Chairman_of_Committees_(New_Zealand_House_of_Representatives)

Chairman of Committees (New Zealand House of Representatives)

Chairman of Committees (New Zealand House of Representatives)

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The Chairman of Committees was an elected position of the New Zealand House of Representatives. The role existed between 1854 and 1992. The roles of the Chairman of Committees were to deputise for the Speaker, and to chair the House when it was in committee. The role is now carried out by the Deputy Speaker. The role of Chairman of Committees also existed for the Legislative Council.

Establishment

The position was established during the first session of the 1st New Zealand Parliament. Parliament first convened on 24 May 1854,[1] and on 21 June of that year, Auckland lawyer Frederick Merriman was elected as its first Chairman of Committees.[2] The role also existed for the Legislative Council, was established in 1865 and first held by Mathew Richmond.[3]

Role

The chief role of the Chairman of Committees was to chair the House when it was in committee (i.e., considering a bill at committee stage) or preside in the absence of the Speaker or when the Speaker so requested. These arrangements were based on those of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.[4]

The Chairman of Committees ceased to hold office on the dissolution of Parliament, but was remunerated until the next Parliament first met, when it then had a chance to elect a new chairman.[5][6]

Until 1992, the Chairman of Committees was known as the Deputy Speaker only when presiding over the House. That year, the position of Deputy Speaker was made official under the Standing Orders, and the role of Chairman of Committees was discontinued.[5] The first Deputy Speaker was appointed on 10 November 1992.[7]

Office holders

The following is a list of Chairmen of Committees of the House of Representatives:[8][9]

Key

  Independent   Liberal   Reform   United   Labour   National

More information No., Name ...

1 Also served as Speaker

Deputy Chairman of Committees

The position of Deputy Chairman of Committees was created in 1975.[11] After the role of chairman was replaced by that of Deputy Speaker in 1992, the third presiding officer of the House continued to be known as the deputy chairman for several more years,[12][13] until the final holder of the office, Peter Hilt, became the first MP to be appointed Assistant Speaker on 21 February 1996.[14]

Key

  National   Labour   United NZ

More information No., Name ...

Notes

  1. [1]
    Scholefield 1950, p. 68.
  2. [2]
    Scholefield 1950, p. 151.
  3. [3]
    Scholefield 1950, p. 89.
  4. [4]
    McLintock 1966.
  5. [5]
    "Members' Conditions Of Service". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  6. [6]
    "Speaker of House of Representatives and Chairman of Committees". Knowledge Basket New Zealand. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  7. [7]
    "Speaker of the House of Representatives". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  8. [8]
    Wilson 1985, pp. 251–252.
  9. [9]
    Refer to the talk page for Chairmen post–1984
  10. [10]
    Hancock, Mervyn (December 2005). "George Hamish Ormond Wilson : Member of Parliament for Palmerston North 1960–67" (PDF). Palmerston North Library. p. 375. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 April 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  11. [11]
    Wilson 1985, p. 253.
  12. [12]
    Hansard. Vol. 539. New Zealand Parliament. 1994. p. 22.
  13. [13]
    Hansard. Vol. 546. New Zealand Parliament. 1995. p. 137.
  14. [14]
    Hansard. Vol. 552. New Zealand Parliament. 1996. p. 75.
  15. [15]
    Hansard. Vol. 483. New Zealand Parliament. 1987. p. 10.
  16. [16]
    Hansard. Vol. 511. New Zealand Parliament. 1990. p. 16.

References

  • McLintock, A. H., ed. (1966). "Meeting of Parliament". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand (updated 22 April 2009 ed.). Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  • Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer.
  • Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
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