edithatogo/nz-hansard-corpus huggingface dataset:
Bennett GlenGLEN BENNETT (Labour—New Plymouth): Kia ora Mr Speaker and thank you for the opportunity to speak on this the second reading of the Protected Disclosures (Protection of Whistleblowers) Bill. I also want to acknowledge my colleague across the floor there Mark Mitchell for his contribution and making it quite clear that we as a Parliament are working together on something that's really important. It's around protecting people who should speak up but often are fearful of that for whatever reasons as was mentioned before maybe a power imbalance. I look at this piece of legislation and it's replacing legislation from the year 2000 which is 21 years ago and I was thinking just before about the way that the culture and the values of a business organisation in the 1950s are quite different to what it was in the 1980s which was quite different to what it was in the year 2000 when this initial piece of legislation and the Act was brought in which was actually world leading at the time. So 21 years later it seems only fit as our culture as our values of businesses and organisations change for us to come to this place to pass legislation and do it together as a whole Parliament. I also want to say thank you as well to the Education and Workforce Committee for your hard work on this legislation to the chair Marja Lubeck and for the constructive work to look at amendments listening to what was said by submitters and to come to a place where changes are being made.This bill ensures that New Zealanders have strong standards and processes for disclosing serious wrongdoing in the workplace. This is critical in maintaining our nation's reputation for our high standards of integrity of openness and of transparency and I look forward to this passing through the House.
Coffey TāmatiTĀMATI COFFEY (Labour): Thank you Madam Speaker. This was a difficult bill for somebody that doesn't hang about on high country stations to get their head around but actually it's really important. I want to refer to a couple of the submissions namely the one from Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu who came to the committee and said to us that they thought that as we're refreshing this framework as we're putting in some standards and some monitoring systems for what Crown pastoral lands actually entail what they wanted was for the partnership that they signed up to through their settlement through the Treaty—they wanted their partnership honoured through this process. So one of the things that they said was that they wanted to be able to access some of this the Crown pastoral land that is out on lease. They wanted to be able to acknowledge some of the wāhi tapu involved in those spaces some of the places where they go to gather their kai some of the ancestral lands some of the very special water bodies that run across some of these Crown pastoral lease lands as well. So what we've gone and done as a committee is that we've understood that the Crown does in fact have an obligation to recognise and respect its responsibility to give effect to the principles of te Tiriti o Waitangi. And so for that reason we've gone and reformed the purpose of this Act to reflect that. One of the other changes that we made in the submissions process was also to just call out the iwi that are directly involved in this. There was in the initial drafting just general references to Māori" but actually we know that it's not just general references. We knew that Ngāi Tahu are giant stakeholders in this. There's also other iwi that wanted themselves listed in this too: Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō Ngāti Kuia Rangitāne o Wairau Ngāti Kōata Ngāti Rārua Ngāti Tama ki Te Tau Ihu Te Ātiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui and Ngāti Toa Rangatira as well. So for that reason we made those amendments and I think that our Māori submitters should be very supportive of the efforts that we've made in that respect. I commend it to the House."
Henderson EmilyDr EMILY HENDERSON (Labour—Whangārei): I rise very briefly. I have listened closely to the words of my colleagues. I could not have said it better than Angie Warren-Clark therefore I will not attempt to other than to say I commend this bill to the House.
Warren-Clark AngieANGIE WARREN-CLARK (Labour): Thank you Madam Speaker. It's a real delight to speak on the Crown Pastoral Land Reform Bill. I want to acknowledge how enjoyable this bill was to work on. As a member of the Environment Committee we had the pleasure of being hosted by the High Country Accord. Absolutely for those of us who have been born on farms in rural communities and grown up in rural communities their commitment to their farming practices their sustainability and their intergenerational connection to their land resonated with many of us. It was certainly an enjoyable time to hear from them.This bill essentially ends tenure review—the 1.2 million hectares of land or 5 percent of New Zealand the tenure review will cease. Tenure review was around changing land from these leases into fee simple land which then was able to be sold. What this bill has done is put in a whole series of protections for the owners of the land which is the Crown their relationship with tangata whenua and also ensured that the high country farmers were able to be protected and had certainty. It ensures the permitted discretionary of prohibited acts on-farm are clearly identified.This bill quite simply has come at a time when we need to ensure that we do everything in our greatest powers to protect and support our land. The high country farmers do this and this bill supports them to continue. Thank you.
