Lees-Galloway Iain: Subordinate Legislation (Confirmation and Validation) Bill (No 2) — Second Reading Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeLees-Galloway Iain: Subordinate Legislation (Confirmation and Validation) Bill (No 2) — Second Reading Third Reading[Sitting date: 10 December 2013. Volume:695;Page:15370. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY (Labour—Palmerston North): I just want to make a short contribution on this Subordinate Legislation (Confirmation and Validation) Bill (No 2). As I am sure earlier speakers would have said the purpose of this bill is to confirm and in some cases validate subordinate legislation made under various Acts. In passing this bill the House is effectively approving the subordinate legislation specified in this bill and allowing it to continue in force. Essentially this lies around a series of levies and other matters that as Mike Sabin said in the absence of this legislation would not be able to carry on.Just some interesting points—the orders under the Land Transport Act refer to motor vehicle registration. I note that the bulk of motor vehicle registration is actually the accident compensation levy that motor vehicle owners pay into ACC. ACC recommended to the Government that it reduce the motor vehicle levy just as it made recommendations that the Government could reduce a range of ACC levies.Hon Dr Nick Smith: The member’s Government put them up.IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY: Well it was Nick Smith who put the ACC levies up when he created a phoney crisis in the Accident Compensation Corporation. He overcharged New Zealanders. He caused New Zealand taxpayers to pay far more in their ACC levies than what was necessary and the result was that this year ACC made a surplus of nearly $5 billion.Of course the reason the Government refused before now to reduce the levies that Nick Smith—who interjected on me—raised when he was Minister is of course that that ACC surplus contributes to the Government’s surplus and the Government has set itself a target of getting the books back into surplus by the 2014-15 financial year. It has failed to do that through economic growth. When New Zealanders saw that target they assumed that what this Government was planning to do was to grow the New Zealand economy grow the number of jobs and get more people back into work so that they are paying tax and that would be the way the Government would reverse the phenomenal amount of borrowing that has occurred since it took office. But it has failed to do that and so it has found all sorts of other mechanisms by which to artificially inflate the Government’s books and make it appear that the Government will have reached surplus by 2014-15.One of those is of course the ACC levies which Nick Smith put up. Why I reference that in this legislation is that—we are talking about the motor vehicle account—that was actually one that the Government decided it would not reduce. So although there will be some election bribes next year for the work account and theearners account—it could have happened last year but they have been put off until next year because that is election year—unfortunately the poor old motor vehicle owner will not get any relief there.This is an issue that I know does concern a lot of people because for instance if you own a motorcycle—I know the Hon Phil Goff is very interested in this issue—or if you own more than one motorcycle then you are paying quite a lot in your ACC levies. Many motorbike riders quite rightly point out that you cannot actually ride more than one bike at a time and therefore it might be inequitable for them to have to pay those extremely high levies. Certainly there was never any suggestion that motorbike owners would have their motor vehicle registration levy reduced even though some other folks would.One other really interesting idea that the Government is trying to push through—although it seems that it is now having to do a little bit more work to justify it—is this idea that if you are rich and you own a new car then you can pay less on your motor vehicle registration than someone who is on a middle income or on a lower income and who can afford only an older car as if that was going to incentivise people to buy newer safer cars. I mean it is just ridiculous. The fact of the matter is that with the income gap widening under this Government with more and more people finding it harder and harder to make ends meet there is no way on earth that they are going to go and buy the latest model Mercedes-Benz so that they can get a reduction on their ACC levy. It just shows you how completely out of touch with reality this Government actually is—that somehow having a lower ACC levy would incentivise people to head down to their nearest BMW dealer and buy the latest model car.This bill I know is simply subordinate legislation that allows certain things to carry on but it is important that although as legislators we pass this legislation we understand the implications and the variety of options that were in front of the Government when it considered this legislation. On a number of those options frankly the Government does get it wrong because it always puts its mates ahead of the interests of all regular ordinary New Zealanders.Bill read a second time.