Severe Weather Emergency Legislation 2023
Aotearoa, in particular the North Island, has recently experienced extreme weather of historic magnitude, including Cyclone Hale on 10 January 2023, the flood events between 26 January and 3 February 2023 and Cyclone Gabrielle on 6 February 2023. Following the devastation caused by Cyclone Gabrielle, particularly to the communities in Hawkes Bay and Gisborne, the NZ Government has introduced several items of special legislation to assist with the recovery from those severe weather events (SWEs).
While the majority of these are administrative, dealing with powers exercisable by Government agencies, Crown entitles and local authorities, some do impact upon the consumer marketplace. The following is a brief outline of those provisions:
- Various tax administration orders provide that a taxpayer affected by the SWEs may have interest charged on late payments remitted if the Commissioner of Inland Revenue decides this is justified. The end date for this period depends upon which SWE the taxpayer was affected by – 31 March 2023 for Cyclone Hale, 30 April for the flooding between 26 January and 3 February 2023, 30 June 2023 for Cyclone Gabrielle.
- The Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance (Exemption for Emergency Relief) Amendment Regulations 2023 provides that if up to $10,000 credit is provided for the purpose of addressing the negative effects of the SWEs, a lender is exempt from the usual requirement to make reasonable enquiries before entering into a credit agreement that the credit provided will meet the borrower’s requirements and that the borrower will make payments without suffering substantial hardship. However, the lender must comply with the Responsible Lending Code under the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003 and offer hardship assistance information if requested or needed.
- The Severe Weather Emergency Legislation Act 2023 (“SWELA”) came into force on 21 March 2023. It includes provisions impacting upon any food business affected by a SWE. Such a business:
- may continue to operate until 16 May 2023 without renewing either the registration of its food control plan or its registration (if applicable) under a national programme for achieving safe and suitable food. As long as it has paid the required fee, that business may then continue to operate without that registration renewal until being notified whether the registration has been renewed; and
- is exempt from any verification falling due before 17 May 2023 of its food control plan and from any verification falling due before 17 August 2023 of its compliance with a national programme.
- The Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Bill (“SWERL”) was agreed in Parliament on 6 April 2023 to assist communities to recover from the SWEs by temporarily relaxing the operation of some legislative requirements, primarily through allowing the Governor-General to make ‘orders in council’ under the recommendations of the appropriate minister, and so short-cut the usual parliamentary processes required to amend legislation. We would recommend any potentially affected business to keep an eye on developments under this legislation, for any order in council that may affect its operations.