Chauvel Charles: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
Chauvel Charles: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:637;Page:7932] 
CHARLES CHAUVEL (Labour) 
: 
 As the newest member of the Justice and Electoral Committee it is a pleasure for me to rise to take a call on the 2005-06 financial review of the Ministry of Justice. I have read through the committee’s report and I endorse what the committee said about the fine work of the coroners who have served New Zealand so well in the period until the consolidation of the legislation and the reappointment of coroners under their reconstituted role as full-time judicial officers. Those part-time officers of the court provided New Zealand with excellent service and it is a wonderful thing to see that they were recently honoured at a dinner at Government House. It is appropriate to have honoured their work in that way and I hope the Committee will endorse the Justice and Electoral Committee’s endorsement of their fine service. 
In passing I also mention and endorse the praise delivered to justices of the peace. Along with Clayton Cosgrove Rick Barker Lynne Pillay and Martin Gallagher I had the honour of attending the Royal Federation of New Zealand Justices Associations conference in Napier over the weekend. It was great to see the fine work that those judicial officers give on a part-time and honorary basis to the nation. 
I will also comment on the material appearing in the committee’s report relating to electronic filing. As the Attorney-General’s delegate on the Rules Committee I can say that this matter was mentioned at a recent meeting of that committee. It is clear that electronic filing is a notion whose time has come. It is good to see that the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal have adopted the method and it is good to see the foreshadowing of electronic filing in the Court of Appeal. Clearly it needs to be extended fully by the ministry to the High Court the District Courts and tribunals. It will be good to see that happen. 
I will also comment on the material in the review relating to the building programme that has been embarked upon on behalf of the Government by the Ministry of Justice which now incorporates responsibility for the Department for Courts. Clearly the programme that is under way is the most ambitious since that undertaken by Sir Geoffrey Palmer between 1984 and 1989. In my view the programme is to be praised and recognised and it is a good thing that the disinvestment that occurred in the 1990s is now being remedied with new courthouses in Queenstown and Greymouth and of course the construction that has occurred in the Auckland High Court which obviously is a building at capacity. It would be remiss to fail to mention the construction of the Supreme Court which will finally give us permanent housing in Wellington for our highest court in a building that hopefully will be fitted to the role. 
I conclude by touching on the committee’s review of electoral law. The committee called for this to occur on a prompt basis following the 2005 general election inquiry. Clearly it is necessary to review electoral law promptly and to ensure that there is an adequate regime in place for the next election. It is necessary to ensure that there is proper transparency as to donations that the affairs of third parties involving themselves in politics are above board and clear and that there is an appropriate definition of election expenses in the legislation that is modern and conforms with the times—the Internet age in which we now live. In my view there also needs to be a proper formula for the public funding of political parties as recommended in the report of the Royal Commission on the Electoral System which led to our current electoral system but has not yet been introduced. These are essential mechanisms to put in place if we are to see an election conducted without the risk of a plutocracy seeking to buy its way into Government. It is appropriate that there be a thoroughgoing review of legislation that is applicable in this area so that the rules applying to elections are fully fair and seen as such by the public. Thank you Mr Chairperson.