Opportunity Party leader Quilae Wong says her party’s proposed land tax would be hardest on farmers and retirees, saying it is part of a broader tax reset for New Zealand.

“We are proposing the land tax and a citizens income, so individuals would also be receiving that $370 a week, or $19,500 a year, to offset the land tax,” she says.

“On our modeling, 70% of New Zealanders would be better off, 20% would be about the same, and 10% would be paying a bit more.

She says the intention is to shift the burden off income tax and onto property.

“When we tax income more than we tax assets, then that naturally pushes people to invest in property.

“I totally recognize that that is challenging for farmers and retirees are probably the two big groups.

She says they have intentionally kept it broad to avoid too many loopholes.

“The reason why many economists like land tax as a vehicle is because it is fixed, it doesn’t run away like a wealth tax.”

The land tax targets the land itself, not the business operating on it, so a farming enterprise would still pay company tax separately.

Opportunity has previously backed gene technology reform, but they are opposed to the current ‘rushed’ Gene Tech Bill. She says there are applications from medicine to food to conservation where gene technology could benefit New Zealand, though the risks need to be managed for organic farmers in particular.

“This is a real gnarly issue.

“We have prided ourselves on being a GE-free nation for a long time, and if there are going to be changes to those settings, we need to have a robust public debate about that.

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