Election year even more so, as all the while MPs have more than half an eye on the looming campaign and are keen to land just one more trick before their performance for the past three years is submitted for judging.
In the background select committees are also beavering away, and are also trying to get through their mountain of work before their time comes to an end.
In particular, their members and staff want to report back to Parliament on the many outstanding issues that remain left over from their work this year — and in some cases the past two or three years.
In a blizzard of select committee reports delivered to Parliament in recent weeks are two assessments of petitions compiled by women living in the South, but of great importance for all New Zealanders.
Both Corinda Taylor, the founder of the Life Matters Suicide Prevention Trust, and Jane Ludemann, of Cure Our Ovarian Cancer, gave highly personal and deeply emotional testimony to the justice and health select committees respectively in support of their causes. They may well have made all the difference.
Mrs Taylor founded her trust in the wake of profound family tragedy, the death of her son Ross. The circumstances of how he met his end have been the subject of numerous legal proceedings, a process which has left the Taylor family deeply frustrated.
They, and many other suicide-bereaved families and whanau, have had to delve deep into their often limited personal funds to afford litigation, but on the other side of the courtroom they face government agencies that can draw upon the public purse to pay for the best defence available.
As a result many cases which might otherwise have gone to court — and from which negligent practices might have been identified or substandard systems pinpointed and perfected — do not get that far.
Even the more benign environment of the coroner’s court, which seeks to identify a cause of death rather than prosecute as a result of one, can be well beyond the capabilities of a family required by economic necessity to self-represent as a part-time lay person, while the health system or emergency services can marshall extensive legal support.
What Mrs Taylor and her fellow signatories wanted was an end to delays in the coronial system — delays which are partly due to resourcing and partly due to the travails of the pandemic — and free legal representation for suicide-bereaved families.
The committee’s report said MPs understood Mrs Taylor’s concerns about the coronial system and noted that last year the maximum number of permanent coroners was increased from 20 to 22 and that those roles had been filled.
"We hope that this increase, as well as the appointment of associate coroners, will reduce delays in the coronial system."
On the issue of legal representation, the committee made no promises but it did offer Mrs Taylor and co something to which they could hold the next government to account.
"Access to justice is an important issue and we encourage the Ministry of Justice to consider legal aid funding and providing more support to suicide-bereaved families as it sets its work programme."
Rest assured, the Life Matters trust will be monitoring progress on that one.
Meanwhile, the health select committee reported back this week on Jane Ludemann’s petition on behalf of Cure Our Ovarian Cancer (COOC) , which Southern Say covered a few weeks ago.
We were deeply impressed with Ms Ludemann’s comprehensive and powerful presentation, and so were the committee.
"We thank the petitioner for her research and detailed submission, and for her tireless work to improve outcomes for women diagnosed with ovarian cancer. We are also grateful to the people who shared their difficult stories about their experiences with ovarian cancer."
COOC has suggested that education about ovarian and uterine cancers be incorporated into the cervical screening programme, although the Cancer Control Agency has expressed concerns adding extra layers of information for women could dilute the primary focus of the screening programme.
The committee acknowledged that possibility, but "we consider that this idea has merit and should be explored".
It cannot make the agency do anything but it has strong moral power, and "therefore strongly encouraged" Te Whatu Ora to investigate whether it could incorporate education about ovarian and uterine cancer symptoms into the cervical screening programme.
One suspects this is one matter the committee will not let lie when the next Parliament convenes — and that Ms Ludemann will not let it lie.
COOC had mixed success on its other concerns. Delays in diagnosis and the high rates of diagnosis in emergency departments were acknowledged and attempts by the agency to address this were accepted.
An increase to the budget of drug-buying agency Pharmac had been met by an extra $191 million being made available in this year’s Budget, but the committee said Parliament had to respect the organisation’s independence and should not direct it as to which drugs it should or should not be funding.
"We note that the petitioner would still like a multi-year national ovarian cancer diagnosis audit to measure the effectiveness of changes to diagnosis and access to testing," the report said.
"We encourage Te Aho o Te Kahu to work together with other health sector agencies to explore how they can measure the effectiveness of the work to improve ovarian cancer detection, diagnosis, and treatments."
So, not a complete win for either petitioner but — crucially — not a complete loss either. Both can walk away from Parliament knowing they have been listened to and that action has been proposed, even if not fully delivered yet.
And it’s goodbye from her
Waitaki National MP Jacqui Dean had to wait a long time to deliver her valedictory — as the last of four speakers usually has to.
It was worth waiting for though, from her account of going to the hairdresser that morning and having been recognised not as an MP but for a much earlier stint as a Play School presenter, to a bravura account of what goes on in a Speaker’s mind during a debate.
" Members may think that when I'm gazing into the middle distance with sort of an unfocused stare while they're speaking that there's not much going on in my head," she said.
"Well, I can assure you there is. There's a fast and furious internal conversation going on, and it goes something like this: ‘Are they speaking to the Bill? No, they're not speaking to the Bill. I just wish they would speak to the Bill — how much time have they got left to go? OK, they mentioned the Bill; that's OK. They're not straying too far from Standing Orders. Oh, good grief — they've still got two minutes. Never mind. Well, OK, so, who's speaking next? I'm going to have to remember their name — oh, my dear Lord! I call ...’
"Anyway, on it goes. It is a blast."
