New_Zealand_Parliamentary_Caucuses_and_MPs'_responsibilities

54th New Zealand Parliament

54th New Zealand Parliament

Current New Zealand parliamentary term

The 54th New Zealand Parliament is the current meeting of the legislature in New Zealand. It opened on 5 December 2023 following the 14 October 2023 general election, and will expire on or before 16 November 2026 to trigger the next election.

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The Parliament was elected using a mixed-member proportional representation (MMP) voting system. MPs will represent 72 geographical electorates: 16 in the South Island, 49 in the North Island and 7 Māori electorates. The Electoral Act 1993 provides for the remaining seats to be elected from party lists using the Sainte-Laguë method to realise proportionality to an expected total of at least 120 MPs.[1]

Final results of the election determined that there are 123 members of Parliament, rather than the usual 120. 122 members were elected in the general election (there is an overhang of two members for Te Pāti Māori).[2][3] Due to the death of a candidate between the close of nominations and election day, Port Waikato did not elect a representative and an additional list MP was elected to ensure Parliament would have at least 120 members. The 72nd electorate MP, and 123rd MP overall, was elected in the Port Waikato by-election on 25 November 2023.[4]

Members in the 54th Parliament represent six political parties: National, ACT New Zealand, New Zealand First parties, in government, and the Labour Party, Green Party, and Te Pāti Māori, in opposition. Christopher Luxon of the National Party formed a coalition government with ACT and New Zealand First and was sworn in as prime minister on 27 November 2023.[5][6]

Background

2023 general election

Main article: 2023 New Zealand general election

The 2023 general election was held on 14 October. The opposition National Party won 48 seats in the election, an increase of 14 seats. The ruling Labour Party was reduced to 34 seats after losing a total of 28 seats. The Green Party, Labour's cooperation partner, got 15 seats, a rise of 6. The ACT Party increased its seat count by one. Te Pāti Māori took five Maori seats from Labour, totaling six seats, one more than their party vote entitled them to, giving parliament a three-seat overhang. After being voted out in the 2020 New Zealand general election, New Zealand First returned to parliament, earning eight seats.[7]

Government formation

Main article: Sixth National Government of New Zealand § Coalition negotiations

Following the general election, the National Party required support from the ACT Party and New Zealand First to command the confidence of the House.[8] Negotiations between the three parties took place after the official results were announced on 3 November. After three weeks of negotiations, Christopher Luxon announced the formation of a coalition government with ACT and New Zealand First on 24 November.[5] On 27 November, Luxon was sworn in as prime minister by Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro.[6]

Parliamentary term

The final results of the election were announced on 3 November and the writ for the 2023 election was returned on 16 November 2023.[9][10] Under section 19 of Constitution Act 1986, Parliament must meet no later than six weeks after this date; on 29 November 2023, following the new government's first Cabinet meeting, Leader of the House Chris Bishop confirmed that the Commission Opening and State Opening of Parliament would take place on 5 and 6 December 2023, respectively.

Timeline

  • 16 November 2023 – The writ for election is returned; officially declaring all elected members of the 54th Parliament.[11]
  • 24 November 2023 – A coalition government is formed between National, ACT, and NZ First.[5]
  • 27 November 2023 – Christopher Luxon is sworn in as Prime Minister of New Zealand.[6]
  • 5 December 2023 – The Governor-General issued the Commission of Opening of Parliament. The House elects Gerry Brownlee as Speaker.
  • 6 December 2023 – State Opening of Parliament

Major legislation

In December 2023, the Government repealed several of the previous Labour Government's legislation and policies including the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's dual mandate, the Fair Pay Agreements Act 2022, the Clean Car Discount programme, the Natural and Built Environment Act 2023 and the Spatial Planning Act 2023.[12][13][14][15] On 21 December, the Government passed legislation reinstating 90-day work trials.[16]

In February 2024, the Government repealed the Three Waters reform programme, Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act 2022 and disestablished Te Aka Whai Ora (the Māori Health Authority) under urgency.[17][18][19]

Dissolution

The 54th Parliament will serve until another election is called. Under section 17 of the Constitution Act 1986, Parliament expires three years "from the day fixed for the return of the writs issued for the last preceding general election of members of the House of Representatives, and no longer".[20] The writ for the 2023 election was issued on 10 September 2023 and returned on 16 November 2023, meaning that the 54th Parliament would have to dissolve on or before 16 November 2026.

Officeholders

Presiding officers

Other parliamentary officers

Party leaders

Floor leaders

Whips

Further information: Whip (politics) § New Zealand

Shadow cabinets

Members

Group photo of new Members of Parliament

Overview

The table below shows the members of the 54th Parliament based on the results of the 2023 general election, including the result of the Port Waikato by-election. Ministerial roles were officially announced on 24 November 2023.[23] Based on the official results, 41 candidates who had never been in parliament before were returned. Of those, 19 were from National,[24] 2 from Labour,[24] 8 from the Greens,[25] 4 from ACT,[25] 4 from Te Pāti Māori,[26] and 4 from NZ First.[27] The parliament totaled 123 seats after the conclusion of the Port Waikato by-election, meaning that one-third of the members are newcomers.

