Wong Pansy: Communications Legislation Bill — In Committee 
Wong Pansy: Communications Legislation Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:634;Page:6034] 
PANSY WONG (National) 
: 
 I am very pleased to take a call on the title and commencement clauses of the Communications Legislation Bill. Now that National members know there is an official letter as a result of horse-trading we can assure the Commerce Committee members that the very valid point raised by the Radio Frequency Users Association has been resolved. National members are pleased to continue to support this bill. 
We are doing so well that I wonder whether Minister Maharey would like to take a call to give us further reassurance that the Government’s move to introduce a new provision in Part 2 to assign radio frequencies to entities through means other than a competitive process would not result in horse-trading in a very non-transparent way to bidders. It has been a very revealing Committee of the whole House process because we have seen how the parliamentary transparency process can be slightly sabotaged by horse-trading between Ministers and the parties that prop up this Government. Although National members support the result we do not endorse the process. The public should be even more alarmed after last week when the Government in indecent haste passed the parliamentary expenditure validation legislation. Now we learn that horse-trading happened behind the scenes even after the select committee process— 
Hon Members 
: Pay the GST! 
PANSY WONG 
: I seek leave to table the member’s bill in the name of Dr Don Brash that would allow the National Party to pay the GST. 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: The member is perfectly entitled to do so because interjections from the other side of the Chamber led to it. Leave has been sought to table the bill. Is there any objection to that course of action? There is. 
PANSY WONG 
: That is telling is it not? The Labour member sitting on the other side of the Chamber did nothing to contribute to the legislation that is before us. That lazy Labour member did not even take the trouble to read this legislation but continued to interject to challenge National to pay the GST bill then refused leave for me to table Dr Brash’s bill so that we could do that. Well I have bad news for Labour members: the public has a long memory. I am very happy to come back to this legislation if Labour members take the trouble to get up on their lazy legs take a call and contribute intelligently to the debate about the legislation that is before the Committee. 
The National Party supports this legislation even though we are totally unhappy with the incompetence of the Labour Government. Part 1 amends the Telecommunications Act 2001 which was set up to finish the business within 5 years. But we are here to extend that period for a further 2 years because of the inability of the incompetent Labour Government to finish the task of examining the 13 designated services which the Hon Paul Swain said would take the Commerce Commission only 5 years to do. We have agreed that we will support this legislation. The last thing we want to do is create uncertainty in the telecommunications sector which has been through enough because of this inefficient incompetent Labour Government. For that reason we reluctantly agree to support the passage of this bill.