GOVERNMENT
New Zealand
has a parliamentary system of government closely patterned on
that of the United Kingdom and is a fully independent member of
the Commonwealth. It has no written constitution. Executive authority
is vested in a cabinet led by the prime minister, who is the leader
of the political party or coalition of parties holding the majority
of seats in parliament. All cabinet ministers must be members
of parliament and are collectively responsible to it.
The unicameral parliament (House of Representatives) usually has 120 seats, seven of which currently are reserved for Maori elected on a separate Maori roll. However, Maori also may run for, and have been elected to, non-reserved seats. Parliaments are elected for a maximum term of 3 years, although elections can be called sooner.
The judiciary
consists of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Courts, and
District Courts. New Zealand law has three principal sources--English
common law, certain statutes of the UK Parliament enacted before
1947, and statutes of the New Zealand Parliament. In interpreting
common law, the courts have been concerned with preserving uniformity
with common law as interpreted in the United Kingdom.
Local
government in New Zealand has only the powers conferred upon it
by parliament. The country's 12 regional councils are directly
elected, set their own tax rates, and have a chairperson elected
by their members. Regional council responsibilities include environmental
management, regional aspects of civil defense, and transportation
planning. The 74 "territorial authorities"--15 city
councils, 58 district councils in rural areas, and one county
council for the Chatham Islands--are directly elected, raise local
taxes at rates they themselves set, and are headed by popularly
elected mayors. The territorial authorities may delegate powers
to local community boards. These boards, instituted at the behest
either local citizens or territorial authorities, advocate community
views but cannot levy taxes, appoint staff, or own property.
Principal Government Officials
Chief of State--Queen Elizabeth II
Governor General--His Excellency Honourable Anand Satyanand
Prime Minister--John Key
Foreign Minister--Murray McCully
Ambassador to the United States--Roy Ferguson
Ambassador to the United Nations--James McLay
New Zealand maintains an embassy
in the United States at 37 Observatory Circle NW, Washington,
DC 20008 (tel. 202-328-4800, fax 202-667-5227). A consulate general
is located in Los Angeles (tel. 310-207-1605, fax 310-207-3605).
Tourism information is available through the New Zealand Tourism
Board office in Santa Monica, California (toll-free tel. 800-388-5494)
or through the following website:
POLITICAL
CONDITIONS
The traditionally conservative National Party and left-leaning Labour Party have dominated New Zealand political life since a Labour government came to power in 1935. During 14 years in office, the Labour Party implemented a broad array of social and economic legislation, including comprehensive social security, a large-scale public works program, a 40-hour workweek, a minimum basic wage, and compulsory unionism. The National Party won control of the government in 1949 and adopted many welfare measures instituted by the Labour Party. Except for two brief periods of Labour governments in 1957-60 and 1972-75, National held power until 1984. After regaining control in 1984, the Labour government instituted a series of radical market-oriented reforms in response to New Zealand's mounting external debt. It also enacted anti-nuclear legislation that effectively brought about New Zealand's suspension from the ANZUS security alliance with the United States and Australia.
In October 1990, the National Party again formed the government, for the first of three 3-year terms. In 1996, New Zealand inaugurated a mixed-member proportional (MMP) system to elect its parliament. The system was designed to increase representation of smaller parties in parliament and appears to have done so in the MMP elections to date. Since 1996, neither the National nor the Labour Party has had an absolute majority in parliament, and for all but one of those years, the government has been a minority one. The Labour Party won elections in November 1999 and again in July 2002. In 2002 Labour formed a coalition, minority government with the Progressive Coalition, a left-wing party holding two seats in parliament. The government relied on support from the centrist United Future Party to pass legislation.
Following a narrow victory in the September 2005 general elections, Labour formed a coalition with the one-seat Progressive Party. The government also entered into limited support agreements with the United Future New Zealand and NZ First Parties, whose leaders were respectively given the Revenue and Foreign Affairs ministerial positions outside of the cabinet. This gave Labour an effective one-seat majority with which to pass legislation in parliament. Labour also secured an assurance from the Green Party that it would abstain from a vote of confidence against the government. The 2005 elections saw the new Maori Party win four out of the seven reserved Maori seats. The additional seat in the 121-member parliament was the result of an overhang from 2005 elections. There were two independent members of parliament (MPs): a former Labour Party MP and a former United Future New Zealand MP, both of whom left their respective parties in 2007.
The 2008 general election on November 8 was comfortably won by the John Key-led National Party. National won 45% of the popular vote (58 seats) to Labour's 34% (43 seats). The Green Party won nine seats; ACT won five; the Maori Party picked up an additional Maori seat to bring its total number of seats to five; the Progressives and United Future won one seat each. New Zealand First, the party of former foreign minister Winston Peters, did not win enough votes to return to parliament. On November 16, Key announced the formation of a new National-led center-right government in coalition with the right-leaning ACT and the centrist United Future party. National also entered into a limited support agreement with the Maori Party. Collectively, this gives the government 69 votes to pass legislation in the new 122-member parliament, the two extra seats the results of an overhang from the election. The leaders of ACT and United Future were respectively given the local government and revenue ministerial portfolios. ACT's co-leader was given the consumer affairs ministerial portfolio. The co-leaders of the Maori Party were each given the Maori affairs and community ministerial portfolios, although their posts are outside of cabinet with the right to dissent on other policy issues outside portfolio areas. The government was sworn in on November 19, with Key becoming New Zealand's 38th prime minister. During her election night concession speech, outgoing Prime Minister Helen Clark announced that she would step down as Labour's leader after 15 years in charge. She was succeeded as party leader by Phil Goff. Clark will remain in parliament as Labour's foreign affairs spokesperson. The 49th parliament will commence on December 8, 2008.
Type: Parliamentary.
Constitution: No formal, written constitution.
Independence: Declared a dominion in 1907.
Branches: Executive--Queen Elizabeth II (chief of state, represented by a governor general), prime minister (head of government), cabinet. Legislative--unicameral House of Representatives, commonly called parliament. Judicial--four-level system: District Courts, High Courts, the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court, which in 2004 replaced the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London as New Zealand's highest court of appeal. There also are specialized courts, such as employment court, family courts, youth courts, and the Maori Land Court.
Administrative subdivisions: 12 regions with directly elected councils and 74 districts (15 of which are designated as cities) with elected councils. There also are a number of community boards and special-purpose bodies with partially elected, partially appointed memberships.
Political parties: Labour, National, Progressive Party, New Zealand Green Party, New Zealand First, ACT, United Future New Zealand, Maori Party, and several smaller parties not represented in parliament. There are currently two independent members of parliament.
Suffrage: Universal at 18.
