Select Committee Business 2 June to 9 June 2000
SELECT COMMITTEE BUSINESS
2 June 2000 to 9 June
2000
Committee meetings
There were five committee
meetings in New Zealand, four of which were in Auckland.
One committee (Social Services) has been meeting with
counterparts in Australia this week.
Reports
presented
Finance and Expenditure
Briefing
from the Controller and Auditor-General on the Third Report
for 1999 and the First Report for 2000
Local Government
and Environment
Petition 1996/757 of Bruce
Hucker and 18 597 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 italics)
Commerce (Alan
Witcombe, Matthew Andrews)
The committee will continue
considering bills next week.
Education and Science (Clare
Sullivan, Malcolm McNamara)
The committee will continue
work on the Education Amendment Bill next week
Employment
and Accident Insurance (Marie Alexander)
The committee
started working through the issues in the Employment
Relations Bill this week
Finance and Expenditure (Graham
Hill, Julian Kersey)
At its next meeting on 14 June the
committee will continue to hear evidence on the Taxation
(FBT, SSCWT and Remedial Matters) Bill. The committee will
also meet briefly late in the afternoon of 15 June to
allocate the votes from the 2000/2001 Estimates of
Appropriations to subject select committees for
consideration and report back to the House by 14 August.
Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade (David Sanders, Andrew
Fieldsend)
Next week the committee will hear evidence
from the Speaker on his recent visit to the Philippines,
Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.
Government Administration
(Louise Sparrer, Lesley Ferguson)
The committee is
continuing its consideration of the Gaming Law Reform Bill
next week. The committee will also be considering the
2000/2001 Estimates on a preliminary basis.
Health (Nick
Aldous, Marcus Ganley)
The committee met at the
Barrycourt Hotel in Auckland on Wednesday, 7 June from 10.00
am to 5.30 pm. In the morning the committee heard
submissions on the Alcohol Advisory Council Amendment Bill.
In the afternoon the committee turned to the Intellectual
Disability (Compulsory Care) Bill and the Criminal Justice
Amendment Bill (No 7). Submitters on these bills included
the Human Rights Commission and the Health and Disability
Commissioner.
Next week the committee will meet in Wellington and will hear evidence from the Ministry of Health on the Child Mortality Review Board Bill.
Justice
and Electoral (Tracey Conlon, Andrew Fieldsend, Fiona
McLean)
The committee has set a closing date of Friday, 7
July for submissions on Supplementary Order Paper (SOP) No
25. This SOP aims to amend the Matrimonial Property
Amendment Bill in several ways. The main effect of the SOP
is to extend the law covering matrimonial property to
couples who are living in de facto relationships, including
same-sex relationships. It does not legalise marriage for
same-sex couples. Further information on the SOP is
available from the committee secretariat and on our web site
under “press releases”. The committee must make its report
to the House by 4 September.
The Justice and Electoral Subcommittee met in Auckland on Wednesday, 7 June to hear further evidence on its inquiry into matters relating to the State visit of the President of China to New Zealand in 1999. Submissions were heard from Free Tibet protestors and from Superintendent Beckett of the New Zealand Police. The subcommittee has already heard evidence in Christchurch and in Wellington on the inquiry.
The subcommittee will next meet on Thursday, 15 June to hear evidence from the New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties. The hearing of evidence will be open to the public from 3.30 pm and will be held in Parliament House, in Room G.006.
Local Government
and Environment (David Bagnall, Malcolm McNamara)
The
committee met twice in Auckland this week to hear evidence
on the Resource Management Amendment Bill and for a site
visit to the Auckland Regional Council.
MMP Review (Louise
Sparrer)
The terms of reference for the MMP Review
Committee are to consider:
(a) the effect of sections 35
and 36 of the Electoral Act 1993 (relating to the division
of New Zealand into general electorates) on the operation of
the electoral system,
(b) the provisions of the Electoral
Act 1993 dealing with Mori representation,
(c)
whether there should be a further referendum on changes to
the electoral system,
(d) the appropriate number of
members of Parliament, taking into account the results of
the 1999 citizens initiated referendum on that issue,
(e)
the extent to which party lists have resulted in better
representation of women,
(f) the effectiveness of the
current electoral system with respect to the representation
of the tangata whenua and ethnic minorities, and
(g) any
other matter relating to the electoral system.
