Power Simon: Taxation (KiwiSaver and Company Tax RateAmendments) Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
Power Simon: Taxation (KiwiSaver and Company Tax RateAmendments) Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:639;Page:9461] 
SIMON POWER (National—Rangitikei) 
: 
 I came to the debate about KiwiSaver and the concept behind it with a reasonably open mind. I thought about what it would mean for my constituents. These are people who over the last 7 or 8 years have come into my electorate office and said to me: “I am a truckdriver.” “I work in a supermarket.” and “I am an apprentice mechanic.” or words to that effect. They are trying hard to etch out a living to look after their young children and to get that extra little bit of discretionary spend that would make the difference for them as they go through the supermarket buy the stationery for the school year or purchase the new pair of shoes for the school year’s commencement. 
I sat down and read through the documentation relating to KiwiSaver and thought about how it would affect those people today. The answer is that it will actually make them worse off because their discretionary spend at the introduction of the new scheme will get no bigger immediately and then will actually decrease over time as the employers’ contributions increase and as the inflation-adjusted wage rise they would otherwise have got disappears into the KiwiSaver scheme. Government members argue that when these individuals in the communities that we all in this House represent hit 65 they will have something for their retirement. That may well be the case but the problem is that the individuals I see in my electorate office who are in jobs like working in local supermarkets driving trucks or working as apprentice mechanics will have less discretionary spend from Budget day plus 1 year plus 2 years plus 3 years plus 4 years. 
The Government is saying to those individuals in the towns of Feilding Marton or Taihape: “We want you to take a portion of the wage that you already get”—with which they struggle to make their way in purchasing basic necessities for their families—“and we want you to put that aside for a rainy day.” The problem is that for those people it is raining now. It is bucketing down actually for those people as we speak. You see those people need the relief and the discretionary spend to increase today in order that they can go about their business. Those people are the people whom Labour for so long has purported to represent. 
This is my eighth year in this House and I have heard time and time again Labour members on the other side of the House interjecting comments like “What about the worker?” The answer is to throw the question back to Labour members. I say to those members on the Treasury benches: “What about the worker? What about the person who needs the extra discretionary spend today?”. If the argument were that we are all in this together we all have to pull together in order to save for tomorrow—which means pulling back our discretionary spend—and we will all do that as a country it might be easier to sell the argument. The problem is that the Government spend is increasing. The very people who need the discretionary spend are having it denied while the Government does nothing to cut its own spend over the next 4 years. 
I see that the Minister of Corrections is in the Chamber. We will get on to the fiscal risks in that area in another debate but they are substantial and we are talking big big bucks in that area. The one thing I am worried about is the 35-year-old dad in Feilding who drives a truck whose wife works part-time and who has two kids. He is not worrying today about his situation in 40 years’ time; he is worried about getting through this week. The Government is not doing its bit but is asking people in those situations to do their bit.