Mapp Wayne: Taxation (Urgent Measures and Annual Rates) Bill — Second Reading In Committee 
Mapp Wayne: Taxation (Urgent Measures and Annual Rates) Bill — Second Reading In Committee 
[Volume:651;Page:134] 
Hon Dr WAYNE MAPP (Minister of Defence) 
: 
 Congratulations Mr Deputy Speaker on your elevation. One of the disappointing things when listening to Opposition members is that apparently they cannot read. If they had read our policies they would know that the statements they are making are simply not correct. I could actually say something else but I will not because it would be unparliamentary. But I remind members that if they are going to make assertions about another party’s policy they at least should take the trouble to read it before doing so. 
Extraordinary things we have been finding in Government are all the problems the previous Government left for us. For instance one of the very first briefings I received related to the issues around AgResearch—all its redundancies. Did the previous Government tell the public that—did it tell the scientists that? No it did not. It was actually a great relief—and I know that my colleague Mr Bennett knows this particularly well because he comes from the area—that that in fact has been ameliorated quite substantially. I know that that has been a substantial relief to the people in AgResearch. One would not hear that from Labour members would one? One would not hear that Labour’s legacy was going to be redundancies rolling out for ever. That was Labour’s policy when it was in Government. That is what it was going to do about protecting New Zealand’s science research and technology bases. So it was a good result to see that the effects of that were being ameliorated substantially. I know that that was appreciated within AgResearch itself and within that community. So let us not hear from the other side about all the work it did for science research and technology. When one measures the facts against Labour’s rhetoric—actually that was a feature of the previous Government: rhetoric on the one hand was always noble grand and highfalutin; reality on the other hand well that was a bit different was it not? 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: How about the whales Wayne? How are the whales getting on? 
Hon Dr WAYNE MAPP 
: Let me just remind the senior whip on the other side to look at the Defence Force. 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: How’s the frigate? 
Hon Dr WAYNE MAPP 
: That member should ask the former Minister of Defence about all the problems in defence that he has left with the current Minister of Defence. I tell that person that he had better be quiet on that particular issue. 
I just want to bring the Opposition to a reality check. We explicitly campaigned on this bill. The public knew exactly the nature of the tax programme that National is offering not just in terms of personal income taxes but also in terms of KiwiSaver itself. The public made a judgment on Labour’s programme and made a judgment on National’s programme. That is why we are on this side of the House today and that is why we are moving this bill. We told the public that this was part of our 100-day programme and that is why we are implementing it in this way. 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: You don’t want it to go to select committee? 
Hon Dr WAYNE MAPP 
: The former Minister knows full well that tax rate issues never go to select committees. They are always dealt with by this House. I remind that member that that is what happened in December 1999. There is a good reason for that in fact. It is because the public have actually made a judgment. They voted for specific tax rates. We have a specific promise and there is no point putting that specific promise to a select committee because the issue has already been judged and that is why we are implementing it in the way we are doing. 
I just want to go through some aspects of the detail. Labour always goes on about its tax package being better than ours. Well the first point of which I need to remind Labour is that the public has made that judgment already and Labour was not on the winning side of that. But the second point I make to the Opposition is this: the major difference is that we put our priority into middle New Zealand families and their aspirations. So our focus was shifting the 21 percent rate up from $40000 through ultimately to $50000. That is where the vast majority of hard-working aspirational New Zealand families actually fit. We are not talking obviously about people who have just entered the workforce we are talking about people who have built experience and are going into careers and looking at opportunities for the future and looking at opportunities in other countries. 
This is the key point in the New Zealand tax system. One only has to look at the whole group of people that Labour often talks about—teachers nurses and so forth. This tax rate affects them more than any other tax rate. So we have aimed this package right at aspirational New Zealanders who are building skills and building careers. We are saying to them that our tax package will make it easier for them and their families. Our tax package will make it easier for them to decide that “Yes perhaps I should stay in New Zealand.” I also remind the Opposition of this: at this point in time with the economy in the situation that it is right now stimulus is exactly what is needed on 1 April 2009. What would the public have got from the other side? Zero! Actually zero was Labour’s tax package for 1 April 2009. That is one of the reasons Labour lost the election. The public understood that in this difficult financial situation which not just New Zealand but much of the rest of the world is involved in as well stimulus is what is required. Every country in fact is undergoing that process and this bill is part of the National Government package to deliver stimulus to the economy. 
Labour members might talk about savings and all of that. That is not the core issue right now in the New Zealand economy. The core issue is getting money into the economy by 1 April next year to keep demand up keep aspirations up keep jobs going and keep hope going. That is the difference between us and them. Their package for 1 April next year was zero. Our package will stimulate the New Zealand economy at a time when it will count. 
Dovetailed to that is that it is pitched at those New Zealanders who have been crying out for some relief in the tax system. In 9 years under Labour they got zero. National is delivering. That really sums it up. National in Government is delivering we are honouring our promises and we will deliver this in the next day or so when the bill comes into effect. That fundamentally pitches the difference between this side a Government of action and that side an Opposition of failure.