edithatogo/nz-hansard-corpus huggingface dataset:
Mallard TrevorSPEAKER: Just before the member calls I want to remind members in the House and members in the gallery of the photography rules and that is that the media and one person appointed from each party are allowed to take photos from the gallery. I now call on Simon Court for his maiden statement.
Mallard TrevorPETITIONS PAPERS SELECT COMMITTEE REPORTS AND INTRODUCTION OF BILLSSPEAKER: No bills have been introduced. Petitions have been delivered to the Clerk for presentation.CLERK: Petition of Pauline Latta requesting that the House fully fund St John Ambulance service to remove the need for fund-raisingpetition of Brooke Lacey requesting that the House urge the Government to inquire into the crisis response and to prioritise legislation and funding to improve New Zealand's mental health system.SPEAKER: Those petitions stand referred to the Petitions Committee. Ministers have delivered papers.CLERK: Annual reports for 2019/20 for Te Puni Kōkiri Department of Internal Affairs Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authoritystatement of performance expectations for the financial year 2021 for Tākaro Ltdstrategic intentions 2020-24 for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and TradeMinister for Māori Development and Minister for Whānau Ora Vote Māori Development report in relation to non-departmental appropriations for the year ended 30 June 2020.SPEAKER: I present the report of the Controller and Auditor-General entitled Accident Compensation Corporation Case Management: Progress on Recommendations Made in 2014. Those papers are published under the authority of the House. A select committee report has been delivered for presentation.CLERK: Report of the Regulations Review Committee on the Subordinate Legislation Confirmation Bill (No 5).SPEAKER: That bill is set down for second reading.
Hipkins Chris; Bishop ChrisTHURSDAY 3 DECEMBER 2020The Speaker took the Chair at 2 p.m.Prayers.BUSINESS STATEMENTHon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the House): Thank you Mr Speaker. The Address in Reply debate continues next week with a further eight maiden speeches on Tuesday. The Business Committee has agreed that after oral questions on Tuesday there will be a one-hour debate on the report of the royal commission into the attacks on Christchurch mosques on 15 March last year. On Tuesday evening the House will consider motions on the COVID-19 response and other issues. The Subordinate Legislation (Confirmation and Validation) Bill will pass through its remaining stages. I did notify the Business Committee that there may be an extended sitting on Wednesday morning depending on progress. First readings to be considered will include the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Bill the Social Security (Financial Assistance for Caregivers) Amendment Bill the Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Amendment Bill and the Water Services Bill. On Wednesday the sitting programme for 2021 will be approved and the House will adjourn for the year.CHRIS BISHOP (National): Thank you to the Leader of the House for that fulsome update. Can I ask the leader if he is planning on putting the House into urgency next week and in particular if he is going to do so whether or not any bills will be introduced that the Opposition is only presented with mere moments before the bill is tabled on the floor of the House and in particular bills that the Attorney-General has issued a section 7 report under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 as breaching the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act.Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the House): No it's not the Government's intention to move urgency next week although I did indicate that we may do an extended sitting on Wednesday morning.
Thursday 18 February 2021 - Volume 749
11. Question No. 11—Foreign AffairsBARBARA EDMONDS (Labour—Mana) to the Associate Minister of Foreign AffairsQuestion No. 11—Foreign Affairs11. BARBARA EDMONDS (Labour—Mana) to the Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs: What steps has the Government taken to work with Pacific States regarding vaccination roll-out plans?Hon AUPITO WILLIAM SIO (Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs): Last year the Government committed $75 million to support Pacific and global vaccine access and roll-out. I have had the opportunity to videoconference with the Ministers of Health and senior health officials from the Cook Islands Niue Tokelau Samoa Tonga and Tuvalu over the past few weeks. Our officials have actively been engaging with their country counterparts to understand the individual needs. New Zealand is working with a number of donor partners in organisations to ensure our approach to support Pacific countries is coordinated.Barbara Edmonds: What has been the response so far from the six Polynesian countries?Hon AUPITO WILLIAM SIO: New Zealand's offer has been well received during my engagements with each country. It reaffirms New Zealand's special constitutional relationships in the Realm nations and the strong links between our health systems and close people to people ties across Polynesia. Our response has been based on the principle of whanaungatanga—kinship—as we in Aotearoa see ourselves as the integral members of the extended Pacific whānau.Barbara Edmonds: What type of support will New Zealand be offering these countries?Hon AUPITO WILLIAM SIO: Each country is developing their own COVID-19 vaccine plan and New Zealand is actively working alongside them to identify the areas where we can best assist them. Such supports could include technical assistance and guidance and support of immunisation planning. In addition we could also provide vaccinator workforce training and vaccine consumables such as syringes and needles. New Zealand is monitoring developments in the wider Pacific to ensure that our approach to support the six Polynesian countries is coordinated with other donor countries and organisations and that countries are getting what they need.
