Tisch Lindsay: Border Security Bill — In Committee 
Tisch Lindsay: Border Security Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:617;Page:13279] 
LINDSAY TISCH (National—Piako) 
: 
 I want to take issue with the Minister in the chair David Benson-Pope who asked why we would be mucking around with this bill tonight when it was so urgent that it be passed. I want to lay out some facts for the Minister. Page 39 of the commentary to the bill states that this bill was “referred to the committee on 1 July 2003.” If it is so important that this bill be passed why has it taken nearly 11 months for us to get to the Committee stage and be debating it part by part now? If this debate had been urgent I am sure the Government would have wanted to expedite it and we would have had it back at the end of last year not half-way through this year. 
Another point that has already come up in the debate tonight is the cost-recovery provision. In the original bill I say to the Minister there was no provision for cost-recovery. This provision is an afterthought. Why are exporters and importers so uptight about this bill? It is because they never had an opportunity when they first made submissions to the select committee—and I am a member of that committee and heard all the submissions—to make comments on the cost recovery provision in their submissions on the original bill. Clauses 7B and 8C were not part of this bill. 
What did the select committee have to do? Before the bill was reported back in the form that we are debating the select committee had to give extra time—only because we said it had to and Shane Ardern and I were there to ensure that there was some accountability—for those other submitters to come forward to submit on clauses 7B and 8C. Do members know how much time was allowed? There were 2 hours of extra submission time divided between about 20 submitters who are the backbone of the New Zealand economy. 
Those submitters were the big firms—the people who make things tick here the wealth creators of New Zealand. How much extra time did they get to talk specifically about clauses 7B and 8C? They got 2 hours. If this Government says that this bill is so important why did they not get that right from the word go? There was no provision in the original bill to have a cost-recovery regime. One wonders why the exporters—the wealth creators of New Zealand—get upset with the Government. They get upset with it because it is sneaky. The Government brings through the back door these sorts of taxes that hit the productive sector of New Zealand. This is a Government that prides itself on growth. This is another tax. The reason National is not supporting it is that it is a back-door attempt to increase taxes and compliance costs for businesses. When this Government says that this bill is urgent and we should be passing it without any hesitation I want it to think again. 
 National would have supported this legislation. In fact we said that in the minority report. National is the only party that has a comment in the report about the points that we believe are important. National states that it supports the principles of the legislation but is not prepared—[ 
Interruption 
] That would be right. What we are not prepared to support is the back-door attempt to increase costs to exporters and importers in New Zealand. 
It is important that we reiterate—and it has been mentioned before—what this legislation will cost the productive sector. Originally it was about $20 million—$8 million for trans-shipped costs $8 million for exports and $4 million for imports. The Government has been very generous has it not in the last week! It said that it would give a 20 percent discount. That means for exports it will go down to $4 million. I do not care whether the tax is $1 or $50 million; it is wrong. When we look at reports around the world and the responsibility of a Government first and foremost it is to protect its citizens. That is the role of any Government. This is a public good and not a private good. This tax is solely a public good. It is for the benefit of New Zealanders. It has been forced on us by the events around the world by what happened in the United States on 11 September 2001.