Carter David: Taxation (KiwiSaver and Company Tax RateAmendments) Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
Carter David: Taxation (KiwiSaver and Company Tax RateAmendments) Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:639;Page:9472] 
Hon DAVID CARTER (National) 
: 
 I want to cover one or two points that were raised by Labour members during this debate on the Taxation (KiwiSaver and Company Tax Rate Amendments) Bill. The first point I would make to the Committee today is a comment on the rather amazing contribution from Shane Jones. Shane Jones said that when this legislation goes to the Finance and Expenditure Committee his select committee the committee will refine it. The reason that comment needs to be exposed today is that he is indeed chair of the Finance and Expenditure Committee but we are here in urgency pushing this legislation straight through the House because the Government does not want it to go to the select committee. So Shane Jones should get up to speed and realise that in fact he will not have the opportunity to refine this legislation before the select committee. 
 The next time this legislation comes before a select committee Shane Jones will not be chairing the Finance and Expenditure Committee; the next National Minister of Finance the Hon Bill English will be the one who has to send this back to the select committee to get it tidied up because that is the first opportunity it will have. Shane Jones certainly will not be the chair of the select committee and I suspect he probably will not be a member of Parliament. Given the way that Labour is rating at the moment it will not get many of its list members in here at all. 
The second point I would make is to take this opportunity to thank Mr Dunne for answering my questions. A number have been raised throughout the debate and finally I had an answer from Mr Dunne to my questions about whether this would increase the size of the bureaucracy of the Inland Revenue Department. I accept the answer that Mr Dunne gave me that although the scheme is complicated the department will not need any more staff. The question then arises if this is complicated and will put a lot of work on to the department’s employees what are those employees doing now that the department has all this spare capacity? I look forward to an answer from Mr Dunne. 
The third contribution I will remark on was the most amazing one of all from Ms Maryan Street. One or two of the questions raised by the National Party throughout this debate asked what is in this for low-income New Zealanders. Do members know that in the Chamber this morning Maryan Street said that low-income wage earners do not need $10 to $20 a week. 
Hon Members 
: What would she know! 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: She said that low-income New Zealanders do not need an extra $10 or $20 a week. Doug Woolerton heard that comment. Well they will need $10 a week simply to keep putting petrol in the car if they live in Auckland. 
Lianne Dalziel is chipping in now but was not prepared to make a contribution during the debate. I look forward to hearing her take a call shortly. 
Then we had an amazing contribution from Mr Chauvel. He got hold of page 2 of the  
Dominion Post  
and mentioned a couple of points. I looked at the last part of the piece he was referring to and it is attributed to Government Budget document propaganda. It was not written by any  
Dominion Post  
editor so the interesting point is to look at some of the other comments in the newspapers. 
The Christchurch  
Press 
 which is not known generally for supporting the National Party states that the Budget is an “opportunity lost”. That comment is right on the mark on this occasion because Dr Cullen had the opportunity with the hugh surpluses that have been amassed to deliver a Budget that would have given growth to this economy. Instead he has fiddled with the KiwiSaver scheme which even his own Treasury officials say will not achieve greater than a 50 percent uptake. It has now been adequately explained throughout the debate that the very people who will not take up the option of KiwiSaver are the people earning $11.25 an hour who simply cannot afford to take it up. 
At one stage we had an interjection from Mr Mallard: “What about the workers?”. I say to Lianne Dalziel: “What about the workers?” the very people in the electorate of Christchurch East who voted for that member of Parliament. They have been let down completely by Lianne Dalziel. She does not care about the workers; all she is interested in is sitting in her plush chair in Parliament banking her big salary. She has lost touch with the people who voted for her.