6. Question No. 6—Economic and Regional DevelopmentKIERAN McANULTY (Labour—Wairarapa) to the Minister for Economic and Regional DevelopmentQuestion No. 6—Economic and Regional Development6. KIERAN McANULTY (Labour—Wairarapa) to the Minister for Economic and Regional Development: What reports has he seen on the effectiveness of the new system for approving business travel exemptions when crossing the border between alert levels? Hon STUART NASH (Minister for Economic and Regional Development): The brand new automated system for approving requests for travel exemptions across Auckland was stood up very quickly on Sunday and it functioned well. Following the August 2020 lockdown the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) worked with 16 Government agencies to develop an online system the Business Travel Register to enable more speedy processing of requests for travel exemptions across the borders between alert levels. It is automated through an online platform Business Connect which was set up with $7 million funding in Budget 2019. The Business Travel Register was stood up at half past midnight on the morning of Monday 15 February after MBIE officials worked through the night. During the 72 hours of alert level 3 the register received requests for travel exemptions from 3284 businesses. The register issued travel documents for 23290 workers to travel across boundaries for work. The majority of documents were issued in a matter of minutes including a QR code that could be scanned at checkpoints. Kieran McAnulty: What industries and sectors made greatest use of the exemptions to go about their work across boundaries? Hon STUART NASH: The essential economy of Auckland carried on. The largest single categories of travel exemptions are as follows: for building and construction workers 5568 people; for those working in the production and processing and supply of food and beverage 4119 people; transport and logistics sector—e.g. freight and passenger services—5956 workers; workers in the utilities and comms sector 2782; and health and disability sector 1268 workers. Kieran McAnulty: How does the new system compare with the last time Auckland was in alert level 3? Hon STUART NASH: On Monday morning the Employers and Manufacturers Association chief executive said that border crossings were easier for businesses as a result of this new system. He said that it was a better system than the one used during the Auckland 2020 lockdown and it was welcomed by thousands of businesses. The number of exemptions granted under the manual system used last year was around 6000 workers or one-quarter of those approved this time.
4. Question No. 4—EducationGINNY ANDERSEN (Labour—Hutt South) to the Minister of EducationQuestion No. 4—Education4. GINNY ANDERSEN (Labour—Hutt South) to the Minister of Education: What progress is the Government making with the redevelopment of Wainuiomata High School?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister of Education): I'm pleased to say that work began at the end of last month at Wainuiomata High School to ensure that its buildings and teaching spaces are fit for purpose. This project which is worth around $40 million is vital for the school and the wider community. It's a large and complex project and I'm advised that construction work is expected to take around three years.Ginny Andersen: Has the Government scaled up its original assistance to Wainuiomata High School?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: Absolutely yes. Wainuiomata High School was identified as a school that needed significantly more funding than the $14 million that was originally approved back in 2017. I want to thank the member for her tireless advocacy for Wainuiomata High School in that community for what I think will be a significant legacy project.Ginny Andersen: How will the redevelopment improve the learning environment for Wainuiomata High School students and staff?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: The development includes the delivery of 33 new and refurbished teaching spaces to support a roll of 605 comfortably accommodating the school's roll. It does also address weathertightness and building condition issues.SPEAKER: Is that all?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister of Education): Point of order Mr Speaker. I seek leave for the Speaker to be able to ask a supplementary question.SPEAKER: I was just trying to work out whose legacy. Carry on.
2. Question No. 2—FinanceGREG O'CONNOR (Labour—Ōhāriu) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 2—Finance2. GREG O'CONNOR (Labour—Ōhāriu) to the Minister of Finance: What financial support will be available to businesses affected by the COVID-19 alert level changes this week?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): The new Resurgence Support Payment passed through Parliament this week will be available to eligible businesses now that Auckland will be in alert level 2 until Monday. In order to qualify for the payment businesses must show a 30 percent drop in revenue over a seven-day period compared with a typical seven-day period in the six weeks prior to the alert level rise; or if it is a seasonal business applying a revenue drop compared with a similar week the previous year. The payment includes a core per business rate of $1500 plus $400 per employee up to a total of 50 full-time equivalents (FTEs). That is a maximum payment of $21500. Businesses with more than 50 FTEs can still apply but cannot get more than the maximum payment. Businesses can apply for the payment from Tuesday via the Inland Revenue website.Greg O'Connor: Is the payment only available to businesses in Auckland?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: No. The payment is available to all New Zealand businesses as long as they meet the criteria I outlined in my primary answer. This is because the impacts of alert level rises are felt everywhere across New Zealand due to the interdependencies of the New Zealand economy.Greg O'Connor: What other support is available to businesses and workers?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The Leave Support Scheme is in place which helps businesses to help pay workers told to self-isolate because of COVID-19 in line with public health advice. The Short-Term Absence Payment is also available which covers eligible workers needing to stay home while awaiting a COVID-19 test. Other support available includes the Business Finance Guarantee Scheme and the Small Business Cashflow (Loan) Scheme.
