Wong Pansy: Customs and Excise (Motor Spirits) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Wong Pansy: Customs and Excise (Motor Spirits) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:621;Page:16622] 
PANSY WONG (National) 
: 
 That contribution was from the Minister of Immigration—the Minister who is going to bring in 1000 Pacific Islanders to build roads in New Zealand and another 1000 Pacific Islanders to be prison officers. That was that Minister’s contribution. 
It brings me to a point that is important for United Future to note. We were told by Minister Rick Barker during the first reading of the bill that the Government was committed to ensuring that all of the 5c of extra tax would go into building roads. United Future members said that the only reason they were supporting this legislation was that all of the 5c would go into building roads. Then we heard from the Minister of Immigration who said that it was not all about roads. Unfortunately United Future did not give a wake-up call to the Labour Government; as usual it just keeled over and was submissive to it. 
It is important to point out that nowhere in the bill does it state that all the 5c will go into building roads. All it states is that the extra 5c will go into the National Land Transport Fund which has three main objectives: the road safety administration programme road funding and funding for passenger transport. So I want to put on the record United Future’s statement that if it finds out that not all the 5c goes into building roads it will not continue to support this legislation. Currently out of the $1.20— 
Paul Adams 
: I seek the leave of the House to be able to give a short explanation as to why all of this 5c will be going to road construction. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: The reality is of course that the House is master of its own destiny. If the member is seeking leave he is quite entitled to do that. It is up to the House whether it grants it. Is there any objection to that course of action being taken? There is. 
PANSY WONG 
: That member has already had a full 10 minutes and he did not even explain United Future’s policy. I think he should negotiate with Labour because it has many calls left. That member has been so helpful to the minority Labour Government that I am sure it will be happy to yield a call to him. 
At the moment motorists pay depending on where they are about $1.20 a litre and out of that 41c already goes to the National Land Transport Fund. Today this bill is stating that they will pay an additional 5c but I want to make it very clear that it is not just an additional 5c because there is GST on top of it. More than that the Government is also going to introduce an indexation formula which means that the amount will be automatically adjusted according to the inflation rate. The Governor of the Reserve Bank has already told the Finance and Expenditure Committee that in the coming year it is very likely that the inflation rate in New Zealand will hit the top mark of the 0 to 3 percent range. The select committee has been warned that the inflation rate is likely to hit 3 percent or even exceed 3 percent. Make no bones about it Labour is sneaking in that indexation formula basically to avoid coming back to Parliament to get a mandate to sneak in another tax. 
Brian Connell 
: How much? 
PANSY WONG 
: As my colleague Dr Muriel Newman of ACT has already pointed out 34 tax increases have been sneaked in. Can members guess how much extra tax has been introduced by this Labour Government in 5 years? There have been 34 tax increases bringing in $34 billion. Thirty-four is a good number to remember—34 tax increases $34 billion. Those are numbers that it is important to remember. This bill before us today introduces the 35th tax increase. National still wants to hear whether it will be put into road construction. 
Also I want to know why United Future would support a bill with an indexation formula when Labour flatly refused to support United Future’s amendment to the taxation bill that would have introduced an indexation formula into the tax threshold to relieve some of the tax pressure on individuals. United Future told its supporters that it was coming into Parliament to keep Labour honest to give it a wake-up call but today we are still waiting to see that. I see that Gordon Copeland put out a press release stating that United Future’s task in Parliament is actually only to embarrass the Labour Government. Members should just think about that. What sort of political party would come into Parliament only to embarrass the Government? 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Why didn’t the member turn up this morning? 
PANSY WONG 
: We now have the pleasure of the Minister of Education joining us in the House. He is the Minister who has single-handedly caused a 50 percent drop in international student numbers coming to New Zealand. Now our primary and secondary schools have to look for alternative funding to make up for the shortfall. Unfortunately parents have to mow more lawns paint more buildings and bake more cakes to increase their schools’ funding. 
The Minister should take a call. When Labour members cannot hack it they just sit there yelling their heads off. They should take a call and tell New Zealanders why any political party should support their Government’s 35th tax increase when it has proudly announced a $7 billion surplus. Yesterday the Finance and Expenditure Committee was told that the Inland Revenue Department has $8 million to spend on promoting the Working for Families package to attract the 48000 people who might potentially be entitled to its benefits—$150 per person. The Inland Revenue Department is the department that makes sure everybody pays his or her taxes but of course when it comes to a certain Labour Minister that seems to be overlooked in the process. 
Let me make the National Party’s position clear. It was outlined by Dr Smith but Labour still does not understand it. Labour is still in the cash-flow accounting stage and it thinks it can tax everybody in order to build roads that will last for a long time. Also I remind United Future about the NBR - Phillips Fox poll: 60 percent of respondents said that tolls were the way to go rather than tax increases. Why when the Government has announced a $7 billion surplus and channelled a lot of money to the consolidated account should the motorist once again be asked to contribute more? We must not forget that today we are voting in not just a 5c a litre increase; it is 5c a litre plus GST and also with indexation—and according to the Governor of the Reserve Bank New Zealand is looking at inflation being at the high end of the range which is 3 percent. 
The other cynical point made by the Minister of Finance was that he just might defer the introduction of the tax if petrol prices stay high. So after this increase has been introduced what will happen in 2006 if petrol prices hit an all-time high? Will that mean that that particular increase is withdrawn?