10/10/2011 - New Zealand Politics

The Politics of New Zealand Through the Eyes of a ‘Pom’

Today I spent looking into New Zealand politics after finding out there is an election and a referendum being held here next month, obviously very interesting for me. But this is primarily a political post so if you’re not interested in politics, this will bore you to tears. But first here's a quick NZ political history;

1833

James Busby arrives in the Bay of Islands as British Resident in New Zealand – a junior consular representative with little power. See Governing New Zealand, Frontier of chaos and Taming the frontier.

1834

Northern chiefs gather at Busby’s house at Waitangi to choose a Flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand to fly on New Zealand-built trading ships.

1835

A Declaration of Independence of New Zealand is drawn up by Busby without authorisation from his superiors. This asserts the independence of New Zealand, with all sovereign power and authority resting with the hereditary chiefs and tribes. The declaration is eventually signed by 52 Māori chiefs. See alsoBackground to the Treaty.

1839

The British government appoints William Hobson as consul to New Zealand, with instructions to obtain sovereignty with the consent of a ‘sufficient number’ of chiefs. See Land and ideals – background to the Treaty.

1840

The Treaty of Waitangi is signed on 6 February by about 40 chiefs. By September another 500 chiefs in different parts of the country have signed. On 21 May Lieutenant-Governor Hobson proclaims British sovereignty over all of New Zealand: over the North Island on the basis of cession through the Treaty of Waitangi and over the southern islands by right of discovery. New Zealand becomes a dependency of New South Wales, a British Crown Colony that is governed by Sir George Gipps.

1841

New Zealand becomes a separate Crown Colony, ending its connection with New South Wales. Communicating with London takes many months.

1846

New Zealand is divided into two provinces, New Ulster and New Munster.

1852

The New Zealand Constitution Act (UK) establishes a system of representative government for New Zealand. Six (eventually 10) provinces are created, with elected superintendents and councils. At the national level, a General Assembly is established, consisting of a Legislative Council appointed by the Crown and a House of Representatives elected every five years by males over the age of 21 who own, lease or rent property of a certain value. See The House of Representatives.

1853

The House of Representatives’ first 37 members are elected.

1854

The First Parliament meets in Auckland.

1856

‘Responsible’ government begins in New Zealand, with an executive that needs the support of a majority of the members of the House of Representatives. The governor retains responsibility for defence and Māori affairs.

1858

The Waikato chief Te Wherowhero becomes the first Māori King, taking the name Pōtatau. The rise of Te Kīngitanga reflects the desire of many Māori for a leader to unite the tribes, protect land from further sales and make laws for Māori.

1864

The colonial government asserts its responsibility for Māori affairs.

1867

Four Māori parliamentary seats are created (initially as a temporary measure for five years), with universal suffrage for Māori males aged over 21. The first Māori elections are held in 1868. See Māori Members of Parliament and Māori and the vote.

1876

The provinces are abolished, leaving central government as the single legislative authority. Hundreds of local bodies soon come into being.

1879

Universal suffrage is introduced for all males aged over 21.

1893

Universal suffrage is introduced for women aged over 21 (including Māori). New Zealand becomes the first self-governing country to grant the right to vote to all adult women.

1900

New Zealand claims the Cook Islands. It annexes several other territories in the early 20th century.

1901

The Commonwealth of Australia is established. New Zealand has declined on several occasions to become a member.

1902

New Zealand adopts its official national flag.

1907

New Zealand becomes a dominion. Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward reads a proclamation announcing that New Zealand has ceased to be colony and is now a dominion.

1911

New Zealand Coat of Arms warranted. On 26 August the first New Zealand Coat of Arms (officially the Armorial Bearings of the Dominion of New Zealand) is authorised by Royal Warrant.

1917

The title of governor is changed to Governor-General. See The governors. 

1917–18

The Imperial War Cabinet (IWC) meets in London, attended by Prime Minister Massey. The IWC resolves to convene a post-war imperial conference to readjust the internal relations of the Empire on the basis of full recognition of the dominions as autonomous nations with a voice in imperial foreign policy.

1919

Women gain the right to stand as candidates for Parliament. See Women Members of Parliament.

1923

At British request, New Zealand extends its jurisdiction to cover the Ross Dependency in Antarctica.

