Collins JudithHon JUDITH COLLINS (National—Papakura): Oh thank you Mr Chair—what an excellent choice might I say. Look I would like to follow on from that excellent contribution from Alastair Scott MP and I think one of the reasons that I'd like to continue with that—Kieran McAnulty: Ha ha! Say it like you mean it. CHAIRPERSON (Adrian Rurawhe): Order! When—Kieran McAnulty: I apologise.CHAIRPERSON (Adrian Rurawhe): I haven't said anything yet. How can you apologise? And he will be apologising. Don't bring me into the debate. The Hon Judith Collins. Hon JUDITH COLLINS: Thank you Mr—Alastair Scott: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. Is he going to stand withdraw and apologise or not?CHAIRPERSON (Adrian Rurawhe): I didn't ask him for—the Hon Judith Collins.Hon JUDITH COLLINS: Thank you Mr Chair. I must say we're getting lots of knee exercise. Well I think one of the things that I would like to speak about tonight is the fact that this bill is even being discussed in Parliament. In the National Party we oppose this bill because I think we should always work on the basis that if something is not broken then why would we try to fix it?So tonight we've been hearing from the Government about the need for us to fix the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act and the reason for doing this they say is for things like unemployment. Well unemployment is at historically low numbers and that is thanks to an excellent amount of work that was undertaken in nine years of a National-led Government and the fact that this Government has now inherited that. So one would have to ask oneself why this is such an important issue for the Government? Why would they want to now get the Reserve Bank to take into account unemployment when they're setting interest rates and everything else that they do—what is it? Well the answer would have to be because that's what New Zealand First wanted. It has nothing to do with fixing unemployment or the Reserve Bank acting in a way to help unemployment or to decrease unemployment because it's already at historically low levels so what's the point?When I think about this bill particularly Part 1 I think about the fact that this is a meddling bill. It is a bill put together for a constituency that has been fooled into thinking that there's something dreadfully wrong with the Reserve Bank. Some of us on this side of the House will well remember a certain candidate for a certain political party saying that the Reserve Bank was owned by foreigners. Well some of you might remember that one. I think it may have been a candidate from New Zealand First anyway saying that this was a bank owned by foreigners. I well remember that New Zealand First and the new Government they said were going to buy it back. Well to that person I'd say Would you like a bridge I could sell you?" They are truly truly ridiculous to think that. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (Monetary Policy) Amendment Bill—Hon Members: You've got Bridges to give away?Kieran McAnulty: What price for Simon Bridges?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: That would be a singular not a plural Mr whatever your name is over there. Ha ha!I think it is really very important to remember that this House and the very valuable time that the taxpayers are paying for should be used for bills and discussions that make a difference. This bill is going to make not one scrap of difference other than to enable Treasury and the Minister of Finance to be able to interfere in the very careful deliberations of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.When we think back to the times before we had things like a National Government in the 1990s when in fact interest rates were around 18 percent or 28 percent if one was borrowing for business those are the days when actually if only the Reserve Bank had been allowed to get on with their job they might have been down to the rates that they are now. But instead there was a lot of political interference with the Reserve Bank. What I'm concerned about and on this side of the House we are is the level of political interference that may well come to the Reserve Bank now.They are always people who are trying to do their best. They are the experts. I wonder at the level of political interference that's going to be meted out to the Reserve Bank and to have the Reserve Bank not able to make the decisions that it needs to make without having to wonder whether the Ministry of Finance is going to be happy. Actually that shouldn't be their role."