Martin Tracey: Consumer Law Reform Bill — First Reading 
Martin Tracey: Consumer Law Reform Bill — First Reading 
[Advance Copy - Subject to minor change before inclusion in Bound Volume.] 
TRACEY MARTIN (NZ First) 
: 
 Firstly I acknowledge the comments made by the Hon Clayton Cosgrove around financial literacy. As a previous credit controller which is in reality a fancy name for a debt collector I say there is certainly room for some improvement around the way that we educate and protect particularly our young people as they enter into debt in this country. If there is any room or some latitude inside this bill to address that it would be welcome. 
I stand here on behalf of New Zealand First to speak in support of this bill the Consumer Law Reform Bill. New Zealand First notes that the specific objectives of this bill are to create an environment where consumers are able to transact with confidence businesses can compete on a level playing field and consumer laws assist in facilitating mutually beneficial trade. We acknowledge that with the large leaps in information transfer and modern technology improvements especially in the ability of consumers these days to transact business online with the creation of internet auction houses and e-stores as just two examples there is a need to overhaul and retool much of the seven consumer laws and two business laws currently affected by this bill. 
 A clear example of the need for this reform would be the Sale of Goods Act 1908. There was no way of course that the authors of that legislation could have foreseen the online auction houses of TradeMe or eBay and craft content to give consumer confidence to those transactions. New Zealand First agrees that consumer law should facilitate mutually beneficial trade on equitable terms and that trade partners should have trust that our laws deliver safe products and products that are consistent with any measure quality or other claim made. 
There are certain suggestions in the bill that New Zealand First will be looking forward to discussing further as the bill moves through the House. For example as we legislate to implement a certain standard for our own businesses and transactions what is our commitment to ensuring that the level playing field we are aspiring to achieve will apply to other nations with whom we trade that are outside the promoted trans-Tasman economy? We heard earlier today in this House a comment from a Minister on the India plan and the China plan and New Zealand First would like to be assured that the intent of this bill will be given consideration to in those plans. But let us be clear that this bill as the impact statement points out is one of the platforms for the Government’s single economic market agenda with Australia and New Zealand First will be looking forward to seeing that the single economic market provides a level playing field for New Zealanders. 
I can give an example of why we want to have the people of the Commerce Committee make sure that that is at the forefront of their minds as we go forward. In Rodney we have one of the world’s leading glass manufacturers of strengthened and toughened glass and recently this company purchased a glass-bending machine from China at the cost of $1 million. The machine was subsequently delivered complete with technicians to put it together and to make it go. Now the machine itself is around about the length of this Chamber and probably reaches up to the gallery so it is a sizable piece of equipment. It heats different thicknesses of glass sheets to the required temperature to allow the product to be curved and bent to the required specifications—predominantly for superyachts. Unfortunately when the accompanying technicians had completed assembling the machine it did not go. The imported technicians had another go took it apart and put it back together again—still nothing. 
Now as we all know in this House time is money in business so as the dollars ticked by through lack of production the New Zealanders asked the Chinese technicians to step back and let them have a go. It took close to another half a million dollars to bring that machine online—a loss of time money and production that in these current times is even more keenly felt by our business community. So as I say it will be with interest that New Zealand First looks to see that the sorts of protections we might be able to provide in circumstances such as this and that this bill will provide currently in the trans-Tasman market can be extended across these other markets. 
We also note that it is suggested that a benefit of this reform will be that carrier services such as couriers will be subject to the Consumer Guarantees Act and I can say that I know many a small winemaker in New Zealand who will greet that news with some delight. We do caution however that as pointed out by the previous Minister of Consumer Affairs in March 2011 this bill “represents the most significant changes to consumer laws in more than two decades” and as such requires robust discussion and debate to make sure that any review meets the needs of New Zealand’s consumers and business communities. But as I say New Zealand First supports this bill and looks forward to the wider debate.