SpeechFLETCHER TABUTEAU (Deputy Leader—NZ First): Thank you Madam Speaker. Congratulations to Paul Goldsmith the member opposite on managing to politicise a motion on the Reserve Bank. I just want to make the comment that he made observations about his own skill set and I challenge the member to put up his CV to the New Zealand electorate because I will be putting up mine and I would rate my CV compared to that member's who wrote a couple of books that we now use as bookends. Madam Speaker I just wanted to talk to one other point that the member made before I get on to the substantive nature of this motion. He spoke about the compliance costs. I just want it noted that the National Party called for a bonfire of compliance but in the nine years that they were in Government the quantity of compliance put on business and the cost of that compliance was historically unprecedented. Business have had to deal with that and this Government is working to make sure that we can bring that down—and I thank you for your patience in letting me make those points Madam Speaker. Just by way of background to this motion what we're here debating in the House is sections 159 to 161 of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act of 1989 in which the Reserve Bank Governor and the Minister of Finance are obliged to come to agreement with one another on the funding of the operations and sundry of the Reserve Bank itself. Obviously with today being the day it was five years since this was last done because that is the formality of the requirement under the legislation and so the agreements have been arrived at but we are now required as a House to ratify those agreements between those two persons. So what we are trying to do here is ratify a 2020-25 bid by the Reserve Bank Governor as it were and it does have to be noted that one point that the member opposite made was a valid one: this is a significant increase in funding for the Reserve Bank—this is a lot of money. He did start and finish his speech by noting that he and his party will support the bill but he rightly pointed this part out and there is an element of agreement there—this is nearly a 50 percent increase. But I would note and I'm sure the member opposite read it maybe when he wrote his speech that actually the obligations of the Reserve Bank to actually—well let me put it another way. The Reserve Bank does not receive appropriations through the Government's budgetary process so the bank's revenue typically exceeds its expenses. So what we're asking for today is for the bank to be able to retain more of the revenue they receive in order to fund those operations. The Reserve Bank funding proposal highlighted that it is an efficient and relatively low-cost central bank. I think even the members opposite will acknowledge that historically we in New Zealand have had a strong and stable financial system and that is very much to do with the good performance of the Reserve Bank over its time. Actually the Minister of Finance did make this point: it's quite fair to compare the cost of the New Zealand Reserve Bank to overseas comparative banks and one of the points that needs to be repeated for the members and the New Zealand public is that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand has actually a much larger mandate than most of the other reserve banks or central banks that we would compare ourselves to—for example the UK Japan and the US. We here take full responsibility through the Reserve Bank for supervising our retail banks and insurance providers for example. What we are trying to do or what the Reserve Bank Governor is trying to do and what this Government supports is to make sure that the New Zealand public can have confidence in its operations so we are undertaking an incredibly focused increase on protecting the wellbeing of Kiwis by stepping up the oversight of the financial sector. The previous member noted that the IMF noted that this particular section was a weakness of the Reserve Bank and yes there is an element of reply to the IMF report but actually it's been duly noted by this Government and the Reserve Bank themselves previously. The Reserve Bank has also identified that it needs greater investment in order to address the critical risk to both the bank itself and the New Zealand economy over the coming years. As has been noted this is a period of unprecedented change in the New Zealand economy leading to an increase in risk and uncertainty and—with your forbearance Madam Speaker—I'd like to quote the Reserve Bank Governor. He said it is a substantial and important increase which means the Bank can address the critical risks to delivering its mandate respond to areas of past underinvestment and establish a long-term model to promote the wellbeing of New Zealand. The bulk of this increased spending will focus on expanding and enhancing the Bank's core activities particularly investing in financial supervisory and enforcement capability as recommended by the [IMF]." So I just close by briefly summarising what we are hoping to achieve with this agreement and what will be achieved with this agreement. It will help the Reserve Bank look into the future as well as secure the present which is critically important as COVID-19 injects uncertainty into our economic environment and we absolutely call for certainty as we move forward. New Zealand First believes that our country's banking and insurance systems must work for the benefit of all New Zealanders so it is pleasing to see greater resources set aside for just this. The Reserve Bank is in the international context an efficient and well-run institution and so we support them in their application. The Reserve Bank also focuses on protecting employment by updating its monetary policy settings and making good progress on broader review so this agreement represents the continuation of this Government's commitment to ensure that the Reserve Bank is a healthy institution that protects and assists all New Zealanders. Thank you very much Madam Speaker."