edithatogo/nz-hansard-corpus huggingface dataset:
VoteSPEAKER: Nō reira kua pau te wā mō tēnei kōrerorero.[Therefore we have used the time allotted for this discussion.] A party vote was called for on the question That the words after That" be deleted and are replaced with "this House has no confidence in this Government which is known for three things: wasteful spending an inability to get things done and for building bureaucracies instead of improving front-line outcomes for New Zealanders."Ayes 44New Zealand National 34; ACT New Zealand 10.Noes 76New Zealand Labour 64; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10; Te Paati Māori 2.Amendment not agreed to.A party vote was called for on the question That this House express its confidence in the Government and commend its programme for 2023 as set out in the Prime Minister's statement.Ayes 74New Zealand Labour 64; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10.Noes 46New Zealand National 34; ACT New Zealand 10; Te Paati Māori 2.Motion agreed to."
12. Question No. 12—Commerce and Consumer AffairsRACHEL BROOKING (Labour) to the Minister of Commerce and Consumer AffairsQuestion No. 12—Commerce and Consumer Affairs12. RACHEL BROOKING (Labour) to the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs: What additional services is the Government rolling out to support homeowners affected by natural disasters? Hon Dr DUNCAN WEBB (Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs): This Government has worked swiftly to get a new service up and running to support homeowners whose properties have been affected by extreme weather events or natural disasters like we've seen in Nelson Auckland Tai Rāwhiti Coromandel and the Hawke's Bay. The New Zealand Claims Resolution Service (NZCRS) will provide expert support to homeowners with insurance claims after natural disasters to avoid disputes resolve issues and ensure claims are settled as quickly as possible. Rachel Brooking: What model does the National Claims Resolution Service follow and why?Hon Dr DUNCAN WEBB: This kind of service was used to great effect in response to the Canterbury earthquakes to provide free advice to homeowners. It's become a much needed one-stop shop for homeowners needing help with unresolved insurance claims and it's often proved a breakthrough. This Christchurch initiative helped over 10000 homeowners and satisfaction surveys showed that 90 percent of respondents say they would recommend the service. So we're expanding this fantastic service that worked well in Christchurch to make it a permanent and nationwide service—Matt Doocey: It started under us—started in 2014.Hon Dr DUNCAN WEBB: —for all forms of natural hazard. Thank you for your congratulations Mr Doocey.Rachel Brooking: When should people contact this service?Hon Dr DUNCAN WEBB: The first port of call is always to work things through with the insurer but if homeowners get stuck or need support with unresolved claims then that's the time to contact this new service. I learnt from Christchurch that early intervention before things go wrong and independent technical and legal advice are key and that's what this service does. The new national service will now mean homeowners get the right advice at the right time. Rachel Brooking: How many people has the service helped to date?Hon Dr DUNCAN WEBB: Great news. Since the North Island events this service has helped more than 230 people. It's resolved 200 cases already with many of these cases needing just a steer on the next steps as to what they should do. Of course it's early days for this event and as time goes by more complex issues will occur and the service is ready to support those people to empower homeowners with the knowledge they need to resolve their claims. I would say to anyone struggling with their insurance claim that there are great people waiting to help you at the NZCRS who are both knowledgeable and compassionate; call them.
4. Question No. 4—ConservationNICOLE McKEE (ACT) to the Minister of ConservationQuestion No. 4—Conservation4. NICOLE McKEE (ACT) to the Minister of Conservation: Does she believe that the Jobs for Nature programme represents good value for money?Hon WILLOW-JEAN PRIME (Minister of Conservation): Yes. The Jobs for Nature programme has ensured that conservation work is at the heart of economic recovery providing both significant social and environmental outcomes. Now in year three over 4900 people employed through the programme have done more than 3.7 million hours of conservation work around Aotearoa. What that means for our environment is more predator control more native tree planting more weed control and more people feeling empowered and equipped to connect and care for the whenua.Nicole McKee: Can she confirm that as at 31 December 2022 the Ministry for the Environment website showed that just over $1 billion in funding had been contracted and 6.3 million hours of work had been completed?Hon WILLOW-JEAN PRIME: I am the Minister for Conservation. I can talk to what projects the Department of Conservation has funded.Nicole McKee: Is the Minister aware that with those figures it means $167—which is almost eight times the minimum wage—is being paid out for each hour of work and what are New Zealand taxpayers getting for that money?Hon WILLOW-JEAN PRIME: What Aotearoa is getting for the money that we have invested through Jobs for Nature is more than 4900 people being employed at a time when we were facing an economic crisis and the threat of unemployment. What New Zealanders are getting is 3.7 million hours of conservation work that has been done. Through that we have more predator control more native planting—these are huge benefits for Aotearoa.Nicole McKee: Has she asked the Minister of Finance how long the Government can keep borrowing money to fund low-skilled jobs at $167 an hour and if she has what did he say?Chlöe Swarbrick: No such thing as a low-skilled job.Hon WILLOW-JEAN PRIME: Yes.Hon Member: Shameful.Hon WILLOW-JEAN PRIME: Yeah. The work that people have done for our taiao is work that we should be proud of that we should all be grateful for. I would not describe it in the way that that member has described it. No I have not yet had conversations with the Minister of Finance about further opportunities—Hon Grant Robertson: No here.Hon WILLOW-JEAN PRIME: —not here yeah—about further opportunities in terms of those people who have worked on Jobs for Nature projects.Hon David Parker: Can the Minister confirm that Jobs for Nature included the hire of helicopters to poison wilding pines and control wallabies and that the cost of hiring a helicopter is more than the minimum wage per hour?Hon WILLOW-JEAN PRIME: Yes I can confirm that.
