Four bills were introduced to Parliament on 1 February 2018.
The Psychoactive Substances (Increasing Penalty for Supply and Distribution) Amendment Bill is a private member's bill and was introduced by National MP Simeon Brown. The bill seeks to to amend the Psychoactive Substances Act 2013 to increase the penalty for selling or supplying psychoactive substances that are not approved products.
The stated intention of the bill is to increase the penalty associated with the supply of non-approved products in line with the penalties for the supply of Class C drugs under section 6(2)(c) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975.
The Employment Relations (Triangular Employment) Amendment Bill is a private member's bill and was introduced by Labour MP Kieran McAnulty.
The bill aims to ensure that employees employed by one employer, but working under the control and direction of another business or organisation, are not deprived of the right to coverage of a collective agreement, and to ensure that such employees are not subject to a detriment in their right to allege a personal grievance.
It seeks to achieve its objectives by amending section 56 of the Employment Relations Act 2000 and by adding a new section 102A.
The Crimes (Offence of Blasphemous Libel) Amendment Bill is a private member's bill and was introduced by Labour MP Angie Warren-Clark.
The bill would amend the Crimes Act 1961 to repeal section 123, removing the offence of blasphemous libel from the New Zealand statute book.
"The fact that blasphemous libel remains an offence under New Zealand law is anachronistic and contrary to basic tenets of free speech in New Zealand. Its retention is not supported by the churches that it was historically designed to protect. There has only been one, unsuccessful, prosecution for blasphemous libel in New Zealand, against the publisher of the newspaperThe Maoriland Worker in 1922 for publishing two poems by the noted First World War poet Siegfried Sassoon," a policy statement in the bill says.
"More recent attempts to persuade the Crown to prosecute for blasphemous libel have been unsuccessful, and it is unlikely that the law would be used again."
The Accident Compensation (Recent Migrants and Returning New Zealanders) Amendment Bill is a private member's bill and was introduced by National MP Melissa Lee.
The objective of the bill is to amend the Accident Compensation Act 2001 to allow continuing ACC weekly compensation for a small group of migrants and returning New Zealanders who are not entitled to superannuation, until such time as they meet eligibility for superannuation.