Coddington Deborah: Motor Vehicle Sales Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
Coddington Deborah: Motor Vehicle Sales Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
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DEBORAH CODDINGTON (ACT NZ) 
: 
 It is interesting is it not— 
Peter Brown 
: I raise a point of order Madam Chairperson. Paul Adams just referred to a document. It would have been most helpful if the Minister had told us that this document existed. I seek leave for the member to table that document so we might— 
The CHAIRPERSON (Ann Hartley) 
: The member knows that is a point of debate. 
DEBORAH CODDINGTON 
: It is interesting is it not that when one person is prepared to pay a tax he or she is happy to force that tax on to everybody else. There is nothing in the income tax legislation that precludes people from paying extra taxes as they want to voluntarily and I am sure Treasury would not be embarrassed by a surfeit of cheques. That is typical of the arrogance of people who want higher taxes. They say that they are prepared to pay it so everybody else should. That is what we are getting under this levy regulation clause 130A. 
Car dealers already pay taxes. They already pay a huge amount of GST and company taxes. Part of that goes towards the justice system. Why should car dealers be singled out for another tax that they did not know about? If Paul Adams has a paper from as far back as January 2001—which he and the Minister knew about; obviously he was well prepared before he came into Parliament—let him table it so we all know what it is about so all the car dealers out there know what it is about. Peter Brown is sitting there and he does not know what it is about. He is “Mr Transport” in the New Zealand First Party. If he does not know what it is about I doubt whether the car dealers know about it. 
I wrote to 2250 motor vehicle dealers in this country. That was a week ago. That is the response so far. Those letters are from people who are outraged and did not know about this levy. 
Peter Brown 
: Give us a sample of the letters. 
DEBORAH CODDINGTON 
: I can give members a sample but most of it is unparliamentary language—as I have already discovered. They knew that they would not have to register on a compulsory basis with the Motor Vehicle Dealers Institute and they welcomed that. That is another issue with the fidelity fund. What will happen to the $2 million in the fidelity fund? This legislation says that if one goes to the disputes tribunal it is not backdated—so what is the point of it? I say we do not know what this tax is for. I ask the Minister to stand up now. Now is her chance to explain to all those motor vehicle dealers out there who are listening and want to know why they are being singled out for this levy. Now is the Minister’s chance to stand up and share with all of them—this is a very caring sharing Government—why they should be singled out for this tax. 
All that this tax will do is to encourage Internet dealing backyard dealing and all of those things in respect of which the Government thinks this legislation will close all the loopholes. There is nothing in this legislation that would encourage anyone to register as a car dealer. In fact that is what the dodgy dealers out there are already saying. They have looked at the legislation and at the levy regulations which can be changed overnight. We do not even know what they are. There is no limit to them despite Paul Adams saying the levy is $127 a year. There is nothing in here that sets the maximum amount. It is all very loose. It can be changed by Order in Council specifying the criteria. This Government just gives with one hand and takes away with the other. 
I ask the Minister now to stand and tell us why she thinks this is such a good tax. People will remember that when we discussed this bill in the House last time the Minister was too busy knitting to explain to car dealers and motor vehicle dealers why this levy was needed. Now is her chance to stand up and explain. The dealers do not know about it and they are outraged about it. Many of them have said as Richard Prebble just commented that this levy makes it worth opposing this whole bill on account of clause 130A. I have tabled an amendment to remove that clause altogether and let those businesses get on with their lives let them get their compliance costs down and let them be successful entrepreneurs and contribute to this country instead of being constantly harassed and whacked just because they are motor vehicle dealers and drive and sell cars. Of course car transporters are something that these people here loathe.