Yang Jian: Electronic Transactions (Contract Formation) Amendment Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeYang Jian: Electronic Transactions (Contract Formation) Amendment Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 07 May 2014. Volume:698;Page:17615. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Dr JIAN YANG (National): It is a great privilege to speak in the third reading in support of the Electronic Transactions (Contract Formation) Amendment Bill. I want to thank my good colleagues the chair of the Commerce Committee Mr Young and alsoof course the National MP Paul Goldsmith for bringing this member’s bill to the House. I also thank the other committee members for their hard work.Before I talk about the bill I would like to talk about trade relations between China and New Zealand. I understand that when I became an MP in 2011 China was our second-largest trading partner. Now China is the largest trading partner of New Zealand and we should not take that for granted. We still need to expand our trade with China. There are many ways of doing that but online trading is a key part of expanding trade relationships with China. For that reason I understand that the Minister of Trade Tim Groser has been working very hard to expand online trading with China. I actually worked with Minister Groser to try to set up a virtual New Zealand house in China and we did that. In March this year when Minister Groser was visiting China he launched a website that is called “Fresh New Zealand”.Alibaba is the largest online company in China basically.Alibaba is so important that on 11 November each year for a single day online trading throughAlibaba is about 20 billion in Chinese currency—in 1 single day. That is how much—$20 billion in just 1 single day—is going throughAlibaba. That is how important online trading is in China.Hon Kate Wilkinson: How much is that in New Zealand?Dr JIAN YANG: That is about—if you divide it by five—Hon Kate Wilkinson: Huge.Dr JIAN YANG: Yes of course. It is very very big trading in 1 single day. Look at this. This is the picture in China. The online trading market is basically—we believe we cannot miss this particularly important market. That is why we say that we need to provide facilities and infrastructure for the future and this bill will simply improve our infrastructure for the future for trading.As we have heard from the previous speakers the purpose of the bill is to clarify the legal position on the time at which a contract is formed. This is important because for business we need clarity right? If the acceptance of an offer is sent by electronic communication when is the contract formed? That is very important and this bill will clarify that. This bill will amend the Electronic Transactions Act 2002. The Commerce Committee of which I am a member recommended that the bill be passed with amendments. This is a good bill. It clarifies uncertainty around when contracts are formed if the acceptance of an offer is made through electronic communications like email. Clear and predictable laws governing commerce are some of the foundations of a successful modern economy. This bill will deliver clarity and certainty which will lead to confidence and confidence leads to greater investment. Very clearly overseas investors are very interested in New Zealand not only because we have good opportunities but also because we have very clear rules. We have a very clear environment—very transparent. So this is very important.Under current legislation when a contract is accepted by post a rule applies that means that the contract is formed as soon as the acceptance is placed in the post. However this rule does not cover contracts accepted electronically—for example emails. So if someone accepts a job by email then there is no legal certainty over when that contract was formed. This bill tidies up a small area of uncertainty. It will amend the Electronic Transactions Act 2002 to follow the postal acceptance rule relating to electronic communications. Given the prevalence of electronic communications in society today including emailsmartphones and social media it is good that the current Act is amended to cover such areas. Basically in today’s world it is hard to imagine not having electronic devices. For exampleiPhones are very important in our lives and we work and also do transactions using them.The National-led Government is committed to operating online in the 21st century. It is about making the Public Service work better for taxpayers businesses and consumers. This will result in a more competitive and productive economy which will support jobs higher wages and first-class education and health systems and help New Zealanders and families to get ahead in New Zealand. Here education in particular is also important. Why? I have a kid who is 13 years old. Every day when she does homework she goes online to research all these things. Basically the younger generation is more literate in terms of using electronic devices. It is important that we do have this clarity for future generations. These are the things that matter to New Zealanders and that the National-led Government supports and is working hard to deliver for New Zealanders.We have set a target that an average of 70 percent of New Zealanders’ most common transactions with the Government will be completed in a digital environment by 2017—that is 70 percent. This includes among other things renewing adult passports applying for visas financial assistance Inland Revenue Department numbers and paying for vehicle licensing. But there are many more options of course. We have many things that can be done via electronic communications. The National-led Government is also investing $1.65 billion to deliver faster broadband to 97.8 percent of all New Zealanders where they live work and study by 2025. We believe that ultra-fast broadband is vital. It will promote innovation create jobs and grow the New Zealand economy. Actually I was talking to someone the other day. He was working online basically doing overseas transactions from New Zealand. He found that currently it is quite difficult because we do not have ultra-fast broadband.National is focused on building a more competitive and productive economy. New Zealand’s unemployment rate continues to be lower than that of most OECD countries. Through our comprehensive Business Growth Agenda the Government has a strong focus on creating the opportunities for competitive businesses to invest and employ more people. Our results so far are reflected in strong growth increasing employment improved trade balance stronger productivity growth and real wages rising faster than the cost of living. We are working to ensure that our public services make the most of online services. The Electronic Transactions (Contract Formation) Amendment Bill recognises that we live in an internet age and that is a good thing. Thank you.