Parliament's to do list: Tuesday 2 April 2019

First up after question time is a bill banning firearms. 

The Government announced it would introduce legislation tightening up firearms legislation following the terror attacks on two mosques in Christchurch on 15 March.

The House will also consider a bill aimed at increasing the number of organ transplants and ensuring 17-year-olds are treated as young people by the justice system.

Question time - 2pm

Twelve questions to Ministers from both opposition and Government party MPs.

It’s one of the fastest moving parts of the House and normally results in some witty one liners and savage political takedowns.

Follow up questions (supplementaries) are allowed at the Speaker’s discretion and misbehaving MPs can cost their party supplementaries.

Firearms Ban - first reading

What:

• A bill to implement the initial legislative stage of military-style-gun controls was introduced on Monday for a first reading on Tuesday. This is a faster turnaround than the usual three days (for MPs to read a bill before its first debate), that sees many first readings on a Thursday. That speed and a very short Select Committee process is expected to be enabled in the House on Tuesday (either via unanimous leave being given, or by a motion to accord urgency).

• The Bill is titled the Arms (Prohibited Firearms, Magazines, and Parts) Amendment Bill. 

• One thing that the bill does is find cleaner ways to define the to-be-banned semi-automatic weapons than describing them as 'military style'. That description caused difficulty in court and the potential confusions of describing weapons by anything other than capability can be seen in a presentation to select committee from the NZ Police from 2011. 

• Unusually, the bill page for this legislation has found links in news stories overseas as well.

Who:

• The minister in charge is Stuart Nash, as Minister of Police (the agency which administers gun licencing).

Reviewing Government spending - second reading but no debate

What:

• The Appropriation (2017/18 Confirmation and Validation) Bill

• Examining the Government’s spending for the last financial year and signing off on it. In technical language the bill “confirms the Public Finance (Transfers Between Outputs) Order 2018, which was made under section 26A of the Act (clause 5)”

• The first reading will take place without a debate meaning this won’t take much time to deal with in the House.

Who:

• The Minister of Finance Grant Robertson is in charge of this bill.

Why:

• This is part of Parliament’s financial cycle in which future spending (the Budget) and last year’s spending/performance of government departments (annual reviews) is examined and approved.

• This bill in particular leads into the annual review process which is scrutiny of how well the Government did. Ministers and bosses of departments have been appearing in front of select committees to justify their performance and discuss their funding. Reports from committees are sent back to the House and debated over 13 hours at the committee stage of this bill; it’s called the Annual Review Debate.

Confirming 17-year-olds are youths - first reading

What:

• The Oranga Tamariki Legislation Bill

• The bill will tweak legislation to make sure 17-year-olds are included in Youth Justice policy.

• It will also correct some drafting errors like “ broad provisions relating to interim court orders.”

• It’s an omnibus bill which means it affects more than one Act. This bill will amend 12 pieces of legislation

Who:

• Minister for Children Tracey Martin

Extending from blood to body parts - first reading

What:

• The Organ Donors and Related Matters Bill

• In June 2017 the Ministry of Health published a strategy document suggesting five key actions that would increase the donation of organs from dead people. This bill seeks to turn some of those ideas into a reality.

• The key action of the bill is in creating a national agency to oversee donation - which will be done by extending the remit of the New Zealand Blood Service.

• A first reading debate looks at the general intent of a bill and decides whether or not it should survive and be sent to a Select Committee for consideration.

Who:

• The person shepherding the bill through Parliament is the Minister of Health, David Clark.

Voting Online - third reading

What:

• Continuing the third reading of the Local Electoral Matters Bill.

• Another omnibus bill meaning it will make changes to more than one Act. One of those changes is to “support the conduct of trials of novel voting methods” like online voting.

• The Bill will also give local authorities the right to access date of birth information from the database of registered electors.

Who:

This bill is under the Minister of Local Government Nanaia Mahuta.

New Rules for Financial Advisers - third reading

What:

• The Financial Services Legislation Amendment Bill.

• The bill is described as seeking to “establish a new regulatory regime for financial advice and financial advisers in New Zealand, and to amend requirements for registration on the Financial Service Providers Register (the FSPR) to prevent its misuse.”

Why:

• The bill is a response to a statutory review of the regulatory regime completed in 2016.

Who:

• In the name of Kris Faafoi as Minister for Commerce and Consumer Affairs   

Criminalising cartels - third reading

What:

• The Commerce (Criminalisation of Cartels) Amendment Bill

• The Bill amends the Commerce Act to specifically criminalise cartel behaviour.

• It also helpfully outlines what that is:  “A cartel is an anticompetitive arrangement by competitors to do any of the following: fix, control, or maintain prices; establish output restrictions or quotas; share or divide markets by allocating customers, suppliers, territories, or lines of commerce."

Who:

• Another bill for Minister for Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Kris Faafoi

Tidying up ACC - third reading

What:

• The Accident Compensation Amendment Bill

• This bill aims to tidy up inconsistencies between different pieces of legislation and keep the regulations up to date and relevant.

• It will make several changes including allowing surviving spouses to receive up to five years of weekly compensation regardless of age, and disestablishing the Accident Compensation Appeal Authority, which hears cases under the 1972 and 1982 Accident Compensation legislation.

• A third stage is the final debate before a bill is approved as law.

Who:

• The Minister for ACC Iain Lees-Galloway

You can see what the House manages to get through each day on the Parliament website here.