Bennett GlenGLEN BENNETT (Labour—New Plymouth): Kia ora Madam Speaker. Thank you and I take a call on the Crown Pastoral Land Reform Bill and I want to thank our very capable and well-versed Minister the Hon Damien O'Connor for bringing this to the House. I also want to say thank you to our select committee which I was not part of but I want to say thank you so much for the work that they did in the Environment Committee on this and to all the members from across the House.Just in noting in looking at what went on there 161 submissions. There were 59 submitters who gave oral evidence to this piece of legislation which really is about amending the Crown Pastoral Land Act 1998 and the Land Act 1948. Now this is around the 1.2 million hectares of Crown pastoral land; about 5 percent of New Zealand's total land area. That's ours it's the Crown it's us as a nation and we want to do our best to look after that. So therefore I commend this bill to the House.
Chen NaisiNAISI CHEN (Labour): Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise in this House to support this bill and to commend this bill to the House because unlike what the previous speaker has mentioned in order to protect in New Zealand the innovation that we have here in this country and to protect that good old start in your garage" kind of mentality we actually need really good competition law in our economy. We need to make sure that the smaller players don't get bullied by the bigger players. We need to make sure that this economy is fair for everyone when they're entering into it. I would like to quote the chair of our Economic Development Science and Innovation Committee Jamie Strange who said that competition breeds innovation and that is exactly why we are legislating this bill. It's because we need to make sure that New Zealand has a healthy competition environment within our economy. Through the inquiries that we've done into supermarkets and the ones that we've announced for the building supply sector we know that in a small economy like New Zealand competition sometimes can be crowded out because of the lack of players or the small amount of players that we have in the small population and the market size that we have. So that's why it's super crucial that we get this bill right so that we make sure that we protect the smaller players we protect the consumers and we make sure that this economy still runs in the way that we want which is for everyone to have a fair go so that everyone can achieve the wellbeing to live in this place. I want to thank my select committee colleagues for the work that we've done together collectively on this bill and to thank the Minister for accepting our recommendations in terms of speeding up the delay that we had in the implementation of this bill. This was exactly something that the submitters had said to us and this is us listening to the submitters and making sure that the implementation period for the transition of this bill is not only prudent in terms of giving time for everyone to adjust but also at the same time so that we actually make sure that we get the effect of this bill in the way that we want it to be. So on that note I commend this bill to the House. Motion agreed to.Bill read a second time."
Dean Jacqui; McAnulty KieranCOMMERCE AMENDMENT BILLSecond ReadingDebate resumed from 19 October.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): When we last debated this bill we—I would like to now call a five-minute call. No? Would anyone care to take a call? A five-minute call previously allocated to the Māori Party.KIERAN McANULTY (Labour—Wairarapa): All right then. Yeah we were just hoping that—no one seemed to want to speak on this; we normally go to a vote. So I'm happy to speak up and say we commend this bill to the House.
Halbert Shanan; Dean JacquiSHANAN HALBERT (Labour—Northcote): Tēnā koe Madam Speaker. It's wonderful to hear the enthusiasm and the energy from this side of the House this morning and particularly the passion that sits behind the Data and Statistics Bill. It's my pleasure this morning to speak very briefly on this to commend it to the House.This bill replaces the Statistics Act 1975 because we know that times have changed that our internet systems have got broader and we use them in particular every day. I remember well back in the day that my first platform I think that I used was Bebo which was fantastic at that particular time and look how far we have progressed my friends.But can I acknowledge the work of Minister Clark for this particular bill but also my tuahine the Hon Meka Whaitiri for the work that she has done on protecting Māori data working in a meaningful way with both iwi and also Māori rōpū to ensure that we acquire the right data.At this particular time what I've seen while I've been sitting in Auckland in lockdown is the tremendous work of our health workers on the front line that have been backed by data to go down every street to go down every community to ensure that we vaccinate as many people as possible. That highlights the importance of data and the work that we do today; and bills like this that remove barriers from us accessing that data to inform best practice; and to develop the right solutions for the empowerment of our communities of our people of Aoteroa and also of our most vulnerable groups like Māori and Pacific. So without further ado I commend this bill to House.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): The question is that the motion be agreed to.Motion agreed to.Bill read a first time.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): The question is That the Data and Statistics Bill be considered by the Governance and Administration Committee.Motion agreed to.Bill referred to the Governance and Administration Committee.
