edithatogo/nz-hansard-corpus huggingface dataset:
St Peter's Parish Endowment Fund Trust Bill — In Committee
SpeechCHAIRPERSON (Hon Jacqui Dean): The committee has considered the St Peter's Parish Endowment Fund Trust Bill and reports it without amendment. I move That the report be adopted.Motion agreed to.Report adopted.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Poto Williams): In accordance with a determination of the Business Committee this bill is set down for third reading immediately.
Robertson GrantHon GRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central): In what I suspect will be a fairly brief committee of the whole House stage because we've had a good discussion during the second reading—Chris Penk: Just you wait—just you wait!Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Well Mr O'Connor told me he'd be brief. But I only had just the two matters I wanted to raise here to make sure we cover them off and they were the two matters that the select committee took advice on.The first of those was around the additional distribution option within clause 5 and that relates to the question of exceptional circumstances. There was some discussion around whether or not there needed to be some criteria for that whether there needed to be some further definition around the question of exceptional circumstances.The committee considered some proposals from the Ministry of Justice around that idea—as I said a definition or perhaps revisiting the maximum rate which is a distribution of up to 4 percent of the fund in each financial year which is in the first part of clause 5. But in the end the committee decided having talked to the trust board and its advisers that actually the criteria which follow in clause 5 which are listed off there—the needs of the parish the investment strategy of the trust the desirability of maintaining the capital of the fund and any other relevant matters—was sufficient for dealing with that. I think that was a pragmatic decision but important that the committee had the opportunity to go through that.The other issue was around what would be caused in terms of interaction between this legislation and the Charitable Trusts Act and the Anglican Church Trusts Act and whether or not there would be a complexity in the relationship between those statutes and some consideration of whether or not it was desirable to repeal an existing private Act without any replacement legislation. In the end the committee agreed with the proposal from the trust board and others that actually clause 9(1) makes clear that Any future amendments to the trust deed may be made in accordance with the Anglican Church Trusts Act 1981 and where applicable the Charitable Trusts Act 1957." So that covered off that concern. They were the only two matters that I wanted to draw to the attention of the committee.As this will probably be one of the last moments that I speak on this bill I just want to acknowledge all of those who have spoken in the second reading and the first reading. I thought they were excellent contributions and I think everybody has understood the kaupapa of this legislation well and therefore it is time for it to be passed.Preamble and clauses 1 to 10 agreed to.Bill to be reported without amendment.House resumed."
SpeechIn CommitteePreamble and clauses 1 to 10CHAIRPERSON (Hon Jacqui Dean): Members the House is in committee on the St Peter's Parish Endowment Fund Trust Bill. We come first to the debate—Glen Bennett: A point of order Madam Chair. I move that all provisions be read as one—be taken as one question.CHAIRPERSON (Hon Jacqui Dean): Leave is sought for that purpose. Is there any objection? There is none. The question is that the preamble and clauses 1 to 10 stand part.
St Peter's Parish Endowment Fund Trust Bill — Second Reading
SpeechANGELA ROBERTS (Labour): Thank you Madam Speaker. It is a delight to rise and take a call on this bill. We've heard very much already about the changes that are required to modernise and make it possible for St Peter's parish to continue to lead and to support their neighbours and the fight for social justice. So we've heard about all of that.I guess I have a little confession that my children are not from a family that connects regularly with a church community. As a teenager the only time I went to church was to sing because the acoustics are great and musicians are welcome in most churches. So my family only really experiences church communities when we go to weddings and to funerals and maybe the odd christening. Yet they had been beneficiaries of your mahi.So when we were locals in in the Aro Valley and my kids were a lot younger and we'd walk down Willis Street they would see the people congregating and waiting for that very precious container to open up with The Free Store in the evening. You know my little daughter would ask me what's happening. It was such a wonderful opportunity to be able to explain to her not just what was going on but why; and be able to really share that sense of community and not just that it's good to look after your neighbours whoever they may be but how you do it; you just do it.I want to thank you for teaching our children about social justice and about service—Camilla Belich: Go the Catholics!ANGELA ROBERTS: —and the Anglicans—and really importantly for our young people that when things are hard—because they are tough at the moment—to help them through; to know after seeing what you do that there is hope that comes from service. It is because of this I'm delighted to commend this bill to the House.Motion agreed to.Bill read a second time.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Poto Williams): In accordance with the determination of the Business Committee the St Peter's Parish Endowment Fund Trust Bill is set down for committee stage immediately. I declare the House in committee for consideration of this bill.
