edithatogo/nz-hansard-corpus huggingface dataset:
7. Question No. 7—Economic and Regional DevelopmentGLEN BENNETT (Labour—New Plymouth) to the Minister for Economic and Regional DevelopmentQuestion No. 7—Economic and Regional Development7. GLEN BENNETT (Labour—New Plymouth) to the Minister for Economic and Regional Development: What reports has he seen on the evaluation of the Provincial Growth Fund?Hon STUART NASH (Minister for Economic and Regional Development): I recently released an independent valuation of the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) that showed it has made a huge impact in a very short time frame. By providing investments into regions that have been historically underfunded the Provincial Growth Fund has helped build a strong resilient economy. For example the report noted—and I quote—Importantly [in the midst of a] pandemic the PGF has contributed to [increasing] optimism within communities." and "As well as economic benefits the [societal] and environmental benefits of PGF were palpable in the interviews with many tangata whenua." To date the PGF has committed $3 billion in funding with $1.87 billion paid out so far. Of the 1359 projects approved for funding over 500 have already been completed resulting in over 16000 jobs and improved economic outcomes for our regions.Tangi Utikere: Has the Provincial Growth Fund invested in Manawatū and if so what are the benefits?Hon STUART NASH: The Provincial Growth Fund has invested over $700 million in the Manawatū-Whanganui region with 121 projects funded. A great example of the projects funded is the $2 million grant to extend Fitzherbert Avenue which starts in the member's electorate by 600 metres. As well as providing employment and constructing the road it opens up access to land for housing development and diverts heavy vehicles off suburban streets.Dr Liz Craig: Has the Provincial Growth Fund invested in Southland and if so what are the benefits?Hon STUART NASH: The Provincial Growth Fund has invested over $70 million in the Southland region with 121 projects funded. A great example of the type of project funded is the $500000 grant to COIN South for a three-year pilot programme to develop and foster a regional ecosystem and culture which nurtures and grows innovative agile and successful businesses in the Southland region. The original goal was to support 15 start-ups in the first year but over 100 start-up founders were supported in the first year with over 250 to date. I would also like to thank members from across the House for their strong support and staunch advocacy for PGF projects in their electorates."
4. Question No. 4—PoliceDr EMILY HENDERSON (Labour—Whangārei) to the Minister of PoliceQuestion No. 4—Police4. Dr EMILY HENDERSON (Labour—Whangārei) to the Minister of Police: What recent reports has he seen on the changing nature of the Police workforce in New Zealand?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister of Police): Good news: last week I received the latest report on Police workforce trends. Police have increased their planned recruitment levels for the 2022-2023 year to ensure that they are not only replacing the police officers who are leaving the workforce but they are further supporting Government's commitment to recruit an additional 1800 police officers to the front line. Current projections are for recruits graduating from the Royal New Zealand Police College to be in the 750 to 850 range over the next financial year meaning we're likely to see between 60 and 80 new recruits on the beat every month.Hon Mark Mitchell: With attrition that's 10!Dr Emily Henderson: How will these—SPEAKER: Order! Mr Mitchell you know how to ask question. You shouldn't be interjecting during this.Dr Emily Henderson: How will these numbers ensure that there are adequate police officers on the front line?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: The growth in constabulary numbers achieved by these new recruits will mean that Police will soon have one officer to every 480 people in the country. On coming into Government we did inherit a ratio of police officers to the general population that had fallen to unacceptably low levels and we've been working hard to get those numbers up and to get more police on to the beat.Dr Emily Henderson: What do these numbers mean for the number of women in the New Zealand Police?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: More good news: for the first time ever one in four of our front-line police officers—a quarter of them—are women. This represents a 50 percent increase over the last five years in the number of women in the police force. That's an additional 800 women working on the front line compared to where we were five years ago. For a point of comparison the previous growth of 800 women in the Police took 22 years to achieve. That demonstrates the acceleration in the diversity of our Police workforce.Dr Emily Henderson: What other measures is the Police taking to encourage wāhine Māori or other groups historically under-represented to apply to join the service?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: A very big focus for the Police has been on ensuring that the staff reflect the communities they serve. Police's main recruitment marketing campaign for 2022 has had a specific focus on attracting wāhine Māori. That programme features interviews with wāhine Māori during the recruitment process talking about their motivations to apply and the barriers that they are overcoming to become police officers. While the campaign is specifically designed to attract wāhine Māori experience and evidence shows that these campaigns are also effective at attracting other under-represented groups who may have experienced similar motivations or barriers to recruitment.
