No surprises – customary title is among issues tackled in new bills and a report tells us that towers will topple without enough nuts
Some of the government’s latest news deals with legislative intentions that have been well signalled and widely debated, but further wrangling – some acriminious – is inevitable as the bills proceed through Parliament.
Most notably, legislation intended to provide certainty around how Customary Marine Title is granted for New Zealand’s coastlines has passed its first reading. This one deals with Maori claims to chunks of the country’s foreshore and makes it harder for them to succeed.
Maori claimants will be brandishing the Treaty as they holler their disapproval.
A new Act paves the way for charter schools to be established (a red rag to the bull of teacher unions) and a new Bill paves the way for oil and gas exploration (anathema to environmentalists).
But when it comes to being told what we expected to be told, the prize should go to the release of the Electricity Authority’s report into the collapse of a Northland transmission tower on 20 June 2024 that left 88,000 people without power.
It collapsed because some plonker was remiss when it came to removing nuts on the tower’s baseplates.
Funny that. Without the nuts, the tower toppled and – according to the report – the economic mischief in Northland was substantial, estimated at between $37.5 million and $80 million in lost economic activity.
Maori claimants will be brandishing the Treaty as they holler their disapproval.
A new Act paves the way for charter schools to be established (a red rag to the bull of teacher unions) and a new Bill paves the way for oil and gas exploration (anathema to environmentalists).
But when it comes to being told what we expected to be told, the prize should go to the release of the Electricity Authority’s report into the collapse of a Northland transmission tower on 20 June 2024 that left 88,000 people without power.
It collapsed because some plonker was remiss when it came to removing nuts on the tower’s baseplates.
Funny that. Without the nuts, the tower toppled and – according to the report – the economic mischief in Northland was substantial, estimated at between $37.5 million and $80 million in lost economic activity.
Latest from the Beehive
25 September 2024
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has announced a $4.85 million package of initiatives aimed at understanding the prevalence of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), promoting better education and sup
Legislation that will provide certainty around how Customary Marine Title is granted for New Zealand’s coastlines has passed its first reading in Parliament today.
The Electricity Authority’s report into the collapse of a Northland transmission tower on 20 June 2024 that left 88,000 people without power has been released, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says.
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says the passing of the Education and Training Amendment Bill shows the Government is making significant progress to lift education outcomes.
The rollout of onboard cameras on commercial fishing vessels will continue and discard rules will be amended under fisheries reforms proposed by Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones.
Legislation reinstating offshore petroleum exploration has been introduced by the Coalition Government, a key step in addressing the significant energy security challenges felt by Kiwis across the country this winter.
24 September 2024
Motorists and freight will now drive through a new roundabout at the SH1/SH29 intersection at Piarere, marking a major milestone for one of the Government’s Roads of Regional Significance that will improve safety and reliability for motorists and freight using this strategic corridor.
The Parliament Bill has passed its first reading this afternoon, Leader of the House Chris Bishop says.
Which of those will generate the greatest acrimony?
Customary Marine Title
A good bet is the government’s intention to provide certainty around how Customary Marine Title is granted for New Zealand’s coastlines.
Customary Marine Title gives the holder valuable rights, including the ability to refuse some resource consents in the area, such as for renewals of private assets like wharves, or aquaculture expansion.
The Court of Appeal last year issued a decision that changed the nature of the test and materially reduced the threshold.
The government insists all New Zealanders have an interest in the coastal waters of our country, and recalls that Parliament deliberately set a high test in 2011 before Customary Marine Title could be granted.
It aims to ensure that tests for applications directly with the Crown or through the Courts are interpreted and applied as originally intended.”
The measures in the new legislation include:
- Inserting a declaratory statement that overturns the reasoning of the Court of Appeal and High Court in Re Edwards, and the reasoning of all High Court decisions since the High Court in Re Edwards, where they relate to the test for CMT.
- Adding text to section 58 to define and clarify the terms ‘exclusive use and occupation’ and ‘substantial interruption’.
- Amending the ‘burden of proof’ section of the Act (section 106) to clarify that applicant groups are required to prove exclusive use and occupation from 1840 to the present day.
- Making clearer the relationship between the framing sections of the Act (the preamble, purpose, and Treaty of Waitangi sections) and section 58 in a way that allows section 58 to operate more in line with its literal wording.
The Government intends to have the legislation passed before the end of the year.
Charter schools
Associate Education Minister David Seymour was plainly chuffed by the passing of the Education and Training Amendment Bill.
“Establishing charter schools, lifting attendance, and streamlining early learning regulations are all essential to raising achievement. This legislation will set in motion the system changes that need to happen to make the education system more flexible and responsive to the needs of students and their families.”
The passing of this bill amends the Education and Training Act 2020 and will:
- Set out the framework on how charter schools will be set up, operate, and be monitored. This includes the establishment of the Authorisation Board
- Remove the requirement for early learning providers to get an ECE network approval before applying for a licence to establish a new service
- Empower the Secretary of Education to set out the rules and requirements for state-schools, including state integrated schools, to submit attendance data to the Ministry of Education.
Once the Board approves sponsors, the Charter School Agency will proceed with finalising their contracts.
The Agency is aiming to enable the first charter schools to open in term one next year.
Fishing regulations
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced proposals for the rollout of onboard cameras on commercial fishing vessels to continue and the amendment of discard rules.
