THE NEW ZEALAND OFFICIAL YEAR-BOOK, 1987-88

Acknowledgements

This publication was produced in the Information Services Division of the Department of Statistics.

Assistant Government Statistician: G. E. Dickinson, Director: K. W. Eddy, Executive Officer Publications and Marketing: M. M. O'Sullivan, Editorial staff: K. M. Carson, L. J. Collins, C. R. Linnell, J. H. Macdonald, Graphic designers: P. J. McGrath, M. A. Metcalfe, Photograph editor: J. R. Hames, Proofreaders: J. W. Hunt. M. S. Page.

Cover

Hei-tiki made of nephrite (New Zealand greenstone). This pendant from the Puawaitanga period (1500–1800AD) was crafted by a member(s) of the Kai Tahu tribe of the South Island. It was part of the acclaimed Te Maori Exhibition which closed in September 1987, and is usually housed in the Auckland Institute and Museum. Photograph: Brian Brake, courtesy of National Geographic Society.

NEW ZEALAND OFFICIAL YEARBOOK
CAT. NO. 01.001
ISSN 0078–0170

RECOMMENDED RETAIL PRICE $47.50
      (INCL. GST)


Table of Contents

List of Tables

Preface

In an age of increasingly detailed and specialist information the New Zealand Official Yearbook continues, in its 92nd edition, to follow one major ambition: the authoritative description of a country and its people in one volume.

For the general reader, both in New Zealand and overseas, it offers an introduction to social, economic and cultural life and institutions. For specialist users it is designed as a first point of reference, with relevant basic statistics and reference material, as well as directions to sources of further information.

The year of compilation for this edition has been one of great change in the New Zealand public sector. This change has affected both the organisations which contribute to the Yearbook and the subject matter within its pages. Every effort has been made to keep information on both legislation and institutions correct, with a cut-off date of mid-1987. However, some statistical series are slower to reflect these changes and there may be some minor inconsistencies between the text and tabular material.

Revision of the Yearbook is a continual process. Last year the order of presentation of material was substantially revised, and the format has been retained for this year. Two further chapters have been rewritten. Chapter 2, History has been revised and expanded by Mr David Green on behalf of the Historical Publications Branch of the Department of Internal Affairs. Chapter 12. Employment has also been revised to give a more concise description of the labour market and includes a special article describing new labour relations legislation. The election night results of the 1987 General Election are summarised in a supplement to chapter 3, Government.

The New Zealand Official Yearbook is compiled and published by the Department of Statistics, mainly using contributions provided by other government departments and official organisations. I would like to again thank all contributors, the Government Printing Office, and departmental editorial staff for their efforts in producing the 92nd edition.

S. Kuzmicich,
GOVERNMENT STATISTICIAN

Wellington,
September 1987.

Department of Statistics

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The Department of Statistics has an enquiries desk at every office. In answer to a letter, visit, or telephone call, enquiries officers can provide statistical information, or tell you more about the department's other services, including access to statistics on the INFOS computer database.

How to use this book

As a new reader of the New Zealand Official Yearbook you may be surprised at the range of information within its pages. But, like any other reference work, the Yearbook is only as effective as its information is accessible. The following notes are therefore included to familiarise you with the book.

What is the Yearbook?

During its long history the aims and functions of the New Zealand Official Yearbook have changed with the times. Today, its editors publish with two main purposes in mind. Firstly, it is a compendium of facts and figures on New Zealand. Secondly, it is an annual describing major changes in New Zealand's administrative framework for the year preceding publication.

The Yearbook does not usually contain the latest or most detailed statistics on particular topics, but it does tell its readers where the latest or more detailed figures or information are available from.

Finding your way

There are two likely ways you will look for information.

If your question is general, for example “How is New Zealand governed?”, then you will probably refer firstly to the table of contents (beginning overleaf) which lists not only chapter headings but major sections within chapters. In approaching the book this way it is worth bearing in mind that the 28 chapters follow a ‘logical’ progression. The first few chapters describe the physical setting as well as New Zealand's history, system of government and international relations. A description of its people comes next, followed by social framework and institutions. Chapters 12–25 describe New Zealand's workforce and industries (in the order of the Standard Industrial Classification), while the final chapters of the book discuss the nation in broad economic terms.

Throughout the book cross references are made, usually by reference to numbered sections within chapters (which appear at the head of each right handed page).

If, on the other hand, your question is more specific, for example “How many people drown while boating each year?”, then the book is thoroughly indexed, and a brief note on the system of indexing can be found on page 743.

Currency of statistics

Because the Yearbook covers such a broad range of subjects, few of its statistics are being published for the first time. Many statistics from government departments and other organisations have been published late in the year preceding publication.

For this edition the figures published are' the latest available at 1 January 1987.

Tables

If the source of a particular table is other than the Department of Statistics, then it is noted at the base of the table. Tables are usually for the year ended 31 March, or for the calendar year. Most tables indicate the months in which the years end, and where a single year is indicated and no month is mentioned the figures can be assumed to be for the calendar year. Where two years are given together, e.g., 1985–86, and no month is mentioned, it can be assumed the figures are for the year ended 31 March.

The following symbols are used in all the tables:

xrevised figure or figures
nil or zero
..figures not available
 not yet available—space left blank
Not applicable
..amount too small to be expressed
Pprovisional
n.e.c.Not elsewhere classified
n.e.s.Not elsewhere specified

Figures are often rounded-off to the nearest thousand or some convenient unit. Sometimes this rounding results in tables with totals which disagree slightly with the total of the individual items shown.

Statistics from the 1981 and 1986 Censuses of Population and Dwellings have been subject to a process of random rounding, whereby all cell values, including row and column totals, have been rounded. Individual figures will therefore not necessarily sum to give the stated totals.

Weights and measures, and a glossary of statistical terms used, are given on pages 714 and 715 respectively.

Further information

If you require general information on a topic the ‘Further information’ section at the end of each chapter provides a brief list of official publications relevant to that chapter. The bibliography beginning on page 719 lists current books on New Zealand under subject headings.

There is a list of some of the publications of the Department of Statistics beginning on page 737.

Enquiries regarding statistics in tables sourced to other organisations should be addressed directly to the organisation concerned.

Suggestions

Your suggestions on the shape of future Yearbooks are welcome. Send them to the Editor. New Zealand Official Yearbook, Department of Statistics, Private Bag, Wellington.

Chapter 1. Geography

1.1 Physical features

New Zealand lies in the south-west Pacific Ocean and consists consists of two main, and a number of smaller islands, whose combined area of 268 000 square kilometres is similar to the size of Japan or the British Isles.

The main North and South Islands are separated by Cook Strait, which is relatively narrow. They lie on an axis running from north-east to south-west, except for the low-lying Northland peninsula. The administrative boundaries of New Zealand extend from 33 degrees to 53 degrees south latitude, and from 162 degrees east to 173 degrees west longitude. In addition to the main and nearby islands,

New Zealand also includes the following small inhabited outlying islands: the Chatham Islands, 850 kilometres east of Christchurch; Raoul Island in the Kermadec Group, 930 kilometres north-east of the Bay of Islands; and Campbell Island, 590 kilometres south of Stewart Island. New Zealand also has jurisdiction over the territories of Tokelau and the Ross Dependency, which are described in chapter 4.

Table 1.1. LAND AREA OF NEW ZEALAND

Land AreaSize

* Includes the islands comprised by Great Barrier Island and Waiheke Counties.

Source: Department of Survey and Land Information.

 sq. km.
North Island*114669
Nearby islands69
South Island149883
Nearby islands4
Stewart Island1746
Chatham Islands963
Outlying islands778
Total268112

New Zealand is more than 1600 kilometres long and 450 kilometres wide at its widest part, and has a long coastline for its area. The coast is very indented in places, providing many natural harbours.

New Zealand is also very mountainous, with less than a quarter of the land below 200 metres. In the North Island the main ranges run generally south-west, parallel to the coast, from East Cape to Cook Strait, with further ranges and four volcanic peaks to the north-west. The South Island is much more mountainous than the North Island. A massive mountain chain, the Southern Alps, runs almost the length of the island. There are many outlying ranges to the Southern Alps in the north, and the south-west of the South Island. There are at least 223 named peaks higher than 2300 metres. There are also 360 glaciers in the Southern Alps. The largest are, on the east, the Tasman (length 29 kilometres), Murchison (17 kilometres), Mueller (13 kilometres), Godley (13 kilometres) and the Hooker (11 kilometres), and, on the west, the Fox (15 kilometres) and the Franz Josef (13 kilometres).

Table 1.2. PRINCIPAL MOUNTAINS

Mountain or PeakHeight

* Since 1986 both the Maori and European names of this mountain have had official recognition.

†Peaks over 3000 metres.

Source: Department of Survey and Land Information.

 metres
North Island—
  Ruapehu2797
  Taranaki or Egmont*2518
  Ngauruhoe2290
  Tongariro1968
South Island
Southern Alps
  Cook3,764
  Tasman3,497
  Dampier3,440
  Silberhorn3,279
  Lendenfeldt3,201
  Mt Hicks (St David's Dome)3,183
  Torres3,163
  Teichelmann3,160
  Sefton3,157
  Malte Brun3,155
  Haast3,138
  Elie de Beaumont3,117
  Douglas Peak3,085
  La Perouse3,079
  Heidinger3,066
  Minarets3,055
  Aspiring3,027
  Glacier Peak3,007

New Zealand's rivers are mainly swift and difficult to navigate. They are important as sources of hydro-electric power and many artifical lakes have been created as part of major hydro-electric schemes. New Zealand also has numerous natural lakes of great scenic beauty.

Table 1.3. PRINCIPAL RIVERS*

RiverLength

*Over 150 kilometres in length from the mouth to the farthest point in the river system irrespective of name, including estimated courses through lakes.

Source: Department of Survey and Land Information.

 km
North Island—
Flowing into the Pacific Ocean
  Rangitaiki193
  Waihou175
  Mohaka172
  Ngaruroro154
Flowing into the Tasman Sea
  Waikato425
  Wanganui290
  Rangitikei241
  Manawatu182
  Whangaehu161
  Mokau158
South Island—
Flowing into Cook Strait
  Wairau169
Flowing into the Pacific Ocean
  Clutha322
  Taieri288
  Clarence209
  Waitaki209
  Waiau169
  Waimakariri161
Flowing into Foveaux Strait
  Mataura240
  Waiau217
  Oreti203
Flowing into the Tasman Sea
  Buller177

Table 1.4. PRINCIPAL LAKES*

LakesArea

*Over 20 square kilometres in area.

Source: Department of Survey and Land Information.

 sq. km.
North Island—
  Taupo606
  Rotorua80
  Wairarapa80
  Waikaremoana54
  Tarawera36
  Rotoiti34
South Island—
  Te Anau344
  Wakatipu293
  Wanaka193
  Ellesmere181
  Pukaki169
  Manapouri142
  Hawea141
  Tekapo88
  Benmore (artificial)75
  Hauroko71
  Ohau61
  Poteriteri47
  Brunner39
  Coleridge36
  Monowai31
  Aviemore (artificial)29
  Rotoroa23
  Mahinerangi (artificial)21

1.2 Geology

New Zealand lies in an area of the world that is characterised by active volcanoes and frequent earthquakes. The ring of fire, as this area is known, forms a belt that surrounds the Pacific Ocean and is the surface expression of a series of boundaries between the plates that make up the surface of the earth. Plate tectonics is a theory that is used to explain the fundamental geological features of the earth. According to the theory the crust of the earth is made up of a series of plates, rather like a jigsaw puzzle. Although these surface plates are rigid, the rocks of the underlying layer of the earth, its upper mantle, are partially molten. This provides the convection mechanism for movement of the overlying plates. Over millions of years these plates have moved in relation to each other, colliding together, pulling apart, or sometimes sliding past each other. Because the boundary between the Indian-Australian plate and the Pacific plate runs through New Zealand, the processes resulting from their collision have had a profound effect on New Zealand's geology. When two plates collide, one is pushed beneath the other in a process known as subduction. The zones of subduction are defined by two deep sea trenches to the north and south of New Zealand, which are connected by the Alpine Fault. The size, shape and geology of New Zealand reflects the long process of construction and deformation along this plate boundary.

Rock types.

The interplay of earth movements and erosion has created the sedimentary rocks that cover almost three-quarters of New Zealand. With erosion of the land, sand, mud, gravel and other debris was carried out to sea, where it accumulated in great thicknesses to form rocks such as sandstone, mudstone, greywacke and conglomerate. The shells and skeletons or sea creatures also accumulated and formed thick layers of limestone. Most sedimentary rocks are formed in near horizontal layers called strata. Earth movements later raised the rocks above the sea to form land, and the strata were in many places tilted and folded by pressure. Seas advanced and retreated over the New Zealand area many times and the sedimentary rocks represent almost every geological period since the Cambrian (see time scale). Their age is revealed by the fossils they contain as well as by various radioactive techniques.

As well as the sedimentary rocks of various ages, New Zealand incorporates in its complex structure metamorphic rocks (schist, gneiss and marble), and intrusive igneous rocks (granite, gabbro, diorite and serpentine). Many of these metamorphic and intrusive igneous rocks are hundreds of millions of years old. The metamorphic rocks were developed by the action of heat and pressure on the thick sediments (up to tens of thousands of metres) deposited in huge elongated sea basins (geoclines), which continued to sink as the deposits accumulated. When these sediments were slowly compressed during major mountain-building episodes the deeper sediments were subjected to great pressures and shearing stress, which caused new minerals and structures to develop, changing the sediments into metamorphic rocks. The granites and other intrusive rocks are characterised by large crystals, and have a course grained texture. They are usually considered to have intruded into the outer crust in a molten state during mountain-building; some, however, may result from intense metamorphism of sediments.

Volcanic rocks (basalt, andesite, rhyolite and ignimbrite), are the products of many volcanic eruptions that have characterised New Zealand's geological history. The most recognisable volcanoes in New Zealand now occur in the North Island, where a number are active. They include those in Tongariro National Park, White Island and Mount Tarawera. Others such as Mount Taranaki (or Egmont), and Rangitoto may be considered dormant at present although they are still regarded as significant hazards. Sporadic episodes of volcanic activity have also occurred in the South Island with Timaru, Lyttelton, Oamaru and Dunedin all having basaltic volcanoes less than 13 million years old.

Geological history.

The oldest rocks in New Zealand are found in Nelson, Westland and Fiordland. They were formed in the Paleozoic era about 570 million years ago, but some in Westland may be older. They include thick, geoclinal sedimentary rocks which suggests that to yield the great volume of sediments a large landmass existed nearby at that time, but little has been deduced about its shape or position.

The history of the later part of the Paleozoic era, and the Mesozoic era, is rather better understood. For a vast span of time from the Carboniferous period, probably until the early Cretaceous period, an extensive geocline occupied the New Zealand region. At first, during much of the late Paleozoic, huge quantities of submarine lava and volcanic ash were included in the materials that accumulated in the geocline. In me later Permian and Mesozoic times the sediments were mainly sand and mud, probably derived from some landmass west of present New Zealand. These rocks have been compacted into hard greywacke (a type of sandstone), and argillite (hard, dark mudstone).

In the early Cretaceous period one of the main mountain-building episodes in New Zealand's history took place. Although geoclinal sedimentation continued through the Cretaceous period in eastern New Zealand, elsewhere the geocline was compressed, and the sediments were intensely crumpled, broken and raised above the sea, probably forming a large, mountainous landmass. Some of the geoclinal sediments, now exposed over much of Otago, alpine Westland, and parts of the Marlborough Sounds, were metamorphosed into schist and gneiss by high temperatures and the tremendous deforming pressures to which the geocline was subjected. This intense folding of the strata occurred approximately 100 million years ago in the mid-Cretaceous period. Slowly the mountains were eroded and gradually a land of low relief was produced. The sea gradually advanced over the worn-down stumps of the Mesozoic mountains, beginning its transgression earlier in some areas than in others. In the early Cretaceous period it began to submerge the land in the region of present Northland and the eastern margins of the North and South Islands, and thick deposits of mudstone and sandstone accumulated in some of these areas. At the close of the Mesozoic era, and in the very early Tertiary era, the land became so reduced in size that little sediment was formed, and only comparatively thin deposits of bentonitic and sulphurous muds, and fine, white foraminiferal limestone accumulated. During this time, New Zealand's main coal deposits accumulated in swamps on the surface of the old land. These became buried by marine deposits as the sea continued its transgression in the Eocene period. By the Oligocene period most of the land was submerged, and in shallow waters free of land sediments, thick deposits of shell and foraminiferal limestone accumulated. Scattered remnants of this Oligocene limestone are used for most of New Zealand's cement and agricultural lime.

Table 1.5. GEOLOGICAL TIMESCALE

EraPeriod Approximate Time Since Period Began (Years)
CenozoicHolocene (Recent)Quaternary10,000
Pleistocene2 million
PlioceneTertiary6 million
Miocene24 million
Oligocene38 million
Eocene53 million
Paleocene65 million
MesozoicCretaceous 135 million
Jurassic 190 million
Triassic 238 million
PaleozoicPermian 300 million
Carboniferous 350 million
Devonian 405 million
Silurian 435 million
Ordovician 500 million
Cambrian 570 million
Source: DSIR

After the Oligocene submergence, earth movements became more vigorous; many ridges rose from the sea as islands, and sank or were worn down again; sea basins formed and were rapidly filled with sediments. New Zealand's late Tertiary environment has been described by Sir Charles Fleming (Tuatara, June 1962) as follows: “The pattern of folds, belts and troughs that developed was on a finer scale than in the Mesozoic … the land moved up and down as a series of narrow, short, interfingering or branching folds. … We can think of Tertiary New Zealand as an archipelago … a kind of writhing of part of the mobile Pacific margin seems to have gone on.” The thick deposits of soft grey sandstone and mudstone that now make up large areas of the North Island and some parts of the South Island, are the deposits that accumulated in the many sea basins that developed in the later Tertiary.

Recent geological history.

Late in the Cenozoic era, in the Pliocene and Pleistocene periods, another great episode of mountain-building took place. Earth movements became intense, and slowly pushed up the Southern Alps and New Zealand's other main mountain chains. It was during this period that the general size and shape of the present islands of New Zealand was determined. Much of the movement during this mountain-building period (the Kaikoura Orogeny) took the form of displacement of blocks of the Earth's crust along fractures called faults. The total movement of the blocks adjacent to major faults amounted to thousands of metres. It must have been achieved very slowly, probably by innumerable small movements, each less than a few metres. The blocks adjacent to ‘transcurrent’ faults moved both vertically and laterally along the faults. The New Zealand landscape today in some regions shows well-preserved, tilted fault blocks bounded by fault scarps (steep faces hundreds or even thousands of metres high). From Milford Sound to Cook Strait, an almost unbroken depression, formed by river valleys and low saddles on the intervening ridges marks the site of New Zealand's Alpine Fault. Contrasting rock types occur on either side of the fault. This is exemplified by the separation by 480 kilometres of a Permian ophiolite, an association of igneous rocks, which occurs in Nelson and western Otago. Fault movements continue to the present day and have accompanied several major earthquakes of the past century. Many minor but revealing landscape features, such as scarplets or offset ridges, or streams, show where the movement has been occurring over recent centuries.

Erosion has eaten into the landscape forms during this time, carving detailed patterns of peaks, ridges, valleys and gorges. The deposition of the debris has built up alluvial plains, shingle fans and other construction forms. At the coast, waves have driven back the headlands and built beaches, spits and bars. The late Pleistocene glaciers carved the fiords of Fiordland and the valleys occupied by most of the South Island lakes; there were small glaciers also on Ruaphehu, where remnants survive, on Mount Taranaki and the Tararua Range. Sea-level changes accompanied the formation and later melting of the glacial ice, affecting the erosion and deposition of the rivers and thus being responsible for the formation of many prominent river terraces.

Volcanic activity of the past few million years has played an important part in shaping the landscape. Banks Peninsula, a twin volcanic dome in Canterbury, also achieved much of its growth then. The largest volcanic outpourings of late geological times in New Zealand has been in the region between Tongariro National Park and the Bay of Plenty coast; andesite lava, scoria, and ash were erupted in the Pleistocene period and later, to build the volcanoes, Ruapehu, Tongariro, and Ngauruhoe. More than 8000 cubic kilometres of molten rhyolitic magma was erupted in the form of ignimbrite pumice and rhyolite lava, building up the Volcanic Plateau, which is one of the largest and youngest accumulations of acid volcanic rocks in the world. Mount Taranaki is an andesitic stratovolcano, with the remnants of three other volcanic cones nearby; all are of Pleistocene age. In the Waikato there are eroded Pleistocene cones of andesitic composition associated with a number of alkaline eruptive centres. The largest is Pirongia, a basaltic andesite cone some 900 metres high. Auckland city and the area just south has been the scene of many eruptions of basalt lava and scoria in Pleistocene and Holocene times, and many small scoria cones can be seen there. Late Tertiary and Quaternary basaltic eruptions in North Auckland have built lava plateaus and many young cones. From these volcanic outpourings some valuable mineral resources have been derived. The ironsands mined on the west coast of the North Island are concentrations of magnetite and ilmenite, which have been eroded out of the volcanic rocks.

1.3 Earthquakes

Compared with some other parts of the almost continuous belt of earthquake activity around the rim of the Pacific such as Japan, Chile, and the Philippines, the level of seismic activity in New Zealand is moderate, although earthquakes are common. It may be roughly compared with that prevailing in California. A shock of Richter magnitude 6 or above occurs on the average about once a year, a shock of magnitude 7 or above once in 10 years, and a shock of about magnitude 8 perhaps once a century, but in historic times only one shock (the south-west Wairarapa earthquake in 1855) is known to have reached this magnitude.

Other natural disasters and accidents are together responsible for more casualties than earthquakes, the most serious seismic disasters in New Zealand having been the Hawke's Bay earthquake of 1931 in which 256 deaths occurred, and the Buller earthquake of 1929 in which there were 17 deaths. The total resulting from all other shocks since 1840 is less than 15 deaths. The last earthquake to cause deaths occurred at Inangahua in 1968, when three people died.

The process of earthquake occurrence is understood in terms of a large volume of the Earth's crust being subjected to strain by the relentless movement of the great plates of the Earth's surface against each other. The strain eventually exceeds the strength of the rock, which ruptures. Energy is radiated outwards in the form of elastic waves, which can be felt at places near the origin, and detected by sensitive instruments at greater distances. In large shallow earthquakes the rupture may appear at the surface, forming or renewing movement on a geological fault. In regions where the majority of earthquakes are very shallow, such as California, there is a tendency for the earthquake origins to cluster near geological fault traces, but in regions of deeper activity, such as New Zealand, this is not so. There is little activity near the Alpine Fault, which stretches for some 500 kilometres from Milford Sound to Lake Rotoiti, and is considered one of the world's largest and most active faults.

Within New Zealand at least two separate systems of seismic activity can be distinguished. The Main Seismic Region covers the whole of the North Island except the Northland peninsula, and the part of the South Island north of a line passing roughly between Banks Peninsula and Cape Foulwind. The Southern, or Fiordland, Seismic Region includes southern Westland, western Southland, and western Otago. Less clearly defined activity covers the remainder of the two main islands, and extends eastwards from Banks Peninsula to include the Chatham Islands.

Shallow earthquakes, which are the most numerous, originate within the Earth's crust, which in New Zealand has an average thickness of some 35 kilometres. These shocks are responsible for almost all damage to property, and are widely scattered throughout the country. In historically recent times, the Main and Fiordland Seismic Regions have been significantly more active than the rest of New Zealand, but neither the Central Seismic Region, which lies between them, nor the northern peninsula has been free from damaging shocks. The details of the present pattern are not necessarily unchanging, and could alter significantly after the occurrence of a major earthquake. Because of this, because of the broader geophysical setting, and because of the distance to which the effects of a large earthquake extend, it would be highly imprudent to treat any part of New Zealand as completely free from the risk of serious earthquake damage.

Many active regions of the Earth have only shallow earthquakes, but in others shocks have been known to occur at depths as great as 700 kilometres below the surface. It is thought that these deep shocks originate within the edges of crustal plates that have been drawn down or thrust beneath their neighbours. Such deep events are common in both the Main and Fiordland Seismic Regions of New Zealand, but their relative positions with respect to the shallow activity and to other geophysical features are rough mirror images. This is believed to indicate that in the North Island the edge of the Pacific Plate lies below that of the Indian Plate, while in the south of the South Island the Pacific Plate is uppermost and the Indian Plate has been thrust beneath it.

The most important system of deep shocks in New Zealand lies in a well-defined zone beneath the Main Seismic Region, stretching from the Bay of Plenty to Nelson and Marlborough. The maximum depth of occurrence is about 400 kilometres at the northern end, and decreases evenly to a depth of about 200 kilometres before the southern boundary of the region is reached. Along the whole of the system, there is also a regular decrease in depth from west to east. In northern Taranaki, near the western limit of this activity, a small isolated group of shocks at a depth of about 600 kilometres has also been recorded. In the Central Seismic Region only shallow shocks are known. The maximum depth of earthquakes appears to be less than 150 kilometres in the Fiordland Region where the deep activity is more concentrated than in the north, lying close to Lakes Te Anau and Manapouri.

Both earthquakes and volcanoes are found in geophysically disturbed regions, but large earthquakes are rare, although small earthquakes usually accompany volcanic eruptions. Regions of active volcanism are also subject to periodic outbreaks of small earthquakes, all of similar magnitude, and very numerous, known as ‘earthquake swarms’. Although the number of shocks may cause alarm, it is unusual for even minor damage to result. There is not often a simultaneous volcanic outbreak, but swarms are rare in non-volcanic regions. In New Zealand they have occurred in the volcanic zone that includes Mount Ruapehu and White Island, the Coromandel Peninsula, parts of Northland, and Taranaki.

1.4 Climate

New Zealand lies in the mid-latitude zone of westerly winds, in the path of an irregular succession of anticyclones, which migrate eastwards every six to seven days. The centres of these anticyclones generally track across the North Island, more northerly paths being followed in spring, and southerly paths in autumn and winter. Anticyclones are areas of descending air, and settled weather, with little or no rain, which may bring clear skies, or low cloud and fog. Between the anticyclones are troughs of low pressure, which extend northwards from low pressure depressions moving eastwards far to the south of New Zealand. Within these troughs there are often cold fronts, oriented north-west to south-east, which produce one of the commonest types of weather sequence over the country: as the front approaches from the west, north-westerly winds become stronger and cloud increases, followed by a period of rain for several hours as the front passes over, and then a change to cold showery south-westerly winds.

The presence of an axial mountain chain extending the length of the country has a major effect on the climate of its various regions, and produces much sharper climatic contrasts from west to east, than from north to south. In some inland areas of the South Island, just east of the mountains, the climate is distinctly ‘continental’ in character, with large daily and seasonal temperature extremes, despite the fact that no part of the country is more than 130 kilometres from the sea. Ophir in Central Otago has the greatest extreme temperature range of 55 °C.

Winds.

The prevailing wind direction is westerly, although in individual months easterlies may predominate, and north of Taranaki the general flow is southwesterly. In the North Island winds generally decrease for a period in the summer or early autumn, but in many parts of the South Island July and August are the least windy months. The blocking effect of the mountain ranges modifies the westerly wind pattern. Wind strength decreases on the western side, but increases through Cook Strait, Foveaux Strait, and about the Manawatu Gorge. Air is also forced upwards over the ranges, which results in a warm drying (föhn) wind in the lee areas to the east of both islands. Wellington averages 173 days a year with wind gusts greater than about 60 km/h, compared with 30 for Rotorua, 31 for Timaru, and 35 for Nelson. Sea breezes are the predominant winds in summer in many coastal places, such as Canterbury, where the north-easterlies are almost as frequent as the predominant south-westerlies.

Rainfall.

The distribution of rainfall is mainly controlled by mountain features, and the highest rainfalls occur where the mountains are exposed to the direct sweep of the westerly and northwesterly winds. The mean annual rainfall ranges from as little as 300 mm in a small area of Central Otago to over 8000 mm in the Southern Alps. The average for the whole country is high, but for the greater part lies between 600 mm and 1500 mm. The only areas with average rainfalls under 600 mm are found in the South Island to the east of the main ranges, and include most of Central and North Otago, and South Canterbury. In the North Island, the driest areas are central and southern Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa, and Manawatu, where the average rainfall is 700–1000 mm a year. Of the remainder, much valuable farm land, chiefly in northern Taranaki and Northland, has upwards of 1500 mm. Over a considerable area of both islands rainfall exceeds 2500 mm a year. For a large part of the country the rainfall is spread evenly through the year. The greatest contrast is found in the north, where winter has almost twice as much rain as summer. However, predominance of winter rainfall diminishes southwards: it is still discernible over the northern part of the South Island, but over the southern half, winter is the season with least rainfall, and a definite summer maximum is found inland due to the effect of convectional showers. Rainfall is also influenced by seasonal variations in the strength of the westerly winds. Spring rainfall is increased west of, and in, the ranges as the westerlies rise to their maximum about October, with a complementary decrease of rainfall in the lee of the ranges. Areas which are exposed to the west and south-west experience much showery weather, and rain falls on roughly half the days of the year. Over most of the North Island there are at least 130 rain days a year (days with at least 1.0 mm of rain)—except to the east of the ranges where in places there are fewer than 110 rain days. Those areas of the South Island with annual rainfall under 600 mm generally have about 80 rain days a year. In the far south the frequency of rain increases sharply, rain days exceeding 200 a year in Stewart Island and Fiordland. On the whole the seasonal rainfall does not vary greatly from year to year, its reliability in spring being particularly advantageous for agriculture. It is least reliable in late summer and autumn, when very dry conditions may develop east of the ranges, particularly in Hawke's Bay. The highest daily rainfall on record is 582 mm, which occurred at Rapid Creek (Hokitika), where- the mean annual rainfall exceeds 6000 mm. Areas with a marked lower annual rainfall can be subject to very heavy daily falls: such areas are found in northern Hawke's Say and north-eastern districts in the Auckland province. By contrast, in the Manawatu district, Otago, and Southland, daily falls reaching 80 mm are very rare.

Temperature.

Mean temperatures at sea level decrease steadily southwards from 15°C in the far north to 9°C in the south of the South Island. Temperatures also drop, by about 2°C per 300 metres, with altitude. January and February, with approximately the same mean temperature, are the warmest months of the year, and July is the coldest. Highest temperatures are recorded east of the main ranges, where they exceed 30°C on a few afternoons in most summers. The extremes for New Zealand are 42°C which has been recorded in three places, at Awatere Valley (Marlborough), Christchurch, and Rangiora (Canterbury); and — 19°C at Ophir (Central Otago). The annual range of mean temperature (the difference between the mean temperature of the warmest and coldest months) is small. In Northland and in western districts of both islands it is about 8°C and for the remainder of the North Island and east coast districts of the South Island it is 9 ° to 10°C. Further inland the annual range exceeds 11°C in places, reaching a maximum of 14°C in Central Otago, where there is an approach to a ‘continental’ type of climate.

Sunshine.

The sunniest places are near Blenheim, the Nelson-Motueka area, and Whakatane, where the average duration of bright sunshine exceeds 2350 hours a year. The rest of the Bay of Plenty and Napier are only slightly less sunny. A large portion of the country has at least 2000 hours, and even Westland, despite its high rainfall, has 1800 hours. Southland and coastal Otago, where sunshine drops sharply to about 1700 hours a year, lie on the northern fringe of a broad zone of increasing cloudiness. A pleasant feature of the New Zealand climate is the high proportion of sunshine during the winter months, although there is a marked increase in cloudiness in the North Island in winter, but little seasonal change in the South island, except in Southland.

Hail, thunderstorms, and tornadoes.

The number of severe hailstorms reported annually over the whole country averages nine, but this figure varies yearly from four to 20. Severe hailstorms occur widely throughout the country, but the areas most affected are Canterbury, the low country of central Hawke's Bay, and a small area south and west of Nelson. Most of the hailstones are small, but occasionally larger stones cause local damage to glasshouses and orchards. Thunderstorms are not numerous. Their frequency is greatest in the north and western side of the country, where thunder is heard on 15 to 20 days a year. On the east coast of the South Island the average is commonly less than five. Tornadoes show a similar pattern to thunderstorms except maximum frequency occurs in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty. An average of about 20 tornadoes and waterspouts is reported each year, but most of these are small.

Frost and snow.

Local variations in frostiness are considerable, even within quite small areas. For example, at Albert Park, Auckland, the screen minimum thermometer has registered below 0°C only once in 65 years, while further up the harbour at Whenuapai aerodrome there are on average eight screen frosts per annum. Favourable sites in coastal areas of Northland are free of frost, although further inland light frosts occur frequently in the winter months. Excluding the uninhabited mountainous areas, the coldest winter conditions are experienced in Central Otago, the Mackenzie Plains of inland Canterbury, and on the central plateau of the North Island, but even in these areas night temperatures as low as −12°C are rarely recorded. Elsewhere over the North Island the winters are very mild, and in both islands sheep and cattle remain in the open all year round.

The North Island has a small permanent snow field above 2500 metres on the central plateau, but the snow line rarely descends below 600 metres even for brief periods in winter. In the South Island snow falls on a few days a year in eastern coastal districts, where in some years it may lie for a day or two even at sea level, but in Westland it does not lie at sea level. The snow line on the Southern Alps is about 2000 metres in summer, being slightly lower on the western side where the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers descend through heavy bush to within 300 metres of sea level. In inland Canterbury and Otago, where there are considerable areas of grazing lands above 300 metres, snowfalls are heavier and more persistent, and have caused serious sheep losses during severe winters. In that area, however, it is rare for the winter snow line to remain below 1000 metres for extended periods.

Relative humidity.

Humidity is commonly between 70 and 80 percent in coastal areas and about 10 percent lower inland. The daily variation is greater than the difference between summer and winter. Very low humidity (from 30 percent down to 5 percent) occurs at times in the lee of the Southern Alps, where the föhn wind (the Canterbury nor-wester) is often very marked. Cool south-westerlies are also at times very dry when they reach eastern districts. In Northland the humid mid-summer conditions are inclined to be oppressive, although temperatures rarely reach 30°C. Dull, humid spells are generally not prolonged anywhere, but their frequency shows a marked increase in the south.

Table 1.6. SUMMARY OF ANNUAL CLIMATE OBSERVATIONS TO 1980, RAINFALL, FROST AND SUNSHINE

Rainfall
StationHeightAnnualRain Days*Screen FrostGround FrostBright Sunshine

*A rain day is one when 1.0 mm or more of rain was recorded.

†A screen (or air) frost occurs when the temperature in the screen (at 1.3 metres above ground) falls below 0°C.

‡A ground frost occurs when the grass minimum thermometer (25 mm above short grass) reads −1.0°C or lower.

Source: New Zealand Meteorological Service.

 (metres)(mm) (no. days)(no. days)(hours)
Kaitaia Airport80141813801.72113
Kerikeri7316821351.024.92004
Dargaville2012481495.016.81956
Auckland (Albert Park)49118514004.22102
Tauranga Airport413491185.356.92277
Hamilton (Ruakura)40120113125.571.82006
Rotorua Airport287149112321.256.9..
Gisborne Airport410581136.840.72,204
Taupo376117812237.171.42,021
Taumarunui171144314034.764.71704
New Plymouth Airport2715291442.012.82165
Waiouru823104813765.1100.6..
Napier2824958.838.62,245
Wanganui229061153.510.72,087
Palmerston North (DSIR)3499512613.554.41794
Masterton (Waingawa)11497112431.489.12004
Wellington (Kelburn)1261240125015.02,019
Nelson Airport29869937.789.72,397
Blenheim46428138.586.12447
Westport Airport221921681.039.31925
Hanmer Forest387116311481.7139.51898
Christchurch76668735.788.71974
Hokitika Airport392,78316816.056.41846
Lake Tekapo68359772100.1175.82,217
Timaru175878137.987.81869
Queenstown3298059250.3140.71921
Alexandra1413436586.2154.02064
Dunedin (Musselburgh)27841209.777.71676
Gore7283613643.7100.21698
Invercargill Airport0103715746.3111.11621
Milford Sound36,26718228.556.1..

Table 1.7. SUMMARY OF CLIMATE OBSERVATIONS TO 1980, AIR TEMPERATURE

 Mean Daily*Daily MaximumDaily MinimumExtremes (Annual)
JanuaryJulyJanuaryJulyJanuaryJulyMax.Min.

*The mean daily temperature is the average of the maximum and minimum temperature for a given day.

Source: New Zealand Meteorological Service.

Degrees Celsius
Kaitaia Airport19.311.723.815.214.88.130.5−0.5
Kerikeri18.910.824.515.513.36.134.3−2.0
Dargaville18.610.723.414.913.76.532.1−5.0
Auckland (Albert Park)19.410.923.114.115.77.832.4−0.1
Tauranga Airport18.59.323.614.113.34.533.3−5.3
Hamilton (Ruakura)17.88.323.913.511.63.134.7−9.9
Rotorua Airport17.67.522.811.912.43.029.8−5.7
Gisborne Airport18.79.124.413.813.04.438.1−3.4
Taupo17.36.523.511.011.01.933.0−6.3
Taumarunui18.37.324.812.511.82.133.9−6.4
New Plymouth Airport17.19.121.413.012.75.330.3−2.4
Waiouru13.84.019.27.68.20.328.5−9.0
Napier18.99.023.813.414.14.635.8−3.9
Wanganui17.88.721.912.513.74.931.2−2.3
Palmerston North (DSIR)17.38.021.911.912.84.031.7−6.0
Masterton (Waingawa)17.37.123.711.810.82.435.2−6.9
Wellington (Kelburn)16.48.220.010.912.85.531.1−1.9
Nelson Airport17.26.521.911.912.51.136.3−6.6
Blenheim17.87.023.612.412.01.536.0−8.8
Westport Airport15.88.219.512.012.04.328.6−3.5
Hanmer Forest15.63.922.29.29.0−1.337.1−13.2
Christchurch16.65.921.510.311.61.441.6−7.1
Hokitika Airport15.37.219.211.711.42.727.5−3.2
Lake Tekapo14.81.621.36.08.3−2.833.3−15.6
Timaru16.25.321.49.811.00.737.2−6.8
Queenstown15.83.721.77.79.9−0.434.1−7.8
Alexandra17.02.623.27.310.7−2.237.2−11.7
Dunedin (Musselburgh)15.06.419.09.911.12.934.5−8.0
Gore15.04.620.99.19.20.235.0−8.9
Invercargill Airport13.75.118.49.48.90.832.2−7.4
Milford Sound14.45.418.59.310.31.528.3−4.9

1.5 Vegetation and wildlife

The vegetation and wildlife of New Zealand are the product of not only natural factors during tens of millions of years, but also human factors over the last 1000 years. The New Zealand landmass is a fragment of the ancient southern continent of Gondwanaland, which has been isolated for over 100 million years, allowing many ancient plants and animals to survive. Although New Zealand has undergone many physical and climatic changes, such as mountain building, volcanic activity, and glaciation, parts of the landmass have remained in continuous existence with part of their original complement of plants and animals.

New Zealand is now a very diverse land and changes from being almost subtropical (‘winterless’) in the north, to cool temperate, even subantarctic in the south, with a very wet, mild climate in the west, and a much drier, sometimes almost continental climate, in the east. A long exceptionally diverse coastline with many islands, produces habitats for coastal and lowland plants and animals, and there are extensive montane and alpine habitats as well. Geological variation has allowed species to adapt to soils derived from limestone, volcanic rock, serpentine, alluvial gravels, and peat. Such diversity has led to New Zealand being classified into over 260 ecological districts, each with a distinct blend of topography, climate, vegetation, and wildlife. Superimposed on natural diversity has been 1000 years of human activity; harvesting of naturally occurring species, introduction of species from elsewhere, and transformation of natural vegetation into farmland by fire, logging, and drainage. While 80 percent of the land area was forested before humans arrived, only 23 percent remains forested, mainly in the mountainous hinterland.

Bio-geographic elements.

The vegetation and wildlife is made up of different bio-geographic elements. The Gondwanaland element, consists of ancient plants and animals: conifers such as kauri (Agathis australis), frogs (Leiopelma), reptiles like tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus), large ground snails (Powelliphanta), and birds such as the kiwi and the now extinct moa. A tropical element includes the nikau palm, kie kie (Freycenetia), tree fems, many northern forest trees, tropical snails (Placostylis), and earthworms. An Australian element includes many fems, orchids, small seeded tree species like manuka (Leptospermum scoparium), insects, and birds (such as the nectar-feeding tui, parakeets, and many wetland birds). A Pacific element includes trees like pohutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa), numerous fems, and migratory birds like the shining cuckoo. A subantarctic or circumpolar element includes beech (Nothofagus), which occurs also in South America and Southern Australia and was once present on Antarctica, and several characteristically southern bird groups such as penguins, albatrosses, and petrels. A South American element includes Fuchsia. A cosmopolitan mountain element entered New Zealand along the mountain and island chain from South-east Asia and includes plants such as buttercups, daisies, veronicas and gentians. A cultural element of recent human origin comes from all parts of the world (particularly Europe, North America and Australia), and consists of trees, horticultural plants, weeds, mammals, birds, and many other groups.

Northern (subtropical), central (temperate), and southern (subantarctic) marine areas can also be recognised, each with characteristic species; for instance rock oyster, blue mussel and dredge oyster, respectively. Bull kelp is a notable southern species. Some very unusual marine animals occur, including black coral and ancient brachiopods in the southern fiords, and recently discovered sea daisies—starfish relatives which live on sunken wood at a depth of 1000 metres. The complex sea floor means that shore, continental shelf, and deep water species occur close together, resulting in diverse marine life.

Characteristics of vegetation and wildlife.

Uniqueness is a feature of the natural life of New Zealand. Foremost is the absence, apart from two species of bat, of land mammals, which had not evolved at the time New Zealand became separate. Many flightless birds and insects have evolved. The most remarkable birds were some 12 species of moa, forest and shrub browsers, that took the place of large herbivores in other parts of the world. Moa became extinct during Maori times, but other flightless birds remain, including kiwi, kakapo (a nocturnal parrot—the largest in the world), and weka (a scavenging rail). Flightless insects are numerous, including many large beetles and cricket-like weta. The absence of mammals also meant that birds became important as seed-dispersing agents, so that most forest plants bear small berries, including the giant conifers (podocarps), the smaller canopy trees, and even some forest-floor herbs. Some alpine plants produce berries, dispersed by the New Zealand pipit and the kea (mountain parrot). As a consequence of the great physical and climatic upheavals which New Zealand has undergone the forest has been influenced by extinction. Coconut palms once occurred in New Zealand, and fossil remains of kauri, now limited to the northern North Island, have been found south to Canterbury. Some tropical plant groups are represented by a single species, surviving only on protected islands, or in the far north. Some, like Tecomanthe are known from only a single plant. Similarly, the range of bird species is very limited in comparison with other temperate land masses of similar size. The unique family of wattle birds contains only four species, one of these, the huia, is now extinct and considerable natural extinction seems likely. On the other hand, there has been great diversification among smaller life-forms, such as tiny forest-floor snails, spiders, aquatic caddis flies, lichens, mosses and liverworts. Of note is the diversity of alpine plants such as daisies (Celmisia, Senecio), veronica (Hebe), native carrot (Aciphylla) and buttercups. Many of these plants produce rosettes of large leaves, which seem to adapt the plants to cold, windy, subantarctic conditions in the relatively recently-formed high mountains. A second group of plants adapted to cold, windy conditions are cushion plants, some of which form remarkable mounds called ‘vegetable sheep’.

In the forest and along its margins divaricating shrubs occur with tangled and criss-crossed branches bearing tiny leaves. Sometimes these shrubs are the juvenile forms of tree species, but more often are the adult itself. Nowhere else in the world is this peculiar growth form so abundant. It may be an adaptation to browsing by the now extinct moa, or it may help plants to adapt to cold or dry conditions.

Although many New Zealand plants and animals occupy very specialised habitats, frequent droughts, high winds, floods, and erosion mean that many species need to be highly adaptable. Many insects, such as native bees, gather food from a wide variety of sources, and some forest species, like beech, regenerate best after the parent forest has been destroyed. However, the overwhelming character of the wildlife is its dependence on forest, and its vulnerability to introduced predators such as rats. The forests and natural grasslands have been severely modified by introduced browsers such as possums, deer and goats. Some introduced plants, like marram grass, have taken over the places where native species would normally grow.

A vast proportion of the native animals and plant species are endemic and found only in New Zealand. Virtually all insects, spiders, snails and all earthworms are restricted to New Zealand, as are most birds and plants, most freshwater fish (27 species), and all reptiles (38 species).

Table 1.8. SELECTED GROUPS OF NATIVE AND INTRODUCED SPECIES

GroupNumber of SpeciesPercentage Endemic*
IntroducedNative

* Native species not found anywhere else.

†Estimated.

Source: Department of Conservation.

Marine algae (seaweeds)390043
Bryophytes—
  Mosses1548528
  Liverworts..500..
Ferns and allies2016341
Conifers3020100
Flowering plants1700181384
Earthworms40178100
Landsnails/slugs1252099
Spiders/harvestmen602 50090
Insects11009,46090
Freshwater fish232785
Amphibia23100
Reptiles138100
Birds—
  Land/freshwater336557
Mammals—
  Marine1346
  Land332100

Many figures in table 1.8 are approximate and may change after future scientific investigation.

Forests.

Apart from mountains above bush-line, swamps, coastal dunes, and some dry inland basins, 80 percent of New Zealand was orginally forest-covered. The forests were reduced by a third by Maori clearance before European settlement, and a further third by European clearance over the last 150 years, so that now only 23 percent of New Zealand remains in forest. Much occurs in mountainous areas, and most is now protected.

There is a wide range of natural forest types. Around the coast is a fragmented narrow band of salt tolerant plants including mangroves, nikau palm and mostly tropical Pacific species, such as karaka and pohutukawa. Coastal forests are particularly important habitats for marine birds (for example various petrels and penguins), and offshore islands form refuges for tuatara, flightless insects and snails. The characteristic New Zealand forest type is warm temperate evergreen rain forest. In the far north this is dominated by kauri (Agathis australis) and various hardwoods though little forest remains. Swamp forest dominated by the podocarp kahikatea (Dacrycarpus dacrydioides) was once extensive, and remains prominent in the western South Island. Elsewhere the podocarps (rimu, totara, matai, and miro) are associated with a diverse range of broad-leaved evergreen hardwoods, ferns, vines and epiphytes, forming dense and complex multi-storeyed communities. The range of species gradually diminishes with both increasing altitude and increasing latitude. Evergreen beech forest is characteristic of the South Island above 300 metres altitude. These montane forests have fewer species than lowland forests, and extensive areas may be dominated by a single tree species. The bush-line, usually of beech, is located generally between 1350 and 1500 metres.

A wide range of secondary forest types have developed since human arrival, notably kanuka forests east of the main divide, manuka and kanuka forests in northern New Zealand, and a range of broad-leaved hardwood and tree-fern forest types on abandoned farmland.

Cool moist climates produce an abundance of ferns in New Zealand forests, not only giant tree ferns, but also filmy ferns which clothe tree trunks, and ground ferns.

Shrublands.

Natural shrublands are rare and usually occur where soil or water factors restrict forest development, such as the margins of coastal estuaries and other wetlands, and rocky bluffs. Immediately above the bushline, a narrow band of diverse shrubland often occurs, dominated by the heath Dracophyllum, shrub daisies, hebes, and alpine podocarps. The most extensive shrublands occur in the once-forested dryland of eastern New Zealand, where small-leaved sometimes spiny shrubs occur, notably matagouri (Discaria), tauhinu (Cassinia), and divaricating coprosmas. These shrublands are stages in the re-establishment of forest. Fernland, particularly bracken fern (Pteridium esculentum), once a staple Maori food, is very widespread throughout deforested New Zealand hill country. Like shrubland it serves as a nurse-bed for forest.

