Burton Mark: Standing Orders—Suspension 
Burton Mark: Standing Orders—Suspension 
[Volume:630;Page:2192] 
Hon MARK BURTON (Deputy Leader of the House) 
: 
 I move  
That Standing Order 261 be suspended to permit the introduction of the Local Government Law Reform Bill to amend: the Rates Rebate Act 1973 the Dog Control Act 1996 Litter Act 1979 Local Electoral Act 2001 Local Government Act 2002 Local Government Act 1974 Local Government Amendment Act 1992 Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 Auckland War Memorial Museum Act 1996 and the Land Transport Act 1998 
. Standing Order 261 relates to omnibus bills and requires that: “Except as otherwise permitted by Standing Orders a bill must relate to one subject area only.” I propose that the Standing Order be set aside on this occasion so that the bill may be introduced as an omnibus bill. 
The purpose of the Local Government Law Reform Bill is to refine the legislative framework within which local authorities operate to reflect recent policy decisions to clarify existing provisions and to improve the effectiveness of regulatory tools. This bill implements some new policy decisions and better reflects past policy decisions. It also clarifies and addresses a range of issues relating to local government legislation that are mostly technical or minor in nature. It does not signal any major new policy directions. 
All the issues raised in this bill relate to local government roles and responsibilities. Although 10 Acts are being amended there are many common themes and issues across the proposed amendments. Some amendments provide consistency with similar mechanisms in other local government legislation and enforcement tools are made more effective and more useful. Some of the proposed amendments are interrelated and changes to proposed amendments to one Act may need to be reflected in those of another Act. In this case it does not make sense to view the amendments separately. They all relate to making existing local government legislation work more effectively and should be viewed together by the select committee to ensure that consistency is indeed achieved. 
Many of the matters proposed for inclusion in the bill have been raised through consultation with the local government sector. It is also my view that an approach other than an omnibus bill will result in compliance costs for local government for other organisations and indeed for members of the public wishing to engage in the select committee process on those issues. It will be much easier for the committee to assess common issues and requirements and ensure that a consistent approach to these is applied. 
The approach will also make best use of the House’s time by dealing with interrelated issues together in a local government law reform bill. Accordingly it is appropriate that Standing Order 261 be suspended on this occasion to permit the introduction of the Local Government Law Reform Bill combining amendments to the Rates Rebate Act 1973 the Dog Control Act 1996 the Litter Act 1979 the Local Electoral Act 2001 the Local Government Act 2002 the Local Government Act 1974 the Local Government Amendment Act 1992 the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 the Auckland War Memorial Museum Act 1996 and the Land Transport Act 1998.