48th New Zealand Parliament.html



The 48th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. Its composition was determined at a general election held on 17 September 2005. The new parliament met for the first time on 7 November 2005. It was dissolved on 3 October 2008.¹

The Labour Party and the Progressive Party, backed by New Zealand First and United Future, established a majority at the beginning the 48th Parliament. The Labour-led administration is in its third term. The National Party and ACT form the formal opposition to the government. Other non-government parties are the Greens (who promised to abstain on confidence and supply votes) and the Māori Party.

The 48th Parliament consists of 121 representatives. This represents an overhang of one seat, with the Māori Party having won one more electorates than its share of the vote would otherwise have given it. In total, sixty-nine of the MPs were chosen by geographical electorates, including seven Māori electorates. The remainder were elected by means of party-list proportional representation under the MMP electoral system.

Oath of office

All the Māori Party MPs tried to alter their Oath of office by adding references to the Treaty of Waitangi. They all had to retake their oaths.

Members of the 48th Parliament of New Zealand

Government: Labour in office, since 1999; minority coalition with Progressive Party since 2002
Prime Minister: Helen Clark (Labour) (1999-)
Governor General: Dame Silvia Cartwright (to August 2006), Anand Satyanand (August 2006-)
Deputy Prime Minister: Michael Cullen (Labour)(2002-)
Leader of the Opposition: Don Brash (National Party), )to November 2006), John Key (National) (November 2006) -
Speaker : Margaret Wilson (Labour}
Deputy Speakers: Clem Simich (National) and Ross Robertson (Labour)
Leader of the House: Michael Cullen (Labour)

New Zealand Labour Party (49)

New Zealand National Party (47)

¹ Brian Connell retired from Parliament effective August 31, 2008, leaving his seat of Rakaia vacant. There is no requirement for a byelection to replace Connell, because a general election must occur less than six months after his retirement, thus reducing the size of the National Party caucus by one to 47.

New Zealand First (7)

²Winston Peters stood down as minister on 29 August 2008

Green Party (6)

Māori Party (4)

United Future (2)

ACT New Zealand (2)

Progressive Party (1)

Changes of party affiliation during the term of the 48th Parliament (2)

Changes during term

• Rod Donald, co-leader of the Green Party, died on 6 November 2005 before he was officially sworn in as a member of the 48th Parliament. He was replaced by the next person on the Green Party's list, former MP Nandor Tanczos, on 16 November.
• Jim Sutton, a Labour list MP, retired from politics on 31 July 2006. He was replaced by the next person on the Labour Party's list, Charles Chauvel.
• Don Brash, a National list MP and former leader of the National Party retired from Parliament on the 7 February 2007. He was replaced by the next person on the National Party's list, Katrina Shanks.
• Georgina Beyer, a Labour list MP, announced her retirement on 15 December 2006, and officially resigned from Parliament when it resumed on 13 February 2007. On 20 February she was replaced by the next person on the Labour Party's list, former MP Lesley Soper.
• Taito Phillip Field, Labour MP for Mangere, quits the Labour party after being threatened with expulsion on 16 February 2007.
• Gordon Copeland, a United Future list MP, announced that he plans to leave his party and become an independent MP on 16 May 2007.
• Ann Hartley a Labour list MP was elected to the North Shore City Council in the 2007 local body elections. She left Parliament when it resumed in 2008, and was replaced by the next person on the Labour list, Louisa Wall a former Silver Ferns netballer, on 4 February 2008.
• Brian Donnelly, New Zealand First MP, resigned from Parliament from 12 February 2008, and was replaced by Dail Jones on 15 February 2008. Donnelly, has been appointed as New Zealand's High Commissioner to the Cook Islands³.
• Dianne Yates, a Labour list MP, stood unsuccessfully for the Hamilton City Council in the 2007 local body elections. She resigned as an MP on 29 March 2008⁴ and was replaced by Su'a William Sio on 1 April 2008 as the next person on Labour's list⁵
• Nandor Tanczos resigned from Parliament and was replaced by Green Party co-leader Russel Norman on 27 June 2008.⁶

See also

• New Zealand Parliamentary Caucuses and MPs' responsibilities

References