Boscawen John: General Debate 
Boscawen John: General Debate 
[Volume:652;Page:1850] 
JOHN BOSCAWEN (ACT) 
: 
 I am not going to stand up here and criticise the National Party nor am I going to stand up and criticise the Labour Party; I want to address an issue that I think is partisan to all members of Parliament. The Prime Minister was asked this afternoon about New Zealand superannuation and he referred to the fact that $4.7 billion had been lost. But there is actually another loss it is a very real loss and it is a greater loss. It has been estimated that over the last 3 years some $6 billion has been lost by—or is now tied up in moratoriums on—finance companies. This money has been lost mainly by savers and particularly by elderly savers and I think that it is an issue that should concern all parliamentarians from all sides of the House. 
About 46 finance companies have now collapsed and I think that a number of issues come out of that. I will be raising at the Commerce Committee tomorrow the proposal that we have an investigation into what has given rise to these collapses and what we can do to ensure that this sort of thing does not happen again. These collapses have had a huge impact on the lives of these people mainly elderly people who have worked their whole lives and raised their families. But now in their 60s 70s 80s and sometimes 90s when they thought they had provided for their future and their retirement they have now found that some most or all of their funds have been taken from them. 
The issues I want to address are the issues of related party transactions between the shareholders and directors of finance companies with those finance companies. I want to raise the issue of dividends that have been passed to the owners of those finance companies in some cases just a few weeks or months before those companies have collapsed. The issue arises as to the licensing of financial advisers and I am aware that the previous Government introduced legislation that tightened up the regulations relating to financial advisers. We need to look at the quality of the advice that was given to those investors those savers and we need to look at the potential conflicts that are faced by financial advisers. We also need to look at the legal profession to see whether people have been given bad advice and to see whether money has been passed on to vendors of properties in excess of what would be normal. 
A lot of people have lost a lot of money and although it is very easy to say to those elderly people that they should go out and seek legal advice and commence legal proceedings a lot of them have lost everything or at least a lot. Last week I referred in this House to a meeting I had had with Ron Jensen an elderly investor in his 70s from Hamilton. He and his wife invested in a unit that was supposedly sold to them by Blue Chip New Zealand. The sum of $200000 was raised by taking a mortgage on his property but the property that he was purportedly sold does not exist. It never existed; he may well have a claim against the solicitor who advised him on that transaction. These are issues I think we need to look at. Earlier this afternoon I brought to the House a petition by Suzanne Edmonds. This lady has championed the rights of some of these people in relation to their losses and she has called for a royal commission. I personally think that that is unrealistic but a lot of these issues can be addressed by the Commerce Committee and in particular the issue of the accountability of directors trustees company management and other parties associated with failed finance companies. 
This is a very real issue that concerns very real New Zealanders. It concerns New Zealanders who have worked for and given their all to this country. These are real people. Since I met Ron Jensen last week I have received a letter from a gentleman who has actually moved out of his house and is now living in a caravan. He is living in a caravan so that he can rent his family’s home to pay mortgagee payments. I recognise that these people are adults; they have gone into investments with their eyes open and with advisers but in some cases they have been misled duped and possibly even defrauded. I think that this is a very serious issue that concerns all members in this Parliament. I have asked for the support of the National Party for an inquiry at the Commerce Committee level and I have asked the support of Te Ururoa Flavell the Maori Party member on that committee. This afternoon I have asked the chairman the Hon Lianne Dalziel for her support. So I hope that the Commerce Committee will be prepared to support the inquiry. Thank you.