edithatogo/nz-hansard-corpus huggingface dataset:
5. Question No. 5—FinanceANDREW BAYLY (National—Port Waikato) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 5—Finance5. ANDREW BAYLY (National—Port Waikato) to the Minister of Finance: What are the criteria for the new COVID-19 support payments and how many businesses has he been advised are expected to receive it?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): As I've answered throughout this week I outlined the broad criteria for consideration of any future support on 22 October. If the member is referring to the passage of the Taxation (COVID-19 Support Payments and Working for Families Tax Credits) Bill last night the changes outlined there are designed to allow for certainty and flexibility under our future framework. In answer to the second part of the question that will depend on the nature of any future financial support.Andrew Bayly: Will a business operating in the orange level be eligible for any form of support payment after 3 December?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: As announced on 22 October it is not our expectation that there will be broad-based economic supports under the orange level because businesses operating with vaccine certificates will be able to operate largely as normal. As I have also said and said on 22 October we will continue to look at sector-specific support throughout this period.Andrew Bayly: On what day will businesses be informed if they are operating at orange or red level next weekend?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The Prime Minister has already signalled this week that the announcements will be made on Monday next week—not the weekend.Andrew Bayly: On what day will business sectors know whether they will qualify for targeted support under the traffic light system?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The question of targeted support will be an ongoing one because obviously the framework is not yet in place so we're unable to assess the exact impact on specific sectors. As the Minister of Tourism said during an answer just a few moments ago we've had close to $500 million of targeted support towards that sector and we continue to work with that sector and others that are affected on what their needs are.Andrew Bayly: Will a business that loses 30 percent of its revenue due to being in the red level be eligible for the new COVID-19 support payments?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: As I said in the answer to my primary question there is no COVID-19 support payment. The change made in the legislation was to enable flexibility should there be any future payments.Andrew Bayly: Will the COVID-19 support payments—and I use the term generically as per the primary—be at least the same monetary value per business as the combined resurgence payment and the wage subsidy?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Well the Government has not made decisions about that. We will look at the impact of the red level on businesses in particular on different sectors.
3. Question No. 3—HousingSHANAN HALBERT (Labour—Northcote) to the Minister of HousingQuestion No. 3—Housing3. SHANAN HALBERT (Labour—Northcote) to the Minister of Housing: What progress has the Government made on rebuilding public housing in Auckland?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Housing): The Government is working hard to rebuild public housing across New Zealand including in Auckland. When we came into Government in 2017 there were 1500 fewer public houses across New Zealand than there were a decade before. Since then I'm pleased to report that we're starting to rectify this situation by rebuilding our public housing stock. Since coming to Government in 2017 we now have more than 8000 additional warm dry public housing places to call home. Over 6500 of these are brand new builds and we're continuing to deliver more. In Auckland I'm pleased to report we've exceeded our target delivering 4805 new public houses against the target set in the Public Housing Plan for 2018-2022 of 3550 and there's still nearly a year to go.Shanan Halbert: What action has the Government taken to build more public houses in Northcote?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: In Northcote more than 280 new houses have been delivered to date. Further infrastructure investment has enabled an additional 1000 homes with 575 of these currently under construction. More than $130 million has been invested to develop the land at Northcote with an additional $13 million in shovel-ready investment for stormwater work. Once completed the Northcote large-scale project will deliver 1600 new homes with 480 new public homes. All homes in the Northcote development—public KiwiBuild and open market—are built to a six Homestar standard which exceeds New Zealand's building code requirements.Shanan Halbert: What action has the Government taken to build more public houses in Mount Roskill?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: In Mount Roskill we have completed 188 homes 169 of these are public houses which have been delivered to date with around 671 further homes under construction. Furthermore through a mix of Kāinga Ora's direct investment and additional Crown capital investments through shovel-ready funding and the Housing Acceleration Fund we've invested more than $180 million on infrastructure and earthworks. So far we've completed earthworks to enable another 771 homes with more than 11000 high-quality healthy homes to be built across 162 hectares over the next 15 to 20 years. This will include approximately 4400 State houses 3300 affordable homes and 3300 homes for the open market.
