Nash Stuart: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
Nash Stuart: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
[Advance Copy - Subject to minor change before inclusion in Bound Volume.] 
STUART NASH (Labour) 
: 
 We have just been lectured on debt and taxation by two South Island farmers and one Waikato dairy farmer. The farming sector of the National Party is running economic policy—the farming sector of the National Party is running economic policy—and boy do these guys know about debt. The farming sector has $40 billion worth of debt. The farming sector has about one-third of New Zealand’s total debt and those members are lecturing us about debt. How rich is that? 
Let us not talk about taxes; let us not talk about taxes. I say to Mr English I say to Mrs Adams and I say to Mr Bennett: get off the farm and go and talk to some real people. I tell them to go and talk to some real New Zealanders who do not have a farm that they can go back to. Mr English talked about numbers that did not add up. That is pretty rich from this finance Minister. When the Inland Revenue Department the Government’s tax collecting agency came in with figures that were $4 billion less than Treasury’s figures—$4 billion less in revenue than Treasury’s figures—who did he go with? He went with Treasury’s figures. But then again he did not go with Treasury advice when it wanted a capital gains tax—and he has the nerve to criticise. 
This year the people of New Zealand have a very clear choice: they can sell State assets—assets built over generations of sweat toil tears and taxpayer money—or they can have a reform of the tax system and keep our State assets. Mr Bennett Mrs Adams and Mr English are all farmers and do not want a reform of our tax system. They would rather sell State assets and keep a tax system that is unfair. All and sundry agree that tax reform is necessary; a tax reform that will bring us into alignment with 90 percent of countries in the OECD. This is tax reform for the sake of fairness to reduce inequality. 
I quote from an article by Anthony Hubbard in the  
Sunday Star-Times.  
He said: “The National-led government finds no great problem with inequality. If it did its policies would be different.” A far better approach is that of Warren Buffett the richest of them all. He asked to pay more taxes not less. This is partly just a question of fairness—that word fairness. Warren Buffett the second-richest man in the world says “If you’re in the luckiest 1 per cent of humanity you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99 per cent.” It is also a matter of enlightened self-interest. He knew that in the long run he and his class would benefit from living in a fairer society. The rich do better when everyone does better. 
There is no doubt that borrowing $380 million a week is not sustainable. A $17 billion Government deficit is not sustainable but selling State assets is not a plan. Selling State assets is not the way forward. It will not allow us to own our own future. The only way forward is to have fair tax reform where everyone pays their fair share and where all New Zealanders get to keep their State assets. 
This tax will affect only about 8 percent of New Zealanders so 92 percent of New Zealanders who are currently paying their fair share will not be affected. They will not be affected so why are there cries of inequality? Only 8 percent will be affected. This tax will be paid only on income—not on the family home not on personal assets but only on income. That is fair. Let me give an example. If someone earns a salary of $50000 that person pays $8000 in tax. But if the person has a capital gain of $50000 they pay no tax. 
Vote agreed to.