Shaw James: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeShaw James: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 12 April 2016. Volume:713;Page:10367. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]5.JAMES SHAW (Co-Leader—Green) to the Minister of Finance: Will there be the opportunity for public submissions as a part of his review of foreign trusts?Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance): The task of the review is to understand the technical issues and identify opportunities to strengthen the disclosure regime for foreign trusts. That is the purpose of the independent expert review. As is normal practice for this kind of review public submissions will not be heard at this stage. However as the Prime Minister has said the Government is open to considering changes to the disclosure rules that are warranted. Should legislative change be required for example public submissions will be invited in the usual way through the select committee process and generally changes in tax law if that is what was involved go through a public consultation process.James Shaw: If he will not allow the public to make submissions as part of the review process will he guarantee that transparency and anti-corruption experts will be invited to give their expert opinions?Hon BILL ENGLISH: They seem to be giving their opinions now. Some seem to be less informed than others but the independent review will continue. Mr Shewan is not going to be taking public submissions but I am sure he will be looking at all the relevant material the member is referring to.James Shaw: Am I to take from his answers then that Mr Shewan will conduct his review without referring to anybody external other than his own opinion?Hon BILL ENGLISH: I am sure he will refer to all sorts of external opinions and technical material but in the end he will give us a report that is his view of it. That will be open to contest by anyone who wants to argue about it.James Shaw: Will all evidence from the review be open and available for public scrutiny?Hon BILL ENGLISH: I am sure that it will subject to any relevant privacy considerations such as New Zealand’s tax privacy law—if that is relevant and I do not actually know whether it is or it is not.James Shaw: Does the Minister think that having a single poacher act as gamekeeper will restore public confidence in our foreign trust industry?Hon BILL ENGLISH: I reject the member’s characterisation. The fact is that nothing we could do will satisfy the Greens who are fundamentally opposed to capitalism profit taxation and people getting ahead and making money. We cannot deal with all those—James Shaw: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I was not asking for a review of Green Party policy. I was asking whether or not the evidence would be open to public scrutiny.Mr SPEAKER: The question was fairly loaded. The answer was certainly given in the first part and the second part of the answer does not add anything to the information before the House.James Shaw: Does it matter whether or not New Zealand fits the legal definition of a tax haven if it is being used as one anyway?Hon BILL ENGLISH: There has been a lot of discussion about whether New Zealand is a “tax haven”. Any country that has a commercial structure such as companies could be described as a tax haven if they are used by some people to avoid tax. We reject the label of tax haven but of course we are open to expert advice about whether the disclosure rules around foreign trusts are adequate or not.