Parliament may be the premier forum for public debate, but you can’t just wander into the debating chamber and join the MPs in discussion. Wouldn't that be fun though?
Yes, you can protest outside, but if you shout from chamber gallery you'll be protesting outside again quickly.
The place where you can hear Joanne-public and MPs debate ideas is in Select Committees. You can go and watch, watch online, add your own opinion, or even start your own debate.
The Environment Select Committee during a briefing on reducing food waste in New Zealand. Photo: VNP / Daniela Maoate-Cox
Select Committee hearings are usually public. If you wander into one there could be almost anything being discussed.
For example I arrived early this week for a report from the Office of the Controller and Auditor General on how well ACC handles complaints and stumbled into something very different - a fascinating discussion of how to improve high school sex education.
This particular debate was initiated by local students, Lauren Jack and Ruben Medicott, who started a petition asking Parliament to make sure there was more consistent sex education in high schools.
When a petition is tabled at Parliament it’s passed on to a Select Committee to consider - and that usually means the committee will hear from the petitioner, and possibly other submitters on the topic.
So at the Education and Workforce Committee a couple of Wellington students were confidently discussing the pros and cons of various approaches to sex ed; which approaches worked, what didn't, the importance of training for teachers and for boards of trustees.
The topic was sex education but it could have been almost anything. At the same time in the Health Committee the topic was a meningitis outbreak, followed by organ donors, and then a call to fund gender-confirmation surgery for young medically diagnosed transgender people.
National MPs Michael Woodhouse and Nicky Wagner listening in Select Committee Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
This week there were the rules for e-scooters, an inquiry into the 2017 elections, drinking water, Auckland Council, infrastructure. You get the idea. It's life the universe and ...
If you were bored you could turn up at Parliament and play committee roulette.
Or to have more of a clue you could also look online at who's meeting where, and often more illuminating who will be turning up to speak. Theses are updated frequently and get more and more accurate as each week progresses.