1. Question No. 1—FinanceBARBARA EDMONDS (Labour—Mana) to the Minister of FinanceORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSQuestion No. 1—Finance1. BARBARA EDMONDS (Labour—Mana) to the Minister of Finance: What recent reports has he seen on the New Zealand economy?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): In its fortnightly economic update Treasury reports that while weaker exports earlier in the year drove the March quarter contraction in GDP business and household demand has remained strong. While there is no doubt pressure on many households and businesses the New Zealand activity index—which is a composite measure of eight indicators—showed that activity increased in May with particularly strong gains in the hospitality sector. Card spending also rose 1.4 percent in May following a 7.3 percent rise in April. Despite this solid demand there are of course still challenges ahead with the high global inflation and supply chain constraints continuing to affect our partner economies as well as New Zealand.Barbara Edmonds: What other reports has he seen on the economy?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Our primary sector does continue to perform well. According to Statistics New Zealand New Zealand's exports rose 18 percent to $7 billion in May compared to May last year. Imports also rose 24 percent to $6.7 billion. Red meat exports were the main contributor to the rise in exports up 27 percent to $1 billion on the back of higher beef and sheep prices. Dairy products rose 11 percent to $1.6 billion led by higher prices for milk powder and butter. Last week Fonterra also raised its forecast payout for the coming season to a record level as strong demand and a favourable currency move worked in its favour and the favour of the members of the cooperative.Barbara Edmonds: What reports has he seen on international economic activity that affects the New Zealand economy?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Inflation pressures are affecting countries around the world and many central banks are raising interest rates. In Australia business and consumer confidence are both down with inflation there expected to rise to around 7 percent later this year. The Reserve Bank of Australia has indicated it will continue to raise rates to bring supply and demand back into line. On the up side activity in China appears to be recovering after widespread lockdowns with industrial production and investment showing signs of improvement and supply chain disruptions there beginning to ease. The global economy does remain volatile and the outlook uncertain but New Zealand is in a strong economic and fiscal position to continue to support businesses and households through this difficult time.
Local Electoral (Advertising) Amendment Bill — Third Reading
Utikere TangiTANGI UTIKERE (Labour—Palmerston North): Thank you Madam Speaker. As referenced in my previous contribution I think this will make a huge difference to communities as we head into the next set of local government elections. I commend this bill to the House.Motion agreed to.Bill read a third time.The House adjourned at 9.56 p.m.
Pugh MaureenMAUREEN PUGH (National): Crikey! I didn't even have time to write all that down it happened so quickly! Thank you very much Madam Speaker. Third reading of this bill and as you can see everyone is enthusiastic to make sure that it does pass tonight.The reason for that is because we do want it to be in time for the local body elections this year which open on 15 July—so this is being timed so that we can ensure that this one barrier may be removed in time for this year's elections and that that may encourage more participation in the local body elections. It has been through a shortened select committee process for that very reason.One of the reasons that people do like to see an authorisation statement with an address on it is because a lot of people find it important to make sure that their local body representatives actually do live in the area in which they're standing. So that is something that I think may be dealt with during their own individual campaigns.Standing for local government and serving your community in that way—it's an absolute honour and a huge learning curve. It's something that I had 15 years of absolute enjoyment in doing it's the coalface of your community and it's a very responsive place to be especially in small rural communities. I'm not so sure that the same applies in some of the big metro councils.I'd like to take this opportunity to thank those that have served in that role over the year and thank those that will be standing down at these local body elections. I pay particular tribute to one of the mayors on the West Coast: Bruce Smith who is standing down this year. He's enjoyed a trial over the last few months in his challenge with personal health issues. Bruce you've been an absolute champion for your community. Every mayor in the country I'm sure knows your name. He has held a huge role in raising awareness of issues through his social media fetish. He's been an absolute champion for his community he's been a champion for the West Coast and I wish you well sir in your retirement.
Henderson EmilyDr EMILY HENDERSON (Labour—Whangārei): Madam Speaker I too commend this bill to the House.
Halbert ShananSHANAN HALBERT (Labour—Northcote): Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like to commend this bill to the House.
Prime Willow-Jean; Dean JacquiWILLOW-JEAN PRIME (Labour—Northland) (remote): Thank you Madam Speaker. This is a very short contribution. I want to congratulate and thank the Associate Minister of Local Government the Hon Kieran McAnulty for ushering this bill the Local Electoral (Advertising) Amendment Bill through these final stages. I want to thank all of the parties who worked collectively and in an urgent way to get this processed in time for the local body elections. I commend this bill to the House.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): I call Chris Penk—five-minute call.
