This is The Long Lede, I am Harriet Ngata, and this month we are reading a law. Stay with me. After one terrible incident, a bill was drafted, debated and passed in seven days. It was described, repeatedly, as temporary. That was several years ago and it is still in force, renewed each time without a debate. I read the whole parliamentary record, including the two members who objected and were told they were being unhelpful. Then I found the cases where the law has actually been used, and they look nothing like the incident that inspired it. I spoke to a defence lawyer who sees it every week and a former minister who now wishes she had asked more questions. This is how laws outlive their reasons. You are listening on Witspeak Podcasts.