In the ballot L: The final batch

Another batch of Member's Bills currently in the ballot. Previous batches are indexed here:

Coroners Amendment Bill (Lianne Dalziel): would require the Minister of Justice to formally respond to Coroner's recommendations within 90 days. Coroners frequently (and are required to) make recommendations aimed at reducing the incidence of similar deaths, and there's been some disquiet recently that they are simply ignored (OTOH, some of those recommendations are also batshit crazy and utterly ignore the Bill of Rights Act, which makes them of dubious utility and legality). The Chief Coroner seems to want to act as a legislator, and have these recommendations implemented immediately. Obviously, that sits very poorly with our constitutional system in which Parliament is sovereign. Requiring a formal response from a Minister on whether the government accepts the findings and what, if anything, they plan to do about them is a much better (and more constitutional) response.

Education (Breakfast and Lunch Programmes in Schools) Amendment Bill (Hone Harawira): Amends the Education Act 1989 to require all decile 1 and 2 schools to provide free breakfasts and lunches to all enrolled students. The Child Poverty Action Group has been pushing this for years and last week the Children's Commissioner's Expert Advisory Group on Solutions to Child Poverty weighed in in support. its a good idea which deserves to be passed. Sadly, I expect Nationa will threaten to financially veto it if it is drawn.

Marriage (Court Consent to Marriage of Minors) Amendment Bill (Jackie Blue): Amends the Marriage Act to remove the current provision allowing 16 and 17 year-olds to marry with permission of their parents and replace it with a requirement for permission from the Family Court. The concern is to prevent forced marriages, such as this one. However, you'd expect that concern to be addressed via a government bill. Relegating it to a member's bill shows that this fundamental human rights issue is a low priority for this government.

Finally, a word on the future of "In the Ballot". When I started doing this series in 2006, the ballot and member's bills were private and/or secret. You knew when a bill had been drawn (because it was introduced to the House), but not what it was up against, unless you had a source in Parliament (thankyou, Long-Nosed Potaroo and others). If you wanted to know what a bill actually did, you had to ask the relevant MP - and they were not always willing to provide a copy. Obviously, things have changed since then: there's now a greater interest in member's bills, ballots are public and live-tweeted, and member's bills are posted on the Parliamentary website. This series, with its brief summaries, is now pretty much redundant, so after 50 episodes and ~150 bills, I'm calling it a day. I'll still be paying attention to the ballot and analysing member's bills, but it will be more in-depth analysis of individual bills, rather than a summary of three random ones. while it makes for easy bloggage, there's no need for me to tell people what they can learn for themselves simply by reading the web.

In the ballot XLIX

Another batch of Member's Bills currently in the ballot. Previous batches are indexed here:

Maritime Transport Amendment Bill (Phil Goff): would incorporate the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims and the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage into New Zealand law, increasing shipowner liability for oil spills and other pollution, and requiring them to carry greater insurance. In the wake of the Rena disaster, this looks like a very good idea.

Public Broadcasting Foundation (TV 7) Bill (Clare Curran): would establish a Public Broadcasting Foundation, funded by TVNZ, to run TVNZ 7 as a public broadcasting channel.

SuperGold Health Check Bill (Barbara Stewart): would entitle SuperGold Card holders to three free doctor's visits a year, and require Parliament to appropriate money for the purpose.

As usual, I'll have more bills as I acquire them.

In the ballot XLVIII

Another batch of Member's Bills currently in the ballot. Previous batches are indexed here:

Climate Change Response (Low Carbon Economic Development) Amendment Bill (Gareth Hughes): would amend the Emissions Trading Scheme to prevent subsidies for using lignite. It would also establish a Clean technology Advisory Group to advise on how to promote low carbon technology.

Electricity (SuperGold Cardholder Discount) Bill (Andrew Williams): would require SOE electricity companies to provide SuperGold card holders a 10% discount on electricity prices during winter.

