NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand / Politics

Election 2020: Labour's Jacinda Ardern v National's Judith Collins on wealth tax

Derek Cheng
By Derek Cheng
Senior Writer·NZ Herald·
11 Oct, 2020 04:43 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Earlier: PM Jacinda Ardern spoke to the media from a Labour party rally in Wellington.
Vote2020

Labour Party leader Jacinda Ardern says National is desperately resorting to misinformation as the parties head into the final week of the campaign.

Ardern was responding to National's insistence that a Labour-led government would see the Green Party's wealth tax become reality.

"I consider that the last roll of the misinformation dice," Ardern told media after a Labour rally on Sunday.

"We've obviously put forward our tax policy. That is what we're taking to voters this election. Any suggestion of picking up other parties' plans is mischievous and wrong, and I don't know how many times we've had to restate that."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

National leader Judith Collins has called today the Stop of Wealth Tax Day, claiming that a Labour-Greens government would "tax your retirement".

Ardern and Labour's finance spokesman Grant Robertson have repeatedly kiboshed the wealth tax.

"It does appear that the Opposition and the National Party are trying to cause distractions," Ardern said.

"That is not going to stop us from focusing on our plans."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She added that Labour had played all its major policy cards because of early voting, and the final week will be about reminding voters of what's already been announced.

The Labour faithful packed into the Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington today for a rally that featured music, hilarity from MC Oscar Kightley, and speeches from Robertson and Ardern.

"Talofa - I'm Samoan, I can say that," said Kightley, a reference to Collins' use of the term when answering a questions from Aorere College head girl Aigagalefili Fepulea'i Tapua'i in the first leaders' debate.

"My husband is Samoan so, talofa," Collins had said at the start of her answer.

Discover more

New Zealand|politics

We can vote now, so why no election advertising on the polling day?

08 Oct 10:21 AM
Politics

Election 2020: South Auckland crowds mob Jacinda Ardern

10 Oct 04:34 AM
New Zealand

Cannabis result hinges on youth turnout - researcher

10 Oct 08:01 PM
Politics

Election 2020: 6 days to go - Jacinda Ardern lays out vision for 2030

11 Oct 12:15 AM
The Stardust Orchestra performing at the Labour Party rally in Wellington. Photo / Derek Cheng
The Stardust Orchestra performing at the Labour Party rally in Wellington. Photo / Derek Cheng

The crowd were treated to performances from singer Deva Mahal, and then Kightley introduced the "Stardust Orchestra", saying dryly that their appearance at a similar rally in 2017 had clearly powered Labour to victory.

Robertson warmed up the crowd with references to Ardern's Covid management, calling her "Dr Ardern, Medicine Woman" at one point.

He also said the National Party had more holes in its budget than a "rabbit-run golf course", and had shifted border policy positions as it moved from "leader to leader to leader".

"They've had all the consistency of a bored cat."

Labour leader Jacinda Ardern during her speech at the Labour Party rally in Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Labour leader Jacinda Ardern during her speech at the Labour Party rally in Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell

In her speech, Ardern laid out a vision of New Zealand in 2030 with no one on the state housing waiting list, with child poverty halved, and with farmers selling IP to the world on how to reduce emissions.

The state house waiting list is currently about 20,000, up from about 6000 when the current Government took power. It has built about 4000 new state houses but that has not kept up with demand.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

And halving child poverty by 2030 is actually less ambitious than the Government's 10-year targets, announced in January 2018, to do just that by 2027/28.

She also talked about National's fiscal plan.

"The alternative is an Opposition party that is focused on itself, that has lost its focus on economic responsibility and produced a plan with an $8 billion dollar hole.

"Mistakes like that cannot be laughed away, they threaten our economic recovery and put health and education at risk."

National has admitted to a $4 billion mistake but says it doesn't amount to much because it moves its 2034 net debt-to-GDP target from 35 per cent to 36 per cent.

Ardern also highlighted the country's record on Covid-19.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"What started as a summertime conversation this year has led to more than 30 million cases and 1 million deaths, and it's not over yet.

"Here at home we have lost 25 loved ones and managed 1864 cases.

"As we've travelled around the country campaigning this election with only limited restrictions, it hasn't been lost on me how lucky that makes us."

Afterwards she said she wasn't making a pitch to be the Prime Minister all the way through to 2030.

"Voters decide that, not me."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Politics

Politics

Government tops up $75 a week flagship tax promise, now reaches ‘thousands’ more

30 Jun 08:06 AM
Politics

‘Disappointed’: Māori advisory group says there was a 'breach' in relationship with Minister

30 Jun 05:45 AM
Premium
Politics

‘Utter garbage, lies’: Hobson’s Pledge and National’s 'wokest' minister clash over Treaty in schools

30 Jun 05:23 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Politics

Government tops up $75 a week flagship tax promise, now reaches ‘thousands’ more

Government tops up $75 a week flagship tax promise, now reaches ‘thousands’ more

30 Jun 08:06 AM

Willis said thousands more will get hundreds of dollars from the scheme.

‘Disappointed’: Māori advisory group says there was a 'breach' in relationship with Minister

‘Disappointed’: Māori advisory group says there was a 'breach' in relationship with Minister

30 Jun 05:45 AM
Premium
‘Utter garbage, lies’: Hobson’s Pledge and National’s 'wokest' minister clash over Treaty in schools

‘Utter garbage, lies’: Hobson’s Pledge and National’s 'wokest' minister clash over Treaty in schools

30 Jun 05:23 AM
Teen kicked out of Govt’s bootcamp pilot for alleged offending

Teen kicked out of Govt’s bootcamp pilot for alleged offending

30 Jun 04:27 AM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP