NEW ZEALAND

Maori Aotearoa an island nation in the South Pacific. A remote land, it lies more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres) southeast of Australia, its nearest neighbour. The country comprises two main islandsthe North and South islandsand a number of small islands, some of them hundreds of miles from the main group. New Zealand is about 1,000 miles long (northsouth) and about 280 miles across at its widest point. The land area is approximately 100,000 square miles (268,000 square kilometres)slightly smaller than the state of Colorado and a little larger than the United Kingdom. About two-thirds of the land is economically useful, the remainder being mountainous. Because of its numerous harbours and fjords, the country has an extremely long coastline relative to its area. The capital city is Wellington, and the largest urban area is Auckland, both located on the North Island. New Zealand administers the South Pacific island group of Tokelau and claims a section of the Antarctic continent. Niue and the Cook Islands are self-governing states in free association with New Zealand. New Zealand was the largest country in Polynesia before it was annexed by the British in 1840. Thereafter it was, successively, a crown colony, a self-governing colony (1856), and a dominion (1907). By the 1920s it controlled almost all of its internal and external policies, although it did not become fully independent until 1947, when it adopted the Statute of Westminster. It is a member of the Commonwealth. The country's isolation has played an important part in its development. Nevertheless, in the 20th century New Zealand has been involved in international affairs, being an active member of both the League of Nations and the United Nations. It has also participated in several wars, including World Wars I and II. Economically, the country has been dependent on the export of agricultural products, especially to Great Britain, for much of the 20th century. The entry of Britain into the European Economic Community (EEC) in the early 1970s, however, forced New Zealand to expand its trade relations with other nations. It also has begun to develop a much more extensive and varied industrial sector. James Wilmot Rowe Margaret Ann Rowe Sir Keith Sinclair Maori Aotearoa an island nation in the South Pacific, lying about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) southeast of Australia. New Zealand has two main islandsthe North and South, separated by the 20-mile- (32-kilometre-) wide Cook Straitand a number of small islands. The capital is Wellington. Area 104,454 square miles (270,534 square km). Pop. (1991 est.) 3,432,000. Additional reading Geography General works Basic descriptive information is available in A.H. McLintock (ed.), An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, 3 vol. (1966); and Gordon McLauchlan (ed.), The Illustrated Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated ed. (1989). The New Zealand Official Yearbook (annual) contains descriptive text and statistics on all aspects of New Zealand life; each chapter also has an extended bibliography. The land New Zealand's physiographic features are discussed in D.J. Hooton (ed.), New Zealand: The Physical Environment (1970); D.W. Mckenzie (ed.), Heinemann New Zealand Atlas (1987); A. Grant Anderson (ed.), New Zealand in Maps (1977); Ian Wards (ed.), New Zealand Atlas (1976); and A.H. McLintock (ed.), A Descriptive Atlas of New Zealand (1959). Works discussing geology and climate include Maxwell Gage, Legends in the Rocks: An Outline of New Zealand Geology (1980); Jacobus T. Kingma, The Geological Structure of New Zealand (1974); J.M. Soons and M.J. Selby, Landforms of New Zealand (1982); H.S. Gibbs, New Zealand Soils (1980); G. Kuschel (ed.), Biogeography and Ecology in New Zealand (1975); and B.J. Garnier, The Climate of New Zealand: A Geographic Survey (1958). Conon Fraser, Beyond the Roaring Forties (1986), describes the geology, ecology, and natural history of New Zealand's subantarctic islands. Information on animal and plant forms in New Zealand can be found in Harriet Fleet, The Concise Natural History of New Zealand (1986); Gordon R. Williams (ed.), The Natural History of New Zealand: An Ecological Survey (1973); R.A. Falla, R.B. Gibson, and E.G. Turbott, The New Guide to the Birds of New Zealand and Outlying Islands, rev. ed. (1979); Russell Jackson, Wildlife New Zealand (1982); A.L. Poole (comp.), Wild Animals in New Zealand, 2nd ed. (1973); H.H. Allan, Flora of New Zealand, vol. 1, Indigenous Tracheophyta (1961, reprinted 1982); L. Cockayne, The Vegetation of New Zealand, 2nd ed. rev. and enlarged (1928, reprinted 1958); E. Bruce Levy, Grasslands of New Zealand, 3rd ed. (1970); and J.T. Salmon, The Native Trees of New Zealand (1980). John Pascoe (ed.), National Parks of New Zealand, 3rd ed. (1974); and Noel W. Cusa and Ronald M. Lockley, New Zealand Endangered Species (1980), are also useful. The people Overviews are provided in R.J. Warwick Neville and C. James O'Neill (eds.), The Population of New Zealand: Interdisciplinary Studies (1979); and Paul Spoonley, David Pearson, and Ian Shirley (eds.), New Zealand: Sociological Perspective (1982). Histories of the Maori people before and after the arrival of Europeans and discussions of modern interaction may be found in Te Rangi