A biscuit tin

One of Parliament’s more homely eccentricities is the biscuit tin it uses to house the swag of potential new laws suggested by MPs. This week, the 80 or so bills represented inside it included the worthy (Alfred Ngaro’s bill to make children wear lifejackets in small boats), the controversial (David Seymour’s end of life choice bill), and the trivial (Todd Barclay’s bill to increase penalties for those who wrongly claim to have a military badge).

Unfortunately, there has been far too much of the last category lately. National backbencher Nuk Korako’s bill tweaking the finest details of airport lost luggage disposal was the peak of the nonsense.

In fairness, this is not all the biscuit tin’s fault. It’s the Government that wants to reduce the chances of a vote on an uncomfortable Opposition proposal.

The tin has certainly thrown those up before, for governments of every stripe.

Sue Bradford’s wildly controversial anti-smacking law emerged from the ballot. So did Labour MP Sue Moroney’s recent paid parental leave bill, which won majority support before being felled by a Government veto.

The tin needs to get back to this sort of business. When it does so, it’s a vital slice of legislative life, with its air of the random and democratic, its role in stoking tricky, important debates – and even lasting change.