B3.1.3 New Zealand: Form Of Government
Description
This article is from the New Zealand FAQ, by Phil Stuart-Jones and Lin Nah with numerous contributions by others.
B3.1.3 New Zealand: Form Of Government
Paul Gillingwater wrote:
"Constitutional monarchy, with a single-chamber parliament.
"The monarch is said to `reign but not rule': except for a residual power
to actually govern in the event of some complete breakdown of the
parliamentary system, the monarch has merely ceremonial duties and advisory
powers. When the monarch is absent from the country, which is most of the
time, those duties and powers are delegated to the Governor-General who is
appointed by the monarch for a limited term after approval by the
government.
"Parliament is the consitutional `sovereign' - there is no theoretical limit
on what it can validly do, and the validity of the laws which it enacts
cannot be challenged in the courts (although the courts do have and use
wide-ranging powers to control administrative acts of the government). A
new parliament is elected every three years (universal suffrage at age 18).
The leader of the party which commands majority support in parliament is
appointed prime minister and he or she nominates the other Ministers of the
Crown. The ministers (and sometimes the whole majority party in
parliament) are collectively called `the government'. Our system almost
entirely lacks formal checks and balances - the majority party can
virtually legislate as it likes subject only to its desire to be re-elected
every three years.
"Until now, members of parliament have been elected on a single-member
constituency, winner takes all, system similar to those of Britain and the
U.S.A. As a result of referenda conducted in 1993, future parliaments will
be elected on a mixed-member proportional system modelled on that of
Germany.
"The administration is highly centralised. The country is divided into
`districts' (the urban ones called `cities') each with a District (or City)
Council and Mayor, but their powers are limited to providing public
facilities (not housing) and enforcement of by-laws (local regulations)
such as parking regulations. The Police are a single force controlled by
the central government.
"The draft of the new electorate Boundaries under MMP is available from
http://actrix.gen.nz/general/politics.html. There are 3 files:
nth_isle.gif --> north island electorates
sth_isle.gif --> South island electorates
auckland.gif --> Auckland electorates"
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Ross Stewart (WWG IT recruiters, Akld, NZ) writes:
For interest, we've put up (as best we can) details as to how seats will be
allocated under MMP. Have a look at:
http://www.clearfield.co.nz/wilson_white/mmp.htm
Colin Jackson adds:
Announcing the NZ Elections Home Page on the government web server:
http://www.govt.nz/
Material on the server includes:
- A Guide to the MMP voting system
- How to Enrol, with an Internet form
- Maps of all the new electorates
- A text search tool to establish which electorate(s) a given place is in
- Results of the last election
It will carry the results of the 1996 election as these become available.
The address of the elections home page is:
http://www.govt.nz/elections
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