Mallard Trevor: Taxation (GST and Remedial Matters) Bill — In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee Procedure Third Reading 
Mallard Trevor: Taxation (GST and Remedial Matters) Bill — In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee Procedure Third Reading 
[Volume:669;Page:16189] 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Labour—Hutt South) 
: 
 I am trying to be helpful. Quite often when business is being done under urgency the Government and the House—because in the end it is the House that makes the decision normally on the initiation of the Government but possibly on the initiation of this sort of motion—decide that it will pull out. I think you will remember on a number of occasions in the past when a Government has had a long list of bills that it has chosen to vary the order of business.  
Even with motions or legislation that has been agreed and set down there is no obligation for us to proceed in that particular order. That was essentially the choice that was being given to the House with the two motions. One was that it be postponed. Of course if it is an urgency motion and it is postponed then we come back to it with an urgency motion. But of course if the bill is discharged it means that it goes away completely. I put it to you that there have been many occasions when the House has made that choice. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Rick Barker) 
: I draw the member to Speaker’s ruling 13/5 a decision by Speaker Kidd a very learned Speaker and one whose decision we should follow: “A motion to discharge an order of the day and refer a bill to a select committee was ruled out of order where the House had accorded urgency to the passing of the bill.” It seems to me that that is very clear. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: We’re not sending it to the select committee. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Rick Barker) 
: The point that I am making to the member is simply this. When the House has decided on urgency and a list of bills to be considered those bills are then on the Order Paper. The member cannot move a motion to discharge or alter the order of the Order Paper in that manner. The motion is out of order. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Labour—Hutt South) 
: 
 I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. There then arises a very real question of how it is ever possible for the House having accorded urgency to a set of matters not to proceed or to review the order. It is something that has been regularly done over a period and I accept it is much more often done on the motion of the Government. In fact I think you set the bill down for third reading forthwith and on occasions bills are set down for third reading presently and that is often done on a nod or a wink from the Government but there has always been flexibility. The Leader of the House can choose to pull out before we are finished. That is a choice. The House can choose to vary the order. It can choose not to proceed with particular pieces of legislation. I accept that a bill cannot go back to a select committee. There was never a suggestion that this bill would go to a select committee. I can remember the ruling; I think I might have been involved in having the ruling set up. 
Hon Gerry Brownlee 
: Mr Kidd. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: It was Mr Kidd yes. I was probably standing about here at the time. The point I am making is that especially around the postponement motion I do not think you can argue that this is not an order of the day. It is an order of the day that has been set up by the urgency motion. I can accept that it is not a debatable motion. It is fair to say that I might have taken the liberty in my support of the motion. You might just rule out the discharge motion on the basis of the urgency motion but postponement within an urgency motion does not contradict the urgency motion. It is consistent with it. It is a matter of order not a matter of discharge.