Little Andrew: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeLittle Andrew: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 01 April 2015. Volume:704;Page:2789. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]3.ANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his statement that “falling off a high horse in Northland can force ACC levies up”; if so is that why the Government has set work and earners levies above the levels recommended by ACC?Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister): I say to the junior leader of the Opposition—Mr SPEAKER: Order!Rt Hon JOHN KEY: —yes and no.Mr SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order! It is that sort of start to the answer that does not help the order of this House.Andrew Little: Is his concern about horses in Northland really about high horses or well-run thoroughbreds?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: All I know is that in 2014 like in 2011 and 2008 we went off to the races and we won big time.Andrew Little: Given that ACC itself has recommended against the $350 million overcharge why is National forcing Kiwi businesses and workers to pay excess ACC levies that even ACC says it does not want or need?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: I would remind the member firstly that the ACC board often makes a range of recommendations. In 2010-11 the Government actually increased ACC levies by $1.137 billion less than what was recommended by ACC. Today actually I read an interesting quote that said the following: “The Employers’ levy remains the same at an average of 90 cents per $100 of payroll. Although ACC recommended a reduced levy rate of 85 cents the government decided there was a need to give employers more stability in levy rates from year to year as well as building up reserves.” That was from Lianne Dalziel Labour’s ACC Minister in 2002-03.Andrew Little: Moving on 13 years to this year is it in the public interest particularly the interests of levy payers for ACC to take more in levies than it needs and more than it wants when its work and earners accounts are already overflowing; if so how?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: I take it from the member that he is thinking that we should do as he says not as Labour has done. That seems to be the subtext of his question. I go back to the point I made earlier. Over time the ACC board has made a series of recommendations. The Government adopts what it thinks is right. It is on track to do that. As you know from 1 April—today—there have been further cuts. There will be more on 1 July I think from memory. It is on track for about $1.5 billion worth of cuts in the last 12 to 18 months alone.Andrew Little: Given his failure to end his ACC rip-off this year will he now commit to cutting next year’s ACC levies by at least $350 million in the coming Budget; if not why on earth not?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: What the Government will do is get a further set of recommendations as is required by law from the ACC board and consider those in context. But I would make a couple of points and that is that if one looks at ACC and the factors that drive its levy recommendations one sees that there are a number of moving factors in there including the discount rate. So the member just better be a little bit careful what he wishes for because the ACC board may well come out with a recommendation he does not like.Andrew Little: Why did he fail to tell New Zealanders that most of his ACC reductions were just reversing his Government’s earlier levy hikes put in place because of Nick Smith’s creative and fake crisis as the smokescreen for privatisation? Why does he not reverse those? Tell the truth.Mr SPEAKER: Order!Rt Hon JOHN KEY: It is true that this Government put up ACC levies when we first came into office. [Interruption] Interestingly enough the member says “unnecessarily”. The recommendation from the board which by the way he wants us to adopt this year was to put them up by $1.3 billion and the reason the board wanted them to go up by so much was that Labour left ACC unfunded and broke. What a disgrace from the Labour Opposition. What a disgrace.