Statutes Amendment Bill

on behalf of the Associate Minister of Justice: I move, That the Statutes Amendment Bill be now read a third time.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Barbara Kuriger): And you have a legislative statement?

And I present a legislative statement on that one as well.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Barbara Kuriger): That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.

You know it’s getting late in the day when we get to the third reading of the Statutes Amendment Bill. It’s normally a sign that it’s getting late in the year as well when we reach this particular point in parliamentary proceedings. The Statutes Amendment Bill is one of the bills that is probably the least contentious thing that Parliament does and deals with. This particular Statutes Amendment Bill comprises 62 different proposals to amend 42 Acts administered by 11 different Government agencies. Members will be delighted to know that I don’t intend to chronicle every one of them. They are always progressed with the unanimous support of the House, recognising that they are usually technical in nature, they are not controversial, and they normally don’t amend policy. They normally just tidy up the statute book. That is exactly what this one does.

The Governance and Administration Committee agreed to the changes recommended by the Ministry of Justice and other agencies in the departmental report, and the committee has also amended the bill so that some further changes can be made. I understand that there were 16 submissions on the bill. I always admire people who take the time to submit on statutes amendment bills. I think it’s a victory for democracy. So can I thank the committee for its detailed consideration of the bill and, again, thank members across the House for their ongoing unanimous support of this process. I think, regardless of who the Government is, it’s a very important one that allows us to keep an orderly statute book without the House having to spend lengthy time debating bills that would otherwise have to be brought forward in large number to make amendments that are not controversial and usually quite technical. So I commend the bill to the House.

That’s right.

This is the most exciting and important bill of the day. The Governance and Administration Committee did consider it very, very deeply. I’m very, very happy to commend it to the House. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

A statutes amendment bill is a very non-contentious piece of legislation—technical changes, nothing too controversial. I support this bill.

Great bill—let’s pass it.

The Green Party is happy to, as always, support statutes. I wish I could be as pithy as Chris Penk in this, but I’ll just say: uncontroversial in its nature; happy to support it.

Oh, this great Statutes Amendment Bill—41 Acts, crossing the i’s and dotting the t’s, and I’ve even heard this bill being called sexy. So it’s a very important bill and it’s an ominous bill, and it’s—

💬 Hon Chris Hipkins: This is an “ominous” bill! [Laughter]

—made—omnibus bill. See—it is an ominous bill, so there we go, guys, I’ll make you laugh.

Now, this bill is really important because it changes a whole lot of things that have happened in bills over the years and, especially—like we’ve got one bill, the Oaths and Declarations Act 1957. Now, we probably know that there are a few people here that can do their math, that’s like a 65-year-old bill. And then we have another bill that’s been very controversial over the years, these last few years, the COVID-19 Recovery Fast-track Consenting Act, because things like that have constantly been changing throughout these last two years. And then another thing that’s happened: we got rid of registered post. So now that we don’t have registered post, we had to change a bill that’s really important, as well, because we’ve got to keep up with the moving times. And I know that we’re moving into the era of emails and, you know, we’ve got to be able to make sure that people are up with the times, and this is really important.

And the other thing is: even though we’ve all spoken before, you know, on this bill, and it’s the third reading, I still would really like to thank the Ministry of Justice and the Office of the Clerk, because they all have to go through all these lovely different bills and find out what needs to be changed in them, and the Parliamentary Counsel Office assistants, you know, because we’ve got to make sure that these laws do meet regulations and dot the i’s and cross the t’s. If it wasn’t for these lovely people that we have at our disposal to help us through all these bills, it could be a lot messier than what it is.

The other thing is, like, I know it’s Friday, but, actually, it still says Tuesday, so I don’t know why we’re in a rush. So the other thing is it’s just an amazing amount of work that goes into one of these bills, and, yes, it’s not contentious. Yes, I know that we all agree on it because this is what makes good laws—when you find the right problems and solve them to make sure that it’s clear and that New Zealanders understand what these laws and regulations really mean because things change so much. Also, this bill was described as a house cleaning bill, and if I could find good house cleaners to help with my own house cleaning to make sure that all my t’s and i’s are dotted, I’d be very appreciative. But I can’t go any further. I tried to go as long as I could. However, it gets very, very hard. So I commend this bill to the House.

This is a bill. This is a House. I commend it.

Well, thank you, Madam Speaker, because I want to particularly focus on one aspect of this bill, the Statutes Amendment Bill, in its third reading, and it’s to do with the provision that amends the Dog Control Act of 1996. Particularly, that amendment will mean that the requirement for a registered veterinarian to provide a written declaration that an imported dog is not a breed listed at Schedule 4 for disability dogs and any dog that is “kept, used, or certified for use by a specified agency” will be repealed. That’s a good decision. I commend this bill to the House.

I commend this bill to the House. Kia ora.

I also commend this bill to the House.

It’s done.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I commend this bill to the House.

Motion agreed to.

Bill read a third time.

I declare the House in committee for the Organic Products and Production Bill.