Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Bill

Thank you very much, Mr Chair, for giving me the chance to speak to clause 4 of the Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Bill. Clause 4 is the purpose clause and is the guts of the bill. Paragraph (a), which is the main part of this clause, amends the Royal Society of New Zealand Act 1997 to “incorporate humanities into the object and functions of the Royal Society of New Zealand:”.

This is pretty important stuff. The only difference anybody watching at home would see between the 1965 Act, the 1997 Act, and what I believe will be the 2011 Act is the change in the year over the last 30 or 40-odd years. This is important. Charles Chauvel, a Wellington colleague of mine who spoke earlier in the debate, talked about the foundation, the federation, and the future of the Royal Society of New Zealand and about the importance of the role it has played over the years. Bringing the humanities into the realm of the Royal Society of New Zealand is a major change since the society began in 1867—I believe on 10 October. I thank Mr Robertson very much for clarifying the date for the members on this side of the Chamber.

I tell those who may be watching on Parliament TV tonight, just in case they are waiting for the voluntary student membership bill, that there was a mistake with some of the graphics on the station earlier today.

What exactly will be the change regarding the humanities? Which disciplines will be introduced? I had a quick look at the society’s website and I understand that those who study languages, history, religion, philosophy, law, classics, linguistics, cultural studies, art history, and drama will all now be included in the society.

💬 Chris Hipkins: Drama?

Yes, drama will also be included in the society. Those members will be able to be fellows and be rewarded for their achievements over the years. As I was looking at the website I saw that a number of people have received many awards from the society. Some of those people are recidivist awardees or winners of prizes from the society. I understand that a new humanities medal will be given out by the society in June this year. The Humanities Aronui Medal will be awarded by the society.

As Charles Chauvel pointed out earlier on in the debate regarding the foundation, the federation, and the future of the society, one thing that has changed is the introduction of the humanities into the society, but what will not change are some of the society’s core functions. The beauty of the society is that it looks after both ends of the spectrum. At the grassroots in schools around the country, it tries to promote awareness and acknowledge achievement of science and, once the bill becomes an Act, the humanities. The society also looks after those experts who are already working in the field of science. As I said before, when the bill is passed, it will make sure there is infrastructure, support, and professional development in the humanities disciplines to make sure they progress over time.

The society also acts as an advisory board to the Government of the day, and I think my colleague David Shearer talked about some of the great work it does in some of the research and development areas, and it needs to be rewarded for that. The society does a great job of making sure it performs those core functions of acting in an advisory role and of promoting awareness among youngsters, and also of acknowledging people who excel in their field by giving out medals, awards, and scholarships such as the Rutherford Fund and Rutherford Medal.

This 2011 bill amends the 1997 legislation. It makes sure that the society has a new, modern face by ensuring members of those disciplines I listed earlier have an equal footing with science and technology members who have been able to use the society to forward their disciplines since 1867, and that needs to be commended.

As my colleague Kris Faafoi, who has just resumed his seat, said, we are debating the purpose clause of the Royal Society of New Zealand Amendment Bill, which is in many ways the guts of why we are debating this bill today.

I refer specifically to clause 4(a), which states that the purpose of the Act is to “incorporate humanities into the object and functions of the Royal Society of New Zealand:”. I will use this call to talk about the process by which that incorporation occurred. Essentially, the document that governs it is the document I have in my hand, which is a memorandum of understanding between the Royal Society of New Zealand and Te Whāinga Aronui—Council for the Humanities. The negotiations between those two organisations took place over a period of time, largely through 2009.

I think it is worth going through the memorandum of understanding, because we have heard people within the debate express concern about the humanities coming into the Royal Society, and about some dilution of the role of the traditional sciences. I think this memorandum of understanding will give people the confidence that the involvement of the humanities within the Royal Society will strengthen the society.

The first part of the memorandum of understanding recognises the value to the humanities community of joining the Royal Society, and the value of humanities knowledge and perspectives. It also acknowledges the importance and value of mātauranga Māori. I think that as we come to the amendment in Te Ururoa Flavell’s name later on, it will be important to note that within the original understanding of the agreement between the Royal Society and the Council of Humanities was an understanding that Māori perspectives would be important within their cooperation. I think that is important to note.

The parties are agreed that the Council for the Humanities will retain its own identity as a charitable trust for up to 2 years to enable the transition; we are obviously in that period at the moment. The council will then become the Humanities Committee of the Royal Society, so there is, in fact, a process in place for the Council for the Humanities to be one of the committees of the society once we move through the transitional phase.

The council of the Royal Society of New Zealand will include a representative from either the social sciences or the humanities. I think that that is important. The council is the governance body of the Royal Society, and in bringing in the humanities, which is noted here in the purpose clause, it is important those people have a say within the governance body. Within 5 years the Royal Society will use its best endeavours to have its Act reflect the inclusion of the humanities.

Lest there be any concern about the amount of time that has been spent tonight on this—

💬 Hon Dr Wayne Mapp: We are not; we reckon you need to talk about this for hours and hours.

Well, I am very happy to, I tell Dr Mapp. But lest anyone be concerned about it, I reiterate that the memorandum of understanding gives 5 years for the legislation to be passed. It might not take quite as long as that. It depends, perhaps, on some matters. You know, it will certainly take some time to work through the important clauses, but the legislation will fit within the memorandum of understanding. I am sure that with the respect and depth of debate there has been tonight, people will understand why we are doing it.

The Royal Society will also ensure that the term “humanities” is included on the society’s website in all places where it should be, and it is acknowledged as a term that should be included whenever there is reference to the Act and to the way in which the Royal Society operates. In making representations to the Government, the Royal Society and agencies will include the humanities where it is relevant. A number of representations to the Government recently have been affected by that policy. One in particular is on the question of policy advice, and the importance of good quality policy advice. I know that the Royal Society has made some submissions on that issue.

Progress reported.

Report adopted.

The House adjourned at 9.55 p.m.