Face of the Day

The prime minister has fired back at Chris Hipkins over what he says was an attack on his personal finances.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins criticised Christopher Luxon on Wednesday for making hundreds of thousands of dollars – tax-free – in recent property sales.

“Why should he be able to make more than $600,000 in one year from flipping properties whilst the people who go out and work hard every day for a living pay tax on every single dollar that they earn?”

The Labour Party announced on Tuesday it would campaign on a capital gains tax on property, excluding the family home and farms, at a rate of 28 percent from 1 July, 2027.

Speaking from South Korea at the ASEAN summit, Luxon said comments about his finances were a political diversion.

“I’m aware that they’ve had a pretty rough week, with the capital gains tax – the policy that’s their fourth failure I think in the last two weeks.

“I don’t attack his personal finances; I wouldn’t expect him to attack mine.”

RNZ