Data and Statistics Bill — First Reading
SpeechDr EMILY HENDERSON (Labour—Whangārei): Thank you Madam Speaker. I'm delighted to rise in support of this bill. It's not often in this House that one gets to seriously nerd out on the subject of data and statistics but in my past life I was a qualitative researcher as well as a Family Court practitioner. Data and statistics are my bag. So I can fully appreciate Dr Elizabeth Kerekere's enthusiasm for the post in the Greens and I can fully appreciate the enthusiasm of Deborah Russell another academic.I want to quote a paper from the Ministry of Justice published just before the Labour-led coalition took over. They said Data provides an objective view based on real experience. It helps us see how things actually work and not how we think they work or should work. Better data helps us understand what the problem is the catalyst behind it and what the solution could be. Simply put it's a three-step process: data to insights to action."—something we saw all too clearly when we repealed the subsequent child legislation which had absolutely no empirical basis for it.What I want to highlight now is the constant and heartfelt call of all people in my previous position as a researcher because of the paucity of Government data which is why I'm so delighted to see this bill. There is an urgent move—need said one set of researchers from Otago University—an urgent need to improve data about who uses our courts whether or not they're represented and how their cases proceed. Without this information we are unable to design a justice system that responds to the needs of those who are using the courts and protects its important public functions. This bill matters.Finally I close with a quote from the Hon Stuart Nash—via Oscar Wilde I believe—and I return to our friend on the ACT benches. This ACT gentleman has used statistics "like a drunk man uses a lamppost: for support rather than illumination." I look forward to the use for illumination for analysis and for solutions. I commend this bill to the House."
McAnulty KieranKIERAN McANULTY (Labour—Wairarapa): Thank you Madam Speaker. This is a bill where once again it's getting support from across the House. We're starting to get into a situation where people are using this to spout out interesting pieces of information. This is not contentious. It's needed it's long overdue let's just get on with it.
Russell DeborahDr DEBORAH RUSSELL (Labour—New Lynn): Madam Speaker it's great to be back in the House. I've been away for 13 weeks less one day as you can tell by the length of my Auckland hair.I'm a little dismayed by the suggestion that some of us in this House might not know our history. The previous speaker Mark Cameron clearly got a few things mixed up. The Rosetta Stone of course was incredibly important not because of data but because it provided the capacity to learn how to translate Egyptian hieroglyphics and it was actually about a decree from the priest of a particular temple in Memphis about supporting the king—nothing to do with data per se. The earliest written records we have are in fact accounting records—accounting records—not data records in particular.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Order! A chocolate fish to that member.Dr DEBORAH RUSSELL: Thank you Madam Speaker. So you know whatever from that speaker.I was however a little surprised by the curious lack of enthusiasm for this bill from Mr Andrew Bayly. Now on this side of the House we are excited about this bill and we're looking forward to it coming to the Governance and Administration Committee. But I guess in terms of Mr Bayly not being so excited about this bill that might be expected from a party which in their opening-up plan couldn't get the unemployment rate right—only had the Māori unemployment rate. May I suggest to Mr Andrew Bayly that data is in fact very very important. Actually I know that the speakers on the other side of the House agree with that too.This will be an interesting bill to examine. I am particularly concerned with looking at the issues around data sovereignty and the interaction of the Treaty with the collection of data and I'm sure we will enjoy examining it in the select committee. I commend this bill to the House.
Chen NaisiNAISI CHEN (Labour): Mr Chair—oh Mr Speaker sorry. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I call Naisi Chen. NAISI CHEN: Thank you Mr Speaker. That shows how long I haven't contributed in this House but it's great to be back. Can I just say that this bill is hugely exciting and I think from the contributions we've heard from the other side we actually haven't understood—I don't think the other side has understood—this modern-day 21st century approach to data. They still seem to think that data is still collected—yes statistics still may be collected face to face and door to door but today in the 21st century we are collecting data at a whole different level. So that's why first of all can I extend an invitation to all of the experts here in Aotearoa New Zealand on data our data scientists our experts in the IT field: please come and make a submission to one of the best select committees in this place—the Governance and Administration Committee—and please could you tell our chair a thing or two about how data is actually collected. This is the month—or I guess two weeks ago—that Facebook announced their new change to the metaverse although they've signalled that this change will be fully eventualised in 10 years' time. But it signals that we are in a very different time already. Being in this different time we need to make sure that our laws and legislation actually keep up with regulating things. I know that critics of Facebook's new rebranding are saying that they're very sceptical of why they're rebranding to the metaverse and some of them would say that it's because they wanted to get away from all the scandals of their data breaches. This is why it's so important for this House today to start to discuss all of these frameworks so that we can actually regulate the way that data is used in New Zealand for the good of our people. During the Super Saturday campaign we realised how important it was to have timely and accurate data so that we could put our resources into the most critical areas so that we could actually benefit all the people of New Zealand to have that equity lens. Could I also commend the Associate Minister of Statistics the Hon Meka Whaitiri for her work in modernising this Treaty relationship so that we use our data for the good of our Māori people as well. It's bringing this into modern-day New Zealand. On that note I commend this bill to the House.
