New Zealand is an
island country in the south-western
Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (commonly called the
North Island and the
South Island), and numerous
smaller islands, most notably
Stewart Island/Rakiura and the
Chatham Islands. The indigenous
Māori language name for New Zealand is
Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud. The
Realm of New Zealand also includes the
Cook Islands and
Niue (self-governing but in
free association);
Tokelau; and the
Ross Dependency (New Zealand's
territorial claim in Antarctica).
New Zealand is notable for its geographic isolation: it is situated about 2,000 km (1250 miles) southeast of
Australia across the
Tasman Sea, and its closest neighbours to the north are
New Caledonia,
Fiji and
Tonga. During its long isolation New Zealand developed a
distinctive fauna dominated by
birds, a number of which became extinct after the arrival of humans and the
mammals they introduced.
The majority of New Zealand's population is of
European descent; the
indigenous Māori are the largest minority.
Asians and non-Māori Polynesians are also significant minority groups, especially in
urban areas. The most commonly spoken language is
English.
New Zealand is a
developed country that ranks highly in international comparisons on
human development,
quality of life,
life expectancy,
literacy,
public education,
peace[9],
prosperity,
economic freedom,
ease of doing business,
lack of corruption,
press freedom, and the protection of civil liberties and political rights.
[10] Its cities also consistently rank among the world's most liveable.
Elizabeth II, as the
Queen of New Zealand, is the country's
head of state and is represented by a ceremonial
Governor-General who holds
reserve powers.
[11] The Queen has no real political influence, and her position is essentially symbolic.
Political power is held by the
democratically elected Parliament of New Zealand under the leadership of the
Prime Minister, who is the
head of government.
New Zealand is a
constitutional monarchy with a
parliamentary democracy.
[24] Although it has no codified
constitution, the
Constitution Act 1986 is the principal formal statement of New Zealand's constitutional structure.
[25] The constitution has been described as "largely unwritten" and a "mixture of statutes and constitutional convention."
[25] Queen Elizabeth II is the
head of state and is titled
Queen of New Zealand under the
Royal Titles Act 1974. She is represented by the
Governor-General, whom she appoints on the exclusive advice of the Prime Minister. The current Governor-General is
Anand Satyanand.
The Governor-General exercises the Crown's
prerogative powers, such as the power to appoint and dismiss ministers and to dissolve Parliament, and in rare situations, the
reserve powers. The Governor-General also chairs the
Executive Council, which is a formal committee consisting of all ministers of the Crown. The main constitutional function of the governor-general is to "arrange for the leader of the majority political party to form a government"; by constitutional convention, the governor-general "acts on the advice of ministers who have majority support in parliament."
[26] Members of the Executive Council are required to be Members of Parliament, and most are also in
Cabinet. Cabinet is the most senior policy-making body and is led by the
Prime Minister, who is also, by convention, the
Parliamentary leader of the governing party or coalition. This is the highest policymaking body in the government.
[27]The
New Zealand Parliament has only
one chamber, the
House of Representatives, which usually seats 120
Members of Parliament.
[28]Parliamentary general elections are held every three years under a form of
proportional representation called
Mixed Member Proportional. The Economist magazine explains: "Under MMP (Mixed Member Proportional) there is usually a 120-seat parliament; an extra seat can sometimes be added to ensure truly proportional representation. Of the total number of seats, 65 electorate (directly elected constituency) seats are contested on the old first-past-the-post basis, including seven seats reserved for the indigenous Māori people. The remaining 55 or so seats are allocated so that representation in parliament reflects overall support for each party (the party vote). Under the MMP system, a party has either to win a constituency seat or more than 5% of the total party vote in order to gain representation in parliament. The government can continue to rule only if it retains majority support in the House of Representatives, or can secure the support of other political parties to give it a majority to pass legislation and survive parliamentary confidence votes."
[29] The
2008 General Election created an '
overhang' of two extra seats, occupied by the
Māori Party, due to that party winning more seats in electorates than the number of seats its proportion of the party vote would have given it.
[27]Government
New Zealand government "
Beehive" and the
Parliament Buildings, in
Wellington.
