Sio Hon Aupito WilliamAUPITO WILLIAM SIO (Labour—Māngere): I want to draw attention to the duration of overseas launch licences. In clause 27 of the bill it says: An overseas launch licence must specify the date on which it comes into force and the expiry date." I note that the expiry date is 5 years yet the industry or the family or the company that started this goes back to 2007—and the launch took place when? It was only this year or last year. That is a 9-year period so I wonder whether any discussion with the company that we are proud to acknowledge took place in terms of that licence period.Clause 27 then refers to some other sections 28 and 30 and then clause 28 goes on to "Renewal of overseas launch licence" and states: "(1) The Minister may renew an overseas launch licence for a further period of up to 5 years if the Minister continues to be satisfied of the matters in section 25(1)." I am not a member of the committee so you will pardon me. The overseas launch licence—that seems to imply to me that we are preparing for international companies to land at our doorstep to launch their rockets if I am correct. I do not know. But then if you look at clause 25—"When overseas launch licence may be granted"—it makes reference time and time again: "(1) The Minister may grant … (2) The Minister may despite being satisfied …". The concern I have—and you all appreciate that you will take it with a grain of salt because I have not been part of the select committee—is that we have often debated in this House who is responsible. Whilst we appreciate that at the end of the day we hold the Ministers and the Government responsible the reality is that from time to time the Ministers will say "Well that's an operational matter." and I'm not sure of the practicalities of having a Minister give approval for these licences without necessarily securing the best advice from the department that would be charged with operational matters.I will tell you why I raise this point. We are embarking on a new area. It is the first time ever—proud of that and I think the company and everybody associated with the beginning of this should be proud of it. But we are now embarking on a new area and we need to be protective of it in its initial stages. I am not sure whether—there are clauses in here looking at how easily an overseas launch licence can be granted—we are really protecting this industry of ours and the information and the intelligence that we have gathered because my view is that the fact that a small country like New Zealand is able to launch a rocket in a private launch suggests that we have a point of difference here from the USA. It suggests that we have a point of difference here from the rest of the world. I think that we need to be very protective of that but the way that I read the clauses of renewing overseas launch licences suggests to me that we are opening up the market at a very early stage without any protection given to those who are responsible for the innovation—those who are responsible for achieving what they have done going back to 2007 and to the point we are at now. Why do I air this concern for protecting those who have come up with this innovation? Because there is the potential as I have said in earlier remarks for us launching into a new—"