The Prime Minister ruled out a bed tax and a bank tax as he launched his bid to hold the seat.
Christopher Luxon launched his campaign to keep the Botany seat at Botany Downs Secondary College on Sunday, with a promise of no new taxes if National wins again.
The Prime Minister has been Botany’s MP since 2020. He used the launch to rule out two taxes his party had been looking at: a tax on banks, and a charge on hotel stays known as a bed tax.
“Tax is a defining theme for this election, and the choice for Kiwis is clear,” Mr Luxon said in a National Party statement issued the same day.
He said the promise came from what his party believed about work and reward.
“National believes that New Zealand should be a country where if you work hard, you can get ahead,” Mr Luxon said.
“Part of that means keeping taxes low so New Zealanders can keep more of what they earn and have more choices about what they and their family can do with their money.”
Mr Luxon pointed to the tax cuts his Government made after the last election.
“One of the first things National did upon entering Government was to provide tax relief for working New Zealanders for the first time in 14 years,” he said.
He said the new promise “reflects our disciplined economic management, focused on growing the economy, creating jobs, lifting wages and keeping taxes low”.
A bed tax is an extra charge on a hotel room or other short stay. National calls it an accommodation levy.
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has pushed for one to help pay the costs that come with tourists.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis said in the same statement that the bed tax had been ruled out along with the bank tax.
“Under National, there are no new taxes on the table,” Ms Willis said. “That includes no accommodation levy or bank tax.”
She said National had looked for a way to make a bed tax work and could not find one.
“We determined there is no way to do an accommodation levy without increasing costs on Kiwis booking a weekend away, so we’ll look at how existing mechanisms could be used to support councils with the costs of tourism,” she said.
Ms Willis said the Government could pay for public services without new taxes.
Mr Luxon said the choice was between a National Government promising no new taxes and Labour and the parties it might govern with. He claimed those parties were proposing “at least nine new taxes”. The statement did not list them.
Ms Willis claimed Labour had also committed to what she called a business tax, and still had to find money for the rest of its promises.
Labour announced its own tax and spending plans the same day with the Party’s campaign chair Kieran McAnulty saying in a statement that ruling out new ways of raising money meant cuts.
“If you’re ruling out revenue, you have to cut spending,” he said. “So what are you going to cut?”
Sunday’s event at the Botany Downs Secondary College hall was Mr Luxon’s own launch as the Botany candidate. National began its nationwide campaign at its 90th annual conference in Lower Hutt on 20 and 21 June.
Pakuranga MP Simeon Brown, who is running National’s campaign, was with him on Sunday. Mr Luxon won Botany in 2023 by 16,323 votes.
Two other candidates have been named for Botany so far. Labour has selected Dr Anae Neru Leavasa, and ACT has selected Ali Dahche, who runs a restaurant in Pakuranga.
Anyone else who wants to stand has until noon on 8 October to put their name forward. The general election is on Saturday 7 November.
