‘Taxation takes half of people’s money’

Press, 12 July 1980, Page 11

‘Taxation takes half of people’s money’

Taxation now takes 50 par cent of New Zealanders’ money, according to a visiting spokesman for the Australian League of Rights Movement, Mr Jeremy Lee. More than 330 people each paid $5 to attend an address by Mr Lee in the Christchurch Town Hall on Thursday evening, “Taxation — tool for centralisation.” The meeting was chaired by the spokesman for the Christchurch-based Tax Reform Movement (Mr G. N. Russell).

Mr Lee was in Christchurch as part of a month-long lecture tour of New Zealand. He said that taxation was used as a tool to destroy vrivate property and erode independence. There was a need to “keep plugging on” to fight for decentralisation of government, less government spending, and less taxation.

The Budget announced in New Zealand on July 3 had increased taxation by between 17 per cent and 18 per cent. The average increase per New Zealander was S3OO — or more than $l2OO per family, he said.

Direct and indirect taxation took 50 per cent of New Zealanders’ money. Britain had been “beaten into economic disaster by debt and taxation,” and was still grappling with debts from World War I

which was due to be paid off early next century. In the United States, the external debt exceeded SlOO.OOO per head of population, and in Canada half of the people’s money was taken by taxes, said Mr Lee.

Mr Russell told the meeting that New Zealand workers now worked until Wednesday afternoon each week for the Government — because more than 50 per cent of gross national product was consumed in taxes.

“In 1968. they only had to work until Tuesday morning for the Government.” he said.

The Tax Reform Movement aimed to increase public awareness of taxation, to pressure the Government to spend less, to reduce the bureaucracy, and to “dish out less handouts.” Mr Lee said that “the real fight” was not East versus West but centralised power againt individual freedom.

He suggested that an appropriate level of taxa-* tion was 10 per cent.