The House

Before each budget comes a political vanguard of announcements and trailers. Parliament has its own, less political signs that a budget is about to arrive. Read more Audio

The Annual Review Debate allows Parliament to grill government ministers on performance in their areas, unless someone runs out of time first. They did. Read more Audio

Members of the public give some last-minute advice to the Government about its budget plans, via committee hearings into the Budget Policy Statement. Read more Audio

In the lead-up to the Budget, Parliament goes over the head of the Government, asking the Governor General to add in some cash for Parliament's three watch-dogs. Read more Audio

James Shaw's valedictory statement included thanks, humour, yarns, surprising allies, warnings and advice for MPs on avoiding the endless policy tug-of-war. Read more Audio

This week Parliament hosted both American and Ukrainian delegations. We chat with Galyna Mykhailiuk, who lead the visiting Ukrainian MPs. Read more Video, Audio

MPs listen to hundreds of Select Committee submissions. But occasionally, like Camilla Belich today, they get to sit on the other side of the table themselves. Read more Audio

The Annual Review Debate begins this week, when Parliament quizzes ministers about past performance. Kieran McAnulty explains... Read more Audio

Over the last six years, parliament’s clerks have had to vet about 40,000 written questions each year. So how are written questions used and what are the democratic benefits? Read more Audio

MPs have some of the highest pressure jobs in New Zealand, and the stressors aren’t always what you might think. So does anyone help them carry the load, and how do they personally cope? Read more Audio

It was a sitting block of just one week but it had its share of surprises, routine stuff and signs of a changing culture around scrutiny at committee level.  Read more Audio