Today, the Parliament’s justice committee will find out how many submissions were made on the Treaty Principles Bill after the deadline was extended by nearly a week after website issues.
Committee chair and National MP James Meager says the committee has not been updated on the number of submissions sent in since they met last week, and the updated figures will be given when they meet today.
Last week, the select committee unanimously agreed to re-open submissions to 1 pm on Tuesday 14 January after online technical issues.
Meager said the clerk’s staff and departmental officials are now processing and analysing the submissions.
He says they have received more requests for oral submissions than they would be able to accommodate, so only a small proportion would get a chance to speak, with invitations expected to be finalised in late February.
All written submissions that met the submission criteria would be tabled and released as soon as possible.
Meager says if any submissions did not meet the criteria – including duplicates, those made under only a first name, a first name and initial, initials only, or a clear and obvious pseudonym – they would not be considered.
