Smith Lockwood: Taxation (Annual Rates Venture Capital and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill — In Committee 
Smith Lockwood: Taxation (Annual Rates Venture Capital and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:621;Page:16775] 
Dr the Hon LOCKWOOD SMITH (National—Rodney) 
: 
 This is important legislation before Parliament this evening. 
Simon Power 
: I raise a point of order Madam Chairperson. I apologise for interrupting my colleague but I seek a point of clarification for future reference. Is the Committee able to proceed with the debate if copies of the bill are not on the Table? My understanding and I am open to correction is that we are not able to proceed if copies of the bill are not on the Table. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Ann Hartley) 
: That is not correct. The bill is available in the Bills Office and yes the Committee can proceed. 
Dr the Hon LOCKWOOD SMITH 
: As I was saying this is important legislation. It contains 235 clauses and this part we are debating right now contains amendments to the Goods and Services Tax Act the Taxation Review Authorities Act the Income Tax Act 1976 the Taxation Review Authorities Regulations and the Partnership Act of 1908. That is fairly important legislation and I suggest that this Labour Government is treating this Committee of the whole House with contempt because there has been no attempt by the Government to explain either to the Committee or to people listening to this debate what on earth this is all about. The Government is showing contempt. Does it feel so little concern for the people of New Zealand that it thinks it can push legislation through. Members are meant to be examining the bill clause by clause yet Government members do not even bother to get to their feet to tell the people of New Zealand what on earth the Government is trying to do? 
 What that invites us to do is to actually define what the Government is trying to do. I simply come back to something Government members do not want to talk about and that is their colleague John Tamihere. I want to know under Part 4 about the fake invoices at the Waipareira Trust that were overseen by John Tamihere. We all know that invoices are meant to be GST invoices but these were fake invoices. What does this amendment to the Goods and Services Tax Act do to get John Tamihere off the hook in respect of those fake invoices which may also have defrauded the taxpayers of New Zealand of GST? 
If we look at other clauses in this bill—not in this part so I will not spend too much time on them—there is a reference in the next part to an amount distributed to a member by a Maori authority. I think that if Government members do not treat the Committee with more respect and get to their feet to explain what all these amendments do we will make our own interpretations and challenge this Government to prove that there is nothing in here to get John Tamihere off the GST commitment for the fake invoices. I challenge members opposite to get to their feet and explain how the GST was treated on the fake invoices for which their Cabinet colleague John Tamihere was responsible. When he gave a personal explanation in this Parliament they got to their feet and applauded him. 
There is a question for these Labour members about the amendments in Part 4 because we have all sorts of amendments to do with GST—such as zero rating of services taxable period returns and special returns. Is there something in clause 127 “Special returns” that means it is a special provision to enable John Tamihere to file a tax return for the fake invoices? Is that what that provision is doing? I ask the Minister in the chair the Hon David Cunliffe to treat the public of New Zealand with respect and get to his feet and explain what these clauses are doing because they are not just technical amendments. There are significant issues here and why should the public not expect anything other than this? 
After all we know what this Labour Government did when its colleague Harry Duynhoven broke the law. It amended the law to get him off the hook. That is what it did to get him off the hook. We know what Helen Clark thinks of the law. When she was found to have forged a painting she would not cooperate with the police so they could find out the truth of the matter. So why should the people of New Zealand not think that Part 4 where it talks about amending special returns for GST is anything other than a provision to get John Tamihere off the hook in respect of his fake invoices?