The House: Recent Episodes
RNZ
After a tsunami of coverage out of Parliament last week, The House spoke to Press Gallery Chair Jason Walls about how the Press Gallery works.
The Treaty principles bill dominated Parliament's week, despite being the final bill debated. How was it talked about in the House when it was not the topic of a debate; who focussed on it, who ignored it, who was ignored?
In Parliament anything and everything can be political, or can be bent to politics. In recent memory, things as apparently innocuous as playground equipment, clothing, colours, or eating takeaways.
Following the Crown Apology for Abuse in State Care, Parliament passed the first reading of the Response to Abuse in Care Bill. Labour and National spoke of casting politics aside for a moment. Greens and Te Pāti Māori weren't so keen on that idea.
This week, the Parliament Bill committee heard from a 16 year old high school student, and a former prime minister, 65 years his senior.
Atop the Beehive a lone national flag is tortured daily by Wellington’s gales. We join its handlers up on the roof to chat, watching as its fraying edges whip the sky.
Parliament is a mercurial place. Debate can flick from amity to antagony with each shift in topic, especially if that topic is climate change or agriculture, or both.
Today, Parliament begun a new, three-week-long sitting block. If Question Time was the first round warm-up for a new bout - when the boxers are still a little tentative and trying out new things, - it's unlikely to be a quiet lead-up to Christmas.
In politics, they say you shouldn't have any skeletons in your closet. But what about in your Parliament?
In the Sunday edition of The House, a story from Thursday and a new story: Returning some stolen citizenships gets likelier, and a petitioner to Parliament wants to include an oral undertaking to The Treaty of Waitangi – a guarantee of freedom of religion.
After a robust select committee process, all parties now support a Members bill that would restore New Zealand citizenship to a select group of Samoans who lost it 4 decades ago.
Among all the government's resource management changes, the Fast-track Bill has received the bulk of attention. This week, a less traversed but equally significant bill from that suite became law.
Parliament has featured in New Zealand’s official Gazette thrice in three days. Once over a possible referendum to ban fireworks, twice over the removal of an MP who caused fireworks.
New Zealand's official newspaper, The Gazette, has mentioned Parliament twice this week. Once to announce an MP was getting the rocket, and once to outline a hope to ban rockets entirely.
In the Sunday edition of The House Louis Collins talks Ministerial Statements with Chris Penk, and Phil Smith considers messages coming from public to government.
On Tuesday, the Government made a Ministerial statement about the sinking of the HMNZS Manawanui. RNZ's The House sat down with the Minister who made it.
Watching people make submissions to select committees about laws can give you an idea of what types of expertise and experience are most useful; and that one of the most crucial might just be... people like you.
Rather than wait for the Opposition to apply for an urgent debate, the Government decided to get in first and on Tuesday, gave a Ministerial Statement on the sinking of HMNZS Manawanui.
In sports, you don’t argue with the ref. It’s a similar situation at Parliament with the Speaker. The Speaker isn’t just Gerry Brownlee though. There are four other presiding officers he can rely on to help carry the load.
Attend the session where MPs’ oral questions to the Government are vetted and authenticated by Parliament’s Office of the Clerk.
On the Sunday edition of The House, Louis and Phil consider a new Bill that reworks much of the legislation that underpins the running of Parliament, including its funding. (This episode combines two weekday episodes on aspects of The Parliament Bill and adds extra content.)
With all the talk about the Parliament Bill, The House sheds some light on some of the other items of business at Parliament this week.
The Parliament Bill intends to prevent governments from wielding the power of the purse over the bodies that run Parliament. Phil Smith chats with Adrian Rurawhe (Labour) and Ricardo Menendez March (Green).
After years of suggestions for constitutional reform, the Parliament Bill has been introduced. In a rare occurrence at Parliament, a special committee has been set up to examine the bill.
Opposition MPs have rediscovered an old filibustering tactic and are using it to protest the Government's scanty use of Parliament's select committees.
Parliament was buzzing with te reo this week. With many members using it in Question Time, the translation team certainly would have been busy.
Opposition MPs appear to have rediscovered an old filibustering tactic and are using it to protest the Government's liking for sending bills to select committees for very short periods.
The Government's first budget is finally reaching the end of its long approval process, and it's going to be just in time. You might have thought it was all done and dusted months ago, but Parliament is pretty careful with giving away pocket money.