Ghahraman GolrizGOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN (Green) (remote): Thank you Madam Speaker. It's a pleasure to be speaking for the second time on the electoral law that we need urgently. It is reflected in Green Party policy and it's reflected in my strengthening democracy member's bill so we're very proud and relieved to have the Government adopt this change. We hope that it will be extended to general elections to national level politics because of all the safety issues that others have touched upon: the issues that impact women marginalised community members like members of the Rainbow community disabled candidates and candidates of colour. We know that online abuse is a major and named and silencing human rights issue in New Zealand and we know that it leads so to speak into people's real lives if their addresses their places of work their homes are able to be identified. We know that this discourages in particular members of the most targeted communities from running and participating in democracy. And something that the committee noted is that it also means that those without a stable home or work address can't run and we need those lived experiences in our politics. This is a good change. It will make democracy in Aotearoa New Zealand more inclusive more equal and more diverse so I do commend the bill to the House.
Boyack RachelRACHEL BOYACK (Labour—Nelson): It's a pleasure to take a call on the third and final reading of the Local Electoral (Advertising) Amendment Bill. I think we're all hoping to hear a campaign announcement from the honourable member opposite Mr Woodhouse but unfortunately we seem to have missed a trick tonight so—it would have been a great opportunity.This is an excellent bill. As many speakers tonight have said it's a very straightforward simple bill that will hopefully make it much easier for members of the public to put their names forward for local government. As others have said we really do encourage people to put themselves forward. It's critical we have good people leading our local councils and territorial authorities for the next three years. On that note I commend this bill to the House.
Woodhouse MichaelHon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National): Thank you Madam Speaker. I must say I have to give the Minister who moved the third reading credit for being able to speak at all actually given that he broke a world record for doing just that over the weekend. So clearly that voice box of Minister McAnulty is certainly a robust one. This is an important issue as both the Minister and my friend and colleague Simon Watts has said. It's hard to know whether or not anybody would be completely put off by the need to disclose a home address on advertising but for those who might be wavering it could be one of those sort of negative aspects. I join with the Minister in encouraging those people who are considering putting their hands up to do so when registrations open on 15 July. It is a tremendously rewarding experience despite the rollercoaster and the slings and arrows that occasionally come the way of elected representatives. But this will remove a barrier. It'll likely keep people a bit safer than they otherwise are on the campaign trail. I certainly condemn anybody that would seek to abuse or threaten in the way that Maureen Pugh described. I think that was a very sobering story. This will be just one small way in which we can make sure that our robust democracy is also safe. I commend the bill.
Andersen GinnyGINNY ANDERSEN (Labour—Hutt South): It's a privilege to take a call on the third and final reading of the Local Electoral (Advertising) Amendment Bill. It's great to see increasing transparency greater access to democracy and promoting a far more diverse representation at our local government level by giving people that security in not having their private or their home address. I commend this bill to the House.
Watts SimonSIMON WATTS (National—North Shore): Thank you very much Madam Speaker. It's a pleasure to be able to rise on the third reading of the Local Electoral (Advertising) Amendment Bill. As the Minister has just articulated the National Party will be supporting this bill. That is for three key reasons and I want to just reinforce those points because they are important. The bill addresses a key aspect in regards to privacy of candidates putting themselves forward for the local government electoral process a process which is absolutely critical and fundamental in terms of our local democracy and very much important in terms of the functioning of our local communities. And I think removing the barriers which candidates may perceive or actually face in reality as we've heard from other members in other speeches leading up to this is very important and it's a principle that National support. We support it because we absolutely want to see the increased participation at a local government level increasing of the capability and competence of individuals with life experience and background that will bring value to this role a role which National absolutely see as essential in terms of the functioning of our broader country. The other aspect in regards to the bill is around protection and in particular it has been highlighted in terms of the ability of not providing or sharing one's residential or business address. A number of stakeholders—or actually a number of people can be impacted by this but in particular women are a key group that have noted concerns. I've had a number of emails in regards to this in terms of candidates that have been complementary in terms of the fact that we are progressing this bill through the House because those barriers are real and they shouldn't be a consideration when anyone puts their name forward for this role. The last aspect is in regards to the local government elections which will obviously occur in October and that process will kick off in July. I want to wish all those candidates who are participating in this process the very best. There is going to be and there normally is a churn of about one third of our mayors across the country that retire. I want to acknowledge those mayors across the country who have made significant contributions in public service to their communities. Your efforts and your contribution is appreciated. We acknowledge how challenging and difficult those roles are at many times and the consequences and impacts that has on both your family and whānau and that is acknowledged and appreciated by those in this House. So that's pretty much all I'm going to cover this evening. National will be supporting this bill and we'll be looking forward to seeing it passing through the House this evening.
