Prostitution Reform Bill

I move, That it be an instruction to the Committee of the whole House on the Prostitution Reform Bill that it take the bill part by part and consider any schedules as one question.

Motion agreed to.

In Committee

JOHN CARTER (Senior Whip—NZ National): I raise a point of order, Madam Chairperson. I have had a chance to discuss the leave that I am about to seek, with the member in charge of the bill and with representatives of all the parties—although, unfortunately, I have not yet had a chance to speak with Stephen Franks. I will seek leave to make a variation with regard to how we handle this bill. The issue is that the whips have proxies for and against the bill. There are a number of amendments, and we have taken those into account as best we can, so that we have an understanding of how members may want to vote on the proposed amendments of which we have had notice. However, during the course of the debate, other amendments may well be put. That leaves the whips in the peculiar predicament of having a proxy either for or against the bill but with no instruction on how to vote on a particular amendment.

My suggestion had been that we have one wide-ranging debate—which will allow the debate to flow and take its course, and will allow members to make their contributions in whatever form they wish to—and that, once the debate is concluded, we conduct all the votes, which would allow the members themselves to come down to the Chamber, have an understanding of what the amendments are, and vote accordingly, rather than the whips trying to predict the thinking of those members with proxy votes. However, there has been a further suggestion, which I will incorporate into my seeking of leave, that we have a wide-ranging debate on the title and a vote conducted on that; then, if that vote is successful, we have a wide-ranging debate on the balance of the bill and conduct all the votes, including the amendments, at the end of that debate.

That is quite a sensible suggestion. It will allow members to make a contribution on the title and then, if the vote on that is successful, to make a contribution on the balance of the bill, including all the amendments. It will allow members to come down to the Chamber at the end of the debate to vote en bloc on the amendments and it will certainly, in my view, be a sensible way for us to progress the bill.

Accordingly, I seek leave for us to have a wide-ranging debate on the title and a vote on the title, including any amendments on the title, and then, if the vote on that is successful, to continue with a wide-ranging debate on the balance of the bill, with the votes to be conducted at the conclusion of that debate.