New Zealand House of Representatives

The 53rd New Zealand Parliament is the current sitting of the House. The most recent general election was held on 17 October 2020 (see § Last election results), and the 53rd Parliament first sat on 25 November.[14] It consists of 120 members, representing five parliamentary parties.[15] Of these current MPs, 57 (48%) are women—the highest number since women were first allowed to stand for Parliament in 1919.[16][17]

Based on British tradition, the longest continuously serving member in the House holds the unofficial title "Father (or Mother) of the House".[18] The current Father of the House is Nick Smith, first elected in 1990. Smith inherited the title on 14 March 2018, following the departure of former Prime Minister Bill English, who had also entered the House in 1990.[19]

Montage of portraits depicting members of the House, the Serjeant-at-Arms, and the Clerk of the House, during the Second Parliament in 1860.

The House started with 37 members in 1854, with numbers progressively increasing to 95 by 1882, before being reduced to 74 in 1891. Numbers slowly increased again to 99 by 1993.[20] In 1996 numbers increased to at least 120 with the introduction of MMP elections (i.e. 120 plus any overhang seats;[21] there has been at least one overhang seat in four of the seven MMP elections held since 1996). The year in which each change in the number of members took effect is shown in the following table.

Example of a House of Representatives ballot paper used in MMP elections

Universal suffrage exists for those 18 and over; New Zealand citizens and others who are permanently residing in New Zealand are usually eligible to vote.[36] However there are a few disqualifications;[37] since 2010, all prisoners are ineligible to vote.[38] New Zealand was the first self-governing nation to enfranchise women, starting from the 1893 election.[39]

Parliamentary elections are conducted by secret ballot—for European New Zealanders since 1871[40][41] and Māori seats since 1938.[41] Almost all general elections between 1853 and 1993 were held under the first-past-the-post voting system.[42] Since 1996, a form of proportional representation called mixed-member proportional (MMP) has been used.[43] Under the MMP system each person has two votes; one is for electorate seats (including some reserved for Māori),[44] and the other is for a party. Currently there are 72 electorate seats (which includes seven Māori electorates),[45] and the remaining 48 seats are apportioned (from party lists) so that representation in parliament reflects the party vote, although a party has to win one electorate or 5 percent of the total party vote before it is eligible for these seats.[46] After the introduction of proportional representation, no single party won an outright majority[47] until the 2020 election when Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern led the Labour Party to win 65 of the 120 seats.[48]

Members have the option of addressing the House in English, te reo Māori,[65] or New Zealand Sign Language (with an interpreter provided).[66] Speeches are addressed to the presiding officer, using the words 'Mister Speaker', if a man, or 'Madam Speaker', if a woman.[67] Only the speaker may be directly addressed in debate; other members must be referred to in the third person, either by full name or office.[66] The speaker can "name" a member who he or she believes has broken the rules of conduct of the House; following a vote this will usually result in the expulsion of said member from the chamber.[68]

Chamber pictured during a debate by members of the 49th Parliament, 11 June 2011

During debates, members may only speak if called upon by the speaker. No member may speak more than once on the same question (except that the mover of a motion is entitled to make one speech at the beginning of the debate and another at the end). The Standing Orders of the House of Representatives prescribe time limits for speeches.[59] The limits depend on the nature of the motion, but are most commonly between ten and twenty minutes. However, under certain circumstances, the prime minister and other party leaders are entitled to make longer speeches. Debate may be further restricted by the passage of "time allocation" motions. Alternatively, the House may end debate more quickly by passing a motion for "closure".[59]

A vote is held to resolve a question when it is put to the House of Representatives. The House first votes by voice vote; the speaker or deputy speaker puts the question, and members respond either "Aye" (in favour of the motion) or "No" (against the motion).[56] The presiding officer then announces the result of the voice vote, but if his or her assessment is challenged by any Member, a recorded vote known as a division follows. There are two methods of handling a division: party vote is used for most votes, but personal vote is used for conscience issues. In the party vote method, the clerk of the House reads out each party's name in turn. A member of the party (usually a whip) will respond to their party's name by stating how many members of the party are in favour and how many members are opposed. The clerk tallies up the votes and gives the results to the speaker, who announces the result. If the members of a party are not unanimous, a list of the members of the party and how they voted must be tabled after the vote.[69] In the personal vote method, members enter one of two lobbies (the "Aye" lobby or the "No" lobby) on either side of the chamber. At each lobby are two tellers (themselves members of Parliament) who count the votes of the Members. Once the division concludes, the tellers provide the results to the speaker, who then announces the result. In the event of a tie, the motion lapses.

The Prime Minister, Keith Holyoake, addresses the chamber. (A parliament publicity photograph from 1966.)

Every sitting day a period of time is set aside for questions to be asked of ministers and select committee chairs.[70] Questions to a minister must related to their official ministerial activities, not to his or her activities as a party leader, for instance. Questions are allocated on a party basis. In addition to questions asked orally during Question Time, members may also make inquiries in writing. Written questions are submitted to the clerk, either on paper or electronically, and answers are recorded in Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) so as to be widely available and accessible.