Chris Hipkins discusses his formal parliamentary title: Leader of the Opposition, and the very different job of leading in opposition.
Question Time is the political equivalent of managers being grilled in front of the board, even when the Prime Minister is being quizzed by the opposition. Imagining it as literally that gives a different slant to teasing out the answers, the deflections and obfuscations.
Parliament adjourned early today in respect for Kiingi Tuheitia, the late leader of the Māori Kingitanga. Before they adjourned there were speeches.
This week New Zealand’s Parliament hosted the Commonwealth Youth Parliament, bringing youth leaders together from Fiji to the Falklands.
The Climate Change Commission told members this week that climate adaptation is the "most difficult challenge this country faces over the next century."
Petitions often touch on very human stories, or on tricky philosophical issues. This week, one threw explosive new information into an already contentious debate.
Parliament's Question Time is a slow-moving boxing match with many rounds. This week one boxer's second stepped into the ring to help. They didn't throw in the towel, but they did try to stop the bout.
The House hears from two MPs, usually foes, who have spent a week together stateside, like a political odd couple.
A dispute during Question Time this week was packed with lessons on asking questions in Parliament, and especially how not to answer them.
It's not uncommon for a Committee of the Whole House to need several sittings to consider a bill. With three government bills under consideration by the Committee this week, most of Parliament's sitting time will be devoted to this process.
The House began a new sitting block sharing a little love over the Paris Olympics results, but the sudden outbreak of amity didn't last.
MPs have been debating whether to lower the voting age for local council elections to 16 years of age from the current age of 18.
The last sitting week of the 53rd Parliament has a fairly packed schedule of government business, plus debate on the Standing Orders Committee's regular report, and the Adjournment Debate.
If there’s one group who we don’t hear enough about, it’s the photographers who cover Parliament. A new exhibition is casting light on five of these practitioners. We talk to two of them.
Among a long week of debates at Parliament, MPs still found the time for farewell speeches from departing colleagues. Todd Muller's stood out and while uncomfortable for his colleagues, it is worth noting.
As more valedictory speeches were heard in Parliament’s chamber, a warning was sounded from a departing MP about race baiting and dog whistling to extremism.
It is the second to last sitting week for Parliament but there is still a mountain of bills to get finalised before the MPs wearily trudge home.
The Labour MP for Māngere, Aupito William Sio is leaving Parliament after a sixteen year-stint which encompassed nine years in Opposition bookended by spells in Government.
Parliament has just days left before it ends for the election. The closer dissolution gets, the harder the MPs are pushing to fit everything in - almost like they're cramming four years of legislating into three years.
Valedictory speech season has begun, and if there’s a common theme cropping up already, it’s a plea for a less toxic style of politics in Parliament.
This week is the first of the last three weeks in the 53rd Parliament, a busy time as the Government still has a lot that it wants to finish before the House rises.
The majority of all female elected representatives across the Pacific Islands region visited Wellington for a development event, showcasing the merits of soft diplomacy, Parliament-style.
This week MPs had a special debate about the report of the Regulations Review Committee on Covid-19 Secondary Legislation.
A new Member's Bill looks to fix a 40-year-old outcome of the anti-Pacific racism of the Dawn raids era, restoring the right to New Zealand citizenship for a generation of Samoan people.
The Intelligence and Security Committee has received a briefing on long-term national security threats which has incorporated a public survey and public consultation which found New Zealanders perceive threats to national security are increasing.
We're reminded of the important role of the Regulations Review Committee as Parliament this week holds a special debate about the committee's report on Covid-19 regulations.
Todd Muller is leaving Parliament. Known for a tumultuous brief stint as Opposition leader, he also won plaudits for his bipartisanship and advocating for awareness about mental health.
Visitors entering the main entrance to Parliament can finally notice some visual signs of Māori culture and physical recognition of mana whenua.
As MPs count down to the election Parliament’s mood changes. The Opposition’s House leader Michael Woodhouse predicts “more anger, frivolity, perhaps less discipline”. “Perhaps” seems generous.
A cross-party inter-parliamentary delegation to Samoa is an important way of building relationships and understanding with another regional country but also among the group's MPs themselves.
When MPs screw up the consequences can be public and brutal. But sometimes that response has solid reasons which safeguard our system of responsible government.
Parliament has just six weeks left before it breaks for the election. There is still a lot yet to do, and to slow that down, one or two matters of privilege.
