Beaumont Carol: Motor Vehicle Sales Amendment Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
Beaumont Carol: Motor Vehicle Sales Amendment Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
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CAROL BEAUMONT (Labour) 
: 
 It is a pleasure to rise and speak in support of the Motor Vehicle Sales Amendment Bill and I start by acknowledging the new Minister of Consumer Affairs Mr Boscawen who is in the chair. It is good to see him here and I look forward to engaging in an interesting and robust debate with him over the next few hours on the issues in this bill. 
Labour supports this bill. It required review to ensure that it is operating effectively and that review identified a number of areas for change. Before I get into that let me start by saying we have a situation that is not different from what occurred a couple of weeks ago when the Minister of Consumer Affairs was an ACT Minister. Of course the previous Minister the honourable Heather Roy has steered this legislation through to date in this Government although much of the work was started by the previous Labour Government. We now have another ACT Minister of Consumer Affairs the Hon John Boscawen and I congratulate him on that appointment. 
Mr Boscawen is somebody of whom we do not know how he will take on his new role so we are looking forward to hearing his comments today. But it is fair to say that from this side of the Chamber we believe that an important part of a portfolio like consumer affairs is protection and that will often require us to have good solid protections in law and in regulation. Of course when we are discussing the Motor Vehicle Sales Amendment Bill and the changes that it provides for certainly we want to see that remain the case. Our concern with ACT Ministers is that they can have a philosophical objection to concepts like regulation and legislation. But I hope that in this case we will be able to agree on more things than we disagree on. 
The main purpose of this bill is to make a number of compliance-related amendments to the Motor Vehicle Sales Act 2003. Of particular significance is the increase of the financial limit on the jurisdiction of the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal. I will talk more about the tribunal and its work but I will start in this first call—and I will be taking others I am sure—by acknowledging the work of the tribunal. Certainly consumer access to complaint processes is really important. Another significant factor is that they should be robust but easy to use. So this bill increases the jurisdiction of the tribunal which is a positive thing although it would be fair to say that most New Zealand consumers are probably not looking at vehicles in the range of $50000 to $100000. 
It is a good bill in that it makes some amendments to the current law. This bill was initiated under the previous Labour Government. Motor vehicle sales are very significant. New Zealand is a country that is highly reliant on roads and motor vehicles so getting this right is important. During the course of the work I undertook on the loan shark issue it was raised with me that for many many New Zealanders who cannot afford to buy their own home their motor vehicle becomes the most significant purchase they will make. So getting that process right and making sure they are protected and have redress with their problems as provided for by the disputes tribunal is very important. 
In South Auckland for example Otahuhu is an area where there are many motor vehicle sales yards. During the course of the work I was doing it became obvious to me that many people were being severely disadvantaged by the action of those motor vehicle salespeople and motor vehicle yards. It raised a particular point about enforcement of legislation because we have protections in law. We need to ensure that consumers are literate and know their rights that they are financially literate and know that they have recourse to action and that we enforce the provisions that are there. But some of the worst examples of high interest rates and extortionate levels of fees were ones that I found in relation to motor vehicle sales. So that is very relevant to this bill. 
Just looking at the specific purpose of the bill as has been said it is to promote and protect the interests of consumers in relation to motor vehicle sales. We are glad to see we are dealing with this bill. Whether it is the most urgent thing that requires urgency so it can be pushed through is another whole question but I will leave that to other colleagues to come back to. 
The specific provisions of the bill provide for seven main changes. There are provisions around processes to renew the annual registration of motor vehicle traders and that is partly about reducing compliance costs on traders. Let it be said that we have no problem with the idea of reducing compliance costs of businesses. There are some across the Chamber who often try to make out that this party is not business-friendly but that is not true. We are a party that likes to see balance and the interests of both consumers and businesses taken into account. Reducing compliance costs is not a bad thing. 
The bill also adds a requirement for providing information to the registrar when there are new directors or persons involved in the management of a registered company. It closes a loophole that prevents the automatic banning of traders whose registration has lapsed following conviction under the Act removes the requirement for a private seller to display a consumer information notice when selling through a car market and removes car market operators from the definition of motor vehicle traders. Essentially the argument is that they are just providing a space where that market takes place. The bill removes the requirement for transactions between traders or traders and wreckers to display a consumer information notice and as I have already mentioned it increases the financial limit on the jurisdiction of the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal from $50000 to $100000. 
The Motor Vehicle Sales Act is not one of the oldest Acts we have by quite some way. It came into force in December 2003 and it provides for the registration regime that we are now amending with this bill. It also provides for the information disclosure requirements and the establishment of the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal. The policy underpinning that which is still of course relevant is that there was a requirement for those trading motor vehicles to be registered a requirement for information disclosure concerning used motor vehicles and provision for consumer redress through the tribunal. 
When the bill was brought in in 2003 it required a review after 2 years. That review was completed and tabled in the House on 22 March 2006 and I guess it provides quite a lengthy background to this bill here in the Parliament today. 
Going back to the importance of motor vehicles which I will touch on again in later contributions I say that getting this right is important for New Zealanders who are struggling at the moment. In tough economic times making sure that consumer protection is strong and that people are not ripped off—or if they are that they have redress—is significant. People can ill afford to lose money in such tight economic times. This is why we support the Motor Vehicle Sales Amendment Bill. I am sure colleagues will also be talking about that. 
Let me also flag that I want to look at this bill later on in a broader context of consumer legislation and at how the various proposals in this bill align with what we might consider to be a robust framework for consumer protection and information. I am sure that as a new Minister Mr Boscawen will be particular interested in hearing our point of view on what a framework for consumer affairs could look like. We have some pretty strong views on that. Those in the Chamber including the Hon John Boscawen know that we have a particular interest in protecting vulnerable consumers. 
I go back to my point about motor vehicle sales yard in Otahuhu in particular vulnerable consumers who are ripped off daily by motor vehicle sales people. I am sad to say that but it is the reality. A woman called Catriona MacLennan in Auckland a journalist and a lawyer who works in the community law sector will be able to evidence that for the new Minister. I think it will be very important for him to get that information. Thank you.