Moroney Sue: Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Moroney Sue: Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Bill — In Committee 
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SUE MORONEY (Labour) 
: 
 It is very kind of you Mr Chair to give me the call given that I very rudely interrupted your decision prior to that. I am so pleased it did not make any impact when it came to giving me the call on the title of the Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Bill. 
At the outset I want to congratulate my colleague Grant Robertson. I am very pleased that I am able to congratulate him whilst speaking on the title of the bill. I would hate for anyone to think that I was congratulating Grant Robertson on bringing forward the bill that is next on the Order Paper—it was showing on the television screens before. 
I am sure that Grant Robertson is also very grateful that he is not being congratulated on bringing that bill forward. I am pleased to have the opportunity to reiterate that the bill I am standing up to support and the one that I am congratulating my colleague on bringing forward is the Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Bill and not the bill that is coming up on the Order Paper. I am pleased that I am debating the title so that I can remind people that this is a bill about the Royal Society and not a bill about taking away students’ freedom to— 
The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy) 
: The member must speak on the title or I will terminate her speech. 
SUE MORONEY 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy) 
: I am on my feet. The member cannot go to the next bill and bring it into this debate. I have given the instruction quite clearly. A title debate is a very tight debate. The member must speak on the title. 
SUE MORONEY 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. I am seeking your advice. I was responding to interjections from the— 
The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy) 
: I am not interested in what the member is responding to. No member from the other side of the Chamber has spoken but there have been interjections. I have given my instructions quite clearly and members ought to follow them. 
SUE MORONEY 
: I will not be responding to any interjections but I do invite members opposite to take a call if they have something to say. I would be really interested in listening to their contributions about the title of the bill. 
I am not a person of the world of the Royal Society of New Zealand so I do feel very humbled to be in the company of people like Moana Mackey who are members of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Also I am very appreciative of listening to my colleague Pete Hodgson describing the reason why we call it the Royal Society of New Zealand. 
I have to say that being on the Education and Science Committee and hearing the submissions on this bill left me feeling that I was a little out of my depth because this is not the world I belong to. So the title of this bill did not mean an awful lot to me. “The Royal Society of what?” I wondered and I am sure that lots of other New Zealanders wonder what this Royal Society is. 
It is interesting that the Royal Society and we have discovered that this has traditionally been the case has chosen not to describe what it is the Royal Society of. It is for those in the know—I think that is how Pete Hodgson put it—and I think that is a little sad. I am probably quite naive in terms of making this comment but those of us who are not in the know would find it quite useful to know what it is the Royal Society of. Of course this bill is expanding what it is officially the Royal Society of and I think it would be useful to see that reflected in the title of the bill. 
I do accept however that the member who brought the bill forward has adequately described that it is up to the Royal Society itself as to the title it gives to the bill. Obviously it is up to the Royal Society as to what it calls its own organisation. But it would be I think helpful to those of us who are lesser mortals to know what the Royal Society does. 
In fact it is a very very impressive organisation and certainly in the time I spent on the select committee listening to the submissions I grew to understand a great deal of what the society does. It does those things that are so important to the future of this country. It left me wondering though: if the role of the Royal Society is as extensive as it is then what is the role of the Chief Science Adviser to the Prime Minister? I think sometimes the Chief Science Adviser to the Prime Minister wonders what his role is as well. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy) 
: I have given the member a warning. I am going to terminate her speech. Members must speak on the title.