Chris Hipkins showed once again how focused he is on trying to stay in government when he followed the lead of Sir John Key and Dame Jacinda Ardern in ruling out a policy, that he knows has merit, any time under his leadership.
In this case it is wealth and capital gains taxes (the latter also being one of Ardern’s “not on my watch” calls) that are off the table — and as in previous examples, it’s about winning votes in the all-important centre ground.
The parties to his left whose support would be needed to form that third-term Labour government were furious.
The Greens said there was a very real possibility they would refuse to join a coalition with Labour if they didn’t put a wealth tax back on the table, and Te Pāti Māori said Hipkins had effectively ended coalition discussions before they had even met.
That didn’t phase the Prime Minister, who said the nature of MMP democracy was that minor parties needed support from a majority of Parliament in order to advance their policies.