So here we all are living our ‘new normal’ – Alert Level 1 in the battle against Covid-19. That’s where we’re expected to stay until a vaccine is available. It’s only at that stage that our borders could fully re-open and New Zealanders would be free to travel.
But what a journey it’s been. Cabinet papers provide details of the key events.
The country’s response to the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 outbreak began on 31 January when Cabinet declared it a ‘notifiable disease’ under the Health Act. That allowed Medical Officers of Health to manage the epidemic response.
It was a month later on February 28 that the first case was reported in New Zealand – a woman who had returned from Iran. The headlines announcing the arrival of the virus in New Zealand created panic buying in supermarkets, with some shoppers describing it as a “zombie apocalypse”.
Cabinet did not address our virus problem until March 9, when they declared it a ‘quarantinable disease’. That enabled epidemic notices to be issued if sick passengers at the border needed to be quarantined.
It was not until March 14 that border controls required anyone coming into New Zealand to self-isolate for 14 days.
That was also the day the Prime Minister finally cancelled the planned gathering of 4,000 to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the March 15 terror attacks.
New Zealand’s borders were finally closed on March 19, except for Kiwis returning home, and mass gatherings were restricted to 100 indoors and 500 outdoors.
On March 20, Cabinet considered advice from the Ministry of Health outlining the Alert Level system recommending that the country move to Alert Level 2 for a month: “We recommend New Zealand move completely to Level 2 immediately and remain there for up to 30 days initially. The move to Level 2 reflects the heightened risk of importing Covid-19 cases at this time as many New Zealanders return home from overseas and we see an uptick in reported cases here.”
The next day, on March 21, the Prime Minister duly announced the Alert Level system to the nation and explained that New Zealand was officially at Alert Level 2.
It was just two days later on March 23, that she again addressed the nation, this time warning there would be tens of thousands of deaths if we didn’t immediately move to Level 3 and two days later to Level 4 for a month-long lockdown of the whole country – apart from essential services.
On April 28, after 4 weeks and 5 days of strict lockdown we finally moved to Level 3, where we stayed for 2 weeks and 2 days, before moving to Level 2 on May 14. The last New Zealand Covid-19 case to be notified was on May 22, but it was not until seventeen days later, on June 8, after 3 weeks and 5 days at Level 2 that we were told we could move to Level 1.
Altogether, New Zealanders spent 81 days in lockdown – 33 in Level 4, 19 in Level 3, and 29 in Level 2. A total of 1,504 Covid-19 cases were reported, with 22 deaths and 1482 recoveries. All of the deaths were of older people with underlying health issues: three were aged 60-69, seven aged 70-79, seven aged 80-89, and five aged 90 or above.
Of the cases, 44 percent were male and 56 percent female. And when it came to age, 36 (2 percent) of the cases were children aged 0-9 years old, 121 (8 percent) were aged 10-19, 358 (24 percent) were aged 20-29, 229 (15 percent) were aged 30-39, 220 (15 percent) were aged 40-49, 246 (16 percent) were aged 50-59, 178 (12 percent) were aged 60-69, 77 (5 percent) were aged 70-79, 30 (2 percent) were aged 80-89, and 9 (0.6 percent) were aged 90 years and over.
The last remaining Covid-19 case was reported as recovered on June 8, the final day of Lockdown 2. The Prime Minister says she did a dance when she heard the news – a story that gained almost as much international media attention as her claim that the virus has been ‘crushed’.
When she told the country we could move to Level 1, the Prime Minister also said, “Here in New Zealand we went hard and early with a single plan that had a dual purpose – to protect lives and livelihoods.”
But just as her claim of going ‘hard and early’ has been challenged by those who say the borders should have been closed far earlier than they were, so too her claim of ‘protecting livelihoods’ is refuted by the tens of thousands of New Zealanders whose jobs and livelihoods have been crushed by her Government’s response to the virus.
New research by this week’s NZCPR Guest Commentator, Economics Professor John Gibson of Waikato University, has assessed the effectiveness of the Government’s lockdown strategy.
Professor Gibson found that no other Government imposed a lockdown as harsh as the one Jacinda Ardern forced onto New Zealanders: “New Zealand had the most stringent settings for Coronavirus in the world, based on 17 indicators of government response (Hale et al. 2020)… the New Zealand stringency index from March 25 exceeded that for countries like Italy, Spain and France who by then had thousands of Covid-19 deaths.”
The research shows the economic cost of this excessively strict lockdown is estimated to be at least $10 billion, compared to staying at Level 2, which is essentially the stringency level Australia maintained throughout the epidemic, with similar, if not better, health outcomes.
Professor Gibson found that the Government’s decision to impose a lockdown lacked due process – they ignored the Ministry of Health’s advice to stay at Level 2 for a month, and they failed to carry out a proper cost-benefit analysis to assess the impact on the community and the nation: “One would assume that rigorous cost-benefit analyses accompanied the decision to set the most stringent policy response in the world. Yet Cabinet papers released six weeks later suggest not: the government ignored advice from the Ministry of Health to stay at Level 2 for 30 days, instead jumping to Level 3 after just two days, then Level 4 two days later (Daalder 2020).”
A now discredited paper by Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London, which predicted a massive loss of life unless strict lockdown measures were introduced, appears to have been instrumental in Jacinda Ardern’s decision to impose the most stringent lockdown in the world onto New Zealand.
