SELECT COMMITTEE BUSINESS From 14 March to 21 March 2003 Committee meetings

There were 19 committee meetings, all in the parliamentary complex.

Reports presented (available at http://www.clerk.parliament.govt.nz/Publications/CommitteeReport)

Commerce 2001/02 financial review of Television New Zealand Limited

Health Smoke-free Environments (Enhanced Protection) Amendment Bill (310-2) and Supplementary Order Paper 148 2001/02 financial review of the Northland District Health Board

Local Government and Environment Masterton Trust Lands Bill (210-2)

Officers of Parliament Appointment of an Ombudsman

Bills referred to select committees

The Wool Industry Restructuring Bill was referred to the Primary Production Committee with a requirement to report by 16 June 2003.

The Resource Management Amendment Bill (No 2) was referred to the Local Government and Environment Committee for a briefing and report by 28 April 2003.

Committee notes (for further information on an item, please contact the committee staff noted in italics)

Commerce (Michelle Malyon, SC-Commerce@parliament.govt.nz)

The committee met on Thursday, 20 March to hear evidence on the financial review of Radio New Zealand Limited and further considered the financial reviews of Television New Zealand Limited and the Meteorological Service of New Zealand Limited.

The committee next meets on Thursday, 27 March to further its consideration of the Anglican (Diocese of Christchurch) Church Property Trust Bill and to look at possible inquiries.

Education and Science (Angela Van Dam, SC-ES@parliament.govt.nz)

The committee met on Wednesday, 19 March and heard evidence on the 2001/02 financial review of the New Zealand Teachers Council. The committee also heard evidence on the inquiry into Teacher Education from:

New Zealand Teachers Council New Zealand Graduate School of Education Association of Colleges of Education in New Zealand Auckland College of Education New Zealand Tertiary College Christchurch College of Education School of Education, University of Otago.

Next week the committee will meet on Wednesday, 26 March to hear evidence on the 2001/02 financial reviews of Early Childhood Development, the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority. All hearings of evidence will be open to the public.

Finance and Expenditure (Peter Hurndell, SC-FE@parliament.govt.nz)

The committee met this week to consider the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Amendment Bill and the Income Tax Bill. It also heard evidence on the March 2003 Monetary Policy Statement.

Next week, the committee will meet on Wednesday, 26 March in Room G.006, Parliament House between 10.00 am and 1.00 pm to consider the 2003/04 Estimates of Appropriations and the March 2003 Monetary Policy Statement.

The committee is currently receiving submissions on the Income Tax Bill. The closing date for these is Thursday, 24 April 2003. Information on the bill may be found at http://www.clerk.parliament.govt.nz/programme/committees/submissions/ and at http://www.taxpolicy.ird.govt.nz/.

Government Administration (Lesley Ferguson, SC-GA@parliament.govt.nz)

Next week the committee meets on Thursday, 27 March to hear evidence from Nicholas Hill, as chief executive, on the financial and operational performance for the 2001/02 financial year of the Hillary Commission for Sport, Fitness and Leisure (Sport and Recreation New Zealand).

Health (Catherine Parkin, SC-Health@parliament.govt.nz)

The committee met on Wednesday this week, when it heard evidence on the 2001/02 financial reviews of the Tairawhiti and MidCentral District Health Boards.

On Tuesday the committee reported back the Smoke-free Environments (Enhanced Protection) Amendment Bill and Supplementary Order Paper 148. The committee recommended that the protections for workers, volunteers and the public against second-hand smoke be extended, minors’ access to smoking products be further restricted, and limited enforcement powers be provided. The committee also recommended widening the definition of ‘to smoke’ to ensure non-tobacco products such as herbal smoking products were covered.

The approach of the committee to the consideration of the legislation was to uphold the right of people to work in smoke-free environments and to ensure that public health is being protected. The bill represents an incremental change to the existing provisions, by extending those protections to the remaining vulnerable groups, particularly hospitality workers.

Next week the committee will meet on Wednesday, when it will hear evidence on the 2001/02 financial review of the Health Sponsorship Council. This will be open to the public from 10.00 am to 11.30 am in room G.003, Parliament House.

The committee is inviting submissions on the Health (Screening Programmes) Amendment Bill, which will close on Friday, 11 April. For more information on this bill and on how to make a submission, please refer to www.clerk.parliament.govt.nz/Programme/Committees/Submissions/hehspb.htm

Justice and Electoral (Louise Sparrer, SC-JE@parliament.govt.nz)

The committee met on 19 March to consider the Retirement Villages Bill and to briefly consider its inquiry into the 2002 General Election, the Conveyancers Bill and the Supreme Court Bill. The committee’s next meeting will be on 26 March, when it will continue to consider the Retirement Villages Bill and the inquiry into the 2002 General Election. It will also consider the Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Bill and the Clean Slate Bill. None of these matters will be open to the public.

The committee has agreed to extend the deadline for submissions on the Supreme Court Bill to Friday 11 April. The reason for this extension is that it would like to hear from people on the following specific points:

Should the right of appeal to the Privy Council be abolished, maintained or extended?

If it is abolished, should New Zealand consider forming an international appeal court available not only for New Zealand, but also for other South Pacific and other Commonwealth nations?

If such an appeal court was established, what shape should it take? How, and to what extent, could the proposed Supreme Court be adapted to meet that role?

If you have already sent in your submission and have not commented on these issues, the committee would be happy to receive additional comments from you on these matters.

