1.
Wellington
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Wellington is the capital and second most populous urban area of New Zealand, with 405,000 residents. It is at the tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range. Wellington is the population centre of the southern North Island and is the administrative centre of the Wellington Region. It is the worlds windiest city, with a wind speed of over 26 km/h. Situated near the centre of the country, Wellington was well placed for trade. In 1839 it was chosen as the first major planned settlement for British immigrants coming to New Zealand, the settlement was named in honour of the Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington and victor of the Battle of Waterloo. As the nations capital since 1865, the New Zealand Government and Parliament, Supreme Court, despite being much smaller than Auckland, Wellington is also referred to as New Zealands cultural capital. The city is home to the National Archives, the National Library, architectural sights include the Government Building—one of the largest wooden buildings in the world—as well as the iconic Beehive. Wellington plays host to artistic and cultural organisations, including the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. It has an urban culture, with many cafés, restaurants. One of the worlds most liveable cities, the 2014 Mercer Quality of Living Survey ranked Wellington 12th in the world, Wellingtons economy is primarily service-based, with an emphasis on finance, business services, and government. It is the centre of New Zealands film and special effects industries, Wellington ranks as one of New Zealands chief seaports and serves both domestic and international shipping. The city is served by Wellington International Airport, the third busiest airport in the country, Wellingtons transport network includes train and bus lines which reach as far as the Kapiti Coast and Wairarapa, and ferries connect the city to the South Island. Wellington takes its name from Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington and victor of the Battle of Waterloo, his title comes from the town of Wellington in the English county of Somerset. One of the founders of the settlement, Edward Jerningham Wakefield, reported that the settlers took up the views of the directors with great cordiality, in Māori, Wellington has three names. In New Zealand Sign Language, the name is signed by raising the index, middle and ring fingers of one hand, palm forward, to form a W, and shaking it slightly from side to side twice. The citys location close to the mouth of the narrow Cook Strait leads to its vulnerability to strong gales, legends recount that Kupe discovered and explored the district in about the 10th century. The earliest date with hard evidence for Maori living in New Zealand is about 1280, European settlement began with the arrival of an advance party of the New Zealand Company on the ship Tory on 20 September 1839, followed by 150 settlers on the Aurora on 22 January 1840
2.
New Zealand
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New Zealand /njuːˈziːlənd/ is an island nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses—the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu—and around 600 smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long period of isolation, New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal, fungal, the countrys varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealands capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland, sometime between 1250 and 1300 CE, Polynesians settled in the islands that later were named New Zealand and developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand, in 1840, representatives of Britain and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which declared British sovereignty over the islands. In 1841, New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire, today, the majority of New Zealands population of 4.7 million is of European descent, the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealands culture is derived from Māori and early British settlers. The official languages are English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, New Zealand is a developed country and ranks highly in international comparisons of national performance, such as health, education, economic freedom and quality of life. Since the 1980s, New Zealand has transformed from an agrarian, Queen Elizabeth II is the countrys head of state and is represented by a governor-general. In addition, New Zealand is organised into 11 regional councils and 67 territorial authorities for local government purposes, the Realm of New Zealand also includes Tokelau, the Cook Islands and Niue, and the Ross Dependency, which is New Zealands territorial claim in Antarctica. New Zealand is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Pacific Islands Forum, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sighted New Zealand in 1642 and called it Staten Landt, in 1645, Dutch cartographers renamed the land Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch province of Zeeland. British explorer James Cook subsequently anglicised the name to New Zealand, Aotearoa is the current Māori name for New Zealand. It is unknown whether Māori had a name for the country before the arrival of Europeans. Māori had several names for the two main islands, including Te Ika-a-Māui for the North Island and Te Waipounamu or Te Waka o Aoraki for the South Island. Early European maps labelled the islands North, Middle and South, in 1830, maps began to use North and South to distinguish the two largest islands and by 1907, this was the accepted norm. The New Zealand Geographic Board discovered in 2009 that the names of the North Island and South Island had never been formalised and this set the names as North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui, and South Island or Te Waipounamu
3.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
Heritage New Zealand
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Its current enabling legislation is the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014. It is governed by a Board of Trustees, currently chaired by Shonagh Kenderdine, past chairs include Dame Anne Salmond. The head office is in Antrim House, Wellington, while regional and area offices are in Kerikeri, Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington, Christchurch and it publishes the quarterly magazine New Zealand Heritage. Buildings owned by Heritage New Zealand include the Mission House, the Stone Store, the Canterbury earthquakes of September 2010 and February 2011 resulted in damage to a number of historic buildings in Christchurch. Post-earthquake redevelopment has caused a significant loss of buildings in Christchurch. The Māori Heritage Council sits within the New Zealand Historic Places Trust and was established by the Historic Places Act 1993, as of 2013 Sir Tumu Te Heuheu is the Chair of the MHC
5.
New Zealand Parliament Buildings
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The New Zealand Parliament Buildings house the New Zealand Parliament and are on a 45,000 square metre site at the northern end of Lambton Quay, Wellington. They consist of Parliament House, the wing, the Parliamentary Library. Whilst most of the buildings are outstanding for different reasons. The main building of the complex is Parliament House, containing the debating chamber, Speakers office, visitors centre, an earlier wooden Parliament House was destroyed by fire in 1907 along with all other parliament buildings except the library, which was constructed of masonry. In addition, the library had an iron fire-door that saved its collections, a competition to find a replacement design was announced by Prime Minister Joseph Ward in February 1911 and 33 designs were entered. The winning design, by Government Architect John Campbell, was selected by Colonel Vernon, as another of Campbells entries won fourth place, the actual design is a combination of both entries. The design was divided into two stages, the first half, a Neoclassical building, contained both chambers and the second half Bellamys and a new Gothic Revival library to replace the existing one. Despite cost concerns, Prime Minister William Massey let construction of the first stage begin in 1914, the outbreak of World War I created labour and material shortages that made construction difficult. Although the building was unfinished, MPs moved into it in 1918 to avoid having to use the old, in 1922, the first stage was completed. The building was officially opened in 1995 by Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, after its comprehensive strengthening. The intention of the Liberal Government was for the design to be implemented in stages, the land intended for the second stage of Parliament House is occupied by the Executive Wing. This building conceived by British architect Sir Basil Spence in 1964, largely designed by the Ministry of Works, was opened by Elizabeth II. The government moved into the building in 1979, due to its distinctive shape, it is referred to colloquially as The Beehive. The building is ten stories and 72 metres high, the top floor is occupied by the Cabinet room, with the Prime Ministers offices on the floor immediately below. Other floors contain the office of ministers and various function rooms occupy the first three floors. In the late 1990s there was consideration of moving the Beehive behind Parliament House, the plan was quickly scuttled due to a lack of public support and subsequent withdrawal of party support. Completed in 1899, the Parliamentary Library is the oldest of the buildings and it stands to the north of Parliament House. The library was designed in Gothic revival style and was fire resistant, the third story of the design was not built to save money
6.
Gothic Revival architecture
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Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. Gothic Revival draws features from the original Gothic style, including decorative patterns, finials, scalloping, lancet windows, hood mouldings, the Gothic Revival movement emerged in 19th-century England. Its roots were intertwined with deeply philosophical movements associated with a re-awakening of High Church or Anglo-Catholic belief concerned by the growth of religious nonconformism, ultimately, the Anglo-Catholicism tradition of religious belief and style became widespread for its intrinsic appeal in the third quarter of the 19th century. The Gothic Revival was paralleled and supported by medievalism, which had its roots in antiquarian concerns with survivals, as industrialisation progressed, a reaction against machine production and the appearance of factories also grew. Proponents of the such as Thomas Carlyle and Augustus Pugin took a critical view of industrial society. To Pugin, Gothic architecture was infused with the Christian values that had been supplanted by classicism and were being destroyed by industrialisation, poems such as Idylls of the King by Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson recast specifically modern themes in medieval settings of Arthurian romance. In German literature, the Gothic Revival also had a grounding in literary fashions, guarino Guarini, a 17th-century Theatine monk active primarily in Turin, recognized the Gothic order as one of the primary systems of architecture and made use of it in his practice. Some of the earliest evidence of a revival in Gothic architecture is from Scotland, inveraray Castle, constructed from 1746, with design input from William Adam, displays the incorporation of turrets. These were largely conventional Palladian style houses that incorporated some features of the Scots baronial style. The eccentric landscape designer Batty Langley even attempted to improve Gothic forms by giving them classical proportions, a younger generation, taking Gothic architecture more seriously, provided the readership for J. Brittens series of Cathedral Antiquities, which began appearing in 1814. In 1817, Thomas Rickman wrote an Attempt. to name and define the sequence of Gothic styles in English ecclesiastical architecture, the categories he used were Norman, Early English, Decorated, and Perpendicular. It went through numerous editions and was still being republished by 1881. The largest and most famous Gothic cathedrals in the U. S. A. are St. Patricks Cathedral in New York City and Washington National Cathedral on Mount St. Alban in northwest Washington, D. C. One of the biggest churches in Gothic Revival style in Canada is Basilica of Our Lady Immaculate in Ontario, Gothic Revival architecture was to remain one of the most popular and long-lived of the Gothic Revival styles of architecture. The revived Gothic style was not limited to architecture, classical Gothic buildings of the 12th to 16th Centuries were a source of inspiration to 19th-century designers in numerous fields of work. Architectural elements such as pointed arches, steep-sloping roofs and fancy carvings like lace ant lattice work were applied to a range of Gothic Revival objects. Sir Walter Scotts Abbotsford exemplifies in its furnishings the Regency Gothic style, parties in medieval historical dress and entertainment were popular among the wealthy in the 1800s but has spread in the late 20th century to the well-educated middle class as well. By the mid-19th century, Gothic traceries and niches could be inexpensively re-created in wallpaper, the illustrated catalogue for the Great Exhibition of 1851 is replete with Gothic detail, from lacemaking and carpet designs to heavy machinery
7.
