Lotu-Iiga Sam: Taxation (Consequential Rate Alignment and Remedial Matters) Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Lotu-Iiga Sam: Taxation (Consequential Rate Alignment and Remedial Matters) Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 28 July 2009. Volume:656;Page:5179. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
PESETA SAM LOTU-IIGA (National—Maungakiekie) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker. Ka whakanui au i te reo o te tangata whenua ka whakanui au i te reo o Aotearoa. Tihei mauri ora. 
[ 
Greetings to you Mr Assistant Speaker. I celebrate the language of the people of the land and of New Zealand. Behold the sneeze of life 
.] 
I acknowledge that this is Maori language awareness week and it is pleasing to me personally that people have made an effort to acknowledge one of our official languages in this country of Aotearoa New Zealand. 
I rise to support the Taxation (Consequential Rate Alignment and Remedial Matters) Bill. I will not get into the detail of the bill. It is really a bill that is about aligning certain tax rates and it is as many of the prior speakers have alluded to part of the wider tax package that this Government is putting in place. Suffice to say that the major policy item in the bill is the alignment of those various tax rates with the new primary rates that the Government has set out in its tax cut policy. 
Many of the prior speakers have alluded to the fact that this measure is part of a wider initiative to increase the productivity of our country. Increasing New Zealand’s productivity of course increases job opportunities and increases the standard of living that we are used to in this country and it is certainly something that all parties in this Chamber support. Of course taxation reform is part of a wider programme of regulatory reform that aims to remove red tape and other such regulatory compliance as well as to remove other barriers to increasing productivity. It is also part of the Government’s programme of investment in infrastructure. That infrastructure is not just physical infrastructure as in roads schools and other buildings and the like but also infrastructure like broadband which the Government will roll out in the next few years. The Government also sets out to improve productivity within the public services. We have been quite clear in our direction and policy setting that the public services need to be improved. We are also setting out an agenda on education and upskilling those who want to upskill themselves in order to produce the jobs—the value-added jobs of tomorrow—that will improve the productivity of this country. Many prior speakers touched on innovation and having a world-class taxation system is just the icing on the cake. 
Many of the speakers opposite me referred to productivity yet despite the very favourable economic conditions in the last 9 years all that the previous Government had to show for that was an annual productivity growth rate of 1.1 percent between 2000 and 2008. 
Dr Cam Calder 
: 1.1 percent? 
PESETA SAM LOTU-IIGA 
: The figure is 1.1 percent I say to Mr Calder. That is staggering given the favourable economic conditions. The biggest show in town was Government spending—not the productive sector not the export sector but Government spending. 
This Government inherited quite a mess. We inherited rising unemployment high inflation a rising current account deficit and an export sector that has declined for 5 years in succession. That is right; the export sector has declined for 5 years in succession. But guess what! This Government has a plan. This Government is about improving productivity. This Government is about delivering $1.68 billion to be spent on education. What are we doing that for? To increase the productivity of our economy. What is that needed for? To increase job opportunities in this country. Yes this Government has a plan. It is spending over $1 billion extra over 3 years on the State highway network. Guess what! Business confidence has remained positive. Guess what! We have had an upgrade in our credit rating which will save the taxpayers of this country in respect of interest rate increases. It will save us money on our mortgages; it will save us money on our borrowing costs. I am glad that the Leader of the Opposition is here to listen to this because he does not listen during question time. But he will listen to a colleague—a colleague from the central Auckland region. 
So I speak in support of this bill. It is part of a wider package of reform that this Government is pushing forward with. I say we should look out for productivity in the future look out for increased job opportunities and look out for stability. I reiterate that I speak in support of this bill. It is only a minor part of our reform but it is an important part. Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker.