Estimates Debate — In Committee

The House is in committee for the consideration of the Appropriation (2022/23 Estimates) Bill. The Standing Orders provide for 11 hours of debate on the Estimates, and the Business Committee has determined to organise the debate by portfolio, so there will be no sector-specific debates. All Votes are available for debate, but only specific Ministers will be available each day to speak to the indicated portfolios only. The Government has indicated that the Minister for Social Development and Employment and for ACC, the Minister of Finance, and the Minister for the Environment and for Oceans and Fisheries will be available today.

Each debate will be led by a call from the chairperson or member of the committee that considered the Estimates most closely related to the Minister’s portfolio. This debate expires after 11 hours, at which point questions will be put that the Votes stand part of the schedules and on the provisions of the Appropriation (2022/23 Estimates) Bill.

The time for the debate has been allocated to parties on a proportional basis, and may be taken as parties see fit during the debate. New Zealand Labour has five hours, 57 minutes, New Zealand National has three hours and two minutes, the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand has 55 minutes, ACT New Zealand has 55 minutes, and Te Paati Māori has 11 minutes.

The Estimates debate should be relevant to the Government’s current spending plans, as contained in the Estimates of Appropriations. A compendium of reports of select committees on the Votes is available on the Table. The question is that the Votes contained in the Estimates of Appropriation for 2022/23 stand part of the schedules.

Social Development and Employment, and ACC