te Heuheu Georgina: Communications Legislation Bill — Second Reading 
te Heuheu Georgina: Communications Legislation Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:634;Page:5447] 
Hon GEORGINA TE HEUHEU (National) 
: 
 I am pleased to stand to talk to the second reading of the Communications Legislation Bill. As witnessed by the fact that the report back was unanimous it is obvious that National supports this bill. National of course supports a strong framework for the communications sector—there is no doubt about that—and if the Government’s intention is to achieve that then that is good. I have to say though that everything the Government has done to date would make one doubt that it is totally committed to that aim. 
My colleague Pansy Wong has already quoted Paul Swain when he spoke to the Telecommunications Bill in 2001. Let us face it although this is the Communications Legislation Bill we are all very mindful that before the Finance and Expenditure Committee now is the Telecommunications Amendment Bill that dominates a lot of this area simply because of the way Telecom has conducted its business. That bill is sitting there in the background—or the foreground. 
But the reason why I say National doubts very much the commitment and the determination of the Government to make sure that the communications environment is robust and provides certainty and clarity is that frankly a range of Ministers in this area have all said the same thing from 2001 to the present 5 years later. But if I asked ordinary New Zealanders out there whether they thought we were moving quickly and in the right way in this whole communications area I guarantee people would throw up their hands in horror. I do not think there is anything that this Government has done to give anybody any confidence that it knows what it is doing. As my colleague said there seems to be a road map but there is no certainty as to where that road is going. 
In speaking to the Telecommunications Bill in 2001 Paul Swain said: “For the first time we have established a framework for ensuring that the telecommunications industry can move forward in an orderly way.” Gosh! If what we have seen in the last 5 years could be called “orderly” then I would hate to see what chaos means! Quite frankly it has looked totally chaotic. The current Minister the Hon David Cunliffe made a speech today that resembled what he said on the first reading of the bill: “This bill contains a number of urgent technical matters that need not and should not await that wider review process.” We are still waiting. 
The Communications Legislation Bill amends both the Telecommunications Act and the Radiocommunications Act. It will contribute to improving the efficient operation of the communications sector as part of the economic transformation of New Zealand society. Transformation brings to mind a perspective that we all know where we are going that the Government is leading us in the right direction that we do not have to put up with more reviews more papers more this more that—things we have seen over the past 5 years—and that the transformation it is talking about is clearly visible to all of us. I have to say it is not. It is not visible to those out there who are looking to make the long-term investment that the Minister speaks about. It is not visible to those who are users of the services that flow from both telecommunications and the radio spectrum. It is not visible at all and really when the Minister gets to his feet and blandly reads his speech I say to him that there is no vision and there is no excitement. 
Pansy Wong 
: At least there’s no leaking. 
Hon GEORGINA TE HEUHEU 
: At least there is no leaking. Well I think we have had the biggest leak we would ever want to see in the unbundling decision. It took all the gloss from the poor old Minister’s—what would members call it—coup d’état. He was going to announce to the world the unbundling decision and blow me down some messenger riding his bike with his helmet on somehow got those papers and did not deal with them properly. Did we ever know what happened to that guy? Is that the way the Prime Minister’s or the Minister’s office— 
Pansy Wong 
: No security check. 
Hon GEORGINA TE HEUHEU 
: There was no security check—there you go. And this Minister has the gall to stand up and say that the Government is looking to get certainty to confirm confidence and to give confidence to long-term investors—and that is what has carried on in these last 5 years. 
Now that the Commerce Committee has done its job and given the tick to this bill National also gives it a tick. Let us hope that we see it move quickly and pass into law so we do not put at risk any of the specified services it covers in terms of telecommunications and also spectrum management rights. This whole area is critical to transforming the New Zealand economy and it has taken 5 years of bumbling. Labour set in place a process and appointed a commissioner who says one thing and then says another thing. The Government then says it does not like what he says anyway and is going to do something else. Honestly  it is so chaotic that people would weep. It looks like we are in a Third World country. The Minister has to get moving— 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I give just a quick reminder to the member that she is referring to the Telecommunications Amendment Bill that is before the Finance and Expenditure Committee and not the one that the Commerce Committee has just reported. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Thank you. 
Hon GEORGINA TE HEUHEU 
: That was a pathetic point of order. Everybody out there knows that all of these things are linked. Sure this bill deals with some specific services and the radio spectrum but the reality is that if people are talking about transforming the economy that bill comes into the picture as well. I have already said that the Telecommunications Amendment Bill is before the Finance and Expenditure Committee. We know all that but the reality is that members cannot seriously stand and talk about transforming the New Zealand economy and have such a mishmash of things that it gives nobody—especially those waiting to invest their money—any confidence that this Minister and indeed this Government know what they are doing in this area. 
I want to make a comment about something my colleague raised in the first reading of the bill. Maurice Williamson said this is a fast-moving area. He is a real technohead and he knows a lot about this area. He flagged with us that this is not an area where members can sit on their laurels and think that once the legislation has been passed everything is OK. This is an area of fast-moving technologies. The Minister may know—he probably considers himself an expert in this area—but do we really know what is ahead of us in terms of the technology? Maurice has pointed out that we need to keep our eye on the ball in this area that we have to make sure the framework we develop is adequate and appropriate and that if needs be we are in a position to update and strengthen it if that will see the transformation of our economy. If that is what the Minister is really aiming for National supports that. But if he is aiming for another 5 years of mishmash and chaos we cannot support that.