CGT would be another blow for rural

When will it end for rural and provincial New Zealand? First, this Government takes away our vital services, like the Lumsden Maternity Centre, the 24/7 staffing of the Balclutha police station and another Southland rural police station, the Roxburgh Children’s Village and almost the rescue chopper.

Now the Southern Institute of Technology is at risk. If the centralisation of the polytechnics goes through, as this Government has proposed, jobs from Invercargill will be lost to Lambton Quay in Wellington.

They’re now going to hit rural New Zealanders right in the pocket, taxing them for water, Emissions Trading Scheme, fertiliser, land, capital gains and more.

For a Government that is supposed to be compassionate, this seems the opposite. They talk about fairness – and these proposed taxes are not fair. Hard-working people who have saved their incomes, which is already taxed, and spent this income wisely should not be taxed further.

Our country’s wealth has been built up on the back of farmers’ hard work over the generations.

They are the backbone of this economy and now find themselves subject to their farms being further taxed when sold through a capital gains tax. You hear the excuse of, ‘‘it won’t affect the true-blue farmers, they won’t sell their farms.’’

What about our younger farmers, when they are thinking about their children’s futures, and they need to upscale so their children have the ability to farm in future? These proposed taxes mean their children will never have the ability to farm because the tax they will incur by upscaling will mean the cost outweighs the benefit.

And all the hard work farmers have been doing to protect our waterways, environment and Clean, Green New Zealand image will stop too. The hard-working farmers who have spent every spare dime riparian planting, fencing off waterways and restoring wetlands won’t have a spare dime left. It will all be tied up in taxes.

Those farmers whose families have been carrying copious amounts of debt will have to call it a day. The tax will be too much and they’ll be forced to sell the farm. Those ‘‘true-blue farmers’’ who would never have sold their farm are now left with no choice.

I ask you what part of this is fair? It’s not just farmers, though. The same will apply to small business owners, people who have invested in a rental property – your everyday Kiwis.

Some of you may say, well, they’re ‘‘lucky’’ to have a second house, a business or a farm. They’re not lucky. These people have worked hard to save their money and made wise decisions. They should not be taxed more.

They’re the reason we have rental properties for people to live in. They’re the reason people in our rural and provincial communities are employed. They’re the reason we have food to eat.

These taxes will affect hard-working New Zealanders who have invested their money thinking about their future, their children’s futures and their grandchildren’s futures.

I’m not sure what part of this proposed capital gains tax – or any of these other proposed taxes – is fair. Rural and provincial New Zealand has suffered enough. And do you know what?

Any new taxes imposed on farmers will fall at the feet of Winston Peters, who is propping up this tax-and-spend Government.