edithatogo/nz-hansard-corpus huggingface dataset:
9. Question No. 9—Regional Economic DevelopmentJENNY MARCROFT (NZ First) to the Minister for Regional Economic DevelopmentQuestion No. 9—Regional Economic Development 9. JENNY MARCROFT (NZ First) to the Minister for Regional Economic Development: What has the Provincial Growth Fund achieved in 2019?Hon SHANE JONES (Minister for Regional Economic Development): In 2019 the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) amongst other things has achieved endless publicity; in addition to that the occasional eruption of two of the seven deadly sins from the other side of the House: envy and lust.Jenny Marcroft: What recent successes regarding PGF projects is he aware of?Hon SHANE JONES: This answer may take a tad longer given it's the season of good cheer. In terms of green minerals I'd like to point out that Geo40—the loan that was allocated to a Taupō company—has proceeded to achieve all of its milestones not only the extraction of battery grade lithium from geothermal fluid but a development that would never have taken place but for the Provincial Growth Fund. Just to show that we're conscious of legacy industries the Dunedin residents are overjoyed about the reopening of the Hillside workshops. Just to show that we spread the good cheer across the four winds: the Ngati Porou - Tai Rāwhiti roading package of $137 million is on its way. I wait with bated breath to see if Tūhoe want a road.Jenny Marcroft: What will the Provincial Growth Fund deliver in the coming year?Hon SHANE JONES: Next year is an incredibly important year and given the constitutional role that I'm fulfilling in answering this question I shall be sober and clear-headed in my answer. During the course of 2020—SPEAKER: Now this'll be a fine thing!Hon SHANE JONES: —we will see a Māori Battalion museum which will offer a testimony to all of the families and the men who served overseas at Waitangi. We will see the Whanganui rail upgrade. As you know we are a party we are a Government that is deeply committed to rail after the last nine years of woeful neglect. We will also see in an area that has been neglected for far too long the Westport Airport seawall rebuild. To round things off we will also see the Ōhaaki northern plant completed and the rolling ball clock.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Could the Minister tell us how many times he's literally been knocked over by National Party provincial MPs trying to go to the PGF announcements?Hon SHANE JONES: We did fund the initial study into the relocation of the Ports of Auckland out of Auckland and I have noted that Mr Matt King is now an enthusiastic supporter of this stance and indeed the leader of the National Party has announced that the port will go and actually he's favouring—I've warned him about conflicts of interest—Tauranga over Northland. [Interruption] Perhaps. Although Steven Joyce is antagonistic to the idea the real boss John Key is highly supportive. Look forward to a very colourful and informative year from my good self next year.
3. Question No. 3—FinanceTAMATI COFFEY (Labour—Waiariki) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 3—Finance3. TAMATI COFFEY (Labour—Waiariki) to the Minister of Finance: He aha ngā rīpoata hou kua kitea e ia mō te ōhanga o Aotearoa? [What recent reports has he seen on the New Zealand economy?]Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): Friday's BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) showed that seasonally adjusted the index was at 51.4 expanding for a second straight month. Similarly the BNZ business Performance of Services Index (PSI) out yesterday showed continued expansion of the services sector in November recording a reading of 53.3. The PMI reading is above those of Australia the UK Japan and the eurozone while the PSI reading is above the UK the US the eurozone and Japan demonstrating the continued solid fundamentals of the New Zealand economy.Tamati Coffey: What reports has he seen on business confidence in the New Zealand economy?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Yesterday the ANZ Business Outlook Survey a favoured survey of members opposite showed that headline business confidence jumped another 13 points in December after jumping 16 points in the month before up to its highest level since the Government took office. Firms' expectations for their own activity rose 4 percent to a net 17 percent expecting higher activity over the year ahead. Across the survey employment intentions rose 5 points to a net 8 percent of firms intending to lift employment. While this survey remains a sentiment survey it is great to see New Zealand businesses feeling more upbeat about their prospects as we head into next year.Tamati Coffey: What reports has he seen on consumer confidence?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: It's not just businesses that are feeling more confident. According to the latest Westpac McDermott Miller Consumer Confidence report released yesterday consumer confidence rose sharply in December to 109.9. Westpac said that the rise in confidence had been widespread across the country and was seen across all ages and income brackets. It said increasing optimism around the economic outlook is behind the turnaround in household sentiment. The number of households who expect to be better off financially over the coming year rose to its highest level since 2009. It's clear from these surveys that businesses and consumers and households are finishing the year on a confident and optimistic note and we wish all in the House to feel the same way.
