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Phil Goff: former Labour leader on Labour's CGT policy · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Let's look at this capital gains tax from Labour show.
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  Speaker 1: We former Labor leader Phil Goff is with me this morning.
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  Speaker 1: Feel good morning, Yeah, good morning, Ryan. Do you think
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  Speaker 1: and I know you're a fan of this and we've
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  Speaker 1: spoken about this, do you think if this goes well,
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  Speaker 1: you then look to extend it because it is quite
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  Speaker 1: narrow and focus.
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  Speaker 2: Now. Yeah. I think the undertaking by Chris Hipkins was
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  Speaker 2: that the tax would be introduced as set out and
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  Speaker 2: would not be changed before the next election, which means that,
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  Speaker 2: you know, look, you always change policy over time, but
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  Speaker 2: you need a mandate for that policy, and that's what
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  Speaker 2: he's saying that he'd be seeking. So nothing going to
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  Speaker 2: be sprung according to what they're telling us in the
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  Speaker 2: first term. And you know, I've been interested to see
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  Speaker 2: the reaction to the tax and by a number of people.
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  Speaker 2: I think some people say, look, it could be broader,
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  Speaker 2: but generally a sense of relief that finally, after years
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  Speaker 2: and years of Treasury advocating and the OECD saying you're
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  Speaker 2: the only country in the Western world that doesn't have
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  Speaker 2: such a tax you need one, that somebody's finally had
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  Speaker 2: the courage to say, we're going to put one in
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  Speaker 2: place for the sake of fairness and for the sake
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  Speaker 2: of making sure we don't distort investment decisions by making
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  Speaker 2: one area of investment tax free.
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  Speaker 1: Do you think, how do you how do you when
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  Speaker 1: you got your capital gains tax through your caucus? How
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  Speaker 1: did with it was the people who wanted you to
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  Speaker 1: go further? How do you stop them from linking and
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  Speaker 1: disunity in the party?
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  Speaker 2: Look, I don't think I think that has been exaggerated
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  Speaker 2: in terms of the differences that might exist. Now, there
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  Speaker 2: are always differences in caucus. I've never known a caucus
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  Speaker 2: to be totally of one mind on controversial topics. I
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  Speaker 2: think the greater nervousness at my time was that people
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  Speaker 2: had always been frightened to bring in a capital gains tax.
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  Speaker 2: It had been recommended, it was regarded as sensible, but
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  Speaker 2: it was regarded as politically damaging. And you know, somebody
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  Speaker 2: described it as a suicide note not within caucused it
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  Speaker 2: from outside. So I think, you know, there would be
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  Speaker 2: some pressure to say a wealth tax. I'm glad they
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  Speaker 2: didn't go with a wealth tax because a wealth tax
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  Speaker 2: is as yet reasonably unproven, And as Barbara Edmonds said,
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  Speaker 2: I think quite frankly in her press conference yesterday, that
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  Speaker 2: would be the one thing that would create a differentiation
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  Speaker 2: with Australia and might encourage investment to go to Australia.
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  Speaker 2: Nobody's going to have say, investments going to Australia because
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  Speaker 2: of a capital gains tax, because they actually have one already,
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  Speaker 2: they've had one since the nineteen eighties, and it's a
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  Speaker 2: tougher capital gains tax than what we're implementing here. So look,
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  Speaker 2: I think by and large the Caucus will say this
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  Speaker 2: is our policy and we're going to get behind it.
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  Speaker 2: There is an unanswered question that somebody leaked it. That
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  Speaker 2: happens from time to time, which hunts are pretty fruitless usually,
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  Speaker 2: and I think Hipkins is right to say, well, you know,
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  Speaker 2: if you found a person it just leaked something, that'd
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  Speaker 2: be gone. But they're not going to exert a lot
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  Speaker 2: of time and effort trying to track down who might
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  Speaker 2: have leaked it, if indeed it was leaked maliciously.
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  Speaker 1: All right, appreciate your time. Phil GoF, former Labour leader.
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  Speaker 1: For more from early edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: to News Talks.
• 3:18
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• 3:21
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