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GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand is a parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy. It has an elected parliamentary government with a prime minister and is similar to the government in Great Britain. The prime minister is the leader of the party with the most seats in Parliament.
Capital: Wellington: Geographic Coordinates: 41 18 S, 174 47 E.
Administrative Divisions: 16 regions and 1 territory; Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Canterbury, Chatham Islands, Gisborne, Hawke's Bay, Manawatu-Wanganui, Marlborough, Nelson, Northland, Otago, Southland, Taranaki, Tasman, Waikato, Wellington, West Coast. Dependent Areas: Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau. [Source: CIA World Factbook 2023]
Independence: 26 September 1907 (from the UK). National Holiday: Waitangi Day (Treaty of Waitangi established British sovereignty over New Zealand), 6 February (1840); Anzac Day (commemorated as the anniversary of the landing of troops of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps during World War I at Gallipoli, Turkey), 25 April (1915). [Source: CIA World Factbook 2023]
New Zealand remains part of the British Commonwealth. The representative of Queen Elizabeth II in New Zealand is the Governor-General. He has various ceremonial duties and must approve any bill passed by the Parliament (a rubber stamp duty).
National Symbols of New Zealand
Flag: is blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant with four red five-pointed stars edged in white centered in the outer half of the flag; the stars represent the Southern Cross constellation. The New Zealand national looks a lot like the Australian national flag. Both have representations of the Southern Cross star constellation in their fields and a British Union Jack in the place where the stars are on the United States flag. The main difference is that the Southern Cross stars are red and have five points on the New Zealand flag and are white and have seven points on the Australian flag. The Australian flag also has a big star under the Union Jack with seven points (representing the six states and the federal territories) and a small star within the Southern Cross.
National Symbols: Southern Cross constellation (four, five-pointed stars), kiwi (bird), silver fern; national colors: black, white, red (ochre)
National Anthem: name: "God Defend New Zealand", lyrics/music: Thomas BRACKEN [English], Thomas Henry SMITH [Maori] and John Joseph WOODS. The song was adopted 1940 as national song, adopted 1977 as co-national anthem; New Zealand has two national anthems with equal status; as a commonwealth realm, in addition to "God Defend New Zealand," "God Save the King" serves as a royal anthem (see United Kingdom); "God Save the King" normally played only when a member of the royal family or the governor-general is present; in all other cases, "God Defend New Zealand" is played
Constitution and Legal System of New Zealand
Constitution: Like Britain, New Zealand does not have a single constitution document or a written constitution but the relationship between the legislative, executive and judicial roles of government are clearly defined by law. The Constitution Act 1986, effective 1 January 1987, includes only part of the uncodified constitution; others include a collection of statutes or "acts of Parliament," the Treaty of Waitangi, Orders in Council, letters patent, court decisions, and unwritten conventions. Amendments: proposed as bill by Parliament or by referendum called either by the government or by citizens; passage of a bill as an act normally requires two separate readings with committee reviews in between to make changes and corrections, a third reading approved by the House of Representatives membership or by the majority of votes in a referendum, and assent of the governor-general; passage of amendments to reserved constitutional provisions affecting the term of Parliament, electoral districts, and voting restrictions requires approval by 75 percent of the House membership or the majority of votes in a referendum; amended many times, last in 2020. [Source: CIA World Factbook 2023]
Legal System: common law system, based on the English model and British common law. There are District Courts, High Courts and the Court of Appeals, with special legislation and land courts for the Maori. [Source: CIA World Factbook 2023]
International Law Organization Participation: accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction. [Source: CIA World Factbook 2023]
Citizenship: Citizenship by Birth: no; Citizenship by Descent Only: at least one parent must be a citizen of New Zealand; Dual Citizenship Recognized: yes; Residency Requirement for Naturalization: 3 years. [Source: CIA World Factbook 2023]
Executive Branch of the New Zealand Government
Few prime ministerial powers are defined by law; most have developed over time. Security for the New Zealand prime minister is much less involved than security for the United States president. He or she can dine at local restaurants in Wellington with few security guards and few worries.
Chief of State: King CHARLES III (since 8 September 2022); represented by Governor-General Dame Cindy KIRO (since 21 October 2021)
Head of Government: Prime Minister Chris HIPKINS (since 25 January 2023); Deputy Prime Minister Carmel SEPULONI (since 25 January 2023) note: on 19 January 2023, Prime Minister Jacinda ARDERN announced her resignation as prime minister effective not later than 7 February 2023; Chris HIPKINS elected unanimously by Labor Party caucus as party leader on 22 January 2023, sworn in on 25 January 2023. [Source: CIA World Factbook 2023]
Cabinet: The prime minister has cabinet, with 18 members, called the Executive Council, which is appointed by the governor-general on the recommendation of the prime minister.
Executive Branch Elections and Appointments: the monarchy is hereditary; governor-general appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the governor-general; deputy prime minister appointed by the governor-general.
Legislature of New Zealand
New Zealand has a unicameral 120-seat House of Representatives, commonly called Parliament. Members serve 3-year terms. The upper house, where members were appointed for life, was abolished in 1951. Of the 120 seats for 2020-23 term, 72 members were directly elected in 65 single-seat constituencies and 7 were from Maori constituencies chosen by simple majority vote and 48 were directly elected by closed party-list proportional representation vote. In the 1990s the 120 seats included 45 for general electorates from the North Island and 16 from the South Island, six Maori representatives and 53 party list members (see MMP under Government above).
The main role of Parliament is making laws, all of which begin as bills. After debate the bills are sent to select committees made of members of both the ruling and opposition parties. After discussion and changes the bill is sent back to the House, where changes are debated clause by clause. If the bill is approved it becomes law. The New Zealand Parliament has an Ombudsman.
The last legislative election was held on 17 October 2020The next legislative election is scheduled for 14 October 2023)
Results of the Last Legislative Election (percent of vote by party): Labor Party 49.1 percent, National Party 26.8 percent, ACT Party 8 percent, Green Party 6.3 percent, Maori Party 1 percent; seats by party: Labor Party 64, National Party 35, Green Party 10, ACT Party 10, Maori Party 1; composition: men 61, women 59, percent of women 49.2 percent. [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
Local Government, Bureaucracy and Corruption
Local governments are primarily in the form of regional, district and city councils.
The world's first transsexual mayor, Georgina Beyer, was elected in the conservative New Zealand town of Carteton. She became a female in 1984 and was surprised as anyone by her victory. In a 1998, New Zealand's administration was judged the world's best in an American survey based on efficiency, levels of freedom and interaction between the government and the private sector.
According to Transparency International New Zealand is the world's least corrupt country. Least corrupt nations: 1) New Zealand; 2) Denmark; 3) Sweden; 4) Finland; 5) Canada; 6) Norway; 7) Singapore; and 8) Switzerland. [Source: Transparency International]
Judicial Branch of the New Zealand Government
Highest Court: Supreme Court (consists of 5 justices, including the chief justice); note: the Supreme Court in 2004 replaced the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (in London) as the final appeals court
Judge Selection and Term of Office for the Highest Court: justices appointed by the governor-general upon the recommendation of the attorney- general; justices appointed until compulsory retirement at age 70. [Source: CIA World Factbook 2023]
Subordinate Courts: Court of Appeal; High Court; tribunals and authorities; district courts; specialized courts for issues related to employment, environment, family, Maori lands, youth, military; tribunals
Elections, Women and Political Parties in New Zealand
Voting Age: 18 years of age; universal. [Source: CIA World Factbook 2023]
In 1893, New Zealand became the first country in the world to give women the right to vote. The first female Member of Parliament, Elizabeth McCombs, was elected in 1933. In 1996, one third of the MPs were women.
Jenny Shipley of the National Party was New Zealand's first woman prime minister. She came to power in December 1997. Shipley was the only women in the 20-member cabinet before she became prime minister.
After the 1993 election, the New Zealand government abandoned it "first past the post" electoral system and adopted a German-style mixed proportional representation (MMP) system, which gives minority parties a bigger say and makes coalitions more likely. It was first used in the 1996 election. According to MMP, each voter has two votes: one is a party vote that enables the voter to choose the party he would like to see in the Parliament; the second is the choice for a local representative in Parliament. The party vote alone determines which parties have the numbers to form a government, and each party's relative power within any coalition.
Political Parties in New Zealand:
ACT New Zealand led byDavid SEYMOUR
Green Party led byMarama DAVIDSON and James SHAW
Mana Movement led byHone HARAWIRA] (formerly Mana Party)
Maori Party led byDebbie NGAREWA-PACKER and Rawiri WAITITI
New Zealand First Party or NZ First led byWinston PETERS
New Zealand Labor Party led byChris HIPKINS
New Zealand National Party led byChristopher LUXON
[Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
The ruling part in the late 1990s was party: the center-right National Trust (44 of 120 seats). The main opposition part was : the center-left Labour Party. Other political parties: the ultra-right, anti-immigration New Zealand First party, which has 17 seats.
