39th New Zealand Parliament

39th Parliament of New Zealand
← 38th Parliament 40th Parliament →
Parliament House, Wellington
Overview
Legislative body	New Zealand Parliament
Term	16 May 1979 – 23 October 1981
Election	1978 New Zealand general election
Government	Third National Government
House of Representatives
Members	92
Speaker of the House	Richard Harrison
Leader of the House	David Thomson
Prime Minister	Robert Muldoon
Leader of the Opposition	Bill Rowling
Sovereign
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor-General	David Beattie from 6 November 1980 ––Keith Holyoake until 25 October 1980
Sessions
1st 16 May 1979 – 14 December 1979 2nd 15 May 1980 – 12 December 1980 3rd 28 May 1981 – 23 October 1981

The 39th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand which began with the general election held on 25 November 1978, and finished with the general election held on 28 November 1981. The dates of the Muldoon Ministry were from 13 December 1978 to 11 December 1981.

The Prime Minister, Robert Muldoon of the National Party, led the Third National Government from 1975 to 1984.

Overview of seats

The table below shows the number of MPs in each party following the 1978 election and at dissolution:

Affiliation		Members
		At 1978 election	At dissolution
	National	51	50
Government total
	Labour	40	40
	Social Credit	1	2
Opposition total		41	42
Total		92	92
Working Government majority		10	8

Notes

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

By-elections during 39th Parliament

There were a number of changes during the term of the 39th Parliament.

Electorate and by-election		Date	Incumbent		Cause	Winner
Christchurch Central	1979	18 August		Bruce Barclay	Death		Geoffrey Palmer
Northern Maori	1980	7 June		Matiu Rata	Resignation		Bruce Gregory
Onehunga	1980	7 June		Frank Rogers	Death		Fred Gerbic
East Coast Bays	1980	6 September		Frank Gill	Appointed as Ambassador to US		Gary Knapp

Summary of changes during term

• Bruce Barclay, the Labour MP for Christchurch Central, died in 1979. The ensuing by-election was won by Geoffrey Palmer, also of the Labour Party.
• Matiu Rata, a Labour cabinet minister, resigned from his party in 1979 due to disagreements with its policy towards Māori. In 1980, Rata quit parliament and founded the Mana Motuhake party. Rata then contested the ensuing by-election, but came second. He was replaced by Bruce Gregory of the Labour Party.
• Frank Rogers, the Labour MP for Onehunga, died in 1980. The ensuing by-election was won by Fred Gerbic, also of the Labour Party.
• Frank Gill, the National MP for East Coast Bays, resigned from parliament in 1980 in order to take up a position as New Zealand's ambassador in Washington. The ensuing by-election was won, much to the National Party's surprise, by Gary Knapp of the Social Credit Party.

References

• Bohan, Edmund (2004). Burdon: a man of our time. Hazard Press. ISBN 978-1-877270-90-1. OCLC 62718931. Retrieved 20 June 2015. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Chapman, Robert (1999). New Zealand Politics and Social Patterns: Selected Works. Victoria University Press. Retrieved 1 September 2015. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0-474-00177-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946-1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington. ISBN 0-475-11200-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)