SpeechSORAYA PEKE-MASON (Labour): Mihi ana ki a koe e te Madam Speaker. Tēnā koutou katoa ngā rangatira o te St Peter's. [Greetings to you Madam Speaker and to you all the distinguished leaders of St Peter's.]It is my pleasure to take a short call on the St Peter's Parish Endowment Fund Trust Bill. The bill seeks to remedy with relation to income distribution matters within its trust deed. The purpose of the bill is to bring its trust deed into the modern world. There's no doubt of course deeds need to be reviewed from time to time. I was not involved with this bill but I congratulate everyone that was involved. This bill does a number of things. It removes the restriction on the trust to distribute income it repeals the former 1927 Act and it ensures any future amendments can be provided under provisions of the Anglican Church Trusts Act 1981 and possibly the Charitable Trusts Act 1957.St Peter's has a long and rich history which dates back to 1848 of advocating for social justice especially for the lost the last and the least. In my world and that of Te Haahi Rātana te pani me te rawakore—the orphans and the widows and those of the greatest need in our communities. I acknowledge also historically they are open to all in every aspect of worship regardless of sex gender sexual orientations race or faith. Sadly we can't say the same for other Christian groups. But I commend and wholeheartedly celebrate St Peter's in a way that due respect needs to be held here with their inclusivity. So in particular of course their long advocacy on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community. I acknowledge too that the Wellington City Mission was formed from St Peter's—it's iconic to Wellington. I thank St Peter's on behalf of every one of you. You do such a great service to our people. Tēnā koutou mihi ana ki a koutou tātou katoa. [Thank you all greetings to you all.]
SpeechJAN LOGIE (Green): Thank you. I rise to take a very brief call to demonstrate the Green Party's support for the St Peter's Parish Endowment Fund Trust Bill. I acknowledge the member the Hon Grant Robertson for bringing this forward on behalf of a significant constituency within his electorate. This is amending a bill and a trust that was put in place in—as we've heard—1927 and is about reflecting the will of the church and their community. And I really feel like it's their business—ha ha! And the sooner we get to the point where Parliament doesn't need to spend time on enabling the church to do its own business the better. I support this bill.
SpeechTONI SEVERIN (ACT): Thank you Madam Speaker. On behalf of the ACT Party I rise to speak on the St Peter's Parish Endowment Fund Trust Bill. It was very interesting reading through this because again not from Wellington; however experienced a lot what has occurred in Christchurch with the Anglican churches down there.Reading through all this it was very interesting the history that Minister Grant Robertson informed us when this was originally sat back in 1922 then the endowment fund in 1927—and at this stage we're 100 percent sure there's no one of that age here. However things have changed.Hon Grant Robertson: Willie Jackson's here.TONI SEVERIN: But one will never know—one can always be hiding. But then also the charities trust—this is part of that—is to get us back into modern life. Even the Charitable Trust Act which is 1957—we might have a few people that are closer to that age—then again we've had the Anglican Church Trusts Act 1981 which I'm thinking we're coming a little bit closer to home for many people in Parliament; and then of course the Trusts Act 2019.But it was very interesting to read through and find out that the minimum trust payments are that they could only pay out £1500—and many people wouldn't even know what a pound looks like—and then it goes to £10000. So we're no longer working with pounds; we're working with dollars. Anything that can help a great organisation that does great work—we're all for it especially when they have been able to achieve the savings that they have and doing the good work that they have within the social justice area.I understood this makes it just that much more flexible to be using this money and that's great especially those from us in Christchurch that understand when extreme circumstances can occur and especially with us losing many of our old churches in Christchurch—of which many were Anglican churches—that extreme circumstance that they have in this bill we hope in Wellington do not need to use on an earthquake. But we do know that adverse things do happen and there's also anything with buildings we know when they are of age as well we just hope that everything's going well.But in general the bill: we were quite happy. I did not sit on the Governance and Administration Committee but I believe that they have gone through this very well and that Crown Law has come through. We might need to start looking at some of these quite old bills that may need to be updated because we are constantly changing laws here and many people get caught in the changes. It's a huge cost as well as time for these people that have these sorts of trusts and conditions placed on them from like 1927—that's yeah. It's hard to believe to think that they've operated for this length of time with these constraints that they had around them.So with that we commend this bill to the House and we think it's going to do a great job to help the Wellington community and help St Peter's parish to continue their good work that they have achieved. Thank you Madam Speaker.
Robertson GrantSITTINGS OF THE HOUSEHon GRANT ROBERTSON (Leader of the House): Mr Speaker point of order. I wish to inform the House that in the extended sitting tomorrow morning the business to be considered will be the Parole Amendment Bill and the first reading and referral to select committee of the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill.