But the timeframes for the rollout of cameras will be extended by three months to allow time to complete the installations. Moreover Jones plans to ease the financial burden on the industry by limiting cost recovery levies for onboard cameras to a level comparable with the cost of observers on vessels.
The matter of privacy for fishers who work with cameras on their vessels will be considered.
Another proposed change includes amending discard rules so fishers with monitoring on their vessels have more options for dealing with their catch. At present, fishers are required to land all their catch on shore unless an exception is in place.
Once introduced, the rules will allow fishers to legally return fish to the sea as long they have cameras or observers on board to verify catch, and the discards are counted against their annual catch entitlement.
The changes are being developed into specific proposal. Feedback will be sought from early next year.
Oil and gas exploration
As Minister of Resources, Shane Jones announced the introduction of legislation to reinstate offshore petroleum exploration, promoting this as a measure to address the significant energy security challenges which New Zealanders are encountering.
The Crown Minerals Amendment Bill reverses the ban on new oil and gas exploration beyond onshore Taranaki, reflecting the Government’s intention to reinvigorate investment in petroleum exploration and provide certainty for potential investors.
Besides removing the exploration ban, this legislation will better balance the regulatory burden, risk of decommissioning and give the regulator more flexibility in how exploration permits are issued.
A new tier of mineral permitting that will make it easier for people to undertake small-scale non-commercial gold mining activity is also introduced through the Bill.
The government aims to have the legislation enacted by the end of this year. The select committee process therefore “will be undertaken in a condensed timeframe”.
For more information on the Bill, see 2024 Proposed amendments to the Crown Minerals Act 1991 | Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (mbie.govt.nz)
New roundabout
Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced motorists and freight “will now drive through a new roundabout at the SH1/SH29 intersection at Piarere, marking a major milestone for one of the Government’s Roads of Regional Significance that will improve safety and reliability for motorists and freight using this strategic corridor”.
This suggests motorists and freight will not drive AROUND the roundabout.
The minister’s intention more obviously was to claim great progress has been made on the construction of this 60-metre-wide roundabout since construction began in January to improve safety and wait times for people travelling through the Waikato.
While construction on the roundabout continues, the roundabout has opened with two temporary approaches now in action.
The roundabout has been strategically designed to connect into a new Road of National Significance (RoNS) between Cambridge and Piarere.
Modernising Parliament
The Leader of the House, Chris Bishop, announced the Parliament Bill has passed its first reading.
The Bill will consolidate and modernise the four Acts comprising Parliament’s statutory framework: the Clerk of the House of Representatives Act 1988, the Parliamentary Service Act 2000, the Members of Parliament (Remuneration and Services) Act 2013, and the Parliamentary Privilege Act 2014.
Other important changes in the Bill include:
- Updating the functions of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker to clarify when the functions and duties of the Speaker are carried out by the Deputy;
- Modernising the statutory functions of the Clerk of the House;
- Providing Parliamentary Security Officers with statutory powers similar to those of court security officers, and
- Transferring to the Electoral Commission the role of determining whether a petition carries the required number of signatures to trigger a referendum.
As part of the cross-party collaborative approach, a special select committee will be created with representatives from every parliamentary party to consider the Bill. The Government intends to nominate former Speaker of the House, Adrian Rurawhe, to chair the committee.
The Bill has been referred to the special select committee for six months. Bishop hopes it will be passed into law next year.
Dealing with FASD
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has announced a $4.85 million package of initiatives aimed at understanding the prevalence of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), promoting better education and supporting women to stay alcohol free during pregnancy.
The three initiatives are:
- Undertaking an FASD prevalence study, to understand the true nature of the challenge FASD presents in New Zealand, rather than relying on extrapolated overseas data.
- Providing structured education for clinical and community settings to grow FASD awareness and capacity in communities and across health, disability and social services.
- Supporting initiatives that promote alcohol-free pregnancies and reduce the stigma of FASD.
Energy Minister Simeon Brown announced the release of the Electricity Authority’s report into the collapse of a Northland transmission tower on 20 June 2024 that left 88,000 people without power.
“As expected, the report found that the removal of the nuts on the tower’s baseplates, which led to the towers collapse and the underlying factors that contributed to this, were entirely avoidable.
“More broadly, the report found an overreliance by Transpower on service providers to ensure that critical assets are maintained. It also found that identifiable risks were missed, including concerns that were raised internally.”
The report shows that concerns were raised by a senior engineer within Transpower in 2021 regarding “a gap in the knowledge of maintenance crews undertaking foundation work”.
This probably means they had been ill-trained.
But Transpower did not act on the recommendations for improvement.
Brown was appropriately dismayed:
“Transpower failing to act on these opportunities has led to terrible consequences for the people of Northland but there is also evidence that the removal of all nuts from more than one tower leg was not a one-off event.
“These are incredibly concerning findings, and the report identifies a number of recommendations that I expect Transpower will fully accept and act with urgency to address.”
The report recommends that Transpower review its policies on the escalation of service provider noncompliance events. It also calls for greater reporting on service providers so that the Transpower board and senior management can exercise effective governance and oversight.
The report also found that the restoration of power after the tower collapsed was carried out quickly, safely and efficiently, and highlights the importance of distributed generation.
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
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