Bond Ria: New Zealand Business Number Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBond Ria: New Zealand Business Number Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 03 March 2016. Volume:711;Page:9413. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]RIA BOND (NZ First): I am pleased to rise on behalf of New Zealand First for the second reading of the New Zealand Business Number Bill. I want to thank the officials who worked well with the Commerce Committee. They showed their patience and their commitment to work through the hooks and the snags that this bill had in order to get it back into the House tonight. The select committee received 14 written submissions and we listened to five submitters. There was only one sole trader and there were no small businesses that came forward individually and that actually really surprised me. It really amazed me because we all know that small businesses are the backbone of New Zealand’s economy and they have also made a significant contribution to our economy. The New Zealand Business Number Bill will definitely affect them and I will speak about that shortly.My fellow member Fletcher Tabuteau outlined at the first reading of the New Zealand Business Number Bill that New Zealand First could nearly—nearly—support this bill and he went on to outline the Government’s laudable goals. The New Zealand Business Number Bill is one of the initiatives aimed at the Better for Business – Result 9 commitment to reduce costs for businesses dealing with Government agencies through a reduction in effort of 25 percent by the year 2017. We have all heard in the House that this bill aims to reduce the time and money that eligible entities spend on interacting with Government departments by allowing eligible New Zealand entities to obtain or to be allocated a New Zealand Business Number. Thisis simply a unique identifier and it is to be used for all interactions with Government departments.New Zealand First thinks that cost savings for New Zealand businesses is a positive direction for any Government with good common sense to take and we have supported the intent of this bill in its first reading with the reservations spoken by Fletcher Tabuteau. However actual reductions in cost savings for sole traders and small to medium sized businesses have failed to materialise and in fact this will actually cause costs to sole traders and small to medium sized businesses in the short term. New Zealand First really does want to support this bill to its third reading—we really do. However this is a bill that has put the horse before the cart.The idea of a single business number is not new. It has been around for years and it is not the first time that this Government has attempted to sort it out either. I suggest the reason that this Government has failed to successfully do this is that it has not actually done its homework and it has failed. Added to that is the inadequate resources from the Budget to ensure that this bill becomes successful and with that in mind it can only fail. All companies registered with the New Zealand Companies Office were allocated a New Zealand Business Number in December 2013. This seems workable and to the best knowledge of the Commerce Committee it is working well but now this allocation is extended out to all businesses. However currently there is no single point of contact for the departments that have agreed to use the business number system. So my question is: how does that help those companies now?New Zealand First is very concerned that the success and efficiency of the bill relies solely on Government departments committing to it. As it is there are only a limited number of Government departments that have said that they will actually take this up and roll out the New Zealand Business Number. The concern is that there is no time line put in place for all Government departments to come into line and ensure that they collectively come together and work on this and pick this up. Without this it seems quite natural to me that the outcome will be that this will become another business overhead to businesses and instead of being part of the Government’s key goal to cut back red tape where possible the Government will in fact end up increasing business overheads rather than minimising them. Again to me that is putting the horse before the cart.I want to say that I actually get it. I get that big businesses have been advocating for some time for a more streamlined approach to connecting businesses to the Government and for the implementation of this unique identifier which effectively—for those at home who are not sure what that is—is a 13-digit barcode. There is a similar system working in other developed countries and I understand that it is intended that key businesses and the data about each business will be attached to this number and some of it will be accessed by the public. I have looked into what other developed countries such as Denmark have used. They have a personal identification number and that is used when they are dealing with public agencies. It is also used as a personal number in banking business and insurance companies and it works really well. The reason that it works really well is that it has had the correct infrastructure from the get-go. Another country I looked at was Singapore. It has a Unique Entity Number and that is used for all entities—for business for companies for societies—that operate in Singapore. It is also used for filing corporate tax returns and it is also used when you want to apply for an export or import permit. And again I will say that it has worked really well from the get-go because it had the right infrastructure to go with it.This bill also provides the statutory powers to establish and maintain a register. This bill defines an entity’s eligibility to attain a New Zealand Business Number. It sets a limit on access to information it protects the security and confidentiality of information and it protects the privacy of individuals in business. The privacy sensitivities had been a huge concern to New Zealand First and we are actually quite thankful that the Privacy Commissioner has made a submission on the bill’s privacy provision. Along with the Government Chief Privacy Officer the commissioner has worked on this provision and it adds some comfort to New Zealand First that there are now adequate privacy safeguards in place.Businesses have—and it is no secret—become quite frustrated with the current complicated system and there is no denying that. My question is: will the New Zealand Business Number Bill in fact alleviate that or will it add to the frustrations further with the addition of yet just another number? Let us remember it is also currently supported by only a small number of Government departments so until the other Government departments come on board it will not solve the problem. It has been stated that this New Zealand Business Number Bill will phase out the need for the many existing numbers that are currently being used. My question to the Minister for Economic Development is: how is the Government intending to allocate appropriate resources to ensure that this does in fact happen? I hope the Minister will provide an answer to my question.I acknowledge that the New Zealand Business Number Bill intends to help reduce compliance costs in dealing with the Government with the aim of improving productivity of business and the potential for economic growth. However New Zealand First believes that utilising the New Zealand Business Number Bill in the current form will not be a cost-effective exercise for businesses. This bill also fails to provide sufficient evidence that the Business Number will enhance a smooth interaction between businesses and Government departments. And as I pointed out earlier delivering these outcomes is solely dependent on the broad acceptance of the New Zealand Business Number—that is by the users. The success of the bill relies heavily on Government departments committing to it and the business sector adopting the New Zealand Business Number. New Zealand First thinks that in time this can be possible but that time is not right now.In closing I reiterate that New Zealand First would really like to be able to support this bill because we generally agree with its broad aims. But at this time this bill appears to be somewhat incomplete and we urge the Government to address the gaps before enacting yet another piece of legislation that is inadequate. When that happens New Zealand First will certainly look favourably on supporting what is as I have said a bill that is good in its intent but that falls short in its mechanics. We would like to see the Government look again at examples from countries around the world that have similar systems look at what works and what does not work and fine-tune those examples to make sure they are fit for the New Zealand environment. All Government departments should be required to buy in to the scheme. There is no point in having a single point of contact with all Government agencies if all Government agencies are not part of it. We would like to see small businesses provided for. That sole traders—