Leary IngridINGRID LEARY (Labour—Taieri): Thank you Mr Speaker. It's a little daunting standing up with this many people in the gallery who have probably not come to listen to the legislative statement or the debates on the Financial Markets (Conduct of Institutions) Amendment Bill. However it is a testament to my friend and colleague the Hon Kris Faafoi that the place is so full both with colleagues and with people in the gallery. So if you will indulge me Mr Speaker I'd just like to refer to the ministerial portfolios that the Minister has held because indeed this piece of work is a legacy piece of work from that Minister who has been Minister of Justice Minister of Commerce Broadcasting and Media Minister of Immigration Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister of Government Digital Services Minister of Civil Defence and Minister of Customs. He's the former MP for Mana. He's a fantastic father which I think is why he's leaving us and we found out last night he's also an excellent karaoke singer. However to much more riveting things—back to this bill. Seriously what we've heard today is a bit of an argument about what is the problem we're trying to solve and members of the Opposition would say that there is no problem. But actually I've spoken before in this House about the New Zealand Credit Union credit care service and my constituent John Cavanagh. He's a 73-year-old from Milton who for 40 years paid into an insurance scheme which very sadly closed last year and his payout from that scheme—because he was over the age of 73 he was given $50 compensation. Now that was a funeral insurance scheme. It was designed for people to receive $10000 cover so that they could do the right thing by their friends and whānau and leave something so that their funerals were taken care of but sadly there was falling membership and increasing payouts. Now that is something that was entirely predictable if I can say so. But there was nobody there looking over the sector to see that something like this would happen and people like John Cavanagh got a measly $50 payout after contributing to that scheme for 40 years. That is simply unacceptable. That is a real problem and the problem is because there hasn't been regulation. Now this Government doesn't take regulation lightly. We know that with policy responses the common saying is that there are carrots sticks and sermons. Sermons haven't worked with this sector and incentives don't work with the sector and certainly in the regulatory statement the officials have said there is strong evidence of conduct risks and issues". There have been several "thematic reports into bank incentives and soft commissions in the life and health insurance industry." and there is plenty of evidence to show that this is a problem and it requires regulation. It requires the sticks in order to make sure that people like John Cavanagh of my electorate and many others in his situation in the South are not ripped off either intentionally or just through simply an insurance scheme that didn't quite work. When we look at intentionality we've heard today in the House that there are incentives for some insurance brokers where if they can get 10 people to get over the line with purchasing insurance they might get say a trip to Hawaii or another incentive. That is not something that should be encouraged. If it is encouraged then it should be clear to the consumers so they know what is motivating the person who is saying that they are acting in their best interests. All of this is about levelling the playing field and I have to say that my good friend and colleague the Hon Dr David Clark who has taken over shepherding this bill has put in several pieces of legislation. As the Opposition has quite rightly said he has been very busy and that is because we believe in competition and we believe in protecting the rights of consumers so that we can level the playing field and have some equity in our financial services. It's not just about doing the right thing; it is also about financial stability because without that equity in the finance system there can be instability. So I'm really pleased that the people in the gallery have stayed to listen to this really important debate on the conduct of financial institutions. Once again—being maybe the last speaker before we go to the valedictory—I'd just like to acknowledge my friend and colleague the Hon Kris Faafoi and wish him really well on his journey. With that I commend this bill to the House."