Market study welcome, but Govt can act now

The Green Party is today welcoming the announcement of a market study into banks, but is urging the Government to act now and raise corporate taxes.

“Banks have made eye watering record profits recently due entirely to circumstances out of their control, while low income people in Aotearoa spend more and more of their income on essentials. A market study will be useful, but the time is now to lift every single family out of poverty through our Income Guarantee and to pay for it with a fairer tax system,” says the Green Party’s finance spokesperson Julie Anne Genter.

“The Green Party has been pushing for an inquiry into bank profits for almost two years and we’re pleased the government is finally taking action. However, it should not take an inquiry to realise that we have thousands of people struggling to cover the basics, while huge banks are able to line the back pockets of their wealthy shareholders.

“While we support this investigation, the government does not need to wait a whole year to act. Banks are making billions of dollars that could be taxed fairly and the money used to help people to make ends meet. That is one of the ways the Green Party would fund an Income Guarantee for every New Zealander.

“Our Ending Poverty Together plan would redesign the tax system, including increasing the corporate tax rate back to what it was over 10 years ago.

“Raising the corporate tax rate - and using the money to fund our Income Guarantee - is a simple and effective way for large corporations to pay their fair share, so we can make sure everyone in and out of work has the peace of mind that they can always cover life’s essentials.

“When the Reserve Bank and the Monopoly Watchdog says that we need to examine these profits, politicians should take a deeper look. But let us be very clear: refusing to access the resources we all need to make life better for everyone, is a political choice. Only the Greens are willing to redesign our tax system to make sure everyone has what they need,” says Julie Anne Genter.

Latest Finance Announcements

Story

RBNZ lowers OCR, Govt continues ‘let them eat cake’ strategy

While the Reserve Bank lowers the Official Cash Rate, it’s this Government’s policies driving poverty in our communities.
Read More

Story

Trickle-down tax cuts while the planet and social contract burns

The Government’s bloody-minded commitment to delivering trickle-down tax cuts at all costs comes at the expense of investment in people and planet. 
Read More

Story

Minister of Finance reheats austerity politics

This morning’s pre-Budget speech from the Minister of Finance offered no “meaningful” news on the Government’s trickle-down economics based plans.
Read More

Story

Central Bank makes clear Government is pouring fuel on housing crisis fire

Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choos...
Read More

Story

Cold climate cuts for Christmas

Once again, the National Party has shown a breathtaking willingness to say one thing during an election campaign and then do the exact opposite whe...
Read More

Story

State of books makes clear case for wealth tax

The case for a wealth tax has never been stronger.
Read More