MPs worked through the committee stage of six bills in one evening this week, which I promise is more impressive than it sounds.
Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
Bills have to go through numerous stages in the House before they can be signed into law and the committee stage is often the longest.
It's officially called the committee of the whole House, and in it MPs debate the fiddly details of a bill, by parts or clauses (the sections a bill is divided into).
Unlike other debates they each have multiple chances to do so. MPs can take up to four calls (speeches) of five minutes in length on a question* as long as they don't get repetitive; the chairperson keeps an ear out for repeat offenders.
To give an idea of why it's often a long stage, imagine a bill that has several parts or over 100 clauses and multiply that by 100 odd MPs who can speak on each part for up to 20minutes - upsize your keep-cup of coffee because it could take awhile.
In reality, how long it takes can depend on both the length of the bill, and also whether MPs want to draw out the debate (i.e. filibuster). If both are true, it can get pretty lengthy. For example, the Electoral Integrity Amendment Bill's committee stage was spread out over roughly seven weeks.
*A question is usually whether or not the House agrees to accept a line in a bill and is normally phrased like: "the question is that clause 1 stand part".
The reason for all this focus on the details is to make sure a bill has all the necessary components to do what it says it will do. It also allows MPs to propose changes if something is missing or if they want the bill to align more with their own political ideology. These changes are often referred to as SOPs, short for supplementary order papers.
So with all that work to do in a committee stage, putting six bills through this process in just a few hours is unusual. Not impossible, but unusual. Of course, not every bill is controversial so MPs often agree across the House to pass some legislation without a lot of debate.
On Tuesday committee stages were completed for:
- the Residential Tenancies (Prohibiting Letting Fees) Amendment Bill - a longer debate was had on this one as National oppose the Bill. It was also interrupted by an earthquake.
- the Family and Whānau Violence Legislation Bill. The bill was divided into the following bills: Family Violence Bill and the Family Violence (Amendments) Bill - this was originally introduced under the previous Government and has support across the House (although National disagreed with some government changes to it).
- the Telecommunications (New Regulatory Framework) Amendment Bill - like the bill before it, this was also introduced under the previous Government and is also supported across the House.
- the Courts Matters Bill - getting repetitive here but again this bill was introduced under the previous Government.
- the Tribunals Powers and Procedures Legislation Bill - and again, this was introduced under the previous Government so it's not too controversial.
- the Social Assistance (Residency Qualification) Legislation Bill - Not introduced by the last Government but also not one that causes much argument. It's supported across the House.
And just like that you can power through potentially weeks of debate in a single evening.
See what the House has done each sitting day here.
