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The Maori Party wants a capital gains tax and to stop immigration to New Zealand until the housing crisis is resolved.
The party, which is campaigning to return to parliament after being ousted in the 2017 elections, says that if elected in October it will build 2,000 houses on Maori land, strictly allocate 50 percent of new social housing to Maori and will place 2 percent. tax on vacant “ghost” houses.
Maori Party co-leader John Tamihere said Stuff the “housing supply is in disarray.”
“What kind of package would you put in place to ensure Kiwis have a chance to climb the housing ladder? … You have to have a tax on capital gains, you have to have a tax on vacancies in order for current stocks to work again. “
Ryan Anderson / Stuff
Maori Party co-leader John Tamihere says the major parties lack the political courage to impose a capital gains tax.
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Such a housing and immigration policy exceeds that proposed by other parties, including parties that the Maori Party could try to work with if re-elected.
Labor leader Jacinda Ardern has firmly stated that there will be no capital gains taxes under her leadership, saying the only new tax to be included on labor would be a 39 percent tax bracket on income over 180,000 Dollars.
The Maori Party wants a capital gains tax set at 2 percent of annual appreciation on houses that are not home to the family or whānau. This policy differs from the prospective capital gains tax considered by the Labor-led government, which would have taxed capital gains only when a home was sold.
Tamihere said such a tax would ensure that, for New Zealanders looking to invest their money, “the most important thing on their minds” was seeking alternative and productive investments, not housing.
“When you are in politics, you have to advance what will work. The fact that neither of us [major parties] having the courage to stand up to a third of New Zealanders who own more than one home is the problem. “
Tamihere said immigration should stop beyond existing New Zealand residents bringing family members to the country and visas for skilled workers, or roughly the current configuration at the border, which is closed to most non-citizens or residents due to the Covid-19 pandemic. .
The party hoped this would slow down demand for housing.
“Why do we need more? If you have ordered the category of your skills, ordered repatriation, what is the opposite case for more people?”
Under the policy, there was no firm line on when the housing market would be considered suitable for expanding immigration.
Tamihere said any incoming government was expected to build more houses, which was necessary, but his party wanted to build 2,000 houses on Maori land at a cost of $ 600 million.
