Nailing Feet to the Floor

Fuel Taxes are Regressive Devices 

They Hurt the Working Poor

Daniel Newman
Stuff


If Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern wants to uncover the root cause of motorist's pain at the pump, she need only look in the mirror.  Labour has directed that the price of petrol and diesel is to rise by 3.5 cents a litre every year. On top of that, the Labour fuel tax hit Auckland motorists by an extra 11.5 cents (including GST) a litre on July 1.

This is precisely the reason why my Labour colleague Councillor Efeso Collins courageously voted against the Auckland-version of his own party's fuel tax agenda. Speaking during that debate, Collins stated the obvious: "These taxes hit the poorest the most."

Therein lies the problem for this government: Labour planned it that way.

Around $1.25 per litre is taken in excise taxes and GST. That money is taken by a government that needs a massive infusion of Crown revenue through both direct and indirect taxation to fund its budget programme.

Many of us have admired the Prime Minister's statesmanlike performance on the international stage. But charming technocrats at the United Nations in New York is no substitute for dealing with the plight of the working poor in suburban South Auckland; the very people who helped elect this government are now bleeding through their skinny wallets.

These are arguments that a minority of us made earlier this year. The response? Ministers and their coterie of vested interests (starting with Auckland Mayor Phil Goff) chided us for being knockers and nay-sayers.

New Zealand's Own William Jefferson Clinton

Resignation Necessary

The mayoral imbroglio: more contamination than a P-House

The right thing to do is – resign!

Of course Mayor Len Brown should step down. The list of reasons is overwhelming. The imbroglio he created has raised a lot of questions that have yet to be answered.

The mayor continues to degrade the office of mayor. He shouts about his ‘passion’ for Auckland, as if that is a justification for staying in office – which it clearly isn’t.  If he is serious about his ‘passion’ and the good of Auckland, the right and proper way to show this ‘passion’ is to step down and let the mayoralty recover some dignity. Every moment he stays in office, he is butchering the dignity of the office and embedding a lower set of values for the future of leadership in local government.

Seemingly he can’t be sacked. However, the real issue now is whether the citizens of Auckland will show the integrity, courage, and responsibility needed to activate themselves to do whatever they can to pressure a ‘lame duck’ mayor to step down. No amount of philosophical gymnastics justifies him staying in office, albeit he might succeed if hypocrisy prevails.

Auckland's Travails

At the Pleasure of the Mayor

The city of Auckland groans under a Mayor with an ego is so vast it can be seen from Mars with the naked eye and with integrity so infinitesimal it eludes the microscope.  Mr Brown's ego seduces him into the "build it and they will come" theory of economic development.   His vaunting self-regard drives him to ride roughshod over councillors.  They find the council being "committed" to all kinds of spending promises via the newspaper, as Mayor Brown bestows the beneficence of his "leadership" upon them.  Not apparently a hint of consultation, debate, examination, or scrutiny by colleagues before the le grande announcement.  Not a vote in sight.  This from the NZ Herald: