4. Question No. 4—FinanceHon AMY ADAMS (National—Selwyn) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 4—Finance4. Hon AMY ADAMS (National—Selwyn) to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by all his announcements statements and actions?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): Yes in the context in which they were made given and undertaken.Hon Amy Adams: Does he stand by his statements that tax policy should work for the benefit of all New Zealanders given that today's Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) figures show that this Labour-led Government will be collecting $17.7 billion more tax from New Zealanders over the next four years than was forecast prior to the election despite growth having slowed?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The reason that that tax take is happening is because lots of people around New Zealand and lots of businesses around New Zealand are working hard making profits and ensuring that the economy ticks over. I think it's a sad day when the National Party think that people actually doing well and paying their taxes is a bad thing. Hon Amy Adams: Is he aware that today's HYEFU figures show that even with growth slowing that $17.7 billion of extra taxes mean every household will pay nearly $10000 a year more tax over the next four years than was forecast pre-election?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I absolutely reject the premise of that question.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Does it follow as night follows day that taxes usually go up when businesses are successful enough and private individuals are successful enough to pay the taxes?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Indeed that is exactly right. What the books today show is that revenue from corporate tax is going up and that the contributions that people make through their PAYE is going up. I want to remind members on the other side of the House that with very few exceptions this is all under the tax settings that they had in place.Hon Amy Adams: Is the Minister aware that today's HYEFU numbers show that households' ability to save is getting worse and worse every year under this Government as more taxes and higher cost of living take their toll?SPEAKER: Order! Can I ask people to be quiet. I think people might have assumed seeing that there'd been two bursts that the question was finished. I'll get the member to start her question again but remind her that as Mr Brownlee has pointed out questions and answers should not have more than is necessary and certainly shouldn't have more than two legs.Hon Amy Adams: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Just to understand your ruling I'm sorry the question didn't have more than two parts. I paused because of noise from the other side. That wasn't two parts. Is that your concern?SPEAKER: I think what we'll do is we'll start the question again and I will listen carefully to it again.Hon Amy Adams: Is the Minister aware that today's numbers show that households' ability to save is getting worse and worse every year under this Government as more taxes and higher cost of living take their toll?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I reject again the premise of the member's question.Hon Amy Adams: Can we take from today's announcements that the transformational Government that this Minister says he's leading really means higher taxes lower growth and households worse off?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: No we can't take it. What we can take from the books that have been released today is that this Government is doing a good job of getting the balance right where we've got strong growth where we've got a surplus and where debt's being kept under control and we're finally addressing the massive social and infrastructure deficits that her Government left us.Rt Hon Winston Peters: On the question of capacity to save is it not a fact that twofold: one the Cullen fund is saving more now than ever before and two KiwiSaver has record numbers that are not matched by any previous period in our history?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Yes both of those things are true and the fact is that this Government has turned around what the previous Government failed to do where they did not put in any Government contributions to the Superannuation Fund for—SPEAKER: Order! We have had numerous Speakers' rulings over the years about donkey drops to attack the Opposition.