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International perspectives on democracy: Commonwealth heads of government leaders said in their ...

Electing Parliament: The MPs and the political parties in New Zealand's Parliament are elected ...

Members of Parliament: In the 27 July 2002 general election, Labour gained 52, National 27, New Zealand ...

Forming the government: The Labour and Progressive Coalition Parties in Parliament have agreeed ...

Composition of Parliament: New Zealand's Parliament is a place where more and more sections ...

The New Zealand Business and Parliament Trust: The New Zealand Business and Parliament Trust was formed in 1991 to bridge ...

The role of the speaker: The Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives is the highest officer ...

Who drafts the laws? To make sure laws ar written correctly, Parliament has ...

The Office of the Clerk: The position of Clerk of the House of Representatives is one of the oldest ...

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Select commitee members

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Forming the Government

The Labour and Progressive Coalition Parties in Parliament have agreed that Labour will lead the broad policy programme, but will recognise Progressive’s priorities of employment, support for low income families, health and education, and its wish to make progress on assisting industry, protecting and educating young people regarding drug use, and promoting a better balance of work and family responsibilities.

The Coalition Government has also entered into agreements with the United Future and Green Parliamentary Caucuses. United Future agreed to provide confidence and supply; that is, they vote with the Government on crucial votes, including votes regarding spending. In return, the Government agreed to take account of United Future’s priorities, with specific agreements regarding proposals for a Commission for the Family, victim’s rights, new transport legislation and no government legislation on cannabis. The Greens have not agreed to provide confidence and supply, but they have agreed to co-operate on a range of policy and legislative matters. Both agreements include clauses about consultation on a range of levels.

The New Zealand Business and Parliament Trust

The New Zealand Business and Parliament Trust was formed in 1991 to bridge an apparent gap in understanding between MPs and business people. It adopted as its main objectives:

• to enable MPs to widen their experience in, and increase their knowledge of, business; and
• to improve business managers’ understanding of how Parliament works.

The Trust is an educational charity, not a lobbying organisation. It is non-partisan, and not connected with any other body. The main activities of the Trust involve two study schemes:

• The Business Study Programme is designed to provide MPs with an intensive one-to-one introduction to a business organisation, an overview of key business functions, and to encourage their understanding of the contribution business makes to the economy.
• The Parliamentary Study Programme provides business people with an opportunity to study the Parliamentary system and learn how government is exercised through Parliament

Composition of Parliament

New Zealand’s Parliament is a place where more and more sections of society can have their voices heard.

As a result of the 2002 election 19 MPs or 16% of the Parliament were Māori – the same proportion as in the New Zealand population. In 1980 there were just five Māori in Parliament.

The 1999 election produced 36 women MPs – 34 women were elected in 2002 comprising 28% of all MPs. The New Zealand Parliament now has three MPs with Pacific backgrounds, one Chinese and one Indian. It is only in the last decade that these groups have had representation in Parliament.

In 2002, 23 MPs previous occupations were business – 19%. Teaching is the second most common previous occupation – 18%. Earlier, farming was the most common previous occupation of MPs. In 2002, 10% of MPs were lawyers, 8% were farmers, 8% were trade unionists, and 8% were managers/administrators.

Parliament has also become more representative in another way. It now gives voice to a wider range of opinion than it did a decade ago. Seven parties gained seats in the 1999 and 2002 election. As recently as 1987 there were only two. While that made things a lot simpler, it meant that many New Zealanders felt left out.

Our House contains our representatives. They are there so our voices may be heard. In 1997, Speaker Doug Kidd said, “In a democracy such as ours, we rely on its citizens to be critical, involved, and energetic in defending their rights and meeting their obligations.”

Parliament will not work as it should unless we help it to do so. MPs need our help to get things right, and to tell them when they get things wrong!

Richard Prebble, Leader of the Act Party speaks in Parliament.

© Photography by Woolf