1. Question No. 1—FinanceANNA LORCK (Labour—Tukituki) to the Minister of FinanceORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSQuestion No. 1—Finance1. ANNA LORCK (Labour—Tukituki) to the Minister of Finance: What recent reports has he seen on the New Zealand economy?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): The export sector continues to support New Zealand's recovery. Today Statistics New Zealand reported the exports of goods in October rose $552 million or 12 percent to $5.3 billion compared with the same period a year ago. The main contribution here came from dairy products which rose 18 percent—Barbara Kuriger: Of course.Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: —to $1.5 billion in the month—that's right Mrs Kuriger—led by higher prices for milk powder. The meat sector also contributed strongly with sales rising 25 percent in October while fruit exports increased by 35 percent. On an annual basis exports were up 3.3 percent from the previous year to $62 billion. Our exporters are contributing strongly to the economy for which all of us I'm sure thank them.Anna Lorck: What else did the report show on trade and its impact on confidence in the economy?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Well the overseas merchandise trade figures for October show that firms appear increasingly confident in investing more in the economy and the recovery. Imports of machinery and plant rose 43 percent to $927 million in October compared with the same month a year earlier. For the October quarter imports of machinery and plant rose 33 percent to $2.8 million and for the year the same imports rose 12 percent to $9.4 billion. The economy remains resilient despite the impact of the current Delta outbreak and uncertainty around the pandemic. We can expect volatility in domestic and international data for some time but New Zealand is well positioned to manage that.Anna Lorck: What other reports has he seen on the economy?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Xero's Small Business Index has seen a rebound in sales which rose 6.4 percent in October on a year ago after two months of decline. Jobs continued to rise up 4.4 percent increasing by 3.6 percent in September. There was also an improvement in small businesses being paid on time in the quarter. The survey showed a strong bounce back in sales led by the construction manufacturing and retail trade sectors while hospitality and tourism declined in light of the current restrictions. Xero said that the recovery appeared to reflect the easing of prior alert levels and the ability of small businesses to adapt during uncertain times. It said the survey suggested the economy will rebound when Auckland fully reopens but of course it will still be challenging for some businesses.SPEAKER: I just want to indicate to members that while we are likely under the new framework to allow members to be sort of closer together next time we sit I do want members to maintain their separations during this period.
Henderson EmilyDr EMILY HENDERSON (Labour—Whangārei): I commend this bill to the House.
Walters VanushiVANUSHI WALTERS (Labour—Upper Harbour): Thank you Mr Speaker. As Richard Stark says the legacy left by industrial development can be riddled with uncertainty and be enduring in nature." and I find it alarming that the Opposition is so horrified by the idea of enduring obligations. The idea of enduring obligations isn't a new concept. It's fundamental to a sustainable world of tomorrow. Historically across the world this seeming urgency to realise the productivity of oilfields and gasfields has meant that due weight wasn't always given to the legacy of those works nor the thought to who would be responsible and how and that's what this bill addresses. It ensures that those who undertook and profited from petroleum activities will pay a fair share for the cleaning up the decommissioning or any remedial work and that it doesn't fall fully to the Crown to landowners nor to taxpayers. The changes in the bill in terms of implementing a regulatory regime echo the principles that we've seen internationally in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea—UNCLOS—which requires the removal of abandoned installations from a State's territorial waters. We've also seen it in the UK law where decommissioning of offshore oil and gas is included in the Petroleum Act. Here in New Zealand the changes proposed will benefit landowners on whose land petroleum mining has taken place. It will benefit the agricultural community who are vulnerable to hydrocarbon leakage onshore. It will benefit commercial marine users such as the commercial shipping and fisheries communities who are vulnerable to things like snagging and fishing nets on decommissioned offshore installations left in situ. It will also of course benefit the public at large including of course our future generations. I thank the Economic Development Science and Innovation Committee for their work on this bill and I commend this bill to the House."
McAnulty KieranKIERAN McANULTY (Labour—Wairarapa): One thing I've learnt in life is that just because you say it louder doesn't make it right. There's a couple of members on that side of the House that could probably take that lesson I think over the last couple of days and this particular bill is a prime example of that.There is a particularly difficult question here around the legacy of decommissioning oil and gasfields and I think this is pretty straightforward. If there is the possibility in the current regulations that the taxpayer and the Crown could be left with the liability and the cost of dealing with this then that should be sorted and this bill is doing just that. I'm not going to pretend that I'm an expert in oil and gas—it's not something that we deal with very often in Wairarapa. But I would think that most New Zealanders watching this when they were made aware that there is the possibility that a company could leave what would reasonably be expected to be their responsibility on the Crown and on taxpayers then I think that they would want that to be sorted. I think that they would expect that this Parliament actually when faced with this pretty straightforward proposition would agree to close those loopholes that would allow that to happen. Even if it is a possibility that hasn't occurred often in the past why should we leave a loophole open for that to potentially be exploited in the future?So I look at this very simply. If I was leasing a farm and I left that farm in a state at the end of that lease it shouldn't be on the farmer to sort it out. It should be on the person who was leasing that and I see this as exactly the same. In normal everyday life people would expect those that perform a particular function to deal with their responsibilities and not impose it on others. This bill is going to sort that out.
