Robertson Grant: Taxation (Budget Tax Measures) Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
Robertson Grant: Taxation (Budget Tax Measures) Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:654;Page:4009] 
GRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central) 
: 
 On 8 October 2008 John Key delivered a speech. In that speech he said the following: “I am very conscious of the worsening international situation which is evolving on a daily basis. Together with my colleagues I have been closely monitoring the build-up in problems in the financial markets over the past several months and particularly in recent weeks”. This is the same speech in which Mr Key went on to say the following: “I will now turn to National’s tax plans in more detail. Following on from the tax cuts of 1 October 2008 National will be making further tax reductions on 1 April 2009 1 April 2010 and 1 April 2011.” On 8 October 2008 the day the IMF released a report telling the world about the depth of the recession John Key went to the New Zealand public and promised those tax cuts. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: It’s got worse since then. 
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: Yes I say to Dr Smith it did get worse. On 9 December we stood in this House under urgency—when I made one of my first speeches in this House—to put in place those tax cuts for 1 April 2010 and 1 April 2011. We listened to Chris Tremain the junior Government whip who told us that Kiwis knew National had a big agenda and were proud to see a Government standing up and delivering on that agenda. That is what happened on 9 December. Dr Smith is right that more information then came to light: the recession was deeper and worse. So what was the reaction of John Key and the National Government? It was to continue down the path of the tax cuts that we are now repealing in Part 1. 
Labour at that time said those tax cuts were unaffordable and irresponsible. Our position has been consistent. We can support this legislation because we are being consistent. The inconsistency comes from the other side of the House. Members opposite knew when they put in place those tax cuts on 9 December that they were irresponsible and unaffordable. In the end going right back from 8 October to 9 December this was a cynical election bribe from the National Party. It knew it had to up the ante on tax cuts; it knew it had to raise the bar to try to convince the public of New Zealand to vote for them. It was a cynical election bribe. John Key knew the state of the world economy; he had the IMF report. But on 9 December National still wanted to get its 100-day agenda in and it did not care what the real state of the economy was. This is a cynical election bribe. Here we are today repealing what we did under urgency in the first place. 
When we debated the legislation on 9 December we heard David Bennett tell us that this bill was the first part of delivering a growth economy and that through personal tax cuts the bill would give the impetus needed for the New Zealand economy to grow and be successful. Let us bear in mind that this was meant to be the stimulus package. This was meant to stimulate the economy. David Bennett went on to say that the package was about giving some stimulation to the economy—well clearly not any more! Yesterday’s Budget gives about as much stimulus to the economy as a decaffeinated latte. That is the stimulus package we saw yesterday from the National Government. 
We also need to remember that Mr Key in his speech on 8 October was very clear that these tax cuts could be paid for through changes to KiwiSaver and changes to research and development tax credits. Mr Key said: “Taken together the removal of the R&D tax credits and the changes to KiwiSaver mean National will not have to borrow or cut public services to fund our personal tax cuts.” Well what we have discovered today is that National is not doing the tax cuts but it is cutting public services and it is borrowing. So there we go—it is a triple whammy: the public of New Zealand not only are not getting the tax cuts but also are getting cuts to public services and we are seeing potential cuts to superannuation. And we have it here: there are cuts everywhere but not on taxes. 
This is a Budget of broken promises and this is the biggest broken promise of them all. This is not a stimulus Budget. This Budget could have been about creating jobs this Budget could have been about protecting New Zealanders in work. But instead it is a return for National on the fact that it made a cynical election bribe.