Monday, March 24, 2008



Adopting bills

One of the consequences of the Members' Day logjam is that the House will almost certainly not be passing Darrien Fenton's Minimum Wage and Remuneration Amendment Bill before it rises for the election. Of course, if the government wants to see this bill passed, it has options: Standing Order 271 allows a Members' Bill to be adopted by the government with the Member's consent. So, they could see how far it gets, then rescue it at the last minute for a committee stage and/or third reading, to get it through before the election.

More interesting is the prospect of their doing this for the Waste Minimisation (Solids) Bill. The government has said they support it, and it was even mentioned in the recent State of the Environment report as being government policy. But if they want it enacted before the House rises, they're goign to have to adopt it and do it themselves. I guess we'll find out how serious they are about it in a week or two, when its scheduled to emerge from committee.