McAnulty Kieran; Dean JacquiThird ReadingHon KIERAN McANULTY (Associate Minister of Local Government) on behalf of the Minister of Local Government: Thank you Mr Speaker. I move That the Local Electoral (Advertising) Amendment Bill be now read a third time. The bill amends the Local Electoral Act 2001 to address concerns around candidate safety. It does this by loosening the requirement that candidates attach either their residential or business address to electoral advertising allowing email addresses PO boxes phone numbers or links to an internet page to be used instead.We now come to the end of the legislative process for this short but sensible bill. It is the end of the work for us here in the House today but it is just the beginning of the work that this bill is going to do. In a few short weeks on 15 July nominations for the local elections will officially open. Across the country thousands of candidates will put their names forward to stand for their local council. Why do they do this? Candidates will have all sorts of reasons for standing for council but I believe there are some common threads that connect them. They know that local government is at the heart of serving Aotearoa's communities. And in order to best serve Aotearoa's communities they know we need voices on council that reflect the diversity of our communities. Local democracy thrives when a broad range of individuals who bring different perspectives and experiences stand for public office in a contest of ideas. Candidates want to make a difference in their community and they believe that they have the skills to make that difference.These are noble goals but not all of politics is noble. I think I can be fairly sure when I say that opening themselves and their families up for opportunistic abuse and harassment is not one of the reasons they put their names forward for council. Being the subject of stalking or having anonymous hate mail hand delivered to their house these are not the reasons that people stand for council. Those activities serve no good purpose in our free and democratic society. Some people will say that this is unfortunately one of the consequences of standing for public office. You are a public figure." they may say and with that comes a need for transparency. And that may be true but we're dealing with more than a theoretical concept. We know that too much transparency can be harmful to people's privacy it can be harmful to people's safety. This bill is about balancing privacy and transparency.I thank the other parties in this House for agreeing to move this bill through all stages this evening and I thank them for the support. I imagine that those candidates that are due to announce their candidacies for the local body elections will thank this House for supporting this move that will ensure or at least improve their safety. I commend this bill to the House.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): The question is that the motion be agreed to."
Local Electoral (Advertising) Amendment Bill — In Committee
Dean JacquiHouse resumed.CHAIRPERSON (Hon Jacqui Dean): The committee has considered the Local Electoral (Advertising) Amendment Bill and reports it without amendment. I move That the report be adopted.Motion agreed to.Report adopted.
Pugh Maureen; McAnulty KieranMAUREEN PUGH (National): Of course I'm going to give it a go. I mentioned it in my speech around some of the alternatives to how we could help support people to feel safe in their role as a candidate in the local body elections. One of the suggestions actually came from a submitter and that was around councils perhaps providing those generic temporary email addresses as a point of contact.I just wondered did the committee seriously consider that or is the Associate Minister the Hon Kieran McAnulty aware of any work that may be done in that regard? Because if it is a real problem for people who don't have access to a physical address or that are challenged by having cybersecurity issues or email addresses etc.—even for people who live in places like I do that have dodgy cellphone reception and internet connections—a generic email address might be the solution that local bodies could provide for candidates.Hon KIERAN McANULTY (Associate Minister of Local Government): Thank you Madam Chair. I thank the member for her question. This is actually something that officials advised the select committee on. There's actually nothing preventing councils deciding to provide a generic email address to candidates if they so choose in regards to those who may not have access to emails. Of course the legislation considers a number of options that may suit them.Clauses 1 to 4 agreed to.Bill to be reported without amendment.
Utikere Tangi; McKelvie IanIn CommitteeClauses 1 to 4TANGI UTIKERE (Junior Whip—Labour): Point of order.CHAIRPERSON (Ian McKelvie): Half a second please Tangi. Members the House is in committee on the Local Electoral (Advertising) Amendment Bill. I remind members that they're able to participate remotely. If you're on Zoom and want to take a call please type call" into the chat. You should also use the chat if you wish to raise a point of order. If we receive any new tabled amendments I'll advise the members so they can refresh the House papers page to see the amendment. Finally it would be helpful for members to ask multiple questions if they have them of the member in charge of the bill. Members we come first to clause 1.TANGI UTIKERE (Junior Whip—Labour): Point of order. I seek leave for all provisions to be taken as one question.CHAIRPERSON (Ian McKelvie): Members leave has been sought for that purpose. Is there any objection? There is none. The question is that clauses 1 to 4 stand part."
