Clark David; Dean JacquiHon Dr DAVID CLARK (Labour—Dunedin): Thank you Madam Speaker. Look there is clearly an issue here that needs to be addressed. There have been surveys which show that of the 20 percent of gift card users who've been stuck with an expired card more than half lost more than $20 and 10 percent lost more than $60. We know that a percentage of shoppers never spend or are able to redeem all of the money on a gift card that they've received. There are real advantages to retailers in selling gift cards. They have money banked already essentially they have a sale in the pocket and they also have the prospect of further sales as those who are gift card users frequently spend beyond the amount of the gift card when they come into a shop to redeem that card.So we know that these cards are of big benefit to retailers. We know that the practice in New Zealand is out of line with other partners that we—other countries we look to overseas or align ourselves with. Melissa Lee has talked about in her contribution the merit of aligning expiry dates with overseas partners. I think that is an issue the select committee will need to pick up if this makes it through to the select committee. Australia has a three-year limit and we see that many Australian firms don't apply that limit in New Zealand. So New Zealand consumers are being treated more poorly than Australian consumers by the same companies. But we also see that in other jurisdictions like the United States and Ireland that it's five years typically for an expiry date on a gift card. In many if not most Canadian provinces there is no limit no expiry date on gift cards. So if alignment is what we're looking for I think that is something that would need to be looked at more closely.Melissa Lee's also raised the issue of shops that have closed transferability of gift cards; there are a range of issues around gift cards that need a more serious look. I would add to that the classification of what is a gift card. We know for example that many retailers offer benefits with the sale ones that spring to mind readily are the free coffees that supermarkets offer which comes in the form of a little token that you can redeem usually within a short period of time. Discounts on petrol are another frequent thing that appears with a receipt when you're making a purchase at some stores and typically they don't expire very far into the future at all. So what are gift cards?" is one of the questions that will need to be thought carefully about if this is going to be a blanket extension of that limit. So I fear that in its current form there are some things to be concerned about in the bill albeit that it is a bill that is addressing a very real issue.So on this side of the House we're very much mindful of the significant amount of money that remains unspent on gift cards nearly quarter of a—or in fact more than quarter of a billion dollars according to one survey. The average Kiwi has three gift cards with credit remaining with a combined total of $72 left over we're told. There's actually a gender gap here men tend to have more money sitting on their gift cards unused than women—$90 according to a survey; whereas women typically have $54 sitting on their gift cards. Also a generational one: millennials according to the same survey have an average of $97 on unused gift cards.Another question that that I have is what happens eventually if a gift card isn't redeemed? We know that in the case of banks for example unclaimed monies are returned to the Crown. Should it be the case that unclaimed monies on gift cards are returned to the Crown? Very similar principle at play here. Or does that money and should it accrue to a retailer who has issued that gift card and who has accounted for it throughout? That seems to me again an issue that needs closer scrutiny.So bearing in mind the challenges with making a really good fit for purpose law here and the issues that sit already in the system with gift cards that are not redeemed that are unfortunately meaning that Kiwis are not getting to spend money in a time when money is tight—things are pretty tough. We know that many of the markers we see are moving in the right direction but there's no doubt that lots of Kiwis are doing it tough. This Government's sought to address some of those challenges directly through things like the action on supermarkets that the Hon Dr Duncan Webb—well I had the privilege of leading but the Hon Dr Duncan Webb has now picked up and appointed a Grocery Commissioner to oversee the sector because we know there was a million dollars a day being made in excess profits after a very thorough inquiry into the sector. We know that there's going to be an investigation into banking profits and so on. These things like the $5 prescription—scrapping of the co-payment for prescription medicines and so on are measures that this Government is taking to make sure that Kiwis have more of their money in their own pockets. Free public transport for kids aged five to 12 and also things like the child support pass on to address child poverty. There are lots of things we can do to make sure Kiwis get to spend their money wisely and keep more of their money in a difficult time. Certainly not uncosted tax cuts—don't hear me arguing that in this House. I'll leave that to others to try and make that case.This side of the House will be supporting this bill. We think that the principle is right that it should be the case that there should be a longer expiry date on these cards so that Kiwis get a fair chance to spend money that has been gifted to them in a gesture often around a birthday or a significant occasion and that short expiry dates are really removing consumer's rights. That's not a situation that we think should stand so we're going to support this bill to select committee. We look forward to the challenges that are inherent in it being addressed by the select committee process and I congratulate the member Melissa Lee on bringing this bill to the House. ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Damien Smith—five-minute call."