It was good to hear the announcement from the Green Party that they would increase the tax rate for those earning over $140,000 a year to 40%. This is similar to the Labour Party policy of 36% tax over $150,000 but less modest.
In addition, the Greens plan a similar level of 40% tax on Trusts which would make these less desirable and reduce the level of tax avoidance and evasion. They also want a financial transaction tax which would cut down on unproductive money moving round the financial markets. This is the sort of activity that can make a few people very rich but does not necessarily benefit the country as a whole.
All of these measures in themselves will help reverse the increasingly unequal distribution of wealth that New Zealanders have had to cope with over recent decades.
But more than that though, they will provide funds to help those who really need it. High on this list are the quarter of children who struggle to get enough even to live on in our community, much less to thrive and develop to their full potential.
Not unexpectedly the National Party response is to belittle the idea and claim that it will ruin the economy, reduce investment in business and lead to flow of our best and brightest to overseas lands of plenty.
None of this is other than opinion and has no evidence to justify such claims. In fact one could argue that some of these people, no longer able to gamble so fruitfully on the stock exchange and consequently hurrying overseas could well benefit New Zealand.
Those prospective politicians brave enough to buck the orthodoxy of market fundamentalism and call for real change that will benefit us all, deserve our strong support.