On Tuesdays MPs have party meetings (caucus) in the morning and meet in the House for Oral Questions at 2pm.
Today they’ll quickly wrap up a debate they started last Thursday on Reserve Bank guidance, and then get into one of the most contentious bills so far this Parliament.
The Order Paper lists what MPs will debate but it can change. Below is an outline of what they’ll try to work through.
Order Paper Tuesday 4 December Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
Question Time - 2pm
Twelve oral questions to Ministers from either Opposition MPs or government backbenchers. This usually lasts about an hour and is one of the fastest moving parts of the House’s proceedings. Supplementary/follow-up questions are allocated to parties by size but are ultimately at the discretion of the Speaker.
Rules for the Reserve Bank - Second Reading (last two speeches)
What:
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There are only two speeches left on the Second Reading of the The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (Monetary Policy) Amendment Bill in the name of the Finance Minister Grant Robertson.
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It amends the objectives that the Reserve Bank has to consider in setting monetary policy to include ‘consideration of maximum sustainable employment alongside price stability in monetary policy decision making’. It also formalises a ‘monetary policy committee’ to make decisions on monetary policy.
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A second reading brings a bill back from Select Committee, often with proposed changes. The report on this bill included suggested amendments.
Why:
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The Reserve Bank controls a few small levers for influencing the national economy and has rules about how it uses them. This bill adjusts those rules.
Who said what?
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During the bill’s first reading, its sponsor Grant Robertson said:
“It is a very important part of our financial framework in New Zealand, but after 30 years with much change it is time to make sure that we create a resilient and sustainable and productive economy, and make sure that every part of our apparatus fits with that.”
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National’s shadow finance spokesperson Amy Adams said:
“So my question again remains what is the problem we are trying to solve? How do we think this solution will solve it? Why have we differed from the very purpose clause that the Minister is introducing? And why have we not followed the international example which reflects that whole basket of economic conditions that the Reserve Bank has already taken into account?”
Employment Law Redux - Committee Stage
What:
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The Committee Stage of the Employment Relations Amendment Bill. Iain Lees-Galloway as the Minister for Workplace Relations is in charge of this bill.
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Very broadly the bill undoes a few changes that the previous, National-led government made to employment law. Particularly contentious during the select committee review were issues around union access to workplaces and 90 day trials for new staff.
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There are also rules around union access to new staff, information about wage rates in collective agreements, rules around bargaining, strikes, and rest and meal breaks.
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There have reportedly been some negotiated compromises on a few contentious aspects of this bill. The committee stage is an ideal place to discover whether they have taken any of the heat from the debate. This is the stage when the opposition has the opportunity to slow the passage of the bill down for a day or two (filibustering).
What the MPs said:
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In the First debate on this bill the Minister in Charge, Iain Lees-Galloway said:
“An effective employment relations framework balances the need for employers to have flexibility in how they run their businesses while providing safeguards and rights to employees. This bill rolls back a number of the previous Government's amendments that weakened employees' rights at work and tipped the balance too far away from the principles of basic fairness.”
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In their dissenting opinion in the select committee report on this bill the National Party MPs said:
“The cumulative impact of changes to workplace relations contained in this bill will place a handbrake on economic growth, further undermine business confidence, reduce job creation opportunities for vulnerable employees, create a return to 1970s style aggressive adversarial trade union activity, and will ultimately be bad for both employees and employers.”
Medicinal Cannabis - Committee Stage
What:
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The Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Bill. The Minister of Health, David Clark is in charge of this bill.
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This Bill amends the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 to introduce an exception and a statutory defence for terminally ill people to possess and use illicit cannabis or possess a cannabis ‘utensil’. It doesn’t excuse their suppliers.
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In this stage the Government has said it will extend that protection from ‘terminal’ patients to those in ‘palliation’.
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It also creates a regulation-making power to set standards for cannabis products, and removes cannabidiol (CBD) from the list of controlled drugs.
Why:
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This bill was the Government’s compromise response to a member’s bill in the name of Chloe Swarbrick that failed to pass its first reading early this Parliament.
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The committee stage allows MPs to suggest amendments. There are already amendments promised from various corners.
What did the MPs say?
You can read or listen to coverage of the second reading debate here.
