11 Feb 2018

Submitting to Parliament

From The House , 7:35 am on 11 February 2018

Sometimes it might seem like MPs are making all sorts of decisions without talking to the voters who put them there.

Select Committee rooms at Bowen House in Wellington.

Photo: RNZ / Daniela Maoate-Cox

But believe it or not, they do want to hear what the public thinks about proposed laws and there are various ways this can be done - one of which is by making a submission.

Select committees, which are groups of MPs, ask for written submissions on bills and there’s an option to ask to front up in person to speak to the committee.

So far Parliament has only met for 20 days since the election - and a number of them were taken up with formalities - like opening the 52nd Parliament.

But regardless, there is a fair bit of legislation now pumping through the Parliamentary process meaning there are lots of decisions that MPs want submissions on.

Financial Services and Legislation Amendment Bill

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Photo: VNP / Daniela Maoate-Cox

Financial decisions are an unavoidable part of life; Purchasing a car? a house? What to invest in, what to do with KiwiSaver and planning for retirement.

Financial advisers exist to help people make these choices but not all advice is created equal so the Financial Services and Legislation Amendment Bill has been put forward.

It’s an omnibus bill from the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Kris Faafoi who said while the current law passed in 2008 has made some positive changes, there are still things to fix.

“Because of the complex nature of financial products, there is a real potential for harm to consumers as a result of poor advice,” he said.

“When making a decision about a financial product, many consumers need to rely on the information given to them by a financial adviser. As consumers put a great deal of trust in these people and institutions that provide the financial advice, it is important that they be held to appropriate standards of conduct and competence.”

Submissions must be made by the 23 of February to the Economic Development, Science and Innovation Committee.

Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Bill

The Commerce Committee hears RNZ give its annual review.

Select committees are set up in a horse-shoe shape with the chairperson at the round end and the submitters at the open end. Photo: RNZ / Daniela Maoate-Cox

Commonly referred to as the “waka jumping” bill the Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Bill, would enable a party leader to kick an MP out of Parliament.

The Party leader would need to have the support of most of their own caucus, and show that the MP is distorting the proportionality of Parliament.

So for example, if a National Party MP decided they would prefer to vote with the Greens, National leader Bill English could expel them, causing a by-election or bringing in the next person on the party list (depending on whether they were a list or electorate MP).

The closing date for submissions to the Justice Committee on the Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Bill is the 19th of March.

End of Life Choice Bill

The Act Party's David Seymour debates the Prime Minister's Statement in the House.

ACT Party leader David Seymour Photo: Supplied / The Office of the Clerk

This Bill is a member’s bill from the ACT Party Leader David Seymour that would allow terminally ill people to choose to die on their own timetable, with medical assistance.

This is a conscience issue and MPs will vote on it according to their personal opinion, rather than as a party policy.  

The closing date for submissions to the Justice Committee on the End of Life Choice Bill is the 20th of February.

Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Bill

cannabis medicines

Photo: 123rf

The Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Bill is government legislation that plans to make some changes to drug laws.

When MPs talk about medicinal cannabis they are usually describing manufactured pharmaceuticals that contain cannabidiol, a therapeutically useful substance extracted from the cannabis plant, although many such products also contain varying levels of the psychoactive substance THC that is also present in cannabis.

The closing date for submissions to the Health Committee on the Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Bill is the 21st of March.

Other bills open for submissions