2 Parliamentary elections

Election to the New Zealand Parliament is by the MMP electoral system, which provides for proportional representation. The MMP system means that there are usually more than two parties present in Parliament — at present, there are eight. The MMP system replaced the old " First Past the Post" system after a referendum in 1993. The first MMP vote was at the 1996 election.

Under the MMP system, the size of Parliament is capped at 120 MPs. Slightly more than half of these (referred to as 'electorate MPs') are chosen from geographical constituencies on a first-past-the-post basis; the remainder are chosen from closed party lists and are known as ' list MPs'. A candidate may contest an electorate and appear on the party list, only contest an electorate, or only appear on the list; candidates who have won electorate seats are eliminated from party lists before the list MPs are named.

The number of MPs is calculated in three steps. The less populated of New Zealand's two principal islands, the South Island, has a fixed quota of sixteen seats. The number of seats for the North Island and the number of special reserved seats for Maori are then calculated in proportion to these. (The Maori seats have their own special electoral roll; people of Maori descent may opt to enroll either on this roll or on the general roll, and the number of Maori seats is determined with reference to the proportion of adult Maori who opt for the Maori roll.)

The number of electorates is recalculated, and the boundaries of each redrawn so as to make them approximately equal in population within a tolerance of plus or minus 5%, after each quinquennial census. After the 2001 census, there were 7 Maori electorates and 62 general electorates, or 69 electorates in total. There were therefore 51 list MPs. By a quirk of timing, the 2005 election will be the first election since 1990 at which the electorates have not been redrawn since the last election. The next census will be in 2006 and will apply to the 2008 election.

A party is not entitled to any list MPs unless it either wins 5% of the "party vote" (the more important of the two votes in MMP, which determines the overall proportionality of Parliament) or wins at least one electorate seat. The electorate-seat escape clause has twice saved parties from Parliamentary oblivion: New Zealand First in 1999 gained 4.26% of the party vote and five MPs thanks to its leader's razor-thin 63-vote margin in his home electorate of Tauranga, and Jim Anderton's Progressive Coalition (since renamed the less ponderous "Progressive Party") gained two MPs from 1.7% of the vote after its leader comfortably held his electorate of Wigram. In addition, in both 1996 and 1999 the United Party won an electorate, but not enough party votes to entitle it to any additional list MPs.

In the event that a party wins an electorate seat, but not enough party votes to entitle it to a seat in Parliament (less than 0.5% of the party vote), the size of Parliament is increased by the number of these so-called "overhang MPs" until the next election. As of the 2002 election, this has not occurred.

3 Passage of legislation

The New Zealand Parliament's model for passing Acts of Parliament is similar (but not identical) to that of other Westminster System governments.

Laws are initially proposed to Parliament as bills. They become Acts after being approved three times by Parliamentary votes and then receiving Royal Assent from the Governor-General. The majority of bills are promulgated by the government of the day (that is, the party or parties that have a majority in Parliament). It is rare for government bills to be defeated. It is also possible for individual MPs to promote their own bills (called private members' bills) — these are usually put forward by opposition parties, or by MPs who wish to deal with a matter that parties do not take positions on.

The first stage of the process is the first reading, a vote which occurs after MPs have had time to read and debate a new bill. If a majority of Parliament approves the bill, it is sent to an appropriate Select Committee (see below). This committee will scrutinise the bill, going over it in more detail than can be achieved by the whole membership of Parliament. The committee will then send the bill back to the House, generally making recommendations for amendments. The bill (possibly altered) will then receive its second reading, where MPs debate the principles of the bill. Another vote will be taken, and if Parliament votes to proceed, the bill will then be considered by a "Committee of the House" — this involves Parliament debating and voting on the bill clause by clause. Finally, the bill receives its third reading, which involves a summary of debate and the final vote. If a bill passes its third reading, it is passed on to the Governor-General, who will (assuming constitutional conventions are followed) give it Royal Assent as a matter of course. It then becomes law.

