Select Committee Business
From 9 May to 16 May 2003
Committee meetings

There were 20 committee meetings and one site visit. One meeting was held in Auckland and the remainder in the parliamentary complex.

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

Education and Science
2001/02 financial review of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority
Education (Limiting Number of Universities) Amendment Bill (28-1)
Petition 1999/161 of Honourable Tony Ryall and 3090 others

Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade
Amendments to the Annex to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea 1974

Health
Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Bill (230-2) and Petition 2002/35 of Lesley Frederikson and 9,000 others

Privileges
Question of privilege referred on 28 February 2002 in relation to information given by New Zealand Post Limited to the Finance and Expenditure Committee (I.17B)
Three questions of privilege concerning disclosure of select committee proceedings (I.17A) (relating to the disclosure of proceedings of the Law and Order Committee’s meeting of 30 November 2000, and the disclosure of proceedings of the Primary Production Committee and the Commerce Committee)

Transport and Industrial Relations
2001/02 financial review of the Maritime Safety Authority of New Zealand
Petitions 1999/200 of Stuart Lewis and 1,904 others and 1999/206 of Rhys Jones and others

Bills referred to select committees

The Families Commission Bill was referred to the Social Services Committee.

The Ngati Tama Claims Settlement Bill was referred to the Maori Affairs Committee.

The Wellington City Council (Te Aro Reclamation) Amendment Bill was referred to the Local Government and Environment Committee.

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

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

The subcommittee met on Wednesday, 14 May to consider the petition of John Dickson. The full committee met on Thursday, 15 May to further consider the Copyright (Parallel Importation of Films and Onus of Proof) Amendment Bill and the Radio New Zealand Amendment Bill. It also continued to hear evidence on the Status of Redundancy Payments Bill.

The subcommittee will meet on Wednesday, 14 May to further consider the petition of John Dickson. The full committee will meet on Thursday, 22 May to consider the 2003/04 Estimates for Vote Commerce. The Minister of Commerce and officials will be appearing before the committee and this meeting will be open to the public. The committee will also further consider the petition of John Dickson.

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

The committee met on Wednesday, 14 May to consider the 2001/02 financial review of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority, the petition of Hon Tony Ryall, the Education (Limiting Number of Universities) Amendment Bill, and seven petitions on targeted funding for isolation.

Next week the committee will meet on Wednesday, 21 May to consider the 2003/04 Estimates of Appropriation and the inquiry into teacher education. The committee will also hear evidence on seven petitions on targeted funding for isolation.

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

The committee meet this week on Wednesday, 14 May and Thursday, 15 May. At the meeting on Wednesday the committee heard submissions on the Income Tax Bill, and on Thursday the committee considered the 2003/04 Estimates of Appropriations and the 2002/03 Supplementary Estimates of Appropriations.

Next week the Finance and Expenditure Committee will meet to further consider the 2003/04 Estimates of Appropriations, the 2002/03 Supplementary Estimates of Appropriations and the petition of Neil Leckie.

Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade (David Sanders, SC-FD@parliament.govt.nz)

The committee began hearing submissions on the Counter-Terrorism Bill this week. Further hearings are scheduled for next week. The committee also considered the petitions of Damien and George Nepata and of Peter Wallace Drummond. Further consideration will be given to the Nepata petition next week. Finally, the committee presented its report on the treaty examination of the Amendments to the Annex to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea 1974.

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

The committee met on Thursday, 15 May to consider the petition of Dr George Paterson Barton Vaitoa Sa and 100,000 others requesting that the House of Representatives repeal the Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act 1982. The committee next meets on Thursday, 22 May to further consider the petition and hear evidence on it from the Human Rights Commission, the Department of Internal Affairs, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

At its next meeting, the committee also begins its examination of the 2003/04 Estimates of Appropriations.

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

The committee met on 12 May in Auckland to hear submissions on the Supreme Court Bill. It also met on 14 May in Wellington to consider the 2001/02 financial review of the Abortion Supervisory Committee, the Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Bill and the Clean Slate Bill.

Next week the committee will meet in Wellington on 19 and 21 May. On 19 May the committee will hear submissions on the Supreme Court Bill. The meeting will be in Room G.006 in Parliament House and will be open to the public from 9.00 am to 1.00 pm and from 2.00 pm to 6.00 pm. On 21 May the committee will continue to hear submissions on the Supreme Court Bill and will begin considering its Estimates for the 2003/04 financial year. The meeting will be in Room G.003 in Parliament House and will be open to the public from 9.30 am to 12.30 pm.

