Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

Leader of the Opposition, Christopher Luxon, joined Kerre Woodham live in studio to take your calls and answer your questions. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last week, in fact, this very time last week, we were speculating wildly as to whether the IRD's report on New Zealand's wealthiest individuals was going to pave the way for a capital gains tax in this country. The report came out yesterday afternoon.  It just sort of sat there - there was a big ta-da and then nothing. We're an outlier as far as the rest of the wealthy nations of the world go, in that we have no capital gains tax, unless you count the bright line test, which is kind of a mini capital gains tax. The report came out yesterday, and then what? Nothing. At the same time as he released the report David Parker said look, for heaven’s sake, we're not using it as laying the groundwork for a capital gains tax, heavens no, we just thought you'd be interested. And yet, at the same time that he was pouring cold water on the idea that he was using it to lay the groundwork for a capital gains tax, he was also saying, ‘I hold the view and I have done for some time,  that there is an inherent unfairness in New Zealand's tax system.’ I remain of the view, he said, and I think this report proves that case, that there is unfairness in the tax system. So what is he playing it? What the report found was that 311 of New Zealand's wealthiest individuals paid 9.4 per cent of their total incomes and tax versus an average tax rate of 20.2% paid by middle-income Kiwis. So David Parker has spent years campaigning for a capital gains tax. He believes our tax system is unfair in part. And yet both he and the Prime Minister have spent considerable time stressing to us all, underlining, making the point they won't be changing the tax system at this particular point in time. So what was the point of the report? It could have just come out like any other report, sunk like a stone and we'd never have seen anything of it ever again. But there was a press conference for him to say ‘look at these incredibly wealthy people who are only paying nine per cent of tax. I think our tax system is unfair. We're not going to introduce a capital gains tax. Don't be silly. Where did you get that idea from?’ I don't know, David, where did we get that idea from?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A tax expert says the Government's wealth report covers what we already know. Inland Revenue's wealth report shows the top one percent of earners pay a median effective tax rate of 9.4 percent when including capital gains on investments. That's compared to an estimated 20 percent for "middle wealth" people. Dentons Kensington Swan tax partner Bruce Bernacchi told Kerre Woodham the wealthy earn a substantial amount from legally untaxed capital gains. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I understand and I totally appreciate you cannot possibly fence off every waterway in the country. Imagine you've been hiking for hours through glorious back country, to come across the crest of a hill and in the near distance spy a beautiful alpine lake surrounded by a wire fence, with all sorts of health and safety warnings. That would not be the experience you'd be after. Homeowners who have a water feature or a swimming pool in their backyard are required to comply with rigorous regulations around the fencing of their pools. If a tree is too close to a fence or a wall, there are consequences. Adjustments must be made, I know this from personal experience. And the regulations are policed by the local councils, fines and remedial work must be undertaken if anything at all is found to be in breach of the regulations. Fair enough. Our death by swimming pool drownings of children was horrific up until the late 80s and the regulations were introduced. They have dropped off a cliff since then.   The beaches, rivers, lakes. There's an acceptance that they can't possibly be fenced even in this overregulated society, and nor, indeed should they. But what about a body of water that edges along a thriving hospitality area? Wellington's waterfront is absolutely gorgeous. The mix of public spaces, apartments, hospitality areas make it a fantastic place to visit and a template for how to do waterfront living. But far too many people are ending up in the harbour with fatal consequences. 2006, 2020, 2023, 2025, 2026, 2017, 2019, two in 2021. These are the people who have ended up dead after falling into the waterfront for whatever reason. Three people have been rescued over that time, barely alive. A local skipper who reckons he's pulled several people out of the water over the 15 years he's worked in the harbour says permanent barriers are a no brainer. Permanent balustrades would have saved every one of those lives.   