Ottawa
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Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It stands on the bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of southern Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, the two form the core of the Ottawa–Gatineau census metropolitan area and the National Capital Region. The 2016 census reported a population of 934,243, making it the fourth-largest city in Canada, the City of Ottawa reported that the city had an estimated population of 960,754 as of December 2015. Founded in 1826 as Bytown, and incorporated as Ottawa in 1855, the city name Ottawa was chosen in reference to the Ottawa River nearby, the name of which is derived from the Algonquin Odawa, meaning to trade. The city is the most educated in Canada, and is home to a number of post-secondary, research, and cultural institutions, including the National Arts Centre, Ottawa also has the highest standard of living in the nation and low unemployment. It ranked second out of 150 worldwide in the Numbeo quality of life index 2014–2015, with the draining of the Champlain Sea around ten thousand years ago the Ottawa Valley became habitable. The area was used for wild harvesting, hunting, fishing, trade, travel. The Ottawa river valley has archaeological sites with arrow heads, pottery, the area has three major rivers that meet, making it an important trade and travel area for thousands of years. The Algonquins called the Ottawa River Kichi Sibi or Kichissippi meaning Great River or Grand River, Étienne Brûlé, the first European to travel up the Ottawa River, passed by Ottawa in 1610 on his way to the Great Lakes. Three years later, Samuel de Champlain wrote about the waterfalls of the area and about his encounters with the Algonquins, the early explorers and traders were later followed by many missionaries. The first maps of the area used the word Ottawa to name the river, philemon Wright, a New Englander, created the first settlement in the area on 7 March 1800 on the north side of the river, across from Ottawa in Hull. He, with five other families and twenty-five labourers, set about to create a community called Wrightsville. Wright pioneered the Ottawa Valley timber trade by transporting timber by river from the Ottawa Valley to Quebec City, the following year, the town would soon be named after British military engineer Colonel John By who was responsible for the entire Rideau Waterway construction project. Colonel By set up military barracks on the site of todays Parliament Hill and he also laid out the streets of the town and created two distinct neighbourhoods named Upper Town west of the canal and Lower Town east of the canal. Similar to its Upper Canada and Lower Canada namesakes, historically Upper Town was predominantly English speaking and Protestant whereas Lower Town was predominantly French, Irish, bytowns population grew to 1,000 as the Rideau Canal was being completed in 1832. In 1855 Bytown was renamed Ottawa and incorporated as a city, William Pittman Lett was installed as the first city clerk guiding it through 36 years of development. On New Years Eve 1857, Queen Victoria, as a symbolic, in reality, Prime Minister John A. Macdonald had assigned this selection process to the Executive Branch of the Government, as previous attempts to arrive at a consensus had ended in deadlock
8.
Library of Parliament
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The Library of Parliament is the main information repository and research resource for the Parliament of Canada. The library has been augmented and renovated a number of times since its construction in 1876, the building today serves as a Canadian icon, and appears on the obverse of the Canadian ten-dollar bill. The library is overseen by the Parliamentary Librarian of Canada and an associate or assistant librarian, the Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate and the Parliamentary Budget Officer are also considered to be officers of the library. The roof, set in three tiers topped by a cupola, used to be a frame structure covered with slate tiles. The main reading room rises to a ceiling and the walls and stacks are lined with white pine panelling carved into a variety of textures, flowers, masks. The northern galleries are also flanked with the marble busts of Sir John Sandfield Macdonald, Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, Alexandra, Princess of Wales. The librarys collection comprises 600,000 items, covering hundreds of years of history, access to the facility is generally restricted to those on parliamentary business, but research publications are produced by the library and are available to the public. Around 1869, the discovered that they didnt have the technical knowledge to build the domed roof. Further, in 1883, the librarys 300 gas lights were converted to electricity, within only 12 years, the entire roof was stripped of its slate shingles in a tornado that hit Parliament Hill in 1888, since then the roof has been clad in copper. Fire eventually broke out in 1952, in the librarys cupola, the Centre, East, and West Blocks subsequently received extensive climate control and electrical upgrades, but the library was largely overlooked. The deficiencies, plus conservation, rehabilitation, and upgrading, were addressed when a major, $52 million renovation was researched in 1996 and undertaken between 2002 and 2006. Also done at the time was a nine metre deep excavation of the bedrock beneath the building, in order to provide more storage space, mechanical areas. The project used precision survey, laser measurement, photogrammetry, young 2012–Present, Sonia LHeureux The Library of Parliament is a member of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries. Library and Archives Canada New Zealand Parliamentary Library Publications of the Library of Parliament Parliament of Canada
9.
Centre Block
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It is also the location of several ceremonial spaces, such as the Hall of Honour, the Memorial Chamber, and Confederation Hall. Built in the Gothic Revival style, the present Centre Block is the second iteration. The first was destroyed by fire in 1916, all remains of the original building is the Library of Parliament. Though construction began immediately after the blaze, sculpting work on the interior continued through the 1970s, one of the most recognizable buildings in Canada, the Centre Block is depicted on the Canadian $10 bill, $20 bill, and the $50 bill. Designed by Jean Omer Marchand and John A. Pearson, the Centre Block is a 144 m long by 75 m deep, and six storey high, symmetrical structure built in the modern Gothic Revival style. As such, it displays a multitude of stone carvings, including gargoyles, grotesques, the roof is of reinforced concrete covered with copper, and dotted with dormer windows. These surfaces are augmented by sculptural decoration done in Indiana limestone, further, there are numerous parliamentary committee rooms and the Parliamentary Press Gallery. The Centre Block is arranged symmetrically around Confederation Hall, located immediately inside the main entrance and it is an octagonal chamber, the perimeter of which is divided by limestone clustered columns into eight bays of two different sizes, themselves subdivided by dark green syenite pillars. Behind these runs a vaulted ambulatory that supports the upper gallery and this column is borne on a stone carved with an image of Neptune amongst sea lions and fish in a mythical sea. The overall pattern represents the element of water, alluding to Canadas motto. Still, the carving, the designs for which had been finalised by Cléophas Soucy in 1941, remained incomplete until 1953. The remaining territorial coats of arms are located in the southeast and southwest corners, the gable springers all display the coats of arms of the provincial and territorial capitals, while the gable ramparts bear symbols of Canadas fauna. It is a long, rib vaulted space of Tyndall limestone divided into five bays by superimposed double arcades of lancet arches atop clustered columns on pedestals. The north end of the hall is crossed on both levels by the Centre Blocks north corridor, with an overlooking gallery lined by iron railings by Paul Beau. The Hall of Honour was intended to be a gallery where statues of notable Canadians would be arranged in the niches along each side. That plan was abandoned in favour of a more general purpose of commemorating the 1916 fire. The sculptures remain incomplete, only the end, closest to the Library of Parliament, has completed carvings. Two other pieces mark the efforts of early nation-building, such as donated by Canadians living in the United States
10.
