Hamilton RyanRYAN HAMILTON (National—Hamilton East): Thank you Mr Speaker. This is a good day for New Zealand. It's good news after good news. It's a good day for all New Zealanders with tax relief being 31 July. It's a good day for Dan Bidois' wife on her birthday. It's a good day for the wine industry. It's a good day for Kaikōura. It's a good day for this House as we celebrate this bill going through its third reading in the somewhat spirit of unity—albeit one minor party there. But Mr Luxton it's not too late if you want to join my friend I won't tell your leader. You can come over if you'd be enticed. But it's wonderful. It's not every day that I'll agree with member Menéndez March member Davidson and member Salesa. But it's a great day as we come together for what is a pragmatic solution and which something has been bubbling away for a long time.I want to acknowledge member Dan Bidois for shepherding this and of course the Hon Melissa Lee who got the bill drawn. In fact she was quoted—she was so excited—This bill was put in the ballot such a long time ago I completely didn't think I was going to get it. I have such bad luck getting bills drawn out of the ballot it was a bit of a surprise this morning" she said. And then in talking with her I realised it was actually the Hon Jacqui Dean's original. So this has been fathered mothered shepherded for a long time so it's' great to see it come to fruition today.I actually am working on learning some of the te reo and different names but now I need to learn some Chinese and I'm keen to learn that baby brain dialogue so I'm looking to learn that—yeah very discretely.It's interesting one in five recipients lose out when they don't redeem before expiry which is costing—as has been mentioned—approximately $10 million a year which would be for our everyday Kiwis. We've all had experiences of losing or misplacing or finding one later and then realising it's too late. I was thinking coming up we've got Father's Day on 1 September—it's a month away 1 September. I feel for Mr Jackson over there. He's been looking a bit sad and grumpy lately and I thought actually for Father's Day we could all chip in and get him a Prezzy Card and cheer him up because I'm really feeling for him and I want to encourage him because I really like him.But we've got Father's Day coming up. We've got Christmas—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Greg O'Connor): The member's not misleading the House is he?RYAN HAMILTON: Ha ha! No Mr Speaker. But as has been mentioned in other countries like Canada expiry dates are banned—they don't even have expiry dates. And it makes sense right because cash or money doesn't expire so why do we put these artificial constructed rules on these Prezzy Cards? And the US has a five-year expiry. The honourable member Jenny Salesa was very gracious in not naming and shaming some of the businesses that Consumer magazine did but I think it's worthwhile acknowledging those that have no expiry date: Apple store; Baby Factory which would have been very useful to the former speaker if she'd known; Barkers; Bunnings; Countdown which is excellent; EB Games; Farro Fresh; Foot Locker; Glassons; Hallensteins; JB Hi-Fi Katmandu and Macpac. Of course there'll be many others that don't have expiry or that will have expired but that will still honour the Prezzy Card and they do a wonderful thing by still honouring it.Consumer understands some retailers calculate gift card income on the assumption a percentage of shoppers will never actually spend the money. Of the few retailers who publish non-redemption information they calculate non-redemption rates between 5 and 10 percent. Across a multimillion dollar industry this adds up to quite a nice little earner. For many years Consumer has been campaigning to end unfair gift card expiry dates. When a gift card expires the retailer pockets any money left on the card. As has been mentioned approximately $267 million of gift cards throughout New Zealand have been unused. The retailers have benefited and the consumers have missed out. That's a lot of Subways or DIY tools or clothing or supermarket or food or Glassons—or 67 loaves of bread with an $80 voucher as member Kirkpatrick had worked out earlier.I'd like to share a story but for reasons of privacy I've changed the names a little bit and the location of the venue you'd understand. This was essentially called the unredeemed spa day gift card. Once upon a time—actually last year—in the bustling fastest growing city in New Zealand called Hamilton or Kirikiriroa there lived a young woman named Lauren. Lauren was a hard-working nurse who spent her days caring for others. Her friends and family admired her dedication but worried she that she neglected herself. In fact she's a nurse up at Waikato Hospital which by the way is one of the largest footprint hospitals in the Southern Hemisphere—very busy place.For Lauren's birthday her best friend Kari decided to surprise her with a thoughtful gift: a surprise day at the luxurious Tranquil Waters Spa. Kari knew that Lauren needed a break from the chaos of the hospital and what better way to unwind than with massage facials and soothing baths. I've spoken at some length about bubble baths before but I won't go there tonight—I'll keep on the bill here. Kari purchased a beautifully packaged gift card from the spa. The card promised a promising day of pampering complete with herbal teas from Zealong Tea in Gordonton actually which are organic—in fact they were told green tea can never grow in New Zealand; they've proved them wrong—fluffy robes and calming music. The expiration date was a generous two years away so Lauren had plenty of time to redeem it.Lauren was thrilled when she received it. In fact she giggled with a little bit of joy. She tucked the card into a bedside drawer envisioning the blissful day ahead but life had other plans. The hospital became busier and busier. The bureaucracy was intense—something like 14 layers but I digress noting this was about a year ago and Lauren's shifts grew longer and longer. She postponed her spa day promising herself she'd go when things calmed down but months turned into a year and Lauren's spa card remained untouched. She would glance at it occasionally just to remind herself of the hopefulness and the possibility.Then one rainy afternoon Lauren's friend Kari called. "Guess what?" Kari's voice bubbled with excitement. "I booked my day spa at Tranquil Waters—you should come too. It'll be our little escape." Lauren hesitated. She pulled out the gift card and checked the expiry date. To her horror it had passed by a few weeks. The spa's policy was strict—no extensions no exceptions. She explained the situation to Kari who empathised but couldn't change the rule. Lauren felt a mix of disappointment and frustration. The very gift meant to rejuvenate her had become a source of stress Mr Luxton.In a story closer to home my wife was given a voucher for Mother's Day by our three children. They had all fund-raised and put the money together and cobbled it together and she actually lost the card and rang the outfit. They said "Sorry you need the card." and she argued because surely they'd have a record of the card but they said "No you must have the card." So she kind of relinquished forgot about it found the card but then realised that it had expired and they did not honour it. Needless to say she won't be visiting that venue anytime soon.Cameron Luxton: So the market worked again.RYAN HAMILTON: In the fiscal year 2021—talking about the market Mr Luxton—Starbucks reportedly claimed a staggering $181 million in revenue from unused gift cards and loyalty accounts. This amount represented approximately 1 percent of their total sales and 4.3 percent of their net income. You can appreciate it's the net income because they've got no cost against the Prezzy Card—it's pure profit. It's fascinating how these unredeemed vouchers contributed significantly to the financial health. And here is the kicker: they actually have a three-year expiry. Keep in mind that gift cards can sometimes linger in our wallets waiting for the perfect moment to be redeemed. Perhaps we all have a little bit of unspent Starbucks magic somewhere tucked away. We can't regulate out people's choices but we can extend the opportunity and that is what we are doing today. We are extending the opportunity.In the bill it actually just mentions a few of the key elements: the display of the card expiry date and I think it's just important to mention that we've added in new section 36WC to the Act inserted by clause 5 of the bill to include "(a) the expiry date: (b) the month and year the gift card ceases to be redeemable: (c) the date the gift card is sold and a statement that identifies the period during which the gift card is redeemable:" and "(d) the words "no expiry date" or words to that effect."As you've heard across this House this is a pragmatic bill. It unites just about everyone in a spirit of unity and consumer and business logic. I commend this bill to the House."