Andersen GinnyHon GINNY ANDERSEN (Labour): Thank you very much Madam Speaker. Thank you for allowing me to take a call on the Forests (Log Traders and Forestry Advisers Repeal) Amendment Bill part of a suite of different measures that have been designed to reduce regulation. The changes that were brought in led by Shane Jones in this space are being wound back. I think it's important to note that while we are supporting the bill it is really important that the safeguards that have been undertaken to industry to make sure that those forestry exporters and forestry growers—that those safeguards are in place. That is the main caveat that we are placing upon the support of this bill today.As it has already been noted not only is forestry a significant part of our export market—fourth-largest I believe—but it's also an area where there has been a large number of workplace casualties and also fatalities. It has been a hugely unregulated place where workers are operating in incredibly dangerous situations. It is important to note that the way we do our business in New Zealand directly reflects upon our international reputation and our ability to continue and grow our trade market.So if we are serious about growing trade if we are serious about growing our economy we need to look after our workers. I would just like to acknowledge the work of Helen Kelly in this space. She worked for a long time and fought for many families who had lost loved ones. She fought WorkSafe hard and long for poor-quality investigation where workers had been killed and did not come home because of poor-quality safety practices right here in New Zealand—young men operating with dangerous instruments and felling trees in areas that were just plain unsafe. So with pulling back regulation we need to be cautious that we don't kill and hurt the very people that we are expecting to drive our economy further. That word of warning comes with taking away any form of regulation. We need to be doing that in a measured sense.One of the things that's always struck me living in the Wellington area is how many logs sit on our ports when you drive past. It always strikes me that we should be doing a little bit more of that processing here in New Zealand. We support local processing of those trees that we fell. It would be far better for our own economy to have value-add to be making more of those products here in New Zealand that we're able to export at a higher price. There's some really smart stuff going on in that sector in terms of composites and how we can do that in the building sector. I think this is an area that we could continue to work upon. Instead we do send a lot of it off shore and then we bring it back in as finished goods from other countries. I think there's some opportunities there for us to make more out of the produce that we grow right here in New Zealand.I think it's important to note in terms of this winding back regulation that we always take a good look at our supply chains—where are they starting off and where are they finishing and what are the industries involved along that process of supply chains? Regulation can be really effective at lining up our industries so that we get maximum bang for buck. Sometimes just cutting staff and saying Red tape sucks and we're going to get rid of it" loses sight of some of the bigger scope of how we plan and for a small country make the most of our resources make the most of our skills and grow our GDP as much as we possibly can. So I really hope that there's further work going on with this Government to understand the bigger picture of our forestry sector and how we make the most of the opportunities that we have right here.I'd like to also note that this bill defers the commencement date so we see it makes those amendments to the bill that was enacted in 2023. It's to ensure that there are no regulatory gaps and that full engagement is effected with people and trading partners that that can be delivered. It's important to keep that in place.It also ensures that the secondary legislation for the legal harvest system is developed and implemented in a way that appropriately manages risk and does not add unnecessary compliance costs. That's an important balance to strike—between making sure we manage risk but also managing compliance. It's important to listen to the sector and we believe in Labour that we want to work with our local sector and understand their concerns to not only make sure their job is easier but also that they balance those risks that have been outlaid.This is a bill that New Zealand First pushed forward and I see that they're still OK with it now as it's wound back and to reduce some of that regulation. Overall I think it is an interesting time and I look forward to seeing not only how the Government but also the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) sees how we make sure this operates well. The bill specifically provides for MPI to refund any of those levies or any of those fees under the system and also to waive those levies or fees that are due but not yet paid as part of when this was meant to commence. It also stipulates here that all unresolved complaints and reviews will be extinguished and commercial disputes discontinued. Those consequential amendments made will make sure that when it commences the Act does not include any of the provisions that relate to that primary piece of legislation.For a sector that means a lot to New Zealand's economy for a sector that does a lot of good for New Zealand a big part of our export market but also a lot of workers out there I really hope that this Government gets it right and I really hope that they strike that balance appropriately between reducing regulation but managing risk."