Penk ChrisPart 3 ObligationsCHRIS PENK (National—Helensville): Thank you Madam Chair. Kicking off on Part 3 if I may—Subpart 1 of this bill—I'll speak hopefully at least loud enough that all can hear me that wish to however many or few in the Chamber that may be. So in clause 90 talking about what the part sets out clearly there are a couple of different things: MSD which is no doubt defined elsewhere as the Ministry of Social Development and of course beneficiaries and their partners. Set out then is the set of consequences for failure to comply with the obligations under this part. To a large extent these are similar in the tone as other parts of the legislation but the specific obligations that are set out are worth noting in themselves. So it is at Subpart 2 that we see the ministry's obligations and in particular steps to make people who are affected aware of their obligations.A question that I would like the Minister to provide some guidance on please relates to the wording of clause 92 namely that MSD must take reasonable and appropriate steps to make a person to whom an obligation under this Part applies—(a) aware of that obligation;" and so forth. I'll cover those specific requirements in a moment but first it seems to me that where the legislation talks about "an obligation" it might be more helpful if it talks about "obligations" if more than one does apply and perhaps just as a matter of drafting if it were to have said "at least one obligation" that might be the clearest possible way of defining that.The term "reasonable and appropriate steps" I can't find as having been defined in the legislation. Perhaps it would be the case that if the proverbial push came to the colloquial shove it might be obvious enough what those reasonable and appropriate steps were in any given case but some further clarity on that could be useful to those who are reading this legislation as diligently as the members of this committee are no doubt reading it now—in some cases for the first time. So the awareness of the obligation—or as I say obligations—is the first of those three parts that the MSD is needing to make a person aware of.The second is an awareness of the consequences of failure to comply with the obligation and in particular the sanctions that might be imposed under Part 5. It seems unclear whether the awareness that's required of MSD has any particular form. Is there envisaged for example that there will be a pamphlet setting out the consequence of a failure to comply? That might be helpful I think in any practical circumstance. Now I don't suggest that the staff of MSD be micromanaged to the point where the legislation would need to set out what kind of reasonable steps would need to be taken and what the consequences of failure might be. However it might be a useful mechanism in the legislation if it were to point to the existence of regulations that could then be created which in turn would spell out what those consequences of failure might be. I suppose while we're at it we might say that these are consequences of failure that could be reasonably contemplated as opposed to all possible consequences of which there might be very many—indeed possibly an infinite number.Finally of course is an awareness of the person's rights under various sections of the Act to review and appeal the decisions relating to the obligation. The requirement that a person who's affected by the obligations in this legislation be aware of such appeal rights I think is only meaningful to the extent that they will be aware of what it is that would be involved in an appeal. So not only to be aware of the fact that such right exists but also how they might be exercised seems to me something that would be really helpful if it could be spelt out if not in the legislation itself then perhaps by way of guidance from the Minister in the chair Carmel Sepuloni—indeed the sponsor of the legislation—as I am sure she has something in mind that would be helpful to place on record so that if further clarification is needed in the future then it can be gained as readily as simply reading Hansard and her remarks therein.In terms of overseas absence rules in clause 93 moving on—[Time expired]"