Wetlands.

A rise in sea-level inundated coastal valleys formed during the ice-age. This created extensive estuaries, rich in worms, molluscs and eelgrass, which are important habitats for marine birds such as oyster-catchers. In the north the estuaries support dense groves of low mangroves, while elsewhere there are extensive rush, jointed-rush and sedge wetlands which are spawning grounds for whitebait or inanga (Galaxias species). The numerous rivers of New Zealand created extensive freshwater wetlands dominated by harakeke or flax (Phormium), raupo (Typha) and sedges. These have mostly been drained but are extensive in western South Island. Numerous small swamps and lakes have been formed to the lee of sand dunes deposited along western coasts by prevailing westerly winds. Lakes, swamps and bogs made by glaciers are features of the South Island high country.

Dune lands.

Active erosion of the land has created extensive coastal sand deposits, which have mainly been stabilised by marram grass, pines and lupins, and few remain in their natural state. One threatened dune species is pingao, a sedge used for traditional Maori weaving.

Grasslands.

When Europeans arrived in the nineteenth century much of the eastern South Island was covered by short tussock grassland or silver tussock and fescue, which had become established after Maori fires removed forests. Before the Maori the only naturally occurring lowland tussock was in the dry interior of Central Otago. Pastoral farming and introduced grasses have now largely destroyed short tussock grassland. However, at higher altitudes, especially above the bush-line, extensive areas of tall snow tussock (Chionochloa) occur.

Alpine vegetation.

Large-leaved herbs, mat plants, and cushion plants occur throughout the tall tussocks, and in places dominate and form herb fields of great beauty in flower. Scree supports a range of specialised, often fleshy, drought-resistant plants. Alpine bluffs support a scattered cover of shrubs, herbs and cushion plants, adapted to extreme climate and sometimes possessing very strange form, such as the coral shrub (Helichrysum) and the vegetable sheep (Raoulia).

Introduced vegetation and wildlife.

The New Zealand landscape is now dominated by introduced animals and plants. Over 1500 exotic plants grow wild, some (like rye-grass, browntop, gorse and sweet briar), over large areas. Although introduced plants have seldom colonised extensive areas of native vegetation, wild animals (deer, pigs, goats, possums, stoats and rats) are widespread, and some introduced birds, such as blackbirds, occur everywhere. Urban vegetation is largely exotic and domestic stock dominate agricultural areas throughout the lowlands.

Introduced plants and animals have greatly increased the diversity of species in New Zealand. However, their increase has been associated with a decrease in the area dominated by native species. Today a large number of native species are very rare and seldom seen. Some of these are ancient and stamp uniqueness on New Zealand as a living museum. Urgent measures are needed to ensure the healthy survival of this unique heritage of international importance.

1.6 Time zone

One uniform time is kept throughout New Zealand. This is the time 12 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time, and is named New Zealand Standard Time (N.Z.S.T.). It is an atomic standard, and is maintained by the New Zealand Time Service of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR). One hour of daylight saving, named New Zealand Daylight Time, which is 13 hours ahead of Co-ordinated Universal Time, is observed from 2 a.m. (N.Z.S.T.) on the last Sunday in October, until 2 a.m. (N.Z.S.T.) on the first Sunday in March next year. Time kept in the Chatham islands is 45 minutes ahead of that kept in New Zealand.

Further information

Geography

New Zealand Atlas. Ward, I., ed. Government Printer, 1976.

Catalogue of Maps. Department of Survey and Land Information.

Geology

Searle, E. J. City of Volcanoes. 2nd edition. Longman Paul, 1981.

Smith, I. E. M., ed. Late Cenozoic Volcanism in New Zealand. Bulletin 23, Royal Society of New Zealand, 1986.

Soons, J.; Selby, M., eds. Landforms of New Zealand. Longman Paul, 1982.

Speden, I. G.; Keyes, I. W. Illustrations of New Zealand Fossils. DSIR Information Series 150, 1981.

Stevens, G. R. Lands in Collision: Discovering New Zealand's Past Geography. DSIR Information Series 161, 1985.

Stevens, G. R. New Zealand Adrift: The Theory of Continental Drift in a New Zealand Setting. A. H. and A. W. Reed, 1980.

Stevens, G. R. Rugged Landscape. A. H. and A. W. Reed, 1974.

Suggate, R. P.; Stevens, G. R.; Te Punga, M. T., eds. The Geology of New Zealand. 2 vols. Government Printer, 1978.

Thornton, J. Field Guide to New Zealand Geology. Reed Methuen, 1985.

Volcanoes and the Earth's Interior: Readings from Scientific American. W. H. Freeman and Company, 1982.

Williams, G. J. Economic Geology of New Zealand. AusIMM Monograph Series 4, 1974.

Williams, K. Volcanoes of the South Wind: A Field Guide to the Volcanoes and Landscape of Tongariro National Park. Tongariro Natural History Society, 1985.

Climate

An Encyclopedia of New Zealand. McLintock, A. H., ed. Vol. 1. Government Printer, 1966.

Johnson, K. F. Bibliography of New Zealand Meteorological Service Publications 1892–1985. N.Z. Met. Serv., 1986.

New Zealand Atlas. Ward, I., ed. Government Printer, 1976.

The New Zealand Gazette, Government Printer. (List current monthly summaries of temperature, rainfall and sunshine for all climate stations, as the data come to hand.)

The Meteorological Service publishes monthly summaries of:

Climate Observations (Misc. Pub. 109) and Rainfall Observations (Misc. Pub. 110) annually;

Climate Observations which are updated every 10 years, e.g. 1980 (Misc. Pub. 177); Rainfall

Normals (averages) for 30-year periods, e.g. 1951–1980 (Misc. Pub. 185); Sunshine Normals(averages) for 30-year periods, e.g. 1951–1980 (Misc. Pub. 186); and Temperature Normals (averages) for 30-year periods, e.g. 1951–1980 (Misc. Pub. 183). The service also produces regional climatologies (Misc. Pub. 115), maps and many other publications.

Vegetation and wildlife

Enting, B.; Molloy, L. The Ancient Islands. Port Nicholson Press, 1982.

Kuschel, G., ed. Bio-geography and Ecology in New Zealand. W. Junk, 1975.

Salmon, J. J. The Native Trees of New Zealand. Reed Methuen, 1980.

Stevens, G. R. Lands in Collision: Discovering New Zealand's Past Geography. DSIR, 1985.

Chapter 2. History

2.1 New Zealand before 1840

Archaeology and oral tradition are the main sources for present-day knowledge of the origins and way of life of the early Polynesian inhabitants of the Pacific islands later known as Aotearoa, ‘the land of the long white cloud’. Archaeology encompasses physical anthropology, linguistic evidence, and traditional accounts, as well as sophisticated examination of the tangible relics of human occupation. Oral traditions did not simply describe what happened. They also explained and justified past events, and were often the accounts of the victors in inter-tribal conflict. Both are of much value to historians, and also pose problems. Statements about New Zealand's Polynesian past must remain tentative.

An outpost of Polynesia

The ancestors of Aotearoa's earliest inhabitants are thought to have reached the Western Pacific some 4000 years ago, and gradually made their way along the Melanesian chain of islands. Long ocean journeys became possible for them with the introduction of the sail and the invention of the outrigger, which stabilised canoes in rough seas. They reached Fiji and Tonga by about 1000 B.C., and in this area many of the distinctive features of Polynesian social organisation and language developed. About 2000 years ago there was a further eastward movement to the Society, Marquesas, and Cook Islands, at the heart of the Polynesian triangle. Probably from this region, the most isolated parts of Polynesia were settled—New Zealand, Hawaii, and Easter Island. There has been much controversy as to the nature of, and reasons for, undertaking such long ocean voyages. Some would have been accidental, the result of canoes being blown off shore. At other times, refugees from defeated tribes or over-populated areas may well have set off into the unknown, confident that they were likely to make a safe landfall somewhere. Knowledge of stars, currents, bird migrations, and the signs of distant land was such that the possibility of controlled journeys over even thousands of kilometres cannot be discounted. The canoe or canoes which brought the first successful colonists to Aotearoa must have carried men and women, dogs, rats, vegetables for cultivation, and a variety of tools and ornaments for practical use and as models for those to be made subsequently. Such a well-equipped expedition is unlikely to have been completely accidental.

Polynesian people, known today as Maori, have lived in New Zealand since about the eighth century A.D. They came in one or more groups from the same general area of eastern Polynesia, known as Hawaiki. There are traditions of numerous voyages from Hawaiki, and of a number of famous canoes, whose occupants were the founders of tribal groupings which remain distinctive today. Some of these stories probably refer to migrations within New Zealand; a few to voyages elsewhere in Polynesia. After the initial period of settlement there were probably few or no continuing contacts with the outside world. Maori culture developed characteristics which reflected both its Polynesian roots and its new physical environment.

Maori agriculture.

By the twelfth century settlements were scattered over most of the country. At first their inhabitants tried to reproduce a tropical Polynesian economy. Their ideal subsistence base was kumara (sweet potato) horticulture, supplemented by fishing, hunting, and plant gathering, but there was no typical form of subsistence. In the tropical Pacific the kumara is a perennial and can be propagated by direct transfer. Under New Zealand conditions it was necessary to store the crop over winter in sunken cellars and underground pits to provide tubers for winter consumption and seed tubers for spring planting. This adaptation of kumara cultivation was a great agricultural achievement. Gourds were also grown widely, and taro was important in a few favoured northern areas, while yam and paper mulberry cultivation was barely possible. Kumara would not grow in the southern part of Te Waipounamu (the South Island). Here people lived by hunting, fishing, and food gathering, and moved seasonally between resource areas.

In the early centuries of settlement the plains of Te Waipounamu, in particular, supported huge numbers of large flightless birds called moa. These provided an excellent food source, substituting for native land mammals, which were almost non-existent. Until moa numbers were seriously depleted, by hunting and by the destruction of the forest cover on which they depended for food, the eastern South Island seems to have been the most densely peopled part of New Zealand. The decline of the moa was probably accompanied by climatic changes which made horticulture more difficult and made the inhabitants more dependent on fish, shellfish, and marine mammals. After about 1400 the population of the South Island fell. In the most closely settled parts of Te Ika a Maui (the North Island), such as the Tamaki isthmus (now the site of Auckland), hunting and birding declined rapidly, and fishing and shellfish gathering provided the main sources of protein. Here cultivations were more extensive and productive, and most people lived in settled communities, in which pa (earthwork forts) became increasingly common as the population grew, and competition for the most valuable land led to greater conflict.

Maori social organisation.

Maori society comprised groups of varying size: whanau (extended families of perhaps ten to thirty people), hapu (subtribes, with up to 500 members) and iwi (tribes). Membership of these groups was usually based on descent from a common ancestor. There were also waka, loose groupings of tribes whose members believed they were descended from people who had sailed on the same migratory canoe. Components of the system changed over time. Large whanau evolved into hapu, and large hapu came to be considered tribes, while other related branches declined. In everyday life hapu were probably the largest significant groups. They were the basis of the larger settlements and probably formed the normal fighting units in warfare. In response to major external threats, however, people would congregate at a few large pa, setting aside quarrels to face the common tribal enemy. Settlement styles varied greatly, influenced by patterns of subsistence, climate, and the extent to which local relationships were peaceful or warlike. James Cook's 1769 expedition observed pa sizes ranging between three and 500 houses. People lived in dispersed hamlets, in large fortified pa and, in some areas, in isolated households. As with economic life, there was no single characteristic form of social organisation.

For most Maori life was fundamentally a communal experience, in which all aspects of living were inter-related. Economic and social activities were shared, and carried out on behalf of the whole community. Land, which was by far the most important form of property, belonged to the tribe as a whole, although smaller groups had traditional rights to use particular areas and resources. Kaumatua (elders) headed families. Communities were nominally—and to a significant degree, actually—ruled by rangatira (chiefs), whose positions were hereditary but had in practice to be reinforced by performance. Nor could rangatira ignore public opinion as expressed at tribal meetings by kaumatua. Chiefs and their possessions were to some extent tapu (sacred) and thereby protected against harm. Tapu also safeguarded cultivations and burial grounds, and functioned as an agency of social control more effective than any police force. Tapu was regulated by tohunga (priests or experts). Those of highest status interpreted the will of the gods and embodied tribal history and knowledge; lesser tohunga were specialists in such things as carving, tattooing, and canoe-building.

Relations between tribes.

Tribal groups interacted through both trade and warfare. Regional specialities such as greenstone (jade) and titi (muttonbirds) were often transported long distances for bartering, probably at first mainly by ocean-going canoes. Knowledge also was transferred between tribes. Cook found at some landfalls that news of his coming had preceded him. Making war was probably an important feature of life from the earliest times, although particular areas might be free of it for long periods. Competition for status and authority, and the desire for mana (prestige), motivated both individuals and whole tribes. Reasons for continuing conflicts were seldom absent: the importance of the concept of utu (the principle that acts should be repaid equally) meant that at least one party to a dispute usually felt justified in carrying it on. War was also a means of gaining control over land, which was valued for its fertility or its resources, such as stone for tool-making. But fighting was usually seasonal, fitting in with the cycles of subsistence, and conducted by small raiding parties carrying out sporadic attacks which produced few casualties. The construction of elaborate fortified pa in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries suggest that warfare intensified in that period. Particularly in the warm, fertile northern part of Te Ika a Maui, an increasing population made natural resources scarcer and more valuable. At times, economic pressures or military defeat displaced hapu or whole tribes into less desirable areas, whose occupants were in turn driven out or enslaved. But in many regions there was unbroken occupation by the same group of people over long periods.

Life in pre-European New Zealand has been seen by various writers as embodying ‘manly’ virtues, ideal communism, nature-centred spirituality, and healthy rural simplicity. It had elements of all these qualities, but it could also be ‘nasty, brutish and short’. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Maori were relatively tall and sturdy, free from infectious diseases, adequately fed, and fairly unlikely to die violently. But the average life span was only about 30 years, similar to that in most societies up to the twentieth century. Many adults suffered from arthritis brought on by constant physical labour, and from gum infections and tooth loss resulting from their diets.

By the late eighteenth century there were probably rather more than 100 000 ‘New Zealanders’, all but a few thousand of them living in the North Island. Fiercely protective of their social identities, they were deeply attached to the land which gave them physical and spiritual life. Their ways of living had evolved many local variations. They had no concepts of nationhood or race; as they began to encounter Europeans, they saw them as members of another, if stranger, rival tribe.

European exploration

There is no convincing evidence to support ingenious theories that New Zealand was the landfall for one or several long-forgotten European voyagers before the 1640s. It seems clear that the first arrivals from overseas for several centuries were the members of a Dutch East India Company expedition commanded by Abel Tasman. He was sent in quest of the riches of the Great South Land, which was supposed to balance the land mass of Eurasia in the Northern Hemisphere. On 13 December 1642 he sighted ‘a large, high-lying land’ which he named Staten Landt. It was the west coast of the South Island of the soon-to-be-renamed ‘Nieeuw Zeeland’. Tasman anchored a few days later, and lost four men, killed when local Maori interpreted an exchange of trumpet fanfares as the prelude to battle. Sailing away up the west coast of the North Island, he did not again attempt to land, and so found none of the ‘treasures or matters of great profit’ which were the object of his voyage. Aotearoa was now represented by a jagged line on European maps, but Tasman's experience did not encourage explorers or fortune-seekers to follow in his wake.

Europeans did not return until 1769. This time those seeking the mythical southern continent were British, the expedition's ostensible purposes were scientific, and its leader was the great explorer James Cook. On his first visit he circumnavigated New Zealand; his published journal and the reports of the scientists and artists on board made it known to the outside world. He returned in 1773–74 and 1777. There were misunderstandings and violence: a Maori was killed at Cook's first landfall, and in 1773 ten of his men were killed and eaten at Arapawa Island. But he persevered, finding most encounters characterised by mutual curiosity and eagerness to barter. His respect for the Maori as ‘noble savages’ excited European imaginations, and foreshadowed attitudes which were to be important later.

Other explorers soon followed, the Frenchman Jean de Surville only two months after Cook first arrived. Ill-treating the local inhabitants, he set the scene for the blunders which three years later led to the deaths of his countryman Marion du Fresne and some two dozen crew. Julien Crozet, du Fresne's second-in-command, massacred about 250 Maori in retaliation. Further expeditions under the Englishman Vancouver, the Frenchman D'Entrecasteaux, and the Italian Malaspina (leading a Spanish fleet) ensured that New Zealand was not again forgotten in Europe.

Trade and religion.

Two early British schemes to colonise New Zealand came to nothing. But when a penal colony was established at Port Jackson (now Sydney) in 1788, commercial exploitation of Aotearoa's resources became practicable. New Zealand was soon, in economic terms, an offshoot of New South Wales. In 1792 the first sealing vessel in New Zealand waters left a gang at Dusky Sound in Fiordland. Americans soon played a major role in sealing, which was mostly carried out in the far south, from Dusky Sound to Otago. It reached a peak in the first decade of the nineteenth century, after which over-exploitation brought a shift in the focus of activity to the newly-discovered sub-antarctic Campbell and Macquarie Islands.

Deep-sea whaling in New Zealand waters had began in 1791, and remained important for about half a century, reaching a peak in the 1830s. Most whalers were American or British, although Australian, French, and Portuguese vessels were involved late in this period. Increasingly whaling vessels called at New Zealand harbours, notably the Bay of Islands, for rest, recreation, and replenishment of supplies. While whalers' visits were usually brief, they became frequent enough to have a significant impact on local Maori communities. From 1829 bay whaling stations were established around the coasts of the South Island and the southern half of the North island. These bases were usually quasi-permanent, and often became focal points for European settlement, as their activities included farming and trade.

Flax was seen as an important commodity from Cook's time. It was the intended economic basis for several abortive colonisation schemes. A boom in flax exports from the late 1820s proved to be short-lived, but it did result in more settlers joining the bay whalers and the already well entrenched missionaries. Scraping flax was very laborious work, and the ropes and cordage made from it varied in quality. Timber was the next major primary product, exports reaching a peak about 1840. Mills were opened around the richly-forested northern coasts, most notably in the Hokianga harbour, where a number of European timber millers settled, and a shipyard was established in 1826. Agricultural exports also increased. Potatoes (introduced by Cook or du Fresne) and pigs (landed at the orders of Governor King of New South Wales in the 1790s) were being traded with visiting ships by the early 1800s. From this time wheat and maize were cultivated by Bay of Islands Maori. By 1836 it was said that New Zealand was ‘becoming a perfect granary for New South Wales’. Missionaries had introduced horses and cattle in 1814, and later set up demonstration farms. Bay whalers and other traders also grew crops and ran stock. European enterprise developed side by side with such Maori innovations as the rapid adoption of the potato as a staple food.

New Zealand's first mission station was established at Rangihoua in the Bay of Islands in 1814, under the auspices of the Church of England's Church Missionary Society. The man most responsible for its formation was Samuel Marsden, senior chaplain to the New South Wales penal colony from 1800 until his death in 1838. An entrepreneur as well as a stem propagator of the faith, he was a successful breeder of sheep and cattle, pioneered grape growing in New South Wales, and owned mills and ships. Under his supervision the society's mission at first comprised men with practical skills, who were encouraged to engage in trade. Indeed they had no choice, as the first station was on a site too poor to support even subsistence agriculture. The community barely survived isolation, internal squabbles, and the uncertain patronage of local chiefs. Preaching the faith did not really begin until the determined Henry Williams arrived to set up a new station at Paihia in 1823. The establishment of a farm inland at Waimate in 1831 was followed late in the decade by expansion of Anglican missions southwards as far as the Waikato, Rotorua, and Gisborne, and (in 1839) to the coast north of Wellington. From 1827 Maori language translations of the Bible were made, and the teaching of reading and writing in Maori was emphasised. The Wesleyans had opened a mission in the Hokianga area in 1823, and also set up stations further south in the 1830s. A Roman Catholic Marist mission, led by Bishop Pompallier, began in Northland in 1838. From the mid-1830s many Maori converted to Christianity. Movements which blended Maori and Christian ideas also developed. An example was that of Te Atua Wera/Papahurihia in the Bay of Islands-Hokianga area. They were part of the adjustment of traditional social patterns to new realities.

Changes in Maori society

It is difficult to assess what effect the presence of Europeans—around the coasts and venturing into the interior in the last few years before 1840—had on the indigenous inhabitants. It has been asserted that the Maori population declined by nearly 50 percent between 1770 and 1840; and, alternatively, that it was about the same in both years. Both sides put the 1840 figure at between 100 000 and 125 000. Differences of this scale over such a basic issue suggest how difficult it is to make firm statements about Maori society in the period. Areas such as the Bay of Islands and the Hokianga, where contact with Europeans was greatest, underwent changes in a few decades which had taken centuries to transform Europe. Maori society was resilient and able to adapt to the revolution in technology and ideas with which it was confronted. The European impact varied greatly. In the Bay of Islands there was an intermittent pakeha (non-Maori) presence from the 1790s, and permanent settlers from 1814; these numbered several hundred by 1839. In contrast, areas such as the Urewera mountains had not been visited by Europeans when British sovereignty was declared. Other regions had varying exposure to direct and indirect contact.

European diseases seem to have reached epidemic proportions first in the 1790s. The Maori initially had no immunity to them, and they were made more vulnerable by their communal lifestyle. Dysentery, diphtheria and influenza took many lives in the following decades. But some of the most lethal diseases, including yellow fever, typhus, and cholera, were not introduced, and by 1840 immunities to the more common types of sickness were beginning to develop. Some health problems resulting from pakeha presence were very localised—alcoholism and prostitution were confined to the few zones of intense contact. Other effects were widespread. European-introduced animals were both a source of food and rivals for scarce resources, while new plants such as potatoes and com eventually became staples of Maori diet. The ability to purchase desired European goods depended on income-generating activities which often necessitated debilitating labour, such as raising commercial crops, felling and transporting timber, and stripping flax. Sometimes whanau or hapu moved to unhealthy lowland areas to be close to now-valued resources. New fashions in clothing, such as the wearing of European suits or blankets, regardless of their unsuitability in hot or wet weather, also increased susceptibility to sickness.

The nature of Maori warfare was altered by the introduction of muskets in the early 1800s. These were first used in small numbers as close-combat weapons of the traditional kind. By 1818 the Ngapuhi confederation—thanks to geography the pioneers of much social change in the period—discovered that the firing of many weapons at a distance created enough terror to enable the rout of an enemy to be completed by traditional means. From 1820, when their great chief Hongi Hika returned from a missionary-inspired visit to England with 300 muskets, Ngapuhi and their allies rampaged across the North Island on a series of expeditions which took many lives, settled old scores, and raised the mana of the victors to unprecedented heights. As muskets became widely available, other tribes took advantage of temporary leads in local arms races to attack their neighbours. By 1840 the balance of power was such that inter-tribal warfare had virtually ceased. One effect of these campaigns was the migration of perhaps thirty thousand people and, as a consequence, intractable disagreements about land rights in some areas.

Maori people were eager to adopt European goods and ideas: muskets, agricultural techniques, literacy, and Christianity were all enthusiastically embraced, and some (such as firearms) rapidly became necessities. Some Maori even travelled the world as crew members on European ships. But pakeha innovations were used in Maori ways for Maori purposes. If they did not serve these purposes they were likely to be abandoned. The increased rate of conversions to Christianity just before 1840, for example, can be understood in terms of changes in Maori society, as well as seen as a consequence of more effective missionary activity. Social dislocation which resulted from intertribal fighting fed a need for spiritual explanation. But the new religion was also fashionable, and the mana which was granted to the literate brought many eager students to mission schools. Missionary teaching was a means to the end of gaining European knowledge. For Maori the most important function of a pakeha was to provide trade goods. Europeans lived in New Zealand on Maori terms, and in 1839 there were still only a few more than a thousand scattered over the whole country.

British sovereignty established

The vagueness of their instructions allowed early Governors of New South Wales to view New Zealand as a political as well as an economic ‘dependency’, and also to encourage plans for settlement. In 1804 Governor King ordered investigations into charges that brutalities had been inflicted on Maori by a ship's captain. This was the first of many attempts to regulate the behaviour of British subjects in New Zealand. In 1814 the Maori people were declared to be ‘under the protection of His Majesty’, and the missionary Thomas Kendall was appointed as a justice of the peace to maintain order in co-operation with local chiefs. He had no effective force at his disposal. Prisoners had to be sent to Sydney for trial. In 1817 Britain declared New Zealand to be outside its legal jurisdiction, although British subjects could be charged for serious crimes committed there. Schemes for colonisation continued, and in 1826 settlers selected by the first New Zealand Company arrived. While many went straight on to Sydney, some established themselves at the Hokianga. As trade and settlement increased, New Zealand moved further into the British sphere of influence. In 1832 James Busby was appointed British Resident at the Bay of Islands. He was a ‘watch-dog without teeth’, having very few legal powers (he was not even a justice of the peace) and no reliable means for coercing British subjects. His authority rested on occasional visits by British warships. In 1837 one of three Europeans who had plundered the home of a Kororareka storekeeper was hanged in Sydney. British subjects fomenting disorder in New Zealand were clearly now subject, at least potentially, to legal retribution.

In May 1837 a combination of the remnants of the earlier New Zealand Company and others interested in profiting from Edward Gibbon Wakefield's ideas of transplanting the pre-industrial English class structure to the colonies formed what was soon to be named the New Zealand Company. An attempt at the ‘systematic colonisation’ of New Zealand Was now imminent. Wakefield's vision was of the migration of integrated communities comprising all social strata from gentry to respectable working folk, while excluding the nobility and the very poor. The key to success was to set a ‘sufficient’ price for land. If land was too cheap it would be bought by both speculators and labourers, with ‘undesirable’ consequences; but the price was to be low enough to enable working class people to settle on the land after some years of thrift and honest toil, their purchases financing a fresh influx of labourers and ensuring continued economic growth. The eventual form of settlement owed little to this theory, but Wakefield's energy and the strength of his backers ensured that large-scale colonisation would take place. The company sent an expedition in 1839 to find a site for a colony. It acted in haste because the decision to annex New Zealand had already been made, and it wished to buy land before its dealings could be regulated by officials. Even before word reached England that any land had been bought, ships full of emigrants had departed, the first (the Tory) arriving at Port Nicholson (Wellington) on 22 January 1840.

British sovereignty over New Zealand was established in international law by New South Wales Governor Gipps' proclamation on 14 January 1840 that his frontiers included New Zealand, and that Captain William Hobson was appointed his Lieutenant-Governor there. Hobson arrived at the Bay of Islands with a small entourage of officials on 24 January, and at Waitangi on 6 February 1840 he obtained from local Maori chiefs the first signatures to the ‘Treaty of Waitangi’. The significance of this document has been debated ever since. In its English-language original all rights and powers of sovereignty were ceded to Queen Victoria, while in return the possession of land, forests and fisheries was secured to the chiefs, with the Crown alone having the right to purchase land. The Queen extended her protection and all the rights and privileges of British subjects to the Maori people. The Maori-language version, hastily translated by the missionary Henry Williams, was couched in considerably vaguer terms, partly because of the difficulty of conveying European legal concepts. Maori signatories assented to the Queen taking over the rights of ‘kawanatanga’ (governorship). As their only example of the exercise of such authority was the ineffective James Busby, it is unlikely they understood the possible implications of their agreement. Over the next few months signatures to several differing versions of the treaty were collected around the country. Important tribes such as Ngati Maniapoto and Waikato did not regard it as a matter deserving serious consideration, and failed to sign; Ngapuhi were resented for their role as first signatories. To further complicate matters, on 21 May 1840, while signatures were still being sought, Hobson proclaimed British sovereignty over the North Island by virtue of the treaty, and over the South and Stewart Islands on the basis of Cook's discoveries. In 1841 New Zealand became a colony in its own right, and the capital followed a shift in the balance of European settlement from its first site at Russell in the Bay of Islands to the new town of Auckland on the Tamaki isthmus, which was both strategically located and surrounded by ideal land for farming.

2.2 European and Maori, 1840 to 1890

Growth of European settlement. New Zealand Company settlements were founded at Wellington in 1840, Wanganui and New Plymouth in 1841, and Nelson in 1842. By 1845 the company had brought about 9000 settlers to the country. In 1842 the main towns had non-Maori populations of 3800 in Wellington, 2900 in Auckland, 2500 in Nelson, 900 in New Plymouth, 650 in Russell and Hokianga combined (which shows how quickly this area was bypassed by settlers), and 200 in Akaroa, where colonists were landed by the French Nanto Bordelaise Company in 1840. These European enclaves were ‘mere encampments on the fringe of Polynesia’; their very existence was dependent on the tolerance of local Maori. This could scarcely be relied on, as the New Zealand Company had bought land in such haste, and with such little regard for the communal nature of Maori land tenure, that war was at least threatened at each of their sites within a few years. In 1843 a number of Europeans were killed in the Wairau area when they illegally tried to arrest two Ngati Toa chiefs, Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata, for resisting the survey of land that the chiefs denied having sold. Tribespeople led by these chiefs were involved in fighting in the hinterland of the Wellington settlement in 1846; again, Maori were opposing settler encroachment onto land that the Maori held was still theirs. There were several attacks on the town of Wanganui in 1847. In Taranaki the two races teetered on the brink of war for nearly 20 years. After two official investigations of the company's land purchase, the New Plymouth settlers were left to occupy a few thousand acres adjacent to the town. The scarcity of land suitable for agriculture blighted life within the towns. Uncertainty of tenure, and the mediocre quality of much of what was available, slowed sales and led to an increase in the number of sections being acquired by absentee speculators (a problem which had impeded development in the New Zealand Company towns from the beginning). The resulting underemployment of Wakefield's ‘respectable’ labourers and artisans produced recurrent poverty and unrest. Only the later settlements of Otago and Canterbury could be considered successes. Otago was established in 1848 under the auspices of the New Zealand Company in co-operation with the Free Church of Scotland, and Canterbury, in 1850, with the Church of England. There were only 2000 Maori in the whole of the South island, and land purchases there were not disputed at the time.

War and politics in the 1840s and 1850s. New Zealand's first Governors, Hobson and Robert FitzRoy, were hamstrung by their acute lack of resources. The British Colonial Office required its colonies to be self-supporting; they were expected to pay their way through customs revenue and land sales. But the New Zealand state was at first unable to obtain much land, despite its monopoly on purchases from the Maori. The latter were not eager to sell at less than a fair market price, which the state could not afford to offer them. The imposition of customs duties drove away traders and raised the price of imported goods. The administration, at times insolvent, survived on Maori goodwill and economic assistance, and minimal financial support from London. In 1844 FitzRoy abolished customs duties, imposed a property tax, and allowed limited direct land dealings beween settlers and Maori. The practical effect of these measures was the loss of his only potential sources of substantial revenue. The measures were insufficient to conciliate the Ngapuhi chief Hone Heke, who was concerned at the decline of the Bay of Islands as a centre for European trade and settlement, and at the government's efforts to diminish chiefly authority by partially replacing it with its own. Heke's quarrel was with the state alone; he wanted to preserve the valuable Maori-European economic relationship. He allied himself with the resourceful chief Kawiti, who adapted traditional pa design to successfully withstand artillery bombardment and inflicted a serious defeat on British regular troops at Ohaeawai in mid-1845. Their combined forces had the better of a 10-month campaign which ended after an inconclusive engagement at Ruapekapeka in January 1846. Heke continued to be the most powerful man in the North until his death in 1850, and government influence there remained low. No punishment was imposed on the ‘rebels’.

FitzRoy was replaced during the Northern War by George Grey, who was to rule as Governor until 1853, and again (less autocratically) from 1861 to 1868. Backed as his predecessors had not been by adequate financial support from Britain, he was better equipped than they to mollify pakeha grievances about the slow growth of the colony. The European population had reached only 32 500 by 1854, when an elected General Assembly first met in Auckland. However, demands for local self-government had been voiced since 1840, when a New Zealand Company-appointed regime had ‘ruled’ for several months at Port Nicholson until Hobson declared it illegal. The ‘Wakefield’ settlements were led by well-educated gentry and middle-class families who expected to govern themselves. After Grey successfully argued against the implementation of an 1846 British Act conferring representative institutions, on the grounds that the state of race relations in the North necessitated his being in total control, constitutional associations in several centres agitated for elected assemblies.

The British Constitution Act of 1852 conferred a General Assembly with two chambers—an elected House of Representatives and a nominated Legislative Council—and divided the colony into six provinces (centred on the five Wakefield settlements and Auckland), each with an elected Provincial Council, and headed by a separately-elected Superintendent. The vote was granted to all pakeha men aged 21 or more who met minimal property-owning requirements (Maori were in practice nearly all disenfranchised). The Provincial Councils were subordinate to the General Assembly, and were barred from legislating on a range of subjects, which included customs duties, currency, the justice system, postal services, and marriage. The central settler government was competent to act in most areas, but ‘native’ policy remained in the hands of the Governor until 1864, and foreign policy was made by the British government. In areas of domestic policy the General Assembly was not completely its own master. The Governor was empowered to reserve New Zealand legislation for the Sovereign's assent, and the Sovereign could disallow legislation after the Governor had assented to it. Both these powers were used, although rarely. And the United Kingdom Parliament had the authority to pass legislation applying to New Zealand, even overriding New Zealand legislation. After considerable confusion, Parliament's right was recognised, to appoint ministers whose advice the Governor was normally obliged to take, and in 1856 Henry Sewell became Premier and formed the first responsible ministry.

Despite the comparatively wide franchise, only a minority of European males participated in electoral politics for several decades after its introduction. The property test eliminated some, and many who were eligible did not register on the electoral rolls. Until 1879 polls in which fewer than half of those registered voted were common. Most people had more pressing concerns. A small group of men with sufficient leisure time to engage in politics easily dominated the scene; many were elected and re-elected unopposed. While there was a rapid turnover of MPs and ministries in the absence of any party organisation, there was considerable continuity in administration. A core of able men was essential for any ministry which was to last for long.

Most politicians put the interests of their own provinces before the colony's. Having been firmly established for several years before responsible central government came into effect, the provinces took over many key matters, including immigration, roading, land administration, policing, education, and hospitals. In 1856 their entitlement to land revenue and a share of customs duties was confirmed. In return they accepted responsibility for colonisation and development. Wide regional and local disparities resulted. The North Island provinces, particularly Auckland and Taranaki, had little land to sell and were always short of funds. Their South Island counterparts, especially Canterbury and Otago, had ample land and were to profit from economic booms which accompanied gold rushes in the 1860s, when they embarked on ambitious road, harbour, tunnelling, and immigration programmes. Wealthy provinces resented central government interference in their affairs, and southerners saw their revenues threatened by increased military expenditure in the North Island in the 1860s. Poor provinces looked to the capital for salvation from insolvency. Within each province the main towns were dominant, and little money reached outlying districts. This stimulated a desire for local autonomy which bore fruit in the creation of the new provinces of Hawke's Bay, Marlborough, Southland, and later Westland. Except for Hawke's Bay, they conspicuously failed to prosper, and their Lilliputian crises brought the whole system into disrepute. Nevertheless, European settlers identified strongly with their own communities, and the difficulty of communication between the areas they occupied made considerable regional autonomy essential.

Maori society from 1840 to 1860

In the 1840s the Maori were still preoccupied with their own concerns. Inter-hapu and inter-tribal competition was of paramount importance, and society remained fragmented. The very use of the word ‘Maori’, which implied the existence of a common race and culture, was mainly confined to pakeha until the 1850s. European innovations provided new ways to pursue traditional social and economic rivalries. Christianity offered literacy, a skill prized as a new basis for competition. Introduced foodstuffs such as potatoes and pigs, which could be raised in abundance with comparatively little effort, transformed the conspicuous production and ceremonial display of food—the yardstick shifted from quality to quantity. Maori participated vigorously in the colonial economy, exporting potatoes, wheat, and pigs throughout Australasia, and to the Californian goldfields. Maori farmers produced the bulk of New Zealand's exports to the Australian diggings. They acquired horses, sheep, schooners, and flour mills, as symbols of wealth as well as means to its creation. However, Maori agricultural production declined after an 1856 slump in the market in Victoria. European farmers had the apparent advantage of individualised land tenure and, with access to credit, they could make better use of technological innovations.

The first census of the Maori population in 1857–58 put the total at about 56 000, less than the pakeha population and only half of Dieffenbach's 1843 estimate. Both figures are doubtful, but the trend was clear. To the toll of diseases such as influenza, whooping cough, dysentery, and measles was added the effects of tuberculosis, bronchitis, and other respiratory tract infections, and low fertility caused by the previous generation's ill-health. High mortality rates contributed to the survival of belief in tapu and makutu (magic). The rituals of Christianity were widely adhered to, but for many Maori they offered only partial explanations of an unsettled world.

As more European colonists arrived, questions of land ownership became more pressing. The traditional Maori practice was to reinforce claims to land by regularly using its resources. From this perspective, settlers who paid for land, built houses, and planted crops were generally accepted, but people who piled goods on the shore and disappeared were not taken seriously. From 1840 Maori people quickly became aware of the significance to the pakeha of the land deed itself, and the permanent nature of the alienation which followed its transfer. Yet they offered much land for sale over the next two decades. Many Maori were anxious to have settler communities in their midst as a guarantee of long-term progress. Land sales gave a unique opportunity to vindicate claims to customary title over rivals. The ceremony of payment was usually a vital part of the transaction, while the price paid was less important. Tensions between claimants often made sales acrimonious. Few chiefs obstructed sales on principle, just as few were committed to a policy of selling land. The goal was rather the advantage of one's own hapu.

Extensive land purchases by the Crown during Grey's first governorship were masterminded by his able lieutenant Donald McLean. Most of the South Island was bought for only £15,000, and 13 million hectares throughout New Zealand had been obtained by 1853 at a total cost of £50,000. McLean had made huge purchases in the Manawatu, Wairarapa, and Hawke's Bay, while the boundaries of settlement advanced more slowly in the Auckland area. Maori tribes remained in control of a broad belt of territory stretching across the North Island from Taranaki to the Bay of Plenty and the East Coast. Grey's successor, Thomas Gore Browne, was unable to buy much land in this region, even when McLean resorted to making secret deals and other underhand tactics in response to increasing settler pressure. Maori attempts to prevent land sales culminated in a pan tribal movement, the Kingitanga, which in 1858 installed the venerable Waikato chief Te Wherowhero as King Potatau I. Its promoters hoped to end the chronic disputes by placing all Maori land under the King's mana and making its ownership subject to the decisions of his magistrates. But Maori society had no precedents for allegiance to a central judicial or administrative authority. Tribes of the Tainui confederation generally supported the King, but many others did not. The Kingitanga meant more to the chiefs, as a means of bolstering their mana—threatened by European-inspired individualism—than it did to their followers.

The struggle for supremacy: 1860–1872

Grey hoped to gradually transform the Maori into brown-skinned pakeha, who would ultimately be absorbed by inter-marriage into a predominantly European population. Grey's policy would require radical changes in Maori lifestyle, which he encouraged in a variety of ways. He financed English-language education of Maori children, aided Maori agriculture and commerce with gifts of ploughs, mills, seeds, and schooners, and employed Maori and pakeha on ostensibly equal terms in the police forces that he controlled. In his second term Grey established a scheme for local administration under which Maori runanga (assemblies) would gradually introduce European concepts of law. The purpose of these ‘new institutions’ illustrates Grey's overall aim: the ‘amalgamation of the races’ was to occur on pakeha terms. Britain had asserted since 1840 that its law applied throughout Aotearoa, but in 1860 much of the North Island was still effectively beyond government control. The war which now broke out had much to do with the contest for land, but it was also a struggle for authority over the people that the land sustained, and for mana.

Fighting began in Taranaki in March 1860, when British troops attempted to remove Te Atiawa tribespeople from land at Waitara which the Crown had allegedly bought, but which most of its claimants had refused to sell. Te Atiawa were soon reinforced by the Taranaki and Ngati Ruanui tribes, and later by Kingite forces from the Waikato region. In June, 350 Imperial troops were heavily defeated when they assaulted a pa at Puketakauere which contained both dummy and concealed defensive positions. For a year the civilian population remained virtually under siege in New Plymouth, while the British vainly sought to engage the Maori in a decisive battle. Eventually the British embarked, under cover of a series of redoubts, on a laborious advance, which had achieved no tangible success by the time a truce was agreed in March 1861. Fewer than 1000 Maori warriors had not lost any territory to some 3500 opponents, and were also able to keep the considerable resources plundered from abandoned European properties.

With Grey's return in 1861 the focus shifted to the Waikato. Imperial troops were steadily augmented, a military road was constructed from Auckland to the Waikato River, and the heartland of Kingite power was invaded in July 1863. British forces eventually numbered 14 000 effective troops (more than were available for the defence of England) and were led by a highly competent staff under General Sir Duncan Cameron, but they had great difficulty pushing back Maori opponents who never numbered more than 2000 at one time. Given the inability of the Maori economy to sustain an army continuously in the field, and the many obstacles to effective inter-tribal military cooperation, the Kingite resistance was remarkably successful, but by mid-1864 the Waikato Basin had been occupied up to the Puniu River. The search for a decisive victory now led Cameron to Tauranga, where he was stunningly defeated in a frontal attack on a superbly-designed fortress at Gate Pa, but was able to partially avenge this reverse at Te Ranga a few weeks later.

The territory occupied in the ‘Waikato War’, about 400 000 hectares, was confiscated by the colonial government, but fighting was far from over. Imperial troops campaigned on the west coast in 1865–66, while colonial units and allied kupapa (pro-government Maori) fought in the east. Both opposed adherents of the new religion of Pai Marire, which combined elements of traditional Maori beliefs, Christianity, and the innovations of its Taranaki prophet, Te Ua Haumene. In 1868, with Imperial forces now withdrawn from active service and ‘native’ policy firmly in the hands of the settler government, a grave crisis abruptly confronted pakeha New Zealand. Belated attempts to implement years-old land confiscations provoked a campaign by the Ngati Ruanui chief Titokowaru, who with a few hundred warriors repeatedly defeated much larger colonial forces until dissension among his followers brought his advance to an end. Simultaneously, the Rongowhakata prophet Te Kooti Rikirangi conducted a brilliant guerrilla campaign in the Poverty Bay area, after escaping with some 160 prisoners of war from exile in the Chatham Islands. He proved far less adept than Titokowaru at pa construction and defence, and armed support for his cause dwindled until he was forced to seek sanctuary in Kingite territory early in 1872. The zone of effective Maori autonomy had now shrunk, but it still encompassed the ‘King Country’ in the central North Island, South Taranaki, and the Urewera district. Pakeha sovereignty was now an established fact, but it was by no means absolute.

Pastoralism and gold

The huge Grey/McLean land purchases were the basis for an expansion of European economic activity. The Canterbury settlement, whose social composition came closest to Wakefield's ideal, was for a few years the colony's best approximation to a concentrated agricultural community. Soon, however, it became the most important base for a rapidly expanding pastoral economy. From the late 1840s, sheep grazing spread across the open country along the east coasts of both islands. Australian ‘squatters’ sold surplus merinos to New Zealand colonists with capital, and from the early 1850s many crossed the Tasman themselves to take up cheap long-term grazing leases. Grey reduced the price of rural land in 1853, ostensibly to help small farmers. The main effect, however, was to allow runholders to consolidate their holdings. By the mid-1860s many had secure tenure. During this ‘golden age’ of pastoralism, overseas prices for wool rose steadily, and sheep numbers increased from 750 000 in 1855 to 10 million in 1870. Wool was king, and the pastoralist came in some ways to resemble Wakefield's rural gentleman, pre-eminent economically, socially, and politically in his domain. But the scale of pastoral farming was very different from the intensive agriculture Wakefield had envisaged. Much of the work (e.g., shearing) was seasonal and undertaken by itinerant labourers; station homesteads were often quite primitive, and usually far from neighbours. Transience and loneliness thus accompanied economic growth.

The quest for wealth from a second staple product—gold—brought more hardship and isolation in the 1860s, even as the population rose rapidly. Beginning in 1861, a series of gold rushes transformed Otago virtually overnight. The province's population increased fivefold (to 60 000) between 1861 and 1863. Then the main focus of activity shifted to the west coast of the South Island, where by 1867 there were 29 000 inhabitants in an area almost unoccupied three years earlier. Mining declined rather quickly in Otago, more slowly in Westland. From the 1880s expensive dredging techniques revived the industry in both regions. The ‘diggers’ had profited less than merchants, bankers, and farmers. Farmers also benefited from the influx of British troops during the Waikato war. Briefly, their provisioning was one of the colony's main sources of income. Equally briefly, small mixed farms became profitable.

In the 1860s, while the European population of the North Island rose to 97 000, the South Island's European population increased to 159 000. Unequal growth brought political change in 1865, when the capital was moved south to Wellington, and the South Island gained 13 additional parliamentary seats. Otago was transformed from an obscure Presbyterian outpost into the foremost commercial and industrial province, with a quarter of the colony's pakeha population producing one-third of its exports. Secondary industries, largest in Otago and Auckland, manufactured a wide range of products for local markets. By 1871 about 10 000 people were employed in manufacturing. The larger towns now contained groups of artisans and labourers with some capacity for combined action. In Dunedin the unemployed demanded relief works as boom turned to slump in the late 1860s.

‘Vogelism’: Immigration and public works

The Otago-based businessman and politician Julius Vogel became Colonial Treasurer in 1869, and dominated political life until his departure for London in 1876 as Agent-General (a post which combined diplomacy and business promotion). When he took office the income-generating British troops had almost all left. The colony had just survived the severe military crisis of 1868–69. Dependence on world commodity prices had proved to be a mixed blessing, since receipts for wool and gold exports had slumped. The average wool price had fallen to 11 pence per pound in 1870 from 16 pence in 1860. Faced with the prospect of a serious depression, Vogel persuaded his cabinet colleagues to approve a programme of public borrowing to finance growth. Twenty million pounds were borrowed in a decade, mostly from Britain. The role of the state grew; there were four times as many civil servants in 1877 (some 7200) than a decade earlier. A large publicly-owned infrastructure of transport, communication, and other services was established. There were 234 kilometres of public railways in 1873, and 1840 kilometres in 1880. One-third of public expenditure in the decade to 1881 went on roads and bridges, which had more practical effect than railways in improving communications in most areas. 6500 kilometres of telegraph lines were built in the 1870s (their construction had begun for military reasons in the previous decade). Expensive harbour projects were undertaken around the country, and there was a boom in residential, business, and public building. Government spending in 1872 was said to be 13 times that of Canada on a per capita basis.

The 1870s was a decade of large-scale emigration from Europe. Most migrants went to America, a significant fraction to Australasia. The arrival in New Zealand in nine years of 115 000 government-assisted immigrants contributed to the near-doubling of the non-Maori population to 490 000 in 1880. Organised communities of Scandinavian, English, and Irish came out under special settlement schemes. The first group were prominent in the clearing of the ‘Great Bush’ which covered much of the southern half of the North Island. This unremitting toil, like that of the railway and road builders, laid the foundations for much future development. The immediate result of Vogel's policies, however, was a substantial enlargement of New Zealand society without any corresponding strengthening of the economy. The colony had become more, rather than less dependent on Britain as a source of both capital and income. By 1881 more than 90 percent of export revenue came from the United Kingdom, whereas Australia had taken over half New Zealand's exports in the 1860s. Wool had regained the status of largest overseas earner from gold.

The development of a centralised colonial economy linked by modern communications had political implications. While the implementation of ‘Vogelism’ was much influenced by regional pressures, it transformed the balance of power between centre and provinces. Provincial governments, designed in part as agents of colonisation, were now proving superfluous in this role. In 1871 the central government took over sole responsibility for immigration and railway construction. Opposition to some of Vogel's policies by provincialists in the House led ultimately to the end of the provincial system in 1876, over the protests of wealthy Canterbury and Otago. A network of county councils now joined existing borough councils, road boards, and harbour boards as the units of local government. Regional education, hospital, and land boards soon followed.

