Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Premata Aotearoa
50th New Zealand Parliament
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
Unicameral
Houses House of Representatives
History
Founded 24 May 1854
Leadership
Monarch
Elizabeth II
since 6 February 1952
Governor-General
Sir Jerry Mateparae
since 31 August 2011
Speaker of the House of Representatives
David Carter, National Party
since 1 February 2013
Leader of the House of Representatives
Gerry Brownlee, National Party
since 9 December 2008
Seats 120 Representatives
Meeting place
Parlamento da Nova Zelndia.jpg
Parliament House, Wellington, New Zealand
Website
www.parliament.nz/en-NZ
The New Zealand Parliament (in Mori: Premata Aotearoa) consists of the Queen of Ne
w Zealand and the New Zealand House of Representatives and, until 1951, the New
Zealand Legislative Council. The House of Representatives is often referred to a
s "Parliament". Until 1986, the formal name for the Parliament of New Zealand wa
s the General Assembly of New Zealand.
The House of Representatives usually consists of 120 members of parliament (MPs)
, sometimes more due to overhang seats. 70 MPs are elected directly in electorat
e seats and the remainder are filled by list MPs based on each party's share of
the party vote. New Zealand has universal suffrage but does not allow sentenced
prisoners to vote.[1] The form of New Zealand government essentially follows the
Westminster system, and the government is led by the Prime Minister and cabinet
who are chosen from amongst the members of the House of Representatives.
The House of Representatives meets in the Parliament Buildings located in Wellin
gton, the capital city of New Zealand since 1865.
Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 Country quota
2 Sovereignty
3 Houses
3.1 New Zealand House of Representatives
3.2 Upper house
3.2.1 Legislative Council
3.2.2 Senate proposals
4 Passage of legislation
4.1 House of Representatives
4.2 Royal Assent
5 Terms of Parliament
6 See also
7 Notes
8 References
9 External links
History[edit]
The parliament was established by the British New Zealand Constitution Act 1852
which established a bicameral legislature officially called the General Assembly
, but usually referred to as Parliament. This produced a parliament very similar
to Britain's, with a lower house, called the House of Representatives, and an u
pper house, called the Legislative Council. The members of the House of Represen
tatives were elected under the First Past the Post system, while those of the Co
uncil were appointed by the Governor. Originally Councillors were appointed for
life, but later their terms were fixed at seven years. This change, coupled with
responsible government (whereby the Premier advised the Governor on Council app
ointments) and party politics, meant that by the 20th century, the government us
ually controlled the Council as well as the House, and the passage of bills thro
ugh the Council became a formality. In 1951, the Council was abolished altogethe
r, making the New Zealand legislature unicameral.
Under the Constitution Act, legislative power was also conferred on New Zealand'
s provinces (originally six in number), each of which had its own elected Legisl
ative Council. These provincial legislatures were able to legislate for their pr
ovinces on most subjects. However, New Zealand was never a federal colony or dom
inion like Canada or Australia; Parliament could legislate concurrently with the
provinces on any matter, and in the event of a conflict, the law passed by Parl
iament would prevail. Over a twenty-year period, political power was progressive
ly centralised, and the provinces were abolished altogether in 1876.
Parliament received progressively more control over New Zealand affairs, through
the passage of Imperial laws such as the Colonial Laws Validity Act, constituti
onal amendments, and an increasingly hands-off approach by the British governmen
t. Finally, in 1947, the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act gave Parliament ful
l power over New Zealand law, and the New Zealand Constitution Amendment Act 194
7 (UK) allowed Parliament to regulate its own composition. In 1986 a new Constit
ution Act was passed, restating the few remaining provisions of the 1852 Act, co
nsolidating the legislation establishing Parliament and officially replacing the
name "General Assembly" with "Parliament".
