The House

Opposition MPs appear to have rediscovered an old filibustering tactic and are using it to protest the Government's liking for sending bills to select committees for very short periods.

The Government's first budget is finally reaching the end of its long approval process, and it's going to be just in time. You might have thought it was all done and dusted months ago, but Parliament is pretty careful with giving away pocket money.

Chris Hipkins discusses his formal parliamentary title: Leader of the Opposition, and the very different job of leading in opposition.

Question Time is the political equivalent of managers being grilled in front of the board, even when the Prime Minister is being quizzed by the opposition. Imagining it as literally that gives a different slant to teasing out the answers, the deflections and obfuscations.

Parliament adjourned early today in respect for Kiingi Tuheitia, the late leader of the Māori Kingitanga. Before they adjourned there were speeches.

This week New Zealand’s Parliament hosted the Commonwealth Youth Parliament, bringing youth leaders together from Fiji to the Falklands.

The Climate Change Commission told members this week that climate adaptation is the "most difficult challenge this country faces over the next century."

Petitions often touch on very human stories, or on tricky philosophical issues. This week, one threw explosive new information into an already contentious debate.

Parliament's Question Time is a slow-moving boxing match with many rounds. This week one boxer's second stepped into the ring to help. They didn't throw in the towel, but they did try to stop the bout.

The House hears from two MPs, usually foes, who have spent a week together stateside, like a political odd couple.

A dispute during Question Time this week was packed with lessons on asking questions in Parliament, and especially how not to answer them.

It's not uncommon for a Committee of the Whole House to need several sittings to consider a bill. With three government bills under consideration by the Committee this week, most of Parliament's sitting time will be devoted to this process.

The House began a new sitting block sharing a little love over the Paris Olympics results, but the sudden outbreak of amity didn't last.

New Zealand's Parliament House is a strikingly colonial edifice. So how does it feel to be Māori in that space?

Few people think MPs never lie, so why are they seldom punished? We investigate Parliament's rules on mistakes, fibs, and perfidious calumny.