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Government under MMP 1996-2006
1996
Mixed Member Proportional
A voting system based on German model where each voter gets two votes, one for a candidate in his or her local electorate, and one for the party of his or her choice, chosen from those registered parties who have nominated a party list of members.
Of the 120 seats in Parliament, half are elected in an electorate, and the other half are selected from the party lists, with the number of list seats held by a party decided by that party's share of the overall vote. However, to qualify for a share of the list seats, a political party must have received at least 5% of all the Party votes cast, or have won either a General or a Māori electorate seat.
- First General Election under MMP, with the total number of seats in parliament increased to 120, with 6 parties represented.
- New Zealand First wins all 5 Māori seats.
- Coalition government formed by National, led by Jim Bolger, and New Zealand First, led by Winston Peters.
- Pansy Wong becomes first Asian member of New Zealand parliament.
1997
- Jenny Shipley replaces Jim Bolger as leader of the National Party and becomes New Zealand's first woman Prime Minister.
- Green Party leaves the Alliance.
1998
- New Zealand First, led by Winston Peters, breaks up the coalition, leaving National as a minority government.
1999
- Dame Sian Elias becomes New Zealand's first female chief justice.
- Helen Clark becomes New Zealand's first elected woman Prime Minister, heading a coalition government made up of members of parliament from the Labour, Alliance and Green parties.
- Labour wins back all Māori seats (now 6 in number).
- 7 parties now represented in parliament.
- Georgina Beyer becomes world's first transsexual member of parliament.
- Nandor Tanczos becomes New Zealand's first member of parliament of the Ras Tafari faith.
2001
- United New Zealand and Future New Zealand combine to form United Future New Zealand under the leadership of Peter Dunne.
- Dame Silvia Cartwright becomes Governor-General.
- Jenny Shipley replaced by Bill English as leader of the National Party.
2002
- Jim Anderton leaves Alliance and founds Progressive Coalition.
- After an early election Labour, led by Helen Clark, forms minority government with the Progressive Coalition party and supported by United Future New Zealand.
- Māori seats increased to 7.
- Dr Ashraf Choudhary becomes New Zealand's first Muslim member of parliament.
2003
- New Zealand population reaches 4 million.
- Don Brash replaces Bill English as leader of the National Party.
- Labour Government releases draft proposal on controversial foreshore and seabed issue.
2004
- Don Brash highlights race relations as an election issue.
- New Zealand suspends high-level contacts with Israel, alleging that two Israelis jailed for trying illegally to obtain New Zealand passports were Mossad agents. The suspected spies are deported in September.
- New Zealand and China begin talks on a potentially-lucrative free trade agreement.
- The Civil Unions Act is passed. The Act establishes the new institution of civil union, available to same-sex and de facto couples.
2005
- The foreshore and seabed legislation comes into effect and is criticised by a UN committee
- At the September elections, the Labour-Progressive government is supported by New Zealand First and United Future, both with their leader as a minister outside Cabinet.
- The Civil Unions and Relationships Acts come into force on 26 April.
2006
- Judge Anand Satyanand has been appointed to succeed Dame Silvia Cartwright as HM the Queen's Governor-General of New Zealand, taking up office in August.
- The New Zealand Parliament passes an act making New Zealand Sign Language the third official language of New Zealand, alongside English and Māori.
- On 30 September, the New Zealand Government apologises to the Te Arawa iwi over Treaty of Waitangi grievances, and returns 50,000 ha of Crown land and 19 areas of special significance to it.
- The Christian Heritage Party, established in 1989, announces that it is disbanding.
- National Party leader Don Brash resigns. John Key appointed leader of the National Party, with Bill English as deputy.
