Flavell Te Ururoa: Statutes Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Statutes Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:641;Page:11518] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker. I a au e tu nei ka rere nga whakaaro ki tera e takoto mai ra i roto o Ngati Kahungunu. Me mihi ki a Ngati Kahungunu raua ko Ngati Porou e tangi nei ki ta ratau mokopuna tamaiti i tenei po. Hirini moe mai moe mai moe mai ra. Me penei rawa te korero ko te hunga mate ki te hunga mate ko tatau e korero nei e wananga nei i nga korero huri noa tena koutou kia ora tatau. Kia ora. 
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.] 
[ 
Greetings to you Mr Assistant Speaker. As I stand here my thoughts fly to that one lying in state in Ngati Kahungunu. Indeed I acknowledge Ngati Kahungunu and Ngati Porou who are grieving for their grandson and child tonight. Syd sleep slumber and rest there. The saying should be this: the dead to the dead and we the living to the living as we make speeches here and debate what is being said. Throughout the Chamber greetings to you and to all of us. Thank you. 
] 
As far as I can see debates on Statutes Amendment bills are generally rather timid debates such as we have had tonight in keeping with their very nature. The amendments from what I understand need to be minor technical and non-controversial and so it is with the 50 assorted statutes being amended here tonight. But when this bill came into the House on 1 March the debate took on the Exclusive Brethren Church giggling schoolgirls and openly gay members of Parliament. As a new member still learning the ropes I thought I must have got the wrong bill or perhaps there is more to the Fencing of Swimming Pools Act than meets the eye. 
On a more serious note the Maori Party is happy to support the bill which introduces amendments to these 50 Acts administered in a host of different departments. Most of the amendments as mentioned are inconsequential. The fact that the application for the conversion of a society into a branch in the Friendly Societies and Credit Unions Act 1982 now requires only one copy rather than two copies will probably not make tomorrow’s headlines. I do not think there will be too much controversy associated with adding the subscriber’s name and address details in applications for incorporations within the Charitable Trusts Act 1957. Actually we wondered how the charitable trust movement had survived for 50 years without needing these sorts of details. 
Some of the changes are a consequence of the benefit of new technologies so we are happy to support amendments to the Care of Children Act 2004 and the Children Young Persons and Their Families Act for the purposes of enabling any authority executing a warrant to be able to do so on the basis of a faxed copy. 
The amendments to the Energy (Fuels Levies and References) Act 1989 are likewise a result of improvements and advancements in this sector with the addition of definitions of “biofuel” and “engine fuel”. There are however some more substantial changes which I would like to refer to briefly. 
 One significant amendment is to the Local Government Act 2002 which provides water care with the same protection currently afforded to local authorities under the Act. It requires that third parties that want to carry out work on or in relation to a local authority’s waterworks must notify it and get its consent thus minimising the potential for damage to the water infrastructure. It is a move towards transparency that we fully endorse. 
The proposed amendments to the Electricity Act 1992 have special meaning in relation to the ongoing adverse impact of electricity costs upon the more vulnerable segments of our population. The tragic situation in South Auckland earlier this year highlighted the fact that there is no incentive for power companies to avoid disconnections. In fact the Association of Non-Governmental Organisations in Aotearoa has reported that in the company accounts of one power company it had made the princely sum of $6.5 million alone just from the disconnection and reconnection fees that it had charged customers. 
In line with this the amendments intended to gather information about the generation conversion transformation conveyance sale consumption and use of electricity for statistical purposes are a very useful change which we hope will provide the nation with a stronger information base with which to understand the true cost of electricity charges. If we as a Parliament are committed to ensuring New Zealanders have access to an electricity supply that is efficient fair reliable and environmentally sustainable then having the best information in front of us is obviously a priority. 
In much the same way we support the amendments to the Gas Act which will mean that consumers can switch gas suppliers. Currently the regulations allow any changes to be made only in respect of gas retailers. We have a particular interest in protecting the rights of the low-income domestic consumers of energy sources to have the opportunities and information to enable them to get the best deal for their dollar and we think that this amendment will assist that. 
