C ommo nwe a l t h memb e r c o u n t r i e s The family court is a division of the District Court, and Justices of the Peace deal with minor criminal cases. The specialised tribunals include the employment tribunal, disputes tribunal, Waitangi tribunal, environment court and deportation review tribunal. Government and politics Last elections: 20 September 2014 Next elections: 2017 Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by Governor-General Lt-Gen Sir Jerry Mateparae (2011–) Head of government: Prime Minister John Key Ruling party: National Party Women MPs: 30% In the general election of November 1999 the Labour Party, led by Helen Clark, won 49 seats and its coalition partner Alliance ten. The National Party, led by Jenny Shipley, took 39 seats and its ally, the Association of Consumers and Taxpayers of New Zealand (ACT New Zealand), nine. With the support of the Green Party (seven seats), Labour was able to command a majority in the 120-member House of Representatives and Helen Clark became Prime Minister. In the July 2002 general election, Labour (52 seats) and its coalition partner – Progressive Coalition Party (two) – were unable to command a parliamentary majority without the support of smaller parties. These now included United Future (eight) and the Green Party (nine). The National Party secured 27 seats and ACT New Zealand nine, while its former coalition partner, New Zealand First, strengthened its position to 13. The September 2005 general election was very close, but when all the votes were counted, the ruling Labour–Progressive coalition (Labour 50 seats, Progressive one) was returned for a third successive term and Helen Clark continued as Prime Minister, still able to command a majority in parliament only with support from New Zealand First (seven) and United Future Party (three). The National Party won 48 seats and the Green Party six. The National Party – under the leadership of John Key – won the November 2008 election with 58 seats and 44.9 per cent of votes, and like previous governments would only be able to command a majority in the House with support from minority parties. Turnout was 79.5 per cent and Labour took 43 seats (34 per cent of votes), Green Party nine, ACT New Zealand five, the Maori Party five, Jim Anderton’s Progressive one, United Future one and New Zealand First none. In the November 2011 election the National Party increased its share of votes to 47.3 per cent, though with 59 seats still short of an absolute majority in parliament. Labour took 34 seats (27.5 per cent), the Green Party 14 (11.1 per cent), New Zealand First eight (6.6 per cent) and the Maori Party three. ACT New Zealand, Mana and United Future each won one seat. With the support of ACT and United Future, John Key was sworn in as Prime Minister for a second time. In December 2011 the National Party formed a coalition government with ACT New Zealand, United Future and the Maori Party. The National Party won the election held on 20 September 2014, with 47 per cent of the vote and 60 seats, just short of an outright majority. The Labour Party received 25.1 per cent of the vote (32 seats), the Green Party 10.7 per cent (14) and New Zealand First 8.7 per cent (11). The Maori Party, ACT and United Future each won an ‘electorate’ seat. But United Future’s party vote did not entitle it to any seats, so its electorate seat was an ‘overhang’ seat, bringing the total number of members in the new parliament to 121. John Key reached ‘confidence and supply’ agreements with the three smaller parties and formed a new government. Local government Ministry: Department of Internal Affairs Association: Local Government New Zealand Local government is provided for by the Local Electoral Act 2001, the Local Government Act 2002, the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 and the Local Government New Zealand Borrowing Act 2011, and not by the constitution. The Minister of Local Government is responsible for local government, which comprises 12 regional councils and 73 territorial authorities (16 city councils and 57 district councils). Four of these are unitary councils, serving both as regional councils and territorial authorities. Local elections are held every three years. The local authorities have revenue-raising powers, most of their income coming from property tax. The regional councils are responsible for environmental management policy and regulations. The territorial authorities are responsible for provision of a wide range of local services, including water management, sewerage, waste management, leisure facilities, town planning and economic development. Further information New Zealand Government: www.govt.nz Commonwealth Secretariat: www.thecommonwealth.org Commonwealth Governance: www.commonwealthgovernance.org Commonwealth Governance Handbook 2014/15 214 Governance institutions Commerce Commission: www.comcom.govt.nz Courts of New Zealand: www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/about/supreme Department of Internal Affairs: www.dia.govt.nz Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet: www.dpmc.govt.nz Electoral Commission: www.elections.org.nz Electricity Authority: www.ea.govt.nz Financial Markets Authority: www.seccom.govt.nz Local Government New Zealand: www.lgnz.co.nz Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment: www.med.govt.nz Ministry of Justice: www.justice.govt.nz New Zealand Exchange: www.nzx.com New Zealand Parliament: www.parliament.nz Ombudsmen: www.ombudsmen.govt.nz Reserve Bank of New Zealand: www.rbnz.govt.nz Standards New Zealand: www.standards.co.nz Treasury: www.treasury.govt.nz
CEP template 2012
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