New Zealand First Party
The New Zealand First Party is New Zealand's extreme-right anti-immigration political party. Its charismatic leader, Winston Parties, blames much of New Zealand's problems on foreigners. In his rebel-rousing speeches he puts down Asian immigrants and asserts that New Zealand was a "a great country once...when we owned it all ourselves" and says it is a crime that foreigners have bought the national airlines, that they control the banks and that they own the telephone company and railroad.
Policy platforms of the New Zealand First Party include slashing the number of immigrants, banning the sale of rural land to foreigners and limiting the foreign control of New Zealand companies to 24.9 percent.
Michael Laws, a member of the New Zealand First Party, has called Asian immigrants "parasites" who "bolt hole" dump their children in New Zealand and take their money and businesses "back home again." "The worst offenders," he said, "were from Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea." The New Zealand First Party did surprisingly well in the 1996 election.
Government Spending, Taxes and Revenues
Government Budget: revenues: $76.694 billion (2020 estimate)
expenditures: $88.593 billion (2020 estimate)
Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)
1.6 percent (of GDP) (2017 estimate); ranking compared to other countries in the world: 21. [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
Public Debt: 46.33 percent of GDP (2020 estimate)
32.7 percent of GDP (2019 estimate)
36.61 percent of GDP (2018 estimate); ranking compared to other countries in the world: 121. [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
Taxes: 27.5 percent (of GDP) (2020 estimate); ranking compared to other countries in the world: 35. [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
In the 1990s New Zealanders paid a 12.5 percent sales tax and a 15 percent income tax. The sales tax is a Goods and Services Tax (GST), which is similar to a Value Added Tax (VAT), and is added to purchases of most items and is usually included on the displayed price.
Countries with smallest tax evasion problem: 1) Singapore; 2) New Zealand; 3) Hong Kong; 4) Switzerland; and 5) United Kingdom. [Source: Executive Survey of 60 countries in 1996]
Welfare in New Zealand
New Zealand has been a pioneer in establishing social benefits for its citizens. An old-age pension, based on need, introduced in 1898, was the first of its kind in the world. This was followed by a pension for widows in 1911 and a family allowance in 1926.
In the 1930s, New Zealand became the first county to establish a welfare state. The aim was to provide medical free of charge, housing for low-income families, and assistance to the sick and unemployed.
In the early 1980s, the government safety net included unemployment benefits that kept coming until the unemployed person found work, free hospital care and medical treatment, and retirement pay equal to 80 percent of the average New Zealanders pay. Their medical insurance even covered travelers that visited the country.
Over the years, the welfare system has been reformed and is less generous than it once was. Pensions, medical care and university education now rely on user fees and pension and unemployment benefits have been scaled back. However, women still receive free pregnancy, childbirth and post-natal care.
As part of the recently-introduced "Well Baby, Well Child program," parents on welfare who fail a good parenting test risk losing some of their benefits.
Military of New Zealand
Military and Security Forces: New Zealand Defense Force (NZDF): New Zealand Army, Royal New Zealand Navy, Royal New Zealand Air Force (2023). note: the New Zealand Police, under the minister of police, are responsible for internal security[Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
The NZDF is a small and professional military with considerable overseas experience; it supports the country’s national security objectives by protecting New Zealand’s sovereignty, promoting its interests, safeguarding peace and security, and conducting peacekeeping, humanitarian, and other international missions; the Army’s primary combat units are an infantry brigade and a special forces regiment; the Navy has a small force of frigates and patrol vessels, while the Air Force has squadrons of maritime patrol, anti-submarine, and anti-surface warfare aircraft
Military Expenditures: 1.4 percent of GDP (2022 estimate)
1.3 percent of GDP (2021)
1.5 percent of GDP (2020)
1.4 percent of GDP (2019)
1.2 percent of GDP (2018); ranking compared to other countries in the world: 123[Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
Military Personnel: approximately 12,200 active-duty troops including active reservists (6,600 Army; 2,800 Navy; 2,800 Air Force) (2023). New Zealand opened up all military occupations to women in 2000; women currently account for about 15 percent of regular armed forces personnel. As of 2022, the NZDF’s program for recruiting foreign volunteers had been suspended. Military Service: 17 years of age for men and women for voluntary military service; soldiers cannot be deployed until the age of 18; no conscription (2023)
Military Equipment: the NZDF is equipped mostly with Western-supplied weapons and equipment with the U.S. as the leading provider (2023). [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
Military Deployments: up to 220 Antarctica (summer season only) (2022)
New Zealand is a member of the Five Powers Defense Arrangements (FPDA), a series of mutual assistance agreements reached in 1971 embracing Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the UK; the FPDA commits the members to consult with one another in the event or threat of an armed attack on any of the members and to mutually decide what measures should be taken, jointly or separately; there is no specific obligation to intervene militarily
