Gilmore Aaron: General Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Gilmore Aaron: General Debate 
[Sitting date: 27 March 2013. Volume:688;Page:8997. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
AARON GILMORE (National) 
: 
 The irony. We heard the last speaker Clare Curran talk about data protection and security. That member is the same one who goes on to her own party’s forum and censures her own members about what they can and cannot say. It is hypocrisy for the Labour Party to be talking about the ability to protect data when the information of its own party members and donors could not be kept secret from the public and was released. 
There is a comment that that member did make that is an extremely serious matter and one of public interest and that is the matter of the Leader of the Opposition and his ability to talk of public trust and welfare and worrying about where his own money is or is not. I want to walk through a few things. Mr Shearer returned to New Zealand some time in 2008 to run for public office and be the MP for Mt Albert. What I understand is that at that time Mr Shearer may have applied for an exemption that exists for overseas returnees and migrants coming back to New Zealand which grants an exemption of up to 4 years for income tax including interest income. In 2006 the Inland Revenue Department put those rules in place. Mr Shearer is completely entitled to do that. In 2009 he ran for public office and we are now told in 2013 that while Mr Shearer was filling in his tax returns for the 2012-13 year he understands that due to some information he discovered he needs to have filled in the pecuniary interests register which actually has the information about interest income. 
I want to talk through an interesting thing. You are required to disclose interest income to the Inland Revenue Department in New Zealand only if you have more than $200 in net after-tax income. Mr Shearer has publicly stated that the deposit he has is contained at the Chase Bank in Manhattan. He is on record as saying that. He is on record as saying that it is more than $50000. If you go to the Chase Bank and you ask them what the deposit rates are for various items you have to have over $400000 in that bank account to have an amount that should be disclosed under Inland Revenue Department rules in New Zealand—over $400000. The interest rate at the Chase Bank is 0.05 percent per annum—0.05 percent per annum. The deposit is not $50000; it is probably likely to be $400000. This information is publicly available. If I can go and find it why can Mr Shearer not front up to the people of New Zealand be honest with them and disclose the information we are talking about? I do not have any problems with Mr Shearer being a multimillionaire but he should be open with the members of the Labour Party and the people of New Zealand about how much he has hidden away. Mr Shearer needs to come clean. 
When you look at the information on the other side of the fence we have a leader in John Key. We have heard many of the Opposition spokespeople moaning and groaning about the differences between Mr Key and Mr Shearer. Well I say that we have a Prime Minister in Mr Key who is committed to rebuilding Christchurch. On the record today I want to talk in my last little bit about what is actually happening in Christchurch in the rebuild there. [ 
Interruption 
] I am sure that the lady over there Ms Dalziel may touch on this in a very short period of time. 
What I want to talk about is the commitment to rebuilding Burwood Hospital and over $200 million and over 500 jobs moving into my community in north-east Christchurch. I want to talk about the building of new subdivisions and hundreds of new jobs in and around the Prestons subdivision. I want to talk about the potential building of a water park that 20000 people signed a petition supporting. The Labour Party patently said it was not for it until public record and the mayor were. I want to talk here about a retirement village that is committed to building hundreds of units and investing hundreds of millions of dollars. 
That is the difference between Labour and National. We are for jobs building our community and being open and honest with our mistakes. The Opposition led by Mr Shearer is being deliberately evasive by not coming out and telling us the information about whether Mr Shearer took advantage of the 4-year tax exemption he was offered and had the ability to use under Inland Revenue Department rules and if so whether it is only this year that he is required to declare his income as required by Inland Revenue Department rules and whether it is actually $400000 as I believe it is. Thank you.