The House

The Equal Pay Amendment Bill wasn't in the Government's initially released plan for Parliament's week. It was included at the eleventh hour. It's late arrival, it's urgent passing, and its intent all caused anger in the House.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Returning from three weeks on recess, MPs' first business was a motion in honour of a pope. Speeches were a little more honest, and a little more heartfelt than typical. Especially one of them. And it may have included Parliament's first Hail Mary that wasn't a political desperation move. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Parliament’s select committees are well known. But the public never gets to watch the Cabinet committees, which all policies go through before reaching Parliament. Louis Collins chats with the Deputy Leader of the House, National Party MP Louise Upston, to understand what happens in the sub-committees which are Cabinet's workhorses. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Other nations are experiencing the erosion of democratic norms – even authoritarianism. Is our constitution strong enough to withstand it?Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Peter Boshier says the public can rest assured that there is an enduring institution fighting for fairness and accountability. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

This Sunday edition of the House is a compilation of the week's reporting, including: a Question Time naughtiness scavenger hunt, the Annual Review debate on Health, and the very unusual death of a Government bill — the Treaty bill. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Members' bills die ugly deaths regularly, but I can find no record in recent history of a government bill sent into the House to suffer the indignity of a negative vote. It was either unusually masochistic or the outcome of poor political judgement. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Despite this years' budget only a month away, the Government still have t's to cross i's to dot in regard to spending from previous years. The annual review debate is the final stage in that very long process. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Arguments, inferences, imputations, epithets, ironical expressions, or expressions of opinion. It's not a lost verse from The Sound of Music's 'My Favourite Things'. It's a partial list of things Question Time questions cannot include. There are also some must-haves; and separate requirements for answers. The House goes on a scavenger hunt, to find examples inside one Question Time.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Parliament’s Privileges Committee has been a major source of news over the last few weeks. What is privilege, and how does the committee typically work? ...and because this is a Sunday episode of the House, it also includes a replay of Wednesday's episode on leniency towards MPs 'schoolyard stupidity' during Question Time. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Parliament has voted to allow the Justice Committee to continue processing submissions on the Treaty principles bill, even after the committee's work on the bill is finished. This will allow them to be collected along with the submissions that were considered by the committee as part of its report. We chat with the Clerk of the House of Representatives, David Wilson for background on the parliamentary rules and processes behind this move. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Nearly 25 years after the “corngate” saga of the early 2000s, the debate on Genetic Modification is back in New Zealand’s political consciousness thanks to the Gene Technology Bill, which is currently going through the select committee process. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Gerry Brownlee was a teacher when ‘the cane’ ruled the classroom. As Parliament’s Speaker, he is reluctant to reach beyond threats and pleas.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

After a select committee process that presented MPs with lots of constitutional questions, the Parliament Bill is back in the House.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

The House chats with two MPs from the Parliament Bill Committee about some interesting suggestions from submitters - namely a Parliamentary Budget Office.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Parliament spent much of this week debating bills under urgency. The Government can get more done in the House that way, but there is a trade-off in committees. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

MPs were welcomed back to this three week sitting block by more urgency, and a boisterous question time. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Parliament’s recent inquiry and debate on climate change adaptation asked small questions, looked short term and inched towards reactive solutions. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

This Week, Parliament had the debate on the Budget Policy Statement, which gave us a few hints as to what we can expect come Budget Day on 22 May.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

The Prime Minister’s much repeated claim that he “saved school lunches” because Labour "failed to fund them" is nonsense, and relies on us not understanding how budgets actually work. We analyse the claim, the reality, and the budget approach that allows the misinterpretation.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

The first dose of Parliamentary urgency was dished out this week, to address a law that has fallen behind common practice.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

This week, MPs got their first chance to debate on a new bill that would extend the three year parliamentary term to four years. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

This week's legislative agenda began with the first reading of a bill that enables congestion charging in our cities. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Before MPs got down to debating legislation this week, they spent time debating the resignation last week of National Party minister, Andrew Bayly. Responses ranged from nothing-to-see-here to what-aren't-they-telling-us.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Political voices have become very familiar since the beginning of radio, but they haven’t always sounded the same. Listen to 14 former Prime Ministers (and one Speaker) from 1912 to 1990. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