Parliament of Canada
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The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa, Ontario. The body consists of the Canadian monarch, represented by a viceroy, the general, an upper house, the Senate, and a lower house. Each element has its own officers and organization, by constitutional convention, the House of Commons is the dominant branch of parliament, the Senate and Crown rarely opposing its will. The Senate reviews legislation from a less partisan standpoint and the monarch or viceroy provides the necessary Royal Assent to make bills into law. The governor general also summons parliament, while either the viceroy or monarch can prorogue or dissolve parliament, either will read the Throne Speech. The most recent parliament, summoned by Governor General David Johnston in 2015, is the 42nd since Confederation in 1867, the Parliament of Canada is composed of three parts, the monarch, the Senate, and the House of Commons. Each has a role, but work in conjunction within the legislative process. Only those who sit in the House of Commons are called members of parliament, though legislatively less powerful, senators take higher positions in the national order of precedence. No individual may serve in more than one chamber of parliament at the same time, the sovereigns place in the legislature, formally called the Queen-in-Parliament, is defined by the Constitution Act,1867, and various conventions. All federal bills begin with the phrase Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada. And, as such, the Crown is immune from acts of parliament unless expressed otherwise in the act itself. As both the monarch and his or her representatives are traditionally barred from the House of Commons, any parliamentary ceremonies in which they are involved take place in the Senate chamber. The upper and lower houses do, however, each contain a mace, which indicate the authority of the Queen-in-Parliament, following the burning of the Centre Block on 3 February 1916, the City of London, England, donated a replacement, which is still used today. The temporary mace, made of wood, and used until the new one arrived from the United Kingdom in 1917, is carried into the Senate each 3 February. The Senates 1. 6-metre-long mace comprises brass and gold, senators served for life until 1965, when a constitutional amendment imposed a mandatory retirement age of 75. Senators may, however, resign their seats prior to that mark, the Senate is divided equally amongst four geographic regions,24 for Ontario,24 for Quebec,24 for the Maritimes, and 24 for the Western provinces. Newfoundland and Labrador, which became a Canadian province in 1949, is represented by six senators, further, Canadas three territories—the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Nunavut—are allocated one senator each. The elected component of the Canadian parliament is the House of Commons, with each member chosen by a plurality of voters in each of the countrys federal electoral districts
11.
New Zealand Parliament
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The New Zealand Parliament is the legislative branch of New Zealand, consisting of the Queen of New Zealand and the New Zealand House of Representatives. Before 1951, there was a chamber, the New Zealand Legislative Council. The Parliament was established in 1854 and is one of the oldest continuously functioning parliaments in the world, the House of Representatives is a democratically elected body whose members are known as Members of Parliament. It usually consists of 120 MPs, though sometimes due to overhang seats. 70 MPs are elected directly in electorate seats and the remainder are filled by list MPs based on each partys share of the party vote, Māori were represented in Parliament from 1867, and in 1893 women gained the vote. New Zealand does not allow sentenced prisoners to vote, the Parliament is closely linked to the executive branch. The House of Representatives has met in the Parliament Buildings located in Wellington, Parliament funds the broadcast of its proceedings through Parliament TV, AM Network and Parliament Today. It was based on the Westminster model and had a house, called the House of Representatives. The members of the House of Representatives were elected under the first-past-the-post voting system, originally Councillors were appointed for life, but later their terms were fixed at seven years. In 1951, the Council was abolished altogether, making the New Zealand legislature unicameral, under the Constitution Act, legislative power was also conferred on New Zealands provinces, each of which had its own elected Legislative Council. These provincial legislatures were able to legislate for their provinces on most subjects, over a twenty-year period, political power was progressively centralised, and the provinces were abolished altogether in 1876. Four Māori electorates were created in 1867 during the term of the 4th Parliament, originally the New Zealand Parliament remained subordinate to the British Parliament, the supreme legislative authority for the entire British Empire. One historical speciality of the New Zealand Parliament was the country quota, from 1889 on, districts were weighted according to their urban/rural split. The country quota was in effect until it was abolished in 1945 by a mostly urban-elected Labour government, the New Zealand Parliament is sovereign with no institution able to over-ride its decisions. The ability of Parliament to act is, legally, unimpeded, for example, the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 is a normal piece of legislation, it is not superior law as codified constitutions are in some other countries. The only thing Parliament is limited in its power are on some entrenched issues relating to elections and these issues require either 75% of all MPs to support the bill or a referendum on the issue. The Queen of New Zealand is one of the components of Parliament—formally called the Queen-in-Parliament and this results from the role of the monarch to sign into law the bills that have been passed by the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives was established as a house and has been the Parliaments sole chamber since 1951
12.
Monarchy of New Zealand
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The Crown is the foundation of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the New Zealand government, which is a Westminster-style parliamentary democracy. Most of the powers are exercised by the elected parliamentarians, the ministers of the Crown generally drawn from amongst them. The New Zealand monarchy has its roots in the British Crown, from which it has evolved to become a distinctly New Zealand institution, however, the Queen is the only member of the Royal Family with any constitutional role. New Zealand shares the same monarch with the other 15 monarchies in the 54-member Commonwealth of Nations, supports of the monarchy argue it costs New Zealand taxpayers only a small outlay for royal engagements and tours and the expenses of the governor-generals establishment. Monarchy New Zealand states his figure is one dollar per person per year. Thus, New Zealands line of succession remains identical to that of the United Kingdom, as such, the rules for succession are not fixed, but may be changed by a constitutional amendment. The Constitution Act 1986 specifies that should a regent be installed in the United Kingdom, upon a demise of the Crown, the late sovereigns heir immediately and automatically succeeds, without any need for confirmation or further ceremony—hence arises the phrase The King is dead. It is customary, though, for the accession of the new monarch to be proclaimed by the governor-general on behalf of the Executive Council of New Zealand. Following an appropriate period of mourning, the monarch is crowned in the United Kingdom in an ancient ritual. After an individual ascends the throne, he or she continues to reign until death. One of the first post-Second World War examples of New Zealands status as an independent monarchy was the alteration of the title by the Royal Titles Act 1953. This is one of the key differences from the Queens role in England and this is done in reciprocation to the sovereigns Coronation Oath, wherein he or she promises to govern the Peoples of. According to their laws and customs. Though this power stems from the people, all New Zealanders live under the authority of the monarch, the government of New Zealand is defined by the constitution as the Queen acting on the advice of her Executive Council. In the construct of constitutional monarchy and responsible government, the advice tendered is typically binding, meaning the monarch reigns. The Royal Prerogative also extends to foreign affairs, the sovereign or the governor-general conducts treaties, alliances, the governor-general, on behalf of the Queen, also accredits New Zealand high commissioners and ambassadors, and receives similar diplomats from foreign states. In addition, the issuance of passports falls under the Royal Prerogative, the Crown is further responsible for summoning, proroguing, and dissolving the House of Representatives, after which the governor-general usually calls for a general election. The sovereign is responsible for rendering justice for all her subjects, however, she does not personally rule in judicial cases, instead the judicial functions of the Royal Prerogative are performed in trust and in the Queens name by Officers of Her Majestys Court
13.
Governor-General of New Zealand
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The Governor-General of New Zealand is the viceregal representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently Queen Elizabeth II. The office is mandated by letters patent and the officeholder is formally titled the Governor-General, when travelling abroad, the governor-general is seen as the representative of New Zealand, and of the Queen of New Zealand. For this reason, the governor-general is viewed by some as the de facto head of state, under the Niue Constitution Act, the governor-general also represents the monarch in Niue. The governor-general initially represented the British monarch and the government of the United Kingdom, therefore, many officeholders have been British statesmen. In 1972, Sir Denis Blundell became the first New Zealand resident to be appointed to the office, governors-general are not appointed for a specific term, but are generally expected to serve for five years. The current Governor-General is Dame Patsy Reddy, who has served since 28 September 2016, administrative support for the governor-general is provided by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Appointment to the Office is made by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister of New Zealand, the Prime Ministers advice has sometimes been the result of a decision by Cabinet, although there is no requirement for this. The appointment of Anand Satyanand met with the approval of every leader in the House of Representatives, by convention the Leader of the Opposition is also consulted on the appointment, however this too has not always been the case. This suggestion was in turn criticised by the Government, as Sir Edmund had backed Labour in 1975 as part of the Citizens for Rowling campaign, however, the right granted by the convention was not exercised directly by a New Zealand Prime Minister until 1967. Although non-partisan while in office, there have been a number of appointments of Governors-General to the office that have attracted considerable controversy, despite their political backgrounds, neither of these appointments could be said to have discharged their duties in a partisan way. There has often been speculation that a member of the Royal Family might take up the position, before the Governor-General enters office, his or her commission of appointment is publicly read in the presence of the Chief Justice of New Zealand and the members of the Executive Council. The Governor-General must take the Oath of Allegiance and the oath for the due execution of the office, from time to time, there have been proposals to elect the Governor-General. When first drafted by then Governor George Grey, the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 contained provision for the Governor to be elected by New Zealands Parliament. This provision was removed from the enactment, probably because the Colonial Office wanted to keep a check on New Zealands colonial government. In 1887 Sir George Grey, by then also a former Premier, the Bill was narrowly defeated 46–48, being opposed by the government of Harry Atkinson. In 2006 political commentator Colin James suggested that the Governor-General could be elected by a 60% majority of votes cast in Parliament, James argued that the New Zealand public should be given the ability to choose the Queens representative, and that the current system is undemocratic and not transparent. National MP Nikki Kaye queried whether several one-member parties in parliament could veto the decision, the Republican Movement responded that the method would ensure appointments were made that most MPs and parties found acceptable. The Governor-General holds office at the pleasure of the Queen, under clause II of the Letters Patent
14.
