Tremain Chris: Taxation (Annual Rates and Budget Measures) Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee 
Tremain Chris: Taxation (Annual Rates and Budget Measures) Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee 
[Volume:672;Page:18921] 
CHRIS TREMAIN (National—Napier) 
: 
 The Hon Clayton Cosgrove is the constituency MP for the seat of Waimakariri. By all accounts he is a pretty good constituency MP but not once tonight have I heard him speak about a matter of importance a cornerstone of this Budget which is the repair and recovery of Christchurch. At the very least he could have acknowledged that this Government has put together— 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Most of my first reading speech was acknowledging those issues. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: No the member will sit down. That is a frivolous interjection and it leads to disorder. 
CHRIS TREMAIN 
: At the very least he could have acknowledged one of the cornerstones of this Budget which is the renovation and repair of Christchurch. The Government has made the rebuilding of Christchurch a cornerstone of this Budget. The Budget has ring-fenced $8.8 billion to repair Mr Cosgrove’s Waimakariri constituency and the wider Christchurch area. Yet tonight in this House he would not spend a minute talking about his constituents and how this package could lead to the recovery of Christchurch or about building a new city. He did not acknowledge that at the very least this Budget is taking a step forward towards that. Tonight Labour members will vote against this Budget and against the rebuild of his own city. That is unbelievable. 
I come back to the Taxation (Annual Rates and Budget Measures) Bill. Part 1 is very important because it reconfirms the annual rates of taxation. That fact was not really alluded to in the Budget speech but I want to pick it up again tonight in order to reaffirm to New Zealanders the importance of those taxation rates. 
Let us cast our minds back to the 2010 Budget which set in place for this country a change that I was particularly proud of. That change is reaffirmed in this tax bill tonight. For incomes under $14000 New Zealanders pay 10.5c in the dollar which is down from 12.5c in the dollar under the previous Government. For incomes between $14000 and $48000 New Zealanders now pay 17.5c in the dollar down from 21c in the dollar. For incomes between $48000 and $70000 they pay just 30c in the dollar down from 33c and on incomes of $70000 they pay 33c in the dollar which is down from 38c. 
On any level that is a reduction in personal income tax—on any level. But I hear from members across the House constantly that this side of the House has not delivered help for middle and lower income New Zealanders. Well in the reaffirmation of those tax rates the facts are clear. Income tax is lower for New Zealanders across the board—across the board. Seventy percent to 75 percent of Kiwis now pay income tax at a rate of 17.5 percent—in fact the average is below 17.5 percent. 
But that is a double-edged sword. On the one hand we can say that it is good that people in a big chunk of the country are paying lower income tax rates but on the other hand the fact that 75 percent of Kiwis have incomes of $48000 and below is not good enough. That is why I am so proud of what we have put together in this Budget. The projections are that real incomes in New Zealand will grow. We can lift the incomes of New Zealanders and continue to grow those incomes. 
I am proud of what we have delivered in this Budget today. I think it is a fantastic step forward. It ring-fences money to help to repair the likes of Mr Cosgrove’s electorate. I think that is a fantastic thing. This Budget provides a real vision something tangible that people can have going forward. The Budget brings debt under control and lifts wages in the long term. This is an excellent Budget and I commend it to the House. Thank you.