Why not make it a percentage so it goes up when petrol increases with inflation, a set amount just means you have to increase it again in a few years to keep up. I am not against it on its own but you forgot about the other charges they are introducing at the same time.
But the thing is they campaigned on doing more with the income are getting already because they can manage the finances better, but as soon as they are in they start squealing about fiscal holes and put taxes up. All the same - useless liars.
These comments are non-political.
NZ is slowly slipping in what we offer. More people on the roads, using hospitals, in schools that we can’t afford to fund so they slip backwards. Rundown infrastructure and an inability to maintain what we have as well as investing in new. Underinvestment has been going on for 20+ years in schools, hospitals and infrastructure.
We’re in a world with dwindling resources and climate change issues which means costs will only skyrocket - and many are already struggling to keep up.
The solution seems to be reallocation from the well off to top up the people that can’t keep up… and forcing wages to Lee up with inflation despite productivity not warranting it. That pool of struggling voters is going to keep growing over time and the reallocation will collapse when the struggling outnumber the tax payers. It’s simple maths. The productive face increasing complexity to do business and reduced profitability with greater tax take to supporting everyone. They will simply leave in increasing numbers leading to a downward spiral of meet everyone’s needs.
So we face a downward spiral of lower services, deteriorating infrastructure and increasing hardship with less ability to meet the needs. A slow slip from a first world economy/ country.
The only way out I can see is to grow the economy faster than our costs go up. But I don’t see it happening. There is not the voter will. We’re like a retirement economy where we prioritise quality of life over growth. Ironically, like retired people, we wont be able to afford that quality and settle for old unreplaced furniture that’s falling apart. Neither main party offers the solution because the voters don’t want it and politics will get increasingly negative and the country increasingly split as we fight to divide the pie and support everyone.
Personally I’m encouraging my kids to get out to more go ahead countries and will probably end up leaving myself some time in the future. Preferably before Labour next gets in and comes up with daft wealth taxes/ CGT that will only make things worse and speed up our decline. Why support a country that doesn’t want to fight to thrive and help itself but chooses a laid back economy and tax its way into oblivion.
I don’t think most NZers realise just how far behind we’re getting and how it’s going to get much worse. And how transferring wealth can never make up for actually being productive.
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