Brown SimeonSIMEON BROWN (National—Pakuranga): This is not an excellent bill and I will not be commending it to the House but I have little bit more to say about it than that member Deborah Russell just did. Thank you for the opportunity to speak on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2020-21 Feasibility Expenditure and Remedial Matters) Bill first reading which the National Party will not be supporting. I just want to continue on with some of the comments that my colleague Andrew Bayly was making in relation to how this piece of legislation essentially cements the Government's tax policies for another 12 months and how those policies are harmful for New Zealanders as we recover from COVID-19. One of the key issues that this bill does is it sets the taxation rates for the coming year it sets the income tax rates and it continues them at their current rates which they have been at since I believe 2010 when the tax reset was made by the John Key National Government. That means since then we've had inflation of around 13 to 15 percent in the time following that which means that incomes have continued to grow and people are paying higher taxes but their income is being essentially deflated due to inflation. This is what is called bracket creep" and this is an issue that the current Government has failed to address and is continuing to fail to address by this bill. As New Zealanders' incomes grow and part of that increase in income is a reflection of the fact that we have inflationary pressures—Kiritapu Allan: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I note that there is a stranger in the House. I'm not sure if there has been any amendment from the ruling this afternoon but there was a particular member that was not to come into the House.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Ruth Dyson): Dr Smith are you still meant to be out on leave?Hon Dr Nick Smith: Well Madam Speaker that's my difficulty. I phoned and asked what time I'm allowed to return to the House and nobody will tell me. I think I'm entitled to know as a member.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Ruth Dyson): OK. If you wouldn't mind adjourning to the lobby and I'll get an answer for you directly.Hon Dr Nick Smith: That would be helpful.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Ruth Dyson): Thanks Dr Smith.SIMEON BROWN: Thank you Madam Speaker. I just want to continue with the points that I was making around bracket creep which is a significant issue in this piece of legislation and an issue that this Government continues to fail to address. It's an issue that we had addressed in the 2017 Budget. We did pass important legislation which would have changed the brackets for tax rates in New Zealand to ensure that the brackets were increased so that New Zealanders were able to keep more of their hard-earned money. Not only has this Government removed and cancelled that tax relief but they've continued to increase the taxes that New Zealanders pay throughout their lives.We've seen the regional fuel tax put in place in Auckland. We've seen taxes increased three times on fuel across New Zealand with the next increase coming on 1 July—another increase to punish motorists without any delivery being done on any additional transport projects in New Zealand. And just this week we've heard that the light rail project in Auckland is not going ahead despite the continual increase in taxes that we're paying for petrol across New Zealand but also in New Zealand. This is a Government which approved light rail a Government which then approved the higher taxes to pay for it a Government which has then cancelled the light rail and now they've kept the taxes in place. So we're paying more and getting nothing and that's the problem with this Government—they have a failure to deliver on their promises.But not only have they increased fuel taxes—something they've done very effectively without delivering we've seen the ring-fences of losses we've seen the Amazon tax GST on overseas roaming extending the bright-line test increased WorkSafe levies and of course as I mentioned earlier the cancelled tax relief which was very important to New Zealanders and something which the National Party has committed to doing on a regular basis because inflation is something that doesn't stop. It's like rust; it keeps going and our tax brackets should be adjusted on a regular basis to ensure that New Zealanders are paying a fair rate of tax on the income they earn and are not being penalised by inflation.This Government said when they came into office there would be no new taxes—an absolute lie; something that they have broken seven times. Seven times they've increased taxes and something which they have lied about. Of course we remember the Tax Working Group—the Tax Working Group which is sitting on Grant Robertson's desk gathering dust but I'm pretty sure he's opening it up again he's brushing that dust off as he prepares for the upcoming election because we need to remember that whilst they have ruled out doing anything at this stage in regards to the capital gains taxes or wealth taxes or inheritance taxes or all the other proposed taxes which they would love to put in place they have not yet announced their policy for the upcoming election. I can guarantee New Zealanders if this Government is given the opportunity to sit on the Treasury benches for one more term that Tax Working Group document will not only have the dust blown off it but they'll be implementing as much of it as they possibly can over the next three years.So what we should be talking about as we come out of COVID-19 is not how we have as the explanatory note of this bill says a "framework [to] help ensure that taxes are fair and efficient and that they impede economic growth as little as possible." we should be having a conversation about how our tax system can ensure that New Zealand's economic growth can grow we're not impeding it we're growing it and we're giving people opportunities. We're incentivising people to be able to grow their businesses to try and keep jobs and keep people employed and that's exactly what the National Party is committed to doing.That's why we're talking about how we can incentivise businesses keep businesses going through giving them tax relief around GST—giving them a portion of their GST they paid last year back to them so they can have cash flow in their business at a critical time so that they can continue to pay the bills they can continue to stay afloat and that they can continue to keep people employed. These are the issues which New Zealanders care about right now when it comes to tax. How can a tax system work for them to help grow our New Zealand economy and to help grow businesses and to help grow jobs? This bill does not do this.This bill simply implements the current tax rates rolls them over for another year and then makes a range of tinkering around the edges in the Tax Administration Act the Goods and Services Tax Act student loan scheme KiwiSaver Companies Act—it's just tinkering around the edges and it's nothing with no vision no energy no drive and no vision for how New Zealand can truly recover from COVID-19. The National Party is proud to oppose this piece of legislation because it does nothing to help grow the New Zealand economy."