PM's opening statement

A sell-out crowd of more than 52,000 will be on hand when this year's State of Origin series gets under way at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium tonight.

The Government says it will be able to compensate people for a proposed hike in GST, as it emerged that households are already facing higher food and power prices.

Finance Minister Bill English is defending his change in heart on GST hikes, saying times have changed.

There appears to be overwhelming opposition to Prime Minister John Key's plan to raise GST to 15%, judging by the results of an Otago Daily Times teletopics poll.

In the first of a series in which political party finance spokespeople respond to the Government's signalled intentions on tax, GST and the economy, David Cunliffe outlines Labour's position.

When all the rorts, loopholes and mechanisms by which a significant proportion of New Zealanders either avoid paying tax - or, quite legally, are not required to - are taken into account, few people would disagree with the proposition, put forward by the Tax Working Group, that the system is "broken".

The Maori Party has joined Labour and the Greens as opposition to the Government's plan to raise GST strengthens in Parliament.

Prime Minister John Key signalled on Tuesday an increase in GST, across-the-board tax cuts and rule changes to get more tax out of property investors.

Under fire over plans to raise GST, the Government has sought to assure the public that no one would be worse off due to the price hike and most would be better off due to tax cuts.

During the election campaign John Key ruled out increasing GST.

Big personal tax cuts for middle and high-income earners are likely to be announced in the May Budget and take effect from October this year.