The implementation of the mixed-member proportional electoral system following a referendum in 1993 led to a series of defections and re-alignments as the former two-party system adjusted to the change. This led to the rise and fall of a number of political parties in New Zealand, including the creation of New Zealand First and ACT. The new political climate tended to favour the establishment of new political parties. In the two previous parliaments before the Act was passed, 22 MPs defected. Due to the frequency of waka jumping, New Zealand enacted the Electoral Amendment Act 2001, which had been introduced by Michael Cullen in 1999. The Act expired at the 2005 election as the sunset clause came into effect. It required any MP who had entered Parliament via a party list to resign from Parliament if they left that party's parliamentary caucus. However, parties were still able to find ways around this law. When the Alliance split in 2002 over how to respond to the invasion of Afghanistan, Jim Anderton nominally remained the leader of the Alliance within Parliament, while campaigning outside Parliament as the leader of the newly-founded Progressive Party. The resulting uncertainty around the Alliance’s position contributed to then-Prime Minister Helen Clark’s decision to call an early general election in 2002. While the law was in force, it was used once to expel a list MP from Parliament. In December 2003, the ACT Party caucus voted to expel Donna Awatere Huata, an ACT list MP who became an independent after being charged with fraud. The expulsion became the subject of litigation, and Awatere Huata was not expelled from Parliament until a Supreme Court decision handed down in November 2004. A proposed Bill to replace the Act in 2005 failed. The Electoral Amendment Act 2018 received Royal Assent on 3 October 2018 and entered into force in New Zealand the next day. The provisions on waka-jumping now appear after section 55AA of the Electoral Act 1993. Under these provisions, members of Parliament who choose to leave their party, or who are expelled from their party, are automatically expelled from Parliament, with the seat becoming vacant.
Etymology
The Māori word waka applies often to a large Māori canoe. The term waka-jumping is a variant on the phrase "jumping ship". Waka hurdling is a traditional sport of jumping Māori canoes over suspended logs.
