Tinetti JanLOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL INFORMATION AND MEETINGS AMENDMENT BILLFirst ReadingHon JAN TINETTI (Minister of Internal Affairs) on behalf of the Associate Minister of Local Government: I present a legislative statement on the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Amendment Bill.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Barbara Kuriger): That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.Hon JAN TINETTI: I move That the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Governance and Administration Committee to consider the bill.I am pleased to bring the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Amendment Bill to the House. This bill makes two quite different but equally important changes to how information is shared under the Act. First the bill will improve natural hazard information provided in land information memorandum reports also known as LIMs. Second the bill will enable councils to withhold information that could prejudice national security. The bill amends current LIM provisions to introduce natural hazard information requirements for LIMs including information on climate change impacts. It introduces a new responsibility for regional councils to provide natural hazard information to territorial authorities. It also introduces power to develop regulations to make sure natural hazard information in LIMs is clear and understandable. Finally it introduces a limitation on council liability. This will mean councils can confidently provide natural hazard information without fear of legal action. For decades LIMs have been the main source of property information for home buyers. LIMs are intended to communicate information about natural hazards and climate change impacts so people can make informed decisions. Reviews including by the local government sector have shown that LIMs are currently not effectively informing the public about natural hazards. There is a lack of consistency about what information is provided across different parts of the country so it is difficult for buyers to compare information from different regions. Sometimes key natural hazard information is missing especially if that information sits with regional councils as information held by regional councils doesn't have to be included in LIMs. LIMs can often be hundreds of pages long and refer to detailed technical reports which the average person does not have the time or expertise to read. I've also heard from councils that it is difficult to add summaries or explanations to LIMs that might help property buyers because of council fears about legal action by affected property owners. We know that all our communities in Aotearoa New Zealand are at risk of severe weather and natural hazards be it flooding earthquakes or landslips. Every severe weather event and natural hazard has seriously impacted families communities and businesses. We know that climate change will make many natural hazard events both worse and more frequent. This Government is working on actions to improve community resilience to these events through the national adaptation plan and future climate adaptation legislation. Improving natural hazard information in LIMs is a critical action under the national adaptation plan and a core focus of the bill. The changes to the LIM system in the bill are needed to ensure that home buyers can access the best natural hazard information available and make informed choices on where they build in their future. The changes outlined in this bill to the Act have been welcomed by Local Government New Zealand the Insurance Council of New Zealand Inc. and the Property Council of New Zealand for adding more transparency to limit council liability. The Property Council of New Zealand said the proposed changes were a positive step that strikes the balance between getting access to information whilst also ensuring that the sector continues its due diligence. From a local government perspective the bill requires regional councils to share the natural hazard information they hold with territorial authorities so it can be included on LIMs. This reflects the significant natural hazard information and technical expertise of regional councils. It will mean buyers can access all council information through a single document. This change will formalise and build on current information sharing between regional councils and territorial authorities. To be clear territorial authorities will retain the day-to-day responsibility for processing LIM applications. However regional council support of territorial authorities will be critical to the success of the changes. To support councils to communicate natural hazards without fear of legal action the bill will limit councils' liability when sharing natural hazard information on the LIM in good faith. This preserves the right of property owners to complain to the Ombudsman if they have legitimate concerns about any information included on a LIM. The bill also provides for regulations to be made for natural hazard content in LIMs. These regulations will set out information and presentation requirements so natural hazards information in LIMs is clear concise and more understandable for the public. All New Zealanders have a role to play in managing our natural hazard risks. The first step is making sure people understand the natural hazards that affect where they live so they can take practical steps to reduce the risks. Turning now to the second change the bill makes to how local authorities manage information. The bill will align the grounds for conclusively withholding information with those under the Official Information Act (OIA). Like the OIA the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA) does not currently have grounds for councils to conclusively withhold official information that may prejudice the security or defence of New Zealand or the international relations of the Government. The lack of these withholding grounds reflects that LGOIMA was passed in 1987 and that the working group preparing it did not think that withholding grounds related to security defence or diplomacy were relevant to local authorities at the time. However time has moved on since 1987 and the local authority landscape is now very different. Councils hold extensive decision-making authority over strategic assets such as infrastructure and land. They also have considerable influence over business and development opportunities including granting consents in the use of natural resources. The important role that councils play in our democracy and economy can expose them to risks such as cyber-attacks and foreign interference. These are not theoretical risks. As the Director-General of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) told the Intelligence and Security Committee in March 2022 NZSIS has detected and investigated significant foreign interference efforts targeting political academic media and private sectors within the past year. The current lack of withholding grounds limits the ability of intelligence agencies to proactively provide advice to councils on security risks because there may be no basis to prevent sensitive information from being publicly disclosed. In aligning LGOIMA with the OIA this bill will allow councils and the intelligence agencies to work more closely together to manage security concerns while reducing the risk of information being disclosed that could prejudice New Zealand's national security. Local authorities hold important information on behalf of the public of New Zealand and it is essential that our legislation provides greater certainty around how this information is managed. Critical natural hazard information needs to be clearly and openly communicated to the public so they can make informed decisions. Additionally we must ensure that information can be withheld where it could prejudice our national security. The bill will have a full six-month select committee process. The bill provides for the withholding provisions of the bill to come into force on an enactment while the LIM provisions will commence by 1 January 2025 at the latest. This will enable my officials to engage with local government and technical experts to support the smooth implementation of the changes to ensure regulations will work for all councils. I commend this bill to the House.