Sir Geoffrey Palmer gives evidence to the Parliament Bill Select Committee. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
Submissions to the Parliament Bill have opened up wider conversations about New Zealand's constitutional arrangements, including the establishment of a Parliamentary Budget Office and an increased number of MPs, say members of the Parliament Bill Select Committee.
The ad hoc committee was established in September last year for the specific purpose of examining the Parliament Bill.
The bill combines existing legislation relating to the operation of Parliament, and makes some changes to the powers of Parliament's security officers, as well as the funding arrangements of Parliamentary Service and the Office of the Clerk.
After receiving unanimous support at first reading, it arrived back in the House this week, following six months of select committee consideration. This is also the period in which the public got to have a say on the bill in the form of submissions.
Committee member, Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March said that while the conversation wasn't always specifically within the scope of the bill, there were a lot of valuable questions raised about New Zealand's constitutional arrangements.
"Something that was raised was the reality that the number of MPs that we have hasn't kept up with population changes… As our population grows and our number of MPs remains the same, each MP actually has to serve a greater number of people, with actually stagnant resources."
It is likely that increasing the number of MPs wouldn't be the most politically popular move, but some of New Zealand's constitutional brains, many of whom submitted on the Parliament Bill, said an increase in the number of electorates (and therefore MPs) was a logical move, given the current allocation (72) was made in 1996, when our population totalled only 3.7 million.
Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Another question that came up in submissions was whether New Zealand needs a Parliamentary Budget Office.
The Office would be a non-partisan institution that would provide oversight and impartial scrutiny of fiscal policy.
Some advocates also suggested the entity should provide costings for political party policies prior to an election. Countries such as Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom all have something similar.
One of those advocates is Menéndez March, who said the Greens had supported the idea for a long time.
"Parties who don't have access to Treasury have very little resource to actually cost their own policies. If we want to propose amazing radical things, like more of our health system being in public hands, [we should] be able to communicate to the public how much that will cost."
New Zealand First's Andy Foster is also on the Parliament Bill Committee.
He agreed with Menéndez March that the proposition was a good one, citing the benefit to the public in terms of transparency and more measured policy-making.
"The more that the public can have confidence that what is being proposed will cost X or Y, the better it is. I think it's a good discipline that will hopefully result in better decisions and also the right kind of things being put in front of the public."
New Zealand's constitution and Parliament's funding
When we use the word constitutional, we are broadly talking about the powers of the state.
New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy with King Charles as our head of state, represented by the Governor General, who signs off on all legislation passed by Parliament.
Much of the discussion from submitters on the Parliament Bill focused on the 'separation of powers.' This refers to the separation of the three branches of government:
- The Executive (Government - The Prime Minister and his Ministers who propose laws)
- The Legislature (Parliament - House of Representatives who pass laws and hold the Government to account)
- The Judiciary (The courts and judges who interpret and enforce the laws)
Both submitters and committee members agreed that the funding of Parliament's two agencies - Office of the Clerk and Parliamentary Service - should better reflect that separation of powers.
The two agencies are integral to the running of Parliament and are independent and apolitical.
However, for funding, these agencies are currently treated as government entities. Each year they rely on the Minister of Finance allocating them funding in the government's budget.
The bill would alter their funding model to resemble the one used by the Officers of Parliament (the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, the Ombudsman, and the Controller and Auditor-General).
In practice, this could mean the Parliamentary Service Chief Executive, and the Clerk of the House would submit budget proposals to a select committee (likely the Officers of Parliament Committee).
The Committee would consider the proposal in consultation with Treasury and an independent advisor, before recommending that the House approve their budgets. This is what currently happens for the Officers of Parliament.
Menéndez March said this change would minimise the risk of governments underfunding the legislature.
"For many governments, it will be in their interest to purposely underfund Parliament because it reduces the ability for non-executive members to actually hold the government to account.
"When we have a chronically underfunded Parliament it impedes everyday people from participating in our democratic process in a fulsome way."
Foster thought the word "chronically" was harsh but agreed with his committee colleague's general sentiment.
"I think it's a constitutional principle that Parliament is able to make its decisions about those things because they are about the operation of Parliament on behalf of the people of New Zealand.
"Allowing people to engage with the Parliamentary process, as Menéndez March said, that is Parliament's responsibility - not the executives."
The bill received submissions from 53 groups and individuals.
NZ First MP Andy Foster. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
Foster said the key to getting people to care about important civics changes, like the Parliament Bill, is through better civics education.
"We should be teaching the way in which our system works, and the history of our system as part of our school curriculum."
Menéndez March said he had observed an upsurge in people engaging with the parliamentary process on bills like the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill, and the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill, and said if anything, it proved that we currently didn't have the resources to handle that increased engagement.
"What I hope is that the Parliament Bill will result in the ability to better resource the mechanisms that allow everyday people to engage with parliamentary processes."
The Parliament Bill is due to go through its second reading in the coming weeks, when it is expected that all parties will support it.
You can listen to The House's full conversation with Ricardo Menéndez March and Andy Foster by clicking the link near the top of the page.
- RNZ's The House, with insights into Parliament, legislation and issues, is made with funding from Parliament's Office of the Clerk.
