Webb Duncan; Salesa JennyHon Dr DUNCAN WEBB (Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs): Tēnā koe e te Mana Whakawā. It's a real pleasure to speak here on the Prime Minister's statement a statement which made it very clear that this Government is absolutely focused on the main issues facing New Zealand. One of those main issues is of course the cost of living and I found it actually really surprising to hear Mr Watts talk about three waters because this Government has a plan and the National Party plan that they propose is to tell local bodies to up their game and that's about it—and that's about it. When asked Will that cost more?" what was their—a sort of awkward shrug: "I suppose so." It will. It will drive costs for families up. This Government is committed to looking for solutions that give families what they need and drive costs down not just now but in the long term. This is not a short-term Government; this is a Government that looks ahead to achieve structural change in all parts of the economy.I must say I'm very happy to be given my new role as the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs especially given the fact that our focus is on making lives better for people who need it most. The consumer sector is one where there is a huge amount to do. It's absolutely right that we've got to engage with the sector whether that be finance insurance banking wherever but at the same time the absolute focus has to be: how do we deliver better and fairer prices to ordinary New Zealanders? That's absolutely the focus of this portfolio because there are power imbalances and this is a Government that is committed to making sure that the vulnerable are looked after.I do want to look back and look at the work that's been done by previous Ministers. Think back to when we had truck shops going through South Auckland selling at high interest when we had loan sharks lending money at 600 percent interest to our most vulnerable communities. Where are they now? Well they're gone and this is the Government that said "It's not good enough. We won't put up with loan sharks preying on vulnerable consumers." And we're continuing that work. There's work to be done across the board.Of course one of the places we're looking is the grocery industry and the market study that was commissioned by the last Minister showed that supermarkets are making monopoly profits. They're making profits that they're only making because of the powerful position they occupy in the market. We're working on that and we've got a whole programme to bend the curve of grocery prices. We know that there are tough times that what's gone on in the Hawke's Bay is affecting what we see on our supermarket shelves and the prices but what we want to see is a fair and an effective and equitable grocery sector.I do want to say—and I know the member for Tukituki's in the House—that the supermarket workers in the Hawke's Bay did some great work in making sure that people could be fed. They were there and who knows what was going on at home for them. I absolutely want to recognise that in situations like that the people who put the power back on the people who put the food on the shelves they've got homes and families and lives as well and they did a great job there not only in the Hawke's Bay but around the country. So I do want to recognise those people who might not be earning a lot but what they do is an absolute lifeline. So great work to those workers. You know they're the people that we do need to look out for.I want to recognise that we've got to listen as well. You know only moments ago I was speaking to advocates from Consumer New Zealand who bring another perspective to this discussion who do look and scan across the horizon for what's going on and identify issues. We don't necessarily agree on everything all the time but I value the views of a diverse range of New Zealanders and I'm committed to getting out there and listening to them.So in the grocery sector that legislation is going through the House and select committee now but that wholesale supply framework the ability for competitors to go and buy at the same price as supermarkets and distribute elsewhere—that will be a game-changer. The supply code setting behavioural standards for supermarkets as to how they deal with other parties—that will be a game-changer. The Grocery Commissioner a watchdog out of the Commerce Commission an expert making sure the rules are stuck to—that will be a game-changer. We haven't sat on our hands. We haven't seen these large supermarkets getting super-profits and said "Oh well that's just the way it is." We have taken decisive action and we're going to see structural change. It's not going to happen overnight; we're not going to see the price of milk go down tomorrow but in terms of the pressures on costs this is one we don't need. Monopoly profits going to large companies is something that we don't need. Fair profits fair game; monopoly profits we won't have.I was asked earlier today about the banking sector. You know absolutely we've got to make sure that we don't let the banking sector get away with similar profiteering and there are fair questions to be asked about how banks charge the amount of interest they do given the cost of the money that they use. They're reasonable questions. I was asked whether there's going to be a market study. Well maybe there will but we won't rush into that. If there's going to be a market study we will do it carefully. We will do it in a considered manner. But the question when asking where we should be looking is: where can the gains be made? Where can we return the most to ordinary New Zealanders ordinary consumers?One of the things I do want to look at is consumer data rights because one of the things that the banking sector profits from is the difficulty of switching between banks. One of the challenges is that if we want to move banks as you probably know it's not an easy thing. There's a lot of information there's a lot of data to move there's a lot of credit history. One of the challenges is: how can we make that data absolutely transportable? How can we give a bit of data sovereignty not to the banks who hold it all but to the customer so that they can pick it up and move between banks seamlessly much like we do with power companies? That would be another game-changer. We need an innovative finance sector one where it's customer focused and customer driven and I absolutely endorse innovation in that sector. We need more of it.You know earlier today I was in this House speaking about the New Zealand Claims Resolution Service. It's a fantastic innovation an innovation of the Labour Party where things weren't working in Christchurch. There was the Residential Advisory Service which was a narrow legal advice service; it wasn't going far enough. This service addresses all of the needs: technical social mental the whole lot. We can wrap around people and help them through what can be a very very difficult process after a national disaster. This is a great innovation and it's one of the things we need to look at in terms of how we both avoid and resolve disputes because if people are helped through some of these difficult situations given the necessary information given the tools and support to enter into decision making and make those decisions then those very things that turned into disputes we can avoid them before they emerge.Again the people who do this work are fantastic highly skilled people not just skilled in their areas of expertise but skilled in dealing with people and understanding them and I want to give them a shout-out. I know that ahead of them they've got a lot of work. We know there's a lot of damage there's a lot of people that need help and I absolutely want to recognise the work that they do do and what they are going to do.The other portfolio I've been given is State-owned enterprises and I must say that's one that you might not think of as being particularly policy-heavy and it's not but when you think about it there are billions of dollars of assets over $7 billion of assets and they're held by New Zealand. They're held for New Zealanders and they are again some of our lifelines. Transpower: you know that's faced some challenges but it's done a great job in getting transmission lines back in the Hawke's Bay. Kordia: most people wouldn't even know the important role they play in the communications network. Airways MetService—all of those things which are absolutely integral to the functioning of New Zealand and once again the role of those entities is to deliver value value in their services and value in their profits back to New Zealanders so that New Zealand can be better.So absolutely focused. The Prime Minister is very clear that the cost of living is front and centre. The work that I'm doing is supporting people absolutely in doing that both in the consumer affairs area—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): Order! Order! The member's time has expired.Hon Dr Duncan Webb: Oh there was so much more good stuff!ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): I'm sure."