date has been truncated in order to allow
allow for some consideration, but not for the bill to take
unnecessary time.
time. I call the Hon
time. I call the Hon Louise
Upston. Thank you.
you. For
you. For those who are listening and
may not have seen one of
these debates before, when the suggestion of a
truncated debate is being proposed,
it's a month. The normal
for any piece of legislation is six months. So, to have a
for any piece of legislation is six
three days over a month is, quite frankly, appalling. But,
Madam Speaker, I'm finding myself
in a bit of a contradiction in terms of
when the Government wants
the public to have scrutiny and when it doesn't.
So, in terms of one of the
other points that the Hon
David Parker made, I felt it was worth explaining
not just to the House, Madam
Speaker, but to those
who might be watching over the internet or
listening on their radio,
or watching this debate live on
TV, because we do have a uni cameral
system. It means that
our Parliament and the scrutiny of the executive
and decisions that are made by
the Government is more precious,
because there isn't an upper house. There is
no other scrutiny. So, when a piece
of
of legislation like the Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf
(Environmental
(Environmental Effects) Amendment Bill is put before this Parliament,
then the only
opportunity for scrutiny is by the
select committee, and not just the select committee,
Madam Speaker, the
key opportunity is for members of the public. And
the Minister's made a
number of comments about the fact that,
you know, it's a simple
piece of legislation. But, actually, from a
public scrutiny and
accountability consideration, whether it's simple
or complex is irrelevant. It
is about scrutiny. It's about public
accountability. It's about
transparency. So, when we have
a shortened
over a month, and, Madam Speaker, a budget in the middle of it,
I might add, so the ability for submitters
to consider the implications and,
particularly, when members
opposite have said, want to
make sure that there are no mistakes, and members
on this side have talked about the
need of the parliamentary process of
the select committee to go
through the legislation with
comb, to make sure there are no mistakes and no
unintended consequences, that is the role. That
is a precious role that our
Parliament holds dear in terms
of the scrutiny of legislation. And,
Madam Speaker, I would be deeply
concerned if this is a continual
habit to have
for pieces of legislation. And the other
for pieces of legislation. And the
the Greens would have thought it was incredibly significant for those
who are requesting permits in
this piece of legislation,
of legislation, the Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf
(Environmental Effects)
(Environmental Effects) Amendment Bill, I would
have thought they thought it was critical. So, the
ability for the public to
have a say, for the public to hear from the
parliamentary select committee
who will look after this piece
of legislation, the ability for them
to advertise that this bill is open
for public consultation, the commitment
of this Parliament,
Madam Speaker, to get legislation right,
and particularly in this case,
given that there has been an error,
which is why this legislation is before
us, I'm somewhat puzzled, and the
Minister opposite didn't outline
and did not
Minister opposite didn't outline and
month is being given in terms of this
month is being given in terms of
members opposite say, that it is simple, so, Madam Speaker,
I'm gonna argue the other side of this
one, just to see if they are listening.
If it is as
simple and straightforward as they would have
the House believe, why don't they
take my colleague, the
Hon Scott
they put it through all stages today, if it was so
straightforward and so
today, if it was so straightforward
can't argue both ways on this extension
can't argue both ways on this
It's truncated to just over a month, when the normal
period is six months. So, it puts a huge burden
on the public who might want to submit
on this legislation, a huge burden.
So, let's say, for example, I'll
walk the House through it. If the
public submissions, if they're lucky, they might get a week. They
might get a week to consider
what that side of the
House has already said is
said is a significant and important piece of legislation.
said is a significant and important piece of legislation. And our
Exclusive Economic Zone is a
critical part of New
Zealand's environment. And so less than a
week for submitters to submit on a
piece of legislation that every member of
this House wants
to ensure is accurate and
that every member of this House wants to ensure is accurate
and is correct.
this House wants to ensure is accurate and is correct. So,
I'm deeply puzzled as to why we have
a Government that insists and
persists in shortened report backs for select
committee. And it's a trend that
we've seen in a number of different
pieces of legislation, a
trend that is damaging New Zealand's democracy.
That side of the House might
think that it's boring,
but the members of the New Zealand public who
hold this democracy dear to them want to know
that this is a Parliament
that this
committed to transparency, to accountability, to the ability for
scrutiny of legislation
that's put before this House. And,
unfortunately, I'm not sure that the
that commitment to the New Zealand public. And this is important. When
we talk about a
truncated select committee process, so
giving members of the public less
committee process, so giving members
less than a week for them to provide a submission...
less than a week for them to provide
provide a submission... Well, members opposite can change their
mind. I'm sure my colleague would be
happy to put the
motion again if you're in such a rush.
But you can't have
you're in such a rush. But you can't
You can't have a shortened report back and truncate it to just
over one month which is absolutely
In terms of the public's ability to interact with our
Parliament...
To interact with the legislation. It is smacking of a Government
who knows best. And I would really
hate to see that the
new Government, only six months in, has a bit of a
pattern of not allowing New
Zealand to participate in the
So, happy... I'm happy to suggest to the House that my colleague put
the motion again, if that side of the
House is indicating, which
they are. They are indicating
very strongly that they are ready to pass this
legislation through all the stages.
The Hon Scott Simpson, put your motion again. They have obviously
had a change of heart,
which is interesting to see. So, for those in
the whip's chair, text the Minister.
Text the Minister. Make
sure that he's happy to change his perspective
on the report back, which he's
currently truncated to 11 June. Just
make sure he's now ready to come on
board with the motion that the
Hon Scott Simpson has put on the floor.
Great motion! A great motion to get this these of business dealt with.
That is, of course, unless
the Government wants it fast back to
the House so that
you have more legislation to debate. And that's
the real reason behind a truncated
select committee process. Because
side of the House is still
failing to understand why on the one
hand you say you need the time and on the
hand you're saying that
side of the House
hand you're saying that side of the
with it. That's the invitation from the
with it. That's the invitation from
particular piece of legislation. If this is, indeed, something else,
and it's not about the importance of the
legislation, and it's the need for
the Environment select
committee to have a piece of work
the Environment select committee to
well, that's sad. Really sad. That is an option. It is one of
the reasons that the
Minister may have wanted to have a truncated
report back to 11 June. There is a
few members of the select
committee opposite that are
sort of looking down a bit now. Maybe that is
the real business. They are
looking for things to do. They are a bit board.
Being a backbench
MP isn't fun unless you have crunchy select
Well, in terms of scrutiny of legislation, that is the
rid call role for the Government
backbench MPs. You have to examine
the legislation, make sure your
ministers haven't made mistakes,
make sure the Ministers haven't
made mistakes, give good scrutiny to
every single piece of legislation,
and not be willing to
tolerate shortened report backs, such as
this one, which is just over a month.
Outrageous. New Zealand
letters be disappointed in the
Government for
I call Damien O'Connor. Thank you very
I call Damien O'Connor. Thank you
you very much. I am very pleased to speak
you very much. I am very pleased to
the whole question of why we are looking to truncate this
process around the Exclusive Economic Zone
and Continental
around the Exclusive Economic Zone
and Continental Shelf (Environmental
Effects) Amendment Bill. There are
a number of things that need
to be looked at. The fundamental one
sorry, if this House is going to do something, then we have to
do it properly. So we've heard from
the Government that this is
a simple piece of legislation. I don't
intend to get into the specifics of it,
except to say it