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Waka-jumping
In New Zealand, waka-jumping is a colloquial term for when a member of Parliament (MP) switches political party between elections, taking their parliamentary seat with them and potentially upsetting electoral proportionality in the New Zealand Parliament. In 2001 legislation was enacted that required list MPs to leave Parliament if they waka-jumped; this law expired after the 2005 election. In 2018 a similar law was passed which requires a defecting MP to give up their seat on the request of their former party leader. Electorate MPs may re-contest their seat in a by-election, whereas list MPs are replaced by the next available person on the party list. ''Waka'' is a Māori language word that originally meant a large Māori canoe (although it can also mean any other vehicle). Hence, the term waka-jumping is a variant of the seafaring term "" – to leave a ship's crew abruptly and against the terms of a fixed-term contract (or naval enlistment). To a lesser degree, it is connecte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Act 2018
The Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Act 2018 is an Act of Parliament by the New Zealand Parliament that amends the Electoral Act 1993. The act forces the expulsion of members of the New Zealand Parliament who have left or been expelled from their party. If the member of Parliament was elected as an electorate MP, expulsion triggers a by-election. The bill was passed on 27 September 2018 as part of the coalition agreement between the Labour and New Zealand First parties and the Green Party's confidence-and-supply agreement with Labour. The Bill has been described by the media and public as the "Waka jumping bill." Legislative features The Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Act 2018 inserts six new clauses into the Electoral Act 1993. Section 55A states that: *The seat of a Member of Parliament (MP) becomes vacant if they cease to be a parliamentary member of the political party for which they were elected. *If the MP delivers a written notice confirming that they have resigned thei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Party Switching
Party switching is any change in political party affiliation of a partisan public figure, usually one currently holding elected office. Party switching also occurs quite commonly in Brazil, Italy, Romania, Ukraine, India, Malaysia , and the Philippines. Australia It is rare in Australia for a member of a major party to switch to another political party. It is more common for a member of parliament to become an independent or form their own minor political party. Notable individual party switchers at federal level include: * Agnes Robertson – Liberal to Country, 1955 *Don Chipp – Liberal to Democrats (new party), 1977 * Peter Richardson – Liberal to Progress, 1977 * John Siddons and David Vigor – Democrats to Unite Australia (new party), 1987 * Cheryl Kernot – Democrats to Labor, 1997 *John Bradford – Liberal to Christian Democrats, 1998 * Julian McGauran – Liberal to National, 2006 * Cory Bernardi - Liberal to Conservatives, 2017 * Craig Kelly - Liberal t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waka (canoe)
Waka () are Māori watercraft, usually canoes ranging in size from small, unornamented canoes (''waka tīwai'') used for fishing and river travel to large, decorated war canoes (''waka taua'') up to long. The earliest remains of a canoe in New Zealand were found near the Anaweka estuary in a remote part of the Tasman District and radiocarbon-dated to about 1400. The canoe was constructed in New Zealand, but was a sophisticated canoe, compatible with the style of other Polynesian voyaging canoes at that time. Since the 1970s about eight large double-hulled canoes of about 20 metres have been constructed for oceanic voyaging to other parts of the Pacific. They are made of a blend of modern and traditional materials, incorporating features from ancient Melanesia, as well as Polynesia. Waka taua (war canoes) ''Waka taua'' (in Māori, ''waka'' means "canoe" and '' taua'' means "army" or "war party") are large canoes manned by up to 80 paddlers and are up to in length. Large w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waka Hurdling
Waka hurdling, also sometimes called waka peke (jumping waka), is a Maori sporting competition of jumping unornamented river canoes (waka tīwai) (waka (canoe)) over wooden beams set in the water. There have been attempts to revive the sport and keep the tradition going. The Auckland Museum has a photograph of the sport and spectators. The hurdles are made of long tree branches. Albert Percy Godber photographed the sport in 1910. The competition is part of the festivities of traditional Maori regattas. See also *Waka-jumping In New Zealand, waka-jumping is a colloquial term for when a member of Parliament (MP) switches political party between elections, taking their parliamentary seat with them and potentially upsetting electoral proportionality in the New Zealand ... References Māori sport Jumping sports {{Māori-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Zealand Labour Party
The New Zealand Labour Party ( mi, Rōpū Reipa o Aotearoa), or simply Labour (), is a centre-left political party in New Zealand. The party's platform programme describes its founding principle as democratic socialism, while observers describe Labour as social-democratic and pragmatic in practice. The party participates in the international Progressive Alliance. It is one of two Major party, major political parties in New Zealand, alongside its traditional rival, the New Zealand National Party, National Party. The New Zealand Labour Party formed in 1916 out of various Socialism in New Zealand, socialist parties and trade unions. It is the country's oldest political party still in existence. Alongside the National Party, Labour has alternated in leading List of New Zealand governments, governments of New Zealand since the 1930s. , there have been six periods of Labour government under ten Labour List of Prime Ministers of New Zealand, prime ministers. The party has tradition ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Margaret Wilson
