The current number of members of parliament is starting to get too low for the job we expect them to do, argues Alex Braae. As a general rule, with the possible exception of their families, nobody likes backbench MPs. But it’s nevertheless time we accepted that parliament should have more of them. There’s no exact … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: New wave of bank closures hitting the regions, Australia rocked by war crimes report, and ten years since Pike River marked. A massive wave of bank branch closures is coming, with BNZ shutting down 38 locations over the next year. They’re in both cities and towns, … Read more
The usual way electoral results maps are presented can be deceiving, over-emphasising large but sparsely populated rural areas and under-emphasising densely populated ones. Here’s another way to make sense of 2020’s election results. This post was updated on 16 November 2020 to reflect the final vote share. In 2017, I debuted the hexamap: a way … Read more
The cooperation agreement signed this morning represents a longer-term strategy for both Labour and the Greens – they could be useful to each other in three years’ time, writes Andrew Geddis. A few days after polling day, I wrote a thing reviewing the previous governing arrangements that parties have adopted under MMP and speculating on … Read more
Forest and Bird’s Kevin Hague recently wrote that the Greens and Labour should work together for the benefit of the environment. Here Justine Sachs argues that a seat at the table isn’t worth selling out the party’s soul. As a Green Party member, I am wary of the Greens being subsumed by Labour’s historic majority … Read more
With the government set to take shape in the next few weeks, Labour and the Greens will have to decide on the nature of their relationship for the next three years. Andrew Geddis takes us through the options at hand. Without even knowing the final election result (there are about 500,000 special votes still to … Read more
Despite recent hiccups, the Green Party still appears to be gaining votes. However, these may be coming from the Labour faithful, writes Pattrick Smellie for BusinessDesk. Three weeks out from polling day, and just five days before the start of early voting, Labour Party strategists might be expected to be feeling pretty confident. Poll after … Read more
How does MMP work – and how can you make the most of your two ticks? Danyl Mclauchlan has your crucial election year primer. It’s an election year in New Zealand. Again. Our political calendar always starts with a sequence of set pieces, and these intensify going into a campaign year, starting with Ratana. After … Read more
UK-based New Zealand journalist Nicola Kean on Boris Johnson’s big victory, and the conundrum of voting under a FPP system. Politics is a brutal business. My clearest memory in the sleep-deprived aftermath of New Zealand’s 2017 campaign was Te Ururoa Flavell weeping in the Mediaworks carpark after stepping down as Māori Party leader live on … Read more
Winston Peters has spent decades gaming MMP to keep himself in the position of king (or queen) maker. Asks Danyl Mclauchlan, are we really going to make it even easier for politicians like him? The Green Party has put forward a members bill which, among other things, advocates lowering the MMP threshold from 5% to … Read more
How high is too high for the line that separates the political contenders and pretenders? Jake Metzger has a look at the issues around the heavily disputed MMP threshold. This piece was originally published on Radio NZ. Ever scratched your head, dumbfounded as to how a political party that garnered a mere 13,075 votes in … Read more
New Zealanders could be getting votes on cannabis reform, MMP and assisted dying – but politicians have a bunch of questions to answer first, writes Andrew Geddis New Zealand’s recent experience with using referendums to make decisions has all been a bit odd, really. We had a rather pointless one in 2011 on whether to … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Open letter on China aimed at government, no new taxes if Simon Bridges is elected to government, and three issues could be on the ballot in 2020. The government has been called on to protect academic freedom, and the personal safety of academic Anne-Marie Brady, reports the NZ … Read more
It’s being called the most pure MMP government in history. Does that just mean Winston Peters’ party gets to pull swifties on Jacinda Ardern whenever they feel like it? Coalition governments, by their very nature, require compromises and negotiations. But over 2018, it has seemed like NZ First have been doing a lot more negotiation, … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: 1080 activism hits Parliamentary forecourt, concerns about NZ First’s influence over the government aired, and a long day looms at Fonterra. All of a sudden, 1080 activism has become far more visible and prominent, using both legal challenges and direct action. Yesterday, protesters scattered fake pallets and … Read more
