Fenton Darien: Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Fenton Darien: Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:673;Page:19862] 
DARIEN FENTON (Labour) 
: 
 It is my very great pleasure to take a call on clause 10 of the Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Bill. This is my first contribution. I have been down here week after week trying to make a contribution because this is one of the most exciting bills that I have ever seen come through this Parliament. I have never seen anything so well debated. It has been such an education for people like me who do not have any background in science or actually in academia. I congratulate the member in the chair Grant Robertson who has brought this bill forward. I congratulate him on his wonderful work and I also congratulate all of my colleagues who have brought to New Zealand’s attention the whole debate about the importance of the Royal Society which none of us knew about. 
Chris Hipkins 
: Enriching. 
DARIEN FENTON 
: It is very enriching that is right. I agree with my colleague Chris Hipkins. This has been a very educational debate because to be honest I did not know much about the Royal Society. This is my working-class prejudice talking here but for me anything called “royal” would have been something I did not know much about. I would have thought it did not apply to me because I am from a working-class background. It would have sounded like it was about those important people out there who have studied worked hard and done important stuff but I did not get it because I come from a working-class background. I have always stood up for people who are at the bottom—the vulnerable workers and the vulnerable people in society. However this debate has stimulated my thinking and I want to say that it is great that something like this exists. 
The Royal Society started in what was it 1867 and I think King George is mentioned somewhere there and now Queen Elizabeth. For those of us who have republican tendencies that is always a little bit difficult but I do think it is great that the pursuit of intellectual argument and debate— 
Jo Goodhew 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. I raise this point of order reluctantly because I realise that this is an important debate for the members opposite but I have not heard the word “companion” used once in this member’s speech so I seriously doubt the relevance to this clause. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy) 
: I will uphold the point of order. The member must debate clause 10. 
DARIEN FENTON 
: Thank you. I was getting there Mr Chair I assure you. I was talking about my history my understanding and my background and I was thinking about clause 10 and companions. To me as a working-class person a companion is somebody who has been given a conferment by the Queen which is something that is way way above any of the associations that I have. It made me think quite a lot about this. 
I know there is a whole process under clause 10. I have read the Royal Society of New Zealand website which talks about the selection of companions. I do not want to denigrate them in any way because I think they are very very important people. But I will say that I have never been a companion of anyone apart from my beloved partner—he would describe me as a companion—but I am a fellow. When I thought about it I am a fellow— 
Hon Member 
: No you’re not. You’re a sheila. 
DARIEN FENTON 
: —not a fella but a fellow—of Trinity College London. I do not know how one becomes a companion of Trinity College London but I am a fellow. I had to go quite a long way back into my history and that is all to do with music being a musical kind of person and studying performance—I was good at that all those years ago. I do not think there was such a thing as a companion of Trinity College London but when I looked back I thought that being a fellow of Trinity College London was quite a good thing to be actually—I thought that was quite good. 
I tend to think and many other people tend to think that these things do not matter—being a companion being a fellow or being an honorary member which we will get on to in the next clause. But these things do matter because they recognise that there are a whole lot of people in our society who contribute in a whole lot of areas. That is why I am really pleased that this whole bill has been about expanding the role of the Royal Society into the humanities which goes into a whole range of areas and maybe one day there will be a companion of trade union studies. 
My colleague Sue Moroney talked about her qualification and I have the same one which is about trade union and labour studies. Maybe in terms of expanding the humanities there might be a companion of trade union and worker and labour studies; I think that is a very very important part of our society. I think it is wonderful that clause 10 is recognising that the Royal Society—