Campaigners argued that the tax proposals from the Policy & Resources Committee are unpopular, poorly justified and will further damage public trust in the States.
The protest featured speeches from anti-GST deputies Rob Curgenven, Liam McKenna, Simon Vermeulen, Garry Collins, David Goy and Haley Camp.
Deputy Curgenven said he was pleased with the turnout, though it was well down on the thousands who marched in January 2023.
‘It’s been very passionate with some very good speeches, but the only way we’re going to know if it’s made a difference is on Wednesday,’ he said.
‘I really hope it has because I think people have made themselves very, very clear, not just at this rally, but on social media and in all of the emails to deputies.’
Speakers, including the rally's organisers, Lars Janssen and Dominic Naermont, focused on GST as a tax as well as the wider concerns about public engagement by the Policy & Resources Committee, and government spending.
Mr Naermont said the pair organised the protest because ‘GST is wrong and nothing tears away from the fact that it’s a regressive tax’.
‘There’s such little government trust currently and it’s quite clear to us that people don’t love it. If we’re a democratic society, then people should get what they want,’ he said.
‘I’ve gone in person to our deputies. There’s been two rallies, so what form of communication do the States need from people for it to actually matter?’
Mr Janssen said that based on comments from deputies, people were still not aware of the entire tax package being put forward.
But he said that it was dismissive to assume that people were protesting solely because of the GST factor, and said that a lack of transparency and communication had been an important element of the public’s response.
‘The deputies are the ones who have to actually vote for this on our behalf and they don’t have a full picture,’ he said.
‘They’re presented with the policy but once they start questioning the numbers and want to see the numbers, they can’t, or it’s very difficult for them to. The numbers don’t seem to add up and it looks like it’s flawed.’
He said he worried that the P&R was rushing into changes and said he would rather finances were sorted out by a serious examination of government spending.
‘If they present something and there is a flaw, they should work on it instead of trying to hide it or defend it,’ he said.
‘If P&R would be more into that, they may have more people on their side, but they’re so hell bent in getting their message across, they’re forgetting what is needed to do that.’
The committee has held a handful of public meetings in recent weeks, however attendance has been low.
P&R said that social media criticism has been loud, but it was not seeing the same push back at in-person events.
Mr Janssen suggested that people cannot be bothered because they have already previously protested against GST, and although the States reform package now takes a different shape, it still has a lot of similarities.
‘There’s always been quite an apathy towards politics, people feeling they’re not being heard, P&R and deputies think they’re doing their best job, but clearly something isn’t working,’ he said.
‘We’ve been engaging with people for months and recently it’s become more obvious because of the protests. I almost feel like the States might be a bit jealous of what our reach is, compared to what they communicate.’
Speaking at the protest, Deputy Curgenven said revenue could be raised by sorting out expenditure, getting balance sheets and financial statements in order, and then assessing where the island was at financially.
‘I ran the largest survey the islands have seen on GST and nine out of 10 people said no to it,’ he said.
‘You can’t get nine out of 10 people in Guernsey to agree on anything, but on GST, this island speaks with one voice.’
He criticised P&R for spending £36,000 on a focus group to find whether people supported GST, yet the results have not been seen.
‘When they run out of things to run badly, they invent new things to run badly. They hire a whole team to write a strategy for hornets,’ he said.
‘The biggest thing on this island isn’t coming from any hornet’s nest. It’s coming from Sir Charles Frossard House, from the Policy & Resources Committee, and it’s about to sting every till, every rent, and every shopping basket in Guernsey.’
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