Last night (29 May 2012) the House of Representatives voted by a strong majority (71 to 49) to split the Crown Entities Reform Bill into three: The Charities Amendment Bill No. 2; The NZ Public Health and Disability Amendment Bill and the Mental Health Commission Amendment Bill. The first of these, passed through its committee stages on the evening of 23 May (see earlier post). All three will be treated as one piece of legislation when they come before the House for the Final Reading and vote (they are on the Order Paper for today).

The Charities Amendment Bill No. 2, once passed into law will see the Charities Commission disestablished on 1 July 2012 and its functions transferred to the Department of Internal Affairs.

(Note: The Charities Amendment Bill, which came out of the Statutes Amendment Bill No. 2, had its third reading and was passed on 16 February 2012. It has received the Royal Assent).