Boyack Rachel; Dean JacquiRACHEL BOYACK (Labour—Nelson): Thank you Madam Speaker. It's a pleasure to take a short call on the Local Electoral (Advertising) Amendment Bill. I just want to acknowledge the previous speaker Maureen Pugh and that rather horrendous example; there are many like them across the country. I just want to acknowledge all political parties who are supporting this bill; it's always good to have peace break out in Parliament late on a Tuesday night. Thanks to all members who have participated in such a constructive way to get this legislation through.As previous speakers have said this bill does a very simple thing: it allows candidates in local elections to use alternative addresses like a PO Box or an email address on their advertising material.I just want to note a couple of examples in my electorate of Nelson not so much for candidates but for people in elected local government roles who have had their physical addresses published and sometimes also cellphone numbers which may not seem like a big deal but has led to them receiving abuse through their personal cellphones. These are the kinds of things that I'm pleased that this Parliament is coming together tonight to change so that particularly women people from migrant and ethnically diverse backgrounds other diverse backgrounds will feel safer to participate in local government campaigns.On that note this is an excellent bill and I commend it to the House.Motion agreed to.Bill read a second time.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): In accordance with the determination of the Business Committee this bill is set down for committee stage forthwith.
Local Electoral (Advertising) Amendment Bill — Second Reading
Utikere TangiTANGI UTIKERE (Labour—Palmerston North): Thank you Madam Speaker. Very happy to rise in support of this bill. I think it will make a real difference to local democracy. I know Mr Woodhouse identified that many members of this House have a background previously in local government.I tallied up: I've been a candidate in six local government election campaigns. So I know that for many this will make a huge difference because it's something that we generally don't have to do in this House. Most of the identifier is a business a party headquarters something like that; that's not the case for local government. I commend the bill to the House.
Omer IbrahimIBRAHIM OMER (Labour): It's a pleasure to take a call—a short call—on the Local Electoral (Advertising) Amendment Bill. All the speakers have said it all. This bill removes all the requirements the physical address on the campaign advertising for the coming local government elections. The Local Electoral Act 2001 currently requires the candidates to include a physical address on the authorisation statement in advertising materials such as billboards and fliers. This is problematic because it discourages a lot of good people to stand for local government. Instead what can be done is people can use a physical or a residential or a business address or an email address or a post office or a phone number even when they stand.There have been growing concerns that good candidates who publicise their home addresses could face physical harm or danger or risk particularly women and minorities. So this means that we won't have a lot of good people from our diverse minorities standing for local government office. We know that's not going to be good for wherever our country is heading because we're increasingly becoming a multicultural nation and that needs to be elected in the people standing for office. This change will provide for a richer and more inclusive Aotearoa New Zealand that we all just love to see. Finally I applaud the Minister the Hon Nanaia Mahuta for bringing this bill to this House. It's a good bill. It's encouraged a lot of good people and honest people to stand for local government elections. I commend it to the House.
Woodhouse Michael; Dean JacquiHon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National): Thank you Madam Speaker. Well Willow-Jean Prime is one of a good number of members of this House that have had local government experience before they came to Parliament that I think will empathise with that reflection. I was asked earlier in the year whether I would be standing for Mayor of Dunedin and my response to that was rather—Anna Lorck: Oh that'll be a good idea!Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE: Well it was rather uncomplimentary potentially to those who did. I think it involved a needle hot and my eye. And I didn't intend it to be a criticism of the role; I think it's an incredibly noble thing to do. And I've said many times that it's my belief that local council work is actually harder than this place in some respects; not the least of which is because there's the lack of that sort of collective caucus responsibility. And mayors often have to sort of manage 10 or 12 islands in an archipelago rather than sort of the more coloured sides that we have.But the other reason I think is because of the sort of level of opprobrium and occasional hostility that's directed at councillors in things like planning hearings and so on. I think that's highly inappropriate and I have a great deal of admiration for anyone who wants to stand for public office but in particular those local councillors. And so anything that we can do as a Parliament to remove barriers to people doing so we should and this is one such barrier. We've had some reflections from Simon Court. My first campaign in 2008 I actually chose a friend and campaign manager who lived a thousand kilometres away so that his address went on my billboards in Dunedin and that was the response even then when the risk was lower 14 years ago than it is now. I think we've seen even more attention paid to where local and central representatives live. I think that's highly inappropriate and we should encourage people to stand by removing that barrier.I thank those who submitted to what was a very short process but the Justice Committee did a good job. The fact that there are no amendments to the bill doesn't mean that that process wasn't a necessary one. Others have said that it perhaps should have come to the House earlier and had a longer go. I'm sympathetic to that view but we are here we need to get it through and I commend it.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): I call Ibrahim Omer—five-minute call I'm assuming.
