Sio William: Taxation (Budget Measures) Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Sio William: Taxation (Budget Measures) Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee 
[Sitting date: 24 May 2012. Volume:680;Page:2471. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Su’a WILLIAM SIO (Labour—Mangere) 
: 
 I want to begin by quoting a text that has been sent to me. It is a text that was sent to Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga and this mother has forwarded it on to me: “My son delivers a paper. He makes $5 a run that takes him about 1½ to 2 hours to do. How can your Government tax him on the pittance he makes? You should be encouraging kids to work hard. Shame on you.” 
This mother is obviously listening to this debate and is saying to this Government: “Shame on you. Shame on you for trying to take money out of young kids who are trying to make ends meet.” I quote that because the people listening to this debate have children delivering papers earning as she says a pittance and this Government is now ready to put its hands in the pockets of those young kids. I do not think that this Government here understands the struggles of hard-working communities struggling to make ends meet. They will remember that the first Budget of this Government was mana-enhancing. Those were the words. Well there was no mana-enhancing for the community. The second Budget I understand was “the road to recovery”—[ 
Interruption 
] 
The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch) 
: Order! The member cannot say “Tell the truth.” In future— 
Hon Member 
: Withdraw and apologise. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch) 
: I am ruling. I do not know where it came from but whoever said it you cannot say “Tell the truth.” 
Todd McClay 
: Tell another lie. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch) 
: Who said that? The member will stand and apologise for that comment. 
Todd McClay 
: I apologise. 
Su’a WILLIAM SIO 
: That speaks loud does it not? 
The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch) 
: I have ruled and that is the end of the matter. Proceed with the debate. 
Su’a WILLIAM SIO 
: So their first Budget was supposed to be mana-enhancing. There was no such mana-enhancing in working-class communities. Their second Budget was called “the road to recovery”. All we got to see was the dead-end. All we got to see was the dead-end because what they did was they fixed the tax rate so those on the highest income got the biggest chunk of the tax cut while the rest of working-class New Zealanders got GST increases. That is what we get from this Government.  
We also heard last year about a brighter future. Where is the brighter future for 160000 people unemployed? Where is the brighter future for people who are jobless and who would work—and I am referring to the changes in the Taxation (Budget Measures) Bill here in clause 3—where are the changes? Where is the brighter future for the people who are jobless want to work but cannot find a job? This Government says it is on the road to recovery. Well the recovery continues. There is no such recovery for working communities who are struggling to make ends meet. The only recovery that many of the community are experiencing at the moment is coming from Australia—the 50000 people who are going there 1000 every week is what we are seeing. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch) 
: Part 1 is a very succinct part and I bring the member back to it. Just concentrate on Part 1. 
Su’a WILLIAM SIO 
: Part 1 amends the Income Tax Act. The 50000 people travelling to Australia do not see a future because this Government keeps taking from them the very little money they have. So there is no brighter future. When we read clause 4 in Part 1 “Amendment to Income Tax Act 2007” what future is there for this mother who is saying that her young son is earning money trying to scrape by and saving? Perhaps this money goes towards the cost of the uniform but all they are hearing from this Government is that it will take away the very little money they are earning.  
I do not think this Government has any understanding of the struggles that our communities are going through. I suppose it is because the Government does not understand that $3 $5 or $10 to a low-income family is worth so much more than it is to those who earn quite significant amounts of money. I suppose that Ministers who earn over $200000 probably have no idea of the struggles of a young boy who in this case is earning $5 a day on average. They do not understand what this young man is going through.  
So I am saying to this Government that we should have been debating ways of ensuring that families who are struggling do get money in their pockets. Families having money in their pockets and being paid decent wages are the sorts of debates that we should have been having tonight. But no all we have is a Budget that does not provide any hope to young people who want to get an education. It does not provide any hope for people who are unemployed at the moment and who want to be able to find jobs. It does not provide hope to people who want to see New Zealand grow.