Boyack RachelRACHEL BOYACK (Labour—Nelson): What a disappointment that the member's time has expired! I was enjoying that so much as a member of the Governance and Administration Committee! Just like the Minister I am extremely excited about the bill and I want to acknowledge him for all the work he has done to bring it here. But there are a few pieces of information I might draw the previous speaker attention to—Hon Member: Like we're not in urgency.RACHEL BOYACK: Particularly that we're not in urgency. But specifically I want to talk a little bit about the work with the data iwi leaders around the work we are doing as a Government with Māori leaders to improve collection of data that affects Māori. If the previous speaker Andrew Bayly had actually looked at some of the work of the Governance and Administration Committee or looked at some of the work of the Associate Minister of Statistics he may have actually found out that there is information in the public domain about the specific work such as the work of Te Whata an online—oh look. He's left. He doesn't want to hear about it. [Interruption] I withdraw and apologise.Look this is an important bill because over the last few months we've seen the importance of data and statistics and I do actually want to acknowledge that in relation to Māori. We've seen the importance of that data in the roll-out of the vaccine and our DHBs particularly in my area are heavily reliant on that data in terms of knowing where to put specific resource. I know that tonight they're actually putting out our new bus to go and reach some of our Māori communities in Nelson and they use specific data and statistics in order to inform that work. It's incredibly important and very very exciting to see that we are reforming this piece of legislation.There are a couple of other things I just want to point out having actually read the bill particularly around the importance of privacy. It's incredibly important in this day and age as other speakers have pointed out that people have trust and confidence in the data that Government collects and that Government then uses to inform decisions. One of the things I am pleased to see is that the bill continues to put in place techniques to strengthen the use of that data.So we are very excited on this side of the House to be looking at this bill and having it go to select committee. I am looking forward to a significant number of submissions coming through from the public that I'm sure we will take time to read and digest and I encourage members of the public people who have an interest in this area to please submit on this so that we can ensure the bill that comes through is as strong as possible for our communities. So on that note I commend this bill to the House.
Maritime Transport (MARPOL Annex VI) Amendment Bill — Third Reading (continued)
White HelenHELEN WHITE (Labour): Mōrena. It's lovely to be here from Auckland. I'm going to take an Auckland perspective on this bill because I am based in a city that has a port and it's going to make a very big difference to it.So in this situation we're really talking about air pollution and this bill will contribute to the reduction of that. What that actually means for people is significant in a city like mine because it's people who live in the city—and increasingly we've got apartments in the city with a range of people and incomes in the city—who are actually the people who breathe in the pollution that is caused by the sulphur that will now be treated and actually banned. So we're going to have a situation where we're cleaning up our air in our biggest city and we're going to have a situation where we clean it up in particular places like Picton which actually catch that air just because of their geography.It's going to make a huge difference to things like asthma and lung conditions. It's going to help our disabled; it's going to help our vulnerable. It's going to help people like pregnant women. That's an incredibly important thing to do. I'm not surprised that everybody in this House understands that and has prioritised it over the cost of introducing such a system because quite frankly this should have happened a very long time ago. So I am absolutely thrilled to be here representing our biggest city knowing it will make a difference.I just want to spend the last few minutes—seconds actually—talking about the issue of the marine itself because we live on this beautiful harbour in Auckland and that harbour will also be protected by this. It will be a system which means that the boats that come in are actually having their waste captured and it won't be going into our harbour. So it's not just us; it's also the environment that we are actually in. It's our actual marine environment and that is the second real benefactor of this bill. So I congratulate the select committee for doing its job admirably and I congratulate the House for all agreeing that this is an important piece of legislation. I commend this bill to the House. Motion agreed to.Bill read a third time.
Ngobi TerisaTERISA NGOBI (Labour—Ōtaki): Kia ora Mr Speaker. It's a privilege and an honour to take a call in the House today on this maritime bill as the member for Ōtaki and also as a member of the Transport and Infrastructure Committee.Not only have we heard our Prime Minister talk about the fact that we are in a climate crisis but she's also about Let's do something about it." and that is what this bill does. We know we need to act now. It is our responsibility to be kaitiaki to Papatūānuku to te ao—the world the planet—and to make sure that we leave this world in the best place possible for our tamariki our mokopuna and our mokopuna to come and that is what this bill does. This bill looks to reduce the carbon emissions which like my colleague Mr Halbert said 47 percent of transportation carbon emissions are made up of.We also know that shipping contributes to these emissions putting out pollution such as sulphur and nitrogen. This isn't just bad for our environment; this is also bad for the health of people especially those that live near the harbour—our communities. This Government is committed to climate change. We're not just committed; we're actually putting it into action. That is what this bill is: this is part of our mahi to make sure we look after our planet look after our people and for that I commend this bill to the House.Andrew Bayly: One minute 40!"
McAnulty KieranKIERAN McANULTY (Labour—Wairarapa): Thank you Mr Speaker. This bill makes sense. It's got broad support across the House and I don't see any reason to delay its passing. I commend it to the House.
