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The second reading of the Consumer Credit Bill has introduced a significant amendment dealing with housing buy-back schemes.
The Government placed eight companies participating in buy-backs into statutory management after a large number of consumers affected by these schemes have lost or may lose their homes.
The Commerce Select Committee has recommended amendments that will protect consumers against future losses from buy-backs, as well as providing remedies for consumers already involved in buy-backs.
The Bill will:
- Require disclosure of information about buy-backs
- Require the provision of independent legal advice for consumers entering into buy-backs, and require solicitors to certify that the advice has been given
- Prevent the transfer of property without the Court's permission where initial disclosure has not been made or independent legal advice has not been provided
- Ensure that remedies against oppressive conduct in Part 5 of the Bill apply to buy-backs.
Funding for the Commerce Commission to enforce the Consumer Credit Bill was secured in Budget 2003 earlier this year and extra funding has been approved to enforce these new provisions to deal with buy-back schemes.
I am confident that, when passed, this Bill will enhance the ability of consumers to understand the nature and risks of a buy-back transaction, while reducing the attractiveness of these schemes to financiers.
Hopefully the combination is likely to see this form of finance leave the market.
The Government has released its proposal for protecting public access to and customary rights on the foreshore and seabed.
The proposal is about recognising that coastal areas are important to all New Zealanders and everyone must be able to use and enjoy them now and in the future.
The Government's approach, which we believe will deliver a win-win solution for all New Zealanders, is based on solid principles not on political rhetoric. Those principles are:
- Access - The foreshore and seabed should be public domain, with open access and use for all New Zealanders.Regulation - The Crown is responsible for regulating the use of the foreshore and seabed, on behalf of all present and future generations of New Zealanders.
- Protection - Processes should exist to enable the customary interests of whanau, hapu and iwi in the foreshore and seabed to be acknowledged, and specific rights to be identified and protected.
- Certainty - There should be certainty for those who use and administer the foreshore and seabed about the range of rights that are relevant to their actions.
Māori, as tangata whenua, have customary rights which the Government recognises must be protected. But protecting customary rights doesn't mean all New Zealanders can't use and enjoy the beach.
This proposal benefits Māori as well as Pakeha because it ensures the full range of their customary rights, in relation to the foreshore and seabed, including recognition of their mana over or ancestral connection with an area, can be appropriately recognised and protected in law.
The Government is resolving this issue in a practical way, which brings all New Zealanders together, not like some other parties who are trying to drive New Zealanders apart.
This proposal deliberately says nobody owns the foreshore and seabed. The only reason anyone would want to "own" an area in the legal sense is to be able to exclude people or to be able to sell it. We say that should never happen and the best way to guarantee that no-one can sell bits in the future, is to make sure that nobody has ownership.
The proposals that the Government has published are a leap forward in the debate to date. New Zealanders need to be able to debate the complexities in protecting access and customary rights to the foreshore and seabed. We look forward to hearing the views of all New Zealanders during the consultation process.
We have a free phone running (0508 FORESHORE = 0508 367 374) to request documents or get information about making a submission. There is information and a feedback form on the government website here.
There will be a series of hui organised around the country and I am planning to hold public meetings at both ends of the electorate.
I'll keep you posted.
My thoughts are with Weber farmer Harvie Beetham and his family after his ordeal last week.
Mr Beetham was pinned under his farm bike for eight hours and had to cling to two of his dogs to survive, while the other four barked and raised the alarm. Get well soon Harvie and I'm sure the dogs got some extra food that night.
I welcome any feedback on any matters raised in this column or other issues you might feel strongly about through email gbeyer@wise.net.nz or post to PO Box 913, Masterton.
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