edithatogo/nz-hansard-corpus huggingface dataset:
King MattMATT KING (National—Northland): It is a pleasure to take this call today. This bill rewrites and updates the Legislation Act 2012 placing provisions about legislation into one statute. It encompasses—and get a load of this—the Acts and Regulations Publications Act 1989 the Regulations (Disallowance) Act 1989 and the Statutes Drafting and Compilation Act 1920 and now includes the Interpretation Act 1999. The significant detail I'd like to highlight is that this bill is ours from the last term by our former Attorney-General Chris Finlayson. So it's a National Party bill and of course we support it. It's purely structural and procedural matters and it certainly isn't urgent.The Labour Party told everyone they had a 100-day plan to right the wrongs of this evil former National Government and then they gave us this—and then they gave us this. They told us that National had left the place in a mess. They promised to plant a billion trees build a hundred thousand houses end child poverty and have zero suicides. I'm waiting for them to announce that they're going to cure cancer and solve world peace.Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: I'm waiting for you to address the bill.MATT KING: They're certainly not going to do all that by bringing legislation like this to the House. I urge the coalition Government to organise themselves and get on with the job. Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. I commend this bill to the House.Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: The next call is split. Dr Liz Craig—five minutes.
Ghahraman GolrizGOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN (Green): I would like the honourable Minister like to start with congratulating the Hon Mr Chris Finlayson QC for his foresight and commitment to upholding the rule of law via this draft legislation. It's a testament to this coalition Government's commitment to those same principles that we are now passing that into law.The Green Party supports the Legislation Bill because we are committed to any measures that better strengthen and promote open good governance. Transparency of and accessibility to the law are essential to good governance. Despite this secondary legislation has essentially been opaque and inaccessible for some time which is arguably a breach of the rule of law in New Zealand. Individuals and businesses and entire sectors have for a long time been governed by thousands of pages' worth of regulations that are not knowable to them even in their existence. This has at times amounted to a breach of the rule of law.The rule of law as we all know requires that the law is clear and accessible and knowable to those whom it binds and those whom it affects—individuals businesses the New Zealand public. The absence of a public register of secondary legislation has arguably been a longstanding breach of those requirements.Regulatory regimes need to be knowable by the businesses that they bind so that those businesses can fairly be bound and held accountable for breaches. The introduction of the proposed register in the Legislation Bill will finally define the boundaries of secondary legislation and identify all that exists in New Zealand's collection through an authoritative source.A readily searchable online register of secondary legislation will finally go a long way to bringing New Zealand in line with 21st century standards for compliance with the rule of law but the bill also introduces legislative disclosure requirements so that the very process by which secondary legislation is developed is also knowable and transparent to the public and businesses affected by it. As we know the rule of law also requires democracy and transparency of those processes is essential to that. This will of course in turn improve oversight of those processes and scrutiny of regulatory regimes.Given that over a hundred agencies are empowered to make secondary legislation on a wide range of matters from consumer rights and food standards to business reporting there is a need for greater transparency in the way that those processes come about and those standards are set. The incorporation of the Interpretation Act into this bill is also important. This will make easy access to interpretation of all our legislation under one law—which we also welcome—further contributing to transparency and accessibility of the law and enhancing and strengthening the rule of law in New Zealand which is to be celebrated. I thereby commend this bill to the House.
Falloon AndrewANDREW FALLOON (National—Rangitata): Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. Can I start by acknowledging the fact that it is International Volunteer Day today and thank and acknowledge all the 1.2 million New Zealanders out there who do volunteer for a number of community organisations and of course particularly those in the beautiful Rangitata electorate.It's a pleasure to be taking a short call tonight on another fantastic piece of legislation from the previous National Government. I'd like to take this opportunity to commend the Labour Party for their commitment to progressing National's programme with such vigour in their first 100 days in office—in particular the Legislation Bill before us this evening. It must be said that the new coalition Government are nearly as good at progressing our legislation as we were.The Legislation Bill will substantially improve public access to the law. The bill will make it easier to find and access secondary legislation by requiring that it be published on the New Zealand Legislation website. More than 100 Government agencies are empowered to make secondary legislation on a range of matters. It is appropriate as technology improves that Government and this Parliament seek to make legislation and regulations more accessible to the public and ultimately those who have to follow the law.It was a pleasure to hear this evening my colleague the very learned former Attorney-General Christopher Finlayson—Hon Member: QC.ANDREW FALLOON: —QC indeed—speaking on this bill. In fact I refer back to some comments that he made previously—Hon Christopher Finlayson: Better than being a bookie.ANDREW FALLOON: —indeed—that this bill will provide greater certainty for the public about their rights and obligations reduce compliance costs and enhance Parliamentary scrutiny for secondary legislation."This is a good bill. I commend it to the House. I once again congratulate the Government on progressing this and other quality National Party bills and can tell them that we're very happy to offer up more if they run out."
