On the other hand, shortly before the 2014 election, Colin Craig\u2019s Conservative Party made headlines when it polled exactly the same as Opportunity, 4.6%, in a Three News poll.<\/p>\n
But it lost momentum in the last week of the campaign and fell short. (By the way, right-wing bloggers didn\u2019t accuse mainstream media of \u201ccampaigning\u201d for the Conservatives at the time, as some now are doing when it comes to stories about Opportunity).<\/p>\n
Opportunity, but at what cost?<\/p>\n
The Opportunity Party claims to be centrist, but its tax policy is decidedly left. For that reason, you can expect to hear a lot more from critics about its plan to charge an annual land tax at 1.75% to fund a universal benefit of up to $370 a week for most adults, and set income tax rates at 28%, 34% and 39%.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not a small bill. If, for example, the value of a residential property\u2019s land was $500,000, a 1.75% charge would amount to $8750 annually.<\/p>\n
Wong, whose bio says she has a background in \u201chuman rights, disability inclusion, ethical fashion, climate and purpose-driven business\u201d, has insisted this week that the party could go either way and that, unlike New Zealand First, it sits in the centre. NZ First leader Winston Peters has dubbed it the \u201cOpportunity Cost\u201d party.<\/p>\n
The party was launched in 2016. It has previously been led by Gareth Morgan, Geoff Simmons, and Raf Manji, and was previously known as The Opportunities Party and Top.<\/p>\n
Labour should be getting nervous<\/p>\n
Labour was down five points in this week’s 1News-Verian poll, and leader Chris Hipkins’ popularity also took a hit. Photo \/ Mark Mitchell<\/p>\n
Labour should be worried as it heads into its election year congress in Wellington this weekend. The most significant aspect of the Verian poll this week, besides the rise of Opportunity, was Labour\u2019s five-point plunge. It\u2019s not just the dive, but the fact that it took place after leader Chris Hipkins rolled out one of the party\u2019s big cost-of-living policies \u2013 a cap of $20 a week on public transport costs<\/a> in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Hipkins\u2019 own popularity fell by three points.<\/p>\n It is possible that the publicity blitz<\/a> by Finance Minister Nicola Willis on Labour\u2019s so-called $18 billion unpaid policy bill has resonated, or that the leaked discussion of 100 duck-sized horses<\/a> has caught up with the party.<\/p>\n It may be difficult for the media to gauge the mood of Labour delegates, however. The congress is closed except for speeches by finance spokeswoman Barbara Edmonds and Hipkins.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Act is holding a rally on Sunday in Auckland, where the replacement of deputy leader Brooke van Velden will be announced. There will be surprise if it is anyone other than minister Nicole McKee.<\/p>\n The rally is being organised by a former aide to prominent Canadian politician Pierre Poilievre, and Act insiders say it will have a different feel. It will be fast and high-energy, with the speakers on a stage in the middle of the crowd rather than delivering speeches from the front.<\/p>\n What was Simeon thinking?<\/p>\n A speech by National campaign chair Simeon Brown<\/a> at last weekend\u2019s conference is still reverberating over its effect on coalition harmony. His decision to describe National as the adults in the relationship and compare Act and New Zealand First to squabbling children has not gone down well with the \u201cchildren\u201d.<\/p>\n It was possibly all the more galling because, despite Brown\u2019s meteoric rise in politics<\/a> that I\u2019ve written about this week, nobody in Parliament looks more like a schoolboy than him.<\/p>\n It was a patronising take on coalition politics. On the other hand, the current squabble between Act and New Zealand First about the Act-led reform of health and safety laws<\/a> sort of proves the point.<\/p>\n Brown\u2019s speech somewhat distracted from National\u2019s big KiwiSaver policy announcement, making it compulsory for all workers and setting up accounts from birth with a $1500 gift.