As an MP Sir Geoffrey Palmer had a huge impact on the interlocking shapes of government and parliament. The great reformer is still brimming with ideas for improvement.
Something of a throwback to when most National MPs staunchly represented farming interests, Ian McKelvie is however ending his career as an MP not defined by the tribal lines of party politics.
This week, RNZ’s Parliament show, The House, focused on the processes and outcomes of Parliament’s Select Committees. The Sunday show is a collation of this content.
The Therapeutic Products Bill is one of those pieces of legislation that requires a fair bit of panel-beating in a select committee, and even then not everyone's happy with its shape.
When things threaten to go awry it can help us learn how they work. So, how do Select Committees decide to amend bills, who helps them; and how do they track amendments and communicate with the legal drafters?
An Imprest Supply Bill is Parliament’s way of saying to the government 'yes you can have that money, but also if you find you need to use more money on it, you don't need to come back and ask again'.
Parliament has hit the time of year it turns into a combination of Glastonbury and the Inquisition - the multi-pronged miniterial grilling called Estimates Hearings.
The ACT Party has this month latched on to a Question Time tactic of using consecutive supplementary questions on a repetitive theme as a pile-on against the government.
Legislation tackling a power imbalance in the grocery industry is among several bills that wound their way through the committee stage in Parliament this week.
Among Parliament's key bills this week is one to update emergency management relationships and one to protect your bank deposits because mattresses have better uses. Grant Robertson picks his bills to watch.
Jan Logie admits she had “zero faith in our political system” before entering Parliament, but remains hopeful of what can be achieved here, as she prepares to retire as MP.
As she prepares to retire after 18 years in Parliament, National's Jacqui Dean has a refreshing knack for straight talk, and doesn’t mince her words about the work of an MP.
In the first in a series of exit interviews with retiring MPs, The House sits down with Green MP Jan Logie and National’s Jacqui Dean to reflect on their time at Parliament.
For any of Parliament’s speakers, the daily Question Time is a tricky horse to manage, let alone tame. Every Speaker brings a different approach, the current Speaker is trying riding with no reins at all.
MPs have been making laws to enable access to alcohol at race meetings on race days and during those early hours at pubs when rugby's World Cup is broadcast from France.
As the election nears, Question Time transforms into a forum for party political messaging. It’s not the ideal format for messaging and it doesn’t always go well.
A testy exchange in the foreign affairs select committee this week served as a reminder that Parliament’s committees decide for themselves who they should be briefed by and how often.
MPs passed two bills about number twos this week – one regulating freedom camping toilets, and another creating a role to assist family court judges.
Five MPs travelled to Westport as part of a Parliamentary Outreach Programme aimed at connecting New Zealanders throughout the country with Parliament and its processes.
Parliament Journalist Phil Smith has a crack at making a submission to MPs. Here is why you should bother, how you do it, how you really shouldn't, and how his went.
In a week when Parliament sat under urgency, across four long Tuesdays, quite a lot of legislative business has been progressed.
There’s been a distinct niggly energy about the exchanges in the House this week, and it’s got something to do with the fact Parliament is sitting under urgency.
The holidays may be coming, but Parliament is winding up for looks likely to be its biggest week of the year.
Parliament is this week to sit under urgency as the Government seeks additional sitting hours to clear a backlog of legislation that it wants to progress.
“An incredibly diverse and eclectic collection”, the Parliamentary Collection has great art, black rods, protest bricks, bodily parts and much more.
Parliament makes a rare step and amends a reserved provision of electoral law — something designed to be hard to achieve.
A former Prime Minister has warned MPs they face a daunting challenge to maintain public confidence in the Parliament system in the age of disinformation.
Every three years senior MPs meet to reimagine Parliament, considering which rule changes might strengthen representative democracy and executive oversight.
This week four backbencher bills got a shot at glory. Two were gloriously popular, one successful but contentious, and one pipped at the legislative post.
MPs who are former members of the NZDF had plenty to say when the first reading of the Inspector-General Defence Bill got underway.
This week’s agenda in Parliament illustrates some of the variety of motivations that lie behind prospective laws.
Whether cross-party or inter-parliament collectives, MP groups are all about human connections which help MPs, and importantly us, find out what makes them tick.
The House sits down with retiring MP Trevor Mallard for an insider's view of the tactics and strategy of Parliament, of what has changed, and what still should.
