McAnulty KieranCIVIL AVIATION BILLSecond ReadingHon KIERAN McANULTY (Associate Minister of Transport): Thank you Madam Speaker. I present a legislative statement on the Civil Aviation Bill.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.Hon KIERAN McANULTY: Thank you. I move That the Civil Aviation Bill be now read a second time.With this bill the Government aims to repeal and replace both the Civil Aviation Act 1990 and the Airport Authorities Act 1966 with a single modern statute that will be a fit-for-purpose legislation platform for safety security and economic regulation of civil aviation now and well into the future.Both of the current Acts have been amended over time but require a substantial overhaul to reflect the aviation environment of today and prepare for the future. This has meant modernising the legislation to ensure it is clear and operating as intended removing ambiguity and redundant provisions. This bill uses modern drafting styles that make it easier to understand and apply and reflects policy changes needed to ensure the legislation remains fit for purpose in years to come.This bill adopts a stringent approach towards drug or alcohol use in the aviation system. Unfortunately not all tragedies are preventable but we know we can reduce the risk of a crash if a zero-tolerance approach towards drug- or alcohol-impaired operators is actively enforced. We know that drug or alcohol use in the transport system and especially in the aviation sector is particularly lethal.Feedback received during the consultation period for this bill before its introduction to the House showed widespread support across the sector for stronger regulation to prevent aviation professionals using drugs or alcohol. The Civil Aviation Bill will introduce changes to address potential impairment by requiring all commercial operators to implement drug and alcohol management plans including random testing of those working in safety-sensitive activities. Other changes proposed are as follows: to preserve New Zealand's national security and interests the bill clarifies the powers of the Minister of Transport to consider national security risks within the aviation system and to make rules about when national security considerations might need to apply; to improve aviation security the bill clarifies the powers protections and tools aviation security officers have at security-designated aerodromes; it also provides for the declaration of temporary landside security areas at airports if they are needed to respond to a heightened threat environment.To account for new and emerging technologies this bill incorporates amendments for remotely piloted and autonomous aircraft and clarifies the responsibilities of the operator. It also provides new intervention powers for police and authorised people to respond to serious misuse of such aircraft. To honour our climate change priorities this bill puts in place an enabling framework to allow New Zealand to meet its obligations under the International Civil Aviation Organization's Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation Emissions.To improve the regulation of airports this bill introduces a modern regulation regime for airports administered by the Secretary for Transport which includes a requirement for airports to consult on their spatial plans. For some airports the bill includes a requirement that they set out how they will meet Government agencies' space requirements renamed regulatory airport spatial undertaking or RASU by select committee.The bill intentionally limits the statutory basis for airports to set charges to identified aerodrome activities. However this does not prevent airports from entering into commercial arrangements for charges that are not linked to these activities. Airports can continue to charge for non - aerodrome-related activities on a commercial basis.To facilitate a growing and competitive aviation sector the bill also improves the effectiveness of regulatory decision-making by strengthening the process for authorising airline cooperation agreements.I'd like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the work of the Transport and Infrastructure Committee and the public in shaping this bill. This bill was referred to committee in September 2021 and was reported back to this House in June 2022. The committee received 117 submissions and heard evidence from over 30 submitters. I thank my colleagues on the committee for their time and valuable contributions. The committee proposed changes that reflect a range of perspectives and needs. I support those amendments.In particular I am thankful to colleagues from across this House who have worked to improve the way regulatory changes for airports will affect operators and those involved in consultations around RASUs; clarify how just culture is reflected in regulatory practice and how the bill supports that; ensure civil aviation rules have scope to address the adverse impacts of aviation on our communities; and give aviation participants the ability to have decisions that affect them considered by an independent reviewer.This work has helped to ensure this bill is fit for the modern era of aviation in New Zealand. I also acknowledge the input of the aviation sector and the public. The sector comprises different types and sizes of aviation participants and the committee saw broad and diverse engagement during consultation. The reported-back bill responds to submitters' views in a number of ways. In particular it introduces a more refined regulatory system for security-designated airports that emphasises this Government's desire to work alongside airports for mutually beneficial arrangements at our border and a new ability for some people affected by certain decisions made by the Director of Civil Aviation to have those decisions reviewed independently in addition to existing avenues through the courts.As a result of consultation the bill also repeals or amends some provisions including clarifying that it is not our intention to be able to direct airways to provide services it does not already provide; clarifying how the Public Works Act 1981 applies to airport operators of different kinds; signposting where the bill reflects just culture principles which offer protections to people giving accident and incident notifications—as submitters pointed out this was not self-evident.So with those improvements coming as a result of a sound select committee process the Government strongly supports the bill as reported back and I commend this bill to the House.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): The question is that the motion be agreed to.