Lole-Taylor Asenati: Income Tax (Universalisation of In-work Tax Credit) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Lole-Taylor Asenati: Income Tax (Universalisation of In-work Tax Credit) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 17 October 2012. Volume:684;Page:5962. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Le’aufa’amulia ASENATI LOLE-TAYLOR (NZ First) 
: 
 Malo le soifua i lau susuga. The Income Tax (Universalisation of In-work Tax Credit) Amendment Bill proposes to amend changes to the criteria in the Working for Families package by removing discriminatory elements that are attached to the in-work tax credit. The bill intends to assist vulnerable children and that is a good thing—it is a good thing. So Mr McClay’s misinterpretation of this bill is a real concern. To say that it is to pay people to stay on welfare is astonishing in my view. My advice to Mr McClay is this: he needs to do some exercise and the only thing he should exercise is caution—caution Mr McClay. No one was born to be a bad citizen. Exposing them to risk and unhealthy environments contributes to the negative outcomes that the National Government has been creating in the last 4 years. 
This package is supposed to support families with children on low and middle incomes and it is worth $60 per week. Is that right Ms Turei? It is $60 per week for poor families with one to three children and an additional $15 per week for each additional child. However there are implications. [ 
Interruption 
] It is weekly? All right. OK. However there are implications in this package regarding parents who do not meet the threshold for working hours—and I am talking about the 30 hours between a couple. Parents who receive income-tested benefits and parents who receive a student allowance will get $60 per week less in the current framework of the Working for Families package because of their eligibility under the IWTC or the in-work tax credit. 
 The proposed amendments to the in-work tax credit are based on elements of the Working for Families package that discriminate on the basis of parental work status. It does discriminate. So this bill aims to amend the Income Tax Act 2007 to capture all children of beneficiaries students and families under the in-work tax credit. The proposed amendments would require the criteria under the Working for Families package to emphasise income rather than work—income rather than work. Income and work are both interrelated but if parents are unable to meet the requirement to work 20 to 30 hours per week and their reasons are justified in some way then the package should recognise this rather than turning a blind eye to the actualities that people are confronted with. 
There are also issues surrounding high unemployment periods where it is difficult for parents to find work. Work is something that has become a foreign environment on that side of the House. 
Todd McClay 
: Very good speech! 
Le’aufa’amulia ASENATI LOLE-TAYLOR 
: It is. If changes do not occur children will continue to suffer at the hands of the system and that will contribute to greater poverty rates in the future. The estimated cost of the bill is around $300 million annually which is a very small amount compared with the $6 billion annually to target poverty. This bill will invest in the future of our children and will contribute to a more equal society. 
New Zealand First will support this bill’s referral to the Social Services Committee. Let the people of New Zealand have their say. It is time that democracy was given a fair opportunity to be exercised in this House. Thank you.