National continues pursuit of Labour’s alleged secret tax in rowdy Question Time

National finance spokeswoman Nicola Willis is continuing to press the Government on any plans it has for new taxes. Photo / Mark Mitchell

National deputy leader Nicola Willis persisted with her efforts to uncover what she claims is Labour’s secret capital gains or wealth taxes and received a stern warning from the Finance Minister in a rowdy Question Time today.

It preceded Transport Minister Michael Wood accusing National of turning conversations about climate change into a “tacky little culture war” under persistent questioning from National transport spokesman Simeon Brown over the $83 million paid in rebates to Tesla buyers through the clean car discount scheme.

Over the weekend, Willis told her party’s Northern Region Conference about her suspicions following an IRD study into the tax rate paid by a sample of 311 New Zealanders that found they paid a median effective tax rate of 9.4 per cent, compared to the 20.2 per cent for an average Kiwi.

She, alongside party leader Christopher Luxon, resumed the hunt for the alleged secret tax during Question Time in the House today.

Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni stood in for Chris Hipkins in the House today. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Luxon, up first, asked Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni - speaking on behalf of PM Chris Hipkins who is overseas for the King’s coronation - to again rule out the introduction of a capital gains tax or wealth tax.

“We’ve made it very clear that there is no intention to, through the Budget and for the remainder of this term, to introduce a capital gains tax or a wealth tax. Every political party will have their tax policy before the next election but that’s not a matter for us to discuss this year,” Sepuloni responded.

Willis then pushed Finance Minister Grant Robertson on her claim that Cabinet had discussed new tax policies three months ago.

Having already stated Cabinet considered a range of tax issues on an ongoing basis, Robertson said specific Cabinet discussions were confidential and warned Willis over future allegations.

“The member should be very careful with the accusations she chooses to make,” he said.

Wood, already under fire through his immigration portfolio following revelations of ongoing dawn raid activity, was also challenged on the value of the clean car discount - a scheme that incentivised the uptake of electric-powered vehicles to reduce emissions.

The policy worked by adding a fee on the purchase of polluting cars to fund the purchase of “clean” cars, either low-emission conventional vehicles, hybrids, or full electric EVs.

Transport Minister Michael Wood. Photo / Mark Mitchell

National has dubbed the policy a “ute tax” and Brown today claimed it was a “kick in the guts” for tradespeople and farmers who needed vehicles such as utes, which did emit carbon.

In reply, Wood said the scheme had turned New Zealand into one of the best markets for importing clean vehicles and claimed National was a party of modern-day climate denialism.

“I recognise that the National Party and the member opposite [Brown] wish to turn every policy that is about addressing climate change into a tacky little culture war, but our Government is actually focused on particular measures that reduce emissions across our transport sector.”

However, he did accept $83m had been paid out in rebates to Tesla vehicles through the scheme, subsidising just under 10,000 individual vehicles.

The discount was restricted to cars sold for less than $80,000, a feature designed to stop the scheme from subsidising too many luxury vehicles, but price decreases in the luxury EV market meant many carmakers were offering some models within the discount’s price range.

The Herald today revealed the Government was looking at extending the policy to trucks and heavy freight.

A document from February, released to the Herald under the Official Information Act, shows that a “Freight Decarbonisation Unit” had been established in the Ministry of Transport with a mandate “to set the groundwork for a clean truck discount”.

The unit was also tasked with laying the ground for “a future zero-emission heavy vehicle mandate and important changes needed for the transport regulatory system”.

It would also look at making sure the freight supply chain and national EV charging network could cater for clean trucks.