Everyone should have what they need to thrive. But right now, our wealth is unfairly distributed. Which means that a few people have lots of wealth, and everyone else struggles to get by.
In the lead up to the election, it was clear that the cost of living was crushing people on the margins, who already found it hard to put kai on their table. At the same time, an incoming right wing government was blaming public spending for the cost of living, and promising meagre tax cuts instead of investing in our public services.
In 2023, we focused on economic justice by:
- Joining the coalition for Better Taxes for a Better Future alongside Tax Justice Aotearoa, Salvation Army, Oxfam and more;
- Launching For the People: Tax Corporate Profit, a campaign for a higher corporate tax and/or an excess profits (windfall) tax so that our biggest corporations can put money back into the public good;
- Organising local demonstrations across the country outside supermarkets who have been making mega profits during a cost of living crisis; and
- Releasing a report on Profit-led Inflation in Aotearoa with the Council of Trade Unions and FIRST Union, which found that 55% of domestic inflation was caused by rising corporate profit.
We cannot have a flourishing Aotearoa without an economy that looks after us all. Next year we will be working on an education project, to learn more about how our economic system affects our lives and communities.