White Helen; Rurawhe AdrianHELEN WHITE (Labour): It's an absolute pleasure to rise in support of this bill particularly having heard the speeches from the Opposition today and in other readings. I'm really concerned that the New Zealand public see what's happened today because what we've actually seen is what people who say that they believe in self-responsibility do when it's about small people but when it's about big multinationals it goes out the window.What we have here is we have an industry that is made up of big big multinationals and the rich list and they actually went out and they built an infrastructure which has hazards associated with it. Many many of those businesses are so big that they lose their humanity—let's face it—and what they do is they forget and they calculate in that they will be able to actually sell these companies off to another company and because they're shielded by limited liability they won't end up paying for the mess they made. Not only that; the environment will suffer—they are out of there—and that is what happened in the case of Tamarind. What happened with Tamarind was that someone else took on the endgame and those people did not have the cash at hand and maybe they didn't even have the will to actually clean up and guess who ended up paying for that? Actually it's not the Government as is suggested when we want to sanitise these things; it's the taxpayer. It's the very people that Simon Court has described. Those are the people who actually go to the polytech and work in small industries and work in industry. Those are the people who end up paying their hard-earned dollars to clean up after a multinational who has made a massive amount of money and skipped and that is totally unacceptable. That is where our system breaks down and actually the National Party and ACT look like what they are: the supporters of big business and big multinationals and not the supporters of the taxpayers. I too believe in self-responsibility and so I am proud to support this bill.DEPUTY SPEAKER: This is a split call.
Logie JanJAN LOGIE (Green): Thank you Mr Speaker. I rise on behalf of the Green Party with great pleasure to speak on the third reading of the Crown Minerals (Decommissioning and Other Matters) Amendment Bill. This has been a while coming really. I think as a country we've recognised that there's been a problem for quite a few years and I'd start by going back to my previous colleague Gareth Hughes' work in 2017 where he exposed the fact that the Crown was exposed to potential costs of $800 million over the next 20 years relating to decommissioning of oil rigs because of the way decommissioning costs could then be written off against tax liabilities. Between that time and this bill coming to the House in the first place the Government had been forced to spend an additional $374 million on one single decommissioning project after Tamarind Resources structured its permit ownership to avoid having to pay for its own decommissioning. It's the privatising of profit and the socialising of costs and that has been our reality in this country in relation to this infrastructure.I do want to point as well to the fact that we are in a climate crisis. It's pretty important that we face up to that fact. We've just had an international meeting where the collective commitments across the world were not enough to be able to meet the climate crisis. We have to be collectively around the world stepping up our efforts. That is going to require a just transition and part of the process of a just transition as well as getting people out of extractive industries and into really productive and sustaining work is also looking after the environment after those industries have gone and about fixing up the damage that has been done and putting the cost of that where it belongs with the people who have been making the profits all the way along. This is a pretty important principle for us in the Greens and it is clear to us that we need a regulatory regime in Aotearoa New Zealand that is based on polluter pays" so that those who have the benefit from environmentally harmful activities also carry the costs of the associated remediation and clean-up activities. It doesn't feel like a strange idea to me; it just seems pretty basic common sense. It was how I was brought up: if you do the damage you pay for the damage. This bill fixes up a lot of these regulatory gaps that we've had to ensure that there is a responsibility into the future and I do want to acknowledge the work of the Economic Development Science and Innovation Committee. That was quite extensive. I was involved in some of the early stages of this which shows how extensive it was because I haven't been on that committee this term. There is now in this bill that we are passing today a clear obligation to decommission much greater monitoring powers and a requirement to obtain and maintain a financial security to carry out decommissioning work.So this is a really important step forward for us as a country right now but we still obviously have more work to do in the mining space to protect all of our environment and all of our communities. But the Greens are very pleased to commend this bill to the House."
Chen NaisiNAISI CHEN (Labour): Thank you Mr Speaker. I found that quite hard listening to the previous contribution just because first of all I think my colleague—especially Glen Bennett—doesn't wish to be spoken on behalf of. I'm perfectly sure that he would support this bill and he has in the past and he has done great work on the Economic Development Science and Innovation Committee liaising and questioning not only the submitters but also the officials. Can I start by thanking all the officials who have worked on the bill with us. It's actually one of the biggest groups of officials I've ever seen on any of the bills I've been working on in the last year and those officials are really top of the industry. They know every detail about this bill. They answered every question we posed to them with great detail and great knowledge and so I thank everyone who worked on this bill.Can I make it really clear that what the National Party today have been saying is basically they want to create a back door for the industry. Look the equation is simple: if you actually decommission the field that you made money out of this bill will have nothing to do with you. If you just do the right thing you don't actually have to fear this bill so why are we even arguing about this when you can just do the right thing. So if they're saying that the industry will do the right thing then the industry should have no problem with this bill because it will have nothing to do with them if they do the right thing and they pay for their decommissioning unlike what we had to do which was put up $155 million to decommission the previous oilfield. So that is what we have to be cognisant of when we know that we have to manage the economy very very carefully. We have to know that we need to look after what the taxpayers give us. Not only is it the responsibility of looking after the coffers but also to look after the environment so every decommissioning needs to be done right. That's why I commend this bill to the House.
