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7. Question No. 7—HealthTANGI UTIKERE (Labour—Palmerston North) to the Minister of HealthQuestion No. 7—Health7. TANGI UTIKERE (Labour—Palmerston North) to the Minister of Health: How is Budget 2022 helping to secure the future of New Zealanders' health?Hon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Health): When we undertook to rebuild New Zealand's health system we accepted it would not only require commitment to making the necessary structural reform but also that a financial investment to secure New Zealanders' health would be required. This is why in this year's Budget Vote Health has received a record $1.8 billion funding boost. This clears the financial deck so that Health New Zealand and the Māori Health Authority can have a clean start and get on delivering a system that supports our medical staff to deliver better care for patients. This funding boost starts to overcome years of underfunding of the system. Also to ensure greater certainty of planning Budget 2022 secures funding for two years and provides a further $1.3 billion boost in the second year.Tangi Utikere: What are some of focus areas in the 2022 health Budget?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: Through this Budget we'll be able to amongst a broad range of initiatives prioritise delivering better care at a community level continue modernising our health system's physical and digital infrastructure and assets and build a national health service that consolidates our strengths while recognising flax-root needs. This Budget continues our work in rebuilding mental health services with specific investments in acute and specialist services including addressing unmet demand for help with eating disorders. Budget 2022 also provides a significant boost to ambulance services adding 61 vehicles to the fleet and 248 additional crew. This new investment will tackle the inequity and postcode lottery that for decades has meant patients with the same conditions in different parts of the country have had different access to care.Tangi Utikere: How will this Budget support the delivery of primary healthcare?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: Budget 2022 funding will grow primary healthcare teams around the country and allow GPs to work more seamlessly with services like physiotherapists pharmacists and social workers to offer greater care earlier and closer to home. GPs in high-needs areas are also being backed with $86 million of new funding over four years so they can offer more care through improved opening hours and more appointments. These are key parts of the Government's shift to ensure New Zealand's health system can provide quality care at the right time and in the right place while taking pressure off our hospitals in the rebuilt system.
5. Question No. 5—HousingSHANAN HALBERT (Labour—Northcote) to the Minister of HousingQuestion No. 5—Housing5. SHANAN HALBERT (Labour—Northcote) to the Minister of Housing: How is the Government supporting more people into their first homes through Budget 2022?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Housing): The Government is backing first-home buyers by making changes to the First Home Grants and First Home Loans. These changes mean more New Zealanders can access support to get into their first home. We've increased the house price caps for the First Home Grant to align with lower quartile market values for new and existing properties in each different part of the country. We are also removing house price caps entirely from the First Home Loan to provide a greater choice of homes for prospective first-home buyers. Caps will be reviewed in six months' time. These changes along with other changes to the eligibility criteria will help thousands more first-home buyers. Funding is available for approximately 7000 extra First Home Grants and 2500 extra First Home Loans each year.Shanan Halbert: How else has the Government boosted support to get more people into their first homes through Budget 2022?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: In addition to increasing house price caps for the First Home Grant and removing the caps for the First Home Loan we've increased the income cap for individuals with dependents to $150000. We know a deposit can be a big barrier for people purchasing their first home particularly for single parent families. With these changes a single parent with two children earning up to $150000 a year will now be eligible for the First Home Grant to help them with their deposit. Changes to the First Home Grant came into effect on 19 May and changes to the First Home Loan take effect next month.Shanan Halbert: How is the Government supporting more Māori into homeownership through Budget 2022?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: We've increased the cap of the Kāinga Whenua loan from $200000 to $500000 to provide more choice and opportunities for people building relocating or purchasing a home on whenua Māori. Only 70 Kāinga Whenua loans have been paid out since 2010 so lifting the cap will make a huge difference. The Government is also working closely with Kiwibank to respond to concerns around access to finance on whenua Māori. Changes to the Kāinga Whenua loan cap come into effect tomorrow.
