After question time on Tuesday 10 November, the House is expected to progress the committee of the whole House stage of a number of Government bills, such as the Support for Children in Hardship Bill. This bill seeks to strengthen work expectations and increase assistance for parents who have dependent children.
- The International Finance Agreements Amendment Bill, amending the original Act to enable the Government to become a member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
- The Taxation (Bright-line Test for Residential Land) Bill, amending the Income Tax Act 2007 and the Tax Administration Act 1994 to improve compliance with land sales rules in the Income Tax Act.
The committee of the whole House stage allows MPs to examine a bill in detail and propose changes.
The first three or four Government orders of the day will be what the House debates that day. You can find these on the latest Order Paper, although the order of business can change until the final Order Paper is published at 10.30 a.m. on the sitting day.
Members’ Day
After question time on Wednesday 11 November, the House will hold a general debate before moving on to consider bills put forward by MPs who are not ministers. In recent years, both gay marriage and the “mondayisation” of the Waitangi Day and Anzac Day public holidays have been achieved by the House passing members’ bills.
Member’s bills scheduled to be debated include:
The Electricity Industry (Small-Scale Renewable Distributed Generation) Amendment Bill (Gareth Hughes). This bill aims to break down barriers and provide a fair regime for small-scale renewable electricity generators to help New Zealand meet its goal of 90 percent renewable electricity by 2025.
The Social Security (Pathway to Work) Amendment Bill (Carmel Sepuloni). This bill aims to remove disincentives to participate in part-time work by increasing the threshold of how much a person can earn before their benefit is reduced.
Proposed members’ bills can be read here.
A member’s bill ballot is likely to be held on Thursday 12 November at midday.
Sessional Orders
The House has recently published a new edition of Sessional Orders. These Orders enable the House to change, remove or add to Standing Orders for a specified amount of time or for the current session of Parliament.
Noteworthy changes are the appointment of certain MPs to the Parliamentary Service Commission and the Intelligence and Security Committee. The Intelligence and Security Committee will also conduct annual reviews and examine the Estimate Vote of each intelligence and security agency.
Select committees
There is a full programme of select committee meetings in Parliament and throughout the North Island this week.
The Māori Affairs Committee is meeting in Napier on Monday to hear submissions on the Hineuru Claims Settlement. The Education and Science Committee are meeting in Auckland on Friday to hear submissions on their Inquiry into the identification and support for students with the significant challenges of dyslexia, dyspraxia, and autism spectrum disorders in primary and secondary schools.
For details of times and subjects, see the select committee schedule.
