I see Cindy and Robinson have both stated that, despite what Judith is saying about the Greens wealth tax, they will not be agreeing to the Greens demands.
Then we see this from Radio NZ:
Ruling out conversation on wealth tax ‘not credible’ – Shaw
The Green Party would expect to have negotiations about a wealth tax with Labour if they enter negotiations after the election, Green co-leader James Shaw says.
He also defended the party’s stance on farming, saying the Greens would seek to fund farmers’ transition to sustainable methods and those already doing so would not need to pay.
Labour has consistently ruled out any new unannounced taxes on top of its proposed higher tax bracket and a digital services tax, with leader Jacinda Ardern specifically rejecting a wealth tax should it enter negotiations with the Greens after the election.
Shaw told RNZ’s Morning Report he would expect to have negotiations about a wealth tax.
“Yes I do. I don’t know how those negotiations are going to go of course, that depends on the election on Saturday … you’ve got to give voters a chance to have their say,” he says.
Recent polls suggest Labour would need the support of the Greens to form a government, and Shaw said wage and salary earners were losing out compared to asset owners, who were profiting amid the economic downturn and pandemic.
“Right now we’re in a situation where government revenues are declining because the economy is shrinking, at the same time expenses are obviously significantly up.
“House prices are up something like 15 percent over the same time last year, the New Zealand stock exchange had a record close three or four weeks ago and at the same time you saw a drop in the median wage for the first time in history.
“People who are working on a salary or on wages and who are paying tax on those are getting hammered as a result of the economic downturn whilst asset owners are seeing the value of those [assets] inflate because of the … stimulus money into the economy.”
He says there may well be other ways of achieving this without a wealth tax but “that’s what we need to do, you need to have an election and then you need to sit down and talk in the formation of government stage and say ‘what might be possible here’.
“I don’t think that it is credible not to have a conversation both about the fairness within the tax system, and the amount of revenue that government needs to raise in order to be able to get ourselves through this crisis and then to be able to pay back the debt that’s associated with that.”
Freshwater reforms, nitrogen levies and farming
Shaw says most farmers want to transition to more sustainable forms of farming over the coming years and it is not unreasonable for them to be asking for support to do that.
“The margins are very thin on a lot of farms and so they don’t have a lot of spare cash around to do things like implement the freshwater reforms and reduce greenhouse gases and so on.
“The package that we’re taking into this election is built around the idea of a $300 million support package – you would add that to the $700m that we’ve put in over the last 12 months for the freshwater reforms, and that’s over a billion dollars of support for farmers to help make those changes and the vast majority of them that’s what they want to do.”
He says the proposed nitrogen cap would not affect the vast majority of farmers, and any revenue it raised would go directly back into supporting farmers.
“The nitrogen levy that we’re proposing is set at a very low rate simply to send a price signal for people to be a bit more efficient about the use of nitrogen fertilisers.”
He says the average dairy farmer at the moment would pay about $1500 under the levy.
“The idea isn’t to raise revenue, if it does raise revenue 100 percent of that goes back into supporting farmers with the transition … if they become more efficient there’s no fee at all.”
RMA reforms
Shaw says the Green Party does not oppose changes to the Resource Management Act, but would want to ensure the recommendations to keep environmental protections are carried out.
“The review that came out a couple of months before the election was a very good piece of work, and it did propose maintaining and in fact strengthening environmental bottom lines. What we want to make sure as part of the next government is that those proposals that are in that report are maintained and are carried through to the new piece of legislation.”
He said there was no need to trade off environmental values against the economy.
“The Greens have always maintained that those things don’t need to be tradeoffs against each other and that actually a kind of clean green economy by definition is one that’s more productive, higher wage, higher technology.
“I think that that tradeoff is kind of thinking like the old world … the kind of status quo that we’ve left behind and actually … you just need to think a bit more creatively about the kind of economy we do want.”
With polls predicting Liarbour needing the greens to be back in government, how desperate do we think Cindy will be?
They will need to give away more than they are saying, but haven’t got the guts to tell the voters the truth
They said “no new taxes” last time. So no.
I do not trust either of those parties. The quaint phrase “let the voters have their say” means very little when your actual say is limited to two ticks, using your own pen. We have learnt that Coalition negotiations alter previous situations yet those negotiations were kept secret.
As a couple we have worked for more than 50 years to acquire assets. We have paid income tax on those earnings and by thrift and effort have set ourselves into a position where we hope to be able to fund retirement and not be a burden on our fellow citizens or the state.
