Clayton Mitchell New Zealand First MP

We are at a point where a hard working New Zealanders can no longer afford to raise a family on a single income. The state shouldn't be raising kids, while forcing both parents to find work, just to put food on the table and cover outrageous rents. Kids with absent or exhausted parents will lead to all sorts of long-term social problems.

In New Zealand, we believe in a healthy work-life balance. We just celebrated Labour Weekend in memory of the hard-won struggle for an eight-hour work day for Kiwis.

A fair day's pay in exchange for a fair day's work is not too much to ask in 21st Century New Zealand. Neither is it too much to expect that we all chip in our fair share of tax, to fund the New Zealand that New Zealanders believe in.

We have 20 multinational companies paying just $1.8 million in income tax in 2014 while recording nearly $10 billion in annual sales in New Zealand. That's a tax rate of 0.018%. I'm sure most Kiwis would be willing to swap tax rates with them.

New Zealand companies are missing out on investment opportunities here because overseas competitors are abusing our tax system and have an unfair advantage.

If we keep making it easier for foreign companies to do business in New Zealand, than local ones, how long will it be before we're all working longer hours, being paid lower wages, by foreign companies who ship all their profits overseas and give nothing back to New Zealand.

Our current blue pilots are steering us into the third world.

We, at New Zealand First, will provide tax cuts to small and medium-sized enterprises and tighten up our tax laws for corporations - foreign and domestic - to ensure fair competition on a level playing field. It's not rocket science, we all know it's common sense.