Margaret Anne Wilson (born 20 May 1947) is a New Zealand lawyer, academic and former Labour Party politician. She served as Attorney-General from 1999 to 2005 and Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2005 to 2008, during the Fifth Labour Government. Early life and career Born in Gisborne, Wilson was raised in Morrinsville where her parents Bill and Patricia (Paddy) ran a small store. She was the eldest of four children. As a seven-year-old, she spent several months living in Auckland with her great-aunt and great-uncle after her father had a nervous breakdown. Wilson's family were Catholic and Labour-voting; Bill's father's cousin was the Labor Party Premier of New South Wales, Bob Heffron. Wilson returned to Auckland to receive secondary education at St Dominic's College, and completed her final year as the only female student at Morrinsville College. She had a leg amputated due to cancer at the age of 16, which cut short her plans to be a physical education t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alliance (New Zealand Political Party)
The Alliance was a left-wing political party in New Zealand. It was formed at the end of 1991 by the linking of four smaller parties. The Alliance positioned itself as a democratic socialist alternative to the centre-left New Zealand Labour Party. It was influential throughout the 1990s, but suffered a major setback after its founder and leader, Jim Anderton, left the party in 2002, taking with him several of its members of parliament (MPs). After the remaining MPs lost their seats in the 2002 general election, some commentators predicted the demise of the party. The Alliance stood candidates in the 2005 general election but won less than 1% of the party vote. It contested Auckland City Council elections under the City Vision banner, in concert with the New Zealand Labour Party and Green Party. The Alliance ran 15 electorate candidates and a total of 30 candidates on the party list in the 2008 general election, increasing its party vote marginally from that in 2005. It was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caucus
A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to a meeting of members of a political party to nominate candidates, plan policy, etc., in the United States Congress, or other similar representative organs of government. It has spread to certain Commonwealth countries, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa, where it generally refers to a regular meeting of all members of Parliament (MPs) who belong to a parliamentary party: in such a context, a party caucus can be quite powerful, as it has the ability to elect or dismiss the party's parliamentary leader. The term was used historically in the United Kingdom (UK) to refer to the Liberal Party's internal system of management and control. Etymology The word ''caucus'' first came into use in the British colonies of North Ameri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Anderton's Progressive Party
Jim Anderton's Progressive Party (formed in 2002 as the Progressive Party and renamed after its founder in 2005) was a New Zealand political party generally somewhat to the left of its ally, the Labour Party. The party was established when Jim Anderton and his supporters left the Alliance party. The Progressive Party held at least one seat in Parliament from 2002 to 2011 because of Anderton's victories in the electorate of Wigram. The party did not contest the 2011 general election, and was de-registered at its own request in 9 March 2012 . Policies Economically, the party was left of centre, and placed particular attention on economic development. It had a particular focus on the creation of jobs, and said it was committed to achieving full employment. Among its other policy objectives were free education and free healthcare, four weeks of annual leave from work, an "anti-drugs" policy, and cutting the corporate tax rate to 30%. It also advocated an abolition of the Goods ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Anderton
James Patrick Anderton (born Byrne; 21 January 1938 – 7 January 2018) was a New Zealand politician who led a succession of left-wing parties after leaving the Labour Party in 1989. Anderton's political career began when he was elected to the Manukau City Council in 1965. After serving for five years as Labour Party president, Anderton successfully stood as the Labour candidate for Sydenham in Christchurch in . However, he soon came into conflict with the party's leadership, and became an outspoken critic of the Fourth Labour Government's free-market reforms, called Rogernomics. In April 1989, believing that Labour was beyond change, Anderton resigned from the party. As Leader of the Alliance and later the Progressive Party, he served as the 15th deputy prime minister of New Zealand in the Fifth Labour Government from 1999 to 2002 and as a senior minister in that government from 2002 to 2008. In 2010, he ran unsuccessfully for the mayoralty of Christchurch. Anderton r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ACT New Zealand
ACT New Zealand, known simply as ACT (), is a right-wing, classical-liberal political party in New Zealand. According to former party leader Rodney Hide, ACT's values are "individual freedom, personal responsibility, doing the best for our natural environment and for smaller, smarter government in its goals of a prosperous economy, a strong society, and a quality of life that is the envy of the world".Rodney Hide , "Speech to ACT Auckland Regional Conference, 30 July 2006" is an associated (albeit unofficial) student wing. The name is an acronym of Association of Consumers and Taxpayers, which was founded in 1993 by [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helen Clark
Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was New Zealand's fifth-longest-serving prime minister, and the second woman to hold that office. Clark was brought up on a farm outside Hamilton. She entered the University of Auckland in 1968 to study politics, and became active in the New Zealand Labour Party. After graduating she lectured in political studies at the university. Clark entered local politics in 1974 in Auckland but was not elected to any position. Following one unsuccessful attempt, she was elected to Parliament in as the member for Mount Albert, an electorate she represented until 2009. Clark held numerous Cabinet positions in the Fourth Labour Government, including minister of housing, minister of health and minister of conservation. She was the 11th deputy prime ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
