PM refuses to discuss GST cuts claim

Public Policy / news

Chris Hipkins is refusing to discuss a claim by the National Party that Labour plans to cut GST from fruit and vegetables

27th Jul 23, 3:43pm by Eric Frykberg

Nicola Willis.

The Prime Minister is refusing to discuss claims that his party will propose to cut GST from fruit and vegetables.

This claim has been made by the National finance spokesperson Nicola Willis.

She says she has material that shows the party intends to announce this policy when it unveils its tax plans.

And she says Finance Minister Grant Robertson fought hard to block this change but he was outvoted.

“Labour’s Cabinet and caucus are massively divided on tax policy," she says.

"The cracks that were exposed after infighting over the failed wealth tax policy are continuing to deepen.

“I understand Labour will soon announce a tax policy of removing GST from fresh fruit and vegetables – despite Grant Robertson raising significant concerns about the idea."

Willis adds that as late as May of this year Robertson appeared to rule out such a policy, saying it wasn’t practical and would mostly benefit supermarkets.

But she says his objections have been overruled by his own party members.

Asked about this claim in Christchurch, Chris Hipkins refused to debate the matter at all.

"National should try to make sure their own promises add up rather than purporting to announce policies on behalf of the Labour Party," he said.

"I am not announcing our tax policy today."

Removing GST from fruit and vegetables has long been supported as a way of supporting low income people as well as encouraging a healthy diet.

But a criticism of it is that it has high administration costs.

And Ranjana Gupta, a senior lecturer in taxation at Auckland University of Technology has suggested it does not significantly improve affordability and healthy eating choices for struggling families.

Hipkins is adamant the matter is academic anyway.

"I haven't announced our tax policy yet so people can speculate all they like.

"I would suggest the National Party focus on making their own numbers add up. They have announced multiple tax policies, and they don't seem to have any idea as to how they would pay for them."

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101 Comments

by Mr Frank | 27th Jul 23, 3:48pm 1690429701

The ship has a hole and it is only getting larger by the day.

Leaks = unhappy people who know they will likely be out of a job post Oct.

Happy days for National and ACT.

Another nail in the Labour coffin.

by Foxglove. | 27th Jul 23, 4:09pm 1690430945

Implementing and administering such exemptions from GST will be a minefield. Robertson is quite right. But even so, less of a problem than that of a wealth tax . Robertson couldn’t see that though. These people are at sixes and sevens to put it mildly. Why don’t they just call it quits and go run a circus.

by Cheetahlegs66 | 27th Jul 23, 4:12pm 1690431131

Circuses require skill and humour. Not failure and deceit.

by Foxglove. | 27th Jul 23, 4:25pm 1690431949

How about a flea circus? I mean, from the look of it, the whole damn caucus is looking rather itchy and scratchy isn’t it.

by The Person | 27th Jul 23, 4:27pm 1690432029

A mine field that just about every other developed economy manages to navigate.

by JimboJones | 27th Jul 23, 4:34pm 1690432482

But why bother? Why have the government applying discounts to certain things? Its already cheaper to eat healthy home cooked meals (despite popular opinion), but people don't because it is harder and tastes boring.

Apparently sex is good for you, should the local brothel be exempt too?

by Nzdan | 27th Jul 23, 4:38pm 1690432739

Agree, they're probably better off thumb sucking a figure and then adjusting the bottom tax bracket.

E.g. Assume the average kiwi household spends roughly $3k per year on healthy food. @ 15% that's $450, call it $500.

Increase the 10.5% $0 - $14k bracket to $0 - $21,142.85. That $7142.85 at 7% less tax = $500 savings.

by JimboJones | 27th Jul 23, 5:08pm 1690434519

I guess the difference with the healthy food option is it would claw some money back via reduced health costs. In fact if is did change peoples behaviour it could actually save more money than it costs. But I don't think it will have a huge effect on behaviour.

by Nzdan | 27th Jul 23, 8:06pm 1690445165

I don't think it will make any difference at all. I mean at Countdown, Apples are $3 - $4 per kg. Frozen vegetables $4 - $5 per kg. Potatoes $4kg. Carrots $3kg. An hour for a 3kw oven, call it $1 worth of power.