Customs and Excise Bill — Second Reading
van de Molen TimTIM VAN DE MOLEN (National—Waikato): Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. It's a pleasure to rise in support of the Customs and Excise Bill. This is indeed my first opportunity to speak after my maiden speech so it is fantastic to have the opportunity to be here and to be speaking on what was a piece of legislation that came through under the former National Government. Of course when I came in I was anticipating coming into Government so it was a little disappointing to be on this side of the House—of course a sentiment shared by the vast majority of New Zealanders but as we know it wasn't to be. The former member for Northland made the decision and we are where we are.Having said that I do commend the Minister of Customs for bringing this bill before the House. I think it is fantastic to now be progressing another piece of former National Government legislation. Although we are in Opposition it doesn't feel like that because there's so much of our legislation that's being progressed now. It's fantastic. We're still making progress. The strength of this former Government continues to flow through. So it is indeed fantastic to have the opportunity to support this.This bill is updating some of those areas that are important. We've seen a lot of progress—free-trade agreements for example progressed by the former Government of course. Many of those are in place now providing huge opportunities to rural heartlands like the Waikato where I come from. There is so much benefit to our constituents as a result of those free-trade agreements but it is important to make some amendments via the Customs and Excise Bill to capture some of those changes and of course some of the additional advances we've seen in information and technology in the digital space in particular—previously you might have been able to withhold information such as a picture of yourself smiling next to a war criminal whereas now those changes in technology will enable some of that information to be captured appropriately.So look I don't want to cover any more of the points that have already been touched on but I think it's important to commend this bill to the House. I'd just really take this opportunity as well to encourage the Government to be brave—take an opportunity to push forward some of your own legislation. We appreciate progressing ours of course but by all means we encourage you to put forward your own plan for the future. On that note I commend this bill to the House.
Muller ToddTODD MULLER (National—Bay of Plenty): Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker and can I first acknowledge you in the Chair. It's the first time I've spoken with you sitting in the Speaker's Chair and I am delighted that you have found that position. I'm sure you'll do it very well sir.It's a great privilege to be able to speak on the Customs and Excise Bill. As the former chair of the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee which ushered this through with the support of Ministers Wagner and Macindoe—we ran a huge process and it's so entertaining to see the Government now embracing it as its own. I mean we had Rino Tirikatene—he attended most of our sessions. He represented the Labour Party. There was Barry Coates—he's no longer here. And Fletcher Tabuteau—sometimes I found it understandably a little bit dense. But we drove this process because it was absolutely critical to do so and this reading is the report back from the select committee.The bill came back for its second reading we went through the House and it would have been progressed to third reading except the previous Government had so much on the Order Paper that it wanted to progress that it didn't quite get there.And you're right Angie: in 2009 the then National Government did pass seven bills that were on Labour's Order Paper. But that wasn't our entire work programme. Labour's programme didn't dominate the Government's agenda as you guys have over the last two weeks.It's just such a privilege to be able to be here and speak on bills that we had worked on that we had driven through on behalf of the wider community and get the support of both parties—to step through all of this detail to a pretty granular level and get that support. And now as we sit here the Labour Government has afforded this bill a priority acknowledging their Ministers as heavy-lifting through hours of work on this and at the last three or four strides to the finish line saying Well what a great job by the Government."We all know that it has been a great collective effort by the 51st Parliament to get this through. All parties contributed to it through the leadership of the Ministers of the National Government and that's why this side of the House is so pleased to be able to add our voice to a bill that works for New Zealand. I too commend this bill to the House. Thank you."
O'Connor SimonSIMON O'CONNOR (National—Tāmaki): Thank you very much Mr Assistant Speaker. I'm pleased to take a call on this Customs and Excise Bill. Look it's a bill that actually sits in the context of well a Government that is at this moment only putting forward in orders of the day what are previously agreed pieces of legislation from the last Parliament. So it's got pretty lightweight—a little bit concerning I'd have to say.But on the bill itself—look there's wide agreement on this. There have been improvements made but the whole point of this bill is to basically expedite or speed up the process around customs and I think the best way I can articulate this is by doing it analogously in a speech that is short and expedited and moves through the system quickly.
