Wise MPs apologise hard and early, but Casey Costello's correction may be late. The Speaker appears to have revealed he is considering a complaint over a matter of privilege. MPs in Parliament's debating chamber go hard and they go early. Even MPs who would blanche at that phrase would admit some of the most interesting things happen early and quickly. For example, Tuesday began with fleeting acknowledgement of a visiting US senator, and before beginning debates, MPs agreed which of them will be...
Feb 20, 2024•5 min•Ep. 490
This weekly wrap of The House looks at the repeal of major water reforms passed in the last Parliament term, and a Select Committee hearing on news media's existential crisis. In this edition of The House we look back at two of the more important subjects MPs were grappling with this week in the debating chamber and select committees. One is Parliament's repeal of major water reforms passed last term by the previous government, with the Water Services Acts Repeal Bill being passed through all it...
Feb 17, 2024•14 min•Ep. 489
A select committee is considering views on a bill that seeks a more level playing field in the digital market that our media industry operates in, where tech giants dominate. Parliament's Economic Development, Science and Innovation select committee today heard from a range of New Zealand's news media companies about how the changing media environment and the dominance of tech giants are killing them. The committee has been listening to submissions on a bill that seeks a more level playing field...
Feb 15, 2024•9 min•Ep. 488
The Water Services Acts Repeal Bill has passed through all stages while Parliament went into urgency. If you've been following the news, you'll know Parliament has repealed water reforms legislation that was passed last year by the previous Labour government. The coalition government's Water Services Acts Repeal Bill passed through all its stages under urgency, having been introduced in Parliament yesterday and then debated into the night until it its third and final reading this morning. The au...
Feb 14, 2024•5 min•Ep. 487
An unusually long sitting block begins today at Parliament, beginning with another repeal of law passed by the previous government. An unusually long sitting block commences today at Parliament, with the Government resuming its repeals of legislation passed by the previous government. This week is the start of a four-week sitting block, which is a bit unusual. It's been several years since Parliament has sat for more than the usual chunks of two or three weeks at a time. The Government will go i...
Feb 13, 2024•5 min•Ep. 486
Parliament's Clerk has just published a new edition of Parliament's own bible, a vast and fascinating compendium of our democracy - Parliamentary Practice in New Zealand. In Parliament's debating chamber, sitting at a desk in front of the Speaker presiding, there is always a clerk - a member of Parliament's secretariat. They are the team that administer the House and its many committees, the brainy worker elves of democracy's legislature. They are also the experts on all things Parliament. They ...
Feb 10, 2024•14 min•Ep. 485
Live-streaming of public select committee hearings is now being hosted on Parliament's own website instead of on Facebook. From this week, all public hearings of select committees are being live-streamed to Parliament's own website instead of on Facebook, a move welcomed by advocates of open government. Shifting away from the use of the social media platform for hosting select committee live-streams was something recommended in submissions to Parliament's regular Standing Orders review last term...
Feb 03, 2024•14 min•Ep. 484
Being a government minister is harder than it looks. Parliament is a tough master of its governments. This week a clutch of ministers made mea culpas, and one is learning fast just how hard it can be. I suspect opposition MPs and politics watchers sometimes observe government ministers and think - 'well, that looks like a doddle'. From observation, the job mostly involves finding ways of avoiding questions about the role. But a minister's job is full of fish hooks, made worse because ministers e...
Feb 01, 2024•4 min•Ep. 483
The first piece of legislation Parliament is looking at in 2024 disestablishes a Crown entity that MPs all agreed has been doing great work. But they don't all agree that it should go. The first piece of legislation that Parliament has been looking at in 2024 is the Productivity Commission Act Repeal Bill, which is being debated under urgency. It found some MPs scratching their heads at the end of an independent Crown entity whose work they applaud. Since its inception in 2011, the Commission ha...
Jan 31, 2024•5 min•Ep. 482
Leader of the House, Chris Bishop, outlines the week to come in Parliament. A week with 19 maidens and just two bills. Students are back in the classroom, and are matched by MPs, back in Parliament. But doing what exactly? The election seems like a long while ago but the 54th Parliament is still very new, and still has the initial set-pieces of any new Parliament to sweep through before it can get knee-deep into legislation. There are two new bills this week however (see below). Listen to Leader...
