The House

The House looks at two of the major bills this week: one walking back law on Maori wards, and one seeking new ways to show 'tough on gangs'. This week, Parliament is debating a smorgasbord of bills, most of which are on their 2nd and 3rd readings (the third reading being their final approval by Parliament). Expect to see plenty of debate referencing what was said in the select committee (for secon...

The moment the Abuse in Care Report was tabled in Parliament MPs began debating what it means and how to respond. Every week Parliament is a smorgasbord of stories and issues, many of them interesting and most of them impactful, but sometimes one event or issue in the week dwarfs every other. This week that issue was the tabling of, and initial debate over the report of the Royal Commission of Inq...

An adult entertainment activism group who are dancing through Parliament's petition process discuss issues, solutions and the experience of political engagement. Given their broad scope of responsibility, Parliament's Education and Workforce Committee hears submissions from all sorts of individuals and groups. Builders to bus drivers, teachers to travel agents, basically anyone with a job is...

An embarrassing kerfuffle in Parliament's debating chamber on Wednesday provided fun lessons on how the House works; or at least, how it is meant to work. An embarrassing kerfuffle in Parliament's debating chamber on Wednesday provided fun lessons on how the House works; or is meant to. It began with a surprising and unusual period of silence in the House during Wednesday's extra morning...

The House chats with Kieran McAnulty about a recent trip which included visits with the Clerks of the Scottish and Uk Parliaments. Kieran McAnulty, Labour's Shadow Leader of the House, chats with Phil Smith about a recent trip to the UK, where he met with the Clerks of both the Scottish and UK Parliaments. Listen at the link below. The trip's primary objective was an investigation of UK...

Ever wanted a job that combines a very public tight-rope walk with solving fiendish puzzles? Helping The Leader of the House wrangle Parliament's Order Paper is just the thing. On The House we often refer to a government minister titled Leader of the House. Currently that minister is Chris Bishop. In the previous administration it was Chris Hipkins and later Grant Robertson. As you can tell, it&#x...

Lobbyists are often portrayed as political bogeymen (or women). But what do they actually do and how? The House chats with two of them. The term 'lobbyist' derives from the Ayes and Noes lobbies that wrap around Parliament's debating chamber. Historically, they were places insiders could catch the ear of politicians. When the term lobbyist is used in political reporting it is usuall...

There is new research on how Parliament's rules change, and the researcher gets to observe that change very closely - Parlament's Clerk of the House. For any political geek, a new PhD thesis focused on the rules of Parliament is catnip; even more so if the researcher happens to run the Parliament's secretariat. Surely they know where the metaphorical institutional bodies are buried and which...

Parliament tussled through another long week of urgency, and more besides. The House weekend edition has a stormy debate on ferries, five new bills for comment, and submissions on restoring Samoan citizenship rights. Parliament's week began with an urgent (i.e. unplanned) debate into the recent stranding of an Interislander ferry (and the demise of the ferry replacement contract). You can rea...

Parliament had another week of urgency and a new list of bills. Five now need public feedback on things ranging from charter schools, and medicine regulations, to three strikes sentencing. After an urgent debate about the Interislander ferry stranding, and another instalment of argument over the budget, the bulk of Parliament's week was spent under urgency. The urgency motion covered ten bill...

Parliament is hearing submissions on a bill that would create a route to restore NZ citizenship for those Samoans who had that right removed in 1982. While the House spent the week debating under urgency, the Governance and Administration Committee found moments around the extended sittings to hear submissions on a member's bill about Samoan citizenship. The Restoring Citizenship Removed By C...

Parliament's urgent debate on the recent ferry grounding was a rollicking ride, and you might say the Speaker was to blame. One of the many rule changes that came into effect with last year's birth of New Zealand's current Parliament involved urgent debates. It allows the Speaker to announce prior to Question Time that there will be an Urgent Debate, rather than after it (and immediately...

The House covers the beginning of Scrutiny Week - when Parliament makes the Government really work to get its budget approved. It's Scrutiny Week at Parliament - a week when the House doesn't meet, and instead the twelve subject Select Committees spend the week grilling government ministers about their budget plans. You may have thought the budget was all sewn up, but that's far fro...

