Smith Lockwood: Future Directions (Working for Families) Bill — First Reading 
Smith Lockwood: Future Directions (Working for Families) Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:617;Page:13446] 
Dr the Hon LOCKWOOD SMITH (National—Rodney) 
: 
 This carry-on in here tonight reminds me of that song that goes: “Oh what a circus what a show!”. What is so ridiculous is that the House is in urgency tonight passing legislation that does nothing until October. Most of it does not happen until April next year and some of it does not happen until April 2007—but they have to pass it in urgency tonight! Why? Because they want to give publicity to this outrageous package. 
Do members know what is outrageous about it? This is the greatest con-job that has ever been imposed on the honest working people of New Zealand. What Steve Maharey Michael Cullen and Helen Clark are doing is taxing hell out of honest working families; taxing them blind. They do that with the right hand and then with their left hand—the left hand being a Labour Government of course—they come back and say: “We’re going to give you this money. What a great Government we are we’re going to give you hard-working families this money.” The con-job is this. The money belongs to those families in the first place. This disgusting Labour Government of Clark Cullen and Maharey— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: The member will use the members’ full names. 
Dr the Hon LOCKWOOD SMITH 
: Oh sorry—Steve Maharey. They think they can con New Zealanders by taxing them blind on one hand and giving their own money back to them with the other— 
Hon David Carter 
: There’s a time delay. 
Dr the Hon LOCKWOOD SMITH 
: My colleague points out that there is a time delay. They take the tax today and they give some of it back to them in 2007. This is the greatest con-job ever perpetrated on New Zealanders. It is no wonder the  
Holmes  
poll showed that fewer than one in five New Zealanders support this Budget. 
What some of those Labour members opposite do not seem to understand is the problem they have created. They are turning hundreds of thousands of working New Zealanders into beneficiaries. Before this package started we already had 194000 working families whose employers deducted $695 million in PAYE from their pay of which this Government pays $685 million back to the same families. That already happens right now. The Government takes $695 million in PAYE off 194000 working families and gives it all back to the same families. That will now be far worse. At the moment 194000 families are involved in that absolutely crazy churning. Now that the Government is going to impose this Future Directions (Working for Families) Bill at least another 100000 families will be taxed by the Government on the one hand then on the other hand the Government will say: “Aren’t we wonderful to give some of it back to you later on.” 
I have to say tonight that I was blown away by the arrogance of Dr Michael Cullen. He said that if the Opposition thought it could deliver this through the tax system the only way was to give a $40000 tax-free zone and that was stupid as it would mean a huge fiscal cost. Dr Cullen is an intelligent guy but his arrogance is such that it is blinding him. He might be a Commonwealth scholar but he is not the only one in this Parliament. The low-income working families of New Zealand deserve help and they deserve support. National would deliver that to them without turning them into beneficiaries. If Labour members had half a brain they would see that tinkering with the system is not the way to fix it up. There are far better ways to deliver to low-income people than this con job.