Jones Dail: Retirement Villages Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
Jones Dail: Retirement Villages Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:612;Page:9428] 
DAIL JONES (NZ First) 
: 
 I want to refer again to the Supplementary Order Paper—the one we have only just had the opportunity in the last few days to consider—and in particular to the “Registrar of Retirement Villages” provision. 
First if I could just touch on the matter that Mr Carter the senior National Party whip mentioned. Obviously if the code of practice created provisions that were far too onerous lawyers would find it difficult to advise clients to enter into retirement village contracts. I would expect that no disputes panel would suggest that a retirement village be forced to buy a unit and have to raise money to buy it. I would expect that the code of practice would have to be drawn up extremely carefully to make sure that the remaining residents of a retirement village were not made to pick up a burden that would make their situation intolerable. 
Looking at the “Registrar of Retirement Villages” provision in the proposed amendments to the bill once again I have to ask why that provision was not made known to the select committee. Why were the Justice and Electoral Committee not given the opportunity to discuss these matters? It is a clear example of this minority Labour Government aided and abetted by United Future not being willing to consult. After all we hear so much about this minority Labour Government wanting to consult with people and yet that provision was not put before the select committee. The way it has been drafted the ministerial officials and suchlike could quite easily have put it forward. Instead we have been given more bureaucracy in the shape of yet another Government official—a Registrar of Retirement Villages. Who will this person be? 
Hon Lianne Dalziel 
: It’s the Registrar of Companies—as it reads at the moment. 
DAIL JONES 
: “Deemed to have been appointed … in accordance with this section” but have members read the explanatory note? OK the position will initially be held by the Registrar of Companies but who will hold the job after that? If the Minister would only read her explanatory note to the fullest rather than briefly she would understand my concern. That person will initially hold the position so someone else will hold it afterwards. Is this another job for the girls? Even the Minister herself does not know what she has done. Is this job for the likes of say Susan Bathgate created in respect of retirement villages? [ 
Interruption 
] The senior Government whip clearly does not know what is in this legislation. 
The Minister herself has not read the explanatory note; she has only read a few words but not the rest of it. The New Zealand First Opposition has had this amendment for only a short while but knows more about what is in it than the Minister does and she is the one who is accepting responsibility for it. New Zealand First asks whether this is another Susan Bathgate amendment with the likes of her being appointed to this position? That is clearly what can happen so far as the information in the bill is concerned. We have every right as an Opposition to raise these issues. 
Clearly there will be more compliance costs. Who will pay for this registrar? It is another job for the boys and girls. Someone will have to pay for it and it will be the elderly people going into the retirement villages. Clearly the Minister has not thought of that. The Government does not set up a new position unless more money has to be put forward to pay for it. The regulations will set up requirements: more costs for the elderly more costs for the children to worry about as the elderly people are in a retirement village. Seemingly unbeknown to the Minister that seems to be the situation here—more bureaucracy and overall more compliance costs. 
This minority Labour Government loves imposing more compliance costs on people. Here we have another official and clearly that will mean more charges more letterheads more application fees for the registrar more regulations put out on behalf of the registrar and the person to whom he will delegate more charges for filing annual returns more charges for filing particulars of rest homes and retirement villages and who is living there. 
This Minister has not grasped what is in the bill. Clearly she could not even begin to grasp the consequences of what is in the bill. It is a great shame that the Justice and Electoral Committee was not given the opportunity to discuss this matter in the many months that this bill was before that committee. Then the Minister would have been better informed and the committee would have had the opportunity to point out to the Minister the error of her ways.