Green Party staunches up on taxing the Mega Wealthy
Greens reveal campaign slogan, priorities, and call for end to ‘bloodsport politics’
The Green Party has laid out the three key planks of its election platform: tax reform, protecting waterways and energy reform.
At its annual general meeting in South Auckland on Sunday, the party also revealed its campaign slogan: “For All of Us.”
The two co-leaders Chloe Swarbrick and Marama Davidson spoke before a loud, enthusiastic crowd of around 150 at an auditorium at the Manukau Institute of Technology.
It was a noticeably young audience. Just 10 people raised their hands when asked if they joined the party under original co-leaders Jeanette Fitzsimons and Rod Donald. Another 25 people said they were newly-minted members.
Stuff
Very strong stuff here from the Greens.
Taxing the rich
Protecting our water
Reform Energy industry
This is real Government in waiting policy.
The issue isn’t the election so much as the negotiations after the election if Greens + Labour + TOP + TPM = 51%
The reality is we can’t afford the upgrades if we don’t tax the mega wealthy.
The reality is climate change and intensification will hurt our water and we need to protect that now.
The reality is our power industry is a joke.
The call to end the bloodsports of politics generated by social media hate algorithms will resonate with many voters and their pull towards youth is positive.
If the Kakariki MMP voting strategy comes out of Te Pati Māori next month, we will see candidate vote TPM and Party vote Green in the Māori Electorates and that could have real influence over the final result.
If Greens get leap frogged by NZF as the 3rd largest Party, they lose an enormous amount of mana.
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Today I realised that both the right and the left’s economic policy for New Zealand is based on theft. The right by selling of our national assets at fire sale prices, the left by repossessing the wealthy’s possessions.
Neither is sustainable.
Would be great to have an economic policy actually based on generating wealth.
Norway has wealth taxes. Norway lost huge amounts of tax revenue as a result of this move, as surprise, surprise, so called “wealthy people” left. France dumped wealth taxes for this reason. CGT which both the Greens and Labour support is a horror story. In Australia it can even be applied to the family home of ordinary Australian’s if they leave their house for more than six years and that includes going overseas. You will pay 25% of what is for most people, you main asset to the government. Worse still, you could end up being taxed on inflation. Not good and an invitation to move somewhere more agreeable in Asia or elsewhere.
The reality is successive governments in this country have borrowed heavily and wasted at their leisure. Whats needed is fiscal discipline and that’s sorely lacking in government and its ministries New Zealand (as it is in Australia). This fiction about taxing the rich is really more taxes for the struggling middle. The really wealthy will up stakes and leave.
” If Greens get leap frogged by NZF as the 3rd largest Party, they lose an enormous amount of mana ”
The Greens will never get any of these polices enacted due to the fact they are tied to the NZLP that don’t recognize or agree with the polices the Greens are advocating. Hipkins has basically ruled out any Green policies in any Labour only government where the Greens are only available when Hipkins needs support to pass some policy he knows the Greens will support.
There is no ‘MANA ” in producing what is strong progressive polices without the drive and courage to make a stand and demand them.
Even Chloe must know that with their current strategy its doomed to failure.
This from Against The Current.
” When Chlöe Swarbrick became co-leader, there was genuine hope that she would shift this dynamic. Her critiques of neoliberalism were sharp, grounded, and resonant with a generation disillusioned by managerial politics. She seemed poised to push the Greens toward a more insurgent, class-driven orientation — one that could speak directly to the frustration and precarity shaping public sentiment. Many believed she would challenge Labour’s centrism rather than accommodate it.
But that promise has not materialised. Whether constrained by internal factionalism, strategic caution, or the gravitational pull of coalition politics, Swarbrick has not delivered the radical edge many expected. Instead, she has largely aligned herself with Davidson’s centrist, Labour-friendly approach. The Greens under their joint leadership have not become the bold alternative the moment demands. They have doubled down on the strategy of being Labour’s reliable partner, even as Labour offers little beyond technocratic tweaking and incrementalism.
