Speaking to media this morning<\/a> from Parliament, Hipkins said the party opted for a capital gains tax because it was a “simple change” which would align New Zealand with countries around the world.<\/p>\n“Let me be clear \u2013 the tax would only apply to commercial and residential properties excluding the family home,” he said about the party’s targeted capital gains tax.<\/p>\n
“Every dollar raised will go into funding our health system.”<\/p>\n
Hipkins said the tax system currently rewarded property speculation instead of the people creating jobs and growing the economy.<\/p>\n
“Our simple, targeted tax changes will make sure those profiting from property pay their fair share, levelling the playing field for Kiwi businesses and innovation.”<\/p>\n
Labour’s health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said some people were paying almost $100 to see their GP.<\/p>\n
“Medical care should be there when you need it … but right now, it isn’t. Our plan means that every New Zealander will get a new Medicard that they can use to access three free doctor\u2019s visits each year at their enrolled practice.”<\/p>\n
She said strong, accessible primary care was a feature of successful health systems across the world.<\/p>\n
“It is often said that $1 spent in primary care saves 10 in our hospitals, so by making it easier to see a doctor or a nurse, we’ll save hospitals for those who really need them.”<\/p>\n
The policy was abruptly announced on Tuesday morning after RNZ was leaked details over the long weekend.<\/p>\n
Asked about the leaking of the policy, Hipkins said he was unsure how some of the details came to be in the public domain this morning.<\/p>\n
“If we find out who it is, if they did it deliberately, then they will no longer be a member of the Labour Party.”<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/the-coalition-government-have-slammed-labours-capital-gains-L6PIPQ64BFBJPPAZAXC4IWIHSE.png\")
<\/p>\n
The coalition Government have slammed Labour’s capital gains tax policy. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
Coalition parties, Greens, slam Labour’s capital gains tax plan<\/p>\n
National’s Nicola Willis described Labour’s policy as “an attack on investment and savings” which would put the country’s economic recovery at risk.<\/p>\n
“Labour\u2019s proposed capital gains tax would load more costs on businesses, investors and savers and act as a handbrake on our economy.<\/p>\n
“By levelling a new tax on land and buildings, Labour has effectively committed to a tax on businesses small and large – from the corner dairy to the local factory.”<\/p>\n
Willis also criticised the GP policy as “poorly thought out”, saying it would clog the system with “free GP visits for millionaires, paid for by a tax on people\u2019s savings”.<\/p>\n
“National will not introduce a capital gains tax. We are working hard to rebuild New Zealand\u2019s economy with less red tape for businesses and more investment.”<\/p>\n
ACT leader David Seymour criticised Labour\u2019s proposed capital assets tax, saying it would push New Zealand\u2019s already high tax burden even higher.<\/p>\n
Seymour dismissed the idea that the capital gains tax was linked to doctors’ visits as “marketing” because the tax would not generate revenue for years.<\/p>\n
“If they won the election they\u2019d want to deliver the free doctor visits straight away, but it couldn\u2019t be funded by the Capital Gains Tax.”<\/p>\n
Seymour also warned against scapegoating asset owners, saying Labour was tapping into the “same tall poppy spirit”.<\/p>\n
“Fair is fair and people should pay their taxes, but we already pay more than most. Another tax is not the solution to our problems.”<\/p>\n
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters told the Herald he doubted the tax would raise enough revenue to pay for free GP visits for everyone.<\/p>\n
He also questioned whether it would require compensation if the sale of eligible property ended in a loss.<\/p>\n
“It was an absolute mess of an announcement,” he said.<\/p>\n
Green Party Co-Leader and Finance Spokesperson Chl\u00f6e Swarbrick said the “watered down” announcement fell “far short of meeting the needs of New Zealanders”. <\/p>\n
“Right now, the wealthiest pay half the effective tax rate of our nurses, teachers and firefighters. Labour\u2019s announcement doesn\u2019t even try to fix that,” she said in a statement. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn a year, the richest family in this country can make more money in their sleep, without lifting a finger, than Labour\u2019s proposed CGT would generate.<\/p>\n
“That’s not only grossly unfair. It robs us of the resource necessary for the working healthcare and education and infrastructure that New Zealanders deserve.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Labour leader Chris Hipkins says the party’s capital gains tax policy would set “better rules for the future”…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":104439,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[219,687,8028,111,43,139,69,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-104438","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-economy","9":"tag-housing-and-infrastructure","10":"tag-labour-party","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-newzealand","14":"tag-nz","15":"tag-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104438\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Labour](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/labour-health-spokesperson-ayesha-verrall-holds-up-the-medic-IYE2LXLBZND37K2HHGCPOCMB54.jpg\")
<\/p>\n