Labour leader Chris Hipkins says tax changes are back on the table following Labour's election defeat.
In July this year Hipkins confirmed "that under a government I lead there will be no wealth or capital gains tax after the election".
It comes as he was reconfirmed as the leader of the party at a caucus meeting today.
Speaking to media after the meeting, Hipkins said the party needed to debrief following the election defeat and refresh itself.
"That does mean, effectively, that we start with a blank page."
He said that included the policy platform, which in 2026 would be different to that offered in 2023.
Asked about any caucus frustration with Hipkins ruling out a wealth or capital gains tax under his leadership, Hipkins said there was a "brief conversation" about tax.
"We didn't get into a lot of the specific policy questions, but I have also been clear with the caucus: We lost. So therefore we start again - and that means that everything comes back onto the table, and that includes a discussion around tax.
"In 2026 our tax policy could look a lot different to our 2023 tax policy.
"What I said - and if you go back to the wording that I made at the time - was that I was setting our tax policy for the next term of government, and I said very clearly at the time that we would do it term by term.
"Any change to our tax approach would only be after a mandate was sought. We clearly lost, so now everything's back on the table.
"We start again."
Asked if he got tax policy wrong, he said he didn't think it was the one issue that defined the election.
"There were a range of issues. I don't think there was one issue that won or lost the election."
Hipkins said there was a drop in support for Labour from the end of 2021, particularly in Auckland, that it failed to recover from, and issues of ministerial conduct through 2023 "certainly didn't help" its election campaign.
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