McDowall JamesDr JAMES McDOWALL (ACT): Thank you Mr Speaker. This bill confirms to me that the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) should put unintended consequences" at the top of its mission statement for all to read. Whether it's the disaster that is Immigration New Zealand or mistakes such as the one that we're dealing with right now that has come about due to bad border policy which I'll get into very shortly this is all just getting very very predictable and familiar. The ACT Party is also not especially interested in fixing up the mistakes of MBIE especially under an urgency motion because there is always the risk that we have to come back and do it all over again when the next unintended consequence arises.I think it's important to briefly mention the nonsensical way in which Australians were treated by Immigration New Zealand prior to the travel bubble because it's quite relevant. In normal times Australian citizens and permanent residents are automatically granted a residence class visa upon entry into New Zealand. They don't get temporary entry class visas; that's the whole point of the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement. But MBIE decided to do it quite differently under COVID requiring Australians who could get a border exemption to obtain a Critical Purpose Visitor Visa prior to travelling which is a temporary visa—that's new. Why it had to be done like this I have no idea because Australians still had to apply for a border exemption. There was still a process. So here we are with this bill an unintended consequence of frankly weird policy.The issue is however bigger than the technicalities of visa categories in my opinion. We have a very special relationship with Australia as is enshrined in the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement and other agreements of course. Australian citizens and permanent residents particularly the former are not subject to the usual Immigration New Zealand rigmarole that other migrants face. The usual visa pathways do not apply. They're often not even trying to get New Zealand citizenship because there's no need. This is a very special status that is afforded to no one else in the world. So whether Australians are ordinarily a resident here or not I actually think the relationship is above that when it comes to whether or not we treat New Zealanders and Australians with a border exemption differently. That concept is of course open to debate and I'm perfectly happy to have my mind changed on this but we can't really give it justice under an urgency motion like this.Clause 5(2) of the proposed amendment makes for pretty unfortunate reading in my opinion. It states: "The charge is and always has been validly imposed by regulations". Now I'm not a huge fan of retrospective legislation generally but in this case it's particularly tricky and nasty because it's financial. It is also unfair I think given the spirit of the Australian travel bubble that we have today. If an Australian managed to get a border exemption then their status here in New Zealand including in managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) should revert to the spirit of the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement. In any normal year Australians can come and go work and live between the two countries if they wish. The Government shouldn't use the technicality and unusual practice of granting temporary visas for the duration of a flight across the Tasman as an excuse to charge them nor the fact that they may or may not be ordinarily resident here.The one caveat to all of this that I would say is those that come to New Zealand stay in MIQ and refuse tests over and over again and they wind up staying for twice as long. But the bill doesn't talk about that; that's another story. It's been a very long time since the underarm delivery and I think there's no need for the Government to return the favour this morning. MBIE should move on and do better next time. We are opposing this bill. Thank you."