Parliament’s sprint week: urgent voting rules and climate targets grab the spotlight
Photo: VNP / Daniela Maoate-Cox
In its second-to-last sitting week of the year, Parliament was in full throttle, debating 12 bills — 11 of them under urgency.
The week kicked off with buzz surrounding the Resource Management Act (RMA) reshuffle. Two major RMA bills were introduced, but they weren’t actually debated at that stage.
The smaller RMA-related measure on extending certain consents became a flashpoint mainly due to the urgency and its late disclosure to the opposition.
The week’s real hot spots emerged later, with two particularly contentious pieces of legislation debated through Thursday and into the early hours of Friday, and another spanning much of Friday.
First up was the Electoral Amendment Bill, returned to the House from the Justice Select Committee and granted urgency for its second reading and committee of the whole House.
This bill proposes substantial changes to general election rules, including moving the enrolment deadline to 13 days before election day. That eliminates on-the-day enrolment or updating details — a practice that 110,000 people used in 2023.
The bill would also reinstate a broader ban on prisoner voting.
The government argued the earlier cut-off was needed to speed up vote counting. Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith told the House at the second reading that official results now take about a week longer to finalize after an election than they did before 2020. He noted that counting could be even slower in a world of post-election coalition negotiations under MMP.
Despite it being the third straight evening of urgency, MPs were notably animated about this electoral bill. Opposition MP Ginny Andersen, for Labour, set a combative tone from the outset, insisting the bill could be one of the government’s worst moves and labeling it a tactic to tilt the electoral playing field.
Andersen questioned whether the changes would actually speed up counting, pointing out that the Electoral Commission told the Justice Committee there would be no difference in counting time with the new rules. She asked why the bill was being rushed through if it wouldn’t improve the process.
Associate Justice Minister and ACT leader David Seymour challenged the “gaming the system” line by drawing a comparison with a 2022 change on political donations. He argued the government had previously justified that reform as transparency, not as a political weapon, and suggested consistency was lacking.
Once committee stage began, the opposition signaled they would press for every clause to be scrutinized, keeping the government on the back foot.
After a lengthy night of speeches and votes, the House finally adjourned around 1:40 a.m. Friday, with the committee stage not wrapping up until about 11 p.m. Justice Committee members, exhausted from a night of work, reconvened at 9 a.m. to continue — a reflection of how heavy the week had been for justice spokespersons, as four justice-related bills were fast-tracked this week.
With the Electoral Amendment Bill reported back, attention shifted to the week’s other major flashpoint: the Climate Change Response (2050 Target and Other Matters) Amendment Bill. This bill received VIP urgency, passing through all stages, but skipping select committee so there was no public input.
The bill is straightforward in scope, mainly adjusting New Zealand’s target for reducing biogenic methane to a lower band by 2050 — moving from a 24-47% reduction relative to 2017 levels down to 14-27%, effectively halving the previous target.
From the outset, opposition speeches signaled that they would probe the methodology behind the new target in committee stage, foreshadowing a fierce debate ahead. Between the electoral reforms and the climate target reset, these two high-profile measures dominated Parliament’s lengthy sitting and contributed to a roughly 15-hour Friday session.
RNZ’s The House provides ongoing coverage of Parliament, legislation, and related issues, supported by the Parliament’s Office of the Clerk.
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