New Zealand was where I was born and spent the first 23 years of my life. It's not just the lord of the rings or a bunch of sheep jokes. It is much more than that. And in this diary I aim to tell a little about the country where my ancestors from the UK went to.
As you can see from the above map... New Zealand is situated near Australia, in the South Pacific Ocean.
According a June 2010 estimate its population was about 4,367,700. The official languages are Maori, English and New Zealand sign language.
The Maori people are the indigenous people of New Zealand. The Maori name of New Zealand is Aeotearoa, land of the long white cloud. The Europeans arrived in Aeotearoa in 1642. In 1840 a treaty was signed, in Waitangi, making New Zealand a colony of Britain. There was however, TWO different treaties signed, one in Maori and the other in English which said very different things but resulted in the entire country being made into a colony. A large number of Maori Chiefs also refused to sign, suspecting a a trick which raises the question of the actual validity of the entire document(s).
That however is a matter for another diary.
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In 1984 New Zealand was kicked of ANZUS (Australia New Zealand United States) organisation after it refused to let warships into its waters that may or may not have had nuclear weapons (the Americans refused to tell). After that incident, relations with America have been icy to say the least. In recent years, the ice has slowly melted during Clinton and Obama Administrations (not coincidentally both being Democrat Administrations).
(heh found this video of a youngish Dan Rather).
New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy. Queen Elizabeth II is the Queen of New Zealand and the head of state.The Queen is represented by the Governor-General, whom she appoints on the exclusive advice of the Prime Minister.The Governor-General can exercise the Crown's prerogative powers (such as reviewing cases of injustice and making appointments of Cabinet ministers, ambassadors and other key public officials) and in rare situations, the reserve powers (the power to dismiss a Prime Minister, dissolve Parliament or refuse the Royal Assent of a bill into law). The Queen and Governor-General powers are limited by constitutional constraints and they normally can not be exercised without the advice of Cabinet.
In New Zealand, we have an electoral system known as MMP (Mixed Member Proportional) MMP is similar to other forms of proportional representation (PR) in that the overall total of party members in the elected body is intended to mirror the overall proportion of votes received; it differs by including a set of members elected by geographic constituency who are deducted from the party totals so as to maintain overall proportionality. Therefore, the additional party seats are compensatory: they top up the local results.
This has resulted in a number of Parliaments which have had small parties with a large voice. It has resulted in a few Governments either governing with a third party in a signed agreement or with consent with small parties agreeing not to bring the Government down in confidence votes.
While there has been grumbling about the time it takes for Governments to form after an MMP election I feel that it is a good system and it allows minor parties to have a bigger influence than they had under the old system of first past the post ( first party past a certain number is the majority government).
New Zealand was the first self-governing nation to extend the right to vote to all adult women. Something I am very proud of.
To end this first diary on New Zealand, here is a couple of significant events:
(1) The South African Rugby Tour in 1981.
This resulted in mass protests by a lot of the youth of New Zealand, clashing with Police and the older generation, due to the apartheid that was being enforced in South Africa.
During one rugby test, a man flew his plane over the ground and flower bombed the game. After that tour, all matches between New Zealand and South Africa were banned until the fall of Apartheid.
(2) A drunk Prime Miniister calls a snap election in 1984.
Robert Muldoon was the National Party leader. The result of this decision was the end of his leadership. It turned out that Muldoon had a very good reason for wanting out.... during early 1984 Roderick Deane, then Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, became concerned that the New Zealand dollar (which had a fixed exchange-rate to the US Dollar) had become significantly overvalued and was vulnerable to currency speculation on the financial markets in the event of a "significant political event". This was exacerbated by media speculation following a leak that an incoming Labour administration would be likely to significantly devalue the NZ dollar upon election. The Reserve Bank counseled Muldoon that the dollar should be devalued. Muldoon ignored the advice, owing to his belief that it would hurt poor New Zealanders in the medium term, and in June 1984 announced the snap election mentioned above which, as predicted, caused an immediate run on the dollar.
Following the election the controversy became a constitutional crisis: Muldoon refused to do as the incoming government instructed, causing the currency crisis to worsen. Eventually he relented however, after his position as leader of the National party was threatened by members of his caucus.
and on a brighter note: New Zealand is most famous for this:
And a few last facts to finish off:
New Zealand's largest cities are Auckland and Wellington in the North Island, Christchurch and Dunedin in the South Island. Wellington is the national capital and Queenstown in the South Island calls itself the Adventure Capital of the World.
Children in New Zealand's secondary schools spend more time than the OECD average learning mathematics, science, technology and physical education. They spend less time learning foreign languages, arts and religion than children in other countries.
With 2.5 million cars for four million people, including children, New Zealand's car ownership rate is one of the world's highest.
New Zealanders make only about 2% of their journeys by bus and fewer than 1% by rail.
Compared with some other countries, New Zealanders are not heavy drinkers. The average New Zealander drinks:
>> 5% less alcohol than the average Australian.
>> 12% less alcohol than the average Briton.
>> 30% less alcohol than the average German.
>> 40% less alcohol than the average Irish.
NZ roads don't need to be salted so cars rust very slowly.
Currently New Zealand generates about 10% of its electricity geothermally from volcanic heat. Another 55% of the country's electricity is generated from water flowing through hydroelectic dams. Wind-power accounts for less than 5% of electricity needs, although this is planned to increase significantly in the years ahead. By 2025, the plan is that 90% of New Zealand's electricity will come from renewable sources.
(Most of the above information was sourced from the following places:
books that I have and my own brain).
Thanks for reading, and feel free to make any comments/suggestions and questions!