Many New Zealanders have a sense that all isn't well in our slice of paradise. Perhaps there is an issue or agenda that pushes your 'hot button' and you want to speak up or do something, but don't know how. The tools in this section are designed to get you started. You can make a positive difference now - and for generations to come.
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How we make law
There are four types of Bills put before Parliament:
1. Government Bills are the usual sort of law which the government uses to give effect to its policy.
2. Private Member's Bills must be sponsored by an individual MP and any MP is able to submit one. Member's Bills are randomly drawn from a ballot.
3. Although unusual, there are also Private Bills which amend the law for private individuals.
4. Finally, there are Local Bills which amend the law for the benefit of specific local communities. These must also be sponsored by an MP.
There are several opportunities for the public to influence and comment on proposed legislation before it is passed into law and enacted.
The stages a proposed law (known as a Bill) goes through to become an Act of Parliament (a law) are known as the legislative process. The process, while detailed and lengthy, is important as it allows room for public debate, discussion and amendments to the proposed law.
First reading
Once a Bill has been drafted, it is introduced into the House for its first reading. This is when Parliament decides if the Bill is worth considering or not. After debate, if Parliament votes in favour of it (a simple majority, or 61 votes, is sufficient), the Bill will be sent to the relevant Select Committee for further consideration and to hear public submissions.
Select Committee
A Select Committee is a small group of MPs from different political parties. Select Committees are broken down by area of responsibility, e.g. the Maori Affairs Committee, the Justice and Electoral Committee, the Primary Production Committee, and so on.
The Select Committee responsible for the Bill will invite public submissions to make a submission on it. Interested individuals, community organisations and groups have a chance to comment on the Bill, suggest changes, and raise concerns.
Second reading
After the Select Committee has considered the Bill, it will report to the House with its recommendations. MPs who disagree with what the majority recommend can write a 'minority report' outlining their own party's views. Parliament assesses the changes and recommendations before debating and voting on the Bill for a second time. If the Bill survives the vote at the second reading, it moves on to the Committee stage.
Committee of the whole House
The Committee stage is when the whole House (i.e. every MP in Parliament) goes through the Bill, bit by bit (clause by clause), debating the effect of each section of the law. Any MP or party can put forward amendments to change or polish the law and these must each be voted on in turn. Once all the parts of the Bill have been voted on and any changes have been made the Bill is in its final form and moves on to its final reading.
Third reading
This is a final chance for MPs to scrutinise the finished product, to express and summarise their final opinions. It is unusual for a Bill not to pass its third reading if it has got this far. After the third reading vote, the Bill is sent for the Royal assent.
Royal Assent
The Bill cannot become an Act of Parliament until it is granted the Royal Assent by the Governor-General, acting on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen. The Governor-General acts on the advice of the Prime Minister, so the Bill is always signed. The last Bill to be refused the Royal Assent was under Queen Anne in 1707.
A Citizens Initiated Referendum (CIR) is a process by which a citizen or group of citizens can bring a question to a national vote. This usually takes place at the general election.
Though the result is not binding on the government, referenda can be very effective at bringing popular opinion to the notice of Parliament. Recent CIRs have included referenda on the number of MPs, sentencing for violent crime and firefighters' pay.
From start to finish, a CIR goes through six steps:
Submit your proposal
To begin the CIR process, you should submit your proposal to the Clerk of the House of Representatives and pay a fee of $500. Your proposal should include your details, the details of the individual who will be your spokesperson and the proposed referendum question.
Question approval
Once the Clerk has received your proposal they will advertise the proposed referendum question in the Gazette, the official newspaper of the Government, and all major daily newspapers. A 28 day period follows where members of the public can submit comments on the proposed referendum question and its wording. Once this process has finished the Clerk has three months to finalise the wording of the question which must be able to be answered with a 'yes' or 'no' and must be clear in its purpose.
Collecting signatures
Subsequent to the Clerk's approval of the referendum questions and petition form, the organiser can begin the task of collecting signatures on a petition. In order to hold a referendum you must have the signatures of 10 per cent of all eligible New Zealand voters over the course of a twelve month period. Electors over the age of 18 may sign and they must include a valid address.
