Anderson MilesMILES ANDERSON (National—Waitaki): Thank you Mr Speaker. There are many sayings when it comes to money: Money makes the world go around" "Cash is king" "Money is power". There are others that have a rural flavour: "The cash cow" "Bring home the bacon" "Bet on the farm". Then there is one saying that no one wants to hear and that is "Break the bank". The question before us is: are the banks already broken?Mr Speaker I want to share something with you today. Farmers like so many others are doing it tough but the war on farming has ended. The war on farming ended on 14 October last year when the people of New Zealand decided that enough was enough and voted to get this country back on track.Well the hangover of bad fiscal decisions and unwarranted unworkable regulations from the previous Government is still being felt but this Government is listening—listening and working hard to ensure that our primary producers across rural and provincial New Zealand get a fair go.In June the Hon Nicola Willis announced that she had written to the chairs of the Finance and Expenditure Committee and Primary Production Committee requesting a select committee inquiry into banking competition. This inquiry will be led by the Finance and Expenditure Committee in conjunction with the Primary Production Committee which will focus on rural banking. This request reflects the commitment outlined in the coalition agreement between National and New Zealand First. This announcement not only demonstrates this Government's commitments to ensuring that Kiwis have a transparent and fair banking system that is accessible and allows businesses and individuals the flexibility that is afforded to customers in other countries; it also demonstrates that this Government does what it has promised to do. Farmers across the country have been asking for rural banking practices to be investigated for years.We need to ensure our banking systems are not broken. Earlier this year my Primary Production Committee colleagues and I were involved in a briefing on rural banking. Many of the submitters raised significant areas of concern. There are so many perceived inequities and practices within our banking system and they need to be looked at.We heard from a number of submitters. These submitters questioned the Reserve Bank's capital requirements for rural lending the higher interest rates charged to farmers to derive better capital ratios the reduction in headcount of bank staff reduced access to services with many rural bank branches now closed the reduction in risk appetite for agricultural loans and simply a lack of competition. One submitter—New Zealand Agri Brokers—have stated that the net result for farmers is less competition higher interest rates decreased viability and an ability to access the right long-term capital for their businesses.For many the banking inquiry cannot come soon enough. Having a rural focus is something that the National Party is committed to. Currently the rural sector is under extreme duress as international trading conditions have tightened in the past 18 months various weather events have made production difficult and inflation and interest rates have eroded profitability.The crux of the issue is: is it Government policy is it Reserve Bank policy or is it financial institutions' policies and practices that have made rural lending seemingly more expensive than our trading partners? The inquiry will be in depth and will no doubt hear from many individuals groups businesses and financial institutions. It is critical for the people of the Waitaki electorate and for all of New Zealand that concerns are identified and addressed.It is this Government's objective to double the value of our exports in the next 10 years. To do this we are removing red and green tape that is holding the productive sector back actively engaging across the globe to seek out new trade agreements that remove tariffs or non-tariff barriers and reduce inflation to give businesses the confidence to invest create jobs and grow our economy. One piece of the puzzle in achieving this is to ensure that our financial systems are competitive open and not an impediment to our economy. The good news is that this Government believes in our farmers and growers and we are going to back them."