DPF has posted his draft submission on Barbara Stewart's Electoral (Reduction in Number of Members of Parliament) Amendment Bill. It's far more thorough than mine, going into details on the size of our Parliament compared with various overseas jurisdictions, as well as the size of the talent pool for the executive and executive domination of the legislature (arguments originally made by the Royal Commission on the Electoral System in support of a larger House). If you're considering submitting on the bill (instructions here), it is well worth reading.
Update: Lewis's submission is here. He focuses on the referendum aspect rather than the effects on MMP or pros and cons of a larger House, but reaches the same conclusion: this bill is a crock.
Speaking of which, its painful having to be so polite in these things. I'd far prefer to be able to say "I reccommend that this bill be burned, then the ashes placed in Te Papa as a monument to stupidity", but I suspect the politicians wouldn't like it.
6 comments:
Sorry- this query is a wee bit off topic. Why is that submissions are confidential once presented to the select committee, but, as you and DPF have shown, anyone can publish draft versions of their submissions (or other documents that say the same as their submission but isn’t actually their submission)? Surely submissions should only be confidential if the writer requests rather than a blanket requirement that they are all confidential?
Posted by Anonymous : 5/30/2006 10:33:00 AM
In much the same way that my tax return is confidential - the IRS mustn't disclose it, but if I wanted to publish it for the world to see, I could.
Posted by Rich : 5/30/2006 10:57:00 AM
Ta. I'd been told previously that I couldn't put the final version of a submission on a website until after the committee has considered it.
Posted by Anonymous : 5/30/2006 11:21:00 AM
Well, no-one has ever complained at me about it...
Posted by Idiot/Savant : 5/30/2006 11:36:00 AM
Basically because the Select Committee "owns" the submission once you have sent it to them.
But in reality this rule is never enforced, in cases of people publicising their own submissions. It's more if you leak someone else's.
Posted by David Farrar : 5/30/2006 04:05:00 PM
Oh and you should get someone to send in a sumbission saying bill is stupid and should be burned :-)
Posted by David Farrar : 5/30/2006 04:06:00 PM
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