Tirikatene Rino: Climate Change (Divestment from Fossil Fuels) Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeTirikatene Rino: Climate Change (Divestment from Fossil Fuels) Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 11 November 2015. Volume:710;Page:7936. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]RINO TIRIKATENE (Labour—Te Tai Tonga): Kia ora Mr Deputy Speaker. I am pleased to take a call in the first reading of this bill which we are supporting. I do endorse the remarks from my colleagues that this bill is worthy of consideration at a select committee and I do commend James Shaw for bringing this bill to the House.This ultimately comes down to what is ethical but also it is about responsible investment and it is about fiduciary duties: acting in the best interests of beneficiaries. The New Zealand Superannuation Fund which we have talked about quite a lot this evening is an absolutely outstanding performer and it actually operates within a responsible investment framework. The Superannuation Fund itself has been able to generate absolutely outstanding returns and it operates within this responsible framework that is aligned to international principles that are agreed across the investment fund industry worldwide. In fact the New Zealand Superannuation Fund is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment.So we are seeing that responsible investment and environmental social and governance considerations are already central to a lot of the activities that the New Zealand Superannuation Fund and indeed ACC and others already undertake. So it is not actually a huge step forward to concede that we can include the ambit of this bill within the current activities of what the New Zealand Superannuation Fund does already. Case in point: the New Zealand Superannuation Fund has already laid out exclusions of particular companies and industries sectors that it will not invest in. The Superannuation Fund does not invest in tobacco companies. It does not invest in cluster munitions companies. It does not invest in nuclear arms and related types of companies. So those exclusions are already public; they are already part of the investment mandate and the investment imperatives by which that fund operates.So this bill definitely fits squarely within the current operations of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund and therefore it is not too far a stretch and should be given some proper consideration at select committee. We should get in the investment professionals. We should bring in those people who are involved in the management of institutional funds to present their views. As I see it the responsible investment framework is only evolving. It is getting bigger and bigger and it is expanding across the world. Obviously business and industries do not stand still. Things evolve; technologies develop; the world moves on. Therefore the investment sector has to be cognisant of that and ultimately we need to be aware of the well-being of our planet.Again that goes to the fiduciary role that these sovereign funds play and so I do commend this bill. I believe it is worthy of further consideration and I do hope that this House can indeed refer it to a select committee so we can get some very much informed contributions and submissions on the merits or not. Because ultimately the New Zealand Superannuation Fund is already operating responsibly. It is signed on to international conventions that are aligned to this bill and ultimately it is accountable to New Zealand law which we can change through this bill. Kia ora tātou.