3. Question No. 3—FinanceBARBARA EDMONDS (Labour—Mana) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 3—Finance3. BARBARA EDMONDS (Labour—Mana) to the Minister of Finance: Malo le soifua. Malo le soifua lau afioga le Fofoga Fetalai. What recent reports has he seen on the New Zealand economy?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): Budget 2022's focus on creating economic certainty now and in the future has been recognised by the credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's. It noted that New Zealand's economic recovery continues with an improving fiscal outlook despite rising economic headwinds. Standard & Poor's said the stable outlook on New Zealand's rating is supported by the agency's expectations that there is enough headroom within the current rating to address potential risks. This reflects the country's sound and stable institutional settings such as monetary policy flexibility and economic wealth. While the outlook does remain uncertain and households and businesses are doing it tough in the face of global inflation trends our strong economic and fiscal position means we are in a good position to support New Zealanders as we deal with these challenges.Barbara Edmonds: What other reports has he seen on the Budget's impact on New Zealand's economy?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: ASB's economist said in its Budget 2022 analysis that the New Zealand economy is a strong position and has sound foundation showing remarkable resilience and adaptability. Westpac's economist said Budget 2022 shows that the Government's accounts remain in good shape." The BNZ economist said it shouldn't be overlooked that yet again the major fiscal theme is the ongoing strength in New Zealand's fiscal accounts relative to others and the relatively speedy return to fiscal surplus.Barbara Edmonds: What other reports has he seen on the economy?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The resilience of the jobs market is continuing to support the economy. Stats New Zealand reported that seasonally adjusted filled jobs rose 0.6 percent or 14173 in April compared to the previous month. The gains were broad based with the goods-producing and services industries up 0.6 percent and primary industries up 0.4 percent. The Government is focused on securing our future. Budget 2022 continues our investment in skills and training to provide New Zealanders with opportunities and provide businesses with a skilled workforce that will move them forward. Our immigration rebalance and the opening of the borders to foreign workers and tourists will also accelerate growth."
Rurawhe AdrianPETITIONS PAPERS SELECT COMMITTEE REPORTS AND INTRODUCTION OF BILLSDEPUTY SPEAKER: Petitions have been delivered to the Clerk for presentation. CLERK: Petition of Gloria Edward requesting that the House change the law relating to the division of property on dissolution of marriage so that the value of overseas property is included in the division of assets where expatriate women are divorced after coming into New Zealandpetition of Aaron Joyes on behalf of Forrest Hill School requesting the House pass legislation to formally place Lake Pupuke within the protection of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park petition of Brian Borland requesting that the House require that drivers' impairment rather than drugs be used to determine whether they can legally drive petition of Sukhdeep Kaur requesting that the House urge the Associate Minister of Immigration to intervene and stop the deportation of Narinderjit Singh petition of Barry Ramsay requesting that the House urge the Government to direct TVNZ to abstain from mixing languages on English-language channels petition of Toby Williams requesting that the House urge the Government to protect Huiarua Station and Matanui Station from being converted to forestry by offshore interests.DEPUTY SPEAKER: Those petitions stand referred to the Petitions Committee. Ministers have delivered papers. CLERK: Accreditation Council Statement of Intent 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2026Statement of Performance Expectations 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023External Reporting Board Statement of Intent 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2027Statement of Performance Expectations 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023.DEPUTY SPEAKER: Those papers are published under the authority of the House. Select committee reports have been delivered for presentation. CLERK: Report of the Education and Workforce Committee on the briefing on the 2020-21 performance and current operations of Immigration New Zealand. Reports of the Finance and Expenditure Committee on:the Controller and Auditor-General draft annual plan 2022-23 andthe Reserve Bank of New Zealand's Financial Stability Report May 2022. Report of the Health Committee on the continuation of the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020.Reports of the Justice Committee on: the four petitions of Peter Barlow petition of Karl Thomas andpetition of Stephanie Johnson.Report of the Māori Affairs Committee on the Māori Purposes Bill.Reports of the Regulations Review Committee on:the complaint about resource managementnational environmental standards for freshwater regulations 2020examination of COVID-19 orders presented 2 May 2022 andexamination of COVID-19 orders presented between 16 and 29 March 2022. Report of the Social Services and Community Committee on the petition of Jenni Dacomb.DEPUTY SPEAKER: The bill is set down for second reading. The Financial Stability Report the briefing the draft annual plan of the Controller and Auditor-General and the reports of the Regulations Review Committee are set down for consideration. The Clerk has been informed of the introduction of a bill. CLERK: Overseas Investment (Forestry) Amendment Bill introduction.DEPUTY SPEAKER: That bill is set down for first reading.
Rurawhe AdrianOBITUARIESJoseph (Joe) Parata Hōhepa HawkeHon Stanley (Stan) Joseph RodgerDEPUTY SPEAKER: Members I'm sorry to have to inform the House of the death of two former members.E pōuri ana te ngākau ki te whakamōhio i te Whare ki te rironga i te 22 o Haratua 2022 o Joseph Parata Hōhepa Hawke MNZM i mōhiotia rā ko Joe Hawke nō Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Tainui Uenuku me Ngāti Maru nāna nei i tū hei mema i runga i te rārangi o Te Pāti Reipa mai i te tau 1996 ki te tau 2002. I noho ia i runga i te Komiti Whiriwhiri Take Māori me te Komiti Whiriwhiri Take Kāwanatanga ā-Rohe Take Taiao.[I regret to inform the House of the death on 22 May 2022 of Joseph Parata Hohepa Hawke MNZM known as Joe Hawke of Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei Tainui Uenuku and Ngāti Māru who was a list member representing the Labour Party from 1996 to 2002. He served on the Māori Affairs Committee and the Local Government and Environment Committee.] I also regret to inform the House of the death on 29 May 2022 of the Hon Stanley Joseph Rodger CMG known as Stan Rodger who represented the electorate of Dunedin North from 1978 to 1990. He held a number of ministerial portfolios including Minister of Labour State Services and State Owned Enterprises.I desire on behalf of this House to express our sense of the loss we have sustained and our sympathy with the relatives of the late former members. I now ask members to stand with me and observe a period of silence as a mark of respect to their memories.Honourable members stood as a mark of respect.DEPUTY SPEAKER: Fa'afetai lava thank you members.