Rurawhe AdrianPETITIONS PAPERS SELECT COMMITTEE REPORTS AND INTRODUCTION OF BILLSSPEAKER: Petitions have been delivered to the Clerk for presentation.CLERK: Petition of Bharat Guha requesting that the House consider removing Invercargill's Southern Institute of Technology from the tertiary reformspetition of Fired Up Stilettos requesting that the House establish the right of adult entertainment workers to bargain collectively while maintaining independent contractor status; outlaw all fines and bonds between employers and contractors; and establish a nationwide mandatory maximum that an employer can take from a contractor's profitspetition of VOYCE - Whakarongo Mai requesting that the House urge the Government to honour the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child commitments to prioritise human rights of children in State care.SPEAKER: Those petitions stand referred to the Petitions Committee. I present the report of the Controller and Auditor-General entitled Leading New Zealand's approach to housing and urban development. That paper is published under the authority of the House. Select committee reports have been delivered for presentation.CLERK: Report of the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee on the briefing on the 2023-24 Estimates for Vote Customsreport of the Māori Affairs Committee on the report of the Attorney-General under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 on the Rotorua District Council (Representation Arrangements) Billreport of the Petitions Committee on the petition of Jared Riggreport of the Social Services and Community Committee on the report of the Ombudsman on Official Information Act compliance in the Ministry of Social Developmentreport of the Standing Orders Committee Review of Standing Orders 2023.SPEAKER: The bill is set down for second reading. The Standing Orders Committee report the Attorney-General's report the Ombudsman's report and the briefing are set down for consideration. No bills have been introduced.
O'Connor GregWEDNESDAY 30 AUGUST 2023The Speaker took the Chair at 2 p.m.KARAKIA/PRAYERSGREG O'CONNOR (Deputy Speaker): Almighty God we give thanks for the blessings which have been bestowed on us. Laying aside all personal interests we acknowledge the King and pray for guidance in our deliberations that we may conduct the affairs of this House with wisdom justice mercy and humility for the welfare and peace of New Zealand. Amen.
Tuesday 29 August 2023 (continued on Wednesday 30 August 2023) - Volume 771
Residential Property Managers Bill — First Reading
VoteA party vote was called for on the question That the Residential Property Managers Bill be now read a first time.Ayes 108New Zealand Labour 62; New Zealand National 34; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 9; Te Paati Māori 1; Kerekere; Whaitiri.Noes 10ACT New Zealand 10.Motion agreed to.Bill read a first time.DEPUTY SPEAKER: The question is That the Residential Property Managers Bill be considered by the Social Services and Community Committee.Motion agreed to.Bill referred to the Social Services and Community Committee.
Land Transport (Road Safety) Amendment Bill — Third Reading
VoteA party vote was called for on the question That the Land Transport (Road Safety) Amendment Bill be now read a third time.Ayes 96New Zealand Labour 62; New Zealand National 34.Noes 22ACT New Zealand 10; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 9; Te Paati Māori 1; Kerekere; Whaitiri.Motion agreed to.Bill read a third time.
Victims of Sexual Violence (Strengthening Legal Protections) Legislation Bill and Victims of Family Violence (Strengthening Legal Protections) Legislation Bill — First Readings
Bennett GlenGLEN BENNETT (Labour—New Plymouth): This is significant and important legislation. It's not lost on me and on this House that this has cross-party support and that is significant. I commend this bill to the House.Motion agreed to.Bills read a first time.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): The question is That the Victims of Sexual Violence (Strengthening Legal Protections) Legislation Bill and the Victims of Family Violence (Strengthening Legal Protections) Legislation Bill be considered by the Justice Committee.Motion agreed to.Bills referred to the Justice Committee.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Members the House stands adjourned until 2 p.m. this afternoon.Sitting suspended from 12.57 p.m. to 2 p.m.
SpeechANGIE WARREN-CLARK (Labour): Tēnā koe Madam Speaker. This has been my life's work and I am delighted to be standing here speaking on these two bills. For those of us who have worked in this space and for those out in the community who continue to work in this space I want to mihi to you. We carry the stories of heartbreak and grief and pain and these bills are the kinds of bills that the community has been asking for. I commend this bill to the House.
SpeechANNA LORCK (Labour—Tukituki): Thank you Madam Speaker. It is extremely pleasing to see such broad support across the House for these two bills. It is so important for Parliament to do whatever we can. The more we can do to make it simpler streamlined and provide protection that supports the choice of victims the better. I look forward to seeing this go to select committee and I commend this to the House.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): I call Simon Watts for a five-minute call.
