the responsibilities of landlords under the United Nations Guiding
Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) to ensure habitable
housing. The Commission subsequently welcomed the announcement of
ANZ’s interest-free home-insulation scheme.
Access to remedy
The Commission provided feedback on the Government’s Centre for
Dispute Resolution mapping of non-judicial remedy schemes in New
Zealand. The Commission provided analysis of the mapping data and the
accompanying questionnaire and made recommendations to ensure the
UNGPs were referenced and used to guide the definition of an ‘adequate’
non-judicial remedy landscape. This work and gaps in existing remedy
mechanisms to address human rights issues arising from the Canterbury
earthquakes were the focus of a presentation by the Commission at the
6th UN Business and Human Rights Forum in Geneva.
Canterbury earthquakes
The Commission’s recommendations in its Staying in the Red Zones
report were reflected in the Government’s decision to establish a
bespoke tribunal through the Canterbury Earthquakes Insurance Tribunal
Bill, which is before Parliament. The tribunal is intended to provide
speedy, flexible and cost-effective services to help resolve insurance
claims between policy holders and insurers, and insured persons and the
Earthquake Commission Act 1993.
The Chief Commissioner presented at the Global Forum on Responsible
Business Conduct in Paris on access to remedy in New Zealand, with a
focus on the OECD Guidelines for Multi-National Enterprises National
Contact Point (NCP) located within MBIE. The Commission is a member of
an inter-agency and stakeholder liaison group that provides support to
the NCP.
Ethical sourcing
The Commission hosted its third successful ethical sourcing meeting
in July with business procurement officials, including representatives
from Woolworths New Zealand (formerly Progressive Enterprises), Air
New Zealand, ANZ, Kathmandu, Warehouse Group, Fisher and Paykel
Healthcare and Fonterra. The Global Head of Environmental and
Social Affairs for the adidas Group shared their experience with ethical
sourcing and human rights due diligence as a sophisticated example of
a multinational company doing responsible business on a global scale.
Practical ways of embedding human rights into procurement practice
is of great interest to New Zealand big business, particularly with the
United Kingdom and Australian modern-day slavery legislation putting
added pressure on businesses to have strong and robust supply-chain
practices that include human rights due diligence.
Annual Report 2018
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