Prime Willow-Jean; Dean JacquiWILLOW-JEAN PRIME (Labour—Northland) (remote): Tēnā koe e te Māngai o te Whare. Thank you very much for this opportunity to make a brief contribution. It was an honour to be a member on the select committee listening to—or receiving—the 30 submissions in relation to this bill.As a member who was previously a councillor for the Far North District Council I remember my first campaign back in 2013. I was anxious about putting my face on a billboard and the possibility of it being defaced or tagged but also when I found out that I had to put my home address on it I was anxious about identifying my private residence my home my kāinga and exposing my whānau to that.So as somebody who has experienced that nervousness back in 2013 I am really pleased that we are able to make that change. I hope that nobody else has to have that feeling and that it might encourage more people to stand for the local body elections this year and do so more comfortably and more confidently. With that I commend the bill to the House.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Hon Michael Woodhouse—five-minute call.
Henderson EmilyDr EMILY HENDERSON (Labour—Whangārei): Tēnā koe Madam Speaker. First may I begin by assuring the previous speaker—Chris Penk—that he did in fact appear at the Justice Committee; the finest select committee in the House.The real issue here is that members of local and central government are facing increasing pressure and abuse from the public standards of civility are declining but at the same time in order to increase civility increase democratic discussion we need greater diversity. A lot of the abuse focuses pre-eminently upon those who we have least of and need most. This bill is a small but pertinent step towards protecting people at local government and giving them the anonymity as to their home addresses that we in this House already enjoy. I commend it to this House.
Andersen GinnyGINNY ANDERSEN (Labour—Hutt South): Thank you very much Madam Speaker. Well you wouldn't believe it from hearing the last speech but this is actually a very simple bill; it's short and it's sweet. The bill removes the requirement to list a physical address on campaign advertising for the upcoming local government elections. The current legislation—the Local Electoral Act 2001—provides that candidates must include a physical address on the authorisation statement of advertising materials such as on billboards and flyers; often this is the candidate's home address. Instead this bill changes that requirement by saying that it can be a residential or business address an email a post office box number a phone number or a link to an internet site.Why do we need the bill? We need this bill because there have been growing concerns within our community that candidates who publicise their home address may face undue risk to their physical safety and also it may prevent them wanting to stand for office in the very first place. So while the requirements for publicising a physical address were intended to increase transparency and promote democracy in fact they are doing the antithesis of this by discouraging those people who don't want to make their home address public.Of the 30 submissions we received at select committee 27 of those were in strong support of the bill. I'm going to briefly run through the points raised because I think it's important we do so. They clearly stated that the current address requirements put candidates at real risk and also give them a sense of perceived harm. The bill removes barriers for putting people forward for candidacy by removing that requirement and the bill supports an equitable electoral environment and appropriately balances accountability alongside of safety. I'd like to conclude by thanking those members of the Justice Committee that met out of session in recess both Opposition and Government who heard those submissions who deliberated and who were able to report this bill back to the House in good time in order for those local body candidates standing in the next local elections to have this bill enforced to have this law passed and to have that additional protection. Anyone who wants to stand for office in local elections should be able to do so without feeling that their personal safety is put at risk. This is a good bill I commend it to the House.
Webb DuncanDr DUNCAN WEBB (Labour—Christchurch Central): Thank you Mr Speaker. I'm very surprised at the attitude of the Opposition to this bill. This is a good bill. The idea that incentives are in some way always all right just beggars belief. We've seen that incentives in the finance sector—particularly around complex products such as those in life insurance and mortgage products—lead to pressured selling and selling products which aren't needed and aren't appropriate. We've got to be absolutely alert to the concept of conflicts of interest in sales frameworks such as incentives. That's just one small part of this bill. It's a good bill. It makes a much more robust honest and transparent banking sector. I absolutely commend this bill to the House.
White HelenHELEN WHITE (Labour): I want to address the point made by the last speaker Stuart Smith because I couldn't more strongly disagree. What we have here is a culture which has actually caused again great harm to people.I'd like to take the example that Mr Smith took of a scheme where you pay your employees—you incentivise them to sell a product. In something like banking there is a power imbalance. People go along and they trust the person who is giving them that advice. There is a conflict of interest here because the person giving them the advice may actually need the money that comes from the incentive especially if it's a sales target where they are actually being required to sell a certain number before it clicks over. On that last sale how much pressure do you think is on that worker? How much likelihood is there that in fact it really hurts the person; it doesn't help them?So banking is in a very important position: it actually holds a position of trust—and that's good long term. This bill helps to actually change the culture to a good one. This is a problem this has been a problem and it was recognised as a problem by the institutions of the Reserve Bank and the Financial Markets Authority. We're plugging that gap and we're doing it for the consumers of New Zealand and that yes will help with the cost of living.
Henderson Emily; McKelvie IanDr EMILY HENDERSON (Labour—Whangārei): In the last speaker's wide-ranging tour of her grocery shopping habits amongst other matters she mentioned a couple of times that it's no surprise that we have a duopoly and that that is driving prices high.She also mentioned in her closing moments that she wondered whether the Commerce Commission lacks bite. Well I guess what it takes to give the Commerce Commission bite is a Minister with bite a Government with determination to do it; we've done it—very proud to support this bill.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ian McKelvie): The question is That the Commerce (Grocery Sector Covenants) Amendment Bill be now read a third time.Motion agreed to.Bill read a third time.