Visitors — Australia—Parliament of Victoria
Rurawhe AdrianVISITORSAustralia—Parliament of VictoriaDEPUTY SPEAKER: I'm sure that members would wish to welcome the Hon Lisa Neville the Minister for Police and Minister for Water from the Parliament of Victoria; and members of the Legal and Social Issues Committee Legislative Council of the Parliament of Victoria led by the chair Ms Fiona Patten who are present in the gallery.
Rurawhe Adrian; Sosene Lemauga LydiaTUESDAY 31 MAY 2022The Deputy Speaker took the Chair at 2 p.m.KARAKIA/PRAYERSDEPUTY SPEAKER: In celebration of Samoan Language Week I have asked Lemauga Lydia Sosene to say the prayer in Samoan today.LEMAUGA LYDIA SOSENE (Labour): Tatou ifo ma tatalo. Le Atua Silisili ese e matou te sulaina lau Afio mo fa'amanuiaga ma tofi ua e fa'au'uina ai i matou. E lafoa'i ni o matou lagona ma manatua ta'ito'atasi i le amana'iaina o le Masiofo o Peretania. Matou te tatalo ina ia tonu ma fa'amaoni fuafuaga ma fa'ai'uga uma i totonu o lenei Maota Fono. Ia talosia ta'ita'i o lenei Mālō ina ia maua le tōfā mamao le fa'apalepale ma le agamalū auā le manuia ma le filemū o Niu Sila. O le matou tatalo lea e ala atu i le suafa pele o Iesu Keriso Amene.
Tuesday 25 October 2022 (continued on Wednesday 26 October 2022) - Volume 763
VoteA party vote was called for on the question That the Oranga Tamariki Amendment Bill be now read a second time.Ayes 76New Zealand Labour 64; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10; Te Paati Māori 2.Noes 43New Zealand National 33; ACT New Zealand 10.Motion agreed to.Bill read a second time.
Fair Pay Agreements Bill — In Committee—Clauses 1 and 2
VoteCHAIRPERSON (Hon Jacqui Dean): The question is that Chris Baillie's tabled amendment to clause 1 set out on Supplementary Order Paper 265 be agreed to. A party vote was called for on the question That the amendment be agreed to.Ayes 43New Zealand National 33; ACT New Zealand 10.Noes 74New Zealand Labour 64; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10.Amendment not agreed to.CHAIRPERSON (Hon Jacqui Dean): The question is that Paul Goldsmith's tabled amendment to clause 1 changing the title of the bill to Mandatory Union Deals Bill" be agreed to.A party vote was called for on the question That the amendment be agreed to.Ayes 43New Zealand National 33; ACT New Zealand 10.Noes 74New Zealand Labour 64; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10.Amendment not agreed to.A party vote was called for on the question That clause 1 be agreed to.Ayes 74New Zealand Labour 64; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10.Noes 43New Zealand National 33; ACT New Zealand 10.Clause 1 agreed to.CHAIRPERSON (Hon Jacqui Dean): The question is that the Minister's amendments to clause 2 set out on Supplementary Order Paper 264 be agreed to.A party vote was called for on the question That the amendments be agreed to.Ayes 74New Zealand Labour 64; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10.Noes 43New Zealand National 33; ACT New Zealand 10.Amendments agreed to.A party vote was called for on the question That clause 2 as amended be agreed to.Ayes 74New Zealand Labour 64; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10.Noes 43New Zealand National 33; ACT New Zealand 10.Clause 2 as amended agreed to.Bill to be reported with amendment."