Meanwhile, a packet of potato chips is $1.90 per 100gm ($19kg). Frozen pizza $12 - $16kg, a Big Bens pie $17kg. A big mac combo is what $13? the burger is 200 grams and another 150 grams for the fries? Taking GST off healthy food won't fix laziness.

by OldSkoolEconomics | 27th Jul 23, 8:50pm 1690447844

Take off 15% and within a year the products will be back at the same prices.. but with supermarkets pocketing the extra 15% as profit.

Better for chippy to do his job properly and break up the duopoly and encourage cometition... as Labour have been promising since forever.

by interesting1234 | 28th Jul 23, 8:46am 1690490770

Exactly right, anything that gives supermarkets more profit I cannot support given they, and the banks, have already had bumper profits thanks to the government in the last 3 years.

by Foxglove. | 27th Jul 23, 4:42pm 1690432975

Every other country haven’t got our bureaucracy overblown, self interested, opinionated, unaccountable and dependent on having to hire consultants to remove any risk of blame for anything that they might get around to doing. For example look at the sheer volume of stuff ups the MoH concocted throughout the pandemic. On current form, where then is the acumen, application and methodology present in any government department, to implement and administer this change. Oh, hang on, why not get consultants onto the job then.

by JimboJones | 27th Jul 23, 4:44pm 1690433059

Geez have you been to another country before? Our bureaucracy is nothing in comparison!

by Frank Sobotka | 27th Jul 23, 5:25pm 1690435516

Try living in a Latin country

by Foxglove. | 27th Jul 23, 5:49pm 1690436983

So provided you can find something worse, then everything you have is fine. Negative, rather counterproductive that, isn’t it.

by JimboJones | 27th Jul 23, 6:26pm 1690439209

You were making out that we are the worst: “Every other country haven’t got our bureaucracy overblown, self interested, opinionated, unaccountable..”

by Foxglove. | 27th Jul 23, 6:39pm 1690439942

Exactly.They haven’t got our bureaucracy, to that description. As you contend, some are undoubtedly worse.

by danicriss | 27th Jul 23, 10:33pm 1690453998

"We're the worst country ever"

"No we're not - counterexample"

"So you're saying because we're not the worst country this justifies this policy?!?"

You might have construed something logical in your mind but you jumped a few steps expressing it in these comments, to none of the other commenter's fault

by HouseMouse | 27th Jul 23, 5:37pm 1690436222

I think Japan is terrible too but someone will probably come and have a go at me for saying something critical of that country, the country that can’t ever be criticised in any way, shape or form.

by Eschaton | 28th Jul 23, 7:31am 1690486318

If the public were healthy, minor blunders and so much more wouldn't be an issue

by JimboJones | 27th Jul 23, 4:26pm 1690432011

While I personally don't like the idea, I reckon it will be quite popular with voters.

by delboy | 27th Jul 23, 3:59pm 1690430342

Will Labour see a leadership challenge or resignations of senior ministers before the election?

by Foxglove. | 27th Jul 23, 4:17pm 1690431451

Police Minister Ginny Andersen, according to Stuff, has pre- announced a pre-announcement of the announcement that GST is to be removed as per the rumour.

by Cheetahlegs66 | 27th Jul 23, 4:11pm 1690431074

What other countries have GST/VAT or sales taxes removed from fruits and vegetables? This supposedly doesn’t include meat/milk/poultry or seafood? On the back of an envelope we would save around $4-5/week IF the supermarket passed all discounts onwards. Which they won’t.

by Foxglove. | 27th Jul 23, 4:14pm 1690431293

That’s the point. The supermarkets are easily selling produce with the 15% GST on top.To them that’s what’s marketable, that’s what people can, will or have to pay. Therefore it wouldn’t take long for the supermarkets to return those prices to what they know they can be sold at. If Hipkins can’t work that out he needs to put his short pants back on and go back to school.

by dumbthoughts | 27th Jul 23, 4:18pm 1690431495

Agreed.

Complexity of this aside (e.g. is the dried mango I just demolished a fruit and therefore subject to GST exemption?) you'll see an initial price cut followed by a surreptitious creep back upwards to where the consumer had demonstrated a willingness to pay.

by JimboJones | 27th Jul 23, 4:53pm 1690433588

Yep what about orange juice loaded with sugar, or the lettuce in your Big Mac, or the potato in your fries.

