Greens unveil sweeping tax reform plan
They want rich individuals and businesses to pay more, low earners to pay less, and everyone to get a minimum guaranteed income.
Mōrena and welcome to The Bulletin for Monday, June 12, by Catherine McGregor. Presented in partnership with Z Energy.
In today’s edition: RNZ launches internal investigation into pro-Kremlin news stories, and a bad weekend for world leaders on both sides of the Atlantic. But first, the Green Party tries again with a wealth tax.
Image: Archi Banal
An ambitious tax overhaul, or nothing but a pipe dream?
On Sunday the Green Party “march[ed] into Grey Lynn, the heart of New Zealand’s capital-gains economy, to unveil its wealth and income policy,” writes the NZ Herald’s Thomas Coughlan. Let’s leave aside the question of whether Covert Theatre, the venue for the announcement, is really located in Grey Lynn (it’s in Ponsonby, I’d argue), and look instead at the policy’s key elements, including a 45% tax rate on income over $180,000 and a 2.5% wealth tax on assets over $2m per individual – double the asset threshold of their 2020 wealth tax policy. The Greens would use the tax generated to introduce a $10,000 tax-free threshold – in line with Australia – and a universal guaranteed income of at least $385 per week for all New Zealanders. Labour will need the Greens to govern come October, which makes this wealth tax policy instantly “one of the defining topics of the election”, says Coughlan, though Stuff’s political editor Luke Malpass argues it’s still “highly unlikely to ever see the light of day after the election, regardless of the result” (The Post, paywalled).
Key, Luxon defend personal wealth
The Greens will also introduce a 1.5% tax on trusts, with Coughlan reporting on Sunday that New Zealand’s trusts collectively hold $309b in equity. “That’s almost as much as New Zealand’s entire GDP, which is about $390b this year,” he writes. In a separate, paywalled analysis (seriously, does this guy sleep?), Coughlan says a major fish hook in the Greens’ policy is hiking the corporate tax rate to 33% – 3 points higher than Australia’s. “It’s probably worth questioning whether such a hike is worth risking our tax competitiveness with Australia over, particularly when that country already offers so many other incentives to shift there.” Meanwhile National leaders past and present have weighed in on wealth taxes. Sir John Key told Paula Bennett on her podcast that the IRD’s wealth survey, which he was required to complete, was “so pathetic” and unfairly targetted the super-wealthy. Christopher Luxon told Q&A’s Jack Tame he made no apologies for owning seven houses, and denied they affected his opposition to a capital gains tax.
National takes aim at ‘outdated’ GMO ban
Opposition to genetically modified organisms (GMOs) has been the Greens’ long standing policy. Now National has brought the debate back into the spotlight, announcing it will reverse the effective ban on GMOs that has been in place for the last 20 years. “There’s only an economic upside,” Luxon said. “It's hugely overdue and we are hauling New Zealand into the 21st century.” Scientist Sir Peter Gluckman is one of many scientists who back the move. New Zealand has “lost the capacity to keep up at the leading edge of agriculture and environmental protection” because of the ban, he says. Labour’s environment spokesperson David Parker says there’s no evidence that being “GE free” has hurt New Zealand economically and changing the policy would do little to address the climate crisis. As for the Greens themselves, Marama Davidson says she supports “having a look” at GE while her fellow co-leader James Shaw says “it's not going to be an issue that we're fighting this campaign on”.
Greens gain in new poll
The raft of policy announcements come on the heels of a new Curia poll for the Taxpayer’s Union showing support for a National-Act government remains largely unchanged since the same poll last month, with voting intentions still giving the two right-wing parties enough seats to assemble a majority. The only significant change is that support for the Greens has had a decent bump, to 9.7%. While the Curia poll is good news for National, analysis by The Spinoff’s Toby Manhire finds that an average of the last five polls, from all polling companies, has the two potential coalitions in a dead heat.
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Investigation into pro-Kremlin RNZ stories underway
RNZ has launched an investigation into the “inappropriate editing” of wire service news stories on the war in Ukraine. The state broadcaster has identified 16 stories that were given a more Russia-friendly slant by a member of its digital team, who has been put on leave pending the outcome of the investigation. The edits, which included false accounts of events and pro-Kremlin misinformation, were brought to light on Friday by a US lawyer and commentator who tweets under the handle @nycsouthpaw. However 1News is now reporting that members of the NZ-Ukrainian community complained to RNZ about a story containing Russian “propaganda” in October 2022. “Despite receiving that message eight months ago, the story remained on the RNZ website until late last week.”
Indicted, arrested, quit
It’s been an absolutely massive weekend for international news – here’s a quick rundown of three huge stories, involving three former world leaders. You already know this one: Donald Trump has been indicted on 37 federal counts related to the Mar-a-Lago documents case, the unsealed indictment giving us an instantly iconic image of boxes piled high in a chandelier-decorated bathroom. Trump faces 37 counts of willful retention of national defence information and making false statements, and is set to be arraigned in Miami on Wednesday morning NZT. Former British prime minister Boris Johnson quit politics after an investigation into “Partygate” found he had misled parliament and recommended a lengthy suspension. His bitter 1035-word resignation statement lashed out at the “kangaroo court” that had found him guilty. Then, early this morning, former Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon was arrested over financial misconduct allegations relating to $1.2 million in donations to her party, the SNP.
Electoral review chair on the recs and the wreckers
The review of electoral laws calls for wide-ranging changes, across the voting age, thresholds and donations. It also prompted derision from the likes of Mike Hosking, David Seymour and Winston Peters. In this special bonus episode of Gone By Lunchtime, panel chair Deborah Hart joins Toby Manhire to explain the thinking behind the recommendations, and responds to the critics.
Click and collect
Health minister Ayesha Verrall says she’s convening an expert group to tackle the postcode lottery in healthcare (paywalled)
Almost a third of school principals surveyed by NZEI want to leave the job within the next two years.
National is set to release its agri-emissions policy later this week (The Post, paywalled).
Logan Park High School in Dunedin will close for two days following the news the sudden death of principal Kristan Mouat.
Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news? Get in touch with me at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz.
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In the first of an exclusive two-part series, Max Rashbrooke assesses the Labour government’s record on poverty levels in Aotearoa. Duncan Greive reveals digital plans by NZ Rugby that could signal a new streaming platform for All Blacks games. Nadine Anne Hura writes about the heartbreaking decision to rehome her family’s dog, Piiata. Toby Manhire reports on plans to stage a major world competitive circle drawing competition (yes, you read that right) in Wellington. And Stewart Sowman-Lund uncovers Costco’s secrets with the help of a “superfan” who shops there up to three times a day.
Sporting snippets
Novak Djokovic won the French Open, taking him to a historic, record-beating 23 Grand Slams titles
Australia have won the cricket World Test Championship, beating India by 209 runs in the final at the Oval in London.
The story of the Unabomber, and the brother who lost him
With the death this weekend of domestic terrorist Ted Kaczynski I’m taking the opportunity to plug Project Unabom, a really compelling podcast series about Kaczynski’s descent into violence, intercut with the story of the FBI’s decades-long hunt for a man they knew only as the Unabomber.
The surprising thing about Project Unabom is how moving it often is. That's due to the participation and insight of Ted's younger brother David, who tried for years to keep a connection with Ted as he grew increasingly unhinged.
