Franks Ogilvie submitted to Parliament’s Standing Orders Committee on the 2026 Review of Standing Orders, focused on how the House can strengthen its consideration of legislation.
New Zealand’s Parliament faces a challenge around legislative time with governments increasingly relying on urgency and extended sittings.
Our main proposal is to allow the committee of the whole House to meet in parallel with sittings of the House itself. This change, modelled on the practice of the Australian Parliament’s Federation Chamber, would expand the time available for debate, without adding sitting days or relying on urgency or extending sittings.
The submission compares legislative speed and scrutiny between New Zealand and Australia, showing how greater capacity for deliberation could improve the quality of law-making and strengthen public confidence in the process.
We also outline three ideas to improve the way select committees consider evidence for future exploration:
· Concurrent expert evidence (“hot-tubbing”) to help MPs test competing expert views more effectively;
· Staff-led pre-questioning of submitters to make better use of specialist evidence; and
· AI-assisted analysis of submissions to help committees identify duplication and focus on genuinely new insights.
Together, these proposals aim to make parliamentary scrutiny more rigorous, modern, and responsive.
Read our full submission here: FO 2026 review of standing orders submission
For further information on this or similar issues, contact Director Brigitte Morten
