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Latest episodes from RNZ: The House

Categories and strategy: The path of Parliament's members' bills

Play Episode Listen Later May 31, 2025 15:03


The House chats with two long serving MPs to get some insight into some of the political strategy behind member's billsGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

MPs knuckle down for marathon budget urgency

Play Episode Listen Later May 24, 2025 5:55


After the first few speeches of the Budget Debate, the House knuckled down for a long and jam-packed dose of urgency. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Words and Numbers: Budget Day in the House

Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2025 5:59


The opening stanzas of a new budget begin in quiet formality, but get loud and political quickly. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

What to expect when you're expecting a Budget: The House chats with James Picker

Play Episode Listen Later May 21, 2025 6:22


The House sits down with Clerk Assistant James Picker to chat through the Budget process and what you can expect to see in the House on the day. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Surprise adjournment cuts short haka punishment debate

Play Episode Listen Later May 21, 2025 5:57


The highly anticipated debate on the report of the privileges committee only lasted for about 25 minutes before it was cut short by a surprise adjournment motion. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Sir Anand Satyanand: "The Governor General is deep in the DNA of Parliament”

Play Episode Listen Later May 17, 2025 14:59


Former Governor General Sir Anand Satyanand talks about the role's interlinked relationship with Parliament and the Executive, and as a guardrail for democracy.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Decoding the Speaker's reaction to the Privileges Committee report

Play Episode Listen Later May 14, 2025 6:28


Parliament's Speaker, Gerry Brownlee spoke to MPs on Thursday about the Privileges Committee's unprecedented recommendations for punishing Te Pāti Māori MPs. His response was telling. We decode his comments. Note: A slip of the tongue in this episode causes MP Duncan Webb to be renamed Duncan Green. Apologies. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Auditor-General tells MPs Treaty settlement commitments aren't being met by public organisations

Play Episode Listen Later May 14, 2025 5:40


The commitments that public organisations are subject to under treaty settlements are being treated like transactions, not relationships, says Auditor-General John Ryan, who briefed the Māori Affairs Committee on the issue this week. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

MPs debate abuse in state care redress system

Play Episode Listen Later May 14, 2025 5:58


Last week the Government announced that they wouldn't be introducing a new independent redress system for survivors of abuse in state care. This week they had the task of defending that position from a barrage of Opposition criticism during an urgent debate. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

House on Sunday: Parliament debates pay equity claims and farewells a Labour stalwart

Play Episode Listen Later May 10, 2025 14:25


This Sunday edition of the House is a compilation of the week's reporting, including: coverage of the Government's surprise Equal Pay Amendment Bill, and the farewell of retiring Labour journeyman David Parker. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Labour's 'conviction politician' farewells Parliament

Play Episode Listen Later May 8, 2025 5:50


After two decades in Parliament, Labour's David Parker is leaving politics. The House looks at some of the highlights of his valedictory statement made on Wednesday this week. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

The Equal Pay Amendment Bill debate: Fast and furious

Play Episode Listen Later May 7, 2025 5:28


The Equal Pay Amendment Bill wasn't in the Government's initially released plan for Parliament's week. It was included at the eleventh hour. It's late arrival, it's urgent passing, and its intent all caused anger in the House.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

A tardy memorium for Francis

Play Episode Listen Later May 6, 2025 5:30


Returning from three weeks on recess, MPs' first business was a motion in honour of a pope. Speeches were a little more honest, and a little more heartfelt than typical. Especially one of them. And it may have included Parliament's first Hail Mary that wasn't a political desperation move. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Cabinet-lite: Louise Upston sheds light on the Government's Cabinet Committees

Play Episode Listen Later May 3, 2025 11:25


Parliament's select committees are well known. But the public never gets to watch the Cabinet committees, which all policies go through before reaching Parliament. Louis Collins chats with the Deputy Leader of the House, National Party MP Louise Upston, to understand what happens in the sub-committees which are Cabinet's workhorses. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Democratic guardrails: Is NZ safe from authoritarianism?

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 26, 2025 15:43


Other nations are experiencing the erosion of democratic norms – even authoritarianism. Is our constitution strong enough to withstand it?Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

The watchdog that listens: Peter Boshier reflects on nine years as Ombudsman

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 19, 2025 9:55


Peter Boshier says the public can rest assured that there is an enduring institution fighting for fairness and accountability. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

House on Sunday: A scavenger hunt, a Treaty bill, and an annual health check

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 12, 2025 14:54


This Sunday edition of the House is a compilation of the week's reporting, including: a Question Time naughtiness scavenger hunt, the Annual Review debate on Health, and the very unusual death of a Government bill — the Treaty bill. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

The unusual death of the Treaty bill

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 9, 2025 5:37


Members' bills die ugly deaths regularly, but I can find no record in recent history of a government bill sent into the House to suffer the indignity of a negative vote. It was either unusually masochistic or the outcome of poor political judgement. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Verrall and Brown go tit-for-tat in health annual review debate

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 9, 2025 5:33


Despite this years' budget only a month away, the Government still have t's to cross i's to dot in regard to spending from previous years. The annual review debate is the final stage in that very long process. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

A Question Time Scavenger Hunt

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 8, 2025 5:09


Arguments, inferences, imputations, epithets, ironical expressions, or expressions of opinion. It's not a lost verse from The Sound of Music's 'My Favourite Things'. It's a partial list of things Question Time questions cannot include. There are also some must-haves; and separate requirements for answers. The House goes on a scavenger hunt, to find examples inside one Question Time.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Behind the door at a parliamentary privilege hearing

