Carter DavidRt Hon DAVID CARTER (National): Thank you Madam Speaker. As I listen to this debate on the Financial Market Infrastructures Bill it strikes me that we all take our banking system absolutely for granted. We think it's safe. Our salaries our wages; for everyday New Zealanders it goes into their bank accounts and over the next week or fortnight they withdraw it out with a number of transactions—and as Mr Strange says probably more by EFTPOS these days than by cash—little credit or little doubt is given to the fact that that system could actually fail. I recall quite vividly it was the National Government that came in in 2008 as the world entered the global financial crisis and suddenly we realised that those financial institutions we deal with may not be as safe as we thought they were. Whilst New Zealand was relatively immune from the collapse of our own financial institutions the same certainly could not be said for the likes of America. So this piece of legislation is largely the result of work carried out by the IMF—the International Monetary Fund—following the global financial crisis which is now 12 years ago which shows how long it takes for countries right around the world to accept that financial institutions need to be regulated. And of course now we have the work done by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand finally culminating in this legislation presented to the House today which National will support to the Finance and Expenditure Committee. As I've listened to the contributions from many of the speakers most of them—in fact I think all of them—have remarked on how complex this issue is. We have words like securities" and "derivatives" and "depositories" and "trade repositories" all of which come together in the settlement of funds on a daily basis to ensure that we have a banking system that works and that is safe for all depositors wherever they live—but particularly the ones that we're concerned about are New Zealand depositors—to know that their money deposited in a bank is safe and that they can get their money out when they want. That's the essence of this legislation today. So we'll support it to select committee. The two things I want to particularly watch before the select committee are: what are the benefits—and if it results in a safer banking system which is required in this day and age then I'm all for it—but I'll equally be watching for the costs because this reform may well come at a cost. If it comes at a cost I suspect already that cost will then not be picked up by the banks; it will be a cost that's passed on to those people who are the customers of the bank particularly the borrowers. So I think as we analyse the work through the select committee—and the Finance and Expenditure Committee will do the job thoroughly—they're the two things we need to watch: identify the benefits and be very very aware of the costs that ultimately will be imposed on to the depositors. But having said that as I said at the start of my contribution: above all else we all require a banking system in this country that we have faith in and that we know will not fail. As we move from those dim dark days of 2008—12 years ago—of the global financial crisis it's important that we move with the time modernise our banking system and make sure it's securer and safe to deliver that security to New Zealanders."