Williams ArenaARENA WILLIAMS (Labour—Manurewa): Madam Speaker thank you for the opportunity to take a very short call on this because I think that my colleagues around the House have made some very good points on this. I want to underscore what the Minister said which is that these bills take the question of consent off the table when a young child is involved in sexual offending.The Crimes Act 1961 is amended by the Victims of Sexual Violence (Strengthening Legal Protections) Legislation Bill and it includes sexual crimes against all of the population and specifically around children. Section 132(1) is the section here that the Justice Committee should look carefully at. It makes it an offence to have a sexual connection with a child defined as a person under the age of 12. Despite that age-specific offence rape or unlawful sexual connection with a child is often charged as sexual violation under section 128B. As Chris Penk made the point there is what he called an anomaly there where prosecutors will often choose the offence which carries a lower penalty. Because consent is off the table in that offence it cannot be argued in court and nobody wants to put a child through being questioned around whether they consented to this kind of activity.It's right for Parliament to consider consent; it's right for us to consider the value judgments made in our law around consent. It's no anomaly that these exist but it's because Parliaments are squeamish around dealing with these issues. I commend this Minister Ginny Andersen for bringing in this bill and also my colleague Dr Emily Henderson for tackling this head on. That's why I support this bill.
SpeechVANUSHI WALTERS (Labour—Upper Harbour): Thank you Madam Speaker. I commend Dr Henderson for her staunch advocacy in support of these changes. But what does this harassment litigation abuse look like? Well in the case of Khatri v Tomar the defendant filed 88 applications in the Family Court most of which the High Court couldn't consider in deciding whether to make a restraint order because the applications were made within litigation that was initiated by his former wife who had applied for a protection order and a parenting order. That is what harassment looks like. That is what litigation abuse looks like. These two bills address these horrific processes and I commend these bills to the House.
SpeechANGELA ROBERTS (Labour): It's my pleasure to rise and take a call on the Residential Property Managers Bill. We've heard a lot about the supply issue that has exacerbated the power imbalance between landlords and tenants. As somebody who has often been a reference for young people entering the workforce going off to university and entering the rental market for the first time they are incredibly vulnerable and they're going to become more vulnerable. The minimum wage secure work and all the other things that these young workers need is under threat if we do not return a Labour Government.It's interesting hearing the other side talking about providing a profit and costs being passed on to tenants. We are talking about providing homes and that is the fundamental difference. We urge submitters to come and speak. Young workers need to turn up our migrant population and young families—people who need us to have warm affordable homes.
SpeechDr ANAE NERU LEAVASA (Labour—Takanini): Mālō 'aupito Mr Speaker. It's a good opportunity to take a brief call on the Residential Property Managers Bill. I just want to a say fa'afetai tele lava lau afioga to the Associate Minister of Housing the Hon Barbara Edmonds for bringing this to the House. In our electorate of Takanini we have 40 percent of our community who rent and seeing this bill come through to the House definitely helps protect our whānau that live there especially our Māori and Pacific peoples who are overly represented in the rental market as well.My colleague Naisi Chen has already mentioned some of those things that are happening—that the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand have already said about the claims against tenants. Discrimination is a huge thing and that's something I do not want to see in our whānau. We have a large migrant community as well in Takanini. Again when you see these property managers not complying and also doing other things that do not lift up people that is not good to see. So I commend this bill to the House.
White HelenHELEN WHITE (Labour): Thank you. I join my comrades from across the House. I've heard some very interesting points by Chlöe Swarbrick and from Melissa Lee. We're both in Mount Albert and there's a really high degree of migrants and there's also a high degree of renters and more as time goes on. It's one of those areas which has been neglected because we've come from a culture that has not really had the same degree of rental culture. Rentals are actually really good for the economy. If you have high rental then the money that would've been spent on 25-year mortgages goes into the productive economy. That's been pointed out by Elizabeth Warren—she's very keen on moving into much more stable rentals as a result; it allows a lot more flexibility. I've got parents at the moment living with me and I'm looking at rentals for them. This idea that property managers are a problem is an issue because those people are the nice conduit. They make the relationship professional. They provide stability. I commend the Residential Property Managers Bill to the House.
O'Connor GregNAISI CHEN (Labour): Thank you Mr Speaker. This is a really good bill—one that I've been looking forward to for a really long time. The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand has asked for this bill. They've identified examples of harmful behaviour that damaged their industry and those that we're all part of and our communities are part of: discrimination against tenants not complying with the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) renting out spaces that do not comply with the RTA and stealing bond and rental money from tenants and property owners. This is a bill that will help to address of that so I look forward to passing this bill eventually in this House. I commend it to the House.DEPUTY SPEAKER: Five-minute split call—Melissa Lee.
SpeechDr LIZ CRAIG (Labour): Thank you Mr Speaker. Almost one-third of New Zealand households live in rental accommodation. Once people move in a rental house quickly becomes their home. So a lot of tenants are relying on a property manager for some really basic day-to-day things like if something breaks down requesting repairs requesting maintenance routine property inspections—but also for managing their rent and bonds. What they need to know is given that significant a relationship that their property manager will have agreed professional standards and also there's a complaint process in place should any issues arise.From the other perspective if you're a property owner if you choose to use a property manager what you need to know is that they've got basic entry requirements and that they will understand and comply with a code of professional conduct and with client care. So this is an important bill and it will go a long way towards making sure that these things can occur. I commend this bill to the House.
