New Zealand Elections 2014
For the last study for the term the children looked at
the New Zealand election system and the make up of our national parliamentary
system.
The teachers question, “Who is the Prime Minister of
New Zealand?” resulted in some interesting
responses from Mr Obama, Helen Clarke and Winston Peters.
It was time to do some meaningful discussion with the children.
It was time to do some meaningful discussion with the children.
The second question asked was, “What does MMP mean in
our New Zealand election system?” There were many answers around this, ranging
from Members of Parliament, Paid Ministers to Many Members in Parliament. The
answer is Mixed Member Proportional.
New Zealand's overall system of
government
New
Zealand is a democratic country in which the members of parliament (MPs) are
chosen in free and fair elections. Citizens and permanent residents who
are aged 18 years and over are required to enrol to vote. Voting is not
compulsory, but turnout is high by international standards (although trending lower).
New
Zealand has a single chamber of parliament which consists of the House of
Representatives, which generally has 120 MPs, and the Governor-General
(who does not personally attend the house). The house is elected for a
maximum three-year term using the mixed member proportional
(MMP) system. Every New Zealand citizen who is enrolled as an
elector is eligible to be a candidate for election as an MP.
The
government is accountable to parliament for its actions and policies. So
ministers are answerable to parliament for their own actions and policies and
for the actions and policies of the departments and state agencies for which
they are responsible. Most ministers are members of cabinet, which is the
main decision-making body of the government.
New Zealand has an unwritten constitution and is
a constitutional monarchy. The Queen of New Zealand, Queen Elizabeth II, is the
Head of State. The Queen's representative in this country is the
Governor-General who has all the powers of the Queen in relation to New
Zealand. The Governor-General plays an
important constitutional role in the calling of elections, the life of
Parliament, and the formation of a government.
The NEW ZEALAND MMP Voting System
Mixed Member Proportional (MMP)
This is the system we currently use to elect
our Parliament.
There are 120 Members of Parliament (MPs). There are 70 electorates, including the Maori electorates. Each elects one MP, called an Electorate MP. The other 50 MPs are elected from political party lists and are called List MPs.
Each voter gets two votes.
The first vote is for the political party the voter chooses. This is called the party vote and largely decides the total number of seats each political party gets in Parliament.
The second vote is to choose the MP the voter wants to represent the electorate they live in. This is called the electorate vote. The candidate who gets the most votes wins. They do not have to get more than half the votes.
There are 120 Members of Parliament (MPs). There are 70 electorates, including the Maori electorates. Each elects one MP, called an Electorate MP. The other 50 MPs are elected from political party lists and are called List MPs.
Each voter gets two votes.
The first vote is for the political party the voter chooses. This is called the party vote and largely decides the total number of seats each political party gets in Parliament.
The second vote is to choose the MP the voter wants to represent the electorate they live in. This is called the electorate vote. The candidate who gets the most votes wins. They do not have to get more than half the votes.
Under current MMP
rules, a political party that wins at least one electorate seat OR 5% of
the party vote gets a share of the seats in Parliament that is about the same
as its share of the party vote. For example, if a party gets 30% of the party
vote it will get roughly 36 MPs in Parliament (being 30% of 120 seats). So if
that party wins 20 electorate seats it will have 16 List MPs in addition to its
20 Electorate MPs.
Coalitions or
agreements between political parties are usually needed before Governments can
be formed.
Children were coming to school saying they had
impressed their parents as to what they knew about our parliamentary system.
One pupil went so far as to suggest who their parent should vote for.
Here are some stories written in the classroom.
On the 19th
of September 1893, something big happened. Something so big that in the
elections woman were to be allowed to vote! Yep, you guessed right, the day
woman got voted to vote.
On that day,
the Governor signed the Electoral Bill
giving woman the right to vote in the elections. And they were happy
about it.
Then in 1919, they let woman stand for parliament. In 1933 Elizabeth McCombs knocked men off the perch for the first time by being the first woman elected into our House of Representatives.