Rurawhe Adrian; Halbert ShananTUESDAY 9 NOVEMBER 2021(continued on Wednesday 10 November 2021)MARITIME TRANSPORT (MARPOL ANNEX VI) AMENDMENT BILLThird ReadingDebate resumed.DEPUTY SPEAKER: Kāti rā tēnā rā tātou katoa. The House is resumed for the extended sitting. Members last evening we were debating the third reading of the Maritime Transport (MARPOL Annex VI) Amendment Bill. We'd just completed call No. 7 so it's call No. 8.SHANAN HALBERT (Labour—Northcote): Te Māngai o te Whare tēnā rawa atu ki a koe. [To the Speaker warm greetings.]Mōrena to the House and thank you Mr Speaker for the opportunity to speak briefly this morning on a piece of work that our Transport and Infrastructure Committee has been working on the Maritime Transport (MARPOL Annex VI) Amendment Bill. It's taken a little while to get through the House and as I heard the number of speeches late last night every party acknowledged the time that it's taken to get this quite minor piece of work into legislation to have it updated. I was pipped at the post I think late last night by the ACT Party member who attempted to blast this side of the House and then went on to support the bill. So I'll put it down to lateness in the House my friend but good on you.This particular bill is really about supporting the work of this Government. We know particularly as Aucklanders that transport makes up 47 percent of emissions into our climate and as we continue to work hard to create the change that we want to see we need to break down each part of our transport sector. So today this bill is about reducing the adverse public health effects of marine air pollution on communities close to ports and harbours and I look to the Waitematā in Auckland a local Auckland port and this is the type of work that we need to continue to proceed with. The need for change is now. So without further ado it's an easier round for us this morning and I commend this bill to the House.DEPUTY SPEAKER: Members this is a split call. I call Chris Penk—five minutes.
Tuesday 9 November 2021 - Volume 755
Education and Training (Teaching Council Fees Levies and Costs) Amendment Bill — In Committee—Clauses 1 to 3
VoteA party vote was called for on the question That clause 1 be agreed to.Ayes 65New Zealand Labour 65.Noes 55New Zealand National 33; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10; ACT New Zealand 10; Te Paati Māori 2.Clause 1 agreed to.A party vote was called for on the question That clause 2 be agreed to.Ayes 65New Zealand Labour 65.Noes 55New Zealand National 33; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10; ACT New Zealand 10; Te Paati Māori 2.Clause 2 agreed to.A party vote was called for on the question That clause 3 be agreed to.Ayes 65New Zealand Labour 65.Noes 55New Zealand National 33; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10; ACT New Zealand 10; Te Paati Māori 2.Clause 3 agreed to.Bill to be reported with amendment.
Education and Training (Teaching Council Fees Levies and Costs) Amendment Bill — In Committee—Part 2
VoteCHAIRPERSON (Hon Jacqui Dean): Members we move now to the Schedule for which there is no debate. The question was put that the amendments set out on Supplementary Order Paper 68 in the name of the Hon Chris Hipkins to the Schedule be agreed to.A party vote was called for on the question That the amendments be agreed to.Ayes 65New Zealand Labour 65.Noes 55New Zealand National 33; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10; ACT New Zealand 10; Te Paati Māori 2.Amendments agreed to.A party vote was called for on the question That the Schedule as amended be agreed to.Ayes 65New Zealand Labour 65.Noes 55New Zealand National 33; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10; ACT New Zealand 10; Te Paati Māori 2.Schedule as amended agreed to.
VoteA party vote was called for on the question That Part 2 be agreed to.Ayes 65New Zealand Labour 65.Noes 55New Zealand National 33; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10; ACT New Zealand 10; Te Paati Māori 2.Part 2 agreed to.
VoteCHAIRPERSON (Hon Jacqui Dean): The question is that the Minister's amendments to Part 1 set out on Supplementary Order Paper 68 be agreed to.A party vote was called for on the question That the amendments be agreed to.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.Amendments agreed to.A party vote was called for on the question That Part 1 as amended be agreed to.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.Part 1 as amended agreed to.
Education and Training (Teaching Council Fees Levies and Costs) Amendment Bill — In Committee—Part 1
VoteA party vote was called for on the question That the Drug and Substance Checking Legislation Bill (No 2) be now read a second time.Ayes 87New Zealand Labour 65; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10; ACT New Zealand 10; Te Paati Māori 2.Noes 33New Zealand National 33.Motion agreed to.Bill read a second time.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): I declare the House in committee for consideration of the Education and Training (Teaching Council Fees Levies and Costs) Amendment Bill and the Education and Training Amendment Bill.
Drug and Substance Checking Legislation Bill (No 2) — Second Reading
VoteA party vote was called for on the question That the motion be agreed to.Ayes 75New Zealand Labour 65; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10.Noes 43New Zealand National 33; ACT New Zealand 10.Motion agreed to.
