Power Simon: Financial Advisers Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Power Simon: Financial Advisers Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 23 September 2008. Volume:650;Page:18989. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
SIMON POWER (National—Rangitikei) 
: 
 We come to the only two surviving original clauses of the Financial Advisers Bill which as we said earlier in the debate has been completely rewritten with 61 pages being deleted from the bill. 
Hon Lianne Dalziel 
: A hard-working committee. 
SIMON POWER 
: It is pretty hard-working all right! Sixty-one pages have been deleted but what stays? Since this bill was referred to the Finance and Expenditure Committee in February of this year or thereabouts what has remained from the years of work and reviews stakeholder meetings workshops and the like that occurred? What is left is the title—the Financial Advisers Act 2007—and the Government is to be commended for retaining that during this process.  
Secondly what has also remained during the last 8 or 9 months is the commencement date. That is clause 2(1) and it will come into force on a date to be appointed by the Governor-General by Order in Council. Secondly clause 2(2) states: “One or more Orders in Council may be made appointing different dates for the commencement of different provisions.” That is it. They are the only two clauses that survived the original bill. 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: We listened! 
SIMON POWER 
: That is right—it is a listening Government. So we wiped out 69 pages of ineffective legislation and replaced it. But as we said earlier that was the right thing to do and we now have what we view to be a crucial first step in workable regulation around this industry. I think it is worth noting that the Minister has always been careful in her public statements and particularly in her press releases and speeches—which we have followed pretty carefully—to make the following two statements in either this form or in a form similar to it. The first statement is that she is not inclined she tells us to regulate for regulation’s sake which is something that we support. We believe that regulation in this case is necessary. Secondly the Minister has made the statement many times that we cannot legislate to prevent risk and that is also a position that the National Party endorses.  
I have to say that I think this is the only time in my short time here that I have seen legislation so thoroughly amended by the select committee process. It was not comprehensively amended of course because we still have clauses 1 and 2 but it was thoroughly amended during that process. That tells the Committee that the select committee process adds value to the final product and it also tells the Committee that where a Minister is prepared to allow the legislation to form up following further input and advice from officials other political parties and the select committee the Parliament can find itself with workable legislation. I will make some comments on the future of this legislation in the third reading debate but I will leave my comments on what are now really known as the enduring clauses of this legislation.