Flavell Te Ururoa: Taxation (Annual Rates and Budget Measures) Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Taxation (Annual Rates and Budget Measures) Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:672;Page:19009] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker Roy. E te Whare kia ora tatou katoa. I reckon the Taxation (Annual Rates and Budget Measures) Bill is the difference between mince on toast and a gourmet feast. It fills the spot and it sustains us but it is hardly going to excite the masses. I reckon it is the difference between sensible and sensational. It is a slow and steady approach to lifting the national savings rather than a slash-and-burn approach or at the other end of the scale a shop-‘til-you-drop approach. These days when virtual social networks thrive and instant gratification is the only game in town it sometimes appears as if there is no end to the levels of sensationalism we have come to expect with any event including the annual Budget. An economic analyst on  
AMP Business 
 this morning described it aptly. He said that New Zealand is used to Budgets that are one of three gears: fifth gear neutral or in reverse. Simply moving forward at a moderate pace never quite seems to hit the spot. 
The latest phenomenon I tell members who do not know is a game or activity called planking. Planking is a particularly good example of the trend to be just a bit more shocking and dramatic than the next person in line. Planking is a new obsession. It requires that the subject lies flat and face down—which is what some of these people in the House should do—in an innovative location. The pose is photographed and the photo is uploaded on to the social networking site. Members might have seen it on TV recently. Earlier this week the game took on a bit of a sinister edge. A 20-year-old Brisbane man fell to his death while planking from the seventh floor of his dwelling. It is a classic case of a world where people hunger for excitement and a sense of adventure regardless of the risk. 
In such a context the prospects of people welcoming a Budget that emphasises balancing the books and being responsible affordable and measured was always going to be pretty low. Let us face it: steady as she goes will hardly raise an eyebrow let alone get a standing ovation. But then again building a solid platform for growth will not see us catapulting down into the death trap either. 
The taxation legislation epitomises a “business as usual” approach to the economy. That is what we say. It is about enacting various strategies that support and sustain core programmes while at the same time making changes that deliver better value for taxpayers. Of course no one has ever wanted to reduce any funding to families. Ideally they should be the first place to look at in terms of investment. How do we respond to exceptional extenuating circumstances of two massive earthquakes and an ongoing series of shocks to the economy without some changes that have the potential to create savings? 
If one looks at this bill one sees some answers. Slowly but surely the Government intends to reduce the amount of money it has to borrow from overseas in order to subsidise KiwiSaver and instead increase the amount of genuine savings from the public sector. The Maori Party supports this approach on two grounds. Firstly we are pleased we are lessening reliance on foreign funds to prop up our own local economy. Part of our policy approach has been that we look at our opportunities internally for suitable investors. Opposition members are quiet now; it must have been a good idea. I am mindful of the excitement that was evident at the Maori economic summit conference held earlier this month. 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: I’d go back to planking if I were you. 
TE URUROA FLAVELL 
: The member has already been on the plank. That is why he looks so bad. One of the breaking news reports from the day was from a study from Business and Economic Research that revealed that the value of assets held by Maori has more than doubled since 2006. Maori now have a significant asset base worth $36.9 billion compared with $16.5 billion 5 years ago. That is what we learnt at the Maori economic summit conference. At the summit the thriving momentum and buying power of Maori organisations businesses and individuals was clear for all to see. The point that the Ngai Tahu leader Mark Solomon made in the context of that summit is just as relevant to this taxation debate as it was then. Mark Solomon spoke about the recent meeting he had attended where he challenged an influential Auckland business audience to retarget their approach to iwi. The forum was a meeting hosted— 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: Was Don Brash there? Was Don Brash in the audience? 
TE URUROA FLAVELL 
: I tell Mr Cosgrove that it was probably at his meeting. The forum was a meeting hosted by Sir Ron Carter at which 40 major banks and companies were present. On the wall of that hui was a banner that asked “Are iwi ready to invest?”. Mr Solomon said the question should be “Are you ready to invest with iwi as we have stood in front of you for 150 years and been absolutely invisible?”. It is certainly a good question to consider. Is the Government prepared to consider trusting in the asset base including Maori trusts and incorporations Maori employers and self-employed Maori? That is the question. 
I will focus on this last group for just a minute. The Government’s contribution to KiwiSaver has been the only incentive for the self-employed to participate in this scheme. As over 90 percent of New Zealand businesses employ fewer than 10 people having small employers involved in KiwiSaver is very important. They would not divert funds from their business for retirement savings if it was not worth more than $1000 to do so. We are pleased the $1000 incentive for new entrants to the scheme has been retained. My colleague Tariana Turia spoke yesterday about the fact that there was not a huge uptake of KiwiSaver by Maori. For those Maori who are in the scheme we understand that it can provide higher relative payouts for lower-paid workers whereas they do not get any value from taxes paid in respect of New Zealand superannuation. 
The other reason we support the changes to KiwiSaver is that the increased contributions from both individuals and businesses will happen only over time helping to give the country time to adjust. The biggest risk of course is that any dilution of the current benefits of the scheme may undermine the public’s confidence in the complex financial product. Currently KiwiSaver has 1.7 million New Zealanders saving for their retirement. This provides a stabilised savings vehicle which is helping to rebuild individual and household balance sheets and the challenge is on all of us to ensure we maintain future long-term benefits to the country while the adjustment is in place. 
The other big set of changes in this bill is around Working for Families. In terms of the broad parameters of the policy change we support the concept of better targeting Working for Families for lower-income families who need more help. That fits in with the advocacy role we have played in Government fighting to protect the rights of and opportunities for the most vulnerable. We acknowledge that it will hurt higher-income families in terms of the greater good for the nation but we believe that that is a change we can support in the interests of the longer haul. The Maori Party will support the third reading of the Taxation (Annual Rates and Budget Measures) Bill.