Passed

Jackie Blue's Human Tissue (Organ Donation) Amendment Bill passed its first reading last night with support from the government. Good. Its a worthwhile bill, and one that deserves to be passed. Now it can head off to Select Committee to see if it needs tweaking, but hopefully the general thrust of the bill - respecting the autonomy of donors - will survive intact.

Maryann Street's Residential Tenancies (Damage Insurance) Amendment Bill also passed and will be going to committee. I've talked about this bill here, and I likewise think it deserves to be passed.

Meanwhile, I've just got hold of the latest ballot, and there's finally some new bills on it. National seems to be making a serious attack on the RMA, with two new bills targetting it as well as Nick Smith's Resource Management (Restricted Coastal Activities) Amendment Bill to repeal the Whangamata marina decision. There's also two bills targetting the Human Rights Act. I'll have more details once I've got them out of MPs...