Commerce Commission (International Co-operation, and Fees) Bill

Just picking up on previous speakers’ general sentiments, I again acknowledge the contributions made by speakers to this bill, the Commerce Commission (International Co-operation, and Fees) Bill, in this session or in the previous Committee stage session, and at the select committee—those who are on the Commerce Committee and those who have passed before us.

I fully acknowledge that the bill was introduced by Lianne Dalziel under the previous Labour Government. My colleague Mr Power picked it up, and with his very, very busy legislative programme—he also being Minister of Justice—I inherited the bill in November or December of last year when I got my warrant. Over the 5 or 6 months we have been able to deal with this bill, I think we have done very well.

The title of the bill is the Commerce Commission (International Co-operation, and Fees) Bill. As the previous speaker just said, so many of these bills are interlinked. Of course, they reference the Commerce Commission and the very, very important role it plays. One or two speakers have commented on the delay, or the time that it has taken to bring this bill here. I just note that if it was not for some of that delay, we would not have Supplementary Order Paper 274, which is dated 16 August 2011 and brings in telecommunications regulators’ exchanges of information. So maybe there was a bit of an upside to some of the time taken.

The bill is aptly named the “International Co-operation, and Fees” Bill, particularly cooperation with Australia, and perhaps with other jurisdictions or Government bodies as the bill prescribes as we go through. The name also reflects the cooperation on this and many commerce bills around and across the House generally. I acknowledge and thank members and parties for their cooperation on this legislation, which, at the end of the day, is better and more robust legislation for New Zealand in 2012.

I want to commend the Minister in the chair, the Minister of Commerce, for his work on the Commerce Commission (International Co-operation, and Fees) Bill and also all of those who have already worked on this bill previously, and suggest—but largely in jest—that the bill might be called something different, perhaps the “Commerce Commission (Extensive Local and International Co-operation, and Fees) Bill”. There has been a great deal of cooperation in pulling this bill together over, as the Minister has said, a long period of time. It is illustrative of the way in which this House can function in a way that is constructive. Often, the debates we have are constructive, but they may sometimes appear less constructive than they actually are. Here is a clear occasion where many of us agree that these are sensible steps that need to be taken. We might sometimes debate the extent of them and the timing of these changes, but we wish to support them across the House.

Therefore, I wish to congratulate the Minister and all of those, including the Hon Lianne Dalziel, who have committed their own efforts to getting this legislation through and into its final form. It will be good to bring us into alignment with Australia, which passed similar legislation around 5 years ago. So my congratulations go to the Minister and to all of those who have worked on the bill previously. Thank you.

Clause 1 agreed to.

Clause 2 agreed to.

The Committee divided the bill into the Commerce (International Co-operation, and Fees) Amendment Bill, the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance (International Co-operation) Amendment Bill, the Fair Trading (International Co-operation) Amendment Bill, and the Telecommunications (International Co-operation) Amendment Bill, pursuant to Supplementary Order Paper 26.

Bill to be reported with amendment presently.