Quinn Paul: Excise and Excise-equivalent Duties Table (Tobacco Products) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading Third Reading 
Quinn Paul: Excise and Excise-equivalent Duties Table (Tobacco Products) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading Third Reading 
[Volume:662;Page:10574] 
PAUL QUINN (National) 
: 
 The sudden end of the speech of the previous speaker the Hon Sir Roger Douglas took me a little by surprise. None the less this is a serious topic to address and I am pleased to take a call on the first reading of the Excise and Excise-equivalent Duties Table (Tobacco Products) Amendment Bill. I start by congratulating the Minister and the leadership of this Government on having the foresight to take this step. In congratulating the leadership I also record my appreciation of the Labour leadership and that of the other parties for joining in supporting this bill almost with unanimity and for expediting its passage through the House. When I congratulate the leadership I include the shadow Leader of the House Mr Darren Hughes. I feel he let himself down in the leadership stakes during question time but he has recovered. 
I make just some quick observations. The first is that there has been some commentary by some of the speakers from the Opposition benches about previous stances of National on this matter. I think it is worth recording that this is a new Government. It is a Government under new leadership with an outstanding Prime Minister in John Key. It is a Government in partnership with the Maori Party with which it is working to achieve excellent social economic and cultural outcomes. Furthermore it is worth remembering that since this matter was last discussed in 2000—and I note that a couple of members from the Opposition have quoted the  
Hansard 
 from that time—two-thirds of the National caucus are new members. So I think it is unfair to go “back to the future” in that respect. It shows as Jackie Blue indicated in her speech that people change their views on matters. In this particular case this is a new Government and it has new members who have brought new thinking. This Government listens to its caucus and its Government partners and that is why we have joined in a new direction. 
I congratulate along with Minister Turia her colleague Hone Harawira. I know that smoking is a matter very dear to his heart. The tobacco inquiry being conducted by the Maori Affairs Committee is in very large part due to his persistence in calling for the committee to show leadership in conducting that inquiry. So I think it is appropriate that we also recognise his contribution. 
I think it is also appropriate to canvass what the bill actually does because from listening to the speeches I do not think it has been canvassed as well as it might have been. I will take just a minute or two to reflect on that. There is a three or four-step process in this bill and the first step in the process is to increase the tax on raw tobacco—roll-your-owns and the like—to align it with the tax on tailor-made cigarettes. Just to bring home the message I have here a small amount of analysis of the submissions that we have received. In terms of aligning the tax on roll-your-own cigarettes 48 percent of submitters to the inquiry being conducted by the Maori Affairs Committee submitted specifically on aligning the tax on raw tobacco with the tax on tailor-made cigarettes. That is not to say that other submitters did not oppose that alignment; it is just that 48 percent actually commented on it. 
Having aligned the tax on tailor-mades with that on raw tobacco there is then a stepped process of increasing by 10 percent from 1 January 2011 “those duties as in force at the close of 31 December 2010 and either with or instead of any CPI indexation … on 1 January 2011:” and then with another step in 2012. In some ways that again is supported very strongly in the submissions to the extent that 68 percent of the submitters supported an increase in tax on tobacco per se and there was a strong suggestion that that increase should implement the World Health Organization’s recommendations which is an ongoing increase of 5 percent each year. So there is no doubt that in the submissions that the Maori Affairs Committee has received there is overwhelming support for this step by the Government. 
I conclude—because I see time is running out—by saying that it has been a pleasure to stand on behalf of the Government to support the Minister and the Government and also to acknowledge the leadership of the other parties including Labour. 
Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.