Tisch Lindsay: Taxation (Base Maintenance  and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill Privacy Amendment Bill (No 3) — Third Readings 
Tisch Lindsay: Taxation (Base Maintenance  and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill Privacy Amendment Bill (No 3) — Third Readings 
[Volume:626;Page:21471] 
LINDSAY TISCH (National—Piako) 
: 
 National speakers have crystallised and articulated the argument about taxation. Taxation will be an election issue. What the Budget did was an absolute insult to hard-working New Zealanders. We support the Taxation (Base Maintenance and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill because there are some issues in it that are of merit but the hard-working New Zealanders who expected some tax relief when the country is running a $7.4 billion surplus feel cheated. They feel cheated because they are the ones who have earned the money. They are the ones who toil away. There is no reward for hard work enterprise or initiative. This Government just takes and takes. That is why the Labour Government is on notice that taxation will be an issue at the election. 
My colleague Phil Heatley mentioned that 30-odd new taxes have been introduced. The compliance costs associated with those are immense. I want to clarify again from my speech in the second reading debate one tax that has not yet been introduced but has been mooted. It is the proposed carbon tax. That tax valued at $15 per tonne of carbon dioxide emissions will put about $250 on every household in New Zealand. What does that mean for someone on a fixed income? Where will those people recoup the costs of the extra $250 of tax? That boils down to 4c per litre on fuel—on petrol at the pump. Members will bear in mind that we have just had a tax increase at the pumps of 5.6c per litre. It also means that there will be about a 10 percent increase in electricity charges. 
Peter Brown 
: How much on petrol? 
LINDSAY TISCH 
: It is 4c per litre on petrol. That is when carbon dioxide emissions are valued at $15 per tonne. The Government could put a $25 per tonne value on that charge and then the costs that I have just mentioned will escalate. The value at the moment of trading carbon credits on the secondary market is around £19 per tonne. So in New Zealand dollars the figures I have mentioned are very conservative when the outcomes could be a lot higher. 
It has often been said that taxation is theft. Well that is what this Government has been into for the last 6 years. It has taken more money off people—socialist Governments do that and then they want to redistribute the money and say how great they are. I wonder why 700 New Zealanders per week decide to go to Australia. What is the attraction? Seven hundred New Zealanders per week are finding it more attractive to shift offshore. They have more opportunities to make a living for themselves in Australia. Australia just had a Budget the other day and it was bad news for New Zealand. Australians will get A$6 per week and when will they get it? They are actually getting it now—not as this Government is providing for in 3 years’ time. This Government is saying that on 1 April 2008 it will give us 67c a week. 
The credibility of this Government is in tatters. Any integrity it might have had years ago has gone. Hard-working New Zealanders will not stomach this. Everywhere I and my colleagues go we find the big issue is taxation. I put the Government on notice that that will be an issue. Hard-working New Zealanders feel cheated by this Government which had an opportunity to give tax cuts through running a $7.4 billion surplus. They feel cheated and they will acknowledge that and record their protest at the polls in a very short time. Members must watch this space because taxation is a key issue. 
Bills read a third time.