Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives

In New Zealand, the speaker of the House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House (Māori: Te mana whakawā o te Whare), is the presiding officer and highest authority of the New Zealand House of Representatives. The individual who holds the position is elected by members of the House from among their number in the first session after each general election. They hold one of the highest-ranking offices in New Zealand. The current Speaker is Adrian Rurawhe who was elected on 24 August 2022.

Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives
Te Mana Whakawā o te Whare (Māori)
Incumbent Adrian Rurawhe since 24 August 2022
Style	The Right Honourable
Residence	Speaker's Apartments, Parliament House, Wellington
Nominator	New Zealand House of Representatives
Appointer	Governor-General of New Zealand at the behest of the House of Representatives
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure elected by the House at the start of each Parliament, and upon a vacancy
Inaugural holder	Sir Charles Clifford
Formation	1854
Website	Office of the Speaker

The speaker's role in presiding over New Zealand's House of Representatives is similar to that of speakers elsewhere in other countries that use the Westminster system. The speaker presides over the House's debates, determining which members may speak; the speaker is also responsible for maintaining order during debate, and may discipline members who break the rules of the House. Aside from duties relating to presiding over the House, the speaker also performs administrative and procedural functions, and remains a Member of Parliament (MP).

Role

In the debating chamber

 

The Speaker, Ronald Algie (wearing a wig and robes), seated in the Chair in the debating chamber, 1966

The speaker's most visible role is that of presiding over the House of Representatives when it is in session.^[1] The speaker presides from an elevated chair behind the Table in the debating chamber.^[2] 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.^[3]

An important part of the speaker's role is enforcing discipline in the House.^[1] They are expected to conduct the business of the House in an impartial manner.^[4] The speaker defers to 'Standing Orders', which are the written rules of conduct governing the business of the House. Included in these rules are certain powers available to the speaker to ensure reasonable behaviour by MPs, including the ability to order disruptive MPs to leave the debating chamber.^[5] MPs who feel one of these rules has been breached by another member can interrupt a debate by using a procedure known as a 'point of order'.^[5] The speaker must then determine whether the complaint is just. Earlier Speaker's rulings on similar points of order are referred to in considering the point raised. The clerk of the House, who sits directly in front of the speaker, assists the speaker in making such rulings.^[5]

By convention, speakers have traditionally been addressed inside the debating chamber as "Mr Speaker" or "Madam Speaker".^[6]

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.^[7] In doing so, the speaker consults and receives advice from the Parliamentary Service Commission, which comprises MPs from across the House.^[8]

As the most senior office of Parliament, the speaker has other statutory responsibilities, for example under the Electoral Act 1993.^[9] 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.^[10]

The speaker chairs three select committees:

• the Standing Orders Committee
• the Business Committee
• the Officers of Parliament Committee.^[7]

The Business Committee chaired by the speaker controls the organisation of the business of the House. Also on the committee, established after the first mixed member proportional (MMP) election in 1996, is the leader of the House, the Opposition shadow leader and the whips of each party.

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.^[1] 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 United 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.^[11] In the event of a tied vote the motion in question lapses.

Election

The speaker is always a member of Parliament (MP), and is elected to the position by other MPs at the beginning of a parliamentary term, or when a speaker dies, resigns or is removed from the position (via a vote of no confidence^[12]) intra-term.^[7] The election of a speaker is presided over by the clerk of the House. It is unusual for an election to be contested, with only six votes since 1854 having more than one candidate. The first such contested vote did not occur for 69 years until 1923.^[13] It took 73 years for the second contested vote for Speaker in 1996.^[14] 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.^[5]

It is traditional for the newly-elected speaker to pretend he or she did not want to accept the position; the speaker feigns resistance as they are 'dragged' to their chair,^[15] in a practice dating from the days when British speakers risked execution if the news they reported to the king was displeasing.^[16]

After being elected by the House, the speaker-elect is formally confirmed in office by the governor-general.^[17] At the start of a term of Parliament, the newly confirmed speaker follows the tradition of claiming the privileges of the House.^{[clarification needed]}

Precedence, salary and privileges

 

Speaker Sir Arthur Guinness, wearing the speaker's wig, 1911. The formal wig fell into disuse some decades later.

Each day, prior to the sitting of the House of Representatives, the speaker and other officials travel in procession from the speaker's personal apartments to the debating chamber. The procession includes the doorkeeper, the serjeant-at-arms, the speaker and the speaker's assistant. When the speaker reaches the chamber, the serjeant-at-arms announces the Speaker's arrival and places the Mace on the Table of the House.^[7]

As of 2013^[update], the annual salary is NZ$268,500.^{[18][needs update]}

The office is third most important constitutionally, after the governor-general and the prime minister.^[19] (See New Zealand order of precedence.)

Official dress

Originally, speakers wore a gown and formal wig in the chamber. This practice has fallen into disuse since the 1990s.^[1] Speakers now generally wear what they feel appropriate, usually an academic gown of their highest held degree or a Māori cloak.^[20]

Holders of the office

The current Speaker is Adrian Rurawhe, a member of the Labour Party.

