Dean Jacqui: Taxation (Budget Measures) Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee 
Dean Jacqui: Taxation (Budget Measures) Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee 
[Volume:663;Page:11099] 
JACQUI DEAN (National—Waitaki) 
: 
 What a pleasure it is to follow that contribution from our colleague in the Maori Party who understands very clearly what matters in this country. I think this Budget delivers on what matters in this country which is putting the right incentives into the New Zealand economy and looking after all the people who live here. 
This Budget is about across-the-board tax cuts delivered to people in New Zealand. I will go through those tax cuts and tax rates because I think it is worth repeating them. People who have an income of under $14000 and who were paying a rate of 12.5 percent in tax will now get a tax rate cut down to 10.5 percent and that is significant. The tax rate for those people on an income between $14000 and $48000 goes from 21 percent down to 17.5 percent. That is significant for that range of members of our country. The tax rate for the people on an income between $48000 and $70000 goes from 33 percent down to 30 percent. That change has been welcomed across the board. The tax rate for the people on an income of over $70000 has gone down to 33 percent. This Budget is providing across-the-board tax cuts. 
It is interesting is it not that Opposition members are all at sea with this Budget. They are hardly putting up much of a fight and do not seem to have latched on to anything they really dislike about this Budget. In fact it was very interesting to hear the contribution of Trevor Mallard who has largely agreed with a number of the provisions that have been brought about in this Taxation (Budget Measures) Bill. 
There is a rise in the rate of GST to 15 percent from 12.5 percent and to balance that there will be an immediate rise of 2.2 percent in income for those on superannuation benefits and Working for Families. 
A number of spending boosts are contained in this Budget. In health there will be $2.1 billion more over 4 years. That will go into front-line health services. It is good-quality health spending. In education there will be $1.4 billion more over 4 years for better schooling and also for early childhood education. In research science and technology there will be $321 million over 4 years for new initiatives. That is all about growth in the New Zealand economy. And of course there is faster broadband—$248 million extra over 4 years. 
But I want to talk about a Budget initiative that has not been mentioned so far. It is a tiny initiative but it just goes to show that a very small amount in the Budget carefully placed can have a big impact on growing the New Zealand economy. The first initiative I will talk about is the $30 million to be used to promote New Zealand overseas as a tourism destination. That amount in the Budget is relatively small but in my view it is significant for tourism in New Zealand because we are an exciting tourism destination. With the Rugby World Cup proposed to be held here next year I believe that it is important that we promote ourselves overseas. 
The other example I will raise is comparatively minuscule at $5 million but I am excited that the Department of Conservation is to put $5 million into developing more cycle trails and camping grounds over the next year. Why do I think that is significant? Although $5 million is relatively small in the grand scheme of things I can tell members that in my electorate the Otago Central Rail Trail has had a huge impact on the economic well-being of the Otago region. I will focus on one very small provider of tourism services and that is the Chatto Creek Tavern. Before the rail trail came into being the Chatto Creek Tavern—which is at Chatto Creek just out of Alexandra—was struggling. It was one of those small businesses in one of those very tiny little towns that was struggling and facing closure. These days 5 or 6 years later the Chatto Creek Tavern not only is surviving but also is thriving. There are now 13 people working in the Chatto Creek Tavern. They serve 180 lunches in the high season and 100 lunches in the low season. Members opposite do not see the significance of that—and I do not blame them because they do not represent the provinces—but if we extrapolate that benefit out from Middlemarch down to Clyde and all along the length of the Otago Central Rail Trail we can quickly see the benefit that an initiative like the rail trail brings to the local region. Five million dollars is a very small Budget amount but it is significant. 
This Budget is about putting the right incentives into the economy. It is interesting to see how well it is being received. I will leave members with this one statistic. The  
Close Up  
poll returned a result of 80 percent of people being in favour of the Budget. That was on prime time television tonight. That is good news. I commend this taxation bill to the House.