There's something beautiful about the sea flowing onto the land and having a connection with the water. Having people able to be right up to the water's edge and be a part of the beauty. That mixed living, mixed spaces – fantastic. But at what point do you say too many people have died. If this was a workplace, if Wellington Waterfront Inc. was a workplace and you'd had deaths between 2006 and 2023, you'd be shut down if you were a workplace. What do you do? You've visited Wellington. You have walked around areas of Auckland where there is that same level of mixed living where the sea comes right up to the people. You don't seem to have the same problems in Auckland’s harbour around the viaduct area. Possibly because there are so many people around there night and day, they could spot you if you went in. So what is it about Wellington that makes it a draw card for so many people but also the final destination for so many people?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is PM Chris Hipkins living in la la land?  When the announcement was made that New Zealanders would have new pathways to citizenship in Australia, with citizenship now guaranteed after four years, Hipkins said he didn't think this would lead to an exodus of New Zealanders quitting the country and heading across the ditch.  New Zealanders travel to Australia and live there regardless, he said. People go there for a wide variety of reasons. I don't think, he said, that guaranteed citizenship will make a significant difference to that calculation.  He's right of course in that Kiwis have been going to Oz to make a better life for themselves for years. Traditionally, there's been a net migration loss from NZ to Oz. Nearly 30k New Zealanders left every year between 2004 and 2012. 3000 a year during 2014 and 2019.  Then our borders were closed.  But once they were open we were off again, and this time in greater numbers.  In year to June 2022, there was a net migration loss of 8100 people to Australia, taking their skills, their determination, their optimism with them. They left, as Hipkins quite rightly said, for a variety of reasons.  Some had family already there. Some were headhunted. Some went when they saw what they could be earning - nurses earn a minimum 24 thousand more than they do in New Zealand, primary school teachers 32 thousand dollars more, doctors and specialists nearly 70 thousand more.  But it’s not all about the money. New Zealand is home. Connections run deep. It’s a huge wrench to upsticks and go and make a new life in a new land.  But to stay here you have to feel like you belong here. That you have a place here. That you have a future here. Is that how you feel? I haven't heard so much I'm off to Australia chat since - well, since those years between 2004 and 2013. That might be just so much letting off steam.  It will be interesting to see the figures next year. But really the question might be not why would you leave for Australia. But why would you stay in New Zealand.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

According to Heritage New Zealand, there are more than 2500 shipwrecks in New Zealand's marine and fresh waters. Of those, only about 200 have been accurately located. Bill Day is a shipwreck expert. He's spent 36 years searching for the wreck of the General Grant in the Auckland Islands and he joined Kerre Woodham. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's been quite a bit of chat around a report that's due to come out from the IRD that looks at 400 of the wealthiest families and individuals in New Zealand. This morning there was a speculative piece in The Spinoff suggesting that that IRD report could be paving the way for an introduction of a capital gains tax. A tax that Jacinda Ardern promised would be ruled out as long as she was Prime Minister. But she's not the PM anymore. Chris Hipkins is and he has made no such promises. He's also shown a readiness to tear up whatever legacy Jacinda Ardern was hoping to leave and creating his own form of leadership. At the same time as the IRD releases its report, Treasury is releasing a related piece of analysis into the effective tax rate of New Zealanders across income and wealth distributions. Now the Spinoff slant is that capital gains tax should be introduced. They say we're the only country in the OECD in which capital gains, a profit on the sale of investments, is not a significant part of the tax system.  So amongst the 38 wealthy member nations of the OECD, we are the only country without capital gains tax. And in this, we’re seen as an outlier in global tax cycle. So it's a speculative piece, it's well written. It's well worth reading. The commentators they use are knowledgeable. And I think they make a case for a capital gains tax fairly clearly.   I always found it very odd that Ardern backed away from something that she had held as a lifelong principle, that there should be a capital gains tax. And she gave it up very, very quickly and ruled it out as long as she was leader of the Labour Party.  Now is an opportunity for Chris Hipkins as Prime Minister, for David Parker, the revenue Minister who favours a CGT, to introduce one.  There is absolutely no reason to think that Chris Hipkins would honour a promise made by somebody else entirely. It was purely personal for Jacinda Ardern to say under her watch, there would be no capital gains tax. He can do what he likes. Should he introduce a CGT?   Is it, as the commentators say, simply an issue of fairness? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A potential breath of relief for Kiwi consumers and mortgage holders has come with the release of new data. Inflation figures have come in much lower than expected, with the Consumer Price Index measuring 6.7 percent for the year to March. Although levels are still the highest since the 1990s, 6.7 is much lower than expected by bank economists, and the Reserve Bank. NZ Herald Business Editor at Large Liam Dann joined Kerre Woodham to discuss the surprise development. