A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
I don’t know whether it’s just my perception or whether the election circus has developed new dimensions this year — so many promises of things bidding politicians are telling us we want — to be paid for with our money. It is so easy to lose our perspective on some
fundamentals such as the increasing concentration of wealth into fewer and fewer hands. This is a global issue and a leading factor in the exponential growth in poverty.
Until quite recently it was an aspiration for most Kiwis to own their own homes. This is now, for the majority, an impossible dream, due in part to capital gains that are tax free and sought after by investors, many from overseas, benefiting from NZ as a tax-free haven. Foreign capital makes many of us poorer in our own country as the prices of real estate and assets become increasingly out of our reach. A well-designed capital gains tax would have significant benefits for our society. It’s in the detail, not the concept.
Economic discrepancies are further fuelled by the power of wealth and highly-paid executives who have vested interests in paying workers as little as possible. Profits and bonuses depend on it. The poorly paid become increasingly dependent on the taxpayer for many necessities. Eliminating poverty should be an absolute priority. History demonstrates that the so-called trickle down of big business is in fact a flood upwards, with increasing droughts at the bottom.
Marcus Williams
