Disputes Tribunals Amendment Bill
Third Reading
Hon NATHAN GUY (Associate Minister of Justice) : It is a great privilege to take a call in the third reading of this very important bill, the Disputes Tribunals Amendment Bill. The bill went to the Justice and Electoral Committee, which was very ably chaired by Chester Borrows, the MP for Whanganui. He did a fantastic job getting it through the select committee process.
I will make a few introductory remarks on this important third reading. Most important is that the Government is very busy. It is getting on with a very heavy justice workload and is progressing a lot of bills through Parliament in the name of the Hon Simon Power. This is an important bill. It is very important for a whole lot of New Zealanders because it allows for pretty speedy, cost-effective access to justice. That is the most significant point about what this bill does.
The Disputes Tribunals Act has not been changed since 1998, when the maximum claim levels were last adjusted. Nothing happened in regard to this legislation under the previous administration, so it is great that we are cracking on and making justice simpler and easier for a whole lot of New Zealanders.
Currently, about 20,000 disputes are resolved each year. Because of the new bill and the way we are progressing it through the House, and with the select committee work that has gone on, around 3,600 people will be able to have access to justice quicker, on top of those 20,000 disputes that are resolved each year. That is a significant point.
This is a very small but very important bill. I spoke in the second reading debate of the bill. It has a great deal of support around the House, which is fantastic. I think some of the challenges that were raised by submitters and the discussion through the select committee process were about the claim limits and whether they should be higher between the agreed and non-agreed parties. That is a challenge for this Government. We must allow this legislation to bed in and to give it time so that we can understand how it is working and how the jurisdiction limits are working. The Hon Simon Power raised the issue of whether in future the limits could be looked at through the Order in Council. That is something to watch.
In essence, this bill will make it easier for New Zealanders to access justice. That is important for New Zealanders. I am delighted to support the third reading of the Disputes Tribunals Amendment Bill.