Wong Pansy: Business Law Reform Bill — In Committee 
Wong Pansy: Business Law Reform Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:635;Page:6446] 
PANSY WONG (National) 
: 
 Xiexie. National will cooperate and has demonstrated throughout the process of this Business Law Reform Bill even tiny minute steps that would improve and simplify compliance costs for the business sector. National will cooperate but will not compromise the select committee process by being a pushover or by being bullied into supporting any major changes that should have gone through a proper select committee process. No one should undermine the select committee process by using it as just a tool to push through legislation. 
Recently the Minister of Commerce has made a lot of political capital about National not giving leave for her to introduce a Takeovers Panel’s recommendation through emergency lobbying to get the company amalgamation and scheme of arrangement combined under the Takeovers Panel’s jurisdiction. I would like to clarify our position. I also have concern about quite a few high-profile cases that seem to go through the company scheme arrangement rather than going through the Takeovers Panel. Because there does not seem to be any progress in addressing the issue I decided to test the water and propose an amendment knowing that it will be defeated but none the less it will give me some guidance to see where the Minister is heading in addressing this issue during the debate on securities legislation. 
I was duly delivered a lecture by the Minister and it will be interesting to share that with the public and everyone. She assured me that when the Takeovers Panel had decided to go out to consult on that problem its hearings were heard over only a 10-day period. The Minister said even with her Small Business Advisory Group representation role it is not long enough to actually qualify as the level of stakeholder input required to make the changes that need to be made. 
She also suggested that during the Takeovers Panel’s hearings the commercial sector’s opinion differed. There was no unanimous support: some felt it was too much to leave entirely within the jurisdiction of the Takeovers Panel and some felt the Takeovers Panel’s recommendations should be heard by the High Court in the consideration of the scheme of arrangement and that would solve the problem. The Minister assured us at that stage that the Government believed there was a wee way to go before the issue was resolved one way or the other. But she emphasised the importance of major changes like that going through a proper process. 
In fact the very responsible and diligent chair of the Commerce Committee my colleague Katherine Rich made all allowances and heard the submission from the Takeovers Panel. She was prepared to cooperate if those amendments were introduced and we were allowed to invite submissions because it is quite a defined sector that deals with takeover issues. National would have heard that rigorous debate but we are not satisfied with the fact that on the one hand the Minister emphasised the importance of a proper process and on the other hand we cannot hear those robust debates from the sector that have to deal with these takeovers. 
I also say that the Minister might have lost a fan during this particular process because the ACT former member of Parliament Stephen Franks wrote an article praising the bravery of the Minister of Commerce the Hon Lianne Dalziel saying she had “yet to succumb to the Takeovers Panel’s emergency lobbying to get company amalgamation and the scheme of arrangement subordinated to the jurisdiction. The Minister still appears to be insisting that the proposal undergo normal legislative scrutiny” so I think during this particular process Mr Franks might want to write another article to correct the impression.