Hide Rodney: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Hide Rodney: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:645;Page:14106] 
RODNEY HIDE (Leader—ACT) 
: 
 I have a question for the Prime Minister. I would ask her why if the record of this Government is so good and the Government and its support parties have done such a marvellous job for our country and if Prime Minister Helen Clark has been so good in advancing the cause of New Zealand here and overseas have New Zealanders been muzzled? What sort of Government would clamp down on political opinion on political criticism and on people having their say in election year on the policies that they believe should be followed in this country? 
I look to the Greens I look to New Zealand First and I look to Labour. If those members have such a proud record then could they please allow New Zealanders to speak out? If Government members are prepared to stand up in Parliament and say they are proud of their record why not allow New Zealanders freedom of speech? We stand up in this House and stand for the political rights of people all over the world while destroying people’s political rights in this country because this Government cannot stand the criticism. 
Hon Judith Tizard 
: Rubbish! We just say that you’ve got to say what your name is when you criticise. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: Judith Tizard calls out “Rubbish!”. I ask her to tell that to the Human Rights Commission to the Law Commission to the people of New Zealand to the young man who was holding the web page that was shut down by the police in New Zealand—[ 
Interruption 
] 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ann Hartley) 
: The member’s interjections are not acceptable. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: It is fine if Judith Tizard finally wants to make a contribution to Parliament. I think that if it is by way of interjection then she should be allowed to and I am happy for that. 
So a Government that was proud of its record heading to allow the people to have a say at election time would allow people to have a say all year—not just MPs but everyone. I heard the Greens talk about having a referendum on setting a date for the election. I heard Peter Dunne speak of having a referendum. Well I think referenda are a good idea. I think it is a good idea to let people have their say. But if we have referenda they must mean something surely? We have 300000 people signing a petition against this Government’s anti-smacking bill and already the Greens have come out and said they do not care about the result. What sort of democracy is that? We have had Helen Clark say she does not care about the result. Well I think it is time New Zealanders including the Exclusive Brethren had the right to speak up and have their say. We do not have to agree with people in New Zealand; we just have to accept that they have a right to have their say. I think New Zealanders should also be able to have their say in referenda. I think it is wise for politicians to listen to what the people have to say and not dismiss their efforts to get their voices heard. 
We heard today a lot of words but not much policy. There was a lot of talk about the problems that confront New Zealand but very little about what we can do as a country to fix them. Well let me in our time talk about what ACT is doing not by way of talking but by achieving. There is no doubt—and I think we are all agreed—that tax breaks are a great idea. I think even Labour now recognises that tax cuts are a good idea. Let us start on the tax cuts in this way. Let us start by getting rid of the taxes that Labour introduced and that we did not need. Let us get rid of the 39c rate of tax that was introduced not because the Government needed the money because it had a good thing to spend it on or because the Government was running out of cash but simply to punish those New Zealanders working hard to get ahead. 
What is the impact of that tax? It lessens entrepreneurship reduces business reduces investment in New Zealand reduces our ability to increase our productivity reduces our growth rate and reduces our future prosperity. So that should be the first tax rate to go. I know that Michael Cullen would hate that. He would say: “Oh well the rich will just get richer. They’ll get the most.” Well that is what happens. It is those earning over $60000 who are paying the most tax. So if we would cut tax in a sensible way let us not get hung up about who gets what in the first instance. Let us design tax cuts that benefit the country our productivity and our growth because that is what will benefit all New Zealanders. 
The other problem we have and the Prime Minister identified it is the affordability of housing—actually it is the affordability of just about everything in this country. As soon as someone tries to do something he or she finds out just how costly it is. When we look at it we see that those costs come largely from our Parliament. We pile up cost upon cost to homeowners to business and to people just going about their ordinary business. Indeed people wanting to be candidates or who express a political opinion now have costs piled upon them. In fact even to a person wishing to express a political opinion the advice from this Government is to talk to a lawyer first. That is what we are doing. 
So the ACT party which is not just talking about reducing compliance costs has done something about it and has produced a bill for regulatory responsibility for this Parliament that would stand alongside the Fiscal Responsibility Act in providing proper criteria when we pass and make laws. I am pleased to say that with the support of parties around this House we have had that bill sent to the Commerce Committee. I am hopeful that this Parliament can demonstrate that it does not just talk about reducing compliance costs but is actually prepared to do something about it. The test will be at the Commerce Committee and then back in this Parliament this year.