The time is now but obviously not for the scared , timid vacuous Green party.
” The tragedy is that the political conditions are ideal for a Green Party willing to confront the status quo. The country is crying out for a force that can articulate the failures of neoliberalism, challenge the bipartisan consensus on austerity, and offer a transformative vision of economic and social renewal. Instead, the Greens are entering the election campaign looking like a support act for a Labour Party that has repeatedly failed to deliver structural change.
” If Greens get leap frogged by NZF as the 3rd largest Party, they lose an enormous amount of mana ”
The Greens will never get any of these polices enacted due to the fact they are tied to the NZLP that don’t recognize or agree with the polices the Greens are advocating. Hipkins has basically ruled out any Green policies in any Labour only government where the Greens are only available when Hipkins needs support to pass some policy he knows the Greens will support.
There is no ‘MANA ” in producing what is strong progressive polices without the drive and courage to make a stand and demand them.
Even Chloe must know that with their current strategy its doomed to failure.
This from Against The Current.
” When Chlöe Swarbrick became co-leader, there was genuine hope that she would shift this dynamic. Her critiques of neoliberalism were sharp, grounded, and resonant with a generation disillusioned by managerial politics. She seemed poised to push the Greens toward a more insurgent, class-driven orientation — one that could speak directly to the frustration and precarity shaping public sentiment. Many believed she would challenge Labour’s centrism rather than accommodate it.
But that promise has not materialised. Whether constrained by internal factionalism, strategic caution, or the gravitational pull of coalition politics, Swarbrick has not delivered the radical edge many expected. Instead, she has largely aligned herself with Davidson’s centrist, Labour-friendly approach. The Greens under their joint leadership have not become the bold alternative the moment demands. They have doubled down on the strategy of being Labour’s reliable partner, even as Labour offers little beyond technocratic tweaking and incrementalism.
The time is now but obviously not for the scared , timid vacuous Green party.
” The tragedy is that the political conditions are ideal for a Green Party willing to confront the status quo. The country is crying out for a force that can articulate the failures of neoliberalism, challenge the bipartisan consensus on austerity, and offer a transformative vision of economic and social renewal. Instead, the Greens are entering the election campaign looking like a support act for a Labour Party that has repeatedly failed to deliver structural change.
Greens say policy was based on treasury data. Treasury says bullshit !
Will they ever get their calculations right ?
While we should never forget to thank the mega wealthy who are ‘Givers’ we should despise those who have NEVER paid their way in NZ. Many of them even have a Community Services Card and get rates rebates – does that ring a bell?! TDB has already shown NZ’s highest tax rate is 39c with the average of the countries shown, being 46c. My, how well some of you TAKERS have done, so it’s past time to recognise those who have ‘carried’ you for so long and stop being a bleating parasite! Once this unfair tax anomalie is sorted we can move on to our serious environmental issues and making sure everyone has the chance to have a roof over their heads and adequate food – a stance this RW are never going to attend to – they are still in denial and ‘miserly mode’. Think before you vote this time!
The wealthy will leave and the net tax take will decline overall- this is a major down fall of this policy.
So the 200,000+that have fled N.Z. for Australia in two years (so now not paying tax here)….and still leaving at a rate of 1 every 7 minutes….plus an unemployment rate that has soared from 3.9 when Labour left office to now being 5.6 under National , Act & N.Z.First is somehow not bad for the tax take?
The rich pay fuck all tax anyway…they’d rather pay lawyers and accountants big money to set up trusts to avoid paying the correct percentage…they …in effect…are bludgers…. good riddance to them.
As George Monbiot said:
“Lower and Middle Class people pay taxes,
The rich pay accountants,
The very rich pay lawyers,
The ultra rich pay politicians!”
“Lower and Middle Class people pay taxes,
The rich pay accountants,
The very rich pay lawyers,
The ultra rich pay politicians!”
The trillionaires flee the planet they’ve trashed.
Sean Ackland on Facebook
On Q&A, Tova O’Brien asked Chloe Swarbrick whether she wants fewer wealthy people in the country?
