Connell Brian: Taxation (Annual Rates Maori Organisations Taxpayer Compliance and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill — In Committee 
Connell Brian: Taxation (Annual Rates Maori Organisations Taxpayer Compliance and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:607;Page:4222] 
BRIAN CONNELL (NZ National—Rakaia) 
: 
 The more I listen to this debate the more pessimistic I become about it. In particular I want to focus on clause 24 and start by saying: “Here we go again! This politically correct Government is doing deals for its Maori mates and to hell with what the majority of hard-working Kiwis think.” In any other Western democracy this would be called apartheid. This creeping crawling insipid political correctness that has pervaded this country and that this Government champions is soul-destroying. Doing special deals for Maori is highly divisive and the day will come—and I think it is coming soon—when we will see a significant backlash to this type of deal. A special tax deal like this is not the Kiwi way. Our society has developed out of a sense of fair play and this bill is not a fair go to our fellow Kiwis. If one offends that sense of fair play—as I believe this bill will do—one will suffer the consequences. I say to members opposite that that day is coming quickly and I think it will be very apparent in the next election. 
When I read the select committee report I saw that the majority of committee members argued that the lower tax rate was being introduced because of the lower income of authority members. How very convenient that argument is! If the Government is really solely concerned with low-income earners why is it only Maori who will be favoured with this type of tax treatment and not Pacific Islanders Asians and white New Zealand business people? It is not even supported by the Federation of Maori Authorities. The answer of course is that the Government cares more about its mates. This politically correct Government is subjugating the rest of New Zealand to a treaty that was signed 163 years ago rather than having the strength of character to interpret the treaty just as it was written signed and understood by those who were present. We have already done more than most Western democracies. 
I say to members of this House that this is not a time for separate deals; it is a time for coming together. There should be one standard of citizenship for all New Zealanders. Did members of this House ever think that there would come a time in this country when they would see two tax systems based on race? I never thought I would see this day. The Government is quite unashamedly favouring one race at the expense of another. That is not a fair go. If the Government had the courage to deal with the Treaty of Waitangi gravy train and the absolute abuse therein this situation would never have arisen. It might interest members to know that under the settlement process to date one fifth of all settlement moneys has gone to consultants and lawyers—not to the Maori beneficiaries who were meant to be getting it. If our economic growth—and here is something that Dr Cullen might want to think about—kept pace with the Treaty of Waitangi gravy train he would not have the dilemma about where we rank in the OECD because we would be leading it. 
Let us look at the advice the select committee received from such notable authorities as Chen Palmer and Partners and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Chen Palmer said the changes would provide a $70 million windfall for Maori authorities in the fishing industry alone. They went on to say something that I find extraordinary—that discrimination based on race is contrary to the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. The majority of members on the committee conveniently ignored that. 
Let us look at some of these “poor” Maori businesses—the emphasis here is on “poor”. The Waitangi Fisheries Commission controls about one-third of New Zealand’s fishing quota. The Crown Forestry Rental Trust has only a “meagre” $200 million worth of assets.