Young JonathanJONATHAN YOUNG (National—New Plymouth): Thank you very much for the opportunity to stand and speak on the Credit Contracts Legislation Amendment Bill.I recall back in 2014—probably the last time this bill was amended—addressing some issues that once again were focusing on dealing with issues that made vulnerable lenders become entrapped in issues around their finance and the application for it. At that point in time I remember seeing an invoice for a motor vehicle; the vehicle was $13000 and there was a line charge in this invoice that said contingency was $2000. We asked the person at that point in time: What is this for?" That charge of $2000 was in case they ever defaulted on the loan. It was a charge upfront—and that is predatory lending. So we addressed those issues then and I'm glad to see that further issues are being addressed as they come to light. That's why we support legislation that is going to protect vulnerable parts of our community: people who may struggle with financial literacy and people who may not have the ability to save but have necessities that they then have to get credit for. In the end that credit can become part of the trap—I wouldn't say a credit trap—it becomes a poverty trap because you end up paying excess money huge amounts of money well beyond the value of the goods or services that you procure. It's tremendously unfair and it takes away the ability for those families and those people to be able to spend the money that they have on genuine articles that they need—whether that's clothing whether that's food whether that's transport whether that's medicines. So it's important that we follow through on these elements. We are very pleased to support this bill through to the Finance and Expenditure Committee to begin to look at all the issues that this bill is going to address and to ascertain whether they are striking the right issues at the right levels.I just want to at this point in time give a shout-out to the Electricity Retailers' Association of New Zealand who yesterday launched the EnergyMate. This work that they're doing is very similar to what this bill is doing. They are educating and helping vulnerable people to be able to make savings and to be able to get good value out of electricity. And there is a part I believe that's needed not only in just having legislation that protects people and also brings to account those predatory lenders but we must always continue to understand and promote financial literacy for those people who need to access credit for whatever reason or goods that come with a credit component to it. I believe that this bill will address some of those issues.So we do see some value in the work that's being done here—such as the fact that there is going to be regulation-making power to deem arrangements to also be consumer credit contracts that fall under the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act so bringing that legislative accountability into some of the practices that happen. Access to credit is important for New Zealanders. There are many New Zealanders who can't access cheap credit who then have to go on to access credit that costs a huge amount. Obviously looking at financial literacy and helping those people manage their finances through all the different NGOs and agencies that stand by them is very important for them to be able to build their own credit rating. But it's important that in the meantime and while they are on that journey of learning and I guess adjustment in their own lives that we do have very robust and strong legislation that will protect them as they go through applications and use of credit finance.So there are some elements that we are going to question in the select committee process and I believe Hon Paul Goldsmith raised one of those and those are the risks that in setting interest rates at a cap they can easily become not the cap but the target and those lenders who then see a certain level believe that that is an acceptable level even though it's excessively high. So we need to make sure that those elements of this bill are well-understood and nuanced if they need to be.So we're very happy to support this bill through to the Finance and Expenditure Committee and we do anticipate a good clear and a robust process. Thank you."