Bridges Simon: Radiation Safety Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBridges Simon: Radiation Safety Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 01 March 2016. Volume:711;Page:9279. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon SIMON BRIDGES (Minister of Energy and Resources): on behalf of theMinister of Health: I move That the Radiation Safety Bill be now read a third time. As the House has heard during the passage of this bill it will repeal and replace the Radiation Protection Act 1965 and its regulations providing a much-needed update to our 50-year-old legislation in this area. The bill introduces best-practice principles in radiation safety into New Zealand law and enhances security measures which will provide a means for New Zealand to meet its international obligations relating to radioactive material. In doing so the bill meets the stated purpose of establishing a legislative framework to protect the health and safety of people and to protect the environment from the harmful effects of ionising radiation while allowing for its safe and beneficial use.It is fair to say that this is a carefully considered bill. Public consultation on radiation protection legislation began in 2002 and as a result in 2004 the Government decided that there was an overall benefit in developing new legislation. I am advised that many technical details including the overall scope of the 2004 decision were grappled with at this early stage. The policy informing the bill was reconsidered in some detail and in 2009 the Government agreed to a refined set of instructions for the new legislation. From there as you might imagine for a bill of this nature a considerable amount of science advice and review has occurred. In addition the emergency provisions of the bill have received input and even scenario testing from agencies such as the New Zealand Fire Service the New Zealand Police and the New Zealand Defence Force. Also during this period care has been taken to ensure that New Zealand’s requirements under the international agreements mentioned in clause 3B were incorporated into the bill.The Health Committee made considerable improvements to the bill. I would like to thank the committee for its work in grappling with the content of both the bill and the science and technicalities of the phenomenon of radiation itself. Thanks are also due to submitters on the bill and the Regulations Review Committee for their high-quality input during the Health Committee’s consideration of the bill. Supplementary Order Paper 131 which Jonathan Coleman lodged made some further minor adjustments to wording to allow the provisions of the bill to operate as originally intended.Regulations and codes of practice are being developed to support the bill once it comes into force. The bill also requires a central register of radiation sources to be established. A register and codes of safe practice are already in use under current legislation and will be upgraded to accommodate the requirements of the bill.The bill provides for a high degree of regulation insists on very high compliance standards and rates and shows very little tolerance for safety and security practices that fall short of these expectations. However at its core the bill allows for the benefits of radiation use to be made available to New Zealanders across the fields of medicine and other health services animal health science and research and industry.It is clear that all members have recognised this aim as worthy and the opportunity to update this legislation is timely. I want to thank all members for their support.There is so much more to say about this exciting bill. I do have more time on the clock and I would like to use it on this bill but I know that there are many other members who want to have their say. And so I am pleased to be advancing this much-awaited advance to our legislation and to commend this bill to the House.