Hello! We are a group of students from Macleans College and we are advocating to submit an additional policy that will reduce or eliminate tax on essential foods and groceries such as vegetables, dairy items, bread and meats.

The cost of living in New Zealand (NZ) is very high compared to other countries and there are multiple policies in place that allow for this. There is the income tax act where depending on how much you earn, the government will tax your income, the highest being 39%. There is also GST applied to essential items like our groceries which make it even harder for people to afford to live in NZ. An article on The Guardian stated that “Inflation in Aotearoa has hit a three-decade-high, driven by an increase in petrol and housing costs.” 

The issue that we are exploring is that grocery prices are rising at a steady rate, and the prices are not slowing down or stopping. Groceries are basic needs that everyone has. According to The Guardian, with $100NZD you would only be able to purchase, “...you will get: a dozen eggs, a carton of milk, a loaf of bread, a block of cheese, a head of lettuce, a block of butter, a chicken, a bottle of wine…” This is only enough to feed only three people at best for a few days and although minimum wage has increased, the taxes are increasing as well. Families with low incomes are struggling to purchase basic groceries. According to Stuff News, grocery stores made $430 million dollars in excess profit. 

By the end of the two weeks school holiday period our group aims to send this petition to Naisi Chen in an attempt to lobby a person of political influence. Chen is a member of the Labour party, and a member of parliament and should have some influence and so, if she were to agree, our hope is that she will help support this change of policy. By signing this petition you are helping to support this change in policy and are in agreement with lowering GST on basic groceries.

We have attached an anonymous survey below to gather information on this topic. If you could take two minutes of your time to fill out this form, we would greatly appreciate it. Thank you so much for your support!! 

Lower GST on Basic Groceries NZ Survey