VoteA party vote was called for on the question That Part 11 be agreed to.Ayes 74New Zealand Labour 64; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10.Noes 43New Zealand National 33; ACT New Zealand 10.Part 11 agreed to.CHAIRPERSON (Hon Jacqui Dean): The question is that Jan Logie's amendment to Schedule 1 set out on Supplementary Order Paper 272 be agreed to.A party vote was called for on the question That the amendment be agreed to.Ayes 10Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10.Noes 107New Zealand Labour 64; New Zealand National 33; ACT New Zealand 10.Amendment not agreed to.A party vote was called for on the question That Schedule 1 be agreed to.Ayes 74New Zealand Labour 64; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10.Noes 43New Zealand National 33; ACT New Zealand 10.Schedule 1 agreed to.A party vote was called for on the question That Schedule 2 be agreed to.Ayes 74New Zealand Labour 64; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10.Noes 43New Zealand National 33; ACT New Zealand 10.Schedule 2 agreed to.CHAIRPERSON (Hon Jacqui Dean): The question is that the Minister's amendment to Schedule 3 set out on Supplementary Order Paper 264 be agreed to.A party vote was called for on the question That the amendment be agreed to.Ayes 74New Zealand Labour 64; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10.Noes 43New Zealand National 33; ACT New Zealand 10.Amendment agreed to.A party vote was called for on the question That Schedule 3 as amended be agreed to.Ayes 74New Zealand Labour 64; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10.Noes 43New Zealand National 33; ACT New Zealand 10.Schedule 3 as amended agreed to.CHAIRPERSON (Hon Jacqui Dean): The question is that the Minister's amendments to Schedule 4 set out on Supplementary Order Paper 264 and in the tabled amendment be agreed to.A party vote was called for on the question That the amendments be agreed to.Ayes 74New Zealand Labour 64; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10.Noes 43New Zealand National 33; ACT New Zealand 10.Amendments agreed to.A party vote was called for on the question That Schedule 4 as amended be agreed to.Ayes 74New Zealand Labour 64; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10.Noes 43New Zealand National 33; ACT New Zealand 10.Schedule 4 as amended agreed to.
Fair Pay Agreements Bill — In Committee—Part 11
VoteCHAIRPERSON (Hon Jacqui Dean): The question is that Chris Baillie's tabled amendment to clause 228BI be agreed to.A party vote was called for on the question That the amendment be agreed to.Ayes 43New Zealand National 33; ACT New Zealand 10.Noes 74New Zealand Labour 64; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10.Amendment not agreed to.CHAIRPERSON (Hon Jacqui Dean): Chris Baillie's amendment to clause 228KA set out on Supplementary Order Paper 270 is out of order as being inconsistent with a previous decision of the committee.A party vote was called for on the question That Part 10A be agreed to.Ayes 74New Zealand Labour 64; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 10.Noes 43New Zealand National 33; ACT New Zealand 10.Part 10A agreed to.
Fair Pay Agreements Bill — In Committee—Part 10A (continued)
Lewis StephSTEPH LEWIS (Labour—Whanganui): Thank you Mr Speaker. It is my absolute pleasure to stand and take a short call on the Organic Products Bill. As a member of the Primary Production Committee it is great to have the opportunity to speak on this bill today in the House. In fact I think this might be the first piece of legislation that I considered as a new member of the House. I came in as a new MP at the tail end of the oral submissions on this bill so it was great to be able to hear from those submitters to also get the thoughts of the advisers and officials and then be part of that report back to the House process.As we've heard from colleagues across the House including my good colleague Jo Luxton here—you know people are wanting certainty. Ultimately that's what this bill comes down to. The organic industry is a rapidly growing industry. It is increasing year on year by about 9 percent. About 58 perfect of the organic products that we produce here in New Zealand are exported overseas. And where we see a rapidly growing industry often what we can see across the board looking back in history is opportunity for people to get in on what they think is the next quick buck without necessarily going through all of the proper processes and channels.What this bill does is make sure that we have a consistent proper process in place which will then give consumers both here in New Zealand and our consumers overseas the certainty that they have asked for especially with our trading partners overseas. What they have indicated very clearly to us—from foreign Governments—is that they want some certainty they want to see consistency in our process and they would like Government oversight in the process—hence why part of the process is being removed from private certifiers and will now be undertaken by the Ministry for Primary Industries. So that will provide the certainty and the independence and transparency that our overseas consumers have been demanding.So it is with absolute pleasure as I said that I commend this bill to the House.
Luxton JoJO LUXTON (Labour—Rangitata): I am so pleased to take a call on this the second reading of the Organic Products Bill. I think it's probably fair to say we've probably made Minister Shaw's day by having this piece of legislation come into the House today!What this piece of legislation does is pretty much bring confidence to the consumer in so far as when they purchase a product that says it's organic that it actually is and that it meets certain standards to ensure that it is organic.This piece of legislation also provides details to businesses of what they need to do in order to be able to call their product organic". We heard the Minister talk before about the fact that the ability to trade or sell our organic products overseas is increasing—this I'm sure will help to increase it even further.One of the things I wanted to mention is that this bill brings our practice in line with other countries overseas our major trading partners and what they already do to regulate their organic products. It's going to assist us in growing our organics industry exports which is what I just alluded to before.The Primary Production Committee heard from 350 submissions. It feels like a lifetime ago that we were going through this process so it's been a bit tricky to try and recall. But we had 60 submitters that submitted orally.We heard the Minister talk about the fact that there were some concerns raised over the change to add ministry oversight. The committee did hear those concerns and consider those concerns but ultimately we decided to continue with that as well because it does align this bill with other regulatory models in New Zealand such as the Food Act.We did change the title of this bill from the "Organic Products Bill" to the "Organic Products and Production Bill". That just allows to ensure that the production of organics is done in such a way that it meets those standards.We've heard the Minister mention Supplementary Order Paper 262 that he has introduced which simply recognises the Crown's responsibility to give effect to the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.I have no hesitation in commending this bill to the House."
Lubeck MarjaMARJA LUBECK (Labour): Thank you Mr Speaker. It's a real pleasure to be taking the last fairly short contribution on the Oranga Tamariki Amendment Bill today. First off I would like to acknowledge the hard work by the Minister the Hon Kelvin Davis as well as the select committee members and of course everyone who has submitted on this particular bill.Now the previous speaker Louise Upston mentioned that the legislation is not delivering as it's intended and therefore prefers to remain with the status quo. And of course that is no surprise that the National Party would like to remain with the status quo because that is what they generally like to do never mind that it is not the better situation. The subsequent child provisions were introduced by the previous National Government and they had an aim of improving the safety of subsequent children but unfortunately what the evidence shows us is that the opposite often occurred. And the legislation therefore unfairly impacted on both the young person and their whānau.So the Social Services and Community Committee recommends the passing of this bill. They made a number of changes all aimed at improving the readability and workability of this bill. The changes were set out in the legislative statement and also have been extensively debated around the House so no need for me to go further into those. But I'd like to say that as a Government we know that we need to make changes at Oranga Tamariki to ensure children are appropriately protected and in regards to this bill specifically as I mentioned before it makes a number of changes. But the most important part there is the partial repeal of the subsequent child provision.Again thanking the committee members and submitters who have worked very hard in making positive changes to this bill. It's an important bill and I commend it to the House. Thank you Mr Speaker.
Craig LizDr LIZ CRAIG (Labour): Thank you Mr Speaker. It's a real pleasure to take a call on the second reading of this bill because I believe that it's important that every child and young person in New Zealand grows up to reach their full potential and I think this bill takes us one step further in that direction.So I wasn't on the committee when it heard the submissions on this bill but I have taken a little bit of time to read some of that feedback provided by the submitters. Just noting that the committee received 24 written submissions and heard 11 oral submissions. I'd just like to thank everybody who provided their feedback through to the committee.I guess the impression I got reading the submissions was just the incredibly negative impact that the subsequent child provisions have had on particularly parents and caregivers who had made a lot of steps to turn their lives around and wanted to work in the best interests of their subsequent child and then having the current provisions in place and the huge distress that that caused.But I also think that some of the submitters talked about the impact that the current provisions had on the approach that Oranga Tamariki then took more generally in terms of considering subsequent children. I think that the real sense was the partial repeal—what it would mean is that social workers could then use their best clinical judgment and their experience to make those decisions about what was most important in the interests of the children and young people but also to allow them to work alongside whānau in a more meaningful way.But also there was quite a lot of support confirming the fact that the subsequent child provisions for caregivers and parents who've been convicted of the death of the child in their care was retained given the seriousness of those convictions.So I think while this is a relatively small and short bill it's a really really important one. I think it will make a significant difference in the lives of the children and their whānau that are impacted by these provisions. So I'm happy to commend this bill to the House.
Utikere TangiTANGI UTIKERE (Labour—Palmerston North): Mālō ni kia orana Mr Speaker. I'm happy to take a brief call on a bill that will amend the Oranga Tamariki Act of 1989. In doing so can I acknowledge the team that have worked on this as members of the Social Services and Community Committee—Angie Warren-Clark: Hard-working.TANGI UTIKERE: Hard-working indeed from the chair there.This will make a number of changes including some minor and technical amendments that the committee have brought to the attention of the House that will certainly improve clarity but also focus on enhancing the rights of children and young people and removing some provisions that some may consider as being redundant or perhaps not well-utilised.Colleagues previously have made contributions around what I guess is a key aspect of this bill. It relates to the partial removal of what is known as the subsequent child provisions". This is a change that will remove the mandatory involvement of the Family Court oversight for parents who've had a child who has previously been permanently removed from their care.I guess the rationale for that is that often the provision itself is rather complex in nature; it is not often utilised. That in itself is no good reason to effectively remove it from legislation but I reflect on the contribution our colleague Emily Henderson—someone who has been at the coalface in terms of Family Court jurisdiction—and her contributions earlier today in the House which reflected on the role that this provides as a barrier for some social workers who are working with family and whānau.So this is about providing that element of whānau and family wellbeing and care noting though that there is still a requirement where the subsequent child provision would still apply to those who have a conviction of murder manslaughter or infanticide. That is because the presumption of risk is at a level that is still appropriate. I am happy to commend this bill to the House."