Before rephrasing the question to does she want less wealth in the country?
I don’t know if Tova knows this or not, but those are 2 very different questions.
With 2 very different answers
Lets look at the first question, does Chloe Swarbrick want less wealth in New Zealand?
No.
In fact she wants more wealth in New Zealand.
Hense the wealth tax.
Because as she artfully explained in her answer
She “wants more wealth circulating around our communities. She wants wealth that builds up local businesses and infrastructure. She wants wealth that gives every New Zealand child the opportunity to live their best life, contribute and participate in society.”
The goal is to have less wealth concentrated in the hands of an extraordinarily small number of people, and more of that wealth circulating through the communities and economy that created it in the first place.
However
Let’s imagine, for a moment, that we did have the kind of capital flight in this country that the right wing are fear-mongering about
Lets imagine that some of the wealthiest New Zealanders decide that they don’t want to pay a wealth tax and choose to leave,
Taking their assets with them.
What exactly are we losing?
Are we losing billions of dollars of productive economic activity? ie; Rocket Lab or Weta Workshop?
Unlikely.
Between the financial cost of moving all their operations off shore as well as the massive cost in goodwill with the new zealand public it would be a level of moronic that the brains behind these operations aren’t known for.
Or are we losing the presence of individuals who own billions of dollars in unproductive assets?
People who are not creating new businesses, employing people and generating new economic activity.
People who are simply part of an unproductive wealthy class whose primary economic activity who only exist to accumulate more wealth for themselves.
If there were capital flight, it would be these guys who would pack up, not the Peter Jackson’s of the world
If our response to every attempt to make the tax system fairer is to say, “But what if the richest people leave?”
then we are effectively allowing the wealthiest people in society to dictate the boundaries of public policy through the threat of their departure.
And that’s precisely what Chloe explained in her follow up
By acknowledging that “a wealth tax wouldn’t be easy, that incredibly wealthy people are going to use the resources available to them – their networks of accountants and lawyers – to try to avoid paying their fair share of tax.”
Chloe didn’t pretend that wealthy people won’t change their behaviour in response to a wealth tax.
She acknowledged that they might.
What she rejected was the idea that the mere possibility of wealthy people trying to avoid tax should be enough to prevent us from fairly taxing them in the first place.
Chloe closed by saying that we don’t abandon income tax on the basis that some tradies might technically be paid under the table.
We address that through enforcement.
Saying that we should not be bullied into accepting a system where the wealthiest people can simply threaten to take their wealth elsewhere
and that threat alone is enough to prevent us from asking them to contribute more to the society they have benefited from
She wants a New Zealand where wealth is more widely shared, more widely circulated, and ultimately used to create more opportunity for everyone.
Not just the unproductive rich
Tova, all the way through, was going for ‘gotcha’ moments and not really listening to the answers.
She became absolutely, almost maniacally, fixated on the difference in definition between… sludge…. and…. dirty brow frothy water…wasting a lot of time and then trying to lecture Chloe on being too hyperbolic…which is not for her to judge.
A lot of people like strong definition/descriptions being used to highlight the potential degradation of water in the area to make a point a point.
It was a powerful confidant performance by Chloe… in strong contrast to the Nikki- No- Boats .Willis and Paul Henry trainwrecks with Jack Tame on previous weeks.
Same weary old spurious argument the wealthy supporters network always make when someone presses their “on” button.
Rubbish where will they go where they will pay 9% tax and get a community services card ..The other thing your type forget is that most of our top 50% of companies are owned by offshore corporates who send profits overseas asap and pay no tax .That is the reason NZ is going down the drain ,profits are not being spent here .Most of the rich people you crave have become rich by selling out to those corporates paying no tax on the capital gains .
Great to see good policy that will make a difference to all of NZ not just bullshit small change like Nats new parents extra leave that is just a bloody joke like the tax cuts most never got .Not many can afford to have kids right now so once again it is aimed at small number of people and of no real use to all of NZ .