Watts SimonSIMON WATTS (National—North Shore): Thank you very much Mr Speaker. Absolute pleasure to stand as a member of Parliament for North Shore and as a member of the National Party on the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (Hazardous Substances Assessments) Amendment Bill at its third reading.Simon O'Connor: Is that plain English?SIMON WATTS: Well that's a very good question Simon O'Connor but not the purpose of this bill; we should stay on track which I will endeavour to do. So as we've traversed already and Barbara Kuriger has opened up our position on this National continue to support this bill. It is an important bill in regards to improving the assessment of hazardous substances as the prior speaker Rachel Brooking has acknowledged and I recognise that she is a member of the mighty Environment Committee. I do want to acknowledge the members on that group the Hon Eugenie Sage who is chair Scott Simpson obviously on our side—he's sad he can't be here I'm sure in regards to this but I said I'd carry on and make sure I raise that—and the other members of course for their hard work.It was interesting when the prior speaker acknowledged—it was nearly a year ago I think that the select committee went through that process of public submissions and gee time flies does it what when we're doing what we do. Nearly a year has gone by and I do want to acknowledge all of those members of the public who made submissions in regards to this to the Environment Committee and also the officials in the background that have worked so diligently in regards to the support and the preparation of an important bill. As Barbara Kuriger has noted this looks to be—and obviously I'm not a member of this select committee but it does look to be a sensible piece of legislation dealing with important aspects in regards to hazardous substances.It's interesting that the prior speaker referred to the environmental purpose of that. It takes me back to when I was a young fella. I grew up on an orchard and my father is a horticulturalist and you could imagine on an orchard you'd use a lot of pesticides and a lot of insecticides a lot of chemicals such as that a lot of hazardous substances actually. So it did bring me back to the good old days of—Hon Gerry Brownlee: Bit of an explanation.SIMON WATTS: Thank you very much to the Hon Gerry Brownlee—good little snippet there; thank you. But it did take me back and it does remind me of why it's very important—Mr Speaker you're laughing and I'm laughing now too—that we're reviewing such legislation and we're continually looking at opportunities to improve it because you know those pesticides and chemicals do have issues. But I think the other aspect is the work that is in the linkage there in terms of the biodiversity of our waterways and obviously the flow-through of those chemicals going into our waterways the impact of that on plant life and animal species and the flow-through of that is important.I also just want to while I'm there acknowledge the community groups out there that do a lot of work in regards to protecting the biodiversity of our waterways and no doubt this legislation will help in terms of improvement around reducing the risks and issues that evolve in regards to that point.The other aspect I want to cover in the short amount of time that I've got left is in regards to members of the chemical industry that are involved. I actually had the privilege to visit Chemfreight a significant chemical and hazardous substance business in Auckland actually near Botany and I had the pleasure to visit there with Christopher Luxon the leader of the National Party. We had a tour around this chemical freight business. They're dealing with exactly the types of chemicals that are included within this legislation and I just want to acknowledge the work that those individuals do to ensure that they maintain a high degree of standards and processes—and geez they're fastidious in terms of the detail. And I think we would respect why they are so fastidious because you know those chemicals are pretty dangerous and pretty serious if they are not managed appropriately. But businesses such as that I think do operate under a significant regulatory burden and regulatory framework. And I say burden just for the point that I think there is an element—and this is maybe something for the Minister to consider in terms of the consistent application of enforcement around such legislation because a number of those significant chemical businesses are absolutely complying with the legislation in the way in which they should but there is a number of players out there that aren't necessarily as professional that are potentially not.I think this legislation in regards to an amendment is to try and improve. I think we should be continuously assessing the opportunities that we have available in terms of making sure that everyone particularly our business community are playing on a level playing field. Often the legislation such as the bill we're discussing now is all good but where the rubber hits the road is in regards to the way in which that is monitored and enforced and making sure that that is consistent. If that's the one takeaway I could take from that business and I'm sure many others it is that that would be an area that would be sensible for the Government to review.I think what is good also and I won't get into the detail of the prior bill that we are talking about but in this case we've actually got broad cross-party support for a piece of legislation which is good. I think that reflects the fact that the legislation in terms of the substance and its form—with the exception of the title as was acknowledged right at the start—should deliver the requirements in terms of what is required.The last aspect I want to talk on is just in terms of the overall amendments that we're seeing within this bill driving a greater degree of efficiency in terms of the assessment and reassessment of processes for hazardous substances. I think you know that when we get the opportunity to stand up in this House it's often in regards to the increasing of regulatory burden and roadblocks and things that are slowing down and blocking our business community. And when we see amendments that actually bring greater efficiency to that process I don't know it's like when you go through a very long cold winter and the sun comes out in spring. You know it's a bit like that. And I think in regards to this it is good to see cross-party support in regards to initiatives that will bring greater efficiency around an area which as we've noted has significant positive impacts in terms of not only the health and safety of hard-working Kiwis but also in regards to our environment and our waterways.So I'm very pleased that National along with other parties understands the rationale of what seem to be very much practical proposals within this legislation. We're very much in support of the intent of this legislation on this third reading and want to ensure that when we look back on this in periods to come it will be noted that we strongly support this bill. Thank you very much Mr Speaker.