World Country Guide

History and Government

History
New Zealand was first settled at least 1000 years ago by the Polynesian Maori, a well ordered tribal society led by hereditary chiefs and a powerful priesthood. The first European arrival was Dutchman Abel Tasman in 1642, although it was not until the voyages of Captain James Cook, in 1769 and 1779, that the islands were charted and explored.

British settlers began to emigrate after British sovereignty was established in 1840; Wellington was founded soon afterwards. New Zealand was granted internal self-government in 1852. The later years of the century saw a rapid growth in investment, communications and agricultural production. In 1893, New Zealand became the first country in the world to extend the vote to women. In 1907, New Zealand became a Dominion and its forces took part in both World Wars.

The country is a member of the Commonwealth and also several other international organisations, including ANZUS, the Five Power Defence Agreement and the South Pacific Forum. Membership of Western alliances were suspended, however, when Labour Prime Minister David Lange, elected in 1984, declared New Zealand nuclear free and prevented US and British vessels that might be nuclear powered or carrying nuclear weapons from entering New Zealand’s ports. While these policies put the small country on the international stage, Lange’s government was engaged in radical economic reform at home. Lange eventually resigned at the beginning of August 1989, to be replaced by one of his Cabinet members, Geoffrey Palmer. Palmer himself resigned in early September 1990, just weeks before the scheduled general election at the end of October 1990. This was won by the opposition National Party, which had been out of office for a decade. The new Government quickly reversed the Labour government’s policy on visiting warships but continued to express strong opposition to French nuclear tests in the South Pacific – politically essential after the Rainbow Warrior affair, in which French military personnel bombed the Greenpeace vessel of the same name, killing one person. The tests ended in 1995 and New Zealand resumed diplomatic relations with France in 1997.

Following a sharp recession in the early 1990s, the economy had recovered sufficiently by October 1993 for the National Party to be returned to office with a narrow majority. The party held on in October 1996 – the first poll held under the country’s new electoral system (see below) – but only with the support of New Zealand First (NZF), a newly-formed party with a nationalist agenda. Jim Bolger continued as Prime Minister, with NZF’s Winston Peters as his deputy and treasurer. Peters was of Maori descent, and the 1996 election was notable for the increase in the number of Maori MPs from six to 15: this came close to giving the Maori people a representation proportional to their presence in the community as a whole. Relations between the Maori and the mostly British-descended majority of the population are still sensitive in a number of respects. Bolger was supplanted in November 1997 by one of his cabinet ministers, Jenny Shipley, who subsequently became New Zealand’s first woman Prime Minister. Shipley faced the electorate two years later, with another woman, academic Helen Clark, leading the Labour Party. A closely fought campaign was eventually won by Labour, although, lacking an overall majority, Labour relied on the support of the small left-wing environmentalist Alliance Party to sustain the government. The result was all but repeated at the most recent poll, held in July 2002, although Labour is now reliant on the two representatives of the Progressive Coalition to maintain its hold on power. Shipley has since been replaced by Don Brash as opposition leader.

In the general election held in September 2005, Prime Minister Helen Clark's party won 50 seats in Parliament - well short of a majority and just two seats ahead of the opposition National Party. Ms Clark remains Prime Minister, but now needs to negotiate with smaller parties to form a minority government.

Government
Legislative power is held by the unicameral 120-seat House of Representatives, which is elected for a three-year term. A system of mixed member proportional representation was introduced at the election of October 1996, when the legislature increased from 99 to 120 seats. As in the UK, the leader of the largest party in the House normally becomes Prime Minister and holds executive power at the head of an executive council (cabinet). The British monarch is the Head of State, represented by the governor-general.