The purpose of this Bill is to amend the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020 (the Act) to ensure the Act better aligns with the new COVID-19 response portfolio and to provide for less restrictive measures under alert levels to be applied sooner.

The Bill meets these objectives by—

replacing references to the Minister of Health as a decision-maker under the Act and subsequent COVID-19 orders with references to the Minister responsible for the administration of the Act; and
enabling the requirement to provide 48 hours’ notice when changing orders to be disapplied if it would enable less restrictive measures to apply sooner.

These changes are consistent with the overall purpose of the Act, which is to support a public health response to COVID-19.

Departmental disclosure statement

The Ministry of Health is required to prepare a disclosure statement to assist with the scrutiny of this Bill. The disclosure statement provides access to information about the policy development of the Bill and identifies any significant or unusual legislative features of the Bill.

A copy of the statement can be found at http://legislation.govt.nz/disclosure.aspx?type=bill&subtype=government&year=2020&no=3

Regulatory impact statement

The Treasury has determined that this policy is exempt from providing a regulatory impact statement as it is intended to alleviate the short-term impacts of the declared emergency event of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Clause by clause analysis

Clause 1 is the Title clause.

Clause 2 is the commencement clause and provides that the Bill comes into force on the day after the date on which it receives the Royal assent.

Clause 3 provides that the Bill amends the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020 (the principal Act).

Part 1Amendment to Part 1 of principal Act

Clause 4 amends section 5 of the principal Act, which defines various terms used in the principal Act. Clause 4 replaces the definition of Minister so that, instead of being defined to mean the Minister of Health, the term is defined to mean whichever Minister is responsible for the administration of the principal Act.

Part 2Amendments to Part 2 of the principal Act

Clause 5 replaces section 9(1)(c) of the principal Act, which requires the Minister to consult the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice before making a COVID-19 order. New section 9(1)(c)—

includes a requirement for the Minister to also consult the Minister of Health before making a COVID-19 order; and
makes a change that is consequential on the new definition of Minister being inserted by clause 4.

Clause 6 replaces section 14(3) of the principal Act, which enables a COVID-19 order to come into force less than 48 hours after it is published and notified, provided that the Minister or Director-General (as the case may be) is satisfied that the order should come into force urgently to prevent or contain the outbreak or spread of COVID-19. New section 14(3) enables a COVID-19 order to also come into force early if the Minister or Director-General is satisfied that the effect of the order is only to remove or reduce requirements imposed by a COVID-19 order.

Clause 7 makes an amendment to section 33A(1) of the principal Act that is consequential on the new definition of Minister being inserted by clause 4.

Hon Chris Hipkins

COVID-19 Public Health Response Amendment Bill

Government Bill

3—1

	Explanatory note
1	Title
2	Commencement
3	Principal Act
	Part 1 Amendment to Part 1 of principal Act
4	Section 5 amended (Interpretation)
	Part 2 Amendments to Part 2 of principal Act
5	Section 9 amended (Minister may make COVID-19 orders)
6	Section 14 amended (Form, publication, and duration of COVID-19 orders)
7	Section 33A amended (Regulations relating to cost recovery)

The Parliament of New Zealand enacts as follows:

1 Title

This Act is the COVID-19 Public Health Response Amendment Act 2020.

2 Commencement

This Act comes into force on the day after the date on which it receives the Royal assent.

3 Principal Act

This Act amends the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020 (the principal Act).

Part 1 Amendment to Part 1 of principal Act

4 Section 5 amended (Interpretation)

In section 5(1), replace the definition of Minister with:

Minister means the Minister who, under the authority of any warrant or with the authority of the Prime Minister, is responsible for the administration of this Act

Part 2 Amendments to Part 2 of principal Act

5 Section 9 amended (Minister may make COVID-19 orders)

Replace section 9(1)(c) with:

(c)

the Minister—

(i)

must have consulted the Prime Minister, the Minister of Justice, and the Minister of Health; and

(ii)

may have consulted any other Minister that the Minister (as defined in this Act) thinks fit; and

6 Section 14 amended (Form, publication, and duration of COVID-19 orders)

Replace section 14(3) with:

(3)

However, the Minister or Director-General (as the case may be) need not comply with the 48-hour time limit in subsection (2) if satisfied that—

(a)

the order should come into force urgently to prevent or contain the outbreak or spread of COVID-19 (but in that case must comply with subsection (2)(a) and (b) as soon as practicable); or

(b)

the effect of the order is only to remove or reduce requirements imposed by a COVID-19 order.

7 Section 33A amended (Regulations relating to cost recovery)

In section 33A(1), replace “the Minister of Health” with “the Minister (as defined in this Act)”.

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COVID-19 Public Health Response Amendment Bill