by Nick Clark
New Zealand's three-year parliamentary term is too short for effective government and the country needs more MPs to keep politicians accessible to voters.
“MMP has delivered fairer and more representative parliaments, but it’s time for an upgrade,” says Nick Clark, Senior Fellow at The New Zealand Initiative and author of our report examining 30 years of MMP in New Zealand.
“By the time a government finds its feet and starts implementing policy, it is already thinking about the next election,” Clark says. “A four-year term would give governments time to develop coherent long-term policies.”
The research also reveals New Zealand’s Parliament is undersized. At 120 MPs, it is about 30 percent smaller than international benchmarks suggest it should be.
His report, MMP After 30 Years: Time for Electoral Reform?, examines constitutional issues, MMP design features, and voting procedures, drawing on New Zealand and international experience.
The report's recommendations are bold:
- Extend the parliamentary term to four years with stronger select committees to maintain accountability, increase Parliament from 120 to 170 MPs and cut the Cabinet from 20 to 15 ministers.
- The report also tackles technical fixes. It proposes abolishing overhang seats – a problem that recently inflated Germany’s parliament to 736 members and lowering the party vote threshold to 3.5-4%.
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