Wednesday, February 18, 2009



Member's day

I thought it wasn't going to happen, but it has: today is (finally) a Member's Day. First up is the Wanganui District Council (Prohibition of Gang Insignia) Bill, which criminalises people based on the clothes they wear and tramples all over the Bill of Rights Act. Unfortunately, this is seen as a Good Thing by National, ACT, and Labour, so we can expect a big "tough on crime" hatefest.

Second is the first reading of Franklin District Council's attempt to shirk paying for the regional facilities their citizens use in Auckland. This should be uncontentious (in that local bills are almost always sent to select committee), but National may want to talk it out.

Finally, if we're lucky we may get to the committee stage of Darien Fenton's Minimum Wage and Remuneration Amendment Bill which extends the minimum wage to contractors. The bill was delayed repeatedly before the election to get a couple of Green bills through, and I bet they're kicking themselves over that now.

ACT has delayed its Regulatory Responsibility Bill until August. ACT managed to get a taskforce to consider this as part of its coalition agreement [PDF], and they probably won't be reporting back until then at the earliest. So, they're probably holding it for amendments.

There are still six first readings on the Order paper, and while one - Craig Foss' Electoral Finance Amendment Bill - is likely to be withdrawn, that still leaves five. So, no ballot, and with 4 bills in their final stages, there may not be one for a while.