Parliament House and the Beehive wreathed in heavy mist during winter 2019 Photo: © VNP / Phil Smith
Parliament is back and plans to spend the week debating wall-to-wall, having plunged into urgency immediately after Tuesday's Question Time.
Below, we list the bills and outline the notable legislation, some of which were made urgent due to calendar deadlines rather than political desire. The week will be a slog for MPs with the opposition slow-walking the debates while the government tries to move forward.
Before the urgency began was Question Time. It was combative, raucous, and more out of control than usual. A schizophrenic prelude to the coming plod, like Hyde preceding Jeckyll.
It was thick with out-of-order or political questions, out-of-order and political answers, personal attacks, accusations of lying, barrages of noise, and shouted side-arguments. The cacophony was interspersed with a slew of Speaker's pleas, warnings, reminders, final warnings and threats - all roundly ignored.
When urgency kicked in, the House switched from the chaos of pitched battle to an almost sepulchral debate - a measured, careful discussion of the minutiae of tax policy.
This careful pace is likely to define the rest of the week, with brief interludes for more Question Time and a few combative third reading debates.
The government plan for urgency
The first two bills in the urgency list below must be passed and assented to by the Governor General before 1 April, so there is genuine urgency for those. The rest are there to help the government 'catch up' on its legislative calendar.
During recent weeks at Parliament there has been a period of organised and successful filibustering of contentious bills by the opposition (with a generous assist from the government's own Order Paper).
The government plans to debate the bills below in the following order.
The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2024-25, Emergency Response, and Remedial Measures) Bill - Committee Stage (continuation) and Third Reading. The Taxation Bill definitely needs passing since it confirms the tax rates for the current year. It includes a scheme to allow the government to give specific tax relief when a geographic area has suffered a natural disaster.
The Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill - Third Reading.
The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill - Third Reading.
The Land Transport (Drug Driving) Amendment Bill - Third Reading. The Land Transport Bill aims to allow Police to implement random roadside oral-fluid screening tests for possible drug-impaired drivers.
The Sentencing (Reform) Amendment Bill - Committee Stage (continuation) and Third Reading. The Sentencing Bill restricts judges' capacity to reduce offender sentence durations for various mitigating factors including youth and remorse; it encourages cumulative sentencing for offences committed while on bail, in custody, or on parole; it strengthens the requirement for court to consider "victim's interests"; and creates new aggravating factors including (for an adult) being party to a crime committed by a minor. This bill is contentious.
The Customer and Product Data Bill - Committee Stage and Third Reading. The Customer and Product Data Bill creates a framework whereby a 'trusted third party' (once given permission by the customer), can request customer data from another company. Data holders would be required to comply with those requests (with some provisos). The intention is to ease customers' ability to move between competitors.
The Arms (Shooting Clubs, Shooting Ranges, and Other Matters) Amendment Bill - Third Reading. The Shooting Clubs Bill simplifies the regulatory requirements for non-pistol shooting clubs and ranges and changes some of the requirements in relation to inspections. This bill is contentious.
The Dairy Industry Restructuring (Export Licences Allocation) Amendment Bill - Second Reading, Committee Stage and Third Reading.
The Social Workers Registration Amendment Bill - Second Reading (continuation), Committee Stage and Third Reading.
The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill - Second Reading (continuation), Committee Stage and Third Reading.
Under Urgency the House will also debate on Wednesday and Thursday mornings (from 9am), and until midnight (on Wednesday). Evening dinner breaks will be shorter. There will still be a Question Time at 2pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, but no General Debate on Wednesday. The House is expected to rise for the week by 6pm on Thursday.
*RNZ's The House, with insights into Parliament, legislation and issues, is made with funding from Parliament's Office of the Clerk.
