1.
New Zealand House of Representatives
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The New Zealand House of Representatives is the sole chamber of the legislature of New Zealand. The House and the Queen of New Zealand together constitute the New Zealand Parliament, the House of Representatives passes all laws, provides ministers to form a cabinet, and supervises the work of the Government. It is also responsible for adopting the states budgets and approving the states accounts, the House of Representatives is a wholly democratically elected body, usually consisting of 120 members known as Members of Parliament. Members are elected for limited terms, holding office until Parliament is dissolved, a government is formed from the party or coalition with the majority of MPs. If no majority is then a minority government can be formed with a confidence. The chamber was created by the British New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, which established a legislature, however the upper chamber. Parliament received full control over all New Zealand affairs in 1947 with the passage of the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act, the seat of the House of Representatives is Parliament House in Wellington, the capital city. The House of Representatives takes the House of Commons of the United Kingdom as its model, the New Zealand Parliament is based on the Westminster system. As a democratic institution, the role of the House of Representatives is to provide representation for the people. The executive branch of the New Zealand government draws its membership exclusively from the House of Representatives, although it does not elect the Prime Minister, the position of the parties in the House of Representatives is of overriding importance. By convention, a minister is answerable to, and must maintain the support of. Thus, whenever the office of prime minister falls vacant, the governor-general appoints the person most likely to command the support of the House—normally the leader of the largest party and this support is immediately tested through a motion of confidence. The House of Representatives normally consists of 120 members, known as Members of Parliament, the Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives has overall charge of the administration of the House, and presides over sittings. Seating in the chamber is arranged in a horseshoe pattern. The Speaker of the House sits in a chair at the open end of the horseshoe. Following the example of the British House of Commons, members of Government are seated on the hand of the Speaker. MPs are assigned seating on the basis of the seniority in a party caucus, for example, the prime minister sits on the front row, in the fourth seat along from the Speaker. The 51st New Zealand Parliament is the current sitting of the House and its membership was elected at the 2014 general election and, so far, one subsequent by-election
2.
Attorney-General (New Zealand)
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The Attorney-General is a political and legal officer in New Zealand. The current Attorney-General is Chris Finlayson, the Attorney-General has two main areas of official responsibility. Firstly, the Attorney-General has ministerial jurisdiction over the Crown Law Office, the Parliamentary Counsel Office, secondly, the Attorney-General is the principal law officer of the Crown, responsible for supervising the states administration of the law and for providing legal advice to the government. In the latter role, the Attorney-General is assisted by the Solicitor-General and this is to reduce the extent to which the Attorney-Generals actions on behalf of the state can be influenced by their political allegiance. A more complete description of the Attorney-Generals powers can be found in the 2004 ministerial briefing prepared by the Crown Law Office, which the Attorney-General supervises. The position of Attorney-General is distinct from that of Minister of Justice, at present, there is no statutory basis which establishes the office of Attorney-General, although the position is referenced by a number of other legal documents, such as the Constitution Act 1986. The Attorney-General usually has a background, the recent exception below being Michael Cullen. In November 1906 when Albert Pitt died, there were no members of the legal profession in Parliament. Hence Joseph Ward appointed John Findlay to the Legislative Council on 23 November 1906, the post of Attorney-General has existed since the separation of New Zealand as a distinct Crown Colony from New South Wales. Because of the nature of the role, however, it has sometimes been filled by politicians. The table below is a listing of New Zealand politicians who have sat in Cabinet as Attorney-General since 1856. It does not show non-political attorneys-general and it is also interesting to note that Peter Wilkinson was the half-brother of his successor, Jim McLay. Ministerial Briefing describing the role of the Attorney-General
3.
