Nash Stuart: Taxation (Annual Rates Trans-Tasman Savings Portability KiwiSaver and Remedial Matters) Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
Nash Stuart: Taxation (Annual Rates Trans-Tasman Savings Portability KiwiSaver and Remedial Matters) Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
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STUART NASH (Labour) 
: 
 I agree with Mr Foss. I think members should say what they actually mean. I say to Mr Foss that he has made a very good point and that when John Key was the Leader of the Opposition and he stood up on television and told New Zealanders that National would not raise GST he should have meant it. He said: “National will not raise GST” but it did. So I challenge Mr Foss to go and talk to Mr Key and give exactly the same advice to Mr Key—that he should say what he means. 
I rise in support of the Taxation (Annual Rates Trans-Tasman Savings Portability KiwiSaver and Remedial Matters) Bill—it is a bit of a mouthful—in its third reading. I also support Supplementary Order Paper 157 put forward by Peter Dunne which deals with major fixes to the increased GST regime that is about to be implemented on 1 October. I also support Supplementary Order Paper 158 put forward by David Garrett—I never thought I would say that—which adds to the available rates that can be chosen by a worker with regard to KiwiSaver contributions. However I would like to make three points in my speech on this bill. The first is that Labour did not support an increase in GST. The second point is that this legislation is necessary and proper. The third point is that the implementation of the GST increase has turned into an absolute shambles. 
I want to clarify one point in this House and it comes down to my first point. Even though Mr Dunne’s large Supplementary Order Paper is about remedial action in relation to the GST increase that will take place on 1 October this year we support his Supplementary Order Paper because it is necessary in order to get this dreadful increase to a stage where it does not bring down the whole economy even if it will bring down the Government. Labour did not support the increase in GST from 12.5 percent to 15 percent. Like the majority of New Zealanders Labour has never agreed with an increase in GST and we would never vote for legislation that was so regressive and so penalised the majority of good hard-working New Zealanders that it gave a tax cut from which 33 percent went to only 5 percent of taxpayers. Labour supports robust legislation that helps New Zealanders to improve business efficiency. 
I also introduced an amendment in the Committee stage. It would have gone just a little way towards alleviating the financial stress imposed by the increase in GST. The amendment would have ensured that GST on rates was held at 12.5 percent for the remainder of the financial year. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: I know that the member wants to debate and mention an amendment but that amendment was ruled out of order. I refer the member to Speakers’ ruling 117/4 which states that a member cannot refer to an amendment that has been ruled out of order in the Committee stage. I know the member proposed the amendment and I am happy for him to mention it but he cannot use it as the substantive basis of his speech. I am happy that the member mentioned it but he must talk about other things: about what the Committee decided on which now forms the basis of the third reading—the bill as it will become the Act. I now invite the member to continue. 
STUART NASH 
: One thing that disappoints me about the whole process is that the one amendment that Labour put forward—the only one; we supported two more Supplementary Order Papers—was turned down. That amendment would have alleviated in just a little way some of the harm felt by taxpayers who will really find it tough when GST increases on 1 October. We did not ask for much—just one amendment. But it was voted down. The thing that really surprises me about that is that my amendment was completely in line with the principles and practices that the other amendments were operating under. 
The major item in this bill allows New Zealanders who are returning home from Australia to bring their retirement savings with them. This is a sensible arrangement. We have been told there is potentially $16.6 billion in lost contributions from New Zealanders who are working in Australia which under this scheme could come back to New Zealand. Although this bill makes it easier for superannuitants to return home and bring their savings home I would suggest that the Government’s complete lack of a plan for this country may in fact be a larger incentive to stay away. But people will have to wait only another 18 months and then we will welcome them home. There will be a plan; they will see it very soon. 
The portability arrangements will allow citizens who have retirement savings in both New Zealand and Australia to consolidate them in one account in their current country of residence. These amendments cover only the transfer of retirement savings between our KiwiSaver scheme and an Australian complying superannuation fund that is regulated by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority. A person must permanently emigrate to Australia and supply proof of his or her emigration to the provider. To protect the value of savings transfers of savings between New Zealand and Australia will be exempt from any entry or exit taxes. 
The current inability of individuals to streamline and consolidate their personal retirement savings accounts is a real problem we understand to the trans-Tasman labour markets. The current costs undermine the effectiveness of policies aimed at improving retirement standards of living. Under the status quo individuals may transfer their KiwiSaver savings to Australia upon permanent emigration but Australian-compliant superannuation funds may not be transferred to New Zealand. So as mentioned this may well potentially unlock $16.6 billion worth of savings. But even if it is a fraction of that it will certainly be worth doing. 
My second point relates to Peter Dunne’s Supplementary Order Paper which is proof that the whole GST increase is an absolute shambles. Ernst and Young a major accountancy firm stated in a press release that “As we face the harsh reality of the 1 October GST increase to 15 percent many are realising this is not a modest increase and the issues are actually more complex that anyone first imagined.” This is a call of frustration not from the Labour Party but from a major accountancy company involved in interpreting tax legislation. The GST increase is a shambles and I wonder aloud how many more remedial matters bills and Supplementary Order Papers we will see coming before the House before this whole mess is tidied up. I am picking that there will be many. All that I can ask Mr Dunne is why this shambles was not tidied up before this bill even came to the House. If he had consulted before the GST legislation came to this House—if he had talked to the business community and asked whether businesses had any problems and if he had talked to the community—then this mess would not be in front of us now. In fact if he had consulted GST would not be going up at all. That is why I introduced my amendment asking the Minister to consider Kiwi families before the GST increase is implemented. 
The Minister of Revenue is in charge of the shambles. He also set up the Families Commission and I wonder what sorts of families he believes that the increase in GST will benefit—perhaps families earning over $150000 a year or over $1 million a year. Those families are about to get a nice little earner with this tax cut. However they are not the norm. In Napier the median wage is only $30000 a year and those people are about to get around $3 a week extra. The GST increase will ensure that the struggle gets worse for those families. Their budgets will be stretched and their feelings of disenfranchisement will be increased. 
In conclusion this bill is a mixture of the good and the necessary. The good for example is the trans-Tasman portability legislation; the necessary is what is required to tidy up the mess that is the GST increase. I have outlined why the Labour Party supports this bill and why this bill is important. Our support is in no way at all an endorsement of the increase in GST. We do not support an increase in GST. We were astonished—and quite frankly disgusted—when the Prime Minister introduced legislation to increase the GST rate after telling all New Zealanders that “National will not increase GST”. And he did. That is simply not fair. Thank you.