungry or undernourished today as a result of food-price increases, that is a distinction without a difference.

Tax Justice media release
20 May 2011

“The Budget has left in place the gross injustice at the heart of New Zealand’s tax system,” says Vaughan Gunson, Tax Justice campaign coordinator.

“Grassroots Kiwis are still going to be paying tax on their food, while financial speculation goes untaxed. It’s disgusting and it has to be changed,” says Gunson.

“Alas, our prime minister, a former currency speculator who thinks it’s great that credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s likes the Budget, isn’t listening,” says Gunson.

“Standard and Poor’s are part of the global financial elite who’ve run-amok with the economy, enriching themselves at the expense of the rest of us.”

“It’s the orgy of speculation by this financial elite which is causing the systemic crisis in the world economy,” says Gunson. “Speculation needs to be discouraged by being taxed.”

Mr Gunson says a Financial Transaction Tax is internationally recognised as the best mechanism for taxing the speculators.

“With the revenue generated by a tax on financial speculation we could easily remove GST from food and have more money in the pockets of ordinary New Zealanders,” say Gunson.

Tax Justice campaigners are going to be out on the streets over the weekend collecting more signatures for the Tax Justice petition, which calls on parliament to remove GST from Food and tax financial speculation instead.

For comment, contact:

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

Kia ora supporters of Tax Justice,

Things are coming together for our post-Budget push to get 10,000 more signatures for the Tax Justice petition, which requests parliament to: 1. Remove GST from Food; and 2. Tax Financial Speculation.

Another 10,000 signatures will take us past 40,000, and on our way to 50,000+ by the time we present the petition to parliament in August.

If you would like to help on a Tax Justice petition stall over the three days (Fri-Sun 20-22 May), you can contact these regional organisers:

Whangarei and Northland

Vaughan Gunson
email: svpl@xtra.co.nz
phone: (09)433 8897 or 021-0415 082

Auckland

David Colyer
email: colyer@pl.net
phone: (09)634 3984 or 021-0462 011

Rotorua

Bernie Hornfeck
email: bernieh@slingshot.co.nz
phone: (07)345 9853

Tauranga

Tony Snelling-Berg
email: tonysnell@clear.net.nz
phone: (07)544 1859

Wellington

Grant Brookes
email: grant_brookes@paradise.net.nz
phone: 021-0532 973

Christchurch

Don Archer
email: dwa@clear.net.nz
phone: (03)381 8925

Dunedin

Kay Murray
email: ksimmondsmurray@xtra.co.nz
phone: 021-1672 843

For everywhere else, contact Vaughan Gunson, Tax Justice campaign coordinator, email svpl@xtra.co.nz, phone (09)433 8897 or 021-0415 082.

No matter where you are, you can help the campaign, by either collecting signatures from friends, family and workmates or setting up a Tax Justice petition stall on a busy street in your area. All you need is a small table, the petition on a clipboard, some pens, and a poster (anything with “GST off food” on it will bring people over).

Help kick-off our signature drive in Auckland, 19 May

On Thursday 19 May (the day of the Budget), there will be a media preview at the TVNZ studios, 100 Victoria Street West, Auckland CBD.

The media will be locked-in until 1.55pm. We want to have a crowd of people who support tax justice outside the TVNZ studios when the media leave. If you would like to come along dressed as Robin Hood (with toy bow and arrows) please do. Should be fun! All welcome.

We’ll be collecting signatures for the Tax Justice petition from 12noon to 3pm on this busy central city street.

Let us know how you get on

If you do collect signatures for the Tax Justice petition in the days after the budget, then send in an email or txt the number you collected. Then we can add your efforts to the national total we’ll be releasing to the media.

Hope you can help make a difference.

Kind regards,

Vaughan Gunson
Tax Justice campaign coordinator
svpl@xtra.co.nz
021-0415 082

Join us on Facebook. 7,000 people already have! Go to https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/No-GST-on-food/119541161411953

Post-Budget push to collect 10,000 more signatures for the Tax Justice petition

Fri-Sun, 20-22 May

You can help. Contact Vaughan Gunson, Tax Justice campaign coordinator, straight away. Email svpl@xtra.co.nz, or ph/txt 021-0415 082.

On Thursday 19 May, John Key’s National-led government will present their 2011 Budget. It will most certainly be an attack on grassroots people. There will be cuts to public services and social spending, which will hurt ordinary Kiwis. There will be other announcements that strengthen the hand of the market and enrich an elite few. John Key will try to justify the attacks by saying the government is spending too much and racking up debt.

