Photo: VNP / Daniela Maoate-Cox
In a week dominated by the historically large hīkoi; privileges complaints; police leadership changes and the start of a gang patch ban, there has been scant attention left to give to the proposed laws that have been debated by Parliament.
This week included bills that are well worth being aware of. Two new bills were debated for a first time, and three others were either passed or are nearing completion.
Photo: VNP / Daniela Maoate-Cox
Samoa, gas, and vaping
On Wednesday, the House unanimously passed a Bill that allows a small number of Samoans to reclaim the New Zealand citizenship that was revoked in the 1980s.
The other bill that passed a third and final reading extends the deadlines for fixing earthquake-prone buildings by four years, with a possible extension to six years.
Two bills are nearing confirmation. The core intention behind the latest smokefree bill is to ban disposable vaping products, which are often bought by the young.
The Bill has been watered down a little along the way and will now continue to allow vapes with disposable cartridges. It also increases penalties and tries to make vape products less visible. Opposition MPs argue there is a lot to do yet. Labour MP for Taieri Ingrid Leary noted that "there's a big focus on visibility, and yet vape stores can have giant neon signs outside their store. That doesn't seem to be captured by this legislation."
The other bill near to being finalised is the highly contentious Crown Minerals Amendment Bill, which focuses on removing the previous government's ban on new petroleum exploration permits. Labour MP for Wigram Megan Woods noted the change in the Bill's purpose statement.
"It was amended under the previous Government to remove the onus on the Crown to 'promote' minerals exploration, to the more benign 'manage' the minerals estate. This amendment takes us back to where we were prior to that amendment, and there are strong and large implications of that."
New bills: boot camps and foreign interference
Two government bills had first reading debates this week. The less contentious bill of the two has been in development for some time and focuses on covert foreign interference, which was described by National's Paul Goldsmith as "a threat to our sovereignty and security. [It] undermines our interests, and causes harm to our communities…
"The Government is aware that some foreign States are engaging in activities in New Zealand that… are relying on conduct that is deceptive, covert, or coercive. These acts often involve the use of new and widely used forms of technology and are intended to inappropriately manipulate our democracy, economy, academic institutions, and media. They are also being used to place undue pressure on individuals and our communities in order to control or stifle the exercise of rights and freedoms in New Zealand."
Goldsmith said that New Zealand's security agencies report that "our refugee, migrant, ethnic, and religious communities are frequently targeted. Community members are harassed and monitored, and attempts have been made to prevent them from developing or expressing views that foreign states consider subversive."
He even noted that this bill could be a target of such a campaign. Within Parliament the Bill is widely supported, except by the Green Party, who feel the new and altered offences within it are too broadly defined.
This bill will now go to the justice committee who will be inviting public submissions on it.
The other bill at its first reading is very contentious, but its name does not well describe its intent. The Oranga Tamariki (Responding to Serious Youth Offending) Amendment Bill creates a framework for the government's new attempt at military-style academies (boot camps) as a panacea for youth offenders.
While the official debate began today, the unofficial debate on this policy has been underway for some time. It was not helped by the recent final report of the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care, which included a specific case study into terrible abuses perpetrated during earlier attempts at youth-offender boot camps in the past.
The first reading debate was feisty. The minister in charge of the bill is ACT MP Karen Chhour. "It is my view that this might be our last chance to try and prevent these young people from entering the adult jurisdiction and becoming persistent adult offenders. I want to do everything we can to break that cycle of offending."
Speakers for Labour included Willow-Jean Prime. "It goes against officials' advice, goes against the Children's Commissioner's advice, goes against things that the Chief Judge of the Youth Court is saying works and is needed. This Government doesn't want to listen to any evidence. Officials said 'lack of evidence underpinning the military style component … Not able to consider non-legislative responses'."
This bill passed its first reading and will now be sent to the social services and community select committee, which will also be inviting submissions.
* RNZ's The House, with insights into Parliament, legislation and issues, is made with funding from Parliament's Office of the Clerk