38th New Zealand Parliament

The 38th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the New Zealand Parliament. It was elected at the 1975 general election on 29 November of that year.

38th Parliament of New Zealand
← 37th Parliament 39th Parliament →
Parliament House, Wellington
Overview
Legislative body	New Zealand Parliament
Term	22 June 1976 – 6 October 1978
Election	1975 New Zealand general election
Government	Third National Government
House of Representatives
Members	87
Speaker of the House	Richard Harrison from 10 May 1978 — Roy Jack until 24 December 1977 †
Prime Minister	Robert Muldoon
Leader of the Opposition	Bill Rowling
Sovereign
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor-General	Keith Holyoake from 26 October 1977 — Denis Blundell until 5 October 1977

1975 general election

Main article: 1975 New Zealand general election

The 1975 general election was held on Saturday, 29 November.^[1] A total of 92 MPs were elected; 63 represented North Island electorates, 25 represented South Island electorates, and the remaining four represented Māori electorates; this was an increase in the number of MPs by five since the 1972 election, and the gain was all for the North Island.^[2] 1,953,050 voters were enrolled and the official turnout at the election was 82.5%.^[1]

Sessions

The 38th Parliament sat for four sessions (there were two sessions in 1977), and was prorogued on 7 October 1978.^[3]

Session	Opened	Adjourned
first	22 June 1976	14 December 1976
second	28 February 1977	28 February 1977
third	19 May 1977	16 December 1977
fourth	10 May 1978	6 October 1978

Ministries

The Labour Party, which had come to power at the 1972 election, was defeated by the National Party at the 1975 election. Robert Muldoon formed the third National Government and led the Muldoon Ministry until National's defeat at the 1984 election.^[4]

Overview of seats

The table below shows the number of MPs in each party following the 1975 election and at dissolution:

Affiliation		Members
		At 1975 election	At dissolution
	National	55	54
Government total
	Labour	32	32
	Social Credit	0	1
Government total		32	33
Total		87	87
Working Government majority		23	21

Notes

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

Initial composition of the 38th Parliament

The table below shows the results of the 1975 general election:

Key

  National   Labour   Social Credit

Electorate results for the 1975 New Zealand general election^[5]

