Jacinda Ardern, being a socialist, loves taxes like a dance party raver loves dexies. She desperately wants new taxes but has cornered herself over introducing a capital gains tax, much to the disappointment of the hard-left commies in her caucus and the wider party.
That’s why she has sent out the bellwether minister, David Parker, to float the idea of new taxes, like a “wealth tax”, whatever that is supposed to mean. Seriously, how would you tax poverty?
But her penchant for flapping her gums and delivering up a word soup has finally bitten her on her derriere. Now she’s fallen for the oldest political game around: the ‘ruling out’ gambit.
Will they or won’t they? The Prime Minister has muddied the waters about whether or not the Government is planning to bring in a wealth tax.
Jacinda Ardern previously ruled it out while she’s in charge, but on Monday her position wasn’t quite so clear.
The Prime Minister began her Monday morning talking about New Zealand’s relationship with the United States – Ardern’s heading there later this month on a mission.
“In the United States, it will be absolutely shameless New Zealand promotion,” she said.
In an opening video shown at the NZ US Business Summit, Americans questioned if New Zealand was home to the Loch Ness monster and emus. The Prime Minister said she’d make sure the US knew “we’re not home to ducks and llamas”.
Maybe not home to ducks, but Ardern was ducking questions about tax at home.
“We haven’t prepared our tax policy for the next election yet,” she told AM on Monday morning.
She continued to rule out a capital gains tax as leader, but wasn’t so decisive on a wealth tax.
“We have not worked on our tax policy for 2023,” Ardern said.
That’s a different answer than she gave when a wealth tax was proposed on the election campaign in 2020. Asked if she would resign before introducing a wealth tax, Ardern said: “I won’t allow it to happen as Prime Minister.”
At the time, she even straight-up accused then-National leader Judith Collins of misinformation for suggesting she would.
Collins on Monday said she felt vindicated.
“I believe I am. I’m looking forward to the apology but I don’t think it will turn up,” she said.
And now-National leader Christopher Luxon was jumping on the Prime Minister’s uncertainty on Monday.
“What we’ve seen today is the signalling, I think, of a U-turn… I am really concerned about where the Prime Minister is going with it. She needs to front and say what is in and what’s out.”
At her post-Cabinet press conference on Monday afternoon, Ardern said “we’ve already said that our policy is not to introduce that and that remains our position. Nothing has changed.”
Newshub
Jacinda Ardern’s only real claim to fame is having a communications degree from Waikato University. She knows how to use her words.
Not ruling it out and playing games about developing tax policy means, absolutely, that they have at least discussed it informally. That’s why David Parker was front running the idea.
But despite all the gum flapping, Ardern also knows that Newshub is still in the field polling, and having ‘new taxes’ raise its ugly head will have concerned her greatly.
Privately Labour knows they are goosed at the next election. Their ministers are talking openly about it – so much so that the chatter has reached my ears.
Because they know they are goosed and they also know that National rarely repeals anything, especially taxes, they are planning on a blitzkrieg of unpalatable legislation like co-governance, and also new taxes.
Her platitudes over tax policy are meaningless. Labour hasn’t delivered on a single flagship policy, like housing, KiwiBuild, the light rail project or even child poverty.
What they are delivering, however, are things that they never campaigned on, like co-governance and destroying our democracy. So when Jacinda Ardern says they aren’t campaigning on something, then be afraid, very afraid.
Socialists love taxes like paedophiles love hanging around schools.
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