Parmar Parmjeet; O'Connor GregDr PARMJEET PARMAR (ACT): Thank you Mr Speaker for the opportunity. I'm taking this call on behalf of the ACT Party to oppose the Fair Trading (Gift Card Expiry) Amendment Bill. As this is the second reading I would like to reflect on the select committee process. In the Economic Development Science and Innovation Committee we received submissions and we also heard from submitters so I want to thank all those submitters. I want also to acknowledge those submitters who appeared before the select committee to speak to their submission. I want to also thank the team of the clerk of the committee I want to thank all the advisors Parliamentary Counsel Office everyone who has been involved in bringing this bill to the shape that it is. I also want to acknowledge all the members on the committee and especially the member in charge of this bill. I want to also congratulate Dan Bidois and his wife for their newborn and we are really looking forward to seeing Dan back after he has enjoyed his parental leave.In his absence this bill is going through the second reading so I'm sure he will be watching this from home. And what I want to say to you Dan is that we do not support this bill but we can see the intention behind this bill. The intention behind this bill is to see that the customers are able to—or consumers those who are presented with a gift card—are able to redeem that gift card and so that they get enough time and that is the time of three years. Until now we know that businesses don't have a fixed time businesses decide what the length of the time of expiry of a gift card should be.In the select committee we actually made quite a few changes and there were discussions around quite a few things. The main discussion was around what is a gift card and what should be included in the definition of a gift card". We talked about cards and vouchers which are supplied in substitution for return goods. We talked about Prezzy Cards—we wanted to clarify if they are gift cards or not and that was clarified in the select committee. We also wanted to talk about gift cards supplied through customer loyalty programmes and here we were talking about like Flybuys is a loyalty program where you get a card but then using those points you can buy a gift card—whether it would apply to that or not. So we just wanted to make those clarifications. We also wanted to clarify regarding any cards or vouchers which are given for a time-limited event. We also discussed cards that are used for transport and utilities if they should be included or not second-hand consumer sales of gift cards and also how to deal with cards which are sold for raising funds in charitable function.So going through all these things and the way people pass on gift cards or gift vouchers in so many different formats for so many different reasons it just shows that it is a complicated area. And our reason the ACT Party is opposing this bill is because we really believe that it is something that the businesses should decide because it is about their liability it is about their financial sustainability. Consumers no matter what length of time is given there will always be some consumers who will not be able to redeem that gift card. There is no guarantee that if there is a longer expiry date all of the consumers—those who receive gift cards—will be able to redeem that gift card. And in the select committee process what was really interesting was that yes we reported back this bill saying that the length of expiry should be three years and yes some submitters thought it should be three years; some submitters thought it should be five years. One of the submitters who has been talked about—Consumer New Zealand—in their submission they said that "We urge the Committee to consider extending the three-year minimum to five years to ensure consumers don't miss out on what is rightfully theirs." So it wasn't like every submitter thought that having this fixed time line of three years is going to work for everyone. So there were views where people thought there should be no expiry date. There were views where people thought actually there should be a longer expiry date. So there was not one point that came through all of the submitters.Now we also heard about Retail New Zealand's submission. I would like to highlight what Retail New Zealand said. So these submitters—yes I want to acknowledge that they supported the intent of this bill but there was something important in these submissions that is important for me to highlight. Retail New Zealand's submission said this—this is in their submission and I'm reading out from their submission—"Retail NZ surveyed our membership in the preparation of this submission and found that over half of members that sell gift cards have an expiry date of one year from the initial sale date. Retailers report that most gift cards are redeemed within six months of being issued."—"Most" it says. Most retailers have said that most gift cards are redeemed within the six months of being issued. It's a very important point which should be noted and was noted by the ACT Party. It also says "While gift cards have benefits extended periods of time between when a card is issued and when it is redeemed can create complexity for retailers. Over half of retailers that sell gift cards report difficulties dealing with the treatment of gift cards in accounting. This is particularly an issue for small and medium sized businesses."So when we are putting through any legislation we have to take into consideration all kinds of businesses small and big businesses. Here this is what we heard from Retail New Zealand. This is what Retail New Zealand's submission says very clearly that yes there are complexities they have to deal with if the expiry date is long. Again the other point they made was this: that there should be a transition time of 12 months so that the retailers get enough time to transition to the expiry date which will be set by this bill—that is of three years. So obviously it's not something that can happen overnight so we are creating this additional burden on businesses and they need time to adjust to this new expiry date. This submitter said that it should be 12 months. It's not just one submitter that said that there should be time available for businesses to transition to this expiry date setting if this bill goes through.The other thing we heard from—this is like not just the small businesses but some big companies also said that they want a transition time and some suggested 12 months; some suggested 18 months. So this is really important for us to note: that it is something that we are actually adding to what businesses are already doing and this is not going to add to their efficiency or their productivity.As far as consumers are concerned as long as the consumer can clearly see what the expiry date is; as long as the consumer is clearly told or conveyed what the expiry date is of the gift card that is purchased then it is up to the consumer use that gift card within that expiry date.Here to imply that somehow businesses are not doing the right thing by giving an expiry date of six months or 12 months I reject that notion. That is not the case because businesses know how they operate; businesses know what their marketing strategy should be. Gift cards are used as a tool in their marketing strategy. They want to see that people—those who take gift cards—when they come back they might be buying something that will actually cost more than the value of the gift card. Also they might expect these customers to come back and become their regular customers because they have been given a gift card of their store or whatever the service they provide.So overall gift cards are part of businesses' marketing strategy. We should leave it to businesses how they use this gift card as a tool in their marketing strategy. That is why the ACT Party is not supporting this bill. Thank you Mr Speaker.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Greg O'Connor): This debate is interrupted and is set down for resumption next sitting day. The House stands adjourned until 2 p.m. tomorrow. A wonderful learning day. Good night.Debate interrupted.The House adjourned at 10.01 p.m."