SpeechANGIE WARREN-CLARK (Labour): Thank you Madam Speaker—pleasure to speak on the Residential Property Managers Bill. Just to advise the member who's just resumed his seat Chris Bishop I notified using my powers today to open for submissions so this bill once referred is open for submissions.Secondly I'd just like to say this is a fabulous bill. It's introducing the compulsory licence training a code of conduct and a complaints and disciplinary process for residential property managers. The reason I love this bill is because as the manager of Tauranga Women's Refuge I had to work quite closely with a number of these people doing these services and the difficulty—they basically said to me to my face We will not have your people in our houses." So to Quinovic in Tauranga this bill is for you. I really look forward to some rights for our renters and some rights for our landlords. So I commend this bill to the House."
SpeechDAN ROSEWARNE (Labour): It's a pleasure to take this last call on this important bill. We support this bill because we know that the Hauraki Gulf is unwell and that we need to restore its health and vitality and mauri as well so our children's children can continue to enjoy it well into the future. It's also good for tourism and Angie Warren-Clark my colleague highlighted how she enjoys the Hauraki Gulf. That's important for our tourism industry so that we can attract those tourists and get them to enjoy the Hauraki Gulf just like the locals do. So this is an important bill. It adds to the long-term sustainability of the Hauraki Gulf and I commend it to the House.Motion agreed to.Bill read a first time.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Poto Williams): The question is That the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Bill be considered by the Environment Committee.Motion agreed to.Bill referred to the Environment Committee.
Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Bill — First Reading
SpeechANGIE WARREN-CLARK (Labour): Tēnā koe Madam Speaker—I'm delighted to speak on this bill. Those of you in this House will know that I am a mad keen fisherwoman and in fact have been fishing all my life. I have fished in on and under the Hauraki Gulf I have taught my child and my children to snorkel using Goat Island. I have absolutely enjoyed the benefits of this beautiful place.We need to protect the Hauraki Gulf we need to take care of this taonga; we need to do it for so many reasons. I am just absolutely delighted that this is the beginning of a significant piece of work that will make the Hauraki Gulf much healthier. I think that across this House people have suggested all sorts of things about the Hauraki Gulf. What I want to say is that our community needs to commit to having a further say. I want to ask all those fishers—the recreational the cultural and the commercial fishers—to have a say about this bill. It is so incredibly important that we get it right and that we move to an ecosystems management system. I commend this bill to the House.
Sosene Lemauga LydiaLEMAUGA LYDIA SOSENE (Labour): Talofa Madam Speaker. It's a pleasure to rise and take a short call on the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Bill. There have been in support of this bill many speakers who have highlighted the critical work that this bill brings forward particularly around the restoration and health in Māori in terms of what it proposes the 19 new marine protection areas. It's critical to Tāmaki-makau-rau because it's such a huge taonga that we see every day. So in particular I wanted to acknowledge all of those involved in bringing this kaupapa forward and also the Ministers who have been very passionate in describing and the work that they've done on the ground to meet with the environmental groups and also hear the call of mana whenua. It's important much-needed marine protection work.The bill just very quickly provides two new marine reserves five seafloor protection areas and 12 new high protection areas. I just wanted to acknowledge the thousands who have submitted to get it to this point because over 60 percent supported the current proposals. It is intended that the Department of Conservation and all of the mana whenua and all of the groups will work together. I commend this bill to the House.
White HelenHELEN WHITE (Labour): This bill is going to protect three times more of the Hauraki Gulf and it's part of a big plan to put in a whole enduring way of managing an area that has not been managed including when I was a child. I remember going and staying out at Rakino Island and it had been stripped bare. It didn't have many trees on it. And what you get in those situations is the sediment from the ground going into the water and destroying the quality of the seabed so you don't get the seaweed in those situations. So this piece of legislation fits in with a whole plan around revitalising our gulf. That includes things like the Natural and Built Environment Act which means that you're not going to get the same runoff from development as has been the case in the past. My tour visited the Noises and it is really sad to go out and see the barrenness of that seabed around that area which is actually next to Rakino Island which I was speaking about.This has implications not just for the suburbs of Auckland closest to the sea and it's not just for Waiheke islanders; this has implications for Auckland. It means places like Mount Albert will be different because the sea in the inner harbour will be different—but all of Auckland really needs this area. This is our jewel—this is our absolute jewel—and it makes up one of the most beautiful places in the country and I commend this bill to the House.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Poto Williams): I understand this is a split call. Simon O'Connor—five minutes.
