A new Parliament, a new Prime Minister, a new Speaker. There was a lot going on at Parliament in the first week of its 54th incarnation.
The first week of the new Parliament has ended, and thank goodness. It was a whirlwind of state occasions, political minefields and around the edges, a little actual parliamentary business.
Wednesday saw the first debating shots in anger, and it was interesting to watch. Labour's senior MPs seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves, which was unexpected. National's MPs were mostly still in campaign mode attacking the government-of-yore.
Thursday was when Parliament finally got out of first gear. Thursday included the first debate that wasn't a constitutional set-piece, the first question time, and the first chance for the new Speaker to limber up and show his early stylings.
Chris Hipkins, the new Leader of the Opposition cracks up his caucus during his speech in the Address in Reply Debate.
The first Question Time of the 54th Parliament was always going to be an interesting sortie. Two teams, back on the field after a change of ends, making probing attacks, looking for weak points.
And with a change of ref - the new Speaker Gerry Brownlee. Like referees at a Rugby World Cup Final, speakers can have an enormous influence on the play and the outcome at Parliament. Particularly on a parliament's effectiveness in keeping a watchful eye on government.
It is, of course, very early days and speakers take a while to find their feet and solidify an approach, but it's surely worth poking through the entrails of the first day to see how it went. The first impression of Mr Brownlee was that he was both relaxed and confident, but willing to acknowledge errors and apologise with self-deprecation.
Can a prayer also be an omen?
Any change of speaker can add new rules and also alter their interpretation. They can also facilitate or impede approaches adopted by previous speakers. Will the new speaker be a revolutionary, a reactionary, or will he hold the current line? It will take time to tell - it is possible that the first week included a litmus test.
Every sitting day at Parliament begins with a prayer and has done since its first sittings. The prayer is not set in stone though.
The modern prayer focuses on MPs' ethical approach to their jobs. That they "lay aside personal interests, and work with wisdom, justice, mercy, and humility for the welfare and peace of New Zealand."
You might remember that in early 2018 the then speaker Trevor Mallard secularised the prayer by removing specific reference to one of the Christian trinity. Now it just addresses itself to God in general. The change outraged the conservative end of New Zealand's churches. …