Nash Stuart: Financial Service Providers (Pre-Implementation Adjustments) Bill — Second Reading In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Nash Stuart: Financial Service Providers (Pre-Implementation Adjustments) Bill — Second Reading In Committee 
[Sitting date: 22 June 2010. Volume:664;Page:11947. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
STUART NASH (Labour) 
: 
 It is a little bit difficult when one finishes at 10 o’clock at night and then starts again at 9 o’clock the next morning. However what I was saying at 10 o’clock last night is that I am very supportive of the Financial Service Providers (Pre-Implementation Adjustments) Bill. In fact I think it is very necessary because what we have seen with the collapse of the finance companies is that many many ordinary New Zealanders have been ripped off and basically taken to the cleaners by a whole raft of people masquerading as financial advisers. I was talking about brands like Colin Meads and Richard Long who were out there touting for these services. They were iconic brands and very good at what they did but they knew absolutely nothing about finances. I was speaking to someone last night after 10 o’clock who said to me that she invested in Hanover Finance because of Richard Long. Here was a man who stood for integrity and trust and who was in our living rooms nearly every single night. So if Richard Long said it was good therefore it must be good! 
Hone Harawira 
: It must be good! 
STUART NASH 
: It must be good! What happened of course was that it was not good at all. Richard Long was a very good newsreader but he knew nothing about financial advice or financial investment. I hope with this sort of financial crisis that iconic New Zealand brands will think very carefully before they start endorsing products that they know nothing about. 
I was also talking about Mark Hotchin’s $30 million house which was built on a graveyard of the shattered dreams and broken promises of thousands of New Zealanders. If that man has any sense he will not return to this country. It is obscene that we see him at the moment holidaying in Hawaii off the money of thousands of New Zealanders who are now broke. I cannot imagine having worked all my life reaching the age of 65 or 70 and waking up one morning to find that all my savings had just disappeared. How heartbreaking would that be? In fact there is evidence out there that ordinary New Zealanders have committed suicide over this. They have got to the stage where there is nothing worth living for. All their savings have gone not only for their own retirement and their grandkids’ education but also to allow them to live and retire with dignity. They have to sell their houses they have to sell all their assets and they find themselves with nothing. This is why the legislation that this bill amends is so good. The original legislation was introduced by the Hon Lianne Dalziel and no doubt she will talk about that a little bit in the future. 
This bill will not stop the sort of obscenity that is Hotchin’s extravagance or stop Colin Meads saying that an investment is as “safe as houses”. However it might mean that the type of person who was promoting Hanover Finance as a safe investment would disappear. Real financial advisers will be able to scrutinise investment prospectuses with more rigour and in more detail as is required I would have thought by such a profession. The reason I say this is that the intent of this bill is to provide for responsible regulation of the financial services sector and robust consumer protection in order to restore confidence and trust in the financial services sector. I do not think there would be a person in this House or anyone watching around this country who would not agree that this is necessary. 
Kiwis need to know that when they take their hard-earned money to a financial adviser they will get independent competent advice from a person who will walk them through the alternatives and know what they are talking about. When we go to a lawyer we expect legal advice. When we go to an accountant we expect that person to be qualified and to give us good accounting advice. When we go to a financial adviser we expect that person to be versed in the ways of financial advice and to give us good advice around that area. The past of the Wild West a city full of cowboys was not a good place for the vast majority of Kiwis and I hope those days are now gone. 
As a collective we need to encourage people to invest in a diversified portfolio into the productive economy. We need financial advisers to be well versed in the various options. I would say there is a long way to go before the industry has the full confidence of the investing and saving public again. But this bill along with Lianne Dalziel’s two Acts is a start at least. I hope when this legislation is passed in line with the other two Acts I have talked about that at least we will begin to see confidence and rebuilding begin with New Zealanders once again able to begin to invest with confidence. That is why I am fully supportive of this bill and I commend it to the House.