Reserve Bank of New Zealand (Amending Primary Function of Bank) Amendment Bill (Winston Peters): currently the primary function of the Reserve Bank is "price stability" (AKA low inflation). This bill would also require the bank to target the exchange rate, maintaining it at a level "conducive to real export growth and job creation".

As usual, I'll have more bills as I acquire them.

In the ballot XLVII

Another batch of Member's Bills currently in the ballot. Previous batches are indexed here:

Conservation Natural Heritage Protection Bill (Jacqui Dean): would amend the Conservation, National parks, Reserves, Wildlife, and Wild Animal Control Acts to substantially increase penalties. These are all old legislation, and the penalties have been effectively eroded by inflation. part of this bill seems to overlap with Ian McKelvie's Wild Animal Control (Increased Fines and Sentences of Imprisonment) Amendment Bill.

Defence Overseas Deployments Amendment Bill (Ian Lees-Galloway): would amend the Defence Act to require overseas deployments of the New Zealand Armed Forces on active service or armed peacekeeping to be specifically approved by Parliament. Small deployments of fewer than twenty people would be exempt.

Local Government (Salary Moderation) Amendment Bill (Annette King): would amend the Local Government Act to make the employment conditions of local authority Chief Executives subject to SSC approval. This mirrors the scheme for public service Chief Executives. This addresses the same problem as Denis O'Rourke's Local Government (Salary Reform) Amendment Bill, but uses a different method.

As usual, I'll have more bills as I acquire them.

In the ballot XLVI

Another batch of Member's Bills currently in the ballot. Previous batches are indexed here:

Oaths and Declarations (Upholding the Treaty of Waitangi) Amendment Bill (Te Ururoa Flavell): would allow anyone making an oath or declaration to add the words "Ka whakaūngia e au te Tiriti o Waitangi" or "I will uphold the Treaty of Waitangi" without affecting the validity of their declaration. I would prefer to see more modern and relevant declarations, which reflected modern New Zealand society rather than British feudalism - and this is a good start.

Plain Language Bill (Chris Hipkins): would require all government agencies to write all of their public documents in "plain language", defined as "language that the intended readers can easily understand and use after 1 reading because it is clear, concise, and well-organised, and follows recognised guidelines of plain language writing". It is based on the US Plain Writing Act of 2010

Wild Animal Control (Increased Fines and Sentences of Imprisonment) Amendment Bill (Ian McKelvie): Updates the penalties for illegally hunting wild animals in contravention of regulations from a $500 fine to a $5000 one, and allows imprisonment for subsequent offences. The original penalties were set in 1979, and have effectively been reduced by inflation. Like many of National's "Member's bills", this should really be a government bill, but is being run as a Member's Bill to spam the ballot and reduce the chances of opposition bills being drawn.

As usual, I'll have more bills as I acquire them.

In the ballot XLV: Local Government Edition

Another batch of Member's Bills currently in the ballot. Previous batches are indexed here:

Local Electoral (Finance) Amendment Bill (Denise Roche): would tighten electoral finance rules for local body elections, capping individual donations at $5,000, and banning large foreign and anonymous donations. It also requires members of local bodies to disclose their pecuniary interests. It does not bust the trusts (National-style laundering of donations through trusts has become a problem in several recent local body elections), but the donation cap would make them irrelevant.

Given the problems we have had with laundered donations and the serious risk of corruption in local body politics (where decisions can have real and immediate financial gains for donors), this law needs to be passed. It should be a government priority, not left to a member's bill.

Local Government (Public Libraries) Amendment Bill (Grant Robertson): Would amend the Local Government Act to require local authorities to provide free (rather than user-pays) public library services. Interestingly, this would also apply to reasonable internet use, recognising that internet access is a vital public good.

Local Government (Salary Reform) Amendment Bill (Denis O'Rourke): would amend the Local Government Act to set criteria which must be considered when setting the salary of a local body Chief Executive. The criteria are based on those used by the Remuneration Authority for mayors and councillors.

As usual, I'll have more bills as I acquire them.

