Wong Pansy: Plumbers Gasfitters and Drainlayers Bill — In Committee 
Wong Pansy: Plumbers Gasfitters and Drainlayers Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:635;Page:6671] 
PANSY WONG (National) 
: 
 I am really delighted to take the first call on the previously non-existent Plumbers Gasfitters and Drainlayers Bill. When we flick through Part 5 we can hardly find a single page that has not been amended. So I am delighted to say that the Commerce Committee is indeed a very hard-working and responsible select committee—all the more so because of the National Party members on the committee. We have actually gone through Part 5 with a fine-tooth comb even though it deals largely with matters of definition. I will share with members some of those distinctive details. I am raising them because the Minister the Hon Harry Duynhoven is in the chair. I am glad about that because I know he will take them quite seriously. 
 For example we actually spent quite a bit of time on clause 69 “Exemption for sanitary plumbing in rural areas” and on clause 70 “Provisions relating to alteration of boundaries of local authority districts” and ultimately we ran out of time. The officials could not quite get all the background information that would have enabled the select committee members to understand why the exemption relating to sanitary plumbing in rural areas is to be continued. Do we care less about people in rural districts than in urban areas or is it the practical issue that if we impose the same requirements in rural and urban areas then rural people might not get plumbing etc. done? And why is it that the boundary of a local authority district would be subject to the type of exemption set out in clause 70? 
So I point out to the Minister in the chair the Hon Harry Duynhoven that although the select committee worked diligently on the issues we regret that because of the time limit some of the important issues have not been tackled. I first register for the benefit of the Minister that there is unfinished work for him to champion. [ 
Interruption 
] I am not sure why there is all this movement in the Chamber; I would like members to respect the plumbers and the drainlayers etc. who appeared in front of the select committee to make submissions. I promise that we will raise the unfinished business so that the Minister can continue to look into it in the future given that those exemptions have not been explained to us properly because the officials said that their records did not go back very far and they could not really get to the bottom of the issue in the time available. So in the meantime the select committee has accepted that those exemptions will continue. But certainly at some appropriate future time we need to get to the bottom of what the valid reasons for those exemptions may be. 
Some of the other exemptions that we have raised are good ones. For example apprentices are exempt during training. We have accepted that it is very practical for them not to be licensed or registered while they are going through their study. 
I think the Minister will appreciate that the select committee has worked diligently to improve on these now separated bills given that National opposed the first reading of the Energy Safety Review Bill.