Mitchell MarkHon MARK MITCHELL (National—Rodney): It's a pleasure to take a call on this the Customs and Excise Bill. Can I first of all start by congratulating the new Minister the Hon Meka Whaitiri on picking this bill up and bringing it to the House. I could tell by the excitement with which she delivered the bill that she could see the true quality of it. Then we heard quite an incredible contribution from—is he a Minister? Yes he is isn't he? Yeah the Hon—[Interruption] Well there's so many of them. The Hon Willie Jackson—what's he the Minister for?Hon Meka Whaitiri: Employment.Hon MARK MITCHELL: Employment. That's right. Thank you. So I couldn't believe it. For the first four minutes of his speech do you know what he did? He tried to convince us of the unity of the coalition Government. He spent four minutes telling us there are no divisions and then at the end of his four minutes do you know what he did? He turned his guns on one of his colleagues the Hon Shane Jones; the man that's doing the heavy lifting. The guy that—Hon Shane Jones: Shameful.Hon MARK MITCHELL: Kia kaha Jonesy. Keep doing what you're doing mate. He turned the guns on the Hon Shane Jones. Do you know what he said? He said this: Jonesy's got an eloquent mastery of the English language that gets him into trouble." Well I don't believe that and I don't accept that for one minute. I think that actually Jonesy's doing the heavy lifting over there and like I said Jonesy kia kaha mate. Keep it going. Well done. You're doing very well.The other thing that I noticed about Willie Jackson is that he seemed to have an unhealthy obsession with the Hon Gerry Brownlee. The last member that shared that same unhealthy—if you bear with me; I see you're getting ready Mr Assistant Speaker Rurawhe. Can I congratulate you too on your appointment. It's a very good appointment and I know that you'll be an outstanding Assistant Speaker of the House. But the last member in this House that developed an unhealthy obsession with the Hon Gerry Brownlee was the Hon Clayton Cosgrove and he's no longer here with us although I do want to acknowledge him. He was a very good member of the select committee that I worked on.I just want to very quickly mention the bill. It is a very important bill because we are a small trading nation down at the bottom of the world. It's important actually when our goods are moving across the border that we have the right protections in place. But at the same time we are balancing that with a reduction of red tape and compliance costs and we're making life a little bit easier for travellers transiting and visiting New Zealand. So it is a very good bill. I do recommend to the House. Thank you very much Mr Assistant Speaker."
Brownlee GerryHon GERRY BROWNLEE (National—Ilam): If this House ever needed confirmation that Willie Jackson is a man who's gone through the revolving door of life on everyone else's shove then it would have to be his contribution on this bill. Fancy Labour claiming this as being all their hard work—quite ridiculous but if that's the way they want to go I would like to take a point of order right now. I move that all items on the Order Paper from 2 to 7 progress immediately to their third reading.The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): I put the leave to the House. The leave has not been agreed to.Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: Well there you are you see. They have an opportunity to do some things to showcase how good they are as a Government to show the nation that they have got a big programme stacked up there somewhere that they want to get into the House to clear away all the stuff from the previous drought get on with their own business—and what do they say? No no." Because they haven't got any business of their own.I'm not going to take the House's time on this this afternoon. It would be ridiculous to do so. I'd start to sound like Willie Jackson who actually mentioned the bill only once and then it was only because someone put it in front of him in very large letters so he could read it. His claims that it is a good bill are absolutely right. And it's entirely due to the previous Minister of Customs who brought this bill to the House. I support the bill."
Scott AlastairALASTAIR SCOTT (National—Wairarapa): Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker. First of all I'd like to congratulate the Minister across the House for her appointment and I wish her well in her job as Minister of Customs.The second point is that I'd like to lay down a challenge for her and ask her whether she still supports her colleague Stuart Nash when he says that he would do everything he can to impose and collect the GST on physical assets coming across the border. That's a public announcement from your colleague Minister and I look forward to your views and discussions and whether you agree with a colleague or not.Now isn't it great that we've got another National bill in the House? Isn't it fantastic? It just shows you again that that Government has nothing to put up that is more important than our National Party bills. I mean they could have put up a waka-jumping bill but they have not because quite clearly they don't have the numbers. They haven't done the deal and that's the problem they're going to have. With any of their legislation that is even slightly controversial you're going to have a problem with the Huey Dewey and Louie" combination not being able to manage and put stuff in front of this House. That is why we continue to discuss and debate National Party bills—National Party bills endorsed—Brett Hudson: Because it's the only good legislation they've got.ALASTAIR SCOTT: Well it's the only legislation that they've got. They've got no ideas at this point at least that they can present and have support for and be confident that they have the numbers on. But at least for this one there is support. We know that. We've got cross-party support for the Customs and Excise Bill.The Minister has eloquently outlined a lot of the provisions. I'd just like to make mention of the good discussion that was obviously had that was contributed by the Privacy Commissioner Mr Edwards around the searching of electronic devices. Quite reasonably the guys that are going to carry offensive material on anyone on their phone—it's just not going to happen. So there was a reasonable balance between—because you can store that sort of stuff in the cloud and that's never going to be picked up on a personal device. So I think that compromise on protecting the everyday Joe Bloggs traveller—their privacy—is a good one. The test is that there must be reasonable suspicion or a belief of offending before that electronic device can be inspected. That was a very good discussion and it landed in the right place I think.As I say the Minister's gone through a lot of the points around the modernising of the legislation—the need for the modernisation the changing of the times the changing of the language—and around discussing technology in a way that can assist customs officers in protecting our borders. Therefore I commend this bill to the House."
