Bakshi Kanwaljit Singh: Electronic Transactions (Contract Formation) Amendment Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBakshi Kanwaljit Singh: Electronic Transactions (Contract Formation) Amendment Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 07 May 2014. Volume:698;Page:17613. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]KANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI (National): I would like to start by congratulating my colleague Paul Goldsmith on this excellent bill the Electronic Transactions (Contract Formation) Amendment Bill which was drawn from the ballot.I want to talk about the last speaker Andrew Williams who said that this Government is not looking after the public. I would like to say that this Government has delivered so much in the last 5½ years that the country can be proud of. The bill that we are discussing here today may seem small and compact like the technology that most of us in New Zealand use today. However its impact on all of us is likely to be very important. I would like to clarify here that with changing technology things are gettingsmaller and smaller and this bill is small but will have a huge impact on the business community.If we look at the number of postal deliveries in the last decade or so they are decreasing because of technology. Nowadays everyone is communicating through emails through SMS and through other resources available today that were not available a few years ago. There is little doubt that our reliance on the internet is increasing day by day. We use the internet for almost everything—from checking our emails to paying our bills to completing our banking and for other business transactions. It is essential to ensure that the new technology being used to do business is rooted in the time-tested way of transacting and running businesses.What I mean to say is that the technology is here to help us do business at a faster pace. However it is our duty to ensure that all due diligence is employed before using this technology. This bill specifically does that for consumers. It removes the uncertainty around the legal position on the time at which a contract is offered and accepted via electronic communication.As my colleague the Hon Chris Tremain mentioned a lot of things nowadays are being done electronically. One of those is the renewal of passports. About 125000 people have renewed their passports online and the turn-round is 3 days.Hon Member: How many days?KANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI: Three days’ turn-round. It is renewed in 3 days and 125000 people have used this facility since it was introduced in 2012.Contracts are an essential part of doing business. Contracts form the legal framework that facilitates trade and commerce. Contracts are evidence for all the parties that a transaction has taken place. All parties who are part of this transaction have certain obligations to fulfil as part of their contractual agreement.A contract as we all know from our experiences also acts as a hedge against any surprises or misunderstandings that may occur after the product or services that that contract pertains to have been delivered. Therefore this piece of paper protects all the parties in all transactions.Hon Ruth Dyson: You should be able to do it spontaneously on this bill.KANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI: What is that?Hon Ruth Dyson: You’re not allowed to read your speech.KANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI: No it is allowed. There is nothing stopping me from reading a speech.Hon Ruth Dyson: I know—I wish there was. Complying with the rules would be good.KANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI: Yes you need to do that. You need to object to the Deputy Speaker about that. Every member speaks in this House by reading.As I said during the first reading of the bill times have changed and we are living in a digital world. So our laws are to be updated. We have to update the laws that are obsolete.Hon Hekia Parata: Speak Hindi.KANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI: Sorry?Hon Hekia Parata: Carry on in Hindi.KANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI: I can speak for 10 minutes or half an hour in Hindi. Can that member understand Hindi? I do not think so. So for her convenience I am reading. I am making sure that she can understand what I am saying. This bill from my colleague Mr Paul Goldsmith does that. A clause of the bill amended the Electronic Transactions Act by inserting new section 32A. The amendment clarifies the formation of the contract when the acceptance of the offer is made through electronic communication.For example currently as soon as a contract is posted the law states that a contract has been established. At present this rule does not cover a contract accepted electronically. For example if a person accepts a job offer by email then there is no legal certainty over when the contract was created. In bygone eras before emails there was a term postal acceptance rule. This rule created a directive whereby an offer was deemed to be accepted when the acceptance was posted. Over the years the rule has been extended to include telegraph but has been held not to apply to acceptance by telephonic means telex or fax.In this modern time when emails andsmartphones are in regular use it is important that the current legislation is amended to cover such areas. Currently there is no mandate on acceptance by email which is practically immediate and the person who sends the email is usually in the best position to know whether it has been delivered or not. With the Government focus on building a more competitive and productive economy in the 21st century in the global world we live in there is little doubt that all of us will use the internet to do business and to transact online even more than we do currently.With this in mind this National-led Government is working to ensure that our Public Service makes the most of online services and we are rolling out ultra-fast broadband. However our law needs to ensure that all parties who are involved in an electronic transaction be it a business or a consumer know their obligations after they have electronically offered and accepted contracts for the product or the service.The Electronic Transactions (Contract Formation) Amendment Bill recognises that we live in an internet age. It amends the Electronic Transactions Act to allow certainty to those who choose to accept a contract electronically. I support this bill and I congratulate Paul Goldsmith on his initiative in bringing this bill to the House. With this I conclude my speech today.