Responsible government is a tough job.
It involves a lot of heat and many questions without necessarily the glimmer of light the question asker was after.
The Government and its ministers are answerable to the House i.e. the other Members of Parliament (MPs).
One of the ways that MPs hold ministers to account is by asking them questions in Parliament called Questions for Oral Answer, usually called question time.
But often it seems, the member asking the question knows that the answer will never satisfy them - so they try to make it the question that counts.
Labour Leader Andrew Little has asked the Prime Minister Bill English why he won't take part in a public debate on housing. Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson
The House is produced for RNZ with funding from Parliament.
