Young Jonathan: Accounting Infrastructure Reform Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeYoung Jonathan: Accounting Infrastructure Reform Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 28 January 2014. Volume:696;Page:15594. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]JONATHAN YOUNG (National—New Plymouth): I am very pleased to stand in support of the first reading of the Accounting Infrastructure Reform Bill. Just touching on what the previous speaker the Hon David Parker just spoke on the Commerce Committee recently processed through the Financial Reporting Act which has passed through the House and which particularly for charities enabled them to account on a cash basis as opposed to an accrual basis if their operational costs were less than $140000 per year. We are very mindful as a Government that compliance costs for smaller groups need to be addressed and made aware of so I am sure the matter that he raised will come up in the select committee process.This bill is actually part of a suite of reforms in legislation that the National Government has progressed over its previous two terms. All of this is designed to restore confidence to the finance sector and also confidence to investors and the business environment here in New Zealand. We established the one-stop shop the Financial Markets Authority with a sharper focus on enforcing the law and we have tightened oversight of those working in the financial markets. This includes financial advisers trustees and auditors. We passed the Financial Markets Conduct Act which is a major update of a 33-year-old securities law. We have removed barriers to trans-Tasman business and progressed legislation that will enable us to meet our single economic market goals and aspirations with Australia. We are working on the improvement of financial literacy progressing legislation cracking down on loan sharks—which is very important particularly in Auckland—and combating anti-competitive behaviour such as price fixing. All of these measures are ones that we as a Government have been working on.We come to this one in particular which is going to bring greater efficiency in an increasingly competitive environment in the area of auditing and accounting in particular. That is going to be good for business because we will hope to achieve through this better value for money for businesses in terms of what they receive from that industry. The bill proposes a number of important changes to enable the industry to be more efficient and effective. It widens the scope for qualified members of accredited professional accounting bodies to perform statutory audits. It updates legislative references to a “chartered accountant” with references to a “qualified statutory accountant”.One of the things that the Minister of Commerce has mentioned is that the members of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia have voted in favour of the proposal to create a trans-Tasman voice for chartered accountants. This bill will enable them to put that proposal into action and will also recognise that New Zealand members of accredited bodies like the Certified Practising Accountants in Australia are well-qualified to perform accounting and audit functions. This is good because it enables the accountancy firms particularly here in New Zealand to have an international outlook and it enables them to be able to operate more competitively across the Tasman. The New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia merger will contribute to this single economic market initiative with Australia which we desire tobe effective and even more effective by supporting a seamless trans-Tasman business environment.We look forward to this bill coming to the Commerce Committee. We will be open for submissions this week and will have a period of time where we look forward to receiving the views of the industry that the committee can then consider. Thank you.