Introduction: The Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill (henceforth “the bill”) passed through its first and second readings, committee stage, and third reading under urgency from 13 to 16 May 2009. The passage of the bill was fraught, with more than 30,000 amendments tabled at the committee stage. It called into question the fitness of the...

This report recommends codifying ministerial responsibility, strengthening FOI, regulating lobbying, creating a Parliamentary Standards Commission, and establishing independent Parliamentary Presiding Officers.