Since the creation of Parliament, 31 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.

Key

† indicates Speaker died in office.

  Independent   Liberal   Reform   United   Labour   Democratic Labour   National

No.		Name	Portrait	Term of Office		Prime Minister
	1	Sir Charles Clifford		31 May 1854	12 December 1860		Sewell
							Fox
							Stafford
	2	David Monro		3 June 1861	13 September 1870		Fox
							Domett
							Whitaker
							Weld
							Stafford
							Fox
	3	Dillon Bell		14 August 1871	21 October 1875
							Stafford
							Waterhouse
							Fox
							Vogel
							Pollen
	4	William Fitzherbert		15 June 1876	11 August 1879		Vogel
							Atkinson
							Grey
	5	Maurice O'Rorke		24 September 1879	17 September 1890		Hall
							Whitaker
							Atkinson
							Stout
							Atkinson
							Stout
							Atkinson
	6	William Steward		23 January 1891	8 November 1893		Ballance
							Seddon
	(5)	Maurice O'Rorke		21 June 1894	3 October 1902
	7	Arthur Guinness		29 June 1903	10 June 1913†
							Hall-Jones
							Ward
							Mackenzie
							Massey
	8	Frederic Lang		26 June 1913	31 October 1922
	9	Charles Statham		7 February 1923	1 November 1935
							Bell
							Coates
							Ward
							Forbes
	10	Bill Barnard		25 March 1936	25 September 1943		Savage
							Fraser
	11	Bill Schramm		22 February 1944	12 October 1946
	12	Robert McKeen		24 June 1947	21 October 1949
	13	Matthew Oram		27 June 1950	25 October 1957		Holland
							Holyoake
	14	Robert Macfarlane		21 January 1958	28 October 1960		Nash
	15	Ronald Algie		20 June 1961	26 November 1966		Holyoake
	16	Roy Jack		26 April 1967	9 February 1972
							Marshall
	17	Alfred E. Allen		7 June 1972	26 October 1972
	18	Stan Whitehead		14 February 1973	10 October 1975		Kirk
							Rowling
	(16)	Roy Jack		22 June 1976	24 December 1977†		Muldoon
	19	Richard Harrison		10 May 1978	14 July 1984
	20	Basil Arthur		15 August 1984	1 May 1985†		Lange
	21	Gerry Wall		28 May 1985	16 September 1987
	22	Kerry Burke		16 September 1987	28 November 1990
							Palmer
							Moore
	23	Robin Gray		28 November 1990	21 December 1993		Bolger
	24	Peter Tapsell		21 December 1993	12 December 1996
	25	Doug Kidd		12 December 1996	20 December 1999
							Shipley
	26	Jonathan Hunt		20 December 1999	3 March 2005		Clark
	27	Margaret Wilson		3 March 2005	8 December 2008
	28	Lockwood Smith		8 December 2008	31 January 2013		Key
	29	David Carter		31 January 2013	7 November 2017
							English
	30	Trevor Mallard		7 November 2017	24 August 2022		Ardern
	31	Adrian Rurawhe		24 August 2022	Incumbent

Deputies

There are currently four presiding officers (usually three) appointed to deputise for the Speaker:

• Deputy Speaker: Greg O'Connor
• First Assistant Speaker: Hon Jenny Salesa
• Second Assistant Speaker: Hon Jacqui Dean
• Third Assistant Speaker: Ian McKelvie^{[n 1]}

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.^[22] 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.^[23] The first Deputy Speaker was appointed on 10 November 1992.^[24] Additionally, two Assistant Speakers are usually appointed. The first Assistant Speaker was appointed in 1996,^[25] replacing the position of Deputy Chairman of Committees, which had been established in 1975.^[26] The Deputy Speaker and Assistant Speakers take the chair and may exercise the Speaker's authority in his or her absence. On 1 March 2022, Ian McKelvie was appointed as a third Assistant Speaker, in order to ensure that a presiding officer would be always be available while the House was sitting with some members participating remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.^[21] Two further temporary Assistant Speakers were added for the sitting week of 9 to 11 August 2022, to cover absences.^[27] On 22 November 2022, when the government accorded urgency to business as a result of the sitting time lost from the passing of Elizabeth II, Barbara Kuriger was appointed as a temporary Assistant Speaker until 26 November 2022.^[28][29]

Key

  National   Labour   United NZ

List of Deputy Speakers

No.		Name	Term of Office		Speaker
	1	Jim Gerard	10 November 1992	12 October 1996		Gray
						Tapsell
	2	Ian Revell	13 December 1996	18 February 1999		Kidd
	3	Geoff Braybrooke	17 March 1999	27 July 2002
						Hunt
	4	Ann Hartley	27 August 2002	19 September 2005
						Wilson
	5	Clem Simich	8 November 2005	8 November 2008
	6	Lindsay Tisch	9 December 2008	26 November 2011		Smith
	7	Eric Roy	21 December 2011	20 September 2014
						Carter
	8	Chester Borrows	21 October 2014	23 September 2017
	9	Anne Tolley	8 November 2017	17 October 2020		Mallard
	10	Adrian Rurawhe	26 November 2020	24 August 2022
	11	Greg O'Connor	25 August 2022	present		Rurawhe

