Yates Dianne: Legislation (Incorporation by Reference) Bill — Instruction to Committee Second Reading Instruction to Committee Instruction to Committee In Committee 
Yates Dianne: Legislation (Incorporation by Reference) Bill — Instruction to Committee Second Reading Instruction to Committee Instruction to Committee In Committee 
[Volume:625;Page:19803] 
DIANNE YATES (Labour—Hamilton East) 
: 
 Thank you Mr Speaker; I have sought the call several times during this debate. As the chair of the Government Administration Committee I want to thank Brent Catchpole and Murray Smith for their comments on the bill because both were involved in the select committee. I thank the Government Administration Committee for the work it did on the Building Bill and on this Legislation (Incorporation by Reference) Bill. 
The matters in this bill are technical. As has been explained the Government Administration Committee reported the Building Bill back to Parliament and some standard clauses were added that were required by the Legislation Advisory Committee guidelines. Those guidelines as Sue Kedgley has pointed out required that material be available on the Internet. What had not been foreseen was that that would have an effect on Standards New Zealand and an effect on copyright law. It would mean that not only would we not be complying with some international regulations but also that Standards New Zealand would be deprived of its income. The Minister was informed of this and has taken legal advice and consequently we are faced with this bill which is moving with urgency to correct that particular unforeseen problem. It was not a fault of the Government Administration Committee or of the original drafting of the bill; it came about because the Legislation Advisory Committee guidelines were required to be imposed on the bill at that very late stage and were found to be unworkable around that area of Standards New Zealand as Murray Smith has very well explained. 
Dr Nick Smith who turned up at the select committee just for this bill was not a member of the inquiry on weathertightness of buildings— 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: Thank goodness. 
DIANNE YATES 
: —thank goodness—as his colleague Wayne Mapp was. He was not part of the select committee when we looked at the Building Bill. If Dr Smith is going to start pointing the finger and talking about botch-ups I will remind him that the problems of weathertightness are multiple. Many of them came about through deregulation of the industry which he will know went back to when his party was in Government. He also might like to recall that George Chapman who I am sure is an old colleague of his was chair of the Building Industry Authority when he was informed of weathertightness problems. What did he do at the time? Nothing. Long before any other people were involved George Chapman was informed of these problems as Dr Smith Wayne Mapp and members of the committee well know. If we are going to start pointing fingers then we need to look back somewhat further than this particular legislation. 
I thank the members of the Government Administration Committee. I also thank the members of the Regulations Review Committee and in particular Dr Richard Worth for his work. I thank the Regulations Review Committee for giving us its opinion on the necessity to make changes in order to protect copyright laws. It has said of the incorporation by reference in this case: “We consider the copyright issues provide appropriate reasons for the changes proposed in the bill. We wish to make it clear that in the absence of these issues we would be opposed to the bill. By removing the requirement to place incorporated material on the Internet the bill in effect creates a barrier to accessing legislation. However we accept that the difficulties with copyright justify not using the standard clause in this case and that this is an appropriate exception to the principles identified in our report.” I thank the legal minds on the Regulations Review Committee chaired by Dr Richard Worth for their cooperation in getting this bill back to the House and making the necessary changes.