Ryall Tony: Taxation (Annual Rates Maori Organisations Taxpayer Compliance and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee 
Ryall Tony: Taxation (Annual Rates Maori Organisations Taxpayer Compliance and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee 
[Volume:606;Page:4089] 
Hon TONY RYALL (NZ National—Bay of Plenty) 
: 
 The debate on the title is actually quite a serious debate. I want to pick up on the comments my colleague Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith made about the importance of the title being a fair reflection of the content of the bill. Certainly when members of the public and members of this House are drawn to a bill the title that gives an indication of the bill’s substance and import. I put it to the Committee that as Dr Lockwood Smith said the title of this bill does not provide a fair reflection of what is included in the legislation and I would like to give three examples of that. 
The bill has the quite innocent-sounding phrase “Maori Organisations” in its title. This bill has nothing to do with the setting up of Maori organisations. It has nothing to do with the management of Maori organisations. What it does have a lot to do with is the provision of preferential tax treatment on the basis of the colour of one’s skin and that fact is not reflected in the title. This bill has nothing to do with setting up or establishing Maori organisations and everything to do with providing a tax break based solely on the colour of someone’s skin. It is bad that that could be allowed to happen. Similarly the words “Taxpayer Compliance” which are also in parentheses do not give a fair reflection of what is proposed in the bill. It is added taxpayer compliance that is proposed in this bill. We know that the compliance review team work led by Mr Al Dunn of McDonald’s Restaurants of New Zealand was explicit in its view that quite radical changes were needed to the relationship between the taxpayer and the State when it came to the issue of compliance. This bill does nothing to reduce taxpayer compliance in the system. Just saying “taxpayer compliance” does not reflect the fact as Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith pointed out that there is an added burden on New Zealand taxpayers in this legislation. 
The third point I want to pick up on is that it is wrong to say that this is an annual rates bill. We know that under this Labour Government tax rates have gone up. This Government has rapaciously collected more tax from hard-working New Zealand families than any other Government in the history of New Zealand. I say that the best way to fix child poverty fix housing fix education and fix health is to leave that money in the pockets of the people who earn it. That is common sense and I cannot understand why United Future members are going to vote for validating higher tax rates. United Future is going to vote for preferential—[ 
Interruption 
] Well it is in the title. It is not right to say “Maori Organisations” in the title. The bill gives a preferential tax break based on the colour of one’s skin. That is in the bill and it has to be clearly reflected in the title. If it was reflected in the title I bet that the United Future members would not be voting for it. I bet they would not be voting for a bill entitled the “Taxation (Separate Tax Rates on the Basis of Your Skin) Bill”. I do not believe that they would. I have been on a platform where United Future MPs have spoken against race-based policies in bills. If the title were correctly amended I cannot believe that the Government’s “coalition partner” United Future would be supporting this sort of a bill. Frankly United Future members have to understand what is in this bill—higher tax rates from the most rapacious tax gatherers in the history of New Zealand the “Labour-Alliance United Christians Government”. The words “Race-based Tax Rates” should be in the title because that is what is in this bill and “Added Taxpayer Compliance” should also be in the title because that is what is included in the 154 pages we are debating today. The National Party says: “Change the bill.”