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Legal stuff > Dr.Glossie’s Glossary of Political Terms
Dr.Glossie’s Glossary of Political Terms
Not quite sure what a select committee is or if ‘Bill’ is just a guy with a seagull on his head? Here is Dr.Glossie’s Glossary of Political Terms.
BILLS
What’s a Bill?
All laws start life off as a Bill. Most Bills are introduced by
Ministers and are known as “Government Bills”. It is a pretty tough
life for a Bill trying to become a law. All Bills get debated three
times in Parliament. After the first debate about it in Parliament, the
Bill goes to a Select Committee for a really good examination. This is
where the people of New Zealand get the chance to have their say.
You can find more info on the life of a Bill becoming a Law and a list of all the Bills coming up on the Parliament website.
CABINET
What’s Cabinet?
Cabinet is the central decision-making group of government. It makes
decisions on important stuff like: big issues facing New Zealand, new
laws, touchy subjects and international agreements. A group of top
Ministers plus the Prime Minister make up the crew in the Cabinet.
You can find a nice pic and more in-depth info about what Cabinet does
on the website of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
MP
What’s a Member of Parliament?
The politicians you see on TV or hear on the radio debating in
Parliament are Members of Parliament (MPs). MPs belong to different
political parties that your parents, friends who are 18 years or older
and the guy down the road voted for. MPs bring the word from
their communities to Parliament for the Government to hear. The
Government is made up of MPs from the political party with the most
seats at the last general election.
Electorate MPs: Every area in New Zealand has an MP who has been
elected to represent the people in that community (electorate MP). They
are interested in what people from their electorate (the area that they
get their votes from) think about an issue. Remember that electorate
MPs are elected by their local community to serve and represent them in
Parliament – that includes representing young people.
List MPs: Other MPs are called “list MPs”. A list MP is someone who has
been elected from the party list instead being elected by the
community. Before the general election all political parties write a
“party list”. This list has all of the names of that party’s candidates
on it. All of the names are ranked according to which people the party
wants to get into Parliament. So the leader of a party would be in the
number one slot and a new candidate would be somewhere near the bottom.
You only get to become a list MP if your party wins enough votes in the
election to get down to your ranking in the party list.
You can find a massive list of all of the MPs on the Parliament
website. It gives a blurb about them and their contact details,
including email addresses.
MINISTER
What’s a Minister?
These people are some of the big decision-makers in the Government (the
party or groups of parties that has a majority in Parliament), and have
been given responsibility to look after a particular area (which is
called a portfolio) e.g. Minister of Health.
So if you have a concern
about a national or local issue that fits under a Minister’s portfolio
you should write to them so they know what you think.
You have probably heard about some of the really BIG Ministers like the
Minister of Health or the Minister of Education. Did you know that
there is a Minister for Food Safety and a Minister for Disarmament and
Arms Control?
There is also a Minister of Youth Affairs who is our Minister here at
the Ministry of Youth Development! Check out what the Minister of Youth
Affairs has to say here and email her with your thoughts.
SELECT COMMITTEE
What’s a Select Committee?
There are 13 different Select Committees. Each one has about eight MPs
from different parties in Parliament. Each Select Committee focuses on
one or two big national topics like “health” or “justice”.
One of the jobs of the Select Committee is to examine Bills and then
report back to Parliament. The Select Committee gets into the details
of the Bill and finds out what New Zealanders think through a public
submission process. They make recommendations to Parliament based on
what they hear from the public and experts on the issue.
SUBMISSIONS
What’s a submission to a Select Committee?
One of the ways you can get your voice heard by government and be part
of the decision making process is to share your opinion on a new law or
change an old one. This is called making a submission to a Select
Committee. New Zealand is a democracy so that means we can all have our
say and influence the big decisions that affect us all.
Whether you are 14 or 40, a student or a doctor, all public submissions
are given the same respect and value. You don’t have to have any
special knowledge (and you can be any age) to write a submission. All
you need is an interest in a current hot topic.
Generally submissions to Select Committees become public, which means that anyone can see what you (or your group) have said.
Action Guide 8: Write a submission to Parliament
Google ‘submission to Select Committee’ and ‘young people’ or a
particular Bill you are interested in checking out and see what public
submissions you can find.
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