Epidemic Response Committee

Last updated

The Epidemic Response Committee was a select committee of the New Zealand House of Representatives. It was established on 25 March 2020 during the 52nd Parliament in response to the coronavirus pandemic. [1] Its purpose was to hold the government to account with regards to its response to the coronavirus pandemic, as the rest of Parliament was shut down to contain the pandemic. The committee was chaired by Simon Bridges, the then Leader of the Opposition. [2] Michael Woodhouse, the Opposition Health spokesperson, was designated as deputy chair on 5 May 2020. [3] On 26 May 2020 the committee was disbanded by a motion passed by the 52nd Parliament with leader of the House Chris Hipkins stating the committee was no longer needed as New Zealand had moved to COVID-19 alert level 2, and parliament could function largely as it did pre lockdown. [4]

The committee had eleven members. Permanent members of the committee were Bridges as chairperson and David Seymour as the sole member of ACT New Zealand. Other members are made up from the various parties represented in parliament; four National Party members in addition to Bridges, three members from the Labour Party, and one member each from the Green Party and New Zealand First. [2] The committee met via Zoom. [5]

The membership of the committee was as follows: [6]

Key

  National   Labour   Green   NZ First   ACT

NamePortraitElectorate
Simon Bridges Simon Bridges 2019 (cropped).jpg Tauranga
Kiri Allan Kiri Allan.jpg List
Paula Bennett Paula Bennett in 2018.png Upper Harbour
Marama Davidson Marama Davidson 2019 (cropped).jpg List
Ruth Dyson Ruth Dyson, 2011.jpg Port Hills
Paul Goldsmith Paul Goldsmith (cropped).png List
Shane Reti Shane Reti (cropped).png Whangarei
David Seymour David Seymour (cropped).jpg Epsom
Fletcher Tabuteau Fletcher Tabuteau crop.jpg List
Michael Wood Michael Wood (New Zealand Politician).jpg Mount Roskill
Michael Woodhouse Michael Woodhouse (cropped).png List

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives</span> Presiding officer of the New Zealand House of Representatives

In New Zealand, the speaker of the House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House, is the presiding officer and highest authority of the New Zealand House of Representatives. The individual who holds the position is elected by members of the House from among their number in the first session after each general election. They hold one of the highest-ranking offices in New Zealand. The current Speaker is Gerry Brownlee, who was elected on 5 December 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trevor Mallard</span> New Zealand politician

Sir Trevor Colin Mallard is a New Zealand politician. He currently serves as Ambassador of New Zealand to Ireland since 2023. He was a Member of Parliament from 1984 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 2022. He served as Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 2017 until 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruth Dyson</span> New Zealand Labour Party politician

Ruth Suzanne Dyson is a former New Zealand politician. She was a Labour Party Member of Parliament from 1993 to 2020. She represented the Port Hills electorate from the 2008 election election to 2020. She also held a number of senior offices in the Labour Party, including president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Woodhouse</span> New Zealand politician

Michael Allan Woodhouse is a former New Zealand politician. He was a Member of Parliament for the National Party from 2008 to 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Bridges</span> New Zealand politician and lawyer

Simon Joseph Bridges is a former New Zealand politician and lawyer. He served as Leader of the National Party and Leader of the Opposition between 2018 and 2020, and as the Member of Parliament for Tauranga from the 2008 election to May 2022, when he resigned.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Clark (New Zealand politician)</span> New Zealand politician

David Scott Clark is a former New Zealand Labour Party politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Goldsmith (politician)</span> New Zealand politician

Paul Jonathan Goldsmith is a New Zealand historian and politician. The biographer of several leading right-wing political and business figures, he was first elected a list member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for the National Party at the 2011 election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon O'Connor</span> New Zealand politician

Simon David O'Connor is a New Zealand politician and a former member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for the National Party. He represented the Tāmaki electorate from 2011 to 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shane Reti</span> New Zealand politician

Shane Raymond Reti is a New Zealand politician and a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives, and a Cabinet Minister with the roles of Minister of Health and Minister for Pacific Peoples, since 27 November 2023. He was first elected at the 2014 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Whangārei electorate. He is a member of the New Zealand National Party and served as its deputy leader from 10 November 2020 to 30 November 2021 including a period of five days as interim leader following the ousting of Judith Collins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Doocey</span> New Zealand politician (born 1972)

