Parliament got so much done last week that it has ticked off most of its must-do-before-a-holiday list.
So this final week is not going to be like the denouement of a thrilling cliff-hanger novel with exciting twists and unknown outcomes.
This is partly a final sweep before bringing out the dust covers for summer, and partly an unwrapping of some new bills on transport, censorship, council borrowing and water regulation to begin the new year with.
The Hansard team show off their festive decorating skills. Photo: VNP / Daniela Maoate-Cox
It’s not that there’s nothing left on Parliament’s Order Paper; (that is a perpetual spring though much shorter than it was), but this year’s blockbuster bills are either done or not out of committee yet and many of the rest are more prosaic, or just maintenance.
That’s probably safer at this point. No-one seems to have the energy left for a twelve-round, stand-up, knock-down, knuckle-dusting bust-up. (Ever noticed how many boxing metaphors include a one-two?)
The Bills to note this week:
- Subordinate Legislation Confirmation Bill (No 4)
Some laws give people power to make further rules without having to go back and pass a new law. These are called delegated legislation, subordinate legislation, secondary legislation, or regulations. So many names - let’s call them ‘lackey laws’.
Some of these lackey laws automatically expire unless they are confirmed by Parliament, so Parliament lists them all in one bill and ties all the bows at once.
It’s such a routine and uncontroversial action it doesn’t even get the full schedule of debates.
- Secondary Legislation Bill First reading
A bill to organise (tame even) the thicket of subordinate legislation and make it possible for people to find lackey laws.
- Remuneration Authority (Members of Parliament Remuneration) Amendment Bill (No 2)
A bill about MP pay. It tells the Remuneration Authority to only review MP pay at the end of each parliament (every three years) to cover the next three years. MPs seem to hate talking about their own pay because the public often resent their leaders being compensated for hard work and regular abuse. This will be a very short debate. The committee stage was so short it barely happened.
- Land Transport (Rail) Legislation Bill
A bill to bring the funding and planning the use of the rail network into the wider transport fold.
- Land Transport (NZTA) Legislation Amendment Bill
A restructure of transport management.
- Infrastructure Funding and Financing Bill
A bill to make it easier for local councils to access money for infrastructure and housing development.
- Taumata Arowai - Water Services Regulator Bill
Creates a water regulator.
- Films, Videos, and Publications Classification (Commercial Video on-Demand) Amendment Bill
A bill to require video on demand providers (Netflix, Amazon Prime etc) to include labels. This to prevent people watching Jamón Jamón thinking it’s a primer on the preparation of cold meats, or believing The Dreamers is about sleeping.
- Ombudsmen (Protection of Name) Amendment Bill
Thou shalt not pretend to be an ombudsman without permission.
- Te Pire kia Unuhia te Hara kai Runga i a Rua Kēnana / Rua Kēnana Pardon Bill
A very belated pardon for a Tuhoi hero from colonial times. We wrote about it here and here.
- The main event... The Adjournment Debate
Parliament gives itself permission to have a summer off. The speeches are often funny, sometimes scathing, and frequently a laundry list of backroom staff at Parliament that deserve thanks.
