Worth Richard: Subordinate Legislation (Confirmation and Validation) Bill (No 4) — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Worth Richard: Subordinate Legislation (Confirmation and Validation) Bill (No 4) — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 02 September 2008. Volume:649;Page:18234. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Dr RICHARD WORTH (National) 
: 
 The previous speaker Dr Michael Cullen succinctly outlined the scope of the Subordinate Legislation (Confirmation and Validation) Bill (No 4) and as he said it is to go to the Regulations Review Committee. It is limited at this part of the urgency debate simply to the first reading. The plan of action is that it will go to the Regulations Review Committee which will meet next Wednesday and come to a view on whether these particular delegated provisions should be confirmed and validated.  
There are perhaps a couple of points to be made in the context of a first reading speech. First the purpose of the bill is to confirm and validate certain subordinate legislation that in accordance with confirmation and validation provisions in the Acts under which it is made lapse at a stated time unless confirmed or validated by Act of Parliament. So—if one likes to put it this way—there are a whole lot of sunset provisions in these delegated provisions which require for continued life a further parliamentary step. If one looks through the bill itself one sees that in some cases the subordinate legislation is to be confirmed and in other cases it is to be confirmed and validated. Nothing really turns on that; it simply relates to the empowering provision in the statute requiring validation or confirmation and validation.  
The step of confirmation and validation does not itself cure any invalidity in those particular provisions. As the previous speaker said a raft of statutes and associated delegated legislation is affected: the Animal Products Act the Civil Aviation Act the Commodity Levies Act the Customs and Excise Act the Electronic Transactions Act and so on. I thought I would just take as an example to illustrate the process one such Act and its related subordinate legislation. I have chosen the Civil Aviation Act 1990. It is interesting actually to see that the dates of all of these pieces of primary legislation are all now of an age—the latest would be 1999. So it seems that this drafting technique may not be in favour as much as it used to be.  
But just for example looking at the illustration I have chosen—the Civil Aviation Act—one sees in section 42A and the later provisions that follow a power given to the Governor-General to impose levies. The levies may be in respect of a range of aeronautical activity and services. But under section 42C there is provision for “Levy orders to be confirmed”. That is what we are talking about here. Under section 42C(2) “Every such Order in Council shall” expire at a fixed date “except so far as it is expressly validated or confirmed by Act of Parliament passed during that year;”. That is why Dr Cullen said that there is a degree of urgency in seeing this legislation in place before the end of the year.  
Then if one looks at the relevant piece of delegated legislation—in this case the Civil Aviation (Aeronautical Information Service) Levies Amendment Order 2008 which was made on 26 May—one sees that a range of levies are set for a number of airports throughout New Zealand. So the aeronautical information service levy for Christchurch for example is $39526 that for Wellington is $47852 and—the final example—that for Westport is $299.  
The Regulations Review Committee will go to all of the relevant ministries examine their responses for the justification for the legislation and then report to the House. I know it is certainly the hope of National Party members that we will see the Subordinate Legislation (Confirmation and Validation) Bill (No 4) back in the House in good order for the further steps that must necessarily follow—those further steps being a second reading Committee stage a third reading and the Royal assent.