“Coalition of the willing” (Hardship & Hope Part 1, July 15) is an excellent starting point for an informed and justice-focused discussion of a taxation policy that serves the common good in New Zealand.
Quite simply, the needs of the poor need to take precedence over the expanding wealth and privilege enjoyed by the already well-off. If we had a tax policy that allowed our elected government to work with local leadership to enable decent housing, health care, education, social support and encouragement for the most-needy among us, we might once again lay claim to being a genuinely caring and inclusive society. We would be becoming “a coalition of the willing”, who, through payment of our taxes, voluntary effort, philanthropy and wise government would become servants of the common good rather than slaves of individual privilege.
A capital gains tax along with some form of wealth tax or increased taxes for the very wealthy should be sufficient to meaningfully address the sort of desperate conditions faced by many families. A higher tax take like this would need to be used only for the alleviation of social, economic and health deprivation. We’re all in this together and the taxation system, administered wisely by elected representatives