But in fact the government is not spending enough to help ordinary New Zealanders. They’re not spending enough to help the people of Christchurch who face a cold winter in damaged homes. And the reason the government is borrowing heavily is because they handed out tax cuts to the rich and big corporates. The country isn’t broke, the wealth is being stolen away!

As part of our collective fightback we need to rally support and build political momentum for tax justice. One tool we have is the Tax Justice petition, which calls on parliament to:

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

Removing GST from food would give immediate relief to people struggling to cope with the rising cost of living. It would set the country on a path to getting rid of GST, a horrible regressive tax, altogether.

While we currently pay tax on our kai, the financial speculators operating in NZ markets are getting a free lunch (or should we say banquet?). They pay zero tax on their profiteering. This gross injustice must be stopped.

30,000 people have so far signed the Tax Justice petition. But we need heaps more signatures by the time we present the petition to parliament in August. That will increase our chances of making Tax Justice an election issue.

Tax Justice 10,000, 20-22 May

We’ve done it before, we can do it again. We’re aiming to get 10,000 more signatures for the Tax Justice campaign in three days immediately following Budget 2011. A Budget that grassroots people are going to be angry about, which will translate into people wanting to sign the Tax Justice petition. We can count on it.

We need volunteers from around the country. If you can help on a Tax Justice petition stall (a table on busy street) or organise one in your area between Friday 20 May and Sunday 22 May, contact me now. Email svpl@xtra.co.nz or ph/txt 021-0415 082 (anytime).

Leading up to the Budget and afterwards we’ll be sending out a string of media releases. A big mobilisation of Tax Justice supporters around the country will help us break into the mainstream media, so important to the campaign.

The Tax Justice demands are achievable. Winning them would be a big boost to the confidence of grassroots people in this country, from which many good things could flow.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

Vaughan Gunson
Tax Justice campaign coordinator
svpl@xtra.co.nz
021-0415 082

by Mike Dinsdale
Northern Advocate
3rd May 2011

Hone Harawira’s plan for a “Hone Heke tax” – a financial transaction tax on all spending that sees the rich pay more – has already received support from one sector, Tax Justice campaigners.

Mr Harawira launched his new Mana Party on Saturday and said his party’s strategy on taxes would be targeted at wealth such as capital gains taxes, death duties and asset taxes, something he called a “Hone Heke tax”.

He said the Mana Party’s basic aims were simple: To guarantee affordable food and shelter to all New Zealanders.

That meant rebuilding unions and introducing a Hone Heke Tax of 1 per cent on every dollar spent in a financial transaction and scrapping other taxes.

Northlander Vaughan Gunson, coordinator of Tax Justice, said there would be broad support for the tax and a campaign for a financial transaction tax was a big boost to the Tax Justice cause.

“The ‘Hone Heke’ branding of a tax that targets the speculators, banks and big corporates might catch on,” Mr Gunson said.

“We do need to cut these people and organisations down to size … They’re not paying the tax they should be. Speculators in New Zealand’s financial markets currently pay no tax on their profiteering. It’s a gross injustice.”

He said it would raise significant public revenue.

“With the money we take off the mega-wealthy we could remove GST off food,” Mr Gunson said. “This would provide immediate relief to people struggling to cope with the rising cost of living.”

A financial transaction tax is also a policy of the Green Party, Maori Party and the Alliance Party.

There’s also strong support from New Zealand’s union movement.

“This broad support means that taxing the speculators is set to be an election issue,” he said.

Tax Justice media release
1 May 2011

The announcement by Hone Harawira that the Mana Party will campaign for a Financial Transaction Tax is a big boost to the Tax Justice campaign.

“The “Hone Heke” branding of a tax that targets the speculators, banks and big corporates might catch on,” says Vaughan Gunson, Tax Justice campaign coordinator.

“We do need to cut these people and organisations down to size,” says Gunson. “They’re not paying the tax they should be. Speculators in New Zealand’s financial markets currently pay no tax on their profiteering. It’s a gross injustice.”

Mr Gunson says a tax on financial transactions of 1%, as the Mana Party is advocating, would bring in significant public revenue.

“With the money we take off the mega-wealthy we could remove GST off food,” says Gunson. “This would provide immediate relief to people struggling to cope with the rising cost of living.”

“And we could fund the re-building of Christchurch, without slashing social spending, which is what John Key’s government is doing, and will continue to do,” says Gunson.

