Salesa JennyLOCAL GOVERNMENT REGULATORY SYSTEMS AMENDMENT BILLFirst ReadingHon JENNY SALESA (Minister for Building and Construction) on behalf of the Minister of Local Government: I move that the Local Government Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill now be read a first time. I nominate the Governance—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Order! Order! Could I just ask the Minister to repeat that please in the order in which it is written? Hon JENNY SALESA: I move that the Local Government Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill now be read a first time. ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Order! Could you do it one more time please. Thank you. Hon JENNY SALESA: I move That the Local Government Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Governance and Administration Committee to consider this bill. I'm introducing this bill on behalf of the Minister of Local Government the Hon Nanaia Mahuta. This bill will ensure that the legislation that local authorities operate under is fit for purpose not standing in their way and not holding them back. The bill amends seven local government Acts through a variety of minor and technical amendments. Government departments are responsible for the stewardship of the legislation that they administer. The 2014 Productivity Commission report Regulatory institutions and practices noted it can be difficult to find time and opportunity for departments to undertake repairs and maintenance of existing legislation. Regulatory systems bills like this one have become an efficient vehicle for carrying out repairs and maintenance of existing Acts. They take care of inconsistencies gaps and errors and clarify provisions which may be outdated or ambiguous. They can remove unnecessary costs and complexity within the regulatory system and ensure legislation remains relevant. These bills are not used to make substantial changes in policy. Instead they can be used to make sure the original policy intent remains effective in a contemporary environment. This bill makes sure that public notice information is required to be in electronic form and key council information is provided in a useful digital format and it removes the requirements for hard copies to be submitted to government agencies. So with this in mind I will now summarise the changes made by this bill to the seven principal Acts. First the amendments to the Dog Control Act 1996 will replace the definition of disability assist dog" and will remove the list of certified disability assistance dog providers from the definition. A new schedule Schedule 5 will be created to list organisations that are authorised to certify disability assistance dogs. This schedule may be amended by an Order in Council approved by the Minister of Local Government in consultation with the Minister for Disability Issues. The schedule will ensure there is one list of approved organisations and the ability to amend the schedule ensures it remains up to date. A further change to the Dog Control Act amends the public notification requirements for a local authority's dog control policy report. The notification requirements will now align with those in the Local Government Act of 2002. The focus will remain on ensuring this information is publicly available. The changes to the Local Electoral Act of 2001 are designed to encourage greater participation in local elections and polls. Effective engagement of citizens with their councils is vital for councils to support and enhance the well-being of our communities. This is a fundamental role for local government. The amendments include a new responsibility for electoral officers to facilitate and foster electoral participation. While electoral officers have undertaken this role the mandate to do so has never been clear. These changes respond to the Justice and Electoral Committee recommendation that changes be made to the Local Electoral Act to provide a clear mandate to improve the facilitation of participation. The change to the Local Government Act of 1974 will clarify the consultation and public notice requirements when designating a road as a pedestrian mall. This change will align the requirements with those of the Local Government Act of 2002. There are a number of changes being made to the Local Government Act of 2002. A definition of "Internet site" is inserted into the Act and the definition of "public notice" is replaced. The new "public notice" definition will allow public notices to be published online while retaining the requirements to print notices in newspapers. The definition of "working day" will be updated so that it is consistent with other Acts. The delegation and sub-delegation powers of local authorities will be aligned and the definition of extraordinary meetings is clarified. This is to clarify that the power to sub-delegate is no greater than the power to delegate as well as ensuring that extraordinary meetings can only be called when they are absolutely necessary. This preserves public opportunity to participate in meeting processes. There is a new power enabling the Secretary for Local Government to set requirements of form for documents or information that must be made public. This will provide consistency of information across all of local government. Documents will be made more accessible to the public and they will ensure the information they contain can be analysed and reused in the future. The bill removes the requirement for local authorities to send hard copies and particular documents to central government. This includes councils' long-term plans annual plans rating resolutions annual reports and summaries of their dog control policy and practice report. A change to the Local Government (Rating) Act of 2002 removes the requirement to send a copy of any resolution setting rates to the Secretary for Local Government. These documents will still be required and will still be publicly accessible but not having to send them in hard copy will reduce compliance costs for our local authorities. The changes to the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act of 1987 will update and clarify public notification requirements. The changes apply to the notification requirements for extraordinary or emergency meetings and will allow these meetings to be notified on a local authority's internet site. Finally the changes to the Rates Rebate Act of 1973 will clarify the definition of "income" and will ensure that all retirement village residents are able to apply for a rates rebate. The definition of "income" is updated to be consistent with the entitlements listed in the Veterans' Support Act of 2014. It does not change the entitlements of veterans or their families. This change to the Rates Rebate Act will enable all retirement village residents regardless of their occupancy arrangements to apply for a rates rebate. This was the intention of the changes made by the Rates Rebate (Retirement Village Residents) Amendment Act passed earlier on this year. However it came to light that the changes would inadvertently exclude residents with a particular previously unknown occupancy arrangement. We are correcting this.As I noted earlier bills such as this have become a vehicle to address a range of minor and technical issues. It is important that we take opportunities such as this to repair and maintain the legislation we pass in this House. And so with that I commend this bill to this House."