SpeechDr ANAE NERU LEAVASA (Labour—Takanini): Kia orana Madam Speaker. It is a pleasure to take a brief call on this Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Bill at first reading. I just want to say a huge thank you to the Minister of Conservation the Hon Willow-Jean Prime for bringing this through to the House but also for coming down to South Auckland and seeing the environmental things that we are doing such as activities for our youth and protecting our environment there. We know that our health and wellbeing is connected to our moana and it's connected to our whenua. So this bill helps to do so in establishing 19 new marine protection areas that will nearly triple the protection in the gulf area from 6.7 percent to just over 18 percent. That's really good in terms of making sure that we are protected for the generations. We've just had a classroom here up in the gallery and it reminds me of the next generation who go and who are already seeing the Goat Island and the Great Barrier areas. We've had my son's classroom go and visit and this is all about teaching it for the next generations. So I commend this bill to the House.
SpeechANGELA ROBERTS (Labour): Thank you Mr Speaker. It is a pleasure to rise and take the final call on the Land Transport (Road Safety) Amendment Bill. This bill is about improving accountability and it's about helping to change behaviour. As somebody who's worked with young drivers for a very long time we know that they think differently and they make some very rash decisions and the opportunity to escape is far too often one that they take. This bill reflects and responds to that.This is about changing behaviour. It's really great to hear from the other side of the House the support for the significant investment we've made into our roading infrastructure. My local high school down in Stratford—seeing the changes to the roading layout outside the school just to help to change behaviour and support people driving slower. All those school buses coming in and kids tearing out—rushing to school in the mornings. So it's great to hear the support for the significant investment we're making into safety and this is another thing that will help to improve the safety on our roads and I commend this bill to the House.
Grigg NicolaNICOLA GRIGG (National—Selwyn): Oh thanks Mr Speaker. I come late to the party on this but we are supporting the Land Transport (Road Safety) Amendment Bill. I was expecting to speak on this last night and I was going through reading the bill and I couldn't help but think well it's about time. How has it taken six years for this Government to give the police some backing and some support and to empower them to actually go about doing their jobs of helping to make New Zealand roads safer? Of course the objective of the bill is to reduce unsafe behaviour on our roads by increasing the speed and severity of enforcement but one would argue that this could've happened a very long time ago and one has to scratch one's head at the very fact that the decision was even made to prevent police from pursuing fleeing vehicles in the first place.So here we are anyway. We're having to fix up a mistake that was made and we're happy to support that because on this side of the House we do support legislation that supports our police. Nobody will disagree with the provisions within the bill and indeed National won't but we will support legislation that gets tough on crime and indeed makes New Zealanders safer.It does give new powers to the police when it comes to fleeing drivers. They'll be able to seize and impound vehicles for up to six months licence removal will go from 12 months to 24 and vehicles can also be apparently forfeited [upon] conviction for … failing-to-stop" on that new offence.It is a shame that it's had to come to this. As I said earlier it really never should have come to this in the first place particularly when you look at the data. The number of fleeing drivers between December 2020 and 2021 was 4846 but that same data showed the number of fleeing drivers between November 2021 and November 2022 was 9499. That's an extraordinary increase in people who realised they weren't going to be pursued by police so they were going to take full advantage of it. Of course as we've seen particularly on motorways around the bigger cities like Auckland there have been unfortunate consequences of those fleeing drivers when they've been involved in fatal accidents. As Soraya Peke-Mason did very gracefully point out we should all take a moment to remember those people who lost their lives and indeed their families who will still be grieving.We're looking forward to hopefully if we get over the line in October having the opportunity to take a more holistic look rather than these sorts of belts and braces approaches. We believe that road safety in New Zealand begins fundamentally with improving the state of our roads but of course as well empowering our police to get tough on these offenders who up till now have had a pretty free rein. Indeed we do know particularly with reference to the likes of ram-raiders nine out of 10 of those people involved in ram raids should actually be at school and indeed they've also got a huge amount of gang influence penetrating into those groups as well. So with that I conclude my comments and we do commend this bill to the House."
SpeechSORAYA PEKE-MASON (Labour): Tēnā koe te Mana Whakawā. Mihi ana ki a koutou. Ata mārie. I'm pleased to take a short call on the Land Transport (Road Safety) Amendment Bill. I want to first of all acknowledge the 377 people who lost their lives tragically in this way. One is one too many and there's nothing worse than getting that knock on the door to hear such tragic news. So I just wanted to spare a thought for them.I welcome this bill and I welcome what it means. In particular I just want to acknowledge the impoundment of the fleeing vehicles. I think six months is reasonable. It gives those drivers time to reflect and to think about their behaviour and hopefully in a way that is going to make some changes in their lives. I am also supportive of the vehicle impoundment for failing to provide that information. This is very very important. It's just unfortunate with the world today that this sort of behaviour happens. So here we are—we have to do what we have to do to help protect our communities.Also the vehicle forfeiture—yes absolutely. Support the idea of having to seize these vehicles and to retain those proceeds by the Crown for purposes that I'm sure we can always find. Also the pointto-point cameras and the automated infringements.Our heart is fully in this bill. It needs to happen. Yes this is the right direction. I commend this to the House. Kia ora.
