New Zealand Parliamentary Caucuses and MPs' responsibilities

The 54th New Zealand Parliament is the current meeting of the legislature in New Zealand. It opened on 5 December 2023 following the 14 October 2023 general election, and will expire on or before 16 November 2026 to trigger the next election.

The Parliament was elected using a mixed-member proportional representation (MMP) voting system. MPs will represent 72 geographical electorates: 16 in the South Island, 49 in the North Island and 7 Māori electorates. The Electoral Act 1993 provides for the remaining seats to be elected from party lists using the Sainte-Laguë method to realise proportionality to an expected total of at least 120 MPs.

Final results of the election determine that there will be 123 members of Parliament, rather than the usual 120. 122 members were elected in the general election (there is an overhang of two members for Te Pāti Māori). Due to the death of a candidate between the close of nominations and election day, Port Waikato did not elect a representative and an additional list MP was elected to ensure Parliament would have at least 120 members. The 72nd electorate MP, and 123rd MP overall, was elected in the Port Waikato by-election on 25 November 2023.

Members in the 54th Parliament represent six political parties: National, ACT New Zealand, New Zealand First parties, in government, and the Labour Party, Green Party, and Te Pāti Māori, in opposition. Christopher Luxon of the National Party formed a coalition government with ACT and New Zealand First and was sworn in as prime minister on 27 November 2023.

Background

2023 general election

The 2023 general election was held on 14 October. The opposition National Party won 48 seats in the election, an increase of 14 seats. The ruling Labour Party was reduced to 34 seats after losing a total of 28 seats. The Green Party, Labour's cooperation partner, got 15 seats, a rise of 6. The ACT Party increased its seat count by one. Te Pāti Māori took five Maori seats from Labour, totaling six seats, one more than their party vote entitled them to, giving parliament a three-seat overhang. After being voted out in the 2020 New Zealand general election, New Zealand First returned to parliament, earning eight seats.

Government formation

Following the general election, the National Party required support from the ACT Party and New Zealand First to command the confidence of the House. Negotiations between the three parties took place after the official results were announced on 3 November. After three weeks of negotiations, Christopher Luxon announced the formation of a coalition government with ACT and New Zealand First on 24 November. On 27 November, Luxon was sworn in as prime minister by Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro.

Parliamentary term

The final results of the election were announced on 3 November and the writ for the 2023 election was returned on 16 November 2023. Under section 19 of Constitution Act 1986, Parliament must meet no later than six weeks after this date; on 29 November 2023, following the new government's first Cabinet meeting, Leader of the House Chris Bishop confirmed that the Commission Opening and State Opening of Parliament would take place on 5 and 6 December 2023, respectively.

Timeline

*16 November 2023 – The writ for election is returned; officially declaring all elected members of the 54th Parliament.
*24 November 2023 – A coalition government is formed between National, ACT, and NZ First.
*27 November 2023 – Christopher Luxon is sworn in as Prime Minister of New Zealand.
*5 December 2023 – The Governor-General issued the Commission of Opening of Parliament. The House elects Gerry Brownlee as Speaker.
*6 December 2023 – State Opening of Parliament

Major legislation

Between 13 and 14 December 2023, the Government passed three laws repealing several of the previous Labour Government's legislation including the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's dual mandate, the Fair Pay Agreements Act 2022, and the Clean Car Discount programme.

On 20 December 2023, the Government passed legislation repealing the Natural and Built Environment Act 2023 and the Spatial Planning Act 2023 as the first step in its plans to reform the Resource Management Act framework. On 21 December, the Government passed legislation reinstating 90-day work trials.

Dissolution

The 54th Parliament will serve until another election is called. Under section 17 of the Constitution Act 1986, Parliament expires three years "from the day fixed for the return of the writs issued for the last preceding general election of members of the House of Representatives, and no longer". The writ for the 2023 election was issued on 10 September 2023 and returned on 16 November 2023, meaning that the 54th Parliament would have to dissolve on or before 16 November 2026.