From October 2005 until November 2008, the Labour-led government was in formal coalition with the
Progressive Party,
Jim Anderton being its only MP. In addition,
New Zealand First and
United Future provided
confidence and supply in return for their leaders being ministers outside cabinet. An arrangement was also made with the
Green Party, which gave a commitment not to vote against the government on
confidence and
supply. In 2007 Labour also had the
proxy vote of
Taito Phillip Field, a former Labour MP. These arrangements assured the government of a majority of seven MPs on confidence votes.
Labour was defeated by the
National Party in the general elections of November 8, 2008. Following the victory, National leader
John Key moved quickly to form a government, negotiating coalition agreements with the right-wing
ACT party, led by
Rodney Hide, the centrist
United Future party, albeit with its single seat held by leader
Peter Dunne, and the
Māori Party, led by
Tariana Turia and
Pita Sharples. Each of these leaders are to hold ministerial posts but remain outside of Cabinet. There are three parties in Opposition: the Labour Party, led by
Phil Goff; the
Greens, co-led by
Metiria Turei and
Russel Norman and the
Progressive Party, under
Jim Anderton.
The new executive was sworn in on 19 November 2008.
The highest court in New Zealand is the
Supreme Court of New Zealand, established in 2004 following the passage of the Supreme Court Act 2003. The act abolished the option to appeal to the
Privy Council in
London.
[27] The current Chief Justice is
Dame Sian Elias. New Zealand's judiciary also includes the
Court of Appeal; the
High Court, which deals with serious criminal offences and civil matters at the trial level and with appeals from lower courts and tribunals; and subordinate courts. While the Judiciary can sometimes place limits on acts of Parliament, and the 1990 New Zealand Bill of Rights enables some review by the Judiciary of executive action, there is no document ascertaining formal power of judicial review.
[27] Its constitutional independence from Parliament is maintained by non-political appointments and strict rules regarding tenure in office.
[27]New Zealand is the only country in the world in which all the highest offices in the land have been occupied simultaneously by women:
Queen Elizabeth II,
Governor-General Dame
Silvia Cartwright, Prime Minister
Helen Clark,
Speaker of the
House of Representatives Margaret Wilson and
Chief Justice Dame
Sian Elias were all in office between March 2005 and August 2006. New Zealand's largest listed company,
Telecom New Zealand, had a woman –
Theresa Gattung – as its CEO at the time.
Foreign relations and the military
Main articles:
Foreign relations of New Zealand,
Military of New Zealand, and
New Zealand Defence ForceNew Zealand maintains a strong profile on
environmental protection,
human rights and
free trade, particularly in
agriculture.
New Zealand is a member of
Commonwealth of Nations,
OECD,
Five Powers Defence Arrangements,
APEC,
East Asia Summit, and the
United Nations. New Zealand is party to a number of
free trade agreements, of which the most important are the
China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement and
Closer Economic Relations with Australia.
For its first hundred years, New Zealand followed the United Kingdom's lead on foreign policy. In
declaring war on Germany on 3 September 1939, Prime Minister
Michael Savage proclaimed, "Where she goes, we go; where she stands, we stand".
2007 ANZAC Dawn Service in Wellington. From left to right, the flags of NZ, the UK and Australia
The two world wars had a marked impact, with New Zealand losing many young men in places like
Gallipoli (where the
ANZAC tradition was formed with
Australia),
Crete,
El Alamein and
Cassino. New Zealand also played a key part with Britain in the two famous battles, the naval
Battle of the River Plate and the
Battle of Britain fought in the air. During the Pacific part of World War II, the United States had more than 400,000 American military personnel stationed in New Zealand to prepare for crucial battles such as
Tarawa,
Guadalcanal,
Saipan and
Iwo Jima.
After the war the United States exerted an increased influence on culture and the New Zealand people gained a clearer sense of
national identity. New Zealand joined Australia and the United States in the
ANZUS security treaty in 1951, and later fought alongside the
United States in both the
Korean and the
Vietnam Wars. In contrast, the United Kingdom became increasingly focused on its European interests following the
Suez Crisis, and New Zealand was forced to develop new markets after the UK joined the
EEC in 1973.
[30]
