End this ridiculous war on selling

In continuing the centuries-old tradition of populist appeal against salespeople, the government has come up with section 71 of the Financial Markets Conduct Bill, which as currently written would make it very difficult for financial advisers to do their job of prospecting for new clients.

However, it makes perfect sense if you, like most New Zealand politicians, believe people are too stupid to make their own decisions and therefore need to have their choices kept to a minimum.

Viewed in this light, the Bill protects people going about their daily lives from financial advisers lurking in nearby bushes, waiting to leap out and beat them around the head with "unsolicited" offers of financial products.  

This includes KiwiSaver; if the government made it any more difficult to discuss its own savings scheme it would have to get the orange election guy to tell us about it.