Robertson Grant: Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Robertson Grant: Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:672;Page:18406] 
GRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central) 
: 
 As my colleague Kris Faafoi who has just resumed his seat said we are debating the purpose clause of the Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Bill which is in many ways the guts of why we are debating this bill today. 
I refer specifically to clause 4(a) which states that the purpose of the Act is to “incorporate humanities into the object and functions of the Royal Society of New Zealand:”. I will use this call to talk about the process by which that incorporation occurred. Essentially the document that governs it is the document I have in my hand which is a memorandum of understanding between the Royal Society of New Zealand and Te Whainga Aronui—Council for the Humanities. The negotiations between those two organisations took place over a period of time largely through 2009. 
I think it is worth going through the memorandum of understanding because we have heard people within the debate express concern about the humanities coming into the Royal Society and about some dilution of the role of the traditional sciences. I think this memorandum of understanding will give people the confidence that the involvement of the humanities within the Royal Society will strengthen the society. 
The first part of the memorandum of understanding recognises the value to the humanities community of joining the Royal Society and the value of humanities knowledge and perspectives. It also acknowledges the importance and value of matauranga Maori. I think that as we come to the amendment in Te Ururoa Flavell’s name later on it will be important to note that within the original understanding of the agreement between the Royal Society and the Council of Humanities was an understanding that Maori perspectives would be important within their cooperation. I think that is important to note. 
The parties are agreed that the Council for the Humanities will retain its own identity as a charitable trust for up to 2 years to enable the transition; we are obviously in that period at the moment. The council will then become the Humanities Committee of the Royal Society so there is in fact a process in place for the Council for the Humanities to be one of the committees of the society once we move through the transitional phase. 
The council of the Royal Society of New Zealand will include a representative from either the social sciences or the humanities. I think that that is important. The council is the governance body of the Royal Society and in bringing in the humanities which is noted here in the purpose clause it is important those people have a say within the governance body. Within 5 years the Royal Society will use its best endeavours to have its Act reflect the inclusion of the humanities. 
Lest there be any concern about the amount of time that has been spent tonight on this— 
Hon Dr Wayne Mapp 
: We are not; we reckon you need to talk about this for hours and hours. 
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: Well I am very happy to I tell Dr Mapp. But lest anyone be concerned about it I reiterate that the memorandum of understanding gives 5 years for the legislation to be passed. It might not take quite as long as that. It depends perhaps on some matters. You know it will certainly take some time to work through the important clauses but the legislation will fit within the memorandum of understanding. I am sure that with the respect and depth of debate there has been tonight people will understand why we are doing it. 
The Royal Society will also ensure that the term “humanities” is included on the society’s website in all places where it should be and it is acknowledged as a term that should be included whenever there is reference to the Act and to the way in which the Royal Society operates. In making representations to the Government the Royal Society and agencies will include the humanities where it is relevant. A number of representations to the Government recently have been affected by that policy. One in particular is on the question of policy advice and the importance of good quality policy advice. I know that the Royal Society has made some submissions on that issue. 
Progress reported. 
Report adopted.