McNair Craig: Reserve Bank of New Zealand Amendment Bill — In Committee 
McNair Craig: Reserve Bank of New Zealand Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:610;Page:7892] 
CRAIG McNAIR (NZ First) 
: 
 I want to thank the Hon Dr Michael Cullen for his words on the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Amendment Bill and also for the history lesson. It is always nice for a young guy like myself—not the youngest in Parliament I say as I look at Darren Hughes but I like to consider myself young even at 28— 
Jim Peters 
: Sort of young. 
CRAIG McNAIR 
: That is right. It is very good to get a little bit of a history lesson—[ 
Interruption 
] I thank Mr Hughes. It is always good to get a bit of a history lesson from a true historian about the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Amendment Bill that sets the record straight as far as David Caygill starting off the legislation. It is good that he can put Rodney Hide and other people right. 
I want to talk about the response to the recommendations in the 2001 independent review of the operation of monetary policy in New Zealand by Professor Lars Svensson regarding the management of the Reserve Bank but before I do that Richard Prebble and Rodney Hide were talking about renaming the bill. As everybody knows New Zealand First supports the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Amendment Bill in its current form so we would not support a change of name but one thing the Reserve Bank does need to take action on—an issue that is a passion of mine—is that New Zealanders increase their exports. I know that ensuring that exporters do better that our exports are increased and that we see more exporting and less importing is a passion for a lot of people. Obviously in New Zealand First we believe that that would put this country on track to true wealth. If the Reserve Bank were to refocus a little more—and I will stay on this for a very short moment only—and were to encourage exports and help exporters in a large way we could call this bill the “Encouraging of Exporters Bill”. 
Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith 
: “Encourage Exporters”. 
CRAIG McNAIR 
: We could call it the “Encourage Exporters Bill”. Getting back to the bill Lars Svensson suggested that the governor should be removed from the position of the chairperson of the board of directors. He also suggested that the removal of the deputy governor from the board would be good. I can live with the argument that the balance between the board’s independence and its access to the information is necessary to enable effective monitoring which can be best achieved by retaining the governor on the board. He also suggested that the board chairperson be required to be a non-executive director. 
Another suggestion which I want to go through quickly was to require the board to report annually on the performance of the bank and the governor which would raise the visibility of the board and strengthen the accountability of the bank. I and New Zealand First say that that is all good and we support it. It is something that New Zealand First will be saying “Yes” to. We can do all of that but if we still do not look at the issues facing New Zealand and the Reserve Bank such as the one I was talking about when I was saying that we should change the name of the bill to the “Encouraging Exporters Bill” we miss the point. It is always good to come back— 
Rodney Hide 
: Who missed the point? 
CRAIG McNAIR 
: New Zealand. [ 
Interruption 
] No New Zealand First does not miss the point. We are trying to make a point. 
We can remove the governor from the position of the chairperson of the board of directors we can remove the deputy governor from the board—as we will do—we can require the chairperson of the board to be a non-executive director we can require the board to report annually etc. We can do all of that but we need to encourage our exporters and to look at other ways. 
Clause 1 agreed to.