Williams Andrew: Credit Contracts and Financial Services Law Reform Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWilliams Andrew: Credit Contracts and Financial Services Law Reform Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 13 May 2014. Volume:698;Page:17789. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ANDREW WILLIAMS (NZ First): I take a call on behalf of New Zealand First on the Credit Contracts and Financial Services Law Reform Bill. I understand that before I came into this Chamber the Minister of Consumer Affairs Craig Foss questioned why New Zealand First is not supporting this bill although other parties are. We have already spoken in this Chamber in the last week on this particular bill at the previous Committee stage debate and said that yes it had great purpose it was an opportunity to rectify some serious situations with credit and loans of money in this country and it had significant potential. However what it did fall short on badly was the opportunity to put caps on interest rates from loan sharks and lenders who operate in an unscrupulous manner. I will repeat that: this bill had the opportunity to put a limit put a cap on interest rates from unscrupulous lenders and loan sharks and this Government has chosen not to do that. This Government has chosen to block any of the Supplementary Order Papers and any attempts by the Opposition to put in place such caps.We simply ask the question why. Why would any responsible Government looking to protect its citizens looking to protect the most vulnerable people in society and looking to protect those who are borrowing money not protect them by putting in some form of protection in the form of caps on interest rates when other jurisdictions as we have heard such as the UK the United States Canada Japan Australia and most European Union countries have? Why would New Zealand know so much more than these other developed countries? Why would we think we are so smart? When all these other countries can put caps in place why would we not do so? So New Zealand First will not do this—we will not support a bill that leaves New Zealanders vulnerable in this manner.It does boil down to the fact that this bill will be passed and New Zealand First will be the only party voting against it but those Supplementary Order Papers could have brought that protection about. They were lost 61 to 60 on the one vote of the Hon PeterDunne the former Minister of Revenue. We again ask the question: why did the Minister not vote so that his one casting vote would have allowed those caps to be put on interest rates? The fact is that this bill emanated from 2010 in the days of the Credit Reforms (Responsible Lending) Bill a member’s bill from Carol Beaumont which was originally put together by Charles Chauvel of the Labour Party and which back then was requiring caps on interest rates. Back then the Minister Peter Dunne voted in favour of those caps. In fact not only did he vote in favour of them but one of the people responsible for devising the bill the Hon Peter Dunne—The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy): Order! Can the member talk about Part 2.ANDREW WILLIAMS: No I am talking about the whole bill.The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy): No well we are on Part 2.ANDREW WILLIAMS: Well yes but the Minister referred to us—The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy): No look we are on Part 2.ANDREW WILLIAMS: Sure but the Minister made criticism of New Zealand First in terms of Part 2.