Cosgrove Clayton: Taxation (Livestock Valuation Assets Expenditure and Remedial Matters) Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeCosgrove Clayton: Taxation (Livestock Valuation Assets Expenditure and Remedial Matters) Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 02 July 2013. Volume:691;Page:11753. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE (Labour):All I can say about that previous contribution by Brendan Horan is that I was chloroformed by that speech absolutely. The Taxation (Livestock Valuation Assets Expenditure and Remedial Matters) Bill does a number of things—Brendan Horan: I raise a point of order Mr Chair. I do not mean to interrupt that member’s speech because I love his speeches but I was just wondering whether my microphone was working because earlier today I noticed that the Chair found it difficult to hear me and I was wondering whether we had that same problem.The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson): You can rest assured Mr Horan that I heard you.Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE: This bill makes a number of adjustments but I have got to say this is not the big tax bill. This is not a major set of reforms that we were promised by this Government. The major set of reforms that it embarked upon of course was what it called in its sort of spin-like way a tax switch which saw the top 10 percent of New Zealanders get 40 percent of the tax cuts—40 percent of the tax cuts.Hon Anne Tolley: Don’t tell lies.Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE: Pardon? What was that? What was that? Somebody said: “Don’t tell lies.” Well that is really interesting because we have made a couple of speeches on this and I have challenged members opposite at every stage through this debate to get up take a call and tell us whether they think the so-called tax switch where the top 10 percent got 40 percent of the tax cuts is equitable. So I ask them again—in fact I will yield to one if they would like if they are prepared to get up and say that that is an equitable tax switch.Hon Anne Tolley: Don’t tell untruths.Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE: Hang on there is a noise. There is a squeak from the middle row. Was that an admission of guilt? Oh no. Of course they will not. What New Zealanders want—[Interruption ] Pardon?Andrew Little: Her head’s gone down again.Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE: Oh yes—Hon Anne Tolley: Talk to the bill.Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE: Talk to the bill? Well part of any bill I say to that Minister over there when we are talking about tax is that people want equitable and fair tax. They want confidence in their tax system and they want a simple and transparent tax system. There is no equity in this.There are a couple of issues. For instance in Part 1 there is an item that deals with Learjets or private jets whereby the scheme of arrangement is tightened as I understand it. If you buy a Learjet say as Sir Peter Jackson has done for about $80 million and you use it a couple of days a year and you try to claim that it is a major commercial expense for say 50 percent as I understand it those rules are tightened. Well I have got to say that is a good thing because otherwise that is a swindle. But I have got to say compared with substantial reform in the tax area that does nothing for Joe or Joanne Public in the street in terms of the other 90 percent of New Zealanders who got very little if anything and get very little if anything out of the so-called tax switch.Hon Anne Tolley: That’s not true.Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE: Well if it is not true Ms Tolley get on your feet and take a call in the debate. Get on your feet and actually justify it.Paul Goldsmith: I am happy to take one. We will.Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE: Oh “Goldfinger” at the back. He is going to justify it. Good stuff! Well I wait for that speech and I wait for that member to tell us whether the top 10 percent getting 40 percent of the cuts is equitable. Just like of course what the Prime Minister said about power prices which is that nobody is paying too much for power as did—Hon Simon Bridges: That’s right.Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE: That is right says the Minister in the chair the Minister of Energy and Resources—old “Jed Clampett”. “That’s right.” he says. “That’s right.” Let us get it on the record again: no one is paying too much for power according to the National Government. But I asked that Minister in the Finance and Expenditure Committee. I said: “Can you tell us at what point you believe if power prices go up they would be paying too much for power?” Oh absolute silence. To quote him out of the transcript: “I can’t give you a dollar figure.” That is what he said. So theGovernment cannot justify its position now. No one believes the Government as people get their first set of power bills in the cold and dreary weather not to mention the tax reductions and the tax breaks that they are not getting because of the inequity of the so-called tax switch.So OK it has done a couple of things for the owners of private jets. That would be Kim Dotcom I presume. That would be Sir Peter Jackson and a couple of other people. I do not know how many people in the gallery or listening to this own their own private jet and will be shaking in their boots tonight as they feel they may have to pay a little more tax if they go out and purchase a Learjet. But I will tell you that the other great tax reforms that this crew embarked upon of course are being mean to paper boys and girls and the car-park tax which it stuffed up completely—absolutely stuffed up. The old worker in his or her car-park the old paper boy or paper girl trying to get a few bob a bit of pocket money—oh there is “Uncle Scrooge” the National Government round the back pocket grabs the wallet and pilfers it. But if they own a Learjet and this legislation goes through then as we said today they might have to pay a bit more tax—a great groundbreaking reform from this mob.Of course the problem that this crew have when they are looking at the revenue side is what we found out today. Referring to clause 5(3) in Part 1 that is the point that Damien O’Connor raises. If you look at the State-owned assets sale what we know about the revenue side of this Government’s Budget is that it says it is going to get $5 billion to $7 billion from State-owned enterprise sales. It stuffed up the first one Mighty River Power and now Meridian Energy. As proof of that the Government now says it is going to have to do Meridian Energy in blocks or slices or whatever. It said it was going to get two or three away earlier this year. It cannot even get that right. But it says even though it has got an under-investment in Mighty River Power that it is going to still get $5 billion to $7 billion of revenue out of those sales. What is it going to spend it on? Well the list is long: KiwiRail schools irrigation hospitals—all these things that actually by the way do not generate any revenue. Last time I checked a school or a hospital does not. A hospital is there to make patients healthy. So the Government sells a revenue-generating asset which brings in ongoing dividends to the taxpayer to spend on those things. It purchases non - revenue-generating assets and it can do that only once because the money runs out.But it gets better colleagues because $5 billion to $7 billion apparently is going to pay for the Christchurch rebuild and a whole set of other things and that total bill adds up to $84 billion—billion with a B—worth of expenditure out of $5 billion to $7 billion revenue of sale proceeds if the Government gets all those assets away. So to quote the Prime Minister’s favourite phrase I say to those opposite show us the money because there is a big gap and a big hole in the fiscals that this Government puts forward. That is why you would think it would actually make some substantive reform not just the odd Learjet or private jet as it is doing here—not just clause 5(3) of the bill of course in here in respect of the dividends from the sale. I ask the Minister the same question that Damien O’Connor asked.I see Gerry Brownlee is here. He is the third most powerful man in New Zealand according to the ChristchurchPress . He will know the answer to this: is clause 5(3) of the bill going to affect the bonus shares the loyalty bonus from the Mighty River Power sale? Any takers? Gerry have a crack—all of your fingers and toes? No. No of course. No the Government will not answer that. It does not know.Hon Gerry Brownlee: I’ve got all of my fingers and toes.Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE: All your fingers and toes Gerry. Try that. Count up. You know I am sure he bought some shares. He may get part of the loyalty scheme. He may be able to tell us whether clause 5(3) of the bill actually impacts on that.Then of course finally we have the tinkering with GST and some adjustments. What we do not have here is the Prime Minister or Gerry Brownlee or the Minister in the chair getting up and apologising to the people of New Zealand for National lying to them—and it did—when it went back on its word in respect of the increase in GST. This is not the brave new world that we were promised by National or the brighter future. This is fiscal piffle.