Parliament of New Zealand

The Parliament of New Zealand consists of the Queen of New Zealand and the New Zealand House of Representatives and, until 1951, the New Zealand Legislative Council. However most people incorrectly refer to the House of Representatives as 'Parliament'. The House of Representatives usually consists of 120 Members of Parliament (currently 121 due to an overhang). MPs are directly elected by universal suffrage. New Zealand essentially follows the Westminster system of government, and is governed by a cabinet and Prime Minister chosen by the House of Representatives.

The Parliament was established by the British New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 which established a bicameral legislature, but the upper house, the Legislative Council, was abolished in 1951 so Parliament is now unicameral. Parliament received full control over all New Zealand affairs in 1947 with the passage of the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act.

Parliament is physically located in Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand.

Parliamentary Sovereignty

The New Zealand Parliament is sovereign with no institution able to over-ride its decisions. The ability of Parliament to act is, legally, unimpeded. The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act is a normal piece of legislation, it is not superior law. Parliament is limited in extending its term deciding on who can vote, how they vote (via secret ballot), how the country should be divided into electorates, and the makeup of the Representation Commission which decides on these electorates. These issues require either 75% of all MPs to support the bill or a referendum on the issue. The entrenchment of these provisions was done through a normal Act of Parliament however.

Houses of Parliament

New Zealand House of Representatives

Main article: New Zealand House of Representatives

The New Zealand Parliament's lower house is the New Zealand House of Representatives. The House of Representatives is democratically elected every three years. The House has eighteen select committees to scrutnise legislation.

Upper house

The New Zealand Parliament does not have an upper house — 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.

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.

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 Māori, 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, which derided it as a red herring, and other supporters of MMP, the Senate question was removed by the Select Committee on Electoral Reform, and the issue has not been pursued since.

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 in 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, indeed the first to be defeated in the twentieth century was in 1998. It is also possible for individual MPs to promote their own bills, called member's 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.

House of Representatives

See: New Zealand House of Representatives#Passage of legislation

Within the House of Representatives, bills must pass through three readings and be considered by both a Select Committee and the Committee of the Whole House.

Royal Assent

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. The Governor-General does, legally at least, retain the power to reject bills passed by the House of Representatives, although this has never occurred. It then becomes law.

Terms of Parliament

Parliament is currently in its 48th term.

-	Term	Elected in	Government	- bgcolor=#EEEEEE	1st Parliament	1853 election	No Parties	- bgcolor=#EEEEEE	2nd Parliament	1855 election	No Parties	- bgcolor=#EEEEEE	3rd Parliament	1860 election	No Parties	- bgcolor=#EEEEEE	4th Parliament	1866 election	No Parties	- bgcolor=#EEEEEE	5th Parliament	1871 election	No Parties	- bgcolor=#EEEEEE	6th Parliament	1875 election	No Parties	- bgcolor=#EEEEEE	7th Parliament	1879 election	No Parties	- bgcolor=#EEEEEE	8th Parliament	1881 election	No Parties	- bgcolor=#EEEEEE	9th Parliament	1884 election	No Parties	- bgcolor=#EEEEEE	10th Parliament	1887 election	No Parties	- bgcolor=#FFFFDD	11th Parliament	1890 election	Liberal	- bgcolor=#FFFFDD	12th Parliament	1893 election	- bgcolor=#FFFFDD	13th Parliament	1896 election	- bgcolor=#FFFFDD	14th Parliament	1899 election	- bgcolor=#FFFFDD	15th Parliament	1902 election	- bgcolor=#FFFFDD	16th Parliament	1905 election	- bgcolor=#FFFFDD	17th Parliament	1908 election	- bgcolor=#DDFFDD	18th Parliament	1911 election	Reform	- bgcolor=#DDFFDD	19th Parliament	1914 election	- bgcolor=#DDFFDD	20th Parliament	1919 election	- bgcolor=#DDFFDD	21st Parliament	1922 election	- bgcolor=#DDFFDD	22nd Parliament	1925 election	- bgcolor=#FFFFDD	23rd Parliament	1928 election	United	- bgcolor=#DDEEFF	24th Parliament	1931 election	United/Reform Coalition	- bgcolor=#FFE8E8	25th Parliament	1935 election	First Labour	- bgcolor=#FFE8E8	26th Parliament	1938 election	- bgcolor=#FFE8E8	27th Parliament	1943 election	- bgcolor=#FFE8E8	28th Parliament	1946 election	- bgcolor=#DDEEFF	29th Parliament	1949 election	First National	- bgcolor=#DDEEFF	30th Parliament	1951 election	- bgcolor=#DDEEFF	31st Parliament	1954 election	- bgcolor=#FFE8E8	32nd Parliament	1957 election	Second Labour	- bgcolor=#DDEEFF	33rd Parliament	1960 election	Second National	- bgcolor=#DDEEFF	34th Parliament	1963 election	- bgcolor=#DDEEFF	35th Parliament	1966 election	- bgcolor=#DDEEFF	36th Parliament	1969 election	- bgcolor=#FFE8E8	37th Parliament	1972 election	Third Labour	- bgcolor=#DDEEFF	38th Parliament	1975 election	Third National	- bgcolor=#DDEEFF	39th Parliament	1978 election	- bgcolor=#DDEEFF	40th Parliament	1981 election	- bgcolor=#FFE8E8	41st Parliament	1984 election	Fourth Labour	- bgcolor=#FFE8E8	42nd Parliament	1987 election	- bgcolor=#DDEEFF	43rd Parliament	1990 election	Fourth National	- bgcolor=#DDEEFF	44th Parliament	1993 election	- bgcolor=#DDEEFF	45th Parliament	1996 election	Fourth National (in coalition)	- bgcolor=#FFE8E8	46th Parliament	1999 election	Fifth Labour (in coalition)	- bgcolor=#FFE8E8	47th Parliament	2002 election	- bgcolor=#FFE8E8	48th Parliament	2005 election

External links

Legislatures | New Zealand Parliament | Constitution of New Zealand | Parliaments by country

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