Addressing The Cost of Living Crisis w/ New Zealand Council of Trade Unions President Richard Wagstaff, Child Poverty Action Group’s Alan Johnson, economist Brad Olsen, and Senior Taxation Lecturer at AUT Ranjana Gupta: 23 August, 2023

In the lead up to the election, political parties have been proposing different measures to address the cost of living crisis.

If re-elected, Labour has promised to scrap goods and services tax from fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables from 1 April next year, claiming it would save an average household about $4.25 per week.

First, News and Editorial Director Jessica Hopkins spoke to New Zealand Council of Trade Unions President Richard Wagstaff, and asked him what impact they believe this policy would have for low to middle income workers and their whanau. 

She also asked Child Poverty Action Group’s Alan Johnson to weigh in on how effective they believe this policy would be in alleviating cost of living pressures. 

To hear from an economist's perspective she spoke to Chief Executive and Principal Economist at Infometrics, Brad Olsen, who has been a vocal opponent of the policy. I started off the interview by asking him why he believes the policy would not benefit consumers. 

Lastly, she spoke to Senior Taxation Lecturer at AUT Ranjana Gupta, who gave her thoughts on the policy and suggested potential alternatives.