Little Andrew: International Finance Agreements Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Little Andrew: International Finance Agreements Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Sitting date: 19 February 2013. Volume:687;Page:7956. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
ANDREW LITTLE (Labour) 
: 
 I just want to take the opportunity to talk on this International Finance Agreements Amendment Bill because it is an important piece of legislation and it is one of the expressions of our role and our place as an international player as a member of the international community and indeed in the operations of the international finance community. That places us in a very important position. We have had a long and august history in the operations of the IMF including former Ministers of Finance and indeed a Prime Minister playing an active role at the very senior levels of it. But it is important with the international institutions of which we are a part that we maintain our currency and that our laws reflect the commitments and the obligations that we enter into when we are part of that international community. 
This legislation brings us up to speed. But as colleagues of mine have also raised and questioned the issue is why now. Why so long after these changes were agreed to by the IMF are we only now getting round to passing the legislation that enables us to support the practical changes? It does raise a very serious question about the efficacy of the management of the legislation and the way this Government addresses these important issues. We should never devalue or deride the international organisations that we are a part of and in which we play an important part. So it is reasonable to expect that when the Government of the day is making commitments or entering into commitments on our behalf that we will update and upgrade the rules that we have to participate in those organisations that it does so with some sort of political and parliamentary alacrity. But that is not what we have seen on this occasion. 
The other issue is the issue about the extent to which this Parliament as with any Parliament of any member organisation of the IMF gets to play the role of scrutinising what happens in those institutions in the name of the citizens—in this case of New Zealand. So to the extent that it is suggested that future changes to the rules of the IMF might be agreed to or ratified or done by Order in Council by the Government the executive that is something that I think every member of the House discharging their responsibilities as a member of this House would be deeply uncomfortable with. When it comes to playing our role in international fora although we must be responsible and although we must discharge our obligations it is not a reason to then take away the proper scrutiny of this House in discharging its role and its responsibilities towards the citizens of New Zealand to ensure that the commitments that we enter into are ones that we ought properly to put our names to that fit our view and our version of democracy and democratic principles and that are consistent with what we think ought to be contributed to a stable international finance system. 
With those notes I simply underscore those two issues: the one of our playing our role and secondly ensuring that this House continues to play its role of providing scrutiny when the Government of the day acts with its representative international hat on in the name of all citizens and in the name of this House and that this House continues to provide effective scrutiny for it. So notwithstanding our support of the bill it is important to draw attention to those important points.