Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Do New Zealanders really want a capital gains tax?

Well, I don't know what's worse for Labour - the fact that they've announced a capital gains tax policy again today, or the fact that someone leaked it and forced them to announce it in a rush.

Obviously, it does suck for them that somebody leaked it first, because it means that they were so unprepared that they had to rush-job announce it in an email at 3:05 this morning.

And then Chippy had to cancel his morning radio interviews so that he didn't have to answer questions about this until he was ready - and then they had to get ready and call themselves a rush-job press conference where they all looked furious, and they stumbled over their words.

Honestly, you haven't seen such a sad line-up of people announcing something they're proud of.

This is the second policy announcement that Labour has managed to stuff up in just about a week's duration - which hardly looks convincing, does it?

But then it also sucks for them that this is the policy that they're taking to the election, because I don't care what the Beltway in Wellington tells us - I do not believe that a majority of New Zealanders want a capital gains tax.

No matter how many times Labour pitches it, no matter how many times they try to convince us that everyone else wants it, why don't you want it?

And you know I'm right when I say this, because look at how Labour's selling this today. Even they sound like they're not so sure that we want a CGT, because they've double-policed it.

Today, they've told us what they're going to spend the money on, which is three free GP visits a year for us - basically to try and sell it to us, in order to convince us that a capital gains tax is good for us.

And also, just look at how gleeful the National Party sound. They know that this made 2026 just a little bit more likely for them.

What I now want to know though - is who leaked this to the media?

Was it someone who was just really excited that they knew something, so they leaked it to the media and blew up their own party's big announcement - or was it someone who disagrees with Labour and wanted to blow up their own party's big announcement?

Either way, they've just made an unconvincing policy even less convincing today.

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