2 May 2019

Parliament's to do list: Thursday 2 May 2019

From The House , 9:00 am on 2 May 2019

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.

The House debates the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (Monetary Policy) Amendment Bill with Assistant Speaker Poto Williams presiding.

The House debates the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (Monetary Policy) Amendment Bill with Assistant Speaker Poto Williams presiding. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith

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

  • 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.

  • There will still be 12 oral questions to Ministers. Opposition MPs try to embarrass the Government and governing party MPs allow ministers to boast.

  • 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:

  • Motion on Appropriations of Officers of Parliament.

Why:   

  • 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.
     

  • 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.
     

  • 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:

Who:

  • Minister of Research, Science and Innovation Megan Woods is in charge of this bill.
     

Funding fire and emergency services - third reading

New Zealand First MP Tracey Martin tells the Justice and Electoral committee the word 'whanau' appears to have been "dropped" into the Family and Whanau Violence Legislation Bill.

Minister for Internal Affairs Tracey Martin. Photo: VNP / Daniela Maoate-Cox

What:

  • The Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Levy) Amendment Bill
     

  • 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:

  • 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:

Planning for well-being - third reading

Labour MP and Minister for Maori Development Nanaia Mahuta

Minister of Local Government Nanaia Mahuta Photo: VNP / Daniela Maoate-Cox

What:

  • The Local Government (Community Well-Being) Amendment Bill
     

  • 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.
     

  • 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:

  • 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.