John Key
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John Phillip Key is a New Zealand politician who served as the 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand and leader of the New Zealand National Party. He was elected leader of the party in November 2006 and appointed Prime Minister in November 2008, born in Auckland before moving to Christchurch when he was a child, Key attended the University of Canterbury and graduated in 1981 with a bachelor of commerce. In 1999 he was appointed a member of the Foreign Exchange Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York until leaving in 2001 and he has held the seat since then. In 2004, he was appointed Finance Spokesman for National and eventually succeeded Don Brash as the National Party leader in 2006. After two years as Leader of the Opposition, Key led his party to victory at the November 2008 general election, and repeated this feat at both the November 2011 and September 2014 elections. He was expected to lead National into the 2017 election, as Prime Minister, Key led the Fifth National Government of New Zealand which entered government at the beginning of the late-2000s recession in 2008. In his first term, Keys government implemented a GST rise, Key was born in Auckland, New Zealand, to George Key and Ruth Key, on 9 August 1961. His father was an English immigrant and a veteran of the Spanish Civil War, Key and his two sisters were raised in a state house in the Christchurch suburb of Bryndwr, by his mother, an Austrian Jewish immigrant. Key is the prime minister or premier of New Zealand to have Jewish ancestry, after Julius Vogel. He attended Aorangi School, and then Burnside High School from 1975 to 1979, then he attended the University of Canterbury and earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree in accounting in 1981. He has attended management studies courses at Harvard University, Key met his wife Bronagh when they were both students at Burnside High School. She also has a BCom degree, and worked as a consultant before becoming a full-time mother. They have two children, Stephie and Max, Max is a night-time radio host for George FM, and is also a singer. On 25 July 2008, Key was added to the New Zealand National Business Review Rich List for the first time, the list details the wealthiest New Zealand individuals and family groups. He had a wealth of NZ$50 million, making him the wealthiest New Zealand Member of Parliament. Keys first job was in 1982, as an auditor at McCulloch Menzies, in 1995, he joined Merrill Lynch as head of Asian foreign exchange in Singapore. Some co-workers called him the smiling assassin for maintaining his usual cheerfulness while sacking dozens of staff after heavy losses from the 1998 Russian financial crisis and he was a member of the Foreign Exchange Committee of the New York Federal Reserve Bank from 1999 to 2001. In 1998, on learning of his interest in pursuing a political career, former party leader Jenny Shipley describes him as one of the people she deliberately sought out and put my head on the line–either privately or publicly–to get them in there
4.
Bill English
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Simon William Bill English is the 39th Prime Minister of New Zealand and leader of the National Party, having taken office on 12 December 2016. He was previously Deputy Prime Minister from 2008 to 2016, a farmer and public servant before entering politics, English was elected to parliament in 1990 as the National Partys candidate in the Wallace electorate. He was elevated to cabinet in 1996 and in 1999 was made Minister of Finance, in October 2001, English replaced Jenny Shipley as the leader of the National Party. The party lost the 2002 general election, and in October 2003 he was replaced as leader by Don Brash, in November 2006, after Don Brashs resignation, English became deputy leader under John Key. After Nationals victory at the 2008 general election, English became Deputy Prime Minister and was also made Minister for Finance for a second time and he became a list-only MP after retiring as an electorate MP at the 2014 general election. In December 2016, John Key announced his intention to resign as prime minister and he endorsed English as his replacement, and English won the resulting leadership election unopposed. English is the second-youngest of 12 children of Mervyn English and Norah English and his parents purchased Rosedale, a mixed sheep and cropping farm in Dipton, Southland from Mervyns uncle, Vincent English, a bachelor, in 1944. English was born in the town of Lumsden. He attended St Thomass School in Winton, then boarded at St. Patricks College in Upper Hutt and he played in the first XV of the schools rugby team. After finishing his studies, English returned to Dipton and farmed for a few years, English joined the National Party in 1980, while at Victoria University. He served for a period as chairman of the Southland branch of the Young Nationals, after moving to Wellington, he served for periods on the Island Bay and Miramar electorate committees, respectively. At the 1990 general election, English stood as the National candidate in Wallace, replacing the retiring Derek Angus, and was elected with a large majority. He and three newly elected National MPs were soon identified as rising stars in New Zealand politics, and at various points were dubbed the brat pack, the gang of four. In his first term in parliament, English chaired a committee into social services. He was made a parliamentary under-secretary in 1993, serving under the Minister of Health, in early 1996, English was elevated to cabinet by Prime Minister Jim Bolger, becoming the Minister for Crown Health Enterprises and Associate Minister of Education. He was 34 at the time, becoming the cabinets youngest member, after the 1996 general election, the National Party was forced into a coalition with New Zealand First to retain government. In the resulting cabinet reshuffle, English emerged as Minister of Health, however, as a condition of the coalition agreement, NZ Firsts Neil Kirton was made Associate Minister of Health, effectively becoming Englishs deputy. This arrangement was described in the press as a shotgun marriage, after their relationship became unworkable, Kirton was sacked from the role in August 1997, with the agreement of NZ First leader Winston Peters
5.