Commerce (Grocery Sector Covenants) Amendment Bill — Third Reading (continued)
Leary IngridINGRID LEARY (Labour—Taieri): Thank you Mr Speaker. Hon Todd McClay and Damien O'Connor: what sad sacks. I honestly thought that you were going to be speaking against this bill but it transpired that actually all parties support it.Hon Todd McClay: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I just want to help the member I don't think she meant to say that Damien O'Connor's a sad sack.INGRID LEARY: Sorry; you're absolutely right.Hon Todd McClay: Although we agree with it!ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ian McKelvie): Order!INGRID LEARY: The Hon Todd McClay referred to mum and dad scenarios of affordability which is exactly why we're passing this legislation.And without wanting to give a lesson this is about competition law. We have a duopoly we have a lack competition and we have market failure so of course there are going to be higher prices. There is going to be the ability for private covenants which the Commerce Commission has reported on: 190 agreements including covenants and exclusively clauses—150 of those restricting sales and sites for more than 20 years. Now that is not something to do with the current inflation which is around international pressure as we know; this has been decades in the making and this Government is doing something about it.So let's not blame the Government; let's remember that the supermarkets are making an excess profit of $1 million per day. I'm really proud of this bill. Let's remember that all parties in this House are supporting it.
White HelenHELEN WHITE (Labour): Thank you Mr Speaker for letting me take this call because this is something that I'm really passionate about. When I was an employment lawyer I had a few cases which involved supermarkets and a very long time ago there was an issue with the amount of profit that these supermarkets were making and some of the sharp practices they were engaged in. I was very very pleased to see this bill come in. I was extremely pleased to see the addition of the Supplementary Order Paper with regard to the proactive role that our Commerce Commission will play and actually the transparency that will be required because under the hood of private contracts we often have these kinds of practices that hurt people—and these have hurt people for a long time. I am absolutely proud to be part of a Government that has put an end to this behaviour and I hope to see more to come.
Bennett Glen; McKelvie IanGLEN BENNETT (Labour—New Plymouth): Kia ora Mr Speaker. The Commerce Commission stated that competition is not working for everyday New Zealanders. As the Labour Party we committed at the last election and we continue to be committed to addressing the rising cost of groceries. We want to make sure that shoppers are paying a fair price at the checkout and this is not the silver bullet—we know that—but this a part of a suite of activities that are going on. To Dr David Clark our Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs thank you for bringing this to the House and I know you are doing a lot of work behind the scenes in terms of what is to come. Groceries are an essential purchase for every day and everybody within Aotearoa. As I've gone around the electorate of New Plymouth and as I've spoken with dairy owners and with superette owners I know that they gave me the thumbs up because they know that currently it is not working. Currently supermarkets have the duopoly and I commend this bill to the House. ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ian McKelvie): I call Simon Watts for five minutes.
Chen NaisiNAISI CHEN (Labour): Thank you Mr Speaker. We took Mr McClay's contribution just at that—that obviously this is not enough. But look wait; there's more. This bill is just the beginning of everything that we as a progressive Government are doing to help New Zealanders through right now all of the pressures that we're facing not only from overseas but within as well.Can I just commend the Minister for taking this bill to the House and all the series of announcements he's made since. On June 21 he announced more powers to the Commerce Commission—to ComCom—to investigate the conduct of all of our supermarkets.We've also committed to a mandatory code of conduct on top of the banning of land covenants a unit pricing scheme and also an industry watchdog. It isn't just about supermarkets; it's also about our dairy shops it's also about our mum and pop shops across the road in the corner. This bill not only gets us started in terms of making a fairer playing field for everyone but also it will make sure that all our consumers will benefit from it. So this is a good bill and I commend it to the House.
Strange JamieJAMIE STRANGE (Labour—Hamilton East): Thank you Mr Speaker. I appreciate the opportunity to take a call. I will make a very brief call for the sake of time. As the chair of the Economic Development Science and Innovation Committee I would also like to acknowledge the members who worked very collaboratively on this bill particularly Andrew Bayly the member who has just resumed his seat. I really enjoyed working very closely with Andrew and Andrew's expertise has certainly strengthened this bill. So I acknowledge that member.This bill has support right across the House which is fantastic and I just want to touch on one quick point here in the brief time I have available which is the Commerce Commission and the importance of them being proactive which is what we saw in terms of the Supplementary Order Paper from the Minister. I'd like to highlight that very strongly and I look forward to the Commerce Commission taking a proactive approach in this area. It's an excellent piece of legislation. I commend it to the House.
