Radhakrishnan PriyancaPRIYANCA RADHAKRISHNAN (Labour): Thank you Madam Chair. This is a really interesting bill. I was looking at the fix—Hon Member: Really? PRIYANCA RADHAKRISHNAN: —it is—and I was reading some of the submissions. I wasn't on the Primary Production Committee so this isn't a situation where I have sat through the submissions at the select committee stage. But I got to read them and I'm really pleased that I got to and let me tell members opposite why. Just in terms of what this bill is trying to fix it seems like a reasonably straightforward technical fix I guess. There's a conflict apparently between two sections of the Companies Act as it stands. Hamish Walker: What's it fixing? PRIYANCA RADHAKRISHNAN: Section 36 and section 53—there you go. I have to say to the member Hamish Walker who has just resumed his seat that I was also quite fascinated by wet and dry shares as well I have to say and so I looked them up. But anyway dry shares are shares that are not linked to supply and therefore may have no or limited right to dividends. Wet shares on the other hand are shares that are aligned to supply and therefore have a right to dividends when declared by the board. So I understand that the fix that is proposed by this bill will actually clarify and give certainty to various sectors as well and I was just looking at Zespri's submission to the select committee bearing in mind of course that New Zealand in fact has been one of the top exporters of kiwifruit if not the top exporter for many years. So it has a huge relevance to us and it was a pleasure to see that Zespri supports the intent of this bill. They've also talked about some of the issues that they have faced that are increasingly important to the industry and I want to just read this bit for clarity's sake: The desire for greater alignment is part of the key industry goal to strengthen grower ownership and control of Zespri and thereby contribute to a strong and sustainable industry." I actually have a question though for Todd Muller the member in the chair and it's one related to a select committee that I do sit on the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee. Even though this is a simple fix that gives clarification to the Companies Act as it stands and makes things a bit easier for boards when it comes to decision making preventing disputes and helping to facilitate grower and farmer ownership in the primary sector I'm actually keen to know what the link would be between this and our export sector. What benefit will we see for those within our export industries from this particular bill and what would then be I guess the flow-on effects to the person at the grassroots level? I think for those who are watching this seriously as well and for those who have come into the debate perhaps a little bit later in the piece and who weren't on the select committee it seems to me that this has a link to how well we do in terms of export revenue. I'd actually be quite keen for a little bit of a clarification there because one of the things we are trying to do on this side of the House is to make trade relevant to people—to the man and the woman on the street—the small to medium sized enterprises and to those who are involved in our export sector themselves. I think a little bit of clarification there would be really interesting and so I just wanted to end by thanking the member in the chair. Thank you."