Section 1: Introduction
The Social, Economic, and Political Context in NZ
New Zealand is a Pacific Island nation comprising two main islands and many smaller islands. It is an isolated nation situated approximately 2,000 kilometres southeast of Australia, and about 1,700 kilometres southwest of Fiji.
Social: New Zealand has a population of approximately 4.4 million. Approximately
1.25 million in the greater Auckland area located towards the top of the North Island. The majority of New Zealand’s population is of European descent. The indigenous Maori population, the tangata whenua, comprise around 14.5 percent of the population, with approximately 9 percent of people identifying as Asian and another 7 percent identifying as Pacific Peoples. One in five New Zealanders report having an impairment.
The Constitution Act 1986 is the principal formal statement of constitutional structure. The New Zealand constitution is unwritten. This means that it is written down in a number of places and is based on a system of convention. The role of the Prime Minister for example is a convention. In effect New Zealand is governed by a system of committees. Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi), a treaty between the British Crown and Maorisigned in 1840, is a controversial document critiqued as being more honoured in the breach than in fact.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi is a challenging document for colonisers and also a document that highlights the many wrongs that majority cultures have imposed on the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa. Te Tiriti o Waitangi is the constitutional document that forms the foundation of partnership between the tangata whenua (people of the land) and the public sector. In accordance with the principles of Te Tiriti departments of state, ministries, and agencies are obligated to demonstrate their commitment to Te Tiri o Waitangi with the expectation that they will actively develop and implement protocols that uphold and are inclusive of indigenous people’s rights rather then meretricious expressions of falsehoods.
Nonetheless it is an important constitutional document seeding a spirit of partnership and biculturalism in the public sector. In the spirit of biculturalism all departments of state, ministries, and agencies are required to include clauses in their mission statements expressing commitment to Te Tiriti and protocols in place for establishing a partnership relationship with local iwi (tribe).
English, Te Reo Māori, and New Zealand Sign Language are the official languages. Maori became an official language in 1987. In April 2006, New Zealand became the first country to declare a Sign Language as an official language with the strongest legislation in the world to support it.
In 1893 New Zealand became the first place in the world where women gained the vote. In 2001 New Zealand became the first place in the world where all of the highest official titles, Prime Minister, Governor General, Leader of the Opposition and Chief Justice, were held by women. In 2005 New Zealand elected the highest number of women ever to its parliament. In line with its reputation for innovation New Zealand has played a leading role in development of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities with New Zealand Disability Sector Organisations and the New Zealand Government continuing to support the implementation of the Convention. In May 2010 the Government pledged NZ $2.34 million to help promote, protect and monitor the rights of people in line with the Convention. The Government intends to ‘resource disabled people's organisations to monitor disabled people's experiences and difficulties they encounter, such as with accessing government services’.
Political: New Zealand is a Constitutional Monarchy. Elections are held every three years under an MMP, or Mixed Member Proportional, system of representation. Since the introduction of MMP in 1996 New Zealand has been governed by a series of Coalition Governments. Post 2000, the political philosophy of the governing parties allows the provision of social security whilst remaining focused on economic prosperity.
New Zealand follows a Westminster system of government. However, it is a Unicameral system, the upper house having been abolished in 1951. The House of Representative usually has 120 members. However, extra members can be added if required to achieve proportionality.
Three branches of the State exist, the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary. Division of power into three branches is designed to act as a mechanism to control power in the decision-making process. Because New Zealand is a parliamentary rather than presidential system there is also a ‘fusion of power’ with members of the Executive being drawn from the Legislature and the Governor General appointing Ministers, Judges and other officials on the advice of the Prime Minister or other Ministers. New Zealand ranks highly in international comparisons of a social economic and political nature, including lack of corruption.
The passing of legislation in New Zealand requires the assent of the Governor General acting on behalf of HM Queen Elizabeth II. The main function of the Governor General is to arrange for the leader of the main political party to form a Government. If a vote of no confidence in the Government is passed by the House of Representative then the Governor General has the power to dissolve the Government. The Governor General also chairs, but is not a member of the Executive Council which is comprised of Members of Parliament, who are usually also members of Cabinet. The Executive Council is the highest formal instrument of government. It is the part of the executive branch of government.
Executive political power is exercised by a committee of senior Ministers, led by the Prime Minister and known as the Cabinet. The Prime Minister is regarded by convention as ‘first among equals’ but is required to adhere to the decisions of Cabinet.
Legislative change in New Zealand is made by the Committee of the House of Representatives or, by Regulation, by a quorum of the House, in the Legislative Council with the assent of the Governor General. There are no provinces, states or territories and regions are administered by local and regional councils.
Economic: From the start New Zealand has existed as a market economy reliant on exports. Mercantilism and Great Britain’s need for agricultural goods drove both the colonisation of New Zealand and the developing economy from the 1840s through the early decades of the 20th century. During the post war period from the 1940’s to 1984 New Zealand was widely regarded as a workers welfare State. Post 1984 a radical shift in political philosophy earned the country a reputation as one of the most right wing countries in the world, whilst the new millennium has seen a shift back towards human values. To this day New Zealand continues to be heavily dependent on free trade, particularly in agricultural products.
Real (inflation adjusted) GDP for the year ended March 2010 was NZ $133.1 billion (or US$ 97.5493 billion.) This equates to NZ $30,470 (or US $22,369) per capita. New Zealand is a low wage economy compared to many other developed nations. However, we consistently rank highly in measures of satisfaction or quality of life such as Social Capital. Our cities consistently rank among the worlds most liveable.