Births Deaths Marriages and Relationships Registration Bill — First Reading
Stanford EricaERICA STANFORD (National—East Coast Bays): Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker. I am delighted to get up and speak today to take a call on this bill the Births Deaths Marriages and Relationships Registration Bill. I am going to make it short today because I am speaking in support and I'm reiterating what a lot of people have already said. So I won't speak for a long time but I would like to start by acknowledging Peter Dunne and all of the work that he has done on this bill and also to thank Tracey Martin for picking it up. What I would like to say is that being in Opposition at the moment is almost like being in Government. When looking at the Order Paper it is really nice to see much of the National Party's legislation being picked up so it's quite a nice time to be around.What I would like to say is just three quick things. Firstly there is the fact that this bill really is moving with the times—it's really important that as technology expands we make sure that our legislation moves along with it. The first part of this I'd like to speak to is the accessibility of documents now. To be able to go online and request those makes things much easier. Just a small personal anecdote on that front is me losing my marriage certificate—very shortly after getting married embarrassingly—and not having gone on to get a copy because it is just a lot of work. But actually this bill modernises the Act and allows someone with a RealMe identity to be able to go and order that online which is something that we do every day in our lives and would expect that it be possible to happen but actually under the current legislation it's not. So this actually brings us into the digital age moving with the times and will certainly mean that I will now be able to go online and request a copy of my marriage certificate finally.Secondly as previous members have said for those children that sadly pass away before their parents the changes in this bill allow for their deaths to be noted on their parents' death certificates. That is a sensible amendment and something that we support—obviously; it's our bill.Thirdly the ability to know your family history—having all of this digitalised and available online—is a massive advantage.With those three things we are obviously very much in support of this bill. Thank you to everyone who's done the hard work on this and I commend this bill to the House. Thank you.
Yang Jian; Williams PotoDr JIAN YANG (National): As the previous speaker Brett Hudson just mentioned it's great to see yet another excellent piece of legislation carried over from our National-led Government. This bill addresses some issues related to the Births Deaths Marriages and Relationships Registration Act 1995 particularly the lack of coherence and transparency and this lack of coherence and transparency has largely resulted from multiple amendments since the Act came into force some years ago. A key purpose of this bill is to upgrade the 1995 Act to make sure all provisions are presented in a modern way and in an up-to-date and accessible form. So the bill will modernise the 1995 Act to make sure that it is futureproofed—just to make sure that this system of civil registration of life events or what we call births deaths and marriages (BDM) information can be accessed easily in modern times. It will also set up a platform that will support the provision of BDM information. So we come to the access issue. A BDM access review completed last year suggested that there was a necessity really to modernise the BDM access regime. Like with many other public services it is now time to provide digital and online access to BDM information. We provide lots of public services through digital channels so this is yet another example. The bill will also balance the public interest in having access to BDM information for legitimate purposes with the protection of at-risk individuals and also individuals' private interests. The proposed changes were widely consulted and therefore they have broad public and agency support. Also the bill has a number of small but very meaningful changes. For example at the moment under the 1995 Act children who die before one or both of their parents are not recorded on their parent's death certificate and this will be changed. This change of course will enable historians and family members to have a better understanding of the family history. As I said it is great to see yet another piece of legislation that was proposed by the former National-led Government is being carried over. So I commend the bill to the House.The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): I call Raymond Huo. I understand this is a split call—5 minutes.
