Bennett David: Taxation (KiwiSaver and Company Tax RateAmendments) Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
Bennett David: Taxation (KiwiSaver and Company Tax RateAmendments) Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:639;Page:9471] 
DAVID BENNETT (National—Hamilton East) 
: 
 Yesterday out of this Budget we got one phrase that has not been in the papers yet and that is: “Is that it?”. Is that the last Budget from Michael Cullen? It is. Is that the last Budget from Helen Clark? It is. Is that the last Budget of the New Zealand First – Labour coalition? It is. Is that the last Budget where New Zealanders will be kicked around by this Government? It is because New Zealanders will stand up now and want a Government that will not tell them what to do. They will want Budget legislation with a Part 2 in it that actually reflects what they want to see happen. They will want a Part 2 that will deliver for all New Zealanders. 
Those people in New Zealand who work hard and try to make a living will be under this Budget put to the sword by this Labour – New Zealand First Government which has no recognition of hard-working New Zealanders. This is a Government that thinks it knows best. It thinks that by taking money from people then spending it and giving it back to them it knows better than those individuals who should have had the money in their hands in the first place. This is a Government that thinks it knows what people should do. It thinks it knows how people should live their lives. It thinks it knows how people should spend their money. Part 2 should not be like that. 
Part 2 should reflect ordinary New Zealanders’ ability to live their own lives determine their own destinies and have some tax cuts they have been promised over many years—tax cuts we were told about and tax cuts to the value of chewing gum that have now been put away. It is no good giving people “chewing-gum” tax cuts now because they are too small. We will have to wait till next year to get any tax cuts will we not? People will have to wait until the “Budget of all Budgets” in election year—the Budget where there will be a pay-out to buy the votes of people who have saved up for 9 years. That is what New Zealanders will have to wait for to get tax cuts and that is simply not good enough. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Clem Simich) 
: Mr Bennett— 
DAVID BENNETT 
: But there are some other parts in Part 2 that we need to look at. In this Budget we see a number of things about KiwiSaver. The selling of this programme will be the goal of Labour over the next 6 months. It is Labour’s golden ticket to beat the polls so that it can come back and say it is doing what ordinary New Zealanders want to see happen. There is an element of truth to that I must admit. New Zealanders want to see some kind of savings policy but— 
The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Clem Simich) 
: You have made a number of references to Part 2 but I ask you please to let me know which Act or which part you are speaking to—the Tax Administration Act or the Companies Act? 
DAVID BENNETT 
: The KiwiSaver Act and company tax amendments. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Clem Simich) 
: So you are speaking to the KiwiSaver Act 2006? 
DAVID BENNETT 
: Yes. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Clem Simich) 
: OK. 
DAVID BENNETT 
: When we look at the KiwiSaver scheme we see there is an element of truth to the need to have some kind of savings regime but we cannot have a savings regime when the people who are most in need of savings will be left out. The people on low incomes who need a savings policy that will assist them through their lifetime will now be left out of the scheme. They are the ones who will be left out of it. It is all right for all those academics over there on the Labour benches who have been living off the hand of the Government for all their lives. They will get their tax cuts and they will take advantage of them but they are not looking after the people who voted them in. They are not looking after the people this House represents. They are looking after themselves; they know they will get tax benefits. They know they will get the advantage but they do not care about the people out there because they know they have a year and a half till an election and in a year and a half people will forget about this stuff. The real stuff will be in a year and a half when they go out there and go around the country promising handouts to certain interest groups. That is what they will be doing. They are not worried about ordinary New Zealanders making a go of it today. 
It is all right to talk about a charities policy now from this Government—a charities policy that National put out there but that has been stolen by the Labour Party and dressed up in its own colours. It is a policy that National put out there and New Zealanders had the advantage of knowing that National led the way. National was going to look after charities in New Zealand not these guys. The only charity they see is themselves and they see that they have the advantage.