Beehive Buzz with Azaria Howell: Capital Gains polls and TOP rebrand

Newstalk ZB senior political reporter Azaria Howell joins Nick Mills for Beehive Buzz this week discussing the latest poll results on capital gains tax and the rebrand of The Opportunities Party. Will their new name and leader be enough to hit 5%?

For the latest insight into parliament, it's Beehive Buzz with Azaria Howell

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from News Talks EDB Direct from News Talks edb's team
at Parliament, the Beehive, Buzz.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Bee High Buzz News Talk SEDB Senior political reporter Azariah
Howe joins us.

Speaker 3 (00:26):
Good morning, Ice, that's the one.

Speaker 4 (00:28):
Good morning. How are you next?

Speaker 3 (00:29):
I'm doing great, great weekend.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
You have a good weekend where there was great You
must have gone out and had a bit of a
good time too.

Speaker 4 (00:36):
Oh it was beautiful. Yeah, it was absolutely like just
such a lovely day in the capital. It's been so
sunny recently and I feel like we need that to
just bring the mood back up in Wellington. So no,
it's very good. It was very amazing. Just so I
went for a walk a bit and yeah it was.
It was very very good. So no, very happy as always.

(00:56):
You know what they say, Nick, on a good day mate,
you know it, that's the one like you. So yeah,
very good.

Speaker 3 (01:03):
I got a bucket.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
Next, let's talk politics. You pole Labour's capital gains taxes out.
How's it looking, Ice?

Speaker 4 (01:11):
Yeah? So the new inz Herald Cantar poll it shows
equal footing between people who disagree and people who agree
with that proposed capital gains tax. So the poll asked
one thousand potential voters what they thought about the CGT,
thirty nine percent support and thirty nine percent opposition, straight
down the middle. The Prime Minister, though again talking about

(01:34):
why he disagrees with that idea, Chris Luxon, describes it
as a tax on businesses and Kiwi saver. Meanwhile, Labor,
which has been proposing that rate of twenty eight percent,
has confirmed this will not be on the family home.
It describes it as a targeted CGT. It says nine
out of ten kiwis will not pay tax on the
property that they own, and also says the tax means

(01:57):
that everyone will get three free GP visits a year.
So interestingly as well, there's higher support on this in Wellington,
whereas Auckland is more likely to oppose the policy than
support it, So a bit of a split comparing the
cities there on capital gains tax, as The Herald has
spoken about in their story. Though when Labor has put

(02:18):
a capital gains tax on the table in the past,
they've not won the election. So interestingly, to see if
the sort of public sentiment and the mood. Has it
all changed and if it could maybe be an election
winner this time around, we'll see, but I mean third time.
If it doesn't work this time, we're not sure really

(02:38):
where the policy will go.

Speaker 2 (02:40):
I mean, the facts are that most major countries in
the world have some form of a capital gains tax.
I mean Australia, UK, I mean us. Why are we
so hell bent on having such an opposition to it?
Although fifty to fifty is the biggest, that's the closest

(03:01):
I've ever seen it.

Speaker 3 (03:02):
Normally it would be really against it.

Speaker 4 (03:06):
I mean interestingly though, that the Wellington one had a
different split, So in Wellington forty two percent support thirty
eight percent opposition. Also because it's not a fifty to fifty,
it's a thirty eight thirty eight or thirty nine thirty nine. Sorry,
there's still a decent chunk of people who have not
made their minds up, and maybe those are the voters

(03:28):
that Labour's trying to chase. Because people who already support it,
you'll think that they'd already be voting Labor. But people
who haven't made their minds up or who are unsure
about the policy, maybe those are the potential voters, the
people in the middle that could bring it to life
or could shut it down immediately, and really will have
to keep waiting until the election or until closer to

(03:51):
see if people become more in favor or more against
it as the time goes on.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
Do you think that National will be concerned by this
because they would have thought that the poll would have
been absolutely one sided against Capital Danes. That's what has
Street tells us.

