The final stages of some tidy-up bills are on the cards for today but the usual question time, and a debate on paying the country's watchdogs, will take place first.
The plan is below.
Sometimes the House works more quickly or slowly than expected or decides to work on a different item entirely so the below plan is an indication of what they'll try to get through. On Thursdays the House sits from 2pm till 6pm.
Question time 2pm
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Leaders of the Government and the Opposition are rarely in the House on Thursdays so the third and final “Questions for Oral Answer” for the week is usually a more subdued affair.
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There will still be 12 oral questions to Ministers. Opposition MPs try to embarrass the Government and governing party MPs allow ministers to boast.
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The first supplementary (follow-up) question is usually given to the primary questioner but after that it’s open for any MP to jump up with a question at the discretion of the Speaker.
Feeding the Watchdogs
What:
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Motion on Appropriations of Officers of Parliament.
Why:
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The House of Representatives has among its duties supplying a government and then keeping that government in line. To help achieve the latter it employs three specialist watchdogs - the Officers of Parliament.
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The officers are the Ombudsman, the Auditor General and the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment. Because their role is sometimes to tell the government what it is doing wrong they are not employed or funded by the government, but instead by its overseer the House.
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Before the budget every year the House determines how much funding is required to run the Officers' small teams and then votes on this funding. It’s done early so it can be incorporated into the full budget.
Encouraging research and development - third reading
What:
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It will introduce a research and development tax credit to encourage businesses to do more research and development.
Who:
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Minister of Research, Science and Innovation Megan Woods is in charge of this bill.
Funding fire and emergency services - third reading
What:
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The Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Levy) Amendment Bill
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This Bill creates a minor change, giving more time for insurers and brokers to comply with a new levy-based system introduced under the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Act 2017.
Why:
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Fire and Emergency New Zealand is mainly funded by a levy on contracts of insurance where property is insured against the risk of fire. Changes were made to the levy under the last Government and this bill changes the date for compliance from 1 July 2019 to 1 July 2021 with the option to bring that forward a year to July 2020 if they want to.
Who:
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The Minister for Internal Affairs Tracey Martin is in charge.
Planning for well-being - third reading
What:
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This makes some small changes to the Local Government Act 2002, putting back some things that were removed by the previous government. It will allow local governments to include consideration of things like social, environmental and community well-being in their planning processes.
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This change is similar to the new multi-factor budget tool (the living standards framework) Treasury have been building for most of a decade to help governments balance budget decisions on factors beyond just cost.
Who:
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Minister of Local Government Nanaia Mahuta is in charge of this bill.
That's the plan. You can see how far through they get got by visiting the daily progress page on Parliament's website.