3. Question No. 3—WomenSARAH PALLETT (Labour—Ilam) to the Minister for WomenQuestion No. 3—Women3. SARAH PALLETT (Labour—Ilam) to the Minister for Women: What work is under way to progress gender equity in New Zealand?Hon JAN TINETTI (Minister for Women): Happy International Women's Day. The theme of the 2023 International Women's Day campaign is embrace equity". The Government has a strong commitment to progressing gender equity through pay equity. Since the passing of the amendment to the Equal Pay Act in July 2020 six claims have been settled so far resulting in over 110000 people having their pay corrected and there are another 27 active claims under way.Sarah Pallett: What pay equity settlements have recently been reached?Hon JAN TINETTI: This week a historic pay equity settlement was signed for 1200 school librarians and library assistants and around 400 science technicians and I was delighted to be able to attend the signing ceremony. For school librarians and library assistants the new pay equity rates will see them receive average pay increases of approximately 10 to 38 percent; and for science technicians they will see pay increases ranging from 20 to 40 percent.Nicola Grigg: Has the Minister as part of her work on gender equity encouraged the Minister of Health to adopt National's policy to extend free mammograms to women aged 69 to 74 years old which could save 65 lives a year; and if not why not?Hon JAN TINETTI: The Minister of Health and myself have had discussions around the Women's Health Strategy which is in development at the moment. That is open until 17 March for input. I would encourage that member to put a submission in.Sarah Pallett: What action is being taken to reduce the overall gender pay gap in New Zealand?Hon JAN TINETTI: The gender pay gap in New Zealand is sitting stubbornly at 9.2 percent but I will say that the gender pay gap in the Public Service is at 7.7 percent which is the lowest it's been on record. It has come down from 12.2 percent in 2018. That has happened because there has been a focus on this there have been targets set and a relentless drive by the Public Service to bring that pay gap down.Sarah Pallett: What work is being done to address pay transparency?Hon JAN TINETTI: Minister Radhakrishnan and I have asked for advice on what a pay transparency system in Aotearoa New Zealand could look like and work is under way to develop options. Whilst pay transparency is one way to ensure people are paid fairly I don't see it as a silver bullet. The National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women has been appointed as the national advisory group on pay transparency and has been engaging with the business sector to help inform this work. We are hoping to be in a position to provide an update on this work in coming months."
Forests (Legal Harvest Assurance) Amendment Bill — Second Reading
SpeechSORAYA PEKE-MASON (Labour): This is a short call on the Forests (Legal Harvest Assurance) Amendment Bill. Interpol estimates the international trade in illicitly harvested timber is valued at between US$51 billion to $152 billion annually. It accounts for 15 to 30 percent of all timber traded globally. Māori own over 400000 hectares of indigenous forest and some 238000 hectares of planted exotic forest. These forests contribute significantly to Māori socio-economic development. Māori involvement in commercial forestry commenced over 50 years ago with the planting of pine forests under forestry leases involving the Crown companies and Māori landowners. Many of these forests are at a second rotation. Māori participation is moving from being principally a source of labour to stronger commercial involvement. This is the reason why I support this bill in its second reading to the House. Kia ora.Motion agreed to.Bill read a second time.
SpeechTERISA NGOBI (Labour—Ōtaki): Fakaalofa lahi atu Mr Speaker and thank you for the opportunity to take a call albeit a short call on this the Forests (Legal Harvest Assurance) Amendment Bill—I also wanted to make sure I got that right. It is a short call because this is a no-brainer—really good to get agreement across the House that this is a no-brainer.Essentially this bill is about ensuring Aotearoa New Zealand only trades in legally harvested timber. That's it in essence right? This is also about supporting the international efforts to kerb the trade in illegally harvested timber. This bill does that in a few ways and we've heard a few of those today but I will go through it again. One of those is having that registration system for exported primary processors importers and log traders. This is also about providing thresholds and exemptions especially for those smaller entities as well. This is about requiring registered parties to have due diligence systems to check that timber has been legally harvested. This is also about making sure that we have people—that our forest owners and their agents make sure that they have the right paperwork so providing those harvest information statements to those buyers and keeping good records.This is a no-brainer. We've heard from many others—who doesn't want to make sure that we're saving our forests? So I commend this bill to the House.
