The House today - Tuesday 22 May 2019

Today the Government will start debating the zero carbon bill which will ensure New Zealand meets its requirements under the Paris Agreement to tackle global temperature increases.

Question time will take place as usual and then it's into other legislation including more of the Annual Review Debate which signs off on the last year's financial performance.

Sometimes things can take more or less time than planned so below is an indication of what the House will get through today.

Question Time - 2 pm

The quickest and most familiar part of the House's daily sitting Question Time is up to 12 oral questions to ministers.

Opposition MPs try to catch out the Government while government party MPs will ask softer questions which allow Ministers to boast.

Supplementary (follow-up) questions are usual but at the discretion of the Speaker.

Zero Carbon Bill- first reading

What:

• The Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill. A first reading debate usually outlines the purpose of the bill.

• Sets out a framework that can be used to develop climate change policies

• The bill will set a new greenhouse gas emissions reduction target separated into two parts. 1) reduce all greenhouse gases (except biogenic methane) to net zero by 2050 and 2) reduce emissions of biogenic methane within the range of 24-47 per cent below 2017 levels by 2050 including to 10 per cent below 2017 levels by 2030

• Requires emissions budgets to be set. These are like interim targets to ease the transition to a low-emissions New Zealand.

• Requires the Government to develop and implement policies for climate change adaptation and mitigation like a national climate change risk assessment, a national adaptation plan, regular progress reporting on the implementation of the national adaptation plan, and an adaptation information-gathering power.

• The bill will also establish a new, independent Climate Change Commission

Who:

Minister for Climate Change James Shaw is in charge of this bill.

Why:

• The Paris Agreement. This is a global agreement on climate change that was adopted by Parties under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on 12 December 2015. New Zealand ratified it in October 2016 which is a formal step needed to show NZ will work to meet its commitments under the Agreement. Planning for adaptation and regular reporting are a part of this.

• In 2017 Minister for Climate Change James Shaw announced the a public consultation process would take place. More than 15,000 submissions were received and a summary of them can be found here.

Ngā Rohe Moana o Ngā Hapū o Ngāti Porou Bill (No 2) - committee stage

What:

• The Ngā Rohe Moana o Ngā Hapū o Ngāti Porou Bill (No 2)

• A committee stage is when the parts of a bill are examined and debated to make sure the bill will do what it promises to do. It’s also a chance for changes to the bill to be included.
   

• This bill gives effect to the deed of agreement between ngā hapū o Ngāti Porou and the Crown and replaces a bill of the same name signed in 2008.

Who:

• Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little.

Why:

• The old bill from 2008 gave effect to agreements reached under the now repealed Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004. Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Porou and the Crown agreed to amend the 2008 deed and align it with the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 which is what this new Bill will do.  
   

• Settlement bills aim to resolve historical claims by Māori against the crown for breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi before 1992.
   

• The Treaty, which was signed in 1840, gave sovereignty to the British Crown, allowed Māori to keep rangatiratanga (chieftainship) over their resources while giving the Crown first dibs on any land up for sale, and granted Māori the same rights as British citizens.
   

• Settlements include some redress to set things right which can be cultural, commercial, or financial. Once a settlement is reached it becomes law.

All in favour?

• This bill had support of the whole House at its second reading.
   

The Annual Review Debate continued - six sectors to go

What:

• The official title is the Appropriation (2017/18 Confirmation and Validation) Bill but that’s a mouthful so it’s more commonly referred to as the Annual Review Debate

• Ten hours of debate spread out over a few days

• The “confirmation” and “validation” words in the title are key to the purpose of this bill. It’s technically a sign off on spending over the past financial year but also a check that government agencies did what they were meant to do.

• There are ten sectors for debate with about an hour spent on each one. The remaining sectors include Finance and Government Sector, Health Sector, Justice Sector, Māori, Other Populations and Cultural Sector, Primary Sector, Social Development and Housing Sector

Who:

• Minister of Finance Grant Robertson is in charge of this bill

Why:

• This bill is a regular part of Parliament’s financial cycle and its time at select committee is a little different to other bills. Various heads of departments (like DHBs or ACC) have fronted up to select committees over the past few months to report on and if necessary justify their performance.

• This debate will be on those reports. The Government party MPs will likely talk about how well it’s done and perhaps blame any failings on the previous government. Opposition MPs will likely focus on the flaws and talk about how much better they’d do if they were in charge.

But why really?:

• Transparency. Annual reviews and this debate are done in the open so the public can see what’s going on.

All in favour?

• Each sector is voted on at the end of its hour-long debate. So far the National Party, ACT Party, and Jamie-Lee Ross have voted against each sector while the Labour Party, the Green Party and New Zealand First have voted in favour.

House adjourns - 10pm

The House sits from 2pm on scheduled sitting days with a dinner break at 6pm till 7:30pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. It then resumes sitting until 10pm often interrupting a debate.

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