Carter John: Budget Debate 
Carter John: Budget Debate 
[Volume:639;Page:9697] 
JOHN CARTER (National—Northland) 
: 
 One of the things I want to talk about is the cruel hoax that is being put on this country by this Labour Government. But just before I do that I have to reflect on one thing. We have just heard a speech that was read and quite honestly I think it is a tragedy that we have allowed in our Standing Orders that members can come to this House and read speeches. It would have been far better actually if we had carried on—as some of us who have been here a while still tend to do—just speaking off the cuff and talking about the things that we know should be spoken about. I just make that point. 
I listened to that member from Labour talk about how this Budget will help a whole lot of New Zealanders—and particularly Pacific Island people she claimed. I listened to Doug Woolerton who also talked about how this Budget will benefit a whole lot of low-income and other people in this country. Well I want to talk about my family and to explain to this House and to this country actually how the Budget will affect them—we can actually talk about it in person. 
Leoni and I have five children. Two of them are well established. One is a dairy farmer. In fact he told me the other day that with the increase in the payout that is happening from Fonterra he is likely to get a windfall of at least $80000 extra this year. You know the funny thing is that he is likely— 
Nathan Guy 
: That’s nothing to do with the Government. 
JOHN CARTER 
 God no! Thank God it is nothing to do with the Government; otherwise it would not have happened. The only thing the Government will do is to rip some more taxes off him. But ironically he will be able to afford to invest in KiwiSaver if he decides to do so because he has that windfall. He already has three houses put aside as it happens—just by the by. My second boy is also established in his own home and is looking to start up his own business. He is well established and likely to be in a position where if he wishes or chooses to he could decide to invest in KiwiSaver—if he wants to do so. Those are two of the three boys. 
One of our daughters is at university. At this stage she is not an income earner so KiwiSaver is not a matter she has to focus on. 
Our other two children are typical I guess of the young people this Government claims it is going to help. They have each had their first child and are about to have their second—one is due in June and the other in January. My daughter Bridget her husband and their little girl are currently on a single income because my daughter is not teaching at the moment. She will go back to teaching and they will have two incomes. But to say to them a family who is trying to make progress that they should put 4 percent of their salary or income aside—that is a hugely difficult thing for them to do. They may well be able to put a little aside but it will be a huge struggle for them to do so. 
The other lad his partner and their little baby—with the second baby due in January—are a low-income family. They would be expected on their income to contribute probably about $30 a week into KiwiSaver. I would like someone from the Labour Government to tell me how our son on a low income will suddenly find an extra $30 a week to put aside in order to take advantage of the tax concession the Government claims it is going to give him his wife his child and his future child. I know he knows and Government members actually know that he and his family cannot do that. They do not have the extra money floating around. They are already budgeting in order to make sure they get by and they are very careful—they are very good at it actually—when doing their budget. Nevertheless they do not have surplus money to invest in order to get themselves ahead. 
It is ironic that this Government is saying to them that they must pay taxes so that people like Leoni and me who are well established and on a high income can invest. As it happens I have had an investment going for 20 years and very shortly the amount I have to pay into it will reduce so I will have some surplus money. I will not notice it; it has been going out for 20 years. Leoni’s student loan will be paid off in July so all of a sudden she will have extra income that she can invest in KiwiSaver. Both she and I will be able to take advantage of KiwiSaver. We will have the funds to put in and they will be quite significant. Also the amount of money that the taxpayer will contribute to it will be quite significant. But our children who cannot afford to get into KiwiSaver will be paying taxes to contribute to the fact that Leoni and I can take advantage of KiwiSaver. 
I ask the Labour Party members in this House to stand up and tell me where the fairness and equity is in that. There is none. Why should low-income people in New Zealand be asked to pay taxes and contribute so that people like myself—people who are on a high income—can save and be subsidised while doing so? That does not make any sense at all. 
Many of the people in Northland know that this is a cruel hoax by this Labour Government. As I have said before I cannot wait to get up on to the stage with Shane Jones in Northland during the next election campaign because by then a good number of those people will know that this fraud perpetrated on them by the Labour Government is real. They will start to understand that they cannot take advantage of KiwiSaver. They will begin to understand that it works for people around them who are well-to-do and who have already taken advantage of it but that it does not work for those who are in “Struggle Street”. 
I cannot wait to talk on the stage with Shane Jones and ask him to explain why it is fair that someone like him or like me—or a family like my family; Leoni and me—should be able to take advantage of it but a poor person on a low income cannot. Why should low-income people have to pay taxes that benefit me? 
Hon Annette King 
: But they do now. 
JOHN CARTER 
: They may well do but the point is that this Government is saying the KiwiSaver scheme is for everybody when it knows it is not. 
Darren Hughes 
: Give up your pension scheme. 
JOHN CARTER 
: The good thing is that that member who is interjecting at the moment will not even be here next time. I have to say that if ever there was a plus in terms of this Budget then that fact will be one of the pluses. At least in that way we will get some benefit out of it; we will have one fewer hopeless Labour member in this House. At least we will have one advantage: we will have a very very good member who represents that electorate after the next election—someone who actually understands; someone who knows. 
You know this Labour Government will be judged by its contribution to this nation during its term. One of the things people will know when they look back at the time of this Helen Clark - led Labour socialist Government is that this Government has not been effective. It has done a lot of social engineering; it has manipulated a lot of social aspects of this country. But the sad thing is that this Government—instead of giving people an advantage so that they can stand on their own feet get on with their lives and make opportunities for themselves—has with Michael Cullen’s eighth Budget had its hands so far inside people’s pockets that it has taken away their right to make decisions. Quite honestly that is despicable. The one thing a Government should do above all else is to look after its people and give them the people of this country the right to make decisions and take opportunities for themselves. It should not bully manipulate and put cruel hoaxes put on them such as the one the Government is doing by saying it is going to give them something through KiwiSaver when they will then find that maybe as many as half of them—certainly those on the lower end of incomes—will not be able to take advantage of it at all. I say to this House that this Government—given that as time goes by over the next 18 months people will become more and more aware of the impact of KiwiSaver and of those who can take advantage of it and those who cannot—will be judged.