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
If parliament is a house of representatives, how representative has its most powerful members been? Lawyer Faisal Halabi crunches the numbers. The cabinet is a key mechanism through which the governing by our elected representatives is done. It’s the highest point of the executive arm of government where discussions and decisions are made on issues … Read more
Chris McDowall explains the origins of this epic graph view into our political history. For months I’ve followed news about New Zealand’s upcoming general election. Revelations! Resignations! Leadership changes! Bold policy promises! Shock poll results! In this heightened political moment, I found myself wondering about the past. How does this election fit into New Zealand’s … Read more
Most parents have to balance the needs of their family with the demands of their job, but working as an MP comes with special challenges, as Green MP Gareth Hughes explains. Since the start, my political career has run almost in tandem with my parenting career. In fact, the week I entered Parliament in early … Read more
The decriminalisation of abortion in New Zealand is long overdue – so why is nothing being done about it? Sarah Batkin attempts to contact all 120 of our MPs to find out who is sweeping this issue under the rug. On the New Zealand Parliament website, under the “Get Involved” tab, I’m informed that “our democracy works … 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
Day in day out, or some weeks from Tuesday to Thursday, at least, our parliamentarians gather en masse, or about 20 of them usually, to debate matters of state in the House of Representatives. From time to time The Spinoff intends to recognise these oratorical contributions with the award of the Spinoff Golden Gob. Drawn … Read more
The thrice-weekly Question Time session is routinely the most viewed and talked about event in the New Zealand House of Representatives. But it rarely achieves much beyond the Punch and Judy theatrics. A couple of weeks ago, the opposition parties attempted a choir-like gambit, with each of their questions beginning “Does the Prime Minister stand … Read more