1926

The Balfour Declaration defines the (white) dominions as ‘autonomous Communities within the British Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by a common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations.’

1931

The British Parliament passes the Statute of Westminster, which removes London’s right to legislate for the dominions unless they ask it to do so. New Zealand declines to ratify the statute until 1947.

1934

Waitangi Day is formally celebrated for the first time.

1939

Britain appoints its first high commissioner to New Zealand; by early 1941 the last of the Governor-General’s ambassadorial functions have been removed. See History of the Governor-General.

1940

The New Zealand Centennial celebrates the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi as the nation’s founding moment, but the celebrations focus mostly on material progress.

1944

New Zealand signs the Canberra Pact with Australia.

1945

New Zealand joins the United Nations as ‘New Zealand’, dropping the term ‘dominion’. See Dominion status.

1947

New Zealand finally adopts the Statue of Westminster 1931.

1949

New Zealand citizenship comes into existence under the British Nationality and New Zealand Citizenship Act 1948.

1950

An act is passed to abolish the Upper House of Parliament, the Legislative Council (with effect from 1 January 1951).

1953

New Zealand’s name changes in official usage to the ‘Realm of New Zealand’.

1956

New Zealand Coat of Arms updated. Changes include the addition of St Edward’s Crown to symbolise Queen Elizabeth II as Queen of New Zealand.

1969

The voting age is reduced to 20.

1974

The voting age is reduced to 18.

The Royal Titles Act 1974 gives primacy to the title ‘Queen of New Zealand’ in New Zealand.

Waitangi Day (then known as New Zealand Day) becomes a national holiday.

1975

The Treaty of Waitangi Act establishes the Waitangi Tribunal as an ongoing commission of inquiry to hear grievances against the Crown concerning breaches of the Treaty (initially, only those occurring after 1975). See The Treaty debated.

1985

The Waitangi Tribunal is empowered to investigate Treaty claims dating back to 1840. Māori have since lodged numerous claims against the Crown, and a number of major reports have been released and settlements reached.

1986

The State-Owned Enterprises Act is the first of many statutes to refer to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. This practice has given the Treaty far-reaching recognition in national and local government.

The Constitution Act finally removes the last faint provision for the British Parliament to make laws for New Zealand.

The Royal Commission on the Electoral System recommends (among other things) that a referendum be held on changing the voting system from first past the post (FPP) to mixed member proportional representation (MMP).

1983

Letters Patent ‘patriate’ the Governor-Generalship as a purely New Zealand office. See History of the Governor-General.

1987

The Order of New Zealand is instituted as the country’s highest honour.

1990

The Bill of Rights Act safeguards New Zealanders’ democratic and civil rights.

1989

Wide-ranging local government reforms drastically reduce the number of local authorities.

1993

A binding referendum changes New Zealand’s voting system from FPP to MMP.

1996

An entirely New Zealand system of royal honours is established.

The first general election held using the MMP voting system results in the first coalition government for more than 60 years.

2004

The Supreme Court Act 2003 comes into effect, abolishing the right of appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London and establishing a New Zealand-based court of final appeal, the Supreme Court.

(Source: http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/politics/milestones)

It seems that NZ politics is very similar to the model in the UK. The Queen is the Head of State and actually seems to have more power and influence over here than she does in the UK, but she is not referred to as the Queen of New Zealand rather than the Queen of the United Kingdom because even though they are the same people, the monarchy of NZ is distinct and separate from the monarchy of the UK since NZ adopted the Stature of Westminster in 1947. However, whilst similarly to the UK, Royal Assent is required to enact laws (plus the Royal sign-manual for Commonwealth countries, just the Royal signature), NZ are in a similar position to us in that the Royal Assent is required by but only gains authority from the populace of the realm.  In practice, the position of Governor-General takes on all the monarchical responsibility, which is appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister and has no political affiliation. Like the role of the Queen in Britain, the Governor-General’s powers are mainly symbolic, traditional and formal. The Governor-General has formal power to dismiss the PM and dissolve Government, but as is a similar case with many Royal powers in Britain, doing so would cause a constitutional crisis.

Again like at home, the most powerful policy making body in the Cabinet, headed by the PM.  The system of accountability is practised so that the Cabinet is accountable to Parliament. General Elections here are held every three years, and such as in the UK they can be called sooner at the PM’s discretion. Three years seems like a short term to me, and some Kiwi’s have told me how Government use it to brush off past mistakes because nobody is around long enough to take responsibility.

