Today Maryan Street, Damien O’Connor, Darien Fenton and our team took the big red Axe the Tax bus through Nelson, Motueka and Westport.
In Nelson we held two open air public meetings, both well attended, and canvassed retail businesses around the town center. Good moments included large numbers of shoppers stopping to listen to us by the Cathedral steps, and the very positive reaction we received from many small businesses- who HATE the idea that it will be up to them to make the higher GST work, and that they carry the risk and hassle.
Off to “Mot” via Mapua and strong positive reactions at both. Shopkeepers coming out of their shops to call us in and tell us why they opposed the tax. We doorknocked the entire main street at Motueka and it would have been impossible to miss us. Lunch meeting with community groups at the community center. Grey Power got it that the amount being speant on high income tax cuts is roughly the same as what National has gutted out of NZ Super prefunding.
Longish drive to Westport with lots of road works made us a bit late. Funniest moment was National MP Chris Auchinvole flagging us down on the road near a country pub where he announced he had just held a “hotel meeting”. OK fair enough, Chris.
Westport Working Men’s Club turned on a good crowd and some fine speeches from colleagues, with plenty of questions following. A local beer went down well after.
Tomorrow we blitz Westport mainstreet and cover Reeefton, Greymouth and Hoki before the trans-alpine trip adn Christchurch via Rangiora. Wednesday the bus tours Christchurch, but I fly to Invercargill to speak on the tax issues to public meetings and local businesses in Southland.
Great to be meeting a wide range of Kiwis in their own home towns and hearing directly from them of their concerns. And in case any trolls are going to run the “taxpayer funded” line – this is absolutley a proper thing for MPs to be doing.
