Brownlee GerryFirst ReadingHon GERRY BROWNLEE (Acting Minister of Civil Defence): I move That the Hurunui/Kaikōura Earthquakes Recovery Bill be now read a first time. As I said in the lead motion we nominate the Local Government and Environment Committee to consider the bill and for the bill to be reported to the House by 6 December 2016. That committee will have authority to meet broadly during the short period that it has to consider the bill.The earthquakes of 14 November have left a very indelible mark on communities throughout the upper part of the South Island and in parts of Wellington. It is impossible to fully understand what might be needed to recover from those events. This week with unanimous support across the House we have passed legislation that will significantly help in that earthquake recovery. But that alone is not enough. We know that with such a big earthquake and the subsequent aftershocks the widespread destruction that comes with that will mean that it could be a considerable time before all of the damage is understood and more importantly the consequences of that damage are understood in relation to communities recovering.Like the Canterbury earthquakes the true scale of it will take some time to determine. As I said in the House earlier this week I acknowledge the many Civil Defence personnel engineers and Defence personnel who worked hard to assist those affected. I would also like to compliment those people who work for the many contractors who are now engaged in keeping roads open and particularly their families who will be experiencing their long working hours by their absence.In order to keep that effort going there may well be a need from time to time to suspend amend or change some laws that relate to that recovery. This bill sets out a proposal that would allow a specified list of legislation to be amended by Order in Council for the earthquake-affected areas where necessary or desirable for recovery. It is a flexible mechanism that allows us to react quickly to a range of issues. The issues that may need to be dealt with are not yet fully understood and I state that for the record for the third time to make it very clear that in passing this bill the Parliament will be enabling those works to get done in a speedy fashion. We are coming into the Christmas and new year period and it is possible that there could be an aftershock that might have an effect on one of those roads even if there has been good progress made on them. It is important that momentum is not lost.I recognise that these are extraordinary powers and I appreciate that there will be concerns about using Order in Council mechanisms as was the case in the Canterbury legislation. Appropriate constraints are therefore quite important. For that reason there are a number of limits and controls on the exercise of the Order in Council power in the bill. The order must be necessary or desirable for the purpose—or response or recovery from the earthquakes—and must be no broader than necessary. The bill applies only to those areas directly or indirectly affected by the earthquakes. This includes alternative roading outside the main affected regions—for instance Nelson and the West Coast which now hosts the main road from Blenheim to Christchurch and routes south. Some of those roads have experienced no more than 100 traffic movements a day but are now experiencing up to 700 truck and trailer units per day. It is quite a different prospect and it does raise issues of safety that will have to be addressed but it will have to be done so responsibly and without any opportunistic behaviour.The provisions of this bill are time-bound. The ability to make orders and any orders made under this bill's powers would both expire in mid-2018. In other words it is not an opening up of law on a permanent basis; once again it is restricted to the activities needed for immediate recovery.An independent review panel will advise on draft orders and the relevant Minister must have regard to their recommendations. The panel will comprise iwi and local government representation as well as legal expertise. There are also certain fundamental rights and obligations that cannot be subject to the bill's Order in Council process—for example the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act and the Electoral Act cannot be amended. Draft orders will be provided for the Regulations Review Committee and to leaders of political parties during the recess for comment and the relevant Minister must have regard to any comments received.The order once made will be subject to the House's normal disallowance provisions. Orders can be made only in respect of the specified listed Acts that we think may need to be amended to assist recovery. That list of Acts is something a select committee will I am sure want to closely scrutinise. It is obviously no small thing to change primary legislation without primary scrutiny. A Regulations Review Committee process is to provide some of that scrutiny without unduly delaying the changes that are necessary to assist in the recovery. The Order in Council process was successful in assisting recovery in greater Christchurch. It is designed to be flexible to deal with a range of potential matters including temporary housing accommodation supplements streamlined planning and consenting processes geotechnical assessment and tax and financial reporting deadlines. No one should read into the list I have just given that it is an exhaustive list. There will be things that come up from time to time that this legislation will facilitate being dealt with.It is not a central government takeover either. I expect Ministers to engage with local councils and iwi in developing proposed orders. The requirement of the bill in relation to the review panel also formalises local and iwi input.The bill facilitates recovery without needing to anticipate every power or statutory provision. It may need to be amended to assist with recovery. It is worth noting that if this bill passes it is the will of the House that this mechanism is available to achieve those things and no one should read into the intention of the House anything less than that.I think there are robust limits in this bill and appropriate controls because it is necessary and expected by people who put a sovereign Government into place that it will do something. And this over the last week has been an exercise on behalf of the House that the Parliament of New Zealand wants to do something to help people in Kaikōura.I look forward to the comments in this debate. I look forward to the discussion that will go on in the very short select committee process. I commend the bill to the House.