New Zealand Legislative Council
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The Legislative Council of New Zealand was the first legislature of New Zealand from 1841 and upper house of the General Assembly of New Zealand from 1853 until 1950. Unlike the lower house, the New Zealand House of Representatives, originally, the Legislative Council consisted of the Governor, Colonial Secretary and Colonial Treasurer. The Legislative Council had the power to issue Ordinances, statutory instruments, with the passing of the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, the Legislative Council became the upper house of the General Assembly in 1853. The Legislative Council was intended to act as a revising chamber and it could not initiate bills, and was prohibited from amending money bills. The model for the Legislative Councils role was the House of Lords in the United Kingdom, the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 provided for councillors to be appointed for life terms by the Governor. In 1891, life membership was replaced by a term by the new Liberal Party government of John Ballance. Ballance had considerable difficulty in achieving his reform of the Council, ballances victory is seen as establishing an important precedent in the relationship between Governor and Prime Minister. The structure of the Legislative Council prior to 1891 was therefore similar to that of the Canadian Senate, the title The Honourable could be retained from 1894 by a councillor with not less than ten years service if recommended by the Governor. This privilege was extended to one member, William Montgomery, in 1906, and it was specified in the Constitution Act 1852 that the Council would consist of at least ten members. Although not actually a part of the Act, instructions were issued that the number of members should not exceed fifteen, one member was to be selected as Speaker of the Legislative Council, corresponding roughly to the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives. A quorum of five members was established, the first appointments to the Legislative Council were made in 1853, when twelve members were called to the upper house. Gradually, the number of members was raised, and the limit was eventually abolished. The Council reached a peak of 53 members in 1885 and 1950, the Legislative Council was generally less representative of the New Zealand public than was the House of Representatives. Women were not eligible to serve as councillors until 1941, two, Mary Anderson and Mary Dreaver, were appointed in 1946 by the First Labour Government. In 1950 when the First National Government appointed the suicide squad to vote the council out of three women were included, Cora Louisa Burrell, Ethel Marion Gould and Agnes Louisa Weston. The first two Māori councillors were appointed in 1872, not long after the creation of the Māori electorates in the House, Mokena Kohere, a convention was established that there should always be Māori representation on the Council. A number of proposals were made that the Legislative Council should be elected, in 1914, a reform proposal to establish a 42 or 43 member council elected by proportional representation for six years was introduced by the Liberals, but postponed due to World War I. In 1920 it was no longer favoured by the Reform government then in power, but the 1914 Act remained like a sword of Damocles suspended above the nominated upper house, available at will or whim to any succeeding government
15.
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
16.
Speaker of the New Zealand Legislative Council
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The Speaker of the Legislative Council was the chair of New Zealands upper house, the Legislative Council. The position corresponded roughly to that of Speaker of the House of Representatives and it was abolished in 1951, along with the Legislative Council itself. Eighteen people held the office of Speaker since the creation of the Legislative Council, three had previously been Prime Minister. One had previously been Speaker of the House of Representatives, a list of Speakers is below. 1 Also served as Prime Minister2 Previously Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives3 Reappointed at end of members term † Speaker died in office, constitution of New Zealand New Zealand Legislative Council
17.
Prime Minister of New Zealand
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The Prime Minister of New Zealand is the head of government of New Zealand. The current prime minister is Bill English of the National Party, the prime minister is the most senior government minister, and chairs cabinet meetings. The office exists by a convention, which originated in New Zealands former colonial power. The convention stipulates that the Governor-General of New Zealand must select as prime minister the person most likely to command the confidence of the House of Representatives and this individual is typically the leader of the political party that holds the largest number of seats in that chamber. The title prime minister had made its first formal appearance in the 1873 Schedule of the Civil List Act and this was changed in 1869 to premier. That title remained in use for more than 30 years, being changed by Richard Seddon to prime minister in 1901 during his tenure in office. Following the declaration of New Zealand as a dominion in 1907, the office of prime minister is not defined by codified laws, but by unwritten customs known as constitutional conventions which developed in Britain and were replicated in New Zealand. The Prime Minister is leader of the cabinet, and takes a coordinating role, the Cabinet Manual 2008 provides an outline of the prime ministers powers and responsibilities. The post of minister is, like other ministerial positions. However, the convention has long since established that the prime minister must have. Historically, this has meant that the prime minister is the parliamentary leader of the largest political party in the House of Representatives. By constitutional convention, the minister holds formal power to advise the sovereign. As head of government, the prime minister alone has the right to advise the governor-general to, Appoint, dismiss, call elections by advising the governor-general to dissolve parliament. The governor-general may reject the advice to dissolve parliament if the minister has recently lost a vote of confidence. The prime minister is regarded by convention as first among equals and they do hold the most senior post in government, but are also required to adhere to any decisions taken by cabinet, as per the convention of cabinet collective responsibility. The ability to appoint and dismiss ministers, furthermore, the MMP electoral system has complicated this, as the prime minister may have to consult with another party leader. The influence a prime minister is likely to have as leader of the dominant party and these powers may give more direct control over subordinates than is attached to the prime ministers role. The power gained simply from being central to most significant decision-making, in addition, like all other ministers and members of parliament, the prime minister receives annual allowances for travel and lodging, as do the prime ministers spouse and children
18.
Ministers of the New Zealand Government
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Ministers, in the New Zealand government, are members of parliament who hold ministerial warrants from the Crown to perform certain functions of government. This includes formulating and implementing policies and advising the Governor-General, ministers collectively make up the executive branch of the New Zealand state. The formal powers of the executive are exercised through the Executive Council, when the Executive Council resolves to issue an order, and the order is signed by the Governor-General, it becomes legally binding. A minister is generally charged with supervising a particular aspect of the governments activities, sometimes, people may be appointed ministers without being given any specific role — they are known as ministers without portfolio. Such appointments have become rare today, although sometimes a person may be appointed to a sinecure portfolio such as Minister of State for similar purposes, the appointment of ministers is officially made by the Governor-General, who must sign a ministerial warrant before it officially comes into effect. Originally, the Executive Council functioned as a group to the Governor. The various ministers serving on the Council, such as the Colonial Secretary, when Parliament was established, however, many believed that they would soon replace these appointed officials, with ministerial positions being given to members of Parliament instead. The Acting Governor, Robert Wynyard, did not agree, however, the issue was controversial, and ended with the Acting Governor attempting to suspend the 1st New Zealand Parliament. Later, in the 2nd New Zealand Parliament, Parliament was victorious, Henry Sewell became Colonial Secretary, Dillon Bell became Colonial Treasurer, Frederick Whitaker became Attorney-General, and Henry Tancred became a minister without portfolio. Since then, all ministers have been appointed from among the ranks of Parliament, later, Parliament made further gains, with the convention being established that the Governor-Generals actions in the Executive Council were bound by the advice that ministers gave. Today, the Executive Council is not used for deliberation - rather, Cabinet is a separate meeting of most government ministers, and formally presents proposals to the whole Executive Council only when a decision has already been reached
19.
