A Labour Party campaign against a Government proposal to raise GST starts in Wairarapa tonight with a speech by leader Phil Goff, who is vowing to readjust planned tax changes if his party returns to power.Mr Goff will talk in Masterton about GST, and his
A Labour Party campaign against a Government proposal to raise GST starts in Wairarapa tonight with a speech by leader Phil Goff, who is vowing to readjust planned tax changes if his party returns to power.
Mr Goff will talk in Masterton about GST, and his fellow MPs will spend the following fortnight on a bus tour stating in Auckland on Sunday and stopping in rural New Zealand towns through to Dunedin.
The Government has said changes to be announced in the May budget, which will include some income tax cuts and will potentially confirm a raise in GST to 15 percent, will as a package be beneficial to all earners.
It said the aim was to boost economic growth and living standards through a series of changes which will hopefully encourage saving rather than spending, and boost investment through providing income tax cuts.
Mr Goff said the big winners from National's income tax cuts will be the highest earners, but GST hikes were the biggest concern as they would hit middle to low income workers hard.
Speaking on TV3's Sunrise programme this morning, Mr Goff stopped short of saying Labour would reverse any GST hikes if it won the election next year, "but we will certainly make the tax system fairer".
"What we have to do is put together our tax package and our economic package at the time of the next election when we can weigh up all the factors...we want to under-promise and over-deliver."
Mr Goff said the main point was that Labour would look after "the many -- not the few".
National appeared to be aiming to mainly look after the top 10 percent of earners, he said.
A small number of MPs will travel on each leg of Labour's bus tour and plan to touch base with community groups such as budgeting services, Grey Power and Citizens' Advice Bureau.
