This week’s weekend feature story for The House compiles highlights from through Parliament’s sitting week.
They include a brand new MP and explanations of various things parliamenty (how many parts of speech can that word suffer?)
If you want to listen to Sunday’s radio show, follow the link below.
Hamilton West MP Tama Potaka delivers his maiden statement in Parliament with life-size portraits of his ancestors in the foreground, 7 March 2023. Photo: Johnny Blades / VNP
This article serves as a landing page for the highlights audio (above). For the original stories you can see the below.
From Tuesday’s coverage: a look at the long year-beginning debate over whether to keep the current government in office (spoiler alert- they decided to); the experience of an MP’s first speech in the House; and a quick intro to Parliament’s equivalent to a Body Corporate - the group of MPs who help the Speaker run the very complex complex that is Parliament.
On Wednesday, The House focussed on the maiden statement of new MP Tama Potaka - who probably set a new record for biggest paintings displayed in the chamber. He brought life-sized pictures of tupuna along with him.
And on Thursday Johnny Blades went tabling. Mores specifically he explained when, why and how MPs get to add documents to the big table in the center of Parliament’s debating chamber - all so other MPs can get to read them.
The Table (with a capital T), a very big piece of furniture that is the source of the verb “to table”.
Apparently turning nouns into verbs goes back further than Buffy (give them credit - apart from many -age and -y suffixed nouns and adjectives the Scooby Gang also coined ‘google’ as a verb).
