{"id":571965,"date":"2026-08-17T19:02:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T19:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/571965\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T19:02:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T19:02:12","slug":"hipkins-rules-out-taxes-at-heart-of-hysterical-national-attack-ads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/571965\/","title":{"rendered":"Hipkins rules out taxes at heart of \u2018hysterical\u2019 National attack ads"},"content":{"rendered":"

Labour leader Chris Hipkins says Christopher Luxon is incompetent and is dismissing National’s attacks over the opposition party’s tax plans as hysterical desperation.<\/p>\n

Speaking to media after the prime minister and transport minister announced a detailed business case on a second Auckland harbour crossing, Hipkins was asked if Labour would bring in a new tax on streaming companies such as Netflix or bring back the so-called ute tax.<\/p>\n

He had a simple answer to both: “No.”<\/p>\n

It followed National finance spokesperson Nicola Willis on Sunday calling for Hipkins to clarify his position on the two taxes.<\/p>\n

She said Labour broadcasting and media spokesperson Reuben Davidson was “proposing to introduce a levy on streaming services that would jack up the price Kiwis pay for Netflix and other streaming services”.<\/p>\n

Willis also pointed to an NZ Herald report showing Michael Wood, who re-entered politics after resigning from Cabinet in 2023, had been talking up the Clean Car Discount scheme labelled by National as a ‘ute tax’ as a policy win he achieved.<\/p>\n

However, the article does not indicate Wood planned to bring back the scheme, which granted rebates for imports of low- or zero-emission vehicles paid for by imposing a fee on high-emitting ones.<\/p>\n

National campaign chair Simeon Brown on Monday afternoon released another statement during the Waitemat\u0101 announcement saying Hipkins had been “silent” on both ideas.<\/p>\n

Brown said Hipkins “has had 24 hours to rule out a streaming tax and a ute tax, and all we have heard is radio silence”.<\/p>\n

“We already know Labour and their mates are planning to hit Kiwis with nine new taxes to fund their $18 billion hidden bill. Information revealed by National yesterday shows they appear to be planning two more, with a streaming tax and a ute tax. That would be 11 new taxes.<\/p>\n

“These are not backbench thought bubbles. One is a former Cabinet minister. The other is Labour’s broadcasting and media spokesperson announcing policy in his own portfolio… he has had a full day and said nothing. If he cannot rule out both taxes on his media round tomorrow morning, New Zealanders can only assume Labour will be campaigning on them.”<\/p>\n

Those “nine new taxes” include three from Labour, including the capital gains tax policy, a reinstated 3 percent digital services tax on tech giants, and the scaling back of National’s Investment Boost policy.<\/p>\n

The remaining taxes are policy pitches from the Greens, Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori and Opportunity, including a 45 percent top tax rate, inheritance tax, gift tax, removing interest deductibility from rental properties, an assets tax and a land tax.<\/p>\n

Hipkins, who has repeatedly ruled out implementing tax policies from other parties, said the statements from National were “just desperation”.<\/p>\n

“Simeon Brown is getting more and more hysterical by the day. I guess if I was looking at internal polling numbers like the sort that he’s looking at I’d be getting a bit worried about that as well, but that doesn’t mean that he can make up policy on behalf of the Labour Party.”<\/p>\n

However, those other parties have typically denied such policies could be ruled out before negotiations to form a government.<\/p>\n

Willis had also pointed to Labour’s Willie Jackson telling Ryan Bridge’s TODAY programme Labour would show respect to its prospective coalition partners and, when asked what percentage of a land tax they could accept, saying “who knows”.<\/p>\n

Hipkins said Jackson “could have been clearer” and pointed to Jackson later in the interview saying he was not open to a land tax.<\/p>\n

“Nobody’s perfect in every answer that they deliver, including me. Every now and then, you say something, and you think ‘gosh, I could have been clearer’,” Hipkins said.<\/p>\n

He said another Opportunity Party policy to cut 2000 public servants by scrapping benefits in favour of a universal basic income, which would arguably take less work to administer, was “incredibly unrealistic”.<\/p>\n

Hipkins indicated he would not be meeting with Opportunity leader Qiulae Wong ahead of the election to sort either matter out.<\/p>\n

“We’ll see what the voters dish up, but we won’t be meeting… no doubt we’ll run into each other. You know, probably we may well end up on a stage together at some point with leaders’ debates and those sorts of things, but I don’t have any intention to have formal sit-down meetings.”<\/p>\n

With Luxon having announced a policy to hold a referendum on MMP if re-elected, Hipkins said the system was “by and large” working well and “I don’t intend to change it”.<\/p>\n

“New Zealanders have repeatedly chosen MMP, they were given a referendum as recently as … was it 2011? And convincingly decided to keep it.”<\/p>\n

He dismissed the referendum idea as incompetence on Luxon’s part.<\/p>\n

“If you’re an incompetent prime minister, no electoral system is going to help you do a better job of running the country. Christopher Luxon has made an absolute hash of running his coalition. That’s not MMP’s fault. That’s Christopher Luxon’s fault.”<\/p>\n

However, reporters were soon questioning Hipkins’ own competence after he revealed he had not heard or seen a briefing on any of Luxon’s regular Monday morning interviews.<\/p>\n

“I’m not watching every media interview that everyone in government does, including the prime minister. Generally, I get an update on them, but I haven’t this morning. I haven’t from this morning,” he said when asked if the opposition leader should be across things like that.<\/p>\n

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