samacharhind

Free dental from a wealth tax is great if the wealth tax works.

The Greens have set the targets too low on their wealth Tax, where as Grant Robertson and David Parker’s Wealth tax is better, but the Greens could find a place to gain the extra revenue for free dental with a sugar tax.

The Māori Party want to remove GST off all supermarket food, which can be done WHILE increasing a 10% fizzy drink tax.

Ringfence a sugar tax revenue for Dental and you promote better oral health while forcing Big Sugar to pay for the damage their product causes.

it’s time to seriously consider a sugar tax because the University of Otago are pretty damning in their conclusion…

A sugary drink tax will have a number of impacts/benefits including:

1. A price signal to the consumer to reduce consumption (makes an impact reduce obesity rates by around 1%, not massive but has an impact
2. A price signal to the industry to reformulate (i.e. reduce sugar content to move products down a tier). The health gain from this mechanism is probably twice that of the price signal to the consumer.
3. The incentives on industry to change marketing to less sugary drinks.

The researchers also refute a recent New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) report that argues against taxing sugary drinks. “This report, commissioned by the Ministry of Health, has some serious flaws,” says Professor Blakely.

“There have been at least nine good studies including a thoroughly researchedAustralian Grattan Institute report. Unfortunately the NZIER chose to include only one of the studies,” says Blakely.

Blakely says a soft drinks industry levy is something that could be put in place right now in New Zealand and would not tip the apple cart in light of macro-level rebalancing of our total tax system.

The World Health Organization recommends taxing sugary drinks. And here in New Zealand, the NZ Medical Association and the Heart Foundation recommend taxing sugary drinks.

…big sugar (and big oil) have had it too good for too long – the time is now to start taxing them!

Expect a fight, but it’s the courageous thing to do. Remove GST, put on a sugar tax on soft drinks.

Use the existing systems to generate economic justice and better societal outcomes.

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