Tanczos Nandor: Protection of Personal and Property Rights  Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Tanczos Nandor: Protection of Personal and Property Rights  Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:642;Page:11977] 
NANDOR TANCZOS (Green) 
: 
 I rise on behalf of the Green Party to make just a brief contribution to this debate. A number of things have already been said on the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Amendment Bill and members have already canvassed the arguments particularly well. I will simply reiterate that the Green Party supports a couple of things in particular in relation to the bill. One is around the presumption of competence which members have referred to previously. As has been said this is a philosophical shift and one that we thoroughly approve of. Simply because someone has made use of the ability to grant an enduring power of attorney it does not mean that he or she should be presumed to be incapable or unable to understand their affairs or make any decisions in regard to them—in particular we support the provision that a person must be presumed to be competent to manage his or her own affairs have the capacity to understand the nature of decisions foresee the consequences of decisions and communicate decisions about matters unless the contrary has been shown. New section 93B(2) as inserted by clause 6 states: “A person must not be presumed to lack the competence described in subsection (1)(a) just because the person manages or intends to manage his or her own affairs in relation to his or her property in a manner that a person exercising ordinary prudence would not adopt in the same circumstances.” 
 Well there were probably a number of occasions when I have managed my own affairs in a way that a person exercising ordinary prudence might not have done. Nevertheless I still think they were good decisions. 
Hone Harawira 
: Great decisions. 
NANDOR TANCZOS 
: I thank Mr Harawira. 
I think it is important that the bill recognises that people may choose to exercise their affairs in various ways. Some people can make eccentric decisions; there is nothing wrong with that. We like a bit of eccentricity. It adds a bit of spice variety and flavour to life—and there is no reason that a person should be denied the ability to behave eccentrically with regard to their own affairs. So it is important that this provision is in place. Similarly it is also true that someone can be without competence temporarily but that situation can change. We think it is important that that factor is recognised in the bill and previous speakers have also mentioned this point. 
Before I finish there are just a couple of other things that I will touch on quickly. One is in relation to new section 98A in clause 12 which talks about the exercise of enduring power of attorney. New section 98A(2) states: “The paramount consideration of the attorney is the promotion and protection of the welfare and best interests of the donor while seeking at all times to encourage the donor to develop and exercise his or her capacity to—(a) understand the nature and foresee the consequences of decisions … and (b) communicate such decisions.” That is important. I have perhaps not had the experience of some of the members who have already spoken but I know of cases where people exercising powers of attorney have behaved in ways that clearly were not in the best interests of the donor but were certainly in the best interests of the attorney. So there needs to be that protection to ensure that the obligations of the attorney are clearly stated and particularly that there is an obligation for attorneys not just to passively treat the wishes of the donor but to actively encourage donors to act on their own behalf. 
Also one of the obligations is to facilitate the integration of donors into the community to the greatest extent possible. This is as has been said a bit of a mind shift and it is an important one because hopefully we have moved beyond the day when people who need some assistance in one matter are presumed to be incapable of making decisions or unable to make decisions on their own behalf or to know what is best for them. This issue cuts across the board. It applies not just in this area but in many others as well. So we support the bill. We think it is a step forward and like other members of the House we look forward to seeing its passage.