Labour won't tax the banks either

Buried under yesterday's chickenshit announcement by Chris Hipkins that Labour won't support a wealth tax so long as he is leader is another example of Labour chickenshittery: they won't tax the banks either, despite them making "supernormal" profits:

The big four Australian-owned banks avoided a windfall tax on their Covid-era profits partly because Treasury could find no clear evidence their “supernormal” profits at the time were out of line with their standard supernormal profits.

Budget documents released on Wednesday showed the Government considered, the decided against, levying a windfall profits tax on banks to help pay for the rebuild in Hawke’s Bay following devastation in February from Cyclone Gabrielle.

They also show Treasury officials told the Government that while big bank profits had increased in the Covid era: “We have not identified clear evidence for windfall profits, on top of the sector’s usual elevated level of profitability”.

...which seems to be a strong argument for a perpetual windfall tax on bank profits, to tame these rapacious parasites. But instead, Labour decided to do nothing, as usual. So, they won't tax the rich, they won't tax the banks, but they'll cry "poverty" when anyone voices basic expectations about a functioning state or public services. But they're not "poor" - just too stupid, weak, and craven to govern effectively.