Hudson BrettBRETT HUDSON (National): Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker. It's an absolute pleasure to rise in support of the Births Deaths Marriages and Relationships Registration Bill in this its first reading. I can say that with absolute sincerity I am fully supportive of this bill because in fact it is a bill introduced by the former National-led Government which speaks a lot actually for the Order Paper if one was to peruse it and to look at the work done recently in this House.In its first 100 days as the new Government trumpeted the measures it would take to in some way transform New Zealand what we can see is they are led almost exclusively by implementing the policies of the National-led Government. In fact the only measures that have been their own have been the backtracking and flip-flopping of promises they made on the campaign trail that they have since found too difficult to enact through legislation.So we find ourselves here just a little bit out from Christmas instead debating a bill in its first reading that was the work of the previous Government. Looking on the Order Paper for the remainder of the week it is all the work of the former National-led Government. At the moment I like the work of this new Government. It's actually doing some sensible things and so I commend them. I commend them for progressing this which is a pretty straightforward and minor set of changes; a refresh of a piece of legislation that nonetheless—nonetheless—does serve to continue to strengthen what the former Government called Better Public Services and New Zealanders can do with those.One of the good things about the changes—which hopefully by the end of the third reading should it go that far this will bring into effect—is to bring the whole area of births deaths and marriages and that register into probably the late 20th century. But at least that approaches the 21st century with a default position that is towards a digital channel. For far too long and for reasons that at the time were held to be fairly genuine—such as not wanting to permit such easy access to this information that it could be used for identity fraud which you would look at the heart of and say Well that's pretty sensible." But we've seen a little bit beyond that and realised that well we can't stay living in the past in the 1970s as New Zealand First would have us—certainly economically speaking. We do have to bring these things into the 21st century and this bill will do just that for that register. It will make it easier for people to find information around births deaths and marriages for legitimate purposes. It will still provide protections against fraudulent use.One thing that I think is interesting is the changes around the notification of death an odd situation that exists today where there is ambiguity about the requirement to notify death or disposal of a body. The changes that are proposed in this bill will provide clarity around that and should lead to ensuring that notices of death are made in a more timely manner. I commend this bill to the House."
Swarbrick ChlöeCHLÖE SWARBRICK (Green): Tēnā koe Madam Deputy Speaker. I rise in support of this bill the Births Deaths Marriages and Relationships Registration Bill which obviously re-enacts the Births Deaths Marriages and Relationships Registration Act 1995 but in a much more readable form. That essentially gives effect to the Minister of Internal Affairs' review of the Act focused primarily notably around access and the issues raised in the Law Commission's review of burial and cremation law.This is a relatively uncontroversial bill so my points will be brief but first and foremost I would like to tautoko the point made by my Labour colleagues about the fact that this will enable greater access to the tracing of one's family tree and genealogy particularly in remedying the fact that in the 1995 Act a parent's death certificate didn't record children who died before their parents which this update will of course change.One thing that I think hasn't yet been addressed by any in this House who have spoken to the bill is the tangata whenua o Te Tiriti considerations. We believe as the Green Party that this bill should be considered alongside the Māori Affairs Committee inquiry into whānau access and management of tūpāpaku initiated originally by Metiria Turei and led by Marama Davidson subsequently. The reporting of a death didn't explicitly come up in this inquiry review but is absolutely within the scope so the Green Party would like to make sure that that is something that stays in the minds of the members in this House.The second thing which we'd actually like to applaud is that the bill reflects as has been noted the non-discrimination provisions in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights including the sexual orientation and gender identity—the nominated sex—of the individual on their birth certificate.I have addressed all three issues—the Te Tiriti considerations those of sexuality and the genealogy tracing—so on that point I would like to simply state that this bill strengthens the integrity of information and provides for its secure long-term safe storage as well as access to it which is fundamentally of importance if we are to maintain an open Government especially in 2017. It will assist families researchers and historians and is simply put user-friendly. It is a non-controversial update but as has been noted attention should be paid at select committee stage to ensure there are no unintentional consequences and that safeguards to information are adequate particularly from the perspectives of a cultural familial and spiritual sensitivity. The Green Party and I commend this bill to the House.
