Hon Christopher Finlayson

Part 2 Real Estate Agents Authority

CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (National) : I want to ask the Minister a couple of questions about Part 2, several clauses of which, as the Hon David Carter said, will come into effect the day after the date on which the legislation receives the Royal assent. That particularly relates to the establishment of the authority to which members have been referring, with the exception of the Rt Hon Winston Peters, who was really addressing the organisations in Part 4.

I want to make one point immediately, and that is that the Supplementary Order Paper of Mr Dunne raises a very sensible point, which I believe the Committee should adopt. It involves an insertion into clause 17 of subclause (3B), which I will come to in a minute. Once the authority is set up, clause 16 provides that one of its functions will be to set professional standards for agents, and the Committee inserted a subclause (3) into clause 16 that made it clear that the industry training organisation currently in existence would continue to have a role. That is a very important point, because when we come over to clause 19, there is a new provision that deals with continuing education. And I suggest to the Committee that that is a very good suggestion, because all industries and professions should have mandatory continuing education.

This is where clause 17 is so important. If there is to be mandatory continuing education, then it makes sense that the industry training organisations, which are charged with the training required before one can enter the real estate industry, should continue to have a role in the area of continuing education. That is why it is important for the Minister to have a duty to consult with the industry training organisations when making the first appointment of licensees or former licensees. The proposal of Mr Dunne makes a lot of sense about the industry training organisations.

The second point follows on from what Mr Carter said. Immediately after this legislation comes into force, the authority will be established. It is to consist of no more than seven members. It will immediately have a role to undertake, and given that this legislation could receive the Royal assent very quickly if it is passed, I think we are entitled to know the sorts of persons the Minister is proposing to appoint and whether there will be consultation. Are we going to have a repeat of what has been going on with the conservation board, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Creative New Zealand, Te Waka Toi, and the Human Rights Commission? All sorts of appointments are being made without any reference to the National Party whatsoever. Will we see Ann Hartley, Mike Williams, Eamon Daly, Georgina Beyer—well, probably not Georgina Beyer, because she has outlived her usefulness to the Labour Party, and it has not done anything for her—or Gary Moore, the former Mayor of Christchurch, in this position? Are these the sorts of people who will be appointed to this authority? I think we are entitled to know, and we are also entitled to know whether there will be consultation.

The next issue I want to touch on is that of fees and levies. It was addressed in a preliminary way by Ms Wilkinson, because, as she said, clauses 24, 25, and 26 deal with certain types of fees and levies, and the Real Estate Agents Authority will be in a position to prescribe fees. As we have said all along, the National Party has concerns about the bureaucratic nature of what is being set up under this legislation, and we are concerned that fees and levies could be enormous, especially in the preliminary stages as the authority, the complaints assessment committees, and the disciplinary tribunal are set up. I would like to have some kind of indication as to whether the Minister has received any general advice on the sort of levy or fee that would be payable, because one can rest assured that those fees ultimately will end up being borne by the consumer. Indeed, one of the issues that was raised, which was the subject of a submission to the select committee, was that of consultation over fees and levels of fees. What sorts of levels does the Minister think are acceptable? Should there be consultation?