Housing Minister Chris Bishop has, for example, been able to talk about the need for house prices to fall – a statement neither major party could make in the last decade.
“I remember making a few speeches around housing supply when it was regarded as a cranky right-wing idea that supply had any influence on housing prices,” English said.
“One unheralded success around that time was the Auckland Unitary Plan, which provided the biggest boost for house building in New Zealand in a long time.”
I think the lessons from that are now being picked up by the current Government and spread through the system. In fact, the last Government picked up some of those lessons.”
Does that passion for housing affordability, stretch to a Capital Gains Tax, Money Talks asks?
“We had a pretty good look at it. I think every Finance Minister does, and then it runs into two problems. One is just the implementation of it. I think you’d find even in countries where they have it, it’s arguable about whether it’s net revenue or not.”
“And the other [problem] in New Zealand is just the politics.”
“It doesn’t work,” he says. In general, you want your tax base moving away from things you want more of, like income and, and work and returns on capital. And, uh, you want your tax base more around things that, that, that can’t move and that you don’t want more of.”
“So you, you want it on fixed assets, land, wealth and consumption.”
English says one of the political achievements he is most proud of is the “tax switch” – lowering income tax and boosting GST.
“We made the argument for what is good economics, reducing income tax and increasing GST, and the public went with that, to a large extent because of the skills of John Key. But it just showed you can win an argument.”
On the final episode of the Money Talks podcast for 2024 English talks about his personal relationship with money, growing up on the farm in Southland and how he made it to the top in politics with a degree in English literature.
“I think I was the only farm worker in New Zealand with scholarship Latin, in the early 80s. So I went off to Dunedin and did an English degree and an accounting degree.”
Listen to the full episode to hear more from Sir Bill English also talks about the current state of the economy and how it compares to previous downturns.
Money Talks is a podcast run by the NZ Herald. It isn’t about personal finance and isn’t about economics – it’s just well-known New Zealanders talking about money and sharing some stories about the impact it’s had on their lives and how it has shaped them.
The series is hosted by Liam Dann, business editor-at-large for the Herald. He is a senior writer and columnist, and also presents and produces videos and podcasts. He joined the Herald in 2003.
Money Talks is available on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
