That room is the legislative council chamber, where New Zealand’s long since disestablished second upper house of Parliament once deliberated.
Well, deliberated may be too strong a word. Its members were pretty much a rubber stamp for the government of the day, and it seldom proved much of a check or balance on the executive.
And why, you may ask, am I giving you this history lesson?
Seventy-six years ago, when the government of the day abolished the legislative council, it did so by appointing 20 extra members who the PM knew would vote for the imminent demise of their new jobs. They were immediately and irreverently dubbed the "suicide squad".
This week the government created its very own one-woman "suicide squad" in the form of Invercargill National MP Penny Simmonds, in whose name it introduced the Environment (Disestablishment of Ministry for the Environment) Amendment Bill.
Simmonds is, of course, for now, the Minister for the Environment, and this Bill does exactly what it says on the tin: it makes that role redundant.
Cynics might claim that given the limited public role that Simmonds has played in the government’s extensive Resource Management Act reforms that the minister for the environment had already long since been made redundant, but she has always been adamant that her ministerial voice has been well and truly articulated behind the scenes.
It is those RMA reforms which have done for the Ministry for the Environment. Last year RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop unveiled plans for the soon-to-be-established ministry of cities, environment, regions and transport — or, snappily, MCERT.
A mega merger, MCERT brings together various bits of the environment, housing and urban development, transport, and internal affairs ministries.
Well, when we say "various bits", when it comes to the Ministry for the Environment that should read "all". To quote the explanatory statement accompanying the still-to-be-passed Bill, it is being done "so that the government’s desired machinery of government change can be implemented" — which sounds suitably ominous.
More reassuringly, after going through the grinding gears of the government’s desired machinery, it turns out that it is proposed that the ministry’s existing functions be unchanged and be transferred to the statutory office of the secretary for the environment.
Happily for that lucky person, the government also intends that the chief executive of MCERT also be the secretary for the environment. Whether or not the government also intends that the Minister for MCERT is also, so to speak, the minister for the environment, remains to be seen.
Coincidentally, on Thursday morning the ministry appeared before the environment select committee to deliver its long-term insights briefing.
For itself, very poor. And, some will fear, that might be true for the environment itself.
That afternoon came the first reading of the Bill but, unfortunately, without Simmonds — Question Time had dragged on well past its normal duration and if the minister had made her speech she would have missed the final flight home, and a full day of meetings in Southland the next day.
Coalition tennis
Most political polls suggest that a three-way arrangement of some form will have to be manufactured for a stable government to be in place following the November election.
New Zealand First, for all the stated intentions of Winston Peters not to work with Labour leader Chris Hipkins, could still feature in a government from either the Left or Right.
Call it opportunism or listening to the voice of the electorate, but Peters will go whichever way the political winds blow him.
The party served up two reminders of that this week.
The first came courtesy of its Taieri list MP Mark Patterson as New Zealand First, seemingly with great reluctance, voted for the Employment Relations Amendment Bill to become an Act.
Having stressed that the Bill was a commitment of the Act New Zealand-National coalition agreement — that is, it’s none of our business, mate — Patterson went on to stress that NZ First had concerns regarding the legislation’s provisions for the process of engagement with unions and worker representatives.
Furthermore, NZ First was not wholly convinced by the creation of a "gateway test" to determine whether a worker is a contractor or an employee.
"New Zealand First will be watching this legislation with an eagle eye," Patterson said.
"If this does not work as has been sold to us on the tin, we will certainly be watching; we will be continuing to engage with worker representatives and unions. But we are, at the end of the day, faithful to the coalition agreement."
A swing by NZ First to the left then? Perhaps, but not so fast.
The next day Peters raised one of the many points of order he has this term, to object to an MP calling New Zealand "Aotearoa."
Regrettably, he chose to describe Green list MP Teanau Tuiono — who was born and raised in Auckland — as "someone who comes from Rarotonga".
That sparked a furious point of order from the Labour leader. Hipkins then went on to tear up his planned general debate speech and spent two of his five minutes laying into "members of their own government attack our Chinese community, our Indian community, our Pasifika community — migrants to New Zealand who work damn hard and contribute to New Zealand".
No names were mentioned: they did not have to be. While Hipkins’ speech no doubt played well to his base, it is quite likely Peters will also be pleased with his efforts that day.
Expect more such bluster in the weeks and months ahead.
