Drawn

A ballot for three member's bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn:

• Crimes (Offence of Failing to Report Child Harm) Amendment Bill (Andrew Bayly)
• Building (Energy Efficient Office Buildings) Amendment Bill (Rachel Brooking)
• Accident Compensation (Extended Cover for FENZ Personnel) Amendment Bill (Kieran McAnulty)

So some more performative law and order bullshit, and some minor policy. The only notable thing here is that Bayly is leaving Parliament in November, and his bill may not get a first reading before then. Even if it does, and National sends it to committee, someone else may have to adopt it.

Member's Day

Today is a Member's day. First up is Tom Rutherford's Concealment of Location of Victim Remains Bill, a classic law and order / performative cruelty wank which (like other such wanks) violates the Bill of Rights Act. Following National's ritual "tough on crime" posturing, there's the second reading of Shane Reti's Life Jackets for Children and Young Persons Bill, which is supported by every party but ACT (who think parents should be free to drown their children). Then it will be the first readings of Tangi Utikere's Criminal Records (Clean Slate) (Additional Eligibility) Amendment Bill, which extends the highly successful clean slate regime to people who have served short custodial sentences and not reoffended, and Priyanca Radhakrishnan's Crimes (Virginity Testing Practices) Amendment Bill. If the House moves quickly (and I expect it to zip through the life jackets bill) it should get on to Stuat Smith's Local Government (Management of Local Authorities) Amendment Bill. There should be a ballot for at least two bills tomorrow.

Something we need to fix

An OIA request on FYI has alerted me to an unpleasant quirk in Parliament's rules. Someone has asked Jenny Marcroft, who is Parliamentary Under-secretary for media and communications and fisheries, for information she holds about her hateful terf bill. The request will be refused, because Marcroft will play the hat game, and claim that any information she holds on the bill is held in her capacity as an MP, rather than her capacity as a Parliamentary Under-secretary. But it does raise the question: given her role, why was she allowed to advance the bill at all?

The short answer, given by McGee, is that "[a] Parliamentary Under-Secretary may introduce a member’s bill." In other words, it is "within the rules" (as members of the political class love to say).

But again, we can ask why? Because member's bills are meant to be for members, not the executive. And Parliamentary Under-secretaries are absolutely members of the executive. They're defined as such in the Cabinet Manual, and effectively recognised as such in various parts of Parliament's Standing Orders. For example, they are treated as members of the executive when allocating oral questions under Standing Order 391, and they do not count for support to immediately introduce a member's bill under Standing Order 288. If Standing Orders were consistent, they would also be excluded from entering member's bills into the ballot.

The answer is almost certainly historical. While Parliamentary Undersecretaries were always part of the system, they'd fallen into disuse in favour of Associate Ministers. They were revived comparatively recently thanks to MMP and its need to hand out official baubles as bribes to supporters, some of whom might not have the pull or experience to merit even an associate ministerial position. So John Key made Rimmer an undersecretary in 2014, and since then every coalition government has included them as a bribe to its minor partners and as training wheels for those who might one day be Ministers. The present regime includes a PUS from each party (Marcroft from NZ First and Simon Court from ACT), giving each of them a fat salary bump and a bunch of perks to rort - which will help keep everyone sweet and not wanting to rock the boat. And the rules have struggled to keep up - undersecretaries were excluded from the OIA until 2016, despite being members of the executive, simply because no-one had really thought of it.

This is another example of the rules failing to keep up with practice. And its something we should fix. While its far too late for it to go into the review of standing orders, hopefully the next government will bring a sessional order to remove this oddity.

Drawn

A ballot for six member's bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn:

• Local Government (Management of Local Authorities) Amendment Bill (Stuart Smith)
• Crown Minerals (Prohibition on Mining on Conservation Land) Amendment Bill (Lan Pham)
• New Zealand Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief Medal Bill (Tim Costley)
• Oranga Tamariki (Suitable Accommodation on Leaving Care) Amendment Bill (Marama Davidson)
• Residential Tenancies (Requiring Landlords to Provide Curtains) Amendment Bill (Helen White)
• Crimes (Impeding Major Bridges, Tunnels, and Roads) Amendment Bill (Catherine Wedd)

So parliament is going to be forced to go on record about pillaging the conservation estate, or protecting it, right before an election. Unfortunately we also have another national anti-protest law being pushed as a member's bill, fronted by the ever-tyrannical Catherine Wedd (who pushed the teen social media ban / give all your private info to foreign privacy-raiding megacorps bill). But hopefully that one will be nuked by the next government.

