Cosgrove Clayton: Taxation (Urgent Measures and Annual Rates) Bill — Second Reading In Committee 
Cosgrove Clayton: Taxation (Urgent Measures and Annual Rates) Bill — Second Reading In Committee 
[Volume:651;Page:156] 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE (Labour—Waimakariri) 
: 
 I rise to speak to Part 1 in relation to the thresholds and it is interesting that the Government moves so quickly to close the debate down. Again I want to comment on a point made by Mr English. He made great play when he got up to speak to Part 1 about the level these so-called tax cuts had dropped to. He alleged that the Labour Government had done nothing for low-income people. He talked about beneficiaries and said that the Labour Government had done nothing for these people. Of course the Labour Government did do a lot for beneficiaries. The primary thing it did was to give most of them a job. It created 350000-plus jobs through its 9 years of Government. 
But I just raise this point with Mr English and I would be indebted if he would answer it. It is Mrs King’s point in relation to the thresholds abating at the lowest level and the independent earner tax credit. I think he quoted the fact that 600000 low-income people were going to be helped by this tax package. But I again put this scenario to him and I would be grateful to hear his answer. A person on $23999—someone who does not breach the $24000 threshold—gets nothing. So let us say that we have a person on one side of the fence who earns $23999 and gets nothing and has a neighbour on the other side of the fence who earns $24000 and kicks in and gets the tax credit. Well what is fair about that? The so-called low-income people that Mr English—late in life in his career in politics—says he has decided to actually think about and maybe do something about will get nothing from this package. I invite Mr English to deal with that point. We are debating the tax thresholds kicking in and abating whereby if I am on $23999 I get nothing but my neighbour across the fence once this kicks in at $24000 will get something. I am addressing the Minister’s point in rebuttal which is valid because he got to his feet and raised that point. 
I would like to know where that person will acquire the aspiration that National kept talking about during the election. How will that person choose a brighter future? Does a brighter future even exist for that person? Where would that person go hunting for it? That was the aspirational rhetoric used by Mr English during the campaign. One would think that everybody was sucking up aspiration through every pore. Well a person on $23000 who does not breach $24000 ain’t getting a lot of aspiration ain’t getting a lot of help and ain’t getting any assistance at all. These single people with no kids the quartile that Mr English says his Government will help will get nothing. 
National members did not campaign on this package but Mr English says they went around the country and line by line every person went through it with a microscope. He said they were all told exactly what they would get. Well this huge group of people I referred to must have been told they would get nothing. 
John Hayes 
: No. 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE 
: In fact they were not told. It was never announced. There is a word for that behaviour. If members look at page 2 of the  
New Zealand Herald 
 they will see that people earning less than 40K will get zip. That fact was never canvassed with the electorate at all. I invite Mr Hayes to go and find 10 or 20 of his constituents on $23999 singles and say to them: “You knew that we the National Party in Government were going to give you nothing.” I invite him to find five people or even two people. 
Hon Annette King 
: Did he tell them that? 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE 
: Did Mr Hayes tell that to his constituents? Oh no. I bet he could not find one person. He should take out an advertisement in his local paper inviting all those people on $23999 with no kids who will get nothing from this package to write to him and confirm that they knew all about this before they voted at the election. I doubt he would get one reply. 
John Hayes 
: 12.5 percent is just brilliant. 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE 
: I put a question through the Chair to Mr Hayes: “Can you name a person in your electorate who knew about this? Did people know about this?”. I bet they did not say that to the Sir Les Patterson of this Parliament. They did not know about this at all.