Secondary Legislation Bill — Second Reading
Sage Eugenie; Dean JacquiHon EUGENIE SAGE (Green): A very short call from the Green Party on the Secondary Legislation Bill. I note as a new member of the Regulations Review Committee just coming to terms with disallowable instruments I really commend the work that the Regulations Review Committee had done previously in developing this legislation and the huge amount of work that they did in going through the bill. Because I notice that there are over a hundred agencies that can make secondary legislation from food standards to financial reporting standards and what this bill does is establish very clearly what is and what isn't secondary legislation and what is able to be subject to the scrutiny of Parliament often through the Regulations Review Committee.The fact that it is 317 pages long is because it amends over 2500 empowering provisions in about 550 different Acts. So while Mr Seymour did talk about reform generally of the lawmaking process this bill is quite significant because of the greater scrutiny that it will enable. I also congratulate the Regulations Review Committee because they looked quite carefully at the exemptions that were being proposed as to what was not secondary legislation what was not a disallowable instrument and therefore what would avoid the scrutiny of the House of Representatives. So it is a big bill but it has quite a significant benefit for our lawmaking process. Its genesis was in some work that the Hon Chris Finlayson did start so I would acknowledge all of the Government agencies that have gone carefully through their legislation identified what should and shouldn't be secondary legislation—which has ended up in this bill—and the work of the Regulations Review Committee in considering it. Thank you.Motion agreed to.Bill read a second time.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): The House stands adjourned until 2 p.m. Tuesday 23 February.The House adjourned at 4.09 p.m.
Verrall AyeshaHon Dr AYESHA VERRALL (Minister for Food Safety): A short call from me to explain the purposes of this bill. It is designed to fix the problem of complex overlapping definitions of types of different delegated legislation. It's a companion to the Legislation Act 2019. It identifies secondary legislation clearly and it helps to promote House oversight of secondary legislation. I thank the member who previously spoke Nicola Willis for a thoughtful contribution of how that could be helpful to ordinary citizens trying to access the rules under which they are regulated.It replaces the position of the Legislation Act 2012 on complex and overlapping descriptions of different legislative instruments which include legislative instruments disallowable instruments and disallowable instruments that are not legislative instruments. This clarity will be welcome. I commend this bill to the House.
Willis NicolaNICOLA WILLIS (National): I am rising to speak on this bill because I was previously a member of the very underrated but significantly important Regulations Review Committee who have spent some hours and time on this legislation and it has been a long time coming. It is the product of work initially kicked off by the Hon Chris Finlayson who saw that it was important in a democracy where access to the law understanding of the law and the ability to know what regulations are in place was important. And of course what has been the case for New Zealand is that throughout our legislative history regulations have not actually been accessible in one place.In modern times it is the expectation of most citizens quite rightly that they should be able to go to a website and access regulations in the same way that they can access legislation—in that they can go online and see what the law is. And this has very real effects and an example that I'm familiar with is when Fonterra had an incident with infected whey protein—or alleged problems with whey protein. A significant investigation was done by the Government of the time and what was revealed was that there was actually a lack of clarity not only in businesses within New Zealand's dairy industry but actually from officials themselves about what regulations were in place and what they required. That was because they weren't updated and regularly accessible in one place and that is very important.So that is what this bill in layman's terms supports and allows to happen. It amends over 2500 empowering provisions in more than 550 Acts which delegate power to make secondary legislation. And the reason it has to do that is that of course there are definitional debates that the lawyers amongst us of which I'm not one do like to have about what counts as secondary legislation and what doesn't. As a member of the Regulations Review Committee I can say I was a party to some of those conversations and this bill reflects the decisions that were made by that committee in a cross-party way. So that is important.So National supports this bill. We support the extensive work that's gone into this. Fundamentally we think that every New Zealander should be able to access clearly and transparently the regulations under which they are expected to operate. We think that this is potentially quite significant for small businesses who are subject to compliance regimes—that they are able to access this information—and we think it's important business of Government. We think having a single category for secondary legislation will make it easier and will help actually Parliament to oversee this legislation effectively. I commend this bill to the House.