11. Question No. 11—Education (School Operations)MARJA LUBECK (Labour) to the Associate Minister of EducationQuestion No. 11—Education (School Operations)11. MARJA LUBECK (Labour) to the Associate Minister of Education: What is the Government doing to support the mental health and wellbeing of students in primary and secondary schools?Hon JAN TINETTI (Associate Minister of Education (School Operations)): Yesterday I announced that 141 primary intermediate and small secondary schools throughout Aotearoa now have access to counsellors. This is the first time in New Zealand counsellors have ever been centrally-funded in schools for this age group. The primary school allocation is in addition to the additional $31.8 million that was allocated to larger secondary schools from January this year. That equates to 90 full-time teacher equivalent additional counselling staff across the country. Thanks to the $75.8 million worth of investment made by this Labour Government a further 24000 young people now have access to counselling support at school.Marja Lubeck: Why are counsellors in schools needed?Hon JAN TINETTI: This Labour Government is committed to barrier-free access to education. Kids come to school to receive a great education. This should be within the reach of every learner—where barriers to education exist they need to be reduced. It is important to use a range of levers to help each child and young person attain their educational potential. We know that learners who are happy and healthy learn better. That is why over the last few years this Government has undertaken a range of work to support the wellbeing of learners in order to ensure our kids get the best start possible.Marja Lubeck: What other mental health and wellbeing supports are available for schools?Hon JAN TINETTI: The Government has provided a $15 million package specifically to help re-engage our Auckland students in their education which includes an additional $1.5 million funding for counselling services for Auckland schools. The Government is also expanding the Mana Ake mental health and wellbeing programme into five additional regions. For teachers and principals the Government has made available the workforce wellbeing COVID-19 fund that provides counselling services for the sector. We're making sure that there are a range of measures in place to support schools through this tumultuous time.
9. Question No. 9—Economic and Regional DevelopmentNAISI CHEN (Labour) to the Minister for Economic and Regional DevelopmentQuestion No. 9—Economic and Regional Development9. NAISI CHEN (Labour) to the Minister for Economic and Regional Development: What announcements has he made about giving the events sector confidence to continue planning over the summer period while the country transitions to the new COVID-19 Protection Framework?Hon STUART NASH (Minister for Economic and Regional Development): This morning I announced a COVID-19 events transition support payment scheme to provide certainty to event organisers to continue to plan their event ahead of finalisation of the public health settings that will apply at the time of their event. The scheme will apply to all public-facing ticketed events that are not underwritten or funded elsewhere with more than 5000 attendees and require the use of COVID-19 vaccine certificates. The scheme will pay out 90 percent of the direct costs incurred by the organiser in delivering the event and only when there is certainty that the public health settings would explicitly prevent the event taking place on the date or dates of the event.Naisi Chen: What are the benefits of this scheme?Hon STUART NASH: The fund is based on feedback from the events sector. They told us that they were nearing or had entered the risk window for decisions about whether to proceed with their event or cancel or postpone. This fund will give big summer festivals financial certainty to proceed. Large events are a key driver for economic and regional development providing jobs and economic activity. But to be blunt it's been a tough year. New Zealanders deserve a good summer and this Government is committed to ensuring large-scale events and festivals can be part of this.Naisi Chen: Why is the use of vaccination certificates one of the criteria for this scheme?Hon STUART NASH: As COVID has changed our approach has changed too. The tool we have now that we didn't have a year ago is vaccination. As the Prime Minister says it provides our individual armour from death hospitalisation or disease itself. The reason for requiring vaccine certificates is twofold. First we want to provide an incentive for attendees who might not yet have got their first or second dose to get vaccinated so they can attend an event and secondly it is to provide protection for people once they are at the event so they can be as safe as possible in a new COVID world while enjoying summer.
