Deferred

According to the Order Paper, Metiria Turei's Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Bill has been deferred until next Member's Day, on July 26th. There's a lot of local business to get through anyway, so it was unlikly to get its first reading this week, but it highlights a growing trend of Members' Bills hanging around "below the line" at the bottom of the Order Paper. There's now four of them down there, all deferred by choice - three of them to the same day.

Meanwhile, one of the reasons we seem to be having so many Members' Bills drawn is that so many are being voted to Select Committee - and then not emerging (meaning there are no second readings or committee stages to take up time that could be spent on first readings). This might change in a couple of months, as there's a whole slew of bills due to pop out around the end of August. But if the select committees are true to form, these will be deferred as well...