Holy Heck I’m Mentioned in Parliament!

I never quite realised that my vent about being ignored by the RMA Amendment Bill hearings organisers would become such a big issue. First, it caused a bit of a stir in online discussions at Frog Blog, then it made the NZ Herald, where I was quoted quite extensively in an article last Thursday. But now, we must have the holy grail – I was even mentioned in parliament! Unfortunately the records have messed up the spelling of my name (though I have emailed them to correct it), but it’s still pretty amazing.

Dr Russel Norman: Were all submitters from places near Auckland and Christchurch given the option to be heard at hearings in those places, rather then by teleconference to Wellington?

CHRIS AUCHINVOLE: The best way to answer this question is to give to members the committee’s agreement on the hearing of all oral submissions: allocating individuals 5 to 20 minutes, depending on how substantive their submission was; allocating organisations 10 to 25 minutes, depending on how substantive their submission was; allocating form submitters a single time slot, and asking them to appear as part of a group; grouping submitters with like-minded views; and holding hearings in Auckland on 2 days, Christchurch on 1 day, and Wellington on 4 days. A total of 66.5 hours will be spent on hearing oral submissions. Staff advised that oral submitters who could not be fitted into the Auckland hearings would be scheduled for the Wellington meetings and offered video and teleconferencing if they were unable to travel there in person.

Dr Russel Norman: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I seek leave to table an email from Joshua Arbury of Auckland, a submitter who was not notified of the Auckland hearings and only by virtue of contacting the committee and complaining was granted a hearing by teleconference.

Mr SPEAKER: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is no objection.

So I got a whole email that I sent to Russel Norman tabled in parliament.  Here’s what it said:

Hi Russel,

I made a submission on the RMA Amendment bill and asked to be heard in person when the select committee was in Auckland. In the newspaper yesterday I read that the committee was hearing people yesterday and today. I was not contacted at all about this, which seems very odd.

To ensure that my voice was heard, I subsequently emailed the select committee organiser to complain. I have been given a teleconferencing time next Thursday evening to present my submission, and that’s great.

However, my concern is that if I hadn’t contacted parliament it is likely that I would not have been contacted about this. A lot of people who may wish to make presentations – either in person or via teleconferencing – appear to have not been contacted at all (I know of at least a couple).

I am sure that this “silencing of opinion” will concern you and I hope that you can bring it up. Everyone who made a submission and said they wanted to appear in person should be notified of their opportunity to do so. Having only two days of hearings in Auckland is a complete joke, I imagine you agree.

Kind Regards,

Joshua Arbury

Wow I really have opened a can of worms on this issue… I hope the select committee isn’t too grumpy with me when I actually get around to talking to them on Thursday evening.

Share this