The 48th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

of New Zealand. Its composition was determined at a general election held on 17 September 2005. The new parliament met for the first time on 7 November 2005. It was dissolved on 3 October 2008. The Labour Party and the

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...

, backed by New Zealand First and

United Future United Future New Zealand, usually known as United Future, was a centrist political party in New Zealand. The party was in government between 2005 and 2017, first alongside Labour (2005–2008) and then supporting National (2008–2017). U ...

, established a majority at the beginning the 48th Parliament. The Labour-led administration was in its third term. The National Party and ACT form the formal opposition to the government. Other non-government parties are the Greens (who promised to abstain on confidence and supply votes) and the

Māori Party Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

. The 48th Parliament consists of 121 representatives. This represents an overhang of one seat, with the Māori Party having won one more electorates than its share of the vote would otherwise have given it. In total, sixty-nine of the MPs were chosen by geographical electorates, including seven

Māori electorates In New Zealand politics, Māori electorates, colloquially known as the Māori seats, are a special category of electorate that give reserved positions to representatives of Māori in the New Zealand Parliament. Every area in New Zealand is ...

. The remainder were elected by means of

party-list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a subset of proportional representation electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected (e.g., elections to parliament) through their position on an electoral list. They can also be us ...

under the MMP electoral system.

Electorate boundaries for 48th Parliament

Oath of office

All the

MPs tried to alter their Oath of office by adding references to the

Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the History of New Zealand, history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in ...

. They all had to retake their oaths.

Election result

Government: the third and final term of the

Fifth Labour Government The Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand was the government of New Zealand from 10 December 1999 to 19 November 2008. Labour Party leader Helen Clark negotiated a coalition with Jim Anderton, leader of the Alliance Party. While undertaking ...

, in power from

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

until

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

; minority coalition with

since 2002
Prime Minister:

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 ...

(Labour) from 1999 to 2008
Governor General: Dame

Silvia Cartwright Dame Silvia Rose Cartwright (née Poulter; born 7 November 1943) is a New Zealand jurist who served as the 18th Governor-General of New Zealand, from 2001 to 2006. She was the second woman to hold the office, after Dame Catherine Tizard. Ear ...

to August 2006;

Anand Satyanand Sir Anand Satyanand, (born 22 July 1944) is a former lawyer, judge and ombudsman who served as the 19th Governor-General of New Zealand from 2006 to 2011. Satyanand was chair of the Commonwealth Foundation for two 2-year terms, ending in De ...

August 2006–
Deputy Prime Minister: Michael Cullen (Labour) 2002–2008
Leader of the Opposition:

Don Brash Donald Thomas Brash (born 24 September 1940) is a former New Zealand politician who was Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the New Zealand National Party from October 2003 to November 2006, and the Leader of ACT New Zealand from April to ...

( National Party), to November 2006;

John Key Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as Leader of the New Zealand National Party from 2006 to 2016. After resigning from bo ...

(National) November 2006 –
Speaker :

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 L ...

(Labour)
Deputy Speaker:

Clem Simich Clement Rudolph "Clem" Simich or Šimić (born 2 June 1939) is a New Zealand politician for the National Party. Early life Simich was born in Te Kōpuru, Northland in 1939. Member of Parliament He was first elected to Parliament in ...

(

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

)
Assistant Speaker: Ross Robertson (Labour) and Ann Hartley (Labour)
Leader of the House: Michael Cullen (Labour)

Members of the 48th Parliament

48th New Zealand Parliament - MPs elected to Parliament List MPs are ordered by allocation as determined by the Chief Electoral Office and the

party lists An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...

Changes during parliamentary term

Rod Donald Rodney David Donald (10 October 1957 – 6 November 2005) was a New Zealand politician who co-led the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, along with Jeanette Fitzsimons. He lived in Christchurch with his partner Nicola Shirlaw, and their thre ...

, co-leader of the Green Party, died on 6 November 2005 before he was sworn in as a member of the 48th Parliament. He was replaced by the next person on the Green Party's list, former MP Nándor Tánczos, on 16 November. *

Jim Sutton James Robert Sutton (born 7 November 1941), generally known as Jim Sutton, is a New Zealand politician who was a Member of Parliament between 1984 and 1990 and again between 1993 and 2006. He has held a range of ministerial portfolios including ...

