Hon JACQUI DEAN: Thank you, Mr Speaker. There is a new clause in the bill which provides for the chief executive of a local authority to notify the electoral officer of delay to the commencement of a by-election due to an extraordinary vacancy. The question that raised in my mind was why is that needed, necessarily, and why do we have to legislate for such an occurrence, given that there is no legislative requirement currently for the chief executive to notify the electoral officer in the event of an extraordinary vacancy? So why suddenly do we legislate for a notification to the electoral officer now? I put that to Jonathan Salter of Simpson Grierson, and he took a moment to give me a considered reply, which was along the lines of surety, of people knowing that in the event of an extraordinary vacancy the council had plans to move on a by-election. I accepted his advice and I accepted the advice of the officials that that, in fact, was the case—in fact, people want certainty—but I still reflect, and it still grates with me a little, and I do wonder if we are legislating because we can. Is that a good way to make law in New Zealand? 