Legislation by biscuit tin

Random ballot says a lot about parties.

Most people wouldn’t believe Parliament makes laws by random lottery, but the member’s ballot is a strange feature of a strange place. Every few weeks a small crowd gathers around an old biscuit tin to draw out laws. Some of our most significant and controversial laws such as homosexual law reform, voluntary student unionism, and marriage equality have begun at a kind of sports club meat raffle. Any non-ministerial MP can submit a bill to the member’s ballot, and Parliament must debate it if it is drawn. Normally the Government ministers decide what Parliament debates, so the ballot gives a chance for the Opposition and backbench MPs to run their alternative colours up the mast.

Bills in the current ballot range from minor technical adjustments to far-reaching schemes. Some come from meticulous research while others are error-ridden afterthoughts and others still are so tokenistic that they fit on one line of text. The ballot doesn’t care, though – certain lucky MPs seem to get their bills drawn all the time only to be voted down at the first opportunity, while other substantial bills are never drawn. Currently the ballot has 81 bills, meaning 13 MPs haven’t bothered to submit anything – they may have come to Parliament without wanting to change any laws.

The current bills are diverse. From publicising lost property sales, making sports events free-toair, adding another public holiday, increasing Radio New Zealand funding, allowing ceremonial knives to be carried in public, banning car window washers, and increasing fines for littering. For every sensible one, there’s another where the author seems to have just dropped a tab of acid and started typing.

There are some very interesting ones, such as Ian McKelvie’s bill to increase penalties for livestock rustling, a big rural issue, and Damien O’Connor’s medicinal cannabis bill.

The choice of bills can tell us about a party’s priorities. One of ACT’s is legalising assisted dying, so I turned down the Prime Minister’s offer of a ministerial post to keep my End of Life Choice Bill in the ballot.

Andrew Little says Labour ‘‘have to focus on those things that are about building a better nation’’, but they have aimed six of their 32 potential bills at me or partnership schools – who knew eight small innovative schools and I were holding New Zealand back so badly? Meanwhile, Phil Twyford, Labour’s housing spokesperson, has a bill on wheel-clamping and Peeni Henare wants a secret vote for mall tenants to determine their opening hours.

There are numerous other bills I would like to submit. Making superannuation sustainable by raising the age of entitlement, making income tax more transparent by ending bracket creep, imprisoning recidivist burglars with a three-strikes law, and taxing charities that act more like businesses (such as Sanitarium) are all issues that deserve debate, but the rule is one bill per MP.

The member’s ballot should be a chance for MPs to show a bit of bravery in addressing sticky issues and bypassing the political gridlock that besets party politics. If you have a proposal for making New Zealand a better place, challenge your local (or list) MP to put it in the ballot. They might be grateful for an idea.