Strange JamieJAMIE STRANGE (Labour—Hamilton East): Thank you Mr Speaker. I appreciate the opportunity to take a call on this bill at the third reading: the Crown Minerals (Decommissioning and Other Matters) Amendment Bill. As chair of the Economic Development Science and Innovation Committee—our committee had the pleasure of shepherding this bill through—I'd like to thank all of the members of the committee. I'd like to thank the members in this House who spoke either in favour or against this bill. I'd particularly like to thank all the officials who have worked really hard in terms of bringing the bill to this point and also the number of submitters who made their submissions.Barbara Kuriger the previous member who just resumed her seat talked about how this Government wants to be the best in the world. But look it's not about being the best in the world; it's about doing the right thing. That's simply what this bill is about—it's about doing the right thing for the environment—and the aspect around clean-up is absolutely the right thing to do. Now some members may argue where's the point of reaching too far or where's the point of not doing enough and there may be some philosophical differences there. But in terms of this side of the House we think this bill is about right in terms of ensuring that the New Zealand taxpayer doesn't have to pay for the decommissioning of petroleum activities. So the bill basically ensures that those who undertook and profited from petroleum activities will pay their fair share in the clean-up. Now I don't really need to go into the details because we heard from the Minister's speech quite clearly what the bill does. But this side of the House commends this bill at the third reading. Thank you.
Omer IbrahimIBRAHIM OMER (Labour): Thank you Madam Speaker. It's a pleasure to rise to take a short and last call on the Māori Purposes Bill first reading. My colleagues from across the House in fact have spoken in depth on this bill so I would like to just spend the last call summarising some of the key points. This bill is an omnibus bill that enables minor technical and non-controversial amendments to be made to Māori development legislation. The bill supports the Government's priority to build a closer partnership with Māori and improve the response to Māori issues as well. So the amendments within this bill will contribute to Māori wellbeing and development by providing Māori entities with greater autonomy and greater decision-making. It will also address some technical issues and reduce some of the administrative compliance. All the appropriate agencies have been consulted on this proposed legislation.This is yet another testimony that this Government is committed and willing to listen and establish a meaningful relationship with iwi. It's nice actually to see everyone from across the parties coming together in support of this important piece of legislation. This also shows how much as a nation as a country we have matured and how far we have come in doing the right things. This is going to be a good bill because it's going to change the game for a lot of Māori organisations. For that reason I commend this bill to the House.Motion agreed to.Bill read a first time.Bill referred to the Māori Affairs Committee.
Māori Purposes Bill — First Reading
McKelvie IanIAN McKELVIE (National—Rangitīkei): Thank you Madam Speaker. It gives me a bit of pleasure to speak on this bill too. I was really interested in the comments of Paul Eagle about the way the Māori Affairs Committee used to be fed in Rino Tirikatene's day. I did have the privilege of turning up there a couple of times; it was worthwhile. I don't know whether we passed any good legislation but we certainly did well and I thought it was quite interesting that Paul should raise that in the course of this discussion. So it gives me pleasure to speak on the Māori Purposes Bill at its first reading.As one of my colleagues has already said I suppose in my younger days I had a close association with a lake that is mentioned in this bill a number of times in the Rotoaira trust at Waitahanui or not very far from the Waitahanui River or stream which comes out into Lake Taupō. I'll always remember that part of the lake in its early days because it was always a hugely popular fishing part of Lake Taupō and had many little fishing lodges and things like that in that area. But I also remember water skiing on that lake or trying to water ski on that lake and it's a very pretty part of New Zealand. I think that this bill's designed to give Māori entities a greater autonomy and greater decision-making powers over their own affairs. I think it's most appropriate that this bill goes through the House and be passed. I just wanted to mention another issue which is very common in that area. And of course the Rangitīkei electorate almost touches on the side of—well it gets very close to the side of Lake Taupō. There's been quite a discussion over a large number of years including significantly led by the local iwi around the ability to farm trout in that area. I know it's extremely unpopular with some that suggestion but actually I think it's got great potential for New Zealand and it's a shame we can't find a way of encouraging that because I know that in the Tūrangi area there are people who would be very keen to promote trout farming not in the lake in any form but I think it would be a useful local industry. I've never forgotten going to Scandinavia where the salmon farms are very very common but they also farm sea trout there and it's the most beautiful thing to eat better than the native—not a native one of course but better than the trout that comes out of the lake. So I think that this bill for me has got good value for New Zealand. I'll be interested to see how it comes back out of the select committee. I'm sure there'll be very few changes because it's a pretty simple bill and I welcome its introduction to the House and hope it goes well.
