Peachey Allan: Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Peachey Allan: Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Bill — First Reading 
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ALLAN PEACHEY (National—Tamaki) 
: 
 I am pleased to be able to join my colleague the member for Wellington Central in supporting the first reading of the Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Bill and supporting its referral to the Education and Science Committee which I have the honour of chairing and to which the member for Wellington Central is an occasional but very very positive contributor. 
I will not cover the ground that he has covered; he gave an excellent outline of the purpose of the bill in its various provisions. But I want to make a few comments about the Royal Society of New Zealand. It is a long-established body; it was established in 1867 and known until 1933 as the New Zealand Institute. 
Hon Ruth Dyson 
:How old were you then Allan? 
ALLAN PEACHEY 
: I had not quite started school. 
Grant Robertson 
: Ruapehu College. 
ALLAN PEACHEY 
: It was Ruapheu College—I thank the member. I am getting closer to my objectives tonight and there will be a couple more opportunities before we have finished. 
The Royal Society was set up as a mechanism to bring together a number of research and science organisations around the country that did not have the resources to publish the papers that were being delivered them to keep records of their meetings and their activities and that sort of thing. The Royal Society of New Zealand Act which was passed in 1997 currently legislates for the provision of the Royal Society. The society’s primary purpose has been to foster in the New Zealand community a culture that supports science and technology including the promotion of public awareness knowledge and understanding of science and technology and the advancement of science and technology education. So the Royal Society is responsible for the distribution of public funding for scientific research and public education for the publication of a number of journals for holding meetings and seminars for awarding medals like the Rutherford Medal and the Pickering Medal and for science education. 
It is on that note that I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the role that the Royal Society plays in this Parliament each year. In conjunction with Science New Zealand the Royal Society sponsors a series of lectures known as the Speaker’s Science Forum which as chair of the Education and Science Committee I get the honour to chair. This year we have had maybe a dozen lectures on a Tuesday night over the dinner break from some very eminent New Zealand scientists. Some of us like me do not have a scientific background. It was my misfortune to attend Ruapehu College and to be in the fifth form in 1965 and sitting School Certificate when the teaching of science was particularly weak. In actual fact that year it was a disgrace. I do not blame Ruapehu College for that but I do blame a particular teacher whose name is well known in this House but I had better not mention it. Ruapehu College was a great school for me by the way. 
I have the privilege of hosting the Speaker’s Science Forum and as one of the members of the Royal Society said to me one evening after a particularly successful and enjoyable occasion where else in the world in any Parliament would we have one-quarter of the members of Parliament in one room during their dinner break listening to a lecture about science? I commend these lectures to those members of the House who have not yet attended any of them. Members have missed the last one for this year as it was held a week or so ago but I commend them to members next year. Not only do we get to hear from an outstanding New Zealand scientist and learn about an aspect of science or technology that is current in New Zealand but we also get to enjoy the fellowship of members of the Royal Society of Science New Zealand and of our own colleagues. For goodness’ sake I have even been known to share a dinner table after the lecture with members of the Labour Party! I humbly apologise to my colleagues on this side of the House for that dreadful breach of protocol but I believe those members benefit from that sort of company from time to time. 
The purpose of the Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Bill is to enable the Royal Society to incorporate the humanities into its work and I welcome that. I think that is a great step forward. If the Royal Society can—and I sure it will—bring to the humanities what it has brought to science and technology it will be great for this country and particularly for those who have studied the humanities and take a leading role in their fields. 
The Royal Society resolved in November 2008 that there was a need to expand its activities. Something else happened in November 2008. 
Louise Upston 
: What was that? 
ALLAN PEACHEY 
: What was it? Something else very significant for this country happened in November 2008. Oh that is right; the Labour Government got thrown out of office. So two great things happened in New Zealand in November 2008. But enough of that. In the spirit of the bipartisanship in which the Education and Science Committee operates I am sure that the committee will enjoy holding what I assume will be a limited number of hearings on the bill. That committee has had a very heavy workload this year and it continues to have a very heavy workload. It has had to deal with some pretty challenging issues. I think members will find dealing with this bill a particular pleasure. I commend the bill to the House.