Bakshi Kanwaljit SinghKANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI (National): Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker for the opportunity to stand and support the Births Deaths Marriages and Relationships Registration Bill. I would like to acknowledge the Hon Peter Dunne the proposer of this bill and it's good to see that the Hon Tracey Martin the new Minister is carrying on the good work and continuing to work on this bill.As has been mentioned by the previous speaker just now Jenny Salesa this bill is updating the previous Act which was reviewed by the Department of Internal Affairs and recommendations were made. Those recommendations have been taken care of in this bill. This bill will re-enact the original Act which is the Births Deaths Marriages and Relationships Registration Act 1995 and this will update it and bring it to the up-to-date mark.As we know technology is changing. Previously we used to work on paper; now online facilities are available and it's easy for everyone to access these facilities. This bill will give effect to the recommendations arising from the Minister of Internal Affairs' review of the access provisions in the 1995 Act which was presented to the House of Representatives on 20 October 2016.As the previous speaker also mentioned we have to have access to the technology and this bill will help internal affairs to make this bill an end-to-end facility where RealMe can be accessed. That will provide help for if somebody wants to make their family tree. This bill will enable them to get access to all the family members who are part of that clan and make sure that they can access these things. With these words I commend this bill to the House.
Salesa JennyBIRTHS DEATHS MARRIAGES AND RELATIONSHIPS REGISTRATION BILLFirst ReadingDebate resumed from 30 November.Hon JENNY SALESA (Minister for Building and Construction): Madam Deputy Speaker thank you so much for this opportunity to complete my speech. The last time when time ran out I was speaking about the use of online channels.The expectation of the New Zealand public is to have ease of access to all historical records that are of importance to them. This proposed legislation will allow New Zealanders with a RealMe ID to access births deaths and marriage records online. This bill will help people to trace their family history. In this digital age I would say that what is being proposed by the Births Deaths Marriages and Relationships Registration Bill is actually really important. We should be able to trace our family history our genealogy easily and in an accurate manner in a society where we have eroding social capital urbanisation and technologies leading more of us to have more insular families. So I feel it is really important to understand one's family roots and to be able to access and to be able to trace one's family heritage in an online way.This proposed bill will assist all of us in ensuring that we have online access. It will also update the language and order of the content to create a more cohesive and accessible document online. Any amendment that will create and make it easier for us to understand and access legislation can only be an advantage to all of us in our very diverse society.This legislation includes development by the Department of Internal Affairs of an end-to-end digital service which includes access to images of historical records online. It will enable people to access and find the correct records and it would also enable them to fill in crucial gaps especially for genealogical studies.One of the important gaps that this bill will address is it will fix—when a child tragically passes away before their parents this legislation will be able to record on to the parent's death certificate that the child has passed away and this will enable all of us to access a complete family record. So children will now be able to see on an individual's death record whether or not that particular child is alive. These changes will address the known cause of concern especially for grieving families and it would ensure a more complete family record.This bill will also create a more cohesive piece of legislation because there are changes that this bill proposes that would be fit for purpose and it will ensure that it is more futureproofed for societal changes. We support this legislation. Thank you very much for this opportunity to speak on it. Thank you.
Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Bill — First Reading
Urgent Debates Declined — Tertiary Education—Fees-free" Policy"
Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Bill — Procedure
Visitors — Fiji Niue and Tonga—Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians
Mallard TrevorURGENT DEBATES DECLINEDTertiary Education—Fees-free PolicyMr SPEAKER: I have received a letter from the Hon Paul Goldsmith seeking to debate under Standing Order 389 the Government's announcement today of its fees-free tertiary policy. The announcement is a particular case of recent occurrence for which there is ministerial responsibility. The announcement is a significant matter of public policy.In deciding whether to grant an urgent debate I consider whether there will be a future opportunity for the House to debate the subject of the application. In his application Mr Goldsmith has asserted that legislation is not required to implement the policy. He has however not authenticated this assertion.If legislation is not required then that would significantly strengthen the case for an urgent debate since the House would not have had an opportunity to debate the policy before it is implemented. Matters presented as facts in applications for urgent debates have to be authenticated. Since 1984 Speakers Arthur Hunt Wilson and Smith have repeated this requirement and I refer members to Speakers' rulings 189(3) (4) and (5).The matters raised in Mr Goldsmith's application that are not authenticated must therefore be disregarded. Since the matters central to the argument in favour of an urgent debate are not authenticated the application is declined.
Hipkins Chris; Mallard TrevorCHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL REINSTATEMENT BILLProcedureHon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the House): I seek leave for the Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Bill to be set down for first reading after question time today and to then be referred to the Environment Committee for report by 18 December 2017 and to pass through the remaining stages on 19 December 2017.Mr SPEAKER: I'm going to put that with the slight caveat that I have a matter to deal with in between questions and that bill. Is there any objection to that process? There appears to be none.