The committee must report finally before 1 June 2002 and include in its report a statement indicating:
(a) whether, in its
view, there should be changes to sections 35 and 36 of the
Electoral Act 1993,
(b) whether, in its view, there
should be changes to the provisions of the Electoral Act
1993 dealing with Mori representation,
(c)
whether, in its view, there should be a further referendum
on changes to the electoral system, and if so, the nature of
the proposals to be put to voters and the timing of such a
referendum,
(d) what, in its view, is the appropriate
number of members of Parliament,
(e) what changes, if
any, might be made to the electoral system to further
enhance the representation of women,
(f) what changes,
if any, might be made to the electoral system with respect
to the representation of tangata whenua and ethnic
minorities, and
(g) what other changes, if any, should be
made to the electoral system.
The membership of the committee is as follows: Rt Hon Jonathan Hunt (Chairperson), Hon Peter Dunne, (Deputy Chairperson), Georgina Beyer, Chris Carter, Rod Donald, Stephen Franks, Grant Gillon, Hon Tony Ryall, and Rt Hon Jenny Shipley.
The committee is calling for submissions on the review as set out below.
Mori Affairs (Kia Paranihi, Denise Te
Karu)
The committee will continue working on the Maori
Purposes Bill next week.
Primary Production (Bob Bunch,
April Bennett)
Next week the committee will hear evidence
from the Controller and Auditor-General on his report
Oversight of Information Technology.
Social Services (Tim
Cooper, Louise Gardiner)
The committee has been meeting
in Canberra and Melbourne this week as part of the annual
exchange of committees between New Zealand and Australia.
The focus of the visit has been Trans Tasman welfare
delivery and reciprocity.
Transport and Industrial
Relations (Lyn Main, Karen Smyth)
At the meeting on
Wednesday 14 June, the committee will hear evidence from
Anna Andrews, who has petitioned for an inquiry into the
co-ordination of emergency services involved in the rescue
of survivors of Southern Air Flight 168 in August 1998.
Other business before the committee next week includes further consideration of the 1998/99 financial review of Airways Corporation of New Zealand, and the Airport Authorities Amendment Bill. This bill is due to be reported back in August.
Closing dates for submissions
Committees are receiving submissions on the following
items with the closing date shown. Twenty copies of
submissions are required.
Commerce
Economic Development
(Industry New Zealand and Ministry of Economic Development)
Bill (16 June 2000)
Chartered Professional Engineers of
New Zealand Bill (7 July 2000)
Education and
Science
Inquiry into student fees, loans, allowances and
the overall resourcing of tertiary education (24 July
2000)
Education (Limiting Number of Universities)
Amendment Bill (30 June 2000)
Finance and
Expenditure
Taxation (Annual Rates, GST and Miscellaneous
Provisions) Bill (5 July 2000)
Taxpayers’ Charter Bill
(31 July 2000)
Foreign Affairs, Defence and
Trade
Inquiry into New Zealand’s economic and trade
relationship with Australia (16 June 2000)
Justice and
Electoral
Supplementary Order Paper No 25 relating to the
Matrimonial Property Amendment Bill (7 July 2000)
Local
Government and Environment
Forests (West Coast Accord)
Bill (19 June 2000)
MMP Review
Review of MMP and other
aspects of the electoral system (31 July 2000)
Primary
Production
Inquiry into organic agriculture in New
Zealand (3 July 2000)
Social Services
Housing
Restructuring (Income-Related Rents) Bill (26 June
2000)
General
Committee activity over the next two
months can be expected to focus on the Estimates of
expenditure that form part of the Budget, due to be
delivered on 15 June. Committees consider the Estimates
that fall into their subject area. They often do this by
hearing evidence from the Minister and from departmental
officials. The Audit Office provides advice to committees
at the beginning of the process. Committees prepare either
narrative or pro forma reports on their examinations of the
Estimates. These will be compiled into a compendium
available for purchase after all the reports have been
presented.
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, 2 June 2000