Wong Pansy: Taxation (Annual Rates Venture Capital and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill — In Committee 
Wong Pansy: Taxation (Annual Rates Venture Capital and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:621;Page:16505] 
PANSY WONG (National) 
: 
 When it comes to a question of credibility between Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith and the yet to be honourable David Cunliffe in full force I am sure the public knows Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith’s track record—that of a member who is always very careful and who has credibility with his facts and numbers. He is absolutely right to say that New Zealand’s tax take relative to GDP has gone up. That is a fact and it is not disputable. 
The other thing people need to understand is that New Zealand has to be competitive in the world. We have to attract foreign investment and we have to motivate our business people by giving them incentives to perform. 
We are still talking about why the Labour Government should reconfirm these high income tax rates. Let us look at why when Labour came to Government it collected an additional $34 billion of tax. The question has to be asked: where has that gone? 
Let us look at two areas that I am very interested in. One is education. My very hard-working colleague the Hon Bill English has consistently pointed out that throughout New Zealand the contribution by parents the community and international students to the operational funding of our primary and secondary schools has gone up to nearly 40 percent. So parents have to raise a lot of money. 
There is no longer a donation aspect to education. Previously in New Zealand we talked about free education. If we talk to people in schools they say education is no longer free. Parents are being asked to mow school lawns and paint school buildings to make up for their inability to make the so-called voluntary donation. 
 I ask where the additional taxation this Labour Government collected has gone. Our schools are now increasingly relying on parents and international students to fund their expenditure. So what will happen next year now that the Labour Government has also ruined the international education sector? What will happen next year and in the future when there is a downturn in international student numbers? Will those parents be asked once again to contribute even more? 
The other area I want to ask about concerns what will happen to the health system in New Zealand. 
Steve Chadwick 
: It’s very robust. 
PANSY WONG 
: I hope Steve Chadwick will be able to stand up in public to defend her Government. Today we read in the newspaper about evidence given to a coroner that a patient was asked to move from an intensive care department unnecessarily and as a consequence he died. He had to make room for a patient who had died an hour previously. What is happening in New Zealand? Our people are dying unnecessarily because hospital emergency departments are no longer able to cope. 
In Wellington right now—we are debating in the capital city—the only 24-hour medical care facility has stated that it can no longer afford to open during the evening shift. Once again pressure is going on to Wellington Hospital and I ask whether it can cope with this additional pressure. 
So why should any political party reaffirm the high tax rates? I watch with interest the United Future party which has put forward a Supplementary Order Paper that basically has the impact of lessening some of those high tax rates. I look with interest to United Future members voting against Part 1 and the rest of the bill because even that party which is supporting the Government is saying tax rates are too high.