Hayes John: Customs and Excise Amendment Bill (No 2) — Third Reading 
Hayes John: Customs and Excise Amendment Bill (No 2) — Third Reading 
[Volume:637;Page:7803] 
JOHN HAYES (National—Wairarapa) 
: 
 Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker for allowing me to speak in support of the Customs and Excise Amendment Bill (No 2) on behalf of the National Party. The preceding speaker Dianne Yates was until 18 months ago the electorate member for Hamilton East. I leave the people of New Zealand to judge the quality of her representation for those people—of course they demonstrated that through the ballot box. That member is soon to be New Zealand’s ambassador to Madrid if she can pass the Spanish test that she is busy studying for. She will do far better in Spain than she has ever done for the people of New Zealand or for the people of Hamilton East. Really she does not have a clue as to what this bill is about beyond covering three minor points that had been previously covered by the “Minister of Dog Chipping” Nanaia Mahuta. I am not sure what competence she has to discuss the protection of our border but I suggest to the Minister that her next year’s effort before moving on to the Opposition benches which is becoming more certain by the hour might involve coming up with a policy of chipping every New Zealander—in fact every person in the world—so that when they cross our border they can automatically register with a piece of machinery somewhere so that— 
Darren Hughes 
: Is that National Party policy? 
JOHN HAYES 
: No I am suggesting that this would be something that the “Minister of Dog Chipping” could inflict upon our population in the same way that Labour is inflicting an excise tax on this country of ours particularly on the winegrowers. I have just come from the Beehive where a very very impressive function is being held that was organised by my colleagues from Hawke’s Bay Chris Tremain and Craig Foss. 
Russell Fairbrother 
: They don’t do anything else do they? 
JOHN HAYES 
: The former member for Napier might well say that. I am not sure that he will be doing very much in a few months’ time either after the next election. These people have shown initiative they have shown creativity and they have brought at least 50 companies from Napier and Hawke’s Bay down to Wellington with a couple of hundred people—an outstanding effort. They have brought in councillors from the various councils and they are promoting the food and the excellent wine from the Hawke’s Bay area. They have been doing a fantastic job. 
Meanwhile on the Government benches the leeches of Labour are flat out sucking out a tax that requires winegrowers through this bill to front up at the beginning of their financial year and pay tax in advance on their wine production before they get any income from it. This is a huge burden on our economy and the winegrowers will let the Government know at the next election just what they think of this plan. 
It is a wonderful arrangement that people can be detained for 4 hours at the border—coming in or departing—and it is just a pity that Mr Zaoui was not picked up because that would have saved us a lot of money down the track. 
Darren Hughes 
: That wasn’t Don Brash’s opinion. 
JOHN HAYES 
: Well it is my opinion. I am sorry for the member for Otaki. Is he still the member? Yes he has a very small margin but he is the member at the moment. 
Darren Hughes 
: Don’t talk about your problems. 
JOHN HAYES 
: I am not talking about my problems sunshine. I saw the member down in Cuba Street the other night with someone on the back of his bike. We know what he is up to. We need an export control on the member. 
I do not believe that this Government is treating our winegrowers fairly and I say in all seriousness that we should get rid of this excise tax because it is penalising productive people in this country who are already being penalised by an unsatisfactory exchange rate—an outrageous exchange rate. 
Darren Hughes 
: Whose fault is that? 
JOHN HAYES 
: It is the member’s fault. He is on the Government benches and he is calling the shots. He is making these policies and my people in my electorate are suffering and they have suffered enough from the excessive stealing of Labour through its tax system. 
The only thing that is making this bill worthy of our support is the department officials who have done a brilliant job—no thanks to the Labour members on the select committee and the members sitting opposite. Certainly the chief executive of the Customs Service and his team are doing a really wonderful job and it is our delight to support this bill and the changes they have been putting in it. It has been a pleasure for us to support this bill.