Jacinda Ardern displays political brilliance - and expediency in ditching Capital Gains Tax (CGT)

Jacinda Ardern displays political brilliance and expediency in ditching Capital Gains Tax (CGT)

Thakur Ranjit Singh

There is a Fiji Indian anecdote, bordering on stupidity –and hilarity, where an armed robber breaks into a rich lady’s mansion, and demands, putting a loaded gun at her head:

“Choose - life or money”

The rich lady replies” Take my life, as I will need the money in old age.”  

A compassionate Prime Minister who set a new standard on how leaders need to manage major human crisis and grief. She could have abused  her elevation of popularity to push for CGT but opted for  pragmatism, political reality and respect view of majority.

Jacinda Ardern had faced the same choices- either be blamed for ditching her promise, or losing an opportunity to do anything good for the underclass at all. And you can only do that if you survive as a government.

Like the rich lady being robbed, she had two choices. Either choose survival of her government, and coalition deal, and chance of a second Labour term, or fulling the promise of CGT, winning the battle, but losing the war, and a second chance. 

She had to choose from keeping on holding a very contentious and controversial hot potato, or blowing the wind out of Simon Bridges and National Party’s 2020 election sail.  National Party was already gearing up to have CGT as Ace of trumps for next election. Now that sail has fallen flat (wait for Simon to follow suit!) without any wind from CGT.

Jacinda Ardern is accused of not using her star status to push for CGT. She is damned if she does it,  and she is damned if she does not do it. But she used her judgement to survive and to redirect her abundance of energy and talents into projects that can realistically be achieved. 

I disagree, especially with those opinion writer pundits of doomsday who say the Prime Minister failed the country, failed CGT supporters within her party, and failed to use her popularity to sell this issue.

She showed her brilliance, lost a battle, but won a war. You can be certain that she was afforded the best advice, mostly from Aunty Helen Clark, (and Cullen) who themselves rejected CGT during their nine years in government. From their past experience, (read Cunliffe and Little) Labour knew that the details of CGT was hurting them at polls, hence they found it safer to park it at roadside, parked in Tax Working Group. And reviewing and weighing it from economic as well as political reality, they permanently parked it there. And in doing so, deprived the National Party of leadership stability, and heads may roll there soon.

National Party Leader, Simon Bridges is the biggest loser in ditching of CGT, as his trump card for 2020 election has been lost, and his leadership is in doubt - he may not last long.

Labour Party rightly opted for other ways to fill this vacuum, like transfer of wealth though Working for Families. Ardern admitted there were other steps that would be taken to improve the fairness of the tax system, pointing to steps the Government had taken to tighten rules around land speculation and their upcoming review of “negative gearing"(transfer of rental losses to reduce income tax from other sources) rules.

Her opponents need to appreciate that Labour Party realizes a CGT is not the only way to address inequality.  The Budget is coming in May, and in words of the old cliche –“there is more than one way to skin a cat.” The robust debate helped by media, resulted in shedding light in other alternative areas. Criticism of NZ First and Winston Peters is misplaced. They deserve credit for articulating the concerns of small and large businesses, from within Government. The MMP allows them the veto right, and they rightly used that.

And Labour has no mandate to impose CGT.  With their 36.9 per cent of the vote and Greens 6.3 per cent, the total makes to 43.2. And this is not a mandate. And looking at National at 44.4 per cent, opposition to CGT is even greater than Labour and Greens total combined. Hence, rejecting this, Jacinda Ardern was correct to say that there was a lack of mandate from New Zealanders for CGT.

Indeed, MMP is not a laughing matter. Under it, Winston Peters was perfectly right to veto CGT. Labour and Greens, with combined total of  43.2 percent had no mandate to impose CGT. NZ First deserve credit for articulating the concerns of small and large businesses, from within Government. That is the beauty of MMP!

The credit that Jacinda gets as a caring leader is that she listened and acted on what she heard. The main purpose of the proposed tax was to fix housing shortages and dampen house price inflation, but the tax working group was unable to show that imposing a capital gains tax would achieve these goals. Hence she used wisdom and judgement.

So you are saying that Jacinda Ardern is a coward and secured Labour Party a second chance by ditching CGT? And so you are saying she should be the sacrificial lamb at the CGT butchery and deny Labour Party the chance to implement numerous of other progressive, benevolent and socially conscious policies that National ignored by being “a Government of landlords”?

NZ Herald cartoon depicting pragmatism, judgement and brilliance of Jacinda Ardern. She chose not to be a sacrificial lamb, to be slaughtered in CGT butcher house. She chose survival of her government so she could come for a second term to deliver to her voters.

