Labour Party to vote on banning captain’s calls after Chris Hipkins’ wealth tax call
The “captain’s call” could become a thing of the past, at least for the Labour Party, with members this weekend having the opportunity to vote on a rule change that would effectively ban them.
A “captain’s call” is an informal convention of New Zealand politics which allows a leader to decide a party’s policy, at least as long as they’re in the captain’s seat.
For over a year, Labour has been grappling with a particularly controversial captain’s call: Leader Chris Hipkins’ 2023 decision to rule out a capital gains tax and a wealth tax in 2023. After the election, he reversed the decision after pressure from some MPs, putting both taxes back on the table.
The party hierarchy disputes that this call was inconsistent with Labour’s constitution, although many members disagree and have been venting that disagreement at regional conferences. Some members have even proposed changes that would make such a call far more difficult.
The Labour Party declined to comment for this story.
Labour won’t budge in the Polls until voters some actual policy that meets their realities.
When Labour dumped the wealth tax that would have seen everyone get $10 000 tax free, voters intellectually saw no reason to vote Labour.
When Labour dumped the Capital Gains Tax and locked into place the privilege of the mega landlords, voters intellectually saw no reason to vote Labour.
When all Labour had to offer was GST off your bananas, voters intellectually saw no reason to vote Labour.
Chippy say’s he’s not sure why Labour lost.
Hmmmmm.
Chippy needs to meet and hear some of the best progressive visionaries NZ has.
Māori Legal Expert Annette Sykes – No one can give insight into the righteous anger of Māoridom like Annette can.
Documentary Film Maker Bryan Bruce – knows more about free market capitalism and poverty than the Reserve Bank Governor.
Economics Professor Tim Hazeldean – Has actual economic solutions.
Visionary Revolutionary Max Harris – His vision for a Ministry of Green Works is ahead of its time.
Greenpeace director Russel Norman – His insight and oversight on how we move to a sustainable economy is essential.
Child Poverty Action Group and Auckland Action Against Poverty – They are at the coal face of child poverty and their advice are the only ones that matter.
CTUs Craig Renney – His leadership from the CTU on economic issues has been unparalleled.
Chippy either generates a reset or he gets crushed in the gravity of Labour”s failures.
What does NZ Labour stand for because we have a Party that is more right wing than the British Tory Party!
We need more Left Universalism and more Class solidarity and far less identity politics.
Not one poor family is sitting around the kitchen table cancelling each other for misusing pronouns, they are trying to work out how to pay the bills!
We need to lift the tax yoke off working people, beneficiaries and the middle classes and we need to put it on the Banks, the Corporations, the Billionaires and the mega wealthy.
We need more Democratic Infrastructure, not less!
Why do we need these things?
Because the climate is shutting down and we face a bleak future where Billions will suffer and die thanks to catastrophic climate change.
This change will be forced upon us whether we like it or not.
This demands more connections, more bonds that bind us together to emotionally, socially, economically and politically survive what is coming.
Māori communalism is going to teach us a lot.
Here are some thoughts:
Iwi backed new Supermarket: Bring in a 3rd player into the supermarket duopoly that is Iwi backed with a focus on cheap prices for consumers, best prices for producers and high wages and work conditions for workers. Take 30% of the Supermarket Industry by force (allowed under the Commerce Commission powers) and use this as the backbone for a new food security system.
Free Dental – Ring-fence a sugar tax to part fund it.
Legalise Cannabis Market – Ring-Fence $100, from the $1.1b in revenue to fully fund drug rehabilitation services.
First $10 000 Tax Free – Put money directly into the pockets of then poorest without WINZ and IRD clawing any back.
Free Public Transport – Free up the roads fort those who need them and put money directly into the pockets of then poorest without WINZ and IRD clawing any back.
Mārae Civil Defence: Use Marae as the backbone of Civil Defence throughout NZ with resources based there alongside new building grants to strengthen those Marae.
Ministry of Green Works: We need to be able to build our own infrastructure.
New Mental Health First Responders: A whole new branch of first responders to deal specifically with mental health issues to talk people down and seek help rather than calling then Police and arresting people.
Artist Benefit: As part of a degrowth Capitalism model, pay Artists to make public art, use that art as a means to deal with the wondrous grief caused by the destruction of the planet.
Māori Parliament: An indigenous Parliament that amplifies Māori political voices.
Universal Student Union: Allow Student Unions to be the incubators for tomorrows politicians and stop students simply being cash cows for corporate education.
Universal Migrant Union: Stop migrant worker exploitation with universal student membership.
Retirement Village Unions: These scumbag retirement villages abuse their elderly and sick clients, universal Retirement Village Unions would stop them being exploited.
Pensioner Unions: Give our elderly a voice!