Professor Gibson explains: “Two epidemiological simulations seem to have played a key role: the Imperial College forecast of 0.51 million Covid-19 deaths in the UK and 2.2 million in the US if no changes in individual behaviour or in control measures occurred (Ferguson et al. 2020) and forecasts by University of Otago academics with an on-line simulator that ranged from seven Covid-19 deaths to 14,400, with a mean across the six forecasts of 8,300 deaths (Wilson et al. 2020)…
“The highest death forecasts from the University of Otago may have influenced comments made by the Prime Minister in announcing the lockdown: ‘If community transmission takes off … our health system will be inundated, and tens of thousands New Zealanders will die … it is the reality we have seen overseas… We can stop the spread by staying at home and reducing contact… That is why … effective immediately we will move to Alert Level 3 … after 48 hours we will move to Level 4’.”
Professor Gibson believes “It is unfortunate that epidemiological simulations had such an impact, as they use flawed models…” and he explains that they assume people will not take preventative action to reduce risk – such as avoiding close contact with others. He also notes that the University of Otago forecasts assumed no tracing and isolation, even though these were a key part of the Government’s strategy.
He also explains that when economist Ian Harrison re-ran the University of Otago forecasts assuming a 50 percent success with tracing and isolation, “the forecast deaths fell by 96 percent”.
Professor Gibson’s research investigated the overall effectiveness of the lockdown strategy in managing the virus, concluding that lockdowns have no effect on Covid-19 deaths: “lockdowns are superfluous and ineffective (Homberg 2020)… Real-time activity indicators suggest the threat of Covid-19, rather than lockdown itself, drives behaviour (Chetty et al. 2020).”
So, there we have it – an evidence-based narrative indicating New Zealand could have managed the virus by sticking with the Ministry of Health’s advice to stay at Level 2. Like Australia, we could have pulled through without needing an “ineffective” lockdown that has wrecked the economy and created devastating consequences for so many New Zealanders.
Having done the damage, the Government’s response has been to borrow an unprecedented $50 billion, pushing New Zealand into decades of deficits and higher taxes as they attempt to mitigate the economic chaos they have caused.
Part of their strategy includes a $20 billion ‘slush fund’ of unallocated expenditure to be used to prop up the economy. Between now and the election, the Prime Minister will be splashing the cash – just as Shane Jones has been doing all along with the Provincial Growth Fund’s $3 billion.
Meanwhile, the reality of the economic damage caused by the lockdown is becoming more apparent as the first wage subsidy runs out. With only businesses that can show a 40 percent or more decline in their turnover able to apply for an extension of the wage subsidy scheme, others are facing the grim reality of no longer being able to retain a full contingent of staff on reduced turnovers.
The Warehouse is in this situation. They can foresee the decline of shop-front retail, as the lockdown recession and the increasing popularity of on-line sales forces the company to cut costs by closing poorer performing stores and reducing staff numbers by 1,000.
The Prime Minister’s response to those job losses is indicative of her lack of understanding of the damage her harsh lockdown has caused. She was reported as saying, “I’m angry. If I’m speaking frankly… The Government of course, and taxpayers, are taking a huge hit because we are prioritising keeping as many businesses and individuals employed and up and running as we can.”
If she had appreciated that most businesses operating in a competitive environment do not have the means to absorb an extended period of reduced income without cutting costs and staff, she may have been less inclined to order all businesses to close down. Instead she may have realised that by trusting New Zealanders and giving them a chance, most business could have continued operating with social distancing and good hygiene practices in place, just as supermarkets did.
To cushion the blow for workers made redundant because of the lockdown – like those from the Warehouse, the Government has introduced a higher unemployment benefit rate. They say, “The payment will be available for 12 weeks from 8 June for anyone who has lost their job due to the impact of COVID-19 since March 1. It will pay $490 a week to those who lost full-time work and $250 for part-time. The payment will not be taxed.”
As a result, a two-tier unemployment benefit system has now been created – anyone who registered before 8 June will be receiving around $250 after tax, while anyone on this ‘premium’ benefit, will get almost double.
Now that the country is returning to our “new normal” the focus is on managing the fallout from the lockdown. At some stage, the mountainous debt accumulated by the Ardern Government will need to be repaid. The Green Party wants a capital gains tax. While Prime Minister Ardern has ruled out capital gains taxes under her watch, what’s the likelihood there will be a change of heart – “But we couldn’t predict COVID-19” – shortly after the election!
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THIS WEEK’S POLL ASKS:
*If Labour is re-elected into government, do you think they will introduce a capital gains tax?
*Poll comments are posted below.
*All NZCPR poll results can be seen in the Archive.
