4. Question No. 4—JusticeDAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT) to the Minister of JusticeQuestion No. 4—Justice4. DAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT) to the Minister of Justice: What consultation if any and with whom did the Government take on the commercial tenancy measures announced on 28 September 2021?Hon KRIS FAAFOI (Minister of Justice): Kia ora Mr Speaker. Small-business owners from all over New Zealand have been contacting the Government to express that they're feeling the impacts of the recent COVID alert level measures and it was important for the Government to move quickly so it could deal with the concerns that small-business owners were raising. To ensure the measures we have announced would be effective the Ministry of Justice met with the likes of the New Zealand Law Society property section to consider the specific legal instruments that have been proposed and I'm advised that that group represents both landlords and tenants. The ministry also spoke to the Auckland District Law Society to understand the current situation with leases that address the COVID-19 situation. While the majority of businesses have arrived at an arrangement for a fair rent reduction when they are unable to trade because of the pandemic for those who haven't this could be the difference between staying afloat or not.David Seymour: Did the Minister consult anybody representing the actual landlords such as the Property Council and how would he respond to their statement today that What the Government fails to realise is that these property owners are the same people who are working hard to keep construction development and housing projects going. They have effectively dropped—"SPEAKER: Order! Order! [Interruption] David Seymour: "—a bomb on their most vital industry."SPEAKER: Order! Far too long.David Seymour: Well I've ended the quote now Mr Speaker and I—SPEAKER: Well the member's finished his question.Hon KRIS FAAFOI: As I mentioned the Ministry of Justice engaged with stakeholders that represent both landlords and tenants. I understand the concerns that the Property Council raised as a result of the announcement that the Government made yesterday. I'd also to counter that acknowledge the concerns of many small businesses around the country who have been struggling since the higher alert levels and the impacts of next to no revenue as a result of that. So in terms of the announcement made by the Government yesterday this Government deeply cares about making sure that we do everything we can do to support small businesses and I thought that would be something that that member's party would support too.David Seymour: Did the Government consider the alternative of making the resurgence payment weekly so small businesses could pay rent instead of rushed retrospective legislation that unprecedentedly undermines contract law in this country?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: A threshold to imply a clause like this in the remaining contracts that don't have a fair payment arrangement was not a light decision to take. But we believe given the impacts of businesses particularly in the Auckland area that the Government met that threshold in order to ensure that the Government was taking a number of measures to ensure that we can ensure their long-term sustainability.David Seymour: What impact does the Minister think a rushed and retrospective interference by Parliament in private contract law might have on confidence in property rights and the rule of law among people thinking about investing in New Zealand?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: I don't necessarily want to rely on the impacts that the Government may think. I'd also be interested in some of those people who might be impacted by this. And I would like to quote from one piece of correspondence that we got back in the last 24 hours where the correspondent said "Big thanks to you for making these changes. This is an absolute game-changer for us as we navigate a long-term recovery for our sector in the hospitality sector." The correspondent said "We are all in uncharted territory with this pandemic. We are now confident that our sector will be an important part of the future economic recovery of the country."David Seymour: Will the Minister on behalf of this Government rule out any further such interference in private contracts that are rushed and retrospective like this one for the rest of the parliamentary term or may there be more to come for people who thought their property rights were secure?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: What I can assure the member is this Government will take seriously any measure that will help businesses that are feeling the impacts of COVID-19 and lockdown levels that are under threat of going to the wall to make sure that those businesses can stay afloat and continue to support jobs for New Zealanders."