Speaker’s Rulings — Reserved Provision—Electoral (Māori Option) Legislation Bill

Members, the Electoral (Māori Electoral Option) Legislation Bill is on the Order Paper for consideration in committee. I would like to inform the House of my approach to the proposal contained in the bill for the amendment of a reserved provision. Clause 5 amends section 35 of the Electoral Act 1993, which is a reserved provision under section 268(1)(c) of that Act. During the committee stage, the question will be put separately on clause 5, and it will be agreed to only if the votes of 90 or more members are cast in favour of it.

I have considered carefully whether clause 5 is a proposal to amend a reserved provision, and am satisfied that it is. I have taken relevant case law into account when deciding this matter.

The Speaker ensures the House meets legal requirements that apply to it. Where there is doubt about how the law should be applied in such cases, the Speaker will tend to prefer the approach that is least likely to give rise to judicial consideration of whether the law has been validly made. I say this as an aside, because in this case it is clear that clause 5 is a proposal to amend a reserved provision, and the special majority is needed for it to pass.