Navigation for News Categories
Featured The House stories
Employment relations and speedy, lopsided debates
The government continues legislating apace, with frequent extra sittings. Among the priorities this week was a bill to "rebalance" employee-employer rights. The debate was lopsided.
-
Public Service Amendment Bill reignites diversity debate
12 Feb 2026The Public Service Amendment Bill is back from Select Committee, reigniting debate on the culture war flashpoint - diversity, equity and inclusion.
-
Question Time gets more pointedly political
11 Feb 2026Parliament's Question Time is often frustrating but elections politicise it further, as recent exchanges on unemployment and gas imports demonstrate.
-
The laws Parliament is currently mulling over
11 Feb 2026After a slow start to their year, MPs are back in Wellington and mostly focusing on government business. We run through the bills under discussion.
The House headlines with summaries.
-
From caucus to admin: Kevin Hague on his new role
8 Feb 2026The House sits down with a former MP to unpack what a Chief of Staff does, and what it's been like to return to Parliament, but in the back office.
-
Adrian Rurawhe: From Rātana Pā to the Speaker's Chair
1 Feb 2026The first valedictory statement for the year was given by the former Speaker of the House, likely the first of many election-year goodbyes.
-
Parliament warms up to the election
29 Jan 2026The House: Parliament's first week is the 2026 election campaign writ small, from departing MPs, to the week's 13-hour long debate over whether the government should continue.
-
Earnest speeches delay the first politics in Parliament's year
28 Jan 2026Before the typically combative debate on the Prime Minister's statement, the parliamentary year began on a sombre note, with MPs acknowledging recent weather tragedies.
-
Parliament's year in numbers: Who spoke the most and how many bills were introduced?
21 Dec 2025Analysis: We look back at this year's Parliament in data, including just how much coffee fuels our democracy?
-
On their final day, MPs consider quality of our final years
19 Dec 2025On Parliament's last sitting day of the year, MPs discussed an issue with the potential to surge in prominence.
-
MPs on Bondi: Divergence, messaging and word choice inside party responses
17 Dec 2025Parliament's week began with condolences for the Bondi attack, but their divergences and message choices said a lot.
-
The House: Parliament gets urgent on voting rules, climate targets
In its penultimate sitting block of the year, Parliament was in urgency debating 12 bills, but the most controversial were among the last.
-
The House: Crimes bill adds things outside usual rules
12 Dec 2025Parliament has been pushing hard, rushing through bills and working under urgency all week, but one bill bypassed the rules, adding things not usually allowed.
-
MPs' week begins with an RMA shakeup precursor
11 Dec 2025The House: Parliament's penultimate sitting week began with a major shakeup to the RMA, helped along by urgency.
-
Parliament's last-minute sprint
10 Dec 2025The last full week has been packed work as the government tries to complete its agenda, adding 10 new bills to the pile.
-
Behind the fiery clashes of Scrutiny Week
8 Dec 2025Headlines from Parliament honed in on the heated exchanges, but the unglamorous work also carried on.
-
Scrutiny Week: A cascade of diminishing attention
4 Dec 2025Parliament's biannual Scrutiny Weeks involve a sudden glut of oversight, but what reaches the public is only a glimpse behind the curtain.
-
Scrutiny week: High profile issues dominate opening days
3 Dec 2025The first week of Parliament's final sitting block of 2025 is focused on scrutiny on past Government spending. Early conflict focused on animal welfare.
-
Urgency ends early after Parliament voting gaffe
1 Dec 2025A late night voting error during a fourth evening of urgency last week forced the government to end urgency sooner than expected.
-
Voting process slows but doesn't stop bills under urgency
25 Nov 2025Thirteen bills were put down to progress under urgency at Parliament last sitting block but numerous amendments and drawn out voting sessions threaten to slow the process down.
-
MPs debate defence details under urgency
21 Nov 2025MPs are working on passing bills through various stages under urgency this week, including a stage where details as specific as the title are debated.
-
Thirteen bills get urgency treatment in penultimate sitting block of 2025
19 Nov 2025In the last week of the penultimate sitting block of the year, the House was moved into urgency for the progression of 13 government bills.
-
How a 'loophole' resulted in 11-day submission period on fast-track amendments law
18 Nov 2025Labour leader Chris Hipkins said the decision "infringed on the rights" of the public to take part in the process.
-
Government completes four bills in week of political sideshows
14 Nov 2025Four government bills completed their legislative journeys this week - two enjoyed relative consensus across the House. The other two, not so much.
-
'Utterly disgraceful': Parliament reacts to McSkimming saga
13 Nov 2025Question time was pushed back on Wednesday this week so that the House could address the report of the Independent Police Conduct Authority into misconduct at police.
-
Question Time directs rare query to non-ministerial MP
13 Nov 2025Question Time is usually all about ministers, but on Thursday it had an extra question directed at an MP who is not a minister.
-
From combative words to first words as new MP gives maiden statement
11 Nov 2025Parliament is well known as a place where MPs disagree, debate, and dispute but an MPs first speech is a time where arguing is put to one side.
-
A former PM weighs in on Parliament's rules
11 Nov 2025The Standing Orders committee continues its triennial review of Parliament's rules and hears from a former PM.
Top News stories
- Live weather: Evacuations, power cuts, road closed as severe gales, rain batter lower North Island
- Seven metre swells possible as severe weather to hit Wellington
- ‘Germaori’ claim over Chatham Islands waka rejected by Māori appeal court
- 'Hidden in plain sight': How slavery case stayed in the shadows for years
- Body found washed up on beach near Wairoa
Subscribe
Get the top 8 headlines each day at 8am with our daily email newsletter.
