Hide Rodney: Customs and Excise (Motor Spirits) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Hide Rodney: Customs and Excise (Motor Spirits) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:623;Page:18597] 
RODNEY HIDE (Leader—ACT) 
: 
 I have just now been going through the Customs and Excise (Motor Spirits) Amendment Bill and I realise—and this might be a shock to members of the House and to the public—that this bill will not pass. When we look at the commentary on the bill and read the minority views we realise that they add up to the majority. What we see is that the National Party is opposing this bill—good on them—that the New Zealand First Party is opposing this bill—good on them—and that the ACT party of course is opposing this bill. I also see when I look over the page that the Green Party is not prepared to support this bill. The Green members are happy for taxes to go up but they think that the bill does not go far enough. They say that taxes should also go up for diesel users as well. So the Green Party along with the other Opposition parties is a dissenting voice. So clearly the Greens will not vote for this bill. Then there is the brave bold United Future party—and blow me down they do not support it either. United Future believes that it is okay to put taxes up on petrol but that there should be a reduction in income tax. 
Gordon Copeland 
: That’s right. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: Mr Copeland says that that is right. I have news for him. Nowhere in this bill is there a reduction in income tax. 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: So they won’t be voting for it. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: They will not be voting for it. This bill is dead. This bill is dead because the United Future party the Green Party and the other Opposition parties have put on record their opposition to it. 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: Why don’t we put it in the bin? 
RODNEY HIDE 
: Well why waste time? Why debate it—unless of course the Greens want to get up and say that they wrote those words but did not mean them. 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: They wouldn’t do that. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: No they would not do that because I hear them so often talking about their truthfulness their honesty and their principles. So what they wrote is what they mean. I turn to the United Future members. About them I have no doubt. They are good Christian people. They are the honest brokers of Parliament. They are the honest members of Parliament who hold the Government to account. 
Gordon Copeland 
: We’ll stand by what we wrote. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: Gordon Copeland says that the United Future party wrote that it believes the bill should be accompanied by a drop in income tax. That is a test is it not? We are in an election year and there is a question about political parties is there not? Can people trust them? Can people trust a party to deliver on what it promises? Can people trust a party to deliver on what it says? The United Future party has said unequivocally that this bill should be accompanied by a drop in income tax. That is what it is telling its supporters and its members—so they will vote against this bill. 
Hon Member 
: It’s a dead duck. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: It is a dead duck and it should be. Why is the Government putting up taxes to build more roads? It does not need more money. What about the surplus? What about alternative funding mechanisms? What about the petrol tax that already exists? Who trusts Labour to spend this 5c increase on roading only as it promised? Was that not what the roading tax—the petrol tax—was originally meant to be? Of course it was! 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: It’s a Tui tax. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: Yeah right! Then the Government says it will allocate 35 percent of the increase to Auckland and the rest will be allocated on a population basis around New Zealand. What percentage of people live in Auckland? About 35 percent. What a lot of rubbish! Then we see that the Government will inflation-proof it. That is a good one for the United Future party too.