New Zealand has been part of the Australia, New Zealand, and US Security (ANZUS) Treaty since 1951; however, the U.S. suspended its ANZUS security obligations to New Zealand in 1986 after New Zealand implemented a policy barring nuclear-armed and nuclear-powered warships from its ports; the U.S. and New Zealand signed the Wellington Declaration in 2010, which reaffirmed close ties between the two countries, and in 2012 signed the Washington Declaration, which provided a framework for future security cooperation and defense dialogues; in 2016, a US naval ship conducted the first bilateral warship visit to New Zealand since the 1980s; New Zealand has Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA) status with the US, a designation under US law that provides foreign partners with certain benefits in the areas of defense trade and security cooperation (2023)
International Issues and New Zealand
International Disputes: New Zealand-Antarctica: asserts a territorial claim in Antarctica (Ross Dependency)
Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons: stateless persons: 5 (2022)[Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
Illegal Drugs: significant consumer of amphetamines
International Organization That New Zealand Participates In: ADB, ANZUS, APEC, ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, C, CD, CP, EAS, EBRD, FAO, FATF, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NSG, OECD, OPCW, Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club (associate), PCA, PIF, SICA (observer), Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMISS, UNTSO, UPU, Wassenaar Arrangement, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Anti-Immigration Policies in New Zealand
After a large influx of immigrants arrived in the early 1990s, the government introduced legislation in 1995 to stem the flow by requiring immigrants to take an English language test and punishing those who failed the test by taking away a bond worth up to US$13,000.
According to the rules, migrants were required put up money in form of a bond and take thean English test before they arrived in New Zealand. If they failed the test after a couple of tries they forfeited the bond.
After the new rules were implemented, the number immigrants arriving in New Zealand dropped dramatically. Later, the government revaluated its immigration policies and decided to relax the English language test for Asians. The New Zealand finance minster said the economy needed "quality younger immigrants with high quality skills and preferably some capital. Migrant energies and skills do not displace New Zealanders."
Crime Gangs in New Zealand
Police do not routinely carry guns.
Many of New Zealand cities and large towns have street gang problems. Gangs like the Devil's Henchmen, the Mongrel Mob, the Black Power Gang, the Tongan Crypt Gang, the United Islands Gang, the Sons of Samoa, the Headhunters, the Grim Reapers and the Satan's Slaves fight turf battles among themselves, are involved in drug dealing and drive-by shootings and terrorize ordinary citizens, some of whom have been caught in crossfire.
Police estimate there are 70 major gangs and hundreds of smaller units with a combined membership of 11,000 people. Police have divided the gangs into three groups: ethnic gangs, motorcycle gangs and youth gangs. Police are battling the gangs in some places by imposing curfews.
Many of the gangs are comprised of Maoris and other Polynesian ethnic groups such as Tongans and Samoans. Some of the gangs are believed to have connections with the Triads in Hong Kong. There are also some Asian gangs involved in protection rackets and even kidnapping of children from wealthy families.
Famous Crime in New Zealand
In the early 1990s, a pair of teenage twins from New Zealand stowed away on a Malaysian container ship and then left the ship and swam 20 miles across shark-infested waters to the shore of Australia, where they lived for 19 days off of shellfish and other seafood before being discovered "kissing and cuddling all the time" with a Malaysian sailor.
In the mid-1990s, a woman was charged for drunk driving in Whangarei after she mistook a police van of a pie wagon and was given a breathalizer test when she tried to buy a pie from the police officers.
In 1997, a 24-year-old man ran amok with a 12-gauge shotgun in the ski village of Raurimu in the central North Island and went on a shooting spree, killing six people and injuring four others. The tragedy began during a family reunion and most the dead were relatives of the killer, who was naked when police apprehended him.
The popular and critically-acclaimed 1994 New Zealand film “Heavenly Creatures” was based on real-life 1954 crime in Christchurch in which two teenage girls were charged with bludgeoning to death one of the girl's mother.
The girls were "detained at Her Majesty's pleasure" until 1959. One of the girls, Pauline Parker, went into hiding. The other, Juliet Hulme, left New Zealand and later moved to Scotland and became a bestselling mystery writer under the name Anne Perry. She claims that she remembers little of the crime, and the main character in several of novels is a detective who suffers from amnesia.
Image Sources:
Text Sources: CIA World Factbook, 2023; New Zealand Tourism Board, New Zealand Herald, “Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Volume 2: Oceania,” edited by Terence E. Hays, 1991, Wikipedia, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Times of London, Lonely Planet Guides, Library of Congress, The Guardian, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, BBC, CNN, and various books, websites and other publications.
Last updated August 2023