Lorck AnnaANNA LORCK (Labour—Tukituki): I rise to speak as the final member on the second reading of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Bill that has been supported to the second reading by a majority of the Finance and Expenditure Committee. In introducing this bill I'd like to say that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1989 has not been comprehensively reviewed in over 30 years. Over that time the Reserve Bank has changed substantially and we have new expectations for regulation and monetary policy-making. The financial system and economic context have changed significantly and the local and international best practice has evolved. The review of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act is an opportunity to update and modernise the Reserve Bank's institutional arrangements.The purpose of this bill is to promote the prosperity and well-being of New Zealanders and contribute to a sustainable and productive economy." There are three things this bill does. The bill strengthens the Reserve Bank's institutional arrangements enhances the bank's role as a prudent regulator and increases coordination in the regulation in the financial sector.Hon Michael Woodhouse: What was that about reading speeches Ingrid?ANNA LORCK: When I refer to the notes today that I will talk to Mr Woodhouse I've taken great pleasure in listening to all of you talk and give your own contribution to this bill.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): But not the Speaker.ANNA LORCK: It's so important that when we do this—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Order! But not the Speaker.ANNA LORCK: Madam Speaker yes. I'm referring to Mr Woodhouse who has been so very very concerned about independence. I agree with my colleague Deborah Russell who talked about this where Mr Woodhouse was very very concerned that the independence of the Reserve Bank was going to be compromised. It is for this reason he says that the Opposition will not be joining in support of this bill. He is worried about the independence of the Reserve Bank. He feels that we're going to compromise it. However I agree with Deborah Russell and suggest that it is not a compromise. In fact it is a changing of a relationship in a way that is appropriate for the times. In fact there is still plenty of independence for the Reserve Bank.Coming back to what I would like to talk more about which is what this bill does. The bill currently before the House will reform the institutional arrangements of the Reserve Bank as well as carry over the changes made by the 2018 Reserve Bank of New Zealand (Monetary Policy) Amendment Act. The key changes being made by the bill include adding an overarching financial stability objective to complement the recently updated monetary policy objectives; strengthening decision making through moving from a single decision maker the governor to a board model; and ensuring operational independence is balanced with appropriate accountability with a number of changes to update the Reserve Bank's accountability and reporting frameworks to align with State sector practice. It will provide for a financial policy remit issued by the Minister setting out matters that the Reserve Bank board must have regard to when setting and implementing its strategic approach to financial stability providing the Council of Financial Regulators with a statutory mandate to support effective and responsive regulation of the financial system by facilitating cooperation and coordination between its members.Now as we worked through the submissions on this bill and also working through as a committee we became very efficient in how we delivered this. This is a very very efficient bill. I refer to three points. This bill ensures that the Reserve Bank is fit for current times. This is the legislation that is about how the Reserve Bank operates in order to achieve its objectives in a modern way. The world has moved on. The world has changed. If in the 1980s as my colleague Deborah Russell said this House was legislating in the shadow of rampant inflation and an interfering Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in this decade we are legislating in the shadow of the global financial crisis. We are operating in a different context. We know as my colleague Duncan Webb who is also the chairman of the Finance and Expenditure Committee said that something had to be done and the great economic innovation of the time of course was the inflation target signalling to let the market know that the Government with the Reserve Bank was committed to lowering inflation and would take the steps necessary. That alone had a very significant effect. New Zealand in fact was the first country in the world to do that.This is a great bill. It's an efficient bill and another great piece of reform of our monetary policy system which will put us on a great foundation for years and years to come. It does so by establishing the independence of the Reserve Bank collective decision-making and collective responsibility. This is a key aspect of this bill: coordination and cooperation.Now the last thing I would like to talk to you about is this word "efficiency". There's been a lot of debate about what is efficient but I must say that really what has worked in this is the efficiency of the Finance and Expenditure Committee. We have been a team that has worked through many of the issues and challenges that have been debated at length. In fact there are many parts of this bill that the National Party do agree with and we've heard from Mr Bayly tonight talking about how there are many parts of this that National supports. It's good to see that there is cooperation when working on our select committee because that's how we get good bills passed in Parliament.As I turn now to what will happen in wrapping up this bill is a result of an extensive consultation and engagement with stakeholders. The policy work was supported by a joint Treasury and Reserve Bank team supported by an expert independent advisory panel. It is very important here that we recognise this in developing the bill so people can have confidence in the expert advice that we have been given. This bill is now anticipated to come into force on 1 July 2022. This will allow the new governance board to be established and the reporting requirements to align with the start of the bank's financial year. The aim is to embed the new arrangements ahead of the implementation of the deposit takers bill when enacted. In wrapping up again I would like to thank all those submitters who have taken part in this. I would like to thank those on my select committee with me who have all contributed greatly to this debate and also to putting this together. I think it's really important when we have the team working on all sides of the House feeding into this legislation that we do listen and we do work together. That has been evident in a lot of the work that we do and this is why we have such a positive engagement around the select committee chaired under a very very positive result that gets us the delivery that we are seeing tonight. This is how we make sure we do fantastic hard work on the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Bill. I am absolutely thrilled to be able to talk about this at its second reading. This is a significant bill and I am looking forward to going through the next stages with it. This bill will ensure as I said it is fit for current times. It has the efficiency that's needed to deliver the confidence we have and by establishing the independence with the governor being appointed to the board I would like to commend this bill to the House. Thank you Madam Speaker."