Swain Paul: Legislation (Incorporation by Reference) Bill — First Reading 
Swain Paul: Legislation (Incorporation by Reference) Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:624;Page:19340] 
Hon PAUL SWAIN (Minister of Labour) 
  
on behalf of the  
Hon PETE HODGSON (Minister of Commerce) 
: I move  
That the Legislation (Incorporation by Reference) Bill be now read a first time. 
 At the appropriate time I will move that the bill be referred to the Government Administration Committee for consideration that the committee present its final report on or before 31 March 2005 and that the committee have the authority to meet at any time during a sitting of the House except during questions for oral answer during an evening on a day on which there has been a sitting of the House and on a Friday in a week in which there has been a sitting of the House despite Standing Orders 191 and 194(1)(b) and (c). 
This bill corrects an inadvertent addition to three Acts. As at present worded sections of the Building Act the Commerce Act and the Health Act all require those with delegated or statutory responsibility to make material incorporated by reference under those Acts such as building standards available free of charge on the Internet. Despite those well-intentioned additions it has become apparent that those changes have of course given rise to concern as to the level of copyright protection afforded third parties both in New Zealand and internationally. 
The amendments proposed in this bill endeavour to strike a balance between the facilitation of access to material incorporated by reference and the legitimate commercial interests of the owners of copyright in standards and other material that may be incorporated by reference. The changes are minor but they are also urgent. Although the inadvertent addition has yet to take effect with reference to the Building Act it will do so if not removed by 31 March 2005. 
The Government is grateful to United Future for supporting the bill. Its provisions as they affect the Building Act have been improved as a result of our discussions. The Government and United Future both agreed that copyright protection needed to be restored and I am sure that all members would agree with that. We also wanted to ensure that builders had ready access to standards for design and construction in a way that did not impose additional costs on the industry. The agreement reached allows precisely that. 
The Government has also agreed with United Future to consider a further change to the Building Act in order to require the publication of compliance documents on the Department of Building and Housing’s website to be free of charge and for the chief executive of the Department of Building and Housing to report to Parliament through the department’s annual report on the measures taken to facilitate access to material incorporated by reference. 
The bill proposes amendments to the Building Act in order to remove the positive obligation on the chief executive of the Department of Building and Housing to make material incorporated by reference available free of charge on the Internet. Instead there will be a requirement on the chief executive to make available for inspection free of charge at the department’s regional offices material incorporated by reference in regulations and compliance documents including standards used by building practitioners in areas such as the use of timber and concrete in the construction of buildings the design of buildings using timber and concrete plumbing installation access for persons with disabilities and energy efficiency. 
The chief executive will also be required to make copies of all material incorporated by reference available for inspection free of charge at the department’s head office at Wellington and to make copies of all material incorporated by reference available for purchase either online or by way of request form at all the department’s offices. In addition the chief executive may also make material incorporated by reference available in any other way that he or she considers appropriate in the circumstances. 
The bill also proposes amendments to the Health Act and the Commerce Act in order to remove the positive obligation on the Director-General of Health and on the chairperson of the Commerce Commission to make material incorporated by reference available free of charge on the Internet. That will be replaced with a provision allowing the director-general or chairperson to make material incorporated by reference available in any other way they consider appropriate in the circumstances. 
Further the bill proposes an amendment to the Copyright Act. Legal advice has indicated that there are two possible interpretations of section 27 of the Act. That raises doubt as to the status of the copyright of third parties whose material has been incorporated by reference into legislation. Therefore the bill amends the Act to clarify that the copyright of third parties is not affected when material subject to copyright is incorporated by reference into legislation. I commend this bill to the House.