August 25, 2015 12:31pm by David Farrar

Parliament 25 August 2015

The order paper is here.

Oral Questions 2.00 pm – 3.00 pm

1. ANDREW LITTLE to the Prime Minister: Does he have confidence in the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety, given his decision not to include sheep, beef, and dairy farming in his Proposed Schedule of High Risk Industries?

2. JONO NAYLOR to the Minister of Finance: How is the New Zealand economy placed to be resilient to international economic fluctuations?

3. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Prime Minister: Can he tell us all again about the socalled Rock Star economy and his policies to maintain it?

4. GRANT ROBERTSON to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by his statement that “risks arising from Greece and China have receded somewhat and that there has been an improvement in the outlook for our trading partners. That is positive for the New Zealand outlook”?

5. JAMES SHAW to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his Government’s policies?

6. TODD MULLER to the Minister of Transport: What update can he provide on the Tauranga Eastern Link, which is one of the Government’s Roads of National Significance?

7. KELVIN DAVIS to the Minister of Corrections: What was the date of the CCTV footage that led to a Serco staff member’s suspension for fighting an inmate at Mt Eden Corrections Facility?

8. TODD BARCLAY to the Minister for Primary Industries: What reports has he received on Government support for diversification in the dairy industry?

9. Dr RUSSEL NORMAN to the Minister of Trade: Which stakeholder groups have been briefed as to the draft content of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement since the completion of the last round of negotiations in July; and which groups have been briefed as to the process going forward for the agreement?

10. BARBARA KURIGER to the Minister of Health: Can he confirm that the health target for emergency departments has been met for the second consecutive quarter, meaning that 95 per cent of people attending our emergency departments are treated, admitted, or discharged within six hours?

11. Hon DAVID PARKER to the Minister of Foreign Affairs: Did he approve officials’ recommendation on 19 April 2012 to commence work on “finding an appropriate mechanism to meet Al Khalaf’s concern for ‘compensation’ (possibly through the joint venture)”; and was the $4m payment to Al Khalaf the adopted mechanism, given Cabinet noted part of that payment was for “the settlement of the long-running dispute”?

12. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by all his statements; if so, why?

National: Four questions on the economy, roads, dairy industry and emergency departments

Labour: Four questions on workplace safety, the economy, Mt Eden Prison and the Saudi farm

Greens: One question on TPP

NZ First: Two questions on the economy and Finance Minister standing by his statements

1. POTO WILLIAMS to the Member in charge of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave and Work Contact Hours) Amendment Bill: Why did she draft the Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave and Work Contact Hours) Amendment Bill?

2. IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY to the Member in charge of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave and Work Contact Hours) Amendment Bill: What indication of support has she received for putting forward the Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave and Work Contact Hours) Amendment Bill?
Tuesday, 25 August 2015

3. POTO WILLIAMS to the Member in charge of the Social Workers Registration (Mandatory Registration) Amendment Bill: Why did she draft the Social Workers Registration (Mandatory Registration) Amendment Bill?

4. POTO WILLIAMS to the Member in charge of the Social Workers Registration (Mandatory Registration) Amendment Bill: What indications of support has she received for putting forward the Social Workers Registration (Mandatory Registration) Amendment Bill?

There are also four questions to members in charges of bills.

Government Bills 3.00 pm to 6.00 pm and 7.30 pm to 10.00 pm

Health and Safety Reform Bill – committee stage continued

The Bill replaces the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 and the Machinery Act 1950 to reform New Zealand’s workplace health and safety system, following the work of the Independent Taskforce on Workplace Health and Safety and the Royal Commission on the Pike River Coal Mine tragedy.

Introduced March 2014
1st reading: March 2014, passed unanimously
SC report: July 2015, passed with amendments by majority with Labour, Green and NZ First minority reports
2nd reading: July 2015, passed 63 to 56 with Labour, Greens and NZ First against

There is no time limit for the committee stage but it is estimated to be a seven hour debate as the bill has six parts and preliminary provisions to debate. Three parts have been debated, so there are probably three to four hours remaining.

There are seven SOPs – two from the Minister Michael Woodhouse, three from Labour, one from the Greens and one from the Maori Party.

Employment Standards Legislation Bill – first reading

This bill promotes fairer and more productive workplaces by providing enhanced protections and benefits for both employers and employees through a number of improvements to the employment relations–employment standards legislative framework.