NZ News

Child poverty group backs Green Party tax policy but National says it will affect investments

Published

3 years ago

June 12, 2023

The Green Party is promising a radical shake up of the tax system if elected this year, with an “income guarantee”, a wealth tax, a trust tax, and a higher top tax rate.

Under the party’s ‘Ending Poverty Together’ plan, which was announced on 11 June, anyone earning under $125,000 would pay less tax, with a tax-free threshold of $10,000.

The changes would put up to $26 a week more into the pockets of 3.7 million New Zealanders, the policy document says. Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson said yesterday for couples, the Income Guarantee would be at least $770, while a single parent would always have an income of at least $735.

Green Party co-leader James Shaw told Morning Report New Zealand was the only country in the OECD that did not have some form of tax on capital and there were 135 countries that did a better job of creating “a more inclusive and fairer society than ours”.

“Our vision is that we take the 45,000 children who are currently living below the material hardship line in Aotearoa and lift them above that line,” he said.

“Why would we leave anyone in poverty when we have the choice not to?”

The party’s proposed wealth tax of 2.5 percent on net assets above $2 million (or $4 million for couples who jointly own assets) and 1.5 percent tax on assets held in private trusts, were projected to raise at least $12 billion in the first year, the Greens’ policy statement said.

But Shaw said those estimates were conservative.

“There are advantages and disadvantages to both wealth taxes and to capital gains taxes,” he said.

“We’ve punted for a wealth tax on this occasion because we’ve seen huge asset growth, especially during the Covid period, and a capital gains tax would not recover any of that.”

He said the party believed its plan was bold but also realistic and it could be executed in the next term of Parliament.

“What we’re saying to the electorate is, if you want to live in a civilised society which takes everyone with us, please vote for this and that will strengthen our hand in any negotiations that we are in post-election.”

“They have made a very good effort to review and to change Working for Families in very, very good directions so that they’ve dealt with the inherent discrimination,” she said.

“They’ve dealt with the complexity of it, and they’ve dealt with the huge disincentives that are built into Working for Families for those low-income families in work.”

While CPAC had not yet analysed the full package in detail at the time of the interview, the policy that gave “a substantial increase to the first child”, payable to all low-income families, was “an exceptionally good way – a very cost-effective way to improve the hardship and poverty amongst those low-income families”, St John said.

She said there had to be a redistribution of wealth and it could be done in a number of different ways.

“We have to accept that until we do redistribute, we are not going to affect the growing inequality in this country, which is extremely damaging and economically very inefficient.”

The current situation was “pretty dire” for many families on low incomes, she said, and the proposed package would have a significant impact on child poverty levels in New Zealand.

“We’ve got hundreds of thousands of families that don’t have enough money at the end of the week to feed their children. The foodbanks are over-stretched, the NGO sector is reporting every day about how dire things are – is this the country that people want to live in?”

But the National Party said the Greens’ package was massive tax grab which could see wealthy New Zealanders leave the country.

“You simply can’t tax your way to a stronger economy and it’s only a stronger economy that can solve the cost of living crisis that has exacerbated New Zealand’s poverty issues,” National Party finance spokesperson Nicola Willis told Morning Report.

The Greens’ proposal assumed wealthy people had “no choice but to live and invest in New Zealand”, she said.

“That’s not the case; what we’ve seen with wealth taxes around the world, including in France and Norway, is that many wealthy people will simply flee the country, take their money that was creating jobs, incomes and opportunities, and put it elsewhere.”

Willis said she thought most New Zealanders understood that the “best and most sustainable way out of poverty” was to support people into paid work, which brought “independence and dignity”.

“Effectively what [the Greens are] saying is we need a gold-plated welfare scheme, National’s view is this: Actually, we need to send very clear incentives that the way out of poverty is if you can work, you should work. We think it’s wrong to remove all sanctions so that people can actively choose not to be employed.”

Willis said that “by the Greens’ own admission, in their costings, they admit their policy would lead to a 25 percent increase in the number of people receiving a benefit in New Zealand”.

While she acknowledged the proposed wealth and trust taxes would affect only a small number of people, she said some of them would be “everyday working people who, for family reasons, have family trusts”.

“Those 0.7 percent of people, they affect all of us, because if they’re not investing in our companies, and our businesses, if they’re not building innovative start-ups, then we’re not going to have the jobs and opportunities and incomes that New Zealanders need.”

