With two bills now in the Parliamentary ballot on the issue of marriage equality, and another on adoption what are the actual odds of one being drawn? Well, it's hard to say exactly. Those pro marriage equality in our community will certainly have been buoyed by the news that separate bills from Labour MP Louisa Wall and Green MP Kevin Hague have been accepted into the ballot system. They join an adoption bill by Labour MP Jacinda Ardern, amongst more than 50 pieces of potential legislation that various MPs from across the House have put forward. In the ballot currently lies everything from a potential law on financial assistance for live organ donors, another about giving way to buses, something called the 'Plain Language Bill', and one on controlling wild animals. As you can imagine, any MP can enter a bill on an issue they feel strongly about. And they can only have one bill in the Parliamentary lucky dip at a time. But their bill can stay in as long as they wish. The odds of one of the three bills directly impacting our community being pulled from the current crop is therefore a little better than 1 in 20. Other than that, as Fay Paterson, the Clerk-Assistant in charge of House matters at the Office of the Clerk, says: "It's a pure matter of luck". While it has been explained to us by political insiders as something akin to a 1950s Bingo night, Paterson explains that the ballot is conducted at midday on ballot day, by pulling counters from a tin. "Each bill available for the ballot is given a number and the counter with the corresponding number is put in the tin," she explains. As to when the next ballot will be, picking a date seems to be as much of a lottery as the process itself. "The number of bills drawn is governed by the number of places on the Order Paper for members' bills first readings," Paterson says. "There should be eight members' bills on the Order Paper for first reading so whether a ballot can be held depends on the progress through those bills each day the House considers members' business," which is every second sitting Wednesday. Apparently the ballot has "occasionally" resulted in the introduction of bills that have been of historic significance. That doesn't sound very hopeful... So now, we sit and wait with crossed fingers and toes. But rest assured, if one of the three bills does trump plain language or wild animals on a Wednesday lunchtime, we will immediately let you know. And then we'll follow the slow process of actually getting a bill from what is basically the bottom of the food chain passed through three readings in the House... which is a whole other matter!!! Jacqui Stanford - 15th June 2012