Michael Cullen (politician)
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Sir Michael John Cullen KNZM is a former New Zealand politician. He served as Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand, also Minister of Finance, Minister of Tertiary Education and he was the deputy leader of the Labour Party from 1996 until November 2008, when he resigned following a defeat in the general election. He resigned from Parliament in April 2009, to become the deputy chairman of New Zealand Post from 1 November 2009, born in London, Cullen emigrated to New Zealand while young. He attended secondary school at Christs College in Christchurch, and achieved an MA in history at Canterbury University, receiving a Commonwealth Scholarship he then gained a PhD in social and economic history from the University of Edinburgh. From 1971 to 1981 he was a lecturer at Otago University, on 16 December 2009, he received an honorary LLD from the University of Otago in recognition of his contributions as an Otago academic and as a respected and highly influential politician. In the 2012 Queens Birthday and Diamond Jubilee Honours List, Cullen was appointed Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, Cullen joined the Labour Party in 1974, and served on the partys Executive and Council between 1976 and 1981. In 1981 he was elected MP for the Dunedin electorate of St Kilda, when Labour entered government in 1984, Cullen became Senior Whip. These goals, which were against traditional Labour policies, angered both party members and the public, when the Prime Minister, David Lange, attempted to limit the influence Douglas had on the governments direction, Cullen became involved on Langes side. After Labours re-election in 1987, Cullen was made Associate Minister of Finance, eventually, Douglas was forced to resign, but a month later the political controversies around the dispute prompted the resignation of Lange himself. Douglas was succeeded as Finance Minister by David Caygill, one of his allies, Cullen was made Associate Minister of Health, again to reduce the effect of reforms on that sector. When Labour lost the 1990 election, Cullen returned to being Labours spokesperson on social welfare, the following year, he replaced David Caygill as the partys chief finance spokesperson. When Caygill retired from politics in 1996 Cullen took the deputy leaders post as well, before Labours position in the polls improved, Cullen was also involved in an attempt to oust Helen Clark as party leader, which was not successful. The two do not appear to each other any resentment, however. Cullen has claimed to be happy with his position as second, saying that in terms of personality, many commentators agree, believing that Cullens strength lies more in administration than leadership. Labours electoral victory in 1999 resulted in Cullen becoming Minister of Finance, in 2004 Cullen declared his support for the monarchy of New Zealand, he was a sort of token monarchist in the Cabinet these days. However, in 2010 he repudiated that stance, taking the view that New Zealand should move towards a republic once the Queens reign ends, in 2005 Helen Clark appointed Cullen to the post of Attorney-General following the election of Margaret Wilson as Speaker of the House. His appointment became controversial because of his background and because of his previous criticisms of the judiciary. His term in the position ended following the 2005 general election, however, with the resignation of David Parker in March 2006, Cullen took over the position again
6.
David Parker (New Zealand politician)
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David William Parker is a New Zealand politician, a member of the New Zealand Labour Party and a list MP. He was interim leader of the Labour Party from September to November 2014 and he previously served as Minister of State Services, Minister of Energy, Minister for Land Information and Minister Responsible for Climate Change Issues in the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand. David Parker was born in Roxburgh and grew up in Dunedin and he attended the University of Otago, studying law and business, and co-founded the Dunedin Community Law Centre. Before entering politics, Parker worked as a partner in the law firm Anderson Lloyd Caudwell. He later had a career in the agri-biotechnology field, including with Blis Technologies. Parker first gained election to Parliament as a Labour member in the 2002 elections, in the 2005 elections the National candidate Jacqui Dean defeated him in his Otago electorate seat, but he returned to the House due to his position on the Labour list. In the 2008 general election Parker and Dean both stood in the resurrected Waitaki electorate, with Dean winning by over 11,000 votes, nevertheless, due to his list position he was still returned to parliament. In the 2011 election, Parker stood in the Epsom electorate, where he came third behind ACT New Zealands John Banks and Nationals Paul Goldsmith, in the 2014 election, Parker did not contest an electorate, but was number two on the Labour list. He served as Attorney-General and Minister of Transport and Energy from 2005 until March 2006, on 21 March Parker also resigned his place in Cabinet as Minister of Energy, Minister of Transport, and Minister Responsible for Climate Change Issues. An inquiry by the Companies Office cleared him of the charge of filing false returns, helen Clark, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, re-appointed Parker to the Energy and Climate Change portfolios and to the Land Information portfolio on 2 May 2006. In July 2007 Clark appointed Parker as the acting Minister for the Environment following the resignation of David Benson-Pope, following Labours defeat in the 2008 general election, Parker became the Opposition spokesperson on Conservation, ACC and Shadow Attorney-General. Parker ran for the party leadership in 2011, but withdrew part-way through the contest to support David Shearers bid, Parker then became the Labour spokesperson for Finance and the shadow Attorney-General. From 17 September 2013, Parker was the deputy leader of the Labour Party, following the poor performance of the Labour Party in the 2014 general election, and the eventual resignation of David Cunliffe as leader, Parker was appointed interim leader of the Labour Party. He then unsuccessfully ran in the 2014 Labour Party leadership election and he came third in the leadership election behind Grant Robertson
7.