THIS WEEK’S POLL COMMENTS
| As the old saying goes, I wouldn’t put it past her? | Eric |
| Government will be looking for income wherever they are able to fund the huge deficit | GREGOR |
| In some form or other | Brian |
| It is another tax revenue they will need to extract to pay the $10 bn debt..they cannot be trusted | Kathryn |
| They will look at every possible and probably some impossible new tax revenue. Capital gains, death duties, inheritance tax, GST, increase, petrol, means testing,, gift duty, alcohol and I’m sure I have missed some. Their standard is control of the masses and we can spend your money better than you can. They may try to soften the blow by promising the increases are only temporary but if they are reelected the tax will last the full three years. The message is don’t reelect this coalition of clowns. NZ First is trying to assert itself as not agreeing with Labour. They should have thought of that when they supported them three years ago. They cannot be trusted. The Greens will snuggle up to |Labour as their only chance of surviving the election. Labour has never been able to competently handle budgets and money. The financial well-being of NZ is in the balance. | Chris. |
| Yes, almost certainly, because they don’t seem to have a clue as to the value of money! And they will keep handing out money ad infinitum until some powerful body determines there is no more money left – to bribe voters! | Stuart |
| they will either way | Barry |
| Labour will not tax its voter base. They will go after the “rich”, those that have been financially prudent and done well for themselves. Estate duties will be reintroduced, and the Brightline test will be extended to include all asset classes, not only residential property., and the time frame pushed out to 10 years instead of five. | JD |
| The damage to their reputation and re-election chances will be too great. | Jacob |
| Much higher taxes at any rate. | Lee |
| We’ll have to make sure that she doesn’t get a chance to implement more Marxist policies on the country. The Green party will not be there so for Todd Muller to say National would be looking for ways to work with the Greens is not on and Muller will have to be moved away from the leadership if that is all he can come up with. National should be criticizing the Comrade Marxist everyday – Try Judith Collins for leader as this country needs major reforms in Maori racist policies, RMA, global warming con job – someone with courage. | Monica |
| NZ is financially stuffed. Tax tax tax is the left way out of the mess. The people who vote for them have little to tax so aren’t affected | bill |
| This will no doubt happen, as will even more taxes be levelled at New Zealanders! This government, like all other left wing governments are really good at spending other people’s money and then taxing everybody! Are we that stupid to let that happen? | Jill |
| Of course they will, they are after all,…. ‘Idiots’! | J J |
| Whatever devious form of government policy they may enact Ardern will NEVER get my Vote! | Robert |
| how about stamp duty estate duty other forms of wealth tax this generation is ripe for picking those that have it will pay | brian |
| Another important question to ask as well, would National repeal it if they could? they don’t appear to making any noise about it. | Rex |
| Miss Ardern and her sycophants and disciples will most certainly use any means to justify the necessary adjustments to our economic system necessary to make it “fair and equal” to all. As with any good socialist/communist, she and her government will be hell-bent of repaying the massive debt her inept management has created. And how do socialists work – they take from everyone’s’ pockets, but in particular those with above average earnings, until they eventually run out of the taxpayers money.. She has stated it as her objective to create an economy that is fair and equitable, just as the her Minister of Finance stated before the presentation of his second “Wellbeing” Budget. She and the Greens will certainly strive to make use of her elevation to sainthood and international left-leaning political leader, spokesperson together with the media, to grab back as much as they can from the taxpayers, and as quickly as possible. If she can continue to fool so many New Zealanders into believing she is the second-coming, then without question, a capital gains tax will be at the forefront of her tax-grab agenda. | Michael |
| Almost certainly they will try. To clear the debt they have created, they will think only in terms of increased taxes, not in terms of GDP growth. | Bruces |
| Yes and they’ll say they have no choice but to do this and find many more ways to repay the exorbitant amount they’ve borrowed – 50 BILLION!!! | CTM |
| This government has little real world experience and it shows. Had the world and economy etc. carried on as normal, perhaps they would not have done too much damage. However with the Covid19 disaster, their inexperience is exposed and we all are going to suffer for it. | Roy |
| Don’t worry. They will not be re-elected. With our economy as it is and Labour award large infra-structure contracts to Overseas companies. The by-line that the company will employ NZ-people is a load of rubbish. | Frank |
| Will there be q capital loss tax as well. | Nick |
| My hope is they are that “out of public touch” they will introduce a CGT……and get voted out of office | Graeme |
| we have to get rid of this useless govt | allan |
| “The New Normal” Aunt Cindy wants, Aunt Cindy gets. By whatever measures to keep her propped up. | Rick |
| The temptation to get their hands in our pockets and extract more money from “rich p***ks” will prove overwhelming for them. | Frank |
| Labour’s history is to “Tax & Spend” to solve problems. | Evelyn |
| Along with a raft of other wealth taxes……. | L |
| Yes, and Many Many more taxes!!! | phil |
| plus other Luxury taxes | Anon |
| labour will increase all taxes that’s what socialists do . | adrian |
| She said not on her watch. | Sheena |
| Without doubt and also there would be a raft of other taxes as well. This bunch of clowns has emptied the piggy bank and put the country into so much debt it well take several generations to repay the money owed. In 8 weeks they have destroyed 36 years of careful economic management by previous NZ Governments. They need to be pilloried for their actions. | Allan |
| Jacinda (the Destroyer) Ardern and her lap dogs will have to tax everything that moves and breaths, to cover up the monumental mistake, the lock down has been. | George |
