Heatley Phil: Taxation (Base Maintenance  and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee 
Heatley Phil: Taxation (Base Maintenance  and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee 
[Volume:626;Page:21457] 
PHIL HEATLEY (National—Whangarei) 
: 
 My understanding along with the understanding of 3.5 million New Zealanders is that Wellington the Beehive and Dr Cullen are absolutely and utterly awash with cash. Every New Zealander believes that Wellington is absolutely awash with cash. But I have found out from Mr Prebble this evening that Wellington is awash with civil servants as well—in fact with 38000 extra civil servants. It is no surprise that what was not an election issue 3 or 4 months ago is now an election issue—that is the fact that Wellington is awash with cash and it is time for some serious tax cuts. 
Now the Labour Government has put forward this bill and the Budget a month ago made a tremendous offer to New Zealanders which was 67c extra to spend in 3 years’ time. 
Lindsay Tisch 
: How much? 
PHIL HEATLEY 
: It is 67c extra to spend. I can see the galleries clearing; the people up there did not know they had an extra 67c in 3 years’ time. Look—they are off down the road to buy themselves a packet of chewing gum just to celebrate and good for them! National thinks there should be some serious tax cuts on top of the 67c in 3 years’ time because Wellington is awash with cash and every New Zealander knows it. 
I would like to support Nick Smith who was challenged by the tennis player opposite about the number of tax and levy increases over the last 5 years. I have a document that came out in August 2003 and it lists 24 tax and levy increases from Labour which is the party that members will recall promised at the 2002 election there would be no new taxes. That is what it promised back then but there have been 24 tax increases. 
Perhaps members will remember the petrol tax increase—that 4.7c plus GST increase that came along with road-user charges for diesel vehicles. That tax was up 30 percent. The second was petrol tax II which of course we are seeing at the moment. The third was the threatened flatulence tax which at the time was going to be 9c on sheep 54c on cattle and 72c on dairy cattle. Well that one did not come to pass because of political pressure. The fourth was that income tax went from 33 percent to 39 percent. Members will remember that and the Hon Richard Prebble talked about that. Fringe benefit tax went up from 49 percent to 64 percent and trust income tax the sixth increase went up from 19.5 percent to 33 percent. There was an electricity tax and an increase in the tax on alcoholic beverages—from $21 per litre to $38 per litre of alcohol. Members will recall a debate all night on the sherry tax. Dr Cullen decided he would stiff-arm the elderly; they could not go to bed with a sherry because he whacked the tax up from $21 to $38 per litre of alcohol. He hit the elderly hard. He believed he was stopping young people from drinking high-alcohol beverages but it was the elderly sitting with their blankets over their knees in front of the heater and watching  
Coronation Street  
who were the ones that suffered. 
Members will recall that the ninth increase was the driver’s licence renewal fee. Its cost went up as did the costs of birth death and marriage certificates. I have never had so many emails on an issue as those from people concerned about the cost of those certificates going up significantly. The ciggy tax increased so that the cost of a packet of cigarettes went from $7 to $8. And there were Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) levies ACC motor vehicle levies a petrol ACC levy and the resident withholding tax. The 16th was an import fee and the 17th was a Fire Service levy. Households’ and motorists’ levies went up 17.7 percent. A fishing-licence went up 10 percent.