Statutes Amendment Bill

Members, we come now to Part 20, the debate on clauses 77 to 83, “Amendments to Incorporated Societies Act 2022”. The question is that Part 20 stand part.

Thank you, Mr Chair. This is a very interesting change that has been made to the Incorporated Societies Act. When I was looking at this change to try and assess what was happening and if I did have any questions for the Minister, I was struck by the fact that we are adding in provincial ordinances to the Incorporated Societies Act. And I have to say, I was not aware of exactly what the definition of a provincial ordinance was. I’m not sure if that shows my naivety or my age, but I looked up the definition in the Incorporated Societies Act—couldn’t find it. But I was not dissuaded. So I googled “provincial ordinance”, and I discovered that perhaps the oldest piece of legislation that we have discussed in this statutes amendment debate tonight is the Provincial Ordinances Act 1892 which outlines the provincial ordinances that are still in force.

I’m assuming this is correct, but it appears from what I’m reading that there are a number that are still in place, and, in fact, any relevant ones will be included now in 2025 in the Incorporated Societies Act. And just for your interest, some of the ones that appear still to be in force are the Auckland Building Act 1858, the Auckland Loan Act 1863, the Gas Company Lease Act 1863. Most of them do seem to be—well, there seem to be actually quite a number of them.

The question I really have is: am I correct? Are these provincial ordinances that were passed under this very, very old piece of legislation—in fact, this Act was passed by the General Assembly of the New Zealand Parliament, which is obviously not what we call ourselves these days. So am I correct in the fact that there are provincial ordinances made under that very old statute still in place that we’re in fact upholding and including now in the incorporated societies legislation?

Thank you, Mr Chair. Yes, so this amendment is clarifying that a body corporate or other association formed or incorporated under a provincial ordinance specified in regulations made under that principal Act can be re-registered under the principal Act as an incorporated society. Who knew!

Part 20 agreed to.

Part 21 Amendment to Inquiries Act 2013