Smith NickHon Dr NICK SMITH (National—Nelson): It's a pleasure to take a call on the second reading of this Arbitration Amendment Bill. This is one of those bills that are about improving New Zealand's business laws and are part of the many dozens of things that we need to do well as a country to protect that reputation that National built during its nine years in Government of New Zealand being a good place to do business. In international surveys New Zealand is recognised as one of the best places in the world to do business and equally so a reputation that New Zealand should be equally proud of is New Zealand being the least corrupt place in the world to do business.Can I congratulate Andrew Bayly. He is a member that's come to this House with a deep level of experience in the business community and the sort of contribution he's making to New Zealand's law is just a fraction of what he will do in the next Government as a person that actually understands how wealth is created and the importance of good law in an area like arbitration.I want to cover four specific issues. The first is that we on this side of the House recognise that for New Zealand to be successful we need to be globally engaged. And actually an increasing number of contracts whether it be for major infrastructure projects whether it be in terms of the huge amount of trading activity does involve commercial contracts of New Zealand and other countries. And when those contracts are signed people have a choice as to whether they want to have an arbitration procedure and where that arbitration will occur. And the advantage for New Zealand having modern robust arbitration law is that more people will choose to have that arbitration process in New Zealand and that is to this country's credit.The second issue that is important in this bill is the degree to which we limit the scope of our court system to intrude into arbitrations that have been entered into around commercial contracts. And a key part of this bill is actually improving the certainty around the arbitration process and the degree to which the courts can intervene either in terms of a timely way or putting limits on where our courts may undo what has been decided through an arbitration tribunal.The further part I want to refer to is this issue of secrecy and openness and where the public interest lies. It is true and I totally agree that where you are dealing with issues of criminal justice and public law that there is a strong argument for transparency. But when you are dealing with private contractual disputes my view is that the onus is in a different sense and the parties are able to resolve the issues in a private way that is often to the interests of all parties concerned.My experience prior to coming to this Parliament was in the construction industry and often both from the point of view of a client and a contractor where there are reputational issues at stake people want a confidential robust but efficient system to be able to resolve disputes that may amount to many hundreds of millions of dollars in construction disputes. And I think the provisions in this bill that respect the confidentiality of those arbitration processes is an outcome that is in the public interest. I think in that respect New Zealand First is a bit naive. This is not the only area.Clayton Mitchell: Oh come on Mr Smith.Hon Dr NICK SMITH: Well the member opposed the bill on first reading. He's now supporting it. He's now accepting the wisdom that is in this bill and the superior knowledge that he has about how the real business world works and also in my view a reality of the importance of robust commercial arrangements that can transcend national boundaries and ensure that international commerce occurs on the very best standards.The Justice Committee has worked hard on this bill. We have made changes. It is a better bill as a consequence. This is not the most exciting bill but Madam Deputy Speaker I tell you what's important: it is getting every piece of law that's associated with the business community refined world's best practice that makes New Zealand a successful economy. That is something the English - Key Government understood. It's something the National Party understands and I urge members opposite to understand the importance of detailed commercial law of the sort to be in good shape for New Zealand to be a great place to live.