10 JULY 2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters may be this Government’s one evidence-based voice on sugar tax, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union.

Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director Jordan Williams says, “Mr Peters is exactly right to push back against the DHBs’ politicking. DHBs should be focused on delivering the core services taxpayers expect, instead of playing at activism.”

“The DHBs ignore what should be obvious – any tax, including sugar tax, makes people poorer. And the effect is disproportionately strong for people on low incomes. No one ever got healthier by getting poorer.”

“The DHBs’ campaign is disingenuous when the Ministry of Health’s own reports show sugar taxes don’t actually have the intended effect. Those who overconsume are least responsive to sugar taxes, and generally just switch to alternatives, scrapping sodas for fatty foots and the like.”

The Taxpayers’ Union report Fizzed Out: Why a sugar tax won’t curb obesity examined overseas failures of sugar tax in reducing obesity. The report is available at https://www.taxpayers.org.nz/fizzed_out

ENDS

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