Lotu-Iiga Sam: Regulatory Reform Bill — In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Lotu-Iiga Sam: Regulatory Reform Bill — In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee 
[Sitting date: 22 August 2012. Volume:683;Page:4675. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA (National—Maungakiekie) 
: 
 It is a pleasure to take a call on this Regulatory Reform Bill and I also want to acknowledge the Minister John Banks for bringing this bill to the House. It was Rodney Hide’s bill originally but John Banks is continuing the good work that Rodney Hide did in the last term. It is about making New Zealand a better place to do business it is about making New Zealand a better place to live in and it is about improving the lives of all New Zealanders. The changes may seem small to some across the aisle there but to the industries that this bill impacts to the people whom they employ and to the consumers who buy their products they are significant indeed. 
This bill as has already been stated here tonight is about getting rid of unnecessary regulations and about making it easier for businesses to do business. 
Brendan Horan 
: Speak up. 
Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA 
: I want to thank Brendan Horan over there. He did not turn up to the rugby on Saturday after spending 1 minute on the field 2 months ago—he smiles over there—but his leader turned up and gave a speech without playing the game. But coming back to this bill we all know what the problem is. It is about the effects that outdated and irrelevant regulations continue to have on our economy. It is about growing the economy because our Government believes in focusing on the things that matter. It is not about gay marriage. It is about regulations. It is about jobs opportunities and the things that matter to New Zealanders whether it be health or education. I am pleased because in my electorate of Maungakiekie we have got companies that actually welcome this bill. I go around and talk to these companies. Last week I was at NCI packaging in Mount Wellington and the one thing they said to me was: “It’s about getting rid of compliance regulation.” Such regulations burden businesses unnecessarily and are ineffective. 
I want to come to the bill—I want to come to the bill. There is amendment to the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Act 1997 which Mr Cosgrove did not talk about but I want to say what it does. The Regulatory Reform Bill provides for greater efficiency and cost-effectiveness under the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Act 1997. What does it do Mr Cosgrove? Mr Cosgrove did not tell us in the last speech but what it does is it will remove the requirement for product manufacturers’ details to be included on the public register. That is one thing that it does. 
Secondly it also allows the Director-General to cancel non-compliant and obsolete trade name product registrations where those registrations and any required prerequisite approval for the product or a specific component or ingredient of a product have been revoked under other legislation. He has got that bit right. Mr Cosgrove has got that bit right. But it is also about where the registrant cannot be located or where non-compliance continues to follow suspension of the product’s registration. That is some of the stuff in Part 1 that we are amending. 
These amendments will also remove requirements that are unnecessary and excessively costly. How much is it? It is $50000 per year under this part of the bill—$50000 per year. Again they might scoff at that amount but that amount is still significant when you think over the long term of the amount of money that will be saved under this part of the bill. 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: How much? How much? 
Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA 
: I said it is $50000 per year. Please listen when I speak; I give Mr Cosgrove the respect of listening to him when he speaks. 
So these amendments will really increase the consistency across food safety - related legislation and will reduce red tape costs. The ability to recognise a class under this Act will reduce potential compliance costs and minimise the disincentive for applicants to become recognised. That is what the bill does I say to Mr Cosgrove if he was wondering because he did not refer to the bill. 
Much of the poor regulation if I can summarise afflicts our businesses right across the board. Some of the regulations that we have had to amend certainly under this administration the National administration have been mistakes made under the previous regime. 
Hon Members 
: Oh oh! 
Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA 
: Oh and they laugh. Let me point out another piece of legislation that we had to amend under the last term. There was the financial advisers and financial service providers legislation— 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: Hang on—relevance? 
Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA 
: —just as an example to draw an analogy about what we are doing compared with what the Labour Government did. We had to clean up this legislation because the finance company failures were hurtful. We had to make up for the mistakes that were made under the last Government. When we came in in 2009 we said that we would make two major commitments—two major commitments that pertain to Part 1 of the bill. We said that we would introduce new regulation only when we were satisfied that it is required reasonable and robust. I refer to the financial advisers legislation and I refer to the financial service providers legislation because in 2008 that legislation was passed and we had to amend it almost immediately. 
 The second part of our reform agenda was that we would review existing regulations in order to identify and remove requirements that were unnecessary ineffective or excessively costly and that is what this bill does. This bill amends those costly regulations that were put in under the last Government. So this is another promise by the National Government that we are fulfilling. 
Just to summarise this is another promise that we are fulfilling around reducing the costs of compliance reducing bureaucracy reducing red tape and promoting jobs and opportunities for all New Zealanders. That is what this National Government stands for. Thank you.