Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives

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Style
  
The Right Honourable

Formation
  
1854

Inaugural holder
  
Sir Charles Clifford

Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives

Nominator
  
New Zealand House of Representatives

Appointer
  
Governor-General of New Zealand at the behest of the House of Representatives

Term length
  
At Her Majesty's pleasure elected by the House at the start of each Parliament, and upon a vacancy

In New Zealand the Speaker of the House of Representatives (Māori: Te Mana Whakawā o te Whare) is the individual who chairs the country's legislative body, the New Zealand House of Representatives (often also referred to as 'Parliament'). The Speaker fulfils a number of important functions in relation to the operation of the House, which is based upon the Westminster parliamentary system. The position is third most important constitutionally, after the Governor-General and the Prime Minister. The current speaker is David Carter.

Contents

In the Debating Chamber

The Speaker's most visible role is that of presiding over the House when in session. This involves overseeing the order in which business is conducted, and determining who should speak at what time. The Speaker is also responsible for granting or declining requests for certain events, such as a snap debate on a particular issue. An important part of the Speaker's role is ruling on matters of procedure known as 'Points of order' based on Standing Orders and previously made speakers' rulings. This has a large bearing on the smooth running of each parliamentary session. Included in these rules are certain powers available to the Speaker to ensure reasonable behaviour by MPs, including the ability to remove disruptive MPs from the debating chamber.

The Speaker presides over the business of Parliament from the elevated 'Speaker's Chair' behind The Table in the debating chamber.

Outside the Debating Chamber

The Speaker is also responsible for directing and overseeing the administration and security of the buildings and grounds of Parliament (including the Beehive, Parliament House, Bowen House and the Parliamentary Library building), and the general provision of services to members. In doing so, the Speaker consults and receives advice from the Parliamentary Service Commission, which comprises MPs from across the House. The Speaker also presides over some select committees, including the Standing Orders Committee, the Business Committee, and the Officers of Parliament Committee. The Speaker also has some other statutory responsibilities, for example under the Electoral Act 1993. In this role a portion of the Parliament Buildings are given over to the Speaker. Known as the Speaker's Apartments these include his personal office, sitting rooms for visiting dignitaries and a small residential flat which the speaker may or may not use as living quarters.

Neutrality

The Speaker is expected to conduct the functions of the office in a neutral manner, even though the Speaker is generally a member of the governing party. Only three people have held the office despite not being from the governing party. In 1923, Charles Statham (an independent, but formerly a member of the Reform Party) was backed by Reform so as not to endanger the party's slim majority, and later retained his position under the Liberal Party. In 1993, Peter Tapsell (a member of the Labour Party) was backed by the National Party for the same reason. Bill Barnard, who had been elected Speaker in 1936, resigned from the Labour Party in 1940 but retained his position.

Historically, a speaker lost the right to cast a vote, except when both sides were equally balanced. The Speaker's lack of a vote created problems for a governing party - when the party's majority was small, the loss of the Speaker's vote could be problematic. Since the shift to MMP in 1996, however, the Speaker has been counted for the purposes of casting party votes, to reflect the proportionality of the party's vote in the general election. The practice has also been for the Speaker to participate in personal votes, usually by proxy. In the event of a tied vote the motion in question lapses.

Official dress

Originally, speakers wore a gown and formal wig in the chamber This practice has in recent years fallen into disuse since the 1990s. The Speaker now generally wears what they feel appropriate, usually an academic gown of their highest held degree or a Māori cloak.

Election of the Speaker

The Speaker is always a Member of Parliament, and is elected by the House at the beginning of a parliamentary term. If the office of Speaker becomes vacant during a parliamentary term, the House must elect a new Speaker when it next sits.

The election of a speaker is presided over by the Clerk of the House. It is not unusual for an election to be contested. If there are two candidates, members vote in the lobbies for their preferred candidate. In the case of three or more candidates, a roll-call vote is conducted and the candidate with the fewest votes eliminated, with the process continuing (or reverting to a two-way run-off) until one candidate has a majority. Members may vote only if they are present in person: no proxy votes are permitted.

After being elected by the House, the speaker-elect is confirmed in office by the Governor-General. At the start of a term of Parliament, the newly confirmed speaker follows the tradition of claiming the privileges of the House.

Holders of the office

The current speaker is David Carter, a member of the National Party, which is the largest party in Parliament and governs as a minority.

Since the creation of Parliament, 29 people have held the office of speaker. Two people have held the office on more than one occasion. A full list of speakers is below.

† indicates Speaker died in office.

Deputies

Three other chair occupants deputise for the Speaker:

  • Deputy Speaker: Chester Borrows (National)
  • First Assistant Speaker: Lindsay Tisch (National)
  • Second Assistant Speaker: Trevor Mallard (Labour)
  • Between 1854 and 1992, the Chairman of Committees chaired the House when in Committee of the whole House (i.e., taking a bill's committee stage) and presided in the absence of the Speaker or when the Speaker so requested. These arrangements were based on those of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. Until 1992, the Chairman of Committees was known as the Deputy Speaker only when presiding over the House. That year, the position of Deputy Speaker was made official, and the role of Chairman of Committees was discontinued. The first Deputy Speaker was appointed on 10 November 1992.

    References

    Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives Wikipedia