Genter Julie AnneMARITIME TRANSPORT AMENDMENT BILLThird ReadingHon JULIE ANNE GENTER (Associate Minister of Transport): Tēnā koe Mr Assistant Speaker. Tēnā koutou e Te Whare. I move That the Maritime Transport Amendment Bill be now read a third time.It is with great pleasure that I speak on the third reading of this bill. It's somewhat ironic for me as a Green Party member who voted for the bill at first reading. As Opposition members having heard the submissions in the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee we were compelled to change our vote because we heard such informed submissions from affected parties that saw certain problems with the legislation. Unfortunately the Government of the day—the National Government—didn't see fit to listen to those submissions and so the Green Party voted against the bill at the second reading. But now that we are in Government the three governing parties were able to agree to substantive amendments which passed this week and have substantially improved the bill and I am quite happy to see it enter its third reading now.A significant aspect of the bill addresses the risks associated with drug and alcohol use in the commercial maritime sector. The bill empowers the Director of Maritime New Zealand to carry out non-notified drug and alcohol testing of maritime personnel in safety sensitive positions when there is good cause to suspect impairment or there is some indication of there being risky operations and activities. As reported back to the House after the select committee process the bill would have required all commercial operators to have drug and alcohol management plans that provided for random drug-testing of personnel in safety sensitive positions.However submitters on the bill expressed significant concern about the cost implications and the practicality of mandatory testing for the small and often remote businesses that make up the majority of the maritime sector. It was also noted that existing legislative mechanisms already provided for the management of drug and alcohol risks and there was no evidence of a substantive problem with the smaller operators. I therefore recommended by way of Supplementary Order Paper 6 the removal of the requirement for mandatory random testing and the need for operators to have drug and alcohol management plans. I'm quite happy to say that the amendment got support from the New Zealand First Party and the Labour Party and will sufficiently address any safety risks and allow the Director of Maritime New Zealand to ensure that there is testing where there is cause to believe that there are risky situations or impairment. So we've substantially improved the bill in that respect.The second part of the bill is about oil pollution compensation. The bill gives effect to the Supplementary Fund Protocol under which an additional tier of compensation is available to deal with the damage caused by oil spill damage from tankers. This will increase the compensation potentially available in the event of a tanker spill from around $411 million to just over $1.5 billion and that is very appropriate and I think long overdue.The bill also contains miscellaneous measures to improve the operation of existing provisions in the Act and address minor anomalies by way of amendments.Debate interrupted.The House adjourned at 6 p.m.