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Parliament officially opens on Wednesday when MPs will be sworn in and a new Speaker will be elected.
In 2017 Trevor Mallard's role was threatened when National convinced the Government it had the numbers to oppose his election, and used the uncertainty to leverage more of its MPs onto select committees.
That won't be a problem this year, however, with a Labour Party majority government.
On Thursday MPs return to Parliament for the State Opening when the Governor-General will deliver the speech from the throne.
Then it's into business and one of the first things on the agenda is introducing legislation to increase sick leave from five to 10 days.
Political reporter Jo Moir spoke to Workplace Relations Minister Michael Wood about why he's being quick to introduce it but then putting the brakes on.