Mahuta Nanaia: General Debate 
Mahuta Nanaia: General Debate 
[Volume:666;Page:13990] 
Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Labour—Hauraki-Waikato) 
: 
 Every MP would acknowledge the extensive damage caused to families and communities in Christchurch as a result of the earthquake. It is right that members opposite have talked about the huge challenge of rebuilding the city and more important the lives of people who have been absolutely shaken as a result of their experience. But I want to ensure that some of the other issues affecting families are not masked by this particular debate. More important I want to know what the Government will do about the increasing pressure on every household in New Zealand including the ones in Christchurch arising from the increased costs they are facing—increased costs generally increased costs as a result of the GST hikes on 1 October and more important their effect on low and middle income earners. Seventy-three percent of the Hauraki-Waikato electorate earns $40000 and will see little or no benefit from the tax cuts delivered by National and the Maori Party. GST will hurt them at the checkout and when purchasing every consumable item. 
I suspect that vulnerable families in Christchurch are worried about rebuilding their homes the cost in the increase of GST and the impact that it will have on them. But more important they are worried about how they will cope in the immediate term with that rebuilding effort and the pressure of costs. That is sad because the real winners in National’s tax package are actually high-income earners—not the low-income earners not the vulnerable families and not those on fixed incomes like superannuitants. More needs to be done to hear their voice. 
The Christchurch earthquake if it does anything should let us all know in this House that although New Zealand is a huge land mass reverberations are felt throughout it. I think that the reverberation from increased household prices will be felt stiffly throughout every household across the country just like an earthquake on 1 October. I want to know where the Maori Party is on this issue because it voted for tax cuts that deliver nothing to Maori households. The Maori Party voted for GST increases that will deliver nothing to Maori households; in fact it voted on an issue that more important affects families in the pocket and will have a fundamental impact on how they cope going forward. 
There are a number of areas where we have seen costs increase generally since National came into Government and the indications are that those cost increases will continue. Rents for example have increased by 9.5 percent. In addition 47 percent of landlords say that they will increase rents further to offset issues around being denied property depreciation write-offs. Rates have increased by 6.4 percent more so as a result of the Auckland super-city. Families in Auckland are really fearful of what the level of rates increase will be for them as they try to marry up the huge costs that it will take to move towards the super-city structure. I expect that that will be the case throughout New Zealand. 
General practitioner fees have increased by about 6.5 percent. More and more families are being told to seek after-hours services because they cannot see their local general practitioner and an after-hours service can cost up to $69. I ask members to factor that cost into a Christchurch family and see how they would feel if they were told that they could not take their baby to their general practitioner and had to pay $69 to go to an after-hours service. Petrol companies have hiked up petrol prices and energy and electricity prices have also gone up. These are the types of pressures that households are feeling; this is the reverberation. 
I am all for supporting the rebuilding effort that is going into Christchurch but it should not and cannot mask the real effect that families low and middle income earners will feel on 1 October because of the tax cuts that deliver to high-income earners and not to low-income earners and because of the GST hikes that will affect every low-income and vulnerable family. More needs to be done on that front. 
Finally let us look at this issue. The Government needs to show what its plan for growth is. It cannot isolate its effort to Christchurch; the rebuilding effort must go nationwide. We need to see more growth so that there is less pressure on household incomes.