Heatley Phil: Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (Stockholm Convention) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Heatley Phil: Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (Stockholm Convention) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:609;Page:6972] 
PHIL HEATLEY (NZ National—Whangarei) 
: I would like to continue to elaborate on the concerns Dr Smith put to the Committee. I look forward to the Hon Dr Smith tabling his amendment and I am glad that he has done that. As a trade Minister involved in all sorts of issues to do with conventions overseas and signing treaties he has a better understanding than most. I am happy to say—he cannot say this himself—that he has a better understanding than most of what it is to sign up to a convention and the significance of it. We look at the title of this bill the “Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (Stockholm Convention) Amendment Bill” and we know that Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith and other senior members here and a very few members of the public—perhaps even the Minister in the chair—will know what the Stockholm convention is. However I have to concede that many members in this House do not know what the Stockholm convention is or what it covers. The Stockholm convention is in the title so I would like to make it clear what it is. 
New Zealand signed that very convention on 23 May 2001. It knew what it was signing and did that with its eyes open. The convention seeks to protect human health and the environment—not just the environment in New Zealand but the world environment and particularly the environments of countries that signed up to the convention. That is done firstly by banning the production use and trade of certain persistent organic pollutants. It does that by minimising the emissions of 10 highly dangerous substances— 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: It is a narrow debate. 
PHIL HEATLEY 
: I am talking about the title. The Stockholm convention is in the title. The convention minimises the emissions of 10 highly dangerous substances eight of which are also covered by the Rotterdam convention. Only Dr Lockwood Smith myself Judith Collins member of Parliament from Auckland and maybe a scattering of others would know that. The Stockholm convention in the title also refers to protecting health in the environment by taking measures to reduce emissions of two further products—and perhaps the Minister in the chair should tell us what those products are—and by also providing for financial contributions and for the appointment of a designated national authority. 
I want the Minister in the chair who believes that this bill should be called the “Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (Stockholm Convention) Amendment Bill”—what a tongue-twister—to tell us very clearly what that refers to. I have given members a brief about the Stockholm convention but there are holes. It talks about 10 highly dangerous substances. What are they? People who are looking for information on those particular substances will not know that they are particularly related to the Stockholm convention. I would like to know what reducing emissions of two further by-products is and what are they? I would like the Minister in the chair to take a call to tell us what those are. 
These are my concerns. The Stockholm convention being mentioned in the title of the bill does not give any member of Parliament—apart from those as I say who have had a long history in this Parliament involved with trade and treaties—any idea of what the bill addresses in particular. We know that it does address persistent organic pollutants but they are not mentioned in the title. They are mentioned in the background three times and the interpretation three times. They are mentioned in the definition once. They are mentioned 12 times under the title “Continuation of PCB exemptions” yet they are not mentioned in the title at all. I put it to the Committee and I put a high degree of pressure on the Minister to take a call to explain to us why the words “Stockholm Convention” should enlighten people and “PCBs” not enlighten people.