After a week of business in the House was essentially lost due to Cyclone Gabrielle, Parliament’s sitting year properly gets underway this week.
As usual for the start of the year, business in the chamber begins with the Debate on the Prime Minister’s Statement, an annual event which is the opportunity for the Government to set out its plans for the year.
The Leader of the House Chris Hipkins makes a point of order in the debating chamber Photo: VNP / Daniela Maoate-Cox
The Government’s Leader of the House, Grant Robertson, says a copy of the statement was sent to other parties in Parliament this morning for their perusal, ahead of the statement being delivered by Chris Hipkins in the chamber this afternoon. This also gives them a chance to prepare their rebuttals.
“The Prime Minister doesn’t have to read out every word that he sends through, but that’s the basis of the speech that he then gives. And then initially all of the party leaders get an opportunity to respond to that statement, and then there’s a longer debate that other members participate in,” he explains.
The debate runs for up to 13 hours but is usually spread out in chunks over a week or two, allowing for MPs to attend to other general business. Until the Debate on the Prime Minister’s Statement is finished there’s no Members’ Days nor any General Debate. The set-piece debate doesn't leave much time for other things in the parliamentary week.
However, in terms of the Government’s legislative agenda, it’s time to get cracking.
“Certainly, losing last week means that we’ve got to find a way of picking up some time through the year. It will be a very busy legislative programme over the course of the next few months,” Robertson said, mindful that Parliament will adjourn for a couple of months around the general election in mid-October.
“There’s a number of significant bills that are at select committee that are on their way back, and there are several bills that we want to get to select committee and hope to pass before the election, so there’ll be plenty of action in the House over the next few months.”
Finance Minister Grant Robertson fields questions from reporters during the bridge run at Parliament, 1 September 2022. Photo: Johnny Blades / VNP
This week, when the Debate on the Prime Minister’s Statement is adjourned, fairly non-contentious legislation is scheduled to be discussed initially, including the Natural Insurance Hazards Bill, the Climate Change Response (Late Payment Penalties and Industrial Allocation) Amendment Bill, and the Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Levy) Amendment Bill. It seems apt that the Parliament will be debating bills relating to disaster and emergency response at a time when the country is grappling with the aftermath of a major natural disaster.
“The sorts of issues we’re dealing with around the cyclone are not necessarily new ones,” Robertson says.
“Obviously they’re in very sharp relief for everybody in the wake of the cyclone, but making sure that our insurance system is working well for people, making sure that our fire and emergency management services are well funded, making sure that the way we do climate change response is sensitive to both mitigation and adaptation; that’s been an ongoing work programme for the Government, so these bills are quite representative of that.”
The Government is this week also expected to introduce the Road User Charges (Temporary RUC Reduction Scheme) Amendment Bill and the Returning Offenders (Management and Information) Amendment Bill which it is likely to get busy working on immediately.
