Parker David; Mallard Trevor; Sage Eugenie; Smith NickRESOURCE LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILLSecond ReadingHon DAVID PARKER (Labour): I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. You will be aware of the controversies around this process. I have a copy of the form of the bill that is the only one that is available to members and it is the first reading version. This debate cannot proceed until that—Grant Robertson: You mean on the Table?Hon DAVID PARKER: Well this is the Table. Members do not have available to them the piece of legislation that is the one we are meant to be debating.The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): I have asked the Clerk to attempt to obtain copies of bills for members because it is a most undesirable position to be in to have a bill which I presume is 3 days out of a select committee and not have that available. In fact I do not know a precedent for this. I will look while the Minister for Building and Construction is speaking at the exact rules and will be deferring my ruling on whether the debate will proceed until the end of the Minister's speech. Clearly he has a copy of the bill.EUGENIE SAGE (Green): I raise a point of order Mr Speaker.The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): Eugenie Sage you are not going to debate what I have just said are you?EUGENIE SAGE: No except that I looked quite carefully on the Table to get a copy of the bill as reported back and could not find it. So I think it does impede the ability of members to discuss it when it has not been on the Table when we have looked.The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): I understand that that is the case and that is as described by Mr Parker. What I have said is that I am aware of rulings in the past in different circumstances which the members might not find satisfactory if I were to follow the precedents. What I am asking for is some indulgence so I can look at those Speakers' rulings from the past to see whether in fact I can differentiate from them. But I will do that while the Minister is speaking.Hon DAVID PARKER (Labour): I would ask you to reconsider Mr Assistant Speaker because I do not think you can have a debate on a bill that is not before us in the context where it has come back from a select committee. Unless you are willing to reconsider I am going to have to move a motion.The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): I am advised by Mr Robertson that the bill is now on the Table but I will also advise the member that the precedents on this from my memory are unfortunate but clear.Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for Building and Construction): The copies of the full select committee report and the bill have been publicly available since 4 o'clock on Monday so it is rather pedantic of Opposition members to pretend that simply because the copies have only just arrived on the Table that in any way impedes the capacity for Parliament to debate the bill.Hon DAVID PARKER (Labour): I would have recalled the Speaker but a copy has now arrived. It would have been absolutely absurd for us to have this debate without the legislation being available to us. Even this I think is just an incredibly poor process—that members have not been able to pick up the legislation that we are meant to be debating right now.Hon Dr Nick Smith: Mr Assistant Speaker—The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): Sorry I do have a matter to deal with before I get back to the member. Just to make it clear to the Hon David Parker that when I am in the chair I am the Speaker and if he does not like my opinion he cannot call the real one. The question I just want to ask the Hon Dr Nick Smith now is whether in fact given this issue and the fact that I think we are both aware that something is going to happen quite soon he does want to continue with this debate now.