Parliament's last-minute sprint

Photo: VNP / Daniela Maoate-Cox You might imagine Parliament's penultimate week before the summer break would involve MPs lurching tipsily between Christmas functions, ministers pinning yuletide bows onto the government's now-closed annual agenda, and the vibe turning once again to Christmas mince pies and beach cricket. MPs hoping for that dreamy vision will be sorely disappointed. This week in the House is packed with debating. If any MPs manage to abscond and attend a Christmas function they might well be tired enough to fall asleep in a corner, without the help of festive libations. Last bill in, first bill out The Government seems determined to pack in as much work as possible to complete bills already underway. To remove any remaining fest from the festive warm-up the Government began the week by introducing ten brand new bills for debate. One or two new bills is more usual in weeks when any new bills are introduced at all. Nine bills were introduced at the usual time, before Question Time. A tenth was added at the last possible moment before it was debated under urgency. Why was the tenth bill added so late? It's unlikely the drafters were desperately scribbling out the concluding sentences. Possibly it was because it was also the first to be debated under an urgency plan that lasts the week. Such a late addition makes it hard for the Opposition to prepare for debate. That last minute addition was the Resource Management (Duration of Consents) Amendment Bill, which was debated through all stages under urgency - being finally approved on Wednesday morning. It extends expiring resource contents until the end of 2027 while the government's new RMA plans kick in. That is a logical consideration, though as a blanket move it may have some unintended consequences council would prefer to have avoided. Opposition speakers did not appear impressed with the process or the available information. Labour's Rachel Brooking was the first to respond. "It's very sad that we are once again in this House on an all-stages urgency bill, with a bill that we have seen only this afternoon. There is a departmental disclosure statement that we have just picked up off the Table now… . But it is quick reading because it just says 'no, no, no, no, no, no, no'. Has there been a regulatory impact statement? 'NO.' Has there been a proper analysis of how many consents this will apply to? 'NO.' No, no, no, no, no-that's all we see in this report." The bills under urgent debate Debating under urgency is the order of the week. The plan includes seven first readings, some of which are among those ten new bills, as well as four other bills already under consideration. Briefly here are the other bills receiving first readings: The Emergency Management Bill (No 2) makes changes to both national agency and local body powers in regard to national and regional emergencies. The Arms Bill repeals and replaces the Arms Act 1983. It says that it "reduces the burden on licence applicants, licence holders, and the Arms Regulator." In fact it replaces the arms regulator, removing it from the police. The Crimes Amendment Bill does a lot of things including changing the rules around citizens arrests and 'property defence'. It changes offences and penalties around people trafficking and smuggling, and slavery offences. It creates new offences for assaults on first responders or corrections officers, and makes it worse to kill someone when they didn't see it coming (the so-called 'coward punch'). It also increases penalties for undertaking theft in an "offensive, threatening, insulting, or disorderly manner." Polite thefts only please. The Climate Change Response (2050 Target and Other Matters) Amendment Bill almost halves New Zealand's biogenic methane reduction target to as little as a 14% reduction by 2050. Fear not though, it also institutes a review of the new reduction plan - for which review you have only to wait until 2040. While many of the first readings this week are only under urgency for their first readings (meaning they will be sent to a select committee for public feedback), the methane bill is going through all stages under urgency, thereby avoiding public feedback. Why it is more urgent than the other bills is not obvious. The methane target change aspect of it (which is the bulk of the bill), is not urgent so possibly this is about avoiding public and science feedback in committee. The Public Works Amendment Bill follows on from a review into how governments can improve the efficiency and clarity of acquiring land through the Public Works Act. One change it does make is requiring consent from the Minister for Māori Affairs when governments intend to take protected Māori land for government work. The other bills being completed this week under urgency The Fast-track Approvals Amendment Bill consolidates the controversial fast track legislation enacted last year (itself partly under urgency). This amendment was sold...

Parliament's last-minute sprint

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