Leader of the Opposition (New Zealand)
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The Leader of the Opposition in New Zealand is the politician who, at least in theory, commands the support of the non-government bloc of members in the Parliament of New Zealand. In the debating chamber the Leader of the Opposition sits directly opposite the Prime Minister, the current Leader of the Opposition is Andrew Little, the Leader of the Labour Party. By convention, the Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the largest party of the Opposition, the Leader of the Opposition does not have a large official role, as most of the posts functions are ceremonial. Nevertheless, there are ways in which the Leader of the Opposition participates directly in affairs of state. The Leader of the Opposition also receives a higher salary than other members of the Opposition, for much of the countrys early history, the role was not a formal one. It was only when the Liberal Party was formed that any unified leadership appeared in Parliament, john Ballance, leader of the Liberals is usually considered the first Leader of the Opposition in the modern sense. When Ballance led the Liberals into government in 1891, they faced no opposition in a party sense. However, their opponents gradually coalesced around a leader, William Massey, who became Opposition leader in 1903, and in 1909 became the first leader of the new Reform Party. After this, the Leader of the Opposition would always be the leader of the largest party in the House of Representatives that had not undertaken to support the Government of the day. One notable exception to this was during World War I, when the opposition Liberal Party accepted the governing Reform Partys offer to form a wartime coalition, Prime Minister Massey also extended the offer to the new Labour Party who rejected it. This made Labour the largest party not in government, however their leader Alfred Hindmarsh was not recognized as the Leader of the Opposition, joseph Ward, who became Deputy Prime Minister in the wartime cabinet still retained the title, albeit in name only. During the 1910s and 1920s, the role of Opposition alternated between the Liberal and Reform parties, after the 1925 Election there was no official Leader of the Opposition until Rex Mason of Labour won the seat of Eden in the by-election held on 15 April 1926. Labour became superseded the Liberals as the opposition and their leader Harry Holland became Leader of the Opposition. The 1928 General Election put United in government for the last time, Reform then became the Opposition, however in 1931 Reform entered into coalition with the Liberals, and Labour then became the Opposition, despite being the third party. With the introduction of the MMP voting system, first used in the 1996 general elections, now, though the leader of the largest non-Government party still becomes the Leader of the Opposition, there will usually be several parties who are in opposition. An example of this arose after the 2002 general elections, when the National Party gained only 27 seats and this prompted calls from a number of parties, notably New Zealand First and the Greens, for the abolition or reform of the post. It was argued by these parties that the position had become an anachronism in the modern multi-party environment, however, with the resurrection of the National Party in the 2005 general election, a more traditional relationship between Government and Opposition has been restored. A table of Leaders of the Opposition is below, the table begins in 1891, when the first real political party was founded
20.
Official Opposition (New Zealand)
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Her Majestys Loyal Opposition, or commonly the Official Opposition, in New Zealand is usually the largest political party or coalition which is not a member of the ruling government. This means that the party, while still involved with the political process in New Zealand. This is usually the second-largest party in a house, although in certain unusual circumstances it may be the largest party or even a third or fourth party. The Opposition aims to hold the government accountable and to present itself to the electorate as a government in waiting. For example, during Question Time, Opposition spokespersons will ask questions of Ministers with the aim of highlighting a weakness or embarrassing the government and this is complicated more by parties which occasionally act with the government and at other times vote against it. The unusual positioning that developed after the 2005 election further complicated the idea of opposition, Parties and Members of Parliament outside the government which do not work with the official Opposition party are said to sit on the cross-benches. Grand coalitions have been formed only twice in New Zealand, the first was the War Cabinet of 1915–1919, involving the Reform and Liberal Parties, under the leadership of Reform Prime Minister William Massey. The second was the Coalition Government of 1931–1935 to combat the Great Depression, in both cases, Labour formed the official opposition. The Labour Party currently form the Official Opposition, below is a list of the shadow cabinets of New Zealand from 1965 to the present date
21.
51st New Zealand Parliament
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The 51st New Zealand Parliament was elected at the 2014 general election. This Parliament consists of 121 members and will be in place from September 2014 until the New Zealand general election,2017, following the final vote count John Key was able to continue to lead the Fifth National Government. The Parliament was elected using a proportional representation voting system. Members of Parliament represent 71 geographical electorates,16 in the South Island,48 in the North Island and 7 Māori electorates, the remaining members were elected from party lists using the Sainte-Laguë method to realise proportionality. The number of electorates was increased from 70 at the previous election. The Representation Commission is tasked with reviewing electorate boundaries every five years following each New Zealand census, the last review was undertaken in 2007 following the 2006 census, and the electorate boundaries determined then were used in both the 2008 and 2011 general elections. The next census was scheduled for 8 March 2011, but it was postponed due to the disruption caused by the 2011 Christchurch earthquake on 22 February. The boundaries were based on population distribution and the Māori electoral option. At the 2011 election, there were 47 North Island general electorates and seven Māori electorates, following significant consultation final boundaries were released by the Representation Commission on 17 April 2014. The 2014 general election was conducted under these boundaries on 20 September 2014, the increase in population in the Auckland region as recorded in the 2013 census meant an extra electorate was required to keep all electorates within five percent of their quota. Boundaries within Christchurch changed substantially, with several electorates growing and decreasing due to population movement around the city since the 2010–11 Christchurch earthquakes. In particular a dramatic change was seen in the electorates of Christchurch East, Christchurch Central and Port Hills with lesser changes in Selwyn, Wigram, the tables below show the members of the 51st Parliament based on preliminary counts of the 2014 general election. The National Party won 47. 04% of the vote, entitling it to 60 seats, as it won 41 electorates, an additional 19 members were taken from the party list. After the resignation of Northland MP Mike Sabin a by-election was held, the partys share of seats was reduced to 59. 15 new National Party members were elected, nine from electorates,45 members from the 50th Parliament were returned. The Labour Party won 25. 13% of the vote, entitling it to 32 seats, as it won 27 electorates, an additional 5 members were taken from the party list. After the resignation of David Shearer in 2017, the share of seats was reduced to 31 until Raymond Huo was sworn in in March 2017. Three new Labour Party members were elected from the list,29 members from the 50th Parliament were returned
22.
Baby of the House
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Baby of the House is the unofficial title given to the youngest member of a parliamentary house. The term is most often applied to members of the British parliament, the title is named after the Father of the House, which is given to the longest serving member of the British and other parliaments. In Australia the term is rarely used, the youngest Baby of the House was Wyatt Roy. He was elected at age 20 in 2010, being the youngest person ever to be elected to an Australian parliament, the current Baby of the House is Chris Crewther MP. The current Baby of the Senate is Senator James Paterson, the youngest-ever elected member of the Canadian House of Commons is Pierre-Luc Dusseault, who was elected at the age of 19 years and 11 months in 2011. Dusseault is the youngest MP in Canadian history, in the past, MPs such as Sean OSullivan, Pierre Poilievre, Andrew Scheer, Claude-André Lachance and Lorne Nystrom have also held the distinction. The previous youngest current MP was Nicolas Dufour, to represent the riding of Repentigny, Quebec, for the Bloc Québécois, born in June 1987, the youngest current female MP is Laurin Liu, NDP MP for Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, Québec. The youngest-ever elected member of the National Assembly is Ilona Burka, source, In the Republic of Ireland the term is rarely used, as most TDs are elected usually only in their thirties and later. The current baby of the Dáil is the Fianna Fáil deputy Jack Chambers, the youngest TD of all time was William J. Murphy, elected age 21 years 29 days, the youngest female TD was Kathleen OConnor,21 years 7 months. The youngest senator in Seanad Éireann is Fintan Warfield who was elected as a senator at the age of 24, the youngest MP in Malawi was Angela Zachepa who was voted in as MP at age 21. In Malaysia the term Baby of the House is rarely used, nowadays, most MPs are elected in their thirties. In the past however, the youngest MPs have been in their early 20s and he won uncontested primarily due to the nations grief for the former Prime Minister. The current youngest MP is Zairil Khir Johari aged 34 years,5 months, the age of candidacy for election to public office at federal and state level is 21. Like Australia, the term Baby of the House is rarely used, Youngest MP is the usual term. The current Baby of the House is Todd Barclay of the National Party, Barclay succeeded Jami-Lee Ross of the National Party, who was elected to Parliament in the Botany by-election on 5 March 2011, aged 25. The current titleholder is Yusuf Cassim, the current Baby of the House is Mr Jesper Skalberg Karlsson. The youngest person ever to be elected MP to a Swedish parliament is Mr Anton Abele who was only aged 18 when elected in September 2010. Current record holder for the worlds youngest-ever elected MP is Anton Abele, at 19 years old Proscovia Alengot Oromait is currently the worlds youngest MP and youngest ever MP in Africa
23.
