Williams Andrew: Reserve Bank of New Zealand (Amending Primary Function of Bank) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Williams Andrew: Reserve Bank of New Zealand (Amending Primary Function of Bank) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 17 October 2012. Volume:684;Page:5951. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
ANDREW WILLIAMS (NZ First) 
: 
 I would like to bring this debate back to reality having heard an incredible amount of rubbish from National members in the preceding speeches where they have spoken about money being printed and all sorts of other fantasies just to try to put the people of New Zealand off the fact that a review of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act is overdue after 30 years—and we have got two Ministers now leaving— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Order! 
ANDREW WILLIAMS 
: After 30 years the old tired worn out National Party cannot even let the New Zealand people New Zealanders come to a select committee of this Parliament—organisations manufacturers exporters farmers all sorts of parts of our economic sector—and put their views about how our economy can better perform with the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act being reviewed so that the Reserve Bank is not concentrating on only inflation. 
This economy is not just about keeping inflation between 1 and 3 percent. That is what this National Government would have us believe. That is its sole way of controlling the economy it would seem rather than like most other countries in the world looking at other mechanisms that the Reserve Bank could act under which would help control our exchange rate would help keep a lid on our exchange rate help perhaps push our currency down a bit and help make our exports more competitive on the global market. But does this National Government want that? Not on your life. New Zealanders out there listening to this on Parliament TV and radio world: listen to this. You are being led— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Order! 
ANDREW WILLIAMS 
: Sorry. The people of New Zealand are being led by a National Government that does not want to review the Reserve Bank after 30 years of the current Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act being in place and does not want to give this economy a chance for a review. 
The Manufacturers and Exporters Association has estimated that because of the high value of the New Zealand dollar manufacturing exports have lost $10 billion in the last 3½ years under a National Government. That is an appalling appalling figure. The International Monetary Fund itself which our Minister of Finance said were basically snake-oil merchants—he said anyone suggesting some of these things are snake-oil merchants—estimates that the New Zealand dollar is 15 percent overvalued. This is causing serious harm to the tradable sector. Many exporters are going out of business or being forced to scale back their operations and the result is economic malaise characterised by low growth and high unemployment. 
 Forty thousand manufacturing jobs in the last 3 years have been lost. Unemployment under this National Government has gone from about 5 percent and is heading towards 7 percent. That is not a good direction for unemployment to be going in and if you are then not even prepared to look at all the different mechanisms to perhaps help keep employment in this country then you really are emus and ostriches with your heads in the sand. We are seeing Tiwai Point in Bluff we are seeing Huntly East coal mine we are seeing the Kawerau mill and we are seeing many many other major industries in this country laying off people left right and centre many of which are in the very National Party electorates of this country.  
The people of New Zealand need to get on to their local MPs get on to their National MPs in the rural provinces in the towns of this country out there in the working provinces of this country and tell their local MPs to get in behind a review of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act because at the very least this bill the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (Amending Primary Function of Bank) Amendment Bill which the Rt Hon Winston Peters has brought to this House will at least explore avenues to make this economy more competitive. If we do not do this we basically consign this economy to continue as it is.  
New Zealand is the one country in the world at the moment out on a limb with totally different policies to many of our other major trading partners. Why would we follow along similar lines to this in a situation where the New Zealand economy is in dire straits and where unemployment is also increasing? I urge all parties to give this bill a chance let it go to a select committee and let New Zealanders have a say on it.