Parliament Bill to be assessed by special select committee

New legislation to combine and modernise the four laws setting out Parliament's statutory framework has the initial unanimous backing of all parties.

The Parliament Bill will now be assessed by a special select committee created specifically for the bill, made up of members from all parties in Parliament.

The select committee process will last six months, and the government will nominate Labour's previous speaker of the House, Adrian Rurawhe, to chair it.

The bill consolidates four current laws: The Clerk of the House of Representatives Act 1988, the Parliamentary Service Act 2000, the Members of Parliament (Remuneration and Services) Act 2013, and the Parliamentary Privilege Act 2014.

It also aims to clarify the functions of the speaker and deputy speaker - specifically when the deputy steps in to perform the speaker's functions - and brings the statutory functions of the clerk of the House up to date.

It will also give Parliament's security officers similar powers to court security officers, and gives the Electoral Commission responsibility for seeing if a petition has enough signatures to trigger a referendum.

In a statement, leader of the House Chris Bishop said the approach taken on the bill would be cross-party and collborative.

"I am pleased to see this bill receive unanimous support from across the House. When dealing with matters regarding how Parliament is run, we want to ensure a bipartisan, constructive approach. I thank members for their contributions to this bill and to the first reading debate today," he said.