McClay ToddHon TODD McCLAY (National—Rotorua): This bill is as simplistic in its approach to trying to fix a problem that doesn't exist as the speeches we've had from members of the Government. The reason for that is ultimately there are two problems. If this is such an important thing why does this legislation not cover Government agencies and Government departments?Angela Roberts: It does!Hon TODD McCLAY: It doesn't to the degree that it's imposing a cost upon businesses within New Zealand. Because that's the point: this will impose a cost that's trying to solve a problem that really doesn't exist. It's a Government that continually stands up in public and says We have got the big issues at heart." This has nothing to do with bread and butter.Here's the worst part; the second problem of this. This House when it goes into urgency should be dealing with issues that are urgent to New Zealanders. Six years after this crowd came to Government they're coming here to pass this piece of legislation because they say it is one of the most urgent things they have to do in the last few weeks of this Parliament and here's here.Now there are problems actually with people not paying their bills in New Zealand—no question about that. If this legislation had been amended earlier in the committee or in the committee of the whole House stage to deal with New Zealanders that can't pay their bills I don't know. For instance the rents that have gone up so much or their food in supermarkets that costs so very very much. It would be a worthwhile use of Parliament's time anyway particularly in urgency. But in this case it doesn't deal with those things at all.All it does is look for a problem. It's a solution that's looking for a problem and we've heard from so many speakers in the debate so far that actually while submitters came forward and said if there is an issue there are better ways to deal with it once again we have a Government that doesn't listen to New Zealanders doesn't listen to experts and puts its head down and says "We know best."Well it feels to me that actually when Governments run out of things to do that are important—they run out of ideas—they start coming up with solutions to problems that don't exist and they try to justify that speech after speech. Now if this was important legislation—if it was fixing great challenges if actually there was a real solution in this to a real problem that everyday New Zealanders were facing—then those members wouldn't be taking a minute or two in their 10-minute speeches to rush this through; they would be explaining it to New Zealanders justifying it making the case—80 days plus or minus out from election—of why this is important why it's in the House now why it's in urgency and why they should be voted back in as a result of that. But we're not hearing that. We're hearing the Opposition members turning up and taking full calls talking about what the real problems are and what the solutions should be.The waste of money that comes about as a result of this; significant waste of money. Because when you look at it and it says it appoints people to look into this and to report to the Government it's another cost if not upon business upon the taxpayer because of more Government resource that's going after bad problems and not solving solutions. It is deeply deeply disappointing that when if there are issues in public where we have people businesses that struggle because of late payments that actually this will do next to nothing to help them.This was canvassed in the first reading it was presented by many submissions in the committee and it's been raised again and again and again in this House. To be using Parliament's time in urgency for this again—rather than the many many urgent issues that exist in New Zealand today—is not only a travesty it does a great injustice to New Zealanders who have faith in this Government and this Parliament to actually deliver on the things that are important and this is a clear issue where it won't.Businesses earning more than $33 million of revenue or $10 million in third-party expenditure for two or more consecutive accounting periods must disclose their payments. Well it doesn't actually do anything about it rather than a cost and another disclosure. We've had so many pieces of legislation that say on the one hand we're going to stop measuring the things that are important to New Zealanders—like I don't know what's happening in A & E or emergency departments or whether or not a hospital is delivering or whether or not kids really can learn to read and write. We don't want to measure that as a Government in case somebody holds us to account but we're happy to impose costs upon businesses in New Zealand so that they must measure and they must report so that we can have a look and if there is a problem maybe one day come back and pass another piece of legislation that actually won't make a little bit of difference for the lives of any New Zealanders.This is a Government that wilfully has borrowed we are told and spent—run up our debt to almost $97 billion. The taxpayer is going to have to work hard to find ways to pay that back. But that's not good enough for this Government not just borrowing taxpayer money and spending it and running up debt; they now want to impose costs upon businesses at a time when actually we should be helping those businesses—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): Order! The member's time is up."