Urgency

I move, That urgency be accorded the second reading and remaining stages of the Financial Service Providers (Pre-Implementation Adjustments) Bill and any bills into which that bill may be divided; the passing through all stages of the Civil Aviation (Cape Town Convention and Other Matters) Amendment Bill and the Policing (Involvement in Local Authority Elections) Amendment Bill; the second reading and remaining stages of the Prisoners’ and Victims’ Claims (Expiry and Application Dates) Amendment Bill; the interrupted first reading of the Tariff (New Zealand-Hong Kong, China Closer Economic Partnership Agreement) Amendment Bill; the second reading and remaining stages of the Tariff (Malaysia Free Trade Agreement) Amendment Bill; the second readings of the Motor Vehicle Sales Amendment Bill and the Taxation (Annual Rates, Trans-Tasman Savings Portability, KiwiSaver, and Remedial Matters) Bill; the Committee stage and third reading of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill; and the second reading of the Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Bill.

Some weeks ago I advised the Business Committee that in this week we would be likely to put the House into urgency to consider a number of bills that were on the Order Paper and that needed to make progress in order to meet a 1 July implementation date. The list that I have just read out was circulated to all parties earlier in the week, and I understand that although parties will not necessarily support the Government taking urgency, there is considerable support for most of the bills that are in this urgency motion. One of the problems that the House faces is the limited hours that we have to deal with legislation, and successive Government have wrestled with this. I have put a motion on the Order Paper that may or may not be considered by the House at some time to create some extra space. But in the meantime it has been my hope that the Business Committee itself may be able to take a stronger role in deciding which bills might progress through urgency motions of this nature. So without prejudice to the Government’s right to take urgency for any matter that sees fit, I think that having a greater discussion about some of these things and better notification will allow for the proper debate that the House should have.