Te Pire kia Unuhia te Hara kai Runga i a Rua Kēnana / Rua Kēnana Pardon Bill — Third Reading
SpeechSPEAKER: Sorry members and people in the gallery—I thought it would be useful at this point to outline the process. I'm soon going to call Mr Coffey for the final contribution to this debate the question will then be put and the Clerk will announce the result of that. There will then be an opportunity for a waiata from people in the gallery. After this debate there is an adjournment debate where traditionally the leaders of the parties at the end of the year make a contribution but I understand that there will be some movement from the galleries after the waiata.What I'm proposing to do members is to give the opportunity for people who want to leave after the waiata to do so so they have a little bit of time. I'll say to members on the floor I observed people coming in. There are quite a few people up there who are even older than I am and don't move quite as quickly so we will have an unusual situation where we will have the opportunity to talk amongst ourselves for a short period of time until I call order and start the next debate.
King MattMATT KING (National—Northland): Tēnā koutou katoa. Look I'm really proud to be in the House today and it's a real pleasure to be speaking on this bill. It's long overdue. I can feel the emotion in the room here today and it's a long time coming. I'd like to acknowledge the Hon Nanaia Mahuta for bringing it forward and I'd also like to acknowledge the chair of the Māori Affairs Committee which I am on: Rino Tirikatene a great man. He and I are tallest in Parliament the twin towers of tall timber.Anyway Rua Kēnana was a great Tūhoe man. He was from a community in Maungapōhatu in the Urewera mountains. We're dating back to 1916 here where he was arrested for sedition for opposing Māori conscription in World War I. It's a real struggle to believe that that actually happened. You know we all know it did and it's incredible times as the previous speakers have said. It was incredible times to think that that could actually happen. One of the longest trials in New Zealand's legal history it was and he suffered a great injustice—a great injustice—an injustice that we're attempting to put right today if that's possible.I want to acknowledge the great work of the Hon Te Ururoa Flavell and the Hon Chris Finlayson who helped make this a reality. Those two guys did some great work for New Zealanders and specifically for Māori and I want to thank their efforts on behalf of the National Party. It's an appropriate response to a set of circumstances which focus on the criminal conviction of Rua Kēnana and it seeks to restore his mana and his reputation and that of his descendants. So we acknowledge that mana and the preservation of his reputation because I know it's of high importance in the Māori community. It's not about money; it's about the apology the heartfelt and deeply meant apology. So like we say we're here today working together across the House altogether acknowledging that today for you guys.I struggle to believe it. He did 18 months incarcerated for that arrest and it's incredible to think that he actually did nothing wrong and he spent 18 months in jail for that. I'm an ex-policeman and I can't imagine putting someone away in jail for something they didn't do.It's a statutory pardon and apology and I hope it'll go a long way to healing the wounds that were caused way back then. It's a part of New Zealand but we have to own up to it and we have to acknowledge that it happened and this agreement and pardon is about moving towards reconciliation. The historic agreement brought closure to the 101 years of conflict between Tūhoe and the Crown. What happened with Rua Kēnana has a long-lasting intergenerational effect on whānau. It's now up to the descendants to help the next generation move forward and rebuild a prosperous community. It's important for whānau to reconnect those disconnected back to the land—identity faith and whānau.Today is a great day for the descendants of Rua Kēnana and the followers of the Iharaira faith. I commend this bill to the House. Nō reira tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa.
Te Pire kia Unuhia te Hara kai Runga i a Rua Kēnana / Rua Kēnana Pardon Bill — Second Reading
Mahuta NanaiaTE PIRE KIA UNUHIA TE HARA KAI RUNGA I A RUA KĒNANA / RUA KĒNANA PARDON BILLSecond ReadingHon NANAIA MAHUTA (Minister for Māori Development): I move That the Te Pire kia Unuhia te Hara kai Runga i a Rua Kēnana / Rua Kēnana Pardon Bill be now read a second time. Bill read a second time.
Tuesday 17 December 2019 - Volume 743
Ombudsmen (Protection of Name) Amendment Bill — Second Reading
VoteA party vote was called for on the question That the Ombudsmen (Protection of Name) Amendment Bill be now read a second time.Ayes 63New Zealand Labour 46; New Zealand First 9; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 8.Noes 57New Zealand National 55; ACT New Zealand 1; Ross.Bill read a second time.
Films Videos and Publications Classification (Commercial Video on-Demand) Amendment Bill — First Reading
Land Transport (Rail) Legislation Bill — First Reading
VoteA party vote was called for on the question That Land Transport (Rail) Legislation Bill be now read a first time.Ayes 63New Zealand Labour 46; New Zealand First 9; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 8.Noes 57New Zealand National 55; ACT New Zealand 1; Ross.Bill read a first time. Bill referred to the Transport and Infrastructure Committee.