White HelenHELEN WHITE (Labour): Thank you. I'm pleased to take a call in support of this piece of legislation that we seem to have a lot of collegial support across the House for—for very good reasons. This is something that's really appalling that we have put up with for so long—the bringing in of wood and the sending out of wood without really any restrictions. And we will be in line with a whole lot of APEC economies—Australia the United States Indonesia the Republic of Korea Japan Vietnam and China—when we do this. What we're bringing in is the introduction of a legal harvest assurance system and so everybody will know where that outdoor table comes from. And Simon Court's quite right: it's going to protect a lot of wildlife it's going to be a better option for people and it's going to be a big step towards making sure that we are environmentally sound in our choice of products. And I for one will be greatly relieved for that because it is as Simon Court has said a pressure on people in other economies if this is a source of funding for them. So it's very important that we actually support these kinds of standards so it is actually something that becomes a brand issue for people so that they're actually supporting the harvesting of wood in a proper way in those economies and in fact in our own because it's going to be important to our brand too that we are actually abiding by these kinds of systems ourselves. So with that I commend this bill to the House.
Uffindell SamSAM UFFINDELL (National—Tauranga): Thank you Mr Speaker and a happy Thursday afternoon to everyone in this House. I rise to stand and speak in support of the Forests (Legal Harvest Assurance) Amendment Bill at the second reading.Hon Kieran McAnulty: Ah reading's getting better!SAM UFFINDELL: Now we know—I just wanted to get the bill right Kieran. I think I did.Hon Kieran McAnulty: You nailed it.SAM UFFINDELL: Thank you very much.DEPUTY SPEAKER: We use full names in the House please Mr Uffindell.SAM UFFINDELL: Certainly—the Hon Kieran McAnulty. I wanted to make sure I got the bill right.Now we know that illegal harvesting's been a problem and we've seen the degradation that's occurred in many parts of the world. Simon Court before was talking about his wonderful trip to Borneo and all of the issues he'd seen there. We all would have seen and heard stories about rainforests and forests which have been felled causing significant devastation to the ecosystems and the cultural and societal aspects there. New Zealand is not immune from that. We have a significant forestry sector here in New Zealand. I think it's our fourth-biggest exporter about $6.3 billion and we do import a considerable amount of timber as well—if my memory serves me correctly 2.35 billion from June 2021. So the thing to note there is that it is sizable and that does increase the risks that we face. So it is good that we are in agreement on this in that we are wanting to put in safeguards to ensure that harvesting of timber products is done in an ethical manner and ensuring that the supply chains involved are all acting appropriately.This bill amends the Forests Act 1949 to establish a new regulatory system which assists in the prevention of international trade in internationally illegally harvested timber and strengthens the international reputation through doing so. We need to safeguard and enhance our market aspect. As we have kept talking about on a number of different things it is important for New Zealand to make sure that it's doing its part to uphold ethics and make sure that supply chains are fair and equitable to make sure that illegally sourced timber is not exported from New Zealand and just as importantly is not imported into New Zealand. So this amendment to the bill will help address that.Forestry as I've noted is a key part of the New Zealand economy and this bill will help reinforce the integrity of New Zealand's timber as a legally sourced product on the international market. The National Party supports this. We abhor illegal forestry activities. We worked and we did support this through to the Primary Production Committee. I wasn't on that select committee but I understand that it did work well and everyone noted the key points and we did support it through and that's why we are supporting it at the second reading. That is all I have to say on this matter. Thank you Mr Speaker.
SpeechANGELA ROBERTS (Labour): It is a pleasure to rise and take a call on the Forests (Legal Harvest Assurance) Amendment Bill not least because I spent many many summers in the Rai Valley and in Havelock on my grandfather's sawmill. There's a long history with distant relatives who may be Brownlees who have for generations worked really hard in the forestry sector in the Pelorus and Rai Valleys. I acknowledge those pioneers who worked so hard. It is really interesting to be in the House today and continue to do what we can to support our forestry industry which we've already heard about being so important and so valuable to be progressive and continue to be world-leading.This piece of legislation is important for two reasons. It is about ensuring that our trade agreements and our trading partners—we keep up and we make sure that we can hold our heads high on the international stage. But it also means that we are contributing to that global network and the attempts globally to do better—as we've heard we must do much better to protect our planet.We've heard about the Primary Production Committee submissions. It was a great process to be a part of. We got expertise at the table and they really helped us to grapple with the complexities and make sure that we could look to those global challenges but also make sure that we didn't forget the implications for our local forestry sector. They helped us to streamline to strengthen and to give some coherence to the issues in front of us and the bill. We heard about the need to align with other pieces of legislation and I believe we managed to do that. I commend this bill to the House.
