Jones Shane: Income Tax Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
Jones Shane: Income Tax Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:641;Page:11281] 
SHANE JONES (Labour) 
: 
Tenatatou katoa Madam Chairperson. This Income Tax Bill as I said last week in the second reading should not be commented upon until we acknowledge the work of the officials and I am sure I speak for all members of the Finance and Expenditure Committee in singling out Therese Turner and the redoubtable Sir Ivor Richardson who we were told was in a class of his own. 
Unfortunately New Zealand Aotearoa and the House have just suffered the tedium of Tim Groser’s speech. I thought we might have encountered some sweet aroma some high sensation but despite his youthful flight of fancy and experimentation none of it was present in his speech. In fact he reminded us of why the committee functions really well—given that he is not on the committee. 
We have heard a great deal from members opposite as to what is wrong with this bill. This bill is a monstrous improvement: the text is clearer the content is far more accessible and as we have said there are some areas where transitional work is being undertaken. But at a deep fundamental level it is providing a pretext for our friends from the Opposition to put out gingerly a few ideas. 
Idea No. 1 that Opposition members have put out is that there will be tax cuts and that service deterioration will follow. They are using this debate this afternoon to test whether they have the courage or the vigour to tease that idea through. Idea No. 2 is that the State has grown too big and now they are toying with which areas of the State they will excise or lop off. This bill revises historically the work that officials have done and it goes back to Wyatt Creech’s efforts etc. but we should not allow the bill to be subverted so that members of the Opposition can talk about things they are unwilling to talk to the media about on a day-to-day basis in tax policy. 
Our tax policy—partially reflected in this bill—is available on every street corner in every church hall in all four corners of this Chamber and on every marae. We want a blend of policy that enables the core functions of the State especially in those key social areas to continue to deliver high-quality services. So we are not interested in buying into a bidding war where people may be tricked into thinking they will be better off by gaining small improvements in their tax situation only to learn that doctors schoolteachers nurses and a host of other essential contributors to the economy will be hobbled. Of course our friends from the Opposition fear that quality of debate; we look forward to it. 
Mr Tremain will no doubt have his passable speech blighted by a repetition from Mr Foss. They are great ones for commenting on how their ideas will be a great improvement on those of their elders. 
I have a great deal of respect for my fellow Northlander Dr Smith. 
Darren Hughes 
: What? 
SHANE JONES 
: I am not talking about Nick Smith; this is not medicinal legislation. Dr Lockwood Smith is a fellow Northlander. All committees need a good deputy chair and from time to time this chair is known to be absent—very infrequently though I might add but there are certain athletic duties that call from time to time—and the deputy chair has provided some good historical context. I am sure that all members of the Finance and Expenditure Committee agree that this was a successful and overdue effort etc. but where we do not agree is the direction of tax policy. 
Labour will not abandon key groups including the schoolteachers health professionals those who contribute to art and enrich the identity of the country and those who see a future for our infrastructure being funded through public resources. We will not turn our backs on them. But neither will we exaggerate—like the Opposition is doing—how better off people might be through having indiscriminate tax cuts. We are looking forward to a great tax policy coming forward in contrast to the vacuity we have had from members on the other side of the Chamber. Kia ora tatou.