So, like that greedy rich lady wishes at the beginning of this article, do you also wish Jacinda Ardern to lose her government? Then how would she be saviour to so many who depend on her to reduce the inequality gap, among others?  Go ahead, make my day, answer, please.

How wrong was Fran O’Sullivan of NZ Herald opinion writer on Saturday 20 April, 2019, when she said:

Fortune praised her rallying skills. Ardern has those in abundance. Pity they were not used this week.

And on her heels, the Editorial writer of NZ Herald, John Roughen, in his column on 22 April, 2019 echoed similar negativity:

Labour has shown this will always be a timid Government. If it could not do a capital gains tax with all the stars well aligned, it will not do much at all.

Indeed, how off the mark were these celebrated writers of NZ Herald that they need to be corrected by an ethnic, Fiji Indian blogger, FIJI PUNDIT which has been rejected by NZ mainstream media.

They need to read and comprehend this article. 

Ardern’s face was projected onto Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, that is the level of respect she had gained with her handling of terrorism attack in Christchurch.

I repeat that Ardern has been brilliant, compassionate, judgmental, and wise, has shown pragmatism, recognized political reality and will survive to redirect her abundance of energy, talents and compassion into projects that can realistically be achieved. 

And to attain these, one needs to be politically expedient. That is why she makes it to Time and Fortune magazines!

I salutes the Prime Minister for her brilliance that many cannot see.

[About the Author-Thakur Ranjit Singh is a Kiwi Fiji Indian media commentator and blogger at FIJI PUNDIT]

FIJI GIRMIT FOUNDATION NZ TO MARK 140TH GIRMIT ANNIVERSARY IN AUCKLAND

The Fiji Girmit Foundation of New Zealand is gearing to mark the 140th Anniversary of the arrival of first Indian indentured labourers in Fiji, which was on 14 May, 1879.

FIJI GIRMIT FOUNDATION NZ will have its commemoration of 140th Girmit Thanksgiving Day at Skipton Hall in Auckland, New Zealand on the evening of Friday 10th May, 2019. You all are invited to come to salute our Girmitiyas -ORDINARY PEOPLE WHO ACHIEVED EXTRAORDINARY THINGS IN EXTRAORDINARY ENVIRONMENT.

It will be a day to commemorate the suffering and sacrifices of the Girmitiyas and celebrate triumph of the human spirit over formidable adversities.

This event will take place on 10 May 2019 at ARST Skipton Hall, 53 Skipton Street, Mangere East, Auckland.

The Foundation was established in 2013 with the sole objective of reconnecting, reclaiming and restoring Fiji Indian history, which has failed to echo in successive generations as it should have. This event is organized to provide opportunity to every Indo-Fijian family to remember and pay respects to their Girmitiya forebears for the sacrifices they made and the legacy they left behind for successive generations.

It is also the Foundation’s fervent hope and desire to bring enlightenment of their foundational Girmit history to Fiji Indians who have all grown in ignorance of their tragic but fascinating history. In addition to this, it is their fervent desire to honour some of the descendants of the Girmitiyas for their achievements in various fields. 

In History of New Zealand, Girmit Remembrance was never marked regularly till the Foundation was established, and held commemoration from 2013 to 2015 inclusive. In 2013, elderly Fiji Indians (those over 80) were recognised, honoured and given Girmit Commemorative Medals.

In 2014, they had most eminent and celebrated son of Girmit, Professor Brij Lal as their chief guest and keynote speaker.

LEONIDAS  -the first Girmit transporting ship which arrived in Levuka, Fiji on 14 May, 1879. But it was not able to dock on that day, and docked into harbour on 15 May. That is why some use the date of 15 May. But officially, we recognize 14 May as the designated date.

In 2015, the then Minister for Foreign Affairs of Fiji, Hon. Ratu Inoke Kubuabola was the Chief Guest at Girmit Remembrance Day in Auckland. The theme for the occasion was “Commemorating the Syria Tragedy”, which included remembering, acknowledging and paying tribute to the Nasilai Villagers who risked their lives to render assistance in the rescue efforts, mounted by Dr William McGregor on that fateful night of May 11, 1884. Hon. Kubuabola led a delegation from Fiji, including staff of Fiji High Commission based in Wellington to honour the occasion on behalf of the Government of Fiji. 

Following this event, the Foundation led a delegation to Nasilai Village on October 15, 2015 to formally thank the Nasilai villagers for the role their ancestors had played in the rescue efforts, which saved hundreds of lives. It was a solemn occasion, reliving a tragic event but provided us an opportunity to meet the descendants to express our appreciation, though belatedly. The villagers honoured the visitors with traditional welcome and subsequent discussions led to undertaking of important renovations and improvements to the village communal facilities, costing us over $80,000. 

