During a swift urgent sitting in Parliament this week, multiple bills were progressed through multiple stages each, including six bills which reached completion in what would normally take a couple of sitting weeks worth of debate.
Among them was a Bill whose committee stage alone would have been expected to take days to get through, the Therapeutic Products Bill. While there's a sense here of a government getting busy tying up loose ends before the 53rd Parliament term soon expires, there's also a bit more to this burst of productivity.
Health Minister Ayesha Verrall Photo: VNP / Daniela Maoate-Cox
When the Government sent out its legislative plan for the Parliamentary week, as it usually does on Monday, it advised that the plan was to go into urgency on Tuesday and continue in that mode for the rest of the week in order to get through a whole bunch of legislation.
Sitting hours on subsequent days would be extended to include mornings and stretching until midnight. Typically urgency lasts through Thursday. But this week’s sitting under urgency wrapped up unusually early on Wednesday night.
The Therapeutic Products Bill drew over 16-thousand submissions to the health select committee. Most of these opposed aspects of the Bill. The Health Minister Ayesha Verrall acknowledged this, and the Government made some amendments to the new regulations. By the time the Bill got to the Committee of the whole House stage this week, there were eleven parts and a whole lot of little details to be worked through.
National MP Michael Woodhouse Photo: ©VNP / Phil Smith
Surprisingly, the committee stage went pretty quickly. Despite extensive panel beating undertaken around this Bill at the select committee suggesting things would go long and testy, MPs kept their speeches fairly short and were in no mood to drag things out, as the shadow Leader of the house, National’s Michael Woodhouse, observed.
“Well, I remember a day when the Labour members would be up like meerkats if a National Government had introduced a bill as bad as this. In fact, they never did. They were up like meerkats when we introduced good legislation and they would drag out committee stages under urgency. But in the hours that we have been debating this bill… we haven't heard a dickie bird from the Health Committee members from Labour or any other member of the Labour caucus, and I reckon that's because they know it's a bit of a dog,” Woodhouse said.
Actually it’s also quite normal for government MPs to stay quiet during a committee stage. The minister essentially answers questions on their behalf.
However the speed of this Bill’s passage this week may be a sign that with the election approaching, MPs are simply keen to keep things relatively snappy in the chamber in order to get back out on the hustings.
National MP Paul Goldsmith Photo: VNP / Daniela Maoate-Cox
Another reason for the speed was that some of these Bills had wide support in the House, such as the Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Rugby World Cup 2023 Extended Trading Hours) Amendment Bill.
As National’s Paul Goldsmith pointed out, it’s incumbent on MPs to work together across the political divide when it comes to big issues facing the nation, such as the need to ensure pubs are licensed to sell alcohol during the late hours when the Rugby World Cup is held in the northern hemisphere later this year.
“I can go for as long as we need to on this bill, Madam Speaker, if we need to. But I think the point I want to make is that when we're out on the campaign trail and people do often make the point, ‘Wouldn't it be great if you politicians could work together on issues that affect us, in unison?’ Goldsmith said.
“And we do that from time to time on issues such as this, where we all agree that New Zealanders do enjoy Rugby World Cups, they do want to be able to, without an enormous amount of rigmarole and fuss and bureaucracy, be able to go to the local restaurant or pub late in the night—and watch the game. And so this legislation was required, and I can go into the details of it but I don't think anybody's particularly interested in the details of it.”
Sometimes getting caught up in the details can be unhelpful when you’re just trying to wrap things up.
Other Bills which finished their third readings under urgency this week include the Fuel Industry Amendment Bill , the Business Payment Practices Bill , the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Amendment Bill and the Inspector-General of Defence Bill
