Hughes Darren: Business of Select Committees — Appointments 
Hughes Darren: Business of Select Committees — Appointments 
[Volume:661;Page:9852] 
Hon DARREN HUGHES (Labour) 
: 
 The Labour Opposition is in support of Government motion No. 4 to establish a special committee of the House to consider legislation regarding the electoral system and also a subsequent bill for a regime on electoral finance. We concur with the comments made by the Leader of the House that it is important that all parties are represented on this committee; the motion has been worded in a way that reflects that. Anyone observing the make-up of the committee in terms of numbers would see that they are not strictly proportional but on this occasion that matter does not come to the immediate bother of the Opposition such is the way in which the business of this committee will be conducted. 
The Leader of the House quite rightly says that enormous effort is being made by political parties to ensure that there is agreement on these topics. Parliament and our electoral system work best where there is consensus across the House about the rules of engagement about how the system should function. I believe very genuine effort is under way in this respect. 
The Leader of the House mentioned the Minister of Justice Simon Power who has worked very closely with our spokesperson on justice the Hon Lianne Dalziel in order to make sure that the bill that was introduced today the Electoral Referendum Bill has as many points of agreement in it as possible. Clearly there will not be 100 percent agreement but it is hopefully clear to the House that every party is going into this process seeking that total agreement. We would like to be able to report this bill back to the House with a great degree of unanimity across the Parliament which is why it is so important that all parties are represented on the committee. 
Some concern was raised by Labour about the nature of the motion that has been put before the House particularly regarding the ability of the select committee to meet at any time. I was very pleased that in subsequent discussions the Leader of the House has given me assurance and he has just given it to the House that that provision will not be abused—to have the committee meeting morning noon and night at any time. That has been our criticism of other legislation particularly that around Auckland governance. The committee met too often and had to rush through. Mr Twyford will correct me if I am wrong but sometimes meetings were scheduled that lasted 12 hours sometimes on a Saturday. It is not that anyone shies from hard work but it is very hard to try to rush through considering submissions from the public which have been well thought out. There is no possible way that members can listen for 12 hours in a row and remember everything they are told. It is important for the credibility and confidence of the public that this process be handled with great integrity so I am glad that the Leader of the House has given us an assurance that the authority or flexibility that we are likely to vote to this special committee will not be misused in any way. Also I understand that it is not the Government’s intention to have a Minister chair this select committee. It will be chaired by a member of Parliament and I strongly welcome that decision. It is a much better process for a select committee of this nature. 
In closing I make reference to the work that the Parliamentary Service Commission is doing to align the rules for parliamentary expenditure alongside the rules for electoral financing and for the money that can be spent or the way that money can spent promoting electoral referendums. We want to line up the rules that the Parliamentary Service Commission has to follow by way of the Speaker’s directions and the legislation for the referendum and electoral finance. I am very confident we will be able to do that and maintain a consistent definition of “parliamentary purposes” which all fits into this wider topic. 
There is a lot of work to be done to get this matter right but I am very confident that with the goodwill of all the parties in the House we can do it. Once we have got the rules correct we can focus on our policy differences around the different electoral systems that are being promoted in the referendum. If we can make sure that the debate in our country is focused on those issues of substance rather than sniping about issues of process I believe it will result in an excellent debate that will serve the people of the country. Therefore Labour will support the Government’s motion to establish this committee. 
Hon Gerry Brownlee 
: I think I’m developing sleep apnoea. 
Hon DARREN HUGHES 
: I was going to finish by giving a bit of praise to the Hon Gerry Brownlee because he has had a particularly rough week but he put a nasty little dig across the Chamber—in the spirit of bipartisanship! It makes me just not want to do it. This is the last chance I will get to wish him a happy Easter so I wish him all the very best in that particular regard.