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

The committee met on 14 May to hear the last two oral submissions on the Independent Police Complaints Authority Amendment Bill. These were from the New Zealand Police Association (represented by the President, Mr Greg O’Connor; former head of the Police Complaints Authority, Sir Jon Jeffries and former police officer, Mr Brian Pearce) and the Commonwealth Press Union (represented by the Chairperson, Mr Gavin Ellis and the Honorary Secretary, Mr Lincoln Gould).

The committee next meets on 21 May to hear evidence on a petition and further consider the Criminal Investigations (Bodily Samples) Amendment Bill.

The committee is still calling for submissions on the Corrections Bill. The closing date for submissions is Wednesday, 21 May 2003. Submissions should be addressed to Tracey Rayner, Clerk of the Law and Order Committee, Parliament House, Wellington.

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

At its meeting on Thursday the committee heard further submissions on the Marine Reserves Bill, and also the submission of the Wellington City Council on the Wellington City Empowering and Amendment Bill. The final hearing of submissions on the Marine Reserves Bill is scheduled for Thursday, 5 June, in Parliament House. The committee will meet with the Russian State Duma Ecology Committee on Tuesday, 20 May, from 3.30 pm to 5.00 pm. This meeting will be held in Room G.006 (Maui Tikitiki A Taranga) in Parliament House and will be open to the public.

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

The committee met on 15 May to further consider the report of its inquiry into the Crown Forestry Rental Trust. At its next meeting on Thursday, 22 May the committee will hear evidence service delivery to Maori by the New Zealand Police. This part of the meeting will be open to the public.

The committee is calling for submissions on the Ngati Tama Claims Settlement Bill. The closing date for submissions is 20 June 2003. Submissions should be addressed to Miles Reay, Clerk of the Maori Affairs Committee, Parliament House, Wellington. Information about making a submission can be found on our website.

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

The committee met twice this week. It commenced the hearing of evidence on Parts 1 to 4 of the Wine Bill on Wednesday, 14 May. On Thursday, 15 May it heard further evidence from the New Zealand Wool Board on the Wool Industry Restructuring Bill and gave further consideration to the bill, the inquiry into the administration and management of the scampi fishery and the Misuse of Drugs (Industrial Hemp) Amendment Bill.

Next week, the committee will also meet twice. On Wednesday, 21 May further evidence will be heard on the Wine Bill while on Thursday, 22 May the committee will give further consideration to the Wool Industry Restructuring Bill.

Privileges (Lyn Main, SC-PR@parliament.govt.nz)

The committee presented two reports on 13 May that the House considered the following day.

In the report on the ‘Question of privilege referred on 28 February 2002 in relation to information given by New Zealand Post Limited to the Finance and Expenditure Committee’ the committee recommends that no further action be taken on this question of privilege. The committee stresses the importance of all State-owned enterprises being open and frank with Parliament within the constraints of commercial sensitivity.

In the report on ‘Three questions of privilege concerning the disclosure of select committee proceedings’ the committee recommends that while unauthorised disclosures of select committee proceedings have occurred, that no further action be taken on these three questions of privilege and that the Standing Orders Committee consider amendments to Standing Order 237 to enable members of select committees to engage in more open discussion of select committee proceedings.

Both of these reports are available on the Office of the Clerk’s website.

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

The committee received a briefing from the Minister of Social Services and Employment and officials from The Treasury, the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services, the Ministry of Social Development and the State Services Commission on the baseline funding review of the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services. Next week the committee will consider the Estimates of Appropriation as allocated by the Finance and Expenditure Committee.

Standing Orders (David Bagnall, SC-SO@parliament.govt.nz)

The committee meets next Thursday to hear evidence on the review of Standing Orders. The Wellington District Law Society Public Law Committee and the Clerk of the House of Representatives will present their submissions.

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

Commerce
Copyright (Parallel Importation of Films and Onus of Proof) Amendment Bill (22 May 2003)
Radio New Zealand Amendment Bill (22 May 2003)
Inquiry into the New Zealand electricity industry (31 July 2003)

Education and Science
New Organisms and Other Matters Bill (13 June 2003)

Government Administration
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Bill (30 May 2003)
Statutes Amendment Bill (No 3) (30 May 2003)

Law and Order
Corrections Bill (21 May 2003)

Local Government and Environment
Christchurch City Council (Robert McDougall Gallery) Land Vesting Bill (27 June 2003)
Masterton District Council (Montfort Trimble Foundation) Bill (30 May 2003)
Local Government Law Reform Bill (No 2) (20 June 2003)

Maori Affairs
Ngati Tama Claims Settlement Bill (20 June 2003)

Social Services
Families Commission Bill (11 July 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
at carol.rankin@parliament.govt.nz

Compiled in the Select Committee Office, Office of the Clerk, 16 May 2003

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