Bennett David: Taxation (Business Tax Measures) Bill — In Committee 
Bennett David: Taxation (Business Tax Measures) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:653;Page:2007] 
DAVID BENNETT (National—Hamilton East) 
: 
 As we talk about the Taxation (Business Tax Measures) Bill I think it is prudent to just reflect on the current circumstances that the country and world economies are in. It is probably important when we consider the respect with which both the major parties and the minor parties have shown towards the need for reform in this area and to the need for legislative change. I think that all small businesses throughout the country will be grateful to the National Government for bringing these changes forward so that they can become a reality and for providing the impetus for the changes. 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: It’s a great time to not be partisan. 
DAVID BENNETT 
: I was just about to pay due respect to Labour before I was rudely interrupted by Mr Cunliffe but I think that the way the parties have conducted themselves in the Finance and Expenditure Committee shows that there is a sense of realism out there as to the nature of the issues that our small business community is involved with. There is a sense of realism that people’s jobs are at stake that we want to keep people in work and that we do not want to see our country suffer the strong effects of the recession that other countries will suffer. New Zealand has some particular attributes that will hopefully enable us to get through this recession quicker and in better shape than other countries and we will need to do all that we can to make sure that that becomes a reality. 
We endorse the comments made in this Chamber by all political parties to the effect that we need to work together in order to achieve those results. However that does not mean that any political party can necessarily go back in history to what it thought it might have wanted to do in the past and can take credit for it. This is a bigger issue. It is about more than political parties trying to say that they thought of it a year ago and that it is their idea. The reality is that this legislation is being passed now it will be passed by the National Government and it is something that we need and need desperately. 
It will become part of other things that we will probably need to add to it in the future. This is no silver bullet. Other things will come up over time through advice given by the small business community and also through advice given by Government advisers. People will understand that the Government can take other opportunities to increase the potential for this sector to get through these difficult times. 
I think that the Minister in the chair the Hon Peter Dunne spoke very well when he took the call earlier to give some background to some of the issues around this legislation and also to give his take on some of its practical realities. The Minister probably has had a lot more advice on this legislation than the layperson in the street has had and it is quite refreshing to hear him coming out and putting forward some conducive and respectful advice and some background to this legislation today. 
If we look at the legislation itself there are a few issues in Part 1 that basically may bore members of the general public as they are driving home but they are essentially threshold issues around GST fringe benefit tax and PAYE that will assist small businesses by reducing their compliance costs. This will mean that they have an easier regime to comply with. Small businesses will not necessarily have to comply as rigorously as they have had to do in the past and that is something that I think the Government should have recognised and delivered on a long time ago. 
These people are out there trying to make a start. They are trying to live the New Zealand dream. They have ambitions they have goals they have set themselves a destiny and they want to actually fulfil that destiny. They want to take with them other people in our community to whom they are providing employment and to provide a good level of service. 
When we look at the small business sector we have to understand that their competitive nature means that they can provide services of a very high standard to our consumers in New Zealand and that service delivery sets them apart. They compete on service delivery and on price. So if we can help them by reducing some of their costs that may mean that they can deliver a cheaper price for New Zealand consumers for the goods and services that they deliver.