The ACT Party wants to abolish the Māori seats, and lower the number of MPs wholesale. Do they have any chance of getting it through? At the 2017 election, out of about 13,000 party votes the ACT Party picked up nationwide, 239 came from Māori seats. It’s fair to say from those numbers that the … Read more
National might be the largest polling party, but they’re sorely lacking any serious parliamentary sidekick. ACT clearly isn’t the solution, so how about contriving a new splinter-party? Good luck getting that past the electorate, writes Alex Braae Voters are a strange group of people to lump together. By and large they have little in common … Read more
Longtime friend and fellow Alliance MP Matt Robson says farewell to Jim Anderton, a colossus of New Zealand politics who sought to do what was right, not was expedient. On turning on the radio in 1980, just returned from overseas, I heard an unfamiliar voice. The voice outlined that the Labour Party would campaign vigorously … Read more
More than a quarter of those who voted gave their electorate vote to someone from a different party than the one they backed for their party vote. Chris McDowall breaks it down. View Chris McDowall’s incredible interactive mapping every booth’s votes from the 2017 general election here Last Friday the Electoral Commission released detailed statistics on how … Read more
Is it OK for the second biggest party to take the reins of power? Former governor-general Sir Jerry Mateparae answers this and other questions about post-election government-making. In New Zealand it falls to the governor-general, as the Queen’s representative, to formally swear in a new government. Given the ballyhoo around the sight of Jacinda Ardern … Read more
Andrew Geddis assesses the shape and viability of the new Jacinda Ardern led government. And sings the praises of two individuals, one from the Greens, the other National. So, very late yesterday afternoon (let’s be charitable) Winston Peters lifted the box’s lid and out wandered a cat with a black head, red body and green tail. Whereupon … Read more
We are all over it, aren’t we, this election that won’t quit. But is it also bad for business? Kirk Hope of BusinessNZ asks whether a longer cycle between voting would be better for all of us. The last time New Zealand had a full debate about the pros and cons of a three-year parliamentary … Read more
It might feel like we’re waiting forever, says Simon Wilson, but MMP is operating effectively right now. What exactly is the problem? We had an election that did not deliver an obvious majority government, so coalition talks have been required. They were delayed because there was a very high number of special votes and it … Read more
2017 produced the fewest parties in Parliament since the start of MMP. So what does history say it takes to get in? Stephen Beban crunches the numbers. Mixed-Member Proportional (MMP) has been used in New Zealand since 1996. This electoral system was adopted by voters in a 1993 referendum in order to create more representative … Read more
If the Beehive were a US college, Winston Peters would be the It Girl with multiple suitors. Madeleine Chapman presents a guided tour through Peters’ relationship options as the Hot Girl on Campus. While New Zealand twiddles its collective thumbs and stares longingly at Beehive windows, Winston Peters is meeting with teams from Labour and … Read more
Your indispensable guide to counting the numbers on election night. Simon Wilson explains the official way they do it and offers a cheat’s alternative. You vote for a party that doesn’t make it into parliament and your party vote is just discarded? Sorry, it’s true. Your vote is set to one side and not considered … Read more
Every week Chartlander travels back through time, landing in a different year on the official New Zealand singles chart in the hopes of (re)discovering forgotten Top 40 gold. Today we continue our tour of classic general elections at the dawn of MMP. The date is the 12th of October, 1996, and today New Zealanders will … Read more
Geoffrey Palmer, Winston Peters, Judith Collins, Andrew Little, Richard Prebble, Metiria Turei, Willie Jackson and more on two decades of a proportional system, how they’ve changed their view of MMP, and what still needs fixing. On Saturday October 12, 1996, New Zealanders voted under the Mixed Member Proportional system for the first time. After 143 … Read more