McClay Todd: Taxation (Livestock Valuation Assets Expenditure and Remedial Matters) Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
McClay Todd: Taxation (Livestock Valuation Assets Expenditure and Remedial Matters) Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 29 November 2012. Volume:686;Page:6979. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
TODD McCLAY (National—Rotorua) 
: 
 This bill the Taxation (Livestock Valuation Assets Expenditure and Remedial Matters) Bill continues the Government’s focus on ensuring that everybody pays their fair share of tax whilst at the same supporting our economy. I want to thank the Minister of Revenue Peter Dunne for his work in developing and bringing this bill to the House because I think it does a number of very important things. It is also good to see members opposite saying that they are going to support it. It is a long time since I remember them supporting something the Government is doing that is so important to New Zealand. Therefore that is a good thing. Perhaps we are all learning here in this House. 
There are a couple of things I want to touch on in particular. The first is that Budget 2012 made a number of changes to the way that livestock in New Zealand is valued. This bill further supports those changes with provisions to enact that to a greater degree. There is a tightening of rules for reducing the cost of assets that are used privately by the owners who also seek to gain revenue from them. I think it is very important that we have a debate around this. As with the last person who spoke in this debate Dr David Clark I am sure we will receive a number of submissions in the select committee on this very issue. There are several GST-related changes and importantly there are changes to the time period in which entities or individuals are able to claim refunds. 
The last speaker in the debate said that the Government was out of touch and I want to absolutely tell you that that is not the case. There is one change that is coming about in this bill that is not only extremely important to many hard-working New Zealanders but also extremely important to my electorate in the Te Puke area where we grow kiwifruit. Of course all members of the House will be as concerned as I am about the effects the Psa virus is having upon the kiwifruit industry. This bill will also have rules concerning the tax treatment of certain capital payments and receipts and capital losses in the horticulture industry. It will clarify those and these are generally of assistance to the kiwifruit orchards that are affected by Psa. What does that mean? Well it means actually that the kiwifruit industry some time ago came to the Government and made a case for the difficultly it would have as it moved through dealing with Psa and the tax treatment where there are likely to be losses where crops are wiped out and the growers need to reinvest. 
I want to thank the Minister for understanding the growers’ concerns and listening and for bringing this bill which will assist them to get back on their feet. It will better align amortisation rules for primary sector businesses with the general depreciation rules as a result of Psa in kiwifruit. That is not a Government that is out of touch; that is a Government that is listening and delivering direct assistance to an industry that very much needs that assistance. It is saying that this House’s thoughts and the Government’s support are with the growers in the industry around Te Puke and in other parts of New Zealand at the moment. I look forward to their submissions on the bill. Thank you.