Leary IngridINGRID LEARY (Labour—Taieri): It's an absolute privilege to speak on this bill which has been recognised across this House as being technical yet important. Comments have been made from the other side around Māori development and I'd like to tautoko those and refer to an excellent function I went to last night hosted by the Minister for Māori Development my friend and colleague the Hon Willie Jackson with the kiwifruit sector and the work that is happening there.Minister Jackson mentioned how Māori economic development is one of the untold stories in New Zealand's economy. In fact there are other untold stories too. I know we're talking about process but if we look at policy the policies are going in the right direction and one policy around Māori history in our schools which we'll see unfold next year is the brilliant film that I was privileged to see at the weekend in my electorate of Taieri which was Whetū Mārama made by Toby Mills and Aileen O'Sullivan telling the story of Sir Hek Busby. It's an untold story an incredibly important story.These are the policy changes that have led us to travelling the waka in the right direction but it's also about process which brings me back to the bill around these technical types of things. The policies can't happen without the enablers and of course this omnibus bill enables electronic voting. It takes away processes that quite frankly were paternalistic and don't allow Māori their tino rangatiratanga their own self-determination; so things like spelling mistakes in legislation things like having to have Cabinet Fees Framework when other entities that are at arm's length from the Crown don't need those. So it's fantastic to see that the process is catching up with the policy and I commend the bill to the House.
Edmonds BarbaraBARBARA EDMONDS (Labour—Mana): Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise to take the Māori Party call on behalf of the Labour Party team and it's slightly disappointing that the Māori Party haven't taken their call given it's quite unusual to have an omnibus Māori bill that covers four different Acts and an ability to support such amendments during their reading.So having a look at the bill because I'm not part of the Māori Affairs Committee there is a particular amendment around removing Māori Trust Boards from the Cabinet Fees Framework to simplify the process of resignations. So if you look at section 16 of the Māori Trust Boards Act 1955 currently if a Māori Trust Board member has either been removed from the office by the Governor-General or for inefficiency or if they can't perform their functions or they resign currently they have to apply to Cabinet for that resignation or to the Minister which then goes through Cabinet. Obviously that's cumbersome particularly because the member has left for whatever particular reason but the word inefficiency" in that particular section points to why they may have left. So the changes within the bill which removes the word "Minister" and replaces it with the "Board" is much more streamlined. It means that if the trust board member decides to resign all they need to do is write to the Minister and say that they're going to resign from their post.One thing that I should probably pick up for the Māori Affairs Committee to probably have a look at as part of the section is that it says in the disclosure statement that seven of the eight continuing Māori Trust Boards have supported it; one had not come back in time for this bill to be tabled in the House. So my suggestion to the Māori Affairs Committee is to ensure that that last remaining Māori Trust Board does have their say as part of the select committee process. So on that note I commend this bill to the House."
Henderson Emily; Salesa JennyDr EMILY HENDERSON (Labour—Whangārei): Kia ora e te Māngai o te Whare. I rise to take a quick call on this excellent bill. My colleagues in the House have already traversed the many and complicated ways in which this bill is going to make it easier for Māori to run their whenua and their organisations as they should be able to do. I want to highlight just two aspects of this leap into modernisation.As we stand here in Wellington where you can walk anywhere because as The Mutton Birds put it Nowhere's very far" it might be hard to remember that in other parts of New Zealand we have long and winding roads and they are dirt roads our settlements are small and diverse and we have in my beloved Te Tai Tokerau marae spread out across the motu. And we have had an issue with digital connectivity. But this bill amends both the Maori Trust Boards Act 1955 to allow electronic ballots for board elections and it also amends Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993 to give provision for meetings of owners of land to be held electronically. And this is really important because this Government in 2019 made a $21 million investment into digital connectivity for those far-flung marae. And that is going to mean that the people of those marae are able to participate to make decisions about their whenua electronically as they should be able to do without traversing those long and winding roads. I am proud to commend this bill to the House.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): The next call is a split call. I call Joseph Mooney."