Voting — Correction—Continuation of the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020
McKelvie IanVOTINGCorrection—Approval of COVID-19 OrdersASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ian McKelvie): Members before I call the next speaker we need to correct the result of the previous vote on Government notice of motion No 2. The result was announced as ayes 87 noes 22—I clearly couldn't add. The correct result was ayes 97 noes 22.
Commerce (Grocery Sector Covenants) Amendment Bill — Third Reading
Utikere TangiTANGI UTIKERE (Labour—Palmerston North): Thank you Mr Speaker. I rise to take a very brief call this evening in support of this as chair of the Health Committee which considered issues related to the extension of this legislation. This was the third time in the life of the Act that the notice of motion had been considered by the Health Committee. I want to acknowledge the former responsible Minister the Hon Chris Hipkins—and that's something I think that regardless of the contributions that have been made this evening was reflected in the committee in terms of the tiresome effort that the Minister had put into workload around this. Can I acknowledge the incoming Minister. I know the Health Committee looks forward to working alongside her.The position of the Health Committee is to effectively recommend by majority that the Act be continued and that the period be extended through to 31 December. The reason for that is because the framework and the legislative basis up to this point has served the country well. There was much confidence from the committee's perspective in the responses that Minister Hipkins had given to questions that were posed from members from all around the House. One point in particular—and it's reflected in the report—is that he indicated that many of the orders that had been made under this piece of legislation had progressively been dismantled but it was not a situation where the orders could just be carte blanche all dismantled at once. A very brief contribution from me but just one that is in support of this bill.
Robertson Grant; Rurawhe AdrianIMPREST SUPPLY (FIRST FOR 2022/23) BILLThird ReadingHon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): I move That the Imprest Supply (First for 2022/23) Bill be now read a third time. DEPUTY SPEAKER: The question is that the motion be agreed to.
Robertson Grant; Rurawhe AdrianAPPROPRIATION (2021/22 SUPPLEMENTARY ESTIMATES) BILLThird ReadingHon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): I move That the Appropriation (2021/22 Supplementary Estimates) Bill be now read a third time. DEPUTY SPEAKER: The question is that the motion be agreed to.
Bennett Glen; Rurawhe AdrianGLEN BENNETT (Labour—New Plymouth): Kia ora Mr Speaker. Mānawatia a Matariki. Even though obviously the long weekend is over the season of Matariki is still upon us. As this afternoon we've listened to this debate and as we've looked at these appropriations I feel very much like there's a connection. It's very much been talking about things that have gone on before us. There have been some conversations about the present and what has been happening right now today. But also obviously this about looking to the future and looking at the year ahead in terms of our spending. But I'd change that language to what we're actually investing in" and that as has been said by many on this side of the House is people; it's people it's infrastructure it's into our health system it's into our cost of living package it's into our climate emergency response it's into supporting business growth and it's into supporting Māori and Pacific aspirations in Aotearoa New Zealand.I'm glad that on this side of the House we are investing in what is needed at this time. Things have been thrown around this afternoon; there have been lots of things around "insatiable spending" "addiction to spending" "addiction to debt" and alternative Budgets and alternative Governments even but we know and we bring it back to the fact that we have a plan. We bring it back to the fact that our finance Minister the Hon Grant Robertson has developed a balanced Budget for this time supporting the here and now but also obviously looking to our future and to future generations and I'm grateful to be under the leadership of our Deputy Prime Minister of our finance Minister who has worked hard to find that balance in a challenging time that we are in. I'm grateful right now as we end this debate to support our Minister of Finance to support these bills and to commend them to the House.DEPUTY SPEAKER: The time for this debate has expired. The question is that the motion be agreed to."
Obituaries — William Rex Austin MBE
Mallard Trevor; Robertson GrantIMPREST SUPPLY (FIRST FOR 2022/23) BILLIntroductionSPEAKER: I understand it is the Government's intention to introduce an imprest supply bill.CLERK: Imprest Supply (First for 2022/23) Bill introduction. IMPREST SUPPLY (FIRST FOR 2022/23) BILLFirst ReadingHon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): I move that the Appropriation (2021/22 Supplementary Estimates) Bill and the Imprest Supply (First for 2022/23) Bill be now read a second time. I thought it might be helpful for—SPEAKER: No we have to have a first reading first. Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: It's not on my drill sheet. SPEAKER: You're moving the imprest supply bill the first for—Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Oh OK—yep. SPEAKER: All right? It's on the sheet. Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Apologies Mr Speaker. I move That the Imprest Supply (First for 2022/23) Bill be now read a first time.