No surprise National is using the Green Party wealth tax to attack Labour. 

In retaliation, Jacinda Ardern has accused national of spreading.

So… is she right?  Is this misinformation?  Well… not really. 

National is probably going a bit far to frame the wealth tax as if it is definitely going to happen… but they are not wrong to realise the spectre of it. 

Because it remains a possibility – albeit a small one – as long as we have contradictory positions from the Labour and green parties. 

Even this morning, we saw it play out again. 

Here on Newstalk ZB Labour party leader Jacinda Ardern ruled out the possibility of a wealth tax. 

But on another radio station, Greens co-leader James Shaw was told what Ardern had said, and responded with a "let’s find out after the election”. 

Asked to elaborate, he pointed to the fact that the Government is gathering less tax right now, but spending a lot more. 

I don’t think that it is credible in that situation not to have a conversation about both the fairness of the tax system, the distortions within the tax system and the amount of revenue that Government needs to raise in order to be able to get ourselves through this crisis and then to pay back the debt that’s associated with that.  It’s just not credible 

As long as the Greens hold to the position that they will push a wealth tax, it remains a credible attack on a possible left-bloc government. 

In reality, as I said, there is only a very small chance of a wealth tax.  Labour has now ruled it out so often and so vehemently it would be credibility-destroying for them to U-turn on that. 

And if you had to choose which of the parties is more likely to buckle in negotiations, it would surely be the Greens. After all, the lure of power is strong, and there will be plenty of other policy wins to dull the pain. 

So no, it’s not misinformation from the Nats. It’s just politics.