New Zealand celebrated the centenary of woman’s suffrage by planting a “Kate Sheppard” white camellia in Parliament grounds.
I told you they were happy about it.
Lochie Moriarity
Then in 1919, they let woman stand for parliament. In 1933 Elizabeth McCombs knocked men off the perch for the first time by being the first woman elected into our House of Representatives.
New Zealand celebrated the centenary of woman’s suffrage by planting a “Kate Sheppard” white camellia in Parliament grounds.
I told you they were happy about it.
Lochie Moriarity
Women
and voting
Okay lets go back in time to the time of the
Wild West ,Wait, what, no. Let’s go to the day women were allowed to vote in
New Zealand.
On
the 19th of September 1893 {my birthday but not the year} led by
Kate Sheppard, a group of people called the New Zealand Women’s Christian
Temperance Union{NZWCTU} support that women should be allowed to vote.
It
all started when a bill was introduced to Parliament in 1891 and 1892 but still
women were not allowed to vote.
In
1893 the bill was introduced again and they finally agreed with two majority
members of the Upper house to let women vote .So on the 19th of
September 1893 women turned up at the voting booth to cast their votes for men.
But wait women weren’t allowed to stand for Parliament, so let’s recap, Kate wanted the women to vote, the government let them vote in 1893 and then allowed women to stand for parliament in 1919.
Oh so that’s when they could stand for parliament..
In 1919 no women were elected to be an MP but 14 years later the 1st women to be elected as a MP was a lady called Elizabeth McCombs. The parliament celebrated a centenary on the women’s suffrage in 1993. They had a planting of the Kate Sheppard white camellia shrubs on the ground of the Government House in Wellington. There were various artworks to commemorate the centenary including sculptures of flowers.
There is now a room dedicated to these women in Parliament.
By Kaiya Read-Butcher
But wait women weren’t allowed to stand for Parliament, so let’s recap, Kate wanted the women to vote, the government let them vote in 1893 and then allowed women to stand for parliament in 1919.
Oh so that’s when they could stand for parliament..
In 1919 no women were elected to be an MP but 14 years later the 1st women to be elected as a MP was a lady called Elizabeth McCombs. The parliament celebrated a centenary on the women’s suffrage in 1993. They had a planting of the Kate Sheppard white camellia shrubs on the ground of the Government House in Wellington. There were various artworks to commemorate the centenary including sculptures of flowers.
There is now a room dedicated to these women in Parliament.
By Kaiya Read-Butcher
Do you want to have a go at the assessment we did in the
classroom to gauge the children’s understanding? Good luck.
Election Assessment 2014
1.
Name the present Prime
Minister?_________________________
2.
What party does he/she belong
to?_________________________
3.
Name the present leader of the
Opposition?____________________
4.
What party does this leader belong
to?_______________________
5.
Elections in New Zealand are held
every______ years.
6.
The day of the week these elections
are mainly held is on a __________.
7.
MP stands
for________________________________.
8.
There are a total of_____ MPs seated
in the House of Representatives.
9.
To be allowed to vote you must be
_____years of age.
10.Voting
where nobody can see who you are voting for is called a ____________________
11.For the
elections New Zealand is divided into 69 areas called__________.
12.The
electoral area our school is situated is called____________.
13.The MP for
our electoral area is ____________.
14.A voter
has____ votes; a party vote and a vote for an MP in the electoral area.
15.To become
the Government a party must have ____seats or over.
16.To qualify as a party in the House of Representatives the party
(a)must have____percent of the total votes or
(b) must have won _____ electoral seat.
16.To qualify as a party in the House of Representatives the party
(a)must have____percent of the total votes or
(b) must have won _____ electoral seat.
17.Name a
party that did not qualify to get into Parliament__________.
18. Discuss one party_________________________
19.Discuss
one candidate __________________________
Hi room 5 it's Kate Moore remember me ? Looks like you have had fun see you at market day
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