Mallard TrevorTUESDAY 5 DECEMBER 2017Mr Speaker took the Chair at 2 p.m.Prayers.VISITORSFiji Niue and Tonga—Commonwealth Women ParliamentariansMr SPEAKER: I am sure members would wish to welcome the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians from Fiji Niue and Tonga who are present in the gallery.[Applause]
Wednesday 4 July 2018 - Volume 730
VoteThe question was put that the following amendment in the name of the Hon Louise Upston to clause 217 be agreed to: insert before the first line:MSD must advise P of the hierarchy of sanctions and ensure P understands impacts of any breaches.A party vote was called for on the question That the amendment be agreed to.Ayes 56New Zealand National 56.Noes 63New Zealand Labour 46; New Zealand First 9; Green Party 8.Amendment not agreed to.The question was put that the following amendment in the name of the Hon Louise Upston to clause 232 be agreed to: in paragraph (a) replace MSD;" with "MSD including availability of online MSD services;".A party vote was called for on the question That the amendment be agreed to.Ayes 56New Zealand National 56.Noes 63New Zealand Labour 46; New Zealand First 9; Green Party 8.Amendment not agreed to.The question was put that the following amendment in the name of Dr Jian Yang to clause 232 be agreed to: in paragraph (a) replace "MSD;" with "MSD including language assistance;".A party vote was called for on the question That the amendment be agreed to.Ayes 56New Zealand National 56.Noes 63New Zealand Labour 46; New Zealand First 9; Green Party 8.Amendment not agreed to.The question was put that the following amendment in the name of Jo Hayes to clause 271 be agreed to: insert after subclause (4)(b) the following new paragraph:(c)a 13 week stand down from a benefit.A party vote was called for on the question That the amendment be agreed to.Ayes 56New Zealand National 56.Noes 63New Zealand Labour 46; New Zealand First 9; Green Party 8.Amendment not agreed to.A party vote was called for on the question That Part 5 as amended be agreed to.Ayes 64New Zealand Labour 46; New Zealand First 9; Green Party 8; ACT New Zealand 1.Noes 56New Zealand National 56.Part 5 as amended agreed to."
VoteA party vote was called for on the question That the question be now put.Ayes 63New Zealand Labour 46; New Zealand First 9; Green Party 8.Noes 56New Zealand National 56.Motion agreed to.The question was put that the amendments set out on Supplementary Order Paper 25 in the name of the Hon Carmel Sepuloni to Part 5 be agreed to.A party vote was called for on the question That the amendments be agreed to.Ayes 63New Zealand Labour 46; New Zealand First 9; Green Party 8.Noes 56New Zealand National 56.Amendments agreed to.
7. Question No. 7—Commerce and Consumer AffairsPAUL EAGLE (Labour—Rongotai) to the Minister of Commerce and Consumer AffairsQuestion No. 7—Commerce and Consumer Affairs7. PAUL EAGLE (Labour—Rongotai) to the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs: What is the Government doing to address predatory lending practices?Hon KRIS FAAFOI (Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs): Last week I released a discussion paper outlining findings from the review of the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act (CCCFA). The Government is looking at measures to protect consumers including a cap on interest rates and fees strengthening enforcement and penalties for irresponsible lending and introducing more prescriptive requirements for affordability assessments and advertising. These predatory practices often targeted at the most vulnerable are trapping families in high-stress debt spirals that are causing harm and distress.Paul Eagle: What evidence has he heard that suggests the 2015 amendment to the CCCFA did not go far enough?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: The review confirmed what I've heard across New Zealand that widespread levels of inappropriate lending including lenders charging up to 800 percent annual interest offering loans that are clearly unaffordable and lashing people with huge penalties and fees has continued. I have heard from people facing this insidious and crippling debt from budget advisors and social agencies doing what they can to help and from across the financial sector. Without exception there has been acknowledgement that the 2015 reforms did not go far enough and they support this Government's action to stop these predatory practices.Paul Eagle: What are the next steps the Government will be taking in credit reform?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: Public consultation on the discussion paper is open until 1 August and I urge anyone who has been affected by predatory lending or debt collection practices to have their say. I also want lenders in the financial sector to submit. We do not plan to stop people lending so we do want to hear how we can both keep people safe in borrowing and support honest business. The Government will be looking to make policy decisions later this year to finally address these practices that have gone unchallenged for far too long.
