Williams Andrew: Crown Minerals Amendment Act 2013 Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWilliams Andrew: Crown Minerals Amendment Act 2013 Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee[Sitting date: 16 May 2013. Volume:690;Page:10223. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ANDREW WILLIAMS (NZ First): I take a call on behalf of New Zealand First on 16 May here in this Chamber but outside it is 17 May my son’s 28th birthday. Happy birthday Sam. It is somewhat surreal to be here and although we are in the same country to think we are on a different date line and different time zone while others are enjoying a very nice birthday in Auckland. But having said that we also have another young man—who is a bit older than my son who is 28—who is now the energy Minister Simon Bridges. We are going to give Simon the benefit of the doubt because Simon came in as the new Minister of Energy and Resources in January and I think he has actually been doing a pretty good job. I have had a bit to do with Simon. I have brought things to Simon’s attention and he has responded. I have appreciated the fact that he has.In this instance everyone wants to try and pin it all on Simon that this amendment bill the Crown Minerals Amendment Act 2013 Amendment Bill is being required but at the end of the day as we all know legislation is drafted by legal minds and advisers within the Parliament. It is not always that every single loophole is picked up. It is not always that every contingency is included. In this respect this was a pretty big bit of legislation in terms of the Crown Minerals Act in the first place. It does not surprise us in New Zealand First that there probably were a few things overlooked. We are actually very pleased that some of these small loopholes in it are being corrected so soon and now so that it does not just drag on and on. There is nothing worse than having bad legislation on the books and finding that it does not work and it does not help.We are particularly drawn to the regulatory impact statement. As New Zealanders well know New Zealand First is very supportive of good policy that will see more employment more jobs more economic opportunity for this country and more regional development in particular. In this regard in the regulatory impact statement says that there will be an increase in permitted activity and this could in turn lead to increased economic activity exports royalties to the Crown employment and regional development. So obviously if you have an increase in permitted activity it does stimulate greater economic activity as a result. We are very supportive of that. New Zealand First wants to see New Zealand improve its performance overall and we do want to see good sustainable responsible use of the resources that our country has.We do have to recall the fact that New Zealand has the fifth-largest exclusive economic zone in the world. It is vast; it is huge. I sat on the Local Government and Environment Committee and I was most impressed with the information that came to that committee about just the potential that is out there in our economic zone and what it would mean to a small country of 4.5 million people if we properly explored it and if we properly took care of it bearing in mind that we have to be very mindful that we are the guardians of a very important part of the South Pacific. It has to be done in a proper manner a safe manner and a responsible manner but there still is huge opportunity out there which this country must be looking at. So in that respect this is good legislation to sort this out get it right and get it improved so that that can occur.In reading the explanatory note of the legislation it says: “An applicant for a Tier 1 permit for exploration who does not have the expertise or financial ability to undertake exploration drilling activities will be able to be granted a permit on a conditional basis.” and it goes on to give the reasons applying to that. There will be instances of some companies wanting to come and invest and look at opportunities put their money on the line and look at ways to contribute to our economy that may need to gear up improve their capacity and improve their knowledge in the area and that will be bringing on other partners and other joint venture operators with them to do this. So thisis a building programme and you cannot necessarily have the full level of expertise and capacity from day one. Again this legislation provides for that. We do not see that as necessarily being negative but what it does mean is that there will be opportunities for investment in this country by those that otherwise might not have considered it in the first place.So we will be supporting this but what New Zealand First would like to remind New Zealanders of is the fact that out of all the minerals and out of the taking of resources from our country often the very places where those minerals and those resources are taken from do not necessarily get the full benefit of that extraction. Taranaki has done very well. Taranaki has been the jewel in the crown of the resources industry in this country but often that is not the way. Around the world it is often the way that the people living where the resources are taken from do not necessarily benefit. Companies benefit corporates benefit the Government can benefit but not necessarily the people.So New Zealand First has a month or so ago put out a policy our regional royalties policy. It is very clear what we say in New Zealand First: we would return 25 percent of all Crown royalties taken from any resources or minerals or extractions back to the region that they are removed from. We believe that is a very sound and sensible policy and it would put money back into those areas to pay for necessary infrastructure to support roading to support infrastructure to support the necessary capacity in those regions to help support those very same mining minerals or extraction industries that are going on. We believe that would be a very very sensible thing which we would like at some stage in the future to get through legislation to provide for. At the same time we believe that those minerals and the extractions should be paying higher Crown royalties as well. We believe the Crown royalties that are taken at the moment are too low. We think there should be a review of this and we think New Zealand should undertake a full comparison with other countries and ensure that we really are getting a fair—what do they say—suck of the sav as they say in Australia. We should be getting our fair whack from what is being taken.So we are going to support this legislation and we hope that this will now sort out the Crown Minerals Amendment Act that we can take this on and that New Zealand can continue to grow and prosper as a result of future opportunities with Crown minerals.