The 1880s: Stagnation and innovation

A credit squeeze in 1878–79 ushered in some 15 years of economic stagnation, during which export and import prices, and wages all fell roughly in proportion. Burdened with the overseas debts incurred in the 1870s, New Zealand remained dependent on the ability of a depressed British working class to buy its primary products. The most promising development was the beginning of frozen meat exports with the voyage of the Dunedin to the United Kingdom in 1882. This trade grew slowly at first. While there were 21 freezing works in 1892, they were not working to capacity. By then, however, meat exports exceeded £1 million annually in value second only to wool. Experimentation produced new breeds of sheep, which provided good quality mutton as well as wool, and were suited to the country's dryish pastures. In 1882 New Zealand's first dairy factory opened at Edendale in Southland. Exports of dairy produce also grew slowly, with banks reluctant to finance small farmers' production of ‘perishable’ butter and cheese. Mechanisation in processing was paralleled by technological innovations in farming itself. Horse-drawn reapers and binders began to replace men. Traction engines and mechanical threshing mills appeared in the 1880s, as a boom in wheat production saw exports peak at more than £1 million in 1883. Local manufacturers ingeniously adapted agricultural equipment to local needs. The introduction of shearing machines in the late 1880s further reduced the demand for rural labour.

Other products enjoyed fluctuating fortunes. Most important in Auckland ‘province’ (provincial identity long outlived the institutions themselves), timber processing became the country's largest manufacturing enterprise between 1875 and 1885. A substantial export trade in kauri timber was vulnerable to erratic prices, as was the ‘poor man's industry’ of extracting kauri-gum (resin) deposits. Coal was exported from Westland from the mid-1880s. Urban manufacturing continued to grow until about 1886, after which the availability of cheap imports brought a decade of decline. By 1886 the number of industrial workers, including those making handicrafts, had reached 39 000. Most industries were small concerns serving local needs. In 1891 one-third of factory employees produced clothing and textiles, while a fifth was involved in building materials, and another fifth in food, drink, and tobacco processing. Local manufacturers received some protection in 1888, when the Atkinson ministry imposed a 20 percent tariff on imported goods which competed with locally-made products. Not for the last time, a conservative government proved willing to use the power of the state for economic ends. The low-cost, low-wage conditions under which New Zealand industry operated were highlighted by the report of the 1890 Sweating Commission, which revealed considerable exploitation of women and children. The failure of the 1890 Maritime Strike by seamen, watersiders, miners, and railwaymen emphasised the relative weakness of urban labour in a mainly rural, export-dependent economy.

Maori society to 1890

The wars of the 1860s had brought both unprecedented Maori unity, and new divisions. Alliance with the pakeha had offered some tribes the opportunity to pay off old scores. While some kupapa fought defensive actions on their own soil, others ranged across the North Island in a manner reminiscent of the large supra-tribal war parties of earlier in the century. Co-operation and resistance continued to be twin motifs of Maori response to the pakeha for several decades after overt warfare ended. On balance, it seems that in this period collaboration was the less successful means of preserving tribal autonomy.

Kupapa and ‘rebels’ both suffered from the land confiscations of the 1860s. Fertility and strategic location were more important considerations for the settler government than the owners' part in rebellion. The operations of the Native Land Court, established under the Native Lands Act 1865, which permitted the leasing or purchase of land from Maori named in the court's certificates of title, efficiently parted the Maori from much of their remaining land. From 1873, the court operated under a system that was even more clearly weighted in favour of Maori wishing to sell land. In the 1880s land in the King Country itself—where King movement supporters had continued to live in effective independence—began to come before the court, and this paved the way for its purchase. Construction of the Auckland-Wellington railway through Ngati Maniapoto territory symbolised the end of an autonomous Maori zone. By 1892 less than one-sixth of the country remained in Maori ownership, and a quarter of that was leased to Europeans. Most Maori-owned land was rugged and bush-clad. Maori now were only 7 percent of the population. By 1896 epidemics had reduced their numbers to 42 000. Living in poor conditions—many in insanitary, makeshift camps—they grew scarcely enough for their own needs and relied increasingly on seasonal work on European farms and public works.

Yet Maori society remained resilient and adaptable. This was a time of intense political activity, of large tribal and supra-tribal meetings held in splendid new meeting-houses, and of negotiations with pakeha politicians. ‘Loyal’ Maori had been rewarded with four seats in the House of Representatives in 1867.

Maori MPs became increasingly skilled advocates of Maori rights. Ngati Kahungunu kupapa leaders organised a Repudiation movement to challenge the Hawke's Bay land sales of the 1860s. Kepa te Rangihiwinui, who had been one of the pakeha's main military allies, led an anti-land-sales group in Wanganui in the 1880s. In Te Waipounamu, the prophet Te Maiharoa led a heke (migration) of Ngai Tahu, which peacefully reoccupied tribal land in the Waitaki valley for two years, until evicted by armed police in 1879. In Taranaki, land proclaimed confiscated was left in Maori hands for more than a decade before pakeha settlers sought to occupy it. Here Te Whiti o Rongomai and Tohu Kakahi, based at Parihaka, led a movement of passive resistance which attracted wide support, and was only subdued in 1881 by a massive show of military force. The two leaders and many of their followers were temporarily exiled to the South Island. Maori spiritual values remained strong. King Tawhiao's Tariao (‘morning star’) faith recognised guardian spirits and ancestors, and drew on the teachings of Te Ua. Te Kooti proved ultimately more significant as founder of the comprehensive and sophisticated Ringatu faith than as a warrior. The mission-trained Te Whiti claimed God's special protection for the Maori and preached predestination.

While Maori people now participated in the pakeha economy, they generally did so in family groups rather than as isolated individuals. The Maori remained separated from pakeha life by language and culture, as well as by geography. While there was no rigid segregation, they were still a distinct ethnic and social group. In the context of nineteenth century European expansion world wide, this was no small achievement.

2.3 Development and depression: 1890 to 1935

The Liberals in power

Although 1890 came to be seen as a watershed year in New Zealand history, its significance was less apparent at the time. A general election resulted in a fragile majority for the loosely-organised team supporting Liberal leader John Ballance, who differed from Premier Harry Atkinson chiefly in proposing a graduated land tax which would encourage large landowners to reduce the size of their holdings, allowing more small farmers on to the land. In Dunedin and Christchurch, increased awareness of political issues among wage-earners after the defeat of the Maritime Council had electoral consequences, with the return of candidates sympathetic to labour. In rural electorates, by contrast, abstention from voting remained the most typical form of political activity. The abolition of plural voting had reduced the direct political power of those who owned property in several constituencies, but there was still a ‘country quota’ which gave rural voters 28 percent more strength than was justified by their share of the total population.

Ballance became assured of a viable majority in the House only after Atkinson alienated a number of members by stacking the Legislative Council with new appointees, in a bid to establish an unassailable majority there. The conservative ‘Continuous Ministry’ at last left office, ‘leaving a legacy of constitutional controversy, which did much to unify the Liberal alliance. Ballance now sought to make his own appointments to the upper house. After two years’ argument the British Colonial Secretary instructed New Zealand's Governor to acquiesce. This ended the Governor's substantive role in politics. An Act set a seven-year term (as against tenure for life) for future legislative councillors and reduced the upper house to the effective status of a debating chamber. These events, together with the extension of the franchise to women in 1893—a result of the unwillingness of the new Liberal leader Richard John Seddon to alienate a powerful feminist-temperance alliance—gave New Zealand politics a markedly more democratic appearance.

Liberal legislation at first focused on land issues. The Land and Income Assessment Act 1891 imposed a modest, and modestly-graduated, tax on unimproved land values. This tax was a minimal imposition on prospering pastoralists, who sold up (when they did so) because rising land prices made it worthwhile. In 1892 Minister of Lands, John McKenzie offered Crown lessees an optional 999-year lease without revaluation—this way freehold tenure in all but name. By 1907 more than 5000 Crown tenants had taken up some 1 million hectares under this tenure. These measures fostered Liberal support in the countryside, and in the 1893 election the party doubled its rural representation. Overall it now held 51 of the 74 European seats. The Advances to Settlers Act 1894 offered state loans to (non-Maori) settlers at reasonable interest rates. Its chief beneficiaries were not new ‘bush farmers’, but established farmers who could borrow to make improvements.

The success of these policies was much enhanced by a steady rise in international prices after 1894. This income allowed the government to borrow for public works construction, land purchase, and loans to farmers, and enabled farmers to service their mortgages from increased earnings. By the end of the 1890s the full impact of refrigeration was bringing significant economic changes. In 1901 there were nearly 5000 dairy farmers, and by 1911—when they totalled one-third of all farmers—there were three times as many. The trend towards intensive farming was firmly established, as small-scale production became commercially viable. Before 1890 it took many sheep or a substantial herd of cattle to make a living; by 1900 a few hundred sheep or a handful of dairy cattle would suffice. Subsistence farming, widespread in the nineteenth century, now declined. Farming became a business, and increasingly a family business, as mechanisation brought a decline in the number of rural labourers. There were now three farm-produced export staples rather than one, although earnings from wool continued to be greater than those from meat or dairy products.

Townspeople profited from an expanding rural economy. Urban workers also benefited from legislation sponsored by the Liberals' first Minister of Labour, William Pember Reeves. The Factories Act 1894 provided for regular inspection of factories, closely regulated the conditions of employment of women and children, and restricted the working week in most industries to not more than 48 hours. The Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1894 set up a mechanism for peacefully settling industrial disputes, and in the process elevated unions to equal status with employers in the bargaining process. Disputes not resolved by negotiation were to be settled by a central Arbitration Court, whose decisions were binding. Registration of unions was voluntary, and direct collective bargaining remained an option. But the collapse of unionism after 1890 made the new system appear attractive, and most unions sought the recognition offered. Union membership soared from some 8000 in 1896 to 57 000 in 1910. Reeves was not present to witness this growth in the labour movement. In 1896, unable to win support from his colleagues for a new round of radical legislation, he became Agent-General in London. His departure left urban wage-earners without an effective voice in the government, which was now dominated by the populist improvisation of Seddon, McKenzie, and a latter-day Vogel, Colonial Treasurer Joseph Ward.

Growth of the public sector.

The Liberals created 12 new government departments, of which two were particularly notable. The Labour Department, initially set up in 1891 as the Bureau of Industries, was envisaged by its first Secretary, Edward Tregear, as a ‘benevolent bureaucracy’ which would act as a buffer between capital and labour. His staff, who numbered 83 full-timers and many part-time inspectors by 1908, administered Reeve's legacy. The Department of Agriculture, also created in 1891, increasingly assumed important regulatory functions. Systematic grading and branding of export produce was carried out at major ports. Farm inspectors ensured hygienic milking and milk storage, and campaigns against pests and stock diseases were stepped up. The Journal of Agriculture was founded in 1910. In 1893 the government took over direct control of the railway system, and set about expanding it. The country had 3200 kilometres of line by 1896 and 4800 kilometres by 1914. The North Island main trunk line was completed in 1908. Railways opened up whole areas for settlement—notably the hinterland of Auckland ‘province’—by making practicable the movement of supplies and farm produce. Provision of railways and roads remained of vital importance in local and national politics, and not only for economic reasons. Improved communications did much to reduce the demoralising isolation of backblocks living.

Other government functions also expanded. In 1903 the state asserted its control of all future hydro-electric power generation, and in 1911 the first large power station was completed at Lake Coleridge in Canterbury. Old-age pensions were introduced in 1898 to assist the growing numbers of destitute, elderly people. As immigration grew relatively less important and family size also fell—women who married in 1880 averaged 6.5 live births, those in 1923, 2.4—the proportion of the aged in the population grew. Young people also benefited from the government's increased social role. The 1877 Education Act had set up a colony-wide system of primary education, through which four-fifths of the country's five to 15-year-olds were receiving instruction by 1891. After George Hogben became administrative head of the Education Department in 1899 the primary school service was much improved, the secondary system expanded, and technical education introduced. Activity in all these areas (and in others, such as health) required many more civil servants. In the past, government ministers had made most appointments, and controlled much of the day-to-day administration of ‘their’ departments. This became impractical as the functions of the bureaucracy grew more specialised. From 1912 appointment on merit, job classification, and standardised procedures were the norm. As in other Western economies at this time, private bureaucracies were also growing, and wage and salary earners made up an increasing proportion of the work-force.

The rise of Reform

By 1900 the Liberal Party had a mass organisation as well as strong leadership. The Liberal-Labour Federation unified regional associations through a national council and annual conferences. For the first time ordinary people could become members of a political party. But, while the Liberals remained dominant in Parliament after Ward became Prime Minister on Seddon's death in 1906, social and economic forces gradually split the alliance between urban wage-earners and small-to-middling farmers which sustained them in power. As they became more established, small dairy and mixed farmers grew more critical of the government which had in many cases given them their start on the land. Demand for the freehold became a rallying cry. Free trade, unrestricted access to Maori land, and freedom from government regulation, and from the spectre of socialist trade unionism, were other demands. The New Zealand Farmers' Union, launched in 1899, spread especially rapidly in newly-opened North Island districts. Its leadership soon comprised established as well as struggling farmers, and increasingly it supported the new Reform Party, led by William Ferguson Massey, which also gained the backing of protection-dependent urban businessmen after dropping free trade as party policy.

Meanwhile, urban workers grew disenchanted with the government as their share of the country's growing prosperity diminished after 1900. Real wages fell as the Arbitration Court delivered more miserly and belated award increases. In addition, up to 10 percent of the work-force continued to be intermittently or seasonally unemployed. Although this was much less than the one-third comparably affected in Edwardian England, rising national income was clearly being distributed unequally. Both the arbitration system and the political alliance which had produced it were called into question. Unionists and socialists formed a Socialist Party, a Federation of Miners, and (in 1909) a Federation of Labour, which urged member unions to refuse arbitration and take direct action to achieve radical goals. Many leading militants had come from Australia, where an Irish-dominated working-class culture developed nationalist, anti-British characteristics. In the decades around 1900 there was much movement of labour between New Zealand and Australia as economic conditions fluctuated. Many sheep-shearing gangs followed a regular seasonal route through both countries. A few socialists came from the United States, where revolutionary organisations like the industrial Workers of the World preached the overthrow of capitalism through the unification of workers into ‘one big union’ with the strength to confront the state.

Class conflict and world war

Losing support at both ends of the political spectrum, the Liberals failed to gain a clear majority in the 1911 election, and in 1912 enough MPs crossed the floor of the House to bring down the government. Massey now led a Reform Party government which in effect offered a more efficient administration of the Liberals' heritage. He moved first to defeat the challenge from the left. A 1912 dispute at the Waihi goldmine, about whether workers should accept arbitration under the 1894 Act, eventually ended in police-backed violence. In 1913 a ‘lock-out’ on the Wellington waterfront led to a general strike by watersiders, seamen, and coalminers. This was defeated after thousands of middle-class and farmer ‘special constables’, supporting the regular police and sustained by logistical support from the military, fought with unionists on the streets of Auckland and Wellington. Clearly unable to overthrow the government by direct action, the militants turned to more conventional politics. A total of six ‘Social Democrat’ and Labour MPs were elected in 1914, and in 1916 a Labour Party was formed. If any one cause united Labour supporters behind their new party, it was opposition to military conscription, which was introduced in 1916, as New Zealand troops began to suffer the torments of the Western Front. The ‘Great War’ also marked the development of a sense of national identity in many New Zealanders. Since 1870, when dissatisfaction with Imperial troop withdrawals and declining prices on London markets had led to talk of secession and alliance with the United States, pakeha New Zealanders had taken for granted a position of loyal subordination within the British Empire. Remoteness from its centre was offset by the guarantee of security provided by the Royal Navy, and the facts of economic dependence. Throughout the period from 1875 until the Second World War, roughly 80 percent of New Zealand's exports were sold to the United Kingdom, and at least half its imports came from that country. Failure to join the Australian federation (created in 1901) was in large part an acknowledgment that New Zealand's most vital interests lay elsewhere. The ‘colony’ was officially renamed a ‘dominion’ in 1907, but this was seen as recognition of autonomy rather than full nationhood.

Wartime support for Britain modified attitudes of dependence. The 6500 volunteers who went to the South African War (1899–1902) saw themselves as superior mentally and physically to their British regular-force counterparts. The experience of the First World War—103 000 New Zealanders served abroad, and some 18 000 died, out of a total population of little more than a million—reinforced claims of outstanding military excellence. These were enhanced by the heroic assault on Chunuk Bair in August 1915, during the Gallipoli campaign; achievements at Passchendaele in October 1917; and the role of the New Zealand Division in helping stop the great German advance in the spring of 1918. Although Massey claimed (unconvincingly) that in signing the Treaty of Versailles he did not act as the agent of a sovereign state, many New Zealanders now felt they had earned statehood. The country was now a minor colonial power in its own right, having annexed the Cook Islands in 1901 and bloodlessly conquered German Samoa in August 1914. Prowess at the ‘national sport’ of rugby football had also become a source of (mostly male) patriotic pride after an all-but-undefeated tour of the British Isles by a representative team in 1905–6.

Uncertainty and depression

War had widened domestic divisions. While farmers profited from the commandeer system, under which the British government guaranteed purchase of New Zealand's main exports, the cost of living rose in towns and cities, and by 1919 real wages were lower than at any time since the turn of the century. The Protestant Political Association, which claimed to have 200 000 members in 1919, vigorously opposed ‘Rum’, ‘Romanism’ (i.e., Roman Catholicism) and ‘Rebellion’ (i.e., the Labour Party). Massey won his first decisive electoral victory in 1919. Reform now had 46 seats to the Liberals' 20 and Labour's eight. But the government had won only 36 percent of the vote, and Labour's share had reached 24 percent. Throughout the 1920s the existence of a three-party system was to lead to much greater fluctuations in seats won than in voting patterns.

Political instability reflected economic uncertainty. Soldiers had returned to promises of a ‘land fit for heroes to live in’—the state would put them on farms, or at least provide loans for this purpose. But government resettlement policies further fuelled a rise in land values, initially sparked by wartime guarantees of markets. Between 1915 and 1925 some 40 percent of occupied land changed ownership, much of it for a great deal more than it was worth. Rural prosperity ended abruptly in 1921–22, when export prices fell sharply. In response, the government legislated. The Meat Export Control Act 1922 established a board to handle beef and mutton exports, and a 1923 Act regulated dairy exporting. Massey's successor as Reform Party leader and Prime Minister, J. Gordon Coates, was responsible for the Rural Advances Act 1926, which created a new section of the State Advances Department to grant rural first-mortgage loans, and also for the Rural Intermediate Credit Act 1927. Coates's government implemented a substantial public works programme, building hydroelectric power stations, railways, and roads. It also introduced a child allowance in 1926. Once again, a purportedly conservative administration was expanding the state's economic role.

Urban wage-earners, whose incomes were cut during the 1921–22 slump, looked to Labour to protect their interests. Labour now had to modify its radicalism to expand its appeal. It could not hope to govern without rural votes, which were denied Labour so long as they were seen as advocates of land nationalisation. Meanwhile, dissatisfaction with Coate's leadership grew among businessmen who resented his promotion of state activity, and farmers who had looked to him to break the bitter cycle of falling returns, fixed mortgage repayments, and increasing costs. The temporary beneficiaries of this disillusionment were the Liberals, who (renamed United and again led by the now ageing and ailing Ward) won more seats than either of their rivals in the 1928 election by opting for the old policy of borrowing for development. But, as export prices plummeted, depression deepened and borrowing proved impracticable. In 1930 United formed a coalition with Reform, which comfortably won the 1931 election. This government moved to assist farmers through a 25 percent devaluation of the currency, a series of mortgage adjustment Acts, and lowered freight and interest rates. These measures did little to reduce growing support for radical monetary reform, which was advocated by the Douglas Credit movement and influenced Labour policy.

Giving priority to defending farmers' incomes worsened conditions in the cities. Most wages and salaries were cut by 10 percent in both 1931 and 1932. Such savage deflation in an already contracting economy led to an eighth of the work-force being unemployed by 1933. Government determination that the jobless should earn the meagre relief provided under the 1930 Unemployment Act (which levied a special tax on all males aged over 20) resulted in labour-intensive make-work projects and the establishment of spartan camps for single men in isolated areas. Sporadic outbreaks of violent protest in the main cities in 1932 were blamed by Prime Minister George Forbes on a ‘lawless minority’ and Communist agitation. His response was the Public Safety Conservation Act, which empowered the government to proclaim a national emergency and assume Draconian powers when public order was thought to be endangered. ‘Disloyal’ public servants, including those who protested against wage cuts, could now be dismissed. Resentment of the government became widespread.

Other social and economic developments.

New Zealand's non-Maori population grew from 625 000 in 1891 to almost 1.5 million in 1936. This increase was uninterrupted, but slowed markedly in the 1930s as hard times led to fewer births and a net outflow of migrants. Until then immigration was continuous—there was a net inflow of some 200 000 between 1901 and 1928—but immigrants were a steadily diminishing proportion of the population. For this reason, and also because there was an even sexual balance of immigrants in later decades, the proportion of women to men increased. At the height of the gold rushes in the 1860s there had been only five pakeha women in the colony for every eight men. The ratio had reached nine to ten by 1901, and 97 to 100 by 1936. As unmarried men grew relatively fewer, some of the characteristic problems of frontier societies—such as alcoholism, crime, and loneliness—became less prevalent. The transience (enforced by the ephemeral nature of much employment) which had seen a majority of income-earners changing localities several times each decade also gradually diminished. The rural frontier moved forward more slowly, and in the 1930s contracted, as many marginal back-country farms were abandoned.

There was a gradual but persistent movement of population from rural to urban areas, although this was arrested in the 1930s by the growth of public works camps. In 1896, 29 percent of the non-Maori population lived in towns of more than 8000 people; by 1936 the figure was 49 percent. The opening-up of the North Island's farming hinterland before the First World War, and industrial development between the wars, saw its share of the population rise from half in 1900 to 65 percent in 1936. Non-Maori people were nearly all of northern European origin. Gold had attracted 5000 Chinese migrants by 1874, but discrimination and restrictions on immigration saw their numbers fall to little more than 2000 by 1916. About the same number of people of Yugoslav birth were living in New Zealand in 1911—most in the North Auckland peninsula. By 1936 some 1200 Indians were resident in the country.

Mechanisation brought substantial productivity increases in the primary sector, whose share of the total work-force fell from 42 percent in 1896 to 30 percent in 1926. Some primary industries declined in absolute terms, not merely relatively, as resources were concentrated on the three major export products. Kauri-gum production fell from a 1903 peak, the flax industry declined in the 1930s after fluctuating wildly, and gold and timber had ceased to be significant exports by 1914. Coal mining, which had expanded chiefly to provide fuel for the growing railway system, stagnated as railway construction slowed down. Urbanisation was paralleled by the growth and diversification of secondary industries. By the 1920s manufacturing's share of the gross domestic product was only slightly less than that in Australia and the United States, despite New Zealand's relative lack of protective barriers. Industry was typically small-scale, mixed, and unsophisticated, and processed imported components. In the 1920s motor-vehicle assembly and metalworking expanded significantly. By 1926 some 45 percent of the workforce were employed in the tertiary sector (providing services and doing ‘white-collar’ work). New Zealand had become a predominantly urban, yet farming-dependent, nation. It remained Britain's outlying farm as it developed many of the social and demographic characteristics of an industrialised society.

Maori society 1890–1935

Even after 1890, Maori resistance to pakeha dominance was occasionally physical. In 1895 Urewera Maori obstructed a survey until overawed by a military party. In 1898, 120 men of the regular army confronted followers of the Hokianga tohunga Hone Toia. Serious bloodshed in this ‘Dog Tax War’ was only averted by the timely intervention of the MP Hone Heke Rankin. In 1916 ‘the last shooting in the Anglo-Maori wars’ occurred when armed police fought a gun battle with followers of the Tuhoe leader Rua Kenana (founder of the Wairua Tapu religion), killing two of them. Increasingly, resistance took new forms. Petitioners sought the aid of the Crown in persuading the New Zealand Government to honour the terms of the Treaty of Waitangi, which now gained a status among Maori which many had not granted it in 1840. The King movement set up its own parliament (Kauhanganui) under a constitution promulgated in 1894. More significant—even though pakeha legislators refused to acknowledge it—was the rival Kotahitanga parliament, promoted chiefly by kupapa leaders, which met annually from 1892 to 1902.

Expansion of the ‘native schools’ system in the 1870s (there were 57 by 1879) laid the basis for an influx of gifted students into church boarding-schools such as Te Aute and St Stephen's Colleges in succeeding decades. A group of former Te Aute students took the Irish-Maori MP James Carroll as their mentor (he held a general electorate from 1893 to 1919, having earlier represented Eastern Maori). They called themselves the Young Maori Party and advocated the wholesale adoption of pakeha culture. ‘There is no alternative but to become a pakeha’, said Maui Pomare, who had become the first Maori Health Officer in 1900. Pomare and his assistant Te Rangihiroa (Peter Buck), who was Director of Maori Hygiene from 1920, worked for improvements in sanitation and living conditions. The Maori population rose from 45 500 in 1901 to 57 000 in 1921, due to a decline in the frequency of epidemics, the gradual acquisition of immunity to them, and an increase of numbers in the child-bearing age group. Life expectancy rose from around 25 years in 1890 to 35 in 1905. But Maori health was still comparatively poor. The death rate in the influenza pandemic of 1919 was four-and-a-half times that for Europeans.

Although Carroll was Minister of Native Affairs, the Liberals transferred 1.2 million hectares of Maori land to pakeha ownership. Reform alienated a further 1.4 million hectares. ‘Maori landowners, rather than the squattocracy, were vanquished by the state's promotion of closer settlement.’ Improvements in Maori farming came through communal initiatives. In the 1890s the Ngati Porou tribe, who retained much land on the East Coast of the North Island, embarked on large-scale pastoralism. By the mid-1920s they owned a million sheep, as well as a dairy factory, a finance company, and a co-operative store. Apirana Ngata (himself a Ngati Porou) as Native Minister sponsored a 1929 Act which channelled state credit to Maori farmers through the Department of Native Affairs. By 1937, the 750 000 acres being developed under this scheme were supporting about 18 000 people, most of whom lived in communities on or near the land they were working. Ngata, although a member of the Young Maori Party, believed in fostering a communal rural lifestyle which continued Maori traditions.

While Maori in Parliament became skilful practitioners of taha pakeha (the European aspects of living), local leaders continued to have the most effective influence over Maori community life. None gained more stature than Te Puea Herangi, a member of the Waikato kahui ariki (paramount family), who came to prominence in the Kingitanga by leading a campaign against the conscription of Waikato Maori during the First World War. In 1921 she established a model pa at Ngaruawahia, and from the 1920s she was a national figure for Maori. With her support, Ngata's land development schemes allowed Waikato communities to preserve their traditional way of life, while productively occupying their own lands.

Gordon Coates was the first pakeha politician to provide leadership on Maori issues. As Minister of Native Affairs between 1921 and 1928 he was determined to ‘remove the old grievances so that economic and social change could proceed’. Among many initiatives, he established the Sim Commission to investigate the Waikato and Taranaki land confiscations (its findings largely upheld Maori grievances), and also the Maori Purposes Fund to make grants for educational, social, and cultural activities. With Ngata as Native Minister from 1928 to 1934 the momentum of reform continued. But the leadership of these two politicians began to be challenged by the spiritual leader Tahupotiki Wiremu Ratana, who was an advocate for the interests of the ‘Morehu’—detribalised, non-chiefly common people—to whom he offered a vision of spiritual and material betterment. His teachings seemed increasingly attractive as the Depression worsened. Maori are thought to have comprised some 40 percent of the jobless, and by 1933 three out of every four adult male Maori were registered as unemployed.

2.4 The mid-twentieth century

Labour's first term (1935–38)

The Labour Party won power in the 1935 election, when it gained a total of 59 seats (counting a few sympathetic independent MPs) compared to the 19 retained by the Coalition government's candidates. In 1938 it was re-elected, with an increased share of the vote and 53 seats to a new National Party's 25. These successes inaugurated a 14-year tenure of office which, like the Liberal era of the 1890s, was to establish new patterns and set the terms of economic and political debate for the next 40 years. Like the Liberals, Labour benefited by being elected as the economy recovered from depression. And, as befell the Liberals, the administration of Labour's achievement was eventually to be taken over by its conservative political opponents.

Labour won office because it was seen to represent a genuine alternative to the orthodox economic policies which had entailed hardship for too many. In addition, although export prices and the general economy were recovering in 1935, dairy produce receipts were still low. Discontented dairy farmers, who approved Labour's promises of guaranteed prices and cheap credit, were decisive in turning the Coalition's defeat into a rout. Led by the former ‘Red Fed’ and Socialist Party militant Michael Joseph Savage, the Labour government moved to restore and direct the economy and introduce a comprehensive social welfare system.

Previous cuts in wages and conditions of employment were reversed, and the normal manufacturing working week was reduced to 40 hours. Pay rates for relief work were substantially increased. Unemployment fell to 38 000 in 1936, and continued economic growth combined with a large public works programme to leave only about 8000 on ‘sustenance and relief by December 1937. In 1936 full jurisdiction was restored to the Arbitration Court, and union membership was made compulsory for all workers subject to awards. The number of unionists rose in consequence from 103 000 in 1935 to 249 000 in 1938. The Agricultural Workers Act 1936 set a minimum pay rate for previously unprotected rural labourers, and required the provision of decent living conditions for them. By buying out private shareholding in the Reserve Bank (created by Coates in 1933 to give the state some control over monetary policy), the government assumed conclusively the power to use the ‘people's credit’. Finance issued by the Reserve Bank underwrote housing construction, public works, and guaranteed prices for dairy products. Cheap mortgages from the revitalised, government-controlled State Advances Corporation helped efficient but indebted farmers remain on the land.

During Labour's 14 years in power some 30 000 ‘state houses’ (government-owned, privately-built rental dwellings) were constructed. State Advances mortgages financed a further 19 000 houses built for private ownership in the same period. The two schemes together gave government assistance to two in every five houses built. Spreading state house suburbs whose inhabitants shared similar lifestyles came to symbolise an egalitarian ‘levelling upwards’ in the quality of New Zealand life. Educational reforms included the lowering of the school-entry age from six to five. The primary-level Proficiency examination was abolished, and after the leaving age was raised to 15, was effectively replaced by the new School Certificate. These changes required much greater spending on school construction and teachers' salaries. The landmark Social Security Act of 1938 was intended not merely to provide a subsistence income but to meet the ‘normal needs’ of beneficiaries. Essentially free, general medical care was introduced against the bitter opposition of doctors, who, ironically, were to be the group who benefited most from the new ‘welfare state’. Social security and public admiration for Savage were major factors in Labour's 1938 electoral triumph, which was blighted only by the recapture of some rural seats by a more united Opposition.

War and rehabilitation

The government now looked forward to years of development, but was immediately reminded that New Zealand remained a small, dependent trading economy. Withdrawal of private capital combined with the expense of overseas-purchased machinery and supplies to reduce the country's sterling reserves from £29 million to £8 million within six months. Foreign exchange controls were introduced in December 1938. Minister of Finance Walter Nash won few concessions in months of negotiation with the British government and financiers. But bleak prospects were transformed by the outbreak of the Second World War. Britain rapidly agreed to bulk purchase arrangements at prices favourable to New Zealand for meat and dairy products, and later wool. Imports declined as European production was diverted to war purposes, or made unobtainable by shipping difficulties. The exchange crisis was quickly succeeded by a healthy balance of payments surplus, which even allowed the repayment of some earlier loans.

As in the First World War, the country's major contribution to the Allied effort was the provision of food, which went mostly to Britain, and later the Pacific theatre. While the war claimed some 12 000 New Zealand lives and saw 17 000 wounded, these were significantly lower casualties than the First World War inflicted on a society of half a million fewer people. Nevertheless, some 150 000 were serving in the armed forces when they were at their peak, and civilians were mobilised in support of the war effort. Prices and wages were tightly controlled, and the labour force was subject to direction into essential occupations. Secondary industry, already stimulated by economic expansion, public works, and import licensing, was now boosted by the need for greater self-sufficiency. A ‘hot-house growth of manufacturing’ resulted as many small, previously marginal ventures secured a disciplined labour force and guaranteed markets. The strongest growth occurred in Auckland, which was the largest focus for the urbanisation which had resumed with the end of the Depression. With so many men in the armed forces, women entered the work-force in large numbers. The proportion of Public Service clerical workers who were female rose from 5 percent in 1939 to 25 percent in 1947. By 1945 nearly 15 percent of married women under 30 were in full-time employment, a percentage which was not to decline after the war ended. From national necessity, many women entered rural and industrial occupations previously assumed to be ‘men's work’.

As with perceptions of women's role in society, assumptions about New Zealand's place in the world were irrevocably altered by the Second World War. The Balfour Report of 1926 recognised that Britain's dominions were de facto independent states. The United Kingdom legislated in the Statute of Westminster 1931, which effectively relinquished the British parliament's power to make laws for the dominions. New Zealand was not to accept this formally until 1947. The Labour government, like its conservative predecessors, sought consultation with Britain rather than an independent foreign policy. In the late 1930s New Zealand's support for the League of Nations and collective security brought disagreement with the appeasement-minded British. In 1945 Prime Minister Peter Fraser was to be a leading advocate for the rights of the small nations represented in the new United Nations Organisation. In the intervening years the limits of British power had been particularly brought home by the rapid capitulation to the Japanese in 1942 of the vaunted Singapore military base. The necessity of reliance on United States protection was underlined by the wartime presence of 100 000 American ‘GIs’ at New Zealand staging bases. Unlike Australia, New Zealand kept its best fighting troops in the Mediterranean theatre throughout the war. After participating in the unsuccessful defence of Greece and Crete in 1941, they endured the hardships of the North African desert and the slow, difficult advance through Italy. Although operating within the British command structure, New Zealand troops remained under New Zealand Government control. The war also stimulated a redirection of New Zealand trade. New Zealand's exports to non-British markets doubled to about 40 percent of all its exports in the decade after 1941, and were never to return to the levels of the previous half-century.

While a multi-party War Cabinet made the major decisions, Labour's regular Cabinet continued its largely-domestic business. Pragmatic politics counterpointed national sacrifice. The 1943 Servicemen's Settlement and Land Sales Act empowered the government to control prices in all land transactions, and to buy land suitable for subdivision. Farmers hoping to profit as before from a wartime rise in land values, and dissatisfied with the level of guaranteed prices, turned against the government. Despite its abolition of the country quota, Labour won a majority of only four seats in the 1946 election. In contrast with 1919, the reintegration of returning service personnel into the economy was impressively successful, backed as it was by full employment, enforced wartime savings, and guaranteed markets abroad. But the continuation of many wartime restrictions—symbolised by the 1948 Economic Stabilisation Act—was irksome. Maintaining supplies to impoverished Britain required continued rationing, electricity use was limited, and soaring marriage and birth rates outstripped house building.

National in office

The National Party, in its post-war guise, promised more efficient management of key Labour gains and greater personal freedom (such as the right of purchase for state house tenants). Led by Sidney Holland, National won the 1949 election. In 1951 it increased its majority in a rare snap election called to take advantage of the government's crushing termination of a major industrial dispute which had been precipitated by a breakdown in relations between waterfront workers and their employers. The Labour Party, though clearly not laggards in their enthusiasm for the ‘Cold War’—they introduced peacetime compulsory military training in 1949—were outmaneuvered by a government which consolidated its support around the popular themes of ‘law and order’, anti-Communism, and curbing the unions. Labour's ambivalence towards the strikers reflected divisions within the union movement, inside which a militant Trade Union Congress had emerged in opposition to the cautious Federation of Labour.

National continued to present itself to the electorate as the party which would best defend the ‘national interest’ against divisive sectional concerns. Buoyed by continuing prosperity, it was interrupted in its self-stated role as the ‘natural party of government’ only by the one-term Labour administrations of 1957–60 and 1972–75. Both these periods saw adverse alterations in New Zealand's terms of trade. Both Labour Cabinets made changes too rapidly for the liking of an electorate more comfortable with the ‘steady-does-it’ approach epitomized by Keith Holyoake's term as Prime Minister in the 1960s. In that decade political life sometimes seemed to dimly reflect the American scene. New Zealand troops fought in Vietnam, New Zealand youth rebelled against their parents' staidness and complacency, the voices of New Zealand's indigenous inhabitants began to be heard by the wider society. Seen as more efficient at managing a mixed economy, the National Party retained power even in the troubled economic times between 1975 and 1984.

Economic and social modernisation

In the quarter-century after 1950, New Zealand for many at last lived up to Seddon's characterisation of it as ‘God's Own Country’. National wealth per head rose continuously, if at varying rates, until the ‘oil crisis’ of 1973 began a period of stagnation. Standards of living mirrored this ‘pervasive prosperity’. The proportion of houses owned rather than rented rose from 61 percent to 69 percent during the 1950s. Low-cost suburban bungalows of uniform style were furnished with a widening range of consumer durables. Electric stoves, refrigerators, and washing-machines, found in only about half of all houses in the 1940s, were nearly universal by the mid-1960s (as were radiograms and, eventually, television sets). New Zealanders had more choice in spending their increasing discretionary incomes. Although many men remained preoccupied with sport, home-centred leisure (gardening, reading, TV-watching) increased with suburbanisation. Car ownership and substantial expenditure on roading (secondary routes as well as showpiece motorways) brought unparalleled mobility to many. Passenger use of railways declined as air transport came to dominate long-distance personal travel.

The dream of creating a materialist Utopia in New Zealand was kept alive by the unprecedented continuation of full employment for 30 years after the Second World War, when for the first time there had been the possibility of a job for almost everyone who wanted one. More white-collar work balanced continuing relative decline in rural employment. The proportion of the labour force employed in agriculture fell from about one-third in 1938 to an eighth in the early 1970s. Farming productivity rose at about 1 percent annually, as all aspects of farm management became more sophisticated. Capital improvements compensated for a diminishing labour force: tractor numbers increased tenfold from 1938 to the 1970s, and aircraft were widely used to spread fertiliser. By 1972 the number of farms had fallen by nearly a third from the post-war peak of 92 000, reached in 1955. The number of dairy farmers declined particularly dramatically, from nearly 40 000 in 1950 to about 17 000 in 1976. This reflected changes in the relative profitability of different types of farming, as well as a general exodus from the ranks of the small farmer. Meanwhile, male, blue-collar employment rose steadily, roughly in proportion to the overall growth of the labour force. By 1976 there were more than 400 000 blue-collar workers, 47 percent of the male work-force. Most rapid expansion came in white-collar employment, which occupied a quarter of working men in 1951, a third in 1971. The same proportions of all women aged over 15 were in paid employment in each of these years. In 1971, 62 percent of working woman had white-collar jobs. Most women continued to work in jobs performed mostly by women. At the beginning of the century the majority of working women had been employed in one of nine major occupational groups: as nurses, teachers, servants, domestics, drapers' assistants, shop assistants, clerks, tailoresses, and farmers' wives. These occupations remained female-intensive.

The goal of being one's ‘own boss’ became less attainable; between 1951 and 1971 small proprietors fell from one-fifth to an eighth of the work-force. Small business operators, like small farmers, felt themselves vulnerable to growing pressure from larger rivals and regulation-enforcing bureaucrats. The resentments of these two groups were reflected in the support they gave the Social Credit party in the 1960s and 1970s (although this was too geographically diffuse for the party to gain parliamentary representation, apart from one MP for a single three-year term). By the early 1970s about 40 percent of the work-force belonged to bureaucracies—organisations with specialised jobs, structured in a hierarchy, and governed by formal rules and regulations. The public sector, with about 250 000 employees, had grown by 100 000 in 20 years. Contrary to widespread popular belief, it had not increased its share of the work-force, or of national resources. Private bureaucracies now employed some 200 000 people. The growth of both sectors was closely linked to the expansion of post-primary education. Between 1945 and 1970 spending on education rose from 6 percent to 14 percent of government expenditure, and the number of secondary school students more than trebled. By 1971 one person in every three participated directly in the education system, as full-time student, teacher or administrator. Seven-eighths of all pupils attended state-run schools. Public education, like the state's housing policy, was based on an ethos which emphasised equality of access, social integration, and cultural uniformity. University students doubled in numbers in the 1960s, becoming 10 percent of the school-leaving age-group by the end of the decade.

The pakeha birth-rate had fallen steadily from the 1880s to the mid-1930s, prompting fears of a near-stationary population. This at last came to pass in the late 1970s, but only after a period of unprecedented growth, from 1.7 million in 1945 to more than 3 million. One-third of the increase was due to immigration, at first from war-ravaged Europe, later from the Pacific islands. Both Western Samoa and the Cook Islands gained effective independence in the 1960s, but their citizens retained rights of entry to New Zealand. By 1976, 61 000 Pacific Islanders lived in New Zealand. The bulk of the population growth, however, came from natural increase—the postwar ‘baby boom’, which lasted until use of effective contraception became more widespread during the 1960s. By 1961 a third of New Zealanders were aged under 15. This generation put stress on the education system and then on the job market, and seemed likely to overload superannuation schemes and health resources as it aged. Other demographic trends were continued movements from country to town and from south to north. By 1976 only one-sixth of New Zealanders lived outside urban areas. In that year 73 percent of the population lived in the North Island. The Auckland conurbation alone had a quarter of the country's people and a third of those employed in manufacturing. Whereas the greatest number of Vogel-period immigrants had settled in Canterbury and Otago, the latest wave of European migrants went disproportionately to the cities of Auckland and Wellington, as did newly-arriving Pacific Islanders and Maori leaving rural areas.

Self-reliance and self-doubt

This modernising society became more complex, more distinctive, and less self-confident as a Maori cultural renaissance began to affect the cities, more than a century of migration from Europe diminished to a trickle, and New Zealand finally lost its secure place as Britain's offshore farm. In the 1970s greatly-increased oil prices, and the global economy's inability to distribute the world's food production effectively, led to an apparently irreversible decline in the country's terms of trade with the outside world. Primary products—wood-pulp and paper as well as wool, meat, and dairy produce—continued to be New Zealand's export staples, but their share of total exports fell to 60 percent by 1975. In that year Britain (which had cut the symbolic umbilical cord by joining the protectionist European Economic Community) took only one-fifth of New Zealand's exports, and the country's four major markets (the others being Australia, the United States, and Japan) only three-fifths between them. An increasing variety of agricultural and manufactured products were sold in a growing range of markets. Primary produce sales were increasingly handled by centralised producer boards. The main focus of secondary industry was still the further processing of imported goods for local markets. Although import licensing was said to shelter inefficient industries, it seems that the average level of protection was not high by world standards. Nor is it clear that New Zealand output or standards of living have lagged nearly as far behind other developed countries as figures based on exchange-rate comparisons suggest. At worst, the country's economic performance has been an average one.

Much the same could be said in social terms. In New Zealand many features of Western social change have been experienced on a smaller scale. These have included the rise of youth culture (as both a new form of consumerism and a serious attempt to transform styles of living), the revitalisation of ethnic minorities, and the assertion by women of their right to participate fully in all aspects of economic and social life. Equal pay for equal work became a legal requirement in 1972, showing the extent of change since 1936, when the first minimum-wage legislation had set the female minimum rate at 47 percent of the male. But women remained over-represented in low-status occupations, and the twentieth-century idealisation of motherhood continued to be a potent source of guilt for mothers who, from necessity, took paid employment. As age, ethnic, and gender distinctions came to matter more, class divisions grew more subtle and apparently less important. Although extremes of wealth and poverty were rare, equality of income and status had been brought no closer by decades of formal equality of access to society's resources. And social consensus as to the desirability to relative equality and social security was being eroded by harsh economic realities and the diversification of individual aspirations.

Maori society after 1935

The state of Maori health still caused concern in the 1930s. In 1938 the Maori death rate was 24 per 1000, compared with 10 for pakeha, and the infant mortality rate was 153 for each 1000 live births, as against 37 for non-Maori. In 1940, 36 percent of Maori people were said to live in houses unfit for habitation by minimum pakeha-standards. Funding by the first Labour government of the Native Housing Act 1935 resulted in the construction of some 3000 houses by 1951. More systematic efforts to improve Maori health saw experts such as H. B. Turbott combine with community leaders like Te Puea to introduce health programmes. Effective control of diseases like tuberculosis and typhoid, and falling infant mortality, led to a rise in Maori life expectancy from 46 years in 1925 to 58 in 1956. These factors, and a continuing high birth rate, saw the Maori population double in 30 years, reaching 116 000 in 1951. In that year 57 percent of Maori people were aged under 21, compared with 35 percent of non-Maori. In 1955 the Maori birth rate was 44 per 1000, as against 25 for non-Maori. By 1966 half of all Maori were aged under 15. Continuing high fertility and improved health saw the Maori population reach 270 000 in 1976. Maori now comprised 9 percent of all New Zealanders.

Movement of Maori to the cities began during the Second World War, when manpower regulations and the work of the Maori War Effort Organisation opened up a variety of urban employment opportunities. In any case, farming could not have sustained the rapid increase in numbers. Eleven percent of Maori people had lived in urban areas in 1936. Forty years later, three-quarters of the Maori people were urbanised, and a fifth lived in Auckland, whose Maori population doubled during the 1960s. Migration to the cities meant improved housing conditions, but most Maori could not afford to live outside areas offering low-cost accommodation. Urbanisation was reflected in employment data. While 40 percent of male Maori had worked in agriculture, forestry and fisheries in 1951, only 16 percent did so by 1971. The respective figures for blue-collar employment were 52 percent and 70 percent. Over the same period, the proportion of Maori women in service occupations fell from 42 percent to 23 percent, while blue-collar workers rose from 24 percent to 36 percent of the female work-force. By the late 1960s, Maori and Pacific Islanders in Auckland and Wellington formed a ‘new under-class’, most holding poorly-paid jobs which offered little security or prospects for advancement.

Maori education benefited from the first Labour government's introduction of free secondary education and a school-leaving age of 15. By 1953, while special Maori schools (directly administered by the Department of Education) were still numerous, 60 percent of Maori children attended ordinary state primary schools. By 1960 most Maori children went on to secondary school; but they did so on average at a later age, and left earlier, with fewer qualifications than pakeha children. In 1960, 5 percent of Maori pupils gained School Certificate, compared with 30 percent of non-Maori of the same age. The state school system was still almost entirely monocultural. Educational under-achievement was both a cause and an effect of low occupational status.

From 1943, with the defeat of Apirana Ngata, the Ratana-Labour alliance held all four Maori parliamentary seats. Much of the discrimination against Maori workers was removed by the first Labour government, and Maori shared in the general expansion of economic activity and in social security provisions. The Maori Social and Economic Advancement Act 1945 set up tribal committees and executives concerned especially with welfare and marae administration. In 1947 the word ‘Maori’ replaced ‘Native’ in all official usage, an acknowledgment that Polynesian New Zealanders now more than before saw themselves as one people. National organisations such as the Maori Women's Welfare League (formed in 1951) and the Maori Council (established in 1962) helped strengthen the authority of a postwar generation of leaders. Many had served with distinction in the Maori Battalion in North Africa and Italy, or in essential industries. Returning servicemen were able to demand equality with more success than had their counterparts in the First World War Pioneer Battalion, who had received no rehabilitation assistance. Maori sporting ability (demonstrated particularly in rugby union and league) also earned respect from the wider community.

In the 1940s Ngata spoke of the need for a ‘continuous attempt to interpret the Maori point of view to the pakeha in power’. Te Puea argued that ‘unity of Maori and Pakeha can only grow from each sharing the worthwhile elements in the other's culture’. As urbanisation brought the two races together, discrimination and the lack of equal opportunity grew more visible. Maori were told they must adapt to the pakeha way of life; there was no equivalent pressure on pakeha. From the late 1960s groups such as Nga Tamatoa (‘the young warriors’) challenged the continuing loss of land, declining use of the Maori language, and what came to be called ‘institutional racism’ in pakeha-dominated society. A cultural resurgence which emphasised tribal identity, traditions, and protocol developed in parallel with a drive to establish urban marae. Under the third Labour government, multiculturalism replaced integration as official policy. Maoritanga (the experience and expression of Maoriness) had an officially recognised place in the future of Aotearoa.

