White HelenHELEN WHITE (Labour): I rise in support of this bill and I am absolutely thrilled to be here giving this particular speech. What actually appears to be the case is that the Opposition just completely lacks a vision and this bill does exactly the opposite. There's a very very strong vision here. There's a strong vision about what Government does and what it should do and in this situation what we see is a bill that consistently encourages investment in the right places in our economy. We have a bill here that now encourages investors in the housing market into new builds and that is exactly where they should be. They should not have been speculating on homes that were already there. We need an increase in housing stock so now we have carrot and we have stick. The carrot here is that if investors go into new builds the brightline test does not apply to them at 10 years. If they go into new builds they will actually be producing something of value and it is recognised here. It's a very different situation for people on lower and middle incomes in New Zealand who want to own their own homes. They get a boost by this. They get a right to bid for those houses without those kinds of investors who already have capital and who outbid them every time. They get that right to get that dream fulfilled and that's a very important thing and it's an important thing to child poverty and it's a very very big focus of this bill that we are focusing on those lower and middle income earners. It isn't something that's happened by accident. Other parts of this bill also encourage investment. We can see that in the business continuity test for example where there is a reshaping so that we are actually encouraging innovation and investment. When people have spent a lot of capital in a business and they've grown it and they've taken a risk they get to move into a new place in the maturity of that business by adding a capital investor and they don't have to meet the 49 percent ownership any more. We can look at the similar business that they're involved in and that again does exactly the same thing: it encourages investment. There's the issue about feasibility. The feasibility deduction is something where again people are encouraged to go out there take a risk try something and in fact if it doesn't work they can abandon their project and they can recover. It's a really important part of the bill. But I also want to talk for a minute just about the other part of this bill which I think has been really scathingly attacked by the Opposition and that is the increase of income tax. This is a very fair tax bill and I come from that bracket that was talked about in terms of income. I've come from a high income but I've also worked as an employment lawyer and I have watched people walk into my office every day who work as hard as they possibly can and they never come near those tax brackets. They're doing meaningful work they're helping people and when I hear members—self-congratulatory members—talk about how they have worked hard and say that that is why they are on these incomes I can tell you that it's way more an accident than that. It's an accident of class; it's an accident of education. It's a good thing to earn lots of money and I don't wish them any harm but it is very very important that the focus of this Government is in the right place. It is on working people and it is making sure that everyone gets a fair go and I for one have no problem with paying a higher income tax that is actually fairly minimal in these circumstances. Everybody shares in this economy. I have children who do not earn that kind of money and I want to support them. I want to support my community. That's what income tax is about and this Government has its eye on the ball. Thank you. I commend this bill to the House.