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2025 16:04


Parliament's Privileges Committee has been a major source of news over the last few weeks. What is privilege, and how does the committee typically work? ...and because this is a Sunday episode of the House, it also includes a replay of Wednesday's episode on leniency towards MPs 'schoolyard stupidity' during Question Time. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

The parliamentary background to the 'missing submissions' story

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 3, 2025 5:35


Parliament has voted to allow the Justice Committee to continue processing submissions on the Treaty principles bill, even after the committee's work on the bill is finished. This will allow them to be collected along with the submissions that were considered by the committee as part of its report. We chat with the Clerk of the House of Representatives, David Wilson for background on the parliamentary rules and processes behind this move. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Gene Technology Bill: The public have their say

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 2, 2025 6:31


Nearly 25 years after the “corngate” saga of the early 2000s, the debate on Genetic Modification is back in New Zealand's political consciousness thanks to the Gene Technology Bill, which is currently going through the select committee process. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Threats without consequences: Parliament's “school-yard stupidity” classroom

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 1, 2025 6:38


Gerry Brownlee was a teacher when ‘the cane' ruled the classroom. As Parliament's Speaker, he is reluctant to reach beyond threats and pleas.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Parliament Bill arrives back in the House

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 30, 2025 14:58


After a select committee process that presented MPs with lots of constitutional questions, the Parliament Bill is back in the House.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Do we need a Parliamentary Budget Office?

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 27, 2025 5:13


The House chats with two MPs from the Parliament Bill Committee about some interesting suggestions from submitters - namely a Parliamentary Budget Office.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Urgency giveth, and urgency taketh away

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 26, 2025 4:55


Parliament spent much of this week debating bills under urgency. The Government can get more done in the House that way, but there is a trade-off in committees. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

A week of urgent plod sprinkled with chaos

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 25, 2025 4:55


MPs were welcomed back to this three week sitting block by more urgency, and a boisterous question time. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Climate change adaptation: Parliament asks the small questions

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 22, 2025 14:20


Parliament's recent inquiry and debate on climate change adaptation asked small questions, looked short term and inched towards reactive solutions. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Budget bebate lite: MPs debate Budget Policy Statement

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 15, 2025 8:42


This Week, Parliament had the debate on the Budget Policy Statement, which gave us a few hints as to what we can expect come Budget Day on 22 May.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Fictional fiscal cliffs – misinterpreting budgets for political gain

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 12, 2025 6:08


The Prime Minister's much repeated claim that he “saved school lunches” because Labour "failed to fund them" is nonsense, and relies on us not understanding how budgets actually work. We analyse the claim, the reality, and the budget approach that allows the misinterpretation.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

First dose of urgency for the year fixes legal issue

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 11, 2025 5:09


The first dose of Parliamentary urgency was dished out this week, to address a law that has fallen behind common practice.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Four more years? MPs get first chance to debate parliamentary term length bill

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 6, 2025 5:13


This week, MPs got their first chance to debate on a new bill that would extend the three year parliamentary term to four years. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

New bill gives green light to congestion charging

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 5, 2025 5:55


This week's legislative agenda began with the first reading of a bill that enables congestion charging in our cities. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Urgent debate on Bayly resignation

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 4, 2025 4:58


Before MPs got down to debating legislation this week, they spent time debating the resignation last week of National Party minister, Andrew Bayly. Responses ranged from nothing-to-see-here to what-aren't-they-telling-us.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

The Changing Sound of Politics: The voices of past PMs

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 1, 2025 13:00


Political voices have become very familiar since the beginning of radio, but they haven't always sounded the same. Listen to 14 former Prime Ministers (and one Speaker) from 1912 to 1990. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

MPs, the public, and media get rare glimpse into intelligence community

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 20, 2025 5:53


While they didn't turn up in an Aston Martin, the heads of New Zealand's spy agencies, the GCSB and the NZSIS came to Parliament this week to give MPs, media, and the public a rare glimpse into New Zealand's intelligence community. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

It's complicated: Debating justice

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 19, 2025 5:09


Some debates at Parliament are a bit monochromatic, but not many. In most policy areas the best descriptor is 'it's complicated'. The problem will be complicated, any worthwhile solutions, complicated; the politics lying between the problem and a solution... complicated. And few things are more complicated than a topic debated this week – criminal justice sentencing. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

"We have generations of fix-it culture": Marama Davidson on her 'Right to Repair' members bill

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 18, 2025 5:37


Marama Davidson, after time off for cancer treatment, is back at Parliament and is already busy with her members bill that would require manufacturers to make repair parts and information available to consumers. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

The Prosecution of Stupid, and The Growth Debate

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 15, 2025 14:18


This Sunday edition of The House includes Tuesday's story about rules on MP misbehaviour (but with extra material – including one rule that seems to very specifically apply), and Thursday's story looking at the now completed debate on the Prime Ministers Statement – which boiled down to being a 13-hour long debate over growth.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

The Themes and Stylings of a 13-Hour Debate

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 13, 2025 5:39


So far this year, Parliament has been dominated by one very long debate on whether the House approves of the Prime Minister's speech outlining his plan for the year. We look at some of its themes and rhetorical stylings.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

"Mental health is about lived experience" Minister tells MPs

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 12, 2025 5:55


On Wednesday this week, the Health Committee heard from both the Mental Health Minister and members of the public who offered their lived experience of mental health treatment. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

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