Edmonds BarbaraThird Reading Hon BARBARA EDMONDS (Minister of Internal Affairs): I present a legislative statement on the Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Levy) Amendment Bill.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.Hon BARBARA EDMONDS: Thank you Madam Speaker. I move That the Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Levy) Amendment Bill be now read a third time.I am pleased to be leading this bill through its final stage in the House and in doing so we are improving the new levy framework that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand. For our whānau and communities it means far more than that. Today's changes will ensure that firefighters can continue delivering much-needed services across the country.As a nation we have all seen the pivotal role of Fire and Emergency New Zealand in the response to Cyclone Gabrielle and the Auckland flooding. Firefighters worked tirelessly throughout these devastating weather events in fast-changing conditions. They did everything they could to safeguard people and to limit damage to property and whenua.I acknowledge again that in Muriwai the two firefighters who made the ultimate sacrifice were performing their jobs. Again I'd like to pay tribute to Dave van Zwanenberg and Craig Stevens two heroic firefighters who lost their lives helping their community. Again we thank them for their bravery and courage.Fire and Emergency is a constant ever-present support in challenging times. During the period of 2021 to 2022 they responded to over 85000 call outs ranging from natural disasters motor vehicle accidents medical emergencies fire and search and rescue calls. It's clear that we couldn't do it without them. As Fire and Emergency is funded by a 97 percent levy collection on insurance policies it's important that the system works well in order for them to deliver critical functions.This bill amends the start date for the new levy to 1 July 2026. In doing so it allows preparation time for insurers to implement the new levy along with time for associated regulations to be complete. Property insured against physical loss or damage from fire will pay the levy instead of property insured against physical loss or damage. This bill also means that the levy will be calculated on the sum insured rather than the amount insured in an insurance contract.What these changes do is better align with insurance practice avoiding the need for complex calculations or the risk of people being levied twice. We are committed to ensuring that the new Fire and Emergency levy is simple and efficient to implement. The bill will minimise disruption and compliance costs from the new levy while remaining aligned to the levy principle that the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Act sets out.I want to take a moment to address the concerns about the Government continuing with the insurance-based levy model. We believe that a levy on insurance policies is still fit for purpose for the medium term. It will provide Fire and Emergency with the funding it needs and be the least costly to system administrators. Therefore it stands as the best option.The changes made in this bill will not impact how much revenue Fire and Emergency receives. It can spend the levy on whatever is required to deliver its functions. I want to assure our communities that Fire and Emergency New Zealand will have enough revenue to respond to all events under its mandate including the floods and natural hazard events.I'd also like to acknowledge those who have contributed to the success of this bill. I acknowledge the previous Minister of Internal Affairs the Hon Jan Tinetti who introduced this bill to the House. I would like to thank those involved in the Fire and Emergency funding review which led to the changes in this bill. This also includes the 71 submitters to the funding review and everyone that took part in the 13 public meetings and hui back in 2020.I'd like to also thank those who are part of the insurance reference group and commercial property reference group that helped improve the insurance-based levy in the build-up to this bill—in particular the Insurance Council of New Zealand the Insurance Brokers Association of New Zealand the Property Council New Zealand and of course Fire and Emergency New Zealand.Again I'd like to thank the Governance and Administration Committee for their constructive consideration of this bill. I appreciate the time the committee took to understand this bill and the views of submitters.Hon Member: Worked very hard.Hon BARBARA EDMONDS: Avery hard-working committee I understand. Before concluding I'd like to extend my thanks again to those who submitted to the committee and for their suggestions which improved and strengthened these changes.As Minister of Internal Affairs I have been proud to lead this work through its last stages. This bill will benefit all New Zealanders and ensure that Fire and Emergency can continue their vital mahi of supporting whānau communities and whenua. I commend this bill to the House.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): The question is that the motion be agreed to.