Boyack RachelFORESTS (LEGAL HARVEST ASSURANCE) AMENDMENT BILLSecond ReadingDebate resumed from 8 March.RACHEL BOYACK (Labour—Nelson): Thank you Mr Speaker. It's a pleasure to take a short call on the Forests (Legal Harvest Assurance) Amendment Bill. Can I begin by congratulating the Primary Production Committee and their former chair Jo Luxton for their excellent work on this bill. The objective of the Forests (Legal Harvest Assurance) Amendment Bill is to establish a legal harvest system to assist in combatting global trade in illegally harvested timber to safeguard and enhance market access for New Zealand timber exporters and to assure the legality of the source of timber imported into New Zealand. As the member for Nelson I just want to make the point that forestry is a very large part of the Nelson economy. It is important that it is protected for those who work in the industry in my region. This bill is also the right thing to do. Illegally harvested timber has an enormous impact on the environment. It has an impact on our biodiversity. It has a big impact on species who lose their homes when forestry is illegally harvested meaning that species often lose the places where they have established themselves and that can have an enormous impact on species loss across the world. It also has an impact on communities. There are human rights issues. There are issues in terms of access to economic development that occur in those areas. And one in particular that is important to my community is the community of Myanmar where I visited and where there is illegally harvested teak timber. And I know that it is an issue that people in Nelson former refugees from Myanmar care deeply about. This is an excellent bill. It has been well looked at by the select committee with some excellent changes made to it and I commend it to the House.
Sosene Lemauga LydiaLEMAUGA LYDIA SOSENE (Labour): It gives me pleasure to be the final speaker for the Government in support of this very important bill the New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income (Controlling Interests) Amendment Bill. In my short contribution we have heard from across the House support for this bill at the first reading and we've also heard from our Minister of Finance who has outlined this New Zealand Superannuation Fund (NZSF) and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund has significantly matured in size and capability in the operating model. What this bill does is Part 1 of the bill amends section 59 of the New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income Act 2001 to allow the Guardians of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund to take a controlling interest in an entity. The bill also makes a number of other amendments to ensure that an investment by the fund does not result in any entity being treated as part of the Crown and subject to obligations that were designed for public-sector organisations. In Part 2 it also makes consequential amendments to the Ombudsmen Act so that the Act and the Official Information Act do not apply to any private-sector subsidiaries in which the guardians may hold a controlling interest while preserving those Acts' application to the guardians itself and the Income Tax Act to address the removal of references to fund investment vehicles and to preserve the current tax treatment of the NZSF investments. And we've heard that the guardians' governance—who have been entrusted with this role who are skilled individuals with business acumen and who are independent of the Government and politicians—have followed due diligence in the operations. Now just to end off I am not a member of the Finance and Expenditure Committee but I have every confidence that the members will initiate a transparent process in terms of hearing from the public and in terms of the submissions that are put forward and they will be able to hear the recommendations by the different contributions to carry out the work because we want good returns for the long-term investments for New Zealanders with this fund. On that note I commend this bill to the House.
SpeechANGELA ROBERTS (Labour): Thank you Madam Speaker. It is a pleasure to rise and—I'm not going to turn this into an economics lesson I promise—speak in support of the New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income (Controlling Interests) Amendment Bill. Actually maybe it is an economics lesson because I've been listening to the debate and I was really heartened as somebody who hopefully is around long enough to take advantage of the wise investment decisions made by the guardians in years to come. I was really pleased to hear about the curiosity and engagement across the House as we recognise the maturity of the guardians and their governance capability and how we can best enable the opportunities that arise from that as well as mitigating any potential risks. As we've heard earlier we believe that both sides of that coin are very much addressed in this legislation. I was heartened and then I was gobsmacked to hear that the ACT Party not only want to stop contributions—which will cost potentially billions and billions of dollars—but actually they quite clearly state that they oppose the existence of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund and just Good luck everybody." I think it speaks volumes about their commitment or lack of to looking after the way we do our social contracts with each other in order to look after each other in our retirement. So I'm very proud to be able to speak in support of this legislation because we believe on this side of the House—and I believe on the other side of the House—that this is a really really important part of our social fabric and how we look after each other. We've heard about the why now. As Treasury has noted the guardians' governance has evolved in line with the super fund investment capability over the years to provide effective oversight of really complex investment strategies and that's been recognised recently in an independent review done by Willis Towers Watson. So we're really really clear about the why. Things are very very different from when the Superannuation Fund was established and the guardians first set off on their journey to do what they do—as we see now—quite quite well. This expansion—so why? This expansion of their tool kit enables a lot of opportunities. Their value proposition is quite unique. Their endowments long-term investment horizon—which does open up different opportunities—their ability to tolerate a liquidity crunch and the fund's sovereign status means that their opportunities are much greater and this bill will enable those opportunities to be taken. I look forward to seeing it progress to select committee."