12. Question No. 12—EducationDr SHANE RETI (National—Whangarei) to the Minister of EducationQuestion No. 12—Education12. Dr SHANE RETI (National—Whangarei) to the Minister of Education: Does he stand by all his statements and actions in relation to the Fees Free policy?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister of Education): Yes I stand by the policy that last year meant that 47000 students and their families avoided fees of around $5800 on average. Dr Shane Reti: When he said recently that he is largely happy with Fees Free does that include a report that Fees Free has differentially boosted university participation for upper-decile students and has been referred to as middle-class welfare? Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I reject the premise of the member's question. Actually if you look at the data it'll show that for students who came from decile 1 to 3 schools there's actually been an increase in the number going to university. The issue is that we've seen declining participation in other areas of tertiary education—most notably in our polytechs and institutes of technology. That's something that this Government doesn't think is sustainable and that's one of the reasons that we are undertaking a very comprehensive reform of the whole sector. Dr Shane Reti: Does he understand then that low-decile families are not as largely happy with Fees Free as he is given recent reports that the Fees Free environment has reduced participation for low-decile students? Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I don't think the member listened to my last answer. Dr Shane Reti: Is Fees Free not helping the students it was intended to given his statement in December 2017 that the minority of students receiving the Fees Free subsidy will be university students" and yet 55 percent of Fees Free students are at university? Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: Oh I'd encourage the member to speak to some of the people who have benefited from Fees Free including for example South Auckland solo mum Mere Thompson who at 37 has started a social work degree at the Manukau Institute of Technology and who said "I wouldn't be here without Fees Free." Up and down the country we see examples of people who have told us very clearly that they would not be participating in tertiary education if Fees Free had not come along. I think that is a successful outcome. Dr Shane Reti: When he said in answer to written questions several weeks ago that he would release Fees Free numbers in two weeks has he not released the figures because the polytechnic head count numbers are down?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: No that's not the reason for not releasing those numbers. I suspect it's to do with the quality-assurance process. We generally would release the numbers as soon as the quality-assurance process is finished. I can however confirm that the number of people studying at institutes of technology and polytechnics has continued to trend down. That is something that the Government is unhappy about. That trend started in around about 2011 2012—around that period—and it has continued consistently during that time. That's not something the Government is happy with and that is why we're undertaking a very comprehensive reform programme."
1. Question No. 1—FinanceDr DEBORAH RUSSELL (Labour—New Lynn) to the Minister of FinanceORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSQuestion No. 1—Finance1. Dr DEBORAH RUSSELL (Labour—New Lynn) to the Minister of Finance: What recent reports has he seen on the New Zealand economy?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): ASB's latest economic weekly report released yesterday was titled End of year cheer (and hopefully no hangover). ASB economists highlighted a range of recent data that paint a very positive picture for the economy as we head into the festive season including Retail exports manufacturing and housing data". ASB expects this week's third quarter GDP data to "carry on the good vibe." with "monetary stimulus … working" and last week's half-yearly update confirming that "fiscal policy will … be doing its bit too." While there have been challenging times for the economy this year in the face of global headwinds the fundamentals of the economy have remained strong throughout particularly evident in lower unemployment and rising wages. Dr Deborah Russell: What reports has he seen on employment in 2019? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Stats New Zealand reported unemployment in the September quarter of this year was down to 4.2 percent from 4.3 percent at the start of the year and 4.7 percent when we came into office. In the June quarter this year it fell as low as 3.9 percent—the lowest level in 11 years—and in the last two years we've seen the three lowest levels of unemployment in a decade. The Q3 data showed 81000 more people employed under this Government and the number of unemployed people has dropped by 12000 since we came into office. Dr Deborah Russell: What reports has he seen on wage growth in the New Zealand economy in 2019? Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Stats New Zealand's most recent data showed that average ordinary time hourly earnings grew at 4.2 percent over the year to September well ahead of inflation. By another measure the Labour Cost Index Stats New Zealand said wages were rising at their fastest rate in over a decade. 2019 has been a good year for Kiwi workers who are finally starting to see their fair share of the benefits of economic growth. There is plenty of reason to be cheerful as we head into the festive season. Indeed just before we came down to the House today we've seen that the ANZ Business Outlook Survey has recorded its second straight monthly jump up 13 points—SPEAKER: Order! Order! That doesn't relate to the supplementary question that was asked."
Sittings of the House (2)
Williams Poto; Dyson RuthSITTINGS OF THE HOUSEHon POTO WILLIAMS (Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector): I seek leave since we've made such fabulous progress tonight that we adjourn for the evening.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Ruth Dyson): Leave is sought for that purpose. Is there any objection? There appears to be none.The House adjourned at 9.57 p.m.
Wood Michael; Dyson RuthMICHAEL WOOD (Senior Whip—Labour): I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I didn't want to interrupt the commencement of the vote before but just reflecting on your apology to me before I was just wondering whether in fact it should be an apology to the entire nation for missing the opportunity of a speech by Lawrence Yule on that bill.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Ruth Dyson): Well I will reflect on that.