4 Select Committees

Legislation is scrutinised by Select Committees. The Committees call for submissions from the public, thereby meaning that there is a degree of public consultation before a parliamentary bill proceeds into law. The strengthening of the Committee system was in response to concerns that legislation was being forced through, without receiving due examination and revision. Each Select Committee has a Chairperson and a Deputy Chairperson. MPs may be members of more than one Select Committee. There are 18 Select Committees in the House of Representatives, as follows:

• Business
• Commerce
• Education and Science
• Finance and Expenditure
• Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade
• Health
• Justice and Electoral Reform
• Law and Order
• Local Government and Environment
• Government Administration
• Maori Affairs
• Officers of Parliament
• Primary Production
• Privileges
• Regulations
• Social Services
• Standing Orders
• Transport and Industrial Relations

Occasionally, a special Select Committee will be created on a temporary basis. An example was the Select Committee established to study the foreshore and seabed bill.

5 Upper house

The New Zealand Parliament does not have an upper house — unlike many other legislatures, it is unicameral rather than bicameral. It did, however, have an upper house before 1951 (the Legislative Council), and there have been occasional attempts to create a new one.

5.1 Legislative Council

Main article: New Zealand Legislative Council.

The Legislative Council was intended to scrutinize and amend bills passed by the House of Representatives, although it could not initiate legislation or amend money bills. Despite occasional proposals for an elected Council, Members of the Legislative Council (MLCs) were appointed by the Governor, generally on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. At first, MLCs were appointed for life, but a term of seven years was introduced in 1891. It was eventually decided that the Council was having no significant impact on New Zealand's legislative process, and it ceased to exist at the beginning of 1951. At the time of its abolition, it had 54 members, including its own Speaker.

5.2 Senate proposal

The National government of Jim Bolger proposed the establishment of an elected Senate when it came to power in 1990, thereby reinstating a bicameral system, and a Senate Bill was drafted. Senators would be elected by STV, with a number of seats being reserved for Maori, and would have powers similar to those of the old Legislative Council. The House of Representatives would continue to be elected by FPP. The intention was to include a question on a Senate in the second referendum on electoral reform. Voters would be asked, if they did not want a new voting system, whether or not they wanted a Senate. However, following objections from the Labour opposition, and supporters of MMP, the Senate question was removed by the Select Committee on Electoral Reform, and the issue has not been pursued since.

6 Terms of Parliament

Parliament is currently in its forty-seventh term.

Term	Elected in	Government
1st Parliament	1853 election	No Parties
2nd Parliament	1855 election	No Parties
3rd Parliament	1860 election	No Parties
4th Parliament	1866 election	No Parties
5th Parliament	1871 election	No Parties
6th Parliament	1875 election	No Parties
7th Parliament	1879 election	No Parties
8th Parliament	1881 election	No Parties
9th Parliament	1884 election	No Parties
10th Parliament	1887 election	No Parties
11th Parliament	1890 election	Liberal
12th Parliament	1893 election	Liberal
13th Parliament	1896 election	Liberal
14th Parliament	1899 election	Liberal
15th Parliament	1902 election	Liberal
16th Parliament	1905 election	Liberal
17th Parliament	1908 election	Liberal
18th Parliament	1911 election	Reform
19th Parliament	1914 election	Reform
20th Parliament	1919 election	Reform
21st Parliament	1922 election	Reform
22nd Parliament	1925 election	Reform
23rd Parliament	1928 election	United
24th Parliament	1931 election	United/Reform Coalition
25th Parliament	1935 election	First Labour
26th Parliament	1938 election	First Labour
27th Parliament	1943 election	First Labour
28th Parliament	1946 election	First Labour
29th Parliament	1949 election	First National
30th Parliament	1951 election	First National
31st Parliament	1954 election	First National
32nd Parliament	1957 election	Second Labour
33rd Parliament	1960 election	Second National
34th Parliament	1963 election	Second National
35th Parliament	1966 election	Second National
36th Parliament	1969 election	Second National
37th Parliament	1972 election	Third Labour
38th Parliament	1975 election	Third National
39th Parliament	1978 election	Third National
40th Parliament	1981 election	Third National
41st Parliament	1984 election	Fourth Labour
42nd Parliament	1987 election	Fourth Labour
33rd Parliament	1990 election	Fourth National
44th Parliament	1993 election	Fourth National
45th Parliament	1996 election	Fourth National (in coalition)
45th Parliament	1999 election	Fifth Labour (in coalition)
46th Parliament	2002 election	Fifth Labour (in coalition)

7 External links

• Parliament of New Zealand
• Debating Chamber
• Legislative Council Chamber

National legislatures New Zealand Parliament

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