| Ardern needs money to keep her promises .So she will do iy. Btw, South Africa’s lockdown which started 3 days after NZ’s was in may ways harsher than NZ and they are presently Level 3 with no sign of going lower.. The damage done by the lockdowns is by far the greater when compared to the Covid-19! | Elsie |
| Any Government will or should then the g s t will go up and hit the country even harder to pay back the huge debt. Then all prices will go up so we all end up paying out even more with no wage increase.Some with less pay due to reduced hours | Claire |
| What else can she do to us | Andrew |
| money is needed no matter what | gerard |
| Because they not what they are doing. taxing is not the way out of the recession they have created. | Sam |
| It’s wicked as taxes are already being paid on profit from any investment property or homes sold. We are taxed in so many different ways we don’t need anymore. The Ardern government can’t be trusted and my fear is that if re-elected not only will we be taxed to poverty but we will loose more and more of our freedoms and continue to be treated as little children that need to be told what to do and how to do it and when to do it! | Robyn |
| May depends on their partners in government. | Bernard |
| It’s inevitable | Diana |
| This Government will if re elected will introduce a range of taxes that will diminish the living standards of all New Zealanders and will have a crippling effect on all of us except those in the welfare system . | ken |
| Yes, Yes, and Increase in GST and petrol and any other commodities they have control over. Jacinda the last of the great spenders ! | Pierre |
| Covid 19 is the ideal excuse and ‘justification’ for a Labour Govt to implement an outdated Taxation system to increase the tax-take. And most NZ’ers will probably believe Jacinda when she announces it. | MervB |
| Political suicide | Alan |
| Of course they will. Just as they increased benefits using the Covid-19 excuse. | William |
| And also means & asset testing for all pensioners. | Roger |
| Yes I do they are bankrupt on how to fix he monetary hole they have created. The Country is in DEEP trouble if they are re-elected… | Carl |
| They will impose a huge range of new and adjusted taxes to pay for the extravagance of the past three | Dave |
| Socialism versus realism | Bob |
| just an easy excuse to blame it on the virus eh ?? | william |
| “Political Suicide “…NZ is well on the way to a massive Wealth Destruction which will be for decades …. SURVIVAL is the NEW WORLD for the people of New Zealand….. | Chris |
| The CCP virus is clearly a deliberate attack on the world. This Govt is too chicken shi. to persue the CCP in conjunction with other countries. The CCP and the other “actors” responsible for the attack must be held to account. As such, the confiscation of all Chinese owned land and business in NZ will begin to recompense for the costs. When the NZ people see the direction this Govt is heading, it will be rejected! Watch this space! | Neil |
| The P.M. needs to tax the average working Kiwi to pay for the hand outs she has given to those who live off social benefits and greedy Iwi | Kay |
| It has to be clawed back from somewhere | Erin |
| But they will also rush in tax increases so crippling that the country will drown in all the debt they are now expected to carry and reduce! No mention of this during electioneering and those so hoodwinked by the Stardust n Fairy Show will be the first to scream… | Robyn |
| You can no longer take any assurances as fact, but where are National hiding? | Tony |
| Labour have always spent large, borrowed heavily and increased taxes. Just look at our history of Labour governments. | Denis |
| This virus has given Cindy her golden opportunity to implement her communistic ideals onto an apathetic nation. Boy are we gonna cop it.Cgt will be back along with a host of others, . | Peter |
| You can bet your booty they will. The government has squandered money totally unnecessarily in certain quarters and now we will pay for their stupidity and inexperience. | chris |
| any tax they can get from normally sensible people who in all probability would not vote labour for green. Would be on the table | John |
| In essence there is nothing wrong with CGT on everything other than the family home. Investors, landlords, and multiple property owners have had a tax free ride for too long. It’s time that the financial gains on property are taxed at a similar rate to other investments. | Brian |
| they are devoid of any better solutions | maurie |
| Yes, of course. Anything, to get them out of this hole!! | Grahame |
| Of course and a host of other taxes we have never heard of as well. The only way is not to voice labour and the greens back into office | john |
| Yes! but some people will be exempted. Like coloured and Chinese baseness people, because the chinese billionaires don’t like paying tax, NOR do maori descendants. | Peter |
| not only capital gains but death duty, higher gst, petrol, smokes, booze and your tax rate on earnings and any interest earnt on savings you may have which at the moment is zero thanks to the banks being there normal greedy ways. Lets hope the national mob put out their plans for pulling nz out of the s**t that this present govt has put us in, but don’t trust the present leader and his deputy of the national party to be any better than commie ardern. | Richard |
| And more taxes also | Gail |
| They have always wanted it. | Wayne |
| you don’t have to be very smart to know that will happen | graeme |
| I reckon she will. She wont acknowledge she panicked and screwed up and it will easier to introduce that than figure out how to help people establish businesses in the new environment. | Troy |
| Along with many other taxes | Darryl |
| With the amount of debt, a lot of it unnecessary, that they have accumulated, there will be so many new taxes sneaked in, it is almost at the stage we will all be better off on benefits. Just what Comrade Princess Ardern wants, more people dependent on welfare, another step towards her socialist communist agenda. | Carolyn |
| They have got to get a LOT of money form somewhere …… | keith |
| they will be desperate for money | Mark |
| If Winston isn’t part of the mix | Trevor |
| And death duties, means testing and increases in fuel tax and GST. It’s going to get tough. | Geoff. |
| She’ll say we have no choice | John |
| No doubt. | Jeff |
