Lees-Galloway Iain; Mallard TrevorREGULATORY SYSTEMS (ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT) AMENDMENT BILL (NO 2)REGULATORY SYSTEMS (WORKFORCE) AMENDMENT BILL (NO 2)REGULATORY SYSTEMS (HOUSING) AMENDMENT BILL (NO 2)Third ReadingsHon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY (Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety) on behalf of the Minister for Economic Development: I move That the Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill (No 2) the Regulatory Systems (Workforce) Amendment Bill (No 2) and the Regulatory Systems (Housing) Amendment Bill (No 2) be now read a third time. Where's everybody going? The three regulatory systems bills are omnibus bills that contain small regulatory amendments to legislation administered by the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development. The objectives of the bills are to improve regulatory systems by clarifying and updating statutory provisions to give effect to the purpose of the principal Acts and their provisions; addressing regulatory duplication gaps errors and inconsistencies within and between different pieces of legislation; keeping the regulatory system up to date and relevant; and removing unnecessary compliance costs and costs of doing business.The Government has committed to maintaining and updating existing legislation to respond to changing environments and citizen needs. Regulation when implemented well underpins markets protects the rights and safety of citizens and their property and assists the efficient and equitable delivery of goods and services. Regulation is an important tool for preserving and advancing the public interest. We want regulations to be simpler so people can focus on growing their business rather than compliance costs.We're working hard to make dealing with the Government easier. That's why the Government is investing $7.1 million in Business Connect. Business Connect will enable businesses and Government agencies to work together smarter. Our objective is to integrate access to multiple services through a single digital platform and cut out repetitive paperwork. Over time businesses will be able to apply for a range of permits licences and consents without having to repeat the same information and documentation over and over.These bills make a few changes that are quite important. In the Regulatory Systems (Workforce) Amendment Bill (No 2) I'd like to pick up on the changes that relate to the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act. This bill addresses an obvious gap between the intent of the parental leave scheme and the legislation whereby spouses or partners are treated differently to other types of primary carers in a similar situation—for example adoptive parents. Last year a Christchurch father was unable to get paid parental leave to care for three children after his partner died. The birth mother died following the birth of their child. The man was working full time while his partner hadn't had a job in the 12 months leading up to her due date.Parental leave payments are only available to the primary carer of a child under six years. The way the legislation is drafted means that for biological parents eligibility to parental leave payments usually stems from the mother's eligibility. The mother may transfer the payments to a partner but the partner of a birth mother is not eligible for payments in their own right. If the mother is ineligible and passes away then the partner is not able to receive payments.This bill fixes that issue and extends parental leave payments to those partners. The workforce bill also enables labour inspectors to use their investigative powers to ascertain whether workers are employees so they can ensure workers are paid the minimum wage get their full leave entitlements and have a safe workplace. As the number of contractors rises determining whether someone is an employee or not is becoming increasingly important.The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill (No 2) makes amendments to 14 Acts. Importantly the bill changes the law so people guilty of some forms of tax evasion are automatically prohibited from directing or managing a company for five years. The bill seeks to add two additional types of offence to this list—namely evasions or similar offences under section 143A and 143B of the Tax Administration Act 1994—for evasion and similar actions along with aiding abetting inciting or conspiring with another person to commit such offences as set out in section 148 of that Act.The second amendment is to the Insolvency Act. Currently the Act prohibits an undischarged bankrupt from either directly or indirectly managing or controlling a business being employed by a relative or being employed by an entity such as a company or trust owned or controlled by a relative. This is to prevent a bankrupt from having significant control over the finances of the businesses during their bankruptcy. However an undischarged bankrupt who works for a relative with no remuneration is not considered as employed and can therefore avoid these restrictions. This bill seeks to extend the restrictions on employment to include working without reward for a relative or for an entity owned or controlled by a relative.The Regulatory Systems (Housing) Amendment Bill (No 2) includes two parts. Part 1 serves to simplify the role of the Community Housing Regulatory Authority and reduces the administrative burden on registered community housing providers. Part 2 amends the Retirement Villages Act 2003 to clarify that the higher maximum fine will apply for breaches of the Act where an operator or promoter of a retirement village did not take all the practicable steps to ensure an advertisement was not misleading or deceptive or where an operator of a retirement village contravenes their obligations relating to the code of practice of operating a retirement village. The code of practice sets out the rights and obligations of retirement village operators and residents and it is important that the operators understand the consequences of breaching the code and that the register has clarity when detecting such breaches and offences under the Act. Both of these offences are of a serious nature and are similar to the other offences that currently receive the higher maximum fine.I would like to thank the three select committees for their consideration of these bills. The committees have considered changes to 19 statutes and reflected on submissions covering technical and detailed information. I commend the Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill (No 2) the Regulatory Systems (Housing) Amendment Bill (No 2) and the Regulatory Systems Workforce Amendment Bill (No 2) to the House.SPEAKER: Before I call the member I just want to note that the Minister who read that speech is not the Minister in charge of the bill and therefore I did not interrupt but I am not going to let members read their speeches from now on.