Customs and Excise Bill

When we were last considering this bill, we were debating the theme powers and obligations. Rino Tirikatene had the call. He has 4 minutes and 30 seconds remaining.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson Williams. I’m pleased to continue my contribution on the Customs and Excise Bill. Hopefully, I can finish it off before you have to report progress, but nevertheless I thank the officials for their patience.

This is a very wide-ranging bill. It’s some 400 pages. I know this theme we’re looking at the powers and obligations, but I wanted to just take a step back, because what we’re doing here is updating and modernising our Customs Service. It’s a very important part of the Government in terms of the work it does on the border for us, in terms of processing travellers and goods and protecting our borders especially. It’s a very high performing organisation, and it’s a very proud organisation with a very proud history. It’s New Zealand’s oldest Government department. It actually set up shop on the shores of Kororāreka—up in Russell there—one week before the Treaty was signed. So they were on the ball even way back into those pre-Treaty days.

This is an updating and modernisation bill for the Customs Service, and it covers a wide range of powers. What I wanted to do, I guess, is start with some questions to Minister Hipkins focusing on some relatively administrative provisions first of all, before delving into some of the more technical aspects of the bill around powers.

I just wanted to start off with a central role in the Customs Service, which is the role of the chief executive, which also carries the title of Comptroller of Customs. I just wanted to seek some clarification, or an explanation from the Minister, as to why we have the term “comptroller” in addition to “chief executive”? Throughout the bill, it’s referred to—obviously, the powers are conferred on to the chief executive, and then we have an explanation later in the administrative clause 248, which talks about how the—

I apologise to the member. Sorry to interrupt. The time has come for me to report progress.

House resumed.

The Chairperson reported the Education (Tertiary Education and Other Matters) Amendment Bill with amendment and progress on the Customs and Excise Bill.

Report adopted.

The House adjourned at 9.56 p.m.