Brown SimeonSIMEON BROWN (National—Pakuranga): Mr Chairman thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak to Part 2 of the Families Package (Income Tax and Benefits) Bill. This bill seems a bit like going into Briscoes: whenever you go into Briscoes you get a special. I have been into Briscoes once and not had a special but generally when you go into Briscoes there's something on special. Here you have a special winter and you have a non-special winter. So next year is a special winter which is only three months long and the following winter will be just a normal winter. But the first one's a special one where superannuitants are going to get paid only three months of the winter energy payment. That raises a question: why not from 1 May? I'd like to endorse the amendment in the name of the Hon Steven Joyce which means that next year won't be a special winter but will be a non-special winter which will be a 22-week period starting on 1 May.This is about ensuring that there is some certainty and some fairness for those who would have had under National's tax cuts which were coming into place next year $700 for a couple or $450 for a single person which has been removed. And now because of budgetary constraints it seems to be that we are going to have to put in place a winter special period of energy payment to compensate for that.I'd like a member from the New Zealand First Party to please explain. Please explain why you have agreed to this when you went out and campaigned—[Interruption] You voted—[Interruption] Again I apologise. The New Zealand First Party voted in this year's Budget for a tax cut that would have ensured that superannuitants would receive $700 a week due to the—[Interruption] They are now getting a cut. So why have they changed their minds? Why have they changed their minds?I'd also like to speak in support of the Hon Tim Macindoe's proposed amendment which actually puts some certainty around where this money is going to go and targets it. It's one thing just to say we're going to have winter energy payment where the money's just going to be given to people; it's another thing to actually give money to help them with their heating—and help them in a way that is going to be efficient effective and actually make sure they are going to be warm. I'd like to endorse that because we could instead of paying superannuation just have a winter food payment a winter energy payment a winter petrol payment a winter water payment a winter housing payment a winter medication payment a winter clothing payment a winter travel payment a winter rates payment and we could then have a summer food payment a summer energy payment a summer petrol payment and we could divide up all the money that is divided but on this of the House—Hon Alfred Ngaro: An autumn payment.SIMEON BROWN: A water payment that's right.Hon Alfred Ngaro: Autumn payment.SIMEON BROWN: Autumn payment—that's right. We need a spring payment as well. But I'm not sure which ones would be more and which ones would be less but you'd need to have an army of bureaucrats to be able to determine all of those questions.On this side of the House we actually think that people are able to decide how they should spend their money and make those choices for themselves. On the other side they think that they can know best and that they need to then come up with bureaucratic ways around how to make this sound palatable to the public.Just one other point when I was thinking about—I think there was a conversation earlier—what would happen if someone went down to Antarctica for four weeks well what if someone went for a four-week cruise and the starting point was Auckland and the finishing point was Wellington or cruising around the country.Hon Ruth Dyson: They start from Bluff.SIMEON BROWN: Well they might start from Bluff they might start from Cape Reinga but what I am saying Mr Chairman is that there are a number of flaws a number of holes in this entire bill and I think it's part of the narrative that this Government is showing: that there are holes in this Government too.