Young Jonathan: Fair Trading (Soliciting on Behalf of Charities) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Young Jonathan: Fair Trading (Soliciting on Behalf of Charities) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
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JONATHAN YOUNG (National—New Plymouth) 
: 
 I firstly congratulate my colleague Amy Adams on what is not only her first member’s bill but I believe a very excellent one the Fair Trading (Soliciting on Behalf of Charities) Amendment Bill. 
I spent 20 years working in the sector that she— 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: I accidentally rang the bell. My apologies. 
JONATHAN YOUNG 
: I think Mr Deputy Speaker you owe me another minute. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: It was the enthusiasm of the speech. My apologies. 
JONATHAN YOUNG 
: Exactly Mr Deputy Speaker. That bell means that I get to congratulate Amy Adams again and her name gets written in  
Hansard 
 as presenting a very excellent bill. 
As I was saying for 20 years I worked in the sector. I believe that this is a very important area because everything to do with giving in our country has to be based upon integrity and credibility. New Zealanders like to give people a fair go. It is our nature and it is why we give to charities and to charity collectors. New Zealanders have a giving spirit with 77 percent planning to make a donation to charity in the next year according to MasterCard’s September survey of 14 countries. In fact we are second in the Asia-Pacific region for our generosity beaten only by Indonesia; I must say that Australia is 11 points behind us. So we need to protect this attitude of generosity and giving. It is part of the Kiwi way of life where we like to help out each other. It only takes somebody to rip off somebody else to bring some disappointment and cynicism that stops that fantastic sense of community spirit and contribution. So I thank Mrs Adams for putting this bill together. I think it is timely. I think it is needful. Some issues regarding the financial reporting of it need to be worked through and I am sure that they will be. I think that those percentage figures are pretty close to the mark. I look forward to a select committee working on this bill. 
Over recent years the Charities Commission has been established as a central place of registration and financial reporting for charities. That serves to create not only necessary transparency and accountability but equally important credibility amongst our charities because those who register and those who are financially accountable are shown to be bona fide. That is very very important. There has been a big increase in charities seeking donors’ dollars. It is described as the “alms race” in New Zealand. Generally the scrutiny of the public has been focused on what proportion of donated funds ends up being spent on the purpose of the charity as compared with being consumed by administration wages and salaries of the charity. Like Government efficiency and productivity are required by charities. I implore and encourage charities to continue to work on this. 
I am extremely pleased to support this bill which Amy Adams has brought to the House because I believe that it brings the necessity of transparency and accountability to a new level regarding the use and the practice of professional third-party collectors. It requires them to step up to a level of transparency regarding the commission they receive from the proceeds of donated funds. I think there is an acceptance that any organisation will need to spend money to get money. That happens in the field of commerce. We need to understand it as people do it. It is unrealistic to expect a nil proportion to go towards the sustenance of an organisation and 100 percent to go to the purpose of the organisation. But there comes a percentage threshold that is unacceptable. This bill is working to find that threshold to find that level and to bring that accountability. I say to charities that employ the services of those third-party collectors to have care that they do not select people who will take such high percentages of commission because people are looking at the credibility and accountability of the charities in all of this. Please do not create self-injury by those things. 
As I close I say once again congratulations on what I believe is a well-balanced well-prepared bill. I believe it will help New Zealanders continue to be generous and will help charities function effectively in our country. I am very pleased to commend this bill to the House.