Coddington Deborah: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Coddington Deborah: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:606;Page:3692] 
7.  
DEBORAH CODDINGTON (ACT NZ) 
 to the  
Minister of Finance 
: What has been the change in tax bill for the average production worker with a dependent spouse and two children between 2000 and 2002 as a percentage of gross earnings and how does this compare with other OECD countries? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Minister of Finance) 
: 
 The tax bill rose by 2.7 percent. That is one of the higher increases in the OECD and reflects a relatively high increase in average family earnings which was due to New Zealand’s strong growth over the period. The number in New Zealand is particularly affected by the consequences of the bleed-out of family support payments as family incomes increase. 
Deborah Coddington 
: Is the hike in tax on working families what Labour meant when it campaigned to increase taxes on the wealthy; if not where is the fairness in stealing money from New Zealand families to spend on talkfests and corporate welfare? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: Interesting though the question is it cannot cover the fact that ACT’s main whinge about the tax system has been the increase in the top tax rate on those earning over $60000 a year which every ACT MP repeats as his or her first promise to remove. 
Clayton Cosgrove 
: Is this a reasonable comparison in terms of the change in tax burden of the New Zealand taxpayer compared with those overseas? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: No because it is based on incomplete information. The OECD figures do not include social security contributions by the employers. Those are high in many OECD countries and non-existent in New Zealand— 
Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith 
: Yes they do. Read the report. 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: Yes I have read the report. If the member can get past the first page where he collapsed with horror and on to the next page or two he would find that by the time we include those New Zealand was 22nd equal out of 30—from the top going down—in terms of the average tax burden. In other words only five OECD countries were significantly lower than us and 21 higher including a number that were more than twice as high as New Zealand—for example Belgium France and so on. 
Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith 
: What does the Minister propose to do about the 2.7 percent increase in the tax bill paid by our average working families or is he satisfied to have the tax bill our average families pay increase by more than any other OECD country under his term except the Czech Republic? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: I will be happy to see this country’s average incomes rise faster than almost any other country in the OECD as they have done over the last couple of years. Should the structural surpluses now emerge—which National would have frittered away—in many different forms then next year we will face the prospect of substantial cuts in tax for precisely those people through the family support mechanism. But the member need not die waiting; he will not be getting a tax cut next year however much his family status might change. 
Deborah Coddington 
: I seek leave to table a media release from the OECD showing New Zealand had the second highest increase in tax bill for an average production worker. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that. Is there any objection? There is.