A private bill
A fairly rare private bill has been introduced to Parliament, the Sullivan Birth Certificate Bill.
There are four sorts of bills. They are:
- a Government bill—a bill dealing with a matter of public policy introduced by a Minister
- a Member’s bill—a bill dealing with a matter of public policy introduced by a member who is not a Minister
- a local bill—a bill promoted by a local authority, which affects a particular locality only
- a private bill—a bill promoted by a person or body of persons (whether incorporated or not) for the particular interest or benefit of that person or body of persons
The particular bill is to amend the birth certificate of Rowen Sullivan to reinsert Diane Sullivan as her mother. Diane died when Rowen was 17, and her mother’s partner Doreen Shields became her guardian. When Rowen turned 18 she would have no legal relationship with Doreen (despite a lifetime of caring for her) so Doreen adopted Rowen. However this mean that Diane had to be removed from her birth certificate as her mother. This private bill seeks to put Diane’s name back on the birth certificate.
Most private bills are for organisations such as the Royal Society, Christ’s College, Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind etc. It is rare to have a bill for a natural person. In 1989 there was a private bill dealing with the estate of Ellen Eames, and closer to this in 1985 Parliament passed a law making lawful a marriage between Thomas Stockman and Rosalina Howe despite him being the half brother of her mother.
Also in 1985 we had the Longley Adoption Act and in 1982 the Papa Adoption Discharge Act.