Wood MichaelMICHAEL WOOD (Labour—Mt Roskill): I am very happy today to stand in support of the Commerce Amendment Bill and I'd like to start by just acknowledging and congratulating our Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs the Hon Kris Faafoi for taking decisive action on this issue. I'm pleased to support this bill because this coalition Government is on the side of Kiwi consumers on the side of honest businesses and on the side of functional markets. We are not going to make excuses for failures in those areas as the last speaker Brett Hudson and as the last Government did.A good starting point if we want to think about this bill is a report—a very good piece of work—that was in fact done by the Hon Judith Collins in her stint as the Minister of Energy and Resources in the previous Government. What did that report tell us which was published in 2017? It told us at that point after she commissioned that report into activities in the consumer fuel market that at that time Kiwis suffered the highest pre-tax fuel prices in the OECD. That was back in 2017. That same report told us that there was not sufficient evidence to tell us that there was not a degree of collusion and inappropriate activity across our fuel markets.When that previous Minister commissioned that report into retail fuel prices two of the major players in the market refused to cooperate with the Commerce Commission and that is why this Government and this Minister have taken decisive action. When Kiwis are being ripped off at the pump and potentially being ripped off in other markets we're not going to sit back and just let those major players rip-off those consumers and refuse to cooperate with the Commerce Commission. That's what they did. When that previous Minister who was one of the tougher Ministers in that previous Government—when they asked for information those companies refused to cooperate with a study instigated by the Commerce Commission. We're not going to allow that situation to carry on and that is what this piece of legislation turns around.It will ensure that when we undertake market studies into areas where we have a concern that consumers may not be treated fairly—we believe that market powers may be being abused—it will ensure that those companies have to cooperate and have to provide the same information. It will also ensure that the Commerce Commission has the ability to act and to self-initiate those studies. I have to say that the previous speaker Brett Hudson and the Opposition in their minority view in opposing this bill make a great play of believing that the process should be depoliticised and are having a go at the Government when they claim that we're not acting in accordance with that idea but then they're opposing the idea that the Commerce Commission has the ability to self-initiate—so which one actually is it?This bill gives the Commerce Commission the ability to self-initiate so that it can use its expertise and its judgment to carefully initiate studies where they might be required. I might say that in the future unfortunate event where we have another weak National Party Minister holding that portfolio New Zealand consumers will be very pleased that the commission has the ability to act if a future Government does not.In the House today we have seen the Opposition turn from lions to lambs. In question time we heard no end of concern about fuel prices and I think some of that noise might have been to make up for noise that they don't want heard in other places. But now they are lambs on that issue when it comes to this piece of legislation. This is a piece of legislation that actually gives us the capacity if we look at places like the fuel market to delve into why it is that Kiwi consumers have amongst the highest pre-tax prices in the OECD. And let's remember that was something that we came to understand back in 2017 when that Government first started looking into this issue. The difference is that this Government is actually prepared to do something about it.One of the most important things to remember as well is that what we have when market studies are conducted is an ability for the Commerce Commission to make recommendations back to the Minister to actually take some action. Once again over nine years under that previous Government—we had a study at the end but we had no action on these issues.Hon Dr Nick Smith: Fuel prices only went up by 1 percent per year.MICHAEL WOOD: What we know Mr Smith as per that report is that we had the highest pre-tax prices in the OECD at the end of that previous Government's term.One of the bits of scaremongering that happened in amongst the Opposition's arguments against this bill was the suggestion that it was inappropriate for the Commerce Commission to have the ability to self-initiate. What is important to understand about this bill is that it gives the Commerce Commission when it produces a market report the ability to make recommendations which do go back to the Minister and do go back to the political process in order to make changes if changes are justified. So that's an important safeguard that I think is important for the House to be aware of.The Transport and Infrastructure Committee considered this bill very carefully considered the submissions carefully and has made I think some very sensible changes including for example the requirement for the Minister within a certain amount of time to give a response to any market study that is produced.I'm absolutely convinced that Kiwi consumers are going to welcome this bill. As I said at the beginning of my comments this is a Government which is on the side of Kiwi consumers on the side of fair competition on the side of good and ethical businesses and this bill will support those outcomes. Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker.