Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

You might imagine Parliament’s penultimate week before the summer break would involve MPs lurching tipsily between Christmas functions, ministers pinning yuletide bows onto the government’s now-closed annual agenda, and the vibe turning once again to Christmas mince pies and beach cricket.

MPs hoping for that dreamy vision will be sorely disappointed. This week in the House is packed with debating. If any MPs manage to abscond and attend a Christmas function they might well be tired enough to fall asleep in a corner, without the help of festive libations.

Last bill in, first bill out

The Government seems determined to pack in as much work as possible to complete bills already underway. To remove any remaining fest from the festive warm-up the Government began the week by introducing ten brand new bills for debate. One or two new bills is more usual in weeks when any new bills are introduced at all.

Nine bills were introduced at the usual time, before Question Time. A tenth was added at the last possible moment before it was debated under urgency. Why was the tenth bill added so late? It’s unlikely the drafters were desperately scribbling out the concluding sentences. Possibly it was because it was also the first to be debated under an urgency plan that lasts the week. Such a late addition makes it hard for the Opposition to prepare for debate.

That last minute addition was the Resource Management (Duration of Consents) Amendment Bill, which was debated through all stages under urgency – being finally approved on Wednesday morning. It extends expiring resource contents until the end of 2027 while the government’s new RMA plans kick in. That is a logical consideration, though as a blanket move it may have some unintended consequences council would prefer to have avoided.

Opposition speakers did not appear impressed with the process or the available information. Labour’s Rachel Brooking was the first to respond.

“It’s very sad that we are once again in this House on an all-stages urgency bill, with a bill that we have seen only this afternoon. There is a departmental disclosure statement that we have just picked up off the Table now… . But it is quick reading because it just says ‘no, no, no, no, no, no, no’. Has there been a regulatory impact statement? ‘NO.’ Has there been a proper analysis of how many consents this will apply to? ‘NO.’ No, no, no, no, no-that’s all we see in this report.”

The bills under urgent debate

Debating under urgency is the order of the week. The plan includes seven first readings, some of which are among those ten new bills, as well as four other bills already under consideration. Briefly here are the other bills receiving first readings:

The Emergency Management Bill (No 2) makes changes to both national agency and local body powers in regard to national and regional emergencies.

The Arms Bill repeals and replaces the Arms Act 1983. It says that it “reduces the burden on licence applicants, licence holders, and the Arms Regulator.” In fact it replaces the arms regulator, removing it from the police.

The Crimes Amendment Bill does a lot of things including changing the rules around citizens arrests and ‘property defence’. It changes offences and penalties around people trafficking and smuggling, and slavery offences. It creates new offences for assaults on first responders or corrections officers, and makes it worse to kill someone when they didn’t see it coming (the so-called ‘coward punch’). It also increases penalties for undertaking theft in an “offensive, threatening, insulting, or disorderly manner.” Polite thefts only please.

The Climate Change Response (2050 Target and Other Matters) Amendment Bill almost halves New Zealand’s biogenic methane reduction target to as little as a 14% reduction by 2050. Fear not though, it also institutes a review of the new reduction plan – for which review you have only to wait until 2040. While many of the first readings this week are only under urgency for their first readings (meaning they will be sent to a select committee for public feedback), the methane bill is going through all stages under urgency, thereby avoiding public feedback. Why it is more urgent than the other bills is not obvious. The methane target change aspect of it (which is the bulk of the bill), is not urgent so possibly this is about avoiding public and science feedback in committee.

The Public Works Amendment Bill follows on from a review into how governments can improve the efficiency and clarity of acquiring land through the Public Works Act. One change it does make is requiring consent from the Minister for Māori Affairs when governments intend to take protected Māori land for government work.

The other bills being completed this week under urgency

The Fast-track Approvals Amendment Bill consolidates the controversial fast track legislation enacted last year (itself partly under urgency). This amendment was sold by the government as helping increase competition in the supermarket sector. Controversially, public submissions were only open for ten days. The bill is slated for debate on three remaining stages. You can read more about it here.

The Animal Welfare (Regulations for Management of Pigs) Amendment Bill softens the current plan to ban farrowing crates and mating stalls on pig farms. This bill also has three debating stages remaining that the Government wants completed this week. You can read more about it here.

The Electoral Amendment Bill makes a number of electoral law changes. Notably it sets a much earlier deadline for enrolling to vote-13 days before election day. It also disqualifies all sentenced prisoners who are detained in prison from enrolling or voting (despite court findings that this, as well as the current less absolute ban, are contrary to the New Zealand Bill of Rights). You can read more about it here.

The Overseas Investment (National Interest Test and Other Matters) Amendment Bill seeks to ease restrictions on investors from outside of New Zealand and process low risk investment applications more quickly. You can read more about it here.

