Connell Brian: Customs and Excise (Alcoholic Beverages) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee Third Reading 
Connell Brian: Customs and Excise (Alcoholic Beverages) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:608;Page:5385] 
BRIAN CONNELL (NZ National—Rakaia) 
:  
What a cynical abuse of the parliamentary process this is! Here we are approaching 10 minutes to 11 in the evening and because we have already spent more time here than usual we will not achieve any power savings this week. That is because Dr Cullen and Mr Anderton want to sneak through very sneaky legislation. When I first took a briefing on this bill Dr Cullen said he was motivated to pass it because he was concerned about young kids getting absolutely legless on cheap spirits. I considered that for a little while and I thought that if that was his motivation it was reasonable. Then I thought more carefully about it. I thought no I have a better and wider respect for the young people of New Zealand than that because most of them are very responsible people. I tell Dr Cullen and Mr Anderton that this bill is really about just another tax increase. How much do they want? They already have a $4 billion surplus. Will $14 million net really make a big difference? How much will this Government take from hard-working Kiwis before it says that enough is enough? Two years ago this Government taxed tobacco and now it is alcohol’s turn. 
All that we get from this Government is empty promises. Can we believe what it tells us? No we cannot. Let me demonstrate why we cannot trust it. I have an article here from the  
Dominion Post  
headed “Booze tobacco tax rise most unlikely—Cullen” and it quotes Dr Cullen. Two of my colleagues have already referred to that article so I will not go through it in detail other than to quote this. “Dr Cullen who increased tobacco excise in May 2001 said yesterday it was ‘most unlikely’ there would be any increase in tobacco and alcohol excise other than the 6-monthly adjustments for inflation. ‘We have done that once. We don’t do those things very lightly’ he said.” 
Pansy Wong 
: Jekyll and Hide. 
BRIAN CONNELL 
: Yes. The article goes on to state: “Dr Cullen also scoffed at Opposition claims of a petrol tax increase during the coming parliamentary term.” People who believe that and who believe Dr Cullen on this issue probably believe in garden fairies also. This Government is a tax-and-spend Government and it is very mean-spirited—and members will of course see the pun in that. It looks around and sees people enjoying themselves so it thinks it has to attack them. It is an envious Government which introduces envy taxes and now it is doing so again. New Zealand is at present led by an autocratic bunch and this measure is the first step towards “teetotalitarianism”—I think members get my drift. 
I have said this once and I will say it again: this measure is not just about kids getting smashed on cheap alcohol. By introducing this tax the Government is attacking Kiwis of all ages. These drinks are the most popular drinks in the country. I have said the Government is mean-spirited and what greater example can one have of that than attacking sherry? My old mum makes a fine trifle. It is an institution in my household and on Mother’s Day I will be denied that privilege—as will thousands of other Kiwis—because of that bunch over there on the Government benches. I say it is not good enough. 
The elderly folk in this country will have a very cold winter because of that Government’s incompetence with regard to how it has managed the power crisis. They will have cold showers this winter and the Government does not care—it has already told us that. Elderly folk will be told to turn their heating off and when they reach for the sherry bottle to fortify themselves a little bit what will happen? They will not be able to afford it because that mean-spirited lot over there on the Government benches have put the price of a bottle of sherry up by four or five bucks. That is not reasonable or fair. Unlike that bunch of Government members I feel for the elderly folk of this country. 
This bill is all because this Government has an insatiable appetite for taxation. It is an envy tax and that is why the Government has turned this Parliament into a circus tonight. It should have the courage of its convictions and do something about the drinking age. If it really wanted to address youth drinking it would increase the drinking age. I do not care who put the age down; if the Government really thought it was right it would do something about the drinking age. It would not sneak this legislation through the House in the dead of night. Rather it would come out and say in a very clear and honest way that we should mount a media campaign to educate our young people about binge drinking and put that on the 6 o’clock news. I hear Dr Cullen groaning because he knows I am right and he is wrong. He knows he is mean-spirited. He knows that the people of New Zealand know that I am right and he is wrong and that all he is doing is sneaking in a tax—because he is a sneaky sneaky individual. 
Government members are saying they are doing this because young people are price sensitive in their buying patterns. If they are price sensitive why has increasing the excise duty not worked in terms of reducing smoking? The Government keeps putting the price of smokes up but that does not stop young people from smoking. [ 
Interruption 
] I think Mr Mallard has woken up at long last—good! Maybe I should translate my speech in a language that he understands. I understand that by his own admission Mr Mallard is an expert in the Maori language. We should go back and test him on that because he is an absolute expert. 
I look over here and see the Greens who support the Government—and by implication the Government supports them. I do not think the irony is lost on people on the Opposition side of the House that we have in the Green Party a party that is interested in smoking but that at the same time stands up and says we need to put the price of cheap drinks up because they are bad for our kids. I will not use the word that starts with “h” but I am sure members will get my drift when I say that there is some irony and inconsistency in the argument that has been driven by the Government. Instead of taxing Kiwis further why do you not spend some of that money on fixing some of the things that are wrong with this country? Why do you not fix up the roading problems in Auckland? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Please do not bring me into the debate. 
BRIAN CONNELL 
: I apologise for that Mr Speaker. Why does the Government not spend some of the taxation money on fixing up the roading problem in Auckland? Why does it not spend some money on the forestry infrastructure so that we can actually get our wall of wood to the markets? Why does it not do something that is constructive and spend the billion dollars that is necessary to upgrade our forestry infrastructure rather than sneaking through a tax under extraordinary urgency? Why does the Government not do something about streamlining the compliance and red tape issues instead of bashing up the people in this country who contribute the most—the businesspeople? Why does it not do something constructive and leave our young kids alone?