Henderson EmilyDr EMILY HENDERSON (Labour—Whangārei): Tēnā koe e te Māngai o te Whare. I rise to take a brief call in this the second reading on the Oranga Tamariki Amendment Bill or as we know it the subsequent child bill".I was a member of the Justice Committee who worked on this bill.Angie Warren-Clark: Social Services.Dr EMILY HENDERSON: I'm so sorry. The Social Services and Community Committee—a far more intellectually rigorous committee than my other one the Justice Committee! A delightful committee to work on ably and wonderfully chaired by Ms Angie Warren-Clark—oh look there she is!I rise to take this brief call. This is about repealing a piece of legislation that the National Party brought in when they were in Government in 2016. As previous speakers have said the intention was to it was to put in a safeguard where parents had had a previous child removed in the hopes that history would not repeat when another child was born.Unfortunately a thorough review of the operation of the legislation found it hasn't worked as it was intended. In fact as a practitioner I have seen this in operation in my years as a practising lawyer. I remember a young woman called Tania who was in a relationship with a very very violent man. She had the first baby removed because she could not separate from this man; he was fairly chronic as a stalker and controller and she was unable to escape. She subsequently did manage to escape there were further babies and each time there was anguish and distress because Oranga Tamariki had to undertake these investigations.Just as has been said in the review what happened was social workers rather than walking alongside this young māmā became her judge and jury. So many barriers were put in place of a good working relationship that's so important between social worker and client and whānau that it was years and years of trauma for that māmā and for her young children.So I thoroughly welcome the repeal of this piece of legislation. It was a nice thought. It did not do what it was intended to do. What we need is the wraparound services not to uplift our pēpē and that is what this Government is trying to do. I commend it to the House."
Leary IngridINGRID LEARY (Labour—Taieri): It would be remiss of me not to start my contribution by just responding to the suggestion from the previous speaker Chris Penk but also David Seymour that the so-called Te Ture Whenua Māori Bill would be the answer to fast tracking Māori use of Māori land. That recycled bill in the name of Joseph Mooney is 509 clauses 396 pages. There was a lot of consultation and actually Māori land owners don't want it. So that isn't the solution.But turning to this the Māori Purposes Bill I think that even though it's technical it's quite significant for a couple of reasons. The first is that it recognises a public benefit about supporting the integrity and durability of a Treaty of Waitangi Act settlement consistent with the public policy of Government. So it basically says that this belongs in the area of a public law not necessarily a private law and it recognises that the Crown had a central role in the Wai 51 settlement and therefore its conduct in undertaking should be considered a matter of public policy. That's been the approach as we've heard since the mid-1990s. But what this bill does is really go to reinforcing that principle.So it actually reinforces the Crown's approach to be seen as consistent stable and predictable not only in relation to its Treaty partners but also in the way it conducts itself recognising that the Crown is representative of all New Zealanders: Māori and non-Māori. So that is the first principle and then how it conducts itself in relation to Treaty partners secondly.The bill also excludes the ability of the Māori Land Court to terminate the Ruapuha Uekaha Hapū Trust and we've heard that. That shores up the kaupapa of the original Wai 51 settlement which was to benefit the descendants of the 22 original owners of that whenua. So that in turn effectively rules out any claim from the beneficial owners of the land who were not direct descendants. So it goes back to first principles and again I would say that that shores up the recognition of the durability of Te Tiriti.So by recognising public benefit and by recognising that these matters belong in public legislation and don't belong in the realm of the Māori Land Court this technical bill is actually part of a significant whakapapa of legislation in common law that really recognises the intrinsic spirit of Te Tiriti in the Crown's own identity and how it conducts itself with its Treaty partners. Therefore it's a great pleasure in recommending it to the House.Motion agreed to.Bill read a second time.
Luxton JoJO LUXTON (Labour—Rangitata): Thank you Madam Speaker. I'm pleased to take a call in this the second reading of the Māori Purposes Bill. I'm not a member of the select committee that has overseen this bill through the submissions stage but I always enjoy it when we have a piece of legislation that comes back to the House where all parties agree on it. It makes for a much much more pleasant process.We've heard from several members who've spoken today that this is a small bill a minor bill and one that takes care of some technical issues. But I see this bill as also partly one that helps to remove barriers for people. We've heard for example one of the amendments that has been made to the Maori Trust Boards Act which my colleague just prior to me mentioned around the ability to be able to vote online and I think that's a really big way of ensuring that barriers are removed for people.Angie Warren-Clark: Sensible.JO LUXTON: It is sensible thank you Angie Warren-Clark. It's a sensible addition or change to the legislation because these days most people have access to the internet and the ability to vote online as opposed to the long drawn-out process that my colleague Tāmati Coffey just mentioned. He also mentioned—he's taken all my speaking points!—the ability for board members to resign; a bit more of a streamlined process there.I also wanted to just briefly talk about the amendments to the Te Ture Whenua Maori Act of 1993 where one of the first set of changes applies to the Ruapuha Uekaha Hapū Trust so that it continues to exist with the same beneficiaries as was attended under the Wai 51 Treaty claim. It means that the powers—I was just reading before that succession orders that were made by the Māori Land Court meant that the trust could be terminated and people entitled to the interest in the land may not necessarily be the ones that were direct descendants of the original owners as was intended. And so this piece of legislation also updates that and changes that to ensure that it is able to continue with the direct descendants as was intended by that Wai 51 part of the Treaty settlement there.Again I agree with all the things that colleagues around the House have said and it's a pleasure to take a call on this bill and I commend it to the House.