Matthew Maurice Doocey is a New Zealand politician who was elected to the New Zealand Parliament at the 2014 general election as a representative of the New Zealand National Party. He was re-elected in 2017 with a majority increase of over 10,000 which was a significant increase from a majority of 2,500 in 2014. It was reported that this was the largest personal vote increase in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marama Davidson</span> New Zealand politician

Marama Mere-Ana Davidson is a New Zealand politician who entered the New Zealand Parliament in 2015 as a list-member representing the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, of which she became the female co-leader in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 New Zealand general election</span>

The 2020 New Zealand general election was held on Saturday 17 October 2020 to determine the composition of the 53rd New Zealand Parliament. Voters elected 120 members to the House of Representatives, 72 from single-member electorates and 48 from closed party lists. Two referendums, one on the personal use of cannabis and one on euthanasia, were also held on the same day. Official results of the election and referendums were released on 6 November.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jan Tinetti</span> New Zealand politician

Janette Rose Tinetti is a New Zealand politician and a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the Labour Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">52nd New Zealand Parliament</span> Meeting of the New Zealand Parliament

The 52nd New Zealand Parliament was a meeting of the legislature in New Zealand, which opened on 7 November 2017 following the 2017 general election and dissolved on 6 September 2020. The New Zealand Parliament comprises the Sovereign and the House of Representatives, which consists of 120 members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sixth Labour Government of New Zealand</span> Government of New Zealand (2017–2023)

The Sixth Labour Government governed New Zealand from 26 October 2017 to 27 November 2023. It was headed first by Jacinda Ardern and later by Chris Hipkins, as Labour Party leader and prime minister.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">53rd New Zealand Parliament</span> New Zealand parliamentary term from 2020 to 2023

The 53rd New Zealand Parliament was a meeting of the legislature in New Zealand. It opened on 25 November 2020 following the 17 October 2020 general election, and dissolved on 8 September 2023 to trigger the next election. It consisted of 120 members of Parliament (MPs) with five parties represented: the Labour and Green parties, in government, and the National, Māori and ACT parties, in opposition. The Sixth Labour Government held a majority in this Parliament. Jacinda Ardern continued as prime minister until her resignation on 25 January 2023; she was succeeded by Chris Hipkins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virtual House of Commons</span> Series of measures to mitigate coronavirus in the UK Parliament

The Virtual House of Commons is a name given to a series of measures involving the United Kingdom's House of Commons, including the use of video-conferencing and the practising of social distancing. The measures were announced in April 2020 to help stop the spread of coronavirus during the ongoing pandemic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">May 2020 New Zealand National Party leadership election</span>

An election for the parliamentary leadership of the New Zealand National Party took place in the National Party parliamentary caucus on 22 May 2020. Todd Muller and Nikki Kaye stood against the existing leader Simon Bridges and his deputy leader Paula Bennett following poor polling results. Muller and Kaye won the votes and became the new leader and deputy leader respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shadow Cabinet of Judith Collins</span> Former Shadow Cabinet of New Zealand under Judith Collins

The Shadow Cabinet of Judith Collins formed the official Opposition in the 53rd New Zealand Parliament, and previously in the 52nd Parliament. It comprised the members of the New Zealand National Party, which is the largest party not a member of the Government. On Collins' dismissal as leader on 25 November 2021, the cabinet essentially ceased to exist, but what remained was de jure led on an interim basis by her deputy leader, Shane Reti, until the next leadership election. The cabinet was succeeded by that of Christopher Luxon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020</span> Act of Parliament in New Zealand

The COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020 is a standalone legislation passed by the New Zealand Parliament on 13 May 2020 to provide a legal framework for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand over the next two years or until the COVID-19 pandemic is brought under control. The Act allows the Minister of Health to make orders under Section 11 to give effect to the public health response to the COVID-19 in New Zealand.

References

  1. "Epidemic Response". New Zealand Parliament. Archived from the original on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Watch as Epidemic Response Committee hears from Civil Defence and police". Newshub . 2 April 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  3. "Michael Woodhouse". New Zealand Parliament . Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  4. "Parliament returns to a safe normal". New Zealand Government . Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  5. "Zoom. A national security threat?". Radio New Zealand . 1 April 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  6. "Epidemic Response". New Zealand Parliament. Archived from the original on 7 May 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.