Realistically the only way to get more people to eat fruit and veg is to somehow make it taste like fried chicken.

by Zachary Smith | 27th Jul 23, 7:29pm 1690442965

That's because the human body craves ancestrally appropriate food.

by Whatwillhappen | 27th Jul 23, 4:42pm 1690432969

Fried = not fresh. But the rest i agree with you on

by JimboJones | 27th Jul 23, 4:22pm 1690431762

You know there isn't enough competition when all the prices are rounded. For example all the types of apple at our supermarket are usually $4.99 k/g unless on special then that type might be $3.99. In a proper competitive environment they would all be different prices - the amount they could screw the supplier down to plus a small margin. So yeah I agree removing the GST is unlikely to do much in the long term (they will probably take the 15% off on day one but it wouldn't last).

by morphyoss | 27th Jul 23, 4:29pm 1690432141

Agree too - its a silly policy much like reducing the excise tax on petrol. Easy to take off, difficult to put back. But at the same time, things need funding - Tax is important because if funds things we need. How we tax is what they should be looking at, not this pointless tinkering. This is basically tax virtue signalling.

If they want to reduce the price of fruit and veg - help agriculture with climate change adoption and run education campaigns on seasonal eating & nutrition. Also breakup the supermarket duopoly and any supplier monopolies. Of course this will require doing something significant, which labour seems afraid of.

Silly tax cuts like this offer a short term sugar hit at the expense of long term addressing of the issues causing the price rises in the first place.

by fortunr | 29th Jul 23, 12:30pm 1690590622

These socialist muppets have no idea, when it comes to understanding and managing a modern economy. But they are not the worst - the Green Party gets the "money grows on trees" award.

by JimboJones | 27th Jul 23, 4:24pm 1690431895

UK has exemptions on most food. Aus has exceptions on "Most basic foods, such as bread, milk, vegetables, and meat."

by anothervoice | 27th Jul 23, 4:17pm 1690431447

Honestly Eric, don't give her airtime by writing a story about rumours and conjecture. Wait until the announcement and then report on the division/contrast to nationals plan. The kind of behaviour that nicola displays belongs in american politics not in NZ

This is clickbait journalism and I expect better from Interest.co.nz

by paashaas | 27th Jul 23, 4:28pm 1690432082

Exactly - if it has not come from the podium of truth it should not be published. You are so right.

by nktokyo | 27th Jul 23, 4:59pm 1690433967

It's front page news and potentially a major policy shift. Why wouldn't a business website cover it in some way?

by AndrewRiddell5886 | 28th Jul 23, 6:56pm 1690527407

Because it is a rumour made up by a member of the National Party (the dirty politics party).

by Foxglove. | 28th Jul 23, 7:06pm 1690527968

Which then means Hipkins cannot announce it otherwise he confirms that it wasn’t a rumour made by a member of the National Party, and at the same time confirms his caucus/cabinet has sprung a massive leak.

by skip- | 28th Jul 23, 11:55pm 1690545302

Which is probably why the cabinet/caucus member leaked it?

by Foxglove. | 29th Jul 23, 7:30am 1690572627

Exactly!

by sharetrader | 27th Jul 23, 6:18pm 1690438682

i am still waiting on how national will pay for everything they have promised, i would not trust NW, i think we are going to move from one bad finance minister to an even worse one

by OpenMinded | 28th Jul 23, 9:07pm 1690535255

I don’t think NW plans on remaining Finance Minister, in another time Jenny rolled Jim, will history repeat?

by huttman | 28th Jul 23, 9:27am 1690493225

the real issue here is not the GST, it's the leak, and disagreement within Labour. And this site absolutely should cover this story.

by AndrewRiddell5886 | 28th Jul 23, 6:58pm 1690527483

What leak - you only have a National MP alleging a leak - a standard dirty politics technique.

by fortunr | 29th Jul 23, 12:33pm 1690590803

True, only the official announcements by comrade Hipkins should be published.

