29 JANUARY 2019

A meat tax, as proposed by the Lancet Commission and University of Auckland academics, is economically illiterate and must be ruled out by the Prime Minister, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union.

Taxpayers' Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “Farmers and meat eaters will be alarmed with Associate Health Minister Julie-Anne Genter’s ambiguous stance that a meat tax is not on the Government’s agenda ‘at this stage’, but that ‘we need government action’ to curb meat consumption.”

“New Zealand is made rich by meat exports, which were worth $6.7 billion last year. Singling out this industry for a new tax would be an economic own-goal. It would also increase the cost living and further complicate our tax system.”

“If taxpayer-funded academics like Professor Swinburn think meat is so bad for the planet, they should convince New Zealanders to change their diets voluntarily, not forcefully intervene in our lives with costly taxes.”

“The Taxpayers’ Union calls on the Government to rule out a meat tax entirely, and stop taxpayer funding going to these zealot public health campaign groups.”

The petition can be signed at www.taxpayers.org.nz/meat_tax.

ENDS

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