As we say goodbye to 2019 and welcome in 2020, it's a good time to catch up on the very best of the Herald columnists we enjoyed reading over the last 12 months. From politics to sport, from business to entertainment and lifestyle, these are the voices and views ouraudience loved the most. Today it's the top five from John Roughan.
All taxpayers might be in for good news this week
Back in February, a capital gains tax proposal was on the cards. An interim report from Sir Michael Cullen's tax working group suggested capital gains be taxed at the receiver's top personal income rate - which Roughan found "fairly radical but eminently fair". The report also hinted at income tax cuts, not just at the lower rates but at the top rate too.
Was the rate cut a colossal mistake?
After the Reserve Bank reduced its official cash rate to just 1 per cent, with talk of another cut before the end of this year. A highly respected source in the National Party remarked to Roughan that it was hard to imagine any previous governor of the bank cutting interest rates drastically, when the economic outlook did not seem that dire.
Sometimes it takes a personal visit to a site of controversy to find out what it's all about - which is what happened to John Roughan when he drove to Ihumātao "without much sympathy for the protest against a housing development near the Ōtuataua Stonefields". What he discovered there changed his view on the situation.
NZ saddled with outdated attitudes
Following the Christchurch mosque terror attack, calls were made to change the name of Canterbury's champion Super Rugby team, the Crusaders. According to Roughan, the name should be dropped not only out of consideration for the Muslim community, but because it's "naff" - and always has been.