2.5 Chronology of main events

1350Approximate date of the legendary ‘Great Migration’, the arrival of seven canoes in Aotearoa bearing Maori settlers from the Pacific.
1642European discovery by Tasman.
1769James Cook's first visit to New Zealand.
1792First sealing gang left on New Zealand coast at Dusky Sound.
1814Arrival of Rev. Samuel Marsden, and establishment of Anglican mission station.
1820Hongi's visit to England.
1825Attempt at European colonisation, under Captain Herd.
1831Tory Channel whaling station established.
1833James Busby appointed British Resident at Bay of Islands.
1839Governor of New South Wales authorised to annex New Zealand. Preliminary expedition of New Zealand Company under Colonel Wakefield to Port Nicholson.
1840Arrival of New Zealand Company's settlers at Port Nicholson. Treaty of Waitangi signed. British sovereignty proclaimed. Captain Hobson appointed Lieutenant-Governor, with residence at Auckland. Settlement formed at Akaroa.
1841New Zealand proclaimed independent of New South Wales. Arrival of New Plymouth and Wanganui settlers.
1842Settlement founded at Nelson.
1843Affray at Wairau.
1845Hostilities in the North.
1846Fighting near Wellington. Te Rauparaha captured and kept prisoner. New Zealand divided into two provinces, New Munster and New Ulster.
1848Otago founded.
1850Canterbury founded.
1852Discovery of gold at Coromandel. Constitution Act passed by Imperial Parliament, granting representative institutions to New Zealand, and dividing country into six provinces.
1854Opening at Auckland of first session of the General Assembly.
1855First members elected to the House of Representatives under system of responsible government. Very severe earthquake on both sides of Cook Strait.
1856Appointment of first ministry under system of responsible government.
1860‘Taranaki War'.
1861Bank of New Zealand incorporated. Gold discovery at Gabriel's Gully, Otago.
1862First electric-telegraph line opened—Christchurch to Lyttelton.
1863Wreck of HMS Orpheus on Manukau Bar. Commencement of ‘Waikato War’. First railway in New Zealand opened.
1864Discovery of gold on West Coast.
1865Seat of Government transferred to Wellington.
1866Cook Strait submarine telegraph cable laid.
1867Opening of Thames goldfield. Lyttelton railway tunnel completed. Four Maori seats provided in House of Representatives.
1870Departure of last Imperial troops from New Zealand. Commencement of San Francisco mail service. Inauguration of Vogel public works policy.
1873Establishment of New Zealand Shipping Co.
1876New Zealand-Australia cable. Provinces abolished.
1877Education Act passed, providing for free, compulsory education.
1878Completion of the Christchurch-Invercargill railway.
1879Triennial Parliaments Act passed. Adult male suffrage introduced. Kaitangata coal mine explosion.
1881Wreck of s.s. Tararua, with loss of 130 lives.
1882First shipment of frozen meat from New Zealand.
1883Direct steamer communication between New Zealand and Britain. 1886 Tarawera eruption and destruction of Pink and White Terraces.
1890Great maritime strike. First election on one-man-one-vote principle. Liberal government elected.
1893Franchise extended to women. Special liquor licensing poll introduced.
1894Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act passed. Government Advances to Settlers Act passed. Wreck of s.s. Wairarapa.
1896Brunner Mine explosion. Abolition of non-residential or property qualification to vote.
1898Old-age Pensions Act passed.
1899New Zealand army contingent sent to South African War.
1901Cook and other Pacific Islands annexed.
1902Pacific cable opened. Wreck of s.s. Elingamite.
1906Death of Seddon, Premier.
1907New Zealand given name of Dominion.
1908North Island main trunk railway opened.
1909S.s. Penguin wrecked in Cook Strait, with loss of 75 lives. Battle cruiser presented by New Zealand to Imperial Government. System of compulsory military training introduced.
1911Wireless telegraphy installed in New Zealand. Widows' Pensions Act passed. First poll on national prohibition taken.
1912Civil service placed under control of Public Service Commission. Waihi strike.
1913Extensive strikes with fighting in Auckland and Wellington.
1914First World War begins.
1915Gallipoli Campaign.
1916New Zealand Division transferred to Western Front. Conscription introduced. Lake Coleridge electric-supply scheme opened.
1918End of First World War. Great influenza epidemic.
1919Women eligible for Parliament. New Zealand represented at Peace Conference by Prime Minister.
1920First aeroplane flight over Cook Strait. League of Nations mandate to administer Western Samoa.
1922Meat-export trade placed under control of a board.
1923Opening of Otira Tunnel. Ross Dependency proclaimed. Dairy Produce Export Control Act passed.
1924Direct radio communication with England.
1928First flight across Tasman Sea.
1929Severe earthquake in Murchison-Karamea district.
1930Legislation providing for relief of unemployment.
1931Hawke's Bay earthquake. General reduction of 10 percent in wages and salaries. Mortgagors' relief legislation passed.
1932Reductions in old-age and other pensions, in salaries of state employees, and in rentals, interest rates and other fixed charges. Sporadic rioting in main centres. Ottawa Conference.
1934First trans-Tasman airmail. Reserve Bank incorporated.
1935First Labour government.
1936Inauguration of inter-island trunk air services. Reserve Bank nationalised. System of basic prices for butter and cheese introduced. 40-hour week introduced.
1938Social Security Act passed. Introduction of import control.
1939Second World War begins.
1940Death of Savage.
1941Declaration of war with Japan.
1942Complete mobilisation. Compulsory enrolment in Emergency Reserve Corps. Rationing introduced. Mobilisation of women for essential work.
1945War in Europe ended (8 May). War in Pacific ended (15 August).
1946Family benefit of £1 per week made universal as from 1 April.
1947Statute of Westminster adopted by New Zealand Parliament.
1949Referendum agrees to compulsory military training.
1950Legislative Council Abolition Act passed. K-force sailed for Korean War.
1951Prolonged waterfront dispute. United States, Australia, and New Zealand signed ANZUS Treaty.
1953Railway disaster at Tangiwai. First tour by reigning monarch.
1955Pulp and paper mill at Kawerau opened. Rimutaka rail tunnel opened.
1956Roxburgh and Whakamaru power stations in operation.
1957Scott Base established.
1958PAYE taxation introduced.
1959Auckland Harbour Bridge opened. Antarctic Treaty signed.
1960Regular television programmes began in Auckland.
1961New Zealand joined International Monetary Fund.
1962Cook Strait rail-ferry service commenced with Aramoana.
1964Cook Strait power cables laid. Oil refinery opened at Whangarei.
1965Limited free trade agreement negotiated with Australia. Cook Islands became self-governing.
1966Labour force reached 1,000,000. Licensed television sets reached 500 000.
1967Decimal currency introduced.
1968T.e.v. Wahine foundered in Wellington Harbour.
1969Vote extended to 20-year-olds.
1970Natural gas from Kapuni supplied to Auckland.
1971Negotiations by Britain with members of European Economic Community secure New Zealand's butter and cheese exports to the United Kingdom. Bluff aluminium smelter in commercial operation. Generators installed at Manapouri hydro-electric station. Metric conversion for weights and measures.
1972Labour government elected.
1973Britain joined European Economic Community. Colour television introduced. First step of Equal Pay Act in effect.
1974Death of the Prime Minister, Norman Kirk.
1975National government, under (then) Right Hon. R. D. Muldoon, assumed office.
1976Cuts in subsidies on electricity, rail charges, and Post Office charges. Subsidies on bread, eggs, butter, and flour abolished. Wool Income Stabilisation Scheme introduced. Price and rent freeze until end of year introduced. New Zealand - Australia Free Trade Agreement extended for further 10 years. New Zealand's sporting links with South Africa resulted in walk-out at Olympic Games in Montreal.
1977National superannuation scheme came into operation. Gleneagles agreement on sporting contacts with South Africa. 200-mile economic zone around New Zealand coast established.
1978National Party retains power at General Election with greatly reduced majority.
1979First stage of Maui gasfield development completed. Price control phased out over a wide range of commodities and services; replaced by price surveillance scheme. Severe landslip at Abbotsford. Air New Zealand crash on Mount Erebus.
1980$500 million Eurodollar loan raised to finance a hydrocracker for expansion of Marsden Point oil refinery. Petrocorp given approval to build New Zealand's first methanol plant. $600 million expansion of New Zealand Steel Ltd plant announced. Remuneration Act repealed as part of wage policy agreement with Federation of Labour and Employers' Federation. Act passed legalising Saturday trading.
1981Butter deal concluded with EEC. Controversial tour of New Zealand by South African rugby team. General Election resulting in narrow victory for National Party.
1982Contract for Motunui synthetic fuel plant signed. Twelve-month wage, price, and rent freeze imposed. N.Z. Meat Producers Board announced it would buy all export lamb and mutton for two years. Plans for Aramoana aluminium smelter shelved indefinitely. Ammonia-urea plant at Kapuni commenced production.
1983Signing of Closer Economic Relations Agreement. New Zealand dollar devalued by 6 percent against all currencies. Introduction, of Kiwi Savings Stock attracting 15 percent interest per annum. New Zealand's triple A international credit rating reduced by Standard and Poor's Corporation. Wage-Price Freeze extended until 1984. Kiwi Savings Stock closed. Lending institutions slash interest rates. Second issue of Kiwi Savings Stock with interest rate of 10 percent per annum. Regulations limiting interest rates on first mortgages. Phased deregulation of land transport introduced, and abolition of restrictions against competition with Railways Corporation. Voluntary unionism introduced.
1984(Mar) Price freeze lifted. $8 general wage increase. (Jun) Prime Minister Sir Robert Muldoon calls a snap election. (Jul) The Labour Party wins the General Election. New Government devalues the New Zealand dollar by 20 percent and re-imposes the Price Freeze. Interest rate restrictions are lifted. (Sep) Economic Summit Conference. (Oct) Maori Summit Conference. (Nov) Budget presented, including Family Care; tax surcharge on National Superannuation; and lifting the Price Freeze. Government lays down wage guidelines. (Dec) Queen Street Riot, Auckland. New Zealand ratifies the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
1985(Feb) United States request for visit by USS Buchanan, declined. (Mar) New Zealand dollar floated. (Apr) University Entrance examinations abolished. (Jun) All Black rugby tour of South Africa cancelled. (Jul) Greenpeace protest vessel Rainbow Warrior bombed and sunk by French agents.
1986(Feb) Soviet cruise ship Mikhail Lermontov sinks in Marlborough Sounds. (Mar) Government announces cuts in wholesale tax in preparation for Goods and Services Tax. (Apr) Government announces plans to split the Post Office into three separate trading organisations. Unofficial tour of South Africa by rebel New Zealand rugby players. Protest march on Parliament by farmers. (Jun) Property qualifications for voting in local body elections abolished. Plans by 11 of New Zealand's 12 trustee savings banks to merge are made public. (Jul) United Nations Secretary-General rules that the French agents jailed in New Zealand for their part in the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior will be detained for three years on the island of Hao; France to make an unqualified formal apology to New Zealand and pay about $13 million in compensation. Homosexual Law Reform Bill passed. Notice given that School Certificate to be abolished and replaced with internal assessment within four years. (Aug) Following a four-week long dispute Tasman pulp and paper mill at Kawerau will close indefinitely. (Sep) Tasman pulp and paper mill at Kawerau reopens. (Oct) Goods and Services Tax (GST) comes into effect. (Nov) First visit by Pope. (Dec) Auckland Savings Bank withdraws from the trust bank organisation formed in June.

Further information

See under historical works in the bibliography, ‘Books about New Zealand’, at the end of this volume.

Chapter 3. Government

3.1 Constitution

New Zealand is a monarchy with a parliamentary government. Its constitutional history dates back to its status as a British colony. By the Treaty of Waitangi of 1840 the Maori people exchanged their sovereignty for the guarantees in the treaty. New Zealand is now an independent state. Queen Elizabeth II has the title Queen of New Zealand, and the Crown is vested in the same person as the British Crown.

A constitution is concerned with the establishment and composition of the legislative, executive, and judicial organs of government, their powers and duties, and the relationship between these organs. In New Zealand, the constitution is not contained in a single document that can be referred to as ‘the Constitution’, although the Constitution Act 1986 has brought together in one statute the most important statutory constitutional provisions. Some United Kingdom statutes, constitutional conventions, and case law add to the body of New Zealand constitutional law. A feature of constitutional documents in some countries is that their provisions are safeguarded by requiring a special procedure to amend them. Only two New Zealand constitutional statutes have a requirement of this nature. They are the Electoral Act 1956 and the Constitution Act 1986. Some sections of the Electoral Act 1956 require a 75 percent majority in Parliament to change them, or a majority of votes cast at a referendum. However, the 75 percent requirement could itself be removed by a simple majority in Parliament. In this sense, the protection is political rather than legal. One of the entrenched, or protected, sections in the Electoral Act 1956 was transferred to the Constitution Act 1986, where it retains the protection previously provided.

Important sources of constitutional law include, the Constitution Act 1986, which replaced the Constitution Act 1852 (the 1986 Act is discussed in more detail below); the U.K. Habeas Corpus Act 1679, and Bill of Rights 1688, which respectively protect the individual against arbitrary detention, and define some of the relative powers of the Crown and Parliament; the Electoral Act 1956, which provides procedures for Parliamentary elections; and the Letters Patent 1983, which set out the Governor-General's powers.

The Crown and Governor-General.

The Governor-General is the representative of the Sovereign in New Zealand and exercises the Royal powers derived from statute and the general law. Almost all of the Governor-General's powers are now statutory, and this has the effect of abridging any of the prerogative powers that cover the same ground. The Governor-General possesses only those prerogative powers delegated in the Letters Patent, and the courts may decide on the limits of the prerogative powers. Their role in New Zealand is residual. The Sovereign appoints the Governor-General on the Prime Minister's recommendation, normally for a term of five years. The Governor-General's main constitutional function is to arrange for the leader of the majority party in Parliament to form a government. By constitutional convention and the Letters Patent the Governor-General is required to follow the advice of ministers. By convention the Governor-General can in extraordinary circumstances reject advice if he believes that a government is intending to act unconstitutionally. The Governor-General's powers to do this are known as the reserve powers. The extent of these powers in New Zealand is unclear. Events in Australia in 1975 demonstrated how controversial the use of the reserve powers can be.

Parliamentary tradition.

A feature of New Zealand's constitution is that, although it is a monarchy in form, it operates democratically because of a long political tradition of parliamentary government and a network of constitutional principles. They developed during the course of British history, and were transferred to New Zealand. Some have legal status and some exist as constitutional conventions.

The Crown is still the formal legal repository of much power. The Crown is part of Parliament, and the Governor-General's assent is required before bills can become law. Government administration is formally earned out by the Crown through its ministers and state servants. However the Crown must act according to its ministers' wishes, and they must retain parliamentary support. The Government cannot act effectively without Parliament, because it cannot raise or spend money without parliamentary approval, and for most categories of expenditure this approval takes the form of an annual vote of funds to the Government. Parliament therefore has to be assembled regularly and has the opportunity to hold the Government to account. Under the modern two-party system, however, the Government effectively controls proceedings in Parliament and cases of government members voting with the Opposition are very uncommon. Judges are appointed by the Crown. There is a strong tradition of independence for judges and various mechanisms to protect it.

Recent constitutional reform

The events occurring immediately after the July 1984 general election highlighted the need for constitutional reform, Difficulties experienced by the incoming government, in taking what was considered urgent action, revealed uncertainties in the rules for the handing over of power from an outgoing government to an incoming government. That issue was resolved but constitutional reform was considered necessary.

An officials committee was set up to examine the rules for the handing over of power and make proposals for their reform. (The committee comprised representatives of a number of government departments having an interest in constitutional matters, and a university law professor.) The committee was also asked to carry out a general reorganisation of statutory constitutional provisions with a view to gathering them together in one piece of New Zealand legislation. The committee was given this task because the constitutional difficulties of 1984 had also pointed to the need for reform of a number of other aspects of constitutional law. Statutory constitutional law was fragmented—scattered amongst a number of New Zealand and United Kingdom Acts—and often uncertain. Some provisions were long out of date, while others were found in obscure places. For example, few people would have realised before July 1984 that it was the Civil List Act 1979 which had a section embodying the principle of responsible government, that is, by persons responsible to the electorate.

The officials committee's recommendations included a draft Constitution Bill. These recommendations were set out in two reports presented to the Minister of Justice and then made available to the public early in 1986. The Constitution Act 1986 was passed by Parliament in December 1986 and came into force on 1 February 1987. Reflecting the two-fold task of the officials committee, it clarifies the rules relating to the handover of power and brings together in one Act the most important statutory constitutional provisions.

Before outlining the provisions of the Constitution Act 1986, it is worthwhile noting the principles inherent in New Zealand's system of government which were taken into account in formulating its recommendations. The committee spelt out these principles in the following terms:

Responsible government—The persons who are appointed to act as the Crown's advisers are to be chosen from persons who are elected by the people, and who have the confidence of the House of Representatives.

Continuity of government—There must always be a government capable of acting, of advising the Governor-General, and of accepting responsibility for that advice. The Governor-General must not be left without advisers.

Certainty and flexibility—It has long been the practice in New Zealand for a government defeated at a general election to stay in office for approximately 14 days before the new government is sworn in. This contrasts sharply with British practice, where a defeated government is replaced within 24 hours of the election.

Rules for the handing over of power.

The critical question raised by the events of July 1984 was the time at which a new government could be sworn in and formally take power. The officials committee summarised the problem in these terms:

“The incumbent government had clearly been defeated on election night. There was going to be a change of government. Yet the outgoing government was still legally in office and, by convention, was required to follow the advice of the incoming government. Could it have sought to resign forthwith rather than implement a policy with which it strongly disagreed? Alternatively, if it had refused to follow that advice, could it have been dismissed by the Governor-General? Both alternatives depended upon whether it could be immediately replaced by a new ministry.”

New ministers must be appointed immediately because of the constitutional rule that the Governor-General must have ministers to advise him and take responsibility for that advice. Here convention and strict law meet, because the appointment of ministers, in contrast, to the position in the United Kingdom and Canada, was dealt with by statute. In particular, section 9 of the Civil List Act 1979 provided that no person could be appointed as a minister of the Crown, or as a member of the Executive Council, unless that person was a member of Parliament. It was crucial to know the exact times at which persons become and cease to be members of Parliament. There was disagreement on this in 1984.

From the point of view of resolving problems over the rules for the transfer of power, section 6 is the key provision of the Constitution Act 1986. It replaces the provision in the Civil List Act 1979 that ministers of the Crown must be members of Parliament. That is still the rule but there are now two exceptions.

The first exception is new. It allows a non-member of Parliament to be appointed as a minister, or as a member of the Executive Council, provided two conditions are met. The person must have been a candidate at the general election immediately before appointment, and if that person does not become a member of Parliament within 40 days he or she must vacate office. If a speedy transfer of power is necessary, persons meeting the first condition can be appointed as ministers and members of the Executive Council, and can advise the Governor-General, without waiting for confirmation of their status as members of Parliament. But the principle of government by persons responsible to the electorate is retained by the requirement that ministers must become members of Parliament within a very short period of their appointment. In Australia the equivalent period is three months. A change was also necessary to the Letters Patent 1983 to reflect this new exception. The Letters Patent contain a provision describing who may be appointed as members of the Executive Council.

The second exception in section 6 of the Constitution Act 1986 re-enacts, with some amendment, the previous exception in section 9 of the Civil List Act 1979 that allowed ministers of an outgoing government to stay in office until their successors were sworn in. Difficulties have arisen over the application of this exception because of the uncertainties mentioned above about the time when a person becomes, and me time when a person ceases, to be a member of Parliament. The Act clarifies this. It provides that the term of office of a member of Parliament commences on the day after the writ issued for the election in the relevant electorate is returned. The term ceases on the close of polling day at the next general election.

The Constitution Act 1986 therefore allows for a speedy transfer of power but does not preclude the leisurely transition which is traditional.

Other constitutional provisions.

The Constitution Act 1986 also deals with the principal components of New Zealand's constitutional arrangements: the Sovereign, the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary. It brings together provisions from a number of Acts, including the Constitution Act 1852, the Demise of the Crown Act 1908, and the Electoral Act 1956. Some of the relevant provisions in those Acts were repealed without replacement, and others were updated, or clarified.

Part I of the Constitution Act 1986 concerns the Sovereign. It encapsulates the essence of the Royal Titles Act 1974 and replaces the Royal Powers Act 1983. It deals with the Sovereign as the Head of State of New Zealand and expressly recognises the role of the Governor-General. Part I also deals with the exercise of royal powers by either the Sovereign or the Governor-General, and with the legal effects of a death of the Sovereign (the demise of the Crown).

The important provisions relating to the Executive and the handing over of power in Part II of the Act have been covered above. In addition, this Part deals with the power of ministers to act for other ministers, and the appointment and powers of Parliamentary Under-Secretaries.

Part III of the Act concerns the law-making body, the legislature: what is does and how it is to do it. The Act confirms the existing power of the New Zealand Parliament to make laws. Section 15 declares that the Parliament of New Zealand “continues to have full power to make laws”. It also removes the residual power of the United Kingdom Parliament to make laws for New Zealand. That power is now inappropriate given New Zealand's independent status. It is removed by a provision in section 15 to the effect that no Act of the United Kingdom Parliament passed after the commencement of the Constitution Act 1986 shall extend to New Zealand as part of New Zealand law. To this end the Act also repealed the Statute of Westminster 1931 (in relation to New Zealand.) and other linked legislation. Under the Statute of Westminster the United Kingdom Parliament could make law for New Zealand on the request and consent of the New Zealand Parliament.

The Constitution Act 1986 also renames the body previously known as the General Assembly. The officials committee found that inconsistencies in the terminology used to describe the law-making organs had also created difficulties in July 1984. The new name for the legislature is Parliament'. This is the term popularly used and accepted. The Act also alters the composition of Parliament to consist of the Sovereign in right of New Zealand, rather than, as previously, the Governor-General, and the House of Representatives. The new description is more appropriate to New Zealand's independent constitutional status. This part also deals with matters such as the election and term of the Speaker, the Royal Assent to bills, and the procedure for the summoning, proroguing, and dissolution of Parliament. The Act also requires the House to meet not later than six weeks after the date fixed for the return of the writs from the election. This embodies the important constitutional principle that Parliaments should meet frequently as set out in the Bill of Rights 1688.

In Part IV of the Act are found some of the important constitutional rules governing the judiciary, their tenure, and salaries. The Act also empowers the Sovereign, or the Governor-General, to remove High Court judges and sets out how, and on what grounds, they can be removed. The Constitution Act 1986 made some changes to the law on these matters. First, it took away the power to suspend High Court judges, as opposed to removing them. Second, it enabled the Governor-General in Council to remove judges, whereas previously that body could only suspend, while the Sovereign could only remove them. Third, it clarified uncertainties about the method and grounds for removal.

To summarise, although the Constitution Act 1986 is not and does not purport to be a ‘written’ constitution in the technical sense, it contains most of the provisions found in written constitutions of unitary (non-federal) countries. However, as mentioned above, only one of its provisions is specially protected. Nor does it include one feature of a number of written constitutions of other countries, namely, a statement of fundamental human rights, such as freedom of religion, speech, and assembly. This is the subject of a White Paper on a Bill of Rights for New Zealand, which was tabled in the House of Representatives in 1985. The White Paper contains a draft bill which would protect fundamental civil and political rights. If the bill was adopted legislation which was inconsistent with the rights in the bill would, when challenged in court, be of no effect. The officials committee commented that its report and draft bill dealt “only with what might be called the European side of our constitutional law”. The committee noted that what might be termed the Maori side of our law formed part of the subject-matter of the draft bill contained in the White Paper on a Bill of Rights for New Zealand. That bill would incorporate the Treaty of Waitangi of 1840 into a bill of rights.

United Kingdom Acts.

The Constitution Act 1986 repealed a number of United Kingdom constitutional Acts which had been in force in New Zealand. They included the Constitution Act 1852. which initiated parliamentary government in New Zealand, and the Statute of Westminster 1931.

There remain a number of United Kingdom Acts (referred to as ‘Imperial’ Acts) which are in force as part of the law of New Zealand Some are historic constitutional Acts, such as the Magna Carta, the Habeus Corpus Act 1679, and the Bill of Rights 1688. Other Imperial Acts covering a wide range of subject matter also remain in effect in New Zealand.

For some time it has been proposed to enact legislation clarifying the effect of these Imperial laws in New Zealand. Those still important and relevant would be retained, while those which are obsolete would be repealed in relation to New Zealand. This, together with the Constitution Act 1986, would simplify access to statutory constitutional law.

3.2 Parliament and the Cabinet

House of Representatives

At the heart of the parliamentary system lies the power to make laws that is vested by the Constitution Act 1986 in the Parliament of New Zealand, which consists of the Sovereign in right of New Zealand (normally represented by the Governor-General) and an elected House of Representatives. The Sovereign's role is formal, and the term ‘Parliament’ effectively means the House of Representatives.

The principal functions of Parliament are to enact laws, supervise the Government's administration, vote supply, provide a government, and redress grievances by way of petition.

The Constitution Act 1986 forbids the House to allocate public funds for any purpose unless first recommended by the Crown. Although the reasons for this provision are historical, it is also used by governments to defeat legislation brought forward by individual members which ministers are unwilling to support or adopt. On the other hand, the law forbids the Crown to tax citizens without express parliamentary approval.

Constitutional law includes the law and custom of Parliament, itself derived from a variety of sources. The Bill of Rights 1688 saves any proceeding in Parliament from being questioned in any forum, other than the House itself, and the Legislature Act 1908 provides that the powers, privileges, rights, and immunities of the House (and its committees and members) are those possessed by the British House of Commons on 1 January 1865. One aspect of the powers of the House is the ability to make rules for the conduct of its business. Most of these are contained in the Standing Orders, although some are made on a sessional, and others on an ad hoc basis. The traditional three readings given to a bill are part of Standing Orders, but it is open to the House to alter or suspend its rules at any time. The House has retained the right to punish breaches of its privileges, whether by members or citizens, from which there is no appeal (although the courts could be asked to decide whether the privilege claimed is one recognised by law).

Perhaps the most important privilege of the House is that of freedom of speech, guaranteed by the Bill of Rights 1688, and claimed by the Speaker upon confirmation in office by the Governor-General.

The House meets as Parliament in answer to a summons from the Governor-General. Sessions of Parliament are marked by a formal opening when the Government's legislative programme is described in the Speech from the Throne, read by the Governor-General, and a closing prorogation by proclamation. Unless the House, by resolution made under the authority of the Constitution Act 1986, carries forward business to the next session, all business before the House on prorogation lapses. Parliament is either dissolved by the Governor-General or expires after three years, and another general election is held.

Because control of the House's business lies with the Government, many of the rules and customs of the House are designed to ensure that members are given a full opportunity to debate any aspect of government proposals. A central figure in Parliament is the Speaker, who is elected to act as an impartial chairman when the House is in session. The Speaker controls debates and the conduct of members, and ensures the Standing Orders are complied with. The Speaker is assisted by permanent officials, headed by the Clerk of the House, who is charged with the administration of the House and the provision of advice on parliamentary law and custom.

Parliamentary opposition.

As the name suggests, it is the job of the opposition party with the highest number of seats to oppose the Government. Its role is to present itself to the people as an alternative government. It will attack government policy and attempt to demonstrate inefficiency, and government or departmental mismanagement.

The party system means it is unlikely that the Opposition could bring down a government by a no-confidence vote—there is no instance of a successful no-confidence vote in the history of the New Zealand Parliament since 1928. In modern times Parliament has been characterised by having two large, dominant parties, with the majority party forming the Government and the minority party forming the Opposition. In recent years, however, members of a third party have been elected to Parliament, and from time to time members have left one of the parties and have continued to sit as independent members Because of the growth of a largely two-party system and the importance that the parties have assumed within the political framework, the party caucus (a meeting of each party's members of Parliament in closed session at regular intervals, once a week when Parliament is in session) is a primary means of developing policies and tactics. Caucus committees of the parties travel around the country frequently, investigating issues of interest or concern to them. Although the existence of the caucuses and their committees is not recognised by the law, indirect recognition has been given. For example, travelling allowances are payable to members when travelling as members of a caucus committee.

Process of legislation.

Proposed laws are placed before the House in the form of draft laws known as ‘bills’. There are three types of bill: public bills, which deal with the most important subjects of a public and general nature (most public bills are introduced by the Government); local bills, which are promoted by local authorities to give themselves special powers or validate unlawful action they may take; and private bills, which are promoted by private individuals or companies also to give themselves special powers.

The procedure for passing a public bill in Parliament is for it to receive a first reading, which is a formal introductory stage. This will have a maximum debating time of two hours, although often no debate occurs. Almost all bills are then sent to a select committee. Detailed scrutiny of legislation and facets of executive activity, e.g., expenditure of public money, is carried out by select committees which consist of a small number of members, and report their findings and recommendations to the House. Since 1980 all Government bills stand referred to a select committee unless they are certified by the Speaker as ‘money bills’ (or are particularly urgent). The procedure is intended to enable the public and interested bodies to make submissions, in the expectation that better laws will result. Following its deliberations the select committee will report the bill back with any proposed amendments. On the second reading the formal debate will occur on the substance of the bill. Following this the bill is considered by the whole House ‘in committee’, when the Committee of the whole House considers the bill clause by clause. This may involve considerable debating time. The entire bill is considered in this way and formally reported back to the House for its third reading, with any amendments that have been agreed. Debate may also take place on the bill's third reading, after which it is forwarded to the Governor-General for his approval. On receiving the Royal Assent the bill becomes an Act and part of the law of New Zealand.

The various stages of the bill do not always follow any set time pattern. Weeks or even months can elapse between readings. Bills normally have explanatory notes on the front, which detail the contents. These do not appear on the Act. Local and private bills pass through similar stages to those for a public bill, however in these two types of bills the person or body promoting the bill must also advertise the bill before it can be introduced.

Table 3.1. PARLIAMENTARY AND MINISTERIAL SALARIES AND ALLOWANCES

OfficeYearly Rate of Salary Payable On and After 1 December 1986
Salaries$     
Members of the Executive
Prime Minister129,250
Deputy Prime Minister101,200
Minister of the Crown90,200
Minister of the Crown without portfolio73,150
Parliamentary Under-Secretary70,400
Officers of the House of Representatives
Speaker83,600
Chairman of Committees72,050
Deputy Chairman of Committees54,000
Leader and Deputy of the Opposition
Leader of the Opposition90,200
Deputy Leader of the Opposition70,400
Whips
Chief Government Whip62,150
Chief Opposition Whip62,150
Junior Government Whip58,300
Junior Opposition Whip58.300
Members of Parliament
Member of Parliament49,500
Allowances
Prime Minister23,400
Deputy Prime Minister10,200
Minister of the Crown9,600
Minister of the Crown without portfolio7,500
Parliamentary Under-Secretary7,500
Minister of Foreign Affairs (additional)6,000
Speaker4,800
      (additional allowance as Speaker; plus electorate allowance abated by one-third of the appropriate rate, and day allowance)7,800
Chairman of Committees4,800
      (additional allowance as Chairman plus electorate allowance abated by one-third of the appropriate rate, and day allowance)4,500
Deputy Chairman of Committees4,800
      (additional allowance as Deputy Chairman, and day allowance)500
Leader of the Opposition 
      (plus house and travelling allowances)9,600
Deputy Leader of the Opposition4,800
      (plus additional allowance as deputy and electorate, night, and day allowances at appropriate rates)3,750
Members (plus electorate, day, and night allowances at appropriate rates)4,800
Source: Clerk of the House of Representatives.

The rate at which an electorate allowance is paid depends on the nature of each member's electorate, e.g., urban, rural, or semi-rural, and ranges from $7,000 to $17,000. A day allowance of $40 is payable where indicated for each day on which a member attends a sitting of Parliament or a committee, and a night allowance of $50 for each night a member requires overnight accommodation away from home by reason of such attendance. In addition to the foregoing allowances, a once-only setting-up allowance is paid towards the purchase of a motor vehicle to members elected for the first time. The amount paid varies between $6,750 and $15,300 depending on the nature of the member's electorate.

Table 3.2. PARLIAMENTARY SESSIONS

ParliamentPeriod of Session
Thirty-eighth23 June 1976–14 December 1976
28 February 1977–4 March 1977
19 May 1977–16 December 1977
11 May 1978–6 October 1978
Thirty-ninth17 May 1979–14 December 1979
15 May 1980–12 December 1980
20 May 1981–23 October 1981
Fortieth7 April 1982–17 December 1982
7 April 1983–16 December 1983
31 May 1984–14 June 1984
Forty-first15 August 1984–12 December 1985
26 February 1986–21 July 1987
Source: Clerk of the House of Representatives.

The forty-first session was called on 15 August 1984, following the Parliamentary elections of 14 July 1984 and sat, in line with the policy of the Government, continuously, with short breaks, until the next election was called in 1987.

Legislation 1986.

During the parliamentary session of 1986, 135 Public Acts were passed.

Table 3.3. SUMMARY OF PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS

 19831984*19851986

*Third session, Fortieth Parliament.

†In hours and minutes.

Source: Clerk of the House of Representatives.

Sitting days99915783
Hours of sitting after midnight31:1758:28
Public bills introduced by Government961213973
Public bills referred to select committees801010162

Table 3.4. PARLIAMENTARY REPRESENTATION

PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN, AND MEMBERS OF VARIOUS AGES 1984–87 COMPARED TO VOTING POPULATION
 Percentage of Total Members of ParliamentPercentage of Total Voting Age Population*

*As at 30 September 1984.

Source: Clerk of the House of Representatives.

Women12.651.0*
Age groups—
  18–28 years1.130.0
  30–3928.421.1
  40–4940.015.2
  50–5922.113.0
  60 years and over8.420.7

1987 election results.

Section 3.6 gives a list of MPs elected in the 1987 General Election.

Table 3.5. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FORTY-FIRST PARLIAMENT
Prime Minister—Rt. Hon. David Lange.
Leader of the Opposition—Hon. J. B. Bolger*
Speaker—Dr. The Hon. G. A. Wall.
Chairman of Committees—J. J. Terris.
Clerk of the House—D. G. McGee, B.A. (Hons).
Members of ParliamentYear of BirthPrevious OccupationElectoral District

*Hon. J. B. Bolger replaced Hon. J. R. McLay as Leader of the Opposition on 26 March 1986.

†Names are given in the form in which individual members prefer to be addressed.

‡Government member.

§Following by election 15 June 1985.

Source: Clerk of the House of Representatives.

Anderton, J. P.1938Company directorSydenham
Angus, D. A.1938Freezing company stock buyerWallace
Austin, H. N.1925FarmerBay of Islands
Austin, Margaret1933TeacherYaldhurst
Austin, W. R.1931FarmerAwarua
Banks, John1946RestaurateurWhangarei
Bassett, Hon. Dr Michael1938LecturerTe Atatu
Batchelor, Mrs M. D.1927Trade union organiserAvon
Birch, Hon. W. F.1934Consultant surveyor-engineerFranklin
Bolger, Hon. J. B.1935FarmerKing Country
Boorman, R. G.1935Superannuation consultantWairarapa
Braybrooke, G. B.1935Sales managerNapier
Burdon, P. R.1939Company directorFendalton
Burke, Hon. Kerry1942TeacherWest Coast
Butcher, David1948Research officerHastings
Caygill, Hon. David1948Barrister and solicitorSt Albans
Clark, Helen1950LecturesMt Albert
Colman, Rt. Hon. Fraser1925Secretary of Labour Party headquartersPencarrow
Cooper, Hon. W. E.1933MotelierOtago
Cox, M. E. C.1939AccountantManawatu
Cullen, Dr M.1945LecturerSt Kilda
de Cleene, T. A.1933Barrister and solicitorPalmerston North
Dillon, Bill1933Barrister and solicitorHamilton East
Douglas, Hon. R. O.1937Company secretaryManurewa
Dunne, P. F.1954Deputy chief executive officerOhariu
East, Paul1946Barrister and solicitorRotorua
Elder, Jack1949TeacherWest Auckland
Falloon, Hon. J. H.1942Farm management consultantPahiatua
Fraser, Anne1954TeacherEast Cape
Friedlander, Hon. A. P. D.1944Farm appraiserNew Plymouth
Gair, Hon. G. F.1926Personal assistant to general manager, Air New ZealandNorth Shore
Gerbic, F. M.1932Industrial conciliatorOnehunga
Gerard, R. J.1936FarmerRangiora
Goff, Hon. P. B.1953LecturerRoskill
Graham, D. A. M.1942Barrister and solicitorRemuera
Gray, R. M.1931FarmerClutha
Gregory, Dr B.1937Doctor of medicineNorthern Maori
Hercus, Hon. Ann1942Member of Commerce CommissionLyttelton
Hunt, Hon. Jonathan1938TeacherNew Lynn
Isbey, E. E.1917WatersiderPapatoetoe
Jeffries, W. P.1945Barrister and solicitorHeretaunga
Jones, N. P. H., Q.S.M.1923TeacherInvercargill
Keall, Judy1942TeacherGlenfield
Kidd, D. L.1941Barrister and solicitorMarlborough
King, Annette1947Dental tutorHorowhenua
Knapp, G. T.1947BusinessmanEast Coast Bays
Lange, Rt. Hon. David1942Barrister and solicitorMangere
Lee, G. E.1935Company directorHauraki
Luxton, J. F.1923FarmerMatamata
McClay, R. N.1945TeacherWaikaremoana
McKinnon, D. C.1939Real estate agentRodney
McLay, Hon. J. K.1945BarristerBirkenhead
McLean, I.1935FarmerTarawera
McTigue, M. P.§1940FarmerTimaru
Mallard, Trevor1954TeacherHamilton
Marshall, Hon. Russell1936Minister and teacherWanganui
Marshall, Denis1943Farmer and company directorRangitikei
Matthewson, Clive1944Civil engineerDunedin West
Maxwell, Ralph1934TeacherWaitakere
Maxwell, Roger1941FarmerTaranaki
Moore, Hon. Mike1949Freezing workerChristchurch North
Morrison, N. J.1938ManufacturerPakuranga
Moyle, Hon. Colin1929Teacher/farmerOtara
Muldoon, Rt. Hon. Sir Robert, G.C.M.G., C.H.1921AccountantTamaki
Neilson, Peter1954Civil servantMiramar
Northey, Richard1945Advisory officerEden
O'Flynn, Hon. F. D., Q.C.1918Barrister and Queen's CounselIsland Bay
O'Regan, Katherine1946FarmerWaipa
Palmer, Rt. Hon. Geoffrey1942LecturerChristchurch Central
Peters, W. R.1945Banister and solicitorTauranga
Prebble, Hon. Richard1948Barrister and solicitorAuckland Central
Richardson, Ruth1950Legal adviser/farmerSelwyn
Rodger, Hon. Stan1940M.O.W.D. employeeDunedin North
Scott. Noel1929Education administratorTongariro
Shields, Hon. Margaret1941Research workerKapiti
Shirley, K. L.1950ScientistTasman
Smith, Dr Lockwood1948Managing directorKaipara
Storey, W. R.1936President of Federated FarmersWaikato
Sutton, J. R1941FarmerWaitaki
Sutton, Dr Bill1944ScientistHawke's Bay
Talbot, Hon. R. L. G.1923FarmerAshburton
Tapsell, Hon. Dr Peter M.B.E.1930Doctor of medicineEastern Maori
Terris, J. J.1939BroadcasterWestern Hutt
Tirikatene-Sullivan, Hon. Mrs T. W. M.1932Political scientistSouthern Maori
Tizard, Hon. R. J.1924TeacherPanmure
Townshend, C. B.1931FarmerKaimai
Upton, S. D.1958Student/teacherRaglan
Wall, Dr G. A.1920Doctor of medicinePorirua
Wallbank, A. R.1937FarmerGisborne
Wellington, Hon. M. L.1940TeacherPapakura
Wetere. Hon. K. T.1935FarmerWestern Maori
Wilde. Fran1948JournalistWellington Central
Woollaston, P. T. E.1944TeacherNelson
Young, T. J.1925General superintendent of New Zealand AllianceEastern Hutt
Young, Hon. V. S.1929FarmerWaitotara

Parliamentary elections

Persons 18 years and over have the right to vote in parliamentary elections. Enrolment as an elector is compulsory, but voting is not. To qualify for enrolment persons must (i) be at least 18 years old; (ii) be New Zealand citizens or permanent residents; (iii) have lived continuously in New Zealand for at least a year at some time; and (iv) have last lived continuously for one month in the electorate they are to be enrolled in. Maoris, including persons of Maori descent, may choose to enrol for either a Maori or general electorate, but may make the choice only at certain times. The electoral rolls are maintained by New Zealand Post.

Voting.

The conduct of polls is the responsibility of the Department of Justice, and is controlled by a returning officer in each electorate, who arranges voting facilities and staff, conducts the election, supervises counting of votes, and declares the result. Generally only persons whose names are validly enrolled before an election are qualified to vote. General elections and by-elections are held on Saturdays, and polling booths are open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Most electors cast their votes at polling booths in their electorates on election day, but they may vote as special voters at booths outside their electorate. Special votes may also be cast before election day at issuing offices or at home because of sickness, travel, or similar reasons. Provision is also made for voting overseas. Voting is by secret ballot. Ballot papers list the surnames of candidates for the electorate concerned, and electors indicate their choice by striking out the names of every other candidate. A preliminary count of ordinary votes is available for each electorate on election night, and final results are normally available a fortnight later, once special and overseas votes have been received and counted. The candidate with the most votes is elected member of Parliament for the electorate concerned.

Electoral boundaries.

The boundaries of electorates are revised every five years after the Census of Population and Dwellings, and the new boundaries come into effect at the expiry of the parliamentary term during which the revision is finalised. The Department of Statistics supplies figures for revision purposes on the general electoral population. This is defined as the total electoral population except: (a) the Maori electoral population (This is the number of adult Maoris enrolled in the four Maori electorates, adjusted to include children. Maoris have been defined since 1980 as persons of the Maori race of New Zealand including any of their descendants.); (b) temporary residents of various kinds (travellers, armed forces, and hospital patients); and (c) prisoners.

The Representation Commission is responsible for defining the boundaries of electorates based on the population census. The commission has eight members. Five are officials, the Surveyor-General, the Government Statistician, the Chief Electoral Officer, and until 1987 the Director-General of the Post Office, and the Chairman of the Local Government Commission (the latter cannot vote). Two members are nominated by the House of Representatives to represent the Government and Opposition respectively, and the final member is appointed to chair the commission on the nomination of the other members. The appointments of the unofficial members lapse at the next census.

The number of general electorates is based on a formula that allocates 25 electorates to the South Island. The general electoral population of the South Island is divided by 25, and the population quota for each South Island electorate is divided into the general electoral population of the North Island to give the number of electorates required in the North Island. In addition there is a fixed number of four Maori electorates. Once the provisional electoral boundaries have been settled, maps of the proposals are drawn, and boundary details published in the New Zealand Gazette. Objections may be lodged within one month of publication. They are then published, and there are a further two weeks for lodging counter objections. The objections and counter-objections are considered by the Representation Commission, which makes a final decision on the boundaries that define the new electoral districts.

General election, results.

A triennial general election of members of Parliament was due in 1987, and section 3.6 contains election night results. The previous election was held on 14 July 1984. The total number of electors on the master roll for the 1984 election was 2,111,651. A total of 1,978,798 votes were cast; this represents 93.71 percent of electors on the master roll.

Table 3.6. GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS

 Number of MP's
Political Party19631966196919721975197819811984

*A by-election was held at Timaru on 15 June 1985, after the death of the sitting Labour member. The National Party candidate was elected making the relative strengths of the parties in Parliament: Labour 55; National 38.

Source: Department of Justice.

Labour3535395532404356
National4544453255514737*
Social Credit1122
Total8080848787929295

Table 3.7. GENERAL ELECTIONS—VOTES FOR POLITICAL PARTIES

 Valid VotesPercentage of Total Valid Votes
Political Party19751978198119841975197819811984
Labour636,319691,076702,630829,15439.7040.4139.0142.98
National760,365680,991698,508692,49447.4439.8238.7835.89
New Zealand Party236,38512.25
Social Credit119,123274,756372,056147,1627.4316.0720.657.63
Mana Motuhake8,3325,9890.460.31
Values83,21341,2203,4503,8265.192.410.190.20
Others3,75722,13016,31714,1910.231.290.910.74
Total valid votes1,602,7771,710,1731,801,3031,929,201100.00100.00100.00100.00
Informal votes8,24311,2708,9987,565
Totals1 611 0201 721 4431 810 3011 936 766
Source: Department of Justice.

National licensing poll.

The licensing poll of 14 July 1984, held in conjunction with the parliamentary elections, was the twentieth at which the three options—national continuance, state purchase and control, and national prohibition (without compensation)—were submitted to the electors.

Table 3.8. RESULTS OF NATIONAL LICENSING POLLS

Voting Issue196919721975197819811984
For national continuance903,962931,7781 094 4451 053 2681 124 2581 319 518
For state purchase and control242,499244,003235,374252,154247,217222,049
For national prohibition176,055203,791250,640374,194384,780352,949
Source: Department of Justice.

Controller and Auditor-General

The Controller and Auditor-General is an officer of the Crown appointed by the Governor-General under the Public Finance Act 1977. Much like the judiciary, he or she is independent of the executive government and can only be removed from office by the Governor-General upon an address from the House of Representatives. There is also a Deputy Controller and Auditor-General, whose mode of appointment and tenure of office are the same. The Controller and Auditor-General, and persons acting under delegation from him or her, are collectively called the ‘Audit Office’. No minister is in any way responsible for the carrying out or exercise by the Audit Office of its functions, duties, and powers.

The Audit Office audits the financial statements of government departments, local authorities, and most government-controlled corporations, boards and companies. These organisations are also subject from time to time to reviews which ascertain whether their resources have been applied effectively and efficiently in a manner consistent with the policies of their governing bodies.

The constitutionally important role of the Audit Office is to act as a monitor on behalf of Parliament, and take part in the procedures laid down in the Public Finance Act 1977 to control issues of money out of the Public Account. The Audit Office has to be satisfied that all issues from the Public Account to meet the Government's expenditure requirements are within the appropriations and other authorities granted by Parliament. This role is crucial to the ability of Parliament to control the supply of funds to the Crown, and in certain circumstances the Audit Office may prevent the issue of money from the Public Account.

To enable it to carry out its functions, the Audit Office has a number of powers. These include rights of access to the books, accounts, and property of its clients, and the right to require persons to supply information, or deliver up books and accounts in their possession, or under their control.

The Controller and Auditor-General has no general power of sanction to remedy shortcomings discovered during an audit. The principal recourse is to report to the management of the organisation either by letter or in the formal audit opinion on financial statements, to a minister, or to Parliament and its select committees. If there is a deficiency or loss of public money or stores, the Controller and Auditor-General has the power to surcharge the persons responsible to recover the amount involved. This power is rarely used.

Royal commissions and commissions of inquiry

The Commissions of Inquiry Act 1908, provides that the Governor-General may by Order-in-Council, appoint any person or persons to be a commission to inquire into and report upon any question arising out of, or concerning: (a) the administration of the Government; (b) the working of any existing law; (c) the necessity or expediency of any legislation; (d) the conduct of any officer in the service of the Crown; (e) any disaster or accident (whether due to natural causes or otherwise) in which members of the public were killed, injured, or were or might have been exposed to risk of death or injury; and (f) any other matter of public importance.

