Critics condemn fast passing of new laws
The Government is urgently passing legislation that will seriously curb the freedoms of the unvaccinated without conventional parliamentary scrutiny, so it can become law for Auckland’s reopening on December 3.
Opposition MPs, legal experts and the Human Rights Commission have all condemned the move as poor lawmaking.
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins, who is also Leader of the House, moved yesterday afternoon for the House to operate under urgency in order to pass two Covid-19 bills. ‘‘It is quite a significant piece of legislation, and it’s quite a technical piece of legislation, and so that takes some time to work through,’’ Hipkins said when questioned why the Government only began passing the vaccination law yesterday.
He said ‘‘in an ideal world’’ Parliament would fully scrutinise the legislation, ‘‘but I’m not going to tell Aucklanders that they have to wait another month or two’’.
The Covid-19 Response (Vaccinations) Legislation Bill and Taxation (Covid-19 Support Payments and Working for Families Tax Credits) Bill will be passed by Labour before the House enters a week-long recess break tomorrow evening. Conventionally, legislation would pass through the House over the course of weeks or months, with public submissions on a bill and redrafting of portions being taken into account.
The Covid-19 Response (Vaccinations) Legislation Bill will enact the Government’s incoming ‘‘traffic light system’’, which Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday said would come into force across the country on December 3.
The Government first announced details of the traffic light system four weeks ago. Under the system, regions will be placed in ‘‘red’’, ‘‘orange’’, or ‘‘green’’ settings depending on the level of spread of Covid-19, and the strain on
the health system. Under red and orange settings, most venues that do not operate under a vaccine certification system will have to shut – meaning only fully vaccinated people will be able to eat at cafes, go to the gym, and attend indoor gatherings such a church.
National Party Covid-19 Response spokesman Chris Bishop, speaking in the House late yesterday afternoon, said the traffic light system and the bill behind it were developed ‘‘on the fly’’ and amounted to a shoddy ‘‘massive Government overreach’’.
‘‘We support, strongly, the idea that people should get vaccinated. But we do not support this bill,’’ he said.
Victoria University law professor Dr Dean Knight said he supported the Government’s Covid-19 measure, but law change that ‘‘seriously implicated’’ rights such as this needed to be interrogated’’.
‘‘It is a constitutional disgrace that the legislation mandating this vaccination regime is being passed urgently this week,’’ Knight said on Twitter.
Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt said anything less than robust scrutiny of the Government’s Covid-19 legislation was ‘‘highly problematic both constitutionally and in terms of the state’s human rights and te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations’’.
‘‘Balances have to be struck between human rights. This complex but essential exercise comes into sharp focus during a pandemic where measures that protect the rights to health and life must be balanced against other rights, such as the right to work and a decent standard of living,’’ Hunt said.
The Government should commit to a full select committee inquiry into the law after it had been passed, Hunt said.
The Ministry of Justice published yesterday its advice to Attorney-General David Parker on whether the Covid-19 legislation was consistent with the Bill of Rights Act, the law which protects the rights of New Zealanders.
The advice had been prepared in ‘‘an extremely short timeframe’’ with a prior draft of the bill, not the final version. However, the ministry’s lawyers had determined the proposed law was consistent with the Bill of Rights.