NEWS ON POLICY
AND POLITICS |
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IN POLITICS The Natural Party of Sustainability? CLIMATE CHANGE UPDATE Please see our special edition of Watching Brief which details the Government's announcements of 20 September on the proposed emissions trading scheme and other initiatives. more... IN OTHER NEWS Leaders Forum Appointed to Advise on Emissions Trading Waste Bill Recast IN PARLIAMENT Bills Introduced more... Trustee Amendment Bill Bills Before Select Committee more... Bills Reported Back more... Bills Passed Second Reading more... Bills Not Proceeding more... Supplementary Order Papers more... SOP 149: Employment Relations (Flexible Working Arrangements) Amendment Bill Bills Passed more... Acts Assented more... Regulations more... HEARINGS OF NOTE more... LEGISLATION IN THE WINGS more... IN CONSULTATION more...
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The Natural Party of Sustainability?Able presentations by Ministers Cullen, Parker and Anderton at last Friday's Auckland briefing on emissions trading resulted in a suspension of the scepticism that many might have been expecting over the Government's climate change policies. The view that the devil will be found in the detail was common with the largely business audience in attendance. But that reservation aside, the strategically placed bevy of officials will have been pleased by the generally positive reception given to the high level picture painted by the Ministerial trio. Criticism will come as people do their sums, consider the implications for land-use and challenge the assumptions behind David Parker's world of electric cars. But, unless trenchant, that criticism is unlikely to attract backing from National, which sees little political mileage in tackling Labour's emissions proposals and would prefer the hard yards of putting the scheme in place to have been done before the possibility of them taking office in 2008. The limited likelihood of an election year stoush on climate change means that, of itself, the proposed emissions trading system will not be an election winner for the Government. But what the announcement does do is to reinforce with the electorate the view of Labour as the natural party of environmental and economic sustainability. It reflects a degree of strategic acumen on the part of the Government that National is still struggling to emulate. It could well be decisive, if not in 2008, then over the longer term.
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| CLIMATE CHANGE UPDATE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Please see our special edition of Watching Brief which details the Government's announcements of 20 September on the proposed emissions trading scheme and other initiatives - more here. |
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| IN OTHER NEWS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Leaders Forum Appointed to Advise on Emissions TradingThirty-one people representing business, agriculture and forestry, science and the environment, the union movement, NGO and core government agencies have been appointed to a high-level group to advise the Government on emissions trading and related issues. The advisory body - the Climate Change Leadership Forum - will report directly to Ministers of Finance and Climate Change. The members will be:
The Forum will be led by businessman Stephen Tindall. Waste Bill RecastLast week saw the release of the long-awaited supplementary order paper on the Waste Minimisation (Solids) Bill. The SOP involves a complete rewrite of the Bill to remove its more prescriptive elements and give better effect to putting some regulatory muscle behind voluntary industry waste management schemes. However, whilst bans on certain types of waste and the need for mom and pop to draw up waste management plans have been jettisoned, the waste levy has not. Set at $10 a tonne (with the potential for review over time) the measure is intended to incentivise waste minimisation initiatives and provide funds for distribution to a variety of waste management initiatives. Reflecting concerns about the hazardous wastes and the unresponsiveness of unspecified businesses to take steps to meet their perceived obligation to the environment, the SOP also provides for the identification of "priority products" for product stewardship schemes. The expectation is that the Minister and his officials will take a measured approach to the process, starting with hazardous waste and areas of poor waste performance and moving out from there. Officials have indicated that in the weeks immediately following the passing of the revised Bill, a list of proposed priority products will be published for consultation by the affected industries and the public at large.
