Borrows Chester: Regulatory Reform Bill Regulatory Reform (Repeals) Bill — Second Readings 
Borrows Chester: Regulatory Reform Bill Regulatory Reform (Repeals) Bill — Second Readings 
[Volume:678;Page:1339] 
Hon CHESTER BORROWS (Minister for Courts) 
: 
 It is great to be able to take a call in respect of supporting the Regulatory Reform Bill and the Regulatory Reform (Repeals) Bill. I find myself in agreement with the previous speaker Andrew Williams who said that the change particularly in respect of stickers on video labels is something that should have happened some time ago. It is interesting to note in reading the transcript from the select committee debates that the officials who were making this point to the Commerce Committee said that they had spoken to the previous Government on many occasions trying to get exactly that reform. That is good; I will come to that later.  
The Government is committed to improving the quality of regulation and to removing unnecessary ineffective and excessively costly regulation and this legislation helps to achieve that. The Regulatory Reform Bill is an omnibus bill and so carries many provisions that will make it easier to do business. This is particularly important as an objective in the current economic climate and I hope further reform bills will follow.  
 As a Minister with responsibility for the Films Videos and Publications Classification Act it is obvious that these changes are very very necessary in terms of the matter I mentioned earlier. The industry has expressed frustration with some of the administrative requirements in the Act. It supports the purpose of the Act but says it is hampered by compliance requirements that are outdated and costly. The Regulatory Reform Bill will modernise these requirements and reduce those compliance costs. A key change will be to allow the industry to print classification labels. Currently labels take the form of stickers and have to be physically attached to DVDs and some computer games. This is an expensive and time-consuming process—but it is a job—and it is out of step with most comparable jurisdictions. It is time the process was updated and streamlined to better meet the needs of the industry and the viewing public. Allowing the print and sticker labels is a small but valuable change and it is expected to save businesses up to $2 million a year in compliance costs.  
The bill will also improve the process for reviewing classification decisions. People who disagree with a decision of the classification office can apply to a review board to have the decision reviewed. However the current process for reviewing decisions can be very lengthy and to be effective a review process should deliver timely justice. A protracted process has little value for the industry. The entertainment industry is fast-growing. There is often little time between classification and the release of a major film and there is therefore only a short period during which a distributor can challenge a classification. This bill will establish a more timely review process. It will allow review applications to be lodged more rapidly. The classification office will move from a paper-based system to an electronic register— 
Chris Hipkins 
: Who wrote this? 
Hon CHESTER BORROWS 
: —of classification decisions. And it will make classification decisions publicly available on the electronic register within 5 days. “Alfalfa” over there is asking who wrote it. It is obvious that if he had read the transcript from the select committee process he would see that this is something that officials have been asking for over a long period of time. Unfortunately under the Government in which he served or would have liked to serve—he served as a public servant which is fair enough—he never had the opportunity to supervise or to see brought to fruition the claims and the entreaties that those officials made to that Government when those members were in Government prior to 2008. It is a real shame it is a crying shame but what we know is that they hate business. They hate business so much they were not prepared to grant this small wish. We know that those people who lick those labels and stick them on those CD pouches—every one of them—voted for their party.  
I am pleased to be able to support this legislation and its intent which is to reduce compliance costs and to create productivity in this fine country of ours. I endorse it to the House.