Grant Robertson got the unfortunate task on Wednesday of explaining exactly what Chris Hipkins won’t be doing when it comes to tax, writes political editor Jo Moir
Comment: In the next fortnight the electorate will learn what Labour is prepared to do on tax when Chris Hipkins and Grant Robertson announce the party’s policy for the upcoming campaign.
With Hipkins in Lithuania on yet another overseas trade and diplomacy mission it was Robertson left to explain the Prime Minister’s captain’s call not to pursue a wealth or capital gains tax under his leadership, in a continued bid for the centre vote.
Robertson has been working on a tax switch since 2022 that would over time provide a tax-free threshold for all by taxing the wealthiest a bit more.
Messing with the tax system when economic conditions are terrible and there’s too much volatility was a bridge too far for Hipkins.
Robertson accepts the economic conditions argument while also pointing out it’s an idea he clearly thinks has merit given how much time he spent working on it.
“But I’m also a team player,” he told media, not once but twice.
Robertson can’t be blamed for feeling let down by the team given the timing of the announcement, and the substance of it.
He pointed to “social justice and fairness” as being big drivers for him, yet Hipkins’ decision to not pursue a wealth or capital gains tax makes it incredibly difficult to fulfil a principle Labour and Robertson stand for – fairness in the tax system.
The Green Party will win from this by pulling votes off Labour, and a few more voters in the middle might stick with Labour because of it.
But the Greens’ stance doesn’t really matter given significant economic policy is rarely dictated by the smaller party in a governing arrangement.
Not that National will worry about that – expect to see them using the Greens and their promised wealth tax as a stick to beat Labour with for the next few months.
There is still no clear trend in polling three months out from the election with two pollsters this week having completely different scenarios for October.
Labour's pollster, Talbot Mills, had National five points ahead of Labour and able to govern with Act, while the latest numbers from the Taxpayers' Union Curia poll produced a hung Parliament.
The third scenario, Labour and its support partners winning, is nowhere to be seen and will have Hipkins in deep contemplation on his long flight home from Europe.
