Hide Rodney: Video Camera Surveillance (Temporary Measures) Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
Hide Rodney: Video Camera Surveillance (Temporary Measures) Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:676;Page:21810] 
Hon RODNEY HIDE (Minister of Local Government) 
: 
 I believe that this bill the Video Camera Surveillance (Temporary Measures) Bill shows our Parliament working at its best. I think we should take a minute to respect our Parliament and the work it has done on behalf of the people of New Zealand in this regard. In my 15 years here—short as they have been—this has been in my view Parliament at its very best under very pressured circumstances. 
First I congratulate the Minister in charge of the bill the Attorney-General. Such is our constitution and system of Government that a select committee can never get on and do its business freely unless a Minister is prepared to allow it and to accept the recommendations of the select committee. I thank the Minister for that. 
Second of all I congratulate the Justice and Electoral Committee. The critical part of getting this bill right and satisfactory was getting it to the select committee where the advice that officials were providing could be contested by members of the public and by people with expertise and where members outside the executive could scrutinise it. Without the work of that select committee we certainly would not have had an improved bill that is satisfactory like the one we have today. 
I particularly thank all the submitters particularly the lawyers—and they were high-priced lawyers. They take a lot of stick from members of the public and from politicians but there they were on their own time in the best interests of justice for all taking time out of their weekend and their day to come to Parliament in what might have been a forlorn hope of making a submission about what the law should be. Certainly they changed my thinking and I believe the committee’s thinking on this bill and they greatly improved it. So I pay tribute to all those who made a submission to the select committee. 
I believe that Chester Borrows did an outstanding job chairing that select committee. I am sounding a bit twee in my dotage but what was interesting to me was that under the pressure of time all members of the select committee decided to work really in the best interests of getting the result. Amazingly there was not much difference amongst all of us about what we were trying to achieve. I thank the members for that. 
I had not worked with Charles Chauvel before and I have to say that it was a huge delight and privilege to work with Charles on this bill. I found him to be a man of some remarkable intelligence. He also interested me because he did not play the “Opposition card”; he actually worked in the committee to achieve a result. I think it is very easy in Opposition to just be in opposition. But actually Charles was prepared with Labour to step up and see that there was a problem and to work with Government members and the select committee to get a result. 
It would be very remiss of me not to acknowledge Keith Locke my colleague and his opposition to the bill. It is very easy to sit in this Parliament and pick on the party and the individual that stand aside from the rest. But I believe it is the party and the individual that stand aside from the rest that give us the best insight into what we are doing and why we are doing it. I think it is quite marvellous that Keith Locke has ended his week and his last day in Parliament exactly—exactly—as he started. I congratulate him on that. Thank you. 
Amendments recommended by the Justice and Electoral Committee by majority agreed to.