While they didn't turn up in an Aston Martin, the heads of New Zealand's spy agencies, the GCSB and the NZSIS came to Parliament this week to give MPs, media, and the public a rare glimpse into New Zealand's intelligence community. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Some debates at Parliament are a bit monochromatic, but not many. In most policy areas the best descriptor is 'it’s complicated'. The problem will be complicated, any worthwhile solutions, complicated; the politics lying between the problem and a solution... complicated. And few things are more complicated than a topic debated this week – criminal justice sentencing. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Marama Davidson, after time off for cancer treatment, is back at Parliament and is already busy with her members bill that would require manufacturers to make repair parts and information available to consumers. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

This Sunday edition of The House includes Tuesday's story about rules on MP misbehaviour (but with extra material – including one rule that seems to very specifically apply), and Thursday's story looking at the now completed debate on the Prime Ministers Statement – which boiled down to being a 13-hour long debate over growth.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

So far this year, Parliament has been dominated by one very long debate on whether the House approves of the Prime Minister's speech outlining his plan for the year. We look at some of its themes and rhetorical stylings.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

On Wednesday this week, the Health Committee heard from both the Mental Health Minister and members of the public who offered their lived experience of mental health treatment. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

On Monday David Seymour mounted Parliament's lower front steps in a vehicle. The Speaker was not impressed. So what are the rules and who can punish an MP or Minister?Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Parliament may have been on summer break, but its website was anything but quiet. The House chatted to the person overseeing an unprecedented number of submissions. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

This week Parliament did something important and unusual, giving the Taranaki Maunga legal personhood.This episode has audio from the third reading of Taranaki's collective redress bill. For a look at the Bill itself, particularly the history, acknowledgments and apologies within it, read this article. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

After a series of speeches acknowledging several notable deaths that occurred over the Summer, Parliament kicked off 2025 by doing what it does best - arguing. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Before the normal political welcome, MPs spent time farewelling the fallen, particularly Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming and Dame Tariana Turia.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Parliament's adjournment debate is a showcase of vitriol leavened with humour. It is likely the most chaotic, unfocussed, haphazard, and sometimes incoherent political event of the year. We have the lowlights. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

On Parliament's last day of the year, there was the rare occurrence of a personal (conscience) vote on selling booze over the Easter weekend. While it didn't have the numbers to pass, it was a chance to get a rare glimpse of the factions within the major parties. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Before the Speaker Gerry Brownlee overturned Barbara Kuriger’s Fast-track ruling, there was a lengthy and fascinating debate in the House. We couldn’t give justice to the constitutional and parliamentary to-and-fro on our show - so here it all is as a podcast extra. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Last week’s fights with the Speaker over the Fast Track schedule may have changed the tone in Parliament. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Parliament's final full week was a legislating blitz to complete unfinished legislation, and introduce new bills for the public to chew on over summer. And in this Sunday wrap of the week we also look at one unfortunate select committee, drowning under an unusual preponderance of work. This Sunday show from The House comprises material from the weekday shows from Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

In the midst of this week's blitz to complete unfinished work before the summer recess, there was also a clutch of brand new legislation. Something for submitters to improve over the break, including a bill that creates a new offence - stalking. This is the Friday 13th show from The House - an extra programme because Parliament sat beyond its usual week.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

This week, media and public focus on Parliament honed in on the hullabaloo around ferries and speakers rulings. Meanwhile, over 30 hours of urgency were used to consider eleven bills have been going through the House this week.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

In its first year, this parliament has sent 78 new laws to the twelve subject select committees. That should mean they are reviewing six bills each, except the Justice Committee has been sent 26 of them - including many of the most contested. Why?Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Last month, twelve Pacific speakers and clerks from around Oceania traded the warm shores of the South Pacific for Wellington in spring. They were here for a week of networking and learning, with doses of casual diplomacy. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Parliament was heaving with activity this week, though not with debates, bills, or even any sittings of the House. Instead, the corridors and committee rooms were alive with the hustle and bustle of Scrutiny Week. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Whether its about the lack of it, the quality of it, or the cost of it, discussions about housing are omnipresent at Parliament. This week, both Housing Ministers sat down in front of MPs for a session of explain and answer on the topic. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

While New Zealand's defence force deals with budget issues, lagging equipment, and the aftermath of the Manawanui, Defence Minister Judith Collins made it clear that NZDF still have the unwavering support of their minister. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Scrutiny Week is underway with annual reviews of government entities with multi-billion dollar budgets. Also underway are political games you would never dare try in your own performance review. Exhibit A is Shane Reti facing Ayesha Verrall in the Health Committee. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

There are just five House sitting days of Parliament left. They will feel like a warm down after what happens prior – five tough days of government scrutiny, with help from Parliament's watchdog. The House chats with Mark Evans and Lyndsey Gibson from the Office of the Auditor General about Scrutiny Week. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details