By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

OFFICIAL Opposition Leader Phillip “Brave” Davis yesterday said the Minnis administration is benefiting the wealthy and not the poor, insisting that most tax concessions in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year will only help those who are already well off.

In particular, he faulted the government for reducing taxes on maintenance parts for aircraft, paint supplies, sea vessels, salmon, caviar, asphalt and parts for washing and drying machines.

He also criticised the government for not extending the previous administration’s tax break on building materials for residential and commercial properties in inner-city communities even while it extends the previous administration’s concession on importing art into the country.

“Some people,” Mr Davis said in the House of Assembly, “those wealthy enough to own airlines, paint supply stores and wash houses, must now be extremely pleased that it is indeed ‘their time.’ This budget offers no relief for the ordinary person. Instead this budget washes you, presses you and cleans you out! It is indeed ‘the people’s time,’ but the identities of those people are coming into sharper focus as the days go by, and the fig leaf covering this government’s true fiscal priorities are slowly lifted.”

The opposition has criticised the new government for granting tax breaks to businesses with a turnover of more than $50 million but not to businesses that make less money.

“One of these people (who benefits from this) identified himself by publicly bragging that his company will enjoy savings of some $444,000 as a result of this amendment to the Business License Act,” Mr Davis said. “We only need to ask ourselves how many businesses in the country have a turnover of $50 million per annum. One such company has identified itself––will others follow suit? I suspect that there are members in this House involved in such businesses. Will they be honourable and declare their interests? I remind them of the parliamentary rules as set out in Erskine May’s guide. Those rules require that members declare during our debates any pecuniary interest that they may have in subject matters that would benefit that interest. That interest may be direct but also indirect as well.

“This means, for example, that if you plan to reduce taxes on paint supplies, and your children have major paint supply businesses, you should declare that interest.

“If the proverbial cupboards are bare as the member for East Grand Bahama said, then why is the government finding it necessary to offer such generous tax rebates to the wealthy and those most able to pay taxes?”

Mr Davis said the budget’s reduction on duty rates for paint and toilet paper will damage the respective industries in the country.

The PLP, he said, adjusted tariff rates on such items to compensate for the advantage foreign products have over locally manufactured goods.

“…Unless consideration is given to these entrepreneurs who must compete against all odds, this government will eliminate this sector of our economy,” he said. “I urge the government to rescind the recently tabled adjustment on the duty for all items that are manufactured locally. Is it not ‘the people’s time?’ They are people and they employ people unlike the foreign manufacturers who employ robots.”

Though some have urged the Progressive Liberal Party to move towards reform, Mr Davis embraced the Christie administration’s record during his first speech in Parliament as leader of the Official Opposition.

He highlighted the remobilisation of work at Baha Mar and negotiations to control the country’s airspace as successes of the previous administration.

As opposed to accepting blame for the election result on behalf of the PLP, he argued that the FNM won the election by perpetuating false narratives. In particular, he highlighted the FNM’s criticisms about value added tax and the Christie administration’s dealings with China as misleading.

“.... These falsehoods essentially formed the foundational premise on which the FNM’s election campaign was built and it worked very well for the FNM,” he said.

He insisted that the previous administration left the country on solid footing and that it left the country headed in a positive direction across multiple metrics, including tourism arrival numbers, consumer price inflation and the trade deficit.