Cosgrove Clayton: Taxation (KiwiSaver HomeStart and Remedial Matters) Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeCosgrove Clayton: Taxation (KiwiSaver HomeStart and Remedial Matters) Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 25 March 2015. Volume:704;Page:2613. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE (Labour):That is the nicest thing Mr Mallard has said to me for a long time. I just want to deal with clause 6 and take up some of the very interesting contribution of the new member Mr Alastair Scott because he said a couple of very interesting things. Firstly he was the only member of the Government who got up and confirmed our numbers. He said that this will give—I wrote it down—“$10 a week”. So well done. He is the first honest one over there to actually front up on the Government’s policy be honest about it and say that it is 10 bucks a week—a tick in the box.Secondly and we are going for the gold star here he used the words “housing crisis”. He said that this will help to solve the “housing crisis”. I want to commend him again for his honesty and his forthrightness because he is the only member—the Minister will not use the words Mr Brownlee will not use the words Nick Smith will not use the words Nicky Wagner in the chair will not use the words no one will use the words “housing crisis” but we have had a breath of fresh air come in. We have had a National member a new member straight from the vineyard come into the Chamber straight up and down—I think credit is due and honour is due. He is a straight-up member. His constituents should be proud today because he has told the truth. He has said that this policy will give you 10 bucks a week—Mr Bennett would not admit that—and that “this will go some way to helping solve the housing crisis”.What a beautiful moment in this Chamber. This is one of those moments I think we should cherish in a bipartisan way to celebrate the fact that Mr Alastair Scott a new member—normally new members and I have done it when I was a new member trip over on various things in the House but this member in relation to speaking to clause 6 has put the acid right back on the Government. [Interruption] Well how it is relevant Mr Bennett is like this. Under clause 6—we will try again—as Mr Scott pointed out the $10 a week your Government gives will allow people to take $521-odd a year out of their KiwiSaver account to go towards a deposit on a house say in Auckland where the weekly increase is $1700.So I want to commend Mr Alastair Scott. We will be printing off the Hansard and sending it out to various people. I will stand up and I want to be the first on the record to thank him for his honesty—10 bucks a week. He also said though that—there is a slight misunderstanding here—loan-to-value ratios have helped and will help first-home buyers I need to explain to him. This is what he said in his contribution; I wrote it down. He said that loan-to-value ratios will help first-home buyers. I know that Mr Bennett does not like it. The sad thing is Mr Scott loan-to-value ratios mean you have got to come up with more dough for a decent deposit.The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Trevor Mallard): Order!Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE: But getting back to clause 6—The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Trevor Mallard): Order! Yes. It is a very good rendition of Julius Caesar but I think what we might get back to now is the detail. Thank you.Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE: I have to say Julius Caesar had more hair than I have and he had laurel leaves and I do not possess those and neither am I an emperor.But on clause 6 Mr Scott has actually been honest with people. What he said in his contribution is that clause 6 provides the meanest of mean-spirited contributions for a first-home buyer: $10 a week. We were criticised for the “big cheese Budget”—remember that? I do not know. How much does a brick cost? A brick may cost what two or three bucks? So you might get three bricks a week for building your first home.Carmel Sepuloni: Jeez it’s gone up.Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE: I do not know. I am not sure how much a brick is worth and I say that word very carefully. I do not know how much it is worth but it is the meanest of mean—David Bennett: About the same as your brain.Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE: Oh well there you go. Poor old David Bennett. You have got to feel sorry for the bloke. Try hard as he does he cannot quite get it but this is actually important. This is actually important for David Bennett’s constituents in Hamilton on Struggle Street trying to get a first home. I am sure Mr Bennett will go out and say: “Alistair Scott has confirmed that we are a mean-spirited Government but you should be grateful to us anyway because we are going to give you $10 a week of your money to go towards house prices that in Auckland are increasing by $1700 a week.”So I just conclude by again thanking Mr Scott for his candour and for his honesty and I would just invite the Minister in the chair Nicky Wagner to either verify what Mr Scott has said or perhaps disagree with him if he is wrong. But I think that given he has agreed with the figures that we have put up I suggest he is right. I look forward to his further learned straightforward and honest contributions as we go through this debate.