A plethora of fresh new bills are being debated in Parliament this week in an effort to get things done before the election. Typically getting a law passed through Parliament takes about five or six months. The four debating stages in the House take a week or so, the rest of a bill’s time is spent in select committee.
Getting a bill through select committee takes a few months. Time for the public and experts to read and respond to the bill, time for submitters to argue their case in front of MPs, time for the committee to consider amendments and report them back to the House.
Photo: CAIA IMAGE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
The election-year alarm clock
While the election may seem a long way off, the election-year parliamentary timer is counting down fast. The election will be on October 14th. Before that, the 53rd Parliament will be dissolved on September 8. Obviously no laws can be made after that, but even earlier, MPs will meet for the last time at the end of August.
So, any bills the Government wants passed this year (without unduly shortening the select committee process), really need to get a hurry-on. This week they’ll do exactly that with extra hours achieved by sitting under urgency. This will make up for lost time and allow MPs to get some old bills finished and new bills up and running.
The new bills
Leader of the House Grant Robertson outlined the urgency.
“Certainly we’ve got a number of things where we do want to be getting on with the work, in order to get it off to select committee and get it back before the house rises, we’re steadily running out of time for that. So yeah, there’s definitely a desire to get some first readings done, have them in front of the select committees as soon as we can.”
Cyclone Recovery
The Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Bill is the second bill (so far) that relates directly to the recent Cyclones. The first passed through all stages two weeks ago. This one will also pass pretty quickly with a short select committee process. The Bill is aimed at assisting local government is recovery efforts and doing so by allowing the “Governor-General to make Orders in Council, on the recommendation of the relevant Minister, to exempt, modify, or extend provisions” of various laws set out in the Bill (see schedule 2 for the list of laws).
For more detail on how this works read this article from Johnny Blades.
Education and Training Amendment Bill (No 3)
Chris Hipkins began a wide scale rewrite and update of education law when he was Minister of Education. That massive undertaking is now shepherded by Jan Tinetti. This bill appears to continue that task with such elements as changes to governance frameworks for wananga; changes to school board eligibility criteria, police vetting of non-teaching staff, school board election processes, and publication of wage-band data for university and wananga staff paid over $100K.
Education Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill
This bill is a tidy-up bill that deals with adjustments to things like the 28th Maori Battalion Memorial Scholarship and the Pacific Education Foundation.
Immigration (Mass Arrivals) Amendment Bill
Mass arrivals is immigration speak for large groups of asylum seekers. This bill will amend the Immigration Mass Arrivals Act that was passed into law in 2013 (when Michael Woodhouse was minister immigration). That law was a response to Australia’s experience with ‘boat people’.
This amendment would extend the deadline for a court to consider an application for a ‘warrant of commitment’, allowing the arrivals more time to get legal representation. It also clarifies entry requirements and allows immigration officers to require interviews, information and a medical examination as required.
A new framework for public transport
The Land Transport Management (Regulation of Public Transport) Amendment Bill
Creates a new framework for how councils can plan for, procure and operate public transport. It changes the underlying objectives and presumptions that determine the decisions made about who can do it and how. One objective would be to no longer make all decisions based on cost.
Resale Right for Visual Artists
An artist’s works can gain in value significantly over time elevated by the rising prestige of their creator’s name. But while other artists (e.g. authors, musicians) may increase back-catalogue sales as their star rises, visual artists gain no benefit on previously sold works.
This Resale Right bill would allow visual artists to continue to receive a percentage from the resale of their art. It would only apply to works over a certain value (determined by regulation) and would amount to an additional 5% on the resale value. Implementing this idea is a requirement of the NZ-UK and NA-EU free trade agreements. Overseas this kind of thing is generally managed by an NGO.
An end to the parent tax
The Child Support (Pass On) Acts Amendment Bill changes the way that child support is managed to eliminate what is referred to as the ‘parent tax’. The idea is that people on benefits won’t lose out on child support payments.
Sports integrity
The Integrity Sport and Recreation Bill aims to enact recommendations from the Play, Active Recreation and Sport Integrity Working Group. It will create an Integrity Sport and Recreation Commission separate from sports funding and selection. The Commission will promote, advise, engage and educate on integrity issues and threats to integrity; develop integrity codes including minimum standards of conduct; make policies and procedures for complaints management; implement the World Anti-Doping Code and other international obligations; and investigate suspected breaches of integrity codes and threats to integrity.