Labour is being made to choke on its proposed capital gains tax.
Were the Dark Arts division of a public-relations firm to devise the ultimate game plan to make sure a policy proposal was well and truly routed, it would look a lot like what the Government is doing with the capital gains tax.
Preceded by a stiff invoice from Hooton, Laws, Blarney and Associates, the advice to the Government would read:
Capital Gains Tax (CGT) Liquefaction Schedule
At the policy’s announcement, stand well back and let every opponent and vested interest group, and most especially the Opposition, have an untrammelled run at it for several weeks.
Provide no helpful go-to material whatsoever for the media or public in advance that might risk clarifying how the proposals would work. Let opponents supply various half-arsed and sensational predictions instead, and depend on the media to garble those further.
On no account say anything more specific than, “I’m sure there are some recommendations from the report we will be able to adopt.”
Chose as the working group leader a former finance minister who, in 17 years as finance portfolio holder, never once endorsed the policy, and who pointedly reminds the media of that fact upon announcing the policy. Then watch as he defends the policy, safe in the knowledge that he will continue to do this without actually endorsing the policy himself, given he as good as publicly warned the Government the day he got the gig not to be so bloody silly as to go down this track.
Leave plenty of space for your coalition partner to patronise and belittle the policy, leaving a clear impression that whatever is finally adopted will be so diluted as to be homeopathic.
This story is from the March 16-22, 2019 edition of New Zealand Listener.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March 16-22, 2019 edition of New Zealand Listener.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Morning songs
On a recent early and glorious Saturday morning - it was 4°C outside I let the complaining chickens out. Chickens never stop complaining.
Upwardly mobile
Climate-friendly e-scooters are proliferating but there are stumbling blocks for users and non-users.
A potent brew
There's a correlation between moderate coffee drinking and reduced risk of colorectal cancer - but evidence of a causal link is still percolating.
Food saviours
A little bit of silliness lightens the mood on the serious topic of food waste.
Ode to old masters
The Polynesian sound and Auckland's ska-punk scene are remembered in new releases.
Weaving Welsh with waiata
Te reo meets Cymraeg in a musical project partly spearheaded by Kawiti Waetford, an opera singer with connections to Wales.
Culture warrior
Activist and scholar Ngahuia te Awek6otuku achieved several firsts in society but had to fight many battles to get there.
An age-old problem
Is our lifespan fixed, or might we be able to slow down or even abolish ageing? And what would we do if we could?
When Jim becomes James
'What would white people do to a slave who had learned to read?' This impressive reimagining of Huckleberry Finn seeks to find out.
Manhattan transfer
A Kiwi movie star led the charge for an Anzac garden atop New York's Rockefeller Centre that's still in use today.