This is a transcript of the Premium Politics newsletter. To sign up, click here, select “Inside Politics with Audrey Young” and save your preferences.
Welcome to Inside Politics. So far, so good. The footage of Christopher Luxon’s first encounter with US President Donald Trump suggests that they have something in common – the capacity to form instant friendships in the space of 10 minutes. They hit it off, to put it mildly, joshing around as though they had met many times before, as Jamie Ensor reports from the Apec meeting in South Korea. But as other leaders such as France’s Emmanuel Macron and Canada’s Mark Carney know, Trump can be more vicious to his friends than his enemies.
Trump was already well-disposed towards New Zealand, having visited here in a former life, having admired its golfers over many years, and having no unique irritants in the relationship. The irritant of a 15% tariff on New Zealand imports is shared with many other countries, and that was dealt with at the select dinner in Trump’s honour a short time after the meeting, attended by the leaders of host South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Singapore and Vietnam.
Luxon no doubt praised Trump’s ceasefire in Gaza and reinforced New Zealand’s willingness to help where appropriate. It was likely no coincidence that on the day of the meeting, Defence Minister Judith Collins announced New Zealand had sent an officer to Israel at the invitation of the US to work for six weeks at the United States’ Civil Military Co-ordination Centre in Israel, opened on October 17.
This has been one of those unusual weeks in which it has been a good week for both Labour and National. Labour’s new capital gains tax plan on investment and commercial property has given National ammunition for the next 12 months to emphasise its credentials as a high-tax, big-spending alternative. As an added bonus, the Green Party’s response – Labour’s tax doesn’t go far enough – and the civil war consuming Te Pāti Māori, means the Government can speculate all it likes about it being the start of a more comprehensive CGT regime, with more taxes to follow.
As Finance Minister Nicola Willis said on Tuesday: “I don’t believe it will be confined to one sector of the economy. I think this opens the door to a whole lot more. There are definitely boogie men behind the door.”
That said, Labour leader Chris Hipkins has been adamant that he would not be a “pushover” in talks with the Greens, in the way Luxon is perceived to have been with Act and New Zealand First, and Greens co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick will not be Finance Minister.
And Luxon, who sold some of his private property portfolio last year, has been deemed fair game by Hipkins: “Why should he be able to make more than $600,000 in one year from flipping properties, whilst the people who go out and work hard every day for a living pay tax on every single dollar that they earn?”
Knowing the potency of National’s previous attack on a capital gains tax, Labour has worked hard on sweeteners by linking it directly to funding three doctors’ visits. The revenue assumptions in the policy are based on a 3% house price growth per year, which may be a little heroic in current conditions.
Finance spokeswoman Barbara Edmonds, a former tax lawyer with Inland Revenue who has advised National and Labour revenue ministers, was very impressive in the press conference announcing the policy. There wasn’t a detail she didn’t know about. That is because the policy is relatively simple. The tax applies to capital gains after July 1, 2027, and proven improvements will be exempt.
There are some other exemptions besides the family home, farms, and lifestyle blocks. If a small business that owns its own premises is expanding and needs larger premises, the profit on the sale of the smaller premises may not be subject to a capital gains tax. That rollover relief was a feature of the design of Michael Cullen’s Tax Working Group (TWG), which Labour has based its policy on.
However, the TWG also set that exemption to apply to small businesses with an annual turnover of less than $5 million. Labour tells me today that it has not yet decided whether the same threshold will apply to its new policy. But it has clarified that the rollover relief in such a situation means the CGT liability would be deferred, not cancelled.
Business-friendly Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden replaced two union-friendly members of the WorkSafe board this week. Bill Newson, the former national secretary of the E Tū union, had been on the board for just over three years, and Kristen Thompson, an employment and health and safety lawyer who practised mainly with unions and injured workers, had been on it for six years.
