Nicola Willis heckled about ‘tax cuts for landlords’ at Auckland media conference

Nicola Willis has been heckled at a press conference after an Auckland Chamber of Commerce event.

The annual lunch – held today at the Cordis Hotel in downtown Auckland – was followed by a speech where the Finance Minister said Treasury’s growth forecasts “weren’t flash” and economic growth in the next few years would be “significantly slower” than previously expected.

Speaking to reporters afterwards, Willis defended the plan to make offshore online casino operators pay gaming duty of 12 percent on betting revenue and said the Budget would “add up just fine”, delivering on coalition commitments including income tax cuts.

A man who was not part of the assembled media peppered her responses with interruptions, including “landlords”; “school lunches”; “tax cuts for landlords” and “tax is life”.

Willis paused her speech, turned to the man and said, “Sir, would you like to talk with me afterwards? I’m very happy to have a chat.”

“I’ll keep quiet,” he replied.

He soon interrupted again while she was speaking on the topic of school lunches.

“Will the landlords get enough to eat?” he asked, before again interrupting Willis’s response to that question.

“Sir, I’m conscious this is a press conference for media,” she replied.

At the end of the press conference, the man apologised for interrupting and followed Willis for further discussions.

He was spoken to by staff and left on his own accord.