Committee notes
Commerce
The committee will next meet on 10 February to hear evidence on the 2009/10 financial review of the Securities Commission. The committee will also consider the Financial Markets (Regulators and KiwiSaver) Bill, the Consumer Guarantees Amendment Bill, and the Fair Trading (Soliciting on Behalf of Charities) Amendment Bill.
Education and Science
The committee will next meet on 9 February to further consider the 2009/10 financial review of the Ministry of Education. The committee will consider and hear evidence from submitters on the Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Bill. The hearings of evidence will be open to the public. It will also further consider the petition of Monique Watson as well as a number of financial reviews.
Finance and Expenditure
The committee will meet on 9 February to hear evidence from public submitters and the Minister of Finance on the Budget Policy Statement 2011 (together with the Half-year economic and fiscal update 2010 and the inquiry into the 2010 Investment Statement of the Government of New Zealand). It will also hear evidence on the Student Loan Scheme Bill, the Taxation (Income-sharing Tax Credit) Bill, and consider other items of business before it.
Submissions remain open on the Telecommunications (TSO, Broadband, and Other Matters) Bill (closing date 25 February 2011). Details of the bill can be viewed and submissions made on the Parliament website.
Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade
The committee will next meet on 10 February to consider a number of items of business including the 2009/10 financial reviews of the New Zealand Customs Service, the Ministry of Defence, the New Zealand Defence Force, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. It will also hear evidence on the 2009/10 financial review of the New Zealand Antarctic Institute. This hearing will be open to the public.
The committee will also consider its international treaty examination of the Convention on the Conservation and Management of High Seas Fishery Resources in the South Pacific Ocean, and the petitions of Ghulam Haider Lone and 924 others, and of John Aloro on behalf of the Sudanese Community and 154 others.
Government Administration
The committee next meets on 9 February to consider the 2009/10 financial reviews of the Department of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Archives New Zealand (Te Rua Mahara o te Kawanatanga), the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa Board, the New Zealand Lotteries Commission, the New Zealand Fire Service Commission, Sport and Recreation New Zealand, the Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa, and Drug Free Sport New Zealand. The committee will also consider the Identity Information Confirmation Bill, and the report from the Controller and Auditor-General on How the Department of Internal Affairs manages spending that could give personal benefit to Ministers.
Health
The committee met on 3 February to further consider the inquiry into how to improve completion rates of childhood immunisation and the inquiry into improving New Zealand’s environment to support innovation through clinical trials. The committee began hearing evidence on the Smoke-free Environments (Controls and Enforcement) Amendment Bill. It has received 150 submissions and the committee will be hearing oral evidence over the next month.
The committee next meets on 9 February and will resume consideration of the inquiry into how to improve completion rates of childhood immunisation and the inquiry into improving New Zealand’s environment to support innovation through clinical trials. It will also hear evidence on the Smoke-free Environments (Controls and Enforcement) Amendment Bill, and the 2009/10 financial review of the Waitemata District Health Board.
Justice and Electoral
The committee’s first meeting of 2011 will be on 10 February, when the committee will conclude the hearings of evidence on the Lawyers and Conveyancers Amendment Bill.
The date by which submissions should be sent to the committee on the Alcohol Reform Bill is 18 February 2011.
A call for public submissions has been made on the Criminal Procedures (Reform and Modernisation) Bill with a closing date of 18 February 2011.
Law and Order
The committee will meet on 9 February to further consider the 2009/10 financial reviews of the Department of Corrections and the Serious Fraud Office, and the petition of Karen Knight and 241 others.
Local Government and Environment
The committee met on 1 February to consider and begin hearing evidence on the Environmental Protection Authority Bill. The committee heard from a number of interested parties, including the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, the Environmental Defence Society, the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society, various iwi groups, and Federated Farmers.
The committee will next meet on 10 February to conclude hearing submissions on the Environmental Protection Authority Bill. It will also hear evidence on the 2009/10 financial review of the New Zealand Walking Access Commission, and consider a number of other items of business before it.
Māori Affairs
The committee will meet on 8 February and 9 February to consider the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill. On 9 February the committee will also consider the financial reviews of the Ministry of Maori Development (Te Puni Kōkiri), the non-departmental appropriations for Vote Māori Affairs, and Te Reo Whakapuaki Irirangi (Māori Broadcasting Funding Agency).
Primary Production
The committee will next meet on 10 February to continue its consideration of the Dairy Industry Restructuring (New Sunset Provisions) Amendment Bill. It will also consider the Aquaculture Legislation Amendment Bill (No 3), the National Animal Identification and Tracing Bill, the Biosecurity Law Reform Bill, and the 2009/10 financial review of AsureQuality Limited.
Regulations Review
The committee did not meet this week.
The committee will next meet on 10 February.
Social Services
The committee will next meet on 9 February to hear evidence from the Plumbers, Gasfitters, and Drainlayers Board on the recent inquiry report from the Controller and Auditor-General on the board. The committee will also consider the 2009/10 financial reviews of the Ministry of Social Development, the Department of Building and Housing, the Housing New Zealand Corporation, and non-departmental appropriations for Vote Social Development and Vote Youth Development. It will also be considering the inquiry into the identification, rehabilitation, and care and protection of child offenders.
Transport and Industrial Relations
The committee will next meet on 10 February to hear evidence on the 2009/10 financial review of the Accident Compensation Corporation.
