NEW ZEALAND
but it did not have sufficient valid signatures (at least 10 per cent of register electors) and lapsed. The promoter was entitled to re-submit the petition within two months, and returned it with an estimated 327,224 eligible signatures. The referendum, the fifth
to proceed under the Citizens Initiated Referenda Act, will run from 22 November to 13
make sure that retail investors and ordinary folk … have the kinds of protections that they ought to be offered. It is about transparency and the efficient functioning of markets.”
He congratulated “Ms Dalziel, Ms Curran, and others who have worked on this over a period of time, and the Minister of Commerce, Mr Foss, for guiding this through the House.” However, Dr Norman warned that “under the new legislation it will be harder to get a prosecution and a conviction over the line than it was under the old legislation,”. There was less support
Hon. Amy Adams, MP
December. The result will be non- binding on the government.
Bills passed
The Financial Markets Conduct Bill and the Financial Markets (Repeal and Amendments) Bill were passed with 104 votes in favour and 16 votes against. Moving the third readings, the Minister of Commerce, Hon. Craig Foss, MP, (National) described the legislation as “a major milestone in the reform of New Zealand’s capital market regulation. …It modernises and makes substantial changes to New Zealand’s securities laws. These set many of the rules for how financial products and financial services are offered to the public and how they are governed and operated.” He said that the legislation was “informed by more recent lessons of the global financial crisis and our experiences with the collapse of the finance companies.” Supporting the legislation, Dr David Clark, MP, (Labour) said: “This legislation is an attempt to
for three Bills arising from the Resource Management Reform Bill, which passed with 63 votes in favour and 57 against. The Minister for the Environment, Hon. Amy Adams, MP, (National) said the changes would “improve efficiency, enable growth, provide good environmental outcomes, and ensure decisions about resource management are reached in a timely and cost- effective way.” The legislation would build on
changes made to the Resource Management Act in 2009 “in order to reduce costs, uncertainties, and delays.” Ms Adams said: “The legislation also makes important changes to facilitate the government’s programme to
intention to introduce a further resource management reform Bill later this year.
Opposing the legislation Hon. Maryan Street, MP, (Labour) warned: “All of these things, piece by piece, little by little, are having a cumulative effect on our environmental protections and on the things that New Zealanders hold dear.”
She said that “although
there may be room to improve and streamline the Resource Management Act…a wholesale, staged implementation of a plan against the Resource Management Act is not justified.” Ms Eugenie Sage, MP, (Green) observed: “We should not be debating changes to our most important environmental law, the Resource Management Act, under urgency.”
Valedictory
Hon. Lianne Dalziel, MP, (Labour) delivered her valedictory statement on 18 September after 23 years in Parliament. She resigned as a Member of Parliament in order to participate in the Christchurch mayoral elections, and has since been elected Mayor of Christchurch. The Canterbury earthquakes
three years ago were the catalyst for Ms Dalziel’s resignation: “I would not be leaving Parliament now if it had not been for the earthquake and all that has happened since.” Talking about her decision to
stand in the mayoral elections, she said that rather than remain to try “fixing what has been done”, her aim in Christchurch “is to build a resilient nation, a nation of communities that are resilient to the ebb and flow of political change”.
Hon. Lianne Dalziel, MP
deliver high-quality independent environmental reporting in New Zealand.” She indicated her
Ms Dalziel held a number of ministerial portfolios during the Labour-led government of 1999 to 2004, including serving as Minister of Immigration, Minister of Commerce, and Associate Minister of Education.
As Minister of Immigration
from 1999 to 2004, Ms Dalziel was involved in “establishing the New Zealand Immigration Programme, improving New Zealand’s refugee
Ms Eugenie Sage, MP
determination process, creating a focus on settlement outcomes… and the introduction of the talent visa.”
However, it was the Tampa incident, after which New Zealand accepted refugees rescued by a Norwegian freighter when their vessel became stranded in international waters, “that will always stand out for me as an important milestone in our nation’s history, and a symbol of the role that a small country can play when called upon to do so.” Ms Dalziel served on the Regulations Review Committee in 2004-05 and 2012-13. She described it as “one of the most important select committees in this place” and recommended that “Anyone who wants to be a Cabinet Minister should serve on it.” She offered criticism, however, of its current membership, describing it as “simply insufficient for the quality of scrutiny that this House is entitled to.”
Ms Dalziel thanked the many people she had worked with during her parliamentary career, and called for all Parliamentarians to remember that “although we come from different perspectives, we all come with a desire to make New Zealand a better place.”
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