Capital gains tax on property still alive

It is not quite advocating such a tax, but it is a long way from the National-led government's stance six months ago.

It is a long way from Labour's stance when it was in office.

What has changed?

Finance Minister Bill English yesterday, when asked about a capital gains tax, said; "In the long run the economy needs to shift away from spending and borrowing on housing to more exporting. The signs at the moment are that it's not making the shift that we would want to see, so we need to look at whether there's any policy mix that might make the right shift."