Adams Amy: Regulatory Reform Bill — First Reading 
Adams Amy: Regulatory Reform Bill — First Reading 
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AMY ADAMS (National—Selwyn) 
: 
 It is good to take a call this afternoon on the Regulatory Reform Bill. It is good because I think it is part of a much bigger debate we have been having in this House over the last week about the future of the country where we are going the creation of jobs and the things that this National-led Government is doing to make sure those jobs are created. In that context I think it is worth taking a moment to look back over the last 5 years of the previous Government where we saw the growth of a quarter of a million jobs in the non-productive sector. But scarily over the same period we saw a loss of 50000 jobs in the export sector. So all the time that that non-productive sector was growing and creating ever more of a drain on the taxpayers’ purse what should have been the engine room of our economy was shrinking and shrinking to the point that that engine room is now really nothing more than an auxiliary motor. 
Turning that round is an absolutely key part of getting this country back into the game. That is a multifaceted response. There is not one single thing that can be done that suddenly fires up the export economy the problem is solved and away we go—there are any number of things. I think all of those things can be broadly categorised as putting confidence back into the business sector that it can invest in New Zealand grow its businesses create jobs and take people on. At the end of the day if there is not that sort of confidence that New Zealand is a good place to do business and invest money the business sector will not be creating jobs for New Zealanders in order to raise their incomes and their standard of living. So that has to be a big part of the plan. We have seen a lot of it already from this National-led Government. We have seen Minister Wilkinson give effect to the 90-day trial period and the response from that has been fantastic. We know that it has already created 13000 extra jobs. Businesses are saying that it is good it has taken a bit of pressure off them and they can now have the confidence to get in and use the trial period to create jobs for New Zealanders. That is what will give New Zealanders in this country some long-term security. 
I think we can see a step in that same direction in the Regulatory Reform Bill. We are saying that this is a Government that will not burden people with costs for the sake of it. The Government will look at costs and if they are excessive and outweigh the benefit to society then it will go back and ask whether we need this. I think that asking that question all the time whether we actually need this is fundamental to what any good Government should do. I will always support a Government looking very closely at the costs that it imposes on hard-working New Zealand families and businesses. Members should remember that most of those businesses are very small. Let us not get caught up in thinking that they are large faceless corporations. Most New Zealand businesses—the vast majority—are small family run enterprises. It is about the costs and the hoops they have to jump through time and time again just to get through the day. Certainly the process of reviewing those costs and making sure they are appropriate is I think absolutely key to a sustainable recovery. 
It is not surprising to me that the Green Party is not supporting the bill. It seems in their nirvana nothing at all would be allowed. The interesting thing is that one has to create business activity and wealth to pay for all the social spending that the Greens constantly call for. So I think frankly it is irresponsible to stand and say: “They shouldn’t be allowed to do this. We should crack down on this. We should stop that. We should regulate that out of existence.” but at the same time continue to call for ever-increased spending on handouts. 
One final comment I will make in this space—and it is perhaps a philosophical one—is that it always seems to me that excessive regulation and the drive for more and more regulation is the expected flow-on of a complete abdication of personal responsibility. We see this all the time do we not? When something has gone wrong the first thing we will often hear is someone saying: “There should be rules stopping that. It shouldn’t be allowed.” Often there is a valid question to be looked at but often we have to say that hard cases make bad law. If we react to every single thing that goes wrong by making an excuse to wrap up an industry in even more red tape and regulation then we are going to wrap ourselves into a completely catatonic state as an economy. I think that guarding against the overuse of the power we have trying to remove any possibility of any harm to any one from any thing which seems to be the endgame for the nanny State and its left-wing supporters is something we have to guard against. The real endgame of that approach is a catatonic economy that will not create jobs and will not provide for its future. So yes regulation is essential and we do need to have it. But equally as important as our power to create it is our power to constantly be vigilant about whether the regulations we have in place are necessary productive and to the ultimate benefit of New Zealanders. I am very happy to support this reading of the Regulatory Reform Bill.