Another issue that stands to impact on the health and well-being of New Zealanders is the proposal to amend the Health and Disability Commissioner Act 1994. We are happy to support the proposal for the Minister of Health to consult the Health and Disability Commissioner on the appointment of a deputy commissioner. It is vital that the person appointed to the deputy role who after all may have the delegated authority of the commissioner for specific functions and who will deputise for the commissioner on occasion must be someone who has the confidence of the commissioner to be an independent voice for that agency. 
Although we are looking for independence the Maori Party is interested in the concerns raised by the select committee about the Public Audit Act 2001. Earlier Mr Finlayson provided a solid overview of this but my understanding is that the role of the Controller and Auditor-General is to monitor the lawful and efficient use of public moneys and financial accountability to the public sector and to report findings to Parliament. The amendments in this bill introduce services in relation to the Register of Pecuniary Interests of Members of Parliament. Mr Finlayson noted the concerns of the National Party that the Standing Orders encompass the provisions requiring all MPs to make returns on their pecuniary interests but I have to ask what the problem is with increasing accountability and transparency of the pecuniary interests of members of Parliament. Why would we want to stand in the way of being held to account? 
Another of the set of amendments we are interested in concerns the Resource Management Act. The changes provide for the Attorney-General not the Minister of Justice to appoint environment commissioners and deputy environment commissioners. These are extremely significant appointments and given the importance of direct accountability to Parliament and the high value we place on having an independent external point of view we support the shift to bring these appointments under the responsibility of the Attorney-General. 
Finally I make reference to the amendments to the Biosecurity Act 1993 and the Trade in Endangered Species Act. Both sets of provisions enable inspectors to seize unauthorised goods along with the risk goods if unauthorised goods are found or in the case of endangered species to seize a specimen of endangered threatened or exploited species from a ship an aircraft a port or an aerodrome if the species is being traded. It raises the question for the Maori Party of how decisions about risks and endangered species are made particularly when we consider the current environment of both the Wai 262 and the Crown discussion document on bioprospecting. 
 Bioprospecting the search for and gathering of biological material that may have some commercial value is an extremely contentious area of debate as the policy pre-empts the Waitangi Tribunal’s findings by assuming that the Crown already owns biological resources. The Wai 262 claim seeks recognition and protection for matauranga Maori in respect of indigenous flora and fauna. As part of the hearings scrutiny has been applied to the intellectual property regime the protected objects regime environmental decision-making and the wider way in which policy is arrived at regarding biological and genetic resources of indigenous and taonga species. The Wai 262 claim raises relevant issues on the ownership of biological resources on matauranga Maori and indeed the debates that may be had around the Biosecurity Act 1993 and the Trade in Endangered Species Act. 
As I said earlier from what I have seen Statutes Amendment bills are generally played down as minor technical amendments that are not worthy of terribly much attention. But there are some important relationships and contextual matters that we suggest officials should give consideration to. The submissions on the bioprospecting policy framework close on 12 October 2007 and the consultation process officially finishes this Thursday actually 6 September. Meanwhile the Wai 262 hearings have only recently wound up and it would no doubt be some time before the Waitangi Tribunal reports back. 
In the meantime there are two particular recommendations that the Government could follow when considering particular issues of sensitivity to do with endangered threatened or exploited species. It could agree that further policy making on such matters is deferred until the tribunal’s report is released and if that is too challenging it could agree to an alternative course of action whereby the Crown endorses an ethical framework for resolution which is basically about operationalising a working Treaty relationship instead of Maori being a bit player. 
The Maori Party will support this bill as it moves into the Committee stage of the debate but we simply raise for the attention of the House the need for new systems for protecting indigenous knowledge a code of conduct for researchers and a comprehensive and thoroughly thought-through strategy around the access and benefit sharing of genetic resources as just some of the issues that have arisen out of this bill and warrant more in-depth study. Kia ora tatou.