Remember back in April?:
Greens’ “Barking Mad” Bill Blocked
The big question in Question Time arose from the allegation in leaked documents called the Panama Papers that New Zealand is a tax haven. Prime Minister John Key says tax havens are secret and New Zealand cannot be one because it has disclosure rules. Greens member’s bill opening trusts to scrutiny is blocked by the government. John Key calls Greens finance spokeswoman, Julie Anne Genter, “barking mad” for supporting it …
As I have previously observed, this was typical reflexive aggression from Key (and offensively stigmatising to boot).
Today the Nats’ U-turn is complete:
Govt accepts Shewan’s foreign trust advice
The government will formally accept all of the recommendations made by tax expert John Shewan relating to New Zealand’s foreign trust laws, except the proposal to roll-out anti-money laundering laws faster.
Long overdue – the IRD told them this was needed in 2013.
Finance Minister Bill English said the government had always been open to making improvements to New Zealand’s trust and tax laws if that was shown to be necessary.
No, you opposed and ignored, until you were forced to make changes by the public scrutiny that followed the Panama Papers.
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