The House On Demand
Collection items
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If you miss a major reform, wait a day or two...
7 Jun 2022In the current Parliament major reforms are coming along almost as frequently as buses. This week there are two separate and equally momentous legislative reform bills on the agenda. Audio
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The Budget: Shades of debate
5 Jun 2022MPs spend many hours shouting past each other about the budget, but have tactics and objectives behind all the hubbub. Phil Smith dissects the year’s first budget debate-fest - the eight hour long… Audio
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Hanging messages on Pae Ora
2 Jun 2022MPs have been getting down and dirty in the critical mud-wrestling phase of legislation to reform the public health system, the Pae Ora (Healthy futures) Bill. Audio
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Aged Care workers call for increased minimum staff levels
1 Jun 2022Parliament’s health select committee hears a cry for help from workers in aged care residential facilities that staffing levels in their sector are unsafe and failing people. Audio
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Last chance for MPs to edit health reform bill
31 May 2022Time is running out for changes to be made to proposed major health reform as the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Bill is in its committee stage. Audio
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Playing catch-up to protect kids from digital harm
29 May 2022The MP behind a Member's Bill which targets online grooming of children by adult predators hopes for it to be widened in scope to include offline or ‘real life’. Audio
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Reading Everest: Notes on Budgets
22 May 2022The Budget gets presented, debated and commented on more than most best sellers but like A Brief History of Time very few people have the time and energy to read all of it. Audio
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The not-the-budget bills
19 May 2022The budget wasn’t the only thing at Parliament this week. There was also legislation on surrogacy, free speech, political conflicts of interest, and sexual harassment. Audio
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Question Time: How to get it straight
18 May 2022Question Time works best if the MPs ask tight, non-political questions. Straight questions are more likely to get straight answers, so they’re kept as tight as possible but not always by choice. Audio
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Oddity notes on budget week at Parliament
17 May 2022Why is the Budget usually on a Thursday, why just before a sitting break, and why is the debate on it usually interrupted by urgent business? Audio
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Oiling the democratic machine
15 May 2022The House sits down with the Clerk of the House of Representatives, David Wilson, whose team runs the machinery of Parliament. Audio
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When courts tell parliament 'no', what next?
12 May 2022The Bill of Rights (Declarations of Inconsistency) Amendment Bill is the sort of legislation that constitutional law experts absolutely love but that may bore us to tears, until we realise it’s… Audio
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How ministers reach a decision
11 May 2022An intern in the office of the MP for Te Atatū, Phil Twyford, interviews him about his job and the decision-making process behind his job as a minister. Audio
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Special debate on draft version of Resource Management Act replacement
10 May 2022Parliament shows its flexibility during an extended sitting when Special Debate will take place on a couple of complex items, notably the Natural and Built Environments Bill exposure draft. Audio
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‘No fair Ref!’: The political theatre of asking the impossible
5 May 2022A lot of what happens in Parliament is theatre, including asking for what you know is against the rules. Audio
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No matter what, any petition to parliament gets heard
4 May 2022The specialist Petitions Committee has processed a record number of petitions and it's only half way through the term. It hears petitions on almost anything. Audio
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Comings and goings: A week in the House
3 May 2022This week in Parliament features a continuation of debate on major health reform, as well as the coming of a new MP and the departure of a high profile MP who has brought the curtain down on his… Audio
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Select committees by Zoom, the great leveller
1 May 2022Doing select committees by Zoom can be clunky and lacking in nuance compared to in-person experience, but those who chair committees acknowledge that it improves overall accessibility of the public to… Audio
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Painting the legal jigsaw, one piece at a time
MPs are forever critiquing the law, but they seldom write it. They leave that to a team of experts who found a creative legal job you never knew existed. Audio
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Police: The unenviable portfolio
Ministers of the crown may seem powerful, but the reality of their roles vary greatly. Some are endowed with great influence, some others just come with blame. Audio
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It’s the putting right that counts, or something like that
14 Apr 2022Debating legislation is about getting things right, but sometimes settling on what is right can be a bruising exercise for MPs, as Parliament witnessed during debate on a Member’s Bill today. Audio
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Urgency called for as parliament committee works on pay gaps
13 Apr 2022Parliament’s Education and Workforce select committee has recommended that Government should consider requiring greater pay transparency from employers, and has been petitioned to add some urgency and… Audio
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Scrutiny of appropriations and appropriating for scrutiny
12 Apr 2022The latest from the House Audio
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Duelling quotes and holiday stars
10 Apr 2022This week in The House Phil Smith talks the tactics of Question Time while Johnny Blades looks at the unified division of debate over the new Matariki Public Holiday. Audio
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Journey of learning: Matariki Holiday becomes law
7 Apr 2022Debate on the Te Kāhui Matariki Public Holiday Bill found everyone in agreement that the start of the Māori lunar calendar should be marked, but not everyone agreeing a new public holiday should go… Audio
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The vanishing fallacy: The tactics of Question Time
6 Apr 2022Question Time is a contest where the tactics constantly evolve, and counter tactics shift to respond. This week one clever tactic appeared suddenly to disappear. Audio
