Ball DarrochDARROCH BALL (NZ First): Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker. It's a pleasure to rise on behalf of New Zealand First to speak on the Administration of Justice (Reform of Contempt of Court) Bill. New Zealand First will be supporting this bill mainly because reading through it it is a common-sense bill and it has a lot of provisions in the bill itself that seem quite simple and straightforward and quite essential. It's just quite unfortunate that it wasn't brought forward during the previous tenure of the National Government—having to come through as everyone I think who has spoken so far tonight has said by means of luck and not because of the drive of the National Party or what they should have done. I think that it's a good thing that it has been pulled and I think it's also a good thing that the Minister of Justice Andrew Little is going to take it over and ensure that all the resources are put towards it because it is something that needs to be done. We have heard already today all of the definitions of what contempt of court means in different parts of the judicial system and what the biggest and most important parts of the bill are that the bill wants to seek to address. Really when it boils down to it it is ensuring that we have and maintain a robust democracy because one of the essential parts and foundations of a robust democracy is a fully functioning effective and most importantly understood judicial system and justice system. In order for that to happen one of the essential parts of a justice system to be effective to be functioning fairly is for the law of contempt to be able to be upheld understood easily accessible and to make sure that it's maintaining and keeping up with technology and the evolution of the society around it.As we've heard currently the problem that the bill is trying to solve—and it will solve once it passes through the House—is that since 1841 or thereabouts the evolution of the law in the way that the law of contempt has evolved has been quite haphazard and all over the place. It resides in different Acts and in case law. That makes it extremely hard not only for the public to understand—although they probably wouldn't be one of the major players in ensuring that they understand what the law of contempt is—but also for the judges and counsel as well who are finding it hard to understand and to access. What that does is it leads to a lack of coherence and especially a vagary in the actual scope of what the law of contempt is and that is not a good thing—especially with the rapidly evolving modern technology and environment that we are in today.Just the three major points that this bill wishes to concern itself with and they were noted down by the Law Commission's report that this bill now put through as a member's bill was attached to—the three main areas that the bill wants to address are the law of contempt to make sure that it is accessible; to ensure that the law is clear and easily understandable; and to ensure that the law of contempt is workable. Those are the three main areas.Alastair Scott: Wind it up.DARROCH BALL: Like I said right at the start those three things may seem like they are common sense and essential so why didn't the National Government put it through in 2013 once the report was done? That's the question that I'd like that member to answer when he stands up and takes a call. New Zealand First will be supporting this bill.