Sio Hon Aupito William; Rurawhe AdrianSECONDARY LEGISLATION BILLSecond ReadingHon AUPITO WILLIAM SIO (Minister for Courts) on behalf of the Attorney-General: On behalf of the responsible Minister I present the legislative statement on the Secondary Legislation Bill.DEPUTY SPEAKER: That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.Hon AUPITO WILLIAM SIO: I move That the Secondary Legislation Bill be now read a second time.We are such a hard-working busy Government that what I will do is table the Minister's statement so that it can enter into the records. But I would simply say that this bill is a companion of the Legislation Act 2019. It will for the first time in New Zealand law identify clearly what is secondary legislation and therefore what this House has oversight over through the disallowance process. It does this by amending each provision that empowers the making of instruments with legislative effect to state that those instruments are secondary legislation and must be published in accordance with the new Legislation Act.The bill also removes references to the Legislation Act 2012 and the Interpretation Act 1999 and provides for the exception of a small number of instruments from the publication presentation and disallowance requirements of the Legislation Act 2019. I'm happy therefore to commend this bill to the House.DEPUTY SPEAKER: The question is that the motion be agreed to.
Whaitiri MekaHon MEKA WHAITIRI (Minister of Customs): Tēnā koe e te Māngai o te Whare o te rā tēnā tātou katoa. I'm pleased to take a very short call on a very simple but important bill the Food (Continuation of Dietary Supplements Regulations) Amendment Bill. I want to congratulate the Minister for Food Safety Minister Verrall in bringing it here. She made it clear in her contribution today that these regulations give a five-year window to improve the regulations. But I clearly hear for the benefit of the member who has just resumed her seat Maureen Pugh that the Minister is going to do it within two years. So I want to commend this bill. One piece of advice I'd like to say in supporting this bill for the Minister is when she develops regulations I do encourage her to look at Wai 262. There's some opportunities around iwi protections but also opportunities around the protecting of mātauranga Māori in so far as food supplements. So with that small contribution I commend this bill to the House.Motion agreed to.Bill read a third time.
Food (Continuation of Dietary Supplements Regulations) Amendment Bill — Third Reading
McAnulty KieranKIERAN McANULTY (Labour—Wairarapa): I echo the comments from members across the House. And how good is it yet again that this Government has produced a piece of legislation that is getting support from all parties. It happened on numerous times in the previous term and it's happening here yet again. And I congratulate the likes of electorate MPs like Barbara Kuriger and Todd Muller and list MPs like David Bennett for lending their support to this bill and I commend it to the House.
Edmonds BarbaraBARBARA EDMONDS (Labour—Mana): I'd like to congratulate the Minister for her first bill that she's ushering through the House. I thank the officials and drafters for their work and for their future work in regards to the wider regime. It's a short and simple bill but if not passed will impact an industry which National Health Products NZ estimates will contribute $2.3 billion to our economy. The bill will extend the Dietary Supplements Regulations 1985 by five years and it will give the industry the certainty they need while those options are being worked up. So I support the bill and I commend the bill to the committee.
Muller Todd; Rurawhe AdrianTODD MULLER (National—Bay of Plenty): Thank you Mr Speaker and if I may I'll just begin by reflecting on the superb contribution of Greg O'Connor. Thank you for referencing Abraham Lincoln and his quote around having the face that you deserve and looking across at your countenance one can only assume you've lived a hard and torrid life Mr O'Connor. But let us in the spirit of bipartisanship continue on here. I would like to reflect on both a brickbat and a bouquet—Kieran McAnulty: I like your hair though Greg. TODD MULLER: —and hopefully I can do it without interruption from Mr McAnulty or we can talk about his life story as expressed in his countenance. But I am resisting thus far. In terms of the brickbat we've sort of flipped quite quickly over this. If you actually look at the history of this set of regulations the Government have been looking at this for their entire term—so so far three 3½ years they've been looking at it and essentially—Hon Member: Three long years. TODD MULLER: —three long interminable years—what we are talking about here today of course is just a minor legislative change to enable those same regulations to be in place for another five years while they distil on the issues in front of them and try and come up with an enduring regime. Well you've had 3½ years—get on with it. Frankly when you see the feedback of the stakeholders those who are involved in the sector they're running out of patience and very much holding the view that actually perhaps this Government doesn't have the ability to grip the issue with the sufficient focus. Though in terms of bouquet notwithstanding the appropriate interrogation from my colleague to my right the Hon David Bennett I do want to acknowledge the Minister the Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall. I think she brings an experience and a capability that should be very useful to this particular issue and I would hope that she can make her officials understand the urgency of it. There is no doubt and we understand on this side that there is a degree of complexity to it but quite frankly we should not be here having to kick this can down the road again for another five years because the Government can't grip it up. You've got a new Minister with experience in this field. She should be able to make this happen and when that legislation's brought back to the House expect us to be bringing the best of our thinking to it. With those short comments I support the bill. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Barbara Edmonds—five minutes.
