PARLIAMENTARY REPORT
NEW ZEALAND
ELECTION OF SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Rt Hon. David Carter, MP, (National) was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives on 31 January following the appointment of the previous Speaker, Dr the Rt Hon. Lockwood Smith, MP, (National) to the post of High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Mr Carter entered Parliament in 1994 and has held a number of ministerial positions, most recently in agriculture, biosecurity and forestry.
Mr Carter’s nomination was contested by opposition parties, which claimed they had not been consulted over the nomination. In the ensuing personal vote between Mr Carter and Hon. Trevor Mallard, MP, (Labour), Mr Carter was elected by 62 votes to 52.
Mr Carter said that he did not
underestimate the challenge before him as Speaker: “There will be occasions when the tension and the atmosphere within this House will fall somewhere between tinder-dry and white-hot. I see my responsibility being akin to a referee reffing the inevitable [rugby] final between the almighty [Canterbury] Crusaders and one of the others…having to make an instant decision [and] not having access to the whistle. But I will have access to the yellow and red cards, although I hope they are used infrequently.” The Prime Minister, Rt Hon.
John Key, MP, (National) said that Mr Carter was “extremely fair…thoughtful, and…has a real passion for the parliamentary
156 | The Parliamentarian | 2013: Issue Two Rt Hon. David Carter, MP
process”. He added that the outgoing Speaker, Dr Smith, had “brought to this Parliament... some real standards and some expectations”. The Leader of the Opposition, Hon. David Shearer, MP, (Labour) said that despite the contested election, Labour would work constructively with Mr Carter and that Labour Members had most appreciated from Dr Smith “the fact that when we asked a straight question, he insisted on Ministers giving an answer, and that is a fine place to start, Mr Speaker-Elect, as you begin your Speaker’s career”.
Valedictory: Dr the Rt Hon. Lockwood Smith
Dr Lockwood Smith, who was the Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives from December 2008 to February 2013, was first elected to Parliament in 1984. He was appointed Minister of Education in the incoming National government in 1990. Later during National’s time in office from 1990 to 1999 he also served as Minister of Agriculture,
Minister for International Trade, and Minister of Tourism. Dr Smith delivered his valedictory speech on 13 February. As well as outlining his political career, he commented that although the introduction of the mixed-Member proportional representation system had broadened representation in Parliament, it had also led to “a significant shift in the accountability of Members”. He said: “Obviously, list Members are very much accountable to their political parties, as they owe their place on the list to their party, but the pervasive power of the party vote has meant that all Members are now totally accountable to their parties. This House, in so many ways, has become a place of political parties rather than a House of Representatives”. On his time as Speaker, Dr Smith said that he would say nothing. He told Members: “You have had to endure those four years and will make your own judgments. I just want to thank you for the tremendous courtesy and goodwill you have shown me.”
He also said that he respected the integrity that Mr Shearer had “brought to a fiendishly difficult job”, and praised the Prime Minister for bringing “such extraordinary skills to this place. Never once in my four years as Speaker did you ever try to influence the way I was chairing this House or any decision I ever made. Listening to other Speakers around the
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