Today is a Members' Day, and it looks like Lynne Pillay's Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Bill might finally finish its committee stage. Unfortunately, not much else will get done, as the government has replaced the hour long general debate with a two hour debate on the Budget Policy Statement. They've also decided to progress George Hawkins' Manukau City Council (Control of Graffiti) Bill through its committee stage - an utterly pointless move given that they're planning to control graffiti on a national level. It's a six-part bill, so under normal procedure could have a very long debate. The only reason I can think of for doing this is to waste time and prevent other business from progressing - which suggests they're pretty opposed to the Wanganui gang patch bill, which otherwise would have come up for first reading near the end of the night.
There are eight Members' Days left in the sitting year, and with local bills looking to dominate the next few, the chances for anything to make it through before the election are looking pretty remote. Sue Bradford may not get her trifecta after all.
