Shearer David: Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Shearer David: Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Bill — In Committee 
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DAVID SHEARER (Labour—Mt Albert) 
: 
 I am pleased to take a call on the purpose clause of the Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Bill. The bill as Chris Hipkins said is an important one. It is welcome and it has been in the offing now for quite a long period of time although the major decisions on where the Royal Society is going and on what it is going to be doing have already been taken. In many ways this bill is a kind of confirmation and determination of where the society would like to go. 
In relation to the interpretation clause we talked at length about the definition of science and bringing the humanities into science. This is something that has occurred across the world but perhaps not in the more— 
Jo Goodhew 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy) 
: I think I can anticipate what that might be. If the member Pete Hodgson will return to his seat we will move on. 
DAVID SHEARER 
: I think I can guess what the point of order was about but I thought I was on a particularly interesting train of thought there that unfortunately was cut short. I will go on to the “Academy bylaws” in the bill and the Royal Society of New Zealand Council. The Royal Society of New Zealand Council is mentioned in the interpretation clause clause 5 in this bill. The council is sort of the guts of the decision-making body that decides how science progresses. 
We talked about the idea of the humanities coming into the Royal Society and as I said it is a welcome step. It is happening throughout the world; it is not happening just in New Zealand. It is generally seen as a welcome step. Many of the larger scientific organisations have resisted this step because they have a weight behind them—a mass of scientists I guess and we have a lot of scientists involved in our Royal Society as well—but the blurring of these boundaries in bringing in the humanities is seen as a step in the direction of moving science forward into the modern age. The Royal Society of New Zealand Council and the by-laws will play a particularly important role in this regard. 
The submission by the Royal Society on this legislation looks at the council. The council is looking at changing its name and “Academy Executive Committee” is proposed in the bill to avoid confusion with the society. That change is also provided for in this legislation. 
The Royal Society of New Zealand Council is made up of fellows who are elected to the council in accordance with the by-laws. In a sense the fellows are the intellectual firepower of the Royal Society. In a sense they are the elite of the scientists who are involved in the Royal Society essentially to promote the society itself and the way it pushes forward into the community and engages with so many scientists throughout New Zealand. The Royal Society of New Zealand Council is the guts of that. 
The council is made up of fellows as I have said and is empowered by the Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Act to make by-laws for the regulation management and advancement of the council and to govern the procedure for the election of fellows to the council. In a sense the Royal Society of New Zealand Council is at the heart of what the Royal Society is all about and the way it progresses. 
A number of changes were made to the Royal Society of New Zealand Council in 2008. Under sections 20 to 24 of the Act the council has some discretion in relation to the composition of the council. For example the council must determine how many councillors may be appointed by regional constituent organisations may co-opt up to three members to be councillors and may alter the names and composition of electoral colleges.