“MMP has delivered fairer and more representative parliaments, but it’s time for an upgrade,” says Nick Clark, Senior Fellow at The New Zealand Initiative and author of our report examining 30 years of MMP in New Zealand.
“By the time a government finds its feet and starts implementing policy, it is already thinking about the next election,” Clark says. “A four-year term would give governments time to develop coherent long-term policies.”
The research also reveals New Zealand’s Parliament is undersized. At 120 MPs, it is about 30 percent smaller than international benchmarks suggest it should be.
His report, MMP After 30 Years: Time for Electoral Reform?, examines constitutional issues, MMP design features, and voting procedures, drawing on New Zealand and international experience.
The report's recommendations are bold:
Click to view
Nick is a Senior Fellow at The New Zealand Initiative, focusing on local government, resource management, and economic policy. This article was first published HERE
The research also reveals New Zealand’s Parliament is undersized. At 120 MPs, it is about 30 percent smaller than international benchmarks suggest it should be.
His report, MMP After 30 Years: Time for Electoral Reform?, examines constitutional issues, MMP design features, and voting procedures, drawing on New Zealand and international experience.
The report's recommendations are bold:
- Extend the parliamentary term to four years with stronger select committees to maintain accountability, increase Parliament from 120 to 170 MPs and cut the Cabinet from 20 to 15 ministers.
- The report also tackles technical fixes. It proposes abolishing overhang seats – a problem that recently inflated Germany’s parliament to 736 members and lowering the party vote threshold to 3.5-4%.
The 2023 election exposed serious problems in the system. More than 600,000 special votes took three weeks to count, delaying government formation and undermining public confidence. Clark’s reforms would prevent similar delays.
Parliament is already considering some changes, with Bills before the House to enable a four-year term and address vote-counting problems.
"These reforms aren't about radical redesign," Clark says. "They're about updating a system that has served us well but now needs modernising for 21st century realities. After 30 years, we know what works and what doesn't."
Parliament is already considering some changes, with Bills before the House to enable a four-year term and address vote-counting problems.
"These reforms aren't about radical redesign," Clark says. "They're about updating a system that has served us well but now needs modernising for 21st century realities. After 30 years, we know what works and what doesn't."
Click to view
Nick is a Senior Fellow at The New Zealand Initiative, focusing on local government, resource management, and economic policy. This article was first published HERE
3 comments:
What the writer is proposing is the exact opposite of what is needed. What do half of these MPs actually do? Swan around the world to various conferences which produce no tangible results for New Zealand. Let's decrease the number of MPs, give them a short timeframe to implement worthwhile policies for all New Zealanders, and mandate them to implement the policies they were voted in on.
The pollies (both sides) have spent the last three or four decades running the country into the racially divided, poorly-educated, debt-laden mess we enjoy today and yet we should extend the time between elections by a third and pay for 25% more of them to no doubt continue to ignore us? Yeah, right.
Get rid of list MPs and require everyone to stand in and be accountable to an electorate. Keep the number of MPs the same. Slash their wages and pension plans.
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