Urgent Debates Declined

Mr SPEAKER Link to this

I have received a letter from the Hon David Parker seeking to debate, under Standing Order 380, the Government’s announcement of the establishment of the 2025 Taskforce and the appointment of Dr Don Brash to chair the task force. The establishment of the task force and the appointment of its chairperson is a case of recent occurrence involving ministerial responsibility. But I am not persuaded that it requires the immediate attention of the House. The test is a high one. Not every ministerial announcement will give grounds for an urgent debate to be held. In fact, the setting up of an inquiry rarely justifies an urgent debate. Where an inquiry is reported there may be exceptional circumstances that will justify a debate, but even then that is not always the case; I refer members to Speaker’s ruling 177/1. In these circumstances, I do not believe that the business of the House ought to be set aside today. The application is therefore declined.