by Foxglove. | 29th Jul 23, 3:33pm 1690601616

Well if Hipkins should announce such policy it will be by then a damp squib and in so doing he confirms that there is a serious leak within his caucus. In fact that might well be from within cabinet where there are a couple of disgruntled senior ministers sulking over the dismissal of the wealth tax and at the same time, not without good reason on record as being opposed to the tampering with GST. And then, on the other hand, if Hipkins does not announce the GST thingy, then it looks like he has had to bow to pressure and back down, making him look even more weaker.

by morphyoss | 27th Jul 23, 4:20pm 1690431613

Looks like Luxon is heading to be our accidental PM at this rate. I say accidental because i'd be surprised if in the past if anyone has been elected PM whilst polling & performing so poorly.

But hey - Labour is arguably doing a much better job of getting people to vote National and ACT than National and ACT are themselves. And either way - the lack of anything beyond rhetoric from the main parties to address the big challenges NZ has, means that whoever is elected all that will come of the change will be more can kicking and tinkering around the edges to keep the boomers happy.

Meanwhile, for anyone with 20-40 years of the working life still to go - why would you stay around just to be used as a bank to fund the retirement village (of what is becoming NZ)?

by Foxglove. | 27th Jul 23, 4:22pm 1690431769

Will cynically, sadly and accurately as Chris Trotter summed it up here, a few months ago, the electorate will be forced to vote for the least worst.

by morphyoss | 27th Jul 23, 4:35pm 1690432513

This is pretty much how I feel. There are no good options and despite the twitterati on left or right getting stuck on over why their team is going to be amazing.

It wont be.

NZ has so many challenges no one is addressing - cost of housing, a health system on its knees, our inability to build infrastusture, inability to deal with climate change, growing inequality, low growth & productivity, low wages etc

If Labour can't do anything decent with a rare majority, then what hope to we have with a National / Act or Labour / Greens govt next term. More of the same.

by Albert2020 | 27th Jul 23, 4:47pm 1690433250

I suspect those Labour voters will move further left rather than to National and Act

by Yvil | 27th Jul 23, 5:56pm 1690437363

"Looks like Luxon is heading to be our accidental PM at this rate"

J Ardern became PM, even though her party didn't get the most votes, so she must be our first accidental PM.

by JimboJones | 27th Jul 23, 6:22pm 1690438949

Is that the first case of that occurring? I would think it is quite common.

by sharetrader | 27th Jul 23, 6:26pm 1690439219

if you go back further when we had FPP it happened as well

1978 national seats 51 39.8 % of votes labour seats 40 40.4% of votes

by Wrong John | 27th Jul 23, 4:22pm 1690431770

Yes, it does somewhat fall into the gossip category, but it's showing the leaks are coming think & fast now. Even the state has had enough.

by Nzdan | 27th Jul 23, 4:33pm 1690432424

They're just claims at this stage. Like the time that John Key claimed National wouldn't increase GST.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3-RYMwJiWA

by delboy | 27th Jul 23, 4:45pm 1690433110

Classic whataboutism comment.

by Nzdan | 27th Jul 23, 8:12pm 1690445577

Not whataboutism at all. I voted National in 08 and voted ACT ever since, Labour is the last party I'd ever vote for or stick up for. Just pointing out the extreme irony is all, which is factual.

Your comment is a classic lazy deflection coming from I assume a National Party loyalist.

by Foxglove. | 27th Jul 23, 5:00pm 1690434024

Well Hipkins is in a bit of a spot. If he confirms this change it’ll be a bit of a damp squib by then and he will also be confirming that there is serious dissension, and leaking aplenty in his caucus. If he doesn’t proceed, then it will look as if he has chickened out, or been overruled, and his Police Minister is prone to fantasies

by sharetrader | 27th Jul 23, 6:29pm 1690439343

and who was his senior adviser when that happened?

She was a member of the Victoria University Debating Society, and competed in international tournaments. After graduation, she took up a position as a research and policy advisor for Bill English and went on to serve as a senior advisor to John Key in 2008.

by Nzdan | 27th Jul 23, 8:18pm 1690445887

Oh, that would be the journalism graduate? The finance spokesperson whose financial experience goes so far as working as a cashier at Wholly Bagel Café? At least it wasn't a Fish and Chip shop though, am I right LOL?