Despite Parliament having supremacy, governments often play the boss. This week the tables will turn as ministers face up to backbenchers for Parliament's first Scrutiny Week. This week Parliament is undertaking 12 concurrent inquiries into government spending plans, in a rejigged post-Budget process being called Scrutiny Week. It is hoped this will improve on recent Parliaments' lacklustre s...

Parliament has a long-held reputation for bad bosses and even worse behaviour. One solution is a new independent role to hear complaints. Parliament has a long-held reputation for bad bosses and even worse behaviour. The former Speaker Trevor Mallard commissioned outside advice on how to fix the problem. One of the many recommendations of that advice - the Debbie Francis Report - was the creation...

Budget Day in photos: Facts, attacks, stories, protests, pantomime and proclamations. The Sunday radio feature from The House surveyed the party leaders' speeches in the Budget Debate - the facts and attacks, the stories, the pantomime and proclamations. You can listen to that audio at the link below. But rather than a written version of the radio show, here is a photo essay of Budget Day at...

After the Budget Debate begins, it's usual to go into urgency to progress some government bills quickly through the House, or as is the case so far this year - not so quickly. After Ministers of Finance have delivered a Budget Statement and the party leaders have each had a crack at it, the House typically adjourns the debate over the wider budget and instead gets into some policy specifics. It&#x...

Once the Budget Statement is delivered, what happens next? The House looks beyond the initial announcement to the three different processes that follow it, sometimes concurrently. The focus of budget coverage is, of course, all about the numbers. Hundreds and thousands of numbers. Enough numbers to last a month, or as a budget speech would describe a month... a generous 120 days across the four ye...

Like the calm before a storm, Wednesday evening at Parliament was not about the budget. It was a Members' Day including a bill on cellar door tastings. We sip it with its sponsor Stuart Smith. During budget week most arguments and debates in the House relate to the budget (or unusually this week, to some trouble caused by a failure to spot the difference between a karanga and a speech), but within...

It's budget week at Parliament, but Thursday's announcement is just the beginning of a long process of the Government convincing Parliament to fund its ideas. It is budget week this week. I am sure you know that already. There are probably hermit monks, hidden in remote mountains, who are not only aware of budget week, but already tired of hearing about it. But few people realise that Thursday&#x2...

Parliament begins its election inquiry with a double-header and finds that blame is something of a boomerang. Chief Electoral Officer Karl Le Quesne at Parliament's Justice Committee. In each new Parliament, the Justice Committee has a recurring job. It holds an extensive inquiry into the election just gone, looking for ways to improve and update New Zealand's electoral law. That inquiry...

The Justice Committee has begun its inquiry into last year's election. It got some pretty solid and very polite suggestions right up front. This page hosts the audio from Thursday's episode of The House, focussing on the opening stanzas of Parliament's inquiry into the 2023 election. The written version of this story will be published as the Sunday (26 May) edition of The House. Go to th...

Changes to tenancy laws and the removal of Treaty obligations from Oranga Tamariki - two proposed new laws ask for public feedback. Two bills considered for the first time this week were highly contentious. Having had a first reading, both bills will go to select committee - the chance for public feedback. Listen to The House's outline of the bills in case you want to pitch in. The entrance t...

Parliament has been hearing submissions on the Fast-Track Approvals Bill. The House outlines the Bill and a variety of submissions. Parliament's Environment Committee has been hearing submissions on the Fast-Track Approvals Bill over the last three weeks. The oral submissions are a balloted selection from the many seeking to appear, and from the tens of thousands of written submissions receiv...

We talk with the Speaker, Gerry Brownlee, about Question Time, MP porkies, and stepping above the fray after 27 years or partisan politics, to instead become 'Parliament's man'. The role of Parliament's Speaker is ranked fourth in the nation's Order of Precedence, comes with the title 'Right Honourable' (if you like that sort of thing), and shepherds the crucial institution of...