Business Statement

The House will next sit on Tuesday, 21 July, when it will consider the second readings of the Ngāti Hinerangi Claims Settlement Bill and the Infrastructure Funding and Financing Bill. The Business Committee has agreed that on the morning of Wednesday, 22 July, there’ll be an extended sitting devoted to members’ business. That afternoon, the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute Vesting Bill will pass through its remaining stages.

I’ve notified the Business Committee of my intention to move urgency on Wednesday, 22 July, as we continue to make up the time lost while the country was at COVID alert levels 3 and 4. The business to be included will largely consist of the remaining stages of bills currently listed on the Order Paper as being at committee stage or third reading, as well as some first readings. I expect that urgency will last into Friday or Saturday.

Can the Leader of the House advise us as to whether or not he intends putting the Estimates debate into the urgency motion? That’s an 11-hour debate. It would give an indication of the Government’s need to get all those done in a hurry and also give us a fair idea of what they’re not going to get done in the next few weeks.

At this point, I’m happy to tell the member that my expectation is that we will do the 11-hour Estimates debate in the second week back, after the forthcoming adjournment.