The Bull Ring

Chris Hipkins is not reading the room on wealth taxes. 𝘓𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘫𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴. Analysis: Bruce Alpine. A n Ipsos survey in September 2026 found 64% support for a 2.5% annual wealth tax on individual net assets above $10 million (family home exempt), with only 26% opposed.  The latest 1News Vote Compass data (drawn from roughly 186,000 responses in early-to-mid October) shows 62% of respondents want wealthier people to pay somewhat or much more tax—majorities even among higher earners, including 53% of those over $100,000.  Support has softened slightly from the 67% peak in 2023 but remains a clear majority view.  Cost of living and healthcare dominate voter concerns; many see the tax system as tilted toward those whose wealth is held in assets rather than wages. Labour’s response under Hipkins is a li...

Trickle Down Theory: The Lie For Modern Capitalism 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘹𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 “𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯” 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦. Analysis: Bruce Alpine. I n Aotearoa New Zealand this approach has been tried more than once, and it has not worked well for lower-income families.  In the 1980s, under what became known as Rogernomics , the top personal tax rate was cut dramatically from 66 percent down to 33 percent.  The government also introduced GST and reduced many other progressive elements of the tax system.  The promise was straightforward: if high earners and businesses paid less tax, they would invest more, create jobs, expand the economy, and eventually lift living standards for everyone.  What actually happened was very different.  Income inequality rose sharply.  The richest 1 percent roughly doubled the...

Labour and National are bleeding support to minor parties 𝘓𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘔𝘗 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯? Analysis: Bruce Alpine. A otearoa New Zealand’s two main parties are at a 30-year low in combined party-vote support. Recent mid-2026 polls put National and Labour combined together in the high 50s to low 60s — levels last seen around the first MMP election in 1996.  National has hovered in the high 20s to low 30s under Christopher Luxon; Labour has slipped into the high 20s in several surveys after earlier recoveries.  Meanwhile the Greens, NZ First, ACT and especially the Opportunity Party have absorbed the rest.  Opportunity has repeatedly polled near or above the 5% threshold, including a 6.1% result in one August Curia poll , an...

POLL: Opportunity Party Crosses MMP Threshold Amid Luxon Leadership Crisis 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 1𝘕𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘝𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘭 (8–11 𝘈𝘶𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵) 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘓𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘯 30% (𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 2), 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘢𝘵 29%, 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘴 12%, 𝘈𝘊𝘛 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 9%, 𝘖𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 3 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 8%, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘡 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 3 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 8%. Analysis: Bruce Alpine. T he latest 1News Verian poll (fielded 8–11 August 2026, sample 847, margin of error ±3.4%) delivers a clear verdict on the National-led government’s fragility and the collapse of traditional two-party dominance.  Labour sits on 30% (down 2 points from June), National holds steady at 29%, the Greens fall to 12%, ACT rises sharply to 9%, NZ First drops 3 points to 8%, Opportunity surges 3 points to 8% (clearing the threshold for the first time in a 1News Verian poll), and Te Pāti Māori sits at 1%. Party standings. file Projected seats in a 125-member House (assu...

Luxon’s ‘Surprise’ on MMP Was 30 Years in the Making 𝘓𝘶𝘹𝘰𝘯’𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨-𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥. Opinion: Bruce Alpine. O n Thursday 6 August, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told Newstalk ZB that if National is returned to power he would hold a referendum on the MMP (Mixed Member Proportional) voting system, alongside one on moving to a four-year parliamentary term.  He framed it as a constitutional “check-in”: after three decades, is this still the system New Zealanders want?  He also linked it to the practical realities of coalition government, remarking that he did not need “some yahoo or numpty” from another party around the Cabinet table if National could secure a stronger mandate on its own.  The remarks surprised coalition partners — Winston Peters called them “inexplicable...