Belich CamillaCAMILLA BELICH (Labour): Thank you Mr Speaker. It's a pleasure to take a call on the Land Transport (Road Safety) Amendment Bill at its third reading. I just want to note that the overall objectives of this bill are to improve road safety and improve accountability for those who break the rules in important matters of road safety—so in short encouraging more public safety. There are three primary changes that will be introduced by this bill: firstly lengthening the time that a vehicle can be impounded when a driver fails to stop; a new power to impound a vehicle when there's information a fleeing driver has not provided; and also increasing the disqualification period for a failure to stop. These are sensible pragmatic solutions that deliver answers to real safety concerns that New Zealanders face and I commend it to the House.
SpeechSTEPH LEWIS (Labour—Whanganui): Good morning Mr Speaker. Thank you. It's my pleasure to stand and take a short call on the Land Transport (Road Safety) Amendment Bill. I'm just going to start by noting that this Government's got a real vision and I start with that because we're hearing from the Opposition benches a lot of moaning about the fact that this is the second to last sitting day of Parliament for the term and how dare we have the audacity to be in here passing legislation progressing our agenda and taking New Zealand forward?Here we have a bill that increases penalties for fleeing drivers and then we've got the ACT Party—the tough on crime party" as their billboards say—saying that they can't support this bill that gets tougher on crime. So I find that quite interesting.But one thing I also want to pick up on from comments made by the Opposition is that they're concerned about the point-to-point cameras because they might be too complicated for us to put in here in New Zealand. There's plenty of evidence as my colleague from the Green Party mentioned before showing that they do work to ensure that drivers drive at safe conditions. So it's my privilege to commend this bill to the House."
Tuesday 22 August 2023 (continued on Wednesday 23 August 2023) - Volume 771
Local Government Electoral Legislation Bill — Instruction to Committee
VoteA party vote was called for on the question That the motion be agreed to.Ayes 75New Zealand Labour 62; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 9; Te Paati Māori 2; Kerekere; Whaitiri.Noes 41New Zealand National 31; ACT New Zealand 10.Motion agreed to.DEPUTY SPEAKER: I declare the House in committee for consideration of the Local Government Electoral Legislation Bill.
Land Transport Management (Regulation of Public Transport) Amendment Bill — In Committee
VoteCHAIRPERSON (Greg O'Connor): The question is that the Minister's amendments set out on Supplementary Order Paper 419 be agreed to.A party vote was called for on the question That the amendments be agreed to.Ayes 72New Zealand Labour 62; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 9; Kerekere.Noes 41New Zealand National 31; ACT New Zealand 10.Amendments agreed to.A party vote was called for on the question That Parts 1 and 2 the Schedule and clauses 1 to 3 as amended be agreed to.Ayes 75New Zealand Labour 62; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 9; Te Paati Māori 2; Kerekere; Whaitiri.Noes 41New Zealand National 31; ACT New Zealand 10.Parts 1 and 2 the Schedule and clauses 1 to 3 as amended agreed to.Bill to be reported with amendment.
VoteA party vote was called for on the question That the Taxation Principles Reporting Bill be now read a third time.Ayes 75New Zealand Labour 62; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 9; Te Paati Māori 2; Kerekere; Whaitiri.Noes 41New Zealand National 31; ACT New Zealand 10.Motion agreed to.Bill read a third time.DEPUTY SPEAKER: I declare the House in committee for consideration of the Land Transport Management (Regulation of Public Transport) Amendment Bill.
Taxation Principles Reporting Bill — Third Reading
Taxation Principles Reporting Bill — In Committee
VoteCHAIRPERSON (Greg O'Connor): The question is that the Minister's amendments set out on Supplementary Order Paper 414 be agreed to. A party vote was called for on the question That the amendments be agreed to.Ayes 75New Zealand Labour 62; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 9; Te Paati Māori 2; Kerekere; Whaitiri.Noes 43New Zealand National 33; ACT New Zealand 10.Amendments agreed to.A party vote was called for on the question That Parts 1 and 2 Schedules 1 and 2 and clauses 1 and 2 as amended be agreed to.Ayes 75New Zealand Labour 62; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 9; Te Paati Māori 2; Kerekere; Whaitiri.Noes 43New Zealand National 33; ACT New Zealand 10.Parts 1 and 2 Schedules 1 and 2 and clauses 1 and 2 as amended agreed to.Bill to be reported with amendment.
VoteA party vote was called for on the question That the Water Services Economic Efficiency and Consumer Protection Bill be now read a third time.Ayes 71New Zealand Labour 62; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 9.Noes 46New Zealand National 33; ACT New Zealand 10; Te Paati Māori 2; Whaitiri.Motion agreed to.Bill read a third time.DEPUTY SPEAKER: I declare the House in committee for consideration of the Taxation Principles Reporting Bill.
