Cosgrove Clayton: Electoral (Disqualification of Convicted Prisoners) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Cosgrove Clayton: Electoral (Disqualification of Convicted Prisoners) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:667;Page:14680] 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE (Labour—Waimakariri) 
: 
 I consulted the whips and suggested that we move an extension of 10 or 15 minutes for the previous speaker Paul Quinn because his speech was so good. 
Here is the history of the Electorate (Disqualification of Convicted Prisoners) Amendment Bill: it is no more than a political pamphlet. It came to the Law and Order Committee and we asked every submitter the same questions apart from that genius Paul Quinn whose fingerprints and history—along with those of the incompetent Sandra Goudie and the incompetent Judith Collins—are all over this parliamentary stuff-up. Thanks to that member who sought to restrict or expunge voting rights from every prisoner; thanks to the National Party member and chair of the select committee Sandra Goudie; and thanks to that other belated genius David Garrett or whatever his latest alias is—he no longer is with us—this bill comes into the House doing exactly the opposite of what that genius over there wanted to do. It allows the worst criminals who are currently barred from voting to vote. I congratulate that member. He has made history as probably the most incompetent member of this House. 
Here is what we asked the submitters. We asked whether this political pamphlet would deter offending. We asked academics we asked experts and we asked ordinary people. Even that hypocrite Garth McVicar from the Sensible Sentencing Trust—the man who gave a reference to David Garrett to get him permanent name suppression and get him off a charge—did not bother putting in a submission in support of this legislation. That is how stupid this legislation is. Even that hypocrite did not submit on it. We asked every person who came before the Law and Order Committee whether it would deter offending change prisoner behaviour stop recidivism or aid in the healing of victims. I think that you may have an idea of this matter Mr Assistant Speaker Barker given that you sat on the committee. Every submitter—apart from I think the member Paul Quinn over there and that rocket scientist of the blogosphere David Farrar—admitted that we were right and that it did not do any of those things. There was no international evidence that it would assist victims or anything else but we were told that we should give it a go anyway. 
It gets better—it gets even better. I put on the record that Labour members walked out of the committee on the first day and the reason we did that was that Sandra Goudie stopped the Ministry of Justice officials from advising—[ 
Interruption 
] I say for the benefit of Mr Henare who should be bouncing in a public bar in Porirua that Ministry of Justice officials are the ones who run elections. A number of members asked the Department of Corrections officials whether they knew anything about electoral law and whether they had any expertise in electoral matters. The answer was no. Members asked those officials whether they had ever been asked to advise on electoral matters and the answer was no. They were asked what role the Department of Corrections has had in electoral matters. The answer was that they handed the ballot box around the clink to allow those who were eligible to vote to put their ballot in the ballot box. 
We questioned the expertise they had. Department of Corrections officials run prisons; they do not run elections. Ministry of Justice officials do not run prisons; they run elections. We asked the chair and we demanded that the Ministry of Justice officials who run elections be lead advisers or co-advisers. The chair refused and Mr Young wherever he is; David Garrett; and the other National geniuses on that committee—Mr Calder was one—voted down the fact that Ministry of Justice officials should even be advisers to the committee. The expert advisers on this matter were barred from being advisers to the committee. It would be a bit like asking the Ministry of Health to be the sole and lead adviser on a tax bill. I think there would be a problem with that in terms of expertise. I think there would be a problem. 
One of the reasons we have this stuff-up tonight is that the Department of Corrections advisers were not the appropriate advisers. The member should not blame the Parliamentary Counsel Office because that is gutless. It is absolutely gutless to blame the Parliamentary Counsel Office because it takes the instructions of committee members and ultimately takes instruction from the majority of the committee which is headed up by Sandra Goudie that rocket scientist! The Parliamentary Counsel Office did not get it wrong; the Department of Corrections got it wrong—but I do not blame that department. I do not blame the Department of Corrections. It advised the committee that what Mr Quinn was promoting was contained within the bill. But the problem with blaming Department of Corrections officials is that they admitted they did not have the expertise to deal with this bill. If we had had Ministry of Justice officials this thing would not have happened. 
