Andersen GinnyGINNY ANDERSEN (Labour—Hutt South): Tēnā koe e te Māngai o te Whare. Look New Zealand 20 years ago was very proudly one of the very first countries to introduce a specially dedicated law to protect whistleblowers. That was the Protected Disclosures Act back in 2000. But things have changed and times have changed. It's great to have this bill—which revitalises and modernises a law that is so important for transparency for democracy and for making sure that New Zealand operates in a way that is fair to all—back in the House. This bill specifically repeals the Protected Disclosures Act of 2000 and replaces it with the new Protected Disclosures (Protection of Whistleblowers) Act.For employees who do uncover serious misconduct—and that would include fraud corruption and it's both in the public and the private sectors—it's important that these workplaces have a safe way for wrongdoings to be reported. It's important that those workers who deserve an effective organisational process as well as having those legal protections in place—so making sure that we have a clear pathway forward that all workers know where that is and where those protections exist to make sure that if they have that important information they can be forthcoming and provide that in a way that protects themselves.It's also important to note that if we want to maintain those high standards that have been spoken about throughout this debate—our high ranking internationally as being a country that's known for its transparency—then we need to maintain these high integrity standards. We have to continue to work hard to tackle serious misconduct within New Zealand and that's exactly what this bill does. Whistleblowers perform a really important function. They are critical to maintaining our public confidence in the integrity of Government and business as well in New Zealand. To have that function in place is so important in a close and tight-knit country like New Zealand.International research that has been conducted has found that reporting by employees is the single most important method in which wrongdoing in any organisation is brought to light. So it is only sensible that we make sure we strengthen those processes and enable those protections for employees to be in place.One of the single most significant hurdles that is in place for uncovering serious wrongdoing is the reluctance of employees to step forward—to step into the light and to make that report. They either don't know the policy or what the process is within their private or public organisation and furthermore they fear retaliation—what are going to be the kickbacks if you step forward and make representations against the organisation against the Government department against the employer. They're not confident that the report will go to someone in an organisation who is actually able to do something about it and there is a general feeling that if in doubt speak up" is not supported well enough. So this bill takes a step to strengthen that culture to enable people to speak up. That ability to be able to speak up acts as quite a clear deterrent to wrongdoers so that wrongdoing is less likely to occur in the very first place. That is contributing to transparency and increasing public confidence in what we have in place.As I've already mentioned there's been some research in recent academic work that's looked at several misconduct cases to try and analyse how things could be strengthened. The current legislation has come under scrutiny to look at the fact that it is not working as effectively as it could be and in fact it lags behind international best practice in a number of key areas. As I've already stated that law is now 20 years old and it needs to be updated. People don't always know how to use the Act they don't know how it exists and those practices are not embedded within workplaces and publications available to employees within workplaces. So this bill takes some very clear steps to make sure that those changes are made available and are widely publicised to those who may want to use it.I'd like to acknowledge the work of the Education and Workforce Committee and that there were some really important changes made and what these changes are in the bill. The bill makes significant changes not just from select committee but also from that initial bill and takes into account the changed environment that New Zealand's now working in and modernises it. Allowing people to report serious wrongdoing to an external authority is important if they wish to—if it is kept in-house it is not always the most conducive way to increase transparency. But also strengthening protections for disclosers by outlining what those receiving the disclosures should do is important. So once you've handed over that information it is giving that person—the whistleblower—a sense of security about what the pathway is forward once that information has been disclosed.In addition to this there's also some extra requirements for the public sector to make sure public sector organisations provide support for those disclosures—that there are internal processes that those who are disclosing information know where to go to and how to receive that extra support if required. Extending the coverage of serious wrongdoing also includes the misuse of public funds or resources and that includes for public sector as well as private sector. It's important to note that this also extends for those who are acting on behalf of the Public Service—so the fact that you are contracting in would not be a reason to be exempt from these provisions. That's important given the way that we use contractors too in Government and also in the private sector.Requiring public sector organisations to state in their published internal procedures how support for disclosers would be provided—so that's made readily available. Also the bill creates a new schedule to the Act that named the most likely and appropriate authorities for a particular subject matter—a bit of a map for knowing if you're in a particular area how you would negotiate that space.It's incredibly important that people know where to go when they have information that is really important that that process is mapped out. New Zealand has always been a world leader in integrity transparency and openness and consistently at the top of Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index. We want to maintain that high ranking. We want to make sure that our country is renowned across the world for having transparency and having a high level of public confidence in our processes. It's good to see strong measures being made to modernise legislation in this space. An effective regime for disclosing serious wrongdoing in the workplace is critical to New Zealand and to maintaining that high standard. This Government is committed to protecting New Zealanders who speak up about serious wrongdoing in the workplace and making sure there is a clear pathway forward. This bill also fits with our larger plan in terms of New Zealand's open Government action plan and shows how we are committed to being an open Government that makes sure there are clear transparent processes that the public knows—we know that encourages a good democracy a healthy democracy and one that we are proud to be a part of.I commend the Minister. I also commend those who've all done the work in the background from the Public Service to make sure we have a clear and concise bill that puts forward a stronger way for democracy and transparency in New Zealand. I commend the bill to the House.Motion agreed to.Bill read a third time."