Auchinvole Chris: Wills Bill — Second Reading 
Auchinvole Chris: Wills Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:639;Page:9001] 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE (National) 
: 
 I too would like to stand to support the Wills Bill. As my colleague Mr Finlayson said its changes are not worthy of too much debate; they are pretty straightforward though technical in nature and they will affect only wills made after the new bill comes into force. There are two exceptions to that. 
Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: The changes will affect only wills made after the bill comes into force with two exceptions. The High Court can modify wills: it has the powers to correct errors in wills and it can also use external evidence to interpret wills made before the bill comes into force. There is my solicitor friends tell me some danger in this in that it gives the High Court the power to interpret the intention of the will-maker previously known as the testator. That will continue as a vulnerability under this legislation. 
Someone speaking earlier mentioned that this legislation will replace the Wills Act 1837 which is being modernised. Indeed if one could easily understand the 1837 Act then I guess one should immediately try to complete the  
Guardian 
 cryptic crossword because it would be a dolly. 
I am pleased to be cited by Minister Dalziel. I thought she was speaking from the heart and very sincerely when she said that on the select committee I was a person who strove to ensure that plain language was being used and that I did that without the benefit of a law degree. Our laws are designed for ordinary people and I am proud to be an ordinary person. 
The main thing I notice about the ever-increasing number of people who call into our little blue office in Greymouth in the increasingly marginal seat of West Coast - Tasman is the concern many of those people have in understanding legal and semi-legal documents. Wills are a case in point. The avenues for people in that region to obtain low-level legal assistance is extremely restricted—although we on this side of the House are working on that—so if anything can be done to make life’s complexities simpler so much the better. This bill does that and that is why we support it. 
Darren Hughes 
: It’s a great slogan—die easy under National. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: I do not really have a great deal to say but I know that this bill will be of great use to the Labour junior whip. The Labour Government generally will benefit from the use of simple wording and writing as the junior whip prepares for the never-to-be-repeated last will and testament of the present Labour Government. One can imagine it—“I hereby bequeath to the National Party: to John Key a country desperate for leadership principles and vision; to Bill English a fiscally overheating and loose economy; to Gerry Brownlee a complete lack of energy planning and restructuring; to Simon Power prisons with a completely demoralised service but designed better than Crowne Plaza hotels and a failing legal aid system; to Tony Ryall record waiting lists and hospitals that are dangerous to enter if one can ever get into them; and to Katherine Rich 32000 truants and 92000 3 to 4-year-olds who were promised but who are not receiving 20 free hours. I could go on—the litany would go on forever—but I think we all know the circumstances in which Labour will leave the country and I do not wish to depress people who are listening by giving further details. 
National supports the Wills Bill. Thank you.