We come folks to the best bit of all. At the conclusion of the deliberation on this bill a member on our side of the committee moved that in order to avoid this sort of parliamentary embarrassment in future we do a unique thing: we require that a select committee appoint the appropriate expert advisers on a particular bill. Guess what! Mr Young Mr Calder Ms Goudie and the other National members voted against appointing the most expert department to advise on a bill. How stupid is that? I say to Mr Quinn: “Congratulations!”. 
Hon Steve Chadwick 
: New career. 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE 
: Yes he has a new career. It may be on  
Jeopardy! 
 another game show somewhere or another comedy show. He may well feature on  
7 Days 
 this week as the genius that he is. He came out after the select committee process and did not even know whether a Supplementary Order Paper would be necessary. 
That was the gestation of this bill but let us get to the principle. The truth about this bill which every person who came before the select committee—including David Farrar although he supported it—agreed on is that it will do nothing to help victims. This bill will do nothing to stop recidivism. It will do nothing to stop reoffending and there is no evidence that it will. This bill will do nothing to change prisoner behaviour. Every submitter bar the member Paul Quinn admitted that this bill was simply a political pamphlet. He woke up one morning took the wet towel off his head sat up took the pills and thought: “Hang on here is a good idea.” He thought it would get him on the front page of the  
New Zealand Herald 
. I say to that member that he may well be on the front page of the  
New Zealand Herald  
tomorrow but it will not be for the reasons and the motivation that he wanted. 
That member is incompetent. He has done what no member in my living memory has done. I worked here some 20 years ago and have been a member of Parliament for the last nearly 12 years and I do not think I have seen such an incompetent display from a member with a member’s bill. Nor have I seen such a total breach of every parliamentary protocol by a chair of a committee in order to shut down truncate and stifle any debate. That member Sandra Goudie wears this like a badge of honour. She should have acted appropriately in a parliamentary sense and allowed debate and for the appropriate advisers to come in on the debate. The reason she did not do that of course was that the advisers would have said quite rightly that this bill is piffle. She now stands in the long line of Madame Tussaud’s parliamentary wax museum: Sandra Goudie Mr Quinn and that other great genius Judith Collins who was so embarrassed that she immediately moved to tell everybody—but did not bother to tell Mr Quinn—that there would be a Supplementary Order Paper and that National would correct this bill. 
Where is Simon Power “The Invisible Man”? 
Hon Member 
: Over there. 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE 
: No I do not mean in the Chamber. Where is Simon Power “The Invisible Man”? This is Justice and Electoral Committee legislation yet the Minister of Justice has transferred it like “three strikes” and a few other things. Transparent? He is so transparent that we cannot see him. He is not here in terms of this legislation and we all know why. The reason is that he is a learned lawyer I am told and deep down he knows that this is no more than a political pamphlet. 
I challenge those members who were on the committee to tell us a couple of things. I ask why they blocked the Ministry of Justice officials from giving us advice. That might have saved Mr Quinn’s scrawny hide and possibly his reputation. Why did they do that? I ask why they voted against a resolution that said it would be a good idea if when we get legislation we match it up with the expert Government department officials as advisers. I ask why one would vote against that. We will let Mr Calder and Mr Young answer those questions. Mr Young is like a ghost on the committee. He sits there like a statue too meek and mild to open his mouth but when Ms Goudie nods he puts up his hand and votes the right way. They all go in like sheep. 
They were aided and abetted of course by the former member that genius David Garrett. What great credibility this legislation will have in the  
Hansard 
! Mr Garrett supported it. He was a lawyer. He thought it was brilliant. What great support it will have! I say to Mr Quinn that if he is so smart and he thinks this is wonderful legislation then he should give us some explanations. He stands condemned for being incompetent and his select committee members stand condemned on the same charge as does the chair of the committee. 
None of the submitters could give us any reason to support the bill. When we look at it we see that there is no analysis. There is no analysis on the front end of this bill. There is no evidence; there is no justification. Paul Quinn woke up one morning and thought he would get on the front of the  
New Zealand Herald 
. Well by God he has done that. That will happen tomorrow. That member will be in the “Wally of the Week” column for a long time. He has wasted the time of this Parliament wasted taxpayers’ money— 
Louise Upston 
: Do you know anything about the bill? Why aren’t you talking about the actual bill? 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE 
: Oh there is a squeeze box going on over there. Why does the member not tell us why she wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayers’ money before a select committee promoting this bill? The member is incompetent.