Fox Marama: Health and Safety Reform Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeFox Marama: Health and Safety Reform Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 25 August 2015. Volume:708;Page:6091. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MARAMA FOX (Co-Leader—Māori Party): I am grateful that I have the opportunity to take a call because very shortly I am due in another select committee to debate some very hefty issues about the Rugby World Cup but this has far more gravitas. So I am pleased to be here today specifically to talk about Supplementary Order Paper 107 in regard to Part 4 and clause 167.Mr Lees-Galloway has articulated the technicalities of the issue correctly. If WorkSafe is investigating an accident or a tragedy as the case may be it has 12 months in which to produce its report and make a decision about whether it will take a prosecution or take action against the employer. It can apply to have a further 12 months and in that case as has been articulated a family will not be able to take a private prosecution because their time to do so will have run out. We have been working with the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety over a number of things that we have been trying to get through and this is one of them. So Supplementary Order Paper 107 is intended to give families an extension of 3 months—a 3-month window in which to lodge their claim.Given that you have got 2 years following a tragic circumstance or some sort of serious injury to investigate and to hear the findings and also to prepare yourself we think that 3 months is actually an adequate time to lodge that claim. Six months would have been better given a little less urgency to putting this bill through but I suppose that a family or an individual in a private circumstance would have prepared themselves for the possibility of taking that action and would be ready to lodge it. So I feel that 3 months is actually an adequate amount of time.In being able to do that and work with the Government I think it is fair to say that far from being all over the place as has been articulated by the Labour leader we have been very clear about what we wanted to dowith this Government. We have worked with the Minister to try to strengthen parts of the legislation—in this case Part 4—to ensure that there is some strength over the issues that we also have concerns about. We have articulated those clearly with the Minister and we have worked very well with his officials to try to see those things through. In this case yes it is around the extension to the time that a family member can take that claim.I think the other thing that we have talked about that will not show up here in Part 4 is the proactive nature of WorkSafe—to encourage WorkSafe to in fact work more with employers and with employees about articulating exactly what their rights are and to ensure that they know where their procedures for health and safety are where they can be found who they can go to and what can happen if they are unhappy with those things. I think we do not want to always have the big stick and I am pretty sure that WorkSafe does not always want to be the big stick at the end of a process where things are found to be disruptive where things are found to be inadequate or where people have been injured—or hopefully not—and also where people have been killed. It does not just have to be the big stick. We would rather that there was a proactive engagement with WorkSafe with our employees and with our workers at the shop face. Yes we think that this bill could have been strengthened in a few places and we have worked hard to do that.I am happy to put Supplementary Order Paper 107 forward. I think 3 months is an adequate amount of time. I am not going to talk any longer on it—I do not think we need to labour the point. I think Mr Lees-Galloway has articulated the technicalities of the issue adequately so I just wanted to speak and give clarity to that and give the reasons why we have decided to put up this amendment to make it 3 months if the one for 6 months is unsuccessful but I think that would be enough time for family members to bring a private prosecution. Thank you.