Labour is vowing to create a new top tax tier for people earning more than $180,000 a year if it's re-elected next month.
Lisa Owen asked Finance Minister and Labour's finance spokesperson Grant Robertson: "You've made some guarantees around this, you say that there's going to be no other taxes and no other increases in income tax right? Surely that's dependent on your coalition partners & any negotiations, or are you saying this as an absolute bottom line, no matter who you might be in government with?
Grant Robertson: "This is Labour's tax policy & what we're saying is this is what we will be implementing in this term of government if we get the opportunity to be elected."
Owen: That was said about other Labour policies, but they were lost in the MMP environment of coalition government. "So are you saying this is absolutely a bottom line for tax, or for example, you go in with the Greens and they want more and they dig their toes in, is this negotiable?"
Robertson: "This is the tax policy that we will be implementing as a Labour government."
Owen: "It's one thing to promise people that this is Labour's policy, and it's another to say that regardless of what any partners and government want, you are going to stick with that, so I'll just ask it again to be absolutely sure. Is this your bottom line in terms of income tax policy if you need to form a coalition, or a confidence & supply agreement?
Robertson: "A Labour government will be implementing the policy that we announced today, Lisa. It's not a matter of bottom lines for us from this perspective. And I haven't actually heard the Green Party use that phrasing, either. From our perspective this is what we will implement, just what we announced today."
