Lotu-Iiga Peseta Sam: Crown Retail Deposit Guarantee Scheme Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
Lotu-Iiga Peseta Sam: Crown Retail Deposit Guarantee Scheme Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:657;Page:6127] 
PESETA SAM LOTU-IIGA (National—Maungakiekie) 
: 
 I acknowledge the earlier speakers who have contributed to this debate. A number of issues have been raised and a number of questions have been asked. I acknowledge those who have made a contribution. 
Rather than talking about the wider issues of the financial industry we are talking today about the Crown Retail Deposit Guarantee Scheme Bill. As many members stated earlier the scheme was put together last October with a degree of haste by the previous Government in its waning days. It was one of its last acts— 
Amy Adams 
: 8½ years wasn’t it of waning? 
PESETA SAM LOTU-IIGA 
: —yes—in Government. We stand to support the scheme. The scheme is about giving confidence certainty and stability to an important industry in New Zealand. 
I will touch on the views held by members opposite about the role of Australian banks in this country. From the diatribe that has come from some members across the Chamber it would seem that Australian banks are big nasty evil institutions but they are not. I put it to members that without the investment in this country from the four Australian banks our economy and our businesses would not be as well funded as they are today. We have a long way to go in terms of funding and access to capital but to paint the large Australian banks as evil institutions is I think a little bit rich coming from members across the Chamber. It is about our accessing capital in this day and age—the electronic age the Internet age—when we can access capital from around the world. 
One speaker referred to 80 percent of the flow of funds coming from Australia. Yes it would be positive if that flow of funds was diversified around the world but it is not and that is the situation we find ourselves in. Our economy is inextricably linked with the Australian economy. We heard a number of points raised about the way that we align ourselves with Australia and the way that we harmonise not just our financial industry but also a number of industries across our country with those of our Australian brothers and sisters. It is a positive to work with our Australian counterparts and a ministerial delegation went across the Ditch in the last couple of weeks. 
Another point that was raised by my colleagues across the Chamber was distortions. Yes there are distortions from this scheme being in place. There will always be distortions where there is any form of Government intervention in an industry. But to say that larger institutions gain the most benefit from this particular scheme because they have better credit ratings is to misunderstand the nature of credit ratings. The only financial institution that holds a triple A credit rating is not a US institution; it is a Dutch institution called Rabobank. Rabobank as many members will know is not the largest bank in the world. In fact it is not even the largest bank in the Netherlands where it is based. It is a bank that has a quality book and that is what determines ultimately the credit rating it receives. Size and scale have nothing to do with the nature of one’s credit rating. 
It is about jobs growth and exports and Labour members have to admit that exports have declined year on year for the last 5 years. I do not know how those members can complain about some of the moves that this Government is putting in place. It is about jobs it is about growth and it is about exports and the scheme will go a long way to alleviating some of those problems. 
Finally the bill provides a transition away from the scheme. By December 2011 the scheme will expire. It is our hope and it is certainly the hope of many across this country that the economic recession will have subsided by that time. It is our hope that this type of scheme will not be required and that the banks and the financial institutions will be able to go out into the markets raise capital and offer capital for our businesses to grow and expand. 
In brief I support the bill. I think it has much credibility in terms of bringing stability and confidence and the right amount of investment in our financial institutions. Thank you.