Public Lending Right for New Zealand Authors Bill

Part 2 is the heart of the legislation; it establishes the scheme. It disestablishes the Authors’ Fund established by Norman Kirk in 1973, and it provides for the establishment of an advisory group. I do not think I need to detain the Committee for too long on this issue.

The heart of the matter is clause 10, “Matters that may be dealt with in regulations”. As I said in my second reading speech, there were some concerns about the extent of the regulation-making powers. Sir Geoffrey Palmer, that zealous constitutionalist, thought that the regulation-making power was too broad, and that is why, in Part 1, we included definitions of “author”, “New Zealand author”, and “book”. As a consequence of that, the Minister’s Supplementary Order Paper says there will need to be a minor amendment to clause 10(2) to provide that the regulations may add conditions to the definitions of “author”, “book”, “New Zealand author”, and “New Zealand library”, and of course we support that because it is a necessary consequential amendment, given what we have done in Part 1.

The advisory group will be established, and these are persons who must have appropriate skills to administer the scheme. Importantly, the advisory group must include at least one representative from organisations of authors, and at least one representative from organisations of librarians. These people will be appointed for a term of not less than 5 years, although the terms may be renewed. I think that the way in which the advisory group is set up is sensible. It does not allow capture by a particular group, so a broader range of interests will need to be taken into account when determining the way in which the scheme is to operate. I am hopeful the advisory group will work well. I should not have thought it would need to meet all that regularly. Certainly in the initial period there will be quite a lot of work to do, but thereafter the only issues that will arise for consideration are the book rate and the frequency with which the book rate is to be altered.

That is all that one needs to say, really, about Part 2. It is all pretty straightforward and we can move on.

I had thought, after the debate last night—

💬 Hon Shane Jones: The last day, and Mr Peachey has the chance to speak!

The bully boy of the lower sixth, Shane Jones, cannot help himself. He is the Gilbert and Sullivan clown who wanders around this Chamber seeking high office. He will be wandering for a long, long time.

I wanted to take a call on Part 2 to make a couple of what I believe to be very, very significant points. The Public Lending Right for New Zealand Authors Bill is a short bill. I am troubled about the lack of discussion at the Government Administration Committee about Supplementary Order Paper 246 in the name of the Hon Judith Tizard.

This is a relatively short bill, and its real substance lies in Part 2. It seems to me that if this legislation is going to address the issues that were causing concern about the old Authors’ Fund, then the nature of the advisory group and the way in which the chief executive of the Government department that is given responsibility for it interrelate—the way that the chief executive works with and consults the individual members of the group, and the interests they represent—will be critical. Getting that right will be the key to whether this legislation, which has been so long in the making and has now been so rushed in the last 2 days of the sitting of this Parliament, will work. I seek assurances from the Minister on that issue, in the absence of any other member taking to the floor to support the bill.

To the authors who are following this debate closely, this bill is very important. They have a very strong interest in it. They will note the role of members on this side of the Chamber in advancing their interests. What we need is an assurance from the Minister that the relationships involved in the administrative structure that has been set up around a chief executive of a Government ministry and an advisory board—and bearing in mind the role the chief executive has in the establishment of that advisory board—will be got right. We do not want to let down the authors of New Zealand any longer. So there is a very, very high level of responsibility on this House to be sure that it has got this legislation right.

Members on this side of the Chamber have some worries about that, as we were landed with a Supplementary Order Paper that a select committee has not had the chance to do its work on. We all acknowledge here the important role that select committees play in getting legislation like this right. When a select committee does not have a reasonable opportunity to do that, it is therefore valid for members on this side of the Chamber, first, to raise that reservation, and, secondly, to seek from the Minister a clear explanation and assurance that the structure that has been set up will deliver the intention of the bill.

The question was put that the amendments set out on Supplementary Order Paper 246 in the name of the Hon Judith Tizard to Part 2 be agreed to.

Amendments agreed to.

Part 2 as amended agreed to.

Clause 1 agreed to.

Clause 2 agreed to.

Bill reported with amendment.

Report adopted.

Third Reading