Editorial: Wielding a blunt axe

OPINION: The Labour Party has rolled in and out of Nelson causing not much of a ripple with its Axe the Tax campaign to oppose the planned GST increase.

Former West Coast-Tasman MP Damien O'Connor managed a useful soundbite with an old line about trickle-down economics. That seemed to be about it, as far as most in the city would be aware. Still, credit to the Opposition for getting out of Wellington and displaying a coordinated response to what seems bound to be the centrepiece of May's Budget.

It has to be said that Labour is fighting with one hand tied behind its back on this one, with the full detail of National's plan still a mystery. The Government has sought to soothe anxieties about a GST rise with promises that nobody will be worse off when the details of its tax plans emerge.

To some minds, that raises the obvious question of why go to so much trouble if the effect boils down to giving with one hand and taking back with the other. Numerous explanations suggest themselves, and clearly one of them is National's hopes of making some far-reaching structural reforms to the tax system.

But for many voters, it will boil down to a hip-pocket question and the real opportunity – or threat – for Labour lies in the expectations that the Government has been feeding about the benefits that everybody stands to reap from its plans. If Finance Minister Bill English can deliver, Labour's talk of "axing the tax" will surely quickly fall silent. If he fails, the Opposition will have a much sharper axe to wield.

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