I think journalists are unintentionally doing a disservice to the Greens’ wealth tax policy when they talk about in a single sentence. RNZ said something along the lines of “income guarantee, and tax changes, including a 2.5% wealth tax”.
In reality the wealth tax is only on wealth above a threshold that is set at $2m net per person. So few people will be hit by this, and those who are will be hit for less than they likely imagine. That’s a key part of it, I’d argue even more key than the actual %, yet if it gets glossed over it becomes a point by which people end up hating the policy, without even understanding the policy.
I was at a meet-the-leaders event last week for the Greens, and they mentioned that they have this general problem where their policies are really great but often misunderstood in the media. They used the example of the recent NZ steel deal, which some people in media dismissed as “corporate welfare” when in fact the funding comes from taxes on polluters - and that one government initiative has the potential to remove a huge amount of emitted carbon from our economy.
I reckon these are just very technical policies that are difficult to summarise, so journalists do a lazy job. Can’t blame them really, they’re on tight deadlines and are appealing to a wider audience.
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Absolutely.
I was going to say TOP has the same problem, but then I realised their ideas don’t get any less stupid the more you understand them.
Either way, selling your ideas is all part of the game, and if you can’t do that, you don’t get elected.