urgency Archive

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  Fair Pay for “Sleepover” work - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  In the very last week of this Parliamentary term a Bill will be passed that actually makes total sense. The so called “Sleepover Bill” implements a Court of Appeal decision that night shift workers working with people who live in supervised residential homes will eventually get fairer pay. The issue of fair pay at night [...] read more
  October 2, 2011 11:24 am - 1 Comment
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  Retrospective surveillance laws shouldn’t be rammed through Parliament - by Keith Locke

  
  
  
  We should be very worried that the government intends to rush legislation through Parliament next week that could restrict New Zealanders’ ability, under the Bill of Rights, to protect themselves from unreasonable surveillance. To add insult to injury, the legislation will be retrospective, to make legal the behavior of the Police over recent times in [...] read more
  September 20, 2011 2:02 pm - 21 Comments
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  Democracy, secrecy, and good process. - by David Clendon

  
  
  
  On Thursday, Keith Locke and I spent a good part of the day in the House going to bat against the government’s ‘secret squirrel’ bill to amend the Police Act that Frog blogged on earlier .  Our objections to the bill were matters both of process and substance.  I want to comment here just on the process, which was appalling, [...] read more
  August 19, 2011 12:24 pm - 5 Comments
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  National’s secret bill - by frog

  
  
  
  Yesterday, Parliament went into urgency on a large number of Bills.  Under the quaint rules Parliament runs by, that means today, tomorrow, and most probably Friday will also be officially yesterday. Urgency at this stage of the electoral cycle is not all that unusual, although it is indicative of governments’ failure to adequately manage their [...] read more
  August 17, 2011 9:56 am - 9 Comments
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  Greens’ concern over Parliamentary urgency gains widespread support - by frog

  
  
  
  Last year, around the time the shameful Hobbit Bill was being rammed through Parliament in two days and without Select Committee scrutiny, Russel Norman posted here and here about his increasing concern over the National-led Government’s use of Parliamentary urgency to bypass normal Parliamentary process: The problem with urgency is that it often means that laws [...] read more
  April 20, 2011 9:07 am - 16 Comments
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  Parliamentary scrutiny compromised by Nats use of urgency - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  A while ago, I posted about this government’s use of urgency to force legislation through parliament. The problem with urgency is that it often means that laws don’t receive the kind of scrutiny they should. So it means you get laws with mistakes and laws that do bad things without ever giving the people a chance [...] read more
  November 14, 2010 10:09 pm - 5 Comments
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  Urgency – Nats go crazy - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  There’s been a lot of discussion lately about the Govt’s use of urgency. So I asked the library to do the stats. Which show that the Nats really are using urgency a lot more. Another example of their neo-Muldoonism. Urgency 48th and 49th Parliament (to 2 November 2010)                [...] read more
  November 3, 2010 9:05 pm - 22 Comments
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  Misusing urgency - by frog

  
  
  
  Since taking office, the National Government has been using urgency with a vengeance. As of today, Parliament has sat for a little over 548 hours. Of these hours, 35% has been under urgency. What does this mean? Due process is condensed, legislation is ill-considered, and the opposition has little time to read let alone apply [...] read more
  October 23, 2009 8:05 am - 1 Comment
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  Submissions required urgently for Urbantramper’s new album - by frog

  
  
  
  Urbantramper, who this old frog had never heard of before today, has announced that they will produce their next recording ‘under urgency’. read more
  October 16, 2009 12:45 pm - 11 Comments
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  More rushed legislation under urgency - by frog

  
  
  
  Yesterday, the government decided that once again, it was important to run rough shod over parliamentary scrutiny by passing a motion for urgency and introducing new Bills and asking for debate before anyone had even seen the legislation. The Clerk of the House advises that urgency be accorded the introduction and first reading of the [...] read more
  February 11, 2009 1:06 pm - 48 Comments
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  Sue Bradford on the “Fire at Will” Bill - by frog

  
  
  
  Sue speaks in the House about the ambiguity in the new 90 day fire at will bill that may prevent fired workers from accessing the dole, despite National’s assurances that this was not their intent: It is this sort of ambiguity that would have been picked up and corrected at a select committee. Ramming this [...] read more
  December 15, 2008 12:03 pm - 74 Comments
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  Greens make bills available if Nats won’t - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  I’ve only just realised, after enquiries with the Parliamentary Library, that even though the Nats made the bills being discussed under urgency available in printed form at about 11.35pm last night, they were not being made available in electronic form. How on earth can the public engage in the discussion if they can’t get access [...] read more
  December 11, 2008 5:06 pm - 44 Comments
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  Hide against the people going to court - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  Rodney Hide on Morning Report this morning has nailed his colours to the mast . He has come out for restricting the rights of ordinary citizens to appeal decisions of consent panels. Here’s what he said: Allowing just any Tom Dick and Harry to appeal something [to the environment court] is a recipe for endless [...] read more
  December 11, 2008 10:06 am - 105 Comments
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  Nats hit new democratic low - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  Sitting in the House. Gerry Brownlee has just told the House that he has the bills that are to be debated under urgency but he won’t table them. What this means is that MPs are going to have to vote and debate bills they will not see until it is tabled. This gives the first [...] read more
  December 10, 2008 11:27 pm - 16 Comments
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  Nats tax bill costs the low paid - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  Nats yesterday introduced their tax bill. They dropped the bill on parliament without giving anyone a chance to read it before it hit the house and are pushing it through under urgency without giving a select committee or anyone else a chance to examine it properly. Even the Regulatory Impact Assessment stated that they hadn’t [...] read more
  December 10, 2008 9:14 pm - 34 Comments
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  Make the ETS fair and more urgent - by Jeanette Fitzsimons

  
  
  
  Some of the readers here may have heard my interview on RadioNZ’s Nine to Noon programme last week, outlining the changes the Greens need to see in order to support the ETS legislation. I notice that there has been some robust debate here about the need for action on climate change. For most people, including [...] read more
  June 7, 2008 3:38 pm - 70 Comments