In the ballot XLIV

Another batch of Member's Bills currently in the ballot. Previous batches are indexed here:

Income Tax (Universalisation of In-work Tax Credit) Amendment Bill (Metiria Turei): does what it says on the label: universalises the "in-work" tax credit. This would have a significant effect in reducing child poverty, as well as removing discrimination from the law-books.

Land Transport (Safer Alcohol Limits for Driving) Amendment Bill (Iain Lees-Galloway): would lower breath- and blood-alcohol limits to levels consistent with international best-practice. The breath-alcohol limit would be reduced from 400 to 250 micrograms per lie of breath, and the blood-alcohol limit from 80 to 50 milligrams per 100mls. This is expected to significantly reduce drink-driving fatalities, perhaps by as much as two-thirds.

Prohibition of Gang Insignia in Government Premises Bill (Todd McClay): Another "tough on crime" signalling exercise, which would ban the wearing of gang patches or other insignia in any government premises (including government departments, local bodies, crown entities, schools, and hospitals - but not courts or police stations). It will be interesting to see if this attracts a section 7 report under the BORA.

As usual, I'll have more bills as I acquire them.

In the ballot XLIII

Another batch of Member's Bills currently in the ballot. Previous batches are indexed here:

Energy Efficiency Conservation (Warm Healthy Rentals) Amendment Bill (Gareth Hughes): would require the government to set minimum energy performance standards for residential rental accommodation. It does not actually include the standards, but instead establishes a framework for them to be set and transitional arrangements giving landlords time to comply. As we've already seen from the home insulation programme, this will have significant health benefits for the poorest New Zealanders, and is worth doing.

Land Transport (Admissibility of Evidential Breath Tests) Amendment Bill (Scott Simpson): would amend s77 of the Land Transport Act 1988 to allow evidential breath test results to be used as evidence where an accused drunk driver elected to take a blood test, but blood was unable to be drawn. This doesn't seem unreasonable, and it corrects a hole in the law. But shouldn't it be included in a government bill?

Shop Trading Hours Act Repeal (Shopping Centre Opening Hours) Amendment Bill (Trevor Mallard): would require that shopping centre default opening hours be set by a secret ballot of a centre's tenants, rather than by its owner. Again, this doesn't seem unreasonable, and it protects small businesses from being forced to open at unreasonable times by mall owners.

As usual, I'll have more bills as I acquire them.

In the ballot XLII

Another batch of Member's Bills currently in the ballot. Previous batches are indexed here:

Commerce (Code of Practice for Supermarket Grocery Suppliers) Amendment Bill (Steffan Browning): would amend the Commerce Act to require the development of a Code of Practice for Supermarket Grocery Suppliers in order to limit restrictive trade practices and the abuse of the supermarket giants oligopoly powers. The Code would be overseen by a Supermarket Adjudicator. The legislation is based on a similar regime in the UK.

Continental Shelf (Oil Exploration Safety) Amendment Bill (Moana Mackey): amends the Continental Shelf Act 1964 to require the use of blowout preventers as a condition of any oil exploration or mining permit. The bill will be made redundant by the eventual passage of the Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Environmental Effects) Bill.

Summary Offences (Possession of Hand-held Lasers) Amendment Bill (Cam Calder): would ban the possession of hand-held lasers in public places without reasonable excuse, exactly as for knives. There is no power threshold, so it applies to keychains and pocket laser pointers as well as high-powered lasers which can be used to target aircraft.

As usual, I'll have more bills as I acquire them.

In the ballot XLI

Another batch of Member's Bills currently in the ballot. Previous batches are indexed here:

Environmental Reporting Bill (Chris Hipkins): A rewrite of Nick Smith's Environment (State of the Environment Reporting) Amendment Bill from a few years ago, this would require the new Environmental Protection Authority to report on the overall state of our environment (using a set of standardised environmental indicators) at least once every five years. It's a good idea, and Smith has promised to implement it now that he's Minister. Hipkins is hoping to beat him to it, or at least force him to keep that promise.