van Velden BrookeBROOKE VAN VELDEN (Deputy Leader—ACT): Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise on behalf of the ACT Party today in support of the first reading of the Māori Purposes Bill. As other speakers have made clear this is a bill that is an omnibus bill. It amends many different Acts that have relation to Māori affairs or Māori development and those are the Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993 the Maori Purposes Act 1959 the Maori Trust Boards Act 1955 and the Maori Community Development Act 1962. In changing these Acts the bill only does so in minor and technical aspects which means that it's very hard to find a lot to talk on for a long time so I will make my speech quite short.The ACT Party believes that public policy matters. There are many things that we can't change in life living in New Zealand. We can't change the size of our country or the fact that we do live in the Pacific and we are very lucky to live in the country that we do. But what we can change are our public policy settings and making life better for people and making sure that we're constantly striving to make New Zealand a better place for everybody who lives here. In doing that a lot of what happens in Parliament is that we need to change our laws to update them with the times and with different changes that might happen through other regulations and making sure that people are able to manage their affairs in the best way that they can see fit.The Government's purpose is to make sure that every individual New Zealander and every business entity or community organisation is able to help support other New Zealanders in the best way possible. That's why we support the first reading of this bill because it makes management of organisations easier. So if you think of who is involved in various aspects of this legislation it makes many aspects of running Māori trust boards Māori trusts and Māori councils easier to run and manage. That can only be a good thing.I just want to point quickly to a couple of aspects and that is the Lake Rotoaira Trust. There is a beautiful lake in New Zealand right around the corner from Lake Taupō and they have fishery requirements. This change will remove the requirement that to hold a trout licence to fish you have to then not be able to fish for things other than trout. So it's making a very small technical change to make fishery management easier for the Lake Rotoaira Trust. It also revokes the provisions that tie the daily bag and size limits for Lake Rotoaira to those set for the Lake Taupō fishery and I note that just this year some of the fishery standards for Lake Taupō and Lake Rotoaira have been separated. So these are good changes to make with that in regard.The second part that I think is really important here is that we're allowing for Māori trust boards to use electronic voting and that's because the Maori Trust Boards Act was set up in 1955 and we're now allowing modern ways of voting and I think that can only really be a good thing if that helps for the management of the trust boards.So in conclusion the ACT Party is in support of the first reading of the Māori Purposes Bill and we commend it to the House.
Eagle PaulPAUL EAGLE (Labour—Rongotai): Tēnā koe e te Māngai o te Whare. Look it's always an honour to talk on things Māori in the House. Can I just reflect on the last comment by the previous speaker Stuart Smith. We had to unfortunately ensure that Rino Tirikatene wasn't the chair because there was too much food being offered at the Māori Affairs Committee! So we brought in some slim-line rules and other plant-based protein-type kai and as a result under the new leadership of Tāmati Coffey we'll be much slimmer thinner and a lot more efficient than the 150 years of all of those other fellas that went through that committee. But I digress!This is a really good bill. It says here it's minor technical and non-controversial but as has been traversed by others they are really really important some of those things that are being covered. And it's funny because these are often seen as minor but actually they're quite major for those who sit on some of these trusts those komiti that are impacted by some of these changes: simple things like being able to hold meetings electronically and also the correction of te reo. Look if you spell something wrong and it's wrong it's wrong and this is going to correct that.Look I want to finish by saying that the infamous Māori Community Development Act—I know that that has things like the Māori wardens in there and I'll digress if I talk about that too but look all of these in conclusion will do great things for those Māori organisations that operate under these pieces of legislation. So I commend this bill to the House.
Coffey TāmatiTĀMATI COFFEY (Labour): As both of the previous speakers have talked about this is a non-controversial bill but it's a necessary bill. It's a bill that tidies up a few issues that Māori trusts and entities out there across Aotearoa have been looking for us to tidy up. To the majority of the population it's non-consequential it won't have any effect on them but actually for the people that are involved it actually means quite a bit. So I'm very pleased that the Minister has brought this to the House and we on the Māori Affairs Committee will look after this bill with the best of intentions but we will do what the bill intends which is to tidy up relevant parts of legislation to make sure that our Māori organisations across Aotearoa are empowered and are encouraged to be able to look after the wellbeing of themselves and the people they are there to represent. The one that I would like to point out and both members before me have pointed out all four Acts that that we're talking about here—Te Ture Whenua Māori Act the Maori Purposes Act the Maori Trust Boards Act the Māori Community Development Act. Of all of those the one that I want to talk about is the Maori Purposes Act in relation to Lake Rotoaira which is just south of Taupō and is a very very beautiful place. If anybody gets to go there over the Christmas and new year break I encourage you to.Lake Rotoaira Trust is an ahu whenua trust. There are more than 11000 beneficiaries to that trust and they administer Lake Rotoaira on behalf of the beneficiaries. It is a trout fishery with functions powers and obligations in regard to the fishery being prescribed in the Act and this will enable them to be able to have more autonomy and flexibility in being able to manage the trout fishery with some provisions in there as well. So this is a good bill. It is going to get support from around the House and I look forward as the chair of the Māori Affairs Committee to ushering it though. I commend it to the House.
