Parliament to keep NZ leaders on their toes
WHATEVER the shape of New Zealand's new government, the election has ensured it will have a parliament to keep the leadership in line.
The new Mixed Member Proportional voting system has ended the House of Representatives' traditional domination by white middle-aged males and yielded a legislative body that much more accurately reflects the population.
The poll last weekend saw 16 MPs lose their seats and 45 newcomers - more than a third of the total - elected to Parliament.
Eight of the new MPs belong to ACT New Zealand, a brand new party.
When Parliament meets on December 13, it will include a record total of 35 women - up from 20. There will be 15 Maoris, giving the indigenous people representation proportional to their share of the population. Two more Pacific Islanders will join Phillip Field, elected in 1993, the first Samoan to gain a seat. A sprinkling of younger MPs include two 26-year-old women, one of them Maori.
One of the Pacific Islanders, Arthur Anae, who is of Samoan, Chinese and European blood, joins Pansy Wong, Shanghai-born and educated in Hong Kong, as the country's first MPs of Asian descent.
Ms Wong has still to be confirmed after squeaking in as a nominated MP.
She hailed her election as a turning point for New Zealand's 185,000 Asian residents.
'In future, there will be visible and vocal participation by the Asian community in our political and social debate.' But analysis of the voting figures indicated New Zealand's Asian population is more interested in mainstream parties than their own ethnic groups.
The new Ethnic Minority Party, formed after New Zealand First leader Winston Peters launched his anti-immigration campaign earlier this year, made surprisingly little impact.
It put up a list of 11 candidates in the Auckland region, where most Asians live, but attracted only 2,189 votes, 800 fewer than Animals First, a party dedicated to animal protection.
The Wellington-based Asia Pacific United Party fared even worse, with fewer than 700 votes.