How-to Guides for NZ Parliament

To help understand the differences between what Parliament and Government do, let’s start with a quick overview of how Aotearoa is governed.

Under New Zealand’s constitutional system, state power is split into three separate arms: the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary. These three arms of power are responsible for making, implementing and interpreting the laws that govern our country

Parliament is the supreme legislative power and is responsible for making our laws. Parliament is made up of the House of Representatives and the Sovereign usually represented by the Governor-General The Government’s job is to decide policy and administer the laws through the day to day running of the country. And finally, the Judiciary interprets and applies the law in the courts. That’s a very simple overview of the whole system, now let’s have a closer look at how Parliament and Government work.

After an election, every candidate who won an electorate seat or came in on their party list becomes a member of Parliament. The party, or group of parties, that form the majority in parliament forms the Government, which is made up of the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and around 30 Ministers. The Prime Minister’s job is to lead the Government while each of the Ministers and associated ministries manage the work of a specific sector like fisheries or health. Together they are responsible for running the country and making decisions around things like how tax will be collected, and how it should be used. So, while Parliament is made up of every candidate who became an MP after the results of the election, only a small selection of them make up the Government.

The most important function of Parliament is to make the laws by which the country is governed, which can have important impacts on our everyday lives. To do this, Parliament guides bills introduced by Ministers and MPs through several stages to scrutinise them before they are agreed to by the House and the Governor General to become law. A lot of Parliament’s work happens at select committees, where MPs from each party examine issues or proposed new laws in detail. They also hear opinions from the public before reporting back to the House.

In Parliament, the biggest party outside of the Government is known as the Opposition. Their job is to question the Government’s decisions and hold it to account for its policies, actions, and spending. Overall, Parliament uses its systems of checks and balances to make sure the Government is acting in the best interests of the people of Aotearoa.

Remember that Parliament is here to represent you and there are lots of ways you can have your say. You can also visit us by coming on a tour or watching a select committee or the house in action. To get the details, or if you want to find out more about Parliament and Government in Aotearoa, visit www.parliament.nz