Curran Clare: Telecommunications (Development Levy) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeCurran Clare: Telecommunications (Development Levy) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee Third Reading[Sitting date: 21 May 2015. Volume:705;Page:3752. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]CLARE CURRAN (Labour—Dunedin South): Clause 3 entitled “Principal Act” amends the Telecommunications Act 2001 which is the principal Act. This amendment is an amendment to an amendment of the Telecommunications Act 2001 that was passed in 2011. The 2011 amendment was about changes to the telecommunications development levy where the imposition of a levy was made on telecommunications provided—[Interruption] I am very happy for you to take a call Mr Williamson. That would be quite useful. I am sure it would further the debate. The levy was imposed on telecommunications providers who received a minimum of $10 million gross revenue annually and that levy was established to contribute to the cost.The issues which I think have been canvassed well tonight were around non-urban telecommunications infrastructure—that is infrastructure in rural New Zealand. I do not think that anyone has argued about that or has a differing view about the purpose of the telecommunications development levy—namely that we need more infrastructure for rural broadband. We think that is a good thing but the matter at hand is about this amendment bill tonight which is going through all its stages under urgency. This clause “Principal Act” is about where it came from what it is actually intended to do and the way in which it is being done. That is the issue that the Labour Party has with this piece of legislation before the Committee.I am hoping that the other parties in the Chamber tonight have had enough of the debate canvassed for them to be clear about the strength of the views that have been espoused by the Labour Party about why it is so important that when an amendment is going through that actually imposes a new levy—a tax; the departmental report has been very clear that this is a tax—that it is a significant matter that should not be allowed just to pass without due process.There are so many other things sitting behind this around the Rural Broadband Initiative version 1 and whether or not it has actually been successful. And here we are voting on an amendment to provide more money for version 2. There is a lack of evidence a lack of process and a lack of accountability from the Government which has expended that money—that $300 million—in the past 5 years for a programme that it is now planning to re-fund.In the meantime there are many other ways that the lack of rural broadband is being dealt with throughout New Zealand which again members have talked about tonight. Communities are actually trying to do it for themselves and are doing it in conjunction with rural local providers and are doing it more successfully and are bypassing the scheme that has been funded by the Government because it is just not working. Here we are about to commit another $150 million in the same vein with no scrutiny no evidential base and with even the regulatory impact statement telling us that there is no achievement of the policy directives relating to it because they have not been evaluated. So it seems to me that it would be irresponsible and even negligent to actually approve this bill.