First readings of bills are often on Thursdays (rising again on the third day, after a Tuesday introduction), but this week begins with a first reading (to regulate predatory lending), and then follows that up with second readings and committee stages of a raft of legislation already underway; details of it all are below.
The usual parliamentary features will play the overture though with question time scheduled for 2pm after the House has sorted through its daily mail.
Today's plan is:
Question time - 2pm
Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
Up to 12 questions to Ministers from opposition and government party MPs.
It’s one of the fastest moving parts of the House lasting around an hour; question time usually involves some hard questions, witty interjections, and a little bit of boasting from Ministers answering patsy questions (softer queries from their own party’s backbenches).
Protecting consumers from bad loans - first reading
Photo: 123RF
What:
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Strengthen requirements to lend responsibly to help reduce harm to vulnerable consumers from problem debt.
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The Bill will limit the accumulation of interest and fees on high-cost loans to 100% of the original loan principal, over the life of the loan but only for loans with an annualised interest rate of 50% or more
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A ‘fit and proper’ test for directors and top executives of lenders (finance company, mobile trader or bank) offering consumer credit contracts (mortgage, credit card, cash loan to a private individual) in order for the lender to register on the Financial Service Providers Register.
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Punishments for lenders who breach their responsibilities will also be strengthened
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The bill also aims to prevent creditors taking advantage of people for whom English is a second language by requiring creditors to disclose key contract information in the language they advertise in e.g. if a company advertises in Samoan it cannot only put key information about the contract in English particularly if the company suspects the debtor would understand the contract details if it was written in Samoan but would struggle to understand it in English.
Who:
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Minister for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Kris Faafoi is in charge of this bill.
Why:
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A review identified ongoing issues in the credit market and significant harm to vulnerable consumers from problem debt including excessive cost on some loan agreements, irresponsible lending, unreasonable fees and irresponsible debt collection practices.
Encouraging research and development - committee stage
What:
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It will introduce a research and development tax credit to encourage businesses to do more research and development.
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The committee stage is the technical one where MPs argue over jots and tittles (or at the very least clauses and parts).
Who:
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Minister of Research, Science and Innovation Megan Woods is in charge of this bill.
Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
MP says what?
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At the Bill’s second reading, speaking for Megan Woods, Aupita Sio William said “This is an important bill for our economy.” He noted that R&D spending had risen to $3.9 billion in 2018, (1.37% of GDP), but said this was lagging behind the rest of the world. “This bill, therefore, is part of the Government strategy to address that and to boost our economy through support for research, science, and innovation.”
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Also at the Bill’s second reading debate, National MP Parmjeet Parmar said “The Government officials have also accepted that only a small number of companies that receive growth grants will be eligible for R&D tax credits, which indicates that this Government has failed to understand the nature of businesses in New Zealand.” While it may seem contradictory on the face of it, she also said that the Bill “creates a significant fiscal risk to the Crown, as it's very difficult to estimate what the policy will cost as uptake is uncertain and can fluctuate substantially year to year.”
Funding fire and emergency services - committee stage
What:
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The committee stage of the Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Levy) Amendment Bill
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This Bill creates a a minor change, giving more time for insurers and brokers to comply with a new levy-based system introduced under the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Act 2017.
Why:
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Fire and Emergency New Zealand is mainly funded by a levy on contracts of insurance where property is insured against the risk of fire. Changes were made to the levy under the last Government and this bill changes the date for compliance from 1 July 2019 to 1 July 2021 with the option to bring that forward a year to July 2020 if they want to,.
Who:
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The Minister for Internal Affairs Tracey Martin is in charge.
Planning for well-being - committee stage
What:
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This makes some small changes to the Local Government Act 2002, putting back some things that were removed by the previous government. It will allow local governments to include consideration of things like social, environmental and community well-being in their planning process.
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This change is similar to the new multi-factor budget tool (the living standards framework) Treasury have been building for most of a decade to help governments balance budget decisions on factors beyond just cost.
Who:
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Minister of Local Government Nanaia Mahuta is in charge of this change.
Humanely managing prisoners - second reading
Photo: 123rf.com
What:
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The Corrections Amendment Bill will have its second reading and makes a few changes including:
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Introducing a system separate to the segregation regime for managing prisoners at risk of self-harm.
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Mothers who are denied a request to have their child with them in prison will be able to appeal that decision.
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Allowing the Minister of Corrections to declare a Police jail or parts of it to become a corrections prison temporarily.
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No more tattooing of prisoners. The bill will make it a disciplinary offence for a prisoner to tattoo another prisoner or themselves, or get one from another prisoner.
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Second readings are a debate over the a Select Committee’s report on a bill, and consideration of any recommendations made in it. The report is here.
Who:
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Kelvin Davis, as Minister of Corrections is in charge of this bill.
Privacy online
What:
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The second reading of the Privacy Bill which is a rewrite of the Privacy Act 1993.
Why:
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Technology keeps improving the way people are connected and how personal information is accessed and stored, like social media platforms, smartphones, and cloud storage, so it’s time to update the Act. Facebook has been in the spotlight recently including a stoush with the Privacy Commissioner.
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And again… second readings are a debate over the a Select Committee’s report on a bill, and consideration of any recommendations made in it. The report on this bill is here.
Who:
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Andrew Little , as Minister of Justice is in charge of this bill.
Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
MP says what?
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At the Bill’s first reading, Andrew Little noted that this bill has been in the works since 2012, after the Law Commission called for the law to be modernised in 2011. He noted that new technology “creates new challenges for protecting personal information. A regime that is focused on early identification and prevention of privacy risks, rather than after-the-fact remedies, is required.” This Privacy Bill ... will strengthen privacy protections and better address the challenges of the digital age. It also modernises the language of the Act to make it more accessible.”
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For National Chris Finlayson (now retired) said “What I like about this bill is that, by and large, it implements most of the Law Commission's recommendations, along with some additional recommendations from the Privacy Commissioner's reports. So I agree with the Minister that the best thing we can do is get this away to the select committee, and it's going to require a very careful analysis.”
So that was the plan, you can see what the House manages to get through each day on the Parliament website here.
