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Wednesday, May 3, 2023

Mike Hosking: Government gets further out of touch


I think Carmel Sepuloni gave us enough yesterday, didn’t she?

Along with previous comments from Megan Woods and Chris Hipkins we can conclude that some sort of tax attack is coming from this Government as part of their re-election bid.

My gut says their approach will go down in history as one of the most ill-conceived/mad hat ideas of the modern political era.

A Government in a recession with a myriad of social and racial issues at play, adds to their burden by trying to convince New Zealanders that paying yet more tax is a good idea.

Of course, what's coming is either a new top tax rate, my guess is a 45c figure on big incomes over $250,000, or, as OneRoof quite rightly punted, a mansion tax.

The thinking is it's an envy tax, a bash the rich tax.

Now, there are two critical flaws in that.

One is that we are now dabbling around the edges. It will raise comparatively nothing so, in other words, it’s a socialist sort of window dressing.

And two, it shockingly misreads the average outlook of regular New Zealanders.

We are aspirational. We want to work hard and we want to do well. We want to think we can achieve and, if we do, we are rewarded for that.

We want to see our kids set up in a better way than us, in a country we can be proud of.

These days, nothing this Government is about has any connection to that mind set.

That gas lighting nonsense from Sepuloni yesterday about Warriors tickets for poor people says it all.

Because I can afford tickets and because I actually care about the country and fill out the census form, I'm different?

It's insulting.

Anyway, there's the mansion tax. Los Angeles has just implemented one at 5 percent over sales over $5 million and even more if it's over $10 million.

How they roll that out here nationwide I have no idea, given the price variance between Auckland and Wellington. But it's capital gains, so their dream comes true, but only for rich pricks.

But that is the part they don’t get. You don't mess with a Kiwi's house. It is our castle, our dream, and our statement of who we are and who we want to be.

How they don’t get that, I don’t know.

But if this is their plan then they are taking their already perilous chances of winning and setting fire to them.

It's been many a year since I've seen a Government so out of touch.

Ironically, last time was also Labour, under Helen Clark. Remember their third term? They started talking about regulating the pressure of your shower head.

It did them in then. It'll do them in this time.

Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Anyone see Chloe debating Seymore on The Nation last Saturday? Chloe is advocating a Wealth Tax of 1% on assets over 1 million. My brain went into overdrive: start funnelling a steady stream of dosh to our Sydney bank account … a family trust… gifts to the kids... a mansion, if the family home is excluded.
Seymour had some good counter-arguments, but I wish he’d questioned why billion-dollar Maori Corporations masquerading as charities are virtually exempted from tax.

Anonymous said...

i would say the ones who didn't fill the census are pretty smart. covid era already showed that the gift value increased as they delayed taking vaccination. once a precedent is set, one would be foolish not to make use of it!