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IN PARLIAMENT |
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Bills IntroducedTrustee Amendment Bill This Bill amends the Trustee Act 1956 following recommendations made by the New Zealand Law Commission in its report "Some Problems in the Law of Trusts". It also contains related amendments to the Administration Act 1969, District Courts Act 1947, and Wills Act 1837 (UK). Evidence Amendment Bill (No 2) The Bill makes an amendment to section 106(4) of the Evidence Act 2006 to remove the ability of a lawyer for each party to a proceeding to receive a copy of any video record evidence that is offered as alternative evidence. Protected Disclosures Amendment Bill This Bill is designed to give the Ombudsmen an enhanced advice, review, and investigator role in relation to disclosures of serious wrongdoing, with the Office of the Ombudsmen facilitating a collaborative cross-agency approach. Land Transport (Driver Licensing) Amendment Bill The purpose of this Bill is to raise the minimum driver licensing age from 15 years to 16 years, and to extend the length of the learner licensing period from six months to 12 months. Bills Before Select CommitteeAuckland Regional Amenities Funding Bill Open For Submissions
Bills Reported BackArmed Forces Law Reform Bill Bills Passed Second ReadingHealth (Drinking Water) Amendment Bill Bills Not ProceedingMinimum Wage and Remuneration Amendment Bill - not recommended for passing Supplementary Order PapersSOP 149: Employment Relations (Flexible Working Arrangements) Amendment Bill This SOP creates a new section 69AAJ to insert the following subsection:
SOP 148: Employment Relations (Flexible Working Arrangements) Amendment Bill This SOP amends the Employment Relations (Flexible Working Arrangements) Amendment Bill. The SOP amends clause 3; inserts new sections via clause 6A (new sections 69AAA, 69AAB, 69AAC, 69AAE, 69AAF, 69AAH, and 69AAI), and clause 7. SOP 146: Property Law Reform This SOP sets out the technical amendments to the Property Law Bill. In particular, clause 4 is amended so that proprietor, as that term is used in clauses 294A and 310A in relation to an access lot, means a registered proprietor of:
A number of clauses are amended to clarify the meaning of the provisions. These clauses include:
Further, various provisions are amended to reflect changes from other Acts including:
SOP 145: Protection of Personal and Property Rights Amendment Bill This SOP amends the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Amendment Bill. The proposed amendments to clauses 7 and 8 clarify the relationship between section 94A (which specifies the requirements for creating an enduring power of attorney) and section 95 (which sets out when a power of attorney is an enduring power of attorney) of the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988 ("the principal Act"). The proposed amendment to clause 15 corrects an oversight in new section 100A of the principal Act. New section 100A enables a donor of an enduring power of attorney who has been, but is no longer, mentally incapable to suspend the attorney's authority to act under the power. An attorney whose authority is suspended may not act under the power of attorney unless a relevant health practitioner has certified that the donor is mentally incapable again. The amendment ensures that the Court's determination, if any, of the donor's mental incapacity is taken into account for the purposes of new section 100A. SOP 144: Aviation Security Legislation Bill This SOP divides the Aviation Security Legislation Bill into the following two Bills:
SOP 143: Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Bill This SOP amends the Copyright Act 1994 to replace section 88 of that Act with a new provision that also permits the satellite re-transmission of free-to-air television broadcasts. At present section 88 permits only the cable re-transmission of free-to-air television broadcasts. There is no good reason for section 88 to be limited in this way. This SOP also makes consequential amendments to sections 148 and 189 of the Copyright Act. SOP 142: Statutes Amendment Bill This SOP divided the Bill into 50 Bills including: SOP 139: Taxation (Annual Rates, Business Taxation, KiwiSaver, and Remedial Matters) Bill This SOP amends the Taxation (Annual Rates, Business Taxation, KiwiSaver, and Remedial Matters) Bill. It contains an amendment to the KiwiSaver Act 2006 to require KiwiSaver and complying fund providers to disclose their approach to responsible investment, effective on (and from) 1 April 2008. Bills PassedArbitration Amendment Bill
International Finance Agreements Amendment Bill Acts AssentedIndependent Police Conduct Authority Amendment Act 2007 RegulationsTakeovers Code (Utilico Limited) Exemption Notice (No2) 2007 |
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The Commerce select committee continues to hear submissions on the Regulatory Responsibility Bill.
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Climate Change - Emissions Trading Scheme Driving Age Review of War Pensions Act 1954 Resale Royalties for Artists
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IN CONSULTATION |
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LinksThis
publication is intended only to provide a summary of the subject
covered. It does not purport to be comprehensive or to provide legal
advice. No person should act in reliance on any statement contained
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© Russell McVeagh 2005. All rights reserved.