Stories by Johnny Blades

Parliament’s Education and Workforce Committee has been considering the plight of undocumented Tuvaluans living in New Zealand without the right to work or to gain residency.

You might recognise him by his voice, so long as he is shouting. But despite his role being front-and-centre at Parliament you might be surprised what he does, and what he can do.

A proposed member’s bill addressing a power imbalance that prevents communities taking steps to develop public health measures on alcohol use could bypass the ballot process if enough MPs agreed.

MPs 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.

Parliament’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.

The 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’.

The 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…

The 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.

Doing 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…

Debating 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.

Parliament’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…

Debate 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…

If ever there was a week in parliament to make the business sector a little itchy, this week might just be it, as MPs debate Bills that could see workers getting more pay and another public holiday.

A new Bill looks to make life easier for people affected by major disasters, following the human disaster created by shortcomings of the Earthquake Commission in its response to the Christchurch…

Surrogacy arrangements can often be difficult legal and health processes to navigate for intending parents and surrogates. A new Member’s Bill is looking to make it a smoother process that enhances…

The community is welcomed back into Parliament's grounds, the next step in the transition back from stinky rubbish tip to a place for picnics, petitions, play and protest.

A motion in Parliament to mark the third anniversary of the Christchurch mosque terror attacks found MPs reflecting on how there is still work to do to counter extremism and hate speech.

The notion that MPs are people of honour who must be taken at their word was briefly tested in a skirmish which resulted in the first ejection of an MP from the chamber this year.

This week, not only did MPs have to contend with a riot on their front lawn, they also had to come to grips with a new hybrid parliament in which some members participated by Zoom.

Parliament has passed a law to establish a roadside oral fluid testing regime to test for recent drug use, and proposes that drivers who fail two consecutive oral fluid tests would incur an…

This week in the House began with a motion in support of Ukraine and it will end with a special debate on a bill not even yet introduced. Chris Hipkins explains some of the parliamentary week's…

Paige Harris never met her mother. She wasn’t even on her birth certificate. Parliament is passing a law to fix that injustice - just for Paige.

In the latest from The House, MPs strike a balance in shaping legislation to enable Abortion Safe Areas.

A week of the House included a near miss by Chris Luxon, a lot of debate over a confidence motion and near completion for a bill to ban attempts to 'convert' gender and sexual orientations.

A Government bill to ban those deemed dangerous from coming anywhere near guns has had a successful first reading in Parliament.