A Royal commission is appointed by the Governor-General pursuant to the Letters Patent, but in other respects derives its powers from the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1908. Royal commissions are generally regarded as having greater prestige. A committee of inquiry may be set up by a minister to investigate some matter, but such a committee normally has no statutory basis although there are ancillary powers in some instances.

Amendments to the legislation in 1979 and 1980 confer new rights upon any person if he or she is a party to the inquiry or satisfies the commission that he or she has an interest in the inquiry apart from any interest in common with the public. Usually the terms of reference for a commission are quite specific. While there is frequently a final term of reference which appears to include everything else, this term of reference must be considered in context. It does not confer the right on almost anyone to become a party or participant in the inquiry.

The Department of Internal Affairs administers the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1908 and provides basic services to commissions. These inquiries are not part of the justice system, nor are they part of the conventional administrative bureaucracy. The department retains important constitutional responsibilities, and is held responsible to ensure that complete independence and impartiality of the investigations is maintained.

Commissions of inquiry must report to the Governor-General, who in turn refers the findings and report to his or her ministers. It is frequently the custom for the report to be published.

Executive government

The executive government of New Zealand is carried out on behalf of the Sovereign by the ministers of the Crown, who make up the members of the Cabinet and the Executive Council, and control the state services. Ministers are responsible to Parliament for their official actions by constitutional convention, and are required to be members of Parliament by the Constitution Act 1986.

After a general election the Governor-General invites the leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives to accept office as Prime Minister, and form a government. On the new Prime Minister's advice the Governor-General appoints a number of MPs as ministers, generally with responsibilities for various areas of government administration (portfolios). The Governor-General may also appoint parliamentary under-secretaries, who are not ministers and not members of the Executive Council, to assist ministers.

Cabinet and the Executive Council

The Cabinet and the Executive Council are two bodies, which in normal circumstances have the same membership but different functions. The Executive Council is a formal body with formal functions, whereas the Cabinet is an informal body with deliberative functions; the Executive Council tenders advice to the Governor-General on the basis of policy formulated in the Cabinet. The Council is established under Clause VII of the Letters Patent and is the main legal vehicle for promulgating government decisions that will form part of the law such as statutory regulations, which are made by Order-in-Council.

The Cabinet is in effect the highest council of government, although it is an informal body, which exists by constitutional convention. In the Cabinet the government of the day decides on administrative and legislative proposals and policies, and co-ordinates the work of ministers. The Cabinet has a system of subcommittees with authority to make decisions on various subjects, whose members are the ministers concerned. There are Cabinet committees at present on the following subjects: policy; social equity; development and marketing; transport, communications and state enterprises; external relations and security; management and state employment; legislation; honours and appointments; and terrorism.

The proceedings of the Cabinet are informal and confidential, which encourages consensus decisions. By constitutional convention the Cabinet accepts collective responsibility for its decisions, which ensures that ministers will have the support of the Government as a whole in Parliament for their legislative and other proposals. The Cabinet Office provides services for the Cabinet and its committees. The Secretary is also the Clerk of the Executive Council.

The ministry appointed after the 1987 General Election is listed in section 3.6.

Table 3.9. NEW ZEALAND GOVERNMENT

AS AT 1 JANUARY 1987
Governor-General of New Zealand—His Excellency the Governor-General Most Reverend Sir Paul Reeves, G.C.M.G., Hon. D.C.L. (OXON).
  Official Secretary—Paul Canham.
The Ministry—
  Rt. Hon. D. R. LANGE, Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister in Charge of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service.
  Rt. Hon. G. W. R. PALMER, Deputy Prime Minister, Leader of the House, Attorney-General, Minister of Justice.
  Hon. M. K. MOORE, Minister of Overseas Trade and Marketing, Minister of Tourism, Minister of Recreation and Sport.
  Hon. R. O. DOUGLAS, Minister of Finance.
  Hon. R. W. PREBBLE, Minister of Transport, Minister of Civil Aviation and Meteorological Services, Minister of Railways, Minister of Pacific Island Affairs, Associate Minister of Finance.
  Hon. K. T. WETERE, Minister of Maori Affairs, Minister of Lands, Minister of Forests.
  Hon. D. F. CAYGILL, Minister of Trade and Industry, Minister of National Development, Associate Minister of Finance.
  Hon. C. R. MARSHALL, Minister of Education, Minister of Conservation.
  Hon. F. D. O'FLYNN, Q.C., Minister of State, Minister of Defence, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Associate Minister of Overseas Trade and Marketing.
  Hon. Dr M. E. R. BASSETT, Minister of Health, Minister of Local Government.
  Hon. A. HERCUS, Minister of Social Welfare, Minister of Police, Minister of Women's Affairs.
  Rt. Hon. R. J. TIZARD, Minister of Energy, Minister of Statistics, Minister of Science and Technology.
  Hon. C. J. MOYLE, Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Fisheries, Minister in Charge of the Rural Banking and Finance Corporation.
  Hon. S. J. RODGER, Minister of Labour, Minister of State Services.
  Hon. J. L. HUNT, Minister of Broadcasting, Postmaster-General.
  Rt. Hon. F. M. COLMAN, Minister of Works and Development, Associate Minister of Energy.
  Hon. T. K. BURKE, Minister of Regional Development, Minister of Employment, Minister of Immigration.
  Hon. M. SHIELDS, Minister of Customs, Minister of Consumer Affairs.
  Hon. Dr P. TAPSELL, M.B.E., Minister of Internal Affairs, Minister of Civil Defence, Minister for the Arts, Associate Minister of Local Government, Associate Minister of Tourism.
  Hon. P. B. GOFF, Minister of Housing, Minister for the Environment.
Executive Council—Membership of the Executive Council comprises the Cabinet and the Governor-General. The Clerk of the Executive Council is P. G. MILLEN, Q.S.O. J.P. M.A. (OXON).
Parliamentary under-secretaries—
  D. J. BUTCHER, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Agriculture and Fisheries, Lands, and Forests.
  T. A. DE CLEENE, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Finance, with special responsibility for the Inland Revenue Department.
  E. E. ISBEY, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Labour, Employment, and Immigration.
  W. P. JEFFRIES, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Transport, and Works and Development.
  P. NEILSON, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Trade and Industry.
  P. T. E. WOOLLASTON, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Local Government. Environment, and Conservation.

3.3 Public sector

State services and the State Services Commission

The state services consist of organisations covered by the State Services Conditions of Employment Act 1977, and include all the servants of the Crown other than those holding political or judicial office. The Act establishes that common conditions of employment apply between these bodies. The following organisations are covered: the Public Service, the education, and hospital services, the armed forces, police and some other bodies. Each has a co-ordinating role in the management of its section of the state services, and also a role in negotating conditions of employment for their staff e.g., the Ministry of Defence manages the business of the air force, navy and army and also has a role in establishing conditions of employment for these personnel as well as the civilian staff working in these units.

Table 3.10. STAFF OF THE STATE SERVICES

 Estimated Staff Numbers at 31 March
Organisation19821983198419851986
Public Service86,0458522985,73885,42389,105
Railways21,61020,86519,14818,21317,811
Post Office39,27937,97937,95740,43340,130
Education65,05466,48367,66868,58370,817
Hospital services49,02448,54348,50148,31249,232
Armed forces128081285612,60412,44512,609
Police5,0855,0625,1365,1295,297
Other (estimated)710710710712362
Total279,615277,727277,462279,250285,363
Source: State Services Commission.

State services staff made up just over 22 percent of the estimated labour force at 31 March 1987. Table 3.10 shows state services staff just prior to the transition to corporate state enterprises of some parts of the Public Service, the railways, and the Post Office. See ‘Public sector reform’ later in this section.

Organisational structures.

A department is normally headed by a permanent head, or in some cases (such as the Government Life Insurance Corporation) by a board of control. The permanent head or board is responsible to the minister in charge of the department for ensuring that it is operating efficiently and effectively. The permanent head or board has considerable independence to organise the staff into various units to perform the department's functions and objectives. However, departmental structures are usually based on units with centralised reporting systems. State service organisations are usually established by an Act of Parliament, which requires them to carry out specified tasks. In addition to these tasks, departments often also have responsibility for other statutory functions, e.g., the Department of Labour established under the Labour Department Act 1954 has responsibilities under the Immigration Act 1964.

Government departments are the main instruments for giving effect to government policy when Parliament has passed the necessary legislation. They may, and often do, work with and through local authorities, statutory boards, and government-sponsored organisations operating under various degrees of government control. A change of government does not necessarily affect the number or general functions of government departments, although a radical change in policy may be accompanied by some organisational change. Each year departments are required to produce an annual report for parliamentary scrutiny, and the format of these reports will, in future, contain details of whether they meet the objectives set.

State Services Commission.

The State Services Commission is responsible to the government of the day for efficiency and economy in the administration of government policies.

In its role as the central personnel authority for the Public Service, the commission is independent of the government of the day in making appointments and promotions and in taking disciplinary action and other personnel decisions. This independence is protected by law. The functions of government departments are described in a later section.

The State Services Act 1962 provides for a commission of up to four persons appointed by the Governor-General in Council on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. The statutory functions of the State Services Commission are (a) reviewing the machinery of government, including the allocation of departmental functions, the desirability of (or need for) new departments and the amalgamation or abolition of existing departments, the co-ordination of the activities of departments, and the extent and nature of controls exercised by any one department over the operations of another department; (b) reviewing the efficiency and economy of each department; (c) the provision of suitable office accommodation and the prescription and supervision of physical working conditions of all employees in the Public Service; (d) approving and reviewing establishments of staff; (e) acting as the central personnel authority for the Public Service; (f) prescribing basic training programmes, furnishing advice on and assisting with the training of staff, and making recommendations to the Minister of State Services on the facilities necessary for the proper training of staff; (g) providing management consultation services, including advice as to efficient work and control methods and techniques, data processing equipment, and problems of organisation.

The commission has additional functions under the State Services Conditions of Employment Act 1977. That legislation provides that the commission is responsible for determining the salaries and conditions of employment for all employees of the Public Service and for co-ordinating the determination of pay rates and conditions of employment in all branches of the state services (the teaching service, hospital service, broadcasting, fire service, the armed forces and the Public Service).

Conditions of employment.

The common element in the state services is that the conditions of employment of their staff are based on a single system. To ensure that one organisation does not become out of step with the others, none of the individual heads of the services have the authority to establish increased rates of pay without consulting the others. The main difference between the conditions covering the employment of state servants and private sector personnel is that some classes of state servants enjoy some security of tenure.

The permanent head or board is under the control of a minister in all respects except the internal appointment and promotion of staff of the department. Appointment to the state services depends on the availability of a vacancy and the experience and educational qualifications of applicants. Certain classes of employees are always in demand (such as qualified accountants and computer personnel). Most departments recruit junior staff annually.

Promotion of staff within the state services is on merit, which is taken to be the relative experience, educational qualifications and personal qualities of each applicant, or on seniority for a few services.

Equal employment opportunities—The Equal Employment Opportunities Unit (EEOU) of the State Services Commission has the overall functional responsibility for the promotion, co-ordination, and monitoring of equal employment opportunity policies, programmes, and practices within the Public Service.

The State Services Commission established the unit to implement its policies in the areas of recruitment, conditions of employment, career development, selection, and promotion; and also to ensure that people are given equal access and consideration to pursue their careers without having their chances reduced by factors such as race, sex, country of origin, physical disability, marital status, or personal beliefs. A network has been set up to facilitate the co-ordination between the unit and departments at central and regional level. In every government department, the senior manager responsible for the promotion, development, and co-ordination of equal employment opportunity policies reports back to the unit on the progress achieved in accordance with the policy. Each department is required to develop an equal employment opportunities plan by 1 April 1988. It is expected that these plans will outline specific action to be taken to enhance equal employment opportunities in each department. These plans will be evaluated by the unit and are expected to be part of the department's annual corporate plan.

The unit publishes a quarterly newsletter to keep public servants informed of developments and provide a forum for ideas to which employees can contribute. Along with assisting the departments in the preparation of their management plans the unit helps departmental training staff to include equal employment opportunities issued in their programmes. The unit has four senior positions for specialist equal employment opportunity co-ordinators for women, Maori, people with disabilities, and ethnic minorities. The unit promulgates positive action programmes which target the most employment disadvantaged groups in the Public Service. The Equal Employment Opportunities Unit also organises regular seminars and workshops on equal employment principles and strategies for departmental managers, equal employment opportunities liaison officers, and training staff.

For unlawful discrimination on grounds of sex, see chapter 10, Justice and the law.

Government Property Services Corporation.

This new state business enterprise assumes the Crown property holdings administered by the former Government Office Accommodation Board, and the responsibility of the State Services Commission to provide and maintain the office accommodation required by government departments and agencies. The corporation provides maintenance and other services as desired by its clients—who may be from the private sector as well as the public sector.

Any regulatory matters concerned with office accommodation for government departments and agencies remains with the State Services Commission, along with responsibility for ‘control’ functions, e.g., efficiency and economy in accommodation use, disputed allocations, and the setting and supervising of minimum accommodation standards for government employees.

Public sector reform

The main aim of the Government's reform of the public sector is to improve the performance and accountability of government organisations. The public sector, which accounts for 25 percent of gross domestic product, forms a very important part of the economy. Poor performance by the public sector can have a major adverse impact. However, good performance can contribute significantly to national economic development. On 12 December 1985 the Minister of Finance issued a statement to the House of Representatives which announced a range of government policy initiatives designed to improve the efficiency and flexibility of the economic system. In that statement the Government announced its intentions to reform the public sector.

Government expenditure review.

The perception that the public sector needed to be adapted to meet the needs of a modern economy led to the Government undertaking a detailed review of the policies and spending of every government department. In March 1986 the Government announced the following 12 principles for improving the efficiency of the public sector:

  1. Public trading enterprises would be required to fund their additional spending from normal private sector loans instead of subsidised government loans;

  2. Enterprises with cheap loans from the Government would be required to repay and refinance in the market;

  3. State trading enterprises would be required to pay tax and dividends to the Government;

  4. Where the functions of any department were removed or reduced, the funding of that department would be reduced accordingly;

  5. Departments would be given strong incentives to raise revenue to fund their own activities;

  6. Departments would be required to recover the cost of supplying goods and services from users, including government departments, instead of providing them free or below cost at the taxpayer's expense;

  7. The Government would critically review a wide range of grants and subsidies to ensure they were achieving worthwhile objectives;

  8. Departments facing difficult transition problems over commercialisation would be given adjustment assistance;

  9. Some agencies would lose their tax-exempt status;

  10. New incentives would be set in place to improve departmental asset management policies;

  11. Overall funding reductions would be used where necessary to encourage improved departmental efficiency; and

  12. Quangos would be reduced or abolished where their functions were no longer sufficiently relevant.

Traditional Public Service.

The Public Service has traditionally comprised a range of government departments overseen by a small group of control agencies, for example, the Treasury and the State Services Commission, with essentially uniform conditions of employment across the whole service. This approach has resulted in a very stable Public Service with a substantial measure of political neutrality. High standards of integrity and honesty within the service have been matched by a high level-employee protection and job security. In the past, the Treasury and State Services Commission exercised tight centralised control on departmental expenditure, staff numbers, and personnel policies in the Public Service.

Problems with traditional approach.

A variety of problems emerged with the traditional way in which the public sector operated. In many cases there was a lack of clear objectives because of the confusion arising from a mixture of commercial, social, regulatory, and policy advice roles in many government departments. For example, the Forest Service planted forests for employment or conservation reasons, which could not be justified on purely financial grounds. At the same time it was undertaking a major commercial afforestation programme. Because such diverging objectives were all considered as part of single management programmes it was impossible for managers to consider the real costs of meeting these social objectives.

Government organisations operating in a clearly commercial context had a different environment from private sector companies operating in the same field. For example, the commercial activities of government organisations were not taxed, and operated in a regulatory environment which conferred a range of monopoly rights. On the other hand, these organisations were subject to a number of constraints and central controls associated with government ownership and management, which also distinguished them from their private sector counterparts.

The conclusions reached by the Government following its review of public sector spending was that thorough restructuring of the state sector was required. The restructuring was needed to ensure that government agencies moved into new areas of demand for their services, and out of areas which had become less important. It was necessary to distinguish between the commercial and noncommercial functions of government departments. Public sector managers needed to respond to the true costs of producing goods and services to enable them to provide services in the most cost-effective way. There needed to be greater autonomy and flexibility for departmental managers, which would be matched by increased accountability for the decisions made. Wherever possible the full costs of commercial functions should be recovered. This would also have the effect of ensuring that only those services in demand would continue, thus directing resources into useful areas. This cost-recovery or ‘user pays’ policy was to be applied to the commercially oriented functions of a number of departments, including for example, the Ministry of Works and Development, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and parts of the State Services Commission.

Improving efficiency and resource allocation in existing government departments was one major aspect of the Government's restructuring of the public sector. A second major policy initiative was the state enterprises policy. This policy was applied to departments, or parts of departments, where it was appropriate to separate trading functions from traditional departmental structures, and give them a new structure consistent with their commercial nature. In considering their performance, the Government concluded that the shortfall in performance of the trading activities carried out by government departments was caused by a number of factors. State trading activities were not required to account for their performance in any systematic or objective way. They were protected from competition. They were trying to meet social goals such as employment, but no regard was had for the cost of jobs created. There were inadequate mechanisms for ministers and Parliament to assess the effectiveness of these trading activities.

State-owned enterprises

A state enterprise is a government-owned organisation which produces goods and services for sale. The origins of many state-owned enterprises can be traced back to early perceptions of the shortcomings of markets. Ownership by the state was often seen as a means to increase competition, support failing industries, fill a market gap, or produce a more socially desirable level of output. The operations of some commercially-oriented government departments involved a mixture of trading activities, policy advice, and regulatory roles. Good examples of this were the State Coal Mines or the Department of Lands and Survey. Other forms of state-owned enterprises are statutory corporations with special advantages relative to other enterprises in the economy. Examples in this category are the Broadcasting Corporation or the Railways Corporation. State-owned enterprises can also take the form of companies registered under the Companies Act 1955, such as Air New Zealand and the Shipping Corporation of New Zealand. There was no common policy framework with respect to these organisations. The fact that many of these trading activities, especially those taking the form of government departments, have been regarded as simply a part of the larger public sector has meant that their major role in the economy was not clearly perceived.

Policy principles.

The Government's Statement on Government Expenditure Reform 1986, issued in May 1986, announced its intention to restructure the trading activities of the former Electricity and State Coal Mines Divisions of the Ministry of Energy, the Post Office, and the Civil Aviation Division of the Ministry of Transport. This followed decisions already announced in late 1985 to commercialise the trading activities of the Department of Lands and Survey and the New Zealand Forest Service. In late 1986 the Government decided that most of the functions of the Accommodation Services Division of the State Services Commission would also be commercialised. These trading activities were to become state-owned enterprises which would be registered under the Companies Act 1955. As such they would be legally separate entities from the Crown and would operate as autonomous limited liability companies. The changes were to be implemented by 1 April 1987.

The following were key points of the Government's state-owned enterprise policy:

  1. Responsibility for non-commercial functions would be separated from major trading enterprises of the state;

  2. Managers of state enterprises would be given a principal objective of running them as successful business enterprises;

  3. Managers would be given responsibility for decisions on inputs, and on pricing and marketing of their output, within the performance objectives agreed with ministers, so that the managers can be held accountable to ministers and Parliament for their results; and

  4. The advantages and disadvantages of state enterprises, including unnecessary barriers to competition, would be removed so that commercial criteria could provide a fair assessment of managerial performance.

A number of conditions were identified by the Government's policy statement as being necessary for the operation of successful state-owned enterprises. The enterprises would have to buy their inputs at prices which reflect their economic value. They would have to operate efficiently, so that inputs are used on a least-cost basis. Tax should be paid on the same basis as other private sector companies. Enterprises should be required to earn a commercial return on the capital invested in them.

The Government also stated that state-owned enterprises could not operate on a commercial basis unless responsibility for non-commercial functions was clearly separated out and accounted for. Where state enterprises had responsibility for policy and regulatory advice, which affected the environment for all businesses competing with them, these responsibilities needed to be reassigned among government departments. Where functions were inherently unprofitable, the Government had to consider whether that function was valuable to society and whether it could be carried out more appropriately by other mechanisms within the government sector.

A key concept to the state enterprises policy was that wherever possible, these organisations should operate in an environment of competitive neutrality. This meant that the enterprises should not be protected from competition within their own markets any more than competing private sector companies. For example, access to planning procedures and methods of land acquisition should be similar to that of potential competitors. Industrial relations and personnel regimes should be able to compete with those existing in other enterprises in the economy. State enterprises should have the same access to capital markets as their private sector counterparts.

State Owned Enterprises Act 1986.

This Act, which was passed on 18 December 1986, is the legislative vehicle for the establishment of nine new state-owned enterprises. The Act also applies to five state enterprises which were already in existence, so that state enterprises now have a common policy framework under which to operate.

The functions of state enterprises are outlined in other chapters that deal with the fields state enterprises operate in. See chapters 14, Land and environment; 16, Forestry; 21, Energy; 22, Transport and communications; and 26, Money and banking.

The following state enterprises are covered by the State Owned Enterprises Act 1986:

New state enterprises
        Airways Corporation of New Zealand Limited
        Coal Corporation of New Zealand Limited
        Electricity Corporation of New Zealand Limited
        Government Property Services Limited
        Land Corporation Limited
        New Zealand Forestry Corporation Limited
        New Zealand Post Limited
        Post Office Bank Limited
        Telecom Corporation of New Zealand Limited
Existing state enterprises
        Air New Zealand Limited
        New Zealand Railways Corporation
        Petroleum Corporation of New Zealand Limited
        Tourist Hotel Corporation of New Zealand
        The Shipping Corporation of New Zealand Limited

The State Owned Enterprises Act 1986 has four parts: Part I establishes principles to guide operations; Part II sets out ownership provisions; Part III establishes a comprehensive accountability framework; and Part IV provides transitional and miscellaneous provisions. The Act distinguishes between existing enterprises and ones established by the Act. The principles of the Act requiring enterprises to operate as successful businesses and have regard for the interests of the community, along with the improved accountability provisions, apply to all the enterprises listed. However, the provisions of the Act which relate to formation and ownership do not apply to existing state enterprises, which continue to operate under prior legislation. For example, the Shipping Corporation of New Zealand Act 1973 will still apply to the Shipping Corporation.

Specific provisions.

The State Owned Enterprises Act 1986 sets out principles requiring the new corporations to perform as successful businesses. It aims to strike a balance between the powers of ministers to control the direction of policies pursued by the state enterprises, and the need to ensure that their boards are given the ability to manage the organisations commercially, free from day-to-day political control over operations. Directors of state enterprises have a clear goal—to run the state enterprises as successful businesses.

State enterprises are also required under the statutory principles to be good employers and have a sense of social responsibility, which will require organisations to respect the interests of the communities in which they operate, and accommodate and encourage these interests when able to do so. The corporations will be required to behave responsibly, fairly, and sensitively in the wider economic and social environment. Being a good employer will include the provision of good, safe working conditions, an equal employment opportunities programme, impartial selection for appointment, and training programmes for employees. These provisions will require the state enterprises, while carrying out their commercial roles, to adhere to high standards of performance as employers and participants in the community.

The State Owned Enterprises Act 1986 provides that when the Government wishes a state enterprise to provide goods or services, the production of which the enterprise has assessed as being unprofitable, the enterprise enters into an agreement which makes the provision of the product or service commercially profitable. The corporations will therefore be able to enter into agreements with the Government to carry out non-commercial activities in return for appropriate payment, when these are consistent with the carrying on of a successful business. This provision will enable the Government to ensure that any necessary non-commercial activities can be undertaken by state enterprises, without unnecessarily restricting the enterprises' commercial autonomy.

Shareholding ministers and ownership provisions.

Each of the enterprises established by the State Owned Enterprises Act 1986 has two shareholding ministers, who hold the same number of shares; the Minister of Finance and the minister responsible for the particular state-owned enterprise. The shareholding ministers are listed below:

Airways Corporation of New ZealandMinisters of Finance and Transport
Coal Corporation of New Zealand LtdMinisters of Finance and Energy
Electricity Corporation of New ZealandMinisters of Finance and Energy
Forestry CorporationMinisters of Finance and Forestry
Government Property Services LtdMinisters of Finance and State Services
Land Corporation LtdMinisters of Finance and Lands
New Zealand Post LtdMinister of Finance and Postmaster-General
Post Office Bank LtdMinister of Finance and Postmaster-General
Telecom Corporation of New Zealand LtdMinister of Finance and Postmaster-General

The shareholding ministers are responsible to Parliament for the performance of state enterprises. They have powers to appoint and dismiss directors, and if necessary give directions on amounts of dividends to be paid and the contents of the enterprises' statements of corporate intent. But they are not responsible for the direction of day-to-day operations, which is the task of directors and management.

The State Owned Enterprises Act 1986 prohibits ministers from selling shares in the new enterprises or permitting shares in the enterprises being allotted to others. This does not apply to instruments such as preference shares, which have the characteristics of debt rather than equity. The Act permits, following a resolution of the House of Representatives, the issue of state enterprise equity bonds in a state enterprise. These allow holders to share in the earnings of the enterprise but would not permit them to vote at general meetings of shareholders.

Accountability of state-owned enterprises.

The Act provides for a new and comprehensive framework of accountability for state-owned enterprises. The statement of corporate intent is the principal element in this framework. Every financial year, each state enterprise must provide a statement which contains information on the organisation's objectives, nature, and scope of activities, proposed financial structure and targets, non-commercial activities, and a range of other matters. Each statement of corporate intent for new state enterprises established under the Act must be agreed between the shareholding ministers and the board of directors. As directors of state enterprises have to operate in accordance with the current statement of corporate intent, this effectively means that ministerial approval is required for any significant change in the nature and scope of their activities.

In addition state enterprises are required to submit half-yearly, and annual reports of their operations, which will enable their performance to be measured against the targets set. Both the statements of corporate intent and the half-yearly and annual reports must be tabled in Parliament.

The information required under the Act will allow ministers, Parliament, the news media and the public to judge the performance of state-owned enterprises. Under the current Parliamentary procedures there are three avenues through which the performance of state-owned enterprises can be scrutinised: by debates; questions and select committees. By these mechanisms, each corporation will still be accountable to ministers for its performance and, in turn, ministers will be accountable to Parliament. The Audit Office will be the auditor of state enterprises and their subsidiaries.

To enhance the accountability to the public of the state enterprises, they are also subject to the provisions of the Official Information Act 1982 and the Ombudsman Act 1975. A review of the application of both Acts will be made after two years' operation to establish whether it is appropriate for them to continue to apply to state-owned enterprises.

Directors of state-owned enterprises.

Each state-owned corporation has a board of directors. The number of directors must (in most cases) be no fewer than five and no more than nine. The directors are appointed for terms of up to three years. The shareholding ministers are responsible for the appointment of directors. Directors of state enterprises are appointed from people who, in the opinion of ministers, can help the organisations achieve their principal objective of operating as successful businesses. Details of the membership of boards are set out in the Register of Statutory and Allied Organisations issued by the Cabinet Office.

The directors of a state enterprise are accountable to its shareholding ministers but, within the agreed framework of the statement of corporate intent, directors and managers will be responsible for key discussions and free to manage the operations of the enterprise. Ministers and control agencies no longer have the powers to exercise detailed control over the operational decisions of state-owned enterprises.

Monitoring state-owned enterprises.

Generally, businesses are monitored continuously by a number of interested parties such as shareholders, bankers, employees, and customers. Interested parties often rely on expert agencies to perform the monitoring functions: agencies such as shareholders, financial analysts, the news media, trade unions, consumer and environmental groups, and regulatory bodies, including government departments. Each agency monitors a business from a particular viewpoint, and all these taken together provide a system of checks and balances.

State-owned enterprises will be subject to all such monitoring processes. Shareholding ministers will also receive information flows which will allow them to monitor financial performance. As is the case for private sector organisations, departments such as Health, Environment, and Labour will monitor the adherence of state enterprises to environmental and safety standards. Like their competitors, the enterprises are also subject to the provisions and safeguards of the Companies Act 1955 and the Commerce Act 1986. The Commerce Act 1986 provides checks and balances ‘or the regulation of enterprises which have dominant market positions.

Employment policies.

The effect of the State Services Conditions of Employment Amendment Act 1987 was to retain employees of state-owned enterprises under the state sector industrial relations system. The Act removed many of the rigidities of the state pay-fixing and personnel legislation to allow the corporations greater flexibility in determining the way they handle industrial relations and personnel matters. The changes have been designed to take the emphasis away from detailed rules about pay-fixing and replace them with a set of principles which would provide a flexible environment in which the corporations and unions could reach agreement on matters concerning them.

Transition to state-owned enterprises.

The establishment of the nine state-owned enterprises on 1 April 1987 involved some 60 000 state employees. More than 40 000 of that number were transferred with no loss of jobs to the three new corporations replacing the Post Office. Of the remaining 19 200 people, about 14 000 transferred to the new corporations or other government departments. Nearly 5000 state servants took the voluntary severance option, and 176 took early retirement. A social impact unit was established in the State Services Commission, and a wide range of measures was put in place to help those affected by the changes. These included redeployment, retraining, enhanced early retirement, help in finding other jobs, and housing assistance.

The transition also involves a massive transfer of assets. The State Owned Enterprises Act 1986 provides for each new state enterprise to purchase the existing departmental businesses and assets at their full commercial value, by means of a sale and purchase agreement with the Crown. The enterprises are to pay for the assets received partly by issuing fully paid up shares to the Crown, and partly by cash and promissory notes.

The restructuring of the state sector represents one of the greatest changes in public administration ever undertaken in New Zealand. There is a world-wide trend towards improving the efficiency of the public sector. In New Zealand these changes are intended to improve the contribution of the public sector to national economic performance. In the Public Service itself the aim is to produce more responsive and effective departments. In the wider state sector the reforms are designed to produce flexible and profitable enterprises which can respond to market demands, produce goods and services priced in relation to true cost, and give the taxpayer a return on investment.

Environmental reorganisation

Decisions made by Government in 1985 have led to a restructuring of the government departments with responsibility for aspects of environmental administration. This involves, inter alia, the transfer of these departments’ trading functions to state-owned enterprises.

In brief these changes culminated in a Ministry for the Environment being created on 1 December 1986, from the Commission for the Environment, but with a wider mandate. A new Department of Conservation, a Department of Survey and Land Information, and a Ministry of Forestry came into being on 1 April 1987. On the same date two corporations commenced operating: the Land Corporation and the Forestry Corporation. March 31 also saw the disestablishment of the Department of Lands and Survey, the New Zealand Forest Service and the Commission for the Environment, and a transfer of some functions and staff from other government departments, particularly the Department of Internal Affairs, which transferred the Wildlife Service and the Historic Places Trust functions to the Department of Conservation.

An office of Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment was also set up. See chapter 14, Land and environment.

Department of Lands.

An interim Department of Lands was established to continue and complete the disestablishment work of the former Department of Lands and Survey and to administer legislation, functions and land unallocated to the new agencies at 1 April 1987. The department is required to investigate and report to the Government on policy, legislative and administrative changes needed to provide an ultimate permanent home for the remaining functions and for any land still not allocated. The objective is to have its task completed by 31 March 1988.

Table 3.11. HEADS OF GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS*

DepartmentTitleName
*As at 14 May 1987.
Agriculture and Fisheries, Ministry ofDirector-GeneralM. L. Cameron, B.AGR.SC.
AuditController and Auditor-GeneralB. H. C. Tyler, A.C.A., B.C.A.
ConservationDirector-GeneralK. Piddington, M.A.
Crown LawSolicitor-GeneralD. P. Neazor, LL.M., Q.C.
CustomsComptrollerM. W. Taylor
Defence, Ministry ofSecretaryD. B. G. McLean, M.SC., B.A. (OXON.)
EducationDirector-GeneralW. L. Renwick, M.A.
Energy, Ministry ofSecretaryB. V. Walker, PH.D., M.I.C.H.E.M.E., M.I.P.E.N.Z.
Environment, Ministry for theSecretaryR. W. G. Blakley, PH.D.
Foreign Affairs, Ministry ofSecretaryM. Norrish, M.A.
Forestry, Ministry ofSecretaryR. Ballard, M.AGR.SC., PH.D.
Government Computing ServiceGeneral ManagerM. B. Foden
Government Life Insurance OfficeManaging DirectorH. D. Peacock, F.I.A.
Government Printing OfficeGovernment PrinterV. R. Ward
HealthDirector GeneralG. C. Salmond, M.B., PH.D., S.R.A.C.P., M.C.C.M.
Housing CorporationDirector GeneralR. A. Kelly, B.A., D.P.A.
Inland RevenueCommissionerJ. Simcock, A.C.A.
Internal AffairsSecretaryP.W. Boag, M.A., DIP.ED.
JusticeSecretaryD. Oughton, ACCTS PROF.
LabourSecretaryC. J. McKenzie, M.AGR.SC.
Maori AffairsSecretary and Maori TrusteeT M. Reedy, PH.D.
New Zealand Security Intelligence ServiceDirector of SecurityBrigadier J. L. Smith, C.B.E., B.A.
Parliamentary Service CommissionClerk of House of RepresentativesD. G. McGee, B.A. (HONS)
PoliceCommissionerM. T. Churches, O.B.E.
Prime Minister'sPermanent HeadJ. T. Henderson, PH.D.
Public Trust OfficePublic TrusteeW. B. R. Hawkins, A.C.A.
Rural Banking and Finance CorporationGeneral ManagerR. J. Chappell, DIP.V.F.M., R.V
Scientific and Industrial ResearchDirector GeneralA. J. Ellis, M.SC., PH.D., F.N.Z.I.C., F.R.S.N.Z.
Social WelfareDirector GeneralJ. W. Grant
State Insurance OfficeGeneral ManagerJ. F. Stirton, F.I.D.
State Services CommissionChairmanD. K. Hunn, M.A.
StatisticsGovernment StatisticianS. S. R. Kuzmicich. B.SC.
Survey and Land InformationDirector General/Surveyor GeneralW. N. Hawkey, F.N.Z.I.S.
Tourist and PublicityGeneral ManagerW. N. Plimmer, M.A.
Trade and IndustrySecretaryJ. W. H. Clark, B.A., ADMIN. PROF., D.P.A.
Transport, Ministry ofSecretaryD. E. Homewood, M.A.
TreasurySecretaryG. C. Scott, PH.D.
ValuationValuer-GeneralS. W. A. Ralston, DIP. U.V., R.V., F.N.Z.I.V.
Women's Affairs, Ministry ofSecretaryM. C. O'Regan, B.A.
Works and Development, Ministry ofCommissionerT. G. Shadwell, M.E., M.ENG.SC. (N.S.W.), F.I.P.E.N.Z.

Functions of government departments

Agriculture and Fisheries, Ministry of.

The purpose of the ministry is to carry out efficiently the Government's policies and programmes relating to the farming, horticultural, and fishing industries, and advise on how to maximise the national benefit from those industries. The ministry aims to generate revenue from goods and services as determined by government policy, and to achieve results in the areas of productivity, protection, quality, assurance, and policy advice. Productivity involves market-led research, and advisory and management services to realise opportunities in the agricultural, horticultural, and fishing industries. Protection requires prevention of the introduction of exotic animal, fish and plant diseases and pests, so keeping New Zealand's status as an approved source of species and produce, and also involves assistance in the management of the animal, fish, and plant health resources in New Zealand. Quality assurance is provided by assuring overseas government agencies and customers, where required, of the consistent purity and safety of New Zealand food products, basing quality assurance on negotiated quality control systems. Policy advice involves providing the Government with advice to obtain the greatest national benefit from the farming, horticultural, and fishing industries.

Audit Office.

The Audit Office has a brief to operate in all three segments of the public sector: central government; government-owned corporations, companies, and quangos; and local government. As auditor of organisations in the public sector the Audit Office plays a key part in the process of accountability by those organisations, and accordingly it has a range of responsibilities much more extensive than that accepted by auditors whose role is confined to the traditional financial audit. In addition to carrying cut audits leading to the expression of an opinion on financial statements, the Audit Office conducts periodic reviews of financial control systems and of selected programmes or operations to ascertain their effectiveness and efficiency. The Audit Office also places considerable emphasis on reporting the results of its work. The most visible result of that emphasis is the reports tabled in Parliament each year, which deal with issues ranging from those arising from particular audits to matters concerning financial management and administration in the public sector.

Conservation, Department of.

The department, established on 1 April 1987, is responsible for the management of much of New Zealand's natural lands and water, as well as historic places and wildlife. In addition to managing national parks and reserves, farm and forest parks, the public aspects of harbours and foreshores, marine reserves, and unallocated Crown lands, the department is also the Government's advocate in conservation issues.

Crown Law Office.

The Crown Law Office is the legal adviser of, and provides counsel in court for, the Government and ministers in matters affecting the Crown and government departments. The Solicitor-General, who heads the office, performs most of the statutory and ex-officio duties of the Attorney-General's office and is entrusted by statute with various specific rights, duties and functions. The range of the Crown Law Office's legal work corresponds with the activities of the Government itself.

Customs Department

The Customs Department is a statutory agency responsible for giving advice to the Government on the development and administration of border control, indirect taxation, and for tariff related policies.

The department's roles under the Customs Acts and other enabling legislation are: (a) to administer the Customs Tariff and Customs procedures consistent with the Government's economic, industrial assistance and trade policy objectives and international obligations; (b) to protect New Zealand's borders by exercising required control over the import and export of goods; (c) to administer the passage and transit of international passengers in relation to the Government's immigration, emigration and quarantine requirements; and (d) to protect, collect and account for customs and excise duties, and GST and other revenue charges in certain circumstances.

Defence, Ministry of.

The functions of the ministry include providing the resources required to enable defence headquarters to undertake the central command, control, management, and administration of the defence forces, and also operating the defence communications network and computer information services.

Education, Department of.

The primary objective of the department is to ensure that suitable education programmes, facilities, staffing, and services are readily available for: pre-school children; children of compulsory school age (6–15 years); for children who by choice start school at the age of 5 years; for pupils over the age of 15 who stay on at school; for suitably qualified school-leavers who seek education and training at teachers colleges or polytechnics; and for adults wishing to continue their education, whether for vocational or non-vocational purposes.

Energy, Ministry of.

The Ministry of Energy was established to advise the Government on the formulation, implementation, co-ordination, and continuing review of energy policies for New Zealand. In carrying out this function the ministry must take into account energy sources and resources; exploration, assessment, research and development; production, supply, and distribution; consumption and conservation; needs of industry, commerce, transport, and domestic users; needs of regions; international responsibilities; environmental and social issues; organisational and administrative methods; and future patterns, changes, problems, and the need for planning.

As from 1 April 1987, the ministry was reorganised. Two of the three commercial divisions, Electricity and State Coal Mines, were separated from the ministry and became independent state corporations. The remaining core of the ministry, comprising some 270 staff, continued to fulfil the policy formulation and regulatory role.

Environment, Ministry for the.

The ministry advises the Minister for the Environment on all aspects of environmental administration, including: (a) policies for influencing the management of natural and physical resources and ecosystems so as to achieve the objectives of the Environment Act 1986; (b) significant environmental impacts of public or private sector proposals, particularly those that are not adequately covered by legislative or other environmental assessment requirements; and (c) ways of ensuring that effective provision is made for public participation in environmental planning and policy formulation processes in order to assist decision making, particularly at the regional and local level.

The ministry obtains information and may conduct and supervise research necessary for the formulation of advice to the Government on environmental policies. It also provides the Government, its agencies, and other public authorities with advice on: (a) the application, operation, and effectiveness of other relevant legislation in relation to achieving the objectives of the Environment Act; (b) procedures for assessing and monitoring environmental impacts; (c) pollution control and the co-ordination of the management of pollutants; (d) the identification and likelihood of natural hazards and the reduction of their effects; and (e) the control of hazardous substances, including the management of their manufacture, storage, transport, and disposal.

The ministry facilitates and encourages the resolution of conflict in relation to policies and proposals which may affect the environment. It also provides and disseminates information to promote environmental policies, including environmental education and mechanisms for promoting effective public participation in environmental planning.

Foreign Affairs, Ministry of.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs assists the Government in the conduct of all its foreign relations and administers the network of diplomatic and consular posts overseas.

Forestry, Ministry of.

The ministry is responsible for providing forestry sector services and policy advice to the Government. Its mission is to ‘promote the national interest through forestry, including wood based industries’. The ministry inherited several functions previously carried out by the New Zealand Forest Service which was disestablished on 31 March 1987. These include research, advice on foresty policy to the Government, advisory services, collection of statistics, and training. Other responsibilities of a regulatory nature include quarantine and forest disease control, and timber inspection and grading.

Government Computing Service.

The Government Computing Service is an autonomous public service agency which provides information, technology-related products and services, primarily to the public sector. It operates as a trading department, funding expenditure from revenue under a revolving fund. Its services include: data processing bureau services, systems design and development, data preparation, data communication network services, consultancy and advisory services, business systems support services, payroll services, and education and training. The service is one of the largest suppliers of bureau and data communication network services in New Zealand, with an estimated revenue of $70 million for the 1986–87 financial year.

Government Life Insurance Corporation.

The corporation provides all types of life insurance, superannuation schemes and unit trusts. It is a mutual office, which actively competes in the financial market, and has assets worth $1,759 million.

Government Printing Office.

The mission of the Government Printing Office is primarily to meet the needs of Parliament and the Government in their printing, publishing, and information processing requirements, including the marketing of legislation. This must be reconciled with commercial viability in the provision of services of: printing, publishing, stationery, information processing, and forms storage and distribution to other Government departments and agencies, the wider public sector, and the private sector where there is a market.

Health, Department of.

The principal functions of the Department of Health are: (a) to administer all public Acts relating to the promotion or conservation of human health; (b) to advise local authorities in matters relating to environmental health; (c) to prevent, limit, and suppress communicable and other diseases; (d) to promote or carry out research and investigation in public health fields and in the prevention and treatment of disease; (e) to carry out inspections of factories in relation to matters concerning the public health and the prevention or treatment of disease, and to carry out all such inspections as may be required or authorised by any Act; (f) to publish reports, information, and advice concerning public health; (g) to organise and control medical, dental, and nursing services, so far as such services are paid for out of public moneys; (h) generally to take all such steps as may be desirable to secure the preparation, effective carrying out, and co-ordination of measures conducive to public health; and (i) to provide advisory information and processing services to hospital boards and various health agencies.

Housing Corporation.

The Housing Corporation is the primary government agency for providing finance for home ownership. It also provides home improvement loans, mortgage guarantees, and some refinancing assistance. Its other main function is the provision of publicly-owned housing. Activities include land acquisition and development, land sales, house construction, the management of its rental houses, sale of houses, loans and subsidy for pensioner accommodation, and urban development and redevelopment.

The corporation in its own right, or as agent, provides industrial loans and agency services including: loans to state servants on transfer; rehabilitation concessions to ex-servicemen; subsidies for hostel accommodation for young people; and loans for hotel/motel/motor inn accommodation, private schools, and medical centres.

The corporation also administers the Residential Tenancies Act 1986. It provides information on tenancy law for landlords and tenants, provides a tenancy mediation service, and acts as office for the Tenancy Tribunal.

Inland Revenue Department

The main function of the Inland Revenue Department is to assess and collect various taxes and duties. The principal tax is income tax, which is collected in part by pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) deductions from salaries and wages, in part by the payment of provisional tax during the year of derivation of income, and in part by an end-of-year assessment. Of the other revenues collected the most significant are goods and services tax, stamp duty, estate and gift duties, land tax, fringe benefit tax, and totalisator duty. The department also collects accident compensation levies on behalf of the Accident Compensation Corporation.

Internal Affairs, Department of.

The department carries out a broad range of functions, encompassing constitutional matters, and including local government, community development, aspects of social regulation, conservation activities, common services to government departments, and other responsibilities. The department attends to formal constitutional procedures in relation to Parliament and the Governor-General. As Clerk of the Writs the Secretary for Internal Affairs performs functions concerning the issue and return of writs for parliamentary general elections and by-elections. Associated functions include publication of the New Zealand Gazette, protection of flags, emblems, and names, and responsibilities for war graves, award schemes, and daylight saving. The department administers legislation relating to New Zealand citizenship and passports, horse and greyhound racing, gaming and lotteries, and film censorship. Through the Distinguished Visitors Branch, the department attends to the reception of guests of the Government and arrangement of state functions.

The Local Government Division is responsible for administering legislation relating to regional and territorial local government and services Local Government Commission schemes. It also has responsibility for administering government policies and legislation in relation to the New Zealand Fire Service, for co-ordination of government activities for the Chatham Islands, and for the general administration of Lake Taupo.

The Ministry of Civil Defence, in addition to its operational responsibilities, implements government policy for assistance to local territorial authorities in carrying out their civil defence obligations and for co-ordinating the planning and use of government resources in civil defence emergencies.

The Recreation, Arts, and Youth Division, incorporating the Ministry of Recreation and Sport, is responsible for administering government policies and legislation relating to cultural matters, the recreation and sport programme, and youth activities. It administers a large number of community funding programmes. The New Zealand Lottery Board, the New Zealand Council for Recreation and Sport, the National Museum, the National Art Gallery, and the New Zealand Historic Places Trust are all serviced by the department. The National Archives and the Historical Publications Branch form part of the department.

The department provides a translation service for government departments, which is also available to exporters, and administers the cleaning of government offices. It attends to administrative matters relating to the office of the Governor-General and his staff, and to offices of ministers and parliamentary under-secretaries. Meeting the costs of commissions of inquiry and carrying out administrative functions in respect of them are other responsibilities of the department.

The department administers government policies to support the development of the arts and to preserve and make available to the public the best of New Zealand's cultural heritage. It works with the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council, the New Zealand Film Commission, and the Board of Trustees of the National Art Gallery, Museum and War Memorial. Specialised branches include the National Archives and Historical Publications.

A wide range of youth and community development activities are supported by both advice and financial support, and the department co-ordinates the work of the Commonwealth Youth Programme in New Zealand.

The New Zealand Lottery Board's programmes, which assist a wide range of charitable community courses, are serviced by the department.

Justice, Department of.

The department's functions may be classified broadly under the following headings: administration of courts; registration of patents, land transactions, births, deaths and marriages; control of prisoners, probationers and parolees; law reform; commercial affairs (including administration of the Companies Act); electoral work; and administrative work for the many authorities and tribunals. The tribunals, authorities, and committees serviced by the department help administer Acts, or advise the Government. The Department of Justice is responsible for the administration of 160 Acts of Parliament.

Labour, Department of.

The principal responsibilities of the Department of Labour are to promote and maintain full employment through the provision of a complete employment and vocational guidance service; to ensure through the work of its field staff that workers are employed under safe and healthy working conditions; to assist and promote good industrial relations; and to collect and publish relevant information. In addition, it administers a complex variety of statutes; among the most important are the Industrial Relations Act, the Factories and Commercial Premises Act, the Construction Act, and those dealing with weights and measures, apprenticeship, training, immigration, dangerous goods, and explosives.

The department's Immigration Division is responsible for the administration of the Immigration Act 1964.

Lands and Survey, Department of.

The department has been disestablished as part of the reorganisation of environmental administration. See the article on the topic earlier in this chapter.

Maori Affairs, Department of.

The functions of the Department of Maori Affairs are to assist the Maori and Pacific Island peoples, particularly in social, economic, and cultural matters. For example, Maori land owners are assisted by way of title reform and capital advances to make full use of their resources, and through its Community Services Division, the department gives encouragement in the fields of education, employment, housing, health and cultural development.

Police, New Zealand.

The mission of the police is protecting life and property; preventing crime; maintaining the peace; detecting offenders by assisting and working together with the community and other agencies; and maintaining a police organisation capable of providing a high quality of service.

