The use of entrenchment in law-making in this country has had a sound grilling at the Standing Orders Committee which is conducting its ongoing regular review of Parliament's rules.
The use of entrenchment in law-making in this country has had a sound grilling at the Standing Orders Committee which is conducting its ongoing regular review of Parliament's rules.
Entrenchment refers to a reserved provision in legislation, where more than a majority in Parliament is required in order to overturn that part of the law. New Zealand has very few cases of reserved provisions - they're confined to constitutional matters, mainly electoral law, and usually set with a 75% threshold. But a hoo-ha over a rare use of entrenchment late last year has brought the issue to the attention of the committee reviewing Standing Orders ahead of the conclusion of the 53rd Parliament.
The National and ACT Party representatives on Parliament's Standing Orders Committee listen to evidence during their regular review of Standing Orders.
What happened in November was this: during the committee stage of the Water Services Bill (when MPs focus on details and make final tinkering adjustments), an amendment suggested by the Green Party was accepted - an amendment that added a clause to ban the privatisation of water assets. That much was fine. But the amendment also entrenched that provision - for the purpose of making it harder to overturn. 62% of MPs had agreed to the change, and the new clause said that 60% would need to vote to change it back.
Technically it was legit under Standing Orders. But using such a technique to reserve a policy is considered constitutionally unwise, poor form and dangerous. The Government subsequently removed it, to the relief of Dr Dean Knight, a senior law academic from Victoria University of Wellington, who initially raised the red flag over the Three Waters entrenchment move. He and other constitutional law experts submitting to the Standing Orders Committee have urged that entrenchment only be used sparingly, something he fleshes out in this formal submission…