Jones Shane: Taxation (Annual Rates Returns Filing and Remedial Matters) Bill — First Reading 
Jones Shane: Taxation (Annual Rates Returns Filing and Remedial Matters) Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:676;Page:21440] 
Hon SHANE JONES (Labour) 
: 
 Kia ora Mr Speaker. I take a short call to remind the House— 
Hon Dr Wayne Mapp 
: 10 minutes surely Shane. 
Hon SHANE JONES 
: —and those legions of Kiwis listening to our speeches here this afternoon of course. They will be spared the agony of listening to Wayne Mapp into the future as he warbles on as he writes yet another unreadable contribution about political heritage and political culture. I have it on good authority that he actually worsened the literature of tax when he did his PhD. The thought of Wayne Mapp’s name being linked to a PhD defies logic. However that might be one of the hidden talents that the man brings to this particular House. He does have a redeeming feature though: he is married to a woman of Ngati Hine descent. Unfortunately she is related to Tau Henare but that blemish aside that is one of his—[ 
Interruption 
] Well I will not go quite that far. 
We support the Taxation (Annual Rates Returns Filing and Remedial Matters) Bill. An area that does require a great deal of additional attention is the propensity of the current Government to continue to change and not so much to make amendments but to show an ideological predisposition to undermine KiwiSaver. We took a very principled stand. We thought several years ago that the country needed a source of indigenous savings. By saying indigenous I am not talking about Hone Harawira; that is to ruin a good word. I am actually talking about New Zealanders building up a reservoir of savings that could operate as an alternative to the constant importation of capital. We all know that if we want to grow a long-term robust economy we need a savings scheme capable of sustaining confidence amongst the families who may have only a few pennies under this Government. They do not have cents because the Government has no sense so families are reduced to saving a ha’penny or three. 
David Bennett 
: Oh! 
Hon SHANE JONES 
: A ha’penny when it looks bald may represent the head of the member from Waikato who is yelling mooing like one of those half-empty cows that he possibly owns and which fortunately as a consequence of tax changes that are on the way will not represent a tax write-off. 
We are disappointed that this bill represents a further set of unfriendly and ill-conceived changes to KiwiSaver. KiwiSaver is a key institution that we are prepared to fight for going into the future and to defend as a part of our political heritage. It is disappointing that members on the other side of the House have not found it possible to enjoy common ground with members on this side of the House to ensure that a credible robust scheme—an institution called KiwiSaver—goes into the future so that each generation will put money aside and reduce the country’s reliance on importing capital. KiwiSaver represents a sustainable basis for investing in our firms investing in businesses rather than constantly bemoaning the fact that foreign direct investment is undermining our economic security or indeed our long-term sovereignty. 
Those are the key differences but we will park up those differences for addressing at the select committee and what we do not address in the select committee we will hammer those members on the other side of the House on during the hustings and we look forward to that. Thank you very much.