40th New Zealand Parliament

40th Parliament of New Zealand
← 39th Parliament 41st Parliament →
Parliament House, Wellington
Overview
Legislative body	New Zealand Parliament
Term	6 April 1982 – 14 June 1984
Election	1981 New Zealand general election
Government	Third National Government
House of Representatives
Members	92
Speaker of the House	Richard Harrison
Leader of the House	David Thomson
Prime Minister	Robert Muldoon
Leader of the Opposition	David Lange — Bill Rowling until 3 February 1983
Sovereign
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor-General	David Beattie
Sessions
1st 6 April 1982 – 17 December 1982 2nd 7 April 1983 – 16 December 1983 3rd 31 May 1984 – 14 June 1984

The 40th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. Its composition was determined by the 1981 election, and it sat until the 1984 election.

The 40th Parliament was the third and final term of the third National Party government. Robert Muldoon, who served as both Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, remained in power. The Labour Party, led by former Prime Minister Bill Rowling, had made significant gains (actually winning the largest portion of the popular vote), but remained in opposition. The Social Credit Party was the only other opposition party in the 40th Parliament, holding two seats.

The 40th Parliament consisted of ninety-two representatives, the same as in the previous election. All of these representatives were chosen by single-member geographical electorates, including four special Māori electorates.

Electoral boundaries for the 40th Parliament

Overview of seats

The table below shows the number of MPs in each party following the 1981 election and at dissolution:

Affiliation		Members
		At 1981 election	At dissolution
	National	47	47
Government total
	Labour	43	43
	Social Credit	2	2
Government total		45	45
Total		92	92
Working Government majority		2	2

Notes

• The Working Government majority is calculated as all Government MPs less all other parties.

Initial composition of the 40th Parliament

The tables below shows the results of the 1981 general election:

Key

  National   Labour   Social Credit   Mana Motuhake   Independent

Electorate results for the 1981 New Zealand general election ^[1]