Speech from the throne
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The speech is prepared by the ministers of the crown in cabinet. The event is held annually, although in some places it may occur more or less frequently. In constitutional monarchies today, whether by law or by convention, the head of state reads the Speech From the Throne, the address sets forth the governments priorities with respect to its legislative agenda, for which the cooperation of parliament is sought. In the United Kingdom, the speech is known as Her Majestys Most Gracious Speech, the Gracious Address, or, less formally, in Canada, it is often shortened to Throne Speech. In Australia, this speech is called the Governors speech or opening speech, in Hong Kong, the governors address was termed the Policy Address during Chris Pattens governorship. In the Irish Free State, the governor-general delivered the Governor-Generals Address to Dáil Éireann, in the Commonwealth realms, the Speech From the Throne is an oration that forms part of a ceremony marking the opening of parliament. Some records indicate the ceremony has taken place since the Medieval era, while others place its origins in the 16th century, the speech explained to parliament the reasons it was summoned and sometimes set out the sovereigns policies and objectives. The monarch would sometimes speak to parliament in person, King Edward III, Richard II, and Edward IV did so. It was given on his behalf by the Bishop of Winchester in 1410, in 1453 and 1467, the Bishop of Lincoln, the Bishop of Rochester in 1472, and the Keeper of the Privy Seal in 1431. It may have been written by or with the input of the king or queens advisers, but, in unicameral parliaments, the speech is read in the one legislative chamber. Unusually, in the Irish Free State, the speech was delivered in the house of its bicameral parliament. In the United Kingdom, the speech is read by the reigning sovereign at the State Opening of Parliament. Traditions surrounding the Opening and the speech go back to the 16th century, the present ceremony dates from 1852, the ceremony now occurs annually in May or soon after a general election. Another member of the Royal Family may also perform this duty, such as when, on 1 September 1919, Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, read the Speech From the Throne in the Canadian parliament. On two occasions, the Administrator of the Government delivered the address to the Parliament of Canada,16 May 1963 and 30 September 1974. In almost all the Canadian provinces, the relevant lieutenant governor delivers the speech, at the Provincial level in Canada, only in Quebec is the speech not referred to as the Speech From the Throne. In British overseas territories that have instituted this practice, the relevant governor delivers the speech, however, the British monarch often undertakes visits and speaks to the devolved bodies in a less official capacity. In each of the Canadian territories, the commissioner reads the Throne Speech or Opening Address to the legislature, formally, the motion that follows the speech merely calls on parliament to thank the monarch or viceroy via an Address in Reply
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Question time
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A Question time in a parliament occurs when members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers, which they are obliged to answer. It usually occurs daily while parliament is sitting, though it can be cancelled in exceptional circumstances, Question time originated in the Westminster system of the United Kingdom, and occurs in other countries, mostly Commonwealth countries, who use the system. In practice, the questions asked in question time are usually pre-arranged by the organisers of each party, Questions from government backbenchers are either intended to allow the Minister to discuss the virtues of government policy, or to attack the opposition. Question time is an institution in the Commonwealth Parliament and in all state parliaments, Questions to government ministers normally alternate between government members and the opposition, with the opposition going first. Questions of ministers are generally asked by their counterpart shadow ministers in the opposition, in the House of Representatives, the first question is usually asked of the Prime Minister by the Leader of the Opposition. Similar arrangements apply in the Senate and this allows questioners to ask questions about any government portfolio in either chamber. This normally includes the Leader of the Government in the Senate representing the Prime Minister in response to questions asked by senators about general government policy. Convention allows the Prime Minister in the House, and the Leader of the Government in the Senate and this is not a formal motion but an indication that, even if further questions were asked, ministers would not answer them since they are not compelled to do so. It is possible in this way to terminate question time, although this is rare in the House. During the Keating Government, the Prime Minister attempted to limit the number of questions asked in a way the Liberal Opposition disapproved of, to protest the change, the Opposition made random quorum calls through the afternoon for every question they felt they had been denied that day. In the House, question time is scheduled from 2pm to 3,15 pm on every sitting day, in the Senate. Apart from divisions, it is the time the chamber is likely to be filled. There is a 45-second time limit for questions and a time limit for answers in the House of Representatives. In the Senate, a questioner may ask an initial question, each question has a one-minute time limit. Answers to initial questions are limited to three minutes, and answers to supplementary questions are limited to one minute, a senator may also move to take note of a ministers answer after question time, allowing questioners to respond to the answers provided by ministers. State Parliaments adopt similar practices to the federal Parliament. m and it is broadcast live on public television. No more than 22 questions, excluding urgent questions that may be permitted by the President, replies to questions may be given by designated public officers, usually secretaries, orally or in written form. For questions seeking oral replies, supplementary questions may be put by any member when called upon by the president of the council for the purpose of elucidating that answer
25.
Matter of public importance
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A matter of public importance is a term used in the Australian Parliament where a subject is put forward for debate by the parliament. The opportunity is defined under standing order 75 and it can be put forward by a Senator in the Senate or a member of the House of Representatives. This must be supported by a number of Senators or Members before the discussion can begin. In the Australian Senate, five Senators are required to support by standing. MPIs are often used by parties to draw attention to government failures or areas that are politically sensitive for the government. A single Senator is limited to 10 minutes discussion, mark Coulton MP- Matter of Public Importance- NSW Floods
26.
Reading (legislature)
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A reading of a bill is a debate on the bill held before the general body of a legislature, as opposed to before a committee or an other group. In the Westminster system, there are several readings of a bill among the stages it passes through before becoming law as an Act of Parliament. Some of these readings are usually formalities rather than substantive debates, a first reading is when a bill is introduced to a legislature. Typically, in the United States, the title of the bill is read, the bill is then considered by committee between the first and second readings. In the United States Senate and most British-influenced legislatures, the committee consideration occurs between second and third readings, in Israel, the committee consideration occurs between first and second readings and between preliminary and first readings. In Ireland, the first reading is referred to as First Stage and is leave to introduce a bill into a House of the Oireachtas and it may be taken in either house, but it does not need to be taken in both. In New Zealand, once a bill passes first reading it is referred to a Select Committee. However, a Government can have a bill skip the select committee stage by a majority vote in Parliament. A bill can be defeated on first reading if a member introduces it, a second reading is the stage of the legislative process where a draft of a bill is read a second time. In most Westminster systems, a vote is taken on the outlines of the bill before being sent to committee. In Ireland it is referred to as Second Stage, though the motion at second stage is still that the Bill is to be read a second time, a bill introduced in one house enters the other house at Second Stage. Once the bill passes second stage it is referred to a Select Committee of that house or taken in Committee Stage by the whole house, in the United States Senate, a bill is either referred to committee or placed on the Calendar of Business after second reading. No vote is held on whether to read the bill a second time, in U. S. legislatures where consideration in committee precedes second reading, the procedure varies as to how a bill reaches second reading. In Illinois, for example, legislation is automatically read a second time, in New Zealand, once a bill passes a Second Reading it is then considered clause by clause by the whole Parliament. If a majority of Parliament agree, the bill can be considered part by part, because most bills must have majority support to pass a second reading, it is now very rare for a bill to be considered clause by clause. A third reading is the stage of a process in which a bill is read with all amendments. In legislatures whose procedures are based on those of the Westminster system, in bicameral legislatures, if the bill passes the third reading, it is then sent to the other chamber of parliament to start the process again at first reading in that chamber. Once the bill has passed third reading in both chambers, it is sent on for promulgation, such as Royal Assent in the Westminster system or signing by the president or governor in the U. S. model
27.