Coffey TamatiTĀMATI COFFEY (Labour): Thank you Madam Speaker. It has been one of these really technical bills which you know you think might just be able to be changed really quickly just somebody can jump into the keyboard and just delete this and add that but actually we need to go through this process in Parliament to be able to make those changes official. So as the chair of the Māori Affairs Committee we've scrutinised this bill we bring it back it before the House with the most minor of changes—however they are necessary. The one that I wanted to pick up on was just the change that we're going to make off the back of conversations with the Lake Rotoaira Trust who had some desire to be able to tighten up the rules and relax the rules in certain areas and that's exactly what we're going to do.Really interestingly Lake Rotoaira is actually Māori private freehold land. It's situated between Lake Taupō and Mount Tongariro and it's administered by a trust on behalf of over 11000 beneficiaries. It also looks after the trout fishery down those ways as well. One of the things that we're doing in here is that we're actually updating the list of people that are allowed access to the lake without an entry permit. We've actually got a stakeholder group Māori Rōpū—they're actually Māori trustees on their own reservation which is the island in the middle of Lake Rotoaira—at the moment they need a permit to be able to access their own whenua. So it's little changes like this that we're making to be able to allow the system to be a lot slicker a lot more responsive to current-day needs and to solve some of those wicked problems. So that one was the one that I wanted to point out.And just the other one around updating amendments to the Maori Trust Board Act getting with the times things like e-voting things like the Act currently says that if you're going to resign you have to write it in a letter and you have to hand that letter to the Minister of Māori Development. Times have changed; we know that we can do that a lot more efficiently these days. So this bill is well supported around the House and rightly so because it does make a number of technical amendments that are going to make life much easier and much more straightforward for people. I commend it to the House.
Eagle Paul; Salesa JennyPAUL EAGLE (Labour—Rongotai): Thank you Madam Speaker. It's my pleasure to speak on this the Māori Purposes Bill. What we've heard from speakers already from around the House is how supportive people are and I would like to thank the Māori Affairs Committee. I sit on it and thanks to chair Tāmati Coffey and members who as we've heard work collegially to progress the agenda of the day.We've heard also that some of these things are minor technical but we'd all agree that they make life easier and they remove all of the unnecessary administrative compliance etc. For me it's about making sure that these Māori entities can better manage their affairs exercise their rangatiratanga and that's through the use of new technologies etc.I wanted to just pull out a few things in this short speech and that's the amendment to the Maori Trust Boards Act. I think allowing them to vote electronically and removing them from the Cabinet Fees Framework is great and just streamlining their whole process for resignations making sure that they can just do things in a timely manner in the way they want to do them is really good.There's also the Maori Community Development Act 1962. That's the piece of legislation that really governs authorises Māori wardens in New Zealand. They've done a fantastic job and that just I'd just say strengthens their accountability in terms of their financial records. So although minor in nature they will make life easier for entities and I commend this bill to the House.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): The next call is a split call. I call on Simon Watts for five minutes.
Prime Willow-JeanWILLOW-JEAN PRIME (Labour—Northland): Mālō ni Madam Speaker. Tēnā koe. Thank you for the opportunity to take what will just be a brief call on the Māori Purposes Bill. I have recently joined the Māori Affairs Committee but unfortunately this piece of business was done before I joined the committee so I do want to start by acknowledging the select committee for the work that they did on this bill hearing from the submitters—of which there were five I understand. On the contributions of those that we've heard this morning who are members of that select committee I just want to acknowledge them for their work and for putting forward a unanimous report—unanimously supporting the report back with no further proposed changes.The thing that I wanted to note is that I think it is great that the Minister has introduced a piece of legislation that looks at modernising some of the legislation that we have to enable these trusts and different organisations—some have existed as Harete Hipango mentioned in her contribution for a very long time. I think of the Māori councils I think of our Māori trust boards and they have been here as I said for decades and technologies have changed.The changes that I wanted to point out that I think help these organisations to manage their affairs in the 21st century are around things like the allowing for—so not saying that they have to but allowing for—electronic voting in trust board elections and also the streamlining of processes for board members' resignations. Another thing that I saw here which I think too acknowledges the specific skill set that people have who are appointed to these positions by their people is the removal of Māori trust boards from the Cabinet Fees Framework as they are further removed and more distant from the Crown than other entities subject to that framework. It also acknowledges the particular skill sets of those people that take up these positions and gives them that flexibility around that.I wanted to note that in terms of the proposed changes for the Maori Trust Boards Act all Māori trust boards were contacted and of all of those that responded they were all in favour. So I don't want to take any longer in this contribution given it is a non-controversial bill with full support across the House. I commend this bill to the House.
