Election 2020: Judith Collins returns to fiscal attack, Jacinda Ardern says it’s fiction

Jacinda Ardern and Judith Collins escalated their war of words on taxes today after Green Party co-leader James Shaw said it was not credible to avoid having tax talks in post-election talks.

National’s one day of action on Sunday to try to convince voters that Labor will give in to pressure from the Greens on a post-election wealth tax now appears to have spread.

Ardern and Finance Minister Grant Robertson have repeatedly ruled it out, but Collins, who was in Christchurch today, says Labor could give in to government harassment.
Green, as it had before.

“Don’t forget that it was a Labor government that unilaterally decided to ban oil and gas exploration in Taranaki, a fact that they did not tell the electorate before the 2017 elections.

“In this election, Ms. Ardern must clarify her actual agenda with voters before they enter the polls.”

It seemed to suggest that Ardern’s practice of regularly bringing bread to coalition discussions after the 2017 elections was a sign of Labor consent.

“I am not someone who brings chocolate chip cookies to the negotiating table to show submission,” Collins told reporters.

Ardern, campaigning in Hamilton, said he wanted National to debate fact, not fiction.

“My only frustration is that the National Party continues to use misinformation in its campaign.

“My opinion is that they should be brave enough to debate fact and fact, not fiction.”

National’s policy is for general tax cuts for 16 months.

Labor’s will introduce a new maximum personal tax rate, currently 33c on income over $ 70,000, from 39c on income over $ 180,000.

The Greens want to introduce a 1 percent tax on net worth over $ 1 million and 2 percent on net worth over $ 2 million.

A couple with a mortgage-free property of $ 1 million and $ 500,000 in savings would not pay the estate tax because the estate would be divided by $ 750,000 each, below the threshold.

National was forced to correct an ad that said such a couple would pay $ 140 a week, when it would be nothing.

However, Collins said that once one of the couple died, the remaining spouse would have to pay taxes.

Ardern described National’s Sunday “halt estate tax day” as “the latest roll of the disinformation dice” from National.

However, Greens co-leader James Shaw added oxygen to the issues Monday morning when he told RNZ that it would not be credible for the Greens to avoid raising the tax issue in post-election negotiations.

“I don’t think it’s credible not to have a conversation about fairness within the tax system and how much revenue the government needs to raise in order to get through this crisis and then be able to pay off the debt associated with that,” Shaw said.

“You need to have an election and then you need to sit down and speak at the government formation stage and say what might be possible here.”

Collins took advantage of that interview and said it was the Greens who had raised it, as Shaw did last week when he said the estate tax was another version of a capital gains tax, also discarded by Labor.

“We are not the ones who raised it. They are raising it and I don’t think for a moment that these guys are not going to go after everyone’s money, but rather New Zealanders’ money that they have worked hard for and want to take away from them.

“The Greens had been able to intimidate Labor in the past.

“They will do anything to get to the government,” Collins said.

“Of course, they will yield to the Greens.”