What’s a Musterer? Gareth Hughes What on earth is a Musterer? The Greens are the only
From the benches/Flaxroots action
party in Parliament to have one, but what do they do? Other parties would call that person a whip, and the role is to organise a party’s parliamentary work. But rather than metaphorically ‘whip’ our team, the Greens would rather shepherd or muster. That’s why in my office I have a framed whip (with a note to break glass in an emergency) but also a shepherd’s crook. It’s my second term as Musterer and I view it as being the organic, sustainable grease-in-the-gears of our parliamentary work. I help support our team with effective organisation and administration so our MPs can worry about their important work in Parliament or select committee. Every day we publish a house programme with the parliamentary agenda, how we are voting and which MP is on duty when. We are allowed two MPs to be away for our full eight votes to be cast and I have the unenviable task of granting leave. This low leave allocation is the reason why sometimes our MPs can’t attend events while Parliament is in session. I meet with Labour and NZ First every week to discuss parliamentary business and strategy, and I keep track of our select committee membership and our expenses. The Musterer role also comes with a lot of committee commitments. I sit on the Business Committee which sets the parliamentary calendar, its order of business, select committee memberships and much more. I sit on the Officers of Parliament Committee which appoints and sets budgets for the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, the Auditor and Controller General and the Ombudsman. As a member of the Parliamentary Services Commission we are responsible for the parliamentary precincts and Parliamentary Service. Something I’m working on here is a solar-powered Parliament. I also sit on the Standing Orders Committee, which reviews Parliament’s rules and we have made some important improvements. Lastly I sit on the ICT Committee dealing with Parliament’s IT needs. As well as the Musterer role, I also do my regular work chairing the Social Services and Community Committee and being a member of the Economic Development, Science and Innovation Committee. I feel tired just writing this. It’s a privilege to be able to assist our Green team’s parliamentary work, and I want to acknowledge Holly, Jeremy, Nive and Hamish who support me in this role. There you have it - not a high profile or glamorous job, but an important one that must be done. Maybe that’s why it’s called Must-erer.
14
Hawke’s Bay Greens Hawke’s Bay Greens ran another very successful
fundraising quiz night on Friday, 13 July. The quiz night is a highlight in the HB Greens’ calendar and this year we had close to 150 attendees – not all of them Green voters but we’re working on it! The evening was full of quirky questions (unique to this quiz night), auctions and raffles of items donated by local businesses and, of course, plenty of supper. The support from local enterprises for our prizes is really encouraging. Photo Teams mull over tricky questions at HB Greens quiz night
Photo Gareth makes a new friend during a visit to Wellington Animal Hospital. Gareth Hughes has been a Green MP since 2010, and is currently Musterer and spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Energy and Resources, Primary Industries, Science and Innovation, Animal Welfare, ICT, Tourism, and Wellington issues