Madam Speaker,

The Green Party will be supporting the Real Estate Agents Bill and associated Government amendments through all final stages in the House.

We were aware from the start of the contentious nature of aspects of the new law – how could we avoid it given the powerful and effective voices of real estate agents and auctioneers? - and the somewhat combative statements of Minister Clayton Cosgrove in the earlier stages of the process.

The Select Committee consideration of the Bill was intense but informative, and I would like to acknowledge all of the over 1300 submitters for the effort they put in to participating in this particular democratic process.

I would also like especially to thank Barfoot and Thompson in Auckland for showing several of us around their operation so that we could get a better feel for aspects of the sales, human resources, accounting and auctioning side of the business – backroom functions whose complexities are not normally visible to a vendor or purchaser, my only contact with the industry in the past, albeit on a number of occasions.

One of the key achievements of this Bill will be the establishment of a new real estate agents’ authority which will have the power, among other things, to investigate complaints from people about things like real or perceived conflicts of interest on the part of agents, commissions and fees, and general shoddy or inadequate practices. The new Authority will investigate complaints on behalf of the consumer for free, and is an independent body with the ability to set penalties and award compensation.

It will also be responsible for administering the licensing system for real estate agents, setting standards, establishing fees and levies and providing information to consumers.

The Greens believe that having all these functions carried out by a statutory organisation independent of the Real Estate Institute - unlike the existing situation - will inspire confidence in all those for whom buying or selling a house if often the biggest financial decision of their lives.

The Bill also incorporates the establishment of a separate Real Estate Disciplinary Tribunal whose functions will be to deal with matters referred to it by the Complaints Assessment Committee (a committee appointed in turn by the new Real Estate Authority).

During the course of the select committee consideration we heard many concerns from industry submitters about their fears that representation on these new bodies would not include people with a long track record of working in the sector, people who would hold the confidence of agents and their professional association.

This concern was shared by the Greens and other parties and we have been pleased to see improvements to the Bill in this regard. During the Select Committee process, we supported changes which mean that firstly the Minister will be required to appoint at least two members to the Real Estate Authority who are licenses or former licensees; and secondly that in relation to the Disciplinary Tribunal, at least one member must be a licensee.

In addition, there is a Government SOP in front of the House which will further amend the Bill so that the Minister will now be required to consult with the Real Estate Institute when making the first appointment of licensees and former licensees to the Authority and to the Disciplinary Tribunal;

The Green Party has backed all these changes because we think it critical that the expertise of the real estate agents and their own professional body must be brought to bear if these reforms are to have credibility and support among those whose standards and quality of work we are expecting to improve as a result of these measures.

Another area of much contention during consideration of this Bill was the proposal to review the employment status of salespeople after five years. The Greens had supported this proposal because we have concerns about exploitation and low pay for some vulnerable workers and contractors within the industry.

However, a Government amendment is going to remove the relevant clause, and while we will be supporting the change, we also hope that anyone working in the industry with concerns over their employment or contracting conditions or lack of them will not hesitate to avail themselves of the remedies that are available to them through existing employment law.

At a time when the industry is seeing a major shakeout as a result of the downturn in the housing market it is more important than ever that employees and contractors who remain are treated well – and are able to stand up for themselves, with my concern here being especially for some back office people – as well as some agents - who run the risk of carrying the can for a sector going through difficult times.

The whole area of auctioneering was another difficult issue for the Committee. As the auctioneers who made submissions to us quickly found out, this is not an aspect of the housing market with which I - and I think some other MPs may admit to this as well – had any familiarity.

I was struggling to grasp what the purpose of the original changes to the auction system were in relation to the rest of the Bill, especially after receiving repeated assurances that after some admittedly shonky episodes in the past, there are now enough safeguards in the auction process to protect the ethics and interests of all involved.

While I think perhaps it might have been a good idea to find a way to enshrine or append an auctioneers’ code of ethics to the legislation, in the meanwhile the Greens support the proposed amendment which will leave things with the status quo in regards to auctions.

One other matter of major dispute during our dealing with this Bill was around the issue of whether property managers could or should be included in the legislation or not. I was convinced by numerous submitters that it would have been better if we could have incorporated property managers within the legislation - for example through regulation of activities such as leasing, letting, collection of rentals and so on - as this area of work is also a key part of the real estate sector, and in fact often forms part of the operation of real estate firms, as well as others.

However, in the end there was clear advice to the Committee that to try to amend the Bill to include property managers was outside its scope. The Green Party therefore welcomes the commitment which the Government has made
to review with some urgency the regulation of property management in a way which will be coordinated with the introduction of this Bill.

The fact that the commencement of most of the provisions of the Bill will be extended out from one year to 14 months should also mean that this review and resulting legislation will have time to happen effectively and well, in full consultation with all concerned.

I trust that whatever form our next government takes, this commitment will be actioned.

The Real Estate Agents Bill did get off to a really rocky start and I think it was unfortunate that such an important piece of legislation for consumers and all stakeholders in the real estate sector became more of a political battlefield than was really necessary.

I believe the reforms contained in this legislation are necessary and well worked through, and that we MPs did listen hard to the many concerns expressed to us at the committee, including issues beyond those I’ve had time to mention today.

I was particularly pleased, after earlier episodes, to see a media release from the Real Estate Institute on 30 July 2008, which welcomes the new Bill, with amendments, and says, quote, that ‘we are committed to working with the legislators to ensure that the final result is the best consumer legislation possible.’

I think this is a commendable attitude and hope it is one that will be shared by all parties in this house and by all involved in the real estate industry.

We have seen and will undoubtedly continue to see examples of rip-offs, cons, shabby treatment of customers and exploitation of workers in the industry. However, it will be in the best interests of everyone if the reforms enacted here are carried out with good will and commitment on all sides, so that we see a steady improvement in quality, accountability and protection for all concerned.

As I said on an earlier occasion, this Bill is about justice not only being done, but being seen to be done.

I would like to thank everyone who has had some role in getting the Bill to this stage including Select Committee Chair Lynne Pillay, Minister Hon Clayton Cosgrove, as well as the Real Estate Institute itself. I would most of all like to say a special thanks to the hard working government officials and select committee staff, who really had quite a time hard time of it during the select committee process as we dealt with this particularly contentious and complex Bill - thank you.

I commend this Bill to the House.