Bennett David: Health and Safety (Pike River Implementation) Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBennett David: Health and Safety (Pike River Implementation) Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 22 October 2013. Volume:694;Page:14090. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]DAVID BENNETT (National—Hamilton East): I just want to follow on from the first two speeches on the Health and Safety (Pike River Implementation) Bill in its second reading. I thought that we had two very good speeches from the Minister and also from Andrew Little. I would just like to thank the members of the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee for the way that they have engaged in working through this bill. Mike Sabin did a great job as deputy chairperson. Other members of the committee travelled throughout the country. We went to Westport to hear firsthand from the community and families down there. I just want to acknowledge Damien O’Connor who was there with us that day and pay respect to the community and to the families involved.That tragedy has led to this bill effectively coming before the House. There are three main strands in the bill. The first area is the creation ofWorkSafe New Zealand. This is a new workplace health and safety agency a Crown entity that I think all parties in this Parliament will see a lot of benefit from. There may be some debate around how it is comprised and some of its effectiveness in the sense of the rules around how it applies to certain situations. It is a huge initiative in the health and safety area and Ithink all parties here will acknowledge that it is a major change in health and safety in New Zealand a change that we all support and we look forward to its implementation over time. It will also necessarily evolve and will take different forms as it goes through its different functions but we have a very strong starting point at this time.The second part of the bill amends the provisions of the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 to support new initiatives around the management of hazards in the mining industry. The major change here since the select committee hearing has been in regard to the differentiation between coal and other forms of mining. The guts of it is that in a coalmine there is the potential for methane gas to build up. That then creates the potential for an explosion which then creates the potential for loss of life and injury. In the situation of a coalmine it is reflected in the higher standard of rules that are required from other types of mining where there is not such a perceived risk because there is not the build-up of methane. So essentially that is the Australian approach and it is the one that has been adopted in this bill. It is something that is practical but it also serves the purpose of dealing with the issue of methane build-up in coalmines. Part 3 of the bill creates a new Mines Rescue Act 2013 replacing the Mines Rescue Trust Act of 1992. As has been noted by other speakers that involves a number of procedural issues around making the role and functions of the Mines Rescue Trust better reflect the current environment.So overall this is very solid bill. I would once again like to thank all members of this House and the parties for the way that they have conducted the inquiry and also looking at the rules to make sure that we get the best result for our communities and also for our industries that are involved. This is a successful bill that reflects that. Thank you.