Guy Nathan: Insolvency Law Reform Bill — In Committee 
Guy Nathan: Insolvency Law Reform Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:634;Page:5743] 
NATHAN GUY (National) 
: 
 It is great to take a call in the Committee stage of the Insolvency Law Reform Bill. Parts of this bill seem pretty reasonable. We have heard from Mr Finlayson that he agrees in principle with the part we are on to now but some parts of it seem absolutely ridiculous. Let us talk a little about voluntary administration. 
Hon Lianne Dalziel 
: No it’s not in this part. You can talk only about the part we’re dealing with. 
NATHAN GUY 
: It is great that the Minister in the chair Lianne Dalziel is keeping up. It is interesting that 27 submissions were received on this bill but those submissions were not actually heard in essence. The considerations they made were not taken into account in this part at all. 
The concern I have is about the priority status the Inland Revenue Department will have around— 
Hon Lianne Dalziel 
: It’s not this part—wait until you get to it. 
NATHAN GUY 
: I am just pre-empting it I say to the Minister. I am just warming up for that part. My concern is that the Inland Revenue Department will still have its hand out. With this priority status it will still be there clipping the ticket. In fact when we look at the tax take of this Government at $11.5 billion—that is a “b” not an “m”—surely it would consider that for those individuals who are under financial pressure the department should not be there being the first cab off the rank. 
I will talk a little about the no-asset procedure. Giving individuals the ability to write off debt reduces down— 
The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Clem Simich) 
: Clauses 7 to 100—would the member speak on anything relating to those clauses please. 
NATHAN GUY 
: They are all related to that matter Mr Chairperson. Actually the paramount concern is that this has been reduced down from 3 years to 12 months and the write-off to $40000 when in fact personal responsibility should be the essence. What will happen is that small businesses those creditors—the electricians and the plumbers—will all be punished under this bill. Small businesses will be dealt a cruel blow. 
In speaking to Part 2 the interesting thing for those start-up businesses is that they are struggling under regulation and compliance costs now. It was interesting that the results of the survey—which the Minister will know all about—recently done by 1400 businesses showed that the compliance costs for small businesses are $3000 per employee. This is shocking and it is causing small businesses a whole lot of unnecessary red tape. The big thing is that we need less regulation. My concern for the small businesses is that when debtors hang them out to dry on the 20th of the month and they are waiting for a cheque to come—and I have been in that situation in a small business when a truckload of bulls has been sent off to a meat company and we wait and wait to see whether the cheque will come from the meat company—it can be extremely nerve-wracking. Mr Roy I am sure has also been in that situation before. Debtors are a big concern for people in small businesses. 
We have a bad culture in this country of spending beyond our needs. We have a low-growth economy and a high-spending Government. It is no wonder that individuals become bankrupt. It is interesting when I look at a statement made by Michael Harper a partner with Chapman Tripp. He summarised it pretty well: “However what is most disappointing and ironic is that the most significant risk to the government ambition of introducing and implementing a successful rehabilitation procedure will be the government itself.” 
Hon Lianne Dalziel 
: Part 2. 
NATHAN GUY 
: So we have some concerns about this bill. For the reasons I have just alluded to—in speaking to Part 2—we will not be supporting it.