Clark DavidHon Dr DAVID CLARK (Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs): I am pleased to open proceedings on the Companies (Levies) Amendment Bill. I want to thank the Finance and Expenditure Committee of course for their work on it. They had made a number of thoughtful amendments to the bill along the way mostly around strengthening the checks and balances in the bill to make sure the new levy-making power in the bill is well used and that there is effective consultation before any levies are set. The intention of the bill is pretty simple. It enables the Companies Office to charge its users levies as well as fees in the way that it does now. The levies will be used to help recover the costs associated with running the 16 registers that the Companies Office maintains. The Companies Office registers all benefit our society and economy in a variety of different ways. By maintaining these registers effectively the Companies Office helps to build trust and confidence in our economy. This contributes to making New Zealand a transparent fair and easy place to do business. New Zealanders search these registers for information that they need to help them do business and to make decisions. The levies will enable a more fit for purpose funding model for the Companies Office. It reflects that the Companies Office has 16 different registers and it doesn't make sense for each register to be funded entirely separately from one another. In doing so it creates a system where the maintenance of each register costs less than it otherwise would if each register was freestanding and operationally independent. That is economies of scale are achieved by combining the overheads and administrative costs of all of the registers in an integrated system. If these registers were operated separately each one would require more money to run it and taxpayers would pay more for the operation of these registers. I think that is something the ACT Party has acknowledged and I welcome and thank them for their support for this reading through the bill. We certainly don't want taxpayers to pay more than they need to for the service that the Government provides.The bill enables a funding model that reflects how the Companies Office best and most efficiently delivers its registry services for the benefits of New Zealanders. I wonder whether I might just make some introductory comments to Part 1 of the bill and then I'll had over to members for their contributions. Part 1 contains all of the operative provisions. Section 404 sets out the purpose of imposing levies. In short that purpose is to recognise the Companies Office holistic approach to running the 16 registers. The section also sets out that any levies should be imposed on users in a manner that's equitable efficient and justified. Section 405 contains the regulation-making power itself and details what can be prescribed in the levy regulations. Section 407 sets out the matters that the responsible Minister must have regard to when setting the regulations and that includes the purpose statement and the costs that are proposed to be recovered through the use of the levy. Section 408 is about consultation. That is the section that's been strengthened as I mentioned by the amendments made by the select committee process. And section 409 which was added by the Finance and Expenditure Committee requires a review of the new levies within the first five years after they are introduced and that report will be made available to the public. I look forward to members' contributions.