Call for delay on CERA agency

Photo / David Alexander

Labour is calling for a day's delay to the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Bill so Government amendments can be properly considered.

Parliament is sitting under urgency to pass the bill which enacts the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) and gives it strong powers to repair earthquake-damaged Christchurch.

CERA will lead and co-ordinate the recovery effort in Canterbury.

Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee said passing the legislation under urgency was essential for the region to be repaired as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The bill passed its second reading this morning with only the Greens and independent MPs Hone Harawira and Chris Carter voting against it.

Labour MP Clayton Cosgrove said Labour had provided all its amendments to the Government early but now Parliament was well into the committee stage of the bill (where changes get discussed) and the Government had not yet produced its amendments.

"What he (Mr Brownlee) hasn't provided is the Government supplementary order paper with all the technical wording and what he proposes to amend or do over and above what submitters have proposed," Mr Cosgrove told NZPA.

"The difficulty is if we stick to this current timetable the guts of the Government amendments to a bill that gives Mr Brownlee wartime powers will have virtually no parliamentary scrutiny.

"At the moment if we stick to the timetable agreed it will have an hour and 20 minutes if that."

In Parliament, Mr Brownlee fobbed off requests as to when the amendment would be tabled saying it could be 1pm, 2pm or 3pm.

Mr Cosgrove said submitters had a brief chance to submit, yet the Government was dragging the chain.

He said a 24-hour delay would not make a difference as Canterbury remained under a state of emergency until Saturday.

"We don't want to come back in a few months and say 'sorry people of Canterbury, Parliament has stuffed it up we have to do it again.

"I would have thought he could allow another 24 hours. I am prepared to work overtime, I know my colleagues are."

Mr Brownlee said it would enable an effective and timely rebuilding effort by working closely with local councils and engaging with local communities.

The bill would give it the powers it needed to relax, suspend or extend laws and regulations.

"The bill has undergone extensive consultation with government department legal experts and has been provided to the opposition parties for their review," he said.

- NZPA