A hurry up!
OPINION: PM Chris Luxon is getting pinged lately for rolling out the old 'we're still a new government' line when challenged on a perceived lack of progress on various policy promises.
It’s worth noting though that NZ’s merchandise trade surplus in April 2025 was $1.4 billion, compared with a deficit of $12 million in April 2024, according to Stats NZ. New Zealand has had only four monthly surpluses over $1 billion.
This surplus, and the others, are thanks to farmers. And yet, the ‘Green Budget’ includes a 2.5% annual tax on a couple’s net assets over $4 million and a 33% tax on inheritances over a $1 million threshold.
This would see land held within the family for generations sold off just to pay the tax bill and, as Andrew Hoggard says, we’d see “a scarring effect on rural communities, a sledgehammer to rural investment, and food production shifted offshore”.