Halbert Shanan; Kuriger BarbaraSHANAN HALBERT (Labour—Northcote): Thank you Madam Speaker. Can I just open this afternoon albeit at the end of the week just to acknowledge Tama Potaka in the House a tuakana of mine and part of the ever-increasing representation of ngā iwi roa o [the confederated tribes of] Mōkai Pātea in Parliament. So mihi atu ki a koe te tuakana.I'm pleased to speak on the New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income (Controlling Interests) Amendment Bill this afternoon. This bill further strengthens Labour's commitment to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund to ensure the sustainability of the New Zealand superannuation scheme into the future. We've heard that this bill will allow the Superannuation Fund to take a controlling interest in an entity by amending section 59 of the Act to do so; that's in Part 1. So the fund can now take a controlling interest in a business or investment vehicle if the fund's guardians wish to do so.This bill strengthens the New Zealand Superannuation Fund to ensure the sustainability of the New Zealand superannuation scheme into the future. It's a sensible change that would allow the fund to access a wider base of investment partners and opportunities particularly from Aotearoa New Zealand.The fund is mature now of course more than two decades on with assets approaching $60 billion. It's quite a legacy from the late Sir Michael Cullen and the fifth Labour Government. It is a sovereign wealth fund and this change doesn't affect sovereignty not for the fund and not for the Government. The bill does not affect the guardians' independence from the political influence in relation to investment decisions and the fund can maintain its exclusion list. A reminder of some of the areas that the fund does not invest in: companies in the tobacco industry; companies involved in the production of nuclear weapons cluster munitions and anti-personnel mines; companies involved in the processing of whale meat; companies involved in the manufacture of civilian automatic and semi-automatic firearms.Part 2 of the bill makes consequential amendments to the Ombudsmen Act so that the Act and Official Information Act do not apply to any private sector subsidiaries in which the guardians may hold a controlling interest while preserving those Acts' application to the guardians itself and the Income Tax Act to address the removal of references to the fund's investment vehicles and to preserve the current tax treatment of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund investments. Allowing the New Zealand Superannuation Fund to hold controlling interests will have a limited impact on competition with other market investors.As part of the Finance and Expenditure Committee I think in the discussions that we have heard in the debating chamber this afternoon it is important to offer the opportunity to the public and to key stakeholders to have their input into this bill but as we know and as we've heard from the majority of the House we do support this bill we do support the progress of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund and I commend this bill to the House.TEMPORARY SPEAKER (Barbara Kuriger): This is a split call—five minutes.
Menéndez March RicardoRICARDO MENÉNDEZ MARCH (Green): Tēnā koe Madam Speaker. I rise on behalf of the Greens to offer our support on the first reading of the New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income (Controlling Interests) Amendment Bill. I'd like to start off by acknowledging that I think everyone in this House is interested in our senior citizens having a safety net. We may have differences about what that looks like and what people can access it whether it is their retirement age or even residency settings but the super fund is one of the mechanisms in which we at the moment have to maintain the sustainability of that safety net.What this bill is aiming to do is effectively make changes so that the Superannuation Fund can take a controlling interest in an entity and I note that speakers were talking about how the fund has matured and may be ready to do this. I also wanted to acknowledge previous comments around how this fund and decisions regarding this fund operate separate to the politicians. I've noted that it's been described on one hand as apolitical but I much prefer the sentiments by the previous speakers who spoke more about the separation of politicians and the decisions around the fund. Because everything is political and we can't pretend actually that the guardians don't have any sort of politics and are devoid of any ideology when it comes to making these decisions. So I would prefer for us to actually speak truth to the reality that you can't actually be apolitical in how you act.These changes to the Superannuation Fund do represent an opportunity to require the guardians through legislation to undertake more ethical investment practices. The Greens have been really clear that we have had historic concerns about the unethical nature of some of these investments and the fact that right now they are not strong enough. Rather than just relying on behaviour we should legislate to ensure that we can both protect that safety net and contribute to economic progress while not investing in things like fossil fuels and other emissions-intensive environmentally or socially harmful investments.We would ideally be keen to ensure that there is a requirement that a portion of these funds be targeted towards social-impact investments including emissions reductions—which would actually more broadly align with the Government's goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. So we do think that there are improvements that we could be making and we do think that the process of this bill could enable for a rich discussion of how we do this.I just finally would like to note that ultimately there is that broader conversation to be had about what kind of tax system we want to have that enables for enough revenue to be raised so that we're also not just relying on this fund to continue having that safety net for our ageing population. So we look forward to conversations at a select committee stage and further debates regarding this bill. Kia ora.
