“What we’re not doing is going off bananas on a wealth tax or capital gains tax, which will just absolutely, absolutely wreck the economy.”
Pushed on whether other new taxes could be introduced, Luxon said work had been done looking at a bank tax that had been mentioned in the lead-up to the Budget, but no decision had been made.
However, just three months ago the Government announced in the Budget that banks would be slapped with a new levy to fund their regulation.
Opposition parties had proposed eight new taxes and “quite serious radical reform stuff”, he said.
“I mean, capital gains, wealth tax, land tax, inheritance, gift tax, you know, the whole nine yards. Increasing income tax rates and increasing corporate taxes. We’re not doing any of that stuff, obviously.”
It’s been a tumultuous fortnight for Luxon amid various communications fumbles, including surprising his MPs and coalition partners by announcing National would campaign on holding a referendum on MMP.
Act and New Zealand First appeared to be blindsided by those comments, which came in response to a text from a Newstalk ZB listener.
NZ First leader Winston Peters called the referendum proposal “inexplicable” and a “power grab” as he claimed Labour and National were “losing their grip on power”.
Act leader David Seymour said he wasn’t opposed to a referendum but suggested Luxon “may not have thought through what he’s saying” regarding a preference for ministers from his own party.
National also recommitted to its budget responsibility rules on Sunday, prioritising a return to surplus in 2028/9, getting debt down to 40% of GDP, and keeping taxes low, reducing core Crown spending to 30% of GDP.
The party did not rule out new taxes although, when pushed, National finance spokesperson Nicola Willis said the party would not impose new taxes on “working people”, small businesses or pensioners.
National also revealed its party list on the weekend, with the top eight unchanged from current rankings.
While the Herald’s latest Poll of Polls shows the current Opposition’s chances of winning the election are slim, the rise of Opportunity could give the left bloc a path to power.
National last month ruled out working with Opportunity due to their tax plans, although the minor party says it’s still willing to work with either side.
Meanwhile, Labour is dismissing a Taxpayers’ Union Curia poll showing support for the party falling to 27.8%, the lowest since December 2024. The poll, conducted over August 1-4, had Opportunity on 6.1% – enough to enter Parliament with eight seats.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins said the party was “not focused on rogue polls”.