Webb DuncanHon Dr DUNCAN WEBB (Labour—Christchurch Central): Kia ora Madam Speaker. Well it's a sad day when the Government calls urgency to repeal a bill which its great evil according to the other side is to find out how we're doing in our tax system.This is a Government which has said in its coalition agreements that it wants to be evidence-based but in this most important area of all it's hiding from the evidence. What is it that they don't want to know? What is it that the people who are influencing them don't want them to know?We heard from Barbara Edmonds moments ago that the IRD itself independently studied our richest New Zealanders and found the huge disparity in our tax system. Is that what they don't want to know? What is so dangerous about knowing whether our tax system is equitable? What is so horrific about understanding whether we have horizontal and vertical equity? What is so dangerous about knowing that our richest New Zealanders don't pay their fair share?Well I can understand why they don't want to know that because we've seen their tax policy already which is to let the richest New Zealanders off the hook. There are landlords out there that are going to get a million-dollar tax break because of the tax changes that Government wants to put into place.This study would show that the fairness of our tax system will go backwards under that Government and it's no surprise that they don't want to know it. Do they want to improve our tax system? Absolutely not. That's why they don't want to measure it. If you don't measure it you can't improve it. So of course they don't want to know whether or not we've got an improving and a fair and an equitable tax system.Are they scared? Are they scared of understanding that capital is being preferred over labour? That workers are paying the lion's share of the tax whilst the owners of capital who sit on capital increase don't get taxed at all? On this side of the House we want to know. We want to know who's paying tax and how fair it is because we are committed to a progressive forward-looking tax system that changes with society. The dinosaurs over there want to leave the tax system largely as it is which is inequitable which doesn't look after those that need the most which makes those who can't bear the burden shoulder the lion's share.So why is it that they want to shield their eyes from the fact that there are dirty tax breaks that their mates are taking advantage of? We want to have an IRD which is equipped prepared and authorised to look into that. That Minister there is presiding over a system where the very integrity of the tax system is at risk. He should be utterly ashamed of himself here under urgency through the last sitting days of the year ushering through as quietly as he can an unfair tax system a system which is less transparent than it should be. And that is going to be the first thing that he does.So why is it that they're in trepidation of it being known that the top 1 percent of New Zealanders in terms of wealth are paying around about 9 percent of their economic income annually in tax whereas as Barbara Edmonds said a worker on the average wage pays around 28 percent? Is that equitable? Is that fair? He knows it's not but it's his mates that are getting the benefit of this system so he wants to brush it under the carpet. It's a Government that doesn't want to know.We know the work's been done. We know there's a draft report. I'm sure the Minister will be happy to release it. Will you release the report—will you release the draft report? Do you want to answer? I'll yield if you answer. The Minister is sitting there po-faced because he doesn't want to answer the question. Here's the other question. Why are we repealing all of this Act? Which principle is it that he doesn't like? Is it the principle of horizontal equity? Is it the idea that people in a similar position should pay similar tax? Possibly not. Much more likely it's vertical equity—the fact that people who have more should pay more because we know that doesn't happen at the moment and this Government the Government on the other side of the House doesn't want to address that issue.David Parker laid the foundations with a study of the wealthiest New Zealanders with the passing of this Act to make substantial changes to our tax system. The evidence is there. Whilst on the other side of the House they talk about it not being legitimate in some way it's an independent study using verifiable information that itself was not previously available but we changed the law to make it possible to look at those wealthy New Zealanders. So the foundations are laid but over there they just don't want to know. They want to keep it on the low-down.What I want to know is what that Government is going to do in terms of understanding these inequities these imbalances in our tax system? Even the tax breaks that they're now going to create the landlord's tax breaks the deductibility of interest—we know what that's done to the market. We saw the housing market price increases. We saw the crisis in house prices which were contributed to by the fact that landlords were getting tax breaks on interest payments. We know that one of the things that's going to happen when they restore that tax break is that house prices will go up. So much for caring about ordinary New Zealanders because under that Government homeownership will be further away for many homebuyers. Of course what they'll be doing is lining the pockets of their landlord mates who'll buy more houses and deprive first-home buyers of their first home.So once again we see a Government that doesn't really care about the effects that the tax system has on the wider economy. They're going to be preferring landlords over renters. They're going to be preferring landlords over first-home buyers. And are we going to see this tax break? Are we going to see rents go down? Not even the Prime Minister will lower his rents. He won't commit to that on his rental properties. I wonder if the Minister has a few rental properties that he'd like to talk about. Well he'll get another opportunity.Because we know these parties—well at least the ACT Party at least they're upfront. They just don't like tax. They just want lower taxes. They want flat and low taxes. Have a look at their policy platforms. So at least they're upfront about it. As for New Zealand First on the other hand well we know that the influences on them see them doing things like pushing for a roll-back of smoke-free and a roll-back of careful labelling of therapeutic products. Over there they're a little more behind the scenes. They don't want us to know who their backers are. They don't want us to know why it is that they're fronting for landlords but we do know that they're looking after their mates.So it's no surprise to me that when we look at the tax principles tax principles which they say—and I loved the comment that we don't all agree what fairness means. Well I'll tell you what you're on your own there mate. I've got a pretty good idea that a progressive tax system is a fair tax system. These principles have not come out of nowhere. They're widely and internationally accepted. Over there we have an island of unfairness. It's a shameful example where we've got a bunch of people who say We don't believe in an equitable tax system. We don't believe in a tax system that doesn't distort. We don't believe in a tax system that isn't efficient. We don't believe in a tax system that's flexible and adaptable certain and predictable." These are the principles they don't believe in.So that Minister's got some real answering to do. I'm looking forward to the committee of the whole House stage and I'm looking forward to the Minister answering some questions on exactly those matters."