Andrew Little (New Zealand politician)
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Andrew James Little is a New Zealand politician and former trade union official who was elected as Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party on 18 November 2014. He has been a Labour Member of Parliament since 2011, previously he was the national secretary of New Zealands largest trade union, the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union, and he was President of the Labour Party from 2009 to 2011. Born in New Plymouth on 7 May 1965, Little was educated at New Plymouth Boys High School and his father was a devout National Party supporter and Little recalls delivering National pamphlets under his fathers direction when he was younger. When he was 17, Little got his first job as a labourer digging the main trench for a new methanol plant in Waitara Valley as part of the Think Big project. During his time there he noticed that the contractor he was working for was deliberately using a less than amount of concrete than the work required. He finished work here at the beginning of 1984 and left upon being accepted to enter university, in the 1980s he studied law, philosophy and public policy at Victoria University of Wellington, where he became active in the campaign against New Zealands student loan scheme. He was elected president of the Victoria University of Wellington Students Association, after graduating he took a job as a lawyer with the Engineers Union, with his work including Accident Compensation Corporation and employment law issues. In 1997 he was appointed the general counsel. Two years later, he was appointed assistant national secretary, and was elected national secretary when Rex Jones stood down from the position in 2000, in 2007 Little was ranked at number 40 on the New Zealand Listener Power List. Little became an important extra-parliamentary figure within the Labour Party and was one of the advisors from the trade unions. Little was a representative on Labours national council as Affiliates Vice-President, on 2 March 2009 it was announced that Little was elected unopposed as President of the New Zealand Labour Party. He held that post until 2 April 2011 and he took on the ACC portfolio and gained profile during the National Partys restructuring of the organisation. Together with Trevor Mallard, he launched attacks against ACC Minister Judith Collins, the affair resulted in the resignations of the Accident Compensation Corporation chairman John Judge, and the ACC chief executive Ralph Stewart. At the 2014 election he stood and lost in the New Plymouth electorate. Young was returned with an increased margin, but this was partially explained by boundary changes. Little was elected as list MP because of his ranking of 11 on the Labour Party list, Little introduced a private members bill in the ballot that, if passed, would create a new criminal offence of corporate manslaughter. The bill was drafted in the wake of the 2010 Pike River Mine disaster, the bill is modelled on the United Kingdoms Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007. A2012 3News poll found that seventy-four percent of respondents would like to see a charge of corporate manslaughter introduced, following Labours defeat at the general election in September 2014, David Cunliffe resigned as leader of the Labour Party
8.
Helen Clark
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Helen Elizabeth Clark ONZ PC is the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, and was the 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand. She has been Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, the third-highest UN position, in April 2016, she declared her candidacy for the position of Secretary-General of the United Nations. Clark graduated from the University of Auckland in 1974 and became active in the New Zealand Labour Party as a teenager. While a junior lecturer at the University in the early 1970s, in 1975 she came second for Labour in the rural seat of Piako. In 1981 she was elected to Parliament for the safe Labour seat of Mount Albert, Clark held numerous Cabinet positions in the Fourth Labour government of 1984–1990, including Minister of Housing, Minister of Health and Minister of Conservation. She was Deputy Prime Minister from 1989–1990 under Prime Ministers Geoffrey Palmer, after Labours strong showing in the 1993 election, Clark challenged the Labour leadership of Mike Moore and won, becoming the Leader of the Opposition. After failing to win the 1996 election, she led the Labour Party to a victory in the 1999 election. As Prime Minister of the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand, Clarks government presided over nearly a decade of economic growth and her government was defeated in the 2008 election and she resigned as Prime Minister and Labour Party leader. She resigned from Parliament in April 2009 from her Mount Albert electorate and was replaced by David Shearer to take up the post of Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme. Clarks government implemented major economic initiatives including Kiwibank, the New Zealand Superannuation Fund. Her government also introduced the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004 which caused controversy and was eventually repealed in 2011. Clark sent troops to the Afghanistan War, but did not contribute troops to the Iraq War although some medical. Forbes magazine ranked her 20th most powerful woman in the world in 2006 and she rose to the 23rd position in 2014 and then 22nd in 2016. On 26 January 2017 AFP reported that Clark had resigned her directorship of the UN Development Programme, Clark was the eldest of four daughters of a farming family at Te Pahu in the Waikato Region. Her mother, Margaret McMurray, of Irish birth, was a school teacher. Her father, George, was a farmer, Clark studied at Te Pahu Primary School, at Epsom Girls Grammar School in Auckland and at the University of Auckland, where she majored in politics and graduated with an MA in 1974. Her thesis focused on political behaviour and representation. As a teenager Clark became politically active, protesting against the Vietnam War, Clark was brought up as a Presbyterian, attending Sunday school weekly
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