Chauvel Charles: Subordinate Legislation (Confirmation and Validation) Bill (No 3) — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeChauvel Charles: Subordinate Legislation (Confirmation and Validation) Bill (No 3) — First Reading[Sitting date: 11 October 2007. Volume:642;Page:12323. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]CHARLES CHAUVEL (Labour): It is good to know that this legislation has at least bipartisan support. As the previous speaker said the Subordinate Legislation (Confirmation and Validation) Bill (No 3) is a routine and annual bill to confirm and validate items of subordinate legislation that if not so confirmed would lapse by the end of the year.It was interesting though to hear TimGroser’s observations about the importance of quality regulation. Certainly this Government has shown by its actions that it agrees with that precept. I merely have to refer members opposite to the excellent work done by the Minister of Commerce in the Quality Regulation Review which is the first time in the history of New Zealand that a Minister has really grasped the nettle and met that problem head-on. It is really terrific to see the work that Lianne Dalziel is doing to make sure that our regulation framework does have some quality and rigour to it.As a member of the Regulations Review Committee to which it is anticipated that this legislation will be referred I am very pleased to say that we are doing our bit on that very hard-working committee to make sure that we look at regulations in a systematic way and consider whether there is justification for their continuation. The member who has just spoken might like to know that at the moment we are looking at every regulation on the statute book. We have written to every department and every entity responsible for the administration of a regulation and we have asked them to justify the ongoing need for that regulation. It is quite an important thing to keep the delegated statute book up to date and I can assure that member that not only is the Minister of Commerce making brave efforts in that regard but also the Regulations Review Committee.Just turning to the detail of the bill it would provide for this Parliament to validate and confirm 16 Orders in Council which are made under 10 pieces of primary legislation. Two of those 16 orders apply movements in the Consumers Price Index to the rates of social security benefits New Zealand superannuation and war pensions. One of those orders also makes an additional increase to the rate of New Zealand superannuation so that the net amount payable to a married civil-unioned or de facto couple rises to 66 percent of the net average wage.Three orders are made under the Customs and Excise Act 1996. They apply movements in the Consumers Price Index to the rates of excise and excise-equivalent duties on alcohol and tobacco products and on motor spirits. One order increases the amount of duty-free alcoholic spirits that passengers may import into New Zealand—that will make incoming passengers happy—from one bottle to three bottles of 1125 millilitres of spirits and adjusts the amount of duty allowed to be forgone in line with this. I see that Mr Foss is particularly welcoming of that measure and a good measure it is too.Three orders deal with commodity levies for fruit and vegetables and replace similar orders. These orders were voted on by the respective industry participants themselves. Each is payable to the industry organisations in order to finance activities of benefit to the industry—like work on policy issues research promotion and administration in respect of the seafood industry. Three deal with commodity levies relating to fisheries. One extends for 5 years the existing order relating to fish. One replaces the existing levy order relating to southern scallops. One imposes a single levy on farmed green-lipped mussels Pacific oysters and salmon. Again each is payable to the respective industry organisation in order to finance the activities of benefit to the industry.There are four other validated pieces of subordinate legislation. One is under the Fisheries Act relating to the quota management system. Some regulations under the Animal Products Act 1999 give effect to cost recovery proposals. One is under the Gambling Act specifying the problem gambling levy to be payable from 1 July 2007 to 1 July 2010 by either a gaming-machine operator a casino operator the Lotteries Commission or the New Zealand Racing Board—those with a statutory monopoly in other words—to conduct gambling. As members will know this levy money is important because it goes into Vote Health to ensure that the deleterious effects of gambling can be countered by Ministry of Health - funded programmes.The final piece of subordinate legislation that will be dealt with relates to the Road User Charges Act and increases rates of road-user charges for heavy vehicles.If the legislation is referred to the Regulations Review Committee in accordance with the Minister’s expressed desire then I certainly look forward to detailed consideration of it.