The biscuit tin ballot: how New Zealand's Parliament picks members' bills

If you assume laws only emerge from rigid playbooks and top-down orders, a visit to New Zealand’s Parliament might change your mind. There, big decisions can start with a humble cookie tin. Yes, really.

What’s the tin?

For more than 30 years, the New Zealand Parliament has used a simple metal box bought at a DEKA store. It looks anything but official—just an old biscuit tin. Yet it helps decide which ideas from members will make it onto the agenda.

How does it work?

Parliament is full of members who aren’t in government. They have their own bills—proposals to ban harmful practices or make life better in practical ways. There are too many to consider at once, so every so often there’s a lottery. Each bill gets a number, that number goes on a token, and all the tokens are dropped into the tin. A handful are drawn at random, and those proposals move onto Parliament’s work plan.

Why it matters

It may sound like a game, but it’s anything but. Through this process, New Zealand has passed major laws on equal marriage, the right to euthanasia, and the regulation of prostitution. In other words, ideas that didn’t come from ministers but from ordinary members became real laws and reshaped national life. The draw works as a quiet equalizer, giving space to proposals that might otherwise be sidelined.

What was picked recently?

Fresh tokens have just been pulled from the tin. Among them: a bill requiring children to wear life jackets on the water, a proposal to ban liquor stores near schools and kindergartens, and an initiative to limit coal extraction. The spread is telling—safety, community well-being, and resource use—and the system gives each a fair shot at a hearing.

What’s the point?

The core idea is simple: every member should have a chance to advance an initiative, not just those in government. That makes Parliament feel fairer and more open. The tin might seem quirky, but it delivers. People are used to it now and even look forward to each draw, knowing it can surface something fresh and useful.

What’s next?

While the system works, there’s no plan to change it. If the number of ideas grows, there may come a time to think about streamlining. For now, that old tin still sets the pace—plain, transparent, and surprisingly effective.