Guy Nathan: Statutes Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Guy Nathan: Statutes Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:659;Page:8328] 
Hon NATHAN GUY (Associate Minister of Justice) 
: 
 I move  
That the Statutes Amendment Bill be now read a first time. 
 At the appropriate time I intend to move that the Statutes Amendment Bill be referred to the Government Administration Committee and that the committee present its final report on or before 1 April 2010. As the House will be aware a Statutes Amendment Bill is useful for making minor technical and non-controversial amendments to a number of Acts. It allows amendments to be made that would not usually receive sufficient priority to be progressed. This is achieved with the support of all parties in Parliament. In 2008 a Statutes Amendment Bill was developed but never introduced as an agreement from all parties on the proposals was not reached before the general election. The 2009 Statutes Amendment Bill includes amendments that were submitted in 2008 as well as a new set of proposals. These were originally in two separate bills but it was decided that it would be a better use of House time to combine all the proposals into one bill. This means that this year’s Statutes Amendment Bill is indeed a large one. As introduced it amends 47 Acts administered by 15 different departments. I shall give the House some examples of these proposed amendments. 
The amendment of the Births Deaths Marriages and Relationships Registration Act 1995 replaces references to “birth record” and “birth register” with references to “birth information” for consistency with other provisions of the Act. Another amendment to that Act provides that a birth certificate need not be signed by a parent who is overseas if the parent cannot be contacted within a period of time that is reasonable in the circumstances. 
I also comment about the amendment to the Flags Emblems and Names Protection Act 1981. It amends section 20(3) by adding the name “New Zealand Food Safety Authority” and the abbreviation “NZFSA”. The effect is to prohibit the unauthorised use of that name or that abbreviation. That is an important point. 
The amendment to the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants Act 1996 changes all references to the “Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand” to the “New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants” in order to reflect the change that the institute has made to its name. 
The amendment to the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Act 1997 amends Schedule 1 to correct an error relating to the year of the Plant Variety Rights Act 1987 which currently is incorrectly stated as 1981. 
An amendment to the Social Security Act 1964 amends section 73 to remove outdated references to a former jurisdiction of the Maori Land Court to confer entitlements to the relatives of a deceased person out of the deceased’s estate. 
An amendment to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 amends section 31 by omitting references to “registered post” as a means of delivery and substituting a requirement that the delivery use a “traceable system”. This change is made because “registered post” is no longer available but the item to be delivered still needs to be traceable. 
I believe that I have traversed a range of some of the important parts of the Statute Amendment Bill. There are a whole lot of others and I am sure other members across the House will make a very valuable contribution to what is a very important Statutes Amendment Bill. It is a way of advancing technical yet important amendments. I commend this bill to the House.