Wood MichaelMICHAEL WOOD (Labour—Mt Roskill): What an extraordinary set of contributions we've had from the Opposition. I just want to dwell on one of the pearls that they've put forward and that is their passionate support for the indexation of income tax. There might be as I look around at least one member in this Chamber who recalls the response of the National Party to Dr Michael Cullen's proposals to index income tax rates which were derided as chewing gum" tax cuts. Yet that now apparently is the saviour of the New Zealand economy and the idea a visionary tax policy from the National Party.Andrew Falloon: That was a one-off!MICHAEL WOOD: It was not a one-off. Dr Cullen's proposal was for the annual indexation of income tax rates and the line used by that side of the House was that they were "chewing gum" tax cuts. Yet that is now their idea of a visionary tax plan for the future of New Zealand.What this bill does is ensure that New Zealand has the income that's required to pay for the services and the infrastructure that New Zealanders need. And what is also extraordinary to me is having listened to speeches all day from members opposite which whine and complain about Government debt what do we hear from members on the other side? We hear that Government debt is too high but we hear that we should have swinging tax cuts as well. These two things do not compute. We hear at other times in this House that the Government is spending too much and that the Government is not spending enough. And I simply cannot understand how this lot seriously imagine that they can be in Government in three months' time when they can't string together a halfway decent and credible fiscal plan. It's a long way from the party of Key and English. Because members on this side of the House had significant disagreements with that Government but they did actually know how to add up numbers. They didn't always come to the right conclusions but these guys can't even add up the numbers and come up with a fiscal plan that even halfway makes sense.So this is a Government which has used its tax base and it's used its sound fiscal position in totally unprecedented circumstances to support New Zealanders to help New Zealand jobs to help New Zealand businesses get through a global pandemic. And what we actually need at this point in time is a stable tax base and a stable tax system so that we can continue making the investments and the supports that New Zealanders need to get through the challenging economic conditions that we and the whole world will face over the next six months.Now this bill sets those annual rates but it also makes a number of other important changes to the tax system and I'm pleased to hear that generally speaking there's support around the House for that. It's part of an active programme of work led by the Hon Stuart Nash under which we have seen significant improvements to the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) system over recent years and in fact one of the pieces of feedback that I have been really pleased to receive over the course of the challenging circumstances we've faced with COVID-19 is that many New Zealanders have actually really valued the support that they have received from IRD. They've generally been pretty quick to respond to queries they've generally been willing to address small issues to write off debts where it's possibly and where it's reasonable to do that and of course we've had other really great and helpful measures such as the interest-free small-business loan scheme which has given out over $1 billion to help the cash-flow needs of small businesses in New Zealand—over $1 billion.Those members opposite they keep throwing the question "What have you done? What have you done?" Well just listen up: over a billion dollars through the IRD's small-business interest-free loan scheme and I've received outstanding feedback from small businesses in my electorate about how that has helped them get through. It's not everything of course; this Government has always said that we can't save every business and we can't save every job—no Government in the world can under these conditions—but we'll cushion the blow and help as many of them get through as possible.This bill isn't the whole picture but it sets up a stable tax base and makes some sensible changes that'll see New Zealand businesses and New Zealand workers into the coming years with some confidence and gives us a tax base to support the services and infrastructure that New Zealanders need. Along with members on this side I commend it to the House."