A bigger surplus will allow a new government to manage the economy responsibly while making the changes people know are needed, like lifting kids out of poverty, cleaning up our rivers, solving the housing crisis, and tackling climate change, the Green Party said today. The Pre-Election Fiscal Update (PREFU) released today shows stronger growth in the short term, resulting in a higher than forecast surplus for the government this year by $2.1 billion. However, forecast productivity growth remains weak and...

The Green Party in government will end the tax advantages property speculators currently enjoy under National by implementing a comprehensive tax on capital gains, the Green Party said today. The Green Party is the only political party to have consistently called for a comprehensive capital gains tax (excluding the family home) for more than 15 years. The IMF, OECD, and the Government’s own Savings Working Group have called for a tax on capital gains. National’s 2009 Tax Working Group found...

The Green Party welcomes today’s announcement that the New Zealand Superannuation Fund has dumped $950 million of high-risk fossil fuel investments, despite a National Government that is still backing oil and coal. The $35 billion New Zealand Superannuation Fund announced today that it has sold off $950 million of companies with high exposure to carbon emissions and fossil fuel reserves due to the significant long-term risks they present to investors. The selloff includes New Zealand companies Genesis Energy and NZ...

New Zealanders deserve more transparency from their politicians so they can better engage in the political system. Having party policies independently costed will help to cut through the noise of political party promises and deliver New Zealanders unbiased information. The PCU would be an independent unit within the Treasury and be available to all parliamentary parties. Further details of the Policy Costings Unit (PCU): The PCU will function within the Treasury and will run like all other divisions within Treasury....

The OECD’s 2017 Economic Survey of the New Zealand has highlighted a significant need to green New Zealand’s economy if we want to sustain our current growth into the future, the Green Party said today. The OECD found that short-term growth was being driven by tourism, migration, and construction activity, however the longer term was being undermined by our low productivity, the pollution of water from farming and urbanisation, and high and growing greenhouse gas emissions. “Securing New Zealand’s long-term...

Fewer than 70 out of 11,645 New Zealand foreign trusts have reregistered under tougher new disclosure requirements with only three weeks left to go before the final deadline, the Green Party said today. Parliamentary questions lodged by the Green Party also show that IRD has proactively de-registered 1,797 foreign trusts since February (see below). “New disclosure requirements are finally shedding some light on this shady industry,” said Green Party Co-leader James Shaw. “New Zealand was gaining a damaging reputation as...

Steven Joyce’s first – and final – Budget gives with one hand, takes away with the other, and gives the biggest break to the wealthiest New Zealanders, the Green Party said today. “National has always been long on grand announcements and short on real results. Steven Joyce’s first – and final – Budget is no different,” said Green Party Co-leader James Shaw. “The only pie Bill English should be eating today is humble pie. We’ve had nine years of National...

The Government was told in 2011 by its own Savings Working Group that property investment enjoyed unfair tax advantages over savings, but National has consistently ignored the advice and the housing crisis it has fuelled, the Green Party said today. A new book, Tax and Fairness, out this month says an unfair tax system works in favour of property investors over everyday savers and KiwiSavers. “It’s good that Steven Joyce today recognised the need to tax income fairly but his...

National should follow today’s advice from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and implement deposit insurance to protect New Zealanders’ savings, the Green Party said. The IMF’s Financial Sector Assessment Programme recommended today that introducing deposit insurance is “the best option” to strengthen the Reserve Bank’s crisis resolution framework. “New Zealand is the only developed country in the world where we can lose our savings if our bank makes a bad decision, and that’s because we don’t have deposit insurance,” Green...

Thousands of heavily-mortgaged first home buyers in Auckland could be hit hard by rising interest rates, thanks to out of control house prices, according to documents released to the Green Party under the Official Information Act. An email from Reserve Bank analysts to senior Beehive staff in January 2017, titled “response to PM’s questions”, highlights a “significant likelihood of financial distress” for people who have recently got mortgages in Auckland, in the event interest rates rise as predicted. “The Prime...