Tisch Lindsay: Taxation (Base Maintenance  and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee 
Tisch Lindsay: Taxation (Base Maintenance  and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee 
[Volume:626;Page:21458] 
LINDSAY TISCH (National—Piako) 
: 
 My colleague Phil Heatley who was only halfway through his speech made a very valid point. We should look back over the last few years at the record of a Government that says it is looking after middle New Zealand—that is what the Associate Minister of Revenue said; he said it is looking after hard-working New Zealanders. My colleague to my right Phil Heatley represents the area of Whangarei and what a great electorate MP he is. Up in his area there are so many people who are in business so many people who are enterprising and want a reward for their initiative and what does this Government do? It sticks it to them—absolutely sticks it to them. The Minister says the Government is looking after middle New Zealanders; well I will mention some of the facts my colleague did not get to mention. 
He did not mention the carbon tax. Well the carbon tax has come about because we have ratified the Kyoto Protocol. What does that do? At this stage we do not really know because of the implications of the carbon tax that is being introduced. But we do know that it will affect our international competitiveness. On the world stage it will be difficult for us to compete internationally when two of our most significant trading partners the United States and Australia have decided not to ratify that protocol. That is the first thing but let us look now at what the implications of the carbon tax are. At $15 per tonne of carbon dioxide emissions that tax will be a compliance cost added on to all New Zealanders not just those in business. What does it mean? It means that we will probably see a 4c per litre increase in the price of petrol at the pump over and above the 5.6c per litre increase that we debated in the House about a month ago. Do members remember that one? 
Phil Heatley 
: Yes tax No. 33. 
LINDSAY TISCH 
: Ah there we are—tax No. 33. On top of that we are going to have a 10 percent increase in electricity charges. Well who will be paying that? I tell members that it will be the hard-working New Zealanders the hard-working families. I am telling the Minister and the Government now that that is their death knell because people are not prepared to accept it. The Minister had the audacity to stand up here and say Labour was the party that was going to give tax cuts and that it was the party looking after hard-working New Zealanders. 
Hon David Carter 
: 67c. 
LINDSAY TISCH 
: That is 67c— 
Hon David Carter 
: In 3 years’ time. 
LINDSAY TISCH 
:—in 3 years’ time so I ask Labour members what planet they are on. I tell them that they will be looking for another job shortly. 
Let us look at the Holidays Act. Well for those in business there are increased compliance costs of employing staff in the holidays. I was down in Queenstown at Queen’s Birthday weekend and do members know what was happening on Monday? Businesses were shut. Why were they shut? Because under this Government someone who works on a statutory holiday gets penal rates—that is OK; we used to have penal rates anyway—but on top of that employers have to give a day off in lieu. It is double-dipping. So what are the firms saying? They are saying they cannot afford to pay the costs and they just shut down. Who misses out in that arrangement? I will tell members who misses out: it is the employees—the people whom this Government says it is looking after. They miss out because at the end of the day if the business does not meet the bottom line and make a profit—the Government thinks “profit” is a dirty word—the business cannot reinvest and cannot create jobs. It is as simple as that but Government members would not know that because they have never been in business. They have never invested a dollar never put a dollar at risk. 
So what happens now is the Government introduces costs like the provisions in the Holidays Act concerning statutory leave and relevant daily pay and people abuse the system to get extra money because they are having a holiday. Then we have the open-ended provision for bereavement leave that allows 3 days’ leave for the funeral of a close relative and 1 day’s leave for that of a close associate—open-ended—and we wonder why businesses are saying: “Enough’s enough!”. That is what they are saying and they come to National and tell us to sort it out—and we will sort it out. I tell the Minister that we have a business policy that is attracting the attention of all New Zealanders.