Today is a Members' Day, and it looks like Lynne Pillay's Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Bill, which has been delayed for the last four months to allow Sue Bradford's anti-smacking and minimum wage bills to progress, will finally get a second reading. The bill has been requested by the Waitakere City Council, and would limit development within the Waitakere ranges in order to preserve their special character. Naturally, the National Party - who remember are trying to win the green vote - are opposing it.
Gordon Copeland has delayed the second reading of his New Zealand Bill of Rights (Private Property Rights) Amendment Bill in the hope of persuading National to change their minds and support it, so the other main item of business is the committee stage of Sue Kedgley's Employment Relations (Flexible Working Hours) Amendment Bill. A ballot is unlikely, and will only happen if the other piece of local legislation, the Auckland Regional Amenities Funding Bill, is debated very quickly or is sent straight to select committee by leave, allowing time to finally finish off Brian Donnelly's Education (Establishment of Universities of Technology) Amendment Bill and finally make a start on the Foreshore and Seabed Act (Repeal) Bill. But the House seems to have been trying to avoid that for some time, and I expect they'll succeed again.
