Seymour DavidDAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT): Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise on behalf of the ACT Party in opposition to this COVID-19—oh sorry; wrong one—the Taxation (COVID-19 Support Payments and Working for Families Tax Credits) Bill. This is the second bill in 24 hours that the Government is attempting to pass under urgency without the usual consultation. And the interesting thing about it is it doesn't come into force until midway next year. So you'd have to wonder whether this is being put through under urgency because of some dire need to avert an emergency or because it's politically expedient to make a law more rapidly and with less scrutiny and hand out money to people that the Labour Party thinks will vote for it under cover of urgency. In a way it's kind of worse to rush a bill through under urgency for that reason than it was to do the COVID19 Response (Vaccinations) Legislation Bill under urgency. I mean at least there are some practical problems with the COVID-19 response in terms of vaccinations that they arguably do need to rush because they're so far behind in the response. Whereas doing extra taxpayer handouts under cover of urgency—that is the height of cynicism. I have to say I often find myself for some reason giving a speech on a bill after Jan Logie. And that often gives me a lot to unpack—and let me just try to get through some of the things that we've just heard. Jan Logie said that it's absolutely critical that we keep the borders closed that we don't open up and that we prevent one more person from dying—she said that even one more person dying from COVID would be a tragedy. I agree with that: every death is a tragedy. It's also important to have a bit of perspective: 30000 people die in New Zealand every year 100 people a day many of them from things that are preventable—if for example we could afford more cancer medicines or make the roads safer or have better nutrition for people or a higher quality of housing. This is where I think the Greens often lack a sense of perspective. Actually in a way they kind of acknowledge that because shortly later in Jan Logie's speech she said Well people have lost their jobs because of the lockdowns and restrictions." Well she's absolutely right. I mean doesn't that tell us that there actually need to be trade-offs and that when you make policy you've got to consider that there are different impacts on different people from decisions made by Parliament. But it seems she didn't recognise that because she then said "The people who are most able to help vulnerable New Zealanders are the 120 people in this Parliament." Well that is not only completely unrealistic but it's also frankly insulting to the many New Zealanders who wake up each day and try to make a difference in their own lives and the lives of those around them and actually help people.Some people would say that real kindness and generosity is not putting your hand in someone else's pocket and through this Parliament and its power to tax but putting your hand in your own pocket and giving up your own time and money to help your fellow New Zealander. What an extraordinary world view where we don't want one more COVID death we're prepared to lose our jobs and lose more people to other things as a result of the endless restrictions and the borrowing and the spending and the way to help people is to go into Parliament and take money off one person and give it to another—an affront to all of the people who are actually practically helping each other.I say all that because in a way the Green Party is a caricature or an extreme rendition of the Labour Party's position on this issue. This Labour Government went into COVID with more natural advantages than any other country. One of the biggest advantages it had was access to cheap credit. And it borrowed money—$60 billion—second-biggest fiscal stimulus in the OECD to get through COVID second-biggest before the latest lockdown all of which seemed viable because of record low interest rates. When the interest rates couldn't go any lower because it is difficult to go lower than zero—some countries have managed it but it's difficult—they started the large-scale asset programme and then they started the funding for lending programme to try and pump even more money into the New Zealand economy.And now at exactly the time when we need to start reconnecting and give people the opportunity to earn a dollar all this Labour Party can do is rush through under urgency a legislative initiative to push more money out of the Treasury and into some people's—not all but some people's—pockets because that's all they know how to do. They don't know how to unite New Zealanders behind good ideas to create more wealth but they do know how to divide people they know how to commodify people into identities they know how to divide wealth they know how to take off one and give to another—robbing Peter to pay Paul hoping to pick up some votes on the way through. That's the Labour Party style of Government and they're doing it right now under urgency under cover of COVID to advance their longer-term political goals.I just wonder how many of the Labour backbenchers are going to earn their salary today and stand up for more than two minutes and actually defend their Government; or better still critique it. And as that great New Zealand artist Scribe said I'll take a bet "Not many if any." That'll be the answer to how many of them will get up. The difficulty is that while they're failing to do that the New Zealand Government is putting on New Zealanders tremendous pressure in terms of the cost of life and the cost of living—that's what we're hearing from people. What we're hearing from people is prices are going up and that in a way explains why they're rushing through this law to try and give more money to some people but the difficulty with the Government's strategy of printing money using low interest rates—not so low anymore; just went up 25 points quarter of a percent on the mortgage today from the Reserve Bank—Hon Michael Woodhouse: There'll be more where that came from.DAVID SEYMOUR: —and that's going to keep going and it's going to keep going. As Michael Woodhouse says "There's more where that came from."Their strategy of borrowing cheap money and pushing it out the door to try and fund people that they think might politically favour them. It might help with the cost of life in the short term but it doesn't work in the long term. What the Government needs to do if it wants to make it easier for people to afford things at the petrol pump and at the supermarket checkout and afford homes and afford rent is not print borrow and redistribute for politically expedient purposes at every opportunity including under urgency under cover of COVID. They actually need to start uniting New Zealanders behind better ideas to produce more wealth. They need to make it easier to build homes. They need to work out how to plan and finance infrastructure so there's more land you can build on. They need to make it easier to get competition into the supermarket industry. They need to make it easier to get foreign investment into New Zealand. They need to make it easier to build stuff period. They need to make it easier to employ people. They need to make it easier for people to come to New Zealand and fill skill shortages. They need to fix the broken Immigration New Zealand system. They need to find a way to safely reconnect with the world not next month not next April but when it is safe to do so and it's safer to do it right now.That's what they need to be doing—that's what this Government should be doing. If they were going to use urgency to find a way to get some actual tourists back for the tourism industry that would be very welcome but instead they are using urgency flipping and swiping away the usual democratic processes and procedures that people in a free and democratic society like New Zealand were taking for granted—I suspect they'll be taking it for granted less—in order to rush through legislation so they can try and demonstrate their kindness by putting their hand in someone else's pocket to pay off people that they think are more likely to vote for them. The cynicism is extraordinary. They're buying into the rhetoric of Jan Logie who spoke before me who seems to believe that the best way to help people is not to create the conditions for people to work and do smarter more innovative things; it's actually the people that are most able to help people are the 120 people in this House with the power to tax.Well let me give you a few predictions. Over the next year all of these inflationary big spending and big printing policies they are going to come to an end; they'll be unsustainable. And mortgage rates and interest rates are going to have to go up to arrest the inflation. People are going to see their pocketbooks squeezed. People are going to realise more and more that this is the cost of COVID under Labour. And the Labour Party are going to stand there and their only strategy they're going to have to fix it will be "We will borrow more money we will print more money we'll take it off someone else and give it to you. We will have a wealth tax. We will do this; we will do that." but the people will see right through it because New Zealanders know that ultimately you can't spend what you don't earn for very long. And this legislation and the way that this Government's going about it will be their political death nail because bad policy is always bad politics in the end. Thank you Madam Speaker."