The 140-name petition calling for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Peter Ellis convictions has reached the select committee where it will be examined. Committee chairman and Christchurch Central MP Tim Barnett said the the Ministry of Justice and petitioners had been asked to provide a briefing. He expected this would take a month. Mr Barnett said public interest would not pressure the committee into a fast decision. Rather, it would take its time and "deal with it thoroughly". He did not see as a conflict of interest the fact that the civic creche had been located within his electorate, or that he had been lobbied by both sides - "everyone has been lobbied on it", he said.