Rurawhe pleased to get bill through

Adrian Rurawhe

Adrian Rurawhe says he will now be looking to more "meaty" legislation after getting a member's bill passed in his first term in Parliament.

The Official Information Act (Parliamentary Under-Secretaries) Amendment Bill, brought to Parliament by the Te Tai Hauauru MP, passed into law last week after it was drawn from the member's ballot last year.

"Just getting a bill out of the ballot is one challenge and it's all luck," Mr Rurawhe said.

He inherited the bill when he came into Parliament in the 2014 election, with new MPs getting to pick up drafted bills from the previous term.

The act places parliamentary undersecretaries under the same Official Information Act obligations as Government Ministers when carrying out ministerial work.

"I've always taken an interest in good government and that stood out for me," Mr Rurawhe said.

"Open and transparent government is pretty important to me."

Mr Rurawhe's job was to get support for it and guide it through the select committee and three readings.

"(Select Committee) is where it is really scrutinised," he said.

The bill passed last week 109-12, with NZ First voting against it after voting for it at the first reading.

Mr Rurawhe said have "emphatic support" from the New Zealand Law Society, the New Zealand Law Commission and Ministry of Justice helped get the numbers.

"National voted against it at the first reading... but it's really uncommon for a Government to vote against the recommendation of its own ministry," he said.

"It was a very good experience guiding a bill through Parliament into law. It doesn't happen very often for a first term MP to get a piece of legislation through.

"I've got some other ideas, a bit more meaty ones to hopefully put into the ballot."