Opportunity Party’s new leader pitches a major tax reset to support Pacific families

The Opportunity Party’s (TOP) new leader, Qiulae Wong, says Pacific communities stand to gain from their political ambitions.

The Opportunity Party, formerly known as The Opportunities Party, has refreshed its leadership and name to communicate its long-standing tax policies more clearly and engage with a broader range of communities.

Founded in 2016 by businessman Gareth Morgan, the party has kept its core “tax reset” proposal, which includes three major changes. The first is a Citizen’s Income, a universal basic income-style payment for all New Zealanders, set around the level of the Jobseeker benefit.

The second is a Land Value Tax, which taxes the land beneath properties rather than the buildings themselves. This aims to reduce house prices and encourage investment away from speculation. Finally, the proposal includes a Flat Income Tax, which simplifies the tax system to a single rate, potentially delivering tax cuts for most low- and middle-income workers.

Speaking with William Terite on Pacific Mornings, Wong says TOP’s policies aim to ease sustainable business growth, especially for Pacific communities. She says their tax reset is benficial for everyone across the income spectrum.

“We have in Auckland, the largest Pacific population in the world, and there are some people who are building great businesses in that community,” Wong says.

Listen to Qiulae Wong’s full interview below.

The Treasury-commissioned 2018 New Zealand Pacific Economy report shows the Pacific contribution to the national GDP is NZ$8 billion annually, while the total household income of Pacific families reaches NZ$12b across 101,000 households.

The Pacific labour force is also among the youngest in the country, with a median age of 23 and growing participation across various sectors. According to Census 2023 data, Pacific people make up 16.6 per cent of Auckland’s total population.

Wong says their tax reset also aims to help those “doing it really tough”, saying that the citizen’s income will help recirculate money back into New Zealander’s’ pockets. She hopes the land value tax will bring house prices down, something she hopes will speak to Pacific communities.

Qiulae Wong says their tax reset also aims to help those “doing it really tough”. Photo/File

Census data also found only 16.8 per cent of people identifying as Pacific owned their home in 2023, compared with 42.1 per cent for the total New Zealand population. Although Wong is not Pacific, she was born in Fiji where her father grew up and her grandparents lived.

“So we grew up really multicultural: extended whānau and friends and many of those people come from Pacific communities. The thing that I value the most from that is the culture of family and connection to community,” Wong says.

“One thing is the social division. This is about bringing people together and respecting everybody's views and kind of moving forward in a way that provides dignity and support for everyone to thrive. There’s a foundational principle that's really core to who I am and I think what the party represents.”

Wong says TOP will continue its grassroots approach, praising their “small, nimble and flexible” team of dedicated volunteers who manage social media accounts, recruit further volunteers, and organise events.

“I'm really heartened by that experience and looking forward to bringing more people into that fold. But we also know that if we want to get over the 5 per cent, we need to raise some money and get more people working on the nuts and bolts of taking this party forward.

“We're also going through a process of confirming our candidates for next year. So, really excited to see who comes forward on that. We've already got a good base of people that are keen within the party, but I'm also keen to hear from anyone externally that might be interested to talk about what that might mean for them too.”