In Parliament Podcast Options

7:30 AM.Week in the House dominated by urgency, which was accorded on Tuesday for the passing through all stages of the Housing Legislation Amendment Bill. However, the Government's plans to see the bill… Read more Audio

5:45 AM.House adjourns for the weekend, after passing two Government bills on Thursday afternoon; The Child Protection (Child Sex Offender Register) Bill passes by 107 votes to 14 with only the Greens… Read more Audio

6:55 PM.Parliament's adjourned for the weekend, ending a week spent mostly under urgency to pass one bill that took eighteen hours from start to finish after the Government left the gate open for the… Read more Audio

5:45 AM.The opposition's filibuster of the Government's Housing Legislation Amendment Bill continued late into the night on Wednesday. Introduced under urgency on Tuesday, the Bill was subject to a series of… Read more Audio

6:55 PM.Government bogged down by a filibuster as Opposition parties hi-jack its Housing Legislation Amendment Bill, introduced under urgency on Tuesday, tabling amendments which have to be debated before… Read more Audio

5:45 AM.House moves into urgency for the passing through all stages of the Housing Legislation Amendment Bill; Speaker denies request for snap debate on burglary statistics; Labour's Stuart Nash puts… Read more Audio

6:55 PM.A bill extending the time for establishing Special Housing Areas by three years to September 2019 is pushed through after the Government, supported by its three satellite parties, puts the House under… Read more Audio

7:30 AM.In the one select committee during this week's adjournment, the Local Government and Environment Committee hears submissions from grumpy mayors and local body politicians on the sweeping new powers… Read more Audio

7:30 AM.MPs farewell retiring Governor General Sir Jerry Mataparae; Speaker reins in the Prime Minister during Question Time; Shop Trading Hours Amendment Bill passes final reading by 62 votes to 59… Read more Audio

5:45 AM.House adjourns for a week shortly after passing the final reading of the Shop Trading Hours Amendment Bill - which will give local authorities the power to allow retail trading on Easter Sunday… Read more Audio

6:50 PM.The Shop Trading Hours Amendment Bill passes final reading by 62 votes to 59, following a personal vote. The bill will allow local authorities to make decisions about shop trading on Easter Sunday… Read more Audio

5:45 AM.David Parker's Minimum Wage (Contractor Remuneration) Amendment Bill voted down by 61 votes to 60 after Peter Dunne withdraws his earlier support for the bill to with National and Act to defeat the… Read more Audio

6:50 PM.An early start for MPs on the Health Select Committee which meets at 8am for the first round of oral submissions on its inquiry into a petition calling on the House to investigate public attitudes to… Read more Audio

5:45 AM.House to sit under extended hours provisions on Wednesday morning for progress on several Government bills; Health Committee due to begin hearing submissions on Maryann Street's petition calling for… Read more Audio

6:50 PM.Week in the House begins with a round of speeches praising the performance of New Zealand's athletes at the Olympic Games in Rio. Questions for the prime minister, John Key, begin with a series from… Read more Audio

7:30 AM.Government makes a hash of what should have been a good week in the House with the Budget over its final hurdle, earlier than expected ratification of the Paris Agreement on gas emissions and the… Read more Audio

5:45 AM.The New Zealand Intelligence and Security Bill, overhauling legislation governing the country's spy agencies, passes its first reading by 106 votes to 15 - with National, Labour, New Zealand First… Read more Audio

6:50 PM.The Government announces an inquiry into the contamination of drinking water in Havelock North, but only after Labour's deputy leader and health spokeswoman, Annette King, raises the issue again in… Read more Audio

5:45 AM.Health Committee receives a petition regarding melanoma treatment drugs, and hears concerns about Pharmac's model for approving the funding of such medicines; The committee also hears submissions on a… Read more Audio

6:50 PM.Government ministers and MPs join together in the General Debate to claim credit for early ratification of the Paris Agreement on greenhouse gas emissions. Signed by 180 countries, the agreement was… Read more Audio

5:45 AM.Two bills implementing the Government's 2016 Budget are progressed, with the Appropriation (2016/17 Estimates) and Imprest Supply (Second for 2016/17) Bills both passing final readings by 63 votes to… Read more Audio

6:50 PM.After asking no questions about the drinking water contamination in Havelock North Labour wins the Speaker's approval for a snap debate. Labour's health spokeswoman, Annette King, accuses the… Read more Audio

7:30 AM.Committee Stage of the Government's budget passes on Tuesday, with its third and final reading kicked off by Finance Minister Bill English on Thursday; Members' Day sees David Parker's Minimum Wage… Read more Audio

5:45 AM.Parliament adjourns for the weekend, with Leader of the House Gerry Brownlee signalling what will be on the Government's agenda for the week ahead; Finance Minister Bill English kicks off the final… Read more Audio

6:50 PM.Questions for Reserve Bank governor, Graeme Wheeler, in the committee rooms, and for Finance Minister, Bill English, in the debating chamber, about the Reserve Bank's cut in the official cash rate to… Read more Audio