From Craig Leach.
THE Consumer Council played a major role in the elections by effectively railroading many candidates into ‘no to GST’ and/or ‘no to tax on food and fuel’ manifestos.

The campaign that achieved this was based not on educating the public on the issues but on providing one-sided information and by not specifying the alternatives.

This appeal to our ignorance was compounded by telling us that hardly any developed countries taxed food, which was an insult to our intelligence and to that of the people of France, Germany, Italy and the many other countries which do just that.

So how do we describe a politically conflicted publicly funded organisation that seemingly will capitalise on ignorance and deception to achieve its aims? Its chairman, Senator-elect Breckon, is fond of the expression ‘morally bankrupt’. Quite.

It is to be hoped that our elected politicians will do what the council failed to do – their homework in the public interest – and understand why the UK model, with its attendant need to load work on retailers, employ extra civil servants and give lawyers a field day, should be avoided, and why, if they wish to help the less well-off in our community, exemptions that benefit the biggest spenders most are a Loony Tunes way of doing so.
Les Fauvettes,
La Grande Mielle,
Grouville.