Goudie Sandra: Crown Minerals Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Goudie Sandra: Crown Minerals Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:610;Page:7881] 
SANDRA GOUDIE (NZ National—Coromandel) 
: 
 At this stage given that we are debating Part 2 and that everybody is expressing some serious concerns about the abrogation of property rights and about miners’ ability to apply for licences I would like to read from the commentary— 
Hon Harry Duynhoven 
: That is the whole issue. It is not licences; it is permits. 
SANDRA GOUDIE 
: That was a terrible bone of contention. When the wording was changed from licence to permit it took with it as part of that licence what was considered to be an inalienable property right. So we now have this whole wording around permit and fee which takes away the property right that has been attached to the form of licence the right by which a lot of money is expended in establishing a business and in putting capital into an ongoing business function. The value of that is reduced by a permit because under a permit we do not have an inherent property right as we do have with a licence. 
I would like to refer members to clause 22 which repeals and replaces section 111 of the Act. This new section 111 removes the right of current mining licence holders to apply for new mining licences under the repealed provisions which include sections of the Mining Act and the Coal Mines Act etc. Clause 23 inserts new section 111A which removes the right to vary the term of a mining licence granted under the Mining Act. On 19 September the Government announced a policy decision to propose amendments to the bill so that the removal of the right to apply for a new licence or a variation to the term of an existing licence would take effect. So we have removed the right to apply and that is where we have abrogated people’s property rights. 
I would like to refer members to a New Zealand Law Society submission with regard to this bill which said that rights under the former mining legislation are a form of property. We are talking here about the New Zealand Law Society which is an independent body that can look at this type of legislation and treat it with some objectivity. If the society says that rights under the former mining legislation are a form of property I think we can take that as being pretty well correct. That was in conjunction with having a licence and there is more on that in many of the submissions made to this bill. 
In reforming legislation the existing rights of property are normally maintained without modification especially where there is no compensation paid. That was the case here. There has been no compensation paid for the abrogation of the private property rights that went with that licence and that have been summarily taken away by the proposal of clause 23. That has been one of the biggest bones of contention through this whole process with this bill and with this Part 2. A number of submitters have all made reference to Part 2 particularly to clauses 22 and 23 and have objected to them and asked for their deletion for this very reason—that it is an abrogation of their property rights. They are having a great deal of difficulty in applying for licences and in trying to re-establish some of their business undertakings. 
I would like to carry on with what the New Zealand Law Society said in relation to clauses 22 and 23 about this whole area of long-established rights. It said that the explanatory note contained no convincing argument for the revocation of those rights or the ability easily—if at all—to renew them so are we just creating a new injustice around property rights? Clearly my learned colleagues and the majority of submitters believe that to be the case. Perhaps the Minister would like to take a call and explain why there seems to be some variance in what all the submitters see as being the result of clauses 22 and 23 and what the Minister sees as being the result of clauses 22 and 23. It is also claimed that landowners and occupiers can exercise the right to restrict or control mining on their land.