Willis NicolaNICOLA WILLIS (National): I rise in what I imagine will be my last contribution for the year and I begin of course by wishing everyone a very merry Christmas. Simeon Brown: Merry Christmas Nicola. NICOLA WILLIS: Thank you to my colleague Simeon Brown. But such am I taken by the spirit I still need to rise in opposition to this bill. This is the kind of bill that really is a bit of a waste of the House's time. It doesn't really do anything that needs to be done. In fact the officials advising on this bill were unable to identify any evidence of the nature or extent of the problem that it seeks to resolve and in fact all it does is transfer the power regarding the protection of the name Ombudsman" from the Ombudsman to the Minister. Now National of course supports the unique role that the Ombudsmen play in our democracy and the integrity of those roles but this bill is not needed and we oppose it."
Radhakrishnan PriyancaPRIYANCA RADHAKRISHNAN (Labour): Thank you Madam Speaker. This is actually a really special bill to me and I don't say that lightly. Not long after I got into Parliament I must have subbed on to a select committee that was discussing secondary legislation and I actually didn't know a lot about what it was. That prompted a few of us from the class of '17" to actually look into what secondary legislation is and how it relates to primary legislation. I have got to say that the lead-up to this bill has taught me heaps so can I thank the Attorney-General David Parker for that but more importantly for the work that he's put into it. Ready access to the law is fundamental to a democratic society that is based on openness and the rule of law. As members before me have said this is a really good bill because it improves clarity of our legislation and accessibility to it which is incredibly important for us all.Also as I conclude my contribution in the vein of speakers before me can I just take this opportunity to wish everyone a very merry Christmas. I commend this bill to the House.Bill read a first time. Bill referred to the Regulations Review Committee."
Secondary Legislation Bill — First Reading
Bidois DanDAN BIDOIS (National—Northcote): It's a pleasure to rise and give what I hope is going to be my last contribution of 2019 to the Secondary Legislation Bill first reading.Greg O'Connor: You're not the only one.DAN BIDOIS: I'm only going to be giving a small one-minute contribution—Hon Tim Macindoe: That's mean.DAN BIDOIS: Ha ha!—because it is very clear that we are supporting this bill tonight. There are 550 Acts contained within this bill that are amended with this going through. So it's a really important bill; the nuts and bolts of improving the efficiency and the effectiveness of regulations in this House.I want to commend the backbone of the Parliamentary Counsel Office and the Office of the Clerk for all the tremendous work that they do. It's certainly not us as MPs doing this; it's hard-working staff around here who are actually going through and reviewing all of these Acts and laws and looking for the changes that need to me made.So the purpose of this bill we absolutely support. We look forward to a robust discussion in the select committee. So I wish to once again wish you Madam Speaker and to my members a happy Christmas. Hark! The herald angels sing.All I want for Christmas is you.Thank you.
Eagle PaulPAUL EAGLE (Labour—Rongotai): Madam Speaker thank you. It's a pleasure to be in the House this evening to take a call on the Secondary Legislation Bill. Can I acknowledge the Hon David Parker the Attorney-General for leading this piece of work.It's interesting that when I look at this I think Wow the breadth of this bill is huge." It's amazing in fact that it amends over 2500 provisions and about 550 Acts—I think I read—and I thought "Wow that's amazing work." I want to thank the Parliamentary Counsel Office for their work and the time that they put in to review all those Acts that empower the making of the documents covered in this bill. This is a technical bill and I'm going to commend this bill to the House. Kia ora."
Garcia PauloPAULO GARCIA (National): Good evening Madam Speaker. I am very glad to be able to give a quick contribution. The Secondary Legislation Bill is being brought by the Attorney-General David Parker and I commend him for doing so. It is a bill that the National Party had introduced as a result of the inquiry by the Regulations Review Committee and the Productivity Commission's inquiry into the oversight of disallowable instruments which were not legislative instruments. Both the Productivity Commission and the Regulations Review Committee recommended that a single secondary legislation category be established; the object being to make it easier for individuals outside an organisation to be able to find the law that applies to them more quickly and easily. It also provides the Parliament with an easier way to scrutinise law.I absolutely support the bill and I also want to say merry Christmas to everyone. It's my first Christmas in the House and thank you for having me here. Thank you.
