Parliament's plan for Wednesday

MPs turn up at 9am today to finish off a bill that will regulate fibre services then they’ll be back in the house from 2pm for question time, a general debate and more legislation.

*The Order Paper determines what MPs will work on but it’s subject to change so below is an outline of what they’ll try to work through.

Regulating fibre services

What:

• Finishing off the Third and final reading of the Telecommunications (New Regulatory Framework) Amendment Bill

• Not a controversial bill as it was brought to Parliament under the previous government and picked up by the current one.

• It introduces a new outline for the regulation of fibre fixed-line services from 2020, while retaining copper fixed-line regulations where no fibre alternatives are available.

• It also extends consumer safeguards, streamlines response to competition problems, especially in the cellular market, and provides more oversight of retail service quality.

When:

• This is actually still Tuesday according to the House. The Government extended Tuesday’s sitting into Wednesday morning in case it ran out of time to do everything it wanted to this week. When they extend sitting hours they pretend it’s still the day before so Wednesday at in the debating chamber doesn’t start till 2pm. More on extended sittings here.

Who:

• This bill is in the name of Minister for Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Kris Faafoi.

Question Time - 2pm

This is the most familiar and popular part of a sitting day and consists of twelve oral questions to Ministers from either Opposition MPs or government backbenchers.

Opposition MPs use question time to try and expose the Government’s failings or to advocate for an issue on behalf of their constituents.

Backbench MPs from a Government Party often ask “patsy”, or soft, questions to a Minister so the Minister can boast about stuff they’ve done like a recent policy announcement.  

Supplementary/follow-up questions are allocated to parties but ultimately allowed at the discretion of the Speaker.  

Taupatupatu Whānui  - The General Debate 3pm(ish)

What

• Like Sesame Street, Parliament seems to enjoy the number 12. This part of the day has 12 speeches of up to five minutes in length. Bigger parties get proportionally more speeches.

Why

• The general debate is for MPs to bring up issues that wouldn’t otherwise get raised, making it a wide-ranging debate. Sometimes parties take a coordinated approach and speak on the same issue but there’s no rule that they have to. There’s fewer rules on this debate and it can be both raucous and entertaining.

Banning oil and gas exploration

What:

• The Crown Minerals (Petroleum) Amendment Bill will have its third reading which is the last stage in the House before it goes off to be signed into law.

• On 12 April this year, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that no further offshore petroleum exploration permits will be granted. The bill will stop the granting of new offshore petroleum permits and limit new onshore petroleum permits to Taranaki. The Bill shouldn’t affect existing petroleum permits and rights to subsequent permits, under the principal Act

• Yesterday the bill went through its committee stage which can be the longest part of a bill’s time in the House. Each part or clause is debated and MPs can also speak multiple times (as long as they follow the rules) so on large, controversial bills (like this one) this can take a few days and delay the passing of other legislation.

Who:

• Minister of Energy and Resources Megan Woods

Why:

• At the bill’s first reading Ms Woods said “with this bill we are taking the first steps on a 30-year to 40-year journey: a planned, measured, just transition towards a low-carbon economy.”

• In the select committee report on the Bill, the National Party said it opposes this policy and at its first reading National MP Jonathan Young said the bill is a step backwards for the country’s climate goals.
  “They're banning innovation. They're banning ideas that come through the hydrocarbon industry. We hear that there is $1.2 billion of investment lost that would reduce emissions in Taranaki,” said Mr Young.

Courts and Tribunals rejig

What:

• The third reading  of the  Courts Matters Bill and the Tribunals Powers and Procedures Legislation Bill

• Together the bills will help update the courts and tribunals systems. Both bills were introduced just before the 2017 election by the previous government.

• These are omnibus bills, which means that it will make changes to more than one Act.

Why:

• The courts system is complicated and needs reasonably regular rejigging to try and keep it working as efficiently as possible. This is one of those rejigs.

• This is the kind of ‘machinery of government’ legislation that is mostly agreed on across Parliament as being necessary.

• Here are rundowns on the many changes that the Courts Matters and the Tribunals Powers bills will make.

Who:

• Associate Minister for Courts Aupito William Sio

Funding fire and emergency services

What:

• The first reading of the Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Levy) Amendment Bill

• It gives more time for insurers and brokers to comply with a new levy-based system introduced under the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Act 2017.

Why:

• Fire and Emergency New Zealand is mainly funded by a levy on contracts of insurance where property is insured against the risk of fire. Changes were made to the levy under the last Government and this bill changes the date for compliance from 1 July 2019 to 1 July 2021 with the option to bring that forward a year to July 2020 if they want to.

Who:

• The Minister for Internal Affairs Tracey Martin is in charge.

What:

• The second reading of the Earthquake Commission Amendment Bill

• There is an Earthquake Commission Act 1993 which this bill will amend to simplify and speed up the handling of claims for natural disaster damage, particularly when dealing with a large-scale natural disaster.

Who:

• Minister responsible for the Earthquake Commission Megan Woods.

• At its first reading the Ms Woods said:

“The four amendments are to remove EQC cover for personal property or home contents cover; to increase the EQC building cap cover from $100,000 to $150,000 plus GST; to lengthen EQC's pay notification time limit; and to clarify EQC's authority to share and publish information, including to facilitate settlement of EQC and private insurer claims.”

P-houses and rental damage

What:

• Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill (No 2) will have its second reading.

• This bill includes rule changes on methamphetamine contamination, tenant liability for property damage and what kinds of properties can come under The Tenancy Tribunal.

• This bill has been to a select committee for consideration and the committee’s report recommends some amendments to the bill including requiring landlords to include insurance information in a tenancy agreement, and widening the focus from methamphetamine contamination to include other substances as well.

Who:

Originally introduced under the previous Government by then Minister of Building and Construction Nick Smith. The Bill is now in the name of Minister of Housing and Urban Development Phil Twyford.

You can see how much the House gets done each sitting day by going here: Daily progress in the House