Kedgley Sue: Third Readings — 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Kedgley Sue: Third Readings — 
[Sitting date: 07 April 2011. Volume:671;Page:17852. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
SUE KEDGLEY (Green) 
: 
 The Green Party is also very pleased to support these bills. We too congratulate Minister Simon Power on steering them through Parliament. Although they will not solve all the problems and challenges confronting financial markets they will give more protection to investors they will establish a higher degree of transparency in the markets and they will establish a more appropriate regulatory environment which will be beneficial to both investors who provide capital and those who utilise it the shareholders. 
It must be noted—and others have noted—that deregulation of the financial sector has been an abject failure in New Zealand. It has cost our economy dearly and has been devastating for many small investors with ongoing effects that are cascading through our economy. We hear a lot about the wonders of deregulation but it is not often that we consider the incredible failure of deregulation in many of our sectors—for example the building sector. The National Government of the day deregulated the building industry which has cost the New Zealand economy a huge amount—around $10 billion in leaky homes. It has also been utterly devastating for thousands and thousands of ordinary New Zealanders. That is an example of the way in which deregulation and the laissez-faire approach of leaving it to the market have been an abject failure over and over again. So we are pleased we are at last beginning to regulate the financial sector. 
There is obviously no risk-free investment. On occasion investors will inevitably suffer losses but we believe that mum and dad investors and potential investors need to have protection. They need to be able to assess the level of acceptable risk in the context of a robust regulatory framework that mitigates against incompetence against unethical behaviour most of all and against outright dishonesty in particular. These bills provide a step along the road to achieving those objectives which is why the Green Party is pleased to support them. 
The bills we are debating today are quite complex and indeed far-reaching. The Commerce Committee was fortunate to be guided by a chair Lianne Dalziel who had considerable experience and a strong personal commitment to the purpose of the bill. But we were disappointed that an amendment that she proposed at the Committee stage of the bill—namely to insert a set of enforceable principles to guide market participants principles that are similar to those that apply to financial market businesses in the United Kingdom—was not supported by the Government. We cannot understand why that very very sensible amendment did not get cross-party support in the Committee. 
The select committee in its report proposed that as well as the legislation pursuing the overall objective of promoting fair efficient and transparent financial markets it should also facilitate the development of those markets. In New Zealand our business and industry have long been hampered by the difficulties of acquiring capital and one of the reasons for this is the inappropriate tax and other advantages given to investment and real estate in New Zealand. We of course are one of the only countries that do not have a capital gains tax on other than the family home so that gives a huge incentive to invest in real estate and a disincentive to invest in other businesses. 
The Greens consider that the transition to a smart green economy will require investment—and substantial investment—in cleantech and greentech industries which would make a huge contribution to the economic resilience and future well-being of New Zealand. Such investments will be made only if investors are confident of the integrity of markets and we believe that this legislation makes a useful contribution to that goal. 
We hope that once this legislation has been passed we will be spared the series of fiascos we have witnessed in recent years as a result of financial deregulation. We are pleased to support this legislation and we congratulate the Minister on taking the initiative and driving it through the House. We know there is a very tight agenda of legislation and we are pleased that this Minister obviously has the political capital to get his legislation through the House. We congratulate him on that. Thank you.