Staff and spectators: The Clerk
The Clerk sits at the head of the Table, just below the Speaker's chair in the debating chamber. View as panorama.
Two organisations have provided services to Parliament since the mid 1980s. The Parliamentary Service is responsible for administrative arrangements, including attending to MPs' needs and looking after the buildings, grounds, and facilities. The Office of the Clerk looks after the constitutional functions of Parliament, maintains the parliamentary record and provides services to select committees.
Clerk of the House
The Clerk of the House notes the proceedings of the House, provides procedural advice to the Speaker and MPs, and is responsible for the records of Parliament. There has been a Clerk of the House since 1854. The Legislative Council had its own Clerk, who by tradition, held the title of the Clerk of Parliaments. But with the bulk of Parliament's work in the House of Representatives, it has been the Clerk of the House that has been the more important position through Parliament's history.
Like many other aspects of New Zealand's Parliament, the position of the Clerk was inherited from the British Westminster system. Today the term 'clerk' may suggest a junior administrative position, but that is not the case in parliamentary tradition. The Clerk has a very senior and significant role, symbolised by the actual sitting position in the chamber, just below the Speaker's chair at the head of the Table. From here, the Clerk can advise on procedure and weighty constitutional and legal matters. Since the 1930s, legal expertise has been a necessary part of the job, and all Clerks from then ― bar one short-term Clerk ― had a legal qualification. In the early years of the House, the Clerk was expected to dress very formally; for one early Clerk, a black suit and scarlet stockings were part of the outfit. With the legal credentials required from the 1930s, the formal dress moved to the wig and gown of barristers, and the Clerk wears these when present in the House and on official occasions such as the opening of Parliament.
Long-serving Clerks
Francis Campbell.
David McGee.
Most of New Zealand's Clerks of the House were in the job for many years. In fact, there have only been 12 Clerks since 1854, and two of these held the job for a combined period of 52 years. Only two Clerks have been short-lived. James Coates, the first Clerk of the House, was only in the role for about a month before he died; Grafton Francis Bothamley was Clerk in 1945-6.
Several long-serving Clerks steered Parliament through important changes. Francis Campbell (1823-1911), who succeeded Coates in July 1854, held the post for a record 35 years, and he was the mainstay of Parliament in its formative decades. In 1868 he became Clerk of Parliaments. Thomas Donald Horn Hall (1885-1970), known as 'T.D.H.', was the first of the legally qualified Clerks and held the position from 1930. He reorganised the Legislative Department and retired in 1945. David McGee was appointed as Clerk of the House in 1985, the year he published his standard reference work, Parliamentary Practice in New Zealand. He dealt with major reforms to parliamentary procedure in the 1990s, as well as managing the changes associated with MMP. McGee is regarded as a leading parliamentary Clerk in the Commonwealth.
Hear Clerk of the House T.D.H. Hall describe his work (383k, mp3). See transcript and more information for this recording.
The Legislative Department
A wide range of other positions supported the Clerk. By the 1860s there was a Clerk-Assistant and a Second Clerk-Assistant, followed later by a Reader (who checked over all bills passed), an Examiner of Standing Orders on Private Bills, a record clerk, a clerk of works for the buildings, not to mention a host of temporary or 'sessional' clerks brought in for each session.
Between 1912 and 1985, these and other positions in Parliament were brought together into the Legislative Department, reporting to a minister in cabinet. Running this Department was a big job for the Clerk of the House who had overall charge of the library (except for between 1966 and 1985), Bellamy's and Hansard as well as all the various clerks, messengers, orderlies, cleaners, and temporary sessional staff ― in fact, most of those who worked behind the scenes and in ceremonial duties.
Over the years, MPs raised concerns over the number of parliamentary staff and the cost of running the place, especially during times of economic depression, such as the 1880s, 1920s and 1930s. But from the early twentieth century the Department grew as demands for its services increased. By the 1980s, it had become clear that the Department was too unwieldy to continue as it was, especially without any legal definition of its functions. In 1985, its constitutional and administrative functions were separated, with the Office of the Clerk focusing on the former.
Listen to MP F.M.B. Fisher discussing members and staff (471k, mp3). See transcript and more information for this recording.
External links
The Office of the Clerk website.
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