Hiroa (Peter Buck), The Coming of the Maori, 2nd ed. (1950, reissued 1966); Michael King (ed.), Te Ao Hurihuri: The World Moves On: Aspects of Maoritangi (1975), essays by Maori authors; Joan Metge, The Maoris of New Zealand, rev. ed. (1976); David Lewis, The Maori: Heirs of Tane (1982); and Michael King, Maori: A Photographic and Social History (1983). The three essays comprising the section New Zealand: Maori Incorporations, in the UNESCO publication Trends in Ethnic Group Relations in Asia and Oceania (1979), pp. 205292, examine farming policy and land development issues. I.H. Kawharu (ed.), Waitangi: Maori and Pakeha Perspectives of the Treaty of Waitangi (1989); and Andrew Sharp, Justice and the Maori: Maori Claims in New Zealand Political Argument in the 1980s (1990), discuss the recent history of race relations. Regional and demographic trends are discussed in Brian Colless and Peter Donovan (eds.), Religion in New Zealand Society (1980); and R.J. Johnston (ed.), Urbanisation in New Zealand: Geographical Essays (1973), and Society and Environment in New Zealand (1974). Two works from the New Zealand Planning Council, Population Monitoring Group, The New Zealand Population: Contemporary Trends and Issues (1985), and The New Zealand Population: Patterns of Change (1984), are also useful. The economy Economic history and contemporary conditions are documented by G.R. Hawke, The Making of New Zealand: An Economic History (1985); John Gould, The Rake's Progress? The New Zealand Economy Since 1945 (1982); Brian Easton and Norman Thomson, An Introduction to the New Zealand Economy (1982); Peter Lane, Economy in the Balance: An Introduction to the New Zealand Economy (1976); Ian McLean, The Future for New Zealand Agriculture (1978); Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Financial Policy Reform (1986); and Frank Holmes (ed.), Economic Adjustment: Policies and Problems (1987), a collection of seminar papers. Administration and social conditions New Zealand's government is discussed in Graham W.A. Bush, Local Government and Politics in New Zealand (1980); Stephen Levine (ed.), Politics in New Zealand: A Reader (1978), and the complementary volume by the same author, The New Zealand Political System: Politics in a Small Society (1979); and Hyam Gold (ed.), New Zealand Politics in Perspective (1985), and New Directions in New Zealand Foreign Policy (1985). Public administration and social policy are examined by R.C. Mascarenhas (ed.), Public and Private Enterprise in New Zealand (1984); R.C. Mascarenhas, Public Enterprise in New Zealand (1982); S. Harvey Franklin, Trade, Growth, and Anxiety: New Zealand Beyond the Welfare State (1978); Brian Easton, Social Policy and the Welfare State in New Zealand (1980); and Margaret Clark (ed.), The Politics of Education in New Zealand (1981). Cultural life Information on art in New Zealand is available in Terence Barrow, Maori Art of New Zealand (1978); Gordon H. Brown and Hamish Keith, An Introduction to New Zealand Painting: 18391980, rev. and enlarged ed. (1982); and Sidney Moko Mead (ed.), Te Maori: Maori Art from New Zealand Collections (1984). See also relevant sections in Brian Brake, James M. McNeish, and David Simmons, Art of the Pacific (1979). Introductory works on New Zealand literature include Wystan Curnow (comp.), Essays on New Zealand Literature (1973); and C.K. Stead, In the Glass Case: Essays on New Zealand Literature (1981). Further information on New Zealand art and literature can be found in the bibliographies for the articles Oceanic arts and New Zealand literature. History General works Overviews are provided by Keith Sinclair, A History of New Zealand, rev. and enlarged ed. (1980), and A Destiny Apart: New Zealand's Search for National Identity (1986); W.H. Oliver and B.R. Williams (eds.), The Oxford History of New Zealand (1981); and Keith Sinclair and Wendy Harrex, Looking Back: A Photographic History of New Zealand (1978). Early history Works on various aspects include, on the pre-European Maori, John Wilson (ed.), From the Beginning: The Archaeology of the Maori (1987); Raymond Firth, Economics of the New Zealand Maori (1959, reprinted 1973); D.R. Simmons, The Great New Zealand Myth: A Study of the Discovery and Origin Traditions of the Maori (1976); and George Grey, Polynesian Mythology and Ancient Traditional History of the New Zealand Race, as Furnished by Their Priests and Chiefs (1885, reissued 1970 as Polynesian Mythology and Ancient Traditional History of the Maori as Told by Their Priests and Chiefs); and, on early European contact, John Cawte Beaglehole, The Discovery of New Zealand, 2nd ed. (1961); and Harrison M. Wright, New Zealand, 17691840: Early Years of Western Contact (1959, reprinted 1967). Annexation and early government are treated by Ian M. Wards, The Shadow of the Land: A Study of British Policy and Racial Conflict in New Zealand 18321852 (1968); and Peter Adams, Fatal Necessity: British Intervention in New Zealand, 18301847 (1977). Early settlement is covered by John Owen Miller, Early Victorian New Zealand: A Study of Racial Tension and Social Attitudes, 18391852 (1958); and Stevan Eldred-Grigg, A Southern Gentry: New Zealanders Who Inherited the Earth (1980). Later 19th century The period to about 1870 is covered by Keith Sinclair, The Origins of the Maori Wars, 2nd