The House today: Tuesday 28 May 2019

A pretty straight forward Tuesday is on the cards today as far as Parliament goes.

There will be the usual question time, tidying off the final parts of last year’s financial spending, and a few pieces of legislation ranging from racing to veterans to an earthquake tribunal.

Questions - 2pm till about 3pm

After the mace is placed, the Speaker recites a prayer, and any bills/petition/papers are announced, the House moves into the most popular part of a sitting day, question time.

Up to 12 oral questions are lodged with the Office of the Clerk in the morning (to make sure they don’t break any rules). All questions are directed to Ministers and can come from Opposition or government party MPs. There can also be questions to non-ministers like the chair of a select committee but these are in addition to the 12 primary questions.

Question time is a tool for the House to hold the Government to account so Opposition MPs will try to catch the government out while government party MPs tend to ask softer questions to give Ministers a chance to boast.

Supplementary (follow-up) questions are common but not a right and it’s up to the Speaker to decide if they’ll be allowed.

Revitalising the domestic racing industry - first reading

What:

• The Racing Reform Bill

• This Bill proposes the New Zealand Racing Board (NZRB) be reconstituted as the Racing Industry Transitional Authority (RITA) to drive the transition of the industry starting 1 July.

• It will also require offshore betting operators that are used domestically to pay for betting information and a “point of consumption” charge for bets they take from people in New Zealand.  

Who:

• The Minister for Racing Winston Peters is in charge of this bill

Why:

• In April 2018, the Minister for Racing Winston Peters commissioned an expert, Mr John Messara, to assess the state of the New Zealand racing industry. The Review of the New Zealand Racing Industry (the Messara Report) confirmed that the industry was in a state of decline and that, without intervention, it was at risk of suffering irreparable damage. This bill is in response to that report and a second bill is to follow.

• A media release from the Minister’s office said “The racing industry is integral to the economic and social fabric of New Zealand. At a local level, racing has been an important social and community activity. The industry contributed $1.6 billion to the NZ economy in 2016/17.”

All in favour?

• The bill is yet to have its first reading so I can’t say for sure who does and does not support it, however, as it’s a Government bill it’s unlikely it will fail.

Signing off last year’s financial performance - committee stage and third reading

What:

• Appropriation (2017/18 Confirmation and Validation) Bill better known as the Annual Review Debate.

• Two hours and 36 minutes are remaining on this ten-hour long debate. The Annual Review Debate is split into ten sections with each one roughly getting one hour of debate.

• Two sections are left: the Primary Sector and the Social Development and Housing Sector.

• The “confirmation” and “validation” words in the title are key to the purpose of this bill. It’s technically a sign off on spending over the past financial year but also a check that government agencies did what they were meant to do.

• Committee stages are usually when a bill is examined part by part to make sure it will do what it promises to do. This bill is different because its part of the financial cycle and will have its third reading without the usual two-hour debate.

Who:

• Minister of Finance Grant Robertson is in charge.

Why:

• This bill is a regular part of Parliament’s financial cycle and its time at select committee is a little different to other bills. Various heads of departments (like DHBs or ACC) have fronted up to select committees over the past few months to report on and if necessary justify their performance.

• This debate will be on those reports. The Government party MPs will likely talk about how well it’s done and perhaps blame any failings on the previous government. Opposition MPs will likely focus on the flaws and talk about how much better they’d do if they were in charge.

But why really?:

• Transparency. Annual reviews and this debate are done in the open so the public can see what’s going on.

All in favour?

• Each sector is voted on at the end of its hour-long debate. So far the National Party, ACT Party, and Jamie-Lee Ross have voted against each sector while the Labour Party, the Green Party and New Zealand First have voted in favour.

Recognising veterans -  first reading

What:

• The Veterans’ Support Amendment Bill

• In 2014 the Veterans’ Support Act was passed. It modernised rehabilitation and support for veterans who qualified.

• Among its changes the bill will broaden criteria for those who qualify by to providing the Minister with the jurisdiction to make declarations in respect of historical (retrospective) deployments (ie, deployments that have already ceased).

Who:

• The Minister for Veterans Ron Mark.

Building Bill - committee stage

What:

• The Building Amendment Bill

• The Bill proposes two new sets of powers for the government to manage buildings after a disaster, and to investigate buildings that ‘fail’.

• A bill at its second reading has normally spent about six months at a select committee which writes a report on it. The report from the Transport and Infrastructure Committee with some suggested changes can be found here.

Why:

• The Christchurch and Kaikoura Earthquakes highlighted gaps in the government’s powers to deal with the aftermath of when the earth goes bang. This bill seeks to remedy that, including: giving the government more power to investigate buildings that ‘fail’ (like the CTV building in Christchurch for example); to inspect, notify, evacuate, demolish, etc. The powers have time limits.

Who:

• Minister of Building and Construction Jenny Salesa

All in favour?

• This bill passed its first and second reading with unanimous support in the House.

Throwback to insolvency practitioners - committee stage

What:

• The Insolvency Practitioners Bill

• This bill “creates powers to restrict or prohibit individuals from providing insolvency services, and strengthens measures to automatically disqualify insolvency practitioners.”

• This bill was last seen on the floor of the House in 2013, nearly five years ago. Kris Faafoi revivified it and sent it back to Select Committee for a second look. There isn’t really a process for two-second readings (when a bill comes back from committee), so the Business Committee designated that a debate on a report from a Select Committee would happen instead. It’s now up to its committee stage which is when that bill is examined to make sure it has everything in it that's necessary to do its job.

Who:

• In the name of Kris Faafoi as Minister for Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

Managing earthquake insurance complaints - third reading cont’d

What:

• The Canterbury Earthquakes Insurance Tribunal Bill

• The Bill sets up a tribunal to help resolve insurance claims between policyholders and insurers, people with insurance and the Earthquake Commission. Claims have to relate to damage caused by the Canterbury earthquakes in 2010 and 2011.

Why:

• The tribunal will aim to help solve long-standing insurance claims to help policyholders and insured people  “obtain some closure” so they can move on with their lives.

• First readings are usually a chance to outline the bill and debate its purpose before it’s sent to a select committee for public consultation (if it passes the first reading).

Who:

• Minister for Courts Andrew Little is in charge of this bill.

All in favour?

• The bill passed its second reading with support of the whole House. Votes were split on different suggested amendments at the committee stage but the report on the bill was adopted. Most bills that make it to a third reading are unlikely to fail.

House adjourns - 10pm

The House sits from 2pm on scheduled sitting days with a dinner break at 6pm till 7:30pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. It then resumes sitting until 10pm often interrupting a debate.

You can see how much the House gets done each sitting day by going here: Daily progress in the House