Smith NickHon Dr NICK SMITH (National—Nelson): I firstly want to respond to the contribution by Minister Andrew Little. Let me quote the words that he said to the Parliament: All MPs are equal."—right? Do you know the last time I heard that phrase? Animal Farm and that is about how Orwellian the statement that "All MPs are equal." is when we come to this bill and this amendment. I will tell you why. Do you know who are the MPs that are exempted from this test that we are debating around acting in a way that distorts the proportionality of Parliament? It applies to all MPs except the leaders. So when the Minister in the chair said that "All MPs are equal." he forgot a little phrase: "But some are more equal than others." Can I put it even more deliberately: as every member of this House knows who is the most unequal member of this House? He used to be the member of Parliament for Hunua but they got rid of him. He used to be the member for Tauranga and they got rid of him. He used to be the member for Northland but the good mate Matt King got rid of him. But what this bill is about—what this bill is about—is giving Mr Winston Peters extraordinary powers that are an offence to anybody that genuinely believes in democracy. Because here's the key—here's the key. I've asked over and over again on this clause. It says that a member of Parliament can be fired by the leader of a party if they act in a way that distorts the proportionality of Parliament. And what we've asked with this amendment is that we need some definition of what that means. Now am I—and I know the Minister in the chair has called me despicable for raising this question. Well I put to him this: I am not the only one raising this question. The legislation advisory committee has raised exactly the same point. They have said on such a crucial point as to whether a member of Parliament gets dismissed or not a vague phrase saying simply that they've acted in a way that distorts the proportionality of Parliament provides no certainly. And it's not just the legislation advisory committee that said that; the Clerk of the House has said that this provision is vague and needs to be defined. Now if the Minister in the chair is saying I am despicable is he also saying the Clerk of House is despicable? Because in me asking these questions—I think they are reasonable questions. They are absolute questions that go to the core of our democracy and that is the right for a democratically elected member of Parliament to stand in this House and not to be fired because they have acted in a way that distorts the proportionality of Parliament.Then the Minister in the chair brought up the debate around Tariana Turia but he didn't answer the core question and it's this: whether it was Marilyn Waring whether it was Derek Quigley whether it was Jim Anderton whether it was Tariana Turia or whether it was more recently Brendan Horan—in each of those practical examples would they meet the test of having acted in such a way as to distort the proportionality of Parliament? I've listened to this debate for more than an hour and I have to say to members that I am none the wiser. I do not know—I do not know—what this law says about what I can do and what I cannot do as a member of Parliament. How can this House write law that leaves so much uncertainty about what I can and cannot do as an MP? And let me come to the amendment. The amendment says: let's at least make clear that when I am speaking as the member for Parliament for Nelson I cannot be fired for it. So if I want to stick up for my fishing industry if I want to stick up for clean rivers in my area if I want to stick up because I have a strong view about a school in my area that should not have me fired as a member of Parliament. It's my job. It's my job as a member of Parliament to be an advocate for Nelson and no party leader should have the power to kick that person out of Parliament.So I say again to members opposite: support this amendment and reinforce the democracy the free speech and the capacity for members of Parliament to do their job."