The revelation that the Government was indeed considering a wealth tax this budget has been blown wide open by the release of budget papers - and the Prime Minister confirming that he killed it.
For months now there has been a suspicion of this. I first got wind of it in a speech the Statistics Minister Deborah Russell made in Queenstown months back, on the work that David Parker had done around the so-called super rich.
She seemed to indicate the Government, if we hadn't already been clued in by the Parker fishing expedition, was keen to explore tax fairness.
I asked Megan Woods several times on the show about the idea. She vehemently denied it, saying not this term, giving away the possibility that an election win could deliver more tax.
So, if not in the budget, then when? I was then convinced it would make up part of their election campaign, thus being introduced next year and not breaking a promise.
What I couldn’t work out was why a Government so desperately in trouble electorally, would try and sell more tax.
The argument was because they hate the successful, they were hoping New Zealanders operate out of the same level of envy and, given it wouldn't actually affect the vast majority, we would actually welcome it. Especially if it meant we got to pocket a bit.
I argued that’s not how we work. We are aspirational.
Or we were.
We wanted the chance to work hard, to do well and to succeed. Yet, as it stands, these days the main benefit has gone up 48 per cent over five years for doing nothing, while if you earn over $48,000 a year, you're in the 30 per cent tax bracket.
So, at last we find out the truth. They looked at a wealth tax, they looked at it for the Budget and they had a series of implementation plans worked out.
If you follow Parliament and Question Time, all the questions Nicola Willis was asking Grant Robertson, who was squirming like a worm on a fishing rod, were for a reason.
Having taxed the bejesus out of us, having spent like drunks, having run us into a recession, and possibly two of them, and having racked up debt the likes of which we have never seen - they still wanted more.
And while they were planning, they were busy denying they were anti-success and not exactly embracing honesty either.
Busted at last. They should hang their heads in shame.
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings - where this article was sourced.
I asked Megan Woods several times on the show about the idea. She vehemently denied it, saying not this term, giving away the possibility that an election win could deliver more tax.
So, if not in the budget, then when? I was then convinced it would make up part of their election campaign, thus being introduced next year and not breaking a promise.
What I couldn’t work out was why a Government so desperately in trouble electorally, would try and sell more tax.
The argument was because they hate the successful, they were hoping New Zealanders operate out of the same level of envy and, given it wouldn't actually affect the vast majority, we would actually welcome it. Especially if it meant we got to pocket a bit.
I argued that’s not how we work. We are aspirational.
Or we were.
We wanted the chance to work hard, to do well and to succeed. Yet, as it stands, these days the main benefit has gone up 48 per cent over five years for doing nothing, while if you earn over $48,000 a year, you're in the 30 per cent tax bracket.
So, at last we find out the truth. They looked at a wealth tax, they looked at it for the Budget and they had a series of implementation plans worked out.
If you follow Parliament and Question Time, all the questions Nicola Willis was asking Grant Robertson, who was squirming like a worm on a fishing rod, were for a reason.
Having taxed the bejesus out of us, having spent like drunks, having run us into a recession, and possibly two of them, and having racked up debt the likes of which we have never seen - they still wanted more.
And while they were planning, they were busy denying they were anti-success and not exactly embracing honesty either.
Busted at last. They should hang their heads in shame.
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings - where this article was sourced.
6 comments:
Mike, unless you've missed it, this government has lied to the entire country about everything entirely.
This comes as no surprise. It is what they do. It is now in their DNA.
They will only ever be trusted by those people that do not see the truth or the reality and sadly it seems they are about 1/3 of the nation.
Yes - the really disastrous issue is how many people still believe what they say despite all evidence to the contrary.
NZ will be sunk by its most gullible voters.
A nation of SHEEP will beget a government of WOLVES.
Those not awake by now will never wake up (psy-oped) so it is up to the awake to deal to the wolves.
Mike when you mention how much benifits have gone up, many don't get that increase because the Government actually claws it back by reducing other things, so for every $20 given you will get anything from $3 to $7 so things aren't as they may seem. Plus Supported Living people and pensioners live off the smell of a oily rag if they are lucky.Just something for you to consider
Cannot believe there is approximately 30% of the population of our country are thick as short planks and haven’t come too thier senses
The wealth tax would end investment in NZ. It would cause capital flight. And we would lose many small but successful small businesses. Even the people at Treasury who did the analysis for Robertson noted that a wealth tax would be counterproductive, and result in many of those who pay the most in tax already leaving for Australia or other countries.
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