Foss Craig: Taxation (Urgent Measures and Annual Rates) Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
Foss Craig: Taxation (Urgent Measures and Annual Rates) Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:651;Page:254] 
CRAIG FOSS (National—Tukituki) 
: 
 I would like to talk to the title of this bill and to suggest some other titles that perhaps we could consider. It is the Taxation (Urgent Measures and Annual Rates) Bill. It is actually very very urgent. Perhaps when the Minister of Finance was drafting this bill he considered naming it the “Labour Still In Denial Bill”. Those members are totally in denial. They are still not listening as my colleague the Hon Steven Joyce pointed out before. They are not listening. They have not been listening for the last few years they were not listening during the election and they most certainly are not listening now. In every speech from the minute we started to debate this bill yesterday until now—and no doubt during the third reading—they have been totally in denial. They have been furiously looking around trying to make themselves busy and trying to find a couple of academic points here and there. They are actually contradicting themselves from speaker to speaker. From the previous finance Minister to the current finance spokesperson they are totally contradicting themselves. 
Then we got some lecture from the spokesperson over there about cycles and all that. With regard to the denial part he said something about a short recession. The Reserve Bank predicted New Zealand would go into recession late last year and early this year and New Zealand followed its prediction and forecast. The Labour Government led New Zealand into recession long before any other country went into recession—in particular the countries we compete with. New Zealand is still in recession and sadly it looks like we will stay in recession for a bit longer. None of us in this Chamber wants that of course but that is the situation and members opposite should not deny it because by denying it they are not doing their—probably short—legacy any good at all. 
Something was also said about the forward debt track. Perhaps those members are in denial about the forward debt track. As I noted in an earlier speech members opposite are asking what the forward debt track is. Well I ask members opposite what revelations are still to come. What ticking time bombs have been set up in other portfolios in other ministries? I cannot understand members opposite. One of them talks about before the Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update and another one of them talks about after the Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update. They have talked about the debt to GDP ratio etc. Yes it is down to 18 percent but the Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update took it out to about 30 percent and possibly even higher—and that was before the revelation about the accident compensation scheme. 
Those members should get in the real world today and get out of denial. Why do they not celebrate this bill which will mean that at long last New Zealand has an ongoing programme of personal tax cuts of rewarding New Zealanders for their hard work? After 9 long years a bill to bring in personal tax cuts will be voted on; after 9 years—about 3100 days under the previous regime—it will be in law very shortly. The first tax measure of the previous regime was to hike the top marginal tax rate from 33c to 39c and 3000-odd days later they admitted that yes they were wrong and they brought in their tax cut plan when they were about 17 points behind in the poll. New Zealanders saw right through that. Labour members are still in denial in every speech. 
One point I note is the disgraceful and disgusting attempt in the last few days by the Hon Trevor Mallard at wedge politics aimed at the Maori Party and low-income New Zealanders. Some of the language and the rhetoric that have been used are absolutely disgusting. Anyone reading  
Hansard 
 will see it as simply disgusting and disgraceful racism.