Court SimonSIMON COURT (ACT): Thank you Mr Speaker. Firstly I want to thank ACT MP Damien Smith for offering his considered perspective on the problems with this Government's Grocery Industry Competition Bill. If you think about the title—just starting with the title—Grocery Industry Competition Bill" well if we really wanted to foster competition in the New Zealand grocery sector those places like supermarkets quickie markets truck stops food-to-go—Stuart Smith: What about the polar bears?Simon Watts: You can buy those at the supermarket!SIMON COURT: Of all the things you can buy in a supermarket freezer which don't include polar bears Mr Stuart Smith but until recently did include Eskimo Pies one of my favourite ice creams—but the problem that the Government is trying to solve here is competition in the grocery sector so that Kiwis can have access to lower-priced groceries.That's laudable. We represent an organisation—Damien Smith and myself Simon Court—called the Association of Consumers and Taxpayers. That's the ACT Party. But we fundamentally disagree with the direction set out in this bill because we don't think it's necessary to establish a Grocery Commissioner someone to mystery shop the supermarkets with their own little magic laser scanner wand to check whether the prices are fair or not—whether someone's paying maybe 10c too much for a loaf of white bread. I mean I checked the price of a loaf of bread yesterday; for a loaf of Nature's Fresh bread at Countdown in the past six months it's gone up from about $3.20 to over $5—over $5.Simon Watts: I can't believe you shop at Countdown!SIMON COURT: The member Simon Watts from the North Shore that suburb that benefits from a wonderful piece of infrastructure called the Northern Busway—which I must say we don't have in West Auckland; we've got a bus stop on the side of a motorway off-ramp courtesy of Labour's Michael Wood—asks "Why do you shop at Countdown?" Well because it's convenient Mr Watts. It's 200 metres from my home. It's within walking distance—Hon Dr David Clark: Because there's no competition they go to the closest place.SIMON COURT: Actually I was going to use the example of my local Countdown in Te Atatū Peninsular as an example of how misguided this legislation is and what the opportunities are that could actually foster competition. I want to contrast it with the opening of the new Costco mega-market at Westgate in West Auckland because this is where we'll find the truth of why New Zealanders are facing higher grocery prices.I've had a long and evolved discussion with the landowner that the Countdown in Te Atatū leases its site from. Listen to this Mr Clark this is important—this is important. The Countdown supermarket would like to expand and their landlord the lovely lady who owns the land would like to let them expand. Between the two of them they've approached Auckland Council and Auckland Transport and they've said "We'd like to build a bigger supermarket because while we've got a large footprint here it's not very effectively laid out. Our trucks need to do a three-point turn in the carpark or back in off the road. That's not safe." Auckland Transport has said "Actually you're going to have to do all your truck turning inside the site which means now you're going to lose half your car parks." That's if they want to expand the supermarket.Now it's quite a small supermarket; from memory it's think it's probably only about 10 aisles. So it's much smaller than a large supermarket like a Costco or even a big Pak 'N Save which must have 20-plus aisles. But they're not going to be able to expand Minister because the Resource Management Act (RMA) gives Auckland Council and Auckland Transport the right to veto them from actually setting up a driveway system that would be left turn in left turn out one-way route through the site which is the safest way for trucks to come and go—very large articulated truck units—from the site. The neighbours agreed to sell them the land. The landlord said "Countdown please please build a better newer supermarket." The people of Te Atatū—all of the people who have come to live there like me in the last 10 or 15 years—want a bigger better supermarket but it's the RMA and the councils and this Government which will continue to empower the veto of NIMBYs who say no.That's what we've seen through their proposed environmental reforms the proposed Natural and Built Environment Bill—and just to clear up any confusion when that draft legislation was presented to the Environment Committee last year the Natural and Built Environment Exposure Bill didn't include the word "built" but they may have corrected that recently. We're talking about infrastructure Mr Clark. If my local Countdown can't get permission even with the land they own and from the neighbours to build a new driveway so they can get trucks turning safely left turn in left turn out make it safer for workers safer for customers