SELECT COMMITTEE BUSINESS
From 22 December 2000 to 26 January 2001
Committee meetings
There was one committee meeting, held in the parliamentary complex.

Reports presented (1)
Local Government and Environment
 International treaty examination of the Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer

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)

Health (Kia Paranihi, SC-Health@parliament.govt.nz)
The committee will continue its consideration on the 1999/2000 financial reviews of the Ministry of Health and the Health Funding Authority next week, Wednesday 31 January. The Child Mortality Review Board Bill will also be considered. Hospital reviews are as yet unconfirmed.

Items of interest before the committee this year include the Criminal Justice Amendment Bill (No 7), which largely deals with pre-trial procedures for people who are charged with an offence and who suffer mental impairment. The Intellectual Disability (Compulsory Care) Bill is being considered alongside it and addresses issues of compulsory care for individuals with intellectual disability charged with an imprisonable offence and found guilty or unfit to stand trial or acquitted on the grounds of insanity. It also proposes provision for the care and support of people whose behaviour poses a serious risk of danger to either themselves or others and who do not voluntarily access services. The committee is currently scheduled to report on these bills by 28 February.

The Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill and the Assisted Human Reproduction Bill deal with issues of ethical consideration surrounding assisted human reproduction in New Zealand. These issues include a proposal for a regulatory framework for fertility clinics, the prohibition of certain activities such as the cloning of humans and the fusing of human and animal gametes. These bills have a current reporting date of 30 June this year.

Local Government and Environment (David Bagnall, SC-LGE@parliament.govt.nz)
The committee heard evidence on the 1999/2000 financial review of the Department of Conservation. A major focus of the examination was pest control.

The committee further considered the financial review of the Ministry for the Environment and the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment. It also reported on its examination of an amendment to an international treaty on substances that deplete the ozone layer. The committee had no matters to bring to the attention of the House. It further considered the Resource Management Amendment Bill and the Resource Management (Costs) Amendment Bill. The committee will consider these bills again when it meets next week.

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

Commerce
Electronic Transactions Bill (1 February 2001)
Electricity Industry Bill (14 February 2001)
Takeovers Code (Implementation and Enforcement) Bill (1 February 2001)

Education and Science
Education Amendment Bill (No 2) (14 March 2001)

Finance and Expenditure
New Zealand Superannuation Bill (9 February 2001)
Public Trust Bill (2 February 2001)
2001 Budget Policy Statement (26 January 2001)

Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade
International Treaties Bill (31 March 2001)

Government Administration
Inquiry into New Zealand’s adoption laws (31 January 2001)
Summit Road (Canterbury) Protection Bill (31 January 2001)
Cigarettes (Fire Safety) Bill (31 March 2001)
Civil Defence Emergency Management (28 February 2001)

Health
Inquiry into health strategies relating to cannabis use (7 February 2001)
Medical Practitioners (Foreign Qualified Medical Practitioners) Amendment Bill (31 March 2001)

Justice and Electoral
Bay of Plenty Regional Council (Maori Constituency Empowering) Bill (12 February 2001)
Prostitution Reform Bill (26 February 2001)
Local Electoral Bill (26 February 2001)
Victims’ Rights Bill and Supplementary Order Paper No 112 (12 March 2001)

Local Government and Environment
Auckland Improvement Trust Amendment Bill (8 February 2001)
Hawke’s Bay Endowment Land Empowering Bill (1 February 2001)
Local Government (Elected Member Remuneration and Trading Enterprise) Amendment Bill (19 February 2001)
Inquiry into the role of local government in meeting New Zealand’s climate change target (15 March 2001)

Maori Affairs
Tutae-Ka-Wetoweto Forest Bill (31 January 2001)

Social Services
Housing Corporation Amendment Bill (23 February 2001)

Transport and Industrial Relations
Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation Bill (23 March 2001)
Civil Aviation Amendment Bill (2 March 2001)

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, 26 January 2001

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