O'Connor Greg; Parker David; Simmonds PennyCHAIRPERSON (Greg O'Connor): Just to members I will take another call. Just be aware: I have been watching this and I'm aware of the previous Speaker in the Chair—the warning she's given. So well aware of the need for new material.Hon DAVID PARKER (Labour): Mr Chairman.Hon Kieran McAnulty: Point of order sir. Thank you very much I appreciate that guidance. Just wanting some clarification from you however. Since the previous presiding officer indicated to the committee that she was seeking new material I'm of the view that the two subsequent calls were new material. So to then receive that guidance from you is somewhat confusing. So could you please confirm or clarify to the committee in your view whether the previous two calls did fit the criteria that you're after?CHAIRPERSON (Greg O'Connor): Just nothing wrong with a little reassurance for the committee and that: yes I'm aware that there was some new material in there—now of course being dealt with by the Minister so it's no longer new material.Hon DAVID PARKER: Thank you Mr Chairman. Since my first contribution was not addressed by the Minister with particularity as to the effect of these new clauses I went and printed off the relevant parts of the original Act and I still would like the Minister—and actually members on the other side—to actually read the changes in the section. There's some good lawyers on the other side. This is not hard. We're sitting under urgency. This is meant to be a meaningful committee stage where if there are problems in legislation we fix them because if we don't fix them there's no select committee process to fix them.I want to take the Minister in particular to clause 4 of the bill which amends section 3 of the Act. Now section 3 of the Act—and other members there can go on their devices it's very short—currently it's the purpose of the Act and it says the purpose of the Act currently is to (a) protect the environment from harm; and [to] (b) provide environmental social economic and cultural benefits." It's all under the first paragraph; says that "The purpose of [the] Act is to encourage waste minimisation and a decrease in waste disposal".The new purpose section is different. It says that the purpose is to "raise revenue to fund—(i) the promotion and achievement of waste minimisation;" which is a bit like the original purpose; and "(ii) activities that reduce environmental harm [and] increase environmental benefits;" and that's not tied or limited to solid waste or contaminants from solid waste. That is the issue that is so simple to be fixed and yet the Government won't.Now I would like the Minister to stand and explain to the committee how we are to interpret the new section 3(2)(a)(ii) inserted by clause 4 of this bill which reads "[activity to] reduce environmental harm or increase environmental benefits" and explain to the committee how that is not inclusive of things more than solid waste. Because it plainly is and it plainly—look there's a lawyer there from Queenstown. Look he knows this; he knows this. He's a clever lawyer. So are some other people there. We're not all drafts people in this House but there's enough of us to know that that clause there reads wider than solid waste and therefore this is enabling the Waste Minimisation Fund.Now we've got someone on the other side saying "hands down". This is the emotion—just copying what they're doing. "Calm down. Nothing to worry about here. No need to do anything. No need to fix anything. We're not under urgency. We just want to go home." Well you will go home faster if you pay attention to this and fix this obvious mistake in clause 4 by adding the words "from waste". That's all we're asking to so that this can't be used for issues other than waste.Hon PENNY SIMMONDS (Minister for the Environment): I will go over the matters that we have already discussed around this broadening to environmental harm and environmental benefits. Given that any resources that we use at any time have a broad impact on the environment from when they are extracted grown taken out of the ground whatever to create those resources; through to the manufacture of those resources; through to the use of those resources; and the final disposal of those resources. That product as it goes through its cycle and becomes waste when it is disposed of that is an appropriate time to extract a levy and enable that levy to be applied to any of the environmental impacts that occur through the life cycle of that product."