ELECTION08: Overseas voters in New Zealand’s 2008 General Election changed the outcome of two seats in Parliament, analysis by the overseas network Kea New Zealand shows. Votes by Kiwis based overseas were decisive in giving the Greens their ninth seat in Parliament, and took a seat away from Labour. Kea’s analysis shows that without the record-breaking 32,000 overseas votes: " the Greens would have eight seats in the new Parliament instead of nine " Labour would have 44... more>

PARLIAMENT: Old habits die hard in Parliament and National is grappling with the transition from opposition to government. During the first question time on Tuesday Labour’s front bench MPs were several times addressed as "minister" by National Party members who actually are ministers. Labour had a fine time responding with shouts of "not just yet" and forecasting they soon would be back in cabinet when they won the next election. Leader of the House Gerry Brownlee became... more>

SPEECHES: Seven new MPs made their maiden speeches in Parliament on Thursday. * Nikki Kaye said she was proud to be the first National Party MP to win Auckland Central. Ms Kaye said there were 18,000 small businesses in her electorate and part of her focus would be to support the sector. She said her background was in genetics and information technology, and she hoped to be able to contribute to debates on those issues. "The information age has provided immense power but with it comes... more>

SPEECHES: Steven Joyce, who was appointed to cabinet a week after being elected as a list MP, told Parliament on Wednesday how he was going to go about his responsibilities as a minister. "I believe in doing the hard yards, grinding it out, nothing too flashy," he said in his maiden speech. Mr Joyce, a radio network tycoon, was National’s campaign and general manager before coming to Parliament. He said he had been in business for the last 20 years and understood the... more>

PARLIAMENT: Parliament’s 122 MPs were sworn in on Monday, 35 of them for the first time. The proclamation issued by Governor-General Anand Satyanand, summoning the 49th Parliament, was read by Chief Justice Sean Elias and the oath of allegiance was administered by the Clerk of Parliament, Mary Harris. All MPs declared their true allegiance to Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors, according to law. Most MPs swore their oaths on the Bible while others chose to attest.... more>