Allan KiritapuKIRITAPU ALLAN (Labour): The challenge that was just laid down before this Parliament by the Hon Dr Smith was whether somebody on this side of the Government benches could answer the question as to why there was a need to refer this bill by this time frame 11 November and the answer is rather simple. The answer is rather simple because on this side of the House we are trying to do God's work and fix up the mess that the Opposition left us. There can be no greater call for democracy than what this bill before us asks. It's a mechanical issue. This bill sets a framework by which we can legitimately go through a process. The speaker just prior Hon Dr Nick Smith waxed lyrical in a wide range of areas—DEPUTY SPEAKER: No. [Interruption] I call the member to order. The member did not. The member related it all the time back to the motion before this House which is the shortened period of time.KIRITAPU ALLAN: The motion before this House is the shortened period and so that is something that—our side of the House is trying to say that there are no mechanics by which to legitimately provide a carte blanche mechanism by which to set referenda. So the member opposite has laid a challenge as to why it is necessary that we provide some time frames to enable this bill to go before the House—DEPUTY SPEAKER: No. Sit down. Let me make it very clear: the question of the bill that has been debated at the first reading is all about the mechanism. The debate we're in now is very focused on the shortened time frame. So the speeches have to relate to that not to the bill and the structure that's being put before the House but to the shortened time frame. OK?KIRITAPU ALLAN: Absolutely. The shortened time frame is a consequence of the fact that we don't have a mechanism by which to provide a referendum. What we are trying to do on this side of the House is provide the machinery through which we can actually hold these referenda and why the time frame is shortened is to enable all members who are enabled to vote who are enabled to participate in our democracy the opportunity to do so at the earliest opportunity. I'm not quite sure why the member opposite is confused as to why we are trying to make this law go through this process in an expeditious way because the only reason I could think of is that the member on the select committee over there perhaps wants to flout his expertise in this area as opposed to giving the good people of New Zealand the opportunity to actually cast their vote.Now there are a range of issues by which this side of the House believes it is important to enable the general public to participate in referenda. We want to make sure on this side of the House that there is the opportunity for as many people to be able to participate at the earliest opportunity. Therefore the time frames that we have proposed are 11 November. Also in order to ensure that anybody can participate in a way that they might not ordinarily be able to—because usually select committees are required to be held down here in Wellington—the referral motion asks that those sitting in that particular select committee can hear from people whenever whether that be in the evenings or whether that be outside of the Wellington area. The reason that we've asked for the broadening of this particular referral motion is to alleviate some of the member opposite's concerns. We want to ensure that as many people are heard within the appropriate time frames and those that are really committed to ensuring that they can have the opportunity to participate in having their voice heard on the Referendums Framework Bill will have the opportunity to be heard wherever the select committee chooses to set itself down.The select committee has the ability if this referral motion is agreed to by this House to go out and actually meet with those key constituents those people that want to be heard and that's something that the honourable Minister Little has diligently tried to do—enable a referral motion for that member's select committee to go out to listen to the voices of the people and to do that in the most liberal kind of way. We are seeking that the particular Standing Orders—191 193 and 194(1)(b) and (c)—are deferred in this instance are set aside to ensure that as many people can participate as is proper and rightly so. And the reason for that is simple: it's because we want to ensure that the mechanics that sit behind developing referenda are robust they are thorough and they are done in a way that is expeditious so that we can truly enable all members to validly cast their votes at the earliest opportunity on some of the major issues that our community has to face. So speaking on behalf of this side of the House we commend this referral motion to the House.