This table shows the number of MPs in each party:

More information Affiliation, Members ...

Notes

  • The Working Government majority is calculated as all Government MPs less all other parties.

Members

More information National (49), Rank ...
More information ACT New Zealand (11), Rank ...
More information New Zealand First (8), Rank ...
More information Labour (34), Rank ...
More information Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand (15), Rank ...
More information Te Pāti Māori (6), Rank ...

Demographics

The 54th Parliament has a historically high number of Māori MPs at 33. The number of female MPs, 55, is the second highest in New Zealand history, down from the high of 61 achieved during the 53rd Parliament.[28]

The number of Pasifika MPs, 6, is also down from the record number in the previous parliament, and is at its lowest number in 10 years.[28][29] There are currently no Pasifika MPs on the government benches.

Only 5 MPs who publicly identify as LGBTQIA+ were elected, 2 each from Labour and the Greens and 1 from ACT. This is down from a record 12 (10%) elected in the 2020 election.[30]

The following tables show the demographics of the members at the start of the term of the 54th Parliament:

More information Party, Female ...
More information Party, Pākehā ...

Changes

The following changes in Members of Parliament occurred during the term of the 54th Parliament:

More information #, Seat ...

^1 This change occurred as a result of the elevation of Andrew Bayly, who had previously been elected as a list MP at the 2023 general election, to an electorate seat on 25 November 2023 at the Port Waikato by-election. Bayly resigned his list seat on 13 December 2023, creating a list vacancy.

Seating plan

Start of term

The chamber is in a horseshoe-shape.[52]

Tangaere-Manuel Lyndon Tana Carter Rutherford
G. O’Connor Rurawhe Russell Williams Davis Brooking Parker Twyford Salesa Boyack White Leary Sosene R. Davidson Pham E. Collins S. Willis Lu
D. O’Connor Tinetti Belich Utikere Webb Edmonds Henare Radhakrishnan J. Luxton Tirikatene Swarbrick Paul Genter Tuiono Ghahraman Costley Kirkpatrick
Verrall McAnulty Sepuloni Hipkins Robertson Woods Jackson Prime Andersen M. Davidson Shaw Menéndez March Ngarewa-Packer Kemp Abel Cheung Fleming
Waititi Kapa-Kingi Maipi-Clarke
Brownlee Ferris
Court
McKee Hoggard Cameron
Costello Jones Peters LUXON N. Willis Bishop Reti Brown Stanford Goldsmith Upston Seymour van Velden Stephenson Chhour C. Luxton Weenink
Patterson Marcroft Arbuckle Simpson J. Collins Mitchell McClay Potaka Doocey Bayly Pugh Mooney Smith Uffindell Bates Trask Wedd
Unkovich Foster Kuriger Redmayne Lee Watts Simmonds Penk Grigg van de Molen Bidois MacLeod Meager Nimon Anderson Campbell Parmar Nakhle
Brewer Butterick Garcia Hamilton McCallum

Current seating plan

As of 9 April 2024.[53]

Bennett Tana Xu-Nan Shaw Rutherford
G. O’Connor Rurawhe McLellan Williams Parker Brooking Salesa Twyford Boyack Halbert White Leary Sosene R. Davidson Abel Carter Wade-Brown Lu
D. O'Connor Tinetti Belich Utikere Webb Russell Henare Radhakrishnan J. Luxton Tangaere-Manuel Paul Genter Tuiono Pham Lyndon Cheung Fleming
Verrall McAnulty Sepuloni Hipkins Woods Edmonds Jackson Prime Andersen M. Davidson Swarbrick Menéndez March Ngarewa-Packer Kemp S. Willis Weenink Costley
Waititi Maipi-Clarke Kapa-Kingi
Brownlee Ferris
Court
McKee Hoggard Cameron
Costello Jones Peters LUXON N. Willis Bishop Reti Brown Stanford Goldsmith Upston Seymour van Velden Stephenson Chhour C. Luxton Wedd
Patterson Marcroft Arbuckle Simpson Collins Mitchell McClay Potaka Doocey Bayly Pugh Mooney Smith Uffindell Anderson Trask Nakhle
Unkovich Foster Kuriger Redmayne Lee Watts Simmonds Penk Grigg van de Molen Bidois MacLeod Meager Nimon Kirkpatrick Butterick Parmar McCallum
Bates Brewer Campbell Garcia Hamilton

Committees

Main article: New Zealand House of Representatives committees

The 54th Parliament has 12 select committees and 6 specialist committees.[54] They are listed below, with their chairpersons and deputy chairpersons:

More information Committee, Chairperson ...

Electorates

This section shows the New Zealand electorates as they are currently represented in the 54th Parliament.[73]

General electorates

More information Electorate, Region ...

Māori electorates

More information Electorate, Region ...

See also

References

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