van Velden BrookeBROOKE VAN VELDEN (Deputy Leader—ACT): Thank you Mr Speaker. I rise very briefly on behalf of the ACT Party to support the motion that's been brought by the Minister for COVID-19 Response today. But I also have to just state the issue that the ACT Party has which is that we shouldn't be in this position. The problem that we have is not any fault of any member of staff of the House of Representatives that we have had to move this motion today. They work very hard they're very diligent and they're very methodical and I have a lot of respect for the legal drafters and the people who work in this building. The issue that we have is that this problem came about because of a rushed law and we wouldn't have problems like this if we had proper scrutiny and proper time so that people who are diligent can have the time to do their jobs to the best possible level.This is just one of the most recent problems that we've faced. I know that under other forms of COVID legislation there have been I mean a few areas that have needed to be tidied up post the fact and we would just say that New Zealand deserves to have a properly functioning democracy. We're happy that this has been brought to our attention so that we can rectify the issue quickly but it also goes to show how scary it could be if people weren't doing their jobs and checking to make sure that things are in place that do need to be in place because we do in the middle of a pandemic need to have a properly functioning democracy and scrutiny of lawmaking.Motion agreed to.
Kerekere ElizabethDr ELIZABETH KEREKERE (Green): I rise briefly on behalf of the Greens to support this motion. We're just really happy that this item just shows that this motion comes to this space because it just needed a little bit more work to make sure it was fit for purpose. We hope that the willingness to address this issue will mean that the Government will reconsider their earlier decision and they will now be very excited to have a post-enactment review by the Health Committee of the COVID-19 response vaccination legislation that we passed yesterday. Again I shout out to the Regulations Review Committee and the hard work that they do and advocating always for the Health Committee with the incredible expertise that we have on there that will help this process and the orders and regulations that will flow from it. Kia ora.
Mallard Trevor; Hipkins ChrisSTANDING ORDERSSessionalSPEAKER: I call on Government—Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the House): Sorry Mr Speaker—that's me Mr Speaker and I apologise. I'll just find the appropriate piece of paper. I seek leave to move a motion regarding a change to Parliament's sessional orders in how it deals with COVID19 orders. SPEAKER: Is there any objection to course of action being followed? There is none.Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I move That the House amend the rules relating to the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020 adopted by the House as a sessional order on 8 December 2020 by replacing the definition of COVID-19 order in rule 1 (Interpretation) with: COVID-19 order has the meaning given to it by section 5(1) of the Act."The purpose of this is very clear. Yesterday Parliament amended the COVID-19 Response Act. The current sessional orders deal with the COVID-19 response orders made under the Act as it existed prior to yesterday. We need to amend the sessional orders that we have put in place to ensure that the new order-making provisions inserted by the Act yesterday are now covered by those sessional orders. So this will ensure that those orders particularly related to vaccination requirements are subject to the same process. Under that process they're tabled in the House. They are then referred to the Regulations Review Committee. The Regulations Review Committee scrutinise those. They report them back to the House and the House then confirms them by way of a motion in the House. So it's a minor technical amendment to ensure that the rules of the Parliament keep pace with the changing nature of the legislation but I think that that scrutiny function has served the Parliament very very well. I think that the Regulations Review Committee have done a very thorough job of scrutinising the orders that have been made under that Act and have often prompted changes to some of the orders that have been made under that Act for the better and certainly have prompted changes sometimes in the process of the way some of those orders have been made as well which again I think has been useful. I think the debates that we have had in the House around confirming those orders has also been important for the purposes of transparency and accountability. So making sure that those existing provisions apply to the new order-making powers I think is very important and hence that's why I've moved the motion.SPEAKER: The question is that the motion be agreed to."