Habeus Corpus Amendment Bill (Chris Auchinvole): Not as threatening as it sounds, this bill implements the recommendations of the Law Commission's 2007 report [PDF] on further simplifying the process for Habeas Corpus. This should really be a government bill, but National has a conscious policy of advancing minor reforms such as this through the Member's Ballot to clog it up and reduce the chances of opposition bills being drawn.

Summary Proceedings (Warrant for Detention Conditions) Amendment Bill (Jonathan Young): Again not as threatening as it sounds, this amends the Summary Proceedings Act 1957 to allow the court to impose conditions when remanding a defendant in custody - for example ordering them not to contact or associate with certain persons. This can already be done if a defendant is bailed (e.g. to prevent them from interfering with witnesses or further harassing victims, or to protect the victims of domestic violence), but imprisonment was presumed to stop such contact. Its an odd little loophole, born of the era before prisoners had access to phones, and there doesn't seem to be any harm in plugging it. Again, this one should really be a government bill.

As usual, I'll have more bills as I acquire them.

In the ballot XL

Another batch of Member's Bills currently in the ballot. Previous batches are indexed here:

Joint Family Homes Repeal Bill (Jo Goodhew): Another of National's bills to repeal obsolete legislation, this one targets the Joint Family Homes Act 1964. That Act allows couples to be joint owners of a family home, and gave some protection against death duties, stamp duty etc, but its effects have been largely removed by subsequent legislation, and the Law Commission recommended repeal [PDF] back in 2001.

New Zealand Flag Bill (Charles Chauvel): Would establish a special commission to investigate alternative designs for the New Zealand flag. The commission would run a public competition and select the best three flag designs; after reporting back, a non-binding referendum would be held on whether the current flag should be changed and if it is changed, which of the alternative designs is preferred.

Reserve Bank of New Zealand (Essential Financial Services) Amendment Bill (Kevin Hague): would require all banks to provide a basic fee-free banking service, including basic transactions, internet banking, and EFTPOS. Where fees apply, banks will be required to provide real-time warnings of them so that the transaction can be discontinued.

As usual, I'll have more bills as I acquire them.

In the ballot XXXIX

Another batch of Member's Bills currently in the ballot. Previous batches are indexed here:

Financial Assistance For Live Organ Donors Bill (Michael Woodhouse): would increase the level of financial assistance available to live organ donors. Currently, voluntary donors are eligible for the sickness benefit and childcare allowances during their recovery time; this bill would increase it to the level paid by ACC (80% of lost earnings, for a period of convalescence after the surgery, for a maximum of 12 weeks). The idea is to make it easier to donate organs, without providing too much of a financial incentive to do so, and I think this gets the balance about right.

New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control (Entrenchment) Amendment Bill (Maryan Street): would do exactly what it says on the label: entrench key provisions of the anti-nuclear law to prevent their repeal without either a supermajority or a referendum. While entrenchment is rarely used in New Zealand (there's only one such clause, protecting key provisions of electoral law), the nuclear ship ban has become a key part of our national identity. This bill would protect that identity, and ensure that no future National government can backslide on it without a broad consensus.

Overseas Investment (Restriction on Foreign Ownership of Land) Amendment Bill (Russel Norman): Amends the Overseas Investment Act 2005 to bar foreigners from purchasing sensitive land. It won't stop people from buying a lifestyle block or holiday home, but it will bar them from buying farms, large areas of beachfront, or any land held for conservation purposes. If they want to own those things, they'd have to move here, rather than being an absentee landlord.

As usual, I'll have more bills as I acquire them.

In the Ballot XXXVIII

Another batch of Member's Bills currently in the ballot. Previous batches are indexed here:

Ethnic Broadcasting Commission Bill (Ashraf Choudhary): creates a commission to investigate the need for an SBS-style multilingual Ethnic Broadcasting Service in New Zealand.