Post Office.

The Post Office, which was a government department, was abolished on 1 April 1987 and replaced by three companies, New Zealand Post Limited, Telecom Corporation of New Zealand Limited, and Post Office Bank Limited. See chapter 22, Transport and communications; chapter 26, Money and banking; and the article on public sector reform in this chapter.

Prime Minister's Department.

The Prime Minister's Department was established as a separate department in 1975. Within the department, the Cabinet Office is responsible for servicing the Cabinet, its committees, and the Executive Council. The Press Office is responsible for news media and public information relating to the Prime Minister and the general coordination of ministerial publicity. The staff of the Office of the Prime Minister provides the normal ministerial services. An advisory group advises the Prime Minister on policy matters referred to it. The External Intelligence Bureau functions as a research organisation in the general field of international affairs, and receives direction and policy guidance from the New Zealand Intelligence Council.

Public Trust Office.

The Public Trust Office provides a wide range of services as trustee, executor, manager, and attorney. It also acts as sinking fund or depreciation fund commissioner for many local authorities when so appointed, and additionally holds other funds on their behalf. It is also required to provide a number of statutory services irrespective of whether these are remunerative.

Railways Corporation, New Zealand.

The New Zealand Railways Corporation became a state-owned enterprise on 1 April 1987 and is described in Chapter 22, Transport and communications.

Rural Banking and Finance Corporation.

The Rural Banking and Finance Corporation has the principal function of making loans, and providing other assistance for farming and other primary industries, and related service industries.

Scientific and Industrial Research, Department of.

The department's role is to advance, maintain, and apply scientific and technical knowledge for the benefit of New Zealand's social and economic development. DSIR research is described in chapter 13, Science and Technology.

Social Welfare, Department of.

The principal functions of the Department of Social Welfare are (a) to administer the Department of Social Welfare Act 1971; the Children and Young Persons Act 1974; Parts I and III of the Social Security Act 1964; and to provide for the effective administration and servicing of the War Pensions Act 1954; the Rehabilitation Act 1941; and the Disabled Persons Community Welfare Act 1975; (b) advise the minister on the development of social-welfare policies; (c) provide such social-welfare services as the minister may from time to time direct; (d) provide for the training of persons to undertake social-welfare activities; (e) maintain close liaison with and encourage co-operation and co-ordination among any organisations and individuals engaged in social-welfare activities; and (f) undertake and promote research into aspects of social welfare.

State Insurance Office.

The State Insurance Office transacts all classes of fire, accident, and marine insurance. Its function is to maintain a competitive insurance service. It also administers the Export Guarantee Office, which provides credit insurance for exporters.

Statistics, Department of.

The main functions of the department are: (a) to provide a statistical service relevant to the needs of governmental and community users, covering economic, demographic, and social activity; (b) to advise the Minister of Statistics on statistical policy matters; (c) to define and promote standard concepts, procedures, definitions, and classifications for use in official statistics; (d) to examine proposals by government departments for commencing or commissioning new statistical surveys, and to prepare submissions to the Minister of Statistics for approval or otherwise; (e) to review the collection, compilation, analyses, abstraction, and publication of official statistics produced in both the department and other government departments; and (f) to maintain liaison with international organisations or agencies requiring or making use of New Zealand official statistics.

The Pay Research Unit conducts statistical surveys of the remuneration and conditions of employment of appropriate sections of the labour force in the private and public sectors for legally defined purposes associated with State Services pay-fixing procedures.

Survey and Land Information, Department of.

The department is the national survey and mapping organisation, providing economic and effective co-ordination of these activities. This work includes control surveys as the basis for cadastral surveys and basic topographic mapping, land title surveys, investigations into the status of Crown Land and Maori Land, large scale topographical surveys for engineering and management purposes, land development servicing, fixing of marine and air navigation aids, aerodrome obstruction surveys, earth deformation studies, and environmental planning of land.

The department was establised as part of the reorganisation of environmental administration.

Tourist and Publicity Department, New Zealand.

The main functions of the New Zealand Tourist and Publicity Department are to promote travel to, within, and beyond New Zealand; to develop domestic tourism and stimulate off-season travel; to promote New Zealand overseas in the interests of tourism industry development; to administer schemes for financial assistance for the provision of accommodation and other tourist facilities and for expanding private sector marketing overseas; to undertake research into overseas tourism markets and into domestic tourism; to operate and sell tours and to provide a complete travel service to assist overseas travel agents; and to provide, within New Zealand, information and publicity services for ministers and government departments. In order to provide these services, the department includes the National Film Unit and the Media and Publicity Studios. It also provides research services for the New Zealand Tourism Council, an advisory body reporting and making recommendations to the Minister of Tourism on all aspects of tourism.

Trade and Industry, Department of.

In its corporate plan, the department is committed ‘to promote in accordance with the Government's policies an environment within New Zealand and overseas that encourages the growth of internationally competitive, efficient, and market oriented business that will contribute to New Zealand's economic development and the welfare of its people.’ The department provides business policy advice to the Government and supplies comprehensive, authoritative and timely business information. These tasks are performed in five operating divisions: Business Operations; Business Environment; Business Competition and Corporate Affairs; International Trade Relations; and the New Zealand Trade Commission, which includes a network of trade commissioners overseas. Corporate services and support services for the whole department are provided by the Corporate Services Division. Also included in the department is the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, which operates as a separate division reporting to the Minister of Consumer Affairs. In addition, the department services the portfolio of the Minister of Regional Development.

Transport, Ministry of.

The ministry is responsible for providing the Government with the information and advice necessary for the development of an efficient and economic transport policy. The principal objective of the Road Transport Division is to develop, implement, and manage a range of programmes that will achieve a safe, efficient, and economic system of road transport. The main objective of the Marine Division is to promote the safety of shipping in and beyond New Zealand waters, to ensure the safe handling of cargo at New Zealand ports, and the safe operation of boilers, pressure vessels, cranes and lifts throughout New Zealand. The objective of the Civil Aviation Division is maintenance of the existing high standards of civil aircraft operation. The ministry will continue to provide oversight and regulation of civil aviation activities. Its aims are to encourage the safe and orderly development of civil aviation in New Zealand. Some of the previous functions of the Civil Aviation Division were taken over by the Airways Corporation of New Zealand, a state-owned enterprise, which is described in chapter 22, Transport and communications. The Meteorological Service is responsible for providing information and advice to all sections of the community on the atmosphere, environment, weather, climatic conditions, and pollution of the air. It also promotes meteorological research and atmospheric science, and advises the Government on meteorological matters.

In addition to these operating divisions, the ministry has an Economics Division which provides advice on the efficient use of resources in the transport sector; a Policy Division to formulate, evaluate, and implement co-ordinated transport policies; and a Corporate Services Division, which provides the corporate and support services necessary to the whole ministry.

Treasury.

The principal functions of the Treasury are to provide information and policy advice to the Government on economic and financial issues, and to control the receipt and payment of the Government's finances. Specialist functions are also carried out by the Treasury. The Superannuation Division administers the Government Superannuation Fund and the National Provident Fund. The Government Actuary's Office provides services for the management of the Government Superannuation Fund, registered friendly societies, and government departments as required. The Government Actuary is also the Registrar of Building Societies. The Government Stores Board is the central controlling agency for the purchase, custody, and disposal of government stores.

Valuation Department.

The major activity of the department is to prepare valuation rolls for all districts in New Zealand, to keep these rolls up to date with changes in property holdings, ownership, occupancy, and development, and to revise the values at not more than five-yearly intervals. Between the five-yearly general revaluations current market values of individual properties are assessed as required. Values set by the department are used by other authorities to levy rates, land tax, estate, stamp and gift duties, and also by most government departments and agencies involved in land transactions. The department does research work on real estate markets and compiles section and house price indexes. It provides an advisory service to local authorities on all matters relating to rating. The department's extensive property record system is used to furnish data for land use, town planning and similar surveys both to local authorities and other public sector organisations.

Women's Affairs, Ministry of.

The ministry has the following functions: (a) advising the Minister of Women's Affairs on the implications of the Government's policies, and public sector plans and expenditure programmes in terms of their differential impact on women; (b) monitoring and initiating legislation and regulations in order to promote equality of opportunity for women; (c) advising the Minister of Women's Affairs of suitable nominees for the appointment of women to statutory bodies and other quasi-governmental bodies; and (d) advising the Minister of Women's Affairs on any matter relevant to the implementation of the Government's manifesto where this has implications for, or explicitly refers to women.

Works and Development, Ministry of.

In addition to the carrying out of government works, the ministry has responsibility under the minister's direction for executing projects and undertakings of national significance. Its objectives include the investigation, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of these works, having regard to standards and costs, and the best practical means whereby environmental conditions can be conserved, restored, or enhanced. In most cases, completed works are taken over for operation and maintenance by operating departments.

Further roles of the department include the development of natural resources and the encouragement, investigation, and co-ordination of proposals for regional planning, as well as the task of assembling information on the building and construction industries, and the programming of national capital formation including government works.

Statutes administered by the department include the Public Works Act 1981 (which provides the Crown and local authorities with land acquisition powers), the Town and Country Planning Act 1977, the National Roads Act 1953 (the department services the National Roads Board), the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act 1941, the Water and Soil Conservation Act 1967 (which involves the department in water allocation and quality control activities), and some local Acts.

Non-departmental public bodies (quangos)

In addition to the state service organisations there is a multitude of advisory bodies, statuory corporations, companies, councils, commissions, committees, tribunals and other organisations loosely connected to the Government.

They are popularly known as quangos (quasi-autonomous non-government organisations) and include: (a) some public corporations and companies in which the Government has a major shareholding, e.g., the New Zealand Steel Refining Company; (b) agricultural marketing boards; and (c) other non departmental public bodies such as: (i) bodies with executive, administrative, regulatory, or commercial functions; (ii) bodies whose role is to advise ministers or departments; and (iii) tribunals and other judicial bodies.

These types of organisations have been established for various reasons such as: independence from political control and direct ministerial responsibility; freedom from departmental procedures and controls; impartiality in carrying out regulatory functions; participation of non-departmental personnel in advisory and decision-making functions; and representation of special interests in administration. The Government conducted a review of quangos in 1986, and identified a number to be terminated.

Most quangos are listed in the Register of Statutory and Allied Organisations issued by the Cabinet Office.

New Zealand Planning Council.

The Planning Council provides a focus for better information and consultation on the key medium-term issues in New Zealand's development. It was set up in 1977 as a result of recommendations by a Task Force on Economic and Social Planning which aimed to produce a more relevant planning framework for New Zealand. Original 1982 legislation provided the basis for the council to be independent of the Government in its choice of work and in publishing its reports. The New Zealand Planning Act 1982 confirmed this independence and defined the council's main task as being to monitor and report on trends, prospects, issues, and options in relation to social, economic and cultural development. An amendment passed in 1987 added environmental development to the council's sphere of operation. This amendment also gave the council the status of body corporate and made several changes which enhance the independence of the Planning Council. As well as reporting directly to the Government and working with government departments, the council uses published reports to foster understanding and discussion of issues among private organisations and the public generally.

The council itself has 12 members, including two co-opted members, drawn from different disciplines and areas of interest. The membership therefore reflects wide exprience in many fields rather than representing particular sectional interests. A minister of the Crown nominated by the Prime Minister is a member of the council in an ex-officio capacity. There is also a full-time multi-disciplinary secretariat of 17 people.

The council's work is built around a set of expert monitoring and support groups. An Economic Monitoring Group (EMG), building on the role of the earlier Monetary and Economic Council analyses and stimulates discussion on issues of continuing concern in management of the economy. The role of the Population Monitoring Group (PMG) is to identify important population issues, monitor trends, and examine their implications for planning and policy-making. The Social Monitoring Group (SMG) was set up jointly by the Planning Council and the former Social Advisory Council early in 1984. Its role is to document trends relevant to social development in New Zealand, exploring their implications and significance and to comment on the social implications of economic policies. In 1986, the council established the Income Distribution Group to monitor aspects of income and wealth distribution in New Zealand and to explore the information base available to do this, with the aim of improving its usefulness. Similar expert groups are brought together to support council's work in other areas such as Maori development, sectoral patterns of economic activity, and employment issues.

During 1986 the New Zealand Planning Council published the following reports: NZPC Monitoring Report series—A Review of the Foreign Exchange Market and Exchange Rate Developments (EMG Report No. 6); Labour Market Flexibility (EMG Report No. 7); The New Zealand Population: Change, Composition and Policy Implications (PMG Report No. 4); and Planning Papers—No. 24 A Macro-economic Model and Scenarios to 1995; No. 25 Part-time work in New Zealand; No. 26 Towards 1995: Patterns of National and Sectoral Development; No. 27 Income Support for Young People; No. 28 Voluntary Social Services: A Review of Funding; and Economic Modelling in New Zealand—Proceedings of a Seminar.

Official information

The Official Information Act 1982 gives effect to the principle that information shall be made available unless there is good reason for withholding it. It establishes a flexible mechanism, capable of contributing to and being responsive to changing attitudes and circumstances, and leading to increased availability of information. The purposes of the Act are: (a) to increase progressively the availability of official information to the people of New Zealand to facilitate their more effective participation in the making and administrate of laws and policies; and to promote the accountability of ministers and officials, and thereby enhance respect for the law and promote the good government of New Zealand; (b) to provide for proper access by each person to official information relating to that person; and (c) to protect official information to the extent consistent with the public interest and the preservation of personal privacy.

The Act covers all government departments and organisations, with the exception of the Parliamentary Service, but it does not include courts, tribunals (in relation to their judicial functions), or some other judicial bodies.

The Act provides special rights of access to personal information, which means any official information held about an identifiable person. A ‘person’ is defined as including a sole corporation and a body of persons, whether corporate or unincorporate. Where it is necessary to make a distinction between a human being, and other entities legally described as ‘persons’, the former is referred to as a ‘natural person’.

Withholding information.

In legislating for increased openness in the release and dissemination of information, Parliament recognised that there may be good reasons for withholding some information. The criteria which may justify not releasing information are set down in sections 6 to 9 of the Official Information Act 1982 and cover information the release of which would be likely to prejudice: (a) the security, defence, or international relations of New Zealand; (b) the entrusting of information to the Government of New Zealand on a basis of confidence by the government or a government agency of another country, or any international organisation; (c) the maintenance of law and order; (d) the economic interests of New Zealand; the Cook Islands, Tokelau, Niue, or the Ross Dependency; and (e) competitive commercial activities. Section 9 sets out other good reasons for withholding official information, unless in the circumstances of the particular case the withholding of that information is outweighed by other considerations which render it desirable in the public interest to make that information available.

Applications for access.

Requests for information do not have to be made in any prescribed form. They may be made by telephone, in person, or in writing. Requests should however provide sufficient detail to allow the relevant material or documents to be identified. Sometimes applicants will need assistance with this task and the Act makes the provision of reasonable assistance a duty.' Information guides concerning access to personal and official information are available.

To assist the lodging of requests, reference can be made to the Directory of Official Information, published annually and, available at all public libraries and Citizens' Advice Bureaus. This gives a complete list of organisations covered by the Act, their structure and function, a general description of all kinds of documents held; a list of all manuals, and similar types of documents which contain policies, principles, rules, or guidelines, in accordance with which decisions are made; and how to obtain access to information, including details of contact officers.

Review by an ombudsman.

The Ombudsman can review a decision to refuse information. There is no charge and the investigation is private. The Ombudsman's formal recommendations are binding unless overridden by a minister in accordance with a formal procedure. That procedure requires that where a minister declines to accept an ombudsman's recommendation, the decision, the grounds for it, and (except on the grounds of national security), the source and purport of any advice on which it was based are to be published in the New Zealand Gazette, If an ombudsman concludes that any complaint made under the Act cannot be sustained, he or she will explain the reasons to the complainant.

The Information Authority.

The Information Authority is responsible for undertaking a continuing inquiry into and definition of categories of information which should be made available. The specific functions and responsibilities of the authority give it three broad roles: regulatory, monitoring, and a particular role in the field of personal information. The authority was established in 1983 and has until 30 June 1988 in which to carry out its task.

Ombudsmen

The position of Parliamentary Commissioner for Investigations (Ombudsman) was created in 1962. Until 1968 the principal function of the Ombudsman was to enquire into complaints relating to administrative decisions of government departments and related organisations. In 1968 the jurisdiction was extended to hospital boards and education boards. Under the Ombudsmen Act 1975 the jurisdiction was further extended to all local authorities. Under the 1975 Act, provision was made for the appointment of a Chief Ombudsman and one or more other ombudsmen, whose appointments could be permanent or temporary.

Complaints to the Ombudsmen must be made in writing, and investigations are conducted in private. An ombudsman may decide not to investigate a complaint where there appears to be an alternative administrative avenue of redress available to the complainant; where the complaint relates to a matter which has been within the complainant's knowledge for more than 12 months; where the complaint is trivial; or where the complainant has not a sufficient personal interest in the subject-matter of the complaint. The Ombudsmen have no authority to investigate certain complaints, for example, complaints against private companies and individuals, decisions of judges, complaints directed at ministerial decisions, or at the full council or board of a local organisation. However, an ombudsman may investigate recommendations made to a minister by any government department, organisation or employee, or to a full council by any committee, subcommittee, officer, employee, or member. An ombudsman may not investigate a complaint where the complainant has a statutory right of appeal on the merits of the case to a court or statutory tribunal, unless there are special circumstances why it would not be reasonable to expect that person to have exercised the right of appeal.

Where an ombudsman forms the opinion that a complaint can be sustained, he or she reports his or her opinion to the government department or government organisation concerned with any recommendation that he or she may make for remedial action. A copy of the report is also made available to the responsible minister. In the case of a local organisation, the ombudsman reports the opinion to that organisation and makes a copy of his report available to the mayor or chairperson. Each ombudsman reports annually to Parliament on the work of the office.

The Ombudsmen have also assumed certain responsibilities under the Official Information Act 1982. On receipt of a written complaint an ombudsman has a responsibility to investigate any decision made on a request for information: for example, a refusal of the whole or part of the request; or a decision on what charge is to be made for providing the information. An ombudsman may also investigate undue delays in responding to requests.

Table 3.12. COMPLAINTS TO THE OMBUDSMEN, 1986*

Action on ComplaintNumber

*Year ended 31 March.

Source: Office of the Ombudsmen.

Ombudsmen Act 1975
Declined, no jurisdiction276
Declined or discontinued section 17432
Resolved in course of investigation175
Resolved informally67
Sustained, recommendation made46
Sustained, no recommendation made81
Not sustained425
Formal investigation not undertaken, explanation, advice, or assistance given445
Still under investigation as at 31 March396
        Total2 343
Official Information Act 1982
Declined, no jurisdiction8
Declined or discontinued section 1742
Resolved in course of investigation177
Resolved informally13
Sustained, recommendation made13
Sustained, no recommendation made2
Not sustained81
Formal investigation not undertaken, explanation, advice, or assistance given28
Still under investigation as at 31 March142
        Total506

3.4 Local government

There is a separate system of local government, made up of a large number of local authorities. It is mainly independent of the central executive government. However, it has a subordinate role in the constitution because the powers of local authorities are conferred on them by Parliament, and do not originate in the authorities themselves.

Local government is characterised by six principles:

  1. Every local authority is created by Act of Parliament (either by a special or local statute or, more commonly, general legislation).

  2. Every local authority has its powers defined in the Act under which it is established, and under other general local government legislation.

  3. Each local authority has a specific district in which it operates.

  4. Every local authority is controlled by its own council.

  5. All local authorities, except for hospital boards and area health boards, rely on one or more of the following sources of funding: local taxes on land (rates); levies on other local authorities; and/or charges derived from trading utilities under their control. Hospital boards and area health boards are totally funded by central government.

  6. All local authorities can determine their own expenditure priorities, and are free to set their own overall levels of expenditure except for hospital boards and area health boards.

Local government in New Zealand is not involved in the funding, administration or management of education, social welfare, police, or urban fire services. Except for a few specified urban areas, it is not involved in traffic control and enforcement. These services are either the responsibility of central government, or specialised agencies closely associated with central government. For example, urban fire services are provided by the New Zealand Fire Service Commission, and education is provided through various bodies funded by central government.

The emphasis in local government is on local accountability to electors. This precludes central government from becoming directly involved in local government decision-making, although in the case of catchment authorities there is some central government involvement through representation on each authority. It also means that the decisions of local authorities cannot be reviewed or overturned by central government. Although hospital boards and area health boards are funded from central government, they have always been locally responsible for meeting the health needs of their districts. With the recent move to a population-based system of funding hospital boards and area health boards, greater emphasis has been placed on local decision-making and accountability.

Although central government is unable to review decisions made by local authorities, they are subject to other types of review. There is provision for the Ombudsmen to investigate cases of maladministration in local government. There is also provision for the Controller and Auditor-General to investigate financial misconduct or conflict of interest on the part of local government officers or elected members. Such investigations can result in automatic forfeiture of office and/or prosecution under the Local Authorities (Members Interests) Act 1968 or the Local Government Act 1974. There is further scope for review of local government decisions in a limited number of areas by appeal to various judicial tribunals or to the District Court. The Planning Tribunal is the appeal body on land-use planning and related issues. Local authorities are subject to the general power of judicial review of the High Court. The Administrative Division of the High Court has jurisdiction to consider appeals from the Planning Tribunal on points of law. In addition the administrative division has general jurisdiction to review the exercise of any statutory power by any local authority. Under the Bylaws Act 1910 the Administrative Division of the High Court can quash or amend local authority bylaws on the grounds that they are ultra vires the local authority, or repugnant to the laws of New Zealand, or unreasonable.

The ability of a local authority to incur debts is also subject to control. All local authorities were subject to loan-raising controls which are exercised by the Local Authorities Loans Board. Since 1983, some local authorities and some categories of loans have been exempted by central government on the recommendation of the board. Hospital, area health, and harbour boards are subject to capital expenditure controls by central government and the National Ports Authority respectively. Generally local authorities are not subject to any capital expenditure controls other than these loan-raising controls. Where central government wishes to influence local government, its only effective means is through subsidy and grant schemes, because local authorities finance most expenditure from rates, and charges.

Local government in New Zealand falls into four categories: territorial local government; special purpose local government; regional local government; and community local government.

Territorial local government

Territorial authorities in New Zealand are directly elected, general purpose authorities with responsibilities for roading, water supply, sewage disposal, rubbish disposal, parks and reserves, libraries, community development, land subdivision, land-use planning, pensioner housing, health and building inspection, urban passenger transport, parking meter enforcement, and civil defence. The present system of territorial local government in New Zealand has evolved since the abolition of provincial government in 1876, when a system was established of locally-elected general purpose territorial local authorities funded from local taxes on land (rates). Municipalities were provided for in urban areas, including 36 municipalities already in existence, which had been incorporated under earlier legislation. The remainder of the North and South Islands, and Stewart Island, was divided into counties, although in sparsely settled counties county councils were not established immediately. The last of these counties to come under the control of a county council was Fiord County when it was included in Wallace County in 1981. County councils have since been established for the Chatham Islands, Great Barrier Island, and Waiheke and nearby islands. Apart from some small uninhabited offshore islands, all of New Zealand is now covered by elected territorial local government—222 territorial authorities in total.

Territorial local government now comprises counties, districts, and municipalities. There are three classes of municipalities; boroughs, town districts and cities. All territorial authorities are now constituted under the Local Government Act 1974.

Counties.

Counties are concerned with the needs of rural areas, and at 1 February 1987 there were 85 counties. The members of each county council elect one of their number to be the chairperson once every three years.

Municipalities.

Boroughs provide for the needs of concentrated populations, and until 1978 there had to be a population of at least 1500, with an average density of at least one person per 4000 square metres, before a borough could be constituted. In 1955 there were 146 boroughs in existence, but by 1 February 1987 there were 118 boroughs. This reduction resulted from the incorporation of some boroughs in adjoining boroughs or counties.

The town district represents a form of municipality for areas that had some concentration of urban population but not sufficient to justify the formation of a borough. Since 1978 no new town districts can be constituted, and there are now only three in existence.

A city in legal terms is merely a borough which has a population of more than 20 000 and has been designated as a city by Proclamation. In 1955 there were 15 cities and in 1987 there were 28 (also included in the figures for boroughs).

Every borough and city has a mayor who is directly elected by the residents while a town district has a chairperson elected by the council. Apart from presiding at all meetings of the council, the legal powers of a mayor are no greater than the powers of any other member of the council.

District councils.

This form of territorial local authority was introduced by the Local Government Act 1974 in recognition that many territorial authorities are not entirely urban or rural. District councils may now be constituted either by Local Government Commission schemes resulting in mergers of counties, boroughs, or cities or by borough or county councils deciding to become a district council. The Governor-General may designate a district under a district council as a city if in his opinion it is predominantly urban and has a population of not less than 20 000. As at 1 February 1987, there were 18 district councils. Eight of these districts include areas which have resulted from a merger of separate counties, boroughs, or cities. Some districts have a chairperson, who is appointed like the chairperson of a county. Other districts have a mayor, who is elected by residents like the mayor of a borough or city.

Special purpose local government

Various special purpose local authorities have been established to carry out specific tasks thought to be beyond the capacity of territorial local authorities. Special purpose authorities differ from territorial authorities in that a special purpose authority is charged with only one major function. The boundaries of special purpose authorities often have little relationship to the districts of territorial authorities in the same area. The districts of most special purpose authorities include all or part of a number of territorial authority districts. Sometimes territorial authorities themselves are also special purpose authorities. The more important special purpose authorities are those administering harbours, hospital services, retail distribution of electricity, and soil conservation and rivers control (including management and allocation of water resources). Other special purpose local authorities are involved in water supply, urban drainage and transport, pest destruction, nassella tussock control, land drainage, and in some areas the liquor and hotel trade. Territorial authorities also function as harbour boards in seven cases, as pest destruction boards in 33 cases, and as electric power supply authorities in 22 cases. Most special purpose authorities are directly elected, although a minority are indirectly elected as their members are representatives from other local authorities. Apart from catchment authorities, pest destruction, and nassella tussock boards, there are no government representatives on any local authorities.

The major categories of special purpose local authorities and the number involved in each category are hospital boards and area health boards (29); electric power boards (including one energy or electric power and gas board) (38); harbour boards (15); and catchment authorities (including the Waikato Valley Authority) (18). These categories of special purpose authorities are found throughout New Zealand. Electric power boards and harbour boards are all directly elected local authorities. Of the 18 catchment authorities, 13 are directly elected catchment boards (although with some government representation, not exceeding one-third of the membership of any catchment board), four are catchment commissions, with the majority of their members appointed to represent constituent territorial authorities, and a minority of their members appointed to represent central government, and the remaining one is the Waikato Valley Authority, which is also appointed. Catchment authorities are responsible for soil conservation and rivers control (including management and allocation of water resources).

There are various minor categories of special purpose authorities, which are found only in some parts of New Zealand. These include 28 elected licensing trusts (which are community controlled liquor and hotel businesses), 53 elected pest destruction boards, 2 elected and 2 indirectly elected urban drainage boards, 23 elected (rural) land drainage boards, 6 elected river boards (2 of which are also land drainage boards), 2 elected charitable lands trusts, 1 elected transport board, and 1 elected rural water supply board.

Regional local government.

In 1963 the Auckland Regional Authority was established as a directly elected regional council to carry out a range of regional functions in the Auckland metropolitan area and adjoining rural districts. The functions of the authority include urban public passenger transport, regional planning, regional parks and reserves, regional urban water supply, regional drainage, regional refuse collection and disposal, regional roads, community development, regional civil defence, and assistance to beach patrol and rescue services, and the regional orchestra. The Auckland Regional Authority is also the catchment authority for its region.

The only other regional council is the Wellington Regional Council, established in 1980. The council carries out catchment authority responsibilities in its region. It is also responsible for regional planning, civil defence, parks and reserves, urban water supply, forestry and urban public passenger transport planning.

From 1977 to 1983 united councils were established under the Local Government Act 1974 in 20 regions. They were seen as providing a form of regional government for regions not warranting the expense of a regional council. Particular features of united councils, which distinguish them from regional councils are: (a) the members are appointed by the territorial authorities of the region, not elected; (b) the finance of the united council is by levy on the territorial authorities, not by rates; and (c) a united council must have the prior consent of the majority of territorial authorities in its region (weighted by capital value, population and area) before it can take on any new function.

Most united councils also have their staff seconded to them by one of the territorial authorities of the region, which is known as ‘the administering authority’. Regional councils employ their own staff and resources.

Every united or regional council has two mandatory functions: regional planning (under the Town and Country Planning Act 1977) and regional civil defence (under the Civil Defence Act 1983). Besides these, the Local Government Act 1974 provides, with qualifications in some cases, that a united or regional council may undertake functions relating to regional reserves, forestry, roading, and community services. A united or regional council may, in certain circumstances, undertake the functions of any territorial authority, or (where a special purpose local authority or the appropriate Minister of the Crown concurs) the functions of that special purpose local authority. A united or regional council is empowered to undertake exclusively any new regional function which is not undertaken by any other local authority in the region. A united or regional council may also enter into an agreement with a constituent authority to undertake any function of that authority where, in the opinion of either party, that function would be more effectively and economically undertaken by the regional body. Finally, united and regional councils may enter into agreements with the Crown whereby they may exercise any function or provide any service for the Crown.

The regions of the 20 united councils and the two regional councils cover all of the country, except for Great Barrier island County, which is not yet included in any region, and the Chatham Islands County, which is specifically excluded from the requirement to be part of a region because of its isolation.

Community local government

This form of local government is subordinate to territorial local government. The Local Government Act 1974 provides for the establishment of ‘communities’ within the districts of territorial local authorities. Since 1976 a community may be constituted only in an urban area within the rural part of a territorial authority district that is predominantly urban in character, or in an urban area within a territorial authority district that is predominantly rural in character, or in the whole of the area of one or more offshore islands forming part of a territorial authority district. These provisions are broadly in line with earlier provisions for county towns and county boroughs, and most communities are former county towns or county boroughs. However, a number of towns in rural areas do not have community status, usually because they feel large enough for their interests not to be overlooked by their territorial authority.

Every community has either a district community council or a community council of not less than five, nor more than 12 members, elected by residents for a three-year term. The district community councils or community councils are legally committees of their parent territorial authority.

District community councils.

The district community has direct representation on its parent territorial authority. By statute, except for certain reserved powers dealing with finance, staff, and planning, a district community council may exercise all the powers and functions of its parent territorial authority. A district community council may only be established for a community with a population of not less than 1500. As at 1 February 1987 there were 15 district community councils.

Community councils.

A community council does not have direct representation on its parent territorial authority. Community councils derive their powers by delegation from their territorial authority, at its discretion, but powers dealing with finance, staff, and planning cannot be delegated. In addition to exercising delegated powers, the general purpose of a community council is to coordinate and express to the parent territorial authority the views of the community on any matter of concern to it, and to undertake, encourage and co-ordinate activities for the general well-being of the community. A community council is entitled to have one of its members present at meetings of the territorial authority with speaking rights on community issues. As at 1 February 1987, there were 120 community councils.

Powers of local authorities

Local authorities derive their powers from the statutes under which they are constituted. The Local Government Act 1974 is the main legislation for territorial authorities, and united, regional, district community, and community councils. Special purpose local authorities are constituted under other statutes.

There are also several statutes which are applicable to all local authorities, such as the Public Bodies Meetings Act 1962, the Local Authorities (Members Interests) Act 1968, and the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956. Other legislation applicable to territorial, regional, and various other types of local authority includes the Rating Act 1967, the Local Elections and Polls Act 1976, the Public Bodies Leases Act 1969, the Town and Country Planning Act 1977, the Public Works Act 1981, the Reserves Act 1977, the Health Act 1956, the Local Authorities (Employment Protection) Act 1963, and the Joint Council for Local Authorities Services Act 1977.

A local authority's powers to levy local taxes on land (rates) are dealt with in chapter 27, Public sector finance. A local authority can make bylaws within limits defined in its constituent Act. A special purpose authority's bylaws are subject to ministerial approval. The bylaws of territorial authorities and regional councils (apart from fire bylaws) do not require the prior approval of central government if they have been made solely under the Local Government Act 1974. A local authority can promote legislation on matters which affect the government of the area under its jurisdiction, and it is not already empowered to deal with. If the subject is transient, not contentious, and approved by the Government, it is usually dealt with by the inclusion of a section in the annual Local Legislation Act. If the local authority seeks permanent or major additional powers it must promote a local bill. If approved by Parliament, the proposal then is enacted as a local Act.

Local government elections

Under the Local Elections and Polls Act 1976, local government general elections are held on the second Saturday in October every third year, which falls again in 1989 (except for the triennial election of the Auckland Regional Authority, which falls in 1988). All territorial authorities conduct their own elections, as well as the elections of the special purpose authorities, and regional, community, and district community councils for their districts.

Each territorial authority is required to use its electoral roll for regional council elections, community and district community council elections, and the elections of all special purpose authorities, other than land drainage boards, river boards, and pest destruction boards.

Where a territorial authority has a population of less than 70 000, it must choose every three years, whether the whole district is to be one electorate; or whether the district should be separate electorates (known as ‘wards’ in cities and boroughs, and ‘ridings’ in counties); or if the elections could be held with some members elected from the district as a whole, and others from separate wards or ridings. The council has sole responsibility for determining the number of wards or ridings, and the area, population and representation of each. But where a territorial authority has a population of 70 000 or more, it must hold its elections on a ward basis as determined by the Local Government Commission.

The districts of regional councils and most special purpose authorities are divided into separate electorates, which usually coincide with territorial authority boundaries. The electorates of regional councils and special purpose authorities are determined on the bases specified in the various Acts of Parliament under which these authorities are constituted. The Local Government Amendment Act (No. 2) 1986 determined that the Auckland Regional Authority's electorates should coincide with the parliamentary electorates in the region.

Voting procedures.

Under the Local Elections and Polls Act 1976, any territorial authority may decide whether an election is to be conducted by attendance at a polling booth or by post. If the election is at a polling booth, the authority may decide to conduct it over a period of not more than 11 consecutive days instead of on a single day.

The method of casting a vote is similar to parliamentary elections. The names of candidates are printed on the ballot paper and the elector must indicate on the paper the candidates for whom he or she wishes to vote. The number of candidates chosen must not exceed the number of positions shown on the ballot paper. An elector may not allocate more than one vote for any candidate, nor is there any provision for an elector to indicate a preference for any candidate.

Local authority franchise.

With the passing of the Local Government Amendment Act 1986 the franchise for local government electors was changed significantly.

A local government elector must be a parliamentary elector with an address in the relevant territorial authority district. Territorial authorities are still responsible for compiling their own electoral rolls, but the data for these rolls now must be taken from the computerised parliamentary electoral data base. The Local Government Amendment Act 1986 provides that any person who is a parliamentary elector is now automatically a local government elector for the same address. The effect has been to do away with ratepayer voting, with exceptions and with the requirement that people often had to enrol separately for local government and parliamentary elections.

The franchise provisions outlined above apply to territorial authorities, community and district community councils, regional councils, and all special purpose authorities, except pest destruction, land drainage, and river boards where the ratepayer franchise remains.

Membership of local authorities.

Since the Local Government Amendment Act 1986 a parliamentary elector anywhere in New Zealand may stand for election for any local authority, although he or she cannot stand for election in more than one constituency of the same district. The only exceptions are pest destruction, land drainage and river boards, and licensing trusts where eligibility is still restricted to electors of the authority's district. Depending on the Act under which the local authority is constituted, vacancies in the elected membership of the council of the local authority may be filled either by election or appointment. In the case of a territorial authority or a regional council, a petition by 5 percent of the electors is sufficient to require a by-election. Extraordinary vacancies on the Auckland Regional Authority must be filled by election. In the case of most special purpose authorities any vacancy in membership is filled by appointment by the relevant territorial authorities.

There has been an increase in the number of women who are mayors, chairpersons and members of local authorities. With the holding of the 1983 local government elections women held 22 percent of the total membership of municipalities, and 9 percent of the total membership of counties and districts. Statistics for the 1986 local government elections are still being compiled.

Remuneration of members.

The remuneration of members of councils of local authorities is governed by the statute. Most local authorities pay their chairperson an annual allowance, with a maximum fixed for each type of authority, while other members are paid an allowance on a ‘per meeting’ basis. The Local Government Amendment Act 1985 provides for the chairpersons of all major united and regional councils, and the chairpersons and mayors of all major territorial authorities, to have their maximum or actual annual allowances determined by the Higher Salaries Commission. This provision also requires the Higher Salaries Commission to determine the maximum or actual annual allowance of the chairperson of specific harbour, hospital, electric power, and catchment boards. These determinations become the basis for separate determinations which set the maximum or actual allowances and meeting allowances of the chairpersons and members of each category and size of local authority.

Local government reform

The Local Government Commission comprises a chairman between three and five members appointed by the Minister of Local Government. Provision has also been made for appointment of temporary members at the commission's request. The commission undertakes investigations, prepares schemes, and makes recommendations and reports to ensure that:

  1. The system of local government in any local authority district best provides for the needs and well-being of its residents and the continued development of the district;

  2. Local authorities have such district boundaries and such functions and powers as enable them to provide most effectively and economically, essential or desirable local government services and facilities;

  3. Local authorities have such resources as enable them to engage adequate services and to obtain and operate adequate technical facilities, plant and equipment; and

  4. Districts are of such a size and nature as will promote efficient local government and avoid the necessity of uneconomic expenditure.

The legislation sets out procedures to guide the commission, with emphasis being placed on consultation on proposals at an early stage, prior to formulating a provisional scheme. After the hearing of objections to a provisional scheme, the commission may draw up a final scheme. A commission scheme may provide for the union of local authority districts, the constitution or abolition of any district, the adjustment of boundaries, or a transfer of functions from one local authority to another. A particular feature is provision for the appointment of conciliators by the commission to inquire into and negotiate on a proposal for a scheme, prior to any provisional scheme procedures being initiated.

The Local Government Act 1974, as originally enacted, brought all special purpose authorities (other than hospital boards, licensing trusts and charitable lands trusts) within the jurisdiction of the Local Government Commission. An amendment in 1976, however, removed the automatic jurisdiction of the commission in relation to special purpose authorities, so that it may now include these local authorities in a provisional scheme only where the appropriate minister or the special purpose authorities concerned are agreed.

All Local Government Commission final schemes are implemented either by Order-in-Council, or Act of Parliament where necessary to amend legislation.

3.5 National emblems and anthems

New Zealand flag.

Under the Flags, Emblems, and Names Protection Act 1981 the flag previously known as the New Zealand ensign was declared to be the New Zealand flag, the national flag of New Zealand. It is the symbol of the realm, Government and people of New Zealand. The basis of the New Zealand flag is the Union Jack in the upper left quarter, and on a blue ground to the right the Southern Cross is represented by four five-pointed red stars with white borders.

New Zealand coat of arms.

The New Zealand coat of arms was pictured and described as a frontispiece in the 1969 and earlier issues of the Official Yearbook. It appears on the title page and the spine of the present volume. The coat of arms is protected under the Flags, Emblems, and Names Protection Act 1981, and its lawful use is confined to official purposes.

National anthems.

God Defend New Zealand, the words written by Thomas Bracken and the music composed by John J. Woods, was written in the early 1870s and formally adopted as the New Zealand national hymn in 1940. In 1977 it was announced that, with the Queen's consent, the Government had decided that the national anthems of New Zealand be the traditional anthem, God Save the Queen, and God Defend New Zealand, both being of equal status as national anthems appropriate to the occasion.

In 1979 the Minister of Internal Affairs published a new, specially-commissioned arrangement of God Defend New Zealand more suited to general or massed singing than the original score, which lent itself best to solo or choral singing. The new arrangement was published as a supplement to the New Zealand Gazette dated 31 May 1979.

Table 3.13. ENGLISH AND MAORI TEXTS OF THE NEW ZEALAND ANTHEM

GOD DEFEND NEW ZEALANDAOTEAROA
1. God of nations at Thy feet1. E Ihoa Atua,
  In the bonds of love we meet.  O nga Iwi! Matoura,
  Hear our voices, we entreat,  Ata whaka rongona;
  God defend our free land.  Me aroha noa.
  Guard Pacific's triple star  Kia hua ko te pai;
  From the shafts of strife and war,  Kia tau to atawhai;
  Make her praises heard afar,  Manaakitia mai
  God defend New Zealand.  Aotearoa.
2. Men of ev'ry creed and race2. Ona mano tangata
  Gather here before Thy face,  Kiri whero, kiri ma,
  Asking Thee to bless this place,  Iwi Maori Pakeha,
  God defend our free land.  Repeke katoa,
  From dissension, envy, hate,  Nei ka tono ko nga he
  And corruption guard our state,  Mau e whakaahu ke,
  Make our country good and great,  Kia ora marire
  God defend New Zealand.  Aotearoa.
3. Peace, not war, shall be our boast,3. Tona mana kia tu!
  But, should foes assail our coast,  Tona kaha kia u;
  Make us then a mighty host,  Tona rongo hei paku
  God defend our free land.  Ki te ao katoa
  Lord of battles in Thy might,  Aua rawa nga whawhai,
  Put our enemies to flight,  Nga tutu a tata mai;
  Let our cause be just and right,  Kia tupu nui ai
  God defend New Zealand.  Aotearoa.
4. Let our love for Thee increase,4. Waiho tona takiwa
  May Thy blessings never cease,  Ko te ao marama;
  Give us plenty, give us peace,  Kia whiti tona ra
  God defend our free land.  Taiawhio noa.
  From dishonour and from shame  Ko te hae me te ngangau
  Guard our country's spotless name,  Meinga kia kore kau;
  Crown her with immortal fame,  Waiho i te rongo mau
  God defend New Zealand.  Aotearoa.
5. May our mountains ever be5. Tona pai me toitu;
  Freedom's ramparts on the sea,  Tika rawa, pono pu;
  Make us faithful unto Thee,  Tona noho, tana tu;
  God defend our free land.  Iwi no Ihoa.
  Guide her in the nations' van,  Kaua mona whakama;
  Preaching love and truth to man,  Kia hau te ingoa;
  Working out Thy glorious plan.  Kia tu hei tauira;
  God defend New Zealand.  Aotearoa.

3.6 General Election results, 1987

The Labour Government, under the Rt Hon. D R Lange, was re-elected following the election held on 15 August 1987. The strength of the political parties' representation in Parliament after this election was: Labour 58 seats, National 39.

There were two new electorates for the 1987 General Election.

The results given in table 3.15 are election night results only, and were the latest available on going to press. The figures given do not include ‘special’ votes, which are counted later, or any subsequent recounts or petitions for closely-fought seats. (In 1984 over 204 000 special votes were cast.)

In the case of two seats, Wairarapa and Manawatu, the candidates finally elected were different from those indicated by election night results. In the table these electorates are indicated by an asterisk.

Table 3.16 lists the new ministry chosen by the Prime Minister soon after the election.

