For some MPs, the beginning of the political year can feel like being the new kid at school, Amelia Langford reports.
Green MP Marama Davidson. Photo: Alexander Robertson/RNZ
National's Maureen Pugh is Parliament's newest MP following the departure of MP and Trade Minister, Tim Groser, to the US.
She's used to local government after being the Mayor of Westland for nine years but, despite being vocal in her opinions from a young age, she never expected to become a member of Parliament.
"I think I was about 17 when I wrote my first letter to the paper and it was just because I had an opinion and I have always been the sort of person if there's a problem and I don't like it then I've got to go and change it or do something about it."
She has some advice for anyone thinking about a career in politics.
"I think one of the messages that I would really like to get out there is that I don't have a higher education...I was always really smart at school and I was so smart that I thought I knew it all and I left as soon as I turned 16. So I've had to learn in the life school I guess."
Anyone who is passionate enough can become an MP, she says. "These sorts of positions, the one that I'm just taking on, they are so achievable."
She also says that it's like being a new kid at school and she is aware of how much she has to learn.
Green MP Marama Davidson is another new recruit, after coming in off the Green party list in November last year following former co-leader Russel Norman's resignation.
She says she's been enjoying life as an MP so far and feels like she is in the "right place".
"I wasn't expecting that because I had heard all about how hostile and poisonous this place can be, and it is that, definitely, but I feel excited and revved up by the fiesty sort of nature and the competitive nature of it."
Since being sworn into Parliament, she's already been kicked out of the House after ignoring a warning from the Speaker not to make a Point of Order.
That came after the Prime Minister, John Key, accused Labour of backing "rapists" following debate over New Zealand detainees on Christmas Island and opposition MPs staged a walkout.
She says being an MP has been a "massive learning curve": "There are a million rules and the only one I know is the one that I broke."
But she adds that giving her maiden speech was one of the most amazing moments of her life.
Every MP must make a maiden speech to the House as part of being sworn in.
It's the traditional way for new MPs to introduce themselves to give people an idea of their background and what they want to achieve in Parliament.
Davidson says the important thing for a new MP is not to rush things, which can prove difficult.
"I'm feeling incredibly impatient about how little I know in terms of some of the processes...but it can take months or years to really get your head around some of those things."
How does it work?
For individual MPs elected during the term of the Parliament, the orientation process is tailored to suit their needs.
Office of the Clerk staff arrange the MP's swearing in and offer individual sessions on House procedure, speaking in the House and select committee membership.
After a general election, new MPs usually go through an induction programme in a group.
This content was made for The Wireless with funding from Parliament.