Parliament began today with a motion to condemn Iran for repression of protests. That was a motion without notice that everyone knew would happen. We attempt to explain motions. Wish us luck.
Soraya Peke-Mason's arrival as MP means an historic achievement of gender equity in New Zealand’s Parliament, while heralding another chapter in the political history of Rātana.
After consuming much of Parliament's energy last week, the Fair Pay Agreements Bill looks set to do so again this week as its committee stage continues.
Trevor Mallard has ended his career as an MP this week after 38 years. Much has changed. We sat down to chat through his storied history and get his insights.
In October 2022, before Trevor Mallard resigned he spoke at length to The House. This is the fuller interview. Two shorter packages of cuts repeat this material.
Parliament takes security seriously, but not just the physical kind. Sometimes the biggest risks arrive through the smallest holes.
As this week of Parliament was getting underway, just after the prayers, the House heard a rare message from the Governor-General.
Following a two-week recess, MPs are set to engage in feisty debate about proposed labour laws that could raise wages through sector-wide collective bargaining.
Parliament's new Speaker originally chose to be a whip but fate intervened. Meet the man who marshals the MPs: an interview-walk through the fascinating life and career of Adrian Rurawhe.
What do Nicole McKee, Joseph Mooney, Teanau Tuiono and Sarah Pallett have in common? They’re first term MPs who have shared their experiences with us.
When Parliament gets a new speaker MPs re-test the rules and the limits. Will this one let you away with things the previous one would not? Can you cripple their confidence and make them easier to manage?
Trust in media, or lack thereof, was front and centre as the Minister of Broadcasting had a week of being grilled in Question Time about the Aotearoa New Zealand Public Media Bill.
Parliament looks like a big old gray box for keeping MPs in, but there are many more folk including many visitors and tourists. Say, a group of students from Taranaki.
A double shot of crime legislation features in a Parliament week laden with Government bills that are scheduled to get a first reading.
This week Parliament debated a members' bill from Rachel Boyack that aims to combat official gobbledegook. Some MPs fought it tooth and nail as tantamount to balderdash, gadzooks!
MPs have been reflecting on the Queen's death again, with the passage of a bill under urgency to create a one-off public holiday for her. But not all the reflections were misty-eyed.
After a couple of short weeks at Parliament MPs are getting back into the rhythm with some work to catch up on, like a tardy approval of the budget.
The revitalisation of te reo Māori was abundantly evident as a big crowd converged on Parliament to mark 50 years since the Māori Language Petition.
Parliament sat for less than two hours this week, sending condolences to King Charles and giving itself an extension on its budget homework.
Parliament TV offers the public the chance to catch all sittings of Parliament and more besides.
Press Gallery journalists are in their element after the regular bridge run returned from the Grand Hall to the 1st floor foyer of Parliament House, the place known as 'the tiles'.
Debate during the first reading of the Self-contained Motor Vehicles Legislation Bill offered insights into the lives of at least two MPs and the marketing mindset of another pair.
The government’s busy legislative agenda continues, and the remaining portfolios to be scrutinised in the Estimates debate are expected to wrap up this week.
It’s six months since the occupation of Parliament's grounds for three weeks, but the human cost is only now becoming clear.
Previous experience as a Minister of Conservation and Land Information was instructive in the shaping of Eugenie Sage's Crown Minerals (Prohibition of Mining) Amendment Bill.
A new Speaker of Parliament was elected with widespread support today, with his authority tested early by an awkward speech from a rebel MP.
This week Parliament activity is dominated by the expected transition to a new Speaker, with the incumbent Trevor Mallard about to resign.
Parliament is considering changing its rules and asking for advice. It is your chance to offer suggestions on an aspect of New Zealand's constitution.
When politicians have staffing issues there is an odd triangular relationship to juggle. MPs' staff are employed by someone else. Someone who can't control the MPs.
A couple of MPs this week unexpectedly got to run the show from the big chair, because Parliament’s debating chamber can’t function without a chairperson presiding.
Two bills related to crime and high risk offenders have passed a third reading, doubling the opportunity for Opposition MPs to label the Government ”soft on crime”.
It’s not often a group of workers think ‘we need more bosses’. That’s what MPs did this week - kind of. Parliament may now have more presiding officers than it’s ever had.
