Category: Te Pati Maori

Source: Te Pati Maori

Te Pāti Māori co-leader and Member for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi is ecstatic his members bill to remove GST from kai has been drawn from the ballot.

“For the last three-years Te Pāti Māori have been calling on the previous and current governments to implement real change and address the cost-of-living crisis,” said co-leader Rawiri Waititi.

“I am excited that my bill to remove GST from kai has been drawn from the ballot. It is the start of the radical shake-up our taxation system in this country needs.

“I am calling on all parties in the house to support my bill.

“We have had overwhelming support on the Te Pāti Māori petition to remove GST off kai. In a Newshub poll, over 70% of people supported the move prior to the election.

“It is clear the people want GST to be removed from their grocery bills.

“We have a coalition government who have repealed the rights of workers in their first week of power, to just this week, aligning benefits to a system designed to keep them poor.

“Nothing in this governments agenda is addressing poverty. In fact, they are only designing policy that contributes to it.

“Through their agenda of repeal and stop, the gap between the richest two-percent and the other ninety-eight percent continues to widen.

“Food is a right and a necessity that should never be taxed, especially during a cost a living crisis that a government is failing to address.

“The regressive nature of GST is one that will always hurt low income families the hardest,” concluded Waititi.

This legislation would amend the Goods and Services Tax Act 1985 to remove GST from all food products and non-alcoholic beverages.

[ENDS]

Source: Te Pati Maori

Te Pāti Māori is labelling this government as one that has over promised and under delivered as it announces its mini budget of cut backs.

“The government have done the public dirty, over-promising and under delivering for those suffering hardship in a cost of living crisis,” said co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.

“This budget again fails to acknowledge how tough people are finding it. It is simply a budget of cut backs to ensure they can look after their rich mates.

“The government had a chance to provide financial relief for those hard workers in need. This government hate the humble and struggling.

“As part of the cut backs, they’re reducing pay to exploit those in need. They’re giving cuts to landlords to make them rich, and cutting early childhood care for two year olds.

“They’re touting this budget like they’ve stumbled across a pot of gold under a rainbow.

I’m disgusted,” said Ngarewa-Packer.

“This mini budget is a Christmas tree with no balls,” said co-leader Rawiri Waititi.

“Under Te Pāti Māori’s policy platform, we would have kept up to $6,520 in the pockets of those 3-million New Zealander’s earning less than $60-thousand per annum.

“This is a huge amount of relief to put kai on the table, put fuel in the car and maybe even put something under the Christmas tree. This is a mini budget that falls short, it’s a government dreaming of a white Christmas not a brown one.

“We would have a budget that would have removed GST off of all kai with immediate effect. Instead, and as expected, this government have no desire to put more money in the pockets of those in need,” said Waititi.

“Aotearoa need more than a 100-day plan. They needed to see a genuine effort to provide relief. The government have failed,” said Ngarewa-Packer.

“Instead, they’ll tax those working, the needy and keep them smoking at the whim of rich lobbyists and the greed of the rich and wealthy.

“Te Pāti Māori will continue to propose transformational policy that will benefit those in need. We will hold the government accountable, and ensure this government is a one term flop.”

Source: Te Pati Maori

Te Pāti Māori will be strongly opposing the Fair Pay Agreements Legislation Repeal Bill this Government is trying to pass before Christmas.

30 years ago, the Employment Contracts Act 1991 removed sector-wide bargaining from our industrial relations system. According to unionist and workers’ rights advocate Annie Newman, this implemented “one of the most radical individualised employment relations systems in the world.

The Fair Pay Agreements Act 2022 would have significantly lifted wages and employment conditions for workers, particularly those on low incomes.

“For far too long Māori have been treated as second-class citizens in the job market. We’ve been used and abused, working in tough and often inhuman conditions to keep this country’s economy running” said co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.

The median hourly wage for Māori is $24.98, compared to $28.01 for Pakeha.

“Māori, Pasifika, young people, and Whānau Hāua are over-represented in jobs where low pay, job security, health and safety, and upskilling are significant issues. Minimum industry-wide standards provide a baseline regardless of whether you are a member of a union or not” said Ngarewa-Packer.

“Health and safety problems in industries like forestry, farming, trucking and fisheries often kill Māori at work.

“Te Pāti Māori supported the Fair Pay Agreements Act because it would have been one of the most significant policies in lifting the wages of working Māori” said Ngarewa-Packer.

“We should be focused on lifting whānau out of poverty. Instead, this government is ramming through legislation under urgency to keep their wages low. Legislation that will keep them in insecure work with unfair and dangerous conditions. It’s disgusting.

“As we head into the Christmas period, people are struggling to put food on the table, pay their bills and fill up their gas tanks.

“Every whānau in Aotearoa should have enough to live well, to be able to spend time with their whānau, and to work in safe conditions” Ngarewa-Packer said.