ed. (1961, reprinted 1976); James Belich, The New Zealand Wars and the Victorian Interpretation of Racial Conflict (1986), a reinterpretation; Alan Ward, A Show of Justice: Racial Amalgamation in Nineteenth Century New Zealand (1974); and W.P. Morrell, The Provincial System in New Zealand, 185276, 2nd rev. ed. (1964). Subsequent development, especially in politics and economics, is chronicled in R.M. Dalziel, The Origins of New Zealand Diplomacy: The Agent-General in London, 18701905 (1975); Angus Ross, New Zealand Aspirations in the Pacific in the Nineteenth Century (1964); Patricia Grimshaw, Women's Suffrage in New Zealand (1972); and C.G.F. Simkin, The Instability of a Dependent Economy: Economic Fluctuations in New Zealand, 18401914 (1951). The 20th century Modern developments are broadly presented in Robert Chapman and Keith Sinclair (eds.), Studies of a Small Democracy (1963, reissued 1965); and J.B. Condliffe, New Zealand in the Making: A Study of Economic and Social Development, 2nd rev. ed. (1959, reprinted 1963), and The Welfare State in New Zealand (1959, reprinted 1975). Specific themes are discussed in H. Roth, Trade Unions in New Zealand Past and Present (1973); F.L.W. Wood, New Zealand in the World (1940), and The New Zealand People at War: Political and External Affairs (1958, reprinted 1971); Bruce M. Brown, The Rise of New Zealand Labour: A History of the New Zealand Labour Party from 1916 to 1940 (1962); Barry Gustafson, Labour's Path to Political Independence: The Origins and Establishment of the New Zealand Labour Party, 190019 (1980); Richard Kennaway, New Zealand Foreign Policy, 19511971 (1972); Colin James, The Quiet Revolution: Turbulence and Transition in Contemporary New Zealand (1986); and Alan Burnett, The A-NZ-US Triangle (1988). James Wilmot Rowe Margaret Ann Rowe Sir Keith Sinclair Warren Moran Conrad Alexander Blyth Jack Vowles William Hosking Oliver Administration and social conditions Government Constitutional practice New Zealand has a parliamentary form of government based on the British model. Legislative power is vested in the single-chamber House of Representatives (Parliament), the members of which are elected for three-year terms. There are two dominant parties, National and Labour; the party that commands a majority in the House forms the government. The leader of the governing party becomes the prime minister, who, with ministers responsible for different aspects of government, forms a Cabinet. The Cabinet is the central organ of executive power. Most legislation is initiated in the House on the basis of decisions made by the Cabinet; Parliament must then pass it by a majority vote before it can become law. The Cabinet, however, has extensive regulatory powers that are subject to only limited parliamentary review. Because Cabinet ministers sit in the House and because of invariably strong party discipline, legislative and executive authority are effectively fused. The British monarch is the formal head of state and is represented technically by a governor-general appointed by the monarch (upon the recommendation of the New Zealand government) to a five-year term. The governor-general has only limited authority, but the office retains some residual powers to protect the constitution and to act in a situation of constitutional crisis; for example, the governor-general can dissolve Parliament under certain circumstances. The structure of the New Zealand government is relatively simple, but the country's constitutional provisions are more complex. Like that of Great Britain, New Zealand's constitution is a mixture of statute and convention. Where the two clash, convention has tended to prevail. A measure toward simplification was the Constitution Act of 1986, which consolidated and augmented constitutional legislation dating from 1852. Electoral system There is universal suffrage for those 18 years of age and older. Parliamentary electoral districts are redrawn after every quinquennial census, their number increasing slowly with population growth; in the mid-1980s there were 95 constituencies, of which four were reserved for the Maori. Parliamentary elections are run on the basis of party affiliation, each electorate returning the one candidate who receives the majority vote. While there are other political parties in New Zealand, the electoral system strongly favours the two-party alternation of governments and makes it difficult for minor-party candidates to win election. In addition, a party may gain a majority of seats in the House but not win a majority of the national vote. The two major parties have distinct foundations. The National Party's base of support is in rural and affluent urban districts and among those involved in business and management. The Labour Party draws support from trade unions and urban blue-collar workers. Over time, however, both parties have broadened their electoral bases. Labour has gained the support of some areas of the business sector and has succeeded in attracting more professionals, while the National Party has had some success among higher paid workers in key small-town and provincial districts. Increasingly, ideological differentiation between the two parties has become complex, and intraparty differences in such areas as economic policy have often been greater than they have been between parties.