<\/p>\n The party has followed up with a substantial policy announcement<\/a> today \u2013 a low-interest, 10-year loan scheme for ratepayers to install solar panels on their roofs. The \u201chome energy fund\u201d would be jointly owned by the central Government and participating councils, and would allow the loan to be repaid as a charge on rates bills or on the sale of the property.<\/p>\n Cross-party work for women<\/p>\n Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori MP Hana-R\u0101whiti Maipi-Clarke used her big social media profile to team up with Women\u2019s Minister and National MP Nicola Grigg to promote the extension of the upper age of free breast screening from 69 to 74.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, we are from different political parties, but over the past year I\u2019ve collaborated with female MPs from across Parliament on a range of issues, including breast cancer, online safety, AI harms, Te Tiriti o Waitangi and education,\u201d Maipi-Clarke said. <\/p>\n She added it was in honour of her big cousin, Hinepuaawai, who died of breast cancer last year. The lower age limit for free screening is 45 years, and Maipi-Clarke says her goal is to lower it to 40. Good on you, Hana-R\u0101whiti. You get the bouquet this week.<\/p>\n By the way<\/p>\n Speaker Gerry Brownlee last night hosted an event at Parliament to mark Press Gallery life member Richard Harman being made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to journalism and broadcasting. Harman, a former TVNZ political editor, has never lost his enthusiasm for covering politics and told a few old war stories, including one about a visit to Carrington psychiatric hospital with Mike Moore. Moore told those gathered that he had not been there since 1965, to which one of them asked: \u201cWhat are you in for this time?\u201d<\/p>\n Quote unquote<\/p>\n \u201cThe Greens won\u2019t be happy until 100% of the land is state-owned, and we all know what that is called. We don\u2019t want to take advice from the dancing tussocks over there … the fact is that the Greens like to touch grass, but only when it\u2019s rolled\u201d \u2013 Winston Peters even got a laugh from the Greens with his zingers in Question Time yesterday.<\/p>\n Micro quiz<\/p>\n Who has been appointed to undertake an inquiry into whether Immigration NZ misled its minister over the Biometric Capability Update project? (Answer at the bottom of this article.)<\/p>\n Brickbat<\/p>\n Goes to the Green Party for an $800 million mistake in its tax policy (although it received an apology from Infometrics for not catching it) \u2013 one of a series of recent embarrassing errors<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bouquet<\/p>\n Goes to Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori MP Hana-R\u0101whiti Maipi-Clarke for putting aside party differences to promote a good health policy move by the Government. More please.<\/p>\n This week\u2019s top stories<\/p>\n Herald Poll of Polls: Coalition\u2019s re-election odds slip; Opportunity nears 5% threshold<\/a><\/p>\n 1News-Verian poll: Labour coalition ahead, Opportunity close to 5% in new poll<\/a><\/p>\n Solar policy: National proposes new fund offering loans for solar power uptake<\/a><\/p>\n Policy errors: Swarbrick says Green Party \u2018rolling with punches\u2019 as it issues another correction<\/a><\/p>\n Health & safety reforms: Peters vows Govt\u2019s health and safety reforms will be \u2018dead on arrival\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n IT scandal: Probe to assess if MPs were purposely misled over failed immigration scheme<\/a><\/p>\n Opinion \u2013 Simeon Brown interview: Not so \u2018cherubic\u2019: How Luxon\u2019s most focused minister became a power player \u2013 Audrey Young<\/a><\/p>\n Coalition tensions: National launches KiwiSaver policies as Brown compares NZ First, Act to children<\/a><\/p>\n Opinion \u2013 Nats\u2019 conference: National may be playing happy, but senior MPs\u2019 futures are at risk \u2013 Jamie Ensor<\/a><\/p>\n Policy leak: Greens\u2019 tax plan accidentally released online hours before official launch<\/a><\/p>\nTe P\u0101ti M\u0101ori MP Hana-R\u0101whiti Maipi-Clarke (left) with National’s Minister for Women, Nicola Grigg. <\/p>\n