Thursday, 14 March 2019 08:38

Capital pains

Written by 

National's constant prodding in Parliament recently about capital gains tax (CGT) has caused the Prime Minister to drop her veil of kindness and reveal anger and petulance instead.

The Tax Working Group’s fulsome push for a CGT has Labour on the back foot for now, as shown by the PM’s temper flashes, question dodging and strange desire to explain her ‘small business experience’.

And it has revealed a hard truth for Labour, as noted by political journalist Richard Harman on his website Politik. That is, “the future of any CGT depends on NZ First”. Harman writes that while the party publicly says it isn’t conducting any formal process to decide its policy position on CGT, its supporters are making their thoughts known loud and clear, at public meetings and on the party’s Facebook page, “mostly opposing a capital gains tax”.

“This may explain what is fast becoming obvious -- that Peters is carefully avoiding any suggestion he might support the tax.”

More like this

Dreams aren't plans

OPINION: Milking It reckons if you're National, looking at recent polls, the dream scenario is that the elusive economic recovery finally roars to life.

If voters see some growth and wages rising faster than prices, the government could say they've "fixed" things as they ride into the next election.

Back here on Earth though, the economy they inherited is a basket case, and the long-term headwinds are fierce.

Political commentator Liam Hehir says, "dreams are not plans" and if the turnaround doesn't come in time, National may have no choice but to go negative.

"Everybody wants to fight on the economy if they can. But when neither side has a compelling story, the contest shifts to other issues. That's not new. In fact, it's the stuff of politics everywhere, always."


 Read More:


Trop de Paris!

OPINION: Your old mate's ear has been chewed off recently by farmers voicing their displeasure with the National Party, particularly relating to how they're treating their farmer base.

Air Miles

OPINION: The latest travel receipts for MPs are in (April – June 2024).

Give it back!

OPINION: Most of the country's wage slaves will welcome the extra coin left in their wallets thanks to National's tax cuts.

Featured

Australia develops first local mRNA FMD vaccine

Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.

NZ household food waste falls again

Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.

Editorial: No joking matter

OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.

National

All eyes on NZ milk supply

All eyes are on milk production in New Zealand and its impact on global dairy prices in the coming months.

Machinery & Products

Leader balers arrive in NZ

Officially launched at the National Fieldays event in June, the Leader in-line conventional PRO 1900 balers are imported and distributed…

JDLink Boost for NZ farms

Connectivity is widely recognised as one of the biggest challenges facing farmers, but it is now being overcome through the…

New generation Defender HD11

The all-new 2026 Can-Am Defender HD11 looks likely to raise the bar in the highly competitive side-by-side category.

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Full cabinet

OPINION: Legislation being drafted to bring back the controversial trade of live animal exports by sea is getting stuck in the…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter