Paraone Pita: Real Estate Agents Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
Paraone Pita: Real Estate Agents Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:649;Page:18366] 
PITA PARAONE (NZ First) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker. On behalf of New Zealand First I stand to make a contribution to the second reading of the Real Estate Agents Bill. We certainly support this bill. It is about bringing more accountability transparency and openness to the real estate sector while at the same time establishing an independent complaints system to protect consumers and provide support for real estate agents. The bill replaces the Real Estate Agents Act 1976 and I think it is timely. Some people will say the bill is overdue and I tend to agree. I think it addresses some of the concerns that come from having on our statute book legislation that is so old. 
Although some people have been very critical of the real estate profession in my view the profession is an honourable one—one that is under some duress here in New Zealand as a consequence of a depressed market brought about by high interest rates and other economies. However this profession is not exempt from having amongst its number—and I am glad to say it is limited to a very small minority—those who have brought it into disrepute. I suspect that because of that small minority we heard from a number of submitters who expressed their concerns to us that the present Act was inadequate in meeting their concerns. I acknowledge the Justice and Electoral Committee which heard these submissions. I understand it received more than 1300 submissions. Just over 600 of those were heard personally by the committee or by video link. I especially want to say to the committee that it has done a fine job. The report it brought back to the House I think addressed many of the issues that submitters were concerned about. 
The report back suggests a number of changes and I am glad to see that the Minister has taken it upon himself to make the necessary amendments by way of Supplementary Order Paper 243 and that he has also given some consideration to the concerns that my colleagues and I had about the bill. These include the points of amendment regarding the rescinding the requirement to review the employment status of sales persons the rescinding of the decision to regulate the conduct of auctions the experience criteria required before agents or branch managers are entitled to have their licences raised from 2 out of 10 years to 3 out of 10 years and the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand being consulted on first-term appointments to the authority and disciplinary tribunal. 
I think those changes may give some relief to the present leadership of the Real Estate Institute in terms of the concerns it expressed during this whole process being taken on board. I know there has been some exchange of views between the principals of the institute and the Minister but without their compromising their positions I think. Both parties have agreed that the protection of the consumer and the strengthening of accountability is the most important thing that comes out of this bill. 
I know that the Real Estate Institute might still have some concerns but I think the bill goes a long way towards not only giving back to the consumers more confidence in the institute but also giving a sense of security to members of the New Zealand public who may need the services of the real estate profession now and into the future. 
Some comment has been made about the fact that property management has not been covered by this bill. I agree with the select committee that the issue of property management was outside the scope of the bill. However the Minister has indicated that a review will be made in the future. 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: Coming at the same time. 
PITA PARAONE 
: At the same time as the bill—OK. The Minister has recognised that as a very important issue. That is important because on any one day of the week property managers hold excessive amounts of money on behalf of both tenants and landlords. Given the financial stress that New Zealand is placed under at this time—I know that that may sound exaggerated but the fact is that we have a group of people holding funds that belong to other people—we need to seriously consider the security and the safety of those funds. New Zealand First will support the Real Estate Agents Bill at its second reading.