, a Labour list MP, retired from politics on 31 July 2006. He was replaced by the next person on the Labour Party's list, Charles Chauvel. *

, a National list MP and former leader of the National Party, retired from Parliament on 7 February 2007. He was replaced by the next person on the National Party's list,

Katrina Shanks Katrina May Shanks (born 12 May 1969) is a former New Zealand politician who was a list member of parliament for the National Party from 2007 to 2014. Early years Shanks was born in Dannevirke in 1969, and attended St Matthew's Collegiate ...

. *

Georgina Beyer Georgina Beyer (born November 1957) is a New Zealand politician and former Labour Party Member of Parliament. In 1995 she was elected mayor of Carterton, making her the world's first openly transgender mayor. In 2005 she became the world's ...

, a Labour list MP, announced her retirement on 15 December 2006, and officially resigned from Parliament when it resumed on 13 February 2007. On 20 February she was replaced by the next person on the Labour Party's list, former MP

Lesley Soper Lesley Frances Soper (born 5 November 1954) is a former New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. Political career She was a Labour Party list member of Parliament for several months in 2005, replacing Jonathan Hunt, and she returned ...

. *

Taito Phillip Field Taito Phillip Hans Field (26 September 1952 – 23 September 2021) was a Samoan-born New Zealand trade unionist and politician. A Member of Parliament (MP) for South Auckland electorates from 1993 to 2008, Field was the first New Zealand MP of ...

, Labour MP for Mangere, quit the Labour party after being threatened with expulsion on 16 February 2007. He continued to serve as an MP, and formed the

New Zealand Pacific Party The New Zealand Pacific Party was a Christianity, Christian political party that existed in New Zealand from 2008 to 2010. The party was founded as a vehicle for former New Zealand Labour Party, Labour MP Taito Phillip Field, who was subsequentl ...

in January 2008. * Gordon Copeland, a United Future list MP, left the party to become an independent MP in May 2007, and contested the 2008 election as a candidate for

The Kiwi Party The Kiwi Party was a political party operating in New Zealand between 2007 and 2011. Briefly known as Future New Zealand, it was a breakaway from the United Future New Zealand party and sought to carry on the tradition of Future New Zealand. The ...

. * Ann Hartley, a Labour list MP, was elected to the

North Shore City North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' i ...

Council in the 2007 local body elections. She left Parliament when it resumed in 2008, and was replaced by the next person on the Labour list,

Louisa Wall Louisa Hareruia Wall (born 17 February 1972) is a former New Zealand Labour Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 2011 to 2022. She has represented New Zealand in both netball as a Silver Fern and rugby union as a m ...

, a former

Silver Ferns The New Zealand national netball team, commonly known as the Silver Ferns, represent New Zealand in international netball. The team take their nickname from the Silver Tree Fern ('' Cyathea dealbata''), which is an emblem for many New Zealand ...

netballer, on 4 February 2008. * Brian Donnelly, a New Zealand First MP, resigned from Parliament from 12 February 2008, and was replaced by Dail Jones on 15 February 2008. Donnelly was appointed as New Zealand's High Commissioner to the Cook Islands. *

Dianne Yates Dianne Fae Yates (born 29 November 1943) is a New Zealand politician. She is a member of the Labour Party. Member of Parliament Yates first entered Parliament in the 1993 election, representing the Hamilton East electorate. In the 1 ...

, a Labour list MP, stood unsuccessfully for the

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

City Council in the 2007 local body elections. She resigned as an MP on 29 March 2008 and was replaced by

William Sio Aupito Tofae Su'a William Sio (born 1960) is a politician who became a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives on 1 April 2008 for the Labour Party as a list MP. Since the November , he has represented the Māngere electorate. Pers ...

on 1 April 2008 as the next person on Labour's list. * Nándor Tánczos resigned from Parliament and was replaced by Green Party co-leader

Russel Norman Russel William Norman (born 2 June 1967) is a New Zealand politician and environmentalist. He was a Member of Parliament and co-leader of the Green Party. Norman resigned as an MP in October 2015 to work as Executive Director of Greenpeace Aote ...

on 27 June 2008.

Seating plan

Start of term

The chamber is in a horseshoe-shape.

End of term