“It takes a whole new level of arrogance for the Labour Government to undermine Parliament with the sudden imposition of new tax rules previously explicitly ruled out by Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“Instead of introducing a new Bill and allowing it to go through proper process, including consultation at select committee, Labour has shoehorned a 50 page tax amendment into a pre-existing Bill to avoid almost all Parliamentary scrutiny.

“Anything Labour has previously said from the opposition benches about concern for due process in Parliament now rings hollow – they’ve officially won the race to the bottom.

“After all, these monumental tax changes, which also removes the right of just one class of asset investor to claim business costs against business income, joins a growing roll-call of tax changes Labour has forced on New Zealanders under urgency.

“This list of shame includes cancelling the 2017 tax cuts, imposing the Auckland Regional Fuel Tax, multiple years of fuel excise increases and the most recent hikes of income tax. All were rammed through under urgency without select committee scrutiny.

“But this change is worse. Labour explicitly ruled out amending the bright-line test. It was a promise they should have kept. Voters deserve better.”

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