Dean JacquiHon JACQUI DEAN (National—Waitaki): Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker. National does support this Commerce Amendment Bill at its second reading. We do have some concerns about this bill on the way through. First of all to just very briefly mention the various parts of the bill there are effectively three parts in this bill. One relates to airports regulation. There are three airports that are currently required to be within that regime in New Zealand and interestingly the changes in the bill around airports regulation does anticipate that in the future there might be other airports that are brought into a firmer regulatory regime.There's a relatively small part of the bill which relates to alternative enforcement provisions that the Commerce Commission can impose as part of their work. So they could impose an enforceable undertaking regime in relation to settlements and with penalties if that regime isn't adhered to. They also repeal the existing provision in the Act which is the cease and desist regime. It was more or less redundant and is rightly a piece of work that's been tidied up. But the most contentious part of this bill is around competition studies and the market studies power which is now well on its way to be given to the Commerce Commission. If I think back to about 18 months ago or maybe 2 years ago now when the then Minister of Energy Judith Collins initiated an Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment - led market study into the electricity sector as a result—was it electricity or was it petroleum?Matt King: Electricity.Hon JACQUI DEAN: Yeah I think it was electricity—two years has gone by—and it was hindered by the non-compliance with the various industry players—Hon Shane Jones: Nine years of idleness.Hon JACQUI DEAN: —with that—Hon Shane Jones: Nine wasted years.Hon JACQUI DEAN: Gosh there's an awfully loud noise in this Chamber. Leaving nothing I find it disgraceful behaviour from a Minister of the Crown just sort of barking away over the other side of the House. When I can identify where the noise comes from well maybe it might make some more sense but I suspect not. Because actually the Minister who is barking incoherently over—Hon Shane Jones: Jacqui for leader!Hon JACQUI DEAN: —the other side of the House is the very person who—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Order Mr Jones!Hon JACQUI DEAN: —in the past—Shane Jones—has really been a reason why we need to be very careful about having a regime of market studies given to the Commerce Commission because he is a serial threatener of New Zealand business for no better reason than maybe it might make him sound good in the media and get himself a few more votes which seems to be driving a lot of his party's policy development in this House. So Shane Jones is barking over that side of the House whereas members of this side make a contribution to this debate. It's unseemly but it also speaks to what drives him as a Minister and why I am fearful about some aspects of this bill as introduced by the Labour-led coalition Government.Now the difference between what was promoted by the previous National Government is that while we had promoted a market studies regime which was to be initiated by the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and signed off by the Cabinet of the day the Labour-led coalition Government have amended the bill and introduced it to have a provision where the Commerce Commission itself can initiate a market study. Now that is a substantial difference and it is a difference which we should all be aware of and my colleague the Hon Paul Goldsmith has a very well-known aversion to market studies power and that aversion has been only made greater by the fact that under the bill currently there is no ministerial direction—Hon Shane Jones: Democracy. Democracy.Hon JACQUI DEAN: See there we are barking—barking barking barking—probably trying to get a headline but making no better contribution than that. And so now we have a rate at—Hon Shane Jones: Not today. The barking mad is somewhere else.Hon JACQUI DEAN: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The barking across the other side of the House has got so loud that I can barely hear myself think.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Adrian Rurawhe): Thank you. No the level is rising but in my opinion was within the boundaries of which is OK.Hon JACQUI DEAN: Thank you. Thank you so much for that ruling. We do appreciate that spirit of fairness coming from the Chair. So what we have here is a market studies regime where the Government of the day—and the Prime Minister has already frightened the business community with her comments around a potential fuel market study and how people are being fleeced at the pump conveniently ignoring the impact of the Auckland regional fuel tax GST to her calculations of how much the fuel companies are taking in the cost of petrol.Now the signal that the Prime Minister and other Ministers are giving to the business community is Be afraid. Be very afraid because the Labour-led coalition Government is out to get you." And not only has the Prime Minister sent that chilling message to the whole business community the electricity industry and the fuel industry but also Shane Jones who is making such a worthy contribution to my speech has indicated that he would very much like to see that same sort of unfettered power be awarded against Air New Zealand for example.So what is next? The Prime Minister has invited other Ministers to put up bids about what other industries the Commerce Commission might have a crack at. What kind of signal is that to send to the New Zealand business community? What kind of impact will that have on confidence in our economy? Now the view of this side of the House was that a market studies power is an important tool but it's also a very powerful tool and being a party of largely constituency MPs who are close to their communities and who go into small petrol retailers—in fact a large percentage of petrol retailers in New Zealand are essentially husband and wife couples and they might have a mechanic working for them. But in small town New Zealand in the provinces—where I ply my trade as do many of our colleagues—it is those people who also will be impacted by a fuel market study.It sounds great when the Prime Minister is standing on the platform saying that we are being fleeced at the pumps. Well I'd tell the Prime Minister a lot of that fleecing has happened because of her Government's new tax regime that is driving up the cost of petrol for New Zealanders.So let's not forget that a market studies power is a worthy tool but under our proposal it would have been absolutely controlled by the need for the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to make the case to Cabinet to initiate a market studies power. All restraint is gone—all restraint is gone—because now we have a Prime Minister and coalition partners who are openly threatening various sectors that they will initiate and direct the Commerce Commission to undertake a market study and in my view that is totally irresponsible behaviour and the New Zealand economy and the players within that economy both large and small have every reason to be afraid."