Queen's Consent
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In the Commonwealth realms, Queens Consent is required before the legislature can debate a bill affecting the prerogatives or the interests of the relevant crown. In the United Kingdom, this extends to matters affecting the Duchy of Lancaster, the Scottish parliament adheres to the same requirement of consent. Bills affecting the Royal Prerogative and the property and personal interests of the monarch require Queens Consent. In Canada, no act of parliament binds the monarch or his or her rights unless the act states that it does so, Queens Consent is typically granted by the governor general on behalf of the sovereign and specially communicated to parliament. Typically, though, it is expressed by a minister of the Canadian Crown, in the United Kingdom, as well as bills that affect the prerogative, bills affecting the hereditary revenues of the Duchy of Lancaster or the Duchy of Cornwall require Queens Consent. Bills affecting the latter also require Princes Consent from the Prince of Wales in his capacity as Duke of Cornwall, in 1993, both Queens Consent and Princes Consent were required in respect of the Priests Measure 1993 that enabled the ordination of women in the Church of England. The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel has produced guidance on the need for Queens or Princes Consent, Consent is usually signified in the one or both houses of parliament, at either the second or third reading, by a privy counsellor and is recorded in Hansard. Where proposed legislation is sponsored by the cabinet, it is the practice for the relevant ministers to inform the monarch well before the bill is introduced to parliament. In the Scottish parliament, consent is signified by a member of the Scottish government, in the Canadian parliament, Royal Consent can be signified in only one legislative chamber. If consent is required but not signified, a bill may make no further progress through parliament, if Queens Consent is withheld, it is, according to the tenets of constitutional monarchy and responsible government, done on the advice of ministers of the Crown. The sovereign has not refused to consent to any bill affecting crown interests unless advised to do so by ministers, similarly, the Prince of Wales grants and withholds the Princes Consent on the advice of the sovereigns British ministers, as the Duchy of Cornwall is within British jurisdiction. No bill affecting the Duchy of Cornwall has been refused consent by either the sovereign or the Duke of Cornwall, each granting of consent by the Prince of Wales is a matter of public record. This prevented the bill from being debated, in 1988, the Palace of Westminster Bill could not be debated in the British parliament because Queens Consent was withheld, as with the Reform of the House of Lords Bill in 1990. Queens Consent and Princes Consent are distinct from Royal Assent, Royal Assent is granted after a bill has passed through parliament, whereas Queens Consent and Princes Consent, where required, are granted before parliament has debated or voted to pass a bill. Royal Assent is also required for all legislation, whereas Queens Consent, in practice, Royal Assent is always granted, whereas Queens Consent or Princes Consent is more frequently withheld. Royal Assent forms part of the constitution and lies under the Royal Prerogative, Queens Consent and Princes Consent are internal parliamentary rules of procedure that could, in principle, be dispensed with by parliament. And it is one of the advantages of this usage, that it obviates the necessity of resorting to the exercise of that prerogative, House of Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Committee. The Impact of Queen’s and Prince’s Consent on the Legislative Process, Eleventh Report of Session, House of Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Committee
28.
Royal assent
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Royal assent is the method by which a countrys constitutional monarch formally approves an act of that nations parliament, thus making it a law or letting it be promulgated as law. Royal assent is sometimes associated with elaborate ceremonies, however, royal assent is usually granted less ceremonially by letters patent. In other nations, such as Australia, the Governor-General merely signs the bill, in Canada, the Governor-General may give assent either in person at a ceremony held in the Senate or by a written declaration notifying parliament of his or her agreement to the bill. Before the Royal Assent by Commission Act of 1541 became law, the last time royal assent was given by the sovereign in person was during the rule of Queen Victoria at a prorogation on the 12th of August 1854. The Act was repealed and replaced by the Royal Assent Act of 1967, Royal assent is the final step required for a parliamentary bill to become law. -the sovereign may delay the bills assent through the use of his or her powers in near-revolutionary situations. -the sovereign may refuse royal assent on the advice of his or her ministers, under modern constitutional conventions, the sovereign acts on the advice of his or her ministers. Since these ministers most often maintain the support of parliament and are the ones who obtain the passage of bills, it is highly improbable that they would advise the sovereign to withhold assent. Hence, in practice, royal assent is always granted. The Monarch does not have the power to withhold a Bill from assenting, the last bill that was refused assent by the sovereign was the Scottish Militia Bill during Queen Annes reign in 1708. The so-called Model Parliament included bishops, abbots, earls, barons, in 1265, the Earl of Leicester irregularly called a full parliament without royal authorization. The body eventually came to be divided into two branches, bishops, abbots, earls, and barons formed the House of Lords, while the shire, the King would seek the advice and consent of both houses before making any law. The Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 provide a second potential preamble if the House of Lords were to be excluded from the process, the power of parliament to pass bills was often thwarted by monarchs. Charles I dissolved parliament in 1629, after it passed motions critical of, during the eleven years of personal rule that followed, Charles performed legally dubious actions, such as raising taxes without parliaments approval. After the English Civil War, it was accepted that parliament should be summoned to meet regularly, the last Stuart monarch, Anne, similarly withheld on 11 March 1707, on the advice of her ministers, her assent from a bill for the settling of Militia in Scotland. No monarch has since withheld royal assent on a passed by the British parliament. During the rule of the succeeding Hanoverian dynasty, power was gradually exercised more by parliament, the first Hanoverian monarch, George I, relied on his ministers to a greater extent than did previous monarchs. However, George IV reluctantly granted his assent upon the advice of his ministers, thus, as the concept of ministerial responsibility has evolved, the power to withhold royal assent has fallen into disuse, both in the United Kingdom and in the other Commonwealth realms
29.
Elections in New Zealand
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New Zealand is a representative democracy. Members of the House of Representatives, commonly called Parliament, normally gain their parliamentary seats through nationwide general elections, general elections are usually held every three years, they may be held at an earlier date in the event of a vote of no confidence or other exceptional circumstances. A by-election is held to fill a vacancy arising during a parliamentary term, the next general election will take place on 23 September 2017. New Zealand has a multi-party system due to proportional representation, the most significant constitutional change in 20th century New Zealand was the introduction of the mixed-member proportional voting system in 1993. The Chief Electoral Office and the Electoral Commission co-ordinate the electoral system, Local government politicians, including mayors, councillors and District Health Boards are voted in during the local elections, held every three years. These elections used single transferable vote and first past the post systems in 2007. The first national elections in New Zealand took place in 1853, womens suffrage was introduced in 1893, with New Zealand being the first modern country to do so. New Zealand general elections occur when the Prime Minister requests a dissolution of Parliament, theoretically, this can happen at any time, although a convention exists whereby Prime Ministers do not call early elections unless they have no reasonable alternative. Elections always take place on a Saturday, so as to minimise the effect of work or religious commitments that could inhibit people from voting, Voting happens at various polling stations, generally established in schools, church halls, sports clubs, or other such public places. Polling booths are set up in hospitals and rest homes for use by patients. The 2005 election made use of 6,094 such polling stations, voters may vote at any voting station in the country. Advance voting is available in the two weeks before election day, if voters cannot physically get to a polling place, they may authorise another person to collect their ballot for them. Overseas voters may vote by mail, fax, internet or in person at NZ embassies, disabled voters can choose to vote via a telephone dictation service. Voters are encouraged to bring them the EasyVote card sent to them before each election, which specifies the voters name, address. However, this is not required, voters may simply state their name, the voting process uses printed voting ballots. After the voting paper is issued, the voter goes behind a cardboard screen, the voter then folds their paper and places in their electorates sealed ballot box. Voters who enrol after the rolls have been printed, voting outside their electorate, according to a survey commissioned by the Electoral Commission, 71% of voters voted in less than 5 minutes and 92% in less than 10 minutes. 98% of voters are satisfied with the waiting time, New Zealand has a strictly enforced election silence, campaigning is prohibited on election day
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Next New Zealand general election
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The 2017 New Zealand general election is scheduled to be held on Saturday 23 September 2017 to determine the membership of the 52nd New Zealand Parliament. The current Parliament was elected on Saturday,20 September 2014, unless an early election is called or the election date is set to circumvent holding a by-election, a general election is held every three years. The last election was held on Saturday,20 September 2014, the Governor-General must issue writs for an election within seven days of the expiration or dissolution of the current Parliament. The writs for the 2014 election were returned on 10 October 2014, as a result, the 51st Parliament will expire, if not dissolved earlier, on Tuesday,10 October 2017. Consequently, the last day for issuance of writs of election is 17 October 2017, the writs must be returned within 50 days of their issuance, which will be Wednesday,6 December 2017. Because polling day must be a Saturday and two weeks is generally required for the counting of votes, the last possible date for the next general election is Saturday,18 November 2017. On 1 February 2017, Prime Minister Bill English announced that the election would be held on Saturday 23 September 2017 and this will be the first election that both major parties, Labour and National are contesting under new leadership since 1975. Key dates relating to the election will typically be as follows. New boundaries are not due until early 2019, after the 2018 census, polling booths may now use electronic electoral rolls to mark off voters. Counting of advance votes may now start earlier at 9, 00am, contact information of sitting MPs, such as business cards and signage on out-of-Parliament offices, has been clarified as not constituting election advertising. Election advertising is now prohibited in or near advance polling booths. Election hoardings may now be erected nine weeks before the election, parties are no longer allocated free airtime on Radio New Zealand and Television New Zealand to broadcast opening and closing addresses. At the 2014 general election, the seats were won with a plurality of less than 1000 votes. Seventeen existing Members of Parliament have announced that they will not stand for re-election, trevor Mallard announced in July 2016 that he will not contest Hutt South, but will run as a list-only candidate, with the intention of becoming Speaker of the House. Political parties registered with the Electoral Commission on Writ Day can contest the election as a party. Each such party can submit a party list to contest the party vote, as of 6 March 2017, fourteen political parties are registered and can contend the general election. During the three month regulated period prior to election day, parties and candidates have limits on how much they may spend on election campaigning and it is illegal in New Zealand to campaign on election day itself. A party contesting all 71 electorates is therefore permitted to spend $2,975,200 on election campaigning, all electorate candidates are permitted to spend $26,200 each on campaigning over and above their partys allocation