| They will try, so it is up to us to prevent that little disaster of an idea becoming a Nasty (Trump’s favourite word??) reality in our time. !!! \Worse than Nasty, it is Ruinous and Labour is not in a position to pick up the welfare that most of us will be on if we are taxed out of existence. the very wealthy will cope, as they always do, but it is the middle third of the community which will be scratching to survive. Those who don’t have won’t care, but those who have saved for a rainy day may find it is typhoon weather? In come all the ways and means of creating further trusts and holding pens for assets, Oh No, please don’t let us go there….! | Mabel |
| They will have to some how claw back some of the money they have splashed around on a lot of useless projects | David |
| This is a left wing anti capitalist government whose ideals will feature a CGT and Covid-19 will be used as an excuse. | Alan |
| It has been tried a number of times before and is political suicide | alan |
| Public opinion will put a stop to it. | Dennis |
| They won’t call it a capital gains tax though Cindy will massage the wording.. Looking forward to voting for Muller, or Mickey Mouse – anyone but Arden gets my vote. | LUKE |
| That’s all they have to get out of the crater they have created | sheryl |
| Never in doubt! | Greg |
| Definitely yes. They are going to have to tax and tax to start to pay off some of the billions they have borrowed. | Richard |
| Definitely. | Sarah |
| and a wealth tax as well. increased GST and top and corporate tax rates will increase to pay for the reckless spending.. but then i guess this is socialism where one takes from the rich to give to the poor | Annette |
| probably | Brett |
| Labour will use every means at their disposal in their second term to penalise and rob anyone who has endeavoured to build up an asset. | Rod |
| Among other taxes. That’s all they are about – spend other peoples’ money without any filter, and if anyone tries to criticise them or have a conversation about that fact, those people are instantly labelled “anti poor” / “anarchists” / “insert buzzword here” | Pavel |
| They need to get money from somewhere. I predict a LOT more taxes. | Christine |
| After a torrent of weasel words, and blame casting….she will try to get this across the line…along with much more….All of which will impede the economic recovery….Per haps that is what she wants…a perpetual state of disaster….like someone with Munchausen By Proxy syndrome. | Lionel |
| They should not, but they will try. | David |
| Probably. Another excuse to hit people who work hard. | Jenny |
| And more= No Maori paying Tax. | Dave |
| because they are Labour | david |
| I do not trust them. They are not good for the growth of the economy or individual freedoms. | Brian |
| If they do they will not be the government again | George |
| We will become the most taxed country in the world, this pack of wallys only knows tax and spend, none of them have ever worked in the private sector | Hugh |
| And any other taxes they can think of | Sue |
| Won’t raise any revenue A land tax is very simple and would deliver certain growth and inflation proof revenue | John |
| Their policy is spread the wealth! | Brian |
| If labour get back in they will screw us for every cent they can get so capital gains tax will certainly be on the cars as Winston will not be there to block it | Russell |
| Absolutely, given the chance.What she does not understand, or maybe she does, is that a CGT will decimate the real estate industry and to a lesser degree the share market and the bundle of tax that she thinks will roll in to pay for the huge deficit will dry up as investment and real estate sale grind to a halt. The construction industry will suffer but on their bright side more tradesman will be available to build their pie in the sky housing numbers, that one one will be able to afford. | Barry |
| Need the money somehow! | Joe |
| Yes with a whole lot of other taxes and costs to pay off their, panic borrowing | Morrin |
| They may be a stupid government, but they cannot be that stupid | Tom |
| under the disguise that more tax is required to pay for the huge covid debt However the introduction is for a certain portion of the population to make money by way of false compliance with the Tax act. We already effectively have Capital gains taxes. Because of covid all we will end up with is Capital losses | Frank |
| Not only a Capital Gains Tax, but a wealth tax and increased income tax. How else is NZ going to reduce debt. The gov’t MUST now tax all maori enterprises as they claim to have special needs….are they handicapped I wonder. Still receiving handouts and contributing nothing..racism at the highest level!!! | ROD |
| —–and a raft of other taxes. Never waste a crisis is their motto. | Geoff |
| And, I don’t trust her. She won’t resign…but will use her so-called Communication Skills to collapse the economy again to justify greatly increased taxation of all kinds. | John |
| You can’t trust anything this government does | john |
| Its the socialist agenda -spend spend spend and throw money around like lolly water to the idle then tax tax tax everything they can find to pay for it. Its been their never ending cycle of damage for the whole of my lifetime. What you have to remember now tho is that Labour are NOT for the working people of this country, that’s a myth they are for the beholden, the welfare brigade in all its forms and its a sick way to govern., if you can ever call it that. | Carolyn |
| More of the give it to me now. I want it all and I want it now. Well thanks to lock down costing so many of us our jobs, full or part time, we have not got much left for them to take. As for the lock down preventing deaths, we note that more than half of the deaths were associated with care homes, which were surely supposed to be most vulnerable and therefore protected. | Paloma |
| Even though she said she wouldn’t do this while she is in Government I don’t believe her. At the rate they are handing out money and the lack of money coming in from tourism she will be looking at every avenue to recoup. NZ as we know it has sadly been trashed by this socialist leaning Government. | Vivienne |
| Apparently they look like wanting to implement an Inheritance Tax! That is even worse theft!!! Now they want to steal from my children!!!! | Andy |
| They had better not. It is a very expensive tax to introduce for little benefit. New Zealand economy is too small for such a tax to make enough revenue to be worthwhile. Just the sort of silly policy the Greens would support: along with their crazy Cannabis law reform which we don’t need. | Graeme |
