Confidence votes critical to governing

Confidence and supply was often talked about as the election loomed and talks began afterwards to form a government.

There will be more such talk in coming days as the government formation process moves into high gear once the special votes are counted and Parliament's final shape is known.

The result of the count of more than 200,000 special votes will be released tomorrow. Indications are the result will favour Labour forming a government, but whichever party ends up leading a new government, support from minor parties on confidence and supply will be vital.

Confidence and supply is the votes in Parliament that allow a government to govern. Clerk of the House David McGee, in the third edition of his book Parliamentary Practice in New Zealand, due out in November, says a government exists in office because it possesses Parliament's confidence.

"It is fundamental that a government which has lost the confidence of the House must resign or seek a general election," he says.

Not since 1928 has a government been defeated on a confidence vote and thereby been obliged to resign.

"The adoption of proportional representation in 1996, and the consequent unlikelihood of a single party winning an outright majority of seats at a general election, has refocused attention on the need for each government to retain the confidence of the House," says Mr McGee.

A government retains Parliament's confidence for as long as it can avoid defeat on important parliamentary votes - those that involve a question of confidence.

Mr McGee says it is fundamental to the survival of a government that it can obtain Parliament's authority to spend money. So all votes involving the overall supply of money are implied confidence votes.

There are two other set-piece events where confidence votes are put - the Address in Reply debate at the start of each three-year parliamentary term, and during debate on the Prime Minister's statement at the start of each parliamentary year.

Governments can also take the initiative and test Parliament's confidence, although this is rare.

One example was in September 1998, when then Prime Minister Jenny Shipley put a motion of confidence in the minority National Government to the House following the messy break-up of the National-NZ First coalition. National won the vote 62-58.

But Mr McGee points out that governments can also be defeated on legislation and still survive. An example, again from the Shipley Administration, was its defeat on the second reading of a local government bill in April 1998 when National MPs Christine Fletcher and John Banks voted against their own party.

Mr McGee says that in practice, if a government is facing inevitable defeat in a confidence vote, it is unlikely to wait for that to occur before taking action to get a new "political settlement". That could mean anything from forming a new coalition to a new general election.

Confidence and supply

What is it?
Votes in Parliament that show the Government has the House's confidence or majority support, and votes that allow the Government to spend money.

Why it's important
Governments cannot function without a majority to make law and pay for public services.

When they occur
During passage of tax bills that set annual tax rates, at the start of each three-year term and when the Prime Minister's statement signals the start of a parliamentary year.