Hudson BrettBRETT HUDSON (National): Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker. It's a pleasure to rise and speak on this bill in the second reading. Although not a permanent member of the Transport and Infrastructure Committee I was fortunate to be able to substitute on for all of the business on the scrutiny of this bill so I was able to hear from the submitters and I had the opportunity to ask some questions. The bill has been returned with some amendments but there are problems that persist with it that we sought in the select committee to rationally set out to Government members of the committee and reach agreement on. Unfortunately that could not be attained.I particularly want to start in the area of market studies. The Minister introducing this second reading Kris Faafoi did point out that the market studies provisions will permit the responsible Minister to initiate a market study or competition study or the Commerce Commission to self-initiate. It was that self-initiation that we presented as an issue. Actually prior to the last election the National-led Government had endorsed pretty much this bill certainly in terms of market studies. We had made a Cabinet process to place the fundamentals of those into legislation. But the point of difference was that that then National-led Government believed that such studies should be ministerial-initiated only not self-initiated.The Minister today and previously has justified those provisions on the basis that allowing the Commerce Commission to self-initiate market studies takes the politics out of those competition studies. Well that's remarkable really because last week firstly the Prime Minister on two occasions and then Mr Hughes—one of his governing partners in a confidence and supply agreement—put the politics right back into them by stating that first they are going to put this bill through the House in some haste and it's yet to be determined if that also translates into parliamentary urgency but urgency was the word the Prime Minister used. This bill would pass through its remaining stages in some haste so they could hasten a market study into fuel pricing in New Zealand.The Prime Minister then went on to say the next day that the next cab off the rank could possibly be a study into supermarkets and then Mr Hughes reiterated that call. So I would argue so much for the line that politics will be taken out of competition studies and competition regulation in the New Zealand marketplace under this bill.What those comments and in fact the Minister's own comments as this bill went through select committee showed is that we're now looking at some haste for legislation that the Government doesn't understand what it's actually legislating for. In particular the Minister in the Estimates hearings as this bill had entered select committee stated in evidence that a market study would be expected on average to cost approximately $400000. So he felt—and he said under evidence—that there should be enough in the previous Budget to permit about three maybe up to four of these studies a year.Well that's quite remarkable because in its oral submission the Commerce Commission made it absolutely clear to the select committee that the budget allowance of $1.5 million a year for these competition studies as the Commerce Commission prefers to term them would permit one study to be undertaken a year. They made it very clear that there would be no change to be expected out of a million dollars for each study and they expected that there would be no more than one able to be afforded per year. But we have a responsible Minister that believes that three or even four of them could be done for that same budget.Now what that indicates is that the Minister's brought a bill to the House and into select committee without actually talking to his officials about what the scope and implications of these studies are. They are clearly much larger more expensive and have more imposition on the businesses affected than the Minister is aware of and in fact the Prime Minister made it clear in her comments around the fuel price inquiry she wants to set into motion quickly that they'll be able to report back early in 2019. Again the Commerce Commission made it very clear that these studies are comprehensive studies. They take a great deal of time. In fact we can anticipate that each study would take the best part of a year to complete.The Commerce Commission also made it clear in their submission that in order for a market study or a competition study to be just that it requires broad participation broad inquiry. So whereas the Minister responsible in his evidence again in Estimates indicated that perhaps you know you could talk to a couple of participants the Commerce Commission were very clear under questioning that actually a market study requires a very very broad look at a market across a range of businesses not just for instance in this fuel price inquiry a couple or all of the major oil providers or the likes of Z Energy but indeed across the range of fuel service vendors in New Zealand.Remarkably the Auckland business chamber informed us just recently—last week—that of the 1500 service stations across New Zealand over 1200 of them are fundamentally small business or what we might call mum and pop operations. Now the Commerce Commission made it absolutely clear that in order to be a competition study it is going to have to look at that breadth across the market. So what they are going to impose through hastening this legislation is an inquiry process that will take the best part of a year that will look at a really broad range of business and in doing so because the market studies have compulsory data acquisition powers they are going to require small businesses to furnish the same sort of information in the same format to the same extent as they will require of the very largest businesses.It is evidence that the Government does not understand the scope and the cost impost across small as well as large businesses that their legislation will impose. That is why it's an absolute travesty that they refuse to listen to rational argument that the best way to manage this would be to limit the use of these powers particularly the ability to compel businesses to provide data in specific formats and extents to that which has been either initiated at a ministerial level or endorsed by the responsible Minister.By the way look if they really want to get a fuel inquiry under way we'd be pretty happy to help with this. But really if they want do a fuel inquiry and it's going to take a year if they really want to be a kind and caring Government as they claim the best way they can help New Zealanders tomorrow is simply by axing the tax that they've just put on—the recent excise and the regional fuel tax. Indicators in the Auckland market are showing that competitive pressures there are driving cost prices down which effectively sees some of that recovered from outside of the Auckland region so that the impost of that regional fuel tax is in effect—not in reality but in effect—being felt across broader parts of New Zealand.But we do acknowledge that doing that inquiry is better than doing nothing. It is going to take too long. Every day that that inquiry goes on New Zealanders are going to feel the pinch in their back pockets because of the taxes that are imposed on them as well as other global supply and exchange pressures. But at least it will be doing something along the way to help so we are of a mind to want to offer our support to get that under way.Before I finish I would like to just touch on a couple of the other areas of the bill. The airport regulation—actually before I just move on to the airport regulation I intend to put a Supplementary Order Paper (SOP) in during the committee stage which I call on the Government to support. It's going to be a very simple SOP. It is simply going to require that where the Commerce Commission self-initiates a competition study it will require ministerial approval. I call on the Government to support that because it would bring us in line with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). In Australia market studies don't have the ability to compel businesses to provide data; it is a voluntary data provision only. Where the ACCC is able to exercise powers of compulsion in the acquisition of data they require ministerial approval even when they're self-initiated by the ACCC. So there's a good reason there for the Government to keep us in sync in harmony with the regulatory practice in Australia. So I call on the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to support that SOP in the next stage.But on the airport regulation I'll acknowledge that officials made some changes which made those provisions much more palatable but they still didn't meet the threshold of proving why the change was actually needed in the first place. We would like to see this inquiry get under way. We want to ease back pockets for Kiwis. We will support this bill and at second reading.