| I’m sure that this government, if re-elected will certainly make every attempt to introduce a Capital Gains Tax. | Jim |
| Yes, they will introduce it. Capitalism creates – socialism plunders. The consequences of increasing plunder will not be pretty. The more the plunder the less the desire to create. | Don |
| But only if NZ First is not a coalition partner Labour Greens would want it, partly to slow down house price growth & partly to pay for the cost of lockdown & budget blowout. | Donald |
| She said not on her watch. | Marie |
| Also probably more taxes and raising all tax rates and explore every other avenue they can to claw back money. What a train wreck. | Fraser |
| debt is un necessarily high, labour cocked up their response! | norman |
| We will be taxed so hard that life will not be worth living and many will give up and that will be the time trouble will start | Dave |
| They will be desperate after throwing away all reserves the National Government had accumulated . | Peter |
| and every other tax that michael cullen can think of ! | gary |
| They are a ‘taxing’ Government. This has been demonstrated in the past . That is their way of ‘managing’. | Harvey |
| Even though the communist retard has said that there will not be under her leadership. | Alan |
| Ardern has never understood the realities of business sustainability because she has never had a real job that involved making business decisions. She took NZ out of level 2, against MOH advice, nearly a month early, and in doing destroyed the economy. The only way she can claw back some credibility in the eyes of the lefties that support her is to tax those who create the wealth and give it to those who depend on them. | Kerry |
| Yes – along with a whole raft of other taxes (some yet to be dreamed up). Shane needs to stop planting pines and plant money trees instead! | Scott |
| Repaying $50 Bil. Nothing is surer than a C G T.. Start learning the main Chinese Language, Mandarin, because China now is a serious Stakeholder in New Zealand. Watch this Space if Jacinda is re-elected !! | Geoff |
| It will be far from surprising if they introduce a capital gains tax along with a whole range of more new taxes, or increases in existing taxes (fuel, GST, …) to pay for their profligate (brazenly political) spending. | Laurence |
| They will tax our arse. | Graeme |
| On present indications, there will be no Capital Gains Tax (CGT). However, if the Labour party campaign on introducing a CGT and are successful at the polls, then there most certainly will be a CGT introduced. More likely are much higher envy taxes; think upmarket cars, boats, aircraft and the like. An increase in GST is also likely. Given that many electors seem to be influenced by personalities rather than policies, we will have another Labour government. The only ray of hope lies not in National party resurgence rather in the fact that remarkably few governments have ever been voted into office with a platform plank of tax increases. The message is clear; you get what you wish for! | Peter |
| Hate the idea | Michael |
| IT would be a priority. | cyril |
| They are stupid enough to do this and simply demonstrate they are bereft of any knowledge of how businesses are run and penalise those that are making the effort while they hand out benefits to others that will never work and have never worked. God help our children as they will heave one hell of a mess to fix up and a Capital Gains Tax takes more money away from those that could build on it | garry |
| With out a doubt there are billions to repay where do you think its going to come from This government has ruined a beautiful country | Peter |
| Yes with the excuse of blaming Covid19. One of many ways they will have to make up for the massive borrowing. | Ann |
| And not just a CGT, expect more tax hikes or newly created ones at that hitting the middle and upper classes. | Andy. |
| This would typify a Labour government socialist attitude | Peter |
| They will need to cover their incompetence somehow. BUT there may not be huge capital gains for some years ,so that could be just another broken labour promise. | ronnie |
| Capital Gains Tax will be only a small part of a programme to increase tax take and schemes to reduce the massive debts this government has left our country saddled with for many years to come. | Stewart |
| Standard practice. Screw the wealthy! | John |
| Labour has always wanted a capital gains tax and the borrowings related to the covid virus have given that opportunity. Jacinda had only ruled out capital gains tax before covid because she could see at that time her not being re-elected in 2020. | Keith |
| Among many other taxes even though like before the last election they will promise no new taxes | Bryan |
| Busting to fine a reason that they can. Envy tax | Bryan |
| Of course they will, it goes with their socialist ‘wealth distribution’ mantra. | Kevin |
| This was always her dream to punish the capitalists | tony |
| They’ll tax anything and everything, as the saying goes, socialism’s a great thing until you run out of someone elses money. Thank you winston peters, in my opinion, you’ve made a right royal mess of the country , to appease your own ego, and spite at some imagined slight. Hopefully you won’t ever get anywhere near govt again. As for the rest of the Col, thanks for nothing, greedy little people, splashing the cash to buy your favors, disgusting! | Merryl |
| However I don’t think they will be re elected into Government. A lot of water to go under the bridge before E Day and the star that is Jacinda is already fading. | Toni |
| Of course, their way is to tax the living daylights out of anyone who is not dependent. | Martin |
| They will use covid 19 as an excuse to impose it. I’d put money on it!! | Bruce |
| Capital gains tax is built into the genes of these envy-driven “socialists”. | Rob |
| There is no justification for it. | Hugh |
| They wont be able to help themselves, especially if they get a large majority | David |
| This government has been dying to impose a capital gains tax, just not at the moment. Just wait if this Labour Party is reelected, it will be law within a short period of time. This family of 5 million is a great big money tree. | Carol |
| And we are still paying fuel taxes – although the rail to the airport is cancelled | Derrick |
| That won’t be the half of it! Possibly things will be so bad we’ll have a general revolt against the system. | Alan |