Electorate	Incumbent		Winner		Majority	Runner up
General electorates
Auckland Central		Norman Douglas		Richard Prebble	289		Murray McCully
Avon		Mary Batchelor			5,503		Tom George
Awarua		Aubrey Begg		Rex Austin	2,150		Aubrey Begg
Bay of Plenty		Percy Allen		Duncan MacIntyre	3,960		Robert Frederick McKee
Birkenhead		Norman King		Jim McLay	2,816		Norman King
Christchurch Central		Bruce Barclay			2,973		Tim Armitage
Clutha		Peter Gordon			4,735		F A O'Connell
Coromandel		Leo Schultz			4,724		Raymond C. Bradley
Dunedin Central		Brian MacDonell			1,428		Ian Bright
Dunedin North		Ethel McMillan		Richard Walls	958		Brian Arnold
East Coast Bays		Frank Gill			5,594		Rex Stanton
Eden		Mike Moore		Aussie Malcolm	1,331		Mike Moore
Egmont		Venn Young			4,120		Dennis Duggan
Franklin		Bill Birch			7,605		Ron Ng-Waishing
Gisborne		Trevor Davey		Bob Bell	1,321		Trevor Davey
Grey Lynn		Eddie Isbey			2,839		Jens Meder
Hamilton East		Rufus Rogers		Ian Shearer	2,246		Rufus Rogers
Hamilton West		Dorothy Jelicich		Mike Minogue	2,069		Dorothy Jelicich
Hastings		Richard Mayson		Bob Fenton	491		Richard Mayson
Hawkes Bay		Richard Harrison			3,805		David Butcher
Henderson		Martyn Finlay			401		Warren Adams
Heretaunga		Ron Bailey			336		Julie Cameron[6]
Hobson		Logan Sloane		Neill Austin	4,101		Howard Manning[nb 1]
Hutt		Trevor Young			1,019		Brett Newell
Invercargill		J. B. Munro		Norman Jones	2,533		J. B. Munro
Island Bay		Gerald O'Brien			1,274		Bill Nathan
Kapiti		Frank O'Flynn		Barry Brill	2,222		Frank O'Flynn
Karori		Jack Marshall		Hugh Templeton	4,830		Margaret Shields
King Country		Jim Bolger			4,316		Thomas Varnam
Lyttelton		Tom McGuigan		Colleen Dewe	999		Tom McGuigan
Manawatu		Allan McCready			2,918		Alan Charles Eyles
Mangere		Colin Moyle			1,604		Stanley Lawson
Manukau		Roger Douglas			678		Brian Leaming
Manurewa		Phil Amos		Merv Wellington	1,358		Phil Amos
Marlborough		Ian Brooks		Ed Latter	3,010		Ian Brooks
Miramar		Bill Young			1,749		John Wybrow
Mt Albert		Warren Freer			247		Frank Ryan
Napier		Gordon Christie			931		John Isles
Nelson		Stan Whitehead			1,093		Ian McWhannel
New Lynn		Jonathan Hunt			890		Barry O'Connor
New Plymouth		Ron Barclay		Tony Friedlander	1,935		Ron Barclay
North Shore		George Gair			5,247		Wyn Hoadley
Oamaru		Bill Laney		Jonathan Elworthy	2,196		Bill Laney
Onehunga		Hugh Watt		Frank Rogers	1,044		Kevin O'Brien
Otago Central		Ian Quigley		Warren Cooper	2,371		Ian Quigley
Otahuhu		Bob Tizard			3,785		Lois Morris
Pahiatua		Keith Holyoake			6,769		Paul Thornicroft
Pakuranga		Gavin Downie			7,016		Geoff Braybrooke
Palmerston North		Joe Walding		John Lithgow	142		Joe Walding
Papanui		Bert Walker			2,985		Rod Garden
Petone		Fraser Colman			2,834		Brel Gluyas
Piako		Jack Luxton			6,174		Helen Clark
Porirua		Gerry Wall			2,265		Ross Doughty
Raglan		Douglas Carter		Marilyn Waring	3,756		Bill Pickering
Rakaia		Colin McLachlan			5,237		Graeme Lowrie
Rangiora		Kerry Burke		Derek Quigley	1,386		Kerry Burke
Rangitikei		Roy Jack			1,756		Bruce Beetham
Remuera		Allan Highet			8,656		G B Mead
Riccarton		Eric Holland			4,766		Don Johnson
Rodney		Peter Wilkinson			7,817		John Prebble
Roskill		Arthur Faulkner			530		John Maurice Priestley[7]
Rotorua		Harry Lapwood			3,605		Peter Tapsell
Ruahine		Les Gandar			2,763		Rex Willing
St Albans		Roger Drayton			1,570		Prudence Rotherberg
St Kilda		Bill Fraser			1,890		Gordon Heslop
South Canterbury		Rob Talbot			4,301		Neville Lambert
Stratford		David Thomson			5,667		P P Hopkins
Sydenham		John Kirk			3,817		Paul Matheson
Tamaki		Robert Muldoon			6,735		Tim Kaye
Tasman		Bill Rowling			529		Peter Malone
Taupo		Jack Ridley		Ray La Varis	1,614		Jack Ridley
Tauranga		Keith Allen			4,843		Richard Hendry
Timaru		Sir Basil Arthur			1,011		Dave Walker
Waikato		Lance Adams-Schneider			7,073		Brian West
Wairarapa		Jack Williams		Ben Couch	1,468		Jack Williams
Waitemata		Michael Bassett		Dail Jones	1,385		Michael Bassett
Wallace		Brian Talboys			6,978		Ian Lamont
Wanganui		Russell Marshall			1,244		John Rowan
Wellington Central		Ken Comber			1,076		David Shand
West Coast		Paddy Blanchfield			2,401		Barry Dallas
Western Hutt		Henry May		Bill Lambert	109		Henry May[nb 2]
Whangarei		Murray Smith		John Elliott	2,710		Murray Smith
Wigram		Mick Connelly			1,967		Neil Russell
Māori electorates
Eastern Maori		Paraone Reweti			6,261		Monty Searancke
Northern Maori		Matiu Rata			4,151		Winston Peters
Southern Maori		Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan			6,452		Willard Amaru
Western Maori		Koro Wētere			8,925		Emerson Studholme Rangi

Table footnotes:

1. David Lange came third for Labour in Hobson
2. Henry May was first on election night, but lost when special votes were included

By-elections during 38th Parliament

There were a number of changes during the term of the 38th Parliament.

Electorate and by-election		Date	Incumbent		Cause	Winner
Nelson	1976	28 February		Sir Stanley Whitehead	Death		Mel Courtney
Mangere	1977	26 March		Colin Moyle	Resignation		David Lange
Pahiatua	1977	30 April		Sir Keith Holyoake	Appointed as Governor-General		John Falloon
Rangitikei	1978	18 February		Sir Roy Jack	Death		Bruce Beetham