Lee MelissaMELISSA LEE (National): I am trying to figure out which microphone I am supposed to be speaking into. It was turned the other way. It is normally facing the other side so I had to sort of figure that out. Sorry about that.I would like to take a leaf out of the book of the gentleman who took his seat Stuart Nash to thank you Mr Assistant Speaker Tisch for your leadership in this House. As a new member coming into Parliament in 2008 I still remember the cheat sheet that you provided for me in terms of which Speakers' rulings and which Standing Orders I should familiarise myself with. I thank you for the guidance that you provided me as a young new MP and I wish you a fabulous retirement from this place.The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch): Thank you.MELISSA LEE: Do you know Stuart Nash talked about the relentless positivity on that side. I was wondering where he was actually going to get to in terms of what the positivity was about. I guess Labour has to try to keep positive. It has had so many trial runs at the positivity. I mean you know before this current leader there were four others. It started off with Phil Goff David Shearer—I quite like David Shearer—The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch): Order!MELISSA LEE: —and then it was you know David Cunliffe. Talking about this bill—yes I am getting to the bill. Thank you for the opportunity to take a call on the first reading of the Telecommunications (New Regulatory Framework) Amendment Bill.This bill seeks to update the Telecommunications Act of 2001 and establish a regulatory framework for fibre fixed-line access services in New Zealand by removing unnecessary copper fixed-line access service regulations streamlining regulatory processes and resolving the potential competition problems in the market between mobile communications companies. This bill is designed to make our telecommunications law fit for purpose and modern day for the new fibre-focused environment and will put in place a better balance of incentives so that ongoing investment by network providers will continue to be encouraged while consumers are protected. The bill will also deal with a number of unneeded and expired provisions as part of the Government's commitment to cutting red tape—cutting red tape is always good—and removing outdated legislation.It is important to acknowledge as Minister Macindoe said earlier that connectivity to the wider world via fast internet speeds is increasingly important for New Zealanders who actually live at the bottom of the world as people see us. We are at the bottom of the world and are so far removed from the rest of the world that we actually do need fast internet speeds—and that is what this Government is providing—for our social lives and for our businesses to thrive.I just remembered something from childhood. Children growing up now probably do not quite know how fast things have actually progressed in terms of technology and how we have actually changed. I remember as a child growing up in Korea in the 1970s when the telephone really had only one function. You just needed to turn the knob and all you got was an operator who actually connected you to your next-door neighbours or whatever. That was how the telephone worked—I am remembering quite a few years back. Talking to people across the world on FaceTime was something that people never even imagined that they could possibly do back then but children nowadays take it for granted that they can ring their cousins across the world. Whether they are in London or in Paris or in Australia or in Korea or in China they can talk to each other face to face and it is all thanks to the modern technology that we have developed as a world.Earlier on Stuart Nash was talking about how this Government has taken so long to deliver this. I remember that during the Helen Clark era I think we had dial-up. But it is not just this Government that has delivered the fast internet; it is actually the global movement. The world is demanding faster internet. Technology progress is really fast and in my lifetime you know from when I was a child to now we have gone from turning the knob to ring people to talking to people face to face via our telephones on FaceTime across the globe.You know it has become second nature and I guess it is a very far cry from my childhood when we had to rely on doing our homework research via the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Back then we did not think about Google or Naver. In New Zealand we get Google but in other countries other services like Naver are actually more popular.Simon O'Connor: Which countries?MELISSA LEE: In Korea actually Naver is—yeah yeah I was thinking of Korea. Faster internet access supports the economy and contributes to the depth and vibrancy of this country and the trade and market options that people have. Recently I was talking to someone when I was doorknocking and they were talking about their cousins who had moved back from overseas. The reason they were able to do that when they were doing trade across the world—they were living in a remote place in the South Island but because of the fibre access that they had they could access the world from a remote place in the South Island. Like you know in Invercargill you can do that.The new regime that this bill will put in place will ensure that ultra-fast broadband providers cannot make excess profit at the expense of consumers but it will allow for them to expect a reasonable rate of return on their investment as well as provide incentives for continued investment into this important market area. I think that is really important because any investor who is investing into technology or business must actually have a decent return on their business. A revenue cap will be introduced as the Minister said on Chorus as part of the bill and the company will be required to provide key anchor services to its wholesale customers such as entry-level broadband products and a voice-only product.One of the things that I was really interested to read was the reaction from the industry. I think it was TUANZ—T-U-A-N-Z which is probably not very well pronounced—or the Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand that said it welcomes today's long awaited introduction of the Telecommunications Amendment Bill which is the outcome of the review of the current regulatory framework." That is what it actually said—I am quoting. This was on 8 August: " 'Earlier this year we stated our support of many of the proposed changes when outlined in an options paper and it's pleasing to see these make it to Parliament' said Craig Young Chief Executive of TUANZ. 'The contents of the bill will have important implications for consumers and businesses not only in the short term but most importantly in the post 2020 world of digital communications'." I think it is really wonderful to get the support of the industry and I am sure there are many others whom I could quote from.The gradual withdrawal of the copper network over the next several years is also an important issue that is being addressed by this bill. Chorus will be regulated by a copper withdrawal code which will set out minimum conditions before a copper line can be withdrawn from the service area.The consumer protection clauses of this bill are also important. It is clear that the existing consumer protections are not satisfactory for telecommunications consumers. The 2016 New Zealand National Consumer Survey showed that nearly a third of all consumers reported having a problem with either their fixed broadband or mobile services with around one in 10 having problems with both. It is important that we lift the quality of service performance in the telecommunications sector and provide a better service in the New Zealand retail telecommunications market by putting in place better laws and regulations designed to support the best interests of consumers. I think this bill does that. I do know that the Commerce Committee will no longer be in the next Parliament but when we do receive it in a select committee I look forward to going through the process of select committee hearings and submissions from public. I commend this bill to the House."