Fresh faces, goodbyes and contentious policies: Parliament sits for the first time this year
Tuesday, 30 January 2024
Chris Bishop, the senior minister tasked with managing the Government’s business in the House including its law-making programme, may have one of the more distinctive grins in Parliament.
He used it to its full effect when asked whether, taking into account Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s promises - tackling inflation, lifting school achievement and giving tax cuts to every income level among them - the 48-member caucus will be the hardest-working group of National MPs ever.
“I don't want to cast judgement on past National governments and past National caucuses,” Bishop said with a smile. “But all I can say is that we are going to work extremely hard as a government … we are really determined to make a difference.”
Parliamentarians will on Tuesday meet for the first time this year, and there is a lot to get through.
The Opposition is expecting Judith Collins, as the Minister for Defence, to make a ministerial statement on the Government’s decision to deploy a six-member NZ Defence Force team to the Red Sea with the stated aim of upholding maritime security in response to attacks from Houthi rebels.
A ministerial statement is a way for a minister to inform the House of matters of public importance which may not have come to its attention otherwise.
Green and Labour MPs will be seeking to pose questions on the deployment in the House.
Labour MPs will also be prosecuting whether Casey Costello, the associate minister for health, was being economical with the truth when she denied seeking advice over freezing tobacco excise - despite a leaked document suggesting she had.
The coalition government’s ties to the tobacco lobbying industry are a weak point. The Post last week reported tobacco lobbying Apirana Dawson was a guest at the swearing-in ceremony for new government ministers and was pictured posing with NZ First's Shane Jones. Jones confirmed Dawson was involved in “soundings” the party took when developing its tobacco policy.
The coalition government has promised to roll back legislation which would have banned cigarettes to a generation of people, greatly reduced the number of retailers selling nicotine, and lower the nicotine level in all products within its first 100 days.
Labour will also be focused on criticising the government‘s planned 7.5% cuts to the public service, arguing there is not enough fat to trim and that such a reduction will lead to worsening public services.
There are 19 maiden speeches this week - six National MPs on Tuesday and Wednesday, and four ACT and three Green MPs on Thursday. It is an opportunity for new MPs to share their personal philosphies and what they hope to achieve, within 15 minutes.
Kelvin Davis, former deputy Labour Party leader, is due to give his valedictory speech on Wednesday. Davis is a former Corrections, Children, and Māori Crown Relations Minister, and has been an MP since 2008. His last day will be on Waitangi Day. His departure makes way for list MP Tracey McLellan.
The Green Party will this week be welcoming its newest MP, Celia Wade-Brown, who joins its caucus after Golriz Ghahraman’s alleged shoplifting scandal. Co-leader James Shaw’s departure is also hanging over the party. It will lead to a months-long leadership selection process.
Politicians will towards the end of the week turn their attention to Waitangi Day. Most years it allows for an increasingly heated debate surrounding the place of the Treaty of Waitangi in modern New Zealand, but this week’s celebration are also the third opportunity for te ao Māori to gather discuss the government’s policies including the proposed Treaty Principles Bill.
It comes after nearly 10,000 travelled to Ngāruawāhia, in the Waikato, answering a call from Kiingi Tuuheitia for a Te Hui-a-motu, or national unity hui. Māori leaders came together again at Rātana Pā on Wednesday.