Get involved!
Your Parliament works best when you get involved. This section includes resources that inform you about what's happening at Parliament and show you how to take part in New Zealand's democracy.
The main ways you can have your say on things that affect you by making a submission, starting a petition, or contacting an MP.
Select Committees and Submissions
A select committee is small groups of MPs who look at a proposed law in detail. The public is allowed to tell the committee what they think about the proposed law. This is called making a submission.
Petitions
A petition is a request asking the House of Representatives (Parliament) to take a specific action. The request might ask for a law or policy to be changed, or to put right a local or private concern.
The benefits of starting a petition can include:
- raising awareness about an issue
- shifting or consolidating public thinking around an issue
- initiating or building momentum toward a change in policy or in how services are delivered
- proposing a new law
- proposing a public inquiry.
For more information visit:
- The youth friendly Rito guide to petitions
- The more detailed Guide to petitions
More Resources
Public engagement is key to democratic health – whether it is through submitting to a select committee, creating a petition, writing to an MP or participating in our webinars. Parliament's website has a whole range of excellent resources to help teachers and older student deepen their knowledge of these issues.
Parliament Webinars is a series of informative videos about the ins-and-outs of parliament hosted by the Parliamentary Engagement team with a series of experts who provide insight into Parliament and its processes.
Looking for something shorter? Check out the Spotlight Series! This is a series of short videos on specific elements on the work of Parliament.
Or you can just explore all the content from the Parliament website.
This content was developed by Office of the Clerk and Parliamentary Service - if you plan to re-use their content, please read their copyright statement here: Copyright.