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It is an election year, ladies and gentlemen, and let the policy start rolling out! On Monday it was the rather underwhelming announcement from the Government around teacher-pupil ratios Today, it's the turn of National who are wooing farmers, courting the rural vote. National seems to have taken a leaf out of Labour's playbook in making an announcement about an announcement.   Still, at least they're rolling up the detail of their farming policy today rather than making us wait weeks or months.   There will be a package of 19 of farming focused policies released, but Christopher Luxon has already given the broad brush strokes of a few of them. The number of RSE workers (the Recognised Seasonal Employer workers) coming into the country will be doubled, and those workers will be given pathways to residency. National wants to ban foreign investment in farms to convert good farming country into forestry for carbon credits and they want to bring in a two for one deal for every piece of legislation introduced around farming.  In effect, Christopher Luxon told Tim Dower this morning they want to get Wellington out of farming. We all have concerns about really good farming land being turned into carbon sinks for overseas investors. But how many young people are able to afford farms these days? It's always been tough, but in this day and age I've thought it's nigh on impossible. And if you have been farming all your life and you and your wife or husband want to cash in, shouldn't you be able to sell to whomever you want? When you sell the farm, that's when you finally get the result of your hard work. When you get a return on those early mornings and late nights. So shouldn't you be able to sell to the highest bidder? How on Earth are they going to make it so that only New Zealanders will be able to buy?  Only foreign investors can buy if they keep it in dairy or beef or grow crops? Is there going to be a fund of money available for wannabe farmers to tap into to be able to buy these farms? How is that going to actually work?   When it comes to the Two for One legislation, I must admit I'm with Andrew Hoggard from Federated Farmers when it comes to that. Don't try and be too clever, too snazzy. If there's a dumb rule in regulation there, and by God there's a few, get rid of them. No need for catchy slogans, just sensible fixes to make it easier for farmers to do what they have always done, and that is save the economy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cast your mind back to 2016/2017. The National Government was getting hammered almost daily over the number of people who had been reduced to sleeping in cars because they had nowhere else to live. For the past two winters of 2016 and 2017 marae in Auckland had opened their doors to families in desperate need of food and showers, and a good night's sleep. Housing Minister Nick Smith said at the time that record population growth in Auckland was to blame for more pressure being put on the bottom end of the housing market. He said a concerted effort would be made to increase the housing supply and said the government was not failing. Well Labour were having none of that. They pointed to the state house sell off Andrew Little, then Jacinda Ardern thundered away in the media, pointing to overseas outlets highlighting the shocking problem of homeless Kiwi’s, in a country that prided itself on its generous social welfare legacy.  Six or seven months was considered shocking. Now we've got people in emergency accommodation for up to two years, substandard emergency accommodation where violence is a part of life. Intimidation is a part of life. Gang activity is a part of life. It is no place for children or families. Homelessness became a key platform when Labour was on the campaign trail in 2017. Now we have one of the highest levels of homelessness in the OECD.   And the reason for the shocking increase can be sheeted home to this well-meaning impotent Government.  Just about everything they have done to improve the lot of people, they say they care the most for, has blown up in their faces. I have absolutely no doubt they care. They just haven't got a clue how to fix it, despite spending years in opposition, despite railing against a Government that they said was failing, they had the answers, vote for us, we'll fix it.  They have made it immeasurably worse.  They can't build social housing fast enough. War was declared on landlords. And not enough assistance is being given to the people in motels to help them get out of the poverty trap that they're in.  Every single person in emergency accommodation, in these substandard, for the most part motels, should feel justifiably cheated by this Government.  They were promised so much more. They were promised a place to live. They were promised that they would be able to earn enough to look after their kids. And they've failed.  They have been failed by a Government that has failed on just about every metric on which they campaigned for election. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.