Urgency — is it sign of a seriously strained Government?
King of law Geoffrey Palmer once said New Zealand’s legislative process was the “fastest law in the West” which makes laws passed under urgency the equivalent of travelling at the speed of light.
We’ve seen the introduction of the Covid-19 Response (Taxation and Social Assistance Urgent Measures) Bill and the Covid-19 Response (Urgent Management Measures) Legislation Bill, for example, but National justice spokesman Mark Mitchell has purported the Government has essentially been drunk on legislative power when it comes to prisoner voting rights.
“Parliament is meant to be adjourned except for urgent pandemic business, rushing through hearings on this bill while the nation is in lockdown is wrong,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell went on to say Minister of Justice Andrew Little told the Justice Select Committee that officials could not provide the normal support and advice on the bill because of the national emergency, but insisted it be rushed through. And yet the same couldn’t be said for other bills relating to sexual violence laws and increasing protection for first responders.
“Labour is effectively saying the rights of prisoners are more important and a higher priority than victims of sexual violence or frontline emergency workers like ambulance officers.”
Little fired back, saying Mitchell’s claim that he was rushing through controversial legislation was simply not correct. He says the Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill was referred to the Justice select committee by Parliament in mid-March, and it’s not due to report back until June.
“Ministers do not direct the business of select committees.
“The justice committee has already received many submissions on the issue of prisoner voting over the last two years in response to its inquiry into the 2017 general election, and last year’s Electoral Amendment Bill.”
In essence, the issues around the voting rights of prisoners are not new. And while Little hasn’t been front and centre unlike his comrades, he has been attending regular Cabinet meetings, Cabinet committee meetings, Cabinet Covid subcommittee meetings-as-required, as well as seeking and distributing advice on shared parenting orders, residential property settlements, commercial leases, and remote signing of documents (oaths, declarations and wills).
“These are issues that affect many New Zealanders, and I will continue to ensure accurate and concise information is disseminated throughout the various alert levels. Some of these are issues I’ve also kept the Opposition briefed on (Judith Collins on shared parenting issues and commercial leases, Mark Mitchell on commercial leases).”
A history: other laws issued under urgency
There’s an element of irony in Mitchell’s scathing attitude towards urgency, seeing that National has never shied away from the mechanism. According to a 2011 paper by Canterbury University’s Sascha Mueller, 23 bills were passed in urgency during the term of the 49th Parliament, for example — more than twice as many as during the previous three terms combined.
In fact, former Speaker of the House Lockwood Smith said during the adjournment speech of the House on October 6, 2011, that the House had sat for a quarter of its time under urgency.
Also, 2011 was the year Grant Robertson teamed up with David Farrar to release figures on the use of urgency, which showed that in its first two years National pushed 17 laws through, sans the use of public submissions. Some big pieces of legislation issued under urgency included:
● The Employment Relations (Film Production Work) Amendment Bill, otherwise known as the Hobbit Bill
● The Employment Relations Amendment Bill (which introduced the 90-day trial period)
● The Taxation (Budget Measures) Bill (which increased GST to 15 per cent)
● The Taxation (Urgent Measures and Annual Rates) Bill
● The Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill
● The Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill
● The Excise and Excise-equivalent Duties Table (Tobacco Products) Amendment Bill
● The Canterbury Earthquake Response Bill
● The Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Bill
But while using urgency might be considered an act of curtailing due process, Mueller has argued that it’s the result of having too many cooks in the kitchen, suggesting that the House’s inability to deal with its workload is a serious problem. It’s meant that governments have historically had to prioritise bills, as they aren’t able to pass all bills they deem necessary.
In Norway and the Netherlands, for example, the final reading only takes place if a bill has been amended. And the UK and Ireland feature only one committee stage after the first debate of a bill. It means the bill is referred to either a select committee, or the Committee of the Whole House. The simpler and less controversial bills are trusted to select committees.
Could we be doing things better, then? Mitchell may be arguably politicising prisoners’ right to vote, but otherwise it’s nothing to do with the fact that it’s election year.
“The election is still a number of months away,” he said. “It’s too soon to say what will happen, and in any case it’s up to the Prime Minister to decide. What’s important right now is keeping New Zealanders healthy and kick-starting our economy.”