O'Connor Greg; Rurawhe AdrianGREG O'CONNOR (Labour—Ōhāriu): I think to give some context to this whole legislation and the industry there is a saying attributed to Abraham Lincoln picked up by Coco Chanel that says Nature gives you the face you have at 20. Life shapes the face you have at 30. But at 50 you get the face you deserve." So I think what this underlies is that man and woman will always seek a way of ensuring that they preserve youth preserve health and into that world. The previous speaker spoke of the need and some of the hopes that are held out that many of the products on sale will do what they are claiming to do. Who can forget the Laetrile treatment that had people lining up to head off to Mexico? Who can forget the green-lipped mussel craze which saw people lining up to strip the shell beds bare in order to have an arthritis cure?So there is necessity for some sort of oversight regulation of this industry. This bill is about ensuring that the regulation which currently is in place does continue beyond 1 March or it will become more of a cowboy more of a dog-eat-dog world than it is currently. So I commend this to the House.DEPUTY SPEAKER: This is a split call. I call Todd Muller—five minutes."
McDowall JamesDr JAMES McDOWALL (ACT): Thank you Mr Speaker. ACT supports this bill but I just very briefly wanted to touch on the regulations of supplements and the wider health industry as a whole so I think it is a little bit relevant to this debate. It's not always as effective as we think. I used to work in the mānuka honey industry which is highly regulated as to what we can say and advertise—and that is a good thing you know. I'm not here to promote mānuka honey but it is a good thing that it's regulated because it keeps the sellers and advertisers honest. Yet at the same time it was very frustrating when I was working in that industry because look anyone in New Zealand can walk into an alternative—quote unquote—pharmacy and purchase a range of products that are highly unregulated which for some reason legislation like this doesn't seem to catch or cover. I've certainly seen some where I've done some research on the ingredients and they're full of heavy metals including lead and arsenic—it was one of the well-used products in this country. So look regulation like this is not always that effective. We can't assume the Government has all the answers but like I said the ACT Party supports this legislation. It's necessary that we get these products on our shelves. So thank you. I commend this bill to the House.
Sage EugenieHon EUGENIE SAGE (Green): Well the deadline of 1 March when the current Dietary Supplements Regulations expire is coming up fast. The Green Party doesn't want to see those lapse and instead just the general laws applying to food applying to dietary supplements because the regulations are really important in terms of things like the therapeutic claims that can be made for consumer safety and maintaining access to dietary supplements. So the Green Party supports this bill.I was encouraged by the comments of the Minister about the wider therapeutic products work that is being done and of course we all know the huge amount of work that the Ministry of Health has been doing in responding to COVID. So it's entirely understandable that the policy team there has been much more focused on the COVID emergency and has not been able to progress this perhaps with the speed with which it would have liked. So I commend the bill.
Andersen GinnyGINNY ANDERSEN (Labour—Hutt South): It's great to see a bill that will extend the Dietary Supplements Regulations 1985 by five years and also give the industry the certainty they need to keep operating while we develop a new regulatory regime. And it's great to see too that there will be support across the House for such a crucial piece of legislation to keep things ticking over particularly as noted for local businesses and small businesses.This will also maintain our current safety measures and New Zealand's reputation as a supplier of quality dietary supplements. As we know there are many New Zealanders who are very passionate about this and it's good to see this.So without further ado I'd like to acknowledge the cooperation from those across the House to pass this legislation expediently and I commend this bill to the House.