Tirikatene RinoRINO TIRIKATENE (Labour—Te Tai Tonga): Thank you Madam Speaker. I'm actually really excited to be able to speak to this bill. In the spirit of Christmas I want to acknowledge the Attorney-General for gifting us this bill this evening and no doubt its being passed and being handed to the Regulations Review Committee of which I'm a member. This is one of those sensible pieces of legislation. It's long been in the making spanning right across all of Government to basically clear up the position around what is now being called secondary legislation". I've actually read this bill; it's 300-odd pages but it's actually two pages of operative provisions. So it's actually a very elegant piece of legislation which takes a whole host of—the guts of it is actually six provisions or five sections and then the rest of it is just 36 Schedules which actually covers the full suite of provisions across all of the legislation which are basically creating instruments and calling them now "secondary legislation".So it's not that intimidating but I'm looking forward to playing my part within the Regulations Review Committee in our examination of this bill because it is long overdue and it's about providing that openness and clarity and certainty so that citizens out there will know exactly what is secondary legislation across the whole raft of the many many pieces of legislation that will be amended as a result of this bill.Not to forget that this bill is actually linked to the Legislation Act of this year which I believe was passed just a few weeks back. And once all of these Acts are actually in place and can be actually brought together through Orders in Council the whole system will come together and ensure that this new elegant way of framing all of our empowering instruments under our nice tidy new category of secondary legislation will be in place. So with that I commend it to the House."
Penk Chris; Dyson RuthCHRIS PENK (National—Helensville): Thank you Madam Speaker. I'll keep my contribution short. I was rather touched that the New Zealand First member seems to be obeying the instructions of the National Party when Mr Macindoe didn't feel the same obligation upon him but I shall do so none the less I promise. Just a really quick note actually: others have made a lot of good points about the importance and the value of this work. Secondary legislation as others have pointed out—sometimes known among other things as regulations. Regulation literally—the etymology of it is to rule or to put something in a straight line; so it's literally a ruler. Obviously once upon a time a king and I presume that that's the same root word—regency and rex and so on. Anyway those of us who are ruled which I have to say hopefully in democracies are all of us need to know the rules that govern our conduct to know not only how the law helps us as the Attorney-General pointed out that the Chief Justice had said but also the laws that hinder us and in any case to know the rules of the game. That's the key aspect of equality of opportunity and I think we can all get on board with that. With that I'll just simply say it will be a happy New Year given that we have a committee stage of a bill this size to look forward to and—I'm doing it in reverse order—also merry Christmas. ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Ruth Dyson): We have a split call.
Shaw JamesHon JAMES SHAW (Minister for Climate Change): I'd like to rise also on behalf of the Green Party in support of the Secondary Legislation Bill and to start by acknowledging the Attorney-General for the work that he has put into it and that his team has put into it and also as has been pointed out the previous Attorney-General the Hon Chris Finlayson—I'm not entirely sure what he had to do with this but it's always worth acknowledging the Hon Chris Finlayson.A number of speakers have said tonight that this is a weighty tome of a bill at 300 and something pages. It is I would like to point out shorter than the emissions trading reform bill currently in front of the House. But this is actually the second piece of legislation to do with the secondary legislation project and so thus between the two bills I think it probably does make it one of the largest pieces of legislation to come before the House. I think that speaks to—and we've made a lot of light of it this evening on both sides of the House—the work that the officials have put in over the course of many many years to craft a piece of work that in small ways does actually make Parliament function better and more transparently than it has in the past and that can only be commended. I think that it is worth just taking a moment to acknowledge all of those people who have put in a great deal of effort over the years to put together what is actually a complex and technical piece of legislation that does actually make things just a wee bit better in the functioning of our democracy. The Green Party of course supports open and transparent Government—as does this Government—and full public access to information. We also of course support the original legislation that creates the requirements that this bill fulfils and that this bill completes. And so with that I also commend this bill to the House. Hon Tim Macindoe: And merry Christmas. Hon JAMES SHAW: And merry Christmas Mr Macindoe.
Smith NickHon Dr NICK SMITH (National—Nelson): I have to join with other members and say I can't get super excited about the Secondary Legislation Bill. It is a tidy up of law books around some pretty important constitutional principles about the sovereignty of Parliament and making sure that our secondary legislation does not contravene that and also to try and make our law as accessible as possible. There will be only one new point that I would like to add to the debate and to challenge members: we spend a whole lot of time in this place passing new laws. Isn't it time we spent some on actually getting rid of some of the laws that have out-served their time? Can I just recite a few of the bills that we are amending in this law—I was interested to find that we are going to amend the Nelson coalfields Act of 1892. Now there's not been a coalmine in Nelson for my entire 30 years. I don't think that there has been a coalmine in Nelson for about 80 years. I think it might be time that the Nelson coalfields Act—or can I try you another one? The Stratford Electric Lighting Act of 1898—I'm not sure that that specific Act of Parliament for enabling Stratford to be lighted is still needed. There's another one here: the Rotorua Borough Act. We actually got rid of boroughs about 34 years ago; so I really do wonder whether we still need a Rotorua Borough Act. So I acknowledge the Attorney-General; I acknowledge his predecessor Chris Finlayson. It is a worthwhile job to have a sort out of our legal books and to make them more understandable but the challenge I've got for the Regulations Review Committee and Alastair Scott—in true values of the National Party—is that before we think about making new laws could the committee also spend some time and repeal some of the old ones that have out-served their day? In a small nuanced way we would have made—Simeon Brown: What about the Auckland regional fuel tax? Hon Dr NICK SMITH: And my colleague says the Auckland regional fuel tax"; I'd be happy for that to go as well but it might be a little bit more contentious actually. To have a clean-up of our law books and to repeal some of those old outdated laws would also be a very useful job that this Parliament could do."