The Mana Party is not the only party that supports a Financial Transaction Tax. It’s the policy of the Green Party, Maori Party and the Alliance Party. There’s also strong support from New Zealand’s union movement.

“This broad support means that taxing the speculators is set to be an election issue,” says Gunson.

Mr Gunson hopes a number of organisations and political parties will help to collect more signatures for the Tax Justice petition over the coming months.

“We’ve got over 30,000 signatures so far, and we’re aiming for at least 50,000 when we present the petition to parliament in August.”

The Tax Justice petition requests parliament to 1. Remove GST from food; and 2. Tax financial speculation.

For comment, contact

Vaughan Gunson
Tax Justice campaign coordinator
021-0415 082
svpl@xtra.co.nz

Kay Murray
Tax Justice spokesperson and Alliance Party co-leader
021-1672 843
ksimmondsmurray@xtra.co.nz

Tax Justice media release
4 April 2011

Tax Justice supports the NZ Not For Sale campaign, which is opposing the National-led government’s behind-the-scenes negotiation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).

“Under the TPPA it would become very difficult to introduce a Financial Transaction Tax in New Zealand, which is one of our campaign goals,” says Vaughan Gunson, Tax Justice campaign coordinator. “Any move to bring in the tax would see government face the prospect of having to pay compensation to global investors.”

“Government decisions that adversely affect the profits of investors from the negotiating countries – Singapore, Chile, Brunei, Australia, Peru, Viet Nam and the United States – could be subject to rulings by international tribunals. That’s why the TPPA is such a major threat to the democratic rights of New Zealanders,” says Gunson.

Tax Justice is calling for a Financial Transaction Tax to curb the ability of speculators to make tax-free profits from short-term investments in New Zealand financial markets. The tax would also raise significant government revenue.

“Following the global financial crisis there’s a need to discourage financial speculation, not further open up the New Zealand economy to financial pariahs, which is what will happen if New Zealand signs-on to the TPPA,” says Gunson.

Mr Gunson says momentum is swinging internationally towards a tax on financial transactions that targets the banks, big corporates and the super-rich. In Britain there’s the popular Robin Hood Tax campaign, which is being promoted globally by Oxfam.

Earlier this year the European Parliament voted overwhelming in favor of Financial Transaction Tax (see Euro MPs vote for Financial Transaction Tax, 9 March).

In October 2009, Brazil introduced a 2% Financial Transaction Tax on trading of the Brazilian dollar, to stop speculators destabilising the currency.

30,000 New Zealanders have so far signed the Tax Justice petition that calls for a tax on financial speculation and GST to be removed from food. The petition will be presented to parliament before this year’s General Election.

Spokesperson for the NZ Not For Sale campaign, Murray Horton (also of CAFCA), is currently on a nationwide speaking tour. For details go to http://cafcatour.blogspot.com/

For comment, contact:

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

Tax Justice media release
9 March 2011

“The massive vote in support of a Financial Transaction Tax by MPs in the European Parliament is good news for the campaign in New Zealand,” says Vaughan Gunson, Tax Justice campaign coordinator.

“It shows that support for a Financial Transaction Tax which targets the banks, speculators and big corporates is gaining momentum worldwide. New Zealand politicians must take notice.” (See MEPs vote in favour of ‘Robin Hood’ transaction tax, 9 March 2011.)

The Tax Justice campaign wants a tax placed on financial speculation, to discourage an economic activity that was behind the global financial crisis, but also to raise significant government revenue.

Greek Socialist Anni Podimata, who drafted the successful resolution for the European Parliament , says that while European citizens have been hit hard by the financial crisis and growing unemployment “the financial sector remains largely under-taxed and has this year enjoyed profits and bonuses at pre-crisis levels.”

“What’s happening in Europe is happening here,” says Gunson. “The Australian-owned banks, for example, have continued to make massive profits, while ordinary people are under increasing financial stress.”

“Because the New Zealand economy is so deregulated global speculators are allowed to continue their profiteering, and not pay any tax to the New Zealand government.”

“It’s hugely unjust that speculators are getting away with paying no tax on their profits, while grassroots New Zealanders get lumped with a tax on food,” says Gunson. “A Financial Transaction Tax is a solution.”

Over 25,000 people have so far signed the Tax Justice petition to remove GST from food and tax financial speculation instead.

For comment, contact:

Vaughan Gunson
Tax Justice campaign coordinator
021-0415 082
svpl@xtra.co.nz