Bennett DavidHon DAVID BENNETT (National): Thank you Mr Speaker and I'd just like to follow up on the speech of my colleague Barbara Kuriger. I think she outlined very wisely some of the issues there around how this is actually really important for consumers so they've got piece of mind and it's also important for the sector the retailers so that they know what products and what labelling they can put on those products. It's really important for the productive sector as well of New Zealand and overseas producers of these products so that there is that security around the nature of the products and what is being involved.Although today's bill is a very minor bill in the sense that it effectively has only one line and just changes the date to give the Government more time to get those rules in place they are actually important rules and they are important for—and the Minister may shake her head saying they're not important rules but they are important because there are a lot of people that may have their businesses that surround this area or consumers who want that peace of mind and Government's role is to provide that peace of mind—that's what they're there for—Hon Scott Simpson: Certainty!Hon DAVID BENNETT: —and to provide that certainty as my colleague Scott Simpson says as well. So that's why the National Party is supporting this bill because in the absence of full regulation where we actually know what the policy directions the Government wants to take are this is the only option that's on the table and that is the extension of the period of time. We would encourage the Government to work expeditiously in this area. Industries like this and sectors like this and consumers often wait a long time and their patience can sometimes be tried and Government may not think it's a priority and they may put it on the back burner but there are people out there that this actually is a big issue for their business and their lifestyle.We're in favour of working towards getting the best rules so that people are safe and secure and can sell products in a way that enables them to do that and to make their consumers safe and secure. So we're fully supportive of seeing those rules. We've been disappointed in the process of course and we haven't seen any viable excuse why the Government hasn't done the work it needed to do. But in the essence of that we're open to hearing what their plans are and working with them to make sure we get the best results for our consumers and our producers. So we look forward to the next stage of this legislation hopefully in the near future because it is obviously something that has had work done on it and we look forward to progressing that through the House to give consumers and producers some certainty over time. We support the bill but we really look forward to the next stage of this legislation.
Eagle PaulPAUL EAGLE (Labour—Rongotai): Thank you Mr Speaker—a short call from me. Can I acknowledge the select committee and Minister for their work here. The proposed amendments simply prevent the current regulations from expiring on 1 March of this year and really extend the Dietary Supplements Regulations 1985 by five years. That means it gets some time to develop a new fit for purpose natural health products regime. And I won't tell you what they are because they have been talked about lots but I can say however that regulation on ingredients in supplements and dietary supplements and product labelling is vital. So from a food safety perspective and keeping consumers safe and reducing health risks—critical and important. So look I'm not going to say too much more other than to say I commend this bill to the House.
Verrall Ayesha; Mallard Trevor; Rurawhe AdrianThird ReadingHon Dr AYESHA VERRALL (Minister for Food Safety): I present a legislative statement on the Food (Continuation of Dietary Supplements Regulations) Amendment Bill.SPEAKER: That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the parliamentary website.Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: I move That the Food (Continuation of Dietary Supplements Regulations) Amendment Bill be now read a third time. This bill will mean that consumers both domestically and internationally can continue buying New Zealand dietary supplements while we work on a new regulatory regime to replace them. The bill was introduced by my predecessor the Hon Damien O'Connor in May last year and considered by the Primary Production Committee which reported it back in December 2020. Last week it was read a second time and this House enjoyed many creative contributions on that bill and we have just completed the committee of the whole. As I noted at the second reading the Primary Production Committee recommended that this bill be passed without amendment and there have been no amendments since then. This small bill is essential. By amending the Food Act 2014 it will extend the dietary supplements regulations by five years from the end of this month to 1 March 2026. It will give continuity to the dietary supplements industry at a time due to COVID when businesses need as much stability as possible. This industry as I have discussed before is worth nurturing as it has a lot to offer New Zealand in terms of rebuilding our economy. It will also maintain regulatory oversight over health and safety by for example restricting certain ingredients and specifying maximum doses for vitamins and minerals. In doing so it continues New Zealand's international reputation as a supplier of safe high-quality dietary supplements. A five-year extension is also a precautionary measure as I've outlined that allows for uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic. Of course I expect a replacement regime that includes a minimum two-year transition period to be fully working before then because I am committed to building the new regime in a timely way. As I noted in my second reading speech in 2019 Natural Health Products NZ estimated the wider New Zealand supplement industry contributed $2.3 billion to the economy annually and had a five-year compound annual growth rate of 10 percent. The industry needs a modern regulatory system if it is to further contribute to our economy and employment particularly in the regions.I welcome the passage of this legislation as an interim measure to keep our dietary supplements industry operational while we put our minds to developing a better regime. Thank you.DEPUTY SPEAKER: The question is that the motion be agreed to.
Food (Continuation of Dietary Supplements Regulations) Amendment Bill — In Committee
McAnulty Kieran; Rurawhe AdrianKIERAN McANULTY (Chief Whip—Labour): I move That the question be now put.Clauses 1 to 5 agreed to.House resumed.CHAIRPERSON (Adrian Rurawhe): The committee has considered the Food (Continuation of Dietary Supplements Regulations) Amendment Bill and reports it without amendment. I move That the report be adopted.Motion agreed to.Report adopted.
