Martin TraceyFIRE AND EMERGENCY NEW ZEALAND (LEVY) AMENDMENT BILLThird ReadingHon TRACEY MARTIN (Minister of Internal Affairs): I move That the Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Levy) Amendment Bill be now read a third time.This is a short but important bill. It will ensure that Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) will have certainty in its funding arrangements over the next several years. It also gives effect to Cabinet decisions around the levy that museums archives and the New Zealand Defence Force should pay. The bill amends the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Act 2017—the FENZ Act. The FENZ Act brought together rural and urban brigades and paid and volunteer firefighters to form a fit for purpose 21st century fire service.The benefits of this organisation can be seen in the responses provided to the recent Tasman fires and the flooding in the West Coast. Responses like these are vital in keeping our communities safe especially in the face of increasing extreme weather events. FENZ also provided support in response to the Christchurch terror attack on 15 March 2019. While we are now realising the benefits of FENZ operating as a unified organisation we need to make sure that the way they are funded is appropriate.Funding FENZ through a levy on contracts of insurance is a carry-over from FENZ's predecessors. However there are weaknesses in this funding system. These include: people being able to freeload by choosing not to insure their property and therefore paying no levy but still benefiting from FENZ's service; increased insurance costs and reduced incentives for people to properly insure their properties; and levy collection is complex to administer for insurers and FENZ's levy income may become uncertain as the commercial insurance market evolves.We are looking to see if there is a better way to fund such an important organisation. We want to provide a stable simple funding system that is fair to individuals and businesses. Now is the ideal time to take a fresh look at different options for funding FENZ as we have good information and understanding of the costs involved with running the new organisation. This bill provides time for us to explore the best way to fund FENZ so that they can continue to do the outstanding work that they do. The bill does this by delaying the commencement of a new levy regime until 2024. An Order in Council can bring this date forward as needed to implement a new funding regime. Importantly the bill ensures that FENZ will remain funded for the duration of the review of the funding system.This bill also exempts items being held by cultural heritage bodies from being liable for levy payments. This will ensure that institutions that hold extremely valuable items for the public benefit are not unfairly charged a high rate of levy. Some of these items will be virtually priceless. We want to make sure that institutions preserving and exhibiting such items for our communities are not penalised in the form of high fire levies that don't relate to their potential call on FENZ's services. This bill also clarifies that the New Zealand Defence Force is exempt from the levy. This clarifies a long-held position that the New Zealand Defence Force provides New Zealand with significant firefighting capability and benefits to the community. I think the Defence Force's contribution to fighting the Tasman wildfires illustrates this well.I would like to thank the Governance and Administration Committee chaired by Mr Brett Hudson for their careful consideration of this bill. I would like to thank those who submitted on the bill and those parties that have supported this bill. I would also like to take a moment to once again thank and pay tribute to the women and men of FENZ for their hard work their commitment and the incredibly important work that they do. This bill is an important step in the journey towards our ultimate vision of FENZ so I'm pleased to commend this bill to the House a final time.