Hide Rodney: Business Law Reform Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee 
Hide Rodney: Business Law Reform Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee 
[Volume:616;Page:12414] 
RODNEY HIDE (ACT) 
: 
 I too have some questions for the Minister in the chair because it is not often that we find ourselves amending legislation that was passed before Craig McNair’s mother was born. This is true. This is the Building Societies Act of 1965 so this legislation has stood the test of time in parliamentary terms and in New Zealand terms—it is nearly 40 years old. So the building societies legislation has been trucking along for 40 years and then suddenly we have to change it. What are we changing it for? 
Clause 4 in Part 1 of the Business Law Reform Bill will insert a new section 91A in the Building Societies Act which will allow building societies to prepare summary financial statements. Forgive me but presumably those building societies have been getting along since 1965 without needing to put in summary disclosures and financial statements. All of a sudden they are needed. Why? 
I want to draw Mr Carter’s attention to something that quite disturbs me about our building societies. The new section 93(1A) to be inserted by clause 5 of the bill states: “Summary financial statements prepared under section 91A must—(a) give a true and fair view of the matters to which they relate;”. I ask the Minister does that mean that since 1965 financial statements that did not give a true and fair view of the matters to which they related have been able to be prepared? See? The Minister does not know about the Building Societies Act of 1965. How is it that we are passing legislation after nearly 40 years to allow summary financial statements and having to say “… give a true and fair view of the matters to which they relate;”? 
I ask the Minister whether that is not a requirement already. I look across to Government members in this Committee and ask is that not a requirement now? I look across to United Future the great party of common sense whose members know about financial matters and I ask Mr Paul Adams whether it is not already a requirement for building societies to “give a true and fair view of the matters to which they relate” when they provide a financial statement? It is. So why are we passing this legislation now? 
Mr Adams says: “I don’t know. I just got told to come down here by Peter Dunne to vote for it.” New Zealand First does not know either because those members are busy trying to tidy up the foreshore and seabed legislation but I doubt whether they will be voting for it. I look forward to hearing Jill Pettis who once again will not take a call but chip chip chip—she knows all about how building societies work. 
Jill Pettis 
: Yes I used to work for one. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: Oh she used to work for one. What did the member used to do for that building society? 
Jill Pettis 
: Arrange people’s mortgages. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: Very very good. Well when that member was arranging people’s mortgages and preparing financial statements was it a requirement that she gave a true and fair view of the matters to which the documents related? [ 
Interruption 
] She says it was so again I ask the member who has worked for a building society—which puts her ahead of everyone else in this House—why are we doing this? Why is this change necessary? 
Maybe Mrs Jill Pettis who is in a position to know could finally take a call to explain something of which she has experience. I ask her to take a 1-minute call to explain why summary financial statements are needed why we need to be worrying about building societies giving an untrue and unfair view of matters and why we might be worried under proposed section 93(1A)(b) that they might not be complying with “generally accepted accounting practice”. Why on earth would we be putting that into legislation 40 years after the original bill? 
I do not mean to be rude but I think Mrs Pettis was around in 1965. 
Jill Pettis 
: Just. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: Just—so she was just around unlike Craig McNair’s mum.