Bennett DavidHon DAVID BENNETT (National): OK on the bill then: the Minister has said that the bill will be part of another piece of work—so is that incorrect? This bill is not going to have any other issues—Kieran McAnulty: Point of order. Thank you Mr Chair. It's great to see members making use of the change in the Standing Orders to allow to and fro. However it's unfortunate today that the members are using this like a cross-examination in the select committee not a committee of the whole House. It is still a requirement of members to keep in scope with what is in the legislation. The point is as was raised by the Hon Mr Bennett that this is a very narrow bill. Asking the Minister what she intends to do in the future as you yourself Mr Chair have ruled already is not in the scope of this committee of the whole House.CHAIRPERSON (Adrian Rurawhe): Yes and I've ruled on the matter.Hon DAVID BENNETT: I appreciate the point that was made but the reality is that the Minister in her answers to my questions—her explanation was that this is part of a wider piece of work. We simply would appreciate knowing what that part of that wider piece of work is because we've been asked to support a bill which gives the Government another five years to do something and we want to know what they're intending to do.And the Minister obviously knows because she's said it's part of a wider piece of work—she knows what that wider piece of work is. She's a very successful person pre-politics so she's no mug and she's obviously asked her department what to do because she said that she'd had discussions with them in December. She would have had responses from the department since then that they can't do the bill in time. We just would like some clarity as to what the plan is and what you want to do in the wider bill.I think that the context of the Speaker setting up this kind of committee stage is to exactly enable that free flow of information and we would like the Minister to follow the direction of the Chair and explain why this has been set up.
Muller Todd; Rurawhe AdrianTODD MULLER (National—Bay of Plenty): Thank you Mr Chair. It'd be fair to say I'm coming slightly late to this but I just was listening to the Minister's response to the series of questions from the Hon David Bennett and I would just like it clarified please as to the likely scope of the concluded legislation that the Minister and her team are working on. I heard you touch on elements of it. I think it'd be useful for the committee to understand what are the elements that are included in that work stream and the scope of any proposed legislation that she will be bringing back into the House to enable us to assess where this small bill sits in that context. CHAIRPERSON (Adrian Rurawhe): Before I give the call to the Minister—if she indeed wants to—the member and any member of the committee has a number of ways that they can find out that information through oral questions or written questions if it's not actually in the bill. But if the Minister wants to enlighten the committee she can. TODD MULLER (National—Bay of Plenty): Point of order Mr Chairperson. The reason that I raised that question in that way is because the Minister herself had covered elements of what the new legislation would cover and I was simply asking her to reflect more fully on that contribution. CHAIRPERSON (Adrian Rurawhe): Yeah and I made an earlier ruling to the committee related to that matter and then my subsequent ruling now. So I'm going to leave it to the Minister and the committee to make contributions questions and answers on the bill.
Pugh Maureen; Verrall AyeshaMAUREEN PUGH (National): I was just wanting to ask the Minister—in the committee submissions there was a submission made by Natural Health Products NZ and they too were disturbed by the fact that they had to support this legislation in terms of the date of expiry of the old legislation. But I just wanted some assurance from the Minister that they will be involved in any further discussion or building of the next piece of legislation.Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL (Minister for Food Safety): Indeed. It is important and I have directed officials in both Health and the Ministry for Primary Industries to continue to engage with the natural products industry to make sure that we form good legislation on this matter.
Rurawhe Adrian; Edmonds Barbara; Kuriger Barbara; Verrall AyeshaClauses 1 to 5CHAIRPERSON (Adrian Rurawhe): Members the House is in committee on the Food (Continuation of Dietary Supplements Regulations) Amendment Bill. The question is that clause 1 stand part.BARBARA EDMONDS (Associate Whip—Labour): Point of order. I seek leave for all provisions within this bill to be taken as one question.CHAIRPERSON (Adrian Rurawhe): And one debate. Leave is sought for that purpose. Is there any objection? There appears to be none. Therefore the question is that clauses 1 to 5 stand part.BARBARA KURIGER (National—Taranaki - King Country): Thank you Mr Chair. I've got a few questions for the Minister so I'll take them one at a time. In the notes I have it talks about the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) making preparation for this piece of legislation although I did notice that during the select committee process one of the submitters said that the Ministry of Health had already put some preparation policy work in place. Could you please clarify for me the roles of the various ministries and who has the ultimate responsibility around this piece of legislation please?Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL (Minister for Food Safety): For this piece of legislation that is being considered by the House today MPI is the agency responsible and I as Minister for Food Safety. The future legislation which will replace this legislation—that planned legislation is likely to be led by the Ministry of Health and potentially part of a future therapeutic drugs bill.BARBARA KURIGER (National—Taranaki - King Country): So following on from that could the Minister please tell us of any awareness she has of preparation work that has taken place towards updating the regulations that currently exist in order for this dietary supplements to be able to stand alone under a fit for purpose regime?Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL (Minister for Food Safety): Thank you. So preparatory work was done prior to COVID by both the Ministry of Health and in collaboration with officials from Ministry for Primary Industries as well but it has not yet been through any parliamentary process.BARBARA KURIGER (National—Taranaki - King Country): Thank you. Just one more question. The Minister talked during the second reading about the regulations potentially not taking this long. Has the Minister specifically asked to shorten the time frame for the regulations development and if so by how much time or is there a shorter date than 2026 that we could be working to?Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL (Minister for Food Safety): Thank you. One of the issues is that there would need to be a two-year lead time for implementation so that would not allow much time for drafting and all the parliamentary stages in addition. So that is why we give ourselves a five-year window.
