Annual Review Debate — In Committee

The House is in committee on the Appropriation (2020/21 Confirmation and Validation) Bill. This is a debate on the financial position of the Government and the annual review of departments, officers of Parliament, Crown entities, public organisations, and State enterprises as reported on by select committees. The time allocated for this debate is 10 hours.

Standing Orders 356(2) and (3) have been set aside so there will be no sector-specific debates. Instead, specific Ministers will be available each day to respond. The Government has indicated that the Minister of Finance, the Minister for Infrastructure, the Minister of Police, the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, the Minister of Statistics, the Minister of Education, and the Minister for COVID-19 Response will be available today. The time for this debate has been allocated to parties on a proportional basis. New Zealand Labour has five hours and 25 minutes. New Zealand National has two hours and 45 minutes. The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand has 50 minutes. ACT New Zealand has 50 minutes. Te Paati Māori has 10 minutes.

Each debate will be led off by the chairperson or another member of the committee that considered annual reviews most closely related to the Minister’s portfolios. A motion to report progress on a bill must be moved on a call, not a point of order—Speaker’s ruling 81. When a member moves to report progress on this annual review debate, a presiding officer will call on that member first when the debate resumes. This is a similar process to that used in other debates when they are adjourned. At the conclusion of the debate, questions will be put, noting the committee reports on annual reviews and on the provisions of the Appropriation (2020/21 Confirmation and Validation) Bill. There is no amendment or debate on these questions.

I remind members that they are able to participate remotely. If you’re on Zoom and want to take a call, please type “call” into the chat. You should also use the chat if you want to raise a point of order. Finally, it would be helpful for members to ask multiple questions if they have them of the available Minister during their call.

Members, we start with the Minister of Finance, who is also the Minister for Infrastructure, who is available for 45 minutes to respond to members’ questions. The question is that the report of the Finance and Expenditure Committee on the annual financial statements of the Government for the 2021 financial year be noted.

That’s the longest speech I’ve ever made! I call the honourable Dr Duncan Webb.

Finance and Infrastructure