Covid-19 NZ: Parliament to sit this week after National and ACT reject virtual option – Stuff.co.nz

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced Parliament will sit in-person this week, despite her own misgivings about safety.

Ardern had the option to instruct Speaker Trevor Mallard to suspend the House again this week, as she did last week because of the current Covid-19 outbreak.

But Ardern said she was not keen to do this for a second week without the support of other parties in Parliament.

National and ACT rejected a proposal for a virtual Parliament on Friday, arguing democracy needed to be in-person to work.

READ MORE:* Covid-19 NZ: National and ACT reject plan for virtual Parliament and Question Time* Covid 19: Why was Jacinda Ardern able to suspend Parliament and what happens next?* Covid-19: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern opts to suspend Parliament sittings for a week

The proposal, prepared by the Speakers office after consultation with other parties and obtained by Stuff, would have allowed MPs to attend the House from anywhere via videolink.

They included a virtual Question Time, with longer questions and answers than normal in-person Parliament.

Labour could technically run Parliament in any way it sees fit, but generally decisions about the House are made on a near-consensus basis by the Business Committee meaning Labour and National have to agree.

ROBERT KITCHIN/Stuff

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she would have preferred a virtual Parliament.

Ardern said she was disappointed that option had been rejected by the Opposition.

We were absolutely willing to make ourselves available for the scrutiny that yes we need to provide, Ardern said.

We're asking the public to do things differently, and I think that Parliament needs to do things differently too. You will have seen the proposal - I think it met the needs of accountability and scrutiny but in an online platform that means we dont put staff at risk and those involved in the convening of Parliament.

However, she was not willing to once-again ask the Speaker to suspend the House without agreement from other parties.

So I will participate, despite the fact that I totally disagree with the position they have taken.

Leader of the House Chris Hipkins said on Friday no Labour MPs not already in Wellington would travel to attend the House.

ROBERT KITCHIN/Stuff

Michael Woodhouse says democracy is a tactile thing.

Nationals new shadow leader of the house Michael Woodhouse said if the Prime Minister was so worried about Parliament not being safe she could once again use her unilateral power to suspend it.

The idea that they are being forced to sit is quite incorrect. Nobody is forcing them to do anything, Woodhouse said. They cant say it is not safe and then not use the tools available to them.

National could not support the virtual Parliament idea as it did not believe it would be an adequate replacement to the House. Democracy is a tactile thing, it needs to be a physical presence, Woodhouse said.

He said five National MPs would travel to Wellington and permanently relocate their bubbles there. Only one leader Judith Collins would be travelling from Auckland. Their staff would remain at home.

We genuinely believe that Parliament can sit safely, Woodhouse said.

He argued that if the Prime Minister could hold 1pm press conferences with news media the House should be able to sit.

Mallard said he was disappointed that he had not been able to persuade the Opposition to try the virtual Parliament, which would have allowed for longer questions to ministers.

I very much regret that my powers of persuasion are so poor that I have to date been unable to convince opposition parties that the vastly increased opportunity to question Ministers including up to five minutes of questioning or rebuttal per primary question and the sitting of subject committees with about 80 per cent of the time going to opposition members, as happened last week following an agreement at the Business Committee provides them with a much better opportunity to hold the Government to account than four daily questions in the house.

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Covid-19 NZ: Parliament to sit this week after National and ACT reject virtual option - Stuff.co.nz