| It was never really off the table. Just postponed until a plausible excuse could be found. | Charlie |
| They could surely not be so poorly advised to consider a CGT, any tax or levy or excise increase, would even be remotely acceptable. The campaign prior to election will need to examine the question of a suspicion remains they may go for a GCT or any taxation increase post election. Their credibility is low now, surely they would not make it worse. | Peter |
| Fing socialists! Useless idealogy, useless adherents, useless outcomes. | Paul |
| My only hope is that NZ wakes up and kicks this disastrous government into touch. In the worst possible case scenario is if they reelected a CGT and a raft of other punitive taxes will be levied. NZ will become another Venezuelan socialist nightmare. | Richard |
| They’ve already said no to this, haven’t they ?? | Kevin |
| Nothing is more certain – like night follows day, and it will add to the ruin that Labour has created, and I don’t think National has the guts to rescind it. | Don |
| And that will be the tip of the iceberg! Look out for all the other taxes that will appear!! Pray for a change of Government!! | Sandra |
| Ardern will think all her Xmas’s have come at once! | Ron |
| They have wanted to do so all along now they have a perfect excuse for doing so,if they hadn’t been so largesse in the handouts it wouldn’t be necessary | Chris |
| I have no confidence in Labour; their only motto is to bully us into a socialist government — with the same agenda as the New World Order that’s sweeping the Globe — as per Adolf Hitler – all in the name of Democratic Socialism! | Anna |
| She will use an excuse it,s necessary & the greens will also push for it.ASK her BEFORE the election & she,ll say no BUT AFTER the election she will with a sad face because it was necessary. | Cindy |
| Lies, damn lies and politics! | Greg |
| plus other so called targeted taxes as well as increases in income tax and GST. Labour has demonstrated that what they say and what they do are totally unrelated. | John |
| The labour government will do all it can to re-coup all the wasteful splashing round of money they have done. How can any business prepare for the experience we have gone through. | Florence |
| will have to find a way to pay back the funds thrown away. Whale Watch a Maori business . Is it a trust that pays less tax. ? | Bruce |
| Labour do not have a business brain | Derek |
| will do in different form like death duties or an asset tax like rates based on asset values | robbie |
| They are going to be desperately short of funds. The Covid -19 was a gift from China to allow Ardern and co to instigate the imposition of a Communist economic and lifestyle in NZ | Bob |
| CGT will not be the only way they will raise their tax take. | Murray |
| Politics is the realm of broken promises and a week is a long time in politics. If the show pony and her circus clowns make it in the upcoming elections , the scene is set for a very long time of weeping and gnashing of teeth ( to quote the bible) and we will walk in a new (ab)normal where excessive debt but also Identity politics, LBGTXYZ race agendas and undermining free speech will be relentlessly forced on us and our children and our country will loose what remains of its identity. | Michael |
| – – or some other tax – they have no real alternative (or do they?) | Mike |
| They most certainly will. It’s what Jacinda has wanted all along | Lois |
| Don’t re-elect them. It will only encourage them, then we will be in deep trouble. | Dick |
| Without doubt. One part of a significant socialist agenda that the will be unable to deny. It is a serious election issue. Probably the most serious as it will lengthen our financial Recovery period. | Greg |
| Labour has so run this country into he ground, morally, illegally, financially they will be looking at any new means of financing this incredible dept and introduce new taxes to do this. | Colin. |
| but given the level of markets and houses now there will be no actual tax collected. Indeed if such a tax were properly constructed taxpayers will have losses to carry forward for many years to come | Jeremy |
| It has been proved that a capital gains tax doesn’t result in any financial gains after costs have been deducted but I don’t think any one in the labour govt would understand that. | Bev |
| They have the excuse they need to introduce one now. Watch GST go up as well | diana |
| Commies demand obeisance. | Kevin |
| It suits Jacinda’s political aspirations | Terry |
| They have to fill the bank up somehow so an attack on the rich seems their style | Warren |
| They will be unfettered by NZF. Which in itself is a good thing. The carnage that ensues can be more readily attributed to one party alone. | Steve |
| The most people who are flicking houses off are the Chinese and Labour will not want to offend its communist mates, They also allow them to claim the NZ superannuation | Arthur |
| Socialist socialism | Greg |
| Of course it is the way of socialist governments to raise taxes to increase the available cash for their redistribution programs even though it has been shown on many occasions that a reduction of the tax rates has the effect of increasing the overall tax take. As for a CGT and all wealth taxes our Princess has the intention of reducing the gap between rich and poor and will do this by reducing the wealth of all rather than increasing the overall wealth of NZ. Capital Gains taxes DO NOT WORK are expensive to operate and never achieve the tax results that are predicted for them. With the polling showing a Labour Green Government we are in for a steady increase in ALL taxes and the resultant departure from NZ of most of those who will be directly and adversely effected. Those who will be able to give the economy the lift that will be necessary to get us out of the hole we are now in. God help us all | Robin |
| Labour will be scrambling for money left right and centre after putting the economy into such dire straights, so I would not be surprised if they put up the gst. | Ronnie |
| Take from the top and throw it at the bottom. | Merv |
| The Ardern government answer to Everything is taxes and levies | Katie |
| Of course they will, because Ardern is a socialist. Same reason underpinned the lockdown – socialists like having people do the same thing at the same time. Can’t have people differing, because that may lead to independent thought, making a profit, and ultimately to capitalism. Can’t have that . . . | mike |
