Lee MelissaMELISSA LEE (National): Thank you very much Madam Speaker. I won't be labouring lots on this one because I think it's actually a really good idea. Artists who work in this sector to provide visual arts often do it for very little money when they first sell. Having said that this is as my colleague Chris Penk has said a bit of a precedent in the sense that in this country where other collectables things like even company shares that people buy to resell or even vehicles that they do up to resell to make a profit—they don't actually have resale rights where they get a cut from the resale. But for the artists I believe that we're doing the right thing here in this instance particularly because it is to meet the terms of both the New Zealand - UK free-trade agreement (FTA) and the New Zealand - EU FTA. The National Party supports our free-trade agreements and we respect that. The only concern that I have in regards to this bill is that because the FTA was signed in February last year and we need to implement this scheme within two years—which means by February 2024—I just wonder whether it will actually be implemented. I hope the officials and everyone involved in this—because this is only a second reading. I'm guessing we're going to go into the committee stage and third reading next week but who knows? We shall see what happens. But as the Minister for Arts Culture and Heritage has laid out and as other colleagues have said this is to provide an additional 5 percent on the resale price before any additional costs such as GST and buyer's premium are added so that that can be passed on to the artist. The one aspect that I'm slightly concerned about is the recommendation that came back from the select committee which was the additional amendment that they are asking for in relation to The artist's successor who holds the resale right should meet residency requirements" it says. I understand that the Minister was mentioning that if they were living outside of New Zealand it would be very difficult to actually track them down. I'm left wondering whether if I am the artist and I happen not to have any children and I bequeath all of my assets including the resale rights on the arts that I have created to a nephew who is in the United States—I have a couple of nephews in the United States. OK maybe that's the wrong one because they have New Zealand citizenship. But if I happen to bequeath it to a cousin in Korea for example because they don't actually have residency in New Zealand they don't actually benefit from my leaving them my assets—my resale rights for the art that I have created—which they could actually benefit from. In this day and age where internet and email addresses are available I would have thought that when you have a register it would be easier to track down those successors of the resale rights and I'm wondering whether that could be looked at potentially in the committee stage. I would hate for those people who may not have children to not be able to bequeath their assets to their family members who potentially could benefit as a result of that. I collect art not very expensive art—I can't afford it obviously. Stuart Smith: Picasso? MELISSA LEE: No. I collect student art and I make it a point that every time Mount Albert Grammar School (MAGS) holds their art auction I turn up and I buy student art. Although the value of the student art doesn't quite meet the threshold for this bill I'm guessing that to make it—Hon Dr Duncan Webb: One day. MELISSA LEE: To put it on record I don't buy those artworks to resell. They are our pride and joy because I love seeing young people's art and how creative they are. But eventually their art could be worth quite a lot and it will fall under this. If I choose to sell it I believe that the student that I have supported at MAGS would collect the 5 percent resale value as a benefit for their hard work that they did in high school. I hope that actually happens—and I won't sell it by the way. The duration of the resale right will be the same as the duration of copyright which is currently the life of the artist plus 50 years after death. But it actually excludes private resale between two individuals and the resale has to happen with a proper art dealer I'm guessing. I think that that is only right and if Stuart Smith and I decide to agree that I was going to sell him my student art when it's valued a lot higher and he pays me a price it doesn't actually incur this. I'm not so sure if that's fair. Stuart Smith: Well I'm quite discerning. MELISSA LEE: Ha ha! Anyway I won't actually labour the point any further. I think it is a great thing that we're supporting the element of a free-trade agreement that has needed this Parliament's attention. Having said that I just am slightly concerned about the way that the free-trade agreement provision effectively actually forces Parliament to pass specific items in the legislation beyond the simple ratification of the deal—the FTA itself—and often in this situation if people comment about a particular aspect of that bill people who listen to this debate could potentially judge or think that we are opposed to the FTA. That is not the case and I do worry somewhat—you know I do have some concern about some of that aspect of the FTA requiring us to actually pass these elements within the context of the agreement of the FTA where we have to pass this bill when it's not just the usual ratification of the FTA. I commend the bill to the House."