List of First Assistant Speakers

No.		Name	Term of Office		Speaker
	1	Peter Hilt	21 February 1996	12 October 1996		Tapsell
	2	Geoff Braybrooke	18 February 1997	17 March 1999		Kidd
	3	Brian Neeson	17 March 1999	27 November 1999
	4	Jill Pettis	21 December 1999	27 July 2002		Hunt
	5	Ross Robertson	27 August 2002	8 November 2008
						Wilson
	6	Eric Roy	9 December 2008	26 November 2011		Smith
	7	Lindsay Tisch	21 December 2011	23 September 2017
						Carter
	8	Poto Williams	8 November 2017	3 July 2019		Mallard
	9	Ruth Dyson	3 July 2019	17 October 2020
	10	Jenny Salesa	26 November 2020	present
						Rurawhe

List of Second Assistant Speakers

No.		Name	Term of Office		Speaker
	1	Marie Hasler	18 February 1997	8 September 1998		Kidd
	2	Eric Roy	10 September 1998	27 July 2002
						Hunt
	3	Clem Simich	27 August 2002	19 September 2005
						Wilson
	4	Ann Hartley	8 November 2005	28 February 2008
	5	Marian Hobbs	4 March 2008	8 November 2008
	6	Rick Barker	9 December 2008	12 April 2011		Smith
	7	Ross Robertson	12 April 2011	20 September 2014
						Carter
	8	Trevor Mallard	21 October 2014	23 September 2017
	9	Adrian Rurawhe	8 November 2017	26 November 2020		Mallard
	10	Jacqui Dean	26 November 2020	present
						Rurawhe

List of Third and Temporary Assistant Speakers

No.		Name	Term of Office		Speaker
	1	Ian McKelvie	1 March 2022	present		Mallard
						Rurawhe
	2	David Bennett	9 August 2022	11 August 2022		Mallard
	3	Greg O'Connor	9 August 2022	11 August 2022
	4	Barbara Kuriger	22 November 2022	26 November 2022		Rurawhe

See also

• Speaker of the New Zealand Legislative Council
• Constitution of New Zealand

Footnotes

1. Appointed to serve as an additional Assistant Speaker while the House sits with members participating remotely, as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[21]

Notes

1. "The Speaker". Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 15 July 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
2. "Guide to the debating chamber". New Zealand House of Representatives. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
3. Mulgan, R. G.; Aimer, Peter (2004). Politics in New Zealand. Auckland University Press. p. 105. ISBN 9781869403188.
4. Wilson, John (1 September 2016). "Speaker of the House of Representatives". Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
5. "Standing Orders of the House of Representatives" (PDF). New Zealand Parliament. pp. 39–40. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
6. Parliamentary Debates. New Zealand Parliament.
7. "Role & election of the Speaker". New Zealand Parliament.
8. "Parliamentary Service Commission". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
9. "Electoral Act 1993 No 87 (as at 01 May 2017), Public Act Contents". www.legislation.govt.nz. New Zealand Legislation. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
10. "Lockwood Smith – inside the landlord's retreat". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
11. "Conscience votes". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
12. "Winston Peters calls for vote of no confidence against Speaker". 1 News. 4 May 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
13. Parliamentary Debates. Vol. 199. Wellington. 1923. pp. 10–11.
14. Parliamentary Debates. Vol. 558. Wellington. 1996. pp. 6–7.
15. "Carter elected Speaker of the House". Stuff.co.nz. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
16. "Rules and traditions of Parliament". parliament.co.uk. UK Parliament. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
17. "Speaker confirmation ceremony". gg.govt.nz. The Governor-General of New Zealand. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
18. "Parliamentary Salaries and Allowances Determination 2013 (SR 2013/462) (as at 26 February 2015) Schedule 1 Salaries payable under section 16 of Civil List Act 1979". www.legislation.govt.nz. New Zealand Legislation. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
19. "Office of the Speaker". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
20. "NZ Prime Minister Gets Thrown Out of Parliament". Lowering the Bar. 12 May 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
21. "Appointments — Assistant Speaker". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
22. McLintock 1966.
23. "Members' Conditions Of Service". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
24. "Speaker of the House of Representatives". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
25. Hansard. Vol. 552. New Zealand Parliament. 1996. p. 75.
26. Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
27. "Appointments — Assistant Speakers - New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
28. Malpass, Luke (23 November 2022). "Cheat sheet: What's the rush? Parliament goes into urgency to pass massive wodge of new laws". Stuff. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
29. "Appointments — Assistant Speaker - New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 24 November 2022.

References

• McLintock, A. H., ed. (1966). "Meeting of Parliament". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand (updated 22 April 2009 ed.). Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
• Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Speakers of the New Zealand House of Representatives.

• Office of the Speaker – New Zealand House of Representatives (Official)