Member's Day: Parliament is a house of hate

Today is a Member's Day, and one which is going to see Parliament turned into a hate-platform. Because NZ First has delayed the second reading of its anti-"woke banking" bill (recommended to be dumped by select committee) in order to bring forward its anti-trans hate law. Which National and Act are going to vote for, because they clearly feel they have no hope of winning the election unless they whip up a tide of hate against Māori, immigrants, and trans-people.

Once upon a time National PM Jim Bolger refused to run on hate, because "he had to run the country in the morning". Luxon clearly feels differently - either he doesn't want to actually run the country, or he thinks he can just rely on the police and anti-protest laws and beating people in the streets to get his way. But I don't think that's the kind of government any of us want, and it is utterly shameful to see a New Zealand government going down that path. It is also utterly shameful to see such a platform enabled by Parliament, and it allowing this legislation to proceed brings the entire institution into further disrepute. If Parliament is a house of hate, then it cannot be said to represent Aotearoa.

As for the rest of the day's business, first up is Laura McClure's Deepfake Digital Harm and Exploitation Bill, which will be followed by Catherine Wedd's Social Media (Age-Restricted Users) Bill. The government has said they're withdrawing that bill, but clearly its sponsor feels differently, and it will be interesting to see what happens. Following that is Rima Nakhle's Public Finance (Prohibition on Providing Public Funds to Gangs) Amendment Bill - a shitty little piece of racism from a shitty little racist. And then there's the main hatefest, probably around 8 p.m. Hopefully multiple people disrupt it, because fuck a "parliament" which does this sort of shit. If the House manages to complete that piece of business, then it will move on to Tim Costley's Better Regional Boundaries Bill, a moronic piece of legislation from someone who thinks all lines on a map should match, regardless of their purpose. If the House manages to move quickly it may make a start on Tom Rutherford's Concealment of Location of Victim Remains Bill. There will be a ballot tomorrow, probably for five bills.

Drawn

A ballot for four member's bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn:

• Better Regional Boundaries Bill (Tim Costley)
• Concealment of Location of Victim Remains Bill (Tom Rutherford)
• Criminal Records (Clean Slate) (Additional Eligibility) Amendment Bill (Tangi Utikere)
• Crimes (Virginity Testing Practices) Amendment Bill (Priyanca Radhakrishnan)

So, could be better, and looking at some of what is in the ballot, it could have been a lot worse.

These bills are unlikely to come up for first reading until June, or even July, depending on how much the regime abuses urgency in the next month.

Member's Day

Today is a member's day. First up is the third reading of the Carter Trust Amendment Bill, a boring private bill to tidy up the lingering effects of some rich peron's will. Then its the first reading of Camilla Belich and Greg Fleming's Modern Slavery Bill, which has gone straight to the top of the Order Paper after a majority of MPs signed up to support it. Its the first time that provision has been used, and hopefully it won't be the last. Then its another bunch of first readings - Arena Williams' Financial Markets (International Money Transfers) Amendment Bill, Jenny salesa's Residential Tenancies (Registration of Boarding House Landlords) Amendment Bill, and Kahurangi Carter's Drug Overdose (Assistance Protection) Legislation Bill (which will be quite illuminating about which MPs want to murder people). Tomorrow should see a mega-ballot for four bills.

And because people have been asking: NZ First's terf bill is currently down the bottom of the Order Paper. With the expected progress today, it might get a first reading next member's day (currently scheduled for 20 May), but their anti-"woke banking" bill is due back from committee tomorrow and will push everything out of the way, meaning it'll likely be delayed until 24 June.

Parliament is now a hate-platform

A ballot for two member's bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn:

• Public Finance (Prohibition on Providing Public Funds to Gangs) Amendment Bill (Rima Nakhle)
• Legislation (Definitions of Woman and Man) Amendment Bill (Jenny Marcroft)

The first bill is just more tiresome racism. The second is a hate crime. Its drawing from the ballot (and indeed, its acceptance into the ballot at all) makes it clear that "our" parliament is now simply a hate-platform, Stormfront-in-Thorndon, spewing divisiveness and hate into the public sphere for the benefit of a tiny fringe of fundy bigots and weirdos. Just this week the House supported rules against exactly that, extending a sessional order which deplatforms hateful petitions from parliament's website. But apparently hateful member's bills which seek to erase the identity of some kiwis and reduce their rights are OK. That has obvious implications for the already tottering legitimacy of Parliament as an institution, and for the legitimacy of the laws it makes.

Member's Day

Today is a Member's Day. First up is the committee stage of the Carter Trust Amendment Bill, which is the usual cleaning up the mess after some rich person got a private law once. After that is the third reading of Kieran McAnulty's Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Sales on Anzac Day Morning, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and Christmas Day) Amendment Bill, which repeals some archaic religious trading restrictions, while weirdly leaving others in place. It will be a conscience vote, but there was a significant majority for it at second reading. If it passes and is signed today or tomorrow will come into force just in time for the easter holiday. After that is the first reading of Kahurangi Carter's Copyright (Parody and Satire) Amendment Bill, which fixes a significant problem with our copyright law, and then the House should make a start on Tim van de Molen's Military Decorations and Distinctive Badges (Modernisation) Amendment Bill, which is just army wank with a pronoun fix (the latter of which could have been done at any time by the Chief Parliamentary Counsel). And if that happens, there should be a ballot for one bill tomorrow.