Checking the petition
After the petition has been submitted, the Clerk will take up to two months to check the authenticity of the petition and the signatures on it. During this time if there are problems with the names or signatures on the petition, the promoter will have a two month window to obtain more signatures.
Holding a referendum
From the time the petition is presented to the Clerk, the Governor-General has one month to set a date for the referendum and to detail the specifics of how the referendum will be conducted, either by post or on an election day.
Referendum results
When the answers to a referendum have been tallied the Chief Electoral Officer will announce the results. A CIR is not binding and the Government can choose whether it is to act on the referendum outcome.
Make an Official Information Act request
The Official Information Act was introduced in 1982 to provide members of the public with greater access to official information.
Requests can be made to a Department or Minister of the Crown or organisation. These include public hospitals, local body authorities such as city councils and community boards, state-owned enterprises and School Boards of Trustees.
List of Departments and organisations requests can be made to
Every two years, the Ministry of Justice publishes a list of all the government organisations that members of the public can request information from. This list is called the “Directory of Official Information”. It can be found at your local public library, or on the Ministry of Justice website.
Some Departments are exempt from the requirement to provide Official Information to members of the public. These include the Parliamentary Counsel Office, Parliamentary Service and mortality review committees.
Find out more about how to make an official request for information
Up until 1996 New Zealand elected its parliament through the First Past the Post (FPP) system. After a public referendum in 1993, New Zealand voted to change the way we elect our representatives, favouring instead the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system.
How MMP works
Until 1996 the first person to get a majority of votes in an electorate became an MP. The party with the most MPs became the government. This system was known as 'First Past the Post'. Some felt this was unfair because many others who stood for Parliament were missing out, the voting itself was often very close and it was not uncommon for parties to win a majority of seats but not a majority of the votes. FPP also favoured large parties with national profile over small ones. MMP, by contrast, is a proportional system which gives electors two votes; one for an MP in their electorate, and one for a party.
Any party gaining more than 5 percent of the total party vote crosses the threshold into Parliament; the number of seats in Parliament matching the proportion of votes it gets. If a party failed to win 5 percent of the total party vote, but won an electorate seat, the total number of party votes they did get would earn them additional MPs. This is called a 'Mixed Member Proportional' system .
Those favouring MMP over FPP thought it represented more kinds of people than a system tending to reward only the two main parties. We have had MMP in New Zealand since 1996 and it has made it harder for the main parties to get an outright majority to govern. Consequently, MMP has resulted in the main parties going into coalitions with smaller parties. It has also seen an increase in the number of MPs.
For a more comprehensive view of MMP, please visit:
http://www.elections.org.nz/mmp/two_ticks_too_easy.html
Local council processes and bylaws
Your voice is needed at the local level too. Local government has influence on everything from sewerage to libraries, rubbish bags to urban growth. Your local community needs you!
For more information on standing for, and making submissions to, local government, please visit: http://www.localgovt.co.nz/
The traditional electoral system for local elections is First Past the Post (FPP). Under this system, the candidate who earns the most votes wins the election. Under the Local Electoral Act 2001, however, another elector option for councils has become available, Single Transferable Vote (STV). This is a system in which the electors rank the candidates in order of their preference. When tallying the votes a quota is determined based on the number of open positions and the number of votes cast. Candidates who reach this quota right off are automatically elected. The number of votes they hold in excess of the quota is then transferred to the other candidates in accordance to the number two rankings on their ballots. Candidates still not reaching the quota are then eliminated and their votes are distributed according to the number three rankings on their ballots. This process is continued until all the seats have been filled.
A great way to make your voice heard without actually being an elected official is to present a submission to a local body voicing your support or opposition for a plan modification or a further submission in response to another person's submission. When presenting a submission, you also have the option to speak at the hearing on the plan modification in question. What you can say is limited, however, by what you have written in your submission. Thus it is important to be specific and concise yet comprehensive in the content of your submission.
To locate and make contact with your local councillors, visit http://www.localgovt.co.nz/LocalGovernment/Councils/ByRegion/.
Remember, these councillors work for you and welcome their elector's opinions!
