Select Committees

I had a brief appearance before the Justice & Electoral Select Committee today, advocating that Parliament not reduce from 120 to 100 MPs. The Committee was very polite and receptive with a few targetted questions and a bit of humour. I can’t speak for them, but I would be surprised if the bill is recommended to proceed.

Prior to that the Committee was hearing submission on Sue Bradford’s Section 59 bill and there were some very emotional submitters, talking about personal backgrounds with abuse. It was really good to see the Committee dealing with such a horrible issue in a very sensitive non-partisan way. Sure the MPs on there may disagree on what the law should say, but one could tell they were operating in a genuine way.

My third select committee experience for today is to note (thanks No Right Turn) that the Commerce Committee has reported back the anti-spam legislation and I (and InternetNZ) are delighted that the Committee has taken on board all the submissions and make some really really good improvements to the bill. It’s again excellent to see Select Committees doing such a good job. Too many people think Parliament is only about Question Time.

Ran into Sophia from Red Confectionary and local Act on Campuser Jordan K at the select committee, so we had a quick beer at the Backbencher afterwards. Always good to meet new people.