Goldsmith PaulHon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National): Thank you Mr Chair. It's my pleasure to speak on this bill here that we're looking at: the Crown Minerals Amendment Bill in the name of Dr Megan Woods. What we're trying to achieve through this legislation is to amend the Crown Minerals Act to maintain the effectiveness and efficiency of the permitting regime established by that Act. Dealing with Part 1 there are a number of specific measures which we have broad support for which are designed to give more clarity around different elements of this legislation. One example is late applications for consent to change of control. So this is to make it clear that a late application for a change of control must be made before the change of control is complete. Now there have been lots of arguments about this particular instance over the years and so this legislation or this change makes it clear that a late application cannot be made once a person is already in breach of the rules. So in respect of general regulations and laws that govern the economy and different parts of the economy throughout the most desirable thing is to have clarity around what the law actually means. Poorly drafted legislation leads to uncertainty and in this industry like many industries when we're talking often about millions of dollars of investment over a very long period of time the importance of certainty and clarity around what the law is requiring and saying is important. The interesting thing though that I find about this is—and I've been looking at the departmental disclosure statement which is very thin and it deals with the impact analysis that's been done on this legislation in Part 1 that we're looking at the moment—is there analysis available on the size of potential costs and benefits of the change? And the answer to that is no. So one of the obvious questions I have for the Minister is why there was no analysis done of the costs and benefits of the proposed changes in Part 1 and throughout the bill because you know I think that's a basic practice that we should have and it may be that it didn't cross a particular threshold requirement—I'm not sure. The potential for any group of persons to suffer substantial unavoidable losses—the answer to that is no so maybe that's the issue but I'd like some clarity from the Minister around that. Also it says For the policy to be given effect by this Bill are the potential costs or benefits likely to be impacted by: … (b) the nature and level of the regulator effort put into encouraging or securing compliance?". And the answer to that is no and I just like some clarity around that from the Minister as to why that is the case. I would've thought if we're making a new law in this area which is intended to clarify what the law actually means that it will have consequences. The other point I wanted to draw attention to was the external consultation that went on because the department has made it quite clear that the departmental consultation on the draft bill has taken place within various ministries—and that's all very well; you'd expect that—but also targeted stakeholder consultation has taken place with the Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of New Zealand (PEPANZ) Straterra Greymouth Petroleum and other areas. Of course this is what we would expect—that if you're having legislation that affects an important industry for New Zealand the Government and ministries would consult with the people most directly affected by it. I just can't help but make the obvious observation that this is in marked contrast to the way that the Government handled the broader oil and gas changes that have been brought through this House in previous months where a massive change to the industry was brought through in the absence of any meaningful consultation with the sector that was affected by it and that was an appalling piece of legislation. This particular legislation which is much more minor much more targeted and focused on dealing with a couple of particular aspects in relation to the Crown Minerals Act has been dealt with it appears in the normal way of actually consulting with the industry and I'd just like some clarification if I could from the Minister that indeed that when we talked about targeted consultation—[Time expired]"