After being bogged down for a year, time set aside for Members’ bills is starting to open up and deal with more interesting business.
Every second Wednesday Parliament sets aside a sitting day for MPs bills to be dealt with after the General Debate.
Last year progress ground to a halt as Labour filibustered a non-controversial bill on the Royal Society in order to prevent the passage of legislation making membership of student unions voluntary.
This created a backlog of business and in the end the student union bill passed anyway.
Since the new Parliament began Members’ Day has been slowly catching up and tonight starts closing in on new business.
First up is the third reading of the non-controversial Military Manoeuvres Act Repeal Bill which repeals unused legislation allowing defence forces to use land for military manoeuvres.
This is followed by the interrupted second reading Fair Trading (Soliciting on Behalf of Charities) Amendment Bill which attempts to regulate third party businesses making large profits raising funds for charities.
Then there will be a second reading debate on the Sustainable Biofuel Bill in the name of Green MP Kennedy Graham.
The bill would allow regulations to be made to prescribe sustainability standards for biofuels sold in New Zealand, both imported andproduced domestically.
It is not supported by National and is likely to fail.
This will be followed by first reading of the Crown Minerals (Protection of Public Conservation Land Listed in the Fourth Schedule) Amendment Bill in the name of Green MP Metiria Turei.
This bill seeks to prevent land being removed from the list of areas protected from mining.
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