Martin TraceyHon TRACEY MARTIN (Minister for Children): Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise on behalf of New Zealand First to speak on the Secondary Legislation Bill. I was going to take a longer contribution but the National Party whip has requested that I now cut myself short because Tim Macindoe went far too long. I would like to say that Mr Macindoe is a lovely man. I've often said that Mr Macindoe is a lovely man and the way that he insults others so nicely through his speeches it's a skill. It's a skill that should be acknowledged and there should possibly be an award for it.It's a very good bill; others have said so. It's highly technical. It has covered two Governments. It is—I'm going to take David Parker's word for anything. We commend the bill to the House.
Wood MichaelMICHAEL WOOD (Labour—Mt Roskill): Madam Speaker and I will be speaking in support of agreeing to the motion because this is a very good bill. It's one of the first bills that I encountered discussion about when I was a new member and I took up a role on the Regulations Review Committee. As the previous two members who have spoken reflect upon it's a bill which has been in the works for quite a number of years. I'm in fact reliably informed that the original report of the Regulations Review Committee which kicked off this work is still available. So perhaps if people are looking for a bit of a stocking stuffer a late Christmas present to set the pulses racing there you go for that very special person in your life.But it is an important piece of legislation because it really goes to the transparency of the way in which this Parliament makes laws and effectively allows laws to be made. I think it's true that many New Zealanders wouldn't in fact appreciate that many of the laws that apply to them are not necessarily laws that have been in and of themselves debated and agreed to in this Parliament. They are laws effectively that this Parliament has delegated for agencies to make. We have over the years called them by a variety of names but often it has been quite obscure to actually understand what the status of those are and to find a clear record of them so that people can have transparency about the laws that apply to them and the Minister who opened up the debate gave some good clear examples of that.So it's an important piece of legislation and it's been a significant body of work to comb through hundreds of pieces of legislation and to really clearly define what does make the cut as secondary legislation that the provisions of this bill will apply to. I think one of the most exciting—or exciting" maybe is the wrong word—one of the most important things that will happen next in terms of public transparency is to actually give some visibility through a clear online capacity for people to be able to access secondary legislation that might affect them in their personal or their business lives.As I've said it's an important piece of legislation. It may seem a bit dry it may seem a bit technical but as a Parliament we should always be striving to open up the way that we make laws and the way that laws affect citizens of this country and this piece of legislation in its own way makes that contribution. So I acknowledge that this Minister the previous Minister the Hon Chris Finlayson and the Regulations Review Committee and others actually particularly Parliamentary Counsel Office and other parliamentary staff have put an enormous amount of work into getting this piece of legislation to the point that it is at and I commend it to the House. Thank you."
Scott Alastair; Dyson RuthALASTAIR SCOTT (National—Wairarapa): Thank you Madam Speaker. It is a book it is a brick and it is a wad of 300 and more pages. It does affect as the Minister said more than 500 Acts and 5500 provisions. In a way we can't describe the amount of work that has already gone on in this bookmark—this wedge of paper. Since 2014 it's come out of the inquiry. As the Minister said hundreds and hundreds of people have been involved in it. Hours and hours and hours of work have been put into this piece of legislation.I've been a member of the Regulations Reviews Committee for only a short time. It's quite a different language that's used in there. We talk about instruments". I mean I thought that was always part of an orchestra. You confirm an instrument—Barbara Kuriger: Or a doctor.ALASTAIR SCOTT: —or a doctor yeah. So you're talking about disallowable instruments. We passed some legislation earlier this afternoon which related to some disallowable instruments when we talked about the ammunition that was banned and compensation not able to be made for that—very technical in its current form. The Minister quite rightly says people just don't know where to find the legislation. It's not impossible but there's high risk of the legislation not being able to be found in its current form. This will make our legislation much more easily understood accessible coherent and enable people to make full use of the law for themselves and their communities which is obviously a good thing.As I say I can't emphasise the amount of work that I can see in this bill and I can't do justice to the amount that has been put in it so far. We will do our best as the Regulations Review Committee to wade through it and make recommendations as the Minister has asked for. With that I wish you a merry Christmas and I commend this bill to the House.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Ruth Dyson): Thank you. The question is that the motion be agreed to which is what I should have said before calling Alastair Scott."
Martin TraceyHon TRACEY MARTIN (Minister of Internal Affairs): I move That the Films Videos and Publications Classification (Commercial Video on-Demand) Amendment Bill be reported to the House by Tuesday 28 April 2020.
