Mallard TrevorTHURSDAY 25 JULY 2019The Speaker took the Chair at 2 p.m.Prayers.SPEAKER'S RULINGSPersonal Votes—Proxy VotingSPEAKER: Members I've got a ruling that I'm going to make in anticipation of the next members' day. I have been considering the issue of proxy voting. There is no limit on the number of members that can vote by proxy in a personal vote. However given the likely complexity of the issues before the committee of the whole House next week—and possibly the fortnight after—I strongly encourage members to vote in person if they are in the buildings. Every member present in the Chamber when the doors are locked must vote—Aye No or abstain.Standing Order 154(2) sets out the matters that a proxy must contain. Instructions about how to exercise a proxy may be as specific or general as a member giving the proxy wishes. Responsibility for interpreting a proxy rests with the member exercising it and a member must do so and must be satisfied that he or she has direct instructions about how to cast it or general authority to do so in relation to each question before the committee of the whole House.Speakers' rulings on pages 69 and 70 make it clear that personal votes are final even when they are inadvertently cast incorrectly. The vote cast will stand regardless of voting intentions. The Speaker will allow the correction of an error on the voting sheet where it is detected before a result is announced—Speaker's ruling 70/3. But otherwise votes are final and the Speaker will not consider later objections to the way a proxy was exercised or recorded where it has been exercised in good faith.I am making this ruling some days in advance of the next members' day to enable members to get their proxies in order.A number of other matters related to the End of Life Choice Bill are also worth ruling on in advance of next Wednesday.I have determined that the bill is a conscience issue and that the substantive votes on it will be personal votes. However votes on procedural matters such as closures and the recall of the Speaker are not matters of conscience so those will be party votes. If a party does not have an agreed view on such motions split party voting can be used to record the differing views.As members know amendments can be tabled up until the point that voting commences. I would encourage members to lodge their amendments as early as possible so that members can be familiar with the issues on which they will vote. While the Chairperson in committee always decides who gets the call in debate I have encouraged them to give precedence to those whose amendments are lodged 24 hours before the debate commences. There is no right to a call on the basis of tabling an amendment.To date several amendments have been lodged with the Clerk and they are all in order at this point. I would remind members that the member in charge of the bill always has the option to have the question on his amendments put first under Standing Order 308. If those amendments are agreed they will have the likely effect of rendering out of order many further amendments to the same provisions.Finally I have considered the matters that the House has already agreed in relation to the bill. The purpose of the second reading is to debate the broad principles of a bill. Once a bill has a second reading the House has agreed to those principles. In the case of the End of Life Choice Bill the principles agreed at second reading are: (1) some form of assisted dying will be available to New Zealanders; (2) qualified medical personnel will be involved in assisted dying; (3) the assisted dying system will be State-controlled; and (4) instances of assisted dying will be recorded and reported on.The job of the committee of the whole House is to consider whether the bill properly incorporates the principles or objects of the bill as read a second time by the House—Standing Order 302(1). Ultimately the House will decide whether it wishes to accept the bill or not at the time of the third reading.I will ask for this ruling to be circulated in order for members to be prepared for it.