Ghahraman GolrizGOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN (Green): Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. I rise very happily in support of this bill. It seeks to strengthen the safeguards in legislation around lending practices that we've come to know as being particularly predatory as inequality has been on the rise in New Zealand and has now become a tragic and significant contributor to widening the gaps in our communities and contributing to suffering and inequality that was already there at record highs. So we welcome the move to further regulate these kinds of practices. We know that this kind of debt creates cycles of poverty that can be lifelong and in fact intergenerational for those in our communities who are struggling to pay for basics and so are forced into a situation where they will borrow money on any terms. When you are faced with an unexpected health expense or schooling expense for the kids and food was already something that you were struggling to provide for your family then it is a case of well you will borrow at any cost with any interest level from anyone. So it is a matter of the Government stepping in and regulating the standards on which that lending can happen both in terms of the cost and in terms of the kinds of companies and persons that can engage in it because we know that increasingly they've become a source of predation on our communities.This bill comes to the House in the context of record inequality—in the context of child poverty that according to Child Poverty Action Group's latest report was at just under 300000 children in New Zealand living in what's defined as poverty which is under the 60 percent income bracket and in terms of material hardship is at I think just over 100000 children so an incredibly high number. That's not to say that poverty only affects children but just to put that into context—the struggle that it has become in New Zealand for people to raise families. In the context of Auckland where I live that has meant that large numbers of families are now living in garages and cars. So it is very clear that in those circumstances expenses are not able to be met easily and will lead to borrowing—and have led to borrowing—at extortionate rates of interest which contribute to that inability to survive for those out there.So this bill is certainly timely. What it proposes to do is to limit the total accumulation of interest and fees on what's defined as high-cost loans to 100 percent of the original loan. So a $500 loan would never cost the borrower more than $1000 which is a huge change and will contribute to stopping that kind of lifelong years-long indebtedness that actually means people do struggle far more than they initially did when they desperately took out the loan. It will require all directors and senior managers of lenders who are offering these loans to meet a fit and proper person standard which is a long time coming and it is the hope that it will help prevent what are called phoenix lenders who pop up and can disappear again without accountability. It will strengthen the enforcement provisions of the Act including higher penalties. We know these are businesses with a business model so they will take into account the cost benefit of breaching the law and so hopefully that will incentivise them now not to do that even more than before. So raising the bar on who can become a lender improving transparency and thereby access to redress for those who've been harmed is a package that will increase our ability to regulate for those who are vulnerable as is the responsibility of Government to do. One thing that the Green Party will look forward to in the select committee process is to see if—and I note that FinCap which is a community organisation that supports the financial capability education and so forth in the communities actually has spoken out and said that they're disappointed that there wasn't an interest rate cap included in this bill. This is something that the Green Party will look forward to exploring at that select committee stage and we support FinCap's recommendation that as has been instituted in the UK and in Australia this legislation also introduce an interest rate cap beyond what's already included in the bill so that lenders can't lend on any interest rate as it is today which is actually what causes that vulnerability. So it is an issue that we look forward to engaging with at select committee stage and we hope that will improve the bill. But I'm very happy to support what is now a much-needed further regulation of lending practices that will alleviate poverty and inequality in New Zealand.