Wong Pansy: Customs and Excise (Motor Spirits) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Wong Pansy: Customs and Excise (Motor Spirits) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:623;Page:18602] 
PANSY WONG (National) 
: 
 I take issue with Minister Barker who said we should congratulate him or the Labour Government on the process of bringing this bill into the House. The fact is that members of the Finance and Expenditure Committee were forced to have a very short time frame in which to invite submissions. Basically the bill was introduced on 4 November and submissions closed on 26 November. 
Deliberation on the submissions took only about an hour and the committee’s consideration took only about 2 hours because the chairperson and the Labour members kept rushing the process and saying how important it was to get the bill back to the House. So I do not think any brownie points or congratulations are due to that Minister or the Labour Government. 
The second point is that even during that short time we heard 16 submissions. None of the submitters supported either Part 1 or Part 2. One submission which was from roading contractors was not against the bill mainly because their members want certainty that they will have the funds to build the roads and basically they said that any source their funding comes from is fine. So technically we are talking about zero support—100 percent zero support—for this bill. So one has to ask what does it take under the democratic process to make this Government take note? 
I also feel it is important to read for the public what an individual submitter wrote to the select committee just in case this tax-and-spend Government thinks it is penalising only the so-called high-income earners or people who can afford to drive by introducing this indexation. One individual submitter wrote this in a submission: “I and many others like myself are home helpers out in the community and we are very poorly paid. Out of that pay we must use our own cars without the benefit of a petrol allowance and the ever-upward cost of petrol is reducing our income to a point where some of us are seriously considering giving up this valuable service.” He also mentioned the other volunteers who are on fixed incomes and are contributing to society by volunteering their services as Meals on Wheels drivers Red Cross support drivers Cancer Society drivers etc. 
I know it is a waste of time for us to plead with members of the Labour-Progressive minority Government because they are hardened and they believe in taxing and spending. So my question once again is directed at United Future. Members of United Future and the Green Party today after listening to this individual submission made to the select committee have a chance to help those New Zealanders who have volunteered to drive to support other people in need. Those members can help today by not supporting the bill. This bill does not have to go through. Today during the Committee stage is the moment for both the Greens and United Future members to show that they are genuinely representing their supporters by coming into Parliament and doing something good—that is not depriving those fantastic volunteers out there who are subject to this indexation of petrol tax. 
There is a convention by which every year the Minister of Finance has to bring to this House a bill to confirm the taxation rate—every year because it is important. Petrol tax is a very important tax. I would say that literally New Zealanders who are of driving age do at some stage get behind the wheel and will have to pay this petrol tax. Compared with income tax it is a tax that probably even more people pay. It is totally unacceptable that Part 1 gives the Government an automatic increase in taxation revenue for roading projects. We can demonstrate in further debate—because we will take more calls—that there are already funds to finance the increased need of more New Zealand roads.