McClay Todd: Consumer Law Reform Bill — First Reading 
McClay Todd: Consumer Law Reform Bill — First Reading 
[Advance Copy - Subject to minor change before inclusion in Bound Volume.] 
TODD McCLAY (National—Rotorua) 
: 
 Confident consumers who are able to make informed decisions are a necessary and important part of an effective market. This drives competition innovation and economic growth. I thank the Minister of Consumer Affairs for bringing the Consumer Law Reform Bill to Parliament. I believe it is a very important part of much of what this Government is about. Consumer law reform is an element of the Government’s 120-point economic development agenda. Therefore stable markets based on sound consumer law are essential for economic growth. 
 I start by recognising the last speaker Lianne Dalziel and say to her that I am glad that Labour will be supporting this bill to the Commerce Committee and I look forward to working closely with them on the Consumer Law Reform Bill in the committee. It is good to hear such a positive speech at the beginning of what I believe is a very important piece of legislation for all New Zealanders those who manufacture and trade and those who consume. It contributes to a trading environment in which trading is fair. There is effective competition and consumers and businesses participate confidently. Consumer laws are some of the most fundamental laws that we have in this country. All transactions between consumers and businesses must be dealt with and are the cornerstone of an effective market. 
Our consumer laws in this country have not been updated for almost two decades and therefore they must be well out of date by now. Just think how much trading has changed over the last little while. Can I say to you that dealing with modern transactions such as online auctions supermarket self-service systems and telephone sales using credit cards are not adequately dealt with under current laws. Industry and consumer groups have been seeking improvements to consumer law for some time and to make legislation more modern and more workable. Well as Minister Maurice Williamson says it is more good news. This bill will deal with that. Can I also say to you that clear consumer laws enable people to shop with confidence protect suppliers and consumers from inadequate market conduct and enable businesses to compete fairly. 
Now this bill does a number of things. The bill adds purpose clauses to the Fair Trading Act the Consumer Guarantees Act and the Weights and Measures Act. The first part of the purpose clause for each Act will now be the same stating that the purpose of the Act is to contribute to a trading environment in which trading is fair there is effective competition and consumers and businesses can participate confidently. It will deliver positive outcomes for both consumers and businesses in an effective market place I believe. 
I want to touch just very briefly on each of those Acts in the way that they will be changed and the effect that that will have. For the Fair Trading Act it will state that a person must not make an unsubstantiated representation and traders and retailers must have reasonable grounds for any claims that they make. The Fair Trading Act will be modernised with new provisions covering lay-by sales unsolicited goods and services conduct at auctions extended warranties and uninvited direct sales. Actually these are issues that I think many members of the House are contacted about by their constituents when they have concerns when they wonder what provisions of coverage and support they have or when they believe that retailers and others may not have been acting appropriately towards them. I think consumers will be happy with the changes that are being proposed. 
The scope of the unsafe goods notices and product recalls will also be extended. The bill will provide for mandatory notification for recalls of unsafe products. The Consumer Guarantees Act will be amended. The Act currently has an exemption for goods sold by auctions. This will be removed so that sales by professional traders using the likes of TradeMe-style auctions will now be covered by the Act. But importantly there will still be an exemption for sales of second-hand goods by a registered auctioneer. Those who are not professionals and who just sell goods will not be covered by the Act. 
Finally consumers will have access to redress and this is very important when something goes wrong. We have heard others previously say that we need to be looking at reducing bureaucracy on businesses but also when it comes to consumers seeking redress. So the Consumer Law Reform Bill extends the scope of the disputes tribunal to consider section 9 of the Fair Trading Act which covers misleading and deceptive conduct. This enables the Government to provide better low-cost access to justice for all consumers. I look forward to this bill coming before our committee and the work we will undertake seriously. Thank you.