Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 23/8/23

Legislators flounder in almost 300 pages of amendments as Three Waters bill is debated under urgency

Money saved and money spent are the effects of government decisions announced in the latest ministerial press statements.

Money saved – by being kept out of the hands of the government’s tax collectors – is the effect of Revenue Minister Barbara Edmonds’ confirmation that the “bright-line” test won’t be triggered when owners of flood and cyclone-damaged properties take up voluntary buy-out offers from local authorities.

Money spent – or invested in teacher supply in a $24 million package announced in September last year – has exceeded its goal of 1,000 new teachers, Education Minister Jan Tinetti told the New Zealand Area Schools Association Conference.

Both items of ministerial news are recorded on the government’s official website:

What isn’t there – yet – is news of the egregiously hasty passage through Parliament (under urgency) of the Water Services Legislation Bill.

Latest from the Beehive

23 AUGUST 2023

Government investment for 1,000 new teachers pays off in under a year

A multi-million investment package in teacher supply announced in September last year has already exceeded its goal of 1,000 new teach

Government will remove “bright-line” test for Cyclone buyout properties

The Government is ensuring that owners of flood and cyclone-damaged properties who take up voluntary buy-out offers are not inadvertently caught by tax rules.

Barbara Edmonds’ announcement means the bright-line test won’t apply when property owners have little option but to sell their storm-ravaged properties to local authorities.

Amendments have been largely modelled on homes that were similarly damaged by the Canterbury earthquakes.

Officials from Inland Revenue and the Cyclone Recovery Unit have been working on a fix since the Government and local authorities announced they would jointly fund the voluntary buyouts.

Changes will be made through a Supplementary Order Paper to change a piece of omnibus tax legislation currently before Parliament through the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill.

These changes build on earlier measures to ensure flood-hit North Island businesses are not overtaxed. This includes rollover relief that means insured businesses can use their pay-outs to replace assets, rather than have it reduced by an unexpected tax bill.

Jan Tinetti said the investment in teacher supply has secured 301 domestic teachers in training or ready for the classroom and more than 1,055 experienced overseas teachers who have arrived in the country to begin teaching.

The $24 million package included initiatives to boost the teaching workforce by around 700 international teachers and 300 new domestic teachers.

Meanwhile in Parliament, urgency has been accorded the remaining stages of …

• the Water Services Legislation Bill;
• the Crown Minerals Amendment Bill;
• the Water Services Economic Efficiency and Consumer Protection Bill;
• the Taxation Principles Reporting Bill;
• the Land Transport Management (Regulation of Public Transport) Amendment Bill;
• the Local Government Electoral Legislation Bill;
• the Fuel Industry (Improving Fuel Resilience) Amendment Bill;
• the Resale Right for Visual Artists Bill;
• the Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Community Participation) Amendment Bill;
• the Legal Services Amendment Bill; and
• the Land Transport (Road Safety) Amendment Bill.

Point of Order was alerted to the government’s shabby handling of the Water Services Legislation Bill because National issued a statement headed Hundreds of last-minute changes to Three Waters.

This was prompted by Labour’s inexcusable introduction of almost 300 pages of amendments just hours before the bill was to be debated last night and only a week before the 53rd Parliament ends.

National’s Local Government spokesperson Simon Watts said:

“In another desperate move by the Labour Government, it yesterday tabled a 286-page amendment to the Water Services Legislation Bill.

“The original bill alone is just over 300 pages, and these additional last minute changes show just how unworkable Labour’s Three Waters has become.

“There are significant changes such as the Chatham Islands being included again after previously being excluded, and moving the date the bill comes into law from 2024 to immediately after it’s passed – possibly as soon as this week.”

It’s hard to disagree with Watts that trying rush through such a large bill – and not allowing Parliament to do its democratic duty by giving it proper scrutiny – “will only end up coming back on New Zealanders and their water”.

But we are not far from Election Day and under a National government (according to the party’s promise) the bill will be gone in the first 100 days.

UPDATE

Another ministerial announcement has been posted on the Beehive website this afternoon: –

Water Services Legislation Bill passes third reading

The Government has today passed the next key piece of legislation required to ensure affordable, safe, and sustainable publicly owned water services for New Zealanders for generations to come.

This is the heavily amended Water Services Legislation Bill referenced earlier in this article. It builds on the Water Services Entities Act, passed last week, which established the 10 entities that will manage the country’s, water services.

The Bill passed today sets out the functions and powers for those services along with what they’re required to do, the tools they need for their work, and arrangements for the changing to the new system, Local Government Minister Kieran McAnulty said.

His press statement makes no mention of the Treaty, iwi or co-governance. That’s a good reason for closely studying the new legislation.

Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton