Shearer David: Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Shearer David: Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:672;Page:18401] 
DAVID SHEARER (Labour—Mt Albert) 
: 
 Let me speak briefly on the title of the Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Bill and my comments will pick up on a couple of the points that other speakers have made. I start by thanking Grant Robertson for explaining the issue of the word “the” in the title and the absence of the word “the”. I guess the other possibility is the word “a” which of course would not be appropriate. We would not say “a royal society” when it is about the Royal Society. As Pete Hodgson mentioned it is not the “Royal Society of Scientists and Technologists”; it is the Royal Society. Everybody knows what the organisation is because since 1867 it has been the most august and prestigious organisation of its kind. The bill does not need to spell it out; it is inferred that one knows about the society. 
The word “Royal” as others have said gives the organisation a gravitas that it would not have without it but also it gives it a sense of tradition. I reflect on what Keith Locke was saying about our constitutional changes and I agree with him that we should be moving to become a republic much more quickly than we are. However we still have to reflect on where we came from and the fact that the word “Royal” does bestow on this organisation a gravitas and a sense of elitism really in terms of what it does— 
Chris Auchinvole 
: Distinguished. 
DAVID SHEARER 
: —and distinguished as well—shows it is an organisation backed by history. It has a tradition or a genealogy if you like in terms of the contribution it has made to New Zealand. 
But the other word in the title is “Society”. This is not society as we know it; it is not society as generalised society in New Zealand. It is a society of the group of people who make up the Royal Society. I spoke earlier about who actually makes that up and once again we come back to this idea that this is a society a grouping of people. I think the word “society” is both poignant and traditional in this sense as well. It is a society of people a group of people who get together in order to advance science in this country and in effect elsewhere. The society in this context is 20000 scientists and technologists. It is not simply a small grouping of people; it is literally a society. So it is aptly named the Royal Society in the context of the title of this legislation. 
Lastly of course it is the Royal Society of New Zealand because there is a Royal Society in the UK. Obviously this ensures its specific nature as being the Royal Society of New Zealand. There are other Royal Societies across the world and I mention that in the context of this bill because the Royal Society of New Zealand is doing something that other Royal Societies have not done or perhaps will not even dare to do. The society is advancing humanities and bringing humanities into a society that is ostensibly focused on the advancement of science and scientific thought and using its scientific thought to the benefit of wider society but particularly in New Zealand. 
There is a strong traditional element in this. There is a strong ethos of that tradition being a proud long tradition that is feeding into the future. It is a society that by its very nature is elitist. Scientists are not simply people who can walk in off the street; they are people who have undergone rigorous training who have carried out research and therefore they have had to earn their place in this grouping. That applies specifically to the more than 300 Fellows of the Royal Society who are some of the best brains that we have in New Zealand. I believe that the Royal Society of New Zealand is an aptly named organisation.