Street Maryan: Third Readings 
Street Maryan: Third Readings 
[Volume:635;Page:6813] 
MARYAN STREET (Labour) 
: 
 It is with pleasure that I rise to speak to the third reading of these bills. At the risk of revealing the extent to which peace broke out in the Commerce Committee I want to join with others in congratulating Katherine Rich on the way she chaired the select committee. It was appreciated by all members of the committee but I speak for the Labour members in particular. It was greatly appreciated by us and I know that it was also greatly appreciated by the Minister. He apologised for not arriving in the House in time to make this speech because of weather conditions outside and a delayed flight but he did want me to repeat what the Hon Mita Ririnui said in his third reading speech on his behalf—that he did appreciate the work of Katherine Rich and of the select committee. 
I want to make a few points in summing up the whole process around these bills which relate to electricians plumbers gasfitters and drainlayers. The registration and licensing system that Katherine Rich spoke about a moment ago was a critical part of this. I suppose this is the moment when I want to pull back from some of the minutiae of these bills and go back to their original purpose. Originally the licensing system was to be simplified somewhat and instead of having a dual system of registration and licensing it was proposed that a licensing system only would apply. But after strong representation from tradespeople about the significance of registration to them and to their identification as tradespeople in their respective trades it was clear that a registration and licensing system needed to remain for two different purposes. Registration is the recognition of a qualification. Licensing however gives the public and everybody who ever employs an electrician a gasfitter a drainlayer or a plumber—and most of us do at some time employ those people—a sense of confidence about the competence in an ongoing way of those tradespeople. The licensing system which requires regular updating does mean that consumers can be confident that they are getting an up-to-date skilled practitioner. 
 There were two other high-level issues that we have often lost sight of in debating these bills. One is the importance of the safety of the public. When plumbing gasfitting drainlaying or electrical installation is carried out—whether it is in a private home for a business or on a main arterial route for the transmission of power energy or water—public safety is paramount. One of the prime purposes of these bills was to ensure that the safety of the public could be maintained through proper regulation and proper licensing. Similarly the safety of the workers is equally important. Workers who participate in what are dangerous or potentially dangerous activities in the installation of energy services and appliances should be protected by proper legislation regulation and procedures. 
The next item that I draw attention to is the different classes of licensing that emerged in the progress of these bills. They reflect quite simply the changes in technology in each of these trades. I learnt more about electrical transmission and who is qualified to work on bits of the electrical transmission process than I ever thought necessary. I thought I just flicked a switch on and it happened. The licensing of competence to attend to big electrical installations or big gas installations for example and to have the ability to repair maintain and install energy delivery across a whole range of kinds of energy has required a differentiated licensing system so that we know that people who are qualified in one area will not suddenly shimmy up a pylon and consider themselves to be competent in that area. That part of the legislation addresses the issue of worker safety and it goes again to the question of public safety. 
We discovered some problems in the course of considering these bills and we addressed them on the way. To those who made submissions to the select committee—and to Hazel Armstrong in particular who prepared a report for the Hon Dr Michael Cullen in respect of plumbers gasfitters and drainlayers in particular—I say that we are really very grateful. The Minister expressly wishes to convey his appreciation to those submitters and to Hazel Armstrong for giving their time and their views. They did make a palpable difference to the way these bills finally emerged. 
I also thank the Minister as Katherine Rich did for his cooperative intervention and collaboration with the select committee. It was really important that we achieved the desired outcome regardless of where things had started or of different positions between political parties. On these bills the select committee worked as one; it was a very constructive and useful process. As a brand new member of Parliament I think this is the first set of bills that I have seen from beginning to end and ushered through the process from their introduction to their third reading. I think that what we did was a model process with very capable chairing with a Minister who was prepared to listen and make some changes and with very clear policy purposes from which there was no dissent. There was no disagreement and we were able to proceed with the very able support of the officials. 
It is a pleasure to see these bills through. This legislation will make a difference to the tradespeople involved and it will make a difference to the delivery of energy services in New Zealand.