Nash Stuart: General Debate 
Nash Stuart: General Debate 
[Volume:672;Page:18793] 
STUART NASH (Labour) 
: 
 I will pick up on David Cunliffe’s point of order and say that Phil Goff Leader of the Opposition never once said that New Zealanders are going to tax farmers on turnover. Never! What Mr Goff has said repeatedly is that the tax system has to be about fairness. Mr Goff has said that every New Zealander has to pay their fair share. So Labour took the figures that had been provided by the Inland Revenue Department and by the Minister of Revenue and the figures said that the average dairy farmer paid tax of $1500. That is what the figures said and that is what the statistics from the Inland Revenue Department said. So the question Mr Goff posed was whether that was fair. That is the question he posed. He asked whether it was fair when hard-working New Zealanders hard-working salary and wage earners are paying a significant amount of tax that dairy farmers are paying $1500 a year on average. That is all he was asking. If Mr Key had a different answer then he should have given it. The figure may be slightly higher—[ 
Interruption 
] 
Paul Quinn 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. We have just had confirmed by the deputy leader of Labour that in fact they have been talking about the $500000. 
Hon Rick Barker 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I do not think I need any further assistance. I will hear from the member shortly. I ask the member to resume his seat because a point of order was being called and heard and I was about to deal with it. While that point of order is being dealt with we cannot have another point of order. Let me make it very clear to Mr Quinn that was not a point of order. If the member wishes to raise a further point of order I will hear it. 
Hon Rick Barker 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Members are not to use points of order to break up a member’s speech. I object to that member’s point of order on two grounds: firstly it was not a point of order and secondly it was a point of order taken deliberately to break up that member’s speech. I ask you Mr Speaker to defend our members’ rights to have an uninterrupted flow of speaking. 
Amy Adams 
: Mr Speaker— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: No I will not take any further on this matter. What is difficult for the Speaker of course is that when someone calls a point of order I cannot foretell what the issue might be but as soon as I could hear what the member was doing I went to sit him down just as the honourable member himself as soon as he heard what was going on sought to stop it as well. But I do say to members that points of order must not be used to disrupt another member’s speech for no good purpose unless it is an issue of order. I will not tolerate that and if members do that repeatedly there will be a consequence. I call Stuart Nash and I apologise for what happened. 
STUART NASH 
: Thank you Mr Speaker. I acknowledge the sum of $1506 may be a little low. I had a look at the figures I went through them and I could not determine a proper figure—there may be stuff held under other tax codes. But Mr Goff asked whether it was fair that according to Inland Revenue Department statistics the average dairy farmer pays about $1500 in tax when a person on the average income pays about $8000. 
I would also like to take umbrage at Mr Foss’ comments. Mr Foss is chair of the Finance and Expenditure Committee and he stood up here and said the Government’s tax cuts had been fiscally positive. There has been $23 billion worth of tax cuts. Mr Foss has himself heard the Governor of the Reserve Bank at the Finance and Expenditure Committee say there has been no economic stimulation whatsoever from $23 billion worth of tax cuts. The tax cuts have had no positive effect on the economy. 
I will tell the House about a woman in the electorate I live in who is called Raewyn. Food that a year ago cost her $85 now costs her $115. She has two children who play sport and belong to sports clubs. Her husband drives to work in a car. He earns above the average wage which 75 percent of New Zealanders do not. She has taken time off work to complete her PhD. Raewyn and her family are the sort of family we want: good and hard-working. She is bettering herself and she will become a very productive citizen. Raewyn admits she is not poor but her family is finding it very very tough. In Napier and around this country budget services are stretched food banks are flooded and social services are overrun. I ask whether this country is the sort of place we want to live in. Is this country the sort of place we want our children and grandchildren to inherit? It is a country with a working core who struggle hand to mouth and where the very wealthy just get richer. Those who earn $1 million a year last year received a tax cut of $1000 a week. Someone on a median wage in Napier received about $10 a week. Is that fair? 
Amy Adams 
: Crocodile tears. 
STUART NASH 
: Amy Adams does not care about the people of Napier. All Amy Adams cares about are the very wealthy who got $1000 a week in a tax cut when the vast majority of New Zealanders received less than $10. Is that fair? No it is not.