Hutchison Paul: Injury Prevention Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee 
Hutchison Paul: Injury Prevention Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee 
[Volume:609;Page:6486] 
Dr PAUL HUTCHISON (NZ National—Port Waikato) 
: 
 I am thankful for the opportunity to speak on Part 1 of the so-called Injury Prevention Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment Bill. I note regarding the commencement date that the major part of the bill is due to come into force on 1 July 2003. I think that the first reading of this bill was held under urgency on 7 April 2003 which reflects the untimely haste with which this Labour Government loves to bring in more taxes. It brought this tax grab in under urgency only about 6 weeks ago. As we reflect again on the importance of the original Act I suggest that surely more consideration was given to its commencement date than has been given to that of this untimely tax grab that we see this rapacious Labour Government presenting before us today. I compare it with the local government legislation on dog control for instance which the Government let languish for 4 years while there were 760 significant hospitalisations 60 percent of which involved children under the age of 18. Yet here the Government is after the money in a short 6 weeks or as fast as it can possibly get it. 
I guess that the important part of this bill is reflected in the purpose clause. The Government quite unashamedly states: “The purpose of this Act is to—(a) establish … a levy”. What is the difference between a tax and a levy? I think Colin James provided the answer for us in this morning’s  
New Zealand Herald 
 where he states: “ ‘A levy is a tax’ former Labour leader and Prime Minister Mike Moore used to say …”. That is what the Labour Government used to say but now the tables are turned. Labour is in Government and every possible moment where it can choose to collect yet another levy it does so. That is described absolutely clearly in the purpose clause of this bill which states: “The purpose of this Act is to—(a) establish as a levy under the principal Act the portion of excise and excise-equivalent duty payable on motor spirit that is paid to the Motor Vehicle account;”. 
 But one of the other things that is clearly missing from this purpose is whether it is an equitable levy or a fair tax. There is nothing whatsoever to suggest that element of it. Surely from this so-called reforming Labour Government we would expect some degree of social conscience about this but there is none. This is an unashamed barefaced tax grab on the motorists of New Zealand. 
One might think a little bit further about the submissions. Very few submissions were put before the select committee. Both the Automobile Association and Business New Zealand made the very important point that the Labour Government just ignores the question of whether a tax is an equitable or fair tax. In fact Business New Zealand said more fundamentally that setting a motor vehicle levy solely on the type of vehicle and the amount of fuel consumed is a poor substitute for a system that takes account of all risk parameters. It stated that the Accident Compensation Corporation and the Government should therefore investigate alternative options for setting premiums for the motor vehicle account that would take into account all aspects of risk including driver vehicle and road characteristics in accordance with commercial actuarial practice. 
This is just classic Labour Government doubletalk. On the one hand there is to be no increase in taxes. A former Prime Minister of a Labour Government Mike Moore clearly equates a levy with a tax. Here is the Government once again unashamedly grabbing taxes in a matter of a few weeks.