Lower GST to 12.5% and remove it from a basket of essentials: Lower GST to 12.5% and remove it altogether from a basket of necessities like toilet paper, tampons, toothpaste, supermarket produce.
And here are the taxes to fund this:
- Wealth Tax
- Financial Transactions Tax
- New higher top tax rate
- Billionaire tax
- Vice Taxes on tobacco, gambling and booze
- Sugar Tax
- Ghost House tax
- Polluter Tax
- Land Tax
We don’t comprehend how bad things are going to get environmentally, the speed of heat that is happening right now shocks scientists and with research suggesting AMOC will shut down BEFORE 2050, we are in a a realm of violent change whether we want to acknowledge that or not.
If Labour want to win back working class voters do something meaningful to their material well being.
If Labour want to win back the Auckland Middle class vote, do something meaningful to the structure.
If Labour wants to win back middle NZ, do something that prepares NZ for adaptation rather than incremental nothings.
This is Labour’s last chance to step up.
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Never say never in NZ Politics if Winston vampire Peters is anything to go by…but to all intents and purposes it is NZ Labours last chance to chart a different course. Greens and Te Pāti Māori are already stepping up for a new generation of voters–and left boomers of which there are many–so Labour will become a junior party if they do not change.
Fraser House and the old Labour tops should realise that while socialists were driven out of Labour in the 80s, the remaining members are just as exposed to social media as anyone else and know that Chippy fucked up with the Captains call.
TM, you have been hoping and praying for a socialist NZ, a Marxist government for decades.
Now you are in your 80s it will never happen in your life time.
But a wee reminder of a true statement:
‘You vote in socialism, but have to shoot your way out of it’
Where has it worked?, how many of its own people were killed by the socialist governments that were ‘voted’ in.
Or was it just the wrong kind of socialism that time….this time will be better/the right kind of socialism?
*Cough…cough*
Yes we need the true Socialists back in Labour TM.
you are Bob The First pretending to be Daniel though
Daniel the first, what a Muppet.
Wage Slave Labour need to get populist to have any hope of avoiding extinction. Jacinda’s call to ditch CGT was pure neoliberalism that would make Key and Douglas proud. Economic nationalism is the antidote to neoliberalism. Start with voting for citizens only and the deportation of foreign slavers. That, or go with preferred extinction option?
Hipkins seems to be saying whatever he thinks will get them elected, he has as much credibility as a gumboot with 2 holes although I suspect that the Labour party is still in love with him for some reason.
Bonnie I doubt anyone loves Hipkins apart from presumably his new gf. Frequent party leadership changes are bad news, especially after Ardern doing a runner, so they’re a bit stuck with him. He needs to go for the good of the party, and more importantly the people, but this mightn’t suit higher-up agendas.
It’s not rocket science, Labour go into the next election with policies they will enact, policies that the voting public have a choice to vote on and if it’s Labour so be it!
What Labour fucked up on was 3waters/Co-Governance/gas mining and drilling ban plus others, these were not campaigned on, these were not in the voters minds when they cast their ballot.
Now irrespective of whether TDB posters believe they were great policies or not, and the majority think they were it seems…the voting public said NO they were not.
As Martyn has posted numerous times, Labour had fuck all of a plan when Arden was anointed by Winnie and as such didn’t have a plan, a 100 day plan.
This Govt, and I know you don’t like it, but they HAVE initiated their campaign policies in the first 100 days.
It’s not rocket science, but seems Labour missed the rocket science classes their last 2 terms!
Hipkins went to the UK to see Labour in action there.They have do far cut their popularity by half in the short time they have been in power . LA
Labour in this country showed themselves as poor money managers with rampant inflation killing workers at the same time the public service was growing and sucking up tax money.
You do realize that public services = health, education and welfare?
Universal student union membership and incubation for politics is Chippy tastic.
A bit off topic but the female President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, has just stood up to Trump and told him how to deal with his southern border.
Her work combined with the Biden Administration’s, has cut the number of people coming to the border by 75%. Wait for trump to claim that was his brilliance.
But doesn’t matter.
This spectacular woman leader has shown the way to all world leaders on how to deal with the Orange Toddler.
Luxon sucking up to him is not the way. The Labour Party needs to be ready to correct Luxon’s embarrassing and demeaning grovelling, when it occurs.
Sheinbaum should offer all LGBTQ Americans asylum to her country. Also she should allow women to gain abortions in Mexico.
Trump is not much of a problem ,but Musk on the other hand is very dangerous for the USA and the world in general .