Table 3.14. SEATS CONTESTED BY POLITICAL PARTIES, 1987 GENERAL ELECTION

Political Party or DescriptionNumber of Seats Contested
Labour (L)97
National (N)97
Democrats (D)97
New Zealand Party (NZ)31
McGillicuddy Serious (McGS)19
Wizard (W)14
Independent (I)15
Values (V)10
Mana Motuhake (MM)7
Imperial British Conservative (IBC)3
Independent Labour (IL)3
Breakfast (B)2
Labour Independent (LI)2
Socialist Action League (SAL)2
Socialist Alliance (SA)1
Independent National (IN)1
Auckland Revolutionary Army (ARA)1
No Confidence (NC)1
Local Labour (LL)1
Swinging Voters Outlet (SVO)1
Left Alternative (LA)1
Alternative National (AN)1
Libertarian Alternative (LibA)1
Socialist Action (S)1
Education (E)1
Independent New Zealand (INZ)1
Alternative (A)1
People's Party (PP)1
Silent Majority (SM)1
Christian Independent (CI)1
Private Enterprise (PE)1
People First (PF)1
Citizen Against Political Parties (CAPP)1
Rastus Ogilvie (RO)1
Economic Euthenics (EE)1
Dominion Workers (DW)1
Equal Rights (ER)1
Consensus (C)1
Protest Party (P)1
    Total424

Table 3.15. ELECTION NIGHT RESULTS FOR THE 1987 GENERAL ELECTION

Electoral Districts, Candidates and Party AffiliationsVotes Recorded
* Seat changed since election night.
Albany
  Carter (L)8,256
  Cummings (NZ)139
  McKinnon (N)9,828
  Smith (SVO)147
  Thew (D)833
Ashburton
  Maxwell (L)6,671
  McDonald (IBC)145
  Moskovis (D)506
  Shipley (N)11,268
Auckland Central
  Bickley (I)238
  Dunn (NZ)94
  Jesson (LA)930
  Jordan (D)404
  Mayer (N)3,352
  Prebble (L)9,523
  Terreni (McGS)139
Avon
  Costello (W)186
  Rush (N)4,852
  Stevens (D)1,015
  Sutherland (L)10,717
Awarua
  Grant (N)9,335
  Henderson (D)1,202
  Simpson (L)7,004
Bay of Islands
  Carter (N)7,931
  Johnson (AN)391
  Robertson (L)5,789
  Strickland (D)961
Birkenhead
  Fraser (LibA)100
  Gustafson (N)8,103
  Kirk (L)10,038
  Midson (D)348
  Yeoman (NZ)172
Christchurch Central
  Brereton (S)176
  Burnett (N)4,192
  Daniels (B)194
  Hanlon (W)99
  Palmer (L)10,315
  Pounsford (D)509
  Symons (V)74
  Yeoman (NZ)54
Christchurch North
  Appleby (W)138
  McNeill (N)7,124
  Moore (L)11,523
  Sadler (D)466
Clevedon
  Goffin (L)7,299
  Kyd (N)8,001
  Pilgrim (D)595
Clutha
  Gray (N)11,017
  Russell (L)5,920
  Stirling (D)1,009
Coromandel
  Donald (V)72
  Galvin (McGS)74
  Hawkeswood (L)4,448
  Lee (N)8,133
  Thompson (D)4,811
Dunedin North
  Begley (D)639
  Davison (N)5,112
  Deaker (E)274
  Everson (W)142
  Gumbley (McGS)113
  Menzies (INZ)61
  Rodger (L)10,740
Dunedin West
  Campbell (W)128
  McMeeking (N)7,009
  Matthewson (L)11,216
  Mellon (D)758
East Cape
  Fraser (L)7,683
  Gardiner (N)7,373
  Rabarts (D)363
East Coast Bays
  Braithwaite (A)62
  Knapp (D)7,853
  McCully (N)8,032
  Sellwood (L)3,920
Eastern Hutt
  Barnard (D)992
  Pattison (N)5,763
  Young (L)10,019
Eden
  Drabble (D)334
  Holloway (NZ)128
  Northey (L)10,137
  Tauroa (N)7,477
Fendalton
  Burdon (N)9,278
  Cherry (L)8,992
  Day (W)52
  Falloon (IL)54
  Smith (D)327
  Tomasi (B)95
Gisborne
  Kupenga (MM)73
  Tattersfield (N)7,429
  Urlich (D)324
  Wallbank (L)10,030
Glenfield
  Keall (L)9,945
  Sampson (NZ)130
  Schnauer (N)8,306
  Weston (D)350
Hamilton East
  Coker (D)422
  Dillon (L)9,350
  Evans (McGS)232
  Martin (NZ)79
  Shearer (N)7,907
Hamilton West
  Byrne (D)421
  Caldwell (McGS)119
  Jones (NZ)138
  Mallard (L)8,812
  Simes (N)7,775
Hastings
  Butcher (L)10,102
  Sanders (D)712
  Whittaker (N)8,014
Hawke's Bay
  Gerbault (D)500
  Laws (N)8,077
  Sutton (L)8,774
Heretaunga
  Allen (N)6,920
  Henderson (D)825
  Jefferies (L)9,261
Hobson
  Melville (L)4,565
  Meurant (N)9,370
  Rawson (D)1,560
Horowhenua
  Holden (D)892
  King (L)10,065
  Thompson (N)8,600
Invercargill
  Munro (N)9,390
  Soper (L)8,951
  Treweek (D)1016
Island Bay
  Bartram (I)381
  Clarke (N)4,444
  Ellis (PP)364
  Julian (McGS)181
  Low (D)434
  Parker (NZ)102
  Quinn (IBC)110
  Tennet (L)10,334
Kaimai
  Anderson (N)9,444
  Powell (D)794
  Townsend (NZ)499
  Uttinger (L)6,081
Kaipara
  Gosling (NZ)134
  Hutchings (L)4,920
  Merwood (V)197
  Peterson (D)1052
  Smith (N)10,252
Kapiti
  Carpenter (D)604
  Gunn (McGS)130
  Shields (L)10,716
  Sowry (N)8,293
King Country
  Bolger (N)10,240
  Menefy (L)4,617
  Morris (D)1030
Lyttelton
  Bruce (D)759
  Hall (N)8,017
  Roberts (NZ)165
  Simpson (L)11221
  Swafford (IBC)83
Manawatu*
  Cox (N)8,291
  Goodwin (SM)115
  Pedley (D)474
  Robinson (L)8,258
  Sherrard (McGS)79
Mangere
  Harris (D)676
  Jeffery (N)2548
  Lange (L)7,801
  Pene (MM)136
Manurewa
  Bercich (NZ)155
  Cunningham (N)5,702
  Douglas (L)8,402
  Kilford (D)544
  Watson (I)173
Maramarua
  Birch (N)10,423
  Dent (L)4,906
  Gilberd (D)1,238
Marlborough
  Bell (CI)101
  Hutchinson (L)8,266
  Kidd (N)10,469
  MacArthur (D)617
  Yealands (I)89
Matamata
  Cairns (McGS)228
  Luxton (N)10,576
  McGregor (L)3,985
  Pemberton (D)740
Miramar
  Coad (D)428
  MacFarlane (N)6,664
  Moncur (PE)27
  Neilson (L)10,056
  Purvis (NZ)44
  Smith (McGS)116
  Walker (PF)391
Mt Albert
  Clark (L)9,947
  Dance (D)792
  Moses (I)156
  Wheeler (N)5,405
Napier
  Braybrooke (L)10,784
  Church (N)5,835
  Shakes (D)534
Nelson
  Barber (I)1,158
  Collin (D)384
  Hackman (I)59
  Straight (N)6,078
  Ward (V)438
  Woollaston (L)11,138
New Lynn
  Beddow (D)934
  Berry (N)5,593
  Hunt (L)9,389
  Wilson (NZ)182
New Plymouth
  Duynhoven (L)9,456
  Friedlander (N)9,234
  McCready (NZ)124
  McDonald (V)83
  Steele (D)392
North Shore
  Gair (N)9,492
  Greenfield (NZ)405
  Holmes (D).801
  Ransom (L)8,626
Ohariu
  Aylward (McGS)110
  Campbell (D)400
  Dunne (L)11,449
  Lloyd (N)7,604
  Ralph (NZ)77
Onehunga
  Gerbic (L)9,603
  Park (D)839
  Stanley (N)6,730
Otago
  Cooper (N)8,335
  Fisher (L)6,540
  Johnstone (W)159
  Thompson (D)1,194
Otara
  Clark (D)635
  Le Pou (SAL)69
  Moyle (L)8,102
  Rogers (N)6,059
Pahiatua
  De Boam (D)764
  Falloon (N)11,332
  Martindale (L)4,581
Pakuranga
  Bogrich (CAPP)61
  Morrison (D)6,587
  Williamson (N)8,357
  Wilson (L)4,282
Palmerston North
  Colless (McGS)117
  Curry (N)7,126
  De Cleene (L)9,911
  Halford (NZ)83
  Lush (D)436
Panmure
  Clifford (D)1,186
  Elliott (N)4,899
  Tizard (L)8,655
Papakura
  Blackadder (NZ)189
  McDonald (D)906
  Summers (L)6,368
  Wellington (N)9,139
Papatoetoe
  Martin, Howard Royce (N)6,532
  Martin, Isobel Ruth (NZ)207
  Robertson (L)8,904
  Shirley (D)745
Pencarrow
  Carter (D)758
  Davies (L)6,907
  Dransfield (RO)118
  Crieg (LL)3,430
  Harvey (N)5,173
  Morrison (McGS)104
  Renata (LI)443
Porirua
  Bradley (SAL)145
  Duncan (IL)1,896
  England (D)551
  Gadsby (N)4,175
  Kelekolio (IL)336
  Kelly (L)7,196
  Metekingi (MM)191
Raglan
  Burrows (D)800
  Forbes (McGS)156
  Scaletti-Longley (L)6,012
  Upton (N)9,000
Rangiora
  Constable (L)8,613
  Gerard (N)10,580
  McCaskey (NZ)162
  Moore (D)702
Rangitikei
  Beetham (D)5,075
  Jensen (NC)75
  Marshall (N)8,677
  Martin (McGS)63
  Srhoj (L)2,919
Remuera
  Clegg (D)279
  Graham (N)8,630
  Martin (NZ)148
  Tizard (L)7,998
  Ward (ARA)84
Roskill
  Devcich (I)84
  Foulkes (N)7,437
  Goff (L)9,526
  McGee (D)547
  Murray (NZ)83
Rotorua
  Dassler (D)479
  East (N)9,093
  Michie (L)6,763
Selwyn
  Dennis (IN)194
  Palmer (D)574
  Richardson (N)9,804
  Walker (W)150
  Woods (L)6,985
St Albans
  Caygill (L)11,155
  Cowie (N)7,061
  McAnally (V)113
  Morgan (D)557
  Pearce (SA)160
  Sadler (W)109
St Kilda
  Coles (D)1,083
  Cullen (L)11,421
  Thomas (W)221
  Weggery (N)6,272
Sydenham
  Anderton (L)11,086
  Hansen (EE)101
  Harrington (N)5,280
  Holliday (NZ)105
  McArthur (V)88
  Minchington (D)739
  Mundy (DW)21
  Wilkins (W)95
Tamaki
  Harding (L)7,516
  Muldoon (N)9,379
  Pittams (D)599
  Roberts (NZ)300
  Symondson (V)111
Taranaki
  Jackson (L)4,681
  Maxwell (N)10,697
  Roborgh (V)276
  Satherley (D)999
Tarawera
  Blaymires (D)660
  McLean (N)8,733
  Moore (L)5,236
Tasman
  Hunt (N)8,703
  Lister (V)87
  Monahan (I)97
  Muller (D)418
  Shirley (L)9,531
Waldron (ER)41
Tauranga
  Oster (D)969
  Peters (N)10,567
  Seddon (L)8,192
Te Atatu
  Bassett (L)9,217
  Jackson (D)837
  Neeson (N)7,189
  Oxton (NZ)116
Timaru
  Clarke (L)9,348
  Lusby (C)47
  McTigue (N)10,214
  Simmons (D)462
  Simpson (NZ)45
Titirangi
  Burgering (D)1,047
  McIntosh (N)5,631
  Maxwell (L)9,137
Tongariro
  Peters (N)5,996
  Scott (L)8,163
  Tibble (D)503
Waikaremoana
  Harris (D)530
  McClay (N)9,061
  Stewart (L)5,521
Waikato
  Edwards (NZ)113
  Fisher (McGS)121
  Johnstone (D)683
  Locker (LI)187
  Raitt (L)5,785
  Storey (N)9,793
Waipa
  Bishop (D)1,200
  Holmes (L)4,615
  Maisey (I)245
  O'Regan (N)10,778
  Sutcliffe (McGS)159
Wairarapa*
  Boorman (L)9,346
  Creech (N)9,411
  Shakes (D)522
Waitaki
  Holden (W)94
  Sutton (L)9,456
  Taylor (N)9,358
  Wood (D)672
Waitotara
  Perry (D)3,740
  Stewart (L)3,915
  Young (N)9,462
Wallace
  Angus (N)11,450
  Julian (L)4,364
  Radich (D)977
  Smith (I)307
Wanganui
  Anderson (N)5,638
  Heffernan (D)6,980
  Marshall (L)7,007
Wellington Central
  Binney (D)337
  Catford (W)63
  Feast (N)6,791
  Servian (McGS)129
  Wilde (L)10,922
West Auckland
  Couch (N)6,012
  Elder (L)8,490
  James (D)542
  Phillips (NZ)85
  Wahrlich (P)56
West Coast
  Antunovich (I)167
  Blackadder (NZ)295
  Burke (L)7,033
  Garwood (N)5,677
  Neame (I)3,722
  Newcombe (D)917
Western Hutt
  Baird (D)707
  Heath (McGS)136
  McLauchlan (N)6,861
  Terris (L)9,868
Whangarei
Banks (N)9,656
Leitch (D)1,225
Tait (L)6,106
Yaldhurst
  Austin (L)10,758
  Bacon (N)8,338
  Davey (D)503
  Toy (W)91
Eastern Maori
  Gray (N)1,024
  Ngakuru (D)331
  Reedy (MM)1,512
  Tapsell (L)8,460
Northern Maori
  Albert (N)621
  Gregorv (L)4,937
  McKay (D)192
  Rata (MM)2,779
Southern Maori
  Aramakutu (D)167
  Dooley (I)36
  Mei (N)429
  Mihaka (I)174
  Stevens (MM)546
  Tirikatene-Sullivan (L)5,203
Western Maori
  Gilbert (D)316
  Rickard (MM)1,174
  Towers (N)559
  Wetere (L)6,452

Table 3.16. SECOND LANGE MINISTRY, AT 24 AUGUST 1987

The Cabinet—
  Rt Hon. D. R. LANGE, Prime Minister, Minister of Education.
  Rt Hon. G. W. R. PALMER, Deputy Prime Minister, AttorneyGeneral, Minister of Justice, Minister for the Environment.
  Hon. M. K. MOORE, Minister of Overseas Trade and Marketing.
  Hon. R. O. DOUGLAS, Minister of Finance.
  Hon. R. W. PREBBLE, Minister for State Owned Enterprises, PostmasterGeneral, Minister of Works and Development, Minister of Pacific Island Affairs.
  Hon. K. T. WETERE, Minister of Maori Affairs.
  Hon. D. F. CAYGILL, Minister of Health, Minister of Trade and Industry.
  Hon. C. R. MARSHALL, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control.
  Hon. Dr M. E. R. BASSETT, Minister of Internal Affairs, Minister of Local Government, Minister of Civil Defence, Minister of Arts and Culture.
  Hon. J. L. HUNT, Minister of State, Leader of the House.
  Rt Hon. R. J. TIZARD, Minister of Defence, Minister of Science and Technology.
  Hon. C. J. MOYLE, Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Fisheries.
  Hon. S. J. RODGER, Minister of Labour, Minister of Immigration, Minister of State Services.
  Hon. P. B. GOFF, Minister of Employment, Minister of Youth Affairs, Minister of Tourism, Associate Minister of Education.
  Hon. Margaret SHIELDS, Minister of Women's Affairs, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Minister of Statistics.
  Hon. P. TAPSELL, M.B.E., Minister of Police, Minister of Forestry, Minister of Lands, Minister of Recreation and Sport.
  Hon. Helen CLARK, Minister of Housing, Minister of Conservation.
  Hon. Dr M. J. CULLEN, Minister of Social Welfare, Associate Minister of Finance.
  Hon. W. P. JEFFRIES, Minister of Transport, Minister of Civil Aviation and Meteorological Services.
  Hon. D. J. BUTCHER, Minister of Energy, Minister of Regional Development, Associate Minister of Finance.
Ministers not in Cabinet
  Hon. T. A. de CLEENE, Minister of Revenue, Minister of Customs.
Ministers without portfolio
  Hon. Fran WILDE, Member of the Executive Council, Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs, Associate Minister of Housing, Associate Minister of Conservation.
  Hon. P. T. E. WOOLLASTON, Member of the Executive Council, Minister Assisting the Deputy Prime Minister, Associate Minister of Justice, Associate Minister for the Environment.
  Hon. P. NEILSON, Member of the Executive Council, Associate Minister of Finance, Associate Minister for State Owned Enterprises, Associate Minister of Works and Development.
Parliamentary under-secretaries
  Mr. P. F. DUNNE, Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister of Health and the Minister of Trade and Industry.
  Mr. F. GERBIC, Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister of Transport, the Minister of Civil Aviation and Meteorological Services, and the Minister of Immigration.
  Mrs. A. F. KING, Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister of Employment, the Minister of Youth Affairs, the Minister of Tourism, and the Minister of Social Welfare.
  Mr. Ralph MAXWELL, Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Fisheries.
Schedule
(This schedule is not part of the ministerial list but is additional information indicating other Vote or statutory responsibilities of certain ministers where this may not be clear. Statutory titles are shown in italics.)
Rt. Hon. D. R. LANGE, Minister in Charge of the New Zealand Security intelligence Service.
Rt. Hon. G. W. R. PALMER, Audit Department.
Hon. M. K. MOORE, Minister in Charge of Publicity.
Hon. R. W. PREBBLE, Air New Zealand Ltd, Airways Corporation of New Zealand Ltd, Minister of Broadcasting, Coal Corporation of New Zealand Ltd, Electricity Corporation of New Zealand Ltd, Government Computing Service, Government Life Insurance Corporation, Government Printing Office, Government Property Services Ltd, Land Corporation Ltd, New Zealand Forestry Corporation Ltd, New Zealand Post Ltd, Post Office Bank Ltd, Minister in Charge of Public Trust Office, Minister of Railways, Rural Banking and Finance Corporation, Shipping Corporation of New Zealand Ltd, State Insurance Office, Telecom Corporation of New Zealand Ltd.
Hon. D. F. CAYGILL, Member, New Zealand Planning Council.
Hon. P. TAPSELL, Minister of Survey and Land Information, Minister in Charge of Valuation Department.
Hon. Dr M. J. CULLEN, Minister in Charge of War Pensions.

Further information

Constitution

Constitutional Reform: Reports of an Officials Committee. Department of Justice. 1986.

Introduction to New Zealand Legal System. Mulholland, R. D. Butterworths, 1985.

New Zealand: The Development of its Laws and Constitution. Robson, J. L. and others. Stevens, 1954.

The New Zealand Constitution. Scott, K. J. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1962.

Parliament

A Checklist: New Zealand Royal Commissions, Commissions and Committees of Inquiry, 1864–1981. New Zealand Library Association, 1982.

Parliamentary Practice in New Zealand. McGee, D. G. Government Printer, 1985.

Reports of the Controller and Auditor-General (Parl. papers B. 1 [Pt II] and [Pt III]).

Report of the Department of Internal Affairs (Parl. paper G. 7).

Report of the General Election 1984 (Parl. paper E. 9, 1984).

Report of the Licensing Polls 1984 (Parl. paper E. 9B, 1984).

Royal Commissions and Commissions of Inquiry. Government Printer, 1974.

Executive government

Directory of Official Information. State Services Commission (annual).

Register of Statutory and Allied Organisations. Cabinet Office (annual).

Report of the Ombudsmen (Parl. paper A. 3)

Seventh Compendium of Case Notes of the Ombudsmen. Office of the Ombudsmen, 1986.

Judiciary and law

Report of the Department of Justice (Parl. paper E. 5).

Royal Commission on the Courts. Government Printer, 1978.

Tables of New Zealand Acts and Ordinances and Statutory Regulations in Force Government Printer (annual).

Human rights

Report of the Human Rights Commission (Parl. paper E. 6).

Report of the Race Relations Conciliator (Parl. paper E. 17).

Local government

Local Authority Election Statistics. Department of Internal Affairs, 1985.

Report of the Department of Internal Affairs (Parl. paper G. 7).

Report of the Local Government Commission (Parl. paper G. 9).

Chapter 4. International relations and defence

4.1 Relations with other countries

The emergence of an independent New Zealand foreign policy is usually regarded as dating from 1935. Despite differences of opinion on some issues in the League of Nations, where New Zealand supported collective security, it did not depart from its historically close association with Britain. New Zealand fought on the side of the Allies in the Second World War, which changed the pattern of power in the world. In 1943 the Government established a career foreign affairs service, and began to station its own diplomatic representatives in countries where New Zealand had interests. In particular, New Zealand sought to foster good relationships with its neighbours in the Pacific and Asia and to increase the measure of security and welfare in these areas.

Woven into post-war policy was the traditional New Zealand belief in the principles of collective security and international justice, to which the United Nations had pledged support. There was also the belief that the international community should give high priority to the welfare and political advancement of dependent peoples and to the elimination of poverty, disease and other economic and social causes of international tension.

There have been several periods of expansion in the establishment of posts overseas. Aside from the three posts set up to consult with our closest allies during the Second World War (Washington. Ottawa, Canberra), the first main period of expansion came in the 1950s with the recognition that New Zealand's security was closely bound up with that of Southeast Asia. Following the signature of the ANZUS Treaty, which came into force in 1952, and the Manila Treaty in 1954, diplomatic relations were established with five Asian countries.

A second period of expansion in the 1960s led to the setting up of a number of diplomatic posts in Western Europe in response to the need to defend New Zealand's essential economic and political interests as Britain negotiated its terms of entry into the European Community. At the same time a more gradual expansion was under way in the Pacific. As island states became independent and as the extent of New Zealand's economic and political relations in the South Pacific increased, a number of posts were opened. Another phase in the 1970s and early 1980s was closely related to the search for new trading opportunities as the degree of dependence on traditional markets gradually declined. The diversification, both in the range of goods exported and in markets, led to the strengthening of posts in Asia and the Pacific, and the opening of embassies in the Middle East, Latin America and China, in addition to the reopening of posts in the Soviet Union and India, and in 1986 a post was opened in Zimbabwe. In addition to the 50 diplomatic and consular posts, there is an extensive network of multiple accreditations allowing New Zealand's overseas representatives to cover several countries from the one base.

New Zealand's overseas trade with different regions and countries is described in chapter 24, Overseas trade.

South Pacific.

New Zealand has a long history of interest and involvement in the South Pacific, and its close links to South Pacific countries have, in more recent years, been based on a shared interest in the development and security of a region geographically and culturally close to it.

During the 1960s there was a dramatic emergence of new nations in the South Pacific. New Zealand led this development with moves in its own territories.

In Western Samoa, which had become a UN trust territory administered by New Zealand, political and constitutional development was carried forward in accordance with the wishes of the Samoan people. This culminated in the establishment of the independent state of Western Samoa on 1 January 1962. The Cook Islands voted under United Nations supervision in 1965 to become a self-governing state in free association with New Zealand. Niue achieved a similar status in an act of self-determination in 1974. Under their respective constitutions the Cook Islands and Niue governments have full legislative and executive competence over all their affairs. The constitutional relationship provides for the exercise by New Zealand of certain responsibilities for the defence and external relations of the Cook Islands and Niue (in the former case, in consultation with the Cook Islands Prime Minister). This does not confer upon the New Zealand Government any rights of control. Cook Islanders and Niueans are New Zealand citizens.

The relationship between the Cook Islands and New Zealand was elaborated in the 1973 Exchange of Letters between the then Prime Minister, the Rt Hon. Norman Kirk, and the Premier of the Cook Islands, Sir Albert Henry. The Prime Minister's letter described the relationship as ‘one of partnership, freely entered into and freely maintained’, the central features being common citizenship and the same head of state. The Cook Islands can at any time amend its constitution to end the ‘free association’ status in favour of complete independence. These points apply equally to the relationship with Niue (though the Cook Islands now has its own Queen's Representative).

The Cook Islands and Niue not only have full constitutional capacity to conduct their own external relations and to enter directly into international arrangements and agreements, but they also in fact directly conduct certain aspects of their external relations. Their capacity to do so is limited only by the extent to which the governments of other states will accord them recognition and deal with them. In practice, the Cook Islands and Niue have participated on an equal basis with sovereign states in the South Pacific. They are members of the South Pacific Forum (see below), the South Pacific Bureau for Economic Cooperation (SPEC), the South Pacific Commission and the Forum Fisheries Agency. They have associate membership of ESCAP, and the Cook Islands has joined the Asian Development Bank, WHO and FAO. The Cook Islands has also signed a bilateral maritime boundary delimitation treaty with the United States.

Tokelau is still included within the boundaries of New Zealand and is administered under the authority of the Tokelau Act 1948 and its amendments. Tokelauans are New Zealand citizens. In accordance with United Nations resolutions on non-self-governing territories, New Zealand has committed itself to assisting Tokelau towards a greater degree of self-government and economic self-sufficiency. It has stated that it will be guided by the wishes of the Tokelauan people regarding political developments in the territory and the pace at which greater self-determination is introduced.

The 1970s and 1980s have seen the development of New Zealand's relations beyond the circle of South Pacific countries with which it has historical ties. There are now diplomatic missions in most of the independent countries of the region and regular contacts with those countries on a range of bilateral and regional issues. Over 80 percent of bilateral development assistance is directed to the South Pacific.

The region is of growing commercial importance to New Zealand with exports of $386 million in 1985–86. Fiji and Papua New Guinea are the most important markets. Imports, amounting to about $85 million, came principally from Christmas Island, Nauru, Fiji and Papua New Guinea. New Zealand has taken special measures to foster Pacific Island exports to this country and New Zealand investment in the region. A regional trade agreement, SPARTECA, provides duty-free and unrestricted access to New Zealand (and Australia) on a non-reciprocal basis for most of the products exported by Island countries. The Pacific Islands Industrial Development Scheme (PIIDS) provides financial assistance and incentives for New Zealand companies developing approved manufacturing operations in selected Pacific countries. Its objective is to foster economic development and employment opportunites in those countries.

There is close co-operation with the South Pacific on defence matters. New Zealand has mutual assistance programmes with the three South Pacific countries which have armed forces; Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Fiji. Programmes with Western Samoa, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands have also been established and the New Zealand armed forces undertake joint exercises in various parts of the region. They also assist with maritime surveillance, (a task of great importance to countries with vast exclusive economic zones) and provide immediate help after natural disasters such as cyclones, and undertake civil development projects in isolated areas.

Cook Islanders, Niueans and Tokelauans, as New Zealand citizens, all move freely to and from this country. New Zealand's historical association with Western Samoa, which is reflected in the Treaty of Friendship signed in August 1962, and its close association with the Kingdom of Tonga have resulted in a flow of immigrants and visitors from both countries.

New Zealand has also helped build up regional co-operation in the South Pacific. A major step in this direction was the creation of the South Pacific Forum, which now comprises the independent and self-governing countries of the South Pacific: Fiji, Nauru, Tonga, Western Samoa, the Cook Islands, Niue, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Kiribati, and Vanuatu, together with Australia, and New Zealand. The Federated States of Micronesia has observer status. The first session, comprising five of the present island members as well as Australia and New Zealand, met in Wellington in 1971. Since then meetings have been held annually in different locations, most recently at Apia in 1987.

The South Pacific Forum provides an opportunity for the leaders of the South Pacific states to discuss common problems, exchange views, consider priorities, and plan programmes for mutual and regional benefit. The topics considered include regional trade, shipping, civil aviation, telecommunications, education, the law of the sea, fishing, disaster relief, nuclear testing and decolonisation

At the 1972 forum members agreed to establish the South Pacific Bureau for Economic Cooperation (SPEC) to deal with trade and related matters. The main purpose of SPEC is to advise forum members on ways of promoting regional trade and free trade among island members and to encourage collaboration in areas such as regional transport which will assist the economic development of the island members. Its headquarters are in Suva.

In 1978 members agreed to set up the South Pacific Forum Fisheries Agency, an organisation designed to facilitate the rational utilisation and conservation of the region's marine resources. Its headquarters are in Honiara.

Recognising that the development of the island countries was largely dependent on the existence of regular and reliable shipping services, the governments of the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Western Samoa established the Pacific. Forum Line (PFL) in 1977. Subsequently the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu joined the line, while both Australia and Niue, although not shareholders, have made financial contributions to it.

The PFL, which is based at Apia, charters three vessels, the Forum New Zealand, the Forum Samoa and the Fua Kavenga, owned respectively by New Zealand, Western Samoa, and Tonga. Together with other governments in the region, New Zealand has made additional contributions since the PFL began operations in 1978. Although the line initially incurred heavy financial losses, in 1985 it achieved a trading profit for the first time. (See section 22.1.)

The South Pacific Commission, created in 1947 by the Canberra Agreement, of which New Zealand is a signatory, is the other major regional body. Representatives from 27 governments and territorial administrations from within the South Pacific Commission comprise the South Pacific Conference. The conference, which meets annually, decides the work programme of the commission. Since its establishment the commission, primarily a technical assistance organisation, has accomplished much in promoting the economic and social welfare of the South Pacific peoples as well as in helping to build a sense of regional identity. Its annual budget (which in 1987 will total approximately $6.8 million) is mainly funded from proportional contributions by member governments.

The United Nations and its specialised agencies are also an important source of technical assistance in the South Pacific and a number are represented in the region.

Australia

New Zealand's most extensive and important bilateral relationship is with Australia. Geographical proximity and shared foreign policy and defence interests reinforce the important historical, cultural and Commonwealth ties between the two nations that have given rise to this special and mutually beneficial relationship. A diplomatic office was established in Australia in 1943, and in 1944 the Australia-New Zealand Agreement (known also as the ANZAC Pact or the Canberra Pact) was signed. This paved the way for a tradition of joint consultation and co-operation that reflects the interdependence of the two nations' interests and the goodwill and friendship of their peoples. In 1983, the two countries concluded the Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (ANZCERTA or CER for short), the most comprehensive trade treaty ever concluded by either country. It will bring about a full free-trade area by 1995, and provides for cooperation in a range of activities, such as investment, trade practices and standards.

In matters of foreign policy, defence and economics, the degree of co-operation also reflects the importance of each country to the other and a need for continuing close working contacts. Regular and increasingly frequent bilateral meetings have taken place, with a minimum of formality, to cover almost all government activity. New Zealand ministers participate in a wide range of regular meetings between Australian federal and state ministers. The two countries are also bound together by innumerable personal contacts, widespread family ties, and by institutionalised links in business, finance, education, the professions, and in sport. These contacts are facilitated by the free movement of people between the two countries under the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement.

New Zealand and Australia share a common foreign policy objective; to promote stability and development in the South Pacific and South-east Asian regions in their immediate vicinity. They have a more general interest in co-ordinating their positions on major international political and economic questions of current concern in the United Nations, the Commonwealth, GATT and elsewhere. In the economic context, Australia is a major trading partner for New Zealand, which is in turn Australia's largest single market for manufactured exports. The trade liberalisation provisions of ANZCERTA, or the CER treaty, have given added impetus to the significant expansion of trade achieved under the 1966 New Zealand-Australia Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which CER has replaced. It also helps prepare our industry for liberalisation on a global scale. In the defence field, the Anzac partners continue to co-operate closely in training programmes, exercises and the acquisition of equipment and other supplies.

The Australia-New Zealand Foundation, set up in 1978, has sponsored research projects and publications, as well as cultural exchanges.

Asia.

During the last 30 years there has been much greater contact with Asian countries. New Zealand has a direct interest in the maintenance of peace and the growth of prosperity in the area. Trade with Asia is becoming more and more important. Private initiative, with government assistance, has meant new markets, new products, new selling processes, and new economic and commercial relationships. A pattern of regular economic consultations with the main Asian trading partners has been developed and bilateral economic agreements have been concluded. About a third of New Zealand's export receipts come from Asia.

New Zealand's growing interests and involvement in Asia are reflected in the changing pattern of diplomatic representation. Prior to 1955, when New Zealand opened a post in Singapore, it had only one diplomatic mission in the region, in Tokyo. Representation has now been established in five of the ASEAN (Association of South-east Asian Nations) countries, and in Peking, Hong Kong, Seoul, Osaka and New Delhi. Several of these missions are accredited to other Asian capitals. This network enables external events to be assessed in the light of New Zealand's own interests and needs. Political contacts with countries of the area have been developed in other important ways, including high-level exchanges of visits and regular bilateral consultations.

New Zealand is one of a group of nations closely associated with ASEAN, which it sees as a force for stability and economic development. It has initiated a number of joint projects with ASEAN for development and trade co-operation. The massive outflow of refugees from Vietnam and Kampuchea, and the political uncertainties stemming from the continued presence in Kampuchea of Vietnamese forces have posed difficult problems for the countries of the region and New Zealand has kept in close touch with the ASEAN countries over these developments.

Cultural interchange with the countries of Asia has increased steadily. Where once New Zealanders looked largely to Britain for cultural inspiration and experience, now their horizons have broadened. Professional bodies, sporting associations, cultural groups and universities today have links with similar organisations in Asia. The development of civil air links and the concurrent growth of tourism have also helped to bring a wider range of contacts.

Nowhere within the Pacific Basin has this country's adaptation to changed circumstances been more complete than in its relationship with Japan. Today that association is one of the most important and beneficial that New Zealand has. Its elements arc varied—trade, fishing and a growing range of cultural, educational, sporting and personal ties. In many ways, the conditions for a developing trading relationship are ideal, for the two countries are located in different hemispheres, their economies are complementary, and each has in abundance some things that the other needs. New Zealand continues to seek improved conditions of access for certain important commodities, including dairy products, Meanwhile, the steady growth in the extent and cordiality of relations with the People's Republic of China further illustrate New Zealanders' changing perceptions of Asia. China is both an important export market and a major power with a leading role in Asia.

Americas:

United States—Continuing and close contact with the United States is an essential part of New Zealand's foreign policy. The two countries share an English-speaking heritage and a friendship of long standing, both in peace and war. The United States has an important influence on the New Zealand way of life.

Since the opening in Washington in 1941 of New Zealand's second diplomatic mission, close consultations have been held with the United States on many bilateral questions and international issues of common interest. Basic similarities in political philosophy and social and economic processes have encouraged the development of close governmental relations, which have been supported by increasing contacts, both official and non-official, across a broad range of activities.

This bilateral relationship finds expression in political, economic and cultural fields. New Zealand is allied to the United States and Australia through the ANZUS Treaty. On the economic side, the United States is one of New Zealand's major trading partners. For some products, notably beef and casein, it is our largest export market. Also, programmes for scientific and technical co-operation, and academic and cultural exchanges maintain an awareness of New Zealand in the United States and promote the interchange of ideas and experience. The two countries work closely in Antarctic scientific research and operate a joint logistics pool for their Antarctic programmes.

Canada—With a common British heritage and long association through the Commonwealth, New Zealand and Canada have traditionally enjoyed a close and easy relationship. Since diplomatic representation was established in Canada in 1942, there have been ministerial and official exchanges in many fields in which the two countries' shared democratic traditions and similar attitudes have provided a strong basis for bilateral consultation and co-operation. Similarly, in the international field, and particularly in Commonwealth and United Nations contexts, there is a sound record of cooperation. Our involvement in the South Pacific and Canada's in the Caribbean have provided a basis for the exchange of experience, and both countries take a close interest in developments within the Pacific Basin.

The Trade and Economic Co-operation Agreement, which came into effect in 1982, is intended to encourage economic co-operation in every sense. In addition to consultations on trade and economic issues, the agreement calls for increased co-operation in investment, joint ventures and technology transfer.

South and Central America and the Caribbean—South and Central America are regions of increasing importance for New Zealand. Relations, limited in the past by geographical orientation and linguistic and cultural differences, developed rapidly in the 1970s. In 1972 the Government opened diplomatic missions in Chile and Peru, primarily to support an expanding trade in dairy products. By cross-accreditation, diplomatic relations have since been established with Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. An embassy was opened in Mexico City in 1983. In 1986 the Hon. Mike Moore, Minister for Overseas Trade, led a trade mission to Peru, Chile, Brazil, Venezuela and Mexico, which further strengthened economic ties.

The flow of dairy products, meat and agricultural technology from New Zealand to the region has increased steadily, mainly to Mexico, Venezuela and Peru. Other interests shared include Antarctica, the law of the sea, and alternative and renewable sources of energy.

Relations with the Caribbean centre on mutual Commonwealth interests and a useful export trade, largely in dairy products and meat. Since 1974 the High Commissioner in Ottawa has been cross-accredited to Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Barbados and Guyana. Resident representation, a trade commission in Trinidad and Tobago, was established in 1958, but closed in 1982 because of the decline in the proportion of exports going to the Caribbean.

Western Europe.

History has linked New Zealand closely to Western Europe, and developments this century, including trade and involvement with the Europeans in two world wars, have confirmed the relationship. The majority of New Zealand's settlers came from European countries, notably Britain, and subsequent migration has continued these ties. New Zealand's democratic political system, and many of its cultural, religious and social values, derive from a shared European tradition. Although more recently New Zealanders have become increasingly aware of their identity as a Pacific country, developments in Western Europe still exert a strong influence on New Zealand life.

The importance of the European Community as a market for agricultural exports and as a competitor in world markets for meat and dairy products has highlighted the economic aspects of the relationship. The EC is New Zealand's largest export market and trading partner. Although New Zealand exports have diversified considerably since Britain joined the EC, the Community remains a key market for sheepmeat and butter. At the same time, New Zealand exports in a range of non-traditional products show encouraging growth. Community imports into New Zealand are substantial and also growing.

Trade is just one aspect of the relationship, however, and the range of other contacts with the individual countries of Western Europe is steadily expanding. New Zealand has consultative links with the Community on a range of political and economic issues. New Zealand and Western Europe co-operate closely on international issues and exchange information through multilateral organisations such as the United Nations and the OECD.

Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

New Zealand has in recent years developed stable working relationships with the Soviet Union and the countries of Eastern Europe. Trading and economic concerns dominate. While the Soviet Union has become a significant market for primary commodities, particularly meat and dairy products, trade with Eastern Europe since the late 1970s has not fulfilled earlier hopes and remains small. For the Soviet Union the fisheries resources of New Zealand's 200-mile zone are an additional source of economic interest. (A fisheries agreement was signed in 1978.)

On the political side, relations with the Soviet Union were normalised with the return of ambassadorial level representation in Wellington and Moscow in 1984. The embassy in Vienna is accredited to five East European countries—Poland, Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia and the German Democratic Republic—and the embassy in Rome to Yugoslavia.

The Minister of Overseas Trade and Marketing visited the Soviet Union in September 1986, the first such visit since 1973.

Middle East.

Involvement in the Middle East has increased markedly within the past decade. For more than 30 years New Zealand has watched the Arab-Israeli conflict with concern, if from a distance. Recognising the implications for world peace, this country has contributed personnel to United Nations truce observation teams. Since 1982 it has also supplied a small contingent to the Sinai peace-keeping force. New Zealand has consistently upheld the rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and, equally consistently, Israel's right to exist.

Since 1973, when Middle East members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) emerged as a major economic force in the world, the area has become increasingly important for this country. The wealth of the Gulf region has created new export markets, including for manufactured goods and agricultural products. In recent years the region has absorbed a high proportion of New Zealand's sheepmeat exports.

New Zealand is continuing to broaden its range of contacts with Middle Eastern countries. At the same time, those countries have themselves taken a closer interest in New Zealand and the South Pacific and have expanded their diplomatic representation in the area. Egypt and Israel have embassies in Wellington, while Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya and Saudi Arabia have cross-accreditation from Canberra, and Oman arid Qatar from Tokyo. New Zealand opened resident missions in Iran and Iraq in 1975, and in 1977 established a consulate-general which in Bahrain was upgraded to an embassy in 1984 when an embassy in Riyadh was also established. The pattern of representation is rounded out by the cross-accreditation of the Ambassador in Riyadh to Egypt, Qatar and Oman, the Ambassador in Paris to Algeria, the Ambassador in The Hague to Israel, and the Ambassador in Bahrain to Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

Closer relations between New Zealand and the Middle East have been marked by a growing appreciation of each other's concerns. This has been fostered by visits in both directions by ministers, officials and businessmen. Also, a growing number of tourists, students and sports teams are coming to New Zealand.

Africa.

Relations with Africa have been given new emphasis and new dimensions since the 1984 General Election. The South African Consulate-General in Wellington was closed; the Government announced a policy which barred South African sports teams and individual representatives from New Zealand and sought to discourage contacts in South Africa or third countries. At the United Nations, New Zealand has co-sponsored a wide-ranging resolution on international action against apartheid. In conformity with the Accord on Southern Africa agreed to at Nassau by Commonwealth heads of government, the Government in November 1985 introduced certain economic measures against South Africa. In August 1986, after the failure of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group to persuade the South African Government to enter into negotiations directed at bringing about political change, the Government adopted a further set of measures recommended by Commonwealth leaders.

In 1986 New Zealand's first resident diplomatic mission in Africa was established in Harare, Zimbabwe, with cross-accreditation to Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia. This step implemented an undertaking made by the Prime Minister on his official visit to Africa a year before. The High Commissioner in London was accredited to Nigeria.

New Zealand has joined the international donor community in responding to the emergency relief and rehabilitation needs of the African countries affected by drought. In 1986 the Government contributed through a range of international and voluntary agencies. The community has also responded generously to international relief appeals.

New Zealand contributes to technical co-operation projects in African countries through bilateral assistance and by contributions to Commonwealth and other multilateral programmes.

Total trade with African countries amounts to only a modest percentage of New Zealand's global trade. The major New Zealand exports are milk powder, fish, wool, textiles and non-electrical machinery. The main imports from Africa are cocoa, coffee, sisal and tobacco.

Assistance to developing countries

In 1985–86 official development assistance (ODA) disbursed under Vote Foreign Affairs amounted to nearly $97 million, summarised in table 4.1.

Table 4.1. OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE, 1985–86

Bilateral—$(000)
  Country programmes68,881
  Other1,593
Multilateral14,683
South Pacific shipping11,822
      Total96,979
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Almost all development assistance is administered by the External Aid Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Geographic distribution of the 1985–86 assistance to developing countries followed the trend of previous years, with over 80 percent going to bilateral and regional programmes in the South Pacific. The ASEAN group of countries (Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei and the Philippines) was the second region of concentration. The total programme involves the skills and experience of hundreds of New Zealanders, together with capital and technical back-up.

Government assistance to voluntary agencies in 1985–86 amounted to $1.57 million. This comprised the annual grant to Volunteer Service Abroad and disbursements under the Voluntary Agency Support Scheme (VASS). Under VASS the Government provides a subsidy for approved projects undertaken by New Zealand non-governmental agencies in developing countries.

The total transfer of resources from New Zealand to developing countries in the calendar year 1985, as reported to the Development Assistance Committee of the OECD in Paris, was estimated at $176.13 million. This figure included private export credits and direct investment by New Zealand interests ($48.7 million) and transfers by New Zealand voluntary agencies ($16.5 million).

Bilateral assistance in 1985–86.

Under bilateral (government-to-government) programmes, New Zealand responds to the development priorities established by the developing countries themselves, mainly in the South Pacific and South-east Asia. Development projects are the main form of assistance. Hundreds of projects are involved, and New Zealand inputs of expertise and/or material and capital resources are often committed for several years ahead.

The main purpose of bilateral assistance is to promote the economic and social development of the partner countries and raise living standards. Emphasis is placed on increasing productivity through livestock and pasture programmes, assistance with crops, and the development of forestry, fisheries and energy resources. Advisors' assignments Vary from a few weeks to several years. In 1985–86 the programme had 49 long-term advisors in the field, and several hundred on short-term assignments.

The transfer of expertise to developing countries is supplemented by study and training awards. In 1985–86 there were about 670 students in New Zealand and about 210 at ‘third country’ institutions. The training is linked to specific needs in the recipient countries. Bilateral assistance is complemented in the South Pacific and South-east Asia by programmes promoting regional cooperation, particularly in forestry, education, livestock improvement, transport, communications and trade promotion. Bilateral assistance also includes emergency and distress relief.

The breakdown by country in table 4.2 shows the direction and quantity of New Zealand assistance.

Table 4.2. BILATERAL OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE, 1985–86

South Pacific—$(000)
  Cook Islands13,318
  Federated States of Micronesia6
  Fiji5,849
  Kiribati1,490
  New Caledonia4
  Niue6,482
  Papua New Guinea4,729
  Solomon Islands1,670
  Tokelau3,331
  Tonga4,991
  Tuvalu1,737
  Vanuatu1,743
  Western Samoa6,808
  Regional3,634
      Total Pacific55,792
Asia—
  ASEAN—
    Indonesia3,045
    Malaysia254
    Philippines2,252
    Singapore118
    Thailand1,447
    Regional1,073
      Subtotal8,189
  Other Asian
    Bangladesh211
    India127
    Kampuchea100
    Korea (South)48
    Laos28
    Maldives19
    Nepal100
    Pakistan39
    Sri Lanka71
    Regional544
      Subtotal1,287
      Total Asia9,476
Africa—
  Botswana61
  Kenya27
  Malawi10
  Seychelles29
  Tanzania167
  Uganda18
  Zambia11
  Zimbabwe37
  Regional344
      Total Africa704
South America—
  Colombia146
  Chile39
  Peru119
  Ecuador16
      Total South America320
Central America and Caribbean—
  Barbados1
  Jamaica16
  Mexico262
  St. Lucia1
      Total Central America and Caribbean280
Middle East—
  Egypt6
      Total Middle East6
Other bilateral—
  Voluntary agencies1,572
  Information66
  Miscellaneous205
  Study and training institutes (NZ)460
      Total other2,303
      Total bilateral assistance68,881
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Multilateral development assistance in 1985–86.

The multilateral programme enables New Zealand to make a contribution to development work which would usually be beyond the scope of the bilateral programme, either in terms of the scale of the projects or in their ability to help countries beyond the regions where assistance is concentrated.

Multilateral disbursements in 1985–86 amounted to $14.7 million. Contributions to United Nations, Commonwealth, South Pacific and international development finance institutions and agencies followed the pattern of previous years.

Table 4.3. MULTILATERAL OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE, 1985–86

United Nations institutions—NZ$(000)
  UN Development Programme2,000
  UN Disaster Relief Office10
  World Food Programme800
  UN Children's Fund700
  UN Fund for Population Activities350
  UN Relief and Works Agency120
  UN High Commission for Refugees100
  UN Voluntary Fund for Decade of Women24
      Total United Nations4,104
African relief and rehabilitation—
  UN Office for Emergency Operations in Africa1,000
  UN High Commissioner for Refugees200
  UN Children's Fund200
  International Committee of the Red Cross70
  World Food Programme208
  World Health Organisation Tropical Diseases Research and Training70
  Southern African Development Coordination Conference217
  UN Education and Training Programme for Southern Africa20
  UN Trust Fund for Southern Africa10
  UN Trust Fund for Namibia10
  Botswana Food Aid (via World Food Programme)500
      Total African relief2,505
South Pacific institutions—
  South Pacific Commission856
  South Pacific Bureau for Economic Co-operation592
  Forum Fisheries Agency590
      Total South Pacific2,038
Development finance institutions—
  International Development Association (IDA)2,500
  Asian Development Bank (ADB)—Asian Development Fund1,333
  Asian Development Bank—Technical Assistance Special Fund (TASF)75
  International Fund for Agricultural Development300
      Total development finance4,208
Commonwealth programmes—
  Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation1,000
  Commonwealth Youth Programme70
  Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau75
  Commonwealth Heads of Government Special Account50
      Total Commonwealth1,195
Other contributions—
  International Rice Research Institute25
  International Planned Parenthood Fund250
  International Committee of the Red Cross58
  Refugee relief300
      Total other633
      Total multilateral aid14,683

4.2 International organisations

United Nations

The United Nations was formed 42 years ago on 24 October 1945. New Zealand was a founding member and, since then, successive governments of this country have strongly supported the UN as a major instrument for maintaining peace and security, for developing friendly relations among countries, for encouraging international co-operation aimed at solving economic and social problems, and for promoting respect for human rights. New Zealand continues to play an active and prominent role in the UN system.

Over the years the range and complexity of functions of the United Nations and its specialised agencies have steadily grown. New Zealand concentrates on areas where it can play a useful role in matters directly affecting its interests.

In pursuit of its anti-nuclear commitment, New Zealand has continued to press for progress on a wide range of arms control and disarmament issues. New Zealand's views are presented at the Conference of Disarmament in Geneva in statements calling for a ban on all nuclear testing and for the conclusion of a treaty banning the development, production and stockpiling of chemical weapons. New Zealand took part in the Biological Weapons Review Conference, which concluded favourably in Geneva in September 1986, and co-sponsored a number of arms control and disarmament resolutions at the 1986 session of the General Assembly, including one calling for the early negotiation of a comprehensive test ban. At a regional level New Zealand has been a strong supporter of the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty, which it ratified on 13 November, 1986. The treaty came into force on 11 December 1986. New Zealand has also continued to contribute to peacekeeping operations. Five officers served with UNTSO in 1986, and financial contributions of over $1,100,000 were made to the various peacekeeping operations.

New Zealand has continued to participate in humanitarian relief work, for example, working closely with the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), particularly to resettle Indo-Chinese refugees. (A $130,000 grant was made for Kampuchean refugees in Thailand.) The Government also contributed $500,000 to UNHCR in 1986–87, and another $85,000 for the UNHCR's General Programme Appeal to assist refugees in Africa. In 1986 a special payment of $500,000 was made to the Office for Emergency Operations in Africa, while $250,000 was made as a voluntary contribution to the Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and $1 million was given to the World Food Programme. There has been an annual grant of $1 million to the Children's Fund (UNICEF), plus a special grant in 1986 of $500,000 for UNICEF's emergency operations in southern Sudan. New Zealand's voluntary contribution to the Red Cross (ICRC) has been increased to $150,000, and in 1986 an extra $100,000 was provided for special relief in Africa, Lebanon and the Philippines.

Human rights issues, including the eradication of all forms of racism and racial discrimination, remain an important concern. During 1986 reports were prepared under the international human rights instruments to which New Zealand is party, including the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. In the same year we signed the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and provided $25,000 to the United Nations fund for the rehabilitation of torture victims. New Zealand continued to support balanced resolutions at the Commission on Human Rights and at the UN General Assembly designed to set relevant new standards to protect human rights or to encourage nations to uphold the principles of the UN human rights instruments.

New Zealand also plays a full part in all aspects of international economic and development activity, not only in the UN agencies but also in the annual meetings of the IBRD (World Bank) and the IMF, and in Commonwealth and regional groupings that seek to stabilise international trade and finance. New Zealand continues to emphasise the special requirements of the South Pacific island countries, many not represented at the UN. New Zealand contributed substantially ($3 million) to the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and is on the Governing Council of UNDP from January 1986 to December 1988.

United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

The delegation to the 41st session of UNGA, in 1986, was led by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Hon. F. D. O'Flynn. In his speech in the general debate he placed special emphasis on the United Nations' role in protecting small states. He also spoke on arms control issues including the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone, the elimination of agricultural protection, reinscription of New Caledonia onto the list of non-self-governing territories, political and economic issues in the South Pacific region and the UN financial crisis. Subsequent debate in the assembly centred on recent events. These included global economic issues, racism and apartheid, the Middle East, refugees, arms control and disarmament, humanitarian relief for Africa, human rights, and New Caledonia. In these areas New Zealand contributed by either co-sponsoring or supporting proposals intended to remove the potential for armed conflict, eliminate international tension, create fair and just economic and political systems, facilitate decolonisation and provide humanitarian relief and development assistance to the needy.

The specialised agencies.

The UN system encompasses 16 autonomous organisations, known as the specialised agencies, and a large number of additional bodies with their own secretariats, budgets and operations. Among the largest of these is the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) which aims to raise levels of nutrition and global living standards, to promote agriculture and food security, and to expand the world economy. Similarly the World Health Organisation (WHO) seeks ‘the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health’, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) seeks to improve working and living conditions and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) seeks to increase international co-operation through education, science and culture.

Four agencies participate in efforts to increase the stability of international trade and to promote the economic development of less developed countries. These are the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, or the World Bank), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the International Development Association (IDA).

