Wednesdays are different at Parliament.
Yes, there’s the usual hour or so of Oral Questions - the daily inquisition. But after that the House launches into the General Debate, Parliament’s version of undirected oratory. Then to really break the mold, on alternate Wednesdays all of the bills debated are written by back-benchers.
Question Time 2pm
What:
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Twelve Questions are posed to ministers with inquisitorial follow-ups (supplementary questions). Roughly two thirds of them are asked by the Opposition. It’s an hour of high drama, semantic-linguistic puzzles and debates over the rules. And shouting.
Taupatupatu Whānui - The General Debate 3pm(ish)
The general debate can get pretty boisterous. Here leader of the opposition Simon Bridges accuses the government. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
What:
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Twelve speeches of up to five minutes in length. Bigger parties get more speeches.
Why
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The general debate is so MPs can bring up issues that specific debates on legislation don’t cover, making it a wide-ranging debate. Sometimes each party coordinates their talking points but they don’t have to. There’s fewer rules generally and it can be both raucous and entertaining.
Members’ Day 4pm(ish) - 10pm
On alternate Wednesdays, the bills debated are by MPs who are not ministers (i.e. they are opposition MPs or government backbenchers). Members’ bills get a shorter first debate, so quite a few can get rattled through. Unlike government bills there’s often suspense as to whether these bills will survive or be voted down. Many of NZ’s most culturally significant changes have come from a member’s bill. Oh, and no-one ‘decides’ which members bills will get debated. They are selected from a ballot, and debated in order, most done first, newest last.
Up this week:
Water for Tasman (the district not the sea)
Local bills need a MP to sponsor them. This one comes from Nelson MP Nick Smith Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
What:
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The Tasman District Council (Waimea Water Augmentation Scheme) Bill - second reading.
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Members days are also when Local Bills get discussed. They are bills requested by local councils and sponsored by an MP. They are often to deal with a very local issue or get around a law. This one changes the status of some Crown Land so that a water scheme can go ahead.
Whence cometh yon Banana?
Green Party MP Gareth Hughes has that unusual beast, a members bill likely to pass. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
What:
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The third and final reading of the Consumers’ Right to Know (Country of Origin of Food) Bill, in the name of Gareth Hughes.
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This bills mandates country of origin labels for many single ingredient foods.
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It is expected to become law.
More time for dealers
National MP Simeon Brown has a drugs penalties member's bill in his name Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
What:
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The continuation of the committee stage for the Psychoactive Substances (Increasing Penalty for Supply and Distribution) Amendment Bill in the name of Simeon Brown.
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The Bill increases the penalty for selling or supplying non approved psychoactive substances from two years to eight years. National and New Zealand First have been voting for this bill. Labour, ACT and the Greens opposed it after it’s second reading debate.
