The Effect of the Advent of the Mixed-Member Proportional Voting System Upon the Role of the Governor-General of New Zealand

Abstract

The Governor-General can be said to have three principal roles, constitutional, ceremonial, and community leadership. Of these, though it is the first which has been the subject of the most intensive study, it is perhaps the third which has greatest day-to-day importance. This role includes commenting on contemporary social trends and virtues. The ceremonial role of the Governor-General is seen as relatively unimportant, due to the lack of a tradition of overt symbolism and ceremony in New Zealand. The varied roles of the Governor-General will be examined in the first section. The constitutional role of the Governor-General will be considered in the second section. The low profile of the office has encouraged a minimalist perception of the role. Examples from Australia and elsewhere show that this perception is not necessarily accurate. Yet the perception of the office is critical in determining its actual role. A major factor at present impacting upon the constitutional role of the Governor-General in New Zealand, and therefore the function of the Crown is the on-going impact of the introduction of the Mixed-Member Proportional (MMP) voting system. MMP could alter the balance of the constitution, thereby possibly endangering the position of the Crown. The possible effects of MMP are evaluated in the third section. Whether MMP has weakened the office of Governor-General is yet to be determined, but it may be that the effects are more pronounced in the long-term than they may appear now. Because the Governor-General is the principal personification of the Crown in New Zealand, the importance of the office within that body cannot be exaggerated. An assessment of the current state of the office is therefore made in the fourth section. In particular, this will ask whether the gradual departure from the Westminster model, and the changing relationships within the executive and between executive and Parliament has undermined the position of the Governor-General, or perchance strengthened it.