Gambling (Gambling Harm Reduction) Amendment Bill (Te Ururoa Flavell): amends the Gambling Act 2003 to massively overhaul the regulatory regime for pokies. It allows local authorities after consultation to reduce the number of pokie machines in specific suburbs; eliminates the corrupt "pokie trusts" which see money from the poor used to pay kickbacks to bar operators or fund the hobbies of the rich, and instead requires gambling money to spent in the areas from which it is taken; prohibits the use of gambling proceeds to fund racing and racing stakes (i.e. more gambling); and requires pokie operators to install player tracking technology allowing users to monitor how much money they have lost.

As a liberal, I see gambling as a private vice, and I don't support its elimination. I would not want to see that power to reduce machines used to effectively create local bans, any more than I support the use of the RMA by wowsers to create local bans on prostitution. At the same time, there is a definite trend of exploiting the poor, and this needs to be countered. The information requirement will help reduce this, by showing people the consequences of their actions (gambling is a tax on people who can't do maths; doing the maths for them will show them that the house always wins). meanwhile, the changes to the trusts will eliminate corruption, while ensuring that gambling losses at least benefit the communities they are taken from, rather than used to pave the driveways of the rich. This is a worthy bill, and it deserves serious consideration by a select committee.

Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (1080 Poison Prohibition) Amendment Bill (Rahui Katene): amends the HSNO Act to ban the import, manufacture, and use of 1080 poison in New Zealand. I don't know enough about this issue to judge whether its a good idea or not; no-one likes poison in their town water supply (as happened in Ross yesterday as the result of a DoC airdrop), or dead native birds, but no-one really likes possums either.

As usual, I'll have more bills as I acquire them.

In the ballot XXXVII

Another batch of Member's Bills currently in the ballot. Previous batches are indexed here:

Children’s Commissioner (Reporting on Legislation) Amendment Bill (Rajen Prasad): This would require the Children's Commissioner to report to the Minister on any legislation likely to impact adversely on the welfare of children or be inconsistent with obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (which has been incorporated into NZ law as a schedule to the Children's Commissioner Act 2003, and which the Children's Commissioner is already responsible for upholding). The Minister must then bring this report to the attention of the House. We have a similar scheme already for human rights, and one for children's rights seems appropriate.

Education (Board of Trustee Freedom) Amendment Bill (Roger Douglas): This bill would amend the Education Act 1989 to make school boards of trustees (rather than the government) responsible for employing and paying teachers. The goal is to destroy the PPTA and the current national pay scale for teachers. The effect would be to introduce significant pay disparities between rich and poor schools, allowing the former to pillage resources from the latter, and to entrench socioeconomic disparities in education (which are a key driver of social inequality). ACT's gluesniffers think this is a great idea (after all, they don't send their kids to poor schools, and every dollar saved from the education budget is one they can give tot he rich in tax cuts). The parents of New Zealand may feel rather differently.

Land Transport (Give way to Buses) Bill (Gareth Hughes): This would require urban drivers to give way to buses pulling out from bus stops. Similar laws are in force in much of Europe, the United Kingdom, Canada, and parts of the USA and Australia.

As usual, I'll have more bills as I acquire them.

In the ballot XXXVI

Another batch of Member's Bills currently in the ballot. Previous batches are indexed here:

Climate Change Response (Cancellation of Emissions Trading Scheme) Amendment Bill (John Boscawen): does exactly what it says on the label, by repealing part 4 of the Climate Change Response Act 2002. Interestingly, it doesn't repeal the sector-specific provisions in part 5, including the free allocation to polluters - so if passed unamended, would see billions in credits given to polluters with no requirement to return them to cover emissions.

Depleted Uranium (Prohibition) Bill (Phil Twyford): part of an international push to ban depleted uranium, this bill would ban the manufacture, storage, transfer and use of depleted uranium weapons and armour within New Zealand or by New Zealanders overseas, with a penalty of 10 years imprisonment or a fine of up to $500,000. The bill was developed by the New Zealand Progressive Bills Project.

Employment Relations (Probationary Period Repeal) Amendment Bill (Carmel Sepuloni): Again does exactly what it says on the label: repeals National's hated 90-day probationary period for new workers, and restores the law to the status quo ante before National rammed its change through under urgency with no select committee scrutiny. This is a bread and butter issue for Labour, but has no chance of passing in the current Parliament.

