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Campaign diary: Jacinda Ardern smeared Judith Collins’ estate tax on the last disinformation dice roll of the weekend, but Collins herself seems determined to roll the dice a few more times to see if she’s lucky on October 17.
Collins’ challenge to Ardern is to predict the future, to rule out beyond any possibility that millionaires will pay higher taxes after a likely Labor-green government is formed.
And while Ardern concentrates on determining what he will or will not do in the future, Collins faces a much more perplexing problem of changing the past. With more than a million votes now cast, the votes patiently seated at stations across the country have probably already sealed their fate.
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Jacinda Ardern rejects the national suggestion that Labor introduce the Green wealth tax, despite ruling it out, as “malicious and wrong.”
But Collins, to his credit, won’t go without a fight. In a hastily rearranged new ad at the campaign stop, Collins spoke about a $ 1 billion road to Petone. It was promised in August and intended to be re-advertised in the Hutt South fringe seat today, with local MP Chris Bishop awaiting.
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* Election 2020: the numbers do not tell the whole story, nor the television debates
Instead, perhaps after learning that Labor’s Jacinda Ardern was in town, the stop was downgraded to Granada, a humid Wellington suburb near Johnsonville.
A crowd of true believers gathered: a man had headed to Super Golded on a bus from far away Wadestown (like Granada, but more expensive) just to catch a glimpse of Collins.
Collins’ speech was to the point: He pointed out that with the Greens in office, a deluded Labor would not be able to meet transportation in Wellington. The Greens would get what they wanted in transportation, as would the estate tax.
ROSA WOODS / Things
National leader Judith Collins spends the day campaigning in Grenada and Waikanae.
Parliamentarians of all colors are often infuriated by the suggestion that they might have to commit to doing or not doing important policy in the future.
All sides have a point, although not all points have the same merit. Until a government is formed, it is nothing more than the Schroedinger estate tax.
Ardern is correct in pointing out that she, as Prime Minister, would have autonomy to decide what she does and does not do in government, if the Greens want to stand down and overthrow the Labor-green government they have wanted since they turned around. Outside of the Alliance, leave them.
Also keep in mind that Ardern has given so much importance not By making the wealth tax that a U-turn would decrease your political capital to a point where not even the Reserve Bank could save it.
But Collins is also entitled to point out that the final decision on the tax will be determined during coalition negotiations. MMP creates a proportional Parliament, it does not create a proportional executive (quite the contrary). The executive is a creature of negotiation and politics. What role the Greens have to play depends on their conversations with Labor.
It may seem inherently undemocratic to let a small party dictate fiscal policy to its larger partner (historically, taxes are precisely what Parliament exists for), but for the fact that NZ First did just that when it rejected the expected Labor capital . Income tax last year.
NZ First also set another precedent here. In 1996, leader Winston Peters wanted a financial portfolio in his negotiations with Labor and National. Labor Helen Clark and Michael Cullen opposed this, believing that the roles of Prime Minister and Minister of Finance belonged to the main party. National leader Jim Bolger had no such scruples and invented the role of Peters treasurer.
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Collins says obesity is “generally” a personal weakness and urges people to stop blaming the system.
Having discussed the estate tax well and truly, Collins spoke about obesity, something he had mentioned in a previous radio interview. He attacked the medicinal basis of obesity and said that overweight people bear full responsibility for their weight.
“Oh come on, any of us can do better at this,” Collins said.
When this reporter pointed out that the recent medical literature had a divergent opinion, Collins responded, “I think I’ve read more than you have.”
Luckily, Bolger made a brief and awkward appearance at Collins’ next campaign rally: a packed crowd of retirees at the Waikanae bowling club, north of Wellington.
The crowd was packed and in a good mood. This was the main national territory. There, Collins gave his opinion on the export of oil and gas. Collins feeds on a crowd. Like a good comedian, she establishes a relationship with a room, occasionally straying from her message to joke with the audience; He’s not always good on TV, but the crowd loves it.
ROSE WOODS
Collins hit journalists on the road in Granada.
He also delighted the crowd with his views on lending and monetary policy.
“Where does that money come from?” Collins asked, when asked about government loans.
“You borrow it or you just print it – $ 100 billion goes into the New Zealand economy just by printing money, except now they print it and just wire transfer it,” he said.
The simplistic comment hides an important error. Yes, the Reserve Bank is “creating” money. It plans to inject up to $ 100 billion into the economy, although it has not yet reached that amount. But that money is not printed for the government to ask for more loans.
The money is borrowed Y printed – not borrowed or in print – the distinction cuts the foundations of how our economy works.
Combining a discussion about the government’s borrowing – its fiscal policy – and the monetary policy of the Reserve Bank is the kind of mistake National used to lampoon Labor.
The bank prints money to buy government bonds in the secondary market, pushing yields down to give effect to its monetary policy. It has nothing to do with how much Ardern wants to borrow. Any suggestion that Ardern or his government were even contemplating such a move would be felt immediately in the exchange rate: it would not be Schroedinger’s money printer, it would be real.
Collins knows, should know, the fact that the Reserve Bank does not print money to finance the government is a central pillar of the entire way the bank is established. It’s something his party stands for: That system killed the inflation demon that ruined the lives of the very retirees Collins was talking to.
Waikanae retirees may not realize it, but the exemplified moment is to see why National’s reputation is on the wane among business audiences, who would scratch their heads at any suggestion that any New Zealand government is monetizing the deficit. .
It is a shameful mistake for the party, which two years ago ridiculed Ardern for confusing government Treasury accounts with Stats NZ GDP figures.
We are the party that receives such things, they seemed to be saying. Trust us, we get it.
The tables have really turned. Labor is trying to paint National as if it is no longer Key and English’s party; Collins is showing them they are right when he is supposed to prove them wrong.