Here is where it gets a bit different. The NZ Legislature in unicameral! That means that it only has one chamber. In the UK we have a bicameral system where the House of Commons and House of Lords provide checks and balances for each other. Over here however, the unicameral system consists of the House of Representatives. It was not always this way though, up until 1950 there was a second chamber known as the Legislative Council. The election system in NZ was first-past-the-post (FPTP) up until 1996, where a referendum decided on a proportional representation (PR) system. Up until 1996, the elections were a two horse race between the National party and the Labour party. Much like how up until recent years the only two parties who were credible in the UK were Labour and the Conservatives. However since the introduction of PR in the form of the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP), NZ now enjoys a multi-party election. Under MMP, voters have two votes, one for a party and one for a representative. I found this very informational guide from ‘MMP: It only takes two ticks’ and it explains how MMP works simply.

Parliament here has 120 seats but there are regular over/underhangs. There are several seats reserved for Maori members, elected on a separate roll, but Maori’s can also run on the regular ballot.

The Judiciary has four levels of court; the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court and the District Courts. The Supreme Court is new, only being instated in 2003 to replace the Privy Council in London as NZ’s final court of appeal. The law in NZ comes from different sources. It firstly draws from English common, secondly from UK Parliament enacted statues prior to 1947 (primarily the Bills of Right, 1689) and finally from New Zealand Parliament. When common law is interpreted over here, they try to keep in line with the common law implemented in the UK. In 2003, the Supreme Court in the UK was yet to be established, so the continuation of the existence of the Privy Council in London caused a break in uniformity. However, with the introduction of a UK Supreme Court we are back on level pegging.

Another similarity with the UK is that New Zealand is a unitary state, not a federation. In this way, the central Government creates the regions rather than the regions creating the central Government. The differences lie in the amount of power that regional Governments hold, for example the police and education are run by central Government, whilst the responsibility to provide housing lies with local Government, although that is optional. Moreover, the local Government used to hold control over gas and electricity supplies but much of this was centralised or privatised in the 1990s.

The way I’m understanding regional Government here is by comparing it to regional Government at home. New Zealand is divided into 16 regions which have the level of local Government, I’ve put these on par with County Councils, eg. Norfolk County Council. NZ is also divided into Territorial authorities, some of which are cities but most are districts, these tally up to District Councils at home, eg. Waveney District Council. Within the territorial authorities there are several community or area boards, compared with our Borough Councils, eg. Great Yarmouth Borough Council.

Political parties in NZ are quite diverse since the aforementioned change in voting system. Currently, the National party (right-wing, conservative) are in power in a coalition with the Maori party (ethnic), United Future (family values) and the ACT party (free market). The other main party the is Labour party (centre-left, progressive), the Labour party and the National party are the two largest and oldest parties in NZ. Other parties currently represented in Parliament are the Greens (left-wing, environmentalist and the Progressive party (left of centre).

Next month there will be a general election but also a referendum. This will be interesting for us Poms because of the election we held recently, a general election plus a referendum. Both the referendums are on the same subject, just somewhat reversed. The question in the British referendum was;
“At the present, the UK uses the ‘first-past-the-post’ system to elect MPs to the House of Commons. Should the ‘alternative vote’ system be used instead?
The question in the NZ referendum will be;
“#1: Do you wish to retain MMP? Yes or no.
If ‘No’ then which of the following electoral systems would you like to see introduced:
- First Past the Post – FFP
- Preferential Voting – PV
- Single Transferable Vote – STV
- Supplementary Member – SM”

So whilst we voted on changing from FPTP, they could possibly vote to change back to it. It’s going to be very interesting here next month to see how it goes.

It isn’t compulsory to vote here, but it is compulsory to be enrolled to vote, you get a fine if not. So whilst 79.5% of people were enrolled to vote in 2008, 2,356, 536 votes were cast and the population of New Zealand is around 4,000,000. Taking out those who aren’t 18 years old, that’s not a bad turnout. 

Who knew though, that the British Parliament still held a little bit of legislative power over New Zealand until the 1980s, I sure didn't. So now the official title is the Realm of New Zealand, and it's a great little country!