Smith NickPart 2 Amendments to other ActsHon Dr NICK SMITH (National—Nelson): The very first clause of Part 2 clause 7 applies GST to this regional petrol tax. If I had a dollar for every time I'd heard a lecture from the Rt Hon Winston Peters on the evils—and that's the exact word that he uses the evils—of putting a GST a tax on a tax I would be a very wealthy man. In fact I decided to google it because I thought I could remember at least two dozen occasions when I'd heard such a lecture from Winston Peters. Do members know how many times on Google you find Winston Peters damning a tax on tax or a GST on the fuel excise? Would anybody make a bid?Hon Member: A hundred!Hon Dr NICK SMITH: Well actually the first time I remember a speech from Winston Peters on this issue was when the GST was introduced in 1985. So I accept I'm talking over 30 years but Winston Peters has been consistent and Mr Google will find 234—234—references to the Rt Hon Winston Peters opposing GST on excise tax.So then I come to clause 7 of Part 2. Just to remove any doubt let me read to the committee what this section says. It says for the removal of any doubt the new regional petrol tax will be considered as the supply of a service for the perspective of GST. Now I have to confess this is not the first time that Winston Peters has done a double back-flip but I do challenge the New Zealand First members in the Chamber maybe just this once maybe just once in the history of New Zealand First might it do what its leader says and stand by its principles stand by those tub-thumping speeches that it's given up and down New Zealand saying that a tax on a tax is to quote Mr Peters an evil"—an evil.Then I want to say one other part in respect of these provisions and that is have members opposite given consideration to what this will do for the cost of living? Can I share with my colleagues a fact that I'm very proud of: if you look at every single Government in the history of New Zealand since this Parliament first sat in 1853 no Government has as good a record on cost of living as the previous Key-English Government. The average level of inflation the average increase in the cost of living over those years was 1.6 percent and that is something I'm enormously proud of. I'll say this to you: I've fought 10 election campaigns; there's only one of those—only one of those—in which the cost of living was not an issue. How many of my colleagues on any side of the Chamber can recall the cost of living being a significant issue in the 2017 election? It was not and the reason it was not is because every National member for nine years regardless of what portfolio they had was focused on ensuring that we did not impose unreasonable costs on New Zealand households.So I challenge members opposite and the Minister in the chair Phil Twyford to tell us what putting GST on this regional petrol tax is going to do for the cost of living. We all know on this side of the Chamber that this will flow through to the cost of vegies this will flow through to the cost of bread this will flow through to the cost of your bus and this will flow through to every single element of the economy. And here's the sad fact: not a member of New Zealand First or the Labour or the Green parties give a toss for the costs that they are imposing on New Zealand families and it will be the end of them."