The House hears from two Hansard editors about the unique work of the team whose reports become part of Parliament's official record and can be seen by anyone.
This week Parliament's debating chamber was knee-deep in bills. We have a quick run-through of the 14 different wanna-be laws it debated.
In his maiden speech the newly sworn-in MP for Tauranga sets targets, targets outcomes, and urges the country to get reach its potential and 'get busy winning'.
For the next while Parliament is sitting an extra morning each week. It has hit the twixt-reviews sweet-spot and has also has a lot of new ideas to debate.
Parliament at night is a different vibe to Parliament during the day. Staff numbers on precinct have mostly thinned out, but it's a time when the weird and wonderful can happen.
We meet a new MP, Dan Rosewarne who gave hs maiden speech this week: a chance to say 'who I am, how I got to be here and what I hope to achieve'.
Last week Parliament was taken over by the new leaders Youth Parliament - an opportunity for rangatahi to speak and the rest of us to pay attention.
MPs in Parliament shout at each other a lot, but they also cooperate a lot, including about the timetable for that shouting. It's all more efficient that way.
There are various parts of Parliament that could be deemed crucial to the functioning of the place, but perhaps none quite so much as the House Office.
MPs talk about money a lot. The rest of us often blank out the financials as 'just math'. Annoyingly the money is important so The House tries to explain all that dry 'Appropriations' money talk.
For the students of parliament, public law or politics, the best place to be right in the heart of the legislative chamber, but kind of invisible. In other words, part of the Chamber Operations team.
Parliament began the week at top pace moving five bills through ten stages in an evening, though there's a little bit of double counting going on.
One of Parliament's best exponents of the skills of gladiatorial quizzes offers advice on "surviving Question Time".
Being a minister involves many difficult skills that other MPs don’t need. The most crucial might be questions. Answering them well has very little to do with performing ministerial duties well, but everything to do with looking like it.
The Governance and Administration committee has been hearing from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet about what progress has been made on the Christchurch Call.
Parliament’s Education and Workforce Committee has been considering the plight of undocumented Tuvaluans living in New Zealand without the right to work or to gain residency.
Two bills - one addressing the supermarket duopoly, the other providing for a fourth round of Covid vaccination - are set for their second reading, committee stage and third readings this week.
You might recognise him by his voice, so long as he is shouting. But despite his role being front-and-centre at Parliament you might be surprised what he does, and what he can do.
The House chats with current and former parliamentary interns from Steven Levine's Victoria University of Wellington internship programme about starting work at the very centre of things.
A proposed member’s bill addressing a power imbalance that prevents communities taking steps to develop public health measures on alcohol use could bypass the ballot process if enough MPs agreed.
In the current Parliament major reforms are coming along almost as frequently as buses. This week there are two separate and equally momentous legislative reform bills on the agenda.
MPs spend many hours shouting past each other about the budget, but have tactics and objectives behind all the hubbub. Phil Smith dissects the year’s first budget debate-fest - the eight hour long Budget Debate.
MPs have been getting down and dirty in the critical mud-wrestling phase of legislation to reform the public health system, the Pae Ora (Healthy futures) Bill.
Parliament’s health select committee hears a cry for help from workers in aged care residential facilities that staffing levels in their sector are unsafe and failing people.
The MP behind a Member's Bill which targets online grooming of children by adult predators hopes for it to be widened in scope to include offline or ‘real life’.
The Budget gets presented, debated and commented on more than most best sellers but like A Brief History of Time very few people have the time and energy to read all of it.
The budget wasn’t the only thing at Parliament this week. There was also legislation on surrogacy, free speech, political conflicts of interest, and sexual harassment.
Question Time works best if the MPs ask tight, non-political questions. Straight questions are more likely to get straight answers, so they’re kept as tight as possible but not always by choice.
Why is the Budget usually on a Thursday, why just before a sitting break, and why is the debate on it usually interrupted by urgent business?
The House sits down with the Clerk of the House of Representatives, David Wilson, whose team runs the machinery of Parliament.
The Bill of Rights (Declarations of Inconsistency) Amendment Bill is the sort of legislation that constitutional law experts absolutely love but that may bore us to tears, until we realise it’s important.
An intern in the office of the MP for Te Atatū, Phil Twyford, interviews him about his job and the decision-making process behind his job as a minister.
Parliament shows its flexibility during an extended sitting when Special Debate will take place on a couple of complex items, notably the Natural and Built Environments Bill exposure draft.