Mallard TrevorPETITIONS PAPERS SELECT COMMITTEE REPORTS AND INTRODUCTION OF BILLSSPEAKER: Petitions have been delivered to the Clerk for presentation. CLERK: Petition of Graeme Axford requesting that the House consider whether the recommendations from petition 2008/121 and the review of the Chief Executive Advisory Panel have been implementedpetition of Adam Greenbaum requesting that the House inquire into the processes and actions of the Health and Disability Commissioner and the Waikato District Health Board in the connection with the death of Carmen Walkerpetition of Chained Dog Awareness New Zealand Trust requesting that the House ban the life chaining of dogs.SPEAKER: Those petitions stand referred to a select committee.Ministers have delivered papers. CLERK: Lotto New Zealand integrated report for 2020-21Ngārimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarship Fund Board annual report for the year ended 30 June 2021.SPEAKER: I present the Report of the Controller and Auditor-General entitled Inquiry into management fees paid by South Auckland Middle School and Middle School West Auckland in 2018. Those papers are published under the authority of the House. Select committee reports have been delivered for presentation. CLERK: Report of the Education and Workforce Committee on the Report of the Controller and Auditor-General Tertiary Education Institutions: 2019 audit results and what we saw in 2020Reports of the Health Committee on the: Report of the Controller and Auditor-General Inquiry into Waikato District Health Board's procurement of services from Health TapReport of the Ombudsman on an unannounced inspection of Te Whare Ahuru Mental Health Inpatient Unit Hutt Hospital under the Crimes of Torture Act 1989 andNotice of motion (No 2) on the continuation of the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020.SPEAKER: The reports are set down for consideration.The Clerk has been informed of the introduction of bills. CLERK: Oranga Tamariki Amendment Bill introductionSecurity Information and Proceedings Legislation Bill introduction.SPEAKER: Those bills are set down for first reading.
Hipkins ChrisBUSINESS STATEMENTHon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the House): Today the House will adjourn until Tuesday 7 December. In that week the legislation to be considered will include the first readings of the Oranga Tamariki Amendment Bill and the Security Information in Proceedings Legislation Bill and the further stages of the Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters) Amendment Bill and the Births Deaths Marriages and Relationships Registration Bill. The House will also consider a motion to extend the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act. The first Wednesday back will be a members' day and there will be an extending sitting the following Thursday morning.
Mallard Trevor; Lee MelissaTHURSDAY 25 NOVEMBER 2021The Speaker took the Chair at 2 p.m.KARAKIA/PRAYERSSPEAKER: Members while we were on different duties we missed a number of language weeks. It is my intention to do some catch-up of that. One of the language weeks we missed was Korean Language Week and I therefore ask Melissa Lee to say the prayer today in Korean.MELISSA LEE (National):전지전능하신 하나님 저희들에게 내려주신 축복을 감사드 리옵니다.저희들의 모든 사적이익을 뒤로하고 여왕님을 인지하며 저희 의원들이 국회의 일을 함에 있어뉴질랜드의 평화와 번영을 위해 현명하고 정의롭고 자비 로우며 겸손하게 행할 수 있도록 인도하여 주시옵소서.아멘.
Thursday 18 November 2021 - Volume 756
COVID-19 Public Health Response Amendment Bill (No 2) — Third Reading
VoteA party vote was called for on the question That the COVID-19 Public Health Response Amendment Bill (No 2) bill now be read a third time.Ayes 75New Zealand Labour 65; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10. Noes 45New Zealand National 33; ACT New Zealand 10; Te Paati Māori 2.Motion agreed to.Bill read a third time.
11. Question No. 11—HealthDr TRACEY McLELLAN (Labour—Banks Peninsula) to the Associate Minister of HealthQuestion No. 11—Health11. Dr TRACEY McLELLAN (Labour—Banks Peninsula) to the Associate Minister of Health: What recent announcements has she made about contact tracing and case management?Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL (Associate Minister of Health): Contact tracing and isolation remain key public health tools that can help minimise the spread of COVID-19. As we move into the next phase of our response to the pandemic it makes sense to update our contact tracing categories and isolation rules in account of the impact of vaccination. Earlier this week I announced changes that will mean people who are fully vaccinated will spend less time isolating if they get COVID-19 or are a close contact of a case.Dr Tracey McLellan: What are the new isolation requirements for fully vaccinated cases?Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: If you're fully vaccinated and catch COVID-19 by day 10 of infection you'll pose a very low risk of passing on the virus. That's because the amount of viral genetic material declines faster in fully vaccinated people. So the isolation period for fully vaccinated COVID-19 cases in the community is reducing from 14 to 10 days and must include 72 hours symptom-free. The isolation period for partially vaccinated or unvaccinated COVID-19 cases will remain 14 days including 72 hours symptom free. For fully vaccinated close contacts they will need to self-isolate for seven days while partially vaccinated or unvaccinated close contacts will be required to self-isolate for 10 days. Household contacts will isolate for 10 days regardless of vaccination status because this group is at highest risk of contracting the virus. These changes reflect the different transmission dynamics of the Delta variant.Dr Tracey McLellan: What changes have been made to contact tracing categories?Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: Analysis of the Delta outbreak found very little evidence of transmission in the casual plus category. Preliminary analysis of data shows only 0.1 percent of casual plus interactions such as being in the same supermarket as a COVID-19 case resulted in infections. So in the future this category will be used in a narrow range of circumstances. Keeping the contact tracing categories as they were would've resulted in some people being identified as contacts when the data now tells us they're at very very low risk. These changes will reduce the burden on individuals businesses and the community while keeping people safe.