The House

Parliament finished its year with a final debate: a chance for a last laugh, a litany of thanks, and a quick punch in the conk. And many wishes for a good break after a hard year.

Parliament has had it's final day of debating in a week that has been unusual convivial. Mostly.

"All over bar the shouting" might refer to many final weeks in Parliament, but this year the MPs still have an ambitious legislative agenda and just two days to get it all done.

The media focus at Parliament was on the impact of leadership, but the legislation told a different story - about the impact of the public. That we can each change the law.

Louise Upston's been working on a victims rights member's bill for more than a decade. After a long gestation and a troubled passage this week it suddenly raced to the finish line.

Parliament's opposition has shuffled its deck thoroughly and the House has reacted like a school room after a lolly scramble - all sugared up and excited.

Parliament has reached the penultimate week of its year. You might think it was winding down but the to-do list is still prodigious.

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.