Usually Parliament would not sit beyond midnight. File photo Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
A post-Budget debate about changes to an accommodation supplement unusually dragged on into the early hours of Saturday morning, as opposition parties tried in vain to block the changes.
The House sat under urgency to debate a dozen bills, when a vote on the Social Assistance Legislation (Accommodation Supplement and Income-related Rent) Amendment Bill was called at about 11.30pm.
Usually, Parliament would not sit beyond midnight, but once a vote commences, it cannot stop without leave. That leave was sought by Labour MP Kieran McAnulty, but denied by government MPs.
Instead, opposition parties filed several minor amendments, dragging out the proceedings. McAnulty accused the government of trying to avoid scrutiny by passing the bill under urgency.
"There's no reason for this bill to go through under urgency, it's got nothing to do with the Budget really," he told RNZ. "They are going to try and save money from this bill to fill the gaps in their Budget.
"It should go to select committee and New Zealanders should have an opportunity to have their say."
"We saw this with the Pay Equity Bill recently and now they're doing it with this bill as well, and we oppose it. Many New Zealanders don't know it's happening, because it's getting rushed through."
Under the change, every boarder a person has will be taken into account, when their accommodation supplement is calculated by Work and Income. Currently, only those with three or more boarders have their supplement reduced.
McAnulty said more than 7000 people would be affected by the changes, which would reduce subsidies by roughly $100 a week.
"We don't think it's a good idea for the government to be taking that sort of money away from people, so we're pretty keen to fight it, and that's why we put up a lot of amendments to try and improve the Bill, and to keep the debate going."
Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston said the Bill addressed the inconsistent treatment between landlords who have renters and those with boarders.
"I want to emphasise to the House that these changes will only affect those who receive board payments and not any housing subsidy paid to the boarder. It will only impact those people who are unfairly advantaged over those who receive another form of income.
"Most people who receive housing subsidies will not be impacted by these changes," she told the House.
"It just means that border number one and border two are treated in the same way that borders three, four and five are."
Parliament conventions broken, Labour says
The opposition also criticised how the process unfolded, with McAnulty saying the presiding officer should not have allowed a vote to be put to the committee.
"If a member calls for a vote, they have to say it in a very specific way and, if they don't, then the the presiding officer shouldn't allow that to be put to the committee."
A move to recall the Speaker to resolve the disagreement was blocked by government MPs.
"Whatever way the Speaker decides, we respect and then we move on," McAnulty said.
"There is a strong convention in Parliament that, if a member moves to recall the Speaker, that is not opposed and so, in this instance, the government opposed it twice, which goes against all conventions and is really disappointing, because ultimately, it means that the government can, once it gets into committee, shut down the opposition's ability to ensure that the rules are being followed."
McAnulty said Labour was happy to own up to causing the late night at Parliament, but said the government should front on its decision not to recall the Speaker.
"We're accountable for the number of amendments that we put forward and the delay in the debate, but it'll be very interesting to see if the government decides to front up, and explain why they wouldn't let the Speaker come and rule on that matter," he said.
Leader of the House Chris Bishop told RNZ the proposed recall of the Speaker was "ridiculous".
"You don't recall the Speaker over someone allegedly calling for a vote in slightly the wrong way."
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