| Never let a good crisis go to waste. Jacinda has had dreams of a capital gains tax ever since entering politics. It will be implemented soon after their election victory. | Lee |
| Absolutely they will, look at fuel tax increases already implemented, This Labour government has set NZ back 20 years in one term, just imagine what they could do if reelected ! | Bryan |
| Of course they will and they will also increase taxes. How would they otherwise repay the enormous amount they have borrowed. They created this mess by going too slow and too hard but generations are going to suffer for their inept handling of the pandemic. | Helen |
| Money will be sought from anywhere possible. | Phil |
| yes and many more as well, it is the only way to fix our dilemma, taxes will be loaded onto us by the bucket full. perhaps a toilet tax will catch ALL of us with our pants down?? | james |
| The seeds of Government deception are in full bloom and it all depends on the puppet masters call, the psychopaths who control world government! | Rossco |
| She promised she would not implement cgt. The risk us she has been known to lie through those teeth. I think if there was ever a third term, heaven help us, we would be jn even more peril from her and her like minded cronies. | Mike |
| But they will certainly screw the taxpayer somehow! | Des |
| as well as a wealth tax and death duties. and any other tax they can manage to find | Gill |
| They may introduce because more tax is needed to pay off the huge debt. But first Ewe tax free huge profits on Treaty money should be taxed first !! | David |
| More taxes and more spending and state control is what socialists do and they will. Even worse is the weak and soaking wet National Party who are moving ever further left. | Roger |
| Absolutely, as well as other additional levies/taxes! to remedy the inequities created by the benefit hand outs. | Michael |
| They will try, as its another road down the gurgler ! Why give them the chance to create further chaos. We need to foster business/farming/success not destroy them. | Peter |
| Labour want wealth redistribution even taking a capital gains tax upon death which will affect generations to come. Our hopeless opposition won’t mention that because they will need more of our money to pay off the money borrowed to fund the illegal and unnecessary ENTIRE lock-down. | Max |
| YES and it is a Danger because it follows their marxist UN inspired Agenda 2030 policy and it may be a precondition of IMF support. Do we reposition ourselves by quitting real taxable assets to gullible red supporters and consider to vacate he nation of our birthright or do we fight it out to resist having the twice taxed wealth of our families being stealthily siphoned away. Sadly no Conservative party group is offering long term security on this issue. so the field is bare of any solution or confidence. No longer a land fit for Heros to live in. | Richard |
| They will try to introduce a C G Tax…………..We must fight this [ kick in the guts tax ] it will stop kiwis trying to get ahead any more . i.e. it will stop innovation , and the try and get ahead in life ; attitude , that most kiwis have .They will try every thing to pay back a lot of the borrowed monies , they have, mismanaged and squandered in order to purchase votes , using the covid situ as an excuse. | Roy |
| Aside from it having ALWAYS been their intention, the enormous debt they’ve created is now an additional issue that has to be addressed. Virtually every government charge – tax, GST, car registration, et al – will see increases and it’s certain that Labour would see fit to include a CGT. | Jim |
| That will be one of a number of new and/or increased taxes Labour will try and introduce. | Ian |
| Yes – She will be on a roll with her socialist ambitions and will be desperate to increase the social levelling aspirations. With the control she and her puppet masters now has over the media, and the impending social media censorship, you will not hear a bad word against it. Anyone complaining will be crushed! | Bruce C |
| NO CGT but more likely is a WEALTH TAX of some sort be it re-establishing ESTATE DUTY. One thing they will not do is pare back the size of government | Doug |
| CGT and as many other new taxes as they can dream up to pay off the massive debt they are creating. | Mark |
| They can’t be trusted to ever keep their word as was the case in theIr Bullshit house build program. They should take back the billion dollars that they allocated to Maori, which is purely a political move to buy maori votes and is totally racist against ALL other nz,s. | Des |
| Jacinda has lied about everything else – of course she will. She is economically totally ignorant. | Chris |
| All tax is likely to increase and new ones introduced. We are a socialist country with huge dependency on government handouts. | Maurice |
| And they will tax the hell out of everything that moves and breathes No such thing as a free lunch | Murray |
| If a Labour/Greens govt is elected in Sept I think it highly likely there’ll be a pronounced lurch to the radical left with deeply socialist policies introduced. | John |
| This is a very speculative question. A bit like buying a lotto ticket and rates the chances on a win. | Raymond |
| The damage she has done is shocking even I could see that she was not thinking of us but of control she is a dictator which people love her but I can not see why | Cherryl |
| – or maybe a French style Wealth Tax | Lloyd |
| For sure they will | Graeme |
| Of course and you can bet there will be many more taxes to come. | Brett |
| becos ….. covid | Coral |
| CGT would be only the start; watch out for inheritance tax, stamp duty, and a clutch of other taxes designed to “soak the rich.” | Graham |
| They are a pack of fools who only have 3 who have worked outside their nicely padded bubbles! | nichola |
| Of course Labour would introduce a capital gains tax – its what they wanted all along and the pandemic has given them the excuse they have needed. | Roger |
| Without a doubt. Ardern would just say exceptional circumstances means that a CGT is needed. All she has to do is fudge her way through the election and then she’s home free! | Marian |
| It won’t just be a capital gains tax either. The top tax rates will all go up and other wealth taxes will come in as well. | Tim |
| I do not trust Jacinda Ardern to keep her word at all. | Edward |
| Yes, capital gains taxes will definitely be on the agenda as well as huge increases to the top tax rate. | Alastair |