As usual, I'll have more bills as I acquire them.

In the ballot XXXV: ACT special

Another batch of Member's Bills currently in the ballot. Previous batches are indexed here:

KiwiSaver (Contribution Flexibility) Amendment Bill (John Boscawen): amends the KiwiSaver Act 2006 to add 6% and 10% contribution rates to the existing 2%, 4%, and 8% rates, improving flexibility for older earners close to retirement and young, high-income earners. This doesn't seem to be a bad idea at all, and I'd expect Labour to support this bill if it is drawn.

Tariff Act Repeal Bill (Roger Douglas): does exactly what it says on the label: repeals the Tariff Act 1988. In the 90's National legislated to phase out all tariffs by 2006, but this was reversed by Labour in 2000 in the name of protecting local industry. Tariffs have remained fixed at their 2000 rates ever since. And so we pay an extra 26.5% for imported footwear, 18% for imported cane baskets, and 12.5% for imported skateboards (the full list is here), either as some sort of "luxury tax" or to protect businesses which can't compete in a global marketplace.

ACT is putting its money where its mouth is on free trade here, and challenging the government (which supports the status quo) to move further to the right.

Victims’ Rights (Victim Impact Statements) Amendment Bill (David Garrett): would amend the Victim’s Rights Act 2002 to prevent the courts from "censoring" victim impact statements. At present, such statements are limited to the actual impact upon the victim; Garrett's bill - driven by the recent Weatherston case - would give victims free rein to vent their spleen against the offender and the justice system. Such material has no place in sentencing, and no place in our justice system; if they want to say it, then there is no reason why they should be given a privileged platform in a court to do so.

As usual, I'll have more bills as I acquire them.

In the ballot XXXIV

Another batch of Member's Bills currently in the ballot. Previous batches are indexed here:

Electricity (Renewable Preference) Amendment Bill (Chris Hipkins): would amend the Electricity Act 1992 to restore the ban on thermal generation of electricity.

Goods and Services Tax (Exemption of Healthy Food) Amendment Bill (Rahui Katene): Amends the Goods and Services Tax Act 1985 to exempt "healthy food" (meaning fruit and vegetables, breads, milk, and lean meat) from GST. The measure is aimed at reducing poverty (poor families spending a greater proportion of their income on food than wealthy ones) and is supported by the Public Health Association and Heart Foundation.

Members of Parliament (Code of Ethical Conduct) Bill (H V Ross Robertson): Would impose a formal code of conduct on MPs. The code is based heavily on the UK Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament [PDF] and requires members to uphold the law, act in the public interest, and avoid bring parliament and politics into disrepute. Robertson has been pushing this for the last ten years, and has had it repeatedly turned down by the Standing Orders Committee. Some parties have voluntarily signed up to it, but the larger parties have refused (clearly they wish to preserve their "right" to take inducements, misuse confidential information for private gain, and hide their conflicts of interest). I suspect this bill will face tremendous resistance, particularly from National, and is unlikely to pass.

As usual, I'll have more bills as I acquire them.

In the ballot XXXIII

Another batch of Member's Bills currently in the ballot. Previous batches are indexed here:

Crown Minerals (Protection of Conservation Land Listed in the Fourth Schedule) Amendment Bill (Metiria Turei): would amend the Crown Minerals Act 1993 to require an Act of Parliament to remove land from the protection of Schedule 4. Land would still be able to be added by a simple Order in Council. This would prevent selective excisions to allow mining, and reflects the current regime for national parks.

Fisheries (Precautionary Approach) Amendment Bill (Kevin Hague): Originally a government bill put forward by Jim Anderton in 2008 and then discharged, this would amend the Fisheries Act 1996 to require decision-makers to take a precautionary approach in decision-making where information is absent, uncertain, unreliable, or inadequate. The most significant effect of this would be to shift decisions on the total allowable catch under the Quota Management System in a more sustainable direction, reflecting the international consensus towards precautionary environmental management contained in a number of international agreements to which New Zealand is a party. It's a sensible measure, but the fishing industry - which thinks that fishing is sustainable until the last fish is caught - hates it.

