Chester Borrows: Throwing rocks part of process

MONEY WELL SPENT?: What value for money did New Zealanders get from Parliament in 2015?PHOTO/FILE

IT has been a funny old year in the House which, in many ways, follows the cycle of politics.

We started off with an Opposition licking its wounds from a frantic and failed election campaign - Labour had a new leader, and they were not looking forward to the prospect of another three years in waiting.

Bad losses really hurt because you believe you're better than the result indicates but have to wait so long in order to prove it.

Labour's biggest issue is that - even though they hate it - one in two people walking down the street voted National. Convincing all those people that they made a foolish decision is very hard; the customer is always right and the only answer is to out-perform the Government and let the voter come to the decision all on their own that they want a change.

The biggest challenge for the Government is to look fresh and not to wander along towards the next election desperate not to make mistakes, and so scared that they will that they do nothing and don't deserve another term.

They do this knowing that any sign of confidence and self-belief will be read as arrogance - and Kiwis hate arrogance.

So what value for money did New Zealanders get from Parliament in 2015?

The House sat for 88 days this year, compared to 70 days in 2014 and we saw 120 bills pass their third reading and become law. This amounted to 550 hours in debate.

Parliament sat for 30 weeks in 2015 and there were 87 question times with members answering 1044 oral questions and thousands more supplementary questions. There have been 1177 papers presented this year, similar to 2014, and ministers had been asked 16,180 written questions.

Six settlement bills passed their third reading into law, including the completion of the Te Hiku Claims Settlement Bill.

A further four settlement bills had their first reading and were sent off to select committee.

The immediate question that many will ask is: "Is that it? What else did you do?"

So none of the above stats account for the time spent in electorates, in select committees, working on the other business of being an MP such as lobbying ministers, fighting other agencies and representing constituents, which is easily the majority of the work. Then the question is: Does all this extra legislation help or hinder the daily lives of New Zealanders trying to earn a living, provide jobs, protect an environment, and peacefully co-exist? Well, the Government would say "Yes" and the Opposition would say "No", but only replace them with other laws, rules and regulations.

The relationships between MPs are often the topic of scorn and ridicule, and this year has been no exception. Everyone gets a bit scratchy at the end of the year, so 2016 will start on a clean sheet, which is good.

In the end, it is a Kiwi sport to throw rocks at government - it is not such an easy lot being a Member of Parliament in New Zealand. But that's politics, baby!

-Chester Borrows is the MP for Whanganui.