The Judicature (Timeliness) Amendment Bill aims to include the time it takes for cases to go through the courts by improving the resources available to judges and marginally increasing the number of high court judges. It is being sent back to the Committee of the Whole stage so the Government can undo their mistake of accidentally voting for a larger increase in the number of judges, an amendment suggested by Labour.

The week’s whole plan involves progressing 12 different bills through 32 stages of debate. That is a lot of work, and the urgency motion required to achieve it will mean the House will add extra hours from Wednesday, sitting from 9am until midnight (with meal breaks). It can continue like that until Midnight Saturday.

It’s not impossible that by the time MPs get to Christmas they will be sobbing gently under the tree. When the week will actually finish is anybody’s guess.

*RNZ’s The House, with insights into Parliament, legislation and issues, is made with funding from Parliament’s Office of the Clerk. Enjoy our articles or podcast at RNZ.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Minister for Disability Issues is seeking advice on the Supreme Court’s decision that two parents who care full-time for their disabled children are employees of the government and should received the same benefits and protections.

Louise Upston asked the Disability Support Sevices, a government unit that was responsible for supporting disabled people and their whānau, to consider the ruling “carefully”.

The decision was released on Tuesday, in favour of recognising both Christine Fleming and Peter Humphreys, who care full-time for their disabled son and daughter, as ministry employees.

For carers not to be recognised as employees meant they weren’t entitled to things like holiday pay and protection against unfair treatment – and during the April hearing, lawyers said the issue could potentially affect thousands of family carers.

Upston said existing care arrangements would continue while the investigation by Disability Support Services took place.

She said the government had already announced changes that would give more consideration to the needs of family, whānau and carers.

Disability advocate Jane Carrigan, said the decision had huge implications for at least 10,000 family carers.

She said the decision could not be ignored.

“These issues have really been before the courts for the last two-plus decades. But this is the first time we’ve ended up in the Supreme Court, so we’ve finally got a decision the government aren’t going to be able to ignore.”

Humphreys, who cared for his 37-year-old daughter Sian, told Morning Report, he was “really happy” with the decision and it had been a long track through the courts.

“Hopefully its come to an end this time.”

He said the case began for him when his family moved into a house and needed a bathroom modification for Sian’s health and safety.

“When I applied to get some funding to assist with that I was told no, I had to be means tested. I asked the question, what other employee is means tested to alter a bathroom for their employer?”

He said his case had been running through the courts in parallel with Fleming, so it was ideal that judges were able to hear both cases and see the different dimensions between each case.

“My wife Maria and I have been together 43 years, we have two of us doing it [caring], but often it’s one-person doing it. Often the mum is left at home looking after a person.

“You just get on with life because you’ve got no choice really.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Finance Minister Nicola Willis is rejecting claims she’s indulging in a sideshow as she gears up for a debate against her early 90s predecessor Ruth Richardson.

The Labour Party is characterising the “public duel” as a distraction from what really matters to New Zealanders. Willis says it’s substance.

Willis threw down the gauntlet on Tuesday, [https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/581282/anytime-anywhere-nicola-willis-challenges-ruth-richardson-to-debate

challenging Richardson to “come out of the shadows”] ahead of an expected Taxpayers’ Union “pressure campaign” pushing for more aggressive cuts to spending and debt.

Richardson, who chairs the lobby group, initially laughed it off. But the Taxpayers’ Union later issued a media release, saying Richardson was “more than happy” to debate.

Appearing on Morning Report’s politics panel on Wednesday, Willis said discussions were underway with various media outlets about the date and location.

“When people make newspaper advertisements alleging that somehow we can literally cut billions of dollars overnight and do this job immediately upon assuming office, I don’t think that that’s very realistic,” Willis said.

“I’ve thought that through and I want to debate it.”

But Labour’s deputy Carmel Sepuloni, also on the panel, questioned whether the debate was the best use of Willis’ time: “It just sounds like flexing.”

“This is not… an area of primary concern for New Zealanders,” Sepuloni said.

“They want the government to be focusing on the things that matter: jobs, health, homes and real action on the cost of living. Not having duels with former ministers of finance.”

Willis fired back, saying she was focused on getting the books back in balance and doing “a huge tidy-up” of the public finances.

“I’m having a policy debate about issues which Labour likes to think aren’t important, but are important,” Willis said.

“If New Zealand racks up more and more debt, the people that pay for that are future generations… debt remained level last year after years of it actually doubling under Labour. So we’re doing that job.”

Richardson is most well known as the architect of the ‘Mother of All Budgets’ in 1991 which delivered deep cuts to government spending on welfare and social services.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand