Lee MelissaREGULATORY SYSTEMS (ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT) AMENDMENT BILLREGULATORY SYSTEMS (IMMIGRATION AND WORKFORCE) AMENDMENT BILLFirst ReadingsHon MELISSA LEE (Minister for Economic Development): I present legislative statements on the Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and the Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Maureen Pugh): Those legislative statements are published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.Hon MELISSA LEE: I move That the Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and the Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Economic Development Science and Innovation Committee to consider the Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and the Education and Workforce Committee to consider the Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill.It's a pleasure to bring these bills to the House my first as the Minister for Economic Development in the 54th New Zealand Parliament. These bills are introduced to make changes to legislation administered by the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment. (MBIE)MBIE is one of the largest regulatory agencies and is responsible for more than 100 pieces of legislation across a wide range of subjects. Some of this legislation is very old and may have been amended many times which can mean it is out of date or has become difficult to understand and administer. Cutting red tape removing obstacles and ending unnecessary bureaucracy is an important part of the Government's plan to grow the economy.Many of these changes are small in nature but together they add up to countless hours no longer wasted on paperwork and barriers to success in our economy. These bills are about good regulatory practice and keeping legislation up to date. Collectively the changes will reduce compliance burden and red tape fix known problems with legislation clarify unclear provisions remove redundant provisions allow legislation to adapt to changing information and technology and ensure that people are getting their intended entitlements and regulatory protection.These bills complement the Government's ongoing programme of more substantive legislative reform and sector reviews of regulation. They allow us to fix things that have been longstanding irritants for businesses members of the public and MBIE but have not found a home in other legislation. Some of the amendments that were to be included in these bills have now found homes in other legislation.The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill amends 24 Acts and associated regulations across five portfolios: including Commerce and Consumer Affairs Science Innovation and Technology Media and Communications Justice and Energy.The Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill amends seven Acts and amends and revokes associated regulations across three portfolios: Immigration Workforce Relations and Safety and Energy.In keeping with the range of MBIE responsibilities the amendments in the economic development bill and immigration and workforce bill do a number of different things. They facilitate the use of electronic means to provide information to regulators and for regulators to provide notifications to maintain registers and to sign certain types of deeds.They remove redundant requirements to provide information file reports and renew notices that are always renewed in practice. They correct inadvertent errors in a couple of recently passed Acts—the Electricity Industry Amendment Act 2022 and the Plant Variety Rights Act 2022. The bills facilitate the implementation of international mutual recognition schemes that allow managed funds based in our country to be offered more easily to investors in other countries like the Asia Region Funds Passport. They provide for collaboration between the Commerce Commission and the Financial Markets Authority on matters involving unfair contract terms in contracts relating to financial services or products. They also ensure that people get their intended entitlements to paid parental leave in certain circumstances.They allow the Minister for Energy to approve dedicated electricity and gas safety instruments to keep technical regulatory requirements up to date. They provide for the register of the Electrical Workers Registration Board to delegate some functions duties and powers. They also strengthen aspects of the regulation of immigration advisers.Collectively these amendments will make a positive difference to the people regulated by the amended Acts and the businesses people and organisations that benefit from those Acts. The amendments will also allow MBIE to operate more efficiently and effectively.Improvements to regulatory environments are one of the key ways we can help our economy grow. To grow our economy we need better regulatory changes in New Zealand to complement our ambitious target to double exports over the next 10 years. Small changes done well also help remove the barriers businesses consumers and communities actually face when they look to invest in themselves to grow their place in our economy. Each small change allows for those unneeded hours by lawyers and accountants to be redeployed to the best interest of their business or their regulatory requirements.Our Government is a pro-growth Government. We believe in a better economic outcome for all New Zealand. We know that by dealing with barriers put up by Government—due to obsoletism overlapping mandates and outdated process—we can make a real difference for those doing business. Part of the story of this Government is to remove those barriers to New Zealand and Brand New Zealand along with local businesses across our country so they can succeed on the world stage. Fixing problems in legislation and regulation that cause barriers to businesses in our economy is one of the ways this Government delivers better public services. Whether through regulatory changes such as the proposals in these bills or through the tremendous efforts across the whole of Government in 2024 this Government will see results achieved for New Zealand and we will get business confidence restored again in New Zealand. I commend these bills to the House.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Maureen Pugh): The question is that the motion be agreed to.