SELECT COMMITTEE BUSINESS
From 6 October to 13 October 2000
Committee meetings
There were 21 committee meetings. All but one were in the parliamentary complex.

Reports presented (4)

Transport and Industrial Relations
 Petition 1999/97 of Stephen Bishop

Commerce
 Petition 1996/765 of Mrs Joan Patrick and 2300 others
 Petition 1996/713 of Bruce Amelius Stirling and 526 others and five other petitions of a similar nature Petition 1996/1731 of Thomas George Brown and others and 43 other petitions of a similar nature

Law and Order
 Petition 1999/17 of Steven Ching and others

Bills referred to select committees
No bills were referred.

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

Education and Science (Clare Sullivan, SC-ES@parliament.govt.nz)
This week the committee heard evidence from the National Library on its financial review. Issues discussed during the hearing included the reorganisation of the library, access to Te Puna, services to schools and the library's contribution to the knowledge society.

The committee has established a subcommittee to hear evidence and consider the inquiry into student fees, loans, allowances and the overall resourcing of tertiary education. Next week the subcommittee will begin to hear evidence on the inquiry. The subcommittee will continue to hear evidence on the inquiry over the next month.

Submissions on the Apprenticeship Training bill close on Tuesday, 24 October.

Finance and Expenditure (Graham Hill, SC-FE@parliament.govt.nz)
The committee met on 11 October to hear evidence on the Taxpayers' Charter Bill and consider further the Public Audit Bill. This was followed by a meeting of the sub-committee on Controller and Auditor-General's reports. At its next meeting on 18 October the committee will consider further the Taxpayers' Charter Bill. The sub-committee will also meet again.

Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade (David Sanders, SC-FD@parliament.govt.nz)
The committee met this week and devoted the whole meeting to its treaty examination of the Closer Economic Partneship (CEP) agreement with Singapore. Further consideration of this treaty will be the focus of the meeting next week.

Government Administration (Fiona McLean, SC-GA@parliament.govt.nz)
The committee continued its consideration of the inquiry into New Zealand’s adoption laws, the Gaming Law Reform Bill and the Casino Control (Poll Demand) Amendment Bill. The committee will meet next week to continue its consideration of the inquiry into New Zealand’s adoption laws and the Gaming Law Reform Bill.

Justice and Electoral (Wendy Proffitt, SC-JE@parliament.govt.nz)
This week the committee continued considering the Matrimonial Property Amendment Bill, Supplementary Order Paper No 25 and related petitions. It also considered the De Facto Relationships (Property) Bill, the Local Elections (Single Transferable Vote Options) Bill and the Inquiry into the 1999 General Election. Next week the committee will continue to consider all these matters.

Law and Order (Wendy Proffitt, SC-LO@parliament.govt.nz)
This week the committee heard submissions from the New Zealand Law Society and the New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties on the Habeas Corpus Bill. It continued to consider the Arms Amendment Bill (No 2) and the Crimes Amendment Bill (No 6). The committee also considered three petitions.

The closing date for submissions on the Crimes Amendment Bill is Wednesday, 18 October. The committee will hear submissions the following day on 19 October. Next week it will also hear a submission on the Habeas Corpus Bill and further consider the Crimes Amendment Bill (No 6).

Local Government and Environment (David Bagnall, SC-LGE@parliament.govt.nz)
The committee is undertaking an inquiry into the role of local government in meeting New Zealand's climate change target. On the evening of 18 October the committee will be hearing evidence from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) and the three New Zealand scientists who are members of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The committee will be meeting in Tauranga on 26 October to hear evidence on the Tauranga District Council (Route K Toll) Empowering Bill. The bill enables the Tauranga District Council to finance the building and maintenance of the road known as Route K, which is the final stage in the link between State Highway 29, central Tauranga, the Tauranga Harbour Bridge and the Port of Tauranga.

MMP Review (Louise Sparrer, SC-MMP@parliament.govt.nz)
Hearing of evidence on MMP continued with two meetings this week. The committee travels to Dunedin and Christchurch on 16 October to hear further evidence. Hearing of evidence will conclude on Wednesday 18 October. Mrs Margaret Robertson, the initiator of the CIR petition on the number of MPs, will appear before the committee on this day.

Primary Production (Bob Bunch, SC-PP@parliament.govt.nz)
On Thursday, 12 October, the committee commenced hearing evidence into its inquiry into the sale of Property Services Division of Terralink New Zealand Limited to its former employees. The committee heard from The Property Group Limited and from the Crown Company Monitoring Advisory Unit (CCMAU). The committee also considered its inquiry into organic agriculture in New Zealand.

The committee has decided to call for submissions on its inquiry into sustainable forestry management with the deadline for submissions being Tuesday, 23 January 2001. The committee will not meet again until Thursday, 9 November 2000.

Social Services (Tim Cooper, SC-SS@parliament.govt.nz)
This week the committee began consideration of the Social Security Amendment Bill. The closing date for submissions on the bill is 13 October. The committee will hear evidence on the bill in Wellington on 18 October and in Auckland on 25 October.

The committee began its consideration of the financial review of the Ministry of Social Policy and made progress on the Student Loans Scheme Amendment Bill and the Petition 1999/8 of Warren Desmond Heap.

At its next meeting on 18 October the committee will begin considering the financial review of the Department of Work and Income, make further progress on the Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill and the Social Welfare (Transitional Provisions) Amendment Bill, and hear evidence on the Social Security Amendment Bill.

Transport and Industrial Relations (Lyn Main, SC-TI@parliament.govt.nz)
On Wednesday, 11 October, the committee heard a submission from Transfund New Zealand on the three petitions before it that request the construction of the Transmission Gully road. Transfund noted that alternative funding options to bring forward the timetable for the construction of the road could include a regional petrol tax, regional rates, and tolls. Such alternative funding options would require changes to legislation and the funding policy framework. The committee will be considering these petitions again at its next meeting.

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

Commerce
Chartered Professional Engineers of New Zealand Bill (27 October 2000)

Education and Science
Apprenticeship Training Bill (24 October 2000)

Finance and Expenditure
Inquiry into the preparation of the 2001 Budget Policy Statement (3 November 2000)

Government Administration
Films, Videos, and Publications Classification (Prohibition of Child Pornography) Amendment Bill (15 November 2000)

Health
Inquiry into health strategies relating to cannabis use (7 February 2001)

Law and Order
Crimes Amendment Bill (18 October 2000)

Primary Production
Inquiry into sustainable forestry management (23 January 2001)

Regulations Review
Inquiry into regulation-making powers that authorise international treaties to override any provisions of New Zealand enactments (17 November 2000)

Social Services
Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Amendment Bill (No 3) (20 October 2000)
Social Security Amendment Bill (13 October 2000)

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
carol.rankin@parliament.govt.nz

Compiled in the Select Committee Office, Office of the Clerk, 13 October 2000