Member's Day

Today is a Member's Day - the first of the year. First up is a the Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust (Trust Variation) Bill, a private bill to expand the area where a community housing trust can operate. Worthy, but the fact that this requires an actual law in the first place is a bit broken. Next is the third reading of Carl Bates' Juries (Age of Excusal) Amendment Bill, followed by the second reading on Kieran McAnulty's Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Sales on Anzac Day Morning, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and Christmas Day) Amendment Bill. If the House moves quickly, it should make a start on Kahurangi Carter's Copyright (Parody and Satire) Amendment Bill, which would insert fundamental fair use protections for taking the piss into copyright law. There are nine first readings on the Order paper at the moment, so there won't be a ballot unless things move a lot faster than expected.

ACT supports slavery

Good news today, as a coalition of Labour and National MPs have teamed up to bypass the biscuit tin and force legislation against modern slavery onto the order paper. Its the first time that particular mechanism has been used, but its unusual that its been used for this issue. Chris Luxon has said this is a personal priority of his that he would "march in the streets" for, and the New Zealand government has promised legislation targeting it in both its UK and EU free trade agreements. Yet nothing has been done. Why not? Because regime coalition partner ACT, which holds the "workplace relations" portfolio, has consistently opposed it. In 2024 they disbanded the government working group on the issue, and their opposition around the Cabinet table prevented government action. A former ACT leader has also written in support of historic chattel slavery - with whips and chains and rapes and murders - which tells you that this support for the most abusive forms of exploitation is built into the DNA of the party. For them, anything goes, provided a rich person can make a buck out of it.

So, we have a member's bill instead, so it'll get done, though slower than it should. Meanwhile, the ACT party has really shown us what it stands for. And having done that, it should be driven out of our society permanently. Slavery is a crime against humanity, and slavers are our common enemies. There should be no place in our politics for supporters of this atrocity.

Drawn

A ballot for two member's bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn:

• Deepfake Digital Harm and Exploitation Bill (Laura McClure)
• Social Media (Age-Restricted Users) Bill (Catherine Wedd)

So double social media bills. Joy. While the first may be justified, the second has huge privacy risks, and just smacks of another attempt at censoring the web for young people to stop them from finding out who they are. The good news is that its unlikely to make it to a third reading vote before this dogshit zombie parliament will be dissolved for the election next year.

There were 76 bills in the ballot today.

The Right to Repair Bill and parliamentary cooperation

Marama Davidson's Consumer Guarantees (Right to Repair) Amendment Bill was due for its second reading today, but was instead discharged without a vote. Why? Because when the time came, Davidson was not in the House, so the chair dumped it and moved to the next item of business (conveniently, a National member's bill).

Watching the video, this all happens very quickly. Pugh announces the end of the previous item of business, the clerk fluffs reading the bill's name, Pugh looks around, and immediately calls Nationals' Tom Rutherford. Who gets as far as saying "she's not here", and the camera pans across - and Davidson is in her seat (she wasn't ten seconds ago). So there's definitely some eagerness from the chair to move on there. At the conclusion of that piece of business, Davidson politely rises and asks for leave for the bill to be reinstated, which National denies.

Interestingly, in between those two events, the Speaker had taken the chair at the end of the dinner break and asked the House for leave to alter proxy limits to enable MPs to flee back to their electorates and avoid the bad weather. This was of course granted. And maybe the Greens were assuming that having cooperated in the management of the House, the House would cooperate with them. If so, they were played for suckers.

It was clear long ago, but this is another reminder: there is no benefit to cooperating with this regime. And therefore opposition parties should not do it. If the regime asks for leave, even over something like letting their MPs go back to their rural electorates in an emergency, the response should either be "concessions in advance" or "go fuck yourselves" (or, in this case: "you'll get your leave when we get ours"). And if the regime doesn't like that, they can either waste parliamentary time on a pointless vote, or they can restore the cooperation required for parliament to function easily. Because at this stage, with the way they are doing things, there is no point in anyone cooperating. And for those of us outside parliament, there's no point pretending that the House is anything other than a dictatorship for the regime, and no point respecting an obviously rotten institution.

But the thing the regime has forgotten is that they will not be in power forever. The zombie house has less than a year to run, and then there will be an election, and hopefully the boot will be on the other foot. And when it is, I hope National is given a fucking good kicking with it, to remind them of why they should play nice.

