Woolerton R Doug: Taxation (Annual Rates Business Taxation KiwiSaver and Remedial Matters) Bill — In Committee 
Woolerton R Doug: Taxation (Annual Rates Business Taxation KiwiSaver and Remedial Matters) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:644;Page:13707] 
R DOUG WOOLERTON (NZ First) 
: 
 I think it is good that I follow the Minister because regarding the fair dividend tax situation I was concerned that our tax adviser Robin would be really worried that some form of policy that he had put up had been very handsomely and widely embraced by the financial community. I was wondering whether Robin would want to revisit that matter with the idea of somehow bringing down a harsher regime because he had been too kind to those people all over the place. 
I will talk briefly in general terms about a statement that Rodney Hide made versus statements I have read. Whether it is  
Time 
 magazine the  
Bulletin 
 or whatever the financial literature is that one picks up it will tell one that around the Western World in the last 10 years the top 5 percent of wealth has never ever in the history of humankind grown at such a rate—never ever. The growth in wealth of the top 5 percent of people in the Western World is absolutely unprecedented. Yet we have National and ACT coming in here and saying that in fact we are taxing those people out of existence—that we are taking away all of the incentives that drive them on to greater productivity. 
That is nothing less than absolute bunkum. Those people have never done as well in the history of humankind as they are doing today. They have never done as well as they are now doing. 
Dr Wayne Mapp 
: In 1999 it was 5 percent; today it’s 20 percent. 
R DOUG WOOLERTON 
: I hope that the people who are listening to this debate can hear that member raving on. He never makes any sensible contributions. He is voting against tax cuts which National has done consistently since 1960 and he sits there bellyaching on about the difference between 5 percent and 20 percent. 
Dr Wayne Mapp 
: How about fiscal drag? 
R DOUG WOOLERTON 
: Oh the fiscal drag! That is a Muldoon term if ever there was one. Do members remember how Muldoon used to bellyache about fiscal drag? There was a man who did not understand economics if ever there was one. Contrary to what Rodney Hide was saying I say the top 5 percent of wealth creators in the Western World have never had it so good in the history of humankind. 
We in New Zealand First support the Taxation (Annual Rates Business Taxation KiwiSaver and Remedial Matters) Bill and we support the tax reductions encompassed within it. We support the KiwiSaver scheme obviously because we need to save more in this country—and New Zealand First has said that right the way through for many years. And we support what we see as a return—or a slight dipping of the toe in the water as Dr Cullen explained it as being—to incentivising the taxation system around research and development. Unlike Katrina Shanks whom I admire and whose expertise I respect we in New Zealand First believe that it does make a difference when one gives a tax incentive. It helps when we give a message in the only meaningful way that matters that we want people to enhance their businesses and to enhance our industry by adopting better machinery and providing more productive workplace opportunities. The only way to tell them show them and encourage them to do that is to give them a tax incentive. 
I turn to the minority view of the National Party which is essentially about a philosophical belief it has that personal tax cuts across the board will do something magical to our economy. Personal tax cuts did not do that in America and they have not done it anywhere else where they have been applied but all of a sudden National believes that they will do wondrous things for New Zealand. That of course will be what the debate at the next election is all about. It will be about personal tax cuts versus personal services delivered by the Government be it in health in education or in all the other sorts of things. 
John Hayes 
: So you’re a socialist at heart. 
R DOUG WOOLERTON 
: It is not a matter of being a socialist. This legislation is actually a very very mainstream measure and only a party that has moved to the extreme right like the National Party would suggest that these were left-leaning policies. 
We in New Zealand First have said unashamedly that we do not favour across-the-board tax cuts. We support tax cuts that incentivise businesses that export and encourage exports and we encourage tax cuts like the Working for Families package which gives money to those who need it and does not reward those who do not need it. That is why we support this bill. That is why we have supported the Labour Government and its support partners through this entire enterprise. We believe it is heading in the right direction and we are encouraged by that.