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Mixed-member proportional representation
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Mixed-member proportional representation is a hybrid two-tier voting system. MMP was originally used to elect representatives to the German Bundestag and it was used in Romania, in the 2008 and 2012 legislative elections. MMP is a method that uses party list proportional representation as its proportional component. It is considered a system, which is a distinct voting system. An electoral system is mixed if more than one formula is employed to distribute legislative seats, biproportional apportionment, first used in Zürich in 2006, is a hybrid method for adjusting an elections result to achieve overall proportionality. In Germany, where it is used on the level and on most state levels. In the United Kingdom such systems used in Scotland, Wales, in the Canadian province of Quebec, where an MMP model was studied in 2007, it is called the compensatory mixed-member voting system. In most models the voter two votes, one for a constituency representative and one for a party. In the original variant used in Germany, both votes were combined into one, so voting for a representative automatically meant also voting for the representatives party. Most of Germany changed to the variant to make local MPs more personally accountable. Voters can vote for the person they prefer for local MP without regard for party affiliation. In the 2005 New Zealand election, 20% of local MPs were elected from electorates which gave a different party a plurality of votes, in each constituency, the representative is chosen using a single winner method, typically first-past-the-post. Most systems used closed party lists to elect the non-constituency MPs, depending on the jurisdiction, candidates may stand for both a constituency and on a party list, or may be restricted to contend either for a constituency or for a party list, but not both. If a candidate is on the party list, but wins a constituency seat, in Bavaria the second vote is not simply for the party but for one of the candidates on the partys regional list, Bavaria uses seven regions for this purpose. A regional open-list method was recommended for the United Kingdom by the Jenkins Commission. This can be done by the largest remainder method or a highest averages method, subtracted from each partys allocation is the number of constituency seats that party won, so that the additional seats are compensatory. If a party wins more FPTP seats than the proportional quota received by the party-list vote, in most German states, but not federally until the federal election of 2013, balance seats are added to compensate for the overhang seats and achieve complete proportionality. In the last election in Scotland, the highest averages method resulted in a majority government for the Scottish National Party with only 44% of the party vote, however, Scotland uses the term Additional Member System which, like MMP can either be proportional or semi-proportional
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First-past-the-post voting
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First-past-the-post voting method is one of several plurality voting methods. It is a common, but not universal, feature of voting methods with single-member electoral divisions, the method is widely used in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, and most of their current and former colonies and protectorates, and a few other countries. There is some confusion between highest vote, majority vote and plurality voting methods, all three use a first-past-the-post voting method, but there are subtle differences in the method of execution. First-past-the-post voting is used in two-round systems and some exhaustive ballots. First-past-the-post voting methods can be used for single- and multiple-member electoral divisions, in a single-member election, the candidate with the highest number – not necessarily a majority – of votes is elected. The two-round voting method uses a first-past-the-post voting method in each of the two rounds, the first round determines which two candidates will progress to the second, final-round ballot. In a multiple-member, first-past-the-post ballot, the first number of candidates – in order of highest vote, if there are six vacancies, then the first six candidates with the highest vote are elected. The Electoral Reform Society is a pressure group based in the United Kingdom which advocates abolishing the first-past-the-post method for all national and local elections. It argues FPTP is bad for voters, bad for government and it is the oldest organisation concerned with electoral methods in the world. States other than Maine and Nebraska use a form of simple plurality, first-past-the-post voting. Under a first-past-the-post voting method the highest polling candidate is elected, in this real-life example, Tony Tan obtained a greater number than the other candidates, and so was declared the winner, even though majority of voters did not vote for him. It is more likely that a party will hold a majority of legislative seats. In the United Kingdom,18 out of 23 general elections since 1922 have produced a single-party majority government. For example, the 2005 United Kingdom general election results in Great Britain are as follows, It can be seen that Labour took a majority of seats, 57%, the largest two parties took 69% of votes and 88% of seats. Meanwhile, the smaller Liberal Democrat party took more than a fifth of votes, another example would be the UK General Election held on 7 May 2015, Here, the Conservatives took 51% of the seats with only 37% of the vote. It should be noted that the Liberal Democrats also suffered under first-past-the-post, the benefits of FPTP are that its concept is very easy to understand, and ballots can be easily counted and processed. Alternative methods such as rank-based voting require far more work or processing power to tabulate results than a single choice, supporters of FPTP argue that it is the electoral method providing the best governance. It trades fairness in representation for more responsible government and its tendency to produce majority rule allows the government to pursue a consistent strategy for its term in office and to make decisions that may be both correct and unpopular
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New Zealand electorates
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An electorate is a geographical constituency used for electing members to the New Zealand Parliament. In informal discussion, electorates are often called seats, the most formal description, electoral district, is used in legislation. The size of electorates is determined on a basis such that all electorates have approximately the same population. Before 1996, all members of Parliament were directly chosen for office by the voters of an electorate, the 71 electorates are made up from 64 general and seven Māori electorates. Originally, electorates were drawn up based on political and social links, each electorate was allocated a different number of MPs in order to balance population differences. All electorates used a plurality voting system, from 1881, a special country quota meant that rural seats were allowed to contain fewer people than urban seats, preserving the inequality and over-representing farmers. For the 1905 election the multi-member electorates were abolished, the quota system persisted until 1945. Today, electorate boundaries are determined by the Representation Commission, the Commission consists of, Four government officials—the Government Statistician, the Surveyor-General, the Chief Electoral Officer, and the Chairperson of the Local Government Commission. A representative of the party or coalition, and a representative of the opposition block. A chairperson nominated by the members, with the exception of Chairperson of the Local Government Commission. Boundaries are reviewed after each New Zealand Census, which occurs every five years. The number of māori electorates are determined by the Māori Electoral Option where Māori voters can opt to be in either a māori electorate or a general electorate, South Island Māori opting for the general roll are included in the population on which the South Island Quota is established. The North Island population being divided into electorates of approximately the same population as the South Island ones, electorates may vary by no more than 5% of the average population size. This has caused the number of list seats in Parliament to decline as the population is experiencing northern drift due to internal migration and immigration. Because of the increasing North Island population, the North Island was awarded an additional electoral seat beginning in the 2008 general election, another North Island seat was created for the 2014 general election. Each time, the need for a seat was determined from the results of the most recent census. The total number of list seats has thus declined from 51 to 49 since 2007, although the New Zealand Parliament is intended to have 120 members, recent iterations have exceeded this quantity. Due to some parties winning more seats than their proportion of the party vote suggests
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Okiato
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Okiato or Old Russell is a small holiday spot in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, seven km south of present-day Russell. It was New Zealands first national capital, for a time from 1840 to 1841. The car ferry across the Bay of Islands, the main tourist access to Russell, clendon became the first United States Consul for New Zealand in 1838 or 1839. When the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840, Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson instructed the Surveyor-General, Felton Mathew, clendons property met the requirements for a good anchorage and immediate availability of land suitable for subdivision and on-sale to settlers. Kororāreka was discounted as it had insufficient available land and locations such as Paihia, clendon wanted 23,000 pounds for the 1.24 km² of land, the house, two small cottages, a large store and other buildings. Hobson eventually secured it for 15,000 pounds and he changed its name from Okiato to Russell, in honour of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Lord John Russell. Hobson and his family moved there in May 1840 and officials, troops, workmen and immigrants took up residence in permanent or temporary buildings and tents. Mathew drew up plans for a town, but only one of the intended roads was ever built - leading directly from the town hall to the town jail. A year later in 1841 New Zealand was established as a colony from New South Wales and Hobson moved the capital to Auckland. A few officials lived on in the Government House at Russell but when it, Kororāreka was part of the Port of Russell and gradually became known as Russell also. In January 1844 Governor Robert FitzRoy officially designated Kororāreka as part of the township of Russell, now the name Russell applies only to the erstwhile Kororāreka while Okiato has resumed its original name. Old Russell, New Zealands First Capital
