Garrett David: Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Bill — Second Reading 
Garrett David: Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Bill — Second Reading 
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DAVID GARRETT (ACT) 
: 
 This is another one of those pleasant occasions for me as a new member where all sides of the House agree including the Greens; there is no imprisonment involved in the Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Bill so they are in support as well. All sides of the House have come together to support this sensible legislation. Who can downplay the importance of insurance in an uncertain world? The vicissitudes of life can affect all of us and the one thing standing between us and perils of many kinds is insurance. 
There are many kinds of insurance. Some of them are sourced from within New Zealand but other types are more traditionally sourced from overseas. I think particularly of maritime and shipping insurance which of course is the preserve of Lloyd’s of London. But another specialist area of insurance also frequently offered from overseas—and I raise this because this bill particularly deals with overseas insurers—is employment protection insurance. Being found without a job can be a devastating event for anyone and anyone can be exposed to that peril; even members of the House can find themselves without a job suddenly and without warning. All of us I think would have to admit as I do that we are here on 3-year fixed-term contracts with no right of renewal. 
Grant Robertson 
: Very true for that member. 
DAVID GARRETT 
: Absolutely; I have maintained my income protection insurance I tell that member because I am very aware of that— 
Grant Robertson 
: So have I. 
DAVID GARRETT 
: I note the member has too. So we are two prudent members and this bill is the Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Bill. We need income protection insurance and mine perhaps like Mr Robertson’s is underwritten by an overseas insurer like AIA Group in my case. This bill serves to ensure that that insurer is able to meet claims when claimants suddenly find themselves for whatever reason expelled from employment; they are terminated kicked out and unable to continue the lifestyle that they have been accustomed to. On that point if people have become accustomed to a particularly lavish lifestyle and then suddenly find themselves— 
Hon Members 
: Overseas travel? Flowers? 
DAVID GARRETT 
: —without an income then bang they need to fall back on income protection insurance. The point I am working up to is that any insurance contract is only as good as the company behind it. It does not matter what sort of flowers are on the front of the document or how ornate elaborate coloured and pretty the contract is. If the underwriter of that contract is no good—if the underwriter has “feet of clay” as we say in the legal trade—then that contract is no good. So this bill is to be welcomed particularly by those of us who have employment protection insurance by those of us who may be thrown out without warning even short of our 3-year fixed-term contracts for whatever reason. Misconduct could be one of those reasons. 
Aaron Gilmore 
: Can you think of anybody that it might apply to? 
DAVID GARRETT 
: I tell Mr Gilmore that it could apply to anyone. That is the point and that is what insurance is about. It protects us from the vicissitudes of life that come out of nowhere. People can be going along and doing their job to the best of their abilities or so they think and all of a sudden something happens and they are gone. It can happen very very quickly sometimes within hours or several days. They are left unable to pay their mortgage or for example unable to pay for the overseas trip they booked or the new suit they ordered. If people do not have income protection insurance backed up by a company of sound and prudential renown they are in trouble in the colloquial sense. They are in an unenviable position with no income and a lavish lifestyle and they are cast out. So this bill is to be welcomed. 
As I have said the bill has particular emphasis on overseas companies to ensure that they are supervised properly in a prudential sense. If our hypothetical employment protection insurance contract needs to be honoured—if someone is forced to call upon it unexpectedly without warning as is the way of life sadly—this bill ensures that that company will be sound and that the holder of that contract is at least cushioned to some degree from the harsh cold reality of finding himself or herself suddenly without a job. We in the ACT Party are very happy to join with other parties in the House to support this bill and we applaud it. Thank you.