Dalziel Lianne: Commerce Amendment Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Dalziel Lianne: Commerce Amendment Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 02 September 2008. Volume:649;Page:18549. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL (Minister of Commerce) 
: 
 I move  
That the Commerce Amendment Bill be now read a third time 
. The bill is a major rewrite of the price control provisions in Parts 4 and 4A and in certain parts of Part 5 of the Commerce Act 1986. Its overall aim is to provide protection for consumers against excessive prices and poor quality when buying what are important infrastructural services where there is no real prospect of competition while at the same time ensuring that suppliers have incentives to invest innovate and improve efficiency. The bill draws upon best practice overseas to achieve these objectives. In particular it seeks to ensure that regulation is not imposed unnecessarily and that where it is required it is applied in the most efficient way to promote the long-term interests of consumers.  
The main changes in the bill can be summarised as follows. First a purpose statement has been set for price control for the first time. That will ensure that any regulation is well focused and delivers on objectives including providing incentives for investment. Second the tests and processes for deciding whether and how to regulate have been improved. An inquiry by the Commerce Commission will need to show there is little or no likelihood of competition that there is scope for the exercise of substantial market power and that the benefits of any regulation will materially exceed the costs. Third the Commerce Commission will be required as a priority to set clear and explicit rules called input methodologies relating to regulatory decisions. This is designed to give businesses certainty about what to expect and to improve their confidence in the regulatory regime. Fourth lighter-handed forms of regulation are made available as fit-for-purpose alternatives to price control. They include information disclosure a negotiate-arbitrate regime and a default customised regime. Lastly the bill puts in place improved approaches for the three sectors that are already subject to economic regulation—namely electricity lines gas pipelines and airports.  
The bill will also improve confidence in the integrity of regulatory decisions by providing for appeals to the High Court assisted by lay experts on input methodologies on final decisions made by the commission. Conducting appeals on input methodologies as I mentioned in the Committee stage will present some novel challenges for the High Court and some concerns have been expressed about this. However the statutory time frames for determining methodologies and lodging appeals mean that the timing of the appeal process is likely to be known well in advance. That will give ample time to appoint suitable and available experts to the panel of lay members. It will also enable the High Court to consider the best way to optimise the appellate process so that it is fair to all while dealing efficiently with the issues raised in appeals. Once this legislation is passed as I said again in the Committee stage I intend to write to the Rules Committee which essentially makes the rules for the processes to be followed by the High Court to encourage it to develop appropriate processes for the best consideration of these input methodology appeals.  
In conclusion can I again thank the officials who worked on this bill. They have worked tirelessly on very complex legislation. Can I also pay tribute to all members of the Commerce Committee. In particular I am going to single out Simon Power for being a very willing and able individual who has worked very closely with us to ensure that the bill has been able to make its way to the House in better shape than when it was first introduced to the select committee. This was a good process and it has been contributed to by the many many submissions that were received on it as well. I commend the bill to the House.