In New Zealand’s general election for the Fiftieth Parliament, on 26 November,
Central electorate, National’s Nicky Wagner and Labour’s Brendan Burns finished on the night tied with 10,493 votes each. The final count for the election was expected to take a further two weeks, with the Electoral Commission aiming to release the official results on 10 December.
Minor parties that emerged Hon. Phil Goff, MP
with special votes still to be counted the National government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Rt Hon. John Key, was returned on the night with 60 seats, increasing its share from the last Parliament by two. The Labour Party, led by Hon. Phil Goff, MP, registered a loss, going from the 43 seats it held in the last Parliament, to 34. Mr Goff subsequently announced his retirement as leader. This overall result was not a surprise, since all the previous polls had been predicting a similar outcome. Voter turnout, at around 70 percent, was low for a New Zealand election. The final proportion of seats between the two major parties was likely to change slightly from election night, once special votes were counted. In particular, in the Christchurch
with increased strength were the Greens, with 13 seats on the night, up from seven, with the possibility of achieving 14 with the addition of special votes; and Rt Hon. Winston Peters’ MP, New Zealand First Party, which, with 6.8 per cent of the vote, comes back into the House, after three years absence, with eight MPs. The Maori Party lost one Member, returning to
It is in the nature of New
Zealand’s MMP (mixed- Member proportional) system that one party would very rarely be able to govern without support from others, and even
keeping MMP, and changing to another electoral system-- including the possibility of reverting to first past the post. The preliminary results indicate clear support for MMP’s retention. An independent review by the Electoral Commission will now be held in 2012, to recommend any changes in the way the current system works.
Criminal Procedure Legislation
Hon. Simon Power, MP Hon. Peter Dunne, MP
Parliament with three. Returning to Parliament with one Member each are Hone Harawira’s Mana Party, Hon. Peter Dunne’s United Future, and Hon. John Banks for ACT.
with its large share of seats National needs—and looked to be sure of obtaining—sufficient firm support from other parties in order to achieve stable government. Hon. John Key, MP, began negotiations with some of the small parties in the days immediately following the election, in order to finalise the nature of the support for National, in time for Parliament to sit in the week before Christmas. Included on the table for negotiation were possible ministerial posts, and possible compromise agreements on policy matters. At the same time as the general election, a referendum on the electoral system was held, in which voters were asked to choose between
On 4 October 2011 the Minister of Justice, Hon. Simon Power, MP, moved the third readings of 15 Bills divided from the Criminal Procedure (Reform and Modernisation) Bill— legislation that he described as “well overdue”. He explained: “The laws governing criminal procedure are now over 50 years old and well out of date. Criminal procedure is currently characterized by avoidable delay, excessive complexity, unnecessary cost, and a high reliance on paper-based systems that do not make sense in a modern era increasingly dominated by technology. It is simply unacceptable that it takes an average of 16 months for a High Court case to proceed through the system. This legislation will reduce and streamline victims’ and witnesses’ exposure to the criminal justice system. There will be fewer repeat or