Law and Order (Tracey Rayner, SC-LO@parliament.govt.nz)

This week the committee met to consider the Criminal Investigations (Bodily Samples) Amendment Bill. The committee heard a late oral submission from the Sensible Sentencing Trust, which was represented by Mr Garth McVicor, National Spokesperson, Ms Wendy Pedler, National Secretary, and Ms Kelly Piggot, the mother of a victim (Theresa Cormack) of a violent crime. The remainder of the meeting was spent considering a petition and general business.

The committee next meets (9.00 am to 1.00 pm) on Wednesday, 26 March to further consider the Criminal Investigations (Bodily Samples) Amendment Bill.

Local Government and Environment (Marie Alexander, SC-LGE@parliament.govt.nz)

The committee has released a media statement relating to the Local Government Law Reform Bill (No 2), which amends the Dog Control Act 1996. The bill is currently before the committee. The committee acknowledges public concern about the incidence of dog attacks, and the urgency of the issue, but wishes to have available to it as much information as possible before it calls for public submissions. For this reason, it will seek submissions as soon as officials have completed their work and/or a Supplementary Order Paper is available that the public can comment on. At that stage the committee will advertise in the newspapers and issue a media statement calling for submissions. The full media statement can be found on the Office of the Clerk website.

Maori Affairs (Miles Reay, SC-MA@parliament.govt.nz)

The committee met on 20 March to further consider the Te Whanau-a-Taupara Trust Empowering Bill.

At its next meeting on March 27, it will further consider the Te Whanau-a-Taupara Trust Empowering Bill and be briefed on law, policy, and administration relating to the General Agreement on Trade Services of the World Trade Organisation that may affect Maori. The briefing will be open to the public. The committee will also host a delegation from the Saami Parliament of Norway.

Officers of Parliament (Andrew Beattie, SC-OP@parliament.govt.nz)

The committee met on Thursday 20 March and considered the appointment of Ombudsmen, alterations to the 2002/03 appropriations for Vote Audit, Vote Ombudsmen and Vote Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment and draft budgets for 2003/04 for the Auditor-General, the Office of the Ombudsmen and Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.

Primary Production (Bob Bunch, SC-PP@parliament.govt.nz)

The committee met four times this week to hear evidence on its inquiry into the scampi fishery. The committee heard evidence from former Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries staff and current Ministry of Fisheries staff on scampi fisheries management and compliance issues from Monday to Wednesday, 17 to 19 March. It also heard further evidence from the Ministry of Fisheries about issues involving Barry Nalder on scampi fisheries management and compliance.

Next week the committee will hold a further two meetings on the inquiry. The first will be on Tuesday, 25 March, from 3.15 pm to 6.00 pm in Room G.003 to complete the further hearing of evidence from the Ministry of Fisheries. On Thursday, 27 March the committee will give further consideration to the inquiry.

The committee is inviting public submissions on the Wool Industry Restructuring Bill. The closing date for submissions is Monday 14 April 2003. This bill provides for the structural reform of the wool industry by dissolving the New Zealand Wool Board, disbursing its assets and liabilities, and resolving a number of transitional and consequential issues.

The committee requires 20 copies of each submission. Those wishing to include any information of a private or personal nature in a submission should first discuss this with the clerk of the committee, as submissions are usually released to the public by the committee. Those wishing to appear before the committee to speak to their submissions should state this clearly and provide a daytime telephone contact number. For further guidance on making a submission, our publication Making a Submission to a Parliamentary Select Committee can be found on our web site at www.clerk.parliament.govt.nz.

Social Services (Graham Hill, SC-SS@parliament.govt.nz)

The committee met on 20 March to be briefed by the Department of Labour, the Ministry or Social Development and Statistics New Zealand on measuring employment and unemployment. At the committee’s next meeting on 27 March it will consider further three petitions from John Tonson about the rights of children and the actions of the Department of Child, Youth and Family Service in proceedings before the Family Court. The committee will also consider further a briefing from the Ministry of Social Development on the New Zealand Living Standards 2000 Report.

Closing dates for submissions Committees are receiving submissions on the following items with the closing date shown:

Commerce Consumer Credit Bill (3 April 2003) Status of Redundancy Payments Bill (17 April 2003)

Finance and Expenditure Income Tax Bill (24 April 2003)

Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Inquiry into New Zealand’s political, diplomatic, trade and cultural relationship with Latin American countries (21 March 2003) Imports and Exports (Restrictions) Amendment Bill (21 March 2003) Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (Stockholm Convention) Amendment Bill (21 March 2003)

Health Health (Screening Programmes) Amendment Bill (11 April 2003)

Justice and Electoral Supreme Court Bill (11 April 2003)

Law and Order Independent Police Complaints Authority Amendment Bill (9 April 2003) Telecommunications (Interceptions Capability) Bill (9 April 2003)

Local Government and Environment Wellington City Empowering and Amendment Bill (31 March 2003)

Primary Production Wool Industry Restructuring Bill (14 April 2003)

Transport and Industrial Relations Holidays Bill (30 May 2003) Holidays (Four Weeks Annual Leave) Amendment Bill (6 June 2003)

General

You can find further information about select committees on our website at www.clerk.parliament.govt.nz. If you require additional information or have any feedback on the contents, please contact:

Carol Rankin Senior Parliamentary Officer ph: 471 9534, fax: 499 0486, or at carol.rankin@parliament.govt.nz

Compiled in the Select Committee Office, Office of the Clerk, 21 March 2003

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