The first stage of the process is the First Reading. The MP introducing the bill (often a minister) will give a detailed speech on the bill as a whole. Debate on the bill generally lasts two hours, with 12 MPs making ten-minute speeches (although they can split their speaking time with another MP) on the bill's general principles. Speaking slots are allocated based on the size of each party, with different parties using different methods to distribute their slots among their MPs.[59]

The MP introducing the bill will generally make a recommendation that the bill be considered by an appropriate select committee (see § Committees). Sometimes, it will be recommended that a special committee be formed, usually when the bill is particularly important or controversial. The House then votes as to whether the bill should be sent to the committee for deliberation. It is not uncommon for a bill to be voted to the select committee stage even by parties which do not support it—since select committees can recommend amendments to bills, parties will often not make a final decision on whether to back a bill until the Second Reading.[59]

Prior to the First Reading, the Attorney-General will check the bill is consistent with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. If the bill or part of it is not consistent, the Attorney-General will present a report to the House, known as a Section 7 report, highlighting the inconsistencies.[77]

The select committee will scrutinise the bill, going over it in more detail than can be achieved by the whole membership of the House. The public can also make submissions to select committees, offering support, criticism, or merely comments. Written submissions from the public to the committee are normally due two months after the bill's first reading. Submitters can opt to also give an oral submission, which are heard by the committee in Wellington, and numbers permitting, Auckland and Christchurch. The select committee stage is seen as increasingly important today—in the past, the governing party generally dominated select committees, making the process something of a rubber stamp, but in the multi-party environment there is significant scope for real debate. Select committees frequently recommend changes to bills, with prompts for change coming from the MPs sitting in the committee, officials who advise the committee, and members of the public. When a majority of the committee is satisfied with the bill, the committee will report back to the House on it. Unless Parliament grants an extension, the time limit for select committee deliberations is six months or whatever deadline was set by the House when the bill was referred.[59]

The Second Reading, like the first, generally consists of a two-hour debate in which MPs make ten-minute speeches. Again, speaking slots are allocated to parties based on their size. In theory, speeches should relate to the principles and objects of the bill, and also to the consideration and recommendations of the select committee and issues raised in public submissions. Parties will usually have made their final decision on a bill after the select committee stage, and will make their views clear during the Second Reading debates. At the conclusion of the Second Reading debate, the House votes on whether to accept any amendments recommended by the select committee by majority (unanimous amendments are not subjected to this extra hurdle).[59]

The Government (usually through the Minister of Finance) has the power (given by the House's Standing Orders) to veto any proposed legislation that would have a major impact on the Government's budget and expenditure plans.[78] This veto can be invoked at any stage of the process, but if applied to a bill as a whole will most likely be employed at the Second Reading stage. Since the financial veto certificate was introduced in 1996, the Government has exercised it only once in respect of an entire bill, in 2016,[78] although many amendments have been vetoed at the Committee of the whole House stage.

If a bill receives its Second Reading, it goes on to be considered by a Committee of the whole House.[59]

When a bill reaches the Committee of the whole House stage, the House resolves itself "Into Committee", that is, it forms a committee consisting of all MPs (as distinct from a select committee, which consists only of a few members). When the House is "In Committee", it is able to operate in a slightly less formal way than usual.[59]

During the Committee of the whole House stage, a bill is debated in detail, usually "part by part" (a "part" is a grouping of clauses). MPs may make five-minute speeches on a particular part or provision of the bill and may propose further amendments, but theoretically should not make general speeches on the bill's overall goals or principles (that should have occurred at the Second Reading).

Sometimes a member may advertise his or her proposed amendments beforehand by having them printed on a "Supplementary Order Paper"; this is common for amendments proposed by government ministers. Some Supplementary Order Papers are very extensive, and, if agreed to, can result in major amendments to bills. On rare occasions, Supplementary Order Papers are referred to select committees for comment.

The extent to which a bill changes during this process varies. If the select committee that considered the bill did not have a government majority and made significant alterations, the Government may make significant "corrective" amendments. There is some criticism that bills may be amended to incorporate significant policy changes without the benefit of select committee scrutiny or public submissions, or even that such major changes can be made with little or no notice. However, under the MMP system when the Government is less likely to have an absolute majority, any amendments will usually need to be negotiated with other parties to obtain majority support.

The Opposition may also put forward wrecking amendments.[79] These amendments are often just symbolic of their contrasting policy position, or simply intended to delay the passage of the bill through the sheer quantity of amendments for the Committee of the whole House to vote on.

The final Reading takes the same format as the First and Second Readings—a two-hour debate with MPs making ten-minute speeches. The speeches once again refer to the bill in general terms, and represent the final chance for debate. A final vote is taken. 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 law. The title is changed from a bill to an Act, and it becomes law.[80]

• Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer.
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.