Moroney Sue: Hamilton City Council (Parana Park) Land Vesting Bill — In Committee 
Moroney Sue: Hamilton City Council (Parana Park) Land Vesting Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:670;Page:17114] 
SUE MORONEY (Labour) 
: 
 Thank you Mr Chair. You have reminded us that we still have not found that missing 0.4 hectares which I believe probably add up to about an acre. Before the end of play tonight it would be really great to find out what has happened to the 0.4 hectares if the member in charge of the bill would please enlighten us. It is obvious from the contributions of Labour members that it is of concern to the Labour Opposition. We are supporting the bill so we want to make sure that our votes are being cast in good faith. We are placing some trust in the member on this issue but to be fair we would like to know before the close of play tonight the situation with regard to the missing land. 
Clause 8 is interesting in that the Hamilton City Council is ensuring that it does not have any unforeseen financial liabilities as a result of having this land vested in it. It is interesting that Hamilton City Council had some real foresight in drafting this particular provision. Did it ever see this National Government coming! The council really worked out what this Government would be up to. The first thing the council has said is that it wants to make sure that the land by being gifted to and now vested in the council does not draw gift duty. We know that the National Government announced some time ago that it would get rid of gift duty. We have not yet seen any legislation come back before the House that I recall. 
David Bennett 
: Yes. 
SUE MORONEY 
: We have? Has it had its first reading? 
David Bennett 
: It’s before its second reading. 
SUE MORONEY 
: No I am sorry; I do not recall it. I am relying on the member in charge of the bill David Bennett. I remember that the Hon Peter Dunne made some grand announcements about getting rid of gift duty but I do not recall having seen a bill be introduced to do that yet. Labour has made its position on gift duty clear. We do not believe that it should be abolished and here we are with the council saying it does not want it. The council wants to make sure that it does not get landed with gift duty from the vesting of the land in the council. 
Subclause (b) of clause 8 is even more interesting as it is about making sure that the vesting of the land is not subject to GST and to the Goods and Services Tax Act. Did the council ever see what the National Government would get up to! I am sure that when the council drafted the bill most of New Zealand still believed that when John Key promised he would not put up GST he would not. Most of New Zealand still believed that to be the case when the council drafted the bill. But the council has it worked out here that it could not trust what John Key said at election time. The council knew then that it could not trust him. 
Iain Lees-Galloway 
: Visionary. 
SUE MORONEY 
: It was absolutely visionary. The council has absolutely made sure that it would not be subject to the increased GST that the National Government landed upon everyone in this country from 1 October last year. 
I imagine that the council was probably drafting this bill before the 2008 election. For the bill to have reached this stage it must have been drafted before this Government came into office. In this bill the council was making absolutely sure that it would not be subject to any increased GST rate from an incoming National Government even though at the time when it was drafting this bill it would have been hearing the then Leader of the Opposition John Key saying that if he was elected as Prime Minister there would be no increase in GST. The city council probably would have heard those words. Clearly it heard what John Key was saying but it did not trust him. It did not trust him at his word because when the council was drafting this bill it made doubly sure that it would not be pinged with National’s increased GST by having this land vested in it. 
If only the rest of New Zealand had had the wisdom to see what the Hamilton City Council saw then. If other people had been able to look into the eyes of John Key when he promised not to increase GST and had had the wisdom to think that he did not mean that then families would not be facing the increased costs that they face today with every single thing that they buy having an increased rate of GST on it—petrol prices food prices you name it.