Country quota[edit]
Main article: Country quota
One historical speciality of the New Zealand Parliament was the country quota, w
hich gave greater representation to rural politics. From 1889 on (and even earli
er in more informal forms), districts were weighted according to their urban/rur
al split (with any locality of less than 2,000 people considered rural). Those d
istricts which had large rural proportions received a greater number of nominal
votes than they actually contained voters as an example, in 1927, Waipawa, a dis
trict without any urban population at all, received an additional 4,153 nominal
votes to its actual 14,838 having the maximum factor of 28% extra representation
. The country quota was in effect until it was abolished in 1945 by a mostly urb
an-elected Labour government, which went back to a one man, one vote system.[2]
Sovereignty[edit]
New Zealand
Coat of arms of New Zealand.svg
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
New Zealand
Constitution
Monarchy[show]
Executive (Queen-in-Council)[show]
Legislative (Queen-in-Parliament)[show]
Elections[show]
Judiciary[show]
Administrative divisions[show]
Related topics[show]
Other countries Atlas
Portal icon Politics portal
v t e
The New Zealand Parliament is sovereign with no institution able to over-ride it
s decisions. The ability of Parliament to act is, legally, unimpeded. For exampl
e, the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act is a normal piece of legislation, it is no
t superior law as written constitutions are in some other countries. The only th
ing Parliament is limited in its power are on some "entrenched" issues relating
to elections. These include the length of its term, deciding on who can vote, ho
w they vote (via secret ballot), how the country should be divided into electora
tes, and the make up of the Representation Commission which decides on these ele
ctorates. These issues require either 75% of all MPs to support the bill or a re
ferendum on the issue. (However, the entrenchment of these provisions is not its
elf entrenched. Therefore, Parliament can repeal the entrenchment of these issue
s with a simple majority, then change these issues with a simple majority.)[3]
Houses[edit]
New Zealand House of Representatives[edit]
New Zealand Parliament Buildings
Main article: New Zealand House of Representatives
The New Zealand House of Representatives has been the New Zealand Parliament's s
ole chamber since 1951. It is democratically elected every three years, with eig
hteen select committees to scrutinise legislation.[4]
Upper house[edit]
The New Zealand Parliament does not have an upper house; it is unicameral rather
than bicameral. There was an upper house up to 1950, and there have been occasi
onal suggestions to create a new one.[4]
Legislative Council[edit]
Main article: New Zealand Legislative Council
The Legislative Council was the first legislature of New Zealand, established by
the Charter for Erecting the Colony of New Zealand on 16 November 1840,[5] whic
h saw New Zealand established as a Crown colony separate from New South Wales on
1 July 1841.[5] Originally, the Legislative Council consisted of the Governor,
Colonial Secretary and Colonial Treasurer (who consisted the Executive Council)
and three justices of the peace appointed by the Governor.[6] The Legislative Co
uncil had the power to issue Ordinances, statutory instruments.[7]
With the passing of the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, the Legislative Counc
il became the upper house of the General Assembly. The Legislative Council was i
ntended to scrutinise and amend bills passed by the House of Representatives, al
though it could not initiate legislation or amend money bills. Despite occasiona
l proposals for an elected Council, Members of the Legislative Council (MLCs) we
re appointed by the Governor, generally on the recommendation of the Prime Minis
ter. At first, MLCs were appointed for life, but a term of seven years was intro
duced in 1891. It was eventually decided that the Council was having no signific
ant impact on New Zealand's legislative process, and the terms of its members ex
pired on 31 December 1950. At the time of its abolition it had fifty-four member
s, including its own Speaker.
Senate proposals[edit]
In September 1950, the National government of Sidney Holland set up a constituti
Refusal of Royal Assent has never occurred under any circumstances in New Zealan
d. Once Royal Assent has been granted, the Bill then becomes law.
Terms of Parliament[edit]
Parliament is currently in its 51st term.
Term
Elected in
Government
Pre-party era
1st Parliament 1853 election No Parties
2nd Parliament 1855 election
3rd Parliament 1860 election
4th Parliament 1866 election
5th Parliament 1871 election
6th Parliament 1875 election
7th Parliament 1879 election
8th Parliament 1881 election
9th Parliament 1884 election
10th Parliament 1887 election
Liberal Party era
11th Parliament 1890 election Liberal
12th Parliament 1893 election
13th Parliament 1896 election
14th Parliament 1899 election
15th Parliament 1902 election
16th Parliament 1905 election
17th Parliament 1908 election
Multi-party era
18th Parliament 1911 election Reform
19th Parliament 1914 election
20th Parliament 1919 election
21st Parliament 1922 election
22nd Parliament 1925 election
23rd Parliament 1928 election United
24th Parliament 1931 election United-Reform Coalition
25th Parliament 1935 election First Labour
Two-party era
26th Parliament 1938 election First Labour
27th Parliament 1943 election
28th Parliament 1946 election
29th Parliament 1949 election First National
30th Parliament 1951 election
31st Parliament 1954 election
32nd Parliament 1957 election Second Labour
33rd Parliament 1960 election Second National
34th Parliament 1963 election
35th Parliament 1966 election
36th Parliament 1969 election
37th Parliament 1972 election Third Labour
38th Parliament 1975 election Third National
39th Parliament 1978 election
40th Parliament 1981 election
41st Parliament 1984 election Fourth Labour
42nd Parliament 1987 election
43rd Parliament 1990 election Fourth National
44th Parliament 1993 election
Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) era
45th Parliament 1996 election Fourth National (in coalition)
46th Parliament 1999 election Fifth Labour (in coalition)
47th Parliament 2002 election
Catal
Deutsch
spao
Fraas
Portugus
Simple English
/ srpski
Suomi
Svenska
Edit links
This page was last modified on 23 September 2014 at 00:09.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; add
itional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and P
rivacy Policy. Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, I
nc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policyAbout WikipediaDisclaimersContact WikipediaDevelopersMobile viewWi
kimedia Foundation Powered by MediaWiki