Urgent Debates Declined — COVID-19—Evidence Given to Health Committee

I have received a letter from David Seymour seeking to debate under Standing Order 399 the letter of expectation sent by the Minister of Finance to the chairperson of Air New Zealand. I have also received a letter from Chris Bishop seeking to debate evidence given to the Health Committee that case B in the most recent series of COVID-19 cases was not tested for COVID-19 between November 2020 and 8 April 2021. Mr Bishop’s application relates to a particular case of recent occurrence for which there is ministerial responsibility. The COVID-19 testing regime and border controls are important matters which deserve the attention of the House. Ordinarily, I could very well accept this application; however, there is a means of debating it in the House today. The debate on the Budget Policy Statement relates to the statement itself and the Finance and Expenditure Committee’s report on it. While Speaker’s ruling 132/4 points out that the debate is not as wide-ranging as a Budget debate, I think the statement and the report canvass COVID-19-related issues sufficiently to permit the House to address the matters raised in the urgent debate application.