Officeholders

Presiding officers

* Speaker of the House: Rt. Hon. Gerry Brownlee (National)
* Deputy Speaker of the House: Barbara Kuriger (National)
* Assistant Speakers of the House:
** Maureen Pugh (National)
** Greg O'Connor (Labour)
** Teanau Tuiono ( Green)

Other parliamentary officers

* Clerk: David Wilson
* Deputy Clerk: Suze Jones
* Serjeant-at-Arms: Steve Streefkerk

Party leaders

* Prime Minister of New Zealand (National): Rt. Hon. Christopher Luxon
** Deputy Leader of the National Party: Hon. Nicola Willis
* Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand: Rt. Hon. Winston Peters (NZ First)
* Leader of the Opposition (Labour): Rt. Hon. Chris Hipkins
** Deputy Leader of the Opposition: Hon. Carmel Sepuloni
* Co-leaders of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand:
** Female Co-leader: Hon. Marama Davidson
** Any-gender Co-leader: Hon. James Shaw
* Leader of ACT New Zealand: Hon. David Seymour
** Deputy Leader of ACT New Zealand: Hon. Brooke van Velden
* Leader of New Zealand First: Rt. Hon. Winston Peters
* Co-leaders of Te Pāti Māori:
** Female Co-leader: Debbie Ngarewa-Packer
** Male Co-leader: Rawiri Waititi

Floor leaders

* Leader of the House: Hon. Chris Bishop
** Deputy Leader of the House: Hon. Simeon Brown
* Shadow Leader of the House: Hon. Kieran McAnulty
** Deputy Shadow Leader of the House: Hon. Duncan Webb

Whips

* Senior Government (National) Whip: Hon. Scott Simpson
** Junior Government (National) Whips: Suze Redmayne
* Senior Opposition (Labour) Whip: Tangi Utikere
** Junior Opposition (Labour) Whip: Camilla Belich
** Assistant Opposition (Labour) Whip: Arena Williams
* Green Party Whip (Musterer): Ricardo Menéndez March
** Green Party Deputy Musterer: Kahurangi Carter
* ACT Party Whip: Todd Stephenson
* New Zealand First Whip: Jamie Arbuckle
* Te Pāti Māori Whip (Matarau): Mariameno Kapa-Kingi

Shadow cabinets

* Opposition Cabinet of Chris Hipkins during the 54th Parliament

Members

Overview

The table below shows the members of the 54th Parliament based on the results of the 2023 general election, including the result of the Port Waikato by-election. Ministerial roles were officially announced on 24 November 2023.
Based on the official results, 41 candidates who had never been in parliament before were returned. Of those, 19 were from National, 2 from Labour, 8 from the Greens, 4 from ACT, 4 from Te Pāti Māori, and 4 from NZ First. The parliament totaled 123 seats after the conclusion of the Port Waikato by-election, meaning that one-third of the members are newcomers.

This table shows the number of MPs in each party:

Notes
*The Working Government majority is calculated as all Government MPs less all other parties.

Members

Demographics

The 54th Parliament has a historically high number of Māori MPs at 33. The number of female MPs, 55, is the second highest in New Zealand history, down from the high of 61 achieved during the 53rd Parliament.

The number of Pasifika MPs, 6, is also down from the record number in the previous parliament, and is at its lowest number in 10 years. There are currently no Pasifika MPs on the government benches.

Only 5 MPs who publicly identify as LGBTQIA+ were elected, 2 each from Labour and the Greens and 1 from ACT. This is down from a record 12 (10%) elected in the 2020 election.

Changes

The following changes in Members of Parliament occurred during the term of the 54th Parliament:

Seating plan

Start of term

The chamber is in a horseshoe-shape.

Committees

The 54th Parliament has 12 select committees and 6 specialist committees. They are listed below, with their chairpersons and deputy chairpersons:

Electorates

This section shows the New Zealand electorates as they are currently represented in the 54th Parliament."2023-au5158"
'' New Zealand Gazette''. 3 November 2023.

General electorates

Māori electorates

See also

* Opinion polling for the 2023 New Zealand general election
* Politics of New Zealand

References

{{Parliament of NZ

New Zealand parliaments
Lists of political office-holders in New Zealand
2023 elections in New Zealand
New Zealand