Syria Tragedy - the remains of Syria Ship which was wrecked on Nasilai Reef in May, 1884. A delegation from FIJI GIRMIT FOUNDATION NZ made a pilgrimage to Nasilai Village in Rewa, Fiji in 2015 and made improvements worth some $FJ 100,000 to the village hall (See story elsewhere on FIJI PUNDIT),as a show of goodwill to the descendants of the villagers who helped rescue the Indian indentured labourers on the ship. Some 57 Indians lost their lives.

The Foundation is also gearing up to focus on some issues which Fiji Indians need a voice in, playing a wider role by having a closer link with New Zealand Government, the government agencies, political and community leaders.
There is a revamped, passionate, professional and diverse youth executive team who are coming on board, empowered to carry the banner and baton of Girmit and create awareness in the new generation. One may say, like New Zealand Prime Minister, Fiji Indian Millennials  in Auckland have been given an opportunity to take the lead and torch of Girmit. 

The Foundation considers it important to enlist the support of our community to ensure that our tragic but fascinating Girmit history is not lost with the passage of time. Accordingly, public awareness was vital and the commemorative events that commenced some six years ago lit and fanned the spark, which has ignited the desire in our people to reconnect and revive our Girmit history.

At least five commemoration events are planned for Auckland to mark and salute the pioneer Indian indentured labourers who were ordinary people who achieved extraordinary feats. And this is evident in a new breed and race of people, who originated from India, but have created a distinct Pacifica culture, with best of both worlds.

Girmitiyas in front of a sugar mill during those Girmit Days. Note the railway lines in the foreground and railway carts in the background.

There have been requests to Girmit Foundation to join with Global Girmit organisations overseas. However, NZ Girmit Foundation feels first they need to make it effectively work here at grassroots level before venturing overseas. Most of the so-called International Girmit organisations appear to be an academic exercise and some are merely social-media, or paper organisations. 

The Foundation believes that without an effective home-grown tangible and functioning Girmit organisation like the Foundation, it is pointless being part of any overseas paper organisations, which does nothing tangible on the ground. Hence there is a desire to empower Fiji Indians to extend this organisation as an advocacy body for Fiji Indians in New Zealand, who, as stated earlier, while being Indians also happen to be a distinct Pacifica people - Fiji Indians.

The Foundation wishes to work on ground with Fiji Indians in New Zealand, and also create awareness in Canada and USA to arm the new generation with their original identity, and advise them the importance of reconnecting and restoring their Girmit history as a tribute to the Girmitiyas.

Thakur Ranjit Singh, a founding trustee of the Foundation will travel to Fiji later this year to initiate and inaugurate Totaram Sanadhya Vatika, a Girmit Botanical Garden at Fiji Girmit Centre in Lautoka. This will be as a part of DAV Reunion in Fiji, in association with Fiji Girmit Council.

Since its inception in 2013, FIJI GIRMIT FOUNDATION NZ organised regular Girmit Commemoration at Skipton Hall, Mangere, Auckland from 2013 to 2015 inclusive. This was the banner for 2015 commemoration which has Syria Tragedy as its theme. We had Minister of Foreign Affairs of Fiji, Ratu Inoke Kubuabola as the chief guest. We are still awaiting out request to Fiji Government to declare 14 May as a Public Holiday in Fiji in honour of the pioneer Girmitiyas.

The Trustees of Fiji Girmit Foundation are respected member of Fiji Indian community in Auckland. They are Master Shiu Charan, Sardar Harnam Singh Golian, author Rajendra Prasad, Janab Nek Mohammed, Pundit Ram Kumar Sewak, Krish Naidu and journalist Thakur Ranjit Singh. 

The foundation earnestly seeks participation of all descendants of Girmitiyas to show their gratitude to the vision and sacrifice of ordinary people who did extraordinary things in an extraordinary environment.
The request of Girmit Foundation to Fiji Government to have Girmit history in Fiji school curriculum has already been implemented. The Foundation is now awaiting Fiji Government of their request of declaring 14 May as a Public Holiday in Fiji.

More information on the 140th anniversary would come in the next edition. Please reserve the evening of Friday 10th May, 2019 to pay homage to those who made Fiji Indians into who they are today.

[Thakur Ranjit Singh is the founding Trustee of Fiji Girmit Foundation NZ and is a media commentator. He has a passion for his forebears, and has written various articles on them in the past.]