Williams ArenaARENA WILLIAMS (Labour—Manurewa): Tēnā koe Mr Speaker. Mālō ni. For those just tuning in to this debate and those joining us we're discussing here the Māori Purposes Bill. This is one of the pieces of legislation—one of many pieces of legislation—in this House which we all agree on and let me tell you a little bit about why we agree on this piece of legislation. It went to the Māori Affairs Committee and that committee is a very collegial committee. I'm honoured to sit on that committee as its deputy chairperson alongside the member who has just spoken Harete Hipango. We have a relationship in that committee where we discuss the ideas put to us. We draw heavily on the advice of our officials and I must commend the officials who advised us on this piece of legislation. We had very experienced and helpful advisers on this. We worked well as well with our clerks' team particularly our clerk Dylan Hanna who leaves us today for another committee and I commend him on his service to the Māori Affairs Committee. [Interruption] He's getting cheers from the Environment Committee though. Now look this piece of legislation has been canvassed as technical but let me tell you a little bit more about the Ruapuha Uekaha Hapū Trust. It was a particularly interesting part of this legislation which the committee considered in a little bit more detail because this is a trust that has existed since 1990. That was before having settlements written into legislation were common. This arose from the claim of Wai 51. The original claimants actually gave evidence to the committee and spoke to us through their lawyer Mr Koning and took us through the procedural history of how this special trust came into existence before the Government was in the habit of making formal Treaty settlements. This was really useful for the committee to consider because the Māori Affairs Committee is responsible for considering all Treaty legislation. We consider more modern forms of Treaty settlements that have arisen since probably the 2005-07 era. We also consider the older settlements that did not use the same sorts of policy settings that we do now when we consider those amendments. So it was really useful for us to consider what happened at this period of 1990 when no conventions existed and Treaty settlements weren't something that was agreed between Labour and National as important. When we consider this arrangement that has existed for both the hapū of Uekaha and Ruapuha the arrangements that were made using ahu whenua trusts simply aren't as nimble and aren't as flexible as those that exist today. So that is why we have to make an amendment to the legislation to limit the power of the court because what was put in place in 1990 isn't acceptable today and isn't as useful today as more modern legislation. So Madam Speaker thank you for the opportunity for a contribution on this bill. It's a good bill and that's why I commend it to the House.
Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (Hazardous Substances Assessments) Amendment Bill — Third Reading
Chen NaisiNAISI CHEN (Labour): In the spirit of this bill which is to make sure that we cut the costs of processes I commend this bill to the House. It's a great bill. Thank you Mr Speaker. Bill read a third time.
Court SimonSIMON COURT (ACT): Thank you Mr Speaker. The ACT Party supports the changes proposed in this bill. The problem to solve is to simplify the way that hazardous substances pesticides agricultural chemicals and water treatment chemicals for example are assessed and can come into use in New Zealand. And that's because over the past few decades there have been many many advances in the type of chemical formulations that are used on our crops in our water supply and in manufacturing food which means that the chemicals used today are far less toxic than the ones used in previous generations. If we consider it wasn't that long ago that in New Zealand we used to manufacture products like 245-T like dieldrin and like lindane that all contained extremely harmful dioxin compounds that cause cancer and birth defects and that are not easy to clean up and dispose of—those chemicals are banned and we now use a far safer generation of products to grow food in industrial manufacturing water treatment and so on. But the next generation of products that are available are safer again and our current hazardous substances and new organisms legislation has made it difficult to have older products less safe products reassessed and removed and to bring new products into the market. It's actually our growers who are asking for access to these products asking for the system to be sped up. And so for that reason ACT supports this.What is missing from this particular piece of legislation and it has been canvassed is the opportunity to look at the new organisms component which would give us a pathway potentially to solving some of our really serious environmental problems like how we address emissions from livestock for example. There are products in the market right now like Bovaer which if fed to livestock reduce their methane emissions. There are forms of ryegrass for example which are genetically modified which would take up more nitrogen and actually improve the environment. And of course there are opportunities to use medical treatments which are commonly used in places like far-flung Australia which involve genetically modified organisms to treat really rare but extremely deadly cancers.So the ACT Party supports this legislation. We believe that it's timely to simplify the process to reassess chemicals and to reassess hazardous substances so they can be removed from use if new safer products are available. But we also urge the Minister and officials to continue work on liberalising the use of genetically modified biotechnology that is in common use in other parts of the world and which would have great benefits for New Zealand consumers for New Zealand primary producers but most importantly for the environment we live in and for the future people of New Zealand. Thank you.