7. Question No. 7—Social Development and EmploymentGLEN BENNETT (Labour—New Plymouth) to the Minister for Social Development and EmploymentQuestion No. 7—Social Development and Employment7. GLEN BENNETT (Labour—New Plymouth) to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: What recent reports has she seen on unemployment?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI (Minister for Social Development and Employment): As the Deputy Prime Minister has highlighted last week the household labour force survey was released. It showed the national rate of unemployment to be 3.4 percent a fall of 0.6 percentage points from the previous quarter. A highlight of the report is the increase in job security felt by New Zealanders with 45100 less people saying they are at risk of losing their job in the next 12 months. Alongside this the increase in the labour force participation rate shows that 71.2 percent of New Zealanders are engaged in the labour market a 1.1 percentage point increase. This was driven mostly by an increase in the number of women who have found employment. It is clear that the Government's strong economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic is keeping our economy strong and New Zealanders in work.Glen Bennett: What reports has she seen on the number of people receiving the job seeker work-ready benefit?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: As of the week ending 29 October 108471 people were receiving a job seeker work-ready benefit around 22000 less than the same time last year. As expected we saw a slight rise in the number of people accessing a job seeker work-ready benefit at the beginning of the Delta outbreak. But we now have seen six straight weeks where the number of people receiving job seeker work-ready has fallen. There are now only 1737 additional people receiving job seeker work-ready than at the time our response began. It is very different to the sharp rise we saw during the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 and shows the strength of our labour market. It is clear that the Government's wage subsidy has helped provide certainty to businesses and protect jobs. While we're not out of the woods the signs are very encouraging.Glen Bennett: What evidence has she seen of Māori and Pacific getting into work?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: The household labour force survey shows that over the last 12 months Māori unemployment is down 1.9 percentage points to 6.9 percent. This was driven by 29900 Māori moving into work over the last 12 months. For Pacific peoples the unemployment rate was down 2.6 percentage points to 5.5 percent. This is reflected in the number of people we're seeing come out the other end of our employment education and training programmes—for example over 4000 people through Mana in Mahi and over 7920 through Flexi-wage of which 48 percent are Māori or Pacific. We're committed to continuing to provide meaningful programmes for Māori and Pacific in order to build on this progress.
3. Question No. 3—HousingCAMILLA BELICH (Labour) to the Minister of HousingQuestion No. 3—Housing3. CAMILLA BELICH (Labour) to the Minister of Housing: What action is the Government taking to get more houses built in Auckland?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Housing): This morning I announced the Government is stepping in to fund much-needed infrastructure to enable more houses to be built in Auckland: our latest investment of $282 million in Government-led large-scale projects—or LSPs—from the Housing Acceleration Fund announced in March. This will enable up to 1260 additional homes across five Auckland suburbs: Mount Roskill Māngere Tāmaki Oranga and Northcote. This is another significant investment in Tāmaki-makau-rau which needs more investment in underlying housing infrastructure like pipes and roads. Today's announcement enabling around 1260 additional homes is of course on top of the 2500 additional homes enabled in these areas that have already been supported by Government funding.Camilla Belich: Why is the Government supporting Auckland Council to get infrastructure built?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: We're stepping in with funding in these areas to fix decades of under-investment in infrastructure that will have wider benefits for the communities including improved sewerage and flood protection. Auckland is forecast to need an additional 330000 dwellings by 2050. Replacing ageing pipes and improving roading is essential to futureproof and grow these communities. These developments provide quality housing where it is needed most and the investment in infrastructure unlocks the potential for future market-led development. This is a key part of our Government's plan to address the housing crisis by increasing supply through our strategically located developments in areas where people want to live.Camilla Belich: How else is the Government supporting local government to get houses built?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: The Government's $3.8 billion Housing Acceleration Fund announced in March will jump-start housing developments and will help green-light tens of thousands of house builds across Aotearoa in the short to medium term. Local government and developers have told the Government that investment in infrastructure is one of the most important contributions that central government can make to increasing housing supply. The Housing Acceleration Fund is the cornerstone of the Government's plan to address the housing crisis. Today's announcement invests in the enabling infrastructure that will allow these neighbourhoods to intensify and supports further private development in the places we want it: close to transport and jobs.
Maritime Transport (MARPOL Annex VI) Amendment Bill — Third Reading
Davidson MaramaHon MARAMA DAVIDSON (Co-Leader—Green): Thank you Madam Speaker. In the closing minutes of the House tonight the Green Party is supporting this bill the Maritime Transport (MARPOL Annex VI) Amendment Bill. And I'll try and make sure my short contribution is worthy considering that this is my first day back in the House in over three months and today I had to ask three people what bill we were on in this House. I also voted wrong and had to go back and correct that and then I also missed a whole bill voting. So I've set my standard really well! This contribution is going to be amazing by comparison.So this bill of course addresses the impacts of shipping emissions by bringing us up to the world standard Annex VI of the international convention. And as everyone has said it is long overdue. I think it was colleague Mr Simpson who said that actually the majority of other countries are already there. He said 95 percent—it's even more than that: 97 percent of global freight capacity are already signed up to the convention. So we were lagging well behind in an almost embarrassing state. It's about time and it's good that we're bringing this bill tonight in the House because this is about our climate protection for our future and for our mokopuna. It's about our beautiful country also and we know what it's like to have so many of our cities hugging the shore—our towns and cities around the country on our shorelines—and it's not uncommon unfortunately to see giant plumes of smoke intruding from ships into our beautiful beautiful landscapes.So just a very quick contribution to support this bill and that the Greens believe that yet again Aotearoa can be at the forefront of pushing for global reductions in emissions including through shipping emissions. So pleased to commend this bill to the House.