Rurawhe AdrianURGENT DEBATES DECLINEDPublic Sector Leaders—Code of Conduct for Crown Entity Board MembersSPEAKER: Members I have received a letter from Simeon Brown seeking to debate under Standing Order 399 the conduct of some public sector leaders in respect of the Code of Conduct for Crown Entity Board Members. This is a particular case of recent occurrence for which there is ministerial responsibility. The test of whether a particular case requires the immediate attention of the House is a high one. I am not convinced that this matter warrants setting aside the business of the House today. Therefore the application is declined.
Rurawhe AdrianPETITIONS PAPERS SELECT COMMITTEE REPORTS AND INTRODUCTION OF BILLSSPEAKER: No petitions have been delivered to the Clerk for presentation. No papers have been delivered to the Clerk for presentation. A select committee report has been delivered for presentation.CLERK: Report of the Governance and Administration Committee on the 2021-22 annual review of the Office of the Ombudsman.SPEAKER: No bills have been introduced.
Robertson Grant; Shaw JamesBUSINESS STATEMENTHon GRANT ROBERTSON (Leader of the House): Next week the House will consider urgent legislation relating to the cyclone recovery. The Business Committee will discuss how the bill will progress through its stages. Other legislation to be considered will include the committee stages of the Criminal Activity Intervention Legislation Bill the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Amendment Bill and the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2022-23 Platform Economy and Remedial Matters) Bill (No 2). There will also be a debate on the report of the Finance and Expenditure Committee on the Budget Policy Statement on Wednesday which will also be the first members' day of the year. Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National): Thank you Mr Speaker. I thank the Leader of the House for the update and I'm very pleased to note that the first members' day for 2023 will be next Wednesday. By my calculations given that there had been a members' day missed at the end of last year which was intended to be caught up through extended hours in February we're now two members' days behind even with next week's. Can he confirm that it's the Government's intention to ensure that those two members' days are caught up in the normal programme without extended hours? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Leader of the House): It is certainly the intention of the Government that those members' days are caught up. The matter of whether extended sitting hours will be used for that is something the Business Committee may discuss in the future. Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National): I thank the Leader of the House for that clarification. I just note that extended hours are not as long as a full members' day so that's an issue to be dealt with. Hon JAMES SHAW (Co-Leader—Green): Thank you Mr Speaker and thank you to the Leader of the House. I just wanted to ask that having almost managed to get through it in the rush before Christmas I notice that the Organic Products Bill has dropped to No. 13 on the Order Paper and I just was wondering what his time frame is for the introduction of the final parts of that bill. Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Leader of the House): Oh I think on this occasion 13 is not an unlucky number.
Shaw James; Russell DeborahSpeaker's Rulings—Ministerial Responsibility ClarificationHon JAMES SHAW (Minister of Climate Change): Point of order Mr Speaker. Thank you Mr Speaker. Just in relation to the ruling that you just gave about when an administration started and finished I just wanted to check my understanding of it because you did say in one of those rulings that an administration was essential between elections but then later you said that current Ministers would be responsible for things not just from the last election but actually from the election before which—from the 2017 election. So is it per Parliament or is it essentially between a change between say a National-led Government to a Labour-led Government? Because that would mean the difference between three years six years or nine years.SPEAKER: Yes as I mentioned in the ruling current Ministers are responsible for actions taken since 2017 at the beginning of the 52nd Parliament.Hon Dr DEBORAH RUSSELL (Minister of Statistics): Point of order Mr Speaker. I just wonder if we could clarify a little further on that where the particular portfolio has changed from one party to another even though there has been no change of administration.Hon Gerry Brownlee: What? How would that work?Hon Dr DEBORAH RUSSELL: I don't know. That's why I'm asking for the clarification.Hon Gerry Brownlee: Well I could come up with a whole pile of hypotheticals—SPEAKER: Order! Two things: points of order—speaking to them are held in silence and I'm on my feet so I really would like to answer the point of order. That doesn't matter. As Speaker Carter said you're responsible for the portfolio and what happens in that time.
Utikere Tangi; Rurawhe AdrianPOINTS OF ORDERHouse Bells—Failure to RingTANGI UTIKERE (Chief Whip—Labour): Point of order. Thank you Mr Speaker. I think members will be aware that the bells which usually ring to allow members to make their way to the House did not occur this afternoon. In light of that I wonder whether there were other provisions that had been put in place to ensure that members—even though most members should know that the House sits at 2 p.m.—whether there are any other mitigation aspects that have been put in place to address that concern.SPEAKER: The Office of the Clerk only found out at the time that they didn't ring and myself also so we will have to come back to the House and find out what has gone wrong. Apparently this has not happened in anyone's memory so there's very little we can do right now but I see the number of members in the House right now is similar to a usual Thursday.
