Warren-Clark AngieANGIE WARREN-CLARK (Labour): Ngā mihi nui ki a koe tēnei te mihi o te wā.[Huge acknowledgments this tribute of the moment to you.]As this is my first opportunity to rise in this House with you as Assistant Speaker sir may I add my congratulations on your appointment. I look forward to working with you and to your stewardship throughout the 52nd Parliament. I am delighted to stand and take my first call to speak to the Customs and Excise Bill today. I look across the House and I see my colleague Todd Müller—Sarah Dowie: Muller.ANGIE WARREN-CLARK: —Muller sorry; Todd Muller—who is our electoral MP. I am going to be talking today a little bit about our Port of Tauranga so I look forward to your interest.This bill will replace the Customs and Excise Act 1996 which we have heard is over 20 years old and parts are more than a hundred years old and the Act is antiquated and currently has a piecemeal nature due to the numerous amendments. So we've heard all of that and we know that this bill is a modernisation of the Act and operates to simplify the law by providing transparent and easy-to-use legislation. I commend my Minister for bringing this bill to the House.The ongoing amendments have rendered the current Act increasingly inaccessible and complex. I am of the plain English school and so improvements to form as well as functions are improvements absolutely in my belief. It is also of note that the policies the bill gives effect to are not expected to cause any group to suffer a loss of income or wealth. This is not controversial and we all agree to it. Rather it is expected that there is to be clarity around fees and duties and compliance costs and it will therefore decrease expenses.Of note throughout the work that has occurred on this bill there was a stakeholder reference group and there were 91 submissions received. There were several workshops undertaken during April and May 2015 45 businesses were asked to comment on the bill with 17 responding. Forty agencies were asked to comment on the bill and 15 responded. Indeed there is cross-party support in the House today.I would just like to address the matter Gerry Brownlee seems constantly to raise and that is that we are constantly moving through bills that are from National. I would like to remind you all that in 2009 you passed seven of ours. This is called governance and this is what we are doing.So back to the bill: this bill balances the need to protect our borders with the right of individuals. The Privacy Commissioner was as we have heard from New Zealand First significantly involved in the development of this bill and therefore the balance of the rights of individuals to privacy against border protection is clearly articulated. This is important where competing rights are involved. This bill makes it easier for traders to do business and interact with customs. This bill is simple transparent and futureproofed.In my community in the Bay of Plenty the Port of Tauranga is the largest and fastest-growing port in the country with more than 22 million tonnes of export and import cargo annually. This bill will enable greater information-sharing between customs and other Government agencies for national security law enforcement and public health and safety purposes. I make reference here to a live issue in my community: recently $20 million worth of cocaine was seized in Tauranga by the police and customs. Ports can be an entry port for drugs and precursor drugs. This bill contains a greater scope and flexibility to address smuggling and national security.In conclusion this bill will support Government agencies to respond to a changing global environment changes in business and border management practices.