Speaker 4 (04:07):
As you've said, well, the Prime Minister did say on
my costing this morning that he understands why people do
support it, but also says he's describing it as a
tax on business and things like that. So it is
a really interesting one in terms of that support. I mean,
I guess you could argue that the housing market has

(04:29):
been an interesting topic in the last couple of years,
especially with COVID, maybe that is changing people's minds on
the whole issue. But the government is really framing this
as a tax on business. They call it a tax
on business, a tax on Kiwi SAVI. That's something not
just Chris Luxon has said as well. Nikola Willis also
says the tax will hit every business and Kei We

(04:51):
Saver fund in this country, So that's how they're trying
to frame that policy as well.

Speaker 1 (04:56):
Right.

Speaker 2 (04:56):
Oh, last yesterday morning, I watched Qla Woe speak on
Q and A with Jack Tame.

Speaker 3 (05:06):
Was really impressed with her.

Speaker 2 (05:08):
And she's now the lead for taking the leadership of
TOP and they're starting to make some noise heading into
the election. I mean that's Gareth Morgan's baby, isn't it.
I mean, can we see a future for TOP? I
love personally the idea of right and Green.

Speaker 4 (05:24):
Yeah, so, I mean TOP has never made it to parliament.
The Opportunities Party also rebranded to Opportunity Party or just Opportunity. Yeah,
it's never made it to parliament. Its best efforts were
around two sort of two point two percent, I believe,
so they've never reached that five percent party vote threshold
to get into parliament. Also, they've never won a seat.

(05:46):
I think the closest they've gotten was raf Munji who
ran an ILM. He beat Labour's candidate at the time,
but not National's, meaning he didn't get in the party.
As you say, just yesterday launched a new leader. She's
eyeing up a genuine bed for parliament. A Qla Wong
is the leader of Top. She's got a business background
as well, so god that experience in one of the

(06:07):
big four consulting firms, which is interesting as well going
into politics.

Speaker 2 (06:13):
Do we know whether she's going to stand for a seat.

Speaker 4 (06:16):
I'm actually not one hundred percent sure, but I mean
you'd assume so all the top leaders in the past
have stood for seats. I believe she's based in Auckland,
so it is a different seat to the island one
which people always talk about. You know, will Top win Island?
They'd probably you'd expect to have a lesser chance in Auckland,

(06:37):
but the fifth leader the Opportunities Party has had, will
this be the chance to turn things around for them?
I mean, that's really the question. But it's not just
about the people, it's about the policy as well. The
parties also announced policy, the first of which is what
it calls a Citizen's Income basically a UBI or a
universal basic income, basically saying almost all adults will receive

(06:59):
a regular payment roughly in line with the current job
seeker benefit. How would we pay for it?

Speaker 3 (07:05):
Though?

Speaker 4 (07:06):
Wealth words land value tax, so a different form of
tax on the cards that they are talking about. Interestingly,
an LVT is something that some of the people in
Wellington City Council are supporting. They say it would redirect
investment away from things like property speculation or people just
owning houses and keeping them empty and just selling them

(07:26):
off once they get more expensive. They say that would
put an end to that and create more productive innovation.
But I'm also keen to see where the other political
parties stand on this. I mean, we haven't heard these
ideas from the likes of Labor National, the Greens, New
Zealand First, TEPATSI Maori, all of those sort of parties
that are in Parliament. So I'm keen to see where

(07:48):
they stand and if they do agree, if they might
take Top under their wing on the chance that they
do get into parliament. No.

Speaker 2 (07:57):
I was reasonably impressed with QLA. I thought she came
across well. She didn't give enough facts, but I thought
she presented herself well and I think that, you know,
I don't know, maybe with a bit of money behind them.
They did well in Australia that sort of teal, didn't
they the Teal vote.

Speaker 4 (08:15):
Yeah, the Teals do do well, Yes they do. So
it is it's not impossible, and I mean, yeah, it
is it's a female leader as well as someone who
has a business background. I believe she's sort of in
her mid thirties as well, so maybe appealing to a
different voter demographic there. We'll see if it works.

Speaker 3 (08:35):
Yeah, one hundred percent.

Speaker 2 (08:36):
Thanks always great to talk to Azariah Hell, whose news
talks here be senior political reporter.

Speaker 1 (08:43):
For more from Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills, listen live
to news Talks There'd be Wellington from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.