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- Engage-in-Brief: 8 September 2025
Engage-in-Brief: 8 September 2025
Holly Bennett
September 08, 2025
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TWO TRICKS TO TRY
Is there someone in your life who wants to engage more with Parliament but is more comfortable reading in a language other than English? Parliament’s website has resources available in many different languages, including Te Reo Māori, Samoan, Rotuman, and more! There are resources available in NZSL and EasyRead formats as well.
Voting documents for the local elections will begin distribution this week, so keep an eye on your letterbox. If they haven’t arrived by the time you next receive an issue of Engage-in-Brief, they might have gone astray! We’ll include a reminder in that issue too, but if you’re concerned that your papers won’t arrive by the deadline, get in touch with the electoral commission.
ONE THING YOU NEED TO KNOW
This weekend brought with it voting day for the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election, with a win for Te Pāti Māori candidate Oriini Kaipara. So we thought we'd take the opportunity to talk a bit about by-elections — what are the rules around them, how do they happen, and if there are any circumstances in which a seat remains empty.
A by-election is held whenever an electorate seat is vacant (if a list MP leaves Parliament, then their seat is filled by the next person on their party’s list — which we will also see this week, when Mike Davidson is sworn in as the Green Party’s newest MP). The Tāmaki Makaurau by-election is the second one we’ve had during this Parliamentary term — first was the Port Waikato by-election in November 2023.
The procedures for a by-election are pretty similar to those of a general election, with the key difference being that you don’t get a party vote during a by-election. This means that some parties may choose not to run a candidate if they don’t expect to win it — there’s no runner-up prize in a by-election!
If an electorate seat is vacated less than six months out from a general election, though, Parliament can choose to not hold a by-election. Instead, the House can pass a motion that no writ be issued for a by-election, which means that the seat remains empty until the general election. The motion requires the support of 75% of MPs. Outside of the six-month pre-election timeframe, the standard procedures for filling a vacant seat can only be set aside if the House passes special legislation. This happened in 1943 and 1987, when the House passed legislation that meant no by-elections would happen for the remainder of those Parliaments.
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FROM OUR TAUIRA
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ONE FUNNY THING
The House has been taking a break for the last two weeks, so this edition’s Funny Thing takes us back in time a little bit, to Question Time on Tuesday 14 August.
This is also a good example of the sort of rhetorical gymnastics that you get in the House, as MPs try to work within the Standing Orders while still getting the outcome they want. To learn more about Question Time, check out Parliament’s website.
That’s it for another edition of Engage-in-Brief! Remember, you have a voice and you can use it. If you need training to support your advocacy efforts simply reply to this email.
Mauri ora!
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