Parliament’s sitting year has got underway, but only just.
The destructive path of Cyclone Gabrielle across much of the North Island these past couple of days complicated plans for the first sitting week.
Many MPs have been unable to get to Wellington, including Prime Minister Chris Hipkins as he decided to be in Auckland while the brunt of the weather disaster unfolded. So that threw a spanner in the works for the typical schedule of having the Prime Minister’s Statement start the yea with its attendant debate featuring speeches from leaders of other parties in Parliament.
A diminished Parliament. Many MPs were stuck in the north for what was meant to be Parliament's opening day for 2023. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
By this morning, a National State of Emergency was declared. It’s been a fluid situation, requiring hourly review by the government, and for Parliament’s purposes it meant more frequent deliberations than usual by Parliament’s Business Committee, which comprises the various party whips (or in the Green’s case musterers) along with the Leader of the House, his deputy and his opposition equivalent, under the chairmanship of the Speaker.
Less than two hours before the start of Parliament, the Business Committee decided that this Parliament week would be a very short one, due to the cyclone emergency. There’d be enough time to discuss two items. First was a motion to recognise the devastating earthquakes in Syria and Turkey last week. Second was a statement from Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty who signed the national emergency declaration several hours earlier today, with support from the opposition.
“I took this step because the impacts from Cyclone Gabrielle are of such a degree that the civil defence emergency management necessary or desirable is or would likely be beyond the resources of the impacted civil defence emergency management groups,” McAnulty explained.
“This event also requires a significant and co-ordinated response by and across central and local government.”
Concern over adjournment
Parliament had finally got underway after a two-month break. But after an hour it was off again, adjourned for the week because of the cyclone emergency.
The adjournment drew criticism from the ACT party whose deputy leader Brooke van Velden argued that during a national emergency, MPs need to be sitting in Parliament to hold the Government to account.
“But rather confusingly they’ve opted to forgo democracy in parliament. And the ACT Party believes we need to be extremely clear: when the Government in an emergency takes on extra powers we should be here to hold those powers to account,” she said.
However both McAnulty and the Finance Minister Grant Robertson pointed out that the declaration of a national emergency had only happened twice before, and Parliament adjourned on both of those occasions. The first time was in 2011 following a major earthquake in Christchurch, and the second was in 2020 related to the impact from the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Members of the House will be aware that this week was largely to have focussed on the Prime Minister’s Statement and the debate in response to that statement, Robertson said.
“I am sure colleagues will appreciate that the Prime Minister wants to and I believe should be out and about in the communities that have been affected, making sure that the Government fully understands the situation that is there, so that he can provide that leadership on the ground - as indeed I know other Members of Parliament want to do as well. Equally I’m sure colleagues would appreciate that the Prime Minister’s Statement is often a very political debate and that now is probably not the right time to be engaged in that kind of debate.”
Still, ACT were not convinced, with van Velden saying “Parliament is making the decision to adjourn as the worst of the weather has passed”.
“We are in a national state of emergency, but we cannot suspend democracy because of the weather. We have a duty to be here, and we oppose the adjournment of Parliament.”
Meanwhile, discussing the adjournment motion, Te Paati Māori’s Debbie Ngarewa-Packer alleged that elements in the Business Committee blocked the idea of reactivating the full virtual parliament as used during the pandemic in order to continue to function in the cyclone emergency.
“That may well have been a good opportunity for us to be out on the ground and hold the Government to account. Unfortunately, that opportunity hasn't been afforded. We look forward to that being discussed further in the future,” Ngarewa-Packer said.
So a very short week in Parliament came to an end. If nature is agreeable, and depending on how the cyclone disaster further unfolds, some of those seats that were empty today in the chamber should be taken up next week when MPs can turn their attention to the debate on the Prime Minister’s Statement.