A lot of what happens in Parliament is theatre, including asking for what you know is against the rules.
The specialist Petitions Committee has processed a record number of petitions and it's only half way through the term. It hears petitions on almost anything.
Doing select committees by Zoom can be clunky and lacking in nuance compared to in-person experience, but those who chair committees acknowledge that it improves overall accessibility of the public to Parliament.
MPs are forever critiquing the law, but they seldom write it. They leave that to a team of experts who found a creative legal job you never knew existed.
Ministers of the crown may seem powerful, but the reality of their roles vary greatly. Some are endowed with great influence, some others just come with blame.
Debating legislation is about getting things right, but sometimes settling on what is right can be a bruising exercise for MPs, as Parliament witnessed during debate on a Member’s Bill today.
Parliament’s Education and Workforce select committee has recommended that Government should consider requiring greater pay transparency from employers, and has been petitioned to add some urgency and teeth to the requirement.
This week in The House Phil Smith talks the tactics of Question Time while Johnny Blades looks at the unified division of debate over the new Matariki Public Holiday.
Question Time is a contest where the tactics constantly evolve, and counter tactics shift to respond. This week one clever tactic appeared suddenly to disappear.
This week's reduction for Road User Charges shows Parliament is always the source of power and of cash.
Parliament’s Speaker is on a mission to stop workplace bullying and improve behaviour, even that of the ‘staff’ who can’t be fired.
A new Bill looks to make life easier for people affected by major disasters, following the human disaster created by shortcomings of the Earthquake Commission in its response to the Christchurch earthquakes.
Parliament has reworked its traffic light settings and the public are returning to the precinct, including school visits, public events, tours and public galleries in the debating chamber.
A bill by any other name (would be utterly confusing). We decode the naming rules for Parliament’s bills and laws.
Surrogacy arrangements can often be difficult legal and health processes to navigate for intending parents and surrogates. A new Member’s Bill is looking to make it a smoother process that enhances mana.
The community is welcomed back into Parliament's grounds, the next step in the transition back from stinky rubbish tip to a place for picnics, petitions, play and protest.
A motion in Parliament to mark the third anniversary of the Christchurch mosque terror attacks found MPs reflecting on how there is still work to do to counter extremism and hate speech.
On Wednesday Parliament unanimously passed a law allowing sanctions in relation to Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. Here's how it works.
When weird claims are made about bills and laws, where can you check the truth if you don’t have a degree in the arcana of legal drafting?
Creating new laws takes years, except when it happens at break-neck pace. This week Parliament will consider a Russia Sanctions Bill under urgency. Necessity means it was also written under urgency.
This week, not only did MPs have to contend with a riot on their front lawn, they also had to come to grips with a new hybrid parliament in which some members participated by Zoom.
Parliament’s precinct is being spring-cleaned and returned to order and the MPs are full of thanks, and a little causative finger pointing.
Parliament has passed a law to establish a roadside oral fluid testing regime to test for recent drug use, and proposes that drivers who fail two consecutive oral fluid tests would incur an infringement penalty, is about to become law.
This week in the House began with a motion in support of Ukraine and it will end with a special debate on a bill not even yet introduced. Chris Hipkins explains some of the parliamentary week's highlights.
Paige Harris never met her mother. She wasn’t even on her birth certificate. Parliament is passing a law to fix that injustice - just for Paige.
It may sound like something from Hammer House of Horror but The Hybrid Chamber is a plan for Parliament to go semi-virtual when MPs go down with Covid.
A week of questions in Parliament: Some opposition go with 'show me the money' and some with 'defend the covid rules'.
In the latest from The House, MPs strike a balance in shaping legislation to enable Abortion Safe Areas.
Like ‘a pub with no beer’, a Parliament almost empty of MPs is an odd thought. But it seems likely in the near future.
A week of the House included a near miss by Chris Luxon, a lot of debate over a confidence motion and near completion for a bill to ban attempts to 'convert' gender and sexual orientations.
A Government bill to ban those deemed dangerous from coming anywhere near guns has had a successful first reading in Parliament.
The main event at Parliament might be a very long set-piece debate, but the bills being debated are all scene stealers.
Parliament's new year has begun in the traditional fashion with a very wide debate that is a multi-party pep rally. And it's no short booster. This one takes 13 hours.