India FTA Unites NZ First, Greens
National’s much-touted free trade deal with India featured in the Rural Issues Debate at Mystery Creek, Hamilton on Wednesday night.
It’s worth noting though that NZ’s merchandise trade surplus in April 2025 was $1.4 billion, compared with a deficit of $12 million in April 2024, according to Stats NZ. New Zealand has had only four monthly surpluses over $1 billion.
This surplus, and the others, are thanks to farmers. And yet, the ‘Green Budget’ includes a 2.5% annual tax on a couple’s net assets over $4 million and a 33% tax on inheritances over a $1 million threshold.
This would see land held within the family for generations sold off just to pay the tax bill and, as Andrew Hoggard says, we’d see “a scarring effect on rural communities, a sledgehammer to rural investment, and food production shifted offshore”.