Speaker's Rulings
Rurawhe AdrianSPEAKER'S RULINGSMinisterial Responsibility—ClarificationSPEAKER: Members have raised with me the responsibility of new Ministers for their portfolios prior to the time they were appointed to the portfolios. I wish to draw members' attention to Speaker's ruling 163/4-5. Speaker Smith ruled on this matter when a Minister was asked about a decision that occurred in his portfolio before he became a Minister. Dr Smith ruled that Just because a Minister may not have been present at the time does not relieve them of being answerable for what took place." Speaker Carter ruled in 2016 that questions relate to a portfolio and not to an individual person.Ministers are answerable for the portfolio they currently hold and for activities in the portfolio even before they were appointed to it. Of course this responsibility does not go back in time indefinitely. Ministers are not responsible for the activities of a previous administration. "The defeat of a Government in an election marks the end of one administration and the commencement of another."—Speaker's ruling 164/7. So current Ministers are answerable to the House for decisions taken in their portfolios since the commencement of the Labour-led Government in 2017. They are only answerable for activities prior to that time if they have had to take some action in respect of them during the current administration—Speaker's ruling 167/3. Kia ora."
Rurawhe AdrianTHURSDAY 9 MARCH 2023The Speaker took the Chair at 2 p.m.KARAKIA/PRAYERSSPEAKER: E te Atua kaha rawa ka tuku whakamoemiti atu mātou mō ngā karakia kua waihotia mai ki runga i a mātou. Ka waiho i ō mātou pānga whaiaro katoa ki te taha. Ka mihi mātou ki te Kīngi me te inoi atu mō te ārahitanga i roto i ō mātou whakaaroarohanga kia mōhio ai kia whakaiti ai tā mātou whakahaere i ngā take o te Whare nei mō te oranga te maungārongo me te aroha o Aotearoa. Āmene.[Almighty God we give thanks for the blessings which have been bestowed on us. Laying aside all personal interests we acknowledge the King and pray for guidance in our deliberations that we may conduct the affairs of this House with wisdom and humility for the welfare peace and compassion of New Zealand. Amen.]
Luxton JoJO LUXTON (Labour—Rangitata): Thank you Madam Speaker. It's a pleasure to take a quick call on this Forests (Legal Harvest Assurance) Amendment Bill. As the previous chair of the Primary Production Committee can I acknowledge other members of the select committee the submitters and all those involved with getting this piece of legislation to the point that it is here in the House tonight.This piece of legislation is specifically about ensuring that we are only trading in legally harvested timber. As the Minister has mentioned in his speech it simply brings us in line also with several of our trading partners who have implemented themselves or are in the process of implementing their own legislation to prevent the import or an export of illegally harvested timber. It is a sensible piece of legislation and I commend it to the House.
SpeechGLEN BENNETT (Labour—New Plymouth): Kia ora Madam Speaker. I just loving standing in this House and being able to present information. Coming back to the New Plymouth electorate as I always like to do we have if you've not seen our airport in New Plymouth it is the state-of-the-art most modern wonderful—and again Barbara Kuriger gets to enjoy the airport in the electorate of New Plymouth. I know we get to travel together regularly out of that airport and into the airport. Half a million people at least a year come and go from that airport.This legislation is important. This legislation has been waiting a long time. This legislation is being commended to the House.
SpeechHon DAVID BENNETT (National): Thank you Madam Speaker. Yes this bill sort of lost its impetus with a while between speeches but National supports the bill as well. There are some changes in it that are necessary to upgrade the technology and some of the rules around civil aviation which haven't been done for a while. But in essence it's a bill that will be without too much debate and it will be supported through the House.
Boyack RachelCIVIL AVIATION BILLSecond ReadingDebate resumed from 15 November 2022.RACHEL BOYACK (Labour—Nelson): Thank you Madam Speaker. I've been waiting to take this call since November last year because that was the time when the second reading of the Civil Aviation Bill began. It has come up on the Order Paper a few times in the last few weeks and I've been ready to take my call and we've never quite made it. But tonight we will get through the final section of the second reading of this bill which is very very exciting.The Civil Aviation Bill is important because much of our aviation legislation is out of date and needs modernisation and that is what this bill does. I do want to acknowledge the Transport and Infrastructure Committee who have taken a significant amount of time to work through the bill and make a number of practical and good suggestions. One of the challenges that we face—that is certainly the case in my region—is the need for our airports to have modern legislation as they evolve. For example in Nelson the runway is currently too short for us to be able to have electric and modern planes come on to the runway and the airport is currently working through a process locally with the council with the golf course and with residents on—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): Order! Order! There's a lot of noise coming from this side of the House.RACHEL BOYACK: It's all good.Hon David Bennett: Well she was waiting since November.RACHEL BOYACK: So the law is important so that airports like Nelson are able to make the changes they need as aviation evolves over the coming years. So it's an excellent bill. I'm looking forward to it getting through its second reading tonight so we can progress it and implement it and I commend it to the House.
