Attention to detail makes for solid platform for democracy

THIS week, television viewers of Parliament's Question Time would have wondered what all the fuss was about at the beginning of proceedings.

The Prime Minister moved a notice of motion thanking the Clerk of the House, Mary Harris, on her retirement from the role and for her seven years of service as clerk and for 28 years working in Parliament. The other party leaders and opposition whip followed.

The public face of the clerk is when she sits in front of the Speaker at the beginning of each day of business.

When the Speaker calls for petitions, papers or bills, she is the one who stands and responds.

It appears to be a very perfunctory role but, like many such roles, the grunt goes on behind the scenes.

When the debate is hot and fury rails around the walls, it is the clerk who advises the Speaker on the rulings that maintain decorum.

When there are constitutional concerns about MPs' behaviour or the interaction between Crown and Parliament, it is the clerk who provides that sage advice.

In many respects, the Clerk of the House of Parliament is a very powerful figure because her interpretation of the law and the rules of process will decide the turn of events.

People can often seem completely familiar until you discover a whole aspect of them that has remained hidden.

We found out a few unknown facts about our clerk this week, too.

She played cricket for New Zealand for a decade and captained the team for four years.

She is an enthusiastic trout fisher and soon will be cycling around Italy for six weeks before coming back to New Zealand to build a house.

All this may seem of very little consequence to those who have little interest in Parliament and who believe, some with justification, that what happens in Parliament has very little effect on the real world - and the real world has very little effect on Parliament.

My reason for noting this "family event" for parliamentarians, I guess, is a follow-on from my column last week acknowledging volunteers.

All around our community, we have people who get on with the job without a lot of fanfare.

Their roles are not widely known or understood, but the lack of them in that role would soon see the wheels get wobbly in our home or factory or community - and, in Mary's case, in our nation.

It is the attention to those small details which makes a solid societal platform for a democracy.

There is a famous proverb quoted by many and often attributed to Benjamin Franklin. "For want of a nail the shoe was lost, for want of a shoe the horse was lost, for want of a horse the knight was lost, for want of a knight, the battle was lost, for want of a battle, the kingdom was lost. So a kingdom was lost - all for want of a nail."

Those among us, humbly going about their work diligently and precisely, are the true movers and shakers.