Five questions to the Prime Minister this week began with the words 'does she stand by her policies/statements/government actions?'.
The answer is always 'yes' and yet MPs keep asking this question in the hour set aside for question time each sitting day at Parliament.
It'll be an unusual day when the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern doesn't stand by her statements, Government policies and actions. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
Up to 12 questions can be asked of Ministers for oral answer during question time.
The questions have to be lodged with the Office of the Clerk in the morning to make sure they’re within the rules and also to give the Minister a bit of time to think about an answer.
This type of general 'does she stand by' question keeps the agenda hidden so the Minister has to guess at what answer to prepare.
But it also means they can take the opportunity to reply with a few things they’re proud of as the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern did when asked by the Leader of the Opposition Judith Collins if she "stands by all of her Government's policies and actions?"
"Yes," said Ardern (unsurprisingly).
"In particular, I stand by my decision to create a strong and stable Government with a cooperation agreement with the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. New Zealanders voted for stability and certainty at the election, and that is what this Government provides. As a Government, we're continuing to support New Zealanders, including through our recent announcements".
Ardern then listed several policies including school lunches, access to the Pfizer vaccine, free period products in schools and efforts to protect Māui and Hector's dolphins.
Leader of the Opposition Judith Collins next to her Deputy during the first Question Time of the 53rd Parliament Photo: ©VNP / Phil Smith
The angle of Collins' question was revealed in her follow-up question, called a supplementary.
"Does she stand by the commitment she made 10 months ago that New Zealand would have a travel bubble with Australia as soon as it was safe to do so?"
Again Ardern answered "yes".
A travel bubble would allow Australians to travel to New Zealand without having to quarantine and vice versa. New Zealanders have been able to travel to some Australian states without quarantine since October 2020 but cases of Covid-19 transmitted through the community put a halt to this in February.
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Collins asked further supplementary questions to find out if Ardern will "deliver on her most recent plan, re-announced in December last year, to open a trans-Tasman bubble by the end of March this year?"
Ardern listed several cases of Covid-19 clusters in Australia that have impacted the date for a trans-Tasman bubble including a cluster at the Holiday Inn in Melbourne and the Mecurer Hotel in Brisbane.
"I think it's fair to say that we have from the beginning worked on the premise that we would have a whole-of-country approach where we had joint decision-making around the opening of a bubble. Since then, what we've seen is a different approach taken by Australia; that leaves open for us the ability to take a different approach," she said.
"What it will do is create a bit of an uncertain environment where travellers may indeed be stranded in either country if there is an outbreak. We want to make sure that, as we work up what an open bubble would look like in that arrangement, we have plans around how to deal with those scenarios."
The point of this hour of back and forth questions between Ministers and Members of Parliament (MPs) is related to the job all MPs have of holding the Government to account for its actions.
Question time is a chance for them to directly question Ministers in a public space about whether or not they’re doing a good job.
Opposition MPs will try to use their questions to show how the Government is failing at its task of running the country while MPs in Government parties tend to ask questions that allow Ministers to talk positively about their work (often referred to as patsy questions).
Hiding the angle of a question has the potential benefit of testing a Minister's ability to think on their feet and prove that they are across their portfolio.
But there are rules around what can be asked in question time and a general question means Ministers can give general answers or on occasion, none at all.
ACT MP Karen Chhour asked Ardern this question:
"Does she stand by all of her statement, 'We always hear about New Zealand being a great place to raise a family – and that’s certainly true. But we can always do more'?"
ACT MP Karen Chhour speaks in the debating chamber Photo: VNP / Daniela Maoate-Cox
Ardern answered 'yes' (naturally) and also took the opportunity to talk about some of the work her Government is doing including having "increased the incomes of around 96,000 sole parents by an average of $132 per week" and "providing [the] Best Start payment to over 100,000 parents of newborn babies".
Like Collins, Chhour's angle was revealed by a supplementary question which was specifically about a video released by Mother's Matter, a group calling for equitable perinatal care in New Zealand.
"Has she seen the video produced by Mothers Matter, released today?" asked Chhour.
"Unfortunately, no, I haven't," answered Ardern.
"But I would say to the member, if she chooses to put on notice any specific subject matter, I will always do my best to come to the House prepared and able to answer."
Although Ardern couldn't comment on the video the question has still been answered and as all of Chhour's other supplementaries related to her initial question the Prime Minister answered those as well.
The full exchanges can be read on Parliament's website or watched On Demand.