SpeechFOOD (CONTINUATION OF DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS REGULATIONS) AMENDMENT BILLIn Committee
Hipkins Chris; Mallard TrevorSITTINGS OF THE HOUSEHon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the House): I seek leave that in the event that Parliament this afternoon reaches the conclusion of Government order of the day No. 3 the Secondary Legislation Bill before 5 p.m. the House do adjourn at that point for the week. The Government has given the Opposition an undertaking that we will not proceed past the Secondary Legislation Bill this week given the other events of the week.SPEAKER: Leave has been sought for that course of action. Is there any objection? There is none. I declare the House in committee for consideration of the Food (Continuation of Dietary Supplements Regulations) Amendment Bill.
Hipkins Chris; Mallard TrevorBUSINESS OF THE HOUSEHon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the House): I seek leave for the Food (Continuation of Dietary Supplements Regulations) Amendment Bill following its committee stage to be set down for third reading forthwith. SPEAKER: Leave has been sought for that course of action. Is there any objection? There is none.
Hipkins ChrisINTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY COMMITTEEMembershipHon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the House) on behalf of the Prime Minister: I move That under section 196 of the Intelligence and Security Act 2017 this House endorse the following as members of the Intelligence and Security Committee: Dr Shane Reti and Hon Gerry Brownlee nominated by the Leader of the Opposition under section 194(2)(c) of the Act; and Hon Andrew Little Hon Nanaia Mahuta and Hon James Shaw nominated by the Prime Minister under section 194(2)(d) of the Act.Motion agreed to.
Mallard TrevorPETITIONS PAPERS SELECT COMMITTEE REPORTS AND INTRODUCTION OF BILLSSPEAKER: No bills have been introduced. A petition has been delivered to the Clerk for presentation.CLERK: Petition of Morteza Sharifi requesting that the House urge the New Zealand Government to limit diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran summon the ambassador and promote human rights.SPEAKER: That petition stands referred to the Petitions Committee. Ministers have delivered papers.CLERK: Annual reports for 2020 for the Student Loan Scheme and the External Reporting BoardChief Archivist's Annual Report on the State of Government Recordkeeping.SPEAKER: I present the report of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment entitled Not 100%—But Four Steps Closer to Sustainable Tourism. Now those papers are published under the authority of the House. A select committee report has been delivered for presentation.CLERK: Report of the Regulations Review Committee on the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Air Border and Isolation and Quarantine) Amendment Order (No 2) 2020 the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Air Border and Isolation and Quarantine Amendment Orders (No 2) 2020 Amendment Order 2020 the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Maritime Border) Order (No 2) Amendment Order 2020 the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Managed Isolation and Quarantine Charges) Amendment Regulations 2020 and an interim report on the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Air Border) Order (No 2) Amendment Order 2021.SPEAKER: The report is set down for consideration.
Hipkins Chris; Bishop ChrisTHURSDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2021The Speaker took the Chair at 2 p.m.Prayers.BUSINESS STATEMENTHon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the House): On Tuesday the Moriori Claims Settlement Bill will receive its first reading. The House will consider the remaining stages of the Local Electoral (Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Bill under urgency. On Thursday there will be a debate on aid to the Pacific the first of the special debates promoted by the Standing Orders Committee in its report at the end of the last Parliament. A motion for the approval of COVID-19 orders will be considered. On Wednesday 24 February we will have our second attempt at the first members' day for 2021.CHRIS BISHOP (National): Thank you to the Leader of the House. Can I ask the Leader of the House when the House can expect a bill that's been signalled around banning gay conversion therapy to appear on the Order Paper?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the House): In the fullness of time at the appropriate moment.
Wednesday 17 February 2021 - Volume 749