National was in support of tax reductions, but believed they should be funded instead by “stopping some of the ineffective, wasteful spending that government is doing on itself”, she said.

“Yes to tax reduction for working people, absolutely, but at the same time we need to be thinking about how we encourage more job creation, more innovation, more investment.”

Source RNZ

Latest News

Police say person who fired gun at officers still at large

Published

3 days ago

November 12, 2026

News Staff

Police say a person who fired a gun at officers in Napier is still at large.

Eastern District Commander Superintendent Joel Lamb said Police tried to stop a vehicle in the Pirimai Area at about 10pm on Tuesday.

He said someone in the back seat pointed what was presumed to be a firearm at officers pursuing the vehicle.

“Staff have then heard two distinct gunshots as the firearm was discharged.

“Fortunately, neither of our officers were injured, and the patrol vehicle did not sustain any damage.”

He said hours later, the vehicle was seen travelling north on the Waikato Expressway towards Auckland.

Police seized the vehicle at an address in Manurewa, but they had not found the alleged offender.

Lamb said people who lived at the Manurewa address were engaging with Police.

He said Eastern District and Counties Manukau Police were making enquiries.

“Presenting a firearm at a Police officer is a serious escalation that puts our staff and the wider community at risk. This behaviour is entirely unacceptable.

“We are taking this incident extremely seriously and will be pursuing all lines of enquiry to locate the offender and hold them accountable.”

Police asked anyone who witnessed the incident to contact Police on 105 or online using the reference number 261111/3764.

Information could also be provided anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.

rnz

Latest News

New Zealand sides named for RLWC finals

Published

4 days ago

November 11, 2026

News Staff

The players tasked with ending Australia’s Rugby League World Cup dominance have been named.

The Kiwis and Kiwi Ferns have announced their squads for this Sunday’s World Cup finals in Brisbane.

Both sides are chasing their first titles since 2008, and both are looking to end their opponents run of three crowns in a row.

“Our Kiwi Ferns have been so dominant in years gone by, and we want to bring dominance back to this jersey, so I think it will be a case of who wants it more,” said co-captain Georgia Hale of the impending clash.

The Kiwis get a major boost for the final as they welcome back Ronaldo Mulitalo after he served a one-match ban for a high tackle against Fiji Bati.

Mulitalo replaces Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, who moves to the six-man bench, which again includes utility Te Maire Martin, middle forwards Naufahu Whyte, Erin Clark and Xavier Willison plus fullback Keano Kini.

Loose forward Joseph Tapine will make his 30th Test appearance in a familiar pack again, including second-rowers Isaiah Papali’i and Briton Nikora, and props James Fisher-Harris and Moses Leota.

Winger Jamayne Isaako is on the cusp of claiming the New Zealand record for most Test points.

His five goals against Tonga lifted his career points tally to 225 – level with Shaun Johnson – while centre Casey McLean goes into the final with 16 tries in just eight Tests.

Fisher-Harris will again captain the team.

Fullback Ponga said the goal of the group was clear.

“We have high expectations around what we want to achieve, and obviously winning a world Cup is one of them.”

Meanwhile, Ricky Henry has selected a settled side to take on the Jillaroos, led by their lethal centre combination of Stacey Waaka and Mele Hufanga.

Veteran Apii Nicholls takes the number one jersey, Leianne Tufuga and Mackenzie Wiki on the wings.

Henry has stuck with his halves pairing of Chantay Kiria-Ratu and Raecene McGregor with Alexis Tauaneai, Georgia Hale and Otesa Pule up front.

Rounding out the starting pack is Shaniece Monschau, Kaiyah Atai, and Angelina Teakaraanga-Katoa.

“We have been building well throughout the tournament; we understand the Jillaroos side, and will give it our all to make New Zealand proud this weekend,” said Henry.

RLWC Finals:

Kiwi Ferns vs Jillaroos- 6.10pm

Kiwis vs Kangaroos – 9.35pm

Sunday November 15

Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

Live blog updates on RNZ

Kiwi Ferns:

1. Apii Nicholls 2. Leianne Tufuga 3. Mele Hufanga 4. Stacey Waaka 5. Mackenzie Wiki 6. Chantay Kiria-Ratu 7. Raecene McGregor 8. Alexis Tauaneai 9. Georgia Hale 10. Otesa Pule 11. Shaniece Monschau 12. Kaiyah Atai 13. Angelina Teakaraanga-Katoa.