Jan 30, 2024•5 min•Ep. 481
The House offers a selection of some of the highs and lows, and behind the scenes chats, from a year of great change at Parliament. There's no denying it's been a year of great change in Parliament - 2023 began with a brand new Prime Minister, and ended with another new Prime Minister, a new Government and a new Speaker. So much has happened that it's almost hard to believe there were three months without the house sitting (during the election and subsequent period of government formation). So T...
Dec 23, 2023•15 min•Ep. 480
When governments change, the new bunch typically want to quickly make a mark. The first weeks have been long weeks, all about marking fast marks. It's a truism that when governments change, the new bunch want to quickly make a mark. That can be achieved by passing bills a new government has waiting and ready to go, or by tweaking bills already under consideration. Those things both happened back in 2017, the last time power swapped between the two major parties. Another tactic is to wind back so...
Dec 21, 2023•5 min•Ep. 479
There's a look in the eyes of many people who work on precinct that tells you they just want this parliamentary year to finish already, but it's not quite done yet. There's a look in the eyes of many people who work on precinct that tells you they just want this parliamentary year to finish already. But it's not quite done yet and this morning's grinding committee stage action prolonged the torture. Parliament's in urgency and running later than it normally does towards year's end, as the coalit...
Dec 20, 2023•5 min•Ep. 478
The Speaker's role and approach are crucial to Parliament's good functioning. Gerry Brownlee has outlined to MPs what approach he will take in enforcing Parliament's rules regarding Question Time. Gerry Brownlee has begun Parliament's week by outlining his approach as Speaker to Question Time. Each Speaker tends to come at their job with slightly different interpretations of Parliament's many rules. Brownlee had promised he would give guidance as to his own approach after a combative first full ...
Dec 20, 2023•5 min•Ep. 477
It's early in the 54th Parliament and things are dynamic, with many MPs either still finding their feet or feeling out the others to see how they roll. Two weeks in, but really only one full week so far, and already the 54th Parliament feels kind of heavy and intense. Maybe it's the fiery exchanges in Question Time, or the unique energy that comes from going headlong into repealing laws that the previous parliament deliberated on and passed just a few months back. Maybe it's the end of year grin...
Dec 16, 2023•15 min•Ep. 476
The latest from the House Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Dec 14, 2023•6 min•Ep. 475
Parliament's in urgency in this hectic, penultimate week before Christmas, and most MPs are undergoing a kind of crash course of learning and adjustment. Parliament's in urgency in this hectic, penultimate week before Christmas, and most MPs are undergoing a kind of crash course of learning and adjustment. It's a mass challenge of adjustment - not just for those first-time MPs learning on the job and coming to grips with the Parliament environment, but also MPs who are now in an opposite mode to...
Dec 13, 2023•4 min•Ep. 474
Parliament is discovering how the Speaker will interpret its rules. Today's contention was can he force good answers from ministers, or indeed, any answers. Each new Parliament goes through a birthing process where it finds its own shape and mood. They all tend to end up a little different, or a lot different. A crucial determinant of that shape is how the new speaker will interpret the Parliament's rules. New parliaments don't create new rules. The Standing Orders (rules) are already agreed. Bu...
Dec 13, 2023•6 min•Ep. 473
A new Parliament, a new Prime Minister, a new Speaker. There was a lot going on at Parliament in the first week of its 54th incarnation. The first week of the new Parliament has ended, and thank goodness. It was a whirlwind of state occasions, political minefields and around the edges, a little actual parliamentary business. Wednesday saw the first debating shots in anger, and it was interesting to watch. Labour's senior MPs seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves, which was unexpected. Natio...
Dec 09, 2023•18 min•Ep. 471
Parliament pushed back it's business on Thursday to begin with an hour of debate over how far to go in calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The first debate Parliament undertook this term (other than the set-piece response to the Message from the Throne), was about the situation in Gaza. The topic is tragic, and the emotion was raw. Ultimately every party voted for a variation on the motion proposed, but there was much strong language and personal attacks as amendments to strengthen the motion were ...
Dec 08, 2023•5 min•Ep. 470
Parliament business got underway after the State Opening of the 54th Parliament, a ceremony of pomp and pageantry culminating in the Speech from the Throne. Parliament business is underway after the State Opening of the 54th Parliament. It began in ceremonial pageantry around the arrival of the Governor General Dame Cindy Kiro. The State Opening was attended by cohorts of military officers from the Army, Air Force and Navy. Dame Cindy inspected them. As part of a long-running tradition, Sandra M...