Water Services Economic Efficiency and Consumer Protection Bill — Third Reading
VoteA party vote was called for on the question That the reported be adopted.Ayes 72New Zealand Labour 62; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 9; Kerekere.Noes 47New Zealand National 34; ACT New Zealand 10; Te Paati Māori 2; Whaitiri.Motion agreed to.Report adopted.DEPUTY SPEAKER: The bill is set down for third reading immediately.
Water Services Economic Efficiency and Consumer Protection Bill — In Committee
VoteA party vote was called for on the question That the question be now put.Ayes 72New Zealand Labour 62; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 9; Kerekere.Noes 47New Zealand National 34; ACT New Zealand 10; Te Paati Māori 2; Whaitiri.Motion agreed to.CHAIRPERSON (Hon Jenny Salesa): The question is that the Minister's amendments set out on Supplementary Order Paper 417 be agreed to.A party vote was called for on the question That the amendments be agreed to.Ayes 72New Zealand Labour 62; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 9; Kerekere.Noes 47New Zealand National 34; ACT New Zealand 10; Te Paati Māori 2; Whaitiri.Amendments agreed to.CHAIRPERSON (Hon Jenny Salesa): The question is that Parts 1 to 5 Schedules 1 and 2 and clauses 1 and 2 as amended stand part.A party vote was called for on the question That Parts 1 to 5 Schedules 1 and 2 and clauses 1 and 2 as amended be agreed to.Ayes 72New Zealand Labour 62; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 9; Kerekere.Noes 47New Zealand National 34; ACT New Zealand 10; Te Paati Māori 2; Whaitiri.Parts 1 to 5 Schedules 1 and 2 and clauses 1 and 2 as amended agreed to.Bill to be reported with amendment.House resumed.
Water Services Economic Efficiency and Consumer Protection Bill — Second Reading
VoteDEPUTY SPEAKER: The question is That the amendments recommended by the Finance and Expenditure Committee by majority be agreed to.Amendments agreed to.A party vote was called for on the question That the Water Services Economic Efficiency and Consumer Production Bill be now read a second time.Ayes 72New Zealand Labour 62; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 9; Kerekere.Noes 47New Zealand National 34; ACT New Zealand 10; Te Paati Māori 2; Whaitiri.Motion agreed to.Bill read a second time.DEPUTY SPEAKER: This bill is set down for committee stage immediately. I declare the House in committee for consideration of the bill.
VoteA party vote was called for on the question That the Crown Minerals Amendment Bill be now read a third time.Ayes 72New Zealand Labour 62; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 9; Kerekere.Noes 47New Zealand National 34; ACT New Zealand 10; Te Paati Māori 2; Whaitiri.Motion agreed to.Bill read a third time.
Crown Minerals Amendment Bill — Third Reading (continued)
10. Question No. 10—HealthBROOKE VAN VELDEN (Deputy Leader—ACT) to the Minister of HealthQuestion No. 10—Health10. BROOKE VAN VELDEN (Deputy Leader—ACT) to the Minister of Health: Is it acceptable that as of July this year there have been 3361 cases of staff being physically assaulted in Te Whatu Ora facilities and is it acceptable that this is only 98 fewer assaults than the 3459 physical assaults that occurred in the whole of 2022?Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL (Minister of Health): No and no. It is never acceptable that someone is assaulted at work. I am assured by Te Whatu Ora that it takes the safety and security of its staff very seriously and is taking a large number of initiatives to keep people safe.Brooke van Velden: Is it acceptable that in the first seven months of 2023 seven out of the 20 former district health board districts have already recorded more physical assaults on staff than they recorded for the entire year of 2022?Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: No it is not acceptable.Brooke van Velden: Does she believe that Te Whatu Ora complies with the Government's expectation that public sector employers must create safe and healthy places of work" when five Te Whatu Ora employees have been stabbed by a patient since 1 January 2022 and if not is it acceptable that any staff have been stabbed at their place of work?Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: No it is absolutely unacceptable that our staff are treated in that way and yes I do have confidence that Te Whatu Ora works very hard on this problem and has a number of mitigations in place.Brooke van Velden: What changes will she advocate for to ensure staff safety when providing healthcare to Kiwis considering the occurrence of 8600 physical assaults on staff since April 2021 and the absence of national guidelines for responding to violence against staff?Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: There is a number of measures under way already in Te Whatu Ora that I expect Te Whatu Ora to continue to roll out. That includes de-escalation training for staff across hospitals but particularly in areas of high risk; the presence of over 800 security staff in our hospitals; in areas that are high risk physical modifications to the environment; not to mention increased efforts put into reporting which may reflect some of the data the member has mentioned today."