They will be replaced by Brett O’Riley, a former CEO of the Employers and Manufacturers’ Association, and Christopher Alderson, CEO of Construction Health and Safety NZ, a chartered accountant and a director of Mates in Construction. Murray Jagger, a farmer and professional director with experience in ports, will replace Jennifer Kerr as chair of the board.
The WorkSafe Act requires the minister to ensure the board has knowledge and experience of the perspective of workers. Van Velden has not responded to a question about who does or will represent a worker perspective on the board. You’d think that should be a basic requirement, whether or not it was spelled out in the act.
Van Velden is an intriguing minister. She is resolute and genuine in her ambitions to make life as easy as possible for businesses to conduct business and employ more people. Yes, she considers different perspectives, but they tend to be the differences between big businesses and small businesses or sole traders. She seems uninterested in a shop-floor or union perspective and leaves engagement with them to officials.
I interviewed her last week, mainly about her agenda in workplace relations, and we ran the piece on Monday, Labour Day, as it happened.
• Making do: Education Minister Erica Stanford had a difficult start to her trip to Sydney to attend the Australia School Improvement Summit. She arrived on Tuesday night minus her luggage, but after a trip to the convenience store for essentials, and some hand-washing in the hotel bathroom, she wore the same clothes yesterday as she arrived in. With some relief, we can report that her luggage arrived last night and she won’t be wearing the same clothes three days running.
• Chicago bound: Senior minister Chris Bishop is on his way to Chicago, but not just to watch the All Blacks v Ireland test at Soldier Field on Sunday morning. Among his appointments there, he will be meeting Irish politicians visiting for the game, meeting with the Chicago Cubs (baseball) president, and attending the inaugural All Blacks conference for business leaders. According to the promo, the conference will “[draw] parallels between the pressure of test matches and boardroom decisions [and] promises to deliver practical, transferable strategies that drive transformation, growth, and performance in fast-moving commercial environments”. Attendees will also watch the final training run at Soldier Field. No pressure then.
“Why do the Mowbrays, Graeme Hart and... Sir John Key need three free doctors’ visits?” Herald NOW host Ryan Bridge to Labour leader Chris Hipkins.
Hipkins: “Everybody pays their fair share of tax in New Zealand. Everybody is entitled to free healthcare. The free health system should be available to everybody.”
National MP Catherine Wedd, whose bill banning social media for under 16s is set to be debated by Parliament, is the MP for which electorate? (Answer at the bottom of this article.)
Goes to Foreign Minister Winston Peters for his tweet correcting the PM for using “I” instead of saying “We” did a deal with Asean to upgrade the relationship. Self-indulgent. No matter how miffed Peters was with Luxon, you stick together, especially on the world stage.
Goes to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. His first meeting with the most powerful and mercurial leader in the world could not have gone any better.
Trump-Luxon meeting: ‘Your hair is beautiful’: Luxon meets Trump for first time in South Korea
Israel deployment: Govt deploys NZDF officer to Israel after US request
Post-deal tweet: ‘We...’: Peters’ account corrects Luxon’s tweet about trade deal
U16 social media ban: MP’s social media ban bill pulled from biscuit tin
Opinion – capital gains tax: Thomas Coughlan – Labour’s CGT sets small target but has big loopholes
Capital gains tax: Labour knows what it’ll tax, but can’t say what it’ll allow you to deduct
Capital gains tax: Labour’s free GP visit policy – doctors concerned about extra demand
Capital gains tax: Hipkins shuts door on Green Party doubts over CGT bottom line
Minister profile: Brooke van Velden: Sick of being called the wrong kind of woman
Te Pāti Māori split: MP’s son claims legal action initiated over ‘false kōrero’
Asia deals: NZ strengthens Malaysia, Asean ties with halal agreement, strategic partnership
Quiz answer: Tukituki, Hawke’s Bay. She is also the granddaughter of a former Whanganui MP, Bill Tolhurst.
For more political news and views, listen to On the Tiles, the Herald’s politics podcast.