Turei Metiria: Taxation (Budget Measures) Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee 
Turei Metiria: Taxation (Budget Measures) Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee 
[Volume:663;Page:11093] 
METIRIA TUREI (Co-Leader—Green) 
: 
 I enjoyed the contribution from my Labour colleague Ruth Dyson. She is quite right about the productivity of low-paid workers. I just inform the House that ACT disagrees completely. If members look at ACT’s alternative budget they will see that Roger Douglas has said very clearly that high-income earners are the most productive members of our society—not the nurses not the police not the people who clean Roger Douglas’ office so that it is nice and tidy for him in the morning and not the parents of this country. No the excessively and ridiculously wealthy are he says by virtue of their wealth alone obviously much more productive. That is the kind of extremist position that we see from ACT and that informs National policy. That is the attitude of John Key when he tells the country that low-income earners pensioners and solo parents struggling to make their way with kids and take good care of their kids should not be jealous that they will get virtually nothing out of this Budget while the very wealthy get the most. 
The Greens have a vision for a smart economy and a better society—a smart economy that will deliver real prosperity for our people for everyone and for our environment. A smart economy protects our environment. In Aotearoa particularly if we have no environment we have no economy. Upon our environment rests all of our security and our wealth. Whether it is our fresh water our oceans our forests our natural healthy soils or our most treasured places we are 100 percent dependent on our environment. 
A smart economy will sustain our natural capital rather than squander it as this Government intends to do. A smart economy includes smart taxes that fairly share the tax obligation and the tax burden across our community. A smart economy delivers real and new jobs and sustainable industries that will enhance rather than degrade our environment and our communities. The Taxation (Budget Measures) Bill and the Budget on which it is premised fail to meet all those criteria for a smart economy and it is a great shame for those families and their children who will bear the cost of that failure. 
On Monday the Green Party launched our Mind the Gap proposal a Green New Deal package of solutions that would create jobs generate Government income and combat the growing inequality that is a blight on our communities. We focused on inequality and its effects on children because income inequality has been shown to be the single most important cause of a wide range of social and economic problems. We chose to focus on children and the effects of inequality on children because they are the future of our planet and our society. 
Hon Steve Chadwick 
: Hear hear! 
METIRIA TUREI 
: I thank the member. All children are entitled to live in a safe sustainable society that protects their right to warm housing safe affordable food and quality public education and health care—all within a loving and supportive whanau. We know that inequality hurts every child and every family not just those people who are at the bottom. We know that New Zealand is one of the most unequal countries in the developed world: we are 23rd out of 30 in the recent OECD report. We were the sixth most unequal country among highly developed countries in last year’s  
United Nations Human Development Report 
. 
Simon Bridges 
: Shame on Labour! 
METIRIA TUREI 
: Shame on the Government. Shame on the Government for failing to do anything about it. Shame on John Key’s Government for making it worse which is exactly what its tax cuts and its GST increase do—they make inequality worse. 
New Zealanders like to think of ourselves as an egalitarian society where everyone gets a fair go but the truth is that we are not—the facts tell a very different story. The Green Party has the vision that we can be a more equal and more sustainable Aotearoa. It is within the choices that we make. But this Budget and this bill produced by the John Key Government choose not to pursue that vision. John Key’s Government has already initiated some very big spending: about $10 billion on new motorways an estimated $500 million from cutting the top tax rate and potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies to polluters through the emissions trading scheme. Again it is always a question of priorities and the Green Party would prioritise our people and our environment. 
I will talk about the area of housing. There are some provisions in this bill for changes in property taxes and speculation. The Mind the Gap package produced by the Green Party recommended the introduction of a comprehensive capital gains tax excluding the family home. My fellow co-leader Russel Norman has talked about that tax in some detail today. We know that in the longer term a capital gains tax will provide a serious and significant part of the solution to New Zealand’s property crisis by broadening the tax base and protecting housing from what currently seems to be irrational property speculation intensity. A capital gains tax is necessary to strengthen our economy in the short and the long term. This bill makes some minor changes around property speculation and property taxes. They are a small step towards the changes we need to make but we also know that any changes in property taxes could lead to increases in rental prices particularly in the short term and particularly for those at the very bottom. 
In order to make sure that the spread is fair around the tax obligation and the tax benefit we need to make sure that for any changes in property tax there is also a comprehensive building programme of new State housing to help provide affordable housing for those who need it the most. That is absolutely an urgent priority in this country. We have severe homelessness in this country in different ways: primary secondary and tertiary levels of homelessness. It is incredibly important that families who live in overcrowded cold expensive housing have affordable alternatives but this Government will not be doing that because it has cut the budget for the building of new State homes. This Government has cut the budget for the building of new State houses by more than $100 million. So no State houses will be built under this Government. That is clear from the Budget cuts. In fact the Government’s only proposal is to sell off more State housing. It congratulates itself on having sold off 17 houses last year. There is no plan by this Government to increase the supply of affordable housing for those families who need it the most. 
The fact is that we must make that change because safe secure and sustainable housing is fundamental to the health and well-being of everyone and everyone should have access to housing that is suitable for their needs. It is a basic necessity and we know that being homeless or in overcrowded housing affects income employment attendance and truancy at schools and health. The Human Rights Commission has identified that crowding dampness and coldness are key issues for the New Zealand community. There is a State housing crisis with 10000 families on the waiting list. Many people are living in rental accommodation where they have to move regularly which has a huge impact on their education and employment. We know that about 30 percent of at-risk and vulnerable young people are in unsafe and insecure housing. It is a serious crisis. 
The cost of cold housing on families in the community cannot be allowed to continue. We know that we are losing about $1 billion per year in costs from cold housing whether it is in relation to hospitalisation the cost of respiratory illnesses or the cost of lost working hours. We have a package that would deal with that cost. The building of 6000 new State houses over 3 years at the cost of $2 billion would provide 28000 jobs. Housing is part of the bill. That is a way of providing access to affordable housing and creating 28000 new jobs so that people have employment as well. There is no employment strategy in this Budget. 
We would also introduce progressive pricing into the electricity market. That is a way of making sure that we can bring 70000 households that are currently living in energy poverty out of energy poverty by providing a fixed rate of electricity provision at a low cost; anything that is used above that fixed level of provision comes at a higher cost. It is an effective way of providing support to those who are in the worst energy poverty. For example pensioners who live on their own in old homes have a 97 percent chance of living in energy poverty. We can provide for them and support them out of that energy poverty if we simply choose to do so. The Green Party chooses to do so.