Dec 06, 2023•4 min•Ep. 469
The new Speaker Gerry Brownlee has offered a heads-up about how he'll run Parliament, with Standing Orders to be a mere guide rather than a strict line to follow. Parliament's new Speaker has given a heads-up about how he intends to run proceedings in the chamber, with Standing Orders to be a mere guide rather than the strict line to follow. The election of National's Gerry Brownlee as Speaker was confirmed today by the Governor-General, amid the opening ceremonial stanzas of the 54th Parliament...
Dec 05, 2023•5 min•Ep. 468
The final thing Parliament did before adjourning was agree rules changes for the next Parliament. We discuss them with senior clerks David Wilson and Gabor Hellyer. The final thing Parliament did before it adjourned for the election was agree some alterations to Parliament's rules that will apply to the next Parliament. These are changes that the parties and the clerks have been working on since last year. They even asked for ideas from the public, and while many suggestions don't come to fruiti...
Sep 02, 2023•16 min•Ep. 467
Before Parliament adjourned it agreed new rules for next time. In discussing them MPs gave glimpses into the rules they would like to change and the Parliament they wished existed. Before Parliament adjourned for the election, MPs' final order of business was agreeing to rule changes for the next Parliament. The new rules have been developed over the last year by a committee of senior MPs from every party. Some of those MPs spoke about the changes, and interestingly about what changes they did n...
Aug 31, 2023•4 min•Ep. 466
MPs have been debating whether to lower the voting age for local council elections to 16 years of age from the current age of 18. MPs have been debating whether to lower the voting age for local council elections to 16 years of age from the current age of 18. Debate on lowering the voting age immediately followed debate on a Declaration of Inconsistency. That stems from a Supreme Court ruling nine months ago that voting laws are inconsistent with the Bill of Rights Act on the basis of age discri...
Aug 30, 2023•5 min•Ep. 465
The last sitting week of the 53rd Parliament has a fairly packed schedule of government business, plus debate on the Standing Orders Committee's regular report, and the Adjournment Debate. This is the last sitting week of the 53rd Parliament, and fittingly for such a busy term there's a fairly packed schedule of government business for the next few days. Things will wind up on Thursday with the debate over the adjournment of Parliament, and a look at what changes to Parliament's rules will stem ...
Aug 29, 2023•6 min•Ep. 464
If there's one group who we don't hear enough about, it's the photographers who cover Parliament. A new exhibition is casting light on five of these practitioners. We talk to two of them. In terms of the media people who cover Parliament, there's more than enough focus on the reporters and broadcasters that inhabit the Press Gallery. If there's one group who we don't hear enough about, it's the photographers and visual journalists. That's why the current exhibition at Parliament's Te Papakura Ex...
Aug 26, 2023•14 min•Ep. 463
Among a long week of debates at Parliament, MPs still found the time for farewell speeches from departing colleagues. Todd Muller's stood out and while uncomfortable for his colleagues, it is worth noting. After Todd Muller's valedictory in Parliament on Wednesday, the next MP up to the plate was the avuncular National Party MP Ian McKelvie. He listed National Party Leaders he had served under (six of them), and on reaching the short tenure of Muller ad-libbed "we just heard today what might hav...
Aug 24, 2023•5 min•Ep. 462
As more valedictory speeches were heard in Parliament's chamber, a warning was sounded from a departing MP about race baiting and dog whistling to extremism. As more valedictory speeches were heard in Parliament's chamber, a warning was sounded from a departing MP about race baiting and dog whistling to extremism. Labour's Emily Henderson, the MP for Whangārei, and Aupito William Sio the long time MP for Māngere, gave their final statements last night. Henderson in particular picked up from a th...
Aug 23, 2023•7 min•Ep. 461
It is the second to last sitting week for Parliament but there is still a mountain of bills to get finalised before the MPs wearily trudge home. It is the second to last sitting week for Parliament before it dissolves so that the Governor-General can officially call for an election. On paper that means just six more sitting days ... but there is still a huge amount of legislation that the government would like to get passed by the House before it rises. That means it is going to be another week ...
Aug 22, 2023•5 min•Ep. 460
