Salesa JennyHon DAVID BENNETT (National): There is a problem with this bill here tonight which the Labour Party hasn't recognised yet and they will soon find out in the next couple of minutes. They are innocent to the issue that they have created tonight that they haven't even thought about. Look at the genesis of the bill. So the petrol excise tax was removed as petrol prices were getting so high under the guise of the war in Ukraine; that was the pretext and so be it. And then they worked out Well actually what about RUC?" because when they did the excise tax they never thought about road-user changes (RUC).Hon Member: They didn't even know about RUC.Hon DAVID BENNETT: No. And then it took a while for a few commentators and trucking companies and others to come to them and say "Well what about RUC?" and then they worked out "Oh we need to do that." So they're doing this legislation. But there is one fundamental problem with this legislation: what happens in three months' time? In three months' time the war will probably still be going the sanctions on Russia will certainly still be going and the inflationary environment will still be here. So suddenly in three months' time are we going to bring excise taxes back in on petrol? Are we going to bring RUC back in on diesel? No way. Because that will create the biggest inflation spike you will see. Inflation will already be rampant in three months' time. It's not going to change. It's not going to go away. The Labour Party thinks it doesn't exist. It will still be here in three months' time. This is not going to stop inflation. But the Labour Party has a massive problem in three months' time because do they bring these costs back into the system? If they do they spike inflation. They will spike inflation in three months' time. That is the dilemma they have over there. They haven't thought through the implications of what actually happens in three months' time. Are they going to actually continue this for six to nine months or a year 18 months to get through to an election? Are they actually going to risk an inflation spike in three months' time? We don't hear any answers. Where's the Labour Party now? Where are those Ministers? What do they think of that time? Did you actually asked yourself that question? I bet you they didn't. They wouldn't have even thought of that because they didn't even think of RUC in the first place. So they would not understand the implications of this legislation. And when the Minister takes the chair we'll be asking that question: what happens in three months' time? Hon Member: Well do it then not now.Hon DAVID BENNETT: Well we will.Hon Member: It's not the committee stage.Hon DAVID BENNETT: I'm giving him a fair warning and he should answer it and when he has that opportunity he will. Sometimes you're going to lay it out there for them to understand before you actually give them the question and that's what we're doing here now. The Minister had no idea. He should have gone out there and understood what was going to happen in three months' time. He will have no concept of it. There was no planning done by this Government. It is typical Labour Party economic policy.Hon Member: On the hoof.Hon DAVID BENNETT: Just on the hoof. No judgment around the effects of it and no planning of how to deal with it.Hon Member: Do you want to get on with it—do you want this to happen?Hon DAVID BENNETT: We want it to happen but we want to know what's actually going to happen in three months' time. Are you actually going to make sure in three months' time that people don't have the issue of RUC going up? Because all the clauses in this bill that talk about the period of time where people can buy RUC are on the presumption that there's only a three-month window. There is no way that the Labour Party their Cabinet is going to sit down in three months' time and bring RUC in and excise taxes back to their full level. They can't because inflation is going to be out of control then. They're going to have spent so much in the Budget that inflation is going to be out of control. Then they're going to whack on another 30c or 40c on excise duty? They're going to whack on another RUC to farmers and other trucking companies and that? No way. How are they going to do that? That will spike inflation after the Budget and that will destroy their political ambitions. The Labour Party should be worried because they never thought of that when they did this grand plan and this grand policy. They thought it was a short-term thing where they look like they're great. But look at the financial implications of what they've done. They are going to create a spike in inflation in this country post the Budget that will destroy the New Zealand economy put interest rates up make people lose their homes. People will lose their jobs. That's the reality the Labour Party's walked into.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): Order! The member's time is up."