Radhakrishnan PriyancaPRIYANCA RADHAKRISHNAN (Labour): Thank you Madam Speaker. It's a pleasure to rise and speak in support of this bill. But I actually just wanted to begin my contribution by addressing some of the points made by a previous speaker David Seymour whose contribution I listened to very carefully. But increasingly the longer he spoke I realised that he hadn't read the bill because he spent most of his contribution talking about the fact that this legislation wouldn't be effective; it wouldn't actually get to what it was aiming to do because we wouldn't be able to control and regulate content on a number of random websites that he alluded to and also YouTube. But that's actually not what this bill aims to do at all so I'm not too sure where he was coming from. This is actually quite specific. This bill addresses a specific regulatory gap where there are different requirements as it stands for commercial video on demand content because outfits like Netflix and NEON are not subject to mandatory classification requirements before content is made available here in New Zealand. Like potentially many others I watched a show sometime back called 13 Reasons Why. And I remember at the time that Netflix came under fire because in the first season from memory there was no actual requirement—well there was no requirement. That's what we're fixing now. But there was no classification about the content of that show which dealt with some real themes and subjects that are important to young people today—themes like sexual violence and suicide. The Mental Health Foundation from memory came out and said that parents should actually sit down and talk to their children about these issues before they watched the shows or before they talked to others at school about these themes because for many people it can be triggering. They are heavy topics. They are important topics. But the whole point of this bill is to make sure that parents have the information they need so that they can have those conversations with their children. So while this is a very specific fix that this bill proposes it is an important one because I suspect all parents would agree that these are important topics that they need to talk to their children about but they can't do that if they don't know that these are the topics that content will discuss or will show. They can be quite graphic at times. So really all this bill does is to make a specific fix that is important that will allow for informed decision-making. And perhaps before David Seymour decides to not support this bill he should read it first. I commend this bill to the House.Bill read a first time. Bill referred to the Governance and Administration Committee.
Bidois DanDAN BIDOIS (National—Northcote): Madam Speaker it's a pleasure to rise and be the last National speaker in support of the Films Videos and Publications Classification (Commercial Video on-Demand) Amendment Bill.Firstly since it is Christmas next week I do just want to take time to acknowledge you Madam Speaker and I hope you have a good Christmas break as well as the members in the House. I do hope you will get a bit of time with your family and a bit of Netflix as well. I can certainly recommend some good Netflix shows over the break. I've just finished watching this Netflix show called Dark. I would rate it about an R16 so I think everybody except Simeon Brown would be able to watch it. But I also have just finished watching The Irishman and that's also a good film on Netflix as well.But to the bill and look we've heard from a range of speakers on the side of the National Party tonight about why we're supporting this bill through to select committee. We do just want to make sure that it is equitable between our online world and the physical classifications that we already have. So we're supportive of the intent of this bill in particular because of the fact that online and on-demand streaming platforms have risen so much throughout society and will continue to do so. It's really important for New Zealand that we have the right sort of classification framework in there to protect our young New Zealanders in particular from harmful content. So we have traversed a lot of issues on this side of the House. Of course we're keen on the select committee process. It is a shame that it is possibly going to be shorter than we would like but we do want to traverse some of the issues around why we don't support the bill in select committee; in particular there's a number of industry groups and industry players that don't support the intent of the bill so want to hear from them. We also are keen to get a sense of the media content review and if there's any recommendations that come out of that and that may be contrary to the bill and the intent of the bill itself. I don't want to rehash some of the issues that we've discussed on this side of the House. I simply want to commend this bill to the House and in my possibly last contribution in the year of 2019 I wish everybody a very merry Christmas. Thank you.
