Points of Order — Members of Parliament—Conflicts of Interest

I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. To continue my point—my point is this: we have done a search using the Parliamentary Library research services, and it is now clear to us that a number of Government members who have just voted have strong interests in property development companies in Auckland. A—

💬 Hon Member: Oh, shut up

Shh! In silence. A number—

The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch): Points of order in silence, please.

It is clear from the register that some 24 National Party members have 48 properties. But it is also very clear and concerning—and this is why I tried to give an opportunity for the Government to consider before it cast those votes—that a number of National Party members who just voted have strong interests in property development companies that could stand to gain from this legislation being moved—

No, no. [Interruption] Order! [Interruption] The member—[Interruption] Order! We are dealing with a point of order, and there will be silence. If the member had concerns about this—we have had a 4-hour debate. We started this debate at 9 o’clock this morning. So we have had over 4 hours now of this debate. If the member had concerns, he should have brought them up at that stage. We cannot interfere with the vote. The vote has been taken, I have announced the result, and the Clerk has read the third reading. That is the end of the matter. If the member has concerns, then the course of action for him to take is to actually go through the Speaker and lodge a complaint. If you feel that there are some grievances here, then this could be a case for the Privileges Committee, and you would be able to lodge those grievances through that avenue but not interfere with the process of this House, because your concerns are not a process matter that this House can concern itself with. We move on.

Absence of Members—Effect on Voting