Shaw JamesHon JAMES SHAW (Minister for Climate Change): Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker and I'm not sure if I have the day right but if I'm correct well happy birthday.DEPUTY SPEAKER: I said recent.Hon JAMES SHAW: Recently. Belatedly happy birthday.The Green Party supports this Taxation (Annual Rates for 2018-19 Modernising Tax Administration and Remedial Matters) Bill—snappily titled—through its third and final reading. I do want to note of course the irony that this bill is going to pass roughly 10 days before the end of the tax year that it covers. But I'm glad that we are getting to it.There are as has been noted three main objectives: reform of administration of individuals income tax; addressing key aspects of the Tax Administration Act 1994 including information collecting and shareholding of taxpayer information; and setting the annual rates of income tax for the 2018-19 tax year. I just wanted to draw out a few points in particular in relation to the debate and the fact that this is not passing with the support of the other side of the House. First of all in addition to those main objectives the bill does propose amendments to simplify and clarify key aspects of our tax law for example as Mr Tabuteau just said removing the need for people who only earn employment or investment income to file a tax summary to get a tax refund. So what that means for the folks at home and I know that there are tens of thousands of you is that that change will automatically give around 750000 New Zealanders tax refunds without them having to file a tax return. I just want to note that the National Party is voting against that. So the National Party are voting against removing paperwork from the lives of three-quarters of a million New Zealanders.They are also voting against changes that will help individuals to use the right tax code in the year to avoid tax overpayments. The National Party are voting against that. Also they are voting against removing the unnecessary compliance costs which this bill gets rid of. So the party of regulatory reform and small government is voting against unnecessary compliance costs. This is about the modernisation of our tax system and the National Party are voting against that preferring the old outmoded tax system that this bill helps to replace.So the amendments here are part obviously of the ongoing process the multi-year—in fact multi-Government process—of inland revenue's Business Transformation process that links the department's ability to operate with its technology upgrades and to implement a range of measures that help to modernise and simplify the tax system.I just wanted to highlight also the changes to KiwiSaver here which are based on material that occurred under the previous Government and the Retirement Commissioner's report in 2016 on retirement policies. I just wanted to note that at the time or earlier in this process the Green Party did express concerns to Minister Nash about the amendment to reduce the maximum contribution holiday period from five years to one year because we were concerned that that could be a burden particularly for some vulnerable people whose circumstances leading to a savings holiday or a suspension might not get resolved in a year. We know that people who are in those kinds of circumstances if they are feeling that they need to take that holiday because their current circumstances require it then they might essentially end up getting ejected from the system because that period of time is too short. However I want to say that we have been assured that as part of the IRD's Business Transformation programme there are ways that would be included to reduce compliance costs for KiwiSaver members who are looking to renew a suspension and come back into the system. So we feel that that concern has been assuaged.Now as I said in the first and second readings of this bill few of us enjoy paying tax especially people on the other side of the House. Some spend a great deal of money with you know rooms full of tax lawyers finding new ways and exciting ways of paying less tax and as little tax as possible but as I've previously said tax is a social contract that allows us to pay our fair share to pay for the public services that we all need for a functioning society. Now in return obviously a tax system should be based on fairness it should be simple and it should operate efficiently and the reforms that are in this bill the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2018-19 Modernising Tax Administration and Remedial Matters) Bill aim to meet those criteria to ensure that we do have a fair and simple and effective tax system that is fit for the 21st century. So therefore on behalf of the Green Party I do commend this bill to the House.