Stuart Nash: Former Labour MP says he has no doubt Chris Hipkins will continue to lead the party into the 2026 election

An ex-Labour Party high-flyer is confident Chris Hipkins will continue to lead the party.

Labour's conference over the weekend came with a vow not to join security conference AUKUS.

The party's also spoken about a potential tax shake-up should it come into power at the next election.

Former Labour MP Stuart Nash told Ryan Bridge he has no doubt Chris Hipkins will be leader.

“If he wants to be the leader, and I assuming he does, because he’s engaged, he’s passionate.”

Wairarapa-based list MP Kieran McAnulty has been announced as Labour's 2026 campaign chair.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So big Labor Party conference in christ it's at the weekend.
Rail Yes, you're getting your rail and able ferries across
the cook straight the need and you're getting your hospital
everything that was promised. The cuts, they will reverse them.
So how do you get back to surplus? How do
you balance the books?

Speaker 2 (00:15):
I'm absolutely confident we'll be able to put out a
fiscal plan before the election, as we always do. That
shows that all of the commitments that we are making
will be able to pay for it.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
On tax. Yes, they did discuss tax, but like fight club,
you don't talk about what you're talking. You don't talked
about the.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Remits process feeds into a policy process that will result
on us producing policy before the election.

Speaker 1 (00:35):
So it did pass the tax remit. Joining us is
former Labor Minister Stuart Nasha.

Speaker 3 (00:40):
Good morning, good morning, right, how are you? Yeah? Really good?

Speaker 1 (00:43):
Thank you. Good to have you on the show. What
did you think yesterday the call around Orcus, which I
would have thought you would want to leave it up
your sleeve as a bargaining chip, wouldn't you Rather than
rule it out.

Speaker 3 (00:54):
You'll leave it you willed out at the moment. You know,
Labour's always been very much about for an independent foreign policy.
You wouldn't tas after the US and UK at the moment,
would you really? I just think you'd know, you'd rule
it out and see what happens.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
What about the tax, I mean, it's obviously the remit
has passed, but there's a lot of water to go
under the bridge. What's your peck of how they will
how they will offer this tax increase, be to capital
gains or whatever.

Speaker 3 (01:22):
Yeah, as far as I'm aware, there are probably two
people in the country who don't believe we need a
kepital gains tax. One of them is Nicola Willis and
the other one is Chris Luxon. I think everyone else,
every sensible economists, the business around table to talk about it. Now,
your major agencies are saying we need a capital gains tax.
You know, we tax labor. If they don't tax capital
just doesn't seem right. So you know, when the reporter

(01:44):
and the stand up asked, how are you going to
balance the budget or how are you going to meet
all your physical obligations? Well it will probably be through
some form of capital taxation, which is necessary and everyone
agrees it is.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
Yeah, But so that's interesting. So you don't think they
will offset it, because this was the thing that English
did so well, right with the GST. You off city
so well, we are going to increase taxes here or
introduces tax here, but we will cut taxes here, which
means it's physically neutral, which doesn't address the wider issue
that labor has, which is how do you afford all
the stuff you promise?

Speaker 3 (02:16):
Look, I think there'll be a measure a bit of
both have any sort of capital gain tax, and I
don't think there'll be a wealth tax that's just nothing.
But any form of capital gain tax will will be
offset in either taxes and labor or tax for business,
for example, through accelerate depreciation, which is something we do
the hell of a lot to work on. Or what
you do do is you use a little bit of

(02:36):
it to pay off debt, because there's a lot of
debt around at the moment. I find Nikola that makes
me smile when she talks about labor spending. She has
spent more in last year's budget than labor spent in
any of its six budgets when we were in government,
So she's lost all her credibility, So it makes it
easier to introduce something like this, because, as mentioned, Nicholas
just lost her credibility when it comes to fistical and

(02:58):
economic methods.

Speaker 1 (02:59):
Well, I mean, yeah, you could argue the book deteriorating
and that's out of her control et center blah blah blah.
But you guys did the same.

Speaker 3 (03:06):
The fourteen billion dollar checks cast.

Speaker 1 (03:10):
Anyway, Hey, just for you guys, you will be the
leader at the next election.

Speaker 3 (03:14):
You reckon. I have absolutely no doubt if he wants
to be the leader, and I'm assuming he does because
he's sort of he's engaged his pastor Look, the main
goal of a conference one year out, one year after
an election, two year out from an election, is to
send the faith of the way believe in that the
party can win the next election. So it's got to
be upbeat. It's got to be it's got to be positive.

(03:36):
And I think this this was. You know, you've got
a prime minister who is the most unpopular prime minister
one year out from an election that you've ever had,
and I think labors are Lady's doing quite well. I
think the supporters will have walked away going, yeah, we
could do it. You can't mind labor your next ones.

(03:57):
It's not about pat coalition parties, but labors are as
will have walked away, Sick bakon Beat National. That's the
main goal, out of the allega, out of the Kempaign,
out of the Sorry conferences.

Speaker 1 (04:07):
Great to have you on the show, stud Nash for
Lon miss for more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge.
Listen live to News Talks.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
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