McClay Todd; Rurawhe AdrianHon TODD McCLAY (National—Rotorua): Mr Deputy Speaker thank you very much. May I start by congratulating you on your election to this role and the Speaker himself and other presiding officers. I look forward to working with you. Can I also congratulate all members of Parliament who are here in this House today. It is a great honour one of the greatest honours and privileges that anybody can have to serve their constituents and their country and I believe all of us come here for the right reasons. The challenge we have is over a period of time whether those right reasons are delivered on. I am quite concerned that it's going to be difficult for so very many New Zealanders over this next year and these next two years and even more concerned it's going to be so very difficult for so many more New Zealanders than it needs to be. Fundamentally the Government has an absolute obligation to come up with a plan that's going to make people's lives better. It is a good thing that they care but caring itself is not helping the mum who's finding the prices at the supermarket are too much for her to meet because the costs have gone up. And the bit the Government can do something about—the costs they pile on businesses that are passed on to consumers—they are not. It's important that they say they care about small businesses in New Zealand who are struggling under debt they took on during the lockdown of COVID through no fault of their own but all that has been extended to them is an extension of more debt as opposed to real policies that are going to help those businesses get out from the weight of that debt and help more of them survive than is likely to be the case. So for the next three years the Government will be judged on how hard it is for New Zealanders and whether actually they are able to do more things for them in this three years compared to the last three years when actually the progress was not what the Kiwis deserve. But we're seeing this week already that the first thing they're going to do is some tax.Hon Dr David Clark: Stop talking down our businesses.Hon TODD McCLAY: What we won't see is tax on pushbikes—that's why you're sitting back there and not up the front any more so that's a good thing—but largely what will happen is the top tax rate is going to go up. And the Government signalled that but it was nothing more than signalling. Actually what they should be doing is being careful with the spending of the $200 billion that they will borrow—not necessarily sending a signal they want to tax Kiwis more. The second thing they won't rule out is around that capital gains tax or that brightline test. They said before the election they wouldn't tax Kiwis more but today we hear in this House that actually it's not off the table it's on the table. With the top tax rate going up to 39 percent even if they don't touch the brightline test Kiwis will be paying more because it will be based on their actual tax rate and in many cases it will be a higher rate. And of course that comes directly back to the cost of living. We've seen the Government signal that they've started an inquiry for the Commerce Commission into supermarket pricing and that in a year's time the Commerce Commission will report back to them. But the Government actually doesn't have to wait for a year to see why some costs in supermarkets have gone up. There are things that they can do right now to make sure those costs don't escalate and are reduced and those are the costs they're putting on businesses and small businesses in New Zealand. So we'll see this week the start of a process to double sick leave. Everybody wants an employee to be looked after if they're sick but the direct implication of doubling of sick leave; of a new public holiday the Government says they'll bring in in a year's time; of the increase of the minimum wage if it goes too quickly; and of some of the other things they've signalled around workplace relations is a cost of $2.8 billion on New Zealand businesses. Now when a small business in New Zealand has costs imposed on it by the Government they have to do one of two things. They have to pass those on—and where they can that increases costs to consumers—or they have to absorb those costs and over the last two years of extra costs imposed by the Government and the debt with COVID so many of these small business can't absorb any more costs. So ultimately what they do is when somebody leaves their workforce they're not able to replace them. That means job growth slows at a time when we need more jobs not fewer and that's a leading indicator of what's going to happen with unemployment. A lot of people have lost their jobs in New Zealand as a result of COVID. The Government needs a plan to help businesses grow the economy and create jobs not piling burden of cost upon those businesses particularly small businesses because too many Kiwis that deserve to be in jobs won't be too many businesses that deserve to survive won't and ultimately what that means is the recession that we're seeing and the harm that's done to the economy will continue. The Government needs a plan to get off the back of small business which gives them a chance to create the jobs that they need so Kiwis can work hard. It's hard work that will get us through the recession not more tax and not more costs.DEPUTY SPEAKER: This is a split call. I call Anahila Kanongata'a-Suisuiki.