The Week In Parliament for 28 August 2016
MPs farewell retiring Governor General Sir Jerry Mataparae; Speaker reins in the Prime Minister during Question Time; Shop Trading Hours Amendment Bill passes final reading by 62 votes to 59, following a personal vote. The bill will allow local authorities to make decisions about shop trading on Easter Sunday. Debate on the bills sees Labour MPs calling on their Government counterparts to vote with their consciences, as opposed to along party lines; David Parker's Minimum Wage (Contractor Remuneration) Amendment Bill voted down by 61 votes to 60 after Peter Dunne withdraws his earlier support for the bill to with National and Act to defeat the combined votes of Labour, the Greens, New Zealand First and the Maori Party; House sits under extended hours on Wednesday morning for progress on Government bills; Health Committee begins hearing the first of around 1800 oral submissions due to be made on former Labour MP Maryann Street's petition - signed by almost 9,000 people - calling for an inquiry into public attitudes towards euthanasia; Transport & Industrial Relations hears submissions on a petition calling for a change to the road rules to allow cycling on the footpath by children under 14 years of age as well as seniors over the age of 65; Justice and Electoral Committee hears from Wiremu Demchick, as he presents his petition signed by more than two thousand people, calling on the Government to reverse the convictions of people convicted of consensual homosexual acts prior to passing of the Homosexual Law Reform Act 1986; Prime Minister John Key leads the House in congratulating the New Zealand Olympic Team on their record medal haul at the 2016 games in Rio; Leader of the House Gerry Brownlee provides a preview of what's in store when the House resumes after a one week adjournment.