How do both our major political parties attract such bottom of the barrel candidates?

by Foxglove. | 27th Jul 23, 8:45pm 1690447534

You echo Liz Cheney “we’re electing idiots.”Just as well NZ by size, naturally has a hugely smaller talentless pool. Admittedly there were some dunces well before MMP but the list, thereby introduced, has certainly widened the catch.

by Macawsley | 29th Jul 23, 7:14am 1690571655

National are set to raise it again - how else can they possibly pay for the exorbitant promises such as reinstating interest deductibility. and unneeded tax cuts for the ultra wealthy .

by nktokyo | 27th Jul 23, 4:58pm 1690433891

It's a nice idea in theory but countries that have tried to implement it have found it a minefield of exceptions and carve-outs.

I would like to see a plastic tax, to fund recycling and push consumers away from single use poison.

by JimboJones | 27th Jul 23, 5:11pm 1690434673

Yeah I get the feeling that taxing the bad things is actually easier and more successful then exempting the good things. Although its hard for Labour to introduce any new tax no matter how good without criticism.

by solardb | 27th Jul 23, 5:06pm 1690434363

I am very cynical about these claims , and how they come to be "fact". Most commentators have not questioned if they are even true , or not.

There are a few struggling news organisations , and National have a deep war chest.

Plus I don't trust Willis.

by treadlightly | 27th Jul 23, 5:39pm 1690436387

She is certainly out of her depth when she describes QE as money printing and a cause of inflation.

by Cheetahlegs66 | 27th Jul 23, 7:37pm 1690443432

Call me an idiot but ‘money printing’ is a colloquialism for QE. Call me a turd but it is inflationary especially in the NZ context. Where is she wrong?

by treadlightly | 27th Jul 23, 10:02pm 1690452139

Economist Sylvana Tenreyro of the Bank of England stated this in a speech that she gave here. https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/-/media/boe/files/speech/2023/april/qua…

Economist Paul Sheard of Standard and Poor's also stated the same here. https://www.hks.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/centers/mrcbg/programs/…

by Warwick D | 27th Jul 23, 5:33pm 1690436037

If true then it will not make very much difference to households' spending, especially when you see how much the price of fruit and vegetables varies from week to week and season to season. For example, the price of broccoli can be up to $4 one week and $1.50 in a few weeks time so 15% isn't going to make a lot of long term difference. At least it sounds like a good election spin though.

by Yvil | 27th Jul 23, 5:48pm 1690436889

I actually think removing GST from fruits and vegetables is a good idea to promote healthy foods and I proposed this on Interest before.

by sharetrader | 27th Jul 23, 6:32pm 1690439532

its not a good idea, because there are to many fish hooks

what is fruit and what are vegetables, does that include canned or only fresh, the UK had a nightmare over court cases as to what qualifies.

by nktokyo | 27th Jul 23, 8:30pm 1690446624

Whats the over/under on how much of the savings are absorbed in accounting and software fees

by QuickFox | 28th Jul 23, 8:54am 1690491265

Why not go the other way and put GST up to 30% on takeaways and bad foods, like sugary drinks.

by paashaas | 28th Jul 23, 9:06am 1690491968

Classic left wing TOP response - "tax the hell out of it "

by M0ralHazard | 28th Jul 23, 10:08am 1690495686

If we don't have competition with supermarkets, then they are just going to increase the prices back up to the same level in a year or so and keep the savings as profit.

by sharetrader | 28th Jul 23, 10:13am 1690496021

that happens with all subsides, that is why they dont work, after a period the seller will absorb the rebate and gain extra profit, that is one reason why raising the accomodation supplement is not good for renters but of more benefit to landlords, it is a short relief

by treadlightly | 28th Jul 23, 11:25am 1690500352

It's not a subsidy or a rebate though.There was a time before rogernomics and the swing to neo-liberalism that gst never existed, it was designed to allow for a reduction in taxation from the top earners and then load it onto the poor.

by Zachary Smith | 27th Jul 23, 6:06pm 1690437993

Removing tax on fruits and vegetables is stupid. There is no evidence that fruit and vegetables are good for you. Quite the opposite in fact.

