Smith Lockwood: Customs and Excise (Motor Spirits) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Smith Lockwood: Customs and Excise (Motor Spirits) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:623;Page:18598] 
Dr the Hon LOCKWOOD SMITH (National—Rodney) 
: 
 The public might have no idea from this debate that we are debating Part 1—“Amendments enabling indexation of duties on motor spirits by reference to diversion amounts”—of the Customs and Excise (Motor Spirits) Amendment Bill. Part 1 is the part that indexes the rate of excise duty on petrol or motor spirits to the consumer price index. 
There is an important constitutional principle here that in all my years in this Chamber has been adhered to very closely which is that no Government has the right to increase taxes on people without the representatives of the people actually passing it—accepting it. 
Shane Ardern 
: No taxation without representation! 
Dr the Hon LOCKWOOD SMITH 
: My colleague Shane Ardern reminds us that there should be no taxation without representation. It has been an important constitutional principle that only this Parliament can increase taxes. Sure Governments can propose that there should be increases in taxes but they bring them to Parliament. Part 1 of this bill says to hell with Parliament; it says that this Labour Government of Helen Clark is so all-knowing so wise so wonderful—after all Helen Clark once referred to herself as an extraordinarily successful and competent Prime Minister and she tells the public so; she is a “victim of her own success” is our Prime Minister—that it can ignore that constitutional principle and put up taxes just by Order in Council. That means that taxes will be upped when the Government decides to up them and Parliament can whistle in the wind. 
I think that is an important issue. It is something this Parliament should not hand over to the executive without a lot of careful thought. If the Government were to bring to Parliament a comprehensive proposal stating that it wanted to be more efficient and that as the petrol excise is increased every year according to the consumer price index it would make that automatic but that to make sure the proposal was a balanced one it would also address for example the income tax side and index the thresholds for that that would provide some balance. Maybe Parliament would be prepared in those circumstances to say that that would be fair to the taxpayers whom we represent. But this bill is not fair because it empowers the executive to put up the taxes on petrol without Parliament having any say. The people we represent will get clobbered because the income tax they pay is not indexed. The thresholds on which their income tax are based are not indexed to the consumer price index. So the people we represent are not being treated fairly by this. 
This bill is a real test for United Future. We know that United Future believes that the income tax thresholds should be indexed to the consumer price index. We know that United Future in its minority report from the Finance and Expenditure Committee stated that it believes that this increase in petrol tax should be offset by a reduction in personal income tax. This is a test for United Future. Will it vote for anything it believes in—for something as important as this—or will it just keel over and be another little limp-wristed doormat for this Government? This will be a real test because this is an important issue. This Government giving this executive the power to increase taxes is an important issue and United Future should stand on principle for something and vote with the Opposition to try to prevent the Government from carrying this proposal out. 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: They won’t? They won’t. 
Dr the Hon LOCKWOOD SMITH 
: No I am not sure how United Future will vote. I suspect it may well vote with the Government because I do not think its members have enough you-know-what to vote against the Government on this issue. This will be the test. 
I suspect the Greens will vote with the Government because they are in the Government’s hip pocket—but I should not say that. [ 
Interruption 
] Watermelons? Well yes we know about the Green Party. I suspect it will vote with the Government but United Future should show some principle.