Urgency

I move, That urgency be accorded the remaining stages of the Appropriation (2019/20 Supplementary Estimates) Bill, the Imprest Supply (First for 2020/21) Bill, the Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill, the Greater Christchurch Regeneration Amendment Bill, the Racing Industry Bill, the Public Finance (Wellbeing) Amendment Bill, the Resource Management Amendment Bill; and the first reading and referral to select committee of the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2020-21, Feasibility Expenditure, and Remedial Matters) Bill; the second readings of the Education and Training Bill, the Public Service Legislation Bill, the New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension Legislation Amendment Bill, the Equal Pay Amendment Bill, the Rates Rebate (Statutory Declarations) Amendment Bill, the Taumata Arowai—the Water Services Regulator Bill, the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification (Commercial Video on-Demand) Amendment Bill, Te Ture Whenua Maori (Succession, Dispute Resolution, and Related Matters) Amendment Bill, the Urban Development Bill, the Land Transport (NZTA) Legislation Amendment Bill, the International Crimes and International Criminal Court Amendment Bill; and the third readings of the Privacy Bill and the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill; and the remaining stages of the Land Transport (Rail) Legislation Bill.

The restrictions placed on the House while we were at COVID-19 alert levels 3 and 4 resulted in a very significant reduction in the number of hours available to the Government to progress its legislative programme, and that has caused delays to many of the bills that I have just mentioned. With the House soon to be out of action again for a couple of months during the campaign, there is a need to ensure that much of the legislation on the Order Paper is progressed without any delay.

The urgency motion includes 21 bills. Six of those will go through their committee stage and will immediately then receive a third reading. Two of these bills need to be enacted in the next few days if they are to take effect, as was intended prior to the COVID-19 lockdown. They include the Greater Christchurch Regeneration Amendment Bill and the Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill.

It’s also essential, of course, to pass the Supplementary Estimates and the Imprest Supply legislation before the start of the new financial year. The other three bills in this category make important reforms in their areas. For example, the Racing Industry Bill has been awaited by the racing industry for many, many years, as members on the other side of the House have noted—potentially decades. Much of the bill was scheduled to commence on 1 July, and it deserves to be delayed no more than a few weeks.

The other bills that are part of the motion will pass through only one stage. For most of them, this will be the second reading and then there will be an interval where there is a need for any other amendments to be considered if they are required. It’s important to note that, for the vast majority of these bills that I have put forward for this urgency motion, the process is in no way being truncated. The effect of the urgency motion is simply to extend the number of hours that Parliament is sitting.

The areas of New Zealand life that are covered by these bills—

💬 SPEAKER: Order! I think the member is required to give brief reasons; he’s done that.

Fair enough then.