Interchange: 14. Ashleigh Quinlan 15. Annessa Biddle 16. Shannon Mato 17. Ivana Lauitiiti.

Reserves: 18. Brooke Anderson 19. Zahara Temara 20. Brianna Clark 21. Abigail Roache 22. Tenika Willison.

Kiwis:

1. Kalyn Ponga, 2. Jamayne Isaako, 3. Dane Gagai, 4. Casey McLean, 5. Ronaldo Mulitalo, 6. Kodi Nikorima, 7. Jahrome Hughes, 8. James Fisher-Harris (c), 9. Jeremy Marshall-King, 10. Moses Leota, 11. Isaiah Papali’i, 12. Briton Nikora, 13. Joseph Tapine (v/c).

Interchange: 14. Te Maire Martin, 15. Naufahu Whyte, 16. Erin Clark, 17. Xavier Willison.

Reserves: 18. Keano Kini, 19. Phoenix Crossland, 20. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 21. Scott Sorensen, 22. Leo Thompson.

rnz

Latest News

Opportunities to mitigate multi-million-dollar RNZ budget blowout likely missed – experts

Published

5 days ago

November 10, 2026

News Staff

Multiple opportunities to identify and mitigate a multi-million-dollar budget blowout at RNZ appear have been missed, according to the former executive director at Audit New Zealand.

The public broadcaster on Monday revealed a near $12 million shock financial loss after a litany of financial blunders, which will now lead to sweeping job cuts.

The $11.8m loss is more than 25 times the $470,000 RNZ had expected to lose over the year to June.

CEO Paul Thompson took responsibility for the result, and said internal reports gave an inaccurate picture of the finances, meaning the scale of the loss only became clear in October.

RNZ’s former chief financial officer Hilary Parker resigned unexpectedly in early October.

The board said it would commission an independent review into what went wrong.

Independent contractor Stephen Walker, who left the Audit Office earlier this year, said the size of the loss was surprising, as was the length of time it took to identify it – months after the financial year ended.

“Probably more of a concern is that they had seemingly been unaware that they were running up a significant deficit until they were in the preparation stage of their annual report in October.”

Walker said public entities typically produced monthly financial reports.

An interim audit also took place before the end of the financial year, he said, but if the organisation hadn’t identified significant losses at that stage, the auditor could also be in the dark.

“It seems that there’s a real weakness in forecasting and budgeting that’s occurred here and that the monthly accounts, when they’re produced, either haven’t identified these significant variances against budget or the magnitude of them really hasn’t come to light until right towards the end of the financial year,” Walker said.

“And really at that point, there’s no opportunity for the chief executive, the leadership team to take, and the board to take, any corrective action because the year has effectively been completed.”

Walker said the “significant miss” was difficult to account for given it was more than 10 percent of RNZ’s total funding.

He said based on RNZ’s annual report, financial complexity didn’t appear to be a factor.

“This $11.8m loss isn’t made up of one particular item … it seems to have been contributed to by a number of separate expense lines running over budget. So I don’t think it’s necessarily to do with complexity.”

Among the errors, RNZ wrongly counted $2m from land sales as income in its budget. Staff costs also came in $3.2m over budget, including $1.4m in redundancy payments.

Professor at Auckland University’s business school Norman Wong said based on media reports the issues identified were “significant and troubling”.

“But recognising the sale of land as income in their budget is a basic error that one would have expected to have been caught and corrected well before it got to this point.”

With funding reductions at RNZ over the past two years, Walker expected greater scrutiny of financial results.

“Virtually every public entity has had their annual budget reduced. And so you would expect … the leadership team on a monthly basis and board – I’m not sure how frequently the board will consider the information – but you would expect them to be interrogating the results on a regular basis throughout the year,” he said.

Walker said initiating an independent review was the correct course of action and that he’d want to understand what information the leadership team and the board were regularly receiving.

He said he’d “love to say” surprising financial results were rare, but conceded they occured on a semi-frequent basis during his time leading the Audit Office.

“The benefit of independent scrutiny by the Audit Office – and the auditors providing that support to the Auditor General – [is] that the reporting is fairly presented at the end of the year, whether it’s good, bad or ugly.”

rnz