By Louis Collins
There is debate over when on-licences should be allowed to open until. Photo: Supplied
On the last sitting day of the year Parliament has Question Time, usual government business, and by tradition, the adjournment debate. After this debate finishes at about 6pm, MPs are free to go home for the summer.
This year, Parliament's last day also included an early morning extended sitting dedicated entirely to members' bills. These are bills put forward by any MP who isn't a minister, and are drawn via a ballot system. Usually, more members' bills come from opposition MPs, but the odds of them becoming law are quite low.
The House For Weds 18 Dec 2024
Photo: Supplied / Office of the Clerk
Firstly, MPs need to have luck on their side to have their bill drawn from the biscuit tin, and then comes the task of getting the votes through all stages. Naturally, this tends to be a whole lot simpler when you're a government MP, though as evidenced on Parliament's last day, it's by no means guaranteed.
MPs watching votes on their own bills may have been crossing their fingers to receive an early Christmas present in the form of their bill surviving to the next stage.
The last members bills of 2024
The Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill is in the name of National's Greg Flemming, and increases the penalty for modern slavery and human trafficking. It was sent to the Justice Committee and is seeking submissions over summer.
National's Rima Nakhle's Corrections (Victim Protection) Amendment Bill is due to become a law, pending royal assent. It's a pretty small bit of legislation which obliges Corrections staff to protect victims from unwelcome contact from prisoners. It has unanimous support.
The Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) (3 Day Postnatal Stay) Amendment Bill extends the minimum entitlement for postnatal care from 48 to 72 hours. The member in charge of the bill, Catherine Wedd hopes the bill will prevent mothers from feeling pressured to leave care too early.
And finally, the Repeal of Good Friday and Easter Sunday as Restricted Trading Days (Shop Trading and Sale of Alcohol) Amendment Bill. The bill, as you can probably guess from the name, removes the restriction on selling booze on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, and relaxes the rules around businesses choosing to be open over this period.
The member in charge of the bill is ACT's Cameron Luxton, who, during the first reading said: "This bill seeks to enhance the enjoyment for all New Zealanders over the Easter weekend through a mix of simplification and choice… New Zealand has 12 public holidays: secular days, Matariki, and, importantly for those of us who are grateful to our heritage, Christian holidays, two of which fall, obviously, on Easter. To be clear to the House, my bill does not change a single one of these days from their position as public holidays in New Zealand. What it does seek to change are the restrictions on how New Zealanders choose to spend these days."
The Personal Vote tally sheets for both Ayes and Nays votes from recent alcohol related members bills. Crossed-out names voted for that side of a question. The letter P denotes a proxy vote. Marks in red are corrections. Photo: Phil Smith
A matter of values
This last bill - well part of it - is about alcohol, but more importantly it relates to a traditional religious holiday. For that reason, it was deemed to fit the criteria of a conscience issue, and accordingly, received a personal vote. This means that instead of parties just voting as one bloc, MPs have the option of disagreeing with their colleagues and voting along the lines of personal values, rather than party policy. Other issues that are deemed worthy of personal votes in the past have been things like LGBT rights, euthanasia and abortion.
Simeon Brown Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
It's the speaker's job to determine whether an issue is a conscience one, and allow for personal voting if they see it as fitting that criteria. You may recall that during the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill, the Greens' Chlöe Swarbrick called for a personal vote, a request that was ultimately declined by the speaker.
Some parties do still tend to vote in a block on personal vote issues. The Greens, New Zealand First and ACT have all tended to do so in the past. With all MPs toeing the line, conscience issues can be an intriguing exercise in revealing what - albeit loose and informal - factions exist within the two biggest parties, National and Labour. These factions aren't typically very visible, except perhaps during leadership bids (and coups). But still, the concept of who is in whose camp has long been an object of speculation by political pundits over the years.
During the first reading of Cameron Luxton's Bill, National's Simeon Brown - while not naming who was in whose camp or explicitly mentioning any factions or caucuses - touched on the fact that National was proud to tolerate (some) divided opinion amongst its members.
"I think that one of the great things about the National Party is that we allow our members to be able to exercise their conscience and have their say. I will be using my conscience vote and voting against this bill for a number of reasons, but that represents, I think, a significant part of New Zealand which does support the National Party and the values that they hold, and they are representative of a huge number of New Zealanders."
Ultimately the Greens, New Zealand First and Labour voted as a bloc and - perhaps more critically - the divergence of opinion on the bill within National's ranks that Brown referred to was significant, making it the tipping point that added this bill to the very tall pile of member bills that won't turn into a law.
RNZ's The House, with insights into Parliament, its legislation and issues, is made with funding from Parliament's Office of the Clerk.
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