Electorate	Incumbent		Winner		Majority	Runner up
General electorates
Albany		Don McKinnon			1,964		Bryan Mockridge
Ashburton		Rob Talbot			3,655		John Srhoy
Auckland Central		Richard Prebble			6,614		Dorice Reid
Avon		Mary Batchelor			7,820		Colin McNicholl
Awarua		Rex Austin			2,341		Dick Fitzgerald
Bay of Islands		Neill Austin			864		Les Hunter
Birkenhead		Jim McLay			2,104		Bill Smith
Christchurch Central		Geoffrey Palmer			7,028		Ian Wilson
Clutha		Robin Gray			661		Clive Matthewson
Dunedin Central		Brian MacDonell			4,169		Nancy Ruth King [2]
Dunedin North		Stan Rodger			4,733		Des Bleach
East Cape		Duncan MacIntyre			1,964		Peter Dey
East Coast Bays		Gary Knapp			758		Don Brash
Eastern Hutt		Trevor Young			5.011		Alex Duthie
Eden		Aussie Malcolm			117		Ian Scott
Fendalton		Eric Holland		Philip Burdon	1,158		David Close [3]
Gisborne		Bob Bell			150		Allan Wallbank [nb 1]
Hamilton East		Ian Shearer			1,188		Lois Welch
Hamilton West		Mike Minogue			1,477		Paddy McCaffrey
Hastings		David Butcher			1,845		Hamish Kynoch [2]
Hauraki		Leo Schultz		Graeme Lee	1,787		Gordon Miller
Hawkes Bay		Richard Harrison			2,430		Mike Cullen
Helensville		Dail Jones			216		Jack Elder
Heretaunga		Ron Bailey		Bill Jeffries	2,233		Ronald Palmer
Horowhenua		Geoff Thompson			876		David Page
Hunua		Winston Peters		Colin Moyle	996		Winston Peters
Invercargill		Norman Jones			1,592		Dougal Soper
Island Bay		Frank O'Flynn			3,938		Doug Catley
Kaimai		Bruce Townshend			5,146		Douglas Conway
Kaipara		Peter Wilkinson			1,029		Nevern Connachy
Kapiti		Barry Brill		Margaret Shields	495		Barry Brill
King Country		Jim Bolger			2,158		Derek Mason
Lyttelton		Ann Hercus			3,892		Simon Stamers-Smith
Manawatu		Michael Cox			2,913		Dennis Kessell
Mangere		David Lange			5,806		John Pettit
Manurewa		Roger Douglas			2,815		Keith Ralph
Marlborough		Doug Kidd			1,643		Graeme Macann
Matamata		Jack Luxton			3,460		David Mawdsley
Miramar		Bill Young		Peter Neilson	649		Bill Young
Mount Albert		Warren Freer		Helen Clark	3,907		Warren W. Moyes
Napier		Gordon Christie		Geoff Braybrooke	3,009		Kevin Rose
Nelson		Mel Courtney [nb 2]		Philip Woollaston	698		Mel Courtney
New Lynn		Jonathan Hunt			4,874		Ron Hanson
New Plymouth		Tony Friedlander			1,567		Dennis Duggan
North Shore		George Gair			3,969		Peter Chambers
Ohariu		Hugh Templeton			1,567		Norman Ely
Onehunga		Fred Gerbic			2,012		Sue Wood
Otago		Warren Cooper			4,893		Bryan Griffiths
Otahuhu		Bob Tizard			5,164		Stuart McDowell
Pahiatua		John Falloon			7,569		Bill Sutton
Pakuranga		Pat Hunt			783		Neil Morrison
Palmerston North		Joe Walding		Trevor de Cleene	2,110		Brian Elwood
Papakura		Merv Wellington			3,215		John Cheeseman
Papanui		Mike Moore			4,409		Brian Keeley
Papatoetoe		Eddie Isbey			1,689		Roy McKeen
Pencarrow		Fraser Colman			4,065		Willard Amaru
Porirua		Gerry Wall			3,639		Estelle Brittain
Rangiora		Derek Quigley			932		Chris Hayward
Rangiriri		Bill Birch			3,004		Roy Hayward
Rangitikei		Bruce Beetham			2,376		Paul Bardwell
Remuera		Allan Highet			5,105		Judith Tizard
Roskill		Arthur Faulkner		Phil Goff	2,525		Cheryl Parsons
Rotorua		Paul East			1,544		Johnny W Lepper
St Albans		David Caygill			4,926		Jim Baker
St Kilda		Bill Fraser		Michael Cullen	3,579		Stuart Clark
Selwyn		Colin McLachlan		Ruth Richardson	2,129		Bill Woods
Sydenham		John Kirk			5,594		Richard Bach
Tamaki		Robert Muldoon			5,153		Richard Northey
Taranaki		David Thomson			4,470		Brian Heilihy
Tarawera		Ian McLean			2,442		Noel Scott
Tasman		Bill Rowling			2,246		Ted Krammer
Taupo		Jack Ridley		Roger McClay [nb 3]	36		Jack Ridley
Tauranga		Keith Allen			2,232		Paul Hills
Te Atatu		Michael Bassett			3,330		Stella Noble
Timaru		Sir Basil Arthur			1,850		Jane Coughlan
Waikato		Lance Adams-Schneider		Simon Upton	4,661		Noel Johnston
Waipa		Marilyn Waring			2,768		John Kilbride
Wairarapa		Ben Couch			1,546		Tom Gemmell
Waitakere		Ralph Maxwell			2,883		Martin Gummer
Waitaki		Jonathan Elworthy			305		Jim Sutton
Waitotara		Venn Young			2,784		Sam Gray
Wallace		Brian Talboys		Derek Angus	6,558		Owen Horton
Wanganui		Russell Marshall			1,668		Terry Heffernan
Wellington Central		Ken Comber		Fran Wilde	1,283		Ken Comber
West Coast		Kerry Burke			4,406		Doug Truman
Western Hutt		John Terris			1,420		John Tanner
Whangarei		John Elliott		John Banks	1,743		Maurice Penney
Yaldhurst		Mick Connelly			1,962		Margaret Murray [4]
Māori electorates
Eastern Maori		Paraone Reweti		Peter Tapsell	6,232		Albert Tahana
Northern Maori		Bruce Gregory			3,541		Matiu Rata
Southern Maori		Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan			8,665		Amster Reedy
Western Maori		Koro Wētere			8,624		Eva Rickard

Table footnotes:

1. Wallbank was first on election night for Gisborne, but lost on a recount.
2. Courtney had withdrawn from the Labour caucus in March 1981.
3. McClay was declared elected by the High Court after an electoral petition.

There were no by-elections held during the term of the 40th Parliament.

Notes

1. Norton 1988, pp. ?.
2. Gustafson 1986, p. 371.
3. Bohan 2004, p. 67.
4. Gustafson 1986, p. 379.

References

• Bohan, Edmund (2004). Burdon: a man of our time. Hazard Press. ISBN   978-1-877270-90-1. OCLC   62718931 . Retrieved 20 June 2015.
• Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN   0-474-00177-6.
• Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946-1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington. ISBN   0-475-11200-8.
• Wilson, Jim (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC   154283103.