No doubt some economist will come along and tell me why it’s a dumb idea but on the face of it, it seems like an easy way to shift the tax burden onto those who have lots of money and shift it round a lot (banks and other speculators) and off of those who have little (wage and salary earners) or have lots but leave it in one place (genuine investors).

A CGT, on the other hand, seems to penalise the guy who works for years to build up a business, employing people and contributing to the economy, when he wants to sell his business and retire (as well as penalising the speculators, but not as effectively).

The BNZ – greedily sucking the jugular of the NZ taxpayer since the 1980s. I do hope Messrs Fay and Richwhite are enjoying their retirement. Odd how we never hear of them these days.

This is all the more reason for Kiwis to join Kiwibank and for there to be a capital gains tax. At least our love affair with real estate and the profits the banks screw out of us will then diminish and we can do something really good for the country like buying back the private sector from overseas interests.