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The House headlines with summaries.
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Lawmakers’ election-year alarm clock
28 Mar 2023This week Parliament changes gears to kick start a bevy of proposed laws. It’s another sign the election is not far away.
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Enabling lawmaking on the fly
28 Mar 2023Parliament can grant powers to certain authorities to make new rules without having to go through the normal lengthy legislative process.
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Keeping the flow: the use of te reo at Parliament
26 Mar 2023An increased appetite to learn Te reo Māori among different parts of the Parliament system means the work of the Māori Language Service is in demand more than ever.
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The ominously named Shadow Leader
19 Mar 2023Parliament has a charming tendency to gift people with very odd job titles, like Shadow Leader of the House. Michael Woodhouse outlines what the job entails (and it's neither shade nor homes).
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Political pile-on or Parliament as designed?
16 Mar 2023This week MPs discussed Stuart Nash’s loss of a ministerial warrant for an hour. It may have looked like a political pile-on, but in reality it was Parliament doing exactly what it is designed for –…
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'Fairly busy': National Emergency Management Agency at committee
15 Mar 2023Response to recent climate disasters was the focus as the National Emergency Management Agency appeared before the Governance and Administration Committee for its annual review.
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Parliament may fast-track cyclone law without urgency
14 Mar 2023Parliament this week may agree to act speedily on a cyclone response bill, rather than invoke urgency. Doing so will allow some select committee time on the issue, and even a Member's Day.
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Tabling and other Parliamentage
12 Mar 2023This week’s weekend feature story for The House compiles highlights from through Parliament’s sitting week.
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Unpacked: seeking leave to table a document
9 Mar 2023It’s a common occurrence in the House for opposition MPs to ask to “seek leave to table a document”, but have you wondered what this really means?
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Hamilton West MP honours tūpuna in maiden statement
8 Mar 2023Maiden Statements are usually the public’s first and sometimes best chance to learn about an MP's motivations and politics, and new Hamilton West MP Tama Potaka's was no exception.
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The non-legislative week in the House
7 Mar 2023In Parliament this week there are three things happening that have nothing to do with passing legislation. Leader of the House Grant Robertson explains them to the House.
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Talking the talk: how MPs' backgrounds inform debating style
5 Mar 2023The House takes a look at how the backgrounds of three MPs informs the way they speak in Parliament.
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Democracy on the cheap: Skint Parliament to turn off the radio
26 Feb 2023After years of trimming budgets and doing things on-the-cheap to make ends meet Parliament’s secretariat has hit the budget wall and plans to end radio broadcasts. It’s a symptom of MP's fear of…
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Urgency used to pass Bill fixing 501 deportees loophole
23 Feb 2023Legislation has been passed under urgency to ensure all people returning to the country after being in prison systems abroad continue to come under parole-like oversight and support back in New…
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Entrenchment use under the grill in Standing Orders review
22 Feb 2023The use of entrenchment in law-making in this country has had a sound grilling at the Standing Orders Committee which is conducting its ongoing regular review of Parliament’s rules.
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Cyclone devastation and climate dominate PM's Statement debate
Today the debating chamber launched into action as it does most years - but this year was all about the weather and the climate.
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Parliament gets cracking proper with PM's Statement and disaster bills
21 Feb 2023After a week of business in the House was lost due to Cyclone Gabrielle, Parliament’s sitting year properly gets underway today with Debate on the Prime Minister’s Statement.
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Short, cyclone-hit week starts Parliament 2023
14 Feb 2023After a two-month break, Parliament resumed only to soon adjourn for the week as Cyclone Gabrielle complicated plans for the first sitting week in 2023.
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A year of disruption: Parliament's 2022 in review
18 Dec 2022The last episode of The House for this year is an opportunity to look back at some of the goings-on in Parliament that we covered in 2022.
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The first guest on the floor
14 Dec 2022It's been an unusual day at Parliament. President Zelensky became the first national leader to address the House, and then MPs travelled in time. At least on paper.
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Parliament’s week includes new bills and an historic speech
13 Dec 2022It is Parliament’s final week but there are still bills sitting under the tree for MPs to debate, and some history to make with a Ukrainian President.
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Go high: Parliament takes its roof solar
11 Dec 2022MPs often talk green, but Parliament is lowering its carbon footprint with hundreds of surreptitious solar panels; and providing a much wanted excuse to climb onto the roof.
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Parliament cancels a reservation: explaining 'entrenchment'
6 Dec 2022Parliament began its final sitting block of the year this week by cancelling a reservation it made two weeks ago. No, it wasn’t for a Christmas function. It was confusing, but we can help with that.
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Focus on three Government bills in penultimate week
7 Dec 2022Parliament’s year is rapidly nearing an end, and the Government has this week been focused on completion of three fairly major pieces of legislation.
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