Jones Shane: Taxation (Depreciation Payment Dates Alignment FBT and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill — Second Reading 
Jones Shane: Taxation (Depreciation Payment Dates Alignment FBT and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:629;Page:1899] 
SHANE JONES (Labour) 
: 
 I rise to speak in favour of the Taxation (Depreciation Payment Dates Alignment FBT and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill which is obvious given that I had the pleasure of chairing the Finance and Expenditure Committee that dealt with the legislation. I pay a vote of thanks to the fellow members of the select committee. They waded along with me through some highly complex and occasionally arid detail. Although obviously there were different perspectives from a public policy view there was a sense of collegiality that we do the best we can in terms of the implementation dimensions of the legislation and that we also give submitters an opportunity to speak to their submissions—but in such a way that they do not put the members of the select committee to sleep but focus our attention on those elements in their submissions that really were deserving of full attention as opposed to the inevitable filigree that accompanies in my brief experience a lot of substantive points in the select committee process. 
I point out that the bill from my perspective reminds us of the three or four elements that underpin economic growth. Firstly in respect of the application of innovative technology the bill contains a number of ideas and provisions that will improve the manner in which people can both use and depreciate the smaller items of technological value. Secondly labour productivity is an important ingredient in economic growth. The bill does something very sensible in the sense that it expedites and facilitates the easier return of either Kiwis overseas or other people who are coming to Aotearoa to work and improves the tax treatment on their sources of income that are outside our country. In that way it also shows how we are inexorably becoming closer to Australia. In many respects we find that we are competing with Australia for high-quality and specialist employees. One of the issues that the Minister and certainly our committee gave consideration to is whether through tax treatment we were unwittingly making it more hazardous and difficult for people to resume a position of employment or take self-employed status back in New Zealand. That is one of the very sensible ways in which labour productivity will be improved. 
The efficiency of capital is a key ingredient that all economies must look at and indeed that all Governments and parliamentarians should be very very thoughtful about. In that sense the way in which the depreciation schedule has been visited upon capital assets such as buildings sends an important message that any economy that is to sustain the levels of growth that we have enjoyed needs to have an efficient style and pattern of capital deployment. 
Finally the bill represents in excess of $300 million worth of tax relief. That puts paid to and makes a lie out of the critics and those who would denounce the strategy that we are pursuing of which the bill is one important part. The bill offers tax relief simplification and a reduction of compliance hazards for people in business and I have no doubt that they will enjoy the fruits of this legislation.