Urgency

I move, That urgency be accorded the introduction and passing of the Taxation (Budget Measures) Bill, the Social Security (Long-term Residential Care—Budget Measures) Amendment Bill, and any bills into which they may be divided, and the introduction and first reading of the Customs and Excise (Tobacco Products—Budget Measures) Amendment Bill and its referral to a select committee. These bills give life to the announcements in today’s Budget speech around livestock valuations, reforming outdated tax credits, ending the voluntary payments bonus for student loans, altering the annual adjustment for aged-care asset thresholds, and increasing the excise rate on tobacco products in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016. These bills are designed to make the tax, student loans, and aged-care asset-testing systems fairer and fiscally sustainable, and to improve the health of New Zealanders. Urgency is desirable, as these changes have already been announced, and it is preferable to introduce these changes and provide certainty for taxpayers and citizens as soon as possible. The Customs and Excise (Tobacco Products—Budget Measures) Amendment Bill will progress through its second and third readings and the Committee of the whole House stage under the usual House sitting procedures, as the first excise increase is proposed for 1 January 2013. I think those statements set out the necessary particularity to support the motion.