preserve the carpark—and actually there's the opportunity for a 20-aisle Countdown in Te Atatū Peninsular. Now if they can't get permission from consenting authorities to do that you're not going to have more competition in the grocery sector. Who's going to invest—who's going to invest?Then I want to come to the actual Costco—Costco in Westgate. Costco in Westgate is very very popular and MP Chris Penk knows that because Chris Penk is the MP for the Kaipara ki Mahurangi electorate where Costco Westgate is located. Now the problem with Costco in Westgate is that it's built in a brand new town centre that was established over 20 years ago between Waitakere City Council and the Auckland Regional Council—DEPUTY SPEAKER: I have a point of order from Rawiri Waititi.Rawiri Waititi (Remote): Point of order Mr Speaker. Although the name "Eskimo" was commonly used in Alaska to refer to the Inuit and the Yupik people of the word this usage is now considered unacceptable by many or even most Alaskan—DEPUTY SPEAKER: Mr Waititi that is not a point of order I'm afraid. If you want to take that up there are other ways in which you can take that up. So continue Mr Court.SIMON COURT: Thank you Mr Speaker.Rawiri Waititi: Point of order.DEPUTY SPEAKER: I've made a ruling Mr Waititi unless it's a new point of order. There are other ways that you can take that matter up.SIMON COURT: Mr Speaker thank you for clarifying that. Because the "Eskimo Pie" that I referred to is actually an ice cream.DEPUTY SPEAKER: I'm sorry Mr Court I will have to deal with this point of order but the clock has stopped. A new point of order Mr Waititi.Rawiri Waititi: A new point of order Mr Speaker. Under Standing Order 120 of offensive words I am within my rights to move this point of order because it is an offensive word. It is a racist word. The word "Eskimo" is a word that has been invented by non-indigenous peoples for indigenous peoples of Alaska—DEPUTY SPEAKER: OK. Mr Waititi I've made a ruling. I'm inviting you to take that matter up elsewhere with the Speaker and the decision can be made. At this stage I'm going to go back to the speaker. Sorry. Carry on Mr Court.SIMON COURT: Thank you Mr Speaker. And look I just want to come back to the issue of Costco and the infrastructure that enables Costco in Westgate. Many of you will have read about the long traffic queues for people not just from West Auckland but within a 15 to 20 kilometre radius. So taking advantage of the fantastic competition and low prices offered by Costco in West Auckland. But the traffic queues that have resulted because when people have driven there—because you typically need a car if you're going to Costco you want to fill your boot or fill the back of your ute with groceries. But when they get close they find themselves in a big long traffic queue Minister Clark. And that's because between the New Zealand Transport Agency and local council they have failed to deliver the roading infrastructure that would actually allow free flow of traffic around the Westgate precinct that wonderful precinct developed by the New Zealand Retail Property Group on the understanding that the Transport Agency would complete the motorway overbridges and the off-ramps on State Highway 16 extension between Westgate and Brigham Creek.Now I've asked Minister Michael Wood: when will the bridge and off-ramps be completed? Because right now there's traffic jams there's traffic backing up kilometres on the north-western motorway Minister Clark which is dangerous to get to Costco. And actually the key to unlocking competition is to complete the motorway interchange next door to Costco so that more people can come and go from Costco. Instead you bring this farce of a bill telling us that a Grocery Commissioner is somehow going to wave a magic wand and the New Zealand grocery market will become more competitive while all of these other barriers like the Resource Management Act and whatever this Labour Government's attempt at replacing it—what I would call RMA 2.0-plus-some-more-people-allowed-to-object-to-what-you-want-to-do-with-your-private-property. Fix that we say.The ACT Party says fix the resource management laws in New Zealand liberalise the way we fund finance and deliver infrastructure. Stop pretending Minister that you can solve problems like lowering prices for consumers with a bill that establishes a Grocery Commissioner. And you know when I think of "Grocery Commissioner" I think of Dr David Clark in a white coat with a little scanner and a clipboard recording those prices and then going back to Cabinet to report on whether his legislation is successful. But I'll tell you what if he's going to Costco on a Saturday morning he's going to have to wait about 45 minutes in traffic probably queuing on the motorway off-ramp because this bill won't do anything. But ACT's resource management infrastructure reform that we're announcing next Tuesday that is the solution Minister."