Member's Day

Today is a Member's Day. First up is the committee stage of the of the Auckland Council (Auckland Future Fund) Bill. Following that are the second readings of Marama Davidson's Consumer Guarantees (Right to Repair) Amendment Bill and Carl Bates' Juries (Age of Excusal) Amendment Bill. If the House moves quickly it may make a start on the first reading of Cameron Brewer's Life Jackets for Children and Young Persons Bill, but given how they dragged stuff out last time that may be a forlorn hope.

Member's Day

Today is a Member's Day. First up is the second reading of the Auckland Council (Auckland Future Fund) Bill. Following this is the committee stage of Deborah Russell's Companies (Address Information) Amendment Bill, the second reading of Marama Davidson's Consumer Guarantees (Right to Repair) Amendment Bill and the first reading of Cameron Brewer's Life Jackets for Children and Young Persons Bill. If the House moves quickly it may make a start on Julie Anne Genter's Crown Minerals (Prohibition on Coal Mining) Amendment Bill. There should be a ballot for a single bill tomorrow.

Drawn

A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn:

• Drug Overdose (Assistance Protection) Legislation Bill (Kahurangi Carter)

There were 76 bills in the ballot today, including three "right to repair" bills and two competing ones on slavery. You'd think that the parties might cut a deal on these topics to at least get bills with clear bipartisan support before the House. But I guess they'd rather squabble over who gets the credit than work together on the increasingly rare areas of common ground...

(There were also five bills on renter’s rights, which suggests that it is going to be a priority issue for the next government).

Member's Day

Today is a Member's Day. First up is a private bill, the Carter Trust Amendment Bill, aimed at tweaking the law enacting the provisions of some old dead rich dude's will. Its a perfect example of privilege, and the sort of thing we should be eradicating from our parliament.

After that classist waste of time, there's real business: the third readings of Tracey McLellan's Evidence (Giving Evidence of Family Violence) Amendment Bill and Camilla Belich's Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill. After that its the committee stage of Deborah Russell's Companies (Address Information) Amendment Bill. If the House moves quickly it might make a start on Cameron Brewer's Life Jackets for Children and Young Persons Bill, in which case there will be a ballot for one bill tomorrow.

National says "fuck you" on the right to repair

The Economic Development, Science and Innovation Committee has reported back on Marama Davidson's Consumer Guarantees (Right to Repair) Amendment Bill, recommending by majority that it not be passed. The bill would be the first real advance in consumer rights in decades, creating enforceable rights to have goods repaired rather than replaced, and to parts and repair information to enable people to do it themselves (or get a qualified expert to do it for them). It would help undermine monopolies and their strategy of planned obsolescence, letting us actually use the stuff we buy. The bill is backed by ConsumerNZ and overwhelmingly popular with the public: 95% of 1250 submissions supported it, with only 2% opposed.

But the government sided with the 2%, as usual. No, they didn't say why. But the Labour-Green minority report says that the government majority strung them along, working on amendments in apparent good faith, before bloc voting to reject everything at the last minute. And they note how this undermines the collaborative nature of select committee work. I wonder if there will be consequences for that?

Presumably the National, ACT, and NZ First stooges on the committee got their marching orders from higher up to oppose the bill. And presumably they'll vote it down in the face of that overwhelming public support, tarring themselves as the regime for the 2%, a government of causes with no supporters. And yet, they're not even united on it themselves - a National MP has their own member's bill in the ballot on a right to repair for motor vehicles.

Either way, I don't see this issue going away. And if National votes it down, Davidson should take what has been learned from the committee process, strengthen it (including by adding provisions to prevent companies using intellectual property and technological protection measures to prevent repairs), and then get the next government to introduce it as government legislation.

Member's Day

Today is a Member's Day. First up is the third reading of the Auckland Harbour Board and Takapuna Borough Council Empowering Act Amendment Bill, a local bill dealing with archaic private law. Next is the first reading of Ingrid Leary's Property Law (Sunset Clauses) Amendment Bill. After that its the committee stages of Tracey McLellan's Evidence (Giving Evidence of Family Violence) Amendment Bill and Camilla Belich's Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill. If the House moves quickly it might make a start on Cameron Brewer's Life Jackets for Children and Young Persons Bill, in which case there will be a ballot for one bill tomorrow.

Drawn

A ballot for a single member's bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn:

• Residential Tenancies (Registration of Boarding House Landlords) Amendment Bill (Rachel Brooking)

(Thanks to Dave for getting the results up before parliament did)

There were 72 bills in the ballot, including two new right to repair bills (one for motor vehicles, and one for agricultural equipment). Which makes me worry about the fate of the Consumer Guarantees (Right to Repair) Amendment Bill...