Hide Rodney: Injury Prevention Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee 
Hide Rodney: Injury Prevention Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee 
[Volume:609;Page:6498] 
RODNEY HIDE (ACT NZ) 
: 
 Today we are seeing an abuse of Parliament. Legislation is going through this House to put up the levy on motor spirits and not one Government member has taken a call. 
Simon Power 
: Or the Minister. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: Or one Minister. It is whoever gets the short straw and now Judith Tizard has the short straw. She is just sitting in that chair. They may as well be knitting because they are not coming down here to explain— 
Hon Judith Tizard 
: No that would be against the Speaker’s rules. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: I did not complain about the Minister knitting. She can carry on knitting. My view was that at least she was doing something useful for a change. 
Hon Judith Tizard 
: Which is more than you have ever done in this House. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: Ask the Minister Parekura Horomia who has been helping all these weeks with his portfolio. 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Can I ask the member to come to the point. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: My point Mr Chairperson before I was rudely interrupted by the Minister in the chair whom you did not move on who is not allowed to sit there and interject is why will she not take a call? Why will not one member like Mark Peck take a call? I will tell members why. The ninth floor said: “Don’t speak to this bill. There’s nothing in it for us.” 
Simon Power 
: You do a radio interview you get pulled off half way through. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: A Minister is called off halfway through because the ninth floor says not to respect Parliament. 
Janet Mackey 
: What about the bill? 
RODNEY HIDE 
: We will tell that member about subsection (4)(b) in clause 6 which states that there will be a levy of 5.08 cents for every litre of motor spirits. We are prepared to talk about it. We are prepared to attack it. We are prepared to criticise it. Why is the Government not prepared to defend it? Why is the Minister in the chair not prepared to defend it? Why is the honourable Minister Parekura Horomia not prepared to ask the reason that his people the Maori people will have to pay 5.08 cents per litre of motor spirits? Why is that well-known petrol head the Hon Harry Duynhoven not prepared to ask why people who are petrol heads driving around in their cars should have to pay an extra 5.08 cents in a monopoly levy to the State? According to the bill the State has improved its estimates of long-term rehabilitation costs. What a load of rubbish! 
I can understand why the Government does not want to talk about this. It is indefensible it is wrong and it is contrary to what the Labour Party campaigned on. Why do those members not come down here to respect Parliament? Why can they not come down here and give one speech in defence of the reason that every New Zealander rich or poor Maori or Pakeha whether or not the treaty applies should pay 5.08 cents minimum as my fine colleague Mr Simon Power said extra per litre of petrol? Not one of those members will take a call. 
We have a bill going through Parliament that this Government is not prepared to explain defend or tell us why it has to go through. We know that the United Future party is against it. That is a good start. We know that the Greens will vote for it because they hate the motorcar. They hate freedom. They would put up taxes on motor spirits—$10 a litre would not be too much for them. I ask Mr Tanczos whether that is right. I think the answer is yes. He is still thinking about it. I ask the member whether $10 tax on a litre of gas is all right. 
Nandor Tanczos 
: Is that your suggestion? 
RODNEY HIDE 
: He says that is a good suggestion. But old Harry Duynhoven will not go along with that. I say to this Committee— 
Hon Harry Duynhoven 
: Who’re you calling old? 
RODNEY HIDE 
: Well Minister young Harry Duynhoven. Why does he not take a call to explain to all the Volkswagen lovers of New Zealand the reason they will pay 5.08 cents more for petrol?