Dunne Peter: Passports Amendment Bill (No 2) — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeDunne Peter: Passports Amendment Bill (No 2) — In Committee[Sitting date: 22 September 2015. Volume:709;Page:6839. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon PETER DUNNE (Minister of Internal Affairs): Can I take just a very brief call in response to the matters raised. I am not going to traverse the ground of who supports the bill and who does not support the bill because there appears to be universal support for it.The issue that the member who preceded me the Hon David Cunliffe raised related to how the financial arrangements for the new structure have been arrived at. I think there are two broad points that I would make. Firstly Cabinet in its consideration of this measure did ask some very serious questions of the department about the structure of its accounts and as a consequence of that discussion the price tag of $180 for the new passport the 10-year passport was struck. The member is correct—that does not run in line with the advice from Treasury—but I think it is fair to say that the Government was of the view that some challenge could be put to the department about the way in which its finances were structured moving forward.The second point that I would make is a historical one. Passports are one of those areas that are funded out of a rather quaint device within the Government called memorandum accounts. It is fair to say that the passport memorandum account had been operating at a historical deficit. So in terms of reaching a new arrangement account had to be taken of how that historical deficit would be eliminated what a reasonable price was moving forward and what sorts of measures might need to be implemented to manage that situation as we go through. So they were the drivers of the decision.We arrived at the end at a point where although this is a consequence of the bill and I concede not part of it if you took the annual cost of a 5-year passport compared with the annual cost of the 10-year passport the advantage is considerably on the consumer’s side with regard to that passport. It is true that these will be reviewed from time to time. All Government charges are to be reviewed from time to time. My personal view arising from this experience and one or two others I have been associated with in a similar vein is that the mistake we make is not to review those charges frequently enough and consequently we get to the point where big increases are needed to bridge gaps rather than small more moderate ones. But be that as it may that is another debate.The point I simply wanted to respond to was that raised by the previous speaker as to how this is structured what the Government’s ongoing view is of the figures that have been presented to us and what response we are seeking from officials. I think it is fair to say as with all forecasts of Government expenditure—the member used the term “elastic” and I think that is broadly correct. They need to be challenged constantly and will be as we move through this process over the next few years. But I am satisfied that the methodology adopted this time was correct. I am satisfied that the decisions we have reached are the correct ones and I am satisfied as I think the member conceded in his final remarks that we have arrived at a position that the vast majority of New Zealanders will support.My only—not so much frustration but the only point I am encountering anxiety on at the moment is that having brought the date of implementation forward to 30 November there are a number of people who are saying: “So I can apply for my new passport now to get it on 30 November.” Actually it does not work that way. You draw a line in the sand which says 30 November—and you can apply for your passport and I make two points as I close. If you apply for your passport in the good old-fashioned manual way it will take about 10 working days to get you your passport so you will certainly have it for Christmas. But applications online are dealt with in a much shorter period—2 to 3 days. Roughly about half of all passport renewal applications are online at the moment. We would encourage people to take the online process and if they are going away quickly for the Christmas holidays that may be the way to take advantage of the new system.