The House

Some ministers and ministries have special powers to unilaterally make new laws. And a small group of lawyerly MPs have the job of breaking out the microscope and checking they do it right.

The Speaker is the guardian, champion and referee of parliamentary process, but he also coaches the foot soldiers in the arts of battle - individually or en masse.

Parliament has approved the traffic light system, and so Parliament must also abide by it. The Speaker, Trevor Mallard discusses the complexities for Parliament and how it will be applied.

By design there is a gulf between parliaments and governments. It is most obvious when government asks Parliament to go faster.

Most weeks at Parliament are reasonably predictable, this week might need a flow diagram. There's a morning sitting, a members' day and urgency.

The House wraps Parliament's week; asks who really runs the country and outlines the repeal of the three strikes law.

MPs sometimes appear intractably opposed, but while they can be combative in public they are often collaborative behind closed doors. This week had a four hour long example.

Covid-19 may dominate the news but Parliament does also have other things on its agenda. Quite a few things including a repeal of Three Strikes sentencing law.

A recent protest placard said "The Red Queen Shall Not Reign Supreme". That may have been intended as an insult and a demand but it actually just describes parliamentary democracy.

The Māori Affairs Select Committee is 150 years old. The media always love profile pieces on ancient folk having a birthday, so here is one on a particularly elderly committee.