Beaumont Carol: Subordinate Legislation (Confirmation and Validation) Bill (No 3) — First Reading 
Beaumont Carol: Subordinate Legislation (Confirmation and Validation) Bill (No 3) — First Reading 
[Volume:674;Page:19978] 
CAROL BEAUMONT (Labour) 
: 
 It is my pleasure to follow the interesting contribution made earlier by my colleague Dr Rajen Prasad on the Subordinate Legislation (Confirmation and Validation) Bill (No 3). I also intend to look a bit more deeply into the bill than perhaps some of the other contributors have done so far. As has probably been mentioned the purpose of this bill is “to prevent the lapse (expiry or deemed revocation) of certain subordinate legislation that by virtue of the Acts under which it is made lapses at a stated time unless earlier confirmed or validated by Act of Parliament.” This is the first time I have been able to speak on a Subordinate Legislation (Confirmation and Validation) bill although I understand that this is at least an annual process in Parliament and I thought I would find out a little bit more about the process. But first I say up front that Labour is supporting this bill to select committee the Regulations Review Committee which I am interested in finding out more about because I think that scrutiny of regulation and delegated subordinated legislation is really important. From the little I know—and I am trying to learn more—this is a very important feature of trying to ensure the integrity of this Parliament and the transparency of our legislation. 
Anyway I decided I would try to look a little bit more and I went to that source of a great deal of useful information  
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 to find out what it stated about this sort of thing because I thought I would like to know.  
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 states: “Each year legislation is introduced to confirm regulations that would otherwise lapse.” It further states: “regulations made under different Acts will be confirmed in a single piece of legislation often called”—as indeed this one is—“the Subordinate Legislation (Confirmation and Validation) Bill”. Basically what  
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states is that “Confirmation is the House’s opportunity to consider the policy which lies behind the regulations to be confirmed. It is not an exercise confined to examining regulations for conflict with delegated legislation principles.” 
Interestingly enough  
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 states that there is “no presumption that a confirmation bill will be referred to the Regulations Review Committee” although certainly in this case we are referring it to the Regulations Review Committee. It continues: “A confirmation bill dealing with regulations solely relating to producer boards for example would be likely to be referred to the Primary Production Committee where the committee could hear evidence from growers opposed to the policy underlying the regulation—”. However it also states that a confirmation bill dealing with a miscellaneous range of regulations on a number of subjects is likely to go to the Regulations Review Committee and in fact that is happening here because in this bill a range of regulations are being looked at. 
The regulations are governed by a number of different Acts including the Commodity Levies Act 1990 the Customs and Excise Act 1996 the Land Transport Act 1998 the New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income Act 2001 the Social Security Act 1964 the Tariff Act 1988 the War Pensions Act 1954 and the Wine Act 2003. I see the point that  
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 is making here: there is no commonality amongst all of those Acts. The regulations mentioned in this bill cover a wide range of issues from commodity levies through excise a range of things on motor vehicle registration social security rates and benefits the New Zealand - Hong Kong China Closer Economic Partnership Agreement and the (Wine (Grape Wine) Levy Order 2010. That is quite a range of things which would not go together in any of the subject select committees so off goes this bill to the Regulations Review Committee which I am sure will have a very interesting time looking at the various provisions in here. 
I shall follow on from Dr Prasad in looking at some of the different provisions. I too was interested in the Commodity Levies (Eggs) Order 2010 provisions. This is a levy payable as my colleague said to the Egg Producers Federation of New Zealand and it was expressed to expire 6 months after it came into force. This provision really is to see whether that will continue and likewise the Commodity Levies (Tamarillos) Order 2010. The levy in that case goes to the New Zealand Tamarillo Growers Association and— 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: How does the member know all this? 
CAROL BEAUMONT 
: I ate a tamarillo just the other day and it was delicious—really very nice. But the point is that that is not what this measure is about. There is also the Wine (Grape Wine) Levy Order 2010 and periodically I do drink a glass of wine but that is not really the point. The point is that these levies are an important part of industries and organisations that represent industries getting together and acting in the best interests of their industries in order to ensure that our food and beverage products—which we are renowned for as a country—have some industry-good work done. This is a way we can go about doing that through these levies which are set under the regulations and are now going to the Regulations Review Committee to see whether they need to be extended and confirmed. 
I support very strongly the idea that our industries cooperate in this sort of manner. There are things that are industry-good objectives which can be promoted to strengthen the ability of our exporters and producers to get products into overseas markets and earn us the very important export earnings we need as a country. From Labour’s point of view it is fair to say that we are deeply troubled by the lack of an economic plan from this Government in terms of supporting our exporters and providing the opportunity for us to earn the very income we need to provide the standard of living that this country desires for all of its people. This is just a small example but we would like to see a greater emphasis on an economic plan that supports our producers and exporters. So those are three regulation areas on tamarillos eggs and wine. 
Dr Prasad also talked about the Customs Export Prohibition (Livestock for Slaughter) Order 2010. This is an order that came into force on 21 December 2010 prohibiting the export of cattle deer goats and sheep for slaughter except with the consent of the chief executive of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and subject to any conditions not inconsistent with the prohibition that he or she specifies. That is quite important and I am not being flippant here. Obviously we are very concerned about exporting and the issue of livestock being exported is really important. Our colleagues and comrades across the Ditch the Australians have seen recently what can go horribly wrong in this area. Many many farmers in Australia have been concerned about issues they have had with the export of livestock—I think it was to Indonesia—and with that livestock then being treated inhumanely. 
This is a very important area of regulation. Increasingly global markets the sorts of countries that buy New Zealand food and beverage products want to know how we go about producing the items we are selling—the food they will eat. They want to know how that food has been grown and raised and how in the case of livestock livestock has been treated. Traceability is a really important issue. People all around the world are now demanding much more as consumers. They want to know that animals have been treated in a humane manner. They want to know what sorts of chemicals and other additives have been put into the food chain—all of these sorts of things. So this is an important regulation for us certainly from the point of view of ensuring that animals are not treated cruelly but also as part of the bigger picture of food production and the importance of the food industry for our country. 
Those are some of the areas covered in this Subordinate Legislation (Confirmation and Validation) Bill (No 3). The issues I have chosen to talk about are the ones particularly relating to our food and beverage industries ensuring that they are strong and supported so we can get the best possible outcome in our overseas markets. 
Again I say Labour supports this bill. I am sure the select committee dealing with it will have a very interesting time dealing with all of these various regulations. I look forward to following its progress through the House. Thank you very much.