Resource Management (Requiring Authorities) Amendment Bill (Ruth Dyson): Amends the RMA to tighten the criteria for the granting of requiring authority status (allowing a company to compulsorily acquire land under the Public Works Act) by re-inserting a "public interest" clause. This was originally in the law, but was removed by the Resource Management Amendment Act 1993. Since then there have been several dubious grants of requiring authority status for private profit - most notably in the case of Central Plains Water Ltd for its unsustainable Central Plains Irrigation Scheme.

As usual, I'll have more bills as I acquire them.

In the ballot XXXII

Another batch of Member's Bills currently in the ballot. Previous batches are indexed here:

Electoral (Disqualification of Sitting Members in By-elections) Amendment Bill (Jim Anderton): This bill would amend the Electoral Act 1993 to stop current Members of Parliament from standing for election in by-elections. The aim is to avoid the absurd situation seen in the recent Mount Albert by-election, where all but one of the main candidates was already an MP, meaning that electors were effectively voting for the next person on the respective party lists, rather than who was actually on the ballot. If the bill passed, sitting MPs would be required to resign their seat to contest a by-election, facing a real risk and giving voters a real choice.

I have said before that I strongly support dual-candidacy, but the arguments for it (avoiding local vetoes, allowing parties to field high-quality candidates in electorate races) apply strongly to general elections but are utterly irrelevant in a by-election. I think this proposal is worth a look, and deserves to be sent to select committee.

Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Amendment Bill (Winnie Laban): Amends the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992 to clarify the rights of families of those seeking or receiving treatment. Currently the Act imposes a duty on clinicians to consult families. The bill expands on this to reflect and incorporate the SF New Zealand Code of Family Rights [PDF], while protecting the privacy rights of patients.

New Zealand Public Health and Disability (Change of Electoral System for District Health Boards) Amendment Bill (Michael Woodhouse): This bill would repeal the existing Single-Transferable Vote system used for DHB elections and replace it with FPP (or technically, the block vote). Ostensibly this is done to prevent voter "confusion", but it misses the target: the problem with DHB elections isn't the voting system, but the use of at-large election. This leads to a large field of candidates (14 for MidCentral, 21 for Capital & Coast, 27 for Auckland, and an astonishing 32 for Counties-Manukau - in each case for seven positions), saturating the decision-space, and reducing the task of making a decision essentially to one of random choice. Changing the voting system won't fix this - it will simply lead to less fair results, giving total control to a very narrow plurality.

As usual, I'll have more bills as I acquire them.

In the ballot XXXI

Another batch of Member's Bills currently in the ballot. Previous batches are indexed here:

Code of Airline Consumer Rights Bill (Ashraf Choudhary): Would create a code of consumer rights specifically for users of commercial and civil airlines, to ensure they are kept informed, have access to essential services should flights be delayed or cancelled, and have the ability to receive a fair hearing and settlement of claims against the airline. The code is based on the EU's code on the Rights of Airline Passengers [PDF].

Employment Relations (Workers’ Secret Ballot for Strikes) Amendment Bill (Tau Henare): This bill would amend the Employment Relations Act 2000 to require a secret ballot for all votes on strike action. Henare frames this as an attempt to prevent intimidation, but that says more about his actions as an organiser for the now-defunct Clerical Workers Union than it does about modern unions, almost all of which already use the secret ballot (a fundamental right in any democratic organisation). Still, some don't, and so its worth codifying into law. If drawn, I would expect this bill to pass unanimously.

Fair Trading (Soliciting on Behalf of Charities) Amendment Bill (Amy Adams): This bill would impose a requirement on professional fundraisers (e.g. telemarketers) acting on behalf of charities who retained more than half the money collected in fees to disclose the percentage retained. It's a solid consumer-protection measure, and again I'd expect it to pass with overwhelming support.

As usual, I'll have more bills as I acquire them.