The Green Party, in my recall, once focussed on environmental matters yet those seem forgotten now. Sure, Shaw slips the word into his pronouncements now and again but I do not believe his parliamentary green colleagues actually know what the word means. Social change appears more the style.
I hear his words on wealth tax and the words on UBI and regard him and his party as forgetting what honest work as a taxpayer saving towards retirement actually involves. To have a list party threaten a “wealth tax” just gets right up my nose. The arrogant, ignorant pillocks. Shaw had some credibility with me until the Green School funding scam was announced. He joined a now sorry bunch in my estimation at that stage.
Labour simply have not delivered and for that I am grateful. They were promising further pointless drain on public funds and seemingly do not see personal responsibility or effort as useful. I resented the Arms Act foolishness and the Oil and Gas stupidity. I do not want to see meth addicts treated without meth suppliers pursued relentlessly yet Labour also plans to empty the jails. Their announcements on addiction seemingly forget the purveyors of those substances that cause the health issue they say they plan to spend large on.
So no, I do not trust either party. I have not voted for them and am hoping the larger that usual early turn out means that, despite the bribes, they are gone.
I hope you’re right Pete. The last thing we need is the increasingly arrogant Greens anywhere near the levers of power.
After calling Peters a drunken maggot for at least 20 years I would still rather him be in coalition with horse face than two Mums Shaw and the Racist maori Davidson.
It is hypothetical. Peters will not make 5%.
Chuck. In our haste to get rid of the bum lets hope we haven’t shot ourselves in both feet.
In saying that it was the little dog that gave us this clusterfuck in the 1st place.
Does Shaw explain, anywhere, what he means by sustainable farming ? I’m sure it is just words and he doesn’t have a clue what he is talking about.
It is interesting how much I have heard, in recent days, Labour and the Greens talking about farmers and how they like them etc.
Complete BS and I hope it is a sign of desperation.
Ross12 ,I heard something a couple of weeks ago about pumping water back above dams for reuse in power generation, I thought it was a joke and had a laugh and forgot about it ,FFS it’s an actual thing being promoted by the greens.
So after 100s of thousands of years of humans living on this planet Shaw,Davidson,Swornbrick,ETC ETC have said “fuck you” to the Scientific Community and discovered Perpetual Motion, this technology WILL save us from our horrendous Covid debt ,Yeeeeee Haaaaaa and Cindy is asking for “conversations” on the subject FFS.
Don’t forget they are promoting dubious hydrogen technology to replace our Hydrocarbon industry in Taranaki.
ED ,Woods was pushing the the hydrogen thing a few months ago so take it to the bank that that the scientists have worked out a way to turn hydrogen into cream doughnuts LOL.
retech120
The Government has allocated $30 million to the investigation of the idea !!! The stupid Aussies are actually going to do it ( I think) –Snowy River2 !
It works in Norway because the Danes have so many windmills that during the spring and autumn when the wind blows they have excess electricity (no demand in the warmer months) so they are forced to sell it off really cheaply. The Norwegians gladly buy it and use it to pump water back over their many hydro dams. Then in the winter when demand is high and the wind does not blow much in Denmark, the Norwegians sell them electricity at a massive profit !!
Any good ideas from Norway or Sweden will have snaggletooth Clarkes filthy fingerprints all over them.
Not just the Greens. Cindy is a fan of pumped hydro.
Shaw wouldn’t know a cow poo if he was standing in it.
Can you trust them?
Yes you can to bugger it up good and proper!
When you rely on Kelvin, Chippie, Black Tracker, Angry, Twitford, etc you just know it’s going to be tits!
Heres a New Energy production method thats without pollution and is based on the physics of the sun,
https://aureon.ca/
The Safire Plasma Reactor
Has anyone seen this? This POS got three-and-a-half years’ imprisonment. Little think we should trust the judges and parole board and get rid of three strikes.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/123067100/father-threatened-to-smash-daughters-head-in-after-raping-her-court-hears
It is an absolute certainty but it won’t be called ‘Wealth Tax’.
That’s how the Mad Queen gets around things.
I’m thinking she will call it a compulsory ‘Aroha Payment’ or something….
Yeah, too bloody right, CO. She’ll call it something like “Asset Tax”. Or just say she had her fingers crossed behind her back. Filthy liar.
As a farmer, this tax will force us off the farm. The farm relies on off farm income, especially when it is dried off so there is no income for those months. This tax will take all of that income so I work all hours for nothing? Not happening.
Just call it what it is: Envy tax. You’ve got, I want it.
Will this wealth tax go after the trusts?