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Jo Mackay with her own pro MMP billboard. Photo by John Nicholson, 1993. Dominion post (Newspaper). Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/23099027.
Source: Alexander Turnbull Library
Why change?
The breakdown of public trust and confidence in the old two-party system gathered momentum over the 1970s and 1980s. FPP allowed the two main parties to dominate, while minor parties were often excluded altogether. As people became disillusioned, more voters began to look to alternative parties, but it was hard for minor parties to win seats in Parliament despite repeatedly gaining more than 10% of the vote.
For example, in 1981 nearly 21% of electors voted for Social Credit, but they gained just two seats in Parliament. In the 1984 election the New Zealand Party won 12% but no seats.
Criticism of the unfairness of the FPP voting system increased after the 1978 and 1981 general elections. On each occasion the Labour Opposition actually secured more votes overall than National, but National won more seats in Parliament and remained in government.
Demands for a parliament that better represented Aotearoa New Zealand’s gender, ethnic, and ideological diversity and the perceived lack of accountability of single-party government, also added weight to the call for change.
The Royal Commission and Electoral System Referendums
In its 1981 and 1984 election campaigns, the Labour Party promised to establish a Royal Commission to enquire into a number of issues relating to the electoral system. Following Labour's victory in 1984, a Royal Commission on the Electoral System was appointed in 1985.
In its 1986 report, the Royal Commission recommended adoption of the MMP voting system because it ensured fairness between political parties and was likely to provide more effective representation of minority and special interest groups.
Due to ongoing demand for change the government held an indicative referendum (that is, one that was not binding on the government) on 19 September 1992. A second, binding, referendum was held alongside the 1993 general election, and 54% of voters elected to change the voting system to MMP. Support for MMP was highest among the Māori (65.8%) and North Island electorates (54.5%).
MMP was first used for New Zealand’s 1996 general election.
A further non-binding referendum on whether to retain MMP was held in conjunction with the 2011 general election. An increased majority (58%) voted to keep MMP, with Māori electorates overwhelmingly in favour (82.8%). General electorates with the highest level of support for MMP included Māngere (76.7%), Manukau East (73.7%), and Rongotai (72.9%). Clutha-Southland voted against MMP with support for MMP at 44.6%, followed by Rodney (46.4%), Hunua (46.4%), and Helensville (46.6%).
Assessing MMP
The 2020 general election was New Zealand’s ninth to use MMP. A total of 6,197 candidates have contested a seat; anywhere from five to eight parties have been represented in Parliament at any one time; women regularly comprise anywhere from 30% to nearly 50% of Parliament; Māori from 15-20%; Pacific Peoples (since 2011) around five percent; and MPs of Asian ethnicity (since 2008) around five percent. See: The 2020 General Election and referendums: results, analysis, and demographics of the 53rd Parliament
These statistics suggest that the move to MMP has had significant impacts on both representation and representativeness: higher numbers of MPs has led to increased levels of representation, while a Parliament that has more parties, and whose members are demographically more diverse, is more representative of the New Zealand population as a whole. MMP has also meant substantial changes in process — changes to government formation, government-type, parliamentary proceedings, and the role of an MP.
The impact on type of government formed after elections is obvious. Minority coalition governments have been most common, with five occurrences since 1996. Single-party minority governments are the next most common, with four instances during the MMP era. The 2020 election is the first to result in a single-party majority government — the norm under FPP.
Parliamentary proceedings have also been altered to reflect MMP practices with changes to the Standing Orders, the parliamentary calendar, the role of the Speaker, the status of Opposition parties, the reporting of parliamentary proceedings, voting procedures, and the select committee system being the most significant.
Changes to the select committee system under MMP have impacted the role of an MP. Increased resourcing and the appointment of independent advisers to committees has resulted in committee members having a greater influence over the policy-making process, a greater commitment to working consensually, and more opportunities to use select committees as a forum both to express their independent views and for members of the public to directly with their representatives.”[1]
The Electoral Commission recommended some changes to MMP in 2012, and both the Electoral Commission and Parliament’s Justice Committee recommend changes in the inquiries they hold following each general election. So while it’s possible there will be future changes to New Zealand’s voting system, the comparative stability of New Zealand politics since the turn of the 21st century suggests that voters and politicians have largely adapted to life under MMP.
[1] Grant Gillon and Raymond Miller, “Role of an MP”, in Raymond Miller, (ed.), New Zealand Government and Politics, 4th edition, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, 2006, p. 176.