Our economy’s a crime wave that needs investigating publicly by the crown. Never mind arsing about with the drivel that’s taxation or the meaningless mythologies of apportioning of it. The last forty years of our economy is a Hellscape of greed and aggressive arrogance. Since roger douglas, Labour’s two term minister of finance fell off the old whore that is Labour we’ve been careering down a gradient steeper than geoffery palmers face.
How the fuck is it that there are 14 multi-billionaires here? How is it that on a small agricultural primary industry economy country that we have 14 multi-billionaires? How is it that we also have 3118 multi-millionaires each with a net minimum of $50 million dollars. How? Before we fuck about with nickel and dime tax breathers we should also know how the fuck four Australian banks now own our arses? ASB. ANZ. BNZ. and Westpac own us. We, are their bitches. $180.00 net a second 24/7/365 bitches.
The Press says so. Here it is. In black and fucking white mate.
The Press
New Zealand’s banks are only beaten for profitability by banks in Canada, global credit ratings company S&P Global Ratings says.
https://www.thepress.co.nz/business/350094635/nz-banks-some-most-profitable-world
Who? How? Why?
I can tell you who, how and why. Our farmers are getting rorted. Our politic is 110% corrupt. And because rich losers like to brag about how easy they became billionaires and millionaires.
There are only two ways to gather about oneself billions and millions in Nu Zillind. Lotto, and being crooked. Aye boys?
Some good stuff for once. Here’s my hot take, for what its worth.
Forget the Ministry of green work and just have a Ministry of works. The moment you put the word green people just see dollar signs.
Artist benefit? Are you joking? yea good luck selling that one.
Maori parliament? baby steps Martyn. You need to ease into that sort of stuff. Maybe a couple of more seats. Which, incidentally, they would have if they all signed onto the Maori role. The country as a whole simply isn’t ready for that and to suggest it will lose the election.
I do like the stuff about civil defense but the Maraes should be a part of the solution not the whole thing. They simply couldn’t cope. Maybe a few properly resourced centralized hubs with the ability to rapidly deploy help to where its needed. (As well, not instead of)
A govt run supermarket would be a good idea but if its to be Maori owned it should be part of a settlement not a gift or you will never sell the idea to enough people. The competition to the market would be a good thing and probably lower average prices overall but… Maori are just as commercial as the next person. Why you think they wouldn’t maximize profit is beyond me?
I would like to see numbers for the extra tax take and how they stack up against the other proposals before i pass judgment on that part of the plan.
I give it a 6+ overall.
Kim. When I was a Civil Defence volunteer, local school buildings were the designated hubs; we met in them, and in a CD emergency also had the right to break into places like WW’s huge food storage facility. We letterboxed regularly and addressed residents’ associations’ and others’ meetings to a greater extent than seems to be done now. This always brought forth more active volunteers.
Ardern got in on the child poverty mantra, failed to follow through, and people are cynical about Labour’s or any pollies’ concern here. It was Labour who dumped the much needed independent Commissioner for Vulnerable Children, as low a blow as Bill English trashing all our young males as useless unemployable druggies.
The Ministry of Works should never have been dumped and it’s return would do away with the plethora of costly contractors, and sub-contractors often of dubious quality.
Luxon continuing as National’s leader remains Labour’s best bet of a resurgence at the next election, and they’ll know this. Official reports now forthcoming about the pandemic won’t help Chris Hipkins one iota. His threatening to door-knock those choosing not to jab was a tyrannical over-reach, and bloody ridiculous juxtaposed with the government’s refusal to listen to the parliamentary protest and setting Trevor on them like a mad dog, IMO.
It was Ardern who categorically ruled out a Capital Gains Tax, just as she welcomed New Zealand becoming a republic, but had no problem in accepting a damehood for herself.
People don’t vote opposition parties in, people vote governing parties out. The 2008-era competence-free Labour Party is safe – it will rise croaking from the ashes once more
That’s an excellent list of taxes because it does not include a capital gains tax.
Missing taxes.
Bank Profit Export tax. This tax could be voluntary. The bank owners would not have to pay it on profits reinvested in NZ businesses.
FANG Gross Revenue Tax.
The software platforms easily avoid tax on profit by residing in tax haven Ireland. A tax on their gross revenue cancels their ability to avoid their income tax obligation. As a requirement of being allowed to operate here they would be required to charge the same prices as the rest of the world for their products and services. Essentially a royalty for extracting profit from kiwis. This is a tax that cannot be passed onto kiwis like the gst.
Gold Tax
Increase the royalties paid by Aus gold miners operating here. Accept payment in gold. Store the gold to harden the currency like Russia and China do. A harder currency would be a good thing in a climate catastrophe.
Is NZ$10,000 tax free enough? Australia already incentives nurses and other trained kiwis to hop over to Oz with NZ$20,000 tax free.
Surely we have a pensioners union?? Grey power