Nash StuartREMUNERATION AUTHORITY LEGISLATION BILLFirst ReadingHon STUART NASH (Minister for Economic and Regional Development) on behalf of the Associate Minister of Justice: I present a legislative statement on the Remuneration Authority Legislation Bill.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.Hon STUART NASH: I move That the Remuneration Authority Legislation Bill be now read a first time.I nominate the Justice Committee to consider the bill. This bill will enhance public confidence in our judicial system by making changes relating to the responsibility to determine the remuneration of some of our statutory and judicial officers. Judicial independence is a core pillar of any democracy and independent judiciary protects the citizenry from the arbitrary use of power by the executive. Security of remuneration is one of the measures that enable officers to discharge their duties without fear or favour or any undue influence.There are currently two mechanisms in New Zealand for determining the remuneration of judicial and statutory officers. One is the Cabinet Fees Framework administered by Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission on behalf of the executive. The other is the Remuneration Authority an independent statutory body that determines remuneration for judicial statutory officers that need to have and to be seen to have independence from Government.The key differences between these two mechanisms is the degree of independence from the executive. This bill transfers the responsibility for determining the remuneration from some of the judicial statutory officers from the Cabinet Fees Framework to the Remuneration Authority on the basis that they need to have or be seen to have greater independence from the Government because of the judicial responsibilities associated with their roles.Some of the officers that this bill seeks to transfer are officers who are already judicial decision makers but whose remuneration are currently determined under the Cabinet Fees Framework; these include community magistrates of the District Court and commissioners and deputy commissioners of the Environment Court. Secondly the bill transfers disputes tribunal referees and Tenancy Tribunal adjudicators from the Cabinet Fees Framework to the Remuneration Authority. Disputes tribunal referees hear the majority of the substantive cases fought before the civil jurisdiction of the District Court. Both disputes tribunal referees and Tenancy Tribunal adjudicators have had significant increases in their jurisdiction over the past couple of years. As crucial members of our legal system it is important that the officers presiding over these matters are seen as independent of the Government.I am of the view that this transfer will enhance public confidence in the integrity and independence of these tribunals. This is particularly important as these officers deal with cases that the ordinary New Zealander is greatly affected by such as: their conditions of living disputes between individuals and grievances against a business.The bill also chairs the deputy chairperson and members of the Immigration and Protection Tribunal from the Cabinet Fees Framework to the purview of the Remuneration Authority as these officers hear appeals against decisions of the Minister of Immigration. It is important that officers who hear appeals from decisions of Government Ministers are seen to be independent of the executive and unable to be influenced through their remuneration to be partial to a Government decision.The last of the officers to whom this bill relates are the chairperson and deputy chairpersons of the Human Rights Review Tribunal who have the authority to declare an Act of Parliament inconsistent with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. Any officers with a significant power such as this should be given extra protection to ensure its independence. For this reason the bill transfers the responsibility for determining the remuneration of the chair and deputy chairs of the tribunal from the Cabinet Fees Framework to the Remuneration Authority. To implement these transfers the bill creates permanent legislative authorities under the relevant legislation.I understand and endorse the principles that underpin the Cabinet Fees Framework but also acknowledge that some officers need to be and need to be seen to be independent of the Government. For this reason I consider it necessary that the responsibility for determining the remuneration of these judicial and statutory officers be transferred from the Cabinet Fees Framework administered by the executive to the independent Remuneration Authority in order to enforce the independence of these officers from the Government's influence.Finally I consider the select committee process to be very important. I encourage members of the public to have their say on the bill when the committee calls for submissions. I commend this bill to the House.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): The question is that the motion be agreed to.