Urgency

I move, That urgency be accorded the first reading of the Appropriation (2023/24 Supplementary Estimates) Bill, the introduction and passing through all stages of the Taxation (Budget Measures) Bill, the Public Finance (Fines Collection Costs—Budget Measures) Amendment Bill, the Waste Minimisation (Waste Disposal Levy) Amendment Bill, and the Land Transport (Clean Vehicle Standard) Amendment Bill; the introduction, first reading, and referral to select committee of the Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill and the Resource Management (Extended Duration of Coastal Permits for Marine Farms) Amendment Bill; the introduction and passing through all stages of the Forests (Log Traders and Forestry Advisers Repeal) Amendment Bill and the Accident Compensation (Interest on Instalment Plans) Amendment Bill.

As is tradition on Budget day, the Government is progressing several bills through urgency as part of the Budget process. And I note for the House’s edification that we have made a change from the approach of previous Governments, in which the Opposition would find out about what bills were being introduced at the moment they were introduced, and the Opposition had approximately 10 minutes to figure out how they were voting or indeed what they were going to say about those bills, by providing copies of the bills to the Opposition at 2 o’clock when the Budget was introduced. So they’ve had a reasonable amount of time. I accept it’s not an ideal amount of time, but at least it’s more time than any Opposition in the past has had.

The Taxation (Budget Measures) Bill delivers on our commitment to deliver tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders. The public finance bill and the waste minimisation amendment bill reflect new savings measures in Budget 2024, and the land transport bill that I’ve just mentioned is required to ensure that changes to the Clean Car Standard targets can be made as soon as possible to increase certainty for the vehicle industry. The local government water services bill and the resource management amendment bill are being referred to select committees but are also required to pass with pace. The local government bill is the second step in the Government’s Local Water Done Well policy. And the marine farm bill extends marine farm consents by 20 years under the Resource Management Act. The Forests (Log Traders and Forestry Advisers Repeal) Amendment Bill will reduce a regulatory burden and remove compliance costs that have been put on forest businesses. And the accident compensation bill is a bit of a tidy-up bill. It makes it explicit that ACC can charge debit interest where levies are paid by instalments. As I understand, there is some current ambiguity in the legislation. Both those two bills need to pass by 1 July, so there is urgency to ensure that occurs.