Member's Day

Today is a member's Day, the first one of the year. And its an important one. First up there's the second reading of the Manukau City Council (Regulation of Prostitution in Specified Places) Bill, which is the Christian right's latest attempt to recriminalise prostitution by the back door. A select committee has recommended that it not be passed, so it'll probably fail. In which case on past behaviour I expect they'll just waste more of Auckland ratepayer's money trying again next year. Second is the third reading of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months' Paid Leave) Amendment Bill. Sadly, despite the departure of Mike Sabin to spend more time with his lawyer, this will fail - while the vote will be 60-60, that's a loss. Still, its close and shows that the opposition can work together on this issue.

Once the main events are over, there's the second reading of Kennedy Graham's Register of Pecuniary Interests of Judges Bill, followed by the second reading of Tracey Martin's Social Security (Clothing Allowances for Orphans and Unsupported Children) Amendment Bill. The House is unlikely to get further than that, which is good as it gives John Campbell more time to build the (already pretty overwhelming, unless you have more than $50 million and live in Remuera) case for the the Harawira / Turei "feed the kids" bill.

There's still plenty of first readings stacked up on the Order Paper, and we're still at least a month from a ballot.