Revenue Minister Peter Dunne has apologised to Minister of Immigration and Broadcasting Jonathan Coleman for yesterday's mix-up of taxation bill speeches.Dr Coleman, tasked with introducing the Taxation (International Investment and Remedial Matters) Bill
Revenue Minister Peter Dunne has apologised to Minister of Immigration and Broadcasting Jonathan Coleman for yesterday's mix-up of taxation bill speeches.
Dr Coleman, tasked with introducing the Taxation (International Investment and Remedial Matters) Bill to Parliament on behalf of the absent Revenue Minister, instead read out a speech given by Mr Dunne two years ago on a different tax bill.
Today, Mr Dunne told reporters that he was taking full responsibility for the mistake, as his office had supplied Dr Coleman with the wrong speech.
“We’ve actually looked at our systems and we won’t have a repetition,” he said.
“It's just one of those human errors. I’m pretty embarrassed by it but I’m taking responsibility because that’s where it lies.”
Mr Dunne called Dr Coleman last night to offer an apology, which was accepted.
Asked if he would have expected Dr Coleman to notice the mix-up, Mr Dunne responded that international tax is both a complicated and technical issue, and outside Dr Coleman’s portfolios.
Dr Coleman told media that he had not read the speech before delivering it, and that he became aware of the problem towards the end of the speech.
“It’s one of those things. It’s not great - nobody died but it’s a bit of a lesson around procedure.”
“It’s a bit of a mix-up but as I say, the legislation is proceeding and the main thing is it’s going to bring in some good tax changes for New Zealanders.”
Dr Coleman said he understood that the Hansard, the official report of parliamentary proceedings, would be altered to correct the name of the bill but that the substance of the offending speech would remain.
