NZ First Stands Alone Against the Palace

The Key administration’s go-to quake response minister, Gerry Brownlee, dominates the week in the House, shepherding three bills through the House as the Government’s response to the Kaikoura earthquake on November 14. Mister Brownlee then gives a yeah-no answer to a patsy question seeking the timing and magnitude of the next big quake. The Speaker’s announcement on Monday of a plan to build a ministerial office block on Parliament’s car park attracts the close attention of the New Zealand First Party which questions the prime minister sbout it and asks the Speaker for an urgent debate, getting nowhere. Three treaty settlement bills are passed in extra time on Wednesday morning. Later that day, Chris Bishop’s members bill, compensating live organ donors, passes its third and final reading. Two opposition members’ bills are defeated short of a first reading by the narrowest of margins, 61-59. Gerry Brownlee confirms that there will be another members’ day on Wednesday.