PARLIAMENTARY REPORT
tomorrow.” “We need to assist our brothers and sisters in the Pacific to be part of the international organizations such as the Inter- Parliamentary Union and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association”, said Hon. Tau Henare, MP, (National). “Democracy needs a free
media,” said Mr Shearer. “It needs an independent and strong
NEW ZEALAND
judiciary. It needs institutions that guarantee and protect human rights. It requires openness and transparency. All of those things help to protect the rights of people. It also needs properly functioning political parties to help bring order, efficiency, and predictability to the way our political system operates.” Le’aufa’amulia Asenati Lole-
Taylor, MP, (NZ First) referred to representation of women in Parliament: “Collectively, women make up 12 per cent of the parliamentary seats in the Pacific Islands, and if we exclude the French territories, that figure would fall to a mere five per cent.” “We fail to realise that women make up half of the Pacific population. Their perspective and
THIRD READING: NEW ZEALAND
The Student Land Scheme Amendment Bill (No. 2)
The government has tightened up repayment obligations on New Zealand’s student loan scheme with the passing of the Student Land Scheme Amendment Bill (No. 2). Hon. Peter Dunne, MP, (United Future) Minister of Revenue, said the main new measure would “broaden the definition of income used to determine the loan amount a New Zealand - based borrower has to repay each year’. He hoped this would end ‘the mounting criticism…about people being able to shelter or hide income to avoid student loan repayment obligations”. The Bill also contained data-matching provisions between the Customs Service and the Inland Revenue Department to enable overseas-based borrowers to be tracked down. Mr Dunne said this would “make sure that, like their domestically based counterparts, they meet their repayment obligations”.
Dr David Clark, MP, (Labour) supported the Bill, saying: “Labour expects every borrower to make an equal effort to pay back their student loan, whether they are overseas or at home.” However, Hon. David Cunliffe, MP, (Labour) cautioned: “The changes in this Bill do not even make the student loan scheme sustainable. In the face of a $2,670 million debt mountain, with over half of all overdue borrowers overseas .This Bill solves, at best, $7 million of that over five years.”
Opposing the Bill, Mr Gareth Hughes, MP, (Green) said the Green Party had concerns with each of the measures but was particularly concerned about a regulation-making provision: “This government is abusing this quite considerable, powerful tool, where we are seeing less parliamentary oversight of important changes being made.”
The Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill
A Member’s Bill in the name of Ms Louisa Wall, MP, (Labour), passed its third reading on 17 April by 77 votes
158 | The Parliamentarian | 2013: Issue Two
to 44. Ms Wall noted the strong public interest in the Bill’s legislative process, saying “this Bill has seen a full gallery at the first and second readings, and again tonight”. Mr Kevin Hague, MP, (Green) said that “this Bill is about so much more than achieving equality under the law, which is a basic human right that has been denied us until this day. It is about saying these lives matter. Our society is big enough for us all. The world will be a better place for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender New Zealanders, and absolutely no one at all will be any worse off”. “After three decades and 10 Parliaments,” said ACT Leader Hon. John Banks, MP, who was in Parliament at the time of the passage of the Homosexual Law Reform Act 1986, “I have had time to reflect…on what I said and to reflect on what I did. If I knew then what I have since learnt, I would have acted differently. I see this as a debate more about human rights, predicated on the basis that we are all entitled to live our lives to the fullest extent of human happiness, while respecting the rights and beliefs of others”.
In opposition to the Bill, the Leader of New Zealand First, Rt Hon. Winston Peters, MP, repeated his party’s view that a legislative change such as this should be subject to a referendum. “Some support the change; others do not. No one really knows what side the majority of the public opinion sits on.” Mr Jonathan Young, MP, (National) also opposed the Bill, saying that “in societies, traditions are important. A tradition is not to be cast off or cast away quickly or easily, because it is the touchstone of a value that perhaps younger minds may not fully understand, yet enter into because it is there”. Ms Jami-Lee Ross, MP, (National) raised the issue of children, saying: “The prevailing wisdom seems to be that every child must have a mother and a father. What is most important is that a child is raised in a loving and caring environment. If that environment just so happens to be a same-sex marriage, then that child is just as fortunate as every other loved child.”
active participation is essential for good governance and for the process of democracy.” Hon. Phil Goff, MP, (Labour)
and Dr Kennedy Graham, MP, (Green) spoke about the effects of climate change on Pacific states. Mr Goff acknowledged that “the small islands of the Pacific…do little to cause the problem of global warming but, as countries, will be the first victims of that process. It is beholden on countries like New Zealand and Australia to not oppose the stand that the Pacific takes to stop the process of global warming but to get alongside the Pacific to work with and support the Pacific in those objectives”. Dr Graham described climate change as a “risk multiplier” that was nowhere more starkly portrayed than in the Pacific. “For our visitors here in this Gallery the risk is existential. The international community has, to put it simply, failed to solve climate change.” For the Leader of NZ First Rt Hon. Winston Peters, MP, “the issues facing countries in the Pacific might be similar, whether they are climate change, the retention of resources, or pollution and environmental degradation”. He said: “It is up to New Zealand to ensure that we undertake aid assistance and that development does not come at the expense of local people, customs, and culture. We must look to uphold and respect the cultural as well as the political boundaries of our neighbours.” Mr Alfred Ngaro, MP, (National) advocated greater confidence in Pasifika communities: “We have so much to contribute in our passion. We are more than just sporting people. We are more than just performers and dancers on a stage. We have intelligence. Let us call back the intelligence that comes from the navigators of the past.” The motion was unanimously
agreed to.
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