Eagle PaulPAUL EAGLE (Labour—Rongotai): Tēnā koe Madam Speaker. Look can I just endorse all of those who have spoken. There is whole-of-House support for this bill. Just one thing: there was talk about Wellington not having beautiful days and it just seems to be that we have beautiful days when MPs from outside of Wellington aren't in Wellington! But every other day I can assure you is beautiful hot and Hawaii-like. But that is for another bill.Now if I could just focus on the bill. This is part of this Government's commitment to tackle climate change [Interruption] There you are; I knew they'd wake up put it that way. It is also our contribution to making shipping more environmentally sustainable—the industry and the way that we do it. I did note that the previous speaker the Hon Scott Simpson did start to talk about coastal shipping and that will be a big push in terms of adhering and achieving what MARPOL is intended for.So I'm not going to say too much more. I commend this bill to the House.
O'Connor GregGREG O'CONNOR (Labour—Ōhāriu): I can only agree with the previous speaker as the chairman of the same select committee the Transport and Infrastructure Committee which was much the poorer for the lack of those two members in the back row there I might say. But they did their bit and it certainly helped us get this piece of legislation through.Just to put this in perspective a cruise ship—and it must seem a long time since we've looked out of the windows and seen a cruise ship coming in here. But one cruise ship coming into Wellington Harbour is the equivalent of 200000 extra cars driving on an average day around Wellington—just to give you some idea of what a piece of legislation like this is meant to deal with. It does ensure that when these ships arrive what they have traditionally done is they've used high sulphur fuel which is 3.5 percent by mass and that will now be required to be 0.5 percent. Why you might ask. Well it's all about price. Obviously the higher sulphur fuel is considerably cheaper than the lower sulphur fuel. So the scrubbers that are required once they're in New Zealand waters to cleanse it—those scrubbers will actually literally take the sulphur out of it and once they arrive in New Zealand they're required to cleanse it.So the important part about this legislation is that it does align us now. If we're going to take our part—and I note that we are at COP26 over in Glasgow at the moment—and if we're going to be credible on the world stage when we're talking about all aspects of pollution of the environment we've got to make sure that we are doing our bit. We ascribed to this and we signed up to this legislation. This now completes our obligations and we can hold our heads high and know that we are doing what we should be doing along with the rest of the world in relation to the marine fuels. So I have no hesitation commending this to the House.
Luxon Christopher; Dean JacquiCHRISTOPHER LUXON (National—Botany): It's a real pleasure to take a call on this bill the Maritime Transport (MARPOL Annex VI) Amendment Bill. I've just come in from Auckland and it's great to be back in the House and to be able to remember what I'm supposed to be doing here after many months away. So apologies for that but I'm sure it will come flooding back. But this is a very good common-sense bill. We support the bill as we have right from the beginning as the National Party. It is a positive step towards a much cleaner environment we're removing marine pollution particularly around ports and harbours and it's just a very common-sense bill.We discussed it a lot in our select committee with an illustrious group of people around there and we were all in violent agreement. I think we spoke to probably eight stakeholders—Greg O'Connor: Even more illustrious now.CHRISTOPHER LUXON: Yeah exactly. But obviously the MARPOL bill we know what it's about: it's about marine pollution and it's about an agreement to reduce global marine pollution across the world. We were a signatory to it back in 1998. I think we've signed four of the six annexes; this is our fifth and those different annexes are covering different aspects of marine pollution. Of course 97 percent of the world's shipping tonnage has actually signed up to it already—I think 94 countries by memory—and it's important that we play our part. We've probably been a bit slow bit overdue but we're there now and we're keen to do it.Annex VI as the Minister talked about does limit air pollution from ships around ports and harbours specifically nitrous oxide sulphur oxides and particulate matter. Of course that's really important because that has negative health effects around cardiovascular and respiratory disease lungs and general weakening of immunity. This legislation will give the powers to conduct inspections audits to ensure compliance. Of course the way that shipping companies do that compliance is they've got two options: one is to install scrubbers which are sort of very complicated exhaust gas treatment devices and that's frankly not realistic for the New Zealand shipping fleet. The other way is obviously to adopt low sulphur fuels and limit sulphur to 0.5 percent. Those fuels of course aren't produced in New Zealand—Refining New Zealand doesn't produce them won't produce them—and so we'll be importing that fuel into New Zealand and making sure that we've got improved port reception facilities as well.We had a good select committee process and the good thing was that all our stakeholders all the submitters that we talked to were very much on board. As I said we had eight submissions; I think two oral submissions and importantly there were just some definitional changes that were of very minor consequence.So this is a bill that's hard to talk much longer on suffice to say that we are very pleased to support this bill and commend it to the House.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): The question is that the motion be agreed to.