MPs will pay tribute to the former Prime Minister Mike Moore when they return to Parliament today for the first sitting day of 2020.
Former Prime Minister Mike Moore Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
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Mr Moore passed away at his home in Auckland on 2 February, aged 71.
A motion acknowledging his death will be the first proposition for MPs to consider when they return to the debating chamber.
Usually motions are put forward to kick off a debate on a bill but they’ve also been used recently for MPs to offer their condolences for victims of the Christchurch Mosques Terror Attacks, the death of High Commissioner to the Cook Islands Tessa Temata, and the centenary of Women winning the right to stand for parliament.
After the death of a current MP or former Prime Minister the House usually adjourns so the MPs will finish their day in the chamber after the speeches instead of debating right through to 10pm.
Minister of Education and Leader of the House Chris Hipkins Photo: VNP / Daniela Maoate-Cox
“Generally when you do the tributes people don’t then feel comfortable going straight into the politics,” says Leader of the House Chris Hipkins.
“It’s also a mark of respect for the person who has died. A similar thing happened for David Lange when he passed away.”
A public service for Mr Moore will be held on Friday 14 February at Dilworth School senior campus in Epsom, Auckland at 2pm.
Electioneering beings
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks in a debate on the Prime Minister's Statement in 2019 Photo: VNP / Daniela Maoate-Cox
On Wednesday Parliament will return to its usual sitting times starting at 2pm.
But instead of question time there’s a debate on the Prime Minister’s Statement which outlines the Government’s plan for the year.
“The Prime Minister presents her statement to the House. We will then have around an hour and a half of debate on that,” said Mr Hipkins.
“I imagine that there’ll be a lot of very political debate on the Prime Minister’s statement at the start of an election year.”
Parties will start to “make their case” and set out the themes of the campaign.
The debate starts off by giving leaders of parties with six or more MPs 20 minutes to speak, ACT Party Leader David Seymour will get 10 minutes. A delayed Question Time will then take place at around 3:30pm.
Other MPs also have the chance to speak on the Statement and in total the House sets thirteen hours aside for the debate. But rather than do a 13 hour marathon of speeches the debate is broken up into a few hours each sitting day over a couple of weeks.
It ends with a vote on the Prime Minister’s plan and if the House votes against it then the Government falls.
But coalition agreements and partnerships mean the Government has the support it needs and it’s unlikely they’ll lose the confidence of the House - expect the Opposition to still vote against it though.
The first question time of the year will take place on Wednesday after the final leaders' speech on the Prime Minister’s Statement.
Thursday will return to a more normal Parliamentary sitting day with the House starting at 2pm to consider bills and rising at 6:30pm to end the week.