Marcus Ganley brings more than 25 years of experience in government, politics, business and law to his role at Franks Ogilvie. He holds an MA (First Class Honours) in Political Studies from the University of Auckland, where he was the Commonwealth Scholar from Australia, and an LLB (First Class Honours)from Victoria University of Wellington. He was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand in 2003 and as a legal practitioner of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory in 2021.
Marcus spent over a decade working in the New Zealand Parliament, first in the select committee office, then as a senior adviser to ministers, including a prime minister and deputy prime minister. He later served as director of policy to an opposition leader and was a Wellington City Council candidate in 2010.
He has held senior roles in Australian politics, including as chief of staff to state and federal ministers and shadow ministers, and worked on the establishment of the Australian Parliamentary Budget Office in 2012.
From 2013 to 2016, Marcus was a board member and executive director (legal and corporate affairs) at Brisbane-based training provider Charlton Brown, leading its legal, corporate and government relations functions.
Marcus has worked on election campaigns across New Zealand and Australia, and has published research on MMP, select committee influence and Treaty settlements.
Marcus advises on public law matters with a focus on navigating the intersection of regulatory, parliamentary and business environments. He brings deep institutional insight, legislative expertise and practical policy skills to his client work.
Franks Ogilvie submitted to Parliament’s Standing Orders Committee on the 2026 Review of Standing Orders, focused on how the House can strengthen its consideration of legislation.
New Zealand’s Parliament faces a challenge around legislative time with governments increasingly relying on urgency and extended sittings.
Our main proposal is to allow the committee of the whole House to meet in parallel with sittings of the House itself. This change, modelled on the practice of the Australian Parliament’s Federation Chamber, would expand the time available for debate, without adding sitting days or relying on urgency or extending sittings.
The submission compares legislative speed and scrutiny between New Zealand and Australia, showing how greater capacity for deliberation could improve the quality of law-making and strengthen public confidence in the process.
We also outline three ideas to improve the way select committees consider evidence for future exploration:
· Concurrent expert evidence (“hot-tubbing”) to help MPs test competing expert views more effectively;
· Staff-led pre-questioning of submitters to make better use of specialist evidence; and
· AI-assisted analysis of submissions to help committees identify duplication and focus on genuinely new insights.
Together, these proposals aim to make parliamentary scrutiny more rigorous, modern, and responsive.
Read our full submission here: FO 2026 review of standing orders submission
For further information on this or similar issues, contact Director Brigitte Morten
