POLS 428, the Victoria University of Wellington's Parliamentary Internship programme, provides a limited number of selected postgraduate students with opportunities to gain insights into:
* the parliamentary process;
* the roles and responsibilities of Members of Parliament;
* the functions and activities of parliamentary research units;
* the conduct of select committees; and
* the activities of parliamentary parties.

The course provides a means for students doing either postgraduate Honours degrees in Political Science, Public Policy, or International Relations or, in special cases, a Master of International Relations (MIR) degree to learn about the parliamentary process through first-hand involvement within the institution of Parliament itself. As in all postgraduate courses, the course also seeks to strengthen the ability of students to carry out independent research and to prepare research papers.

More than thirty students applied to do POLS 428 in 2008. After a rigourous selection process which included interviewing the applicants in order to assess their suitability as potenial interns and trying to match students' skills with the needs of Members of Parliament, twenty students were accepted as POLS 428 2008 Parliamentary Interns. The interns and the people for whom they are working are shown in the following Table:

Jessica Adams, an intern with the Hon. Steve Chadwick, MP	Steven Barnes , an intern with Nicky Wagner, MP	Dylan Bird, an intern with the Hon. Damien O'Connor, MP	Chloe Dallaway, an intern with Dr Wayne Mapp, MP	Laura-Lee Frings, an intern with the Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, MP
Michael Hemmingsen, an intern with the Hon. David Parker, MP	Polly Higbee, an intern with Tim Barnett, MP	Morgan Horwood, an intern with the Select Commitee office	David Kipnis, an intern with David Carter, MP	David Lynch, an intern with Dr the Hon. Lockwood Smith, MP
Catriona MacGregor, an intern with Charles Chauvel, MP	Gina Manning, an intern with Heather Roy , MP	Daniel Miles, an intern with the Hon. Tony Ryall, MP	Sophie Mills, an intern with the Hon. Darren Hughes, MP	Jessica Phillips, an intern with the Hon. Marian Hobbs, MP
Liam Rodden, an intern with the Hon. Chris Carter, MP	Hana Snook, an intern with Metiria Turei, MP	Kate Stone, an intern with the Hon. Margaret Wilson, MP	Micheal Warren, an intern with Chester Borrows, MP	Jackson Wood, an intern with Sue Kedgley, MP

Every year, the Speaker of the House of Representatives gives a prize to the best POLS 428 Parliamentary Intern. Pictured below is Raukura Spindler, who was an intern with Steve Chadwick, MP, in 2007, and who received the Speaker's Prize from the Speaker, the Hon. Margaret Wilson, MP, during a special ceremony held in Parliament on 12 March 2008.

From left to right: The Hon. Margaret Wilson, MP, Speaker of the House of Representatives;
Raukura Spindler, winner of the Speaker's Prize for 2007; and the Hon. Steve Chadwick,
Minister of Conservation and Minister of Women's Affairs.