David Cormack: But what's in it for me?

PM Jacinda Ardern. Photo / AP

Political conservatives have it easy. They get to look at the world and think "yeah it's pretty good eh? Let's maybe tinker round the edges, but we can leave it as is. Sweet as."

While us on the left see a world filled with problems that need intervention and correction and fixing. It's exhausting finding fault in everything but damn it we'll manage.

There isn't a societal ill, problem or unfairness that we on the left can't come up with a policy for and then we'll tell you about that policy and you'll nod and say "that sounds reasonable" and walk off and forget about the policy and we'll think "Yes! We recruited another to the cause!"

Except you didn't even realise there was a cause to join. You just heard us droning on and on with pointy headed wonkishness. And your nod was out of politeness, not support. And although you may agree with the principle of what we were saying, you didn't really care because we failed to make you see how the world, or your world, would be better.

Great political communication isn't just soaring Obama-like rhetoric that has tears streaming down your face as you listen to the inspirational tale of one man who has fixed racism forever. Great political communication is about providing a vision of how good your future can be. Painting a picture of the amazing world you could live in and then helping you understand how to get there. And we on the left are usually rubbish at it. We'll just tell you that we're going to put in a Capital Gains Tax and then expect you to trust us that we know best and so this policy is great and you should be happy about it.

What if it was explained that a Capital Gains Tax actually meant more money in the bank account every pay for most people, because most people aren't gaining capital on anything captured by the policy? That due to the rumoured income tax cut, your average worker who goes to their job, earns a salary and goes home to their 130 square metre home or rental will most likely have more money to spend on a better pair of shoes for their kids, or to go out for dinner a bit more often, or save up and take a holiday? A Capital Gains Tax is about making a fairer tax system so that less of the tax burden falls on the money you earn fortnightly or monthly, and more on your asset base and wealth. This means that those who can afford more, pay a fairer share of tax and the bulk of society will have more money, while the Government can still afford to provide state-funded services that we expect; like healthcare and education.

Instead, the idea of a Capital Gains Tax is floated by the left, a vacuum is created for what this actually means allowing those opposed to rush in and fill the narrative gap. So you'll hear that "they're going to tax the family bach!" or "selling your small business is going to be taxed too!" and these are simple enough things to understand, and so the left has again failed to sell its idea by not explaining what it means.

It would be better if instead of giving something a nifty name like say, Kiwibuild, and saying that we'll build infinity homes in 2 weeks and then completely ballsing up all the targets we simply explained what it meant. That we recognise there's a housing shortage and so we'll be doing everything we can to fix it. We will build more houses across a variety of price ranges so that more Kiwis can realise their dream of owning a home. And we'll build more State Houses so that more people can have a warm, dry and healthy home who may be struggling financially.

Did you know that in its first year of Government, this coalition churned out 1000 State Houses? No. Because we heard about policy, not outcomes.

I want this Government to do well. Everybody should want them to do well. If they do well then New Zealand is doing well. And I think their policies will do well, but they need to keep reminding us what it will mean for us and for all Kiwis when they enact their policies. It's a simple task. When you're creating a policy, make sure you explain what the policy will actually achieve.