Kanongata'a-Suisuiki AnahilaANAHILA KANONGATA'A-SUISUIKI (Labour): Thank you Te Mana Whakawā. It's an absolute privilege to speak on the Films Videos and Publications Classification (Commercial Video on-Demand) Amendment Bill. We've just had Harmony in the House that's why I look very Christmassy. I just want to acknowledge the speeches from across the floor there in terms of—one would think that they are not supporting this bill. One would think that they're not supporting this bill but I challenge the members across the floor: had that Government when they were in Government done something for the last nine years maybe we wouldn't be talking about this. Maybe we wouldn't be talking about the Walkman in a DVD world. Maybe we wouldn't be talking about the iPod in a mobile phone world.Well I want to commend the Minister of Internal Affairs—Simeon Brown: Talk about the bill.ANAHILA KANONGATA'A-SUISUIKI: —I'm getting to the bill; let me get there—for her leadership in this catching up with technology because that's what we are actually doing. We're catching up with the inactivity in the last nine years. What the bill will actually do—the objective of this bill is to reduce the potential for harm to consumers from viewing inappropriate content. That's what it will do. The bill will amend the Films Videos and Publication Classification Act of 1993—1993 that's a long time ago—and it's to clearly address the identified regulatory gap that identifies—and I just want to talk about a few requirements that it suggests to do—English is my second language so I'm really honoured and proud to be able to speak English in this House. Now the requirements for specified commercial video on-demand providers to label content before it's available in New Zealand—that's what this bill is trying to do. What the bill will also do is it will establish a set of criteria and processes to identify the list of regulated providers. So that's what this bill will do.I want to come down to the point where it actually talks about updating functions of the Classification Office. So the bill will update the functions of the Classification Office to ensure that the new requirements for commercial video on demand—we're no longer under the DVD Walkman era—content are clearly within the scope of this operational work.I just want to cover three points if I may to summarise it quickly. So the Clarification Office will have the following functions and powers: one is providing an online rating tool that specified commercial video on demand providers may use to rate and label content they may make available. The other two points I wanted to cover were appropriate self-rating systems and reviewing and monitoring the operations and outputs of both the online rating tool and any self-rating system.I just want to acknowledge the members across the House and in unison with them I commend this bill to the House.
Penk ChrisCHRIS PENK (National—Helensville): Thank you Madam Speaker. 'Twas the week before Christmas and all through the House not a creature was stirring not even a mouse."—so the poem goes. Well this is sometimes referred to as the House. I wouldn't call any of my parliamentary colleagues creatures or even a mouse. That would be unparliamentary.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Ruth Dyson): Excellent.CHRIS PENK: I believe a rodent metaphor has been used before in this place relatively recently and didn't go down well. We won't try and swallow any dead rats of that nature but suffice to say there's a lack of stirring in the sense that no one seems to be heckling too much. I'm sort of testing that theory right now but there seems to be at least unanimity as far as the content of what we're discussing goes the objective of the bill that's in front of us which I'll remind myself is the Films Videos and Publications Classification (Commercial Video on-Demand) Amendment Bill. So it is that I rise on this side of the House as we have been and indeed with our colleagues opposite supporting the general intent of the bill and being curious as to the detail of the content which is a matter that can be discussed a bit more at select committee and understood in that forum.I think probably the only points that I would pick out in that admittedly quite high-level kind of way are around the desire of the bill to prevent the viewing of inappropriate content. The key way that it looks to achieve that is by emphasising labelling that is consistent and by consistent—we can have a reliable system a system that can be relied upon and actually the explanatory note I think is quite sensible in emphasising the need for informed decisions. So that's obviously key to a person being able to decide for themselves or I suppose in the context of a young person have their parent decide with them or for them what is appropriate and of course without the right labelling regime that's impossible.Others have spoken about the need to have a regime that makes sense across different formats maybe even different media and I see that that's something that's addressed in the bill. I look forward to hearing more about it in due course because as you know we're supporting it on this side at least to select committee and possibly beyond. So we look forward to the rest of the conversation. I thank the Minister of Internal Affairs and others who have worked upon it to this stage. Thank you."
Brown Simeon; Dyson RuthSIMEON BROWN (National—Pakuranga): Thank you Madam Speaker. Thank you for an opportunity to talk on the Films Videos and Publications Classification (Commercial Video on-Demand) Amendment Bill at its first reading. It's a bill in which there seems to be a problem which the Minister of Internal Affairs is trying to rush a solution for through Parliament. It seems to be about four months to rush something through Parliament and make some legislation. There is a problem. There is content which is not currently being classified and this bill does seek to provide information to parents to children to young people so that they can make informed decisions over what they are watching or what they're allowing their children to watch and that is a serious issue. I think it's something which we all take seriously in this House. I note that the Government does have a wider content review taking place which is looking into all of these issues and here today we are debating this bill which seeks to essentially put in place a stopgap a half measure which will make some improvements but will also have some unintended consequences.One of the points I'd like to make is over the fact that this is essentially a piece of legislation which will be outdated the day it is passed. It allows the Minister to be able to update through regulation the list of content providers which will be able to self-regulate and put in place the classifications but then as technology changes as new providers come in the Minister will have to in consultation with the chief censor update those regulations. So essentially what we're seeing here is a piece of legislation which will be outdated the day that it is passed into law.In my view this is something for which the Government should be looking at a more platform-neutral approach on how to deal with this issue rather than a list of platforms which will be constantly changed as new platforms and new providers come on to the scene. So we support this bill at this stage but we will be very interested in the submissions which come through—also just noting the fact that the submission period will be very brief. The select committee period will only be just over four months and this as a serious issue will not provide as much time as this may need for people to be able to make those submissions and to have that serious consultation which is required. We support the bill to its first reading. Thank you very much.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Ruth Dyson): We now have a split call. I call Jamie Strange.