Fruit, at least, should be highly taxed like cigarettes to pay for all the diabetes and dementia treatment that results from its consumption

Meat on the other hand should have no tax and even be subsidized as well as provided for free at school.

My work this week has been performed with supreme calmness while achieving genius level results all because of a zero carbohydrate diet.

by Zwifter | 27th Jul 23, 6:18pm 1690438738

Obviously you did zero exercise as well during the week. Your body needs carbs mate. Let me take a guess you are also fat as well. You need whats called a balanced diet, zero carbs isn't it.

by Zachary Smith | 27th Jul 23, 6:56pm 1690441010

Did some weight lifting, sprints and a 15km walk up and down hills. I am in my sixties. The trick is to become "fat adapted" where you burn fat instead of glycogen. Unfortunately it does take a year or so to achieve this state. Also, brains function much better on ketones. I'm 177cm tall and weigh 71kg.

I'm curious to know if any other readers have gone down this path.

by Auck.kid | 27th Jul 23, 8:12pm 1690445559

Heard it here first guys, a tax system based around Zachary Smiths influencer meat only diet. Let's bring back human sacrifice while we're at it, that worked in the past too!

by Zachary Smith | 27th Jul 23, 9:08pm 1690448931

I did once suggest building a huge pallet "Wicker Man" on Mount Eden and burning it as a primal spectacle to raise the spirits of Aucklanders.

Human sacrifice was mostly driven by farming cultures to ensure good harvests.

However, in a nutshell, I'm really arguing against government subsidizing food based on unsubstantiated scientific claims.

by GV 27 | 28th Jul 23, 7:24am 1690485888

I used to grind out 40 minute hill sessions on a spin bike at max resistance. I ate more than I ate when I was at my heaviest and kept losing weight. Black coffee, bananas, chocolate bars. I didn't really ever feel like I was missing out on anything either.

Now the problem for me is space and time. I bought a bike years ago but haven't been able to set up a proper space to use it and my eating habits are probably throwing an extra 1500 calories a week into the mix I could just not be having.

Those two simple changes - setting up the space for my actual exercise and cutting out the two or three snack foods I eat daily that are a problem - would probably tip the balance back into my favour. My weight is now about 20kg up on where it was. I would love to get it back down. So that's this weekend's job.

by Zwifter | 28th Jul 23, 10:36am 1690497407

You need to get a bike that connects to Zwift.

by GV 27 | 28th Jul 23, 1:51pm 1690509104

Getting on the thing is the main problem. And not really. The less Web 3.0 shit I have the better. I like it when my stuff just works. I've got speakers, I've got music, that's all I need.

by EarlyRiser | 28th Jul 23, 4:00pm 1690516828

Plenty of people don't just live well on a carnivore diet (animal meat, seafood, eggs, while all avoiding all other foods) they positively thrive on it. The hard part about a carnivore diet is the cost of the food and not fitting in with those who wrongfully believe it's an unhealthy diet.

by Murray Falconer | 28th Jul 23, 9:36pm 1690536973

Agree with you on this. I went from 139 to 96 in less than six months by becoming fat adaptive. Fasting for 16+ hours a day was the key to that in my view. Never dropped the carbs completely but certainly didn't eat as many as I used to. Diet beats exercise for weight loss but exercise has benefits regardless. Lost over 50kg in my 20's too but never joined the dots that I was fasting without realising so obviously fat adaptive for a period back then too. I don't care about the weight loss; it's not feeling hungry all day that I like and having constant energy levels.

by Zachary Smith | 29th Jul 23, 8:29am 1690576190

Not feeling hungry is a huge benefit and the key to success. I have people around me that almost lose their minds if they haven't eaten for three or four hours. I haven't fasted for a while; last time I did I effortlessly made it 48 hours. It makes sense to me that the body does a cleanup (autophagy) during this time as well as consuming fat stores.

by False economies | 27th Jul 23, 7:25pm 1690442716

Interesting that they are using Nichola Willis to make this announcement. They have really softened her image up recently too. Are Nats lining her up for the top job...?

by Foxglove. | 27th Jul 23, 7:37pm 1690443478

Don’t think so, this is question of tax and she is the relative spokesperson. You have a point though. Luxon is not a natural politician, and he may never be. Labour is now a case of a house divided that cannot stand. Luxon just needs to stand clear, boring perhaps but steady and reliable, let others better equipped be his pinch hitters.

by solardb | 27th Jul 23, 8:31pm 1690446672

Watching him in Parliament, I don't think attacking is his style. Maybe that's why he comes across as a bit boring on attack ,tending to use the same cliches over and over. because its not really what he is used to doing, certainly not in a CEO's training . He's actually pointed out when Labour does something right , or that he agrees with a few times.

