Urgency

I move, That urgency be accorded the first reading of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service Amendment Bill; the third reading of the Ngāti Apa (North Island) Claims Settlement Bill; the first readings of the Weathertight Homes Resolution Services (Financial Assistance Package) Amendment Bill, the Building Amendment Bill (No 3), and the Telecommunications (TSO, Broadband and Other Matters) Amendment Bill; the passing through its remaining stages of the Taxation (GST and Remedial Matters) Bill; the first readings of the Biosecurity Law Reform Bill and the Smoke-free Environments (Controls and Enforcement) Amendment Bill; the second reading of the Customs and Excise (Joint Border Management Information Sharing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill; and the passing through their remaining stages of the State Sector Management Bill, the Education Amendment Bill (No 2), and the New Zealand Productivity Commission Bill, and of any bills into which any of those bills may be divided.

I spoke a bit over an hour ago in my Leader of the House update to the House on where we are going next week, and the reality is that as we come to the end of the year the Government has a great deal of work that it needs to do to get legislation either sent to select committees or completed, in order that we may have orderly progress in the way Government departments administer themselves beyond the new year. We are about to go into a long adjournment, and when we come back we have the Prime Minister’s statement and the attendant debate that goes with it, meaning that the amount of time available in February is also somewhat limited.

This Government does not shirk from the job it has to do of leading New Zealand, and that job requires us to pass legislation. It is extraordinary that parties in this House are upset about spending more time in this Chamber. For those reasons, I am happy to move the motion as I have just read it.

I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. It is about the instruction that is given to the House for bills to be considered under urgency. Once we have voted on the motion that has been moved, is it possible for the Government to add any other bills for consideration under urgency, or it will cover just the bills that have been read out by the Leader of the House just now?

💬 Mr SPEAKER: The advice I have received is that bills cannot be added unless the urgency concludes before the House rises.

I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. For absolute clarity, I say that if the Government attempts to include a bill that was not on the list read out by the Leader of the House, it would be out of order for us to consider that bill. Is that correct?

💬 Mr SPEAKER: While under this urgency the list should be the list that the Leader of the House read out. That is my understanding.

It may help if I table the list for clarity—[Interruption] Perhaps I could read it again—[Interruption]

💬 Mr SPEAKER: This is a point of order.

There was quite a lot of interjection across the House, and I am quite convinced that the list I have read out is the list of bills that we wish to pass. I suspect the Opposition believes that I have left something off the list. Of course, in the end it is the Government’s list that we work through. If I have left something off, which I do not believe I have, clearly the Opposition’s eagerness to go into urgency would facilitate our passing it. But I am satisfied that the list that I read out is the list that we want to work through.

💬 Mr SPEAKER: To ensure that the House is aware of what it is doing as it takes this vote, can I be certain that the first reading of the Biosecurity Law Reform Bill was actually read out? It may have been mispronounced. I would like to make sure that the House is aware of the bill. Today plenty of people have mispronounced words in this House. All members are aware of that and it is an easy thing to do when reading out a long list. I think I should make sure the House is aware of what it is voting on, because the House is about to vote on the motion. As I understand it, the Biosecurity Law Reform Bill is on the list that the House is voting on.

That is correct. I read out the first readings of the Biosecurity Law Reform Bill and the Smoke-free Environments (Controls and Enforcement) Amendment Bill.

💬 Mr SPEAKER: For the sake of clarity, I appreciate that.