Urgency

I move, That urgency be accorded the passing through all stages of the COVID-19 Public Health Response Amendment Bill and the COVID-19 Response (Further Management Measures) Legislation Bill (No 2); the passing through the remaining stages of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill, the Fuel Industry Bill, and the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Amendment Bill; the first reading and referral to select committee of the Land Transport (Drug Driving) Amendment Bill; the passing through the remaining stages of the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Vaping) Amendment Bill; and the consideration of notices of motion on adjustments to Vote Audit, the extension of the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act, the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Air Border) Order, the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Maritime Border) Order, and the adoption of amendments to the Standing Orders.

The Parliament lost around 55 to 60 hours of time for Government business during the COVID-19 lockdown period. As a result of this urgency and the other urgency motions that we have put before the House in recent weeks, we have claimed around 41 of those hours back. That is time that allowed the Government to progress legislation it would otherwise have been able to were it not for the lockdown. Two of the seven bills included in this motion relate directly to COVID-19 and to the response to COVID-19. The remainder of the legislation is items of business that the Government wants to see progressed before Parliament breaks for the election period, and the notices of motion are all things the House needs to work its way through before we leave for the election campaign.