5. Question No. 5—Social DevelopmentHon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō) to the Minister for Social DevelopmentQuestion No. 5—Social Development5. Hon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō) to the Minister for Social Development: What recent decisions and actions has the Government taken about high tariff offenders?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI (Minister for Social Development): On the advice of the Ministry of Social Development and the Department of Corrections Minister Davis and myself agreed that compensation claims to serious offenders including those arising from historical abuse in State care should be progressed.Hon Louise Upston: What steps has the Minister taken to ensure no further rapes murders assaults are committed by these offenders?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: I don't think I have responsibility for the high-tariff offenders' offences. My role and responsibility lie with compensation for those who have been victims of abuse in State care and there are two very separate things going on here that I think that member needs to be very clear about rather than trying to run them together.Hon Louise Upston: What does she say to the parents of Natasha Hayden who was murdered in 2005 when they ask and I quote What about the life of the people they've killed or molested. What do they get?"Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: I want to make it very clear that everybody in this House from every political party empathises with victims of crime particularly the ones who have suffered under horrific crimes as that member has pointed out. But there are two separate matters here that we are talking about: one is the crime and these people are not getting compensated for their crime. The issue that we're talking about here where the compensation is going is to where people have been assaulted or abused in State care as children. We have a legal obligation to compensate them if they are found to have their case proven and as a Government we are committed to abiding by the law.Hon Louise Upston: What confidence can the public have that these offenders that have recently received large payments from the Ministry of Social Development on that Minister's instruction won't continue to create more victims of crime?Mr SPEAKER: Order! That is not an area the Minister has responsibility for.Hon Louise Upston: What measures has the Minister taken to ensure that funds that are given to New Zealand's worst offenders will be used appropriately and won't be used to commit further crime and create more victims?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: Every action that this Government has undertaken is within the law. I do need to make the point that National has also always supported compensating these prisoners so let's make that clear. However National wanted restrictions but all the advice that they were given whilst in Government was that the law wouldn't allow them to achieve what they wanted. Their plan was a failure. This Government is abiding by the law."
4. Question No. 4—EducationJO LUXTON (Labour) to the Minister of EducationQuestion No. 4—Education4. JO LUXTON (Labour) to the Minister of Education: What investment in new classrooms for Auckland has the Government announced today?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister of Education): Today I announced $49 million for a new primary school and additional classrooms for two other primary schools in Auckland. It's one of our fastest-growing areas and this Government is committed to making sure there are enough classrooms that are fit for purpose to keep pace with population growth. The funding announced today is part of a $332 million investment in school property in Budget 2018.Jo Luxton: How many additional students will benefit from the $49 million for new classrooms in Auckland?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: Twelve hundred students in total will be accommodated from today's announcement. This includes spaces for 350 students in the rebuild and expansion of Paerata Primary School 240 students by expanding Waterview Primary School and 650 students in a brand new school for Scott Point.
King Matt; Rurawhe AdrianMATT KING (National—Northland): I've never had to work so hard to get a call. Raymond Huo and Jamie Strange have been sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for this contribution and I didn't want to be outdone and have the thunder stolen by Dan Bidois on his first day in the House. I would like to refer to clause 301 Effect of no longer being subject to work-preparation obligations" and then subclause (1)(b)(i): "a general obligation of the person under section"—The CHAIRPERSON (Adrian Rurawhe): Sorry to interrupt the member. [Interruption] Order! I'm on my feet. Sorry to interrupt the member it's come time for me to report progress.House resumed.The Chairperson reported the Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Environmental Effects) Amendment Bill with amendment progress on the Social Security Legislation Rewrite Bill and no progress on the Military Justice Legislation Amendment Bill.Report adopted.The House adjourned at 9.56 p.m."
Sepuloni CarmelHon CARMEL SEPULONI (Minister for Social Development): That member Simon O'Connor who was just speaking was attempting to say that Part 6 in terms of what's being proposed through Supplementary Order Paper (SOP) 25 is nonsensical. I just want to say that member is nonsensical. It was very hard to follow his argument when it was based on so many factually incorrect assertions.Firstly I need to inform that member that the winter energy payment is not based on age. Superannuitants veterans—yes—but also all main beneficiaries can get access to the winter energy payment. So it is not age-related in any way. Also that member kept referring to the sickness benefit and the invalid's benefit. Unless the member is citing legislation pre-2013 when those benefits actually still existed then I have no idea what he's talking about because they haven't existed since 2013 when his Government at the time—the previous Government—changed the legislation and folded what the terms of those were into what became the supported living payment. So as I said it was very difficult to follow that member's argument because of the fact that there were so many factually incorrect assumptions and statements made.So perhaps reading the actual SOP would bring him up to speed with more recent legislation and perhaps next time he won't start his speech by referring to my lack of intelligence when clearly someone has not read the bill.