SpeechGLEN BENNETT (Labour—New Plymouth): Kia ora Madam Speaker. It's echoed around the House as this bill the Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Levy) Amendment Bill has been debated and as a speaker again I just want to thank Fire and Emergency New Zealand for what they do. I know in my region and in my electorate of New Plymouth—in fact on Monday I was just meeting with the head of Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) checking in and just to know that we have a strong and robust not only professional but also volunteer FENZ service. Again as is being said around this House on this piece of legislation just to say thank you to those who put their lives on the line and give up their time for the sake of the protection of our communities. Of course we acknowledge the tragedy in Muriwai and the two FENZ volunteers who lost their lives.This piece of legislation has obviously progressed and has been in the Governance and Administration Committee. The other part I want to say is—to acknowledge obviously the new Minister that has this legislation now the Hon Barbara Edmonds who now is carrying this piece of legislation. I know that she has been really engaged and connected with the FENZ community in terms of supporting what's going on. On that I commend this bill to the House.Motion agreed to.Bill read a second time.
SpeechTERISA NGOBI (Labour—Ōtaki): Mālō e lelei Madam Speaker. It's a pleasure and an honour to take a quick call on the Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Levy) Amendment Bill tonight. But can I first start by acknowledging the passing of the two brave volunteer firefighters heroes and my thoughts and prayers go out to their loved ones as well. Actually to all the emergency and first responders who selflessly go out there all the time keeping us safe—really grateful to you all.And speaking to firefighters and to the bill my brother is a firefighter and he was deployed to Napier and he worked alongside many volunteers many other first responders firefighters and while he noted the absolute devastation he also commented on how beautiful it was that communities came together worked together for the sake of everyone else around them—including people from outside. And I just want to mention that he mentioned the Ōtaki Surf Lifesavers who came up for two days he reckoned they slogged their guts out"—his words not mine—alongside many others. So again just wanted to mihi to them all.But specifically like my colleague Arena said this bill is quite a simple change—it helps to make sure that the regime is simple to administrate or implement. It will reduce the extra costs and disruption to the system. It's simple it's a no-brainer it's a good piece of legislation. I commend this bill to the House."
Williams ArenaARENA WILLIAMS (Labour—Manurewa): Tēnā koe Madam Speaker. It's a pleasure to speak on this bill the Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Levy) Amendment Bill (FENZ) tonight because it is about services and providing those services that are so important to our communities. It makes sure those services are adequately funded. Can I speak in thanks to the fire and emergency services that have worked so hard through the cyclone recovery through the Auckland floods and in our communities every day. You know I think back to the Papatoetoe tornado in my electorate—and in your electorate Madam Speaker—where the fire and emergency services were there around the clock supporting our communities and so they deserve our support tonight.The bill seeks to make the new fire and emergency levy regime simple to implement while adhering to the funding principles in the existing FENZ Act and the bill gives effect to Cabinet's decision to charge the levy on contracts of insurance for fire damage and calculate the levy on the sum insured in the contracts for fire damage. These changes which the Governance and Administration Committee has considered carefully make the kind of change which is proportionate. The bill that was passed in 2017 while that was mostly fit for purpose did have some difficulties come to light about how easy it would be to interpret and implement within that framework. That is why the bill is needed. It makes these important changes which we need going forward to support these services and that's why I commend it to the House.
Māori Fisheries Amendment Bill — First Reading
Prime Willow-JeanInstruction to Māori Affairs CommitteeHon WILLOW-JEAN PRIME (Minister of Conservation) on behalf of the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries: I move That the Māori Fisheries Amendment Bill be reported to the House by 13 July 2023.Motion agreed to.
Sosene Lemauga Lydia; Salesa JennyLEMAUGA LYDIA SOSENE (Labour): Tēnā koutou katoa. I rise to take a short call as the final speaker for the Government. This is a very important kaupapa the Māori Fisheries Amendment Bill because it has taken quite some time for iwi and Te Ohu Kai Moana to develop and recommend a suite of changes to the Act voting on proposals and including a significant restructure of the Government's framework and so the next steps of the implementation are even more important. The bill makes changes to the Maori Fisheries Act 2004 to give effect to recommendations which Te Ohu Kai Moana have already conducted in a review of settlement entities. The changes will give iwi the certainty the clarity and the pathway forward for rangatiratanga over their assets with a strong intent to improve benefits to all Māori reduce costs and improve efficiency.The select committee process—just in my final comments—is very important and I want to encourage Kiwis across the motu with a strong interest in fisheries to have their say on the bill to ensure that we get it right to protect the vast diverse ocean ecosystems for generations to come. I commend the bill to the House.Motion agreed to.Bill read a first time.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): The question is That the Māori Fisheries Amendment Bill be considered by the Māori Affairs Committee.Motion agreed to.Bill referred to the Māori Affairs Committee.