McKelvie IanIAN McKELVIE (National—Rangitīkei): I've listened to this debate over a number of days with I suppose a degree of interest but I also take this call out of a matter of concern I think. The concern really revolves in this particular instance—and I'm obviously speaking to the amendment proposed by the Hon Nick Smith. My concerns are around where I guess the protection of a member of Parliament starts and stops. I think the Parliament itself has a role in protecting a member of Parliament. Once put here through an electoral process I think it's essential that then Parliament itself has an opportunity to protect those members of Parliament in one form or another. It also has certainly a huge mandate to protect the electorate from the activities of a Parliament.Now I have a great deal of sympathy for a leader of a party in Parliament who then is forced under this legislation—or given the opportunity under this legislation—to eject a member of a party who was elected by the people of New Zealand to come to Parliament. I think it's essential that we have a policing method I guess for this process and I think the amendment of the Hon Nick Smith to insert the Electoral Commission into this role and add—I think it's probably the ninth role that the Electoral Commission has. I think they have eight currently. I think it's essential that we in the Parliament have some form of review of this system and an internal review of this system. I hope the Minister in the chair takes notice of that.I have a bit of concern about the whole of this process and I think that if we don't have protection around the process at the end of the day then as we put this piece of legislation into law—if in fact that happens—I think that we're all a little fraught. I heard a comment earlier—and I think it came from the Minister in the chair—that the National Party has a very poor record of contesting things. Well no one in this Parliament but the National Party caucus knows what we have a record of contesting because we do our stuff internally and that's how a political party should operate. Frankly under MMP that's the way this Parliament operates because we have an opportunity to object or to take things up that we don't like with our parties and of course democracy in the end rules that we become part of the system.I think that as we do become part of the system we then end up in a situation where I could well be ejected from the Parliament on the basis of 66 percent of my colleagues thinking I'm a spent force and that could well be the case—I hope it isn't. My leader might also think that and then I'm gone. I often don't know whether I like what the Electoral Commission does or that it tells us how to do things but none the less I would be very pleased to have that Electoral Commission sitting in behind there and having the opportunity to perhaps comment and at least give the Parliament a view of whether that decision was logical right or wrong.I don't like any part of this piece of legislation because I do think it tests out our democracy to the core. I do however have some sympathy around the fact that perhaps when you're elected to Parliament as a member of a party as I was and as almost—in fact I think everybody in this House was elected to Parliament as a member of a political party. I've got some sympathy for the fact that they should probably stay loyal to that political party but as I explained a moment or two ago that opportunity happens both in the Parliament and behind the scenes in the caucus room or wherever else it might happen in this building.I hope that the Minister in the chair takes a bit of notice of the debate that's taken place around the fact that we need an internal policing method to monitor the way this whole provision operates. I hope that the Minister takes note of this amendment and that the potential for a review by the Electoral Commission is included as part of this bill as we move forward.It's the first call I've taken on this bill and I'd like to say a whole lot more but I clearly have to stay within scope of this piece of the bill and there will be opportunity later on. Thank you very much.