JUST DOING IT FOR THE RICH

Jacinda Ardern and Grant Robertson : No more taxes for them.

The wealthy are feeling 'relentlessly positive' now that Labour leader Jacinda Ardern has told them they won't have to pay their fair share in tax under any Labour-led government. Meanwhile, beneficiaries and the poor will get what they usually get - nothing.

UNFORTUNATELY I'VE BEEN getting a lot of tweets in my feed from Labour supporters informing me how their leader Jacinda Ardern is 'just doing it' for we ordinary folk.

But if these fully subscribed members of the Jacinda Ardern Fan Club (President: Chris Trotter) were being truly honest, I'd have expected them to have also tweeted that Ardern was 'just doing it' when she announced yesterday that Labour did not expect the wealthy among us to pay their fair share in tax. But there has been silence.

In response to what amounted to teasing from the National Government, Ardern announced yesterday that she was ruling out any tax increases on the struggling rich. Standing behind her as she made that announcement and nodding his head knowingly as if Ardern was sharing some great truth, was finance spokesperson Grant Robertson. He's the guy who declared that the left wing economic policies of Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party would not be popular here.

Apparently we should now all be in raptures knowing that the wealthy - which includes Jacinda and Grant - will not be burdened with any further taxes. And they get to keep the 10 percent tax cut John Key gifted them - and which Labour roundly and loudly criticised.

Let us remind ourselves that the wealthiest 20 per cent of households in New Zealand hold 70 per cent of the wealth, while the top 10 per cent hold half the wealth.

Without any further tax revenue Labour has pretty much scuttled any plans it might of have had to properly fund education, health and welfare. In her election campaign opening address Ardern briefly referred to 'hard decisions having to be made'. Her announced of no new taxes on the wealthy is a signal that austerity policies will continue under a Labour-led government.

While the wealthy might be feeling 'relentlessly positive' about Jacinda Ardern's generosity, beneficiaries and the poor have little to celebrate. Ardern has ruled out any much-needed increases to the main benefits. While the Green Party might be still campaigning for a 20 percent increase in benefits - and good on them - the policy has a snowball's chance in hell of being accepted by Ardern and the Labour Party.