Little AndrewPARLIAMENTARY AGENCIES DELEGATIONS LEGISLATION BILLThird ReadingHon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Justice) on behalf of the Leader of the House: I move That the Parliamentary Agencies Delegations Legislation Bill be now read a third time. There are times in one's career around this House when one has an experience and one reflects on oneself This is just what I came to this place for. This is the earth-shattering moment and world-changing experience that I entered politics for because I know it's going to make a meaningful difference to this House and to all the people of New Zealand." Now is that moment for me. I've had some other moments but this is a moment I'm going to particularly remember: moving the first third reading speech for the Parliamentary Agencies Delegations Legislation Bill. Now we can laugh at this bill and some of us I think have quietly under our breath. But this is a very important piece of legislation because it very clearly allows a bit of an interchange and interplay between two very important organs of this House: the Office of the Clerk and the Parliamentary Service. Now we all know the Parliamentary Service because we eat its food on a regular basis at Copperfield's and at other venues and I have to say that has improved—if that's been delegated out recently that was a good delegation—and of course the Office of the Clerk is absolutely crucial to the running of this Chamber the legislation that passes through it and the advice given for example to select committees. So this is very important. There is some nervousness too about this bill because there have been concerns expressed by some members that there are some powers at least in the Office of the Clerk and the Clerk of the House that should not be delegated—we don't want them contracted out—but there are some services where it does make sense for there to be a shared services sort of arrangement. One of those is in relation to human resources. All members took great stock and reflected very carefully I think on the Francis report earlier this year. There are serious issues about culture around some aspects of this precinct and these premises and therefore anything that we can do organisationally to improve culture to improve conduct and to improve the way not just us but all the personnel who work in this precinct get to live their experience here I think is very important. This bill will do that. It's an omnibus bill that amends both the Clerk of the House of Representatives Act 1988 and the Parliamentary Service Act 2000 and it does so in similar ways. As I said it allows this sort of you know one can delegate to the other and vice versa. So it allows the Clerk of the House to delegate any of his or her functions or powers to an employee of Parliamentary Service and gives the chief executive of the service the same ability in respect of the Office of the Clerk. Kieran McAnulty: That's brilliant.Hon ANDREW LITTLE: It's a magic solution to what has been a longstanding problem which is that we actually get people to cooperate together—people who work in the same precinct.Darroch Ball: Get out of here.Hon ANDREW LITTLE: Who would have thought that with all the MBAs that have passed through management roles in this precinct it took until now to come up with a solution? But there we go such is brilliance. Sometimes we miss it and sometimes it lands perfectly.The intention of the bill is to make the administration of the House more efficient and effective in cost terms and otherwise. In part it recognises a trend—would you believe—that has been under way for a decade or more with parallel provisions for IT. We know that because with the IT support we get we have brilliant days and we have days when clearly they are under so much demand that we don't get the attention that we thought we might get. But I'm not going to make any criticisms of any of the support that we get in this House because we are well served and it's very good.Then you look at the parliamentary engagement team which apparently has been delegated out too. They've been replaced by a single provider or—as my notes say—unit. In these areas the quality of service has improved as a result and the House can be confident that the same positive outcome will result as the provision of shared services extends to other functions such as as I said human resources. The bill's provisions in this respect will make it easier to respond appropriately to the recommendations of the Francis report which of course includes the creation of a single human resources agency.As I said before there has been some anxiety expressed and members have expressed concern during the course of the debates on this bill that it might be the thin end of an apparent wedge. We don't have that many wedges in this House at least not when it comes to the division of labour between the Office of the Clerk and Parliamentary Service but some have spied a thin end of such a wedge and they are fearful that this sharing of functions and powers might move into the area of parliamentary procedural practice and law—we might have members of Copperfield's coming down and advising us on the passage of bills—and I don't think the bill contemplates that. I think there will be limits drawn. To use an old union vernacular there will be some demarcation. Now we might need a tribunal to ascertain where those demarcations fall. I'm happy to put my hand up to chair it. But in the meantime I think we can trust that the purport of the legislation is to allow for the greater efficiency of the administrative side of the functions operating around these precincts.It's worth reminding ourselves again of the words of the former Clerk of the House Mary Harris who has said that the independence of the Clerk—I quote—"would be difficult to maintain if a Clerk were located in the Parliamentary Service" and that the current division of responsibilities allows the Clerk to give free and frank advice fearlessly. It should reassure members that the current Clerk reiterated his commitment to this view in evidence to the Governance and Administration Committee during its examination of the bill. It is to be hoped that a positive consequence of greater coalescence between Parliament's two organisations will enhance the general level of knowledge and awareness of the special context in which people here work regardless of the organisation they are employed by.I'm going to read that sentence again because I want future academics when they are writing their Masters and their PhD theses to examine that sentence because I think it's going to be absolutely crucial to an understanding of the bill. The next MP who waltzes off to the High Court to assert their rights and responsibilities under this legislation will want to know exactly what was intended or at least hoped: it is to be hoped that a positive consequence of greater coalescence between Parliament's two organisations will enhance the general level of knowledge and awareness of the special context in which people here work regardless of the organisation they are employed by. What I think it means is that those who work for the Office of the Clerk and those who work for Parliamentary Service are equally valued and important and when they come together and share and cross delegate that is valued as well.It has sometimes appeared that the operational aspects of Parliament have been carried out oblivious of the fact that they are contributing to New Zealand's democracy—I think that's actually quite an unfair statement to say. I'm going to take this up with the Leader of the House—I think that's unfair—on whose behalf I'm kind of assisting here. I don't think anybody in this House is oblivious to the role we play whether it's elected representatives or whether it's personnel employed in whatever capacity. I don't think anybody here is oblivious to the important role and place we all play in the great democracy that is this House and that leads this country.I conclude by saying this is a short straightforward bill which has moved from introduction to passing in a little under four months. I thank the Governance and Administration Committee for assisting in this respect and thank those who submitted on the bill for doing so. I commend the bill to the House."