Friday, October 09, 2009



In the ballot XXXIV

Another batch of Member's Bills currently in the ballot. Previous batches are indexed here:

Electricity (Renewable Preference) Amendment Bill (Chris Hipkins): would amend the Electricity Act 1992 to restore the ban on thermal generation of electricity.

Goods and Services Tax (Exemption of Healthy Food) Amendment Bill (Rahui Katene): Amends the Goods and Services Tax Act 1985 to exempt "healthy food" (meaning fruit and vegetables, breads, milk, and lean meat) from GST. The measure is aimed at reducing poverty (poor families spending a greater proportion of their income on food than wealthy ones) and is supported by the Public Health Association and Heart Foundation.

Members of Parliament (Code of Ethical Conduct) Bill (H V Ross Robertson): Would impose a formal code of conduct on MPs. The code is based heavily on the UK Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament [PDF] and requires members to uphold the law, act in the public interest, and avoid bring parliament and politics into disrepute. Robertson has been pushing this for the last ten years, and has had it repeatedly turned down by the Standing Orders Committee. Some parties have voluntarily signed up to it, but the larger parties have refused (clearly they wish to preserve their "right" to take inducements, misuse confidential information for private gain, and hide their conflicts of interest). I suspect this bill will face tremendous resistance, particularly from National, and is unlikely to pass.

As usual, I'll have more bills as I acquire them.