Curran Clare: Securities Trustees and Statutory Supervisors Bill — In Committee 
Curran Clare: Securities Trustees and Statutory Supervisors Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:671;Page:17715] 
CLARE CURRAN (Labour—Dunedin South) 
: 
 I go back to what the Minister in the chair the Minister of Commerce said about the reason for linking the bills together and his justification for that. As he knows Labour is supporting the Securities Trustees and Statutory Supervisors Bill but we are arguing—I think quite justifiably so—that this particular bill is being progressed prematurely. That is because it could have waited to be wrapped up with the Securities Act reforms and the establishment of the Financial Markets Authority. The Minister might not agree with that idea but my colleague the Hon Lianne Dalziel talked a lot about the logic of it earlier. 
As the Financial Markets (Regulators and KiwiSaver) Bill is also being progressed at the same time it might minimise some of the confusion when the bill becomes law but it is concerning that the Securities Act review deadline has been delayed until 2011. A number of my colleagues have talked tonight about the Financial Markets (Regulators and KiwiSaver) Bill in relation to the things that have not been addressed yet the importance of addressing those things and the order that they are done in. 
I take the opportunity while the Minister is in the Chamber to quickly recap something I said earlier about the issue of taking responsibility. He referred to that issue with regard to the Financial Markets Authority which is the new authority replacing the powers of all those agencies. He talked about all the agencies having a staring competition—those are the words he used—and those agencies not taking responsibility for all of their various responsibilities. In terms of taking responsibility and practising what one preaches I draw a comparison between that example and the mishandling of the South Canterbury Finance collapse which was the largest financial collapse in New Zealand history. It is one of the reasons why we are talking about this legislation and it is why both pieces of legislation are before the Committee. The issue of taking responsibility is really critical. 
A number of my colleagues have also talked about that issue tonight. After various trusts connected with Allan Hubbard as well as Hubbard himself were put into statutory management by the Government South Canterbury Finance was unable to have the confidence of investors that it needed which contributed to its demise. There are serious questions about why South Canterbury Finance was not put into statutory management and why the Retail Deposit Guarantee Scheme coverage was extended despite the negative rating and the state of the audited accounts. 
Labour supports the Securities Trustees and Statutory Supervisors Bill. I wish we could make the names of our bills a bit simpler— 
Hon Member 
: Just for you Clare! 
CLARE CURRAN 
: Just from a plain English point of view and from a financial literacy point of view. That is another issue that has been raised in this Chamber a lot tonight so it is not actually a joke. The issue of financial literacy and the ability of the ordinary person out there to understand the importance of this legislation and the other legislation we are talking about tonight is actually really critical. Understanding and de-jargonising our legislation is quite a critical issue. I hope the Minister will support me on that. 
Labour supports the bill because reform of the ways that trustees and statutory supervisors operate is essential for the prevention of another financial collapse. We have talked tonight—and on various other occasions when debating this legislation—about how all of these collapses happened why they happened and what we are doing about it. We want to prevent more collapses happening. That is why the issue of taking responsibility is so important. There needs to be greater transparency in that area as has been evident from the Government’s handling of the South Canterbury Finance collapse.