Willis doesn't hesitate to attack, and can be quite nasty about it.

by solardb | 27th Jul 23, 9:37pm 1690450664

To the actual idea , yes nothing to ensure the supermarkets pass it on.

I'm thinking maybe a rebate scheme , on all healthy food , would be better. Tie it in with education , 5 a day and all that. maybe based on the heart health tick type system.

The retailer is just handing out the "Tokens", how they are redeemd , i would make it only on more healthy food.

People love points and rewards schemes,and it could be tied into a community services or health card,or just your supermarket rewards card .not like food stamps type shame , because everyone is using their card , and nobody else sees what benefits per food item are loaded into it .

by Kate | 27th Jul 23, 11:35pm 1690457734

What a great idea - a rewards-type scheme to change dietary behaviour and incentivise healthy eating. Given the massive problem diabetes is and the bigger and bigger burden it will become new thinking like this is needed.

by Nzdan | 28th Jul 23, 7:50am 1690487414

Also could negate the *potential* for the supermarkets to pocket any GST savings for those that opt in. The Government could have a system that links with the supermarket's point of sale/ERP system with a database of approved products by SKU. Then the only real "massive" overhead is maintaining these approved products, and how the rewards are dispersed.

Because the system would work off I assume a Government issued card, the risk for fraud would be limited to potentially individual store owners/employees using their own cards to rack up rewards on dummy sales. Also, do we trust the Government to securely integrate software into private businesses' IT systems?

by solardb | 28th Jul 23, 9:30am 1690493410

I believe the various loyalty cards are run by 3rd parties anyway, but not sure on the supermarket ones.

of course , this way would not show an effect on the CPI and inflation, which is probably one aim of removing gst .

by huttman | 28th Jul 23, 9:16am 1690492607

if Hipkins really pushes for a GST tax cut, then it'll be a very bad political move. It will piss off the hardcore Labour voters, and proves National's tax cut policy legitimacy.

On top of everything, the info leak from Labour provoke the question if Labour has lost control of its own cabinet

by solardb | 28th Jul 23, 9:32am 1690493533

If there was a leak , and why would they leak to Willis , rather than the media.

I would think if there was a leak , its more likely to come from a department, or Treasury, than a MP.

by sharetrader | 28th Jul 23, 10:10am 1690495838

i would think the leak is from a parliamentary staffer/advisor, they are supposed to be non political but many are not and around election time will quietly help the side they want to take power and be their new bosses and it becomes very hard to nail down where the leak is coming from

by Nzdan | 28th Jul 23, 10:16am 1690496200

Just have to wonder how deeply entrenched partisan values are in our public sector. For example, let's say Immigration NZ leadership team are made up of predominately National Party supporters. Labour come into power campaigning to reduce net migration, everybody knows it. A memo is sent out to INZ.

"Yeah nah, LOL, what are you going to do Labour? Sack us?" *ramps up the speed at which visas are processed* etc to sabotage Labour's promise. Conspiracy theory stuff, but not impossible.

by solardb | 28th Jul 23, 10:24am 1690496658

I think that is very likely the case. And even more so in local government.

by The_Golem | 28th Jul 23, 2:08pm 1690510127

As always, policy to treat symptoms not causes. You can eat for reasonable (but no longer cheap) costs - but you need to do it yourself and know enough to know how to do it.

Militating against that are elements like a dominant supermarket duopoly that turns us all in to price takers, a time-poor population, a reluctance to teach basic home economics skills (like cooking) at home or school, the unrestrained advertising of convenience foods that are designed to be addictive with fat, salt and sugar...

It's kind of amazing we don't have an epidemic of obesity and...oh...wait...