Thursday, June 08, 2017



It's on!

A ballot for four Member's Bills was held today. The first bill out? David Seymour's End of Life Choice Bill. So, we finally get to have the death with dignity debate we've been waiting for for the past few years. And this time, hopefully, it will pass.

But it gets better - because Julie Anne Genter's Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis and Other Matters) Amendment Bill was also drawn from the ballot. The bill allows people with terminal illnesses or debilitating conditions to use, possess, or cultivate cannabis, and relatives of such people to possess or cultivate it for the purposes of supply. So we're going to have a death with dignity debate and a medical marijuana debate at the same time. Watch the politicians scatter!

Its a great example of how the member's ballot can be used to get issues on the agenda, whether the government wants to deal with them or not. Now, if only someone would do it for repealing the "crime" of blasphemy.

(Also drawn: two National Party bills, one increasing sentences for livestock rustling, and the other banning gang members from local government buildings).