Sio William: Border Processing (Trade Single Window and Duties) Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeSio William: Border Processing (Trade Single Window and Duties) Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 20 February 2014. Volume:696;Page:16217. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Su’a WILLIAM SIO (Labour—Māngere): Talofa lava. I am no longer on the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee—that lot there booted me out—but I am happy to make a contribution on the Border Processing (Trade Single Window and Duties) Bill. I recall in its first reading the points made by my colleague the Hon Phil Goff. They were pretty valid then and they are still valid today. When Craig Foss began the first reading debate there was genuine concern. We might have laughed about it in this House but there was genuine concern given it was Craig Foss who was responsible for the Novopay mess the numerous botch-ups that teachers and principals in our schools the length and breadth of this country are still having to experience. Here is a quote: “The Novopay system continues to fail …”. Three hundred and fifty principals remain underpaid this year. There is a high error rate in the pay cycle this year as compared with last year.The House will recall that this Government after the honourable Minister Craig Foss began the botch-up then appointed the Hon Steven Joyce who is well known around these corridors as “Mr Fix-it”. After his being on the job for a whole year we are still none the wiser of when the Novopay debacle is going to be fixed. So there is genuine concern despite the fact that we are supportive of this Trade Single Window. In fact it was under the previous Labour Government that this idea of the Trade Single Window was first discussed and the information as the Hon Phil Goff has mentioned came through that. In fact the SmartGate system which John Hayes lauds as being something that Maurice Williamson is credited for did not begin with National; it started under the Labour Government. So although we are supporting this bill there are these serious concerns that we need to be assured of in this House.The Hon Phil Goff made mention of INCIS—a system that was instigated with the police force under a National Government. I understand that it cost $100 million but that system failed. So the concerns we have about this Government being able tomanage these systems are genuine and they are real. Although we support our borders being protected and well resourced we note that under this Government there has been this consistent cutting of funding. I know that at one point in time the Hon Damien O’Connor raised the fact that this Government is responsible for cutting significant staff numbers as well as money from the customs budget when it first got into Government. And what we have seen under the presence of this Government in the last 6 years is the Psa fungus which affected our kiwifruit. We have seen also the fungus in our rivers. In more recent times there has been a report of a fruit fly from Australia impacting on our orchards up north. So we are not making this up—that is the point.That Government is a Government that this side of the House has serious concerns about when it has got its hands on this kind of system given its track record. It has failed with Novopay it has failed with INCIS and we are still seeing fungus and other diseases impacting on our orchards under its particular watch. What this bill now does is it enables information to be shared between the Customs Service and the Ministry for Primary Industries. Here is a concern that still needs to be raised. The sharing of information is a concern particularly when you are talking about business and the need for keeping some of that information confidential. If our business community does not feel confident about its information being made available and safeguarded by this Government I am not sure whether this Government can put hand on heart and say that that is what it will be able to do. So there are concerns and we want this Government to be able to give assurances to this House in so far as this bill is concerned.I note that when this bill went out for consultation only three submitters made a submission on the bill and only one was heard by the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee. You know our democratic system allows for—and I think we are probably the only one—a select committee process where the public are able to make submissions. I have noticed that there is a stark difference. Under Labour the opportunities for the public to participate and to air their views vigorously and robustly were made available to everyone but I have noticed that this Government has cut short the period for public consultation. I notice that the bill went out to the committee at the end of August but submissions closed in the middle of September. Is that one of the reasons why we got only three submissions?I have a concern that if the public are not given ample opportunity to air their views and to make submissions on this bill then I am not sure whether we can fully trust this Government to be making the right decisions and to get things right. As I have said and I hate to repeat myself for the sake of the House the fact that the Novopay debacle has existed since 2011—or was it 2010? It just seems like it has existed ever since the beginning of this particular Government—Hon Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I just want to help the member. The Government does not determine the consultation period; the select committee of each bill determines that. Thank you.The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson): Actually that is a debatable motion Mr Lotu-Iiga.Su’a WILLIAM SIO: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker.The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson): Are you sure? It is Thursday! The honourable member Su’a William Sio.Su’a WILLIAM SIO: I recall that in past situations where a member has got up and given a frivolous point of order they were usually kicked out of the House.The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson): Order! No no no. I know that it is Thursday—home time soon. We have had our fun. I call the honourable member Su’a William Sio.Su’a WILLIAM SIO: I would like to repeat again for the sake of that member who may not have listened that the point we are making is that although this side of the House is supporting this bill at its second reading there are serious concerns about the Government’s ability to be able to safeguard information under the system that has been proposed. Given the Government’s track record with Novopay and INCIS and its failure at the border on some occasions I believe that it is going to be difficult for us to proceed further unless it can provide those particular assurances.The fact that Novopay has existed for quite some time—even today reports are saying that Novopay continues to fail that there are 350 principals that remain underpaid and that the errors of its pay cycle are high compared with last year—does not give confidence to the New Zealand public that this is a Government that you can trust with the information that it will gather under the Trade Single Window.I think that the trust factor is a huge factor in the minds of New Zealanders as we go into this year’s general election. I do not share the confidence of that Government in its Minister being able to completely bring this about and safely protect the information that would be gathered under this Trade Single Window.