Longest session of House closes

Press, 14 December 1985, Page 3

Longest session of House closes

PA Wellington The longest session in the history of Parliament came to a close yesterday, 157 sitting days after it began. The Leader of the House, Mr Palmer, moved that the House adjourn soon after Parliament sat yesterday. The House had sat for a total 1059 hours and 27 minutes during the session, he said, with average daily sittings of seven hours and nine minutes. Two hundred Government bills were passed, 306 petitions presented, 1898 oral questions asked and answered, 3609 written questions answered, and there were 520 divisions.

“The fact that this has been the longest session in the history of this Parliament is due to the fact that in 1984, Parliament was opened twice and therefore it was not opened in 1985,” Mr Palmer said. “This Parliament in this session first sat on August 15, 1984. It is therefore by sitting days, by expanse of time, and in terms of hours the longest session we have had.”