Clark Helen: Address to Her Excellency the Governor-General 
Clark Helen: Address to Her Excellency the Governor-General 
[Volume:617;Page:13179] 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK (Prime Minister) 
: 
 I move  
That a respectful Address be presented to Her Excellency the Governor-General to mark the 150th anniversary today of the first sitting of this House 
. I welcome the many former members of Parliament in attendance in the Chamber today. I see several former Speakers who may be full of a little advice in this least controversial of sittings. 
Mr Speaker can I begin by congratulating you the Office of the Clerk and Parliamentary Service for the steps that you have jointly taken to see that the 150th anniversary of the first sitting of the House is appropriately recognised. The most important of those steps in my view has been the commissioning of an official history of the House. The new work by historian John Martin records the workings of this Chamber from the time it was first convened in 1854. 
In the 150 years that followed Parliament has both contributed to and itself reflected the changes that have taken place in our nation at large. From the 1850s the House established ways of working many of which have endured to the present day. Much was modelled on the procedures of the British House of Commons and the similarities can be seen from the pomp and ceremony of the opening through to the Standing Orders and even the institution of Bellamy’s which I see came into existence in the 1860s. 
It is well known that New Zealand led the world in 1893 by being the first country where women won the right to vote. But the holding of parliamentary elections in 1853 was also novel for the world at that time. When the Deputy Governor Lieutenant-Colonel Wynyard delivered the first Speech from the Throne in 1854 he described the new House of Representatives as “an experiment in constitutional government”. John Martin our parliamentary historian agrees that that was an accurate description because as he says: “New Zealand parliamentary democracy was one of the earliest colonial examples.” 
History records that what we gained early in this country was also very durable. Our country was one of the few in the world that was able to maintain democratic Government throughout the very turbulent 20th century. From these few islands of relative stability our people went forth in the Second World War to Europe to fight against fascism and see democracy restored there. Around the walls of this Chamber the engagements of our forces in two world wars are recorded. Members of Parliament themselves volunteered for military service in World War II and several died overseas on that service. 
My lifetime has spanned a little over one-third of the history of the New Zealand Parliament and my earliest recollections of it are of an institution that was taken very seriously and whose members were generally looked up to. Of course Parliament was rather more distant from our daily lives during my 1950s childhood than it is today. It met less often with the sittings normally confined to the winter months when there was less activity on the farms from which many members came. In an age when cars were slow roads were poor and air travel was a luxury and before the coming of television the public saw relatively little of its politicians. From the time of the first Labour Government however the public was able to hear the daily proceedings of Parliament broadcast on radio. My first memories of Parliament are indeed of that static crackling sound in the living room in the evenings when Parliament was sitting and my father was listening. 
When I first ran for election to Parliament in 1981 women MPs were somewhat rare and the selection of women candidates was still considered somewhat risky particularly for marginal seats. The greatest number ever elected to a Parliament had been four. In 1981 the number doubled to eight and then kept going up. There was a quantum leap in the number of women with the introduction of MMP from around 20 percent of all members to 30 percent. Unfortunately the number seems to have plateaued there leaving women still significantly under-represented in the House. 
However Parliaments particularly since 1996 have reflected the diversity of New Zealand’s population better than in the past. Not only are there many more women but also the number of Maori members closely reflects the proportion of Maori in the population. In addition the election of MPs from the Pasifika and Asian communities adds to the ability of the House to represent the diversity that is New Zealand today. 
Significant changes to Parliament’s Standing Orders and organisation have been made on two occasions since my election here. The first set of changes came in 1985 when the Rt Hon Geoffrey Palmer was Leader of the House. Then the Legislative Department was abolished and replaced by the Parliamentary Service. The select committee system was overhauled and the committees were given wide terms of reference enabling them to go beyond scrutinising estimates annual reports and legislation to conducting inquiries. As the chair of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee at the time I found that gave new life to a committee whose predecessors had never had much legislation to occupy their time. Our committee conducted a wide-ranging inquiry into New Zealand’s relations with China and a shorter one into relations with Canada. The committee has continued with such inquiries to this day. Prior to 1984 it was somewhat rare for select committees to sit outside Wellington. From the time of the Palmer reforms the committees began to travel to ensure that the parliamentary process was much more accessible to the public. 
In my view the New Zealand Parliament’s select committee system is one of the most progressive in the world. Almost all bills go to committees and all Government spending and operations can be thoroughly scrutinised there. Since MMP came Governments cannot necessarily count on a majority in select committees and in this term the number of committees chaired by non-Government MPs has increased further. 
In practice also MMP means that a Government cannot take for granted a majority in this Chamber. For a minority Government that means majorities must be sought on a case by case basis for legislation and confidence and supply arrangements must also be nurtured. 
Another major change made in Geoffrey Palmer’s time was to the House timetable so that it sat more regularly throughout the year. In my first year here in 1982 Parliament sat for 6 weeks from the beginning of April then adjourned until late July. It then sat every single week until just before Christmas. When the House went into urgency it sat throughout the night often for days on end. Parliament also sat on Fridays until 1 o’clock. The Palmer reforms saw the House convene in February with regular short recesses scheduled through the year and few lamented the passing of the Friday morning sitting. 
More changes to the Standing Orders came with MMP to cope with the increased numbers of parties. The speaking times in Parliament and places on select committees had to be fairly apportioned. Pairs were dispensed with changes were made to the legislative process and the Business Committee was established to bring all parties into the loop on the running of the House. Prior to that the timetable for Government business tended to be a fairly tightly guarded secret. 
Over the years the services available to MPs have steadily improved. Going back 30 years or so the secretarial support was very limited and I know there will be members with us in the Chamber today who will recall writing their own correspondence by hand. 
The history of the House records that debate has always been robust and that drama and the Chamber go together. In the early days ministries did not last long at all. Indeed John Martin records that at each of the five short sessions between 1861 and 1965 a ministry was defeated or resigned. 
Over 150 years our House has developed strong and enduring traditions but it has also been able to move with the times adopting new technologies and adapting its procedures for the new demands of MMP. The life of a member has gone from being a part-time winter season pursuit to being a demanding profession that consumes all the time a member can give it. 
It is worth acknowledging in conclusion that the Parliament of this small country has chalked up some remarkable achievements. Legislation passed here was world-leading in respect of women’s suffrage representation of indigenous people workers’ rights social security and nuclear disarmament. May this Parliament continue to serve the public interest by reflecting the people’s will over the next 150 years as it has done over its first one and a half centuries.