Estimates Debate — In Committee

Kia ora tātou, colleagues. Look, bear with me while I go through some rather lengthy explanations of what we are about to embark upon.

The House in committee for consideration of the Appropriation (2020/21 Estimates) Bill. The Standing Orders provide for 11 hours of debate on the Estimates, divided into 10 separate debates covering the sectors set out in the Estimates of Appropriations for 2020-21.

The time for the debate has been allocated to parties on a proportional basis, and may be taken as parties see fit during the 10 sector debates. New Zealand National has four hours and 59 minutes, New Zealand Labour has four hours and 15 minutes, New Zealand First has 50 minutes, the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand has 44 minutes, ACT New Zealand has six minutes, and Jami-Lee Ross has six minutes.

Each debate will be led by a call from the chairperson of the select committee nominated by the Government as the major committee reporting on the sector. At the end of each debate, the question will be put that the Votes in each sector stand part of the Schedules.

The time taken on each question is in the hands of members, depending on the parties’ use of their allocation of time. However, this debate expires after 11 hours—and we have a bank of people here who are keeping track of each party’s time taken, and members can check with them at any stage as to how much time is available.

The Estimates debate should be relevant to the Government’s current spending plans as contained in the Estimates of Appropriations. All of the Votes are available for debate. A compendium of the reports of select committees on the Votes is available on the Table.

Education and Workforce Sector (relating to education)