23 Summary  Proceedings  Act  1957,  the  Gaming  Amendment  Act  1961,  and  the Matrimonial Property Act 1963. 91.    The  Ministry  of  Justice  was  the  conduit  between  the  LR  Committee  and  the Government,   forwarding   proposals   that   required   legislative   action,   and interacting on behalf of the LR Committee with other Government departments. If  the  LR  Committee  made  a  recommendation  for  a  change  to  legislation administered by a Government department other than the Department of Justice the recommendation was conveyed by the Minister of Justice to the Minister in charge of that Department.   92.    All other recommendations of the LR Committee became part of the Department of Justice’s legislative progr amme and it was up to the Department of Justice to secure  as  high  a  priority  as  was  reasonable  for  this  legislation.  Apart  from making recommendations to the Department of Justice the Committee itself had no other powers or oversight. 93.    In 1965 the Attorney General and Minister of Justice J R Hanan published The Law in a Changing Society: A Policy and Programme for Law Reform.¹¹ This publication  was  designed  to  stimulate  debate  on  possible  reform  of  New Zealand’s  law  reform  machinery.  It  incl uded  an  overview  of  the  law  reform machinery   up   until   that   time   and   the   Attorney   General’s   opinion   of   the effectiveness of that machinery.   94.    The Attorney-General noted that the LR Committee’s progress in law reform had been inhibited by several factors, including the acute shortage of qualified staff after   the   Second   World   War,   the   lack   of   resources   available   to   the   LR Committee,   and   the   lack   of   appreciation,   apart   from   those   immediately concerned,  of  the  importance  of  full  research  into  law  reform  proposals. According to the Attorney-General, law reform was delayed and its scope was limited  by  the  unwillingness,  prior  to  the  1960s,  to  consider  changes  in  the common law except in the wake of English legislation.¹² 95.    A further problem with the LR Committee was that its small size and infrequent meetings meant that it was not able to take an overarching and comprehensive                                                  11   Above n4.