Other UN special agencies of which New Zealand is a member, are concerned with civil aviation (ICAO), agricultural development (IFAD), maritime safety (IMO), telecommunications (ITU), postal services (UPU), patents and trademarks (WIPO), and climate and weather (WMO) and industrial development (UNIDO).

Contributions to United Nations.

Contributions to the UN budget are based on members' capacity to pay. In 1986 New Zealand's assessed contribution rate was set at 0.24 percent, resulting in dues of $3,014,599.

Along with many other countries, New Zealand has been concerned at the rapidly rising costs of running the United Nations and related bodies. Moreover, the failure of certain members to either pay their dues in time, or in full, coupled with administrative inefficiencies has led to a serious financial crisis. New Zealand supported the establishment of a group of experts to deal with this situation and has sought to ensure that the group's recommendations for financial and administrative reform can be implemented. Contributions to the budgets of specialised agencies are also fixed according to a scale of assessment agreed by the membership as a whole.

Contributions to various other UN bodies are on a voluntary basis. New Zealand's voluntary contributions for the year 1985–86 are shown in tables 4.2 and 4.3.

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

The GATT was established in 1948 to provide rules for international trade and a forum for the settlement of trade problems. New Zealand was one of the original 23 signatories, and there are now 92 members.

The main objective is the reduction of trade barriers and other protectionist measures which distort international competition. To this end, seven rounds of multilateral trade negotiations have been conducted under GATT auspices. These have achieved a progressive reduction in tariffs and a refinement of the rules for international trade. In September 1986 member countries agreed at a ministerial level meeting in Punta del Este, Uruguay, to embark on an eighth round of negotiations. New Zealand's priority in this round is to ensure that trade in agricultural products, which has never been fully integrated into the GATT system, is dealt with satisfactorily. Other major issues include the negotiation of rules for trade in services and improved rules and disciplines for the use of subsidies and for dispute settlement. The Uruguay round is expected to last five or six years.

Other UN bodies.

In addition to the specialised agencies, many UN organisations help to seek solutions to international problems through diverse economic, development, humanitarian and technical activities. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) established ‘under the aegis of the United Nations’, supports peaceful uses of nuclear energy, while several bodies encourage economic development (UNDP, UNCTAD, IFAD), and others address issues as diverse and necessary as environmental protection, tourist promotion, drug abuse and population planning. Humanitarian concerns include the health and welfare of children (UNICEF), assistance to refugees (UNHCR and UNRWA) and the elimination of racism and of discrimination against women.

Commonwealth

As a member of the Commonwealth, New Zealand is able to consult and co-operate with the governments of roughly a quarter of the world's population through a wide variety of activities, both governmental and non-governmental. The value to New Zealand of Commonwealth links derives not only from the practical benefits of activities and programmes, but also from the Commonwealth's diversity. Its 49 members and two ‘special members’ encompass the six continents and the five oceans of the world. The Pacific region is now well represented: Fiji, Tonga, Western Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Kiribati and Vanuatu are full members, along with Australia and New Zealand. Nauru and Tuvalu have special membership status. The Cook Islands and Niue are not eligible for full membership because of their continuing constitutional association with New Zealand. In consequence they do not attend Commonwealth heads of government meetings, but are entitled to participate in Commonwealth meetings dealing with those subjects for which their governments are responsible.

A permanent Commonwealth Secretariat was set up in London in 1965 as the main agency for multilateral communication between governments. The secretariat promotes consultation and disseminates information on matters of common concern, organises meetings and conferences, and coordinates a wide range of other activities.

Heads of government meet every second year and a number of historic decisions have been taken at these meetings. These include the 1971 Commonwealth Declaration of Principles, the 1979 Lusaka Accord, which preceded the settlement of the Zimbabwe (Rhodesia) problem, and the 1977 Gleneagles Agreement discouraging sporting contacts with South Africa. The most recent meeting, held in Nassau in 1985, approved the Commonwealth Accord on Southern Africa. Heads of government of the Asia-Pacific region have also met regularly since 1978, most recently in Port Moresby in 1984. Commonwealth finance ministers meet annually, and ministers of labour, health, education and other disciplines also meet at varying intervals.

The Commonwealth's principal official development assistance programmes are financed by the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation, to which New Zealand contributed $1 million in 1986–87. New Zealand also takes part in the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan, contributing $632,000 in 1986–87. Contributions are made to a range of other intergovernmental Commonwealth co-operative programmes, and to agencies including the Commonwealth Youth Programme, the Commonwealth Science Council, the Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaus and the Asia-Pacific regional working groups. In the non-governmental area, New Zealand's main contribution is to the Commonwealth Foundation, established at the same time as the secretariat to promote close links in the professions throughout the Commonwealth.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

The Paris-based OECD aims to foster intergovernmental co-operation amongst its 24 members on matters relating to economic and social policy. It was formed in 1961, and currently the majority of its members are the large industrialised countries of the world. New Zealand joined in 1973 with the intention of voicing its opinions in OECD forums, which were of increasing importance in international decision-making.

New Zealand has concentrated its efforts on economic, agricultural, trade and energy consultations in the OECD, but has also been involved in education, labour affairs and environment work. The OECD exchanges, analyses and disseminates a wide variety of information, much of it useful for this country, including the OECD forecasts (Economic Outlook) and reports on individual countries. As part of the evaluation and reporting process, the New Zealand economy is periodically subjected to a thorough review within the OECD system. Its aid policy is reviewed regularly by the OECD's Development Assistance Committee.

An example of the benefits of OECD membership is current work on protectionism in agricultural trade, initiated by New Zealand, with the aim of quantifying levels of agricultural protectionism and finding ways of reducing it.

New Zealand is also a member of the International Energy Agency (IEA), an autonomous body set up in 1974 within the OECD framework. The IEA carries out a comprehensive programme of energy co-operation among 19 countries and works to promote co-operation between energy producing and consuming countries.

International Whaling Commission

Since New Zealand rejoined this commission in 1976, it has played an active role among the conservationist member nations. In June 1985 the New Zealand Whaling Commissioner, Mr I. L. G. Stewart, was elected Chairman of the IWC for a three-year term.

4.3 Ministry of Foreign Affairs and overseas posts

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has the primary responsibility for advising and assisting the Government on its relations with the outside world. This includes advising foreign governments of New Zealand's policies and keeping the Government informed of overseas developments affecting New Zealand's interests. Policy formulation is undertaken in relation to the country's economic, trade, political and security needs, and recommendations to the Government are prepared in close association with other government departments.

Other functions include the administration of the official programme of aid to developing countries and responsibility for all official New Zealand information and publicity activities overseas other than those relating specifically to trade promotion or tourism.

The ministry is the agency through which other governments and their representatives in New Zealand communicate with the Government. It also undertakes foreign affairs and defence functions for the Cook Islands and Niue after consultation with their respective heads of government. It administers Tokelau.

In addition, it is responsible for operating and administering the network of diplomatic and consular posts listed below. These posts represent and pursue New Zealand's interests overseas through a variety of ways, including participation in international negotiations, the gathering of information, and the promotion of a favourable New Zealand image. The posts perform services overseas on behalf of all government departments and give assistance to New Zealanders overseas, whether travelling in official or private capacities, and are responsible for the overseas issue of passports and visas.

Overseas posts

For further information on the overseas posts listed below, refer to the publication New Zealand Representatives Overseas, on sale at Government Bookshops.

AustraliaHigh Commission, Commonwealth Avenue, Canberra, A.C.T. 2600.
Consulate, Standard Chartered Bank Building (8th Floor), 26 Flinders Street, Adelaide, (G.P.O. Box 1744, Adelaide, South Australia 5001).
Consulate-General, Watkins Place Building, 288 Edward Street, Brisbane, (G.P.O. Box 62, Brisbane, Qld. 4001).
New Zealand Tourist and Publicity Office, Brisbane, (as for Consulate-General).
Consulate-General, 330 Collins Street, Melbourne, (G.P.O. Box 2136 T, Melbourne, Vic. 3001).
New Zealand Tourist and Publicity Department Office, 332 Collins Street, Melbourne, (G.P.O. Box 2136 T, Melbourne, Vic. 3001).
Consulate, 16 St. George's Terrace (10th floor), Perth, (G.P.O. Box X2227, Perth, W.A. 6001).
Consulate-General, AMEV-UDC House, 115 Pitt Street, Sydney, (G.P.O. Box 365, Sydney, N.S.W. 2001).
New Zealand Tourist and Publicity Department Office, 115 Pitt Street, Sydney, (G.P.O. Box 614, Sydney N.S.W. 2000).
AustriaEmbassy, Lugeck 1, Vienna 1 (Postfach 1471, A-1011 Vienna).
BahrainEmbassy, Manama Centre Building, Government Road, Manama (P.O. Box 5881, Manama, Bahrain).
BangladeshHigh Commissioner resident in New Delhi (see under India).
BarbadosHigh Commissioner resident in Ottawa (see under Canada).
BelgiumEmbassy, Boulevard du Régent 47–48, 1000 Brussels.
BotswanaHigh Commissioner resident in Harare.
BrazilAmbassador resident in Santiago (see under Chile). Consulate, Rua Hungria 888–6°, CEP 01455, Sao Paulo.
BritainHigh Commission, New Zealand House, Haymarket, London SW 1Y 4TQ.
Brunei—High Commissioner resident in Kuala Lumpur (see under Malaysia).
BurmaAmbassador resident in Bangkok (see under Thailand).
CanadaHigh Commission, Metropolitan House, 99 Bank Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6G3.
Consulate, Suite 1260–701, West Georgia Street, I.B.M. Tower, Vancouver, B.C. (P.O. Box 10071, Pacific Centre, Vancouver, B.C. V7Y 1B6).
ChileEmbassy, Avenida Isidora Goyenechea 3516, Las Condes, Santiago (Casilla 112, Correo Las Condes, Santiago).
ChinaEmbassy, Ritan Dongerjie No. 1, Chaoyang District, Peking.
ColombiaAmbassador resident in Lima (see under Peru).
Cook IslandsNew Zealand Representative, 1st Floor, Philatelic Bureau Building, Takuvaine Road, Avarua, Rarotonga (P.O. Box 21, Rarotonga).
CyprusHigh Commissioner resident in Athens (see under Greece).
CzechoslovakiaAmbassador resident in Vienna (see under Austria).
DenmarkAmbassador resident in Brussels (see under Belgium).
EcuadorAmbassador resident in Lima (see under Peru).
EgyptAmbassador resident in Riyadh (see under Saudi Arabia).
European CommunitiesAmbassador resident in Brussels (see under Belgium).
FijiHigh Commission, Reserve Bank of Fiji Building, Pratt Street (P.O. Box 1378), Suva.
FinlandAmbassador resident in Moscow (see under U.S.S.R.).
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)See under United Nations.
FranceEmbassy, 7 ter, rue Léonard de Vinci, 75116 Paris.
Consulate-General, 4 Boulevard Vauban, Noumea, New Caledonia (Boîte Postale 2219, Noumea).
New Zealand Consulate, Air New Zealand Ltd, Vaima Centre, (B.P. 73), Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia.
German Democratic RepublicAmbassador resident in Vienna (see under Austria).
Germany, Federal Republic ofEmbassy, Bonn-Center, H1 902, Bundeskanzlerplatz, 5300 Bonn.
New Zealand Tourist and Publicity Department Office, Kaiserhofstrasse 7, 6000 Frankfurt/Main.
GreeceEmbassy, An. Tsoha 15–17, Ambelokipi, 115 21 Athens.
GuyanaHigh Commissioner resident in Ottawa (see under Canada).
Holy SeeAmbassador resident in Paris (see under France).
Hong KongHigh Commission, 3414 Connaught Centre, Connaught Road (G.P.O. Box 2790), Hong Kong.
HungaryAmbassador resident in Vienna (see under Austria).
India—High Commission, 25 Golf Links, New Delhi, 110003.
IndonesiaEmbassy, Jalan Diponegoro No. 41, Menteng, Jakarta. (P.O. Box 2439 JKT) Jakarta.
IranEmbassy, Avenue Mirza-ye-Shirazi, Shahid Ali-ye-Mirza, Hassani St, No. 29 (P.O. Box 11365–436), Tehran.
IraqEmbassy, 2D/19 Zuwiyah 2, Jadriyah (near Baghdad University), Baghdad. (P.O. Box 2350, Alwiyah, Baghdad.)
IrelandAmbassador resident in London (see under Britain).
ItalyEmbassy, Via Zara 28, Rome 00198.
JamaicaHigh Commissioner resident in Ottawa (see under Canada).
JapanEmbassy, 20–40 Kamiyama-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150.
Consulate-General, Daiwabank Semba Building 9 F, 4–21 Minamisemba 4-chome, Minami-ku, Osaka 542.
KenyaHigh Commissioner resident in Harare (see under Zimbabwe).
KiribatiHigh Commissioner resident in Suva (see under Fiji).
Korea, Republic ofEmbassy, Publishers' Association Building, No. 105–2 Sagan-dong, Chongro-ku (G.P.O. Box 1059), Seoul.
Laos—Ambassador resident in Bangkok (see under Thailand).
LuxembourgAmbassador resident in Brussels (see under Belgium).
MacauCommissioner resident in Hong Kong.
Malaysia—High Commission, 193 Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur, 50400 (P.O. Box 12003, Kuala Lumpur 50764).
MaldivesHigh Commissioner resident in Singapore.
MexicoEmbassy, Homero 229 Piso 8, 11570 Mexico D.F.
NauruHigh Commissioner resident in Suva (see under Fiji).
NepalHigh Commissioner resident in New Delhi (see under India).
NetherlandsEmbassy, Mauritskade 25, 2514 HD The Hague.
New CaledoniaSee under France.
NigeriaHigh Commissioner resident in London (see under Britain).
NiueNew Zealand Representative, Tapeu, Alofi (P.O. Box 78), Niue.
NorwayAmbassador resident in The Hague (see under Netherlands).
OmanAmbassador resident in Riyadh (see under Saudi Arabia).
OECDN.Z. Permanent Delegation is located at the Embassy in Paris (see under France).
PakistanAmbassador resident in Tehran (see under Iran).
Papua New GuineaHigh Commission, Waigani (P.O. Box 1144, Boroko) Port Moresby.
PeruEmbassy, Avenida Salaverry 3006, San Isidro, Lima 27 (Casilla 5587, Lima 100).
PhilippinesEmbassy, 3rd Floor, 126 Alfaro Street, Makati, Metro Manila (Box 2208, Makati Central P.O.).
PolandAmbassador resident in Vienna (see under Austria).
PortugalAmbassador resident in Rome (see under Italy).
RomaniaAmbassador resident in Vienna (see under Austria).
Saudi Arabia—Embassy, Airport Street, (P.O. Box 94397), Riyadh 11693.
SingaporeHigh Commission, 13 Nassim Road, Singapore 1025.
Solomon IslandsHigh Commission, Soltel House, Mendana Avenue (P.O. Box 697), Honiara.
SpainAmbassador resident in Paris (see under France).
Sri LankaHigh Commissioner resident in Singapore.
SwedenAmbassador resident in The Hague (see under Netherlands).
SwitzerlandAmbassador resident in Bonn (see under Germany, Federal Republic of).
Consulate-General, 28A Chemin du Petit-Saconnex, CH-1209 Geneva (Case Postale 334, CH-1211 Geneva 19).
TahitiSee under France.
TanzaniaHigh Commissioner resident in Harare (see under Zimbabwe).
Thailand—Embassy, 93 Wireless Road (P.O. Box 2719), Bangkok 5.
TokelauOffice for Tokelau Affairs, Savalalo Street, Apia, Western Samoa (P.O. Box 865, Apia).
TongaHigh Commission, Corner Taufa'ahau and Salote Roads, Nuku'alofa (P.O. Box 830).
Trinidad and TobagoHigh Commission resident in Ottawa (see under Canada).
Consulate, 69 Independence Square, Port of Spain, Trinidad W.1 (P.O. Box 118).
TuvaluHigh Commissioner resident in Suva (see under Fiji).
Union of Soviet Socialist RepublicsEmbassy, 44 Ulitsa Vorovskovo, Moscow 121069.
United Kingdomsee Britain.
United NationsPermanent Mission to the U.N. One U.N. Plaza, 25th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10017, U.S.A.
Permanent Mission, Geneva, located at Consulate-General in Geneva (see under Switzerland).
Permanent Mission, Vienna, located at Embassy in Vienna (see under Austria).
Permanent Delegation FAO, located at Embassy in Rome (see under Italy).
Permanent Delegation to UNESCO located at Embassy in Paris (see under France).
Permanent Delegation to U.N. Environment Programme (U.N.E.P.) located at Embassy in Athens.
United StatesEmbassy, 37 Observatory Circle N.W., Washington, D.C. 20008.
Trade Correspondent, Air New Zealand Ltd, Suite 1707, Waikiki Business Plaza, 2270 Kalakaua Avenue, Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96815.
Consulate-General, Suite 1530, Tishman Building, 10960 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, Ca. 90024.
New Zealand Tourist and Publicity Department Central Reservations Office, Plaza La Reina, Suite 1270, 6033 West Century Boulevard, Los Angeles, Ca 90045.
Consulate-General, Suite 530, Rockfeller Center, 630 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10111.
Trade Commission and Tourist and Publicity Department Office, Citicorp Centre, Suite 810, San Francisco, Ca 94104.
VanuatuHigh Commissioner resident in Honiara (see under Solomon Islands).
Vaticansee Holy See
VenezuelaAmbassador resident in Lima (see under Peru).
VietnamAmbassador resident in Bangkok (see under Thailand).
Western SamoaHigh Commission, Beach Road (P.O. Box 208), Apia.
YugoslaviaAmbassador resident in Athens (see under Greece).
ZimbabweHigh Commission, 6th floor, Batanai Gardens, 57 Stanley Avenue, (P.O. Box 5448), Harare.

Diplomatic, consular, and other representation in New Zealand—

For further information on the official overseas representation in New Zealand listed below refer to the publication Diplomatic Corps and Consular and Other Representatives on sale at Government Bookshops.

AustraliaAustralian High Commission, 72–78 Hobson Street, Wellington.
Consulate-General, 8th Floor, Union House, 32–38 Quay Street, Auckland.
AustriaAmbassador resident in Canberra.
Hon. Consul, Pastoral House, 23 The Terrace, Wellington.
Hon. Consul, 1 McColl Street, Auckland.
Bangladesh—High Commissioner resident in Canberra.
BelgiumEmbassy of Belgium, Robert Jones House, 1–3 Willeston Street, Wellington.
Hon. Consul, 13th Floor, Southern Cross Building, Victoria Street East, Auckland. Hon. Consul, 88A Hinau Street, Christchurch.
BrazilAmbassador resident in Canberra.
Hon. Consul, 8 Commerce Street, Auckland.
BritainBritish High Commission, Reserve Bank Building, 2 The Terrace, Wellington.
Consulate-General, Norwich Union Building, Queen Street, Auckland 1.
Hon. Consul, 44B Glandovey Road, Fendalton, Christchurch.
Brunei DarussalamHigh Commissioner resident in Bandar Seri Begawan.
BurmaAmbassador resident in Canberra.
CanadaCanadian High Commission, ICI House, 67 Molesworth Street, Wellington.
Vice-Consul (Commercial), Princess Court, 2 Princes Street, Auckland.
ChileEmbassy of the Republic of Chile, Robert Jones House, 1–3 Willeston Street, Wellington.
Hon. Consul, 21 Jellicoe Road, Panmure, Auckland.
Hon. Consul, P.O. Box 22–633, Christchurch.
ChinaEmbassy of the People's Republic of China, 2–6 Glenmore Street, Wellington.
ColombiaAmbassador resident in Jakarta.
Hon. Consul, 7 Armagh Road, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland.
Cook IslandsOffice of the Cook Islands Representative, 61 Kanpur Road, Broadmeadows, Wellington.
Consular Office of the Cook Islands, 330 Parnell Rd, Parnell, Auckland.
Costa RicaHon. Consul-General, 2–12 Parnell Road, Auckland.
Ambassador resident in Tokyo.
CyprusHigh Commissioner resident in Canberra.
CzechoslovakiaEmbassy of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, 12 Anne Street, Wellington.
DenmarkAmbassador resident in Canberra.
Hon. Consul-General, 105–109, The Terrace, Wellington.
Hon. Consul-General, Equiticorp Building, 73 Symonds Street, Auckland.
Hon. Consul, 124 Marshall Street, Woolston, Christchurch.
Hon. Consul, 12–20 St. Andrew Street, Dunedin.
EcuadorAmbassador resident in Tokyo.
Hon. Consul, National Mutual Building, 153 Featherston Street, Wellington.
EgyptEmbassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Dalmuir House, 114 The Terrace, Wellington.
El SalvadorHon. Consul, 24 Seccombes Road, Epsom, Auckland.
FijiFiji High Commission, Robert Jones House, 1–3 Willeston Street, Wellington.
Consul, Tower Block, 47 High Street, Auckland.
FinlandAmbassador resident in Canberra.
Hon. Consul-General, 25 Victoria Street, Wellington.
Hon. Consul, 20 Dilworth Avenue, Remuera, Auckland.
Hon. Consul, Durham Courts. 16 Wordsworth Street, Sydenham, Christchurch.
Hon. Consul, Mutual Fund Building, 11 Bond Street, Dunedin.
FranceEmbassy of France, 14th Floor, Robert Jones House, 1–3 Willeston Street, Wellington.
Hon. Consul, corner of Princes Street and Eden Crescent, Auckland 1.
Consul (Commercial), Wyndham Towers, Wyndham Street, Auckland.
Hon. Consul, c/o Teachers College, Christchurch.
Hon. Consul, c/o University of Otago, Dunedin.
German Democratic RepublicAmbassador resident in Canberra.
Germany (F.R.)Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, 90–92 Hobson Street, Wellington.
Hon. Consul, 17 Albert Street, Auckland 1.
Hon. Consul, 71 Cambridge Terrace, Christchurch.
GreeceAmbassador resident in Canberra.
Hon. Consul-General, 37 Courtenay Place, Wellington.
Holy SeeApostolic Nuncature, 112 Queen's Drive, Lyall Bay, Wellington 3.
HungaryAmbassador resident in Canberra.
IcelandHon. Consul-General, 88 Oriental Parade, Wellington
IndiaOffice of the High Commissioner for India, Princess Towers, 180 Molesworth Street, Wellington.
IndonesiaEmbassy of the Republic of Indonesia, 70 Glen Road, Kelburn, Wellington 1.
IranAmbassador resident in Canberra.
IraqAmbassador resident in Canberra.
IrelandAmbassador resident in Canberra.
Hon. Consul, Dingwall Building, 87 Queen Street, Auckland.
IsraelEmbassy of Israel, Williams City Centre, Plimmer Steps, Wellington.
ItalyEmbassy of Italy, 34 Grant Road, Wellington.
Hon. Consular Agent, Dingwall Building, 87 Queen Street, Auckland.
Hon. Consular Agent, 48 Seven Oaks Drive, Bryndwr, Chistchurch 5.
Hon. Consular Agent, 14 Shandon Road, Waverley, Dunedin.
JapanEmbassy of Japan, Norwich Insurance House, 3–11 Hunter Street, Wellington.
Consulate-General of Japan, National Mutual Building, 37–45 Shortland Street, Auckland.
Consular Office of Japan, General Building, 77 Hereford Street, Christchurch.
KiribatiHigh Commissioner resident in Tarawa.
Hon. Consul, 33 Great South Road, Otahuhu, Auckland.
KoreaEmbassy of the Republic of Korea, Williams City Centre, Plimmer Steps, Wellington.
Hon. Consul, Great Northern Centre, cnr Queen and Customs Streets, Auckland.
Hon. Consul, 126 Cashel Street, Christchurch.
LaosChargé d'Affaires resident in Canberra.
LebanonChargé d'Affaires resident in Canberra.
LibyaSecretary of the People's Committee resident in Canberra.
MalaysiaHigh Commission of Malaysia, Chase-NBA House, 163–165 The Terrace, Wellington.
Hon. Consul, 14 Hazeldean Road, Christchurch.
MaliAmbassador resident in Beijing.
MexicoAmbassador resident in Canberra.
Hon. Consul, Tatra House, 96 Tory Street, Wellington.
MongoliaAmbassador resident in Tokyo.
NauruConsulate-General, Samoa House, 283 Karangahape Road, Auckland.
NepalAmbassador resident in Tokyo.
NetherlandsRoyal Netherlands Embassy, 10th Floor, Investment Centre, corner Ballance and Featherston Streets, Wellington.
Hon. Consul-General, National Mutual Centre, 41 Shortland Street, Auckland.
Hon. Consul, Amsterdam House, 161–163 Kilmore Street, Christchurch.
NigeriaHigh Commissioner resident in Canberra.
NiueConsular Office, 4th Floor, Samoa House, 283 Karangahape Road, Auckland.
NorwayAmbassador resident in Canberra.
Hon. Consul-General, 105–109 The Terrace, Wellington.
Hon. Consul, 13 Brighton Terrace, Mairangi Bay, Auckland.
Hon. Consul, Scales House, 75 Kilmore Street, Christchurch.
Hon. Consul, 365 Princes Street, Dunedin.
Oman-Ambassador resident in Tokyo.
PakistanAmbassador resident in Canberra.
Hon. Consul, Commerce Bldg., 14 Emily Place, Auckland.
Papua New GuineaPapua New Guinea High Commission, 11th Floor, Princess Towers, 180 Molesworth Street, Wellington.
PeruEmbassy of Peru, 3rd Floor, 35–37 Victoria Street, Wellington.
Hon. Consul, 305 Remuera Road, Auckland.
PhilippinesEmbassy of the Philippines, P.O. Box 12–042, Wellington.
Hon. Consul-General, 93–97 Dominion Road, Mount Eden, Auckland 1.
PolandAmbassador resident in Canberra.
PortugalAmbassador resident in Canberra.
Hon. Consul, Southpac House, 1 Victoria Street, Wellington.
Hon. Consul, 117 Arney Road, Remuera, Auckland 5.
Hon. Consul, 330 Moray Place, Dunedin.
QatarAmbassador resident in Tokyo.
RomaniaEmbassy, 31 Doris Gordon Crescent, Crofton Downs, Wellington.
Saudi ArabiaAmbassador resident in Canberra.
SingaporeHigh Commission, 17 Kabul Street, Khandallah, Wellington.
Solomon IslandsHigh Commissioner resident in Honiara.
SpainAmbassador resident in Canberra.
Hon. Vice-Consul, c/o Lees Industries Ltd, Private Bag, Papakura, Auckland.
Hon. Vice-Consul, 148 Lichfield Street, Christchurch
Sri LankaHigh Commissioner resident in Canberra.
Consular of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Norwich Insurance House, 117/1 Queen Street, Auckland.
SwedenRoyal Swedish Embassy, Greenock House, 39 The Terrace, Wellington.
Hon. Consul, Emcom House, 75 Queen Street, Auckland.
Hon. Consul, 178 Cashel Street, Christchurch.
Hon. Consul, 40 Jetty Street, Dunedin.
Hon. Vice-Consul, The Crescent, Invercargill.
SwitzerlandEmbassy of Switzerland, Panama House, 22–24 Panama Street, Wellington.
Hon. Consul, 48 Carr Road, Mount Roskili, Auckland.
ThailandRoyal Thai Embassy, 2 Cook Street, Karon, Wellington.
TongaAgents for Tonga, 655 Great South Road, Penrose, Auckland.
TurkeyAmbassador resident in Canberra.
Hon. Consul-General, 201 Symonds Street, Auckland.
TuvaluHon. Consul, 33 Great South Road, Otahuhu, Auckland.
UruguayChargé d'Affaires resident in Canberra.
U.S.A.Embassy of the United States of America, 29 Fitzherbert Terrace, Wellington 1.
Consulate-General, General Building, cnr Shortland and O'Connell Streets, Auckland.
Consular Agent, c/o Lawrence Anderson Buddie, P.O. Box 13250, Christchurch.
U.S.S.R.Embassy of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 57 Messines Road, Karori, Wellington.
VanuatuHigh Commissioner resident in Port Vila.
VenezuelaAmbassador resident in Canberra.
VietnamAmbassador resident in Canberra.
Western SamoaHigh Commission for Western Samoa, 1A Wesley Road, Kelburn, Wellington.
Consulate-General, Samoa House, 283 Karangahape Road, Auckland.
YugoslaviaEmbassy of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, 24 Hatton Street, Wellington.
Hon. Consul, A.M.P. Building, corner of Queen and Victoria Streets, Auckland.
ZambiaHigh Commissioner resident in Canberra.
European CommunitiesHead of Delegation resident in Canberra.

4.4 New Zealand territories

Tokelau

A territory under New Zealand's administration, Tokelau is a scattered group of three small atolls in the South Pacific with a total land area of about 12 square kilometres and an estimated population of 1690 in 1986. Sovereignty was transferred from Britain, and Tokelau included within the boundaries of New Zealand in 1948. Tokelau lies between Micronesia and Polynesia, but its inhabitants are Polynesian. They retain linguistic, family and cultural links with Western Samoa, although the culture of Tokelau is distinctively shaped by its atoll environment. Tokelauan is spoken, with English as a second language.

Administrative responsibility for Tokelau lies with the Administrator, Mr H. H. Francis, Deputy Secretary of Foreign Affairs, who lives in Wellington. Many of his powers are delegated to the Official Secretary who heads the Office for Tokelau Affairs, based in Apia by agreement with Western Samoa. The Administrator reports annually to the New Zealand Parliament.

New Zealand is committed to helping Tokelau towards greater self-government and economic self-sufficiency. In 1976, 1981 and 1986 invited missions from the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation visited Tokelau and were advised by the people that they did not, for the time being, wish to review the existing ties between New Zealand and the territory. New Zealand takes steps to ensure that the Tokelau Public Service meets Tokelau's administrative, social, economic and development requirements. The Public Service numbered 186 at 31 March 1986. Almost all public servants are Tokelauans.

New Zealand provided $3.4 million of budgetary aid in the year ended 31 March 1987. Tokelau also receives considerable assistance from various international agencies, the UN Development Programme being the largest donor. Western Samoa gives much practical assistance, particularly medical.

Tokelau has a separate legal system, and local government is conducted through representative institutions. The faipule and pulenuku are elected every three years by adult suffrage.

Tokelau's economy, largely subsistence, is based on fishing, crops and livestock, although the soil is barren and resists fertilisation. The territory's size, isolation and lack of land-based resources give little scope for economic development, although measures have been taken to redistribute available cash income. Each atoll has a small general hospital and a primary school.

Ross Dependency

The Ross Dependency consists of the land, permanent ice-shelf and islands of Antarctica between 160 degrees east and 150 degrees west. The land is almost all covered by ice, and is uninhabited except for people working on scientific research programmes. New Zealand has exercised jurisdiction over the territory since 1923, has maintained an Antarctic Scientific Research Programme since 1957 and operates Scott Base on Ross Island as a permanent base, with a seasonal base at Lake Vanda in the Dry Valleys region. New Zealand is an original party to the Antarctic Treaty, which requires Antarctica to be used for peaceful purposes only and promotes international co-operation, freedom of scientific investigation, and exchange of information and scientific personnel. The 32 parties to the treaty meet regularly to consider questions within its framework.

4.5 Defence

Control and co-ordination of defence

The Governor-General as Commander-in-Chief is empowered to raise and maintain the Royal New Zealand Navy, the New Zealand Army, and the Royal New Zealand Air Force. These forces, together with public servants appointed under the State Services Act 1962, constitute the Ministry of Defence, which is responsible under the minister for the central control of the whole field of national defence.

The Secretary of Defence is permanent head of the ministry and principal civilian adviser to the Minister, responsible in particular for co-ordinating the business of the ministry as a whole, including long-term financial planning as well as supervision of defence expenditure. In accordance with the State Services Conditions of Employment Act 1977, the Secretary of Defence prescribes the pay, allowances, expenses, and other conditions of employment of all service personnel.

The Chief of Defence Staff is principal military adviser to the minister; and is convenor and chairperson of the Chiefs of Staff Committee and conveys its advice to the minister. Like the Secretary of Defence, the Chief of Defence Staff carries out inspections of the services and reports to the minister.

Defence Council.

The Defence Council is responsible for the administration and, through the officers appointed for the purpose, the command of the New Zealand armed forces. The Defence Council consists of the Minister as chairperson, the Secretary of Defence and the Chief of Defence Staff as deputy chairpersons, and the Chiefs of Staff of the three services. The Secretary to the Treasury and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs are associate members. In addition, the council may from time to time co-opt officers of other government departments. Without limiting the duties of the Secretary of Defence or the Chief of Defence Staff, the Defence Council assists the minister in formulating defence policy or recommendations.

Defence Headquarters reorganisation.

Changes to the central structure of the Ministry of Defence came into effect in February 1987. Clear lines of control are established from the Chief of Defence Staff and the Secretary of Defence in respect of planning and development of military forces on the one hand, and corporate programming and budgeting for provision of required resources on the other. The new arrangements will provide for more effective direct command and control of national forces, in keeping with the Government's policy of developing greater self-reliance. Part of the reorganisation was the establishment of a Joint Operations Command.

Defence policy.

Significant progress was made on a comprehensive review of defence policy during 1986. The first phase of the review process, the hearing of public submissions by the Defence Committee of Enquiry, was completed when the committee's report was released in August. From September, an interdepartmental Defence Review Committee of officials from the Prime Minister's Department, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Treasury worked towards the issue of a Defence White Paper.

Defence science.

The co-ordination of defence science policy is carried out by the Ministry of Defence in conjunction with the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Commonwealth and allied co-ordination is achieved through membership of specialised bodies.

The Defence Scientific Establishment at Devonport is the main research centre in the Ministry of Defence; its work relates mainly to the operation of defence equipment in New Zealand conditions. It specialises in the fields of metallurgy, underwater acoustics, electronics and computer science. The research ship HMNZS Tui is operated by the Navy for the defence science programme.

Electronic Data Processing (EDP)—Computing services in support of non-operational activities throughout the Ministry of Defence are provided by the Directorate of Defence EDP. The directorate is responsible for the planning, development, introduction and support of all administrative computer and associated information systems. At present, a computer centre is operated at Porirua, with planning underway to establish a back-up site in Auckland and a development centre in central Wellington.

International defence relationships

ANZUS.

This tripartite security treaty involving Australia, New Zealand and the United Staves came into force on 29 April 1952. Under the treaty each party recognises that an armed attack in the Pacific on any of the parties would be dangerous to its own peace and safety and declares that it would act to meet the common danger in accordance with its constitutional processes. Because of the dispute between New Zealand and the United States over the introduction of nuclear weapons into New Zealand ports and over visits of nuclear-propelled vessels, the ANZUS Council has not met since 1984.

The Five Power Defence Arrangements.

The basis of the Five Power Defence Arrangements is not a formal treaty but a statement incorporated in the communique of the meeting of ministers of the five powers (Britain, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand) held in London in April 1971. At that meeting the ministers declared, in relation to the external defence of Malaysia and Singapore, “that in the event of any form of armed attack externally organised or supported or the threat of such attack against Malaysia or Singapore, their governments would immediately consult together for the purpose of deciding what measures should be taken jointly or separately in relation to such attack or threat”.

Under these arrangements the Australian Government maintains an RAAF presence in Malaysia, while the New Zealand Government maintains a contingent in Singapore (known as New Zealand Force South-east Asia).

In December 1986 it was announced in the context of the Defence Review that the contingent in Singapore would be redeployed to New Zealand by the end of 1989.

Manila Treaty.

Australia, Britain, France, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, and the United States signed the South East Asia Collective Defence Treaty, or the Manila Treaty, on 8 September 1954. Although the South-east Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO) established under the treaty was phased out in 1977, the treaty was not abrogated.

Missions of the New Zealand Armed Forces.

To achieve current defence policy objectives, the armed forces have the following missions:

  1. To provide forces capable of quick response to any threat to New Zealand itself, of controlling the Exclusive Economic Zone, and at the same time of upholding New Zealand's wider national interests in the area of prime concern—the New Zealand region and the South Pacific.

  2. To maintain trained, mobile, and self-sufficient forces to provide, on request, military assistance, technical aid, surveillance of outside activities, search and rescue, and disaster relief services in the South Pacific.

  3. To achieve the greatest possible degree of interaction with the Australian Defence Force.

  4. To participate effectively alongside allied units in military exercises.

  5. To maintain a capability for limited support of national research and other interests in Antarctica.

  6. To undertake limited joint training and exercises by invitation in South east Asia, as a demonstration of continuing interest in stability and security in that region, and to continue to respond to requests from the ASEAN and South Pacific countries for limited military training in New Zealand.

  7. To provide a capability to contribute to international peacekeeping operations.

  8. To provide assistance to the New Zealand community.

Co-operation with other countries.

To facilitate exchanges on military matters, defence representatives are posted to New Zealand diplomatic missions in London, Canberra, Washington, and Jakarta and with the New Zealand Force South-east Asia (accredited to Singapore. Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Brunei). In addition, some members of these staffs are also accredited to other countries. The United Kingdom, Australia, and Malaysia have service representatives attached to their respective High Commissions in Wellington and there are service attache's on the staffs of the French, Indonesian, and United States embassies in Wellington. Several other countries have service attache's accredited to, but not resident in, New Zealand.

Armed forces overseas

Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA)—New Zealand Force South-east Asia is an independent national formation commanded by a senior New Zealand officer, and currently comprises a light infantry battalion, a utility helicopter support unit comprising three helicopters, a headquarters, and technical workshops, supply and administration units. Current personnel strength is 747, with 504 locally employed civilians. One officer is also attached to the staff of the FPDA's Integrated Air Defence System Headquarters at Butterworth in Malaysia.

United Nations observers—New Zealand currently has four observers stationed in the Middle East with the United Nations Truce Supervisory Organisation (UNTSO).

Sinai Multinational Force and Observers—New Zealand is a contributor to the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) in Sinai which was set up to verify compliance with the terms of the Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel. New Zealand's contribution for a two-year period from April 1986 will comprise two Army officers seconded to MFO headquarters in the Sinai and four 12-man Army training and advisory teams on six-month tours of duty.

Mutual Assistance Programme (MAP)—ASEAN and South Pacific countries participate in New Zealand's Mutual Assistance Programme. The programme is a practical demonstration of New Zealand's commitment to regional security. It contributes to the effectiveness of the armed forces in New Zealand's South Pacific neighbourhood and in South-east Asia through training and advisory assistance; and by assisting in development projects utilising the armed forces engineering and trade skills. The range and scope of MAP activities is determined by New Zealand's partners, who have widely different needs. The most common forms of assistance are the provision of formal courses or on-the-job training attachments in New Zealand, the deployment of training and technical teams overseas, the attachment of military instructors to other armed forces for periods of up to two years; and civic action projects in the engineering and medical fields.

Antarctica support—From October to December 1986 RNZAF C130 Hercules made 14 return trips to McMurdo Sound, transporting 172 832 kg of freight and 501 passengers. All three services provided ship and air cargo handlers at Harewood and McMurdo Sound during the summer season. Additionally, 22 Royal New Zealand Army Engineers assisted in rebuilding accommodation and work facilities at Scott Base.

Exercises—In July and August 1986 all three services participated in Exercise Joint Venture ‘86 in the Cook Islands. The exercise, which involved some 1000 service personnel, was the first time New Zealand's armed forces have exercised under a national joint command. Also, a 36-strong detachment from the Army's 1st NZSAS group and the RNZAF undertook a week-long special forces exercise in Niue in October.

Community assistance

Hydrographic survey.

The RNZN is the sole authority for the production of nautical charts in New Zealand and operates a survey ship, HMNZS Monowai and two inshore survey craft, HMNZ ships Takapu and Tarapunga. The Hydrographic Office also provides tidal analysis data and predictions. During 1986 Monowai conducted surveys in the South Pacific region, including the Cook Islands in conjunction with Exercise Joint Venture. Takapu and Tarapunga conducted mine countermeasure exercises at Lyttelton and Dunedin among other survey tasks.

Fishery protection.

The Navy's frigates are employed part-time and the four patrol craft are employed full-time on fishery protection patrols within New Zealand's 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone. Surveillance flights of the zone are undertaken by RNZAF Orion, Andover and Friendship aircraft.

Search and rescue (SAR).

Both the Air Force and the Navy maintain a search and rescue capability, and both services have taken part in extensive sea and land searches in the past 12 months. During this period the Air Force rescued 31 people.

Disaster relief.

Fiji—An RNZAF Iroquois helicopter and crew was sent to Fiji by RNZAF Hercules in April 1986, in response to a Fiji Government request for assistance after heavy rain and flooding. The Iroquois flew 48 hours and transported 362 passengers and 27 828 kg of freight in and around the main island of Viti Less during the mission.

Cook Islands—The RNZAF used C130 Hercules to transport relief supplies and personnel to Rarotonga and outlying islands after a cyclone struck on New Year's Day 1987. A joint team of New Zealand Army and British engineers assisted at Rarotonga and Mangaia.

Miscellaneous.

Other assistance provided to the community included co-operation tasks with the Police (helicopter support for searches for marijuana plantations) and the Departments of Maori Affairs, Internal Affairs and Survey and Land Information, the Ministry of Civil Defence, and the Meteorological Service, explosive ordnance disposal; and the carriage of supplies and personnel to New Zealand offshore islands on behalf of other government departments.

New Zealand Cadet Forces.

Cadet forces were established under the Defence Act 1971 and comprise the Sea Cadets, Air Training Corps and Cadet Corps (previously known as the School Cadet Corps). They are community-based youth training groups aimed at teaching leadership, comradeship, self-confidence and good citizenship to young people between the ages of 13 and 18 years. The Cadet Forces are supported by the Navy League, Air Cadet League, Returned Servicemens' Association, Army Association and schools. The Ministry of Defence assists only to the extent necessary to preserve the special military character of the organisation.

As at 31 December 1985, there were a total of 81 Cadet units (17 Sea Cadet, 49 Air Training Corps and 15 Cadet Corps units). Cadet Forces strength at the same date was 378 officers and 4029 cadets.

Defence expenditure

About 70 percent of Vote Defence was spent within New Zealand, mainly on salaries, capital works, servicing, and general operating costs in 1985–86. There is a deliberate policy to encourage greater logistic self-sufficiency, both within New Zealand and in conjunction with Australia.

Table 4.4. DEFENCE EXPENDITURE

ItemYear Ended 31 March
1983198419851986
 $(million)
Personnel333.64332.75365.97390.44
Travel, transport, and communications21.3926.3128.7831.13
Maintenance, operation, upkeep, and rental41.6148.3054.2866.65
Materials and supplies124.32139.15150.60185.91
Services13.4417.3216.2319.58
Other operating expenditure4.894.936.195.91
Grants, contributions, subsidies0.480.330.360.38
Capital works18.9418.4716.6722.15
Capital equipment93.4285.42127.33148.30
      Total652.13672.98756.41870.45
Source: Ministry of Defence.

Table 4.5. DEFENCE EXPENDITURE RELATED TO GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE

Year Ended 31 MarchDefence ExpenditurePercentage of Government Expenditure*Percentage of Gross Domestic Product

* Excludes repayment of public debt.

Source: Ministry of Defence.

 $(million)percentpercent
1982593.654.82.0
1983652.134.82.0
1984672.984.72.0
1985756.414.71.9
1986870.454.61.9

Table 4.6. NUMBER OF DEFENCE PERSONNEL

As at 31 MarchNavyArmyAir ForceTotalCivilians
19822,8615,6764,27112,8083,315
19832,8575,5904,40912,8563,284
19842,7455,5634,29612,6043,219
19852,6875,4314,30612,4243,097
19862,6195,8144,17612,6093,073
Source: Ministry of Defence.

Royal New Zealand Navy

Command and administration.

The Chief of Naval Staff exercises command and control of the Royal New Zealand Navy and is assisted by the Naval Staff as well as the integrated staff of Defence Headquarters.

State of the Navy.

Seagoing ships:

* On loan from U.S. Navy.
Frigates (Leander class)Wellington11th Frigate Squadron.
Southland
Waikato
Canterbury
Survey shipMonowai 
Research shipTui* 
Patrol craftHaweaFirst New Zealand Patrol Craft Squadron.
Taupo
Rotoiti
Pukaki
Inshore survey craftTakapu 
Tarapunga 
Moa 
RNZNVR inshore patrol craftKiwi 
Wakakura 
Hinau 
Diving tenderManawanui 
Dockyard service craftArataki 

HMNZS Wellington completed a three-year refit in 1986 and was recommissioned on 7 July 1986.

Shore establishments.

The naval base at Devonport, Auckland, consists of the office of the Commodore Auckland (the operational authority of the RNZN), HMNZS Philomel (the naval barracks and base support establishment), the Royal New Zealand Naval Hospital, the Naval Supply Depot, and the Dockyard. The dockyard is capable of refitting all units of the Navy and this capability was improved by the purchase of the Calliope dry dock in February 1987.

HMNZS Tamaki is the training establishment for the Navy and is located at Narrow Neck, Devonport, Auckland. The RNZN Armament Depot is situated at Kauri Point and the RNZN Hydrographic Office is at Takapuna.

HMNZS Irirangi is the naval to receiving and transmitting station and is situated at Waiouru.

HMNZS Wakefield is the administrative unit for RNZN personnel in the Wellington area.

Table 4.7. STRENGTH OF THE NAVY

CategoryAt 31 Match
1983198419851986
Regular forces—
  Officers (male and female)405404396366
  Ratings (male and female)2,4522,3412,2912,253
      Total2 8572 7452 6872 619
Non-regular forces
  Royal New Zealand Naval Reserve (officers)5444
  Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve (all ranks)407439462475
  Royal New Zealand Navy Emergency List (officers)39355252
  Royal New Zealand Naval Fleet Reserve (ratings)780772712762
      Total1 2311 2501 2301 293
Source. Ministry of Defence.

Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve—There is a division of the Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve in each of the four main centres—Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin—where reservists are given basic naval training.

New Zealand Army

The Army is raised, maintained and organised under the Defence Act 1971. It comprises regular, territorial, and reserve elements and is structured to provide the following operational options:

  1. A Ready Reaction Force based on an infantry battalion group consisting of Regular Force personnel.

  2. An Integrated Expansion Force of brigade group size, made up of Regular and Territorial Force personnel.

  3. A deployable Force Maintenance Group, comprising Regular and Territorial Force personnel.

  4. A further expansion capability based on existing units which would be expanded when required.

Command and administration.

The Chief of General Staff commands the Army, supported by the General Staff and the staff of Defence Headquarters. Command over New Zealand Army units is exercised as follows:

  1. Headquarters Land Force Command is responsible for provision of the Ready Reaction Force, Integrated Expansion Force, Territorial Force manpower management, collective training and Army input into any deployed national headquarters.

  2. Headquarters Support Command is responsible for provision of the Force Maintenance Group, individual training, force logistic support and base (home) support.

State of the Army—

Major Regular Force units—

2 infantry battalions (1 in Singapore); 1 armoured reconnaissance squadron; and 1 field artillery battery.

Major Integrated Regular Force/Territorial Force units—

6 infantry battalions; 2 artillery regiments; 3 armoured squadrons (1 reconnaissance, 3 armoured personnel carrier, 1 anti-armoured); 4 engineer squadrons; 4 signals squadrons; 1

SAS group; 3 transport squadrons; 5 composite transport squadrons; 4 field workshops; 1 base workshop; 3 supply companies; 1 base supply battalion; 2 medical battalions; 1 field hospital.

Major weapons and armoured fighting vehicles—

26 combat reconnaissance vehicles (tracked); 78 M113 armoured personnel-carrier family of vehicles; 10 5.5 inch medium guns; 44 105 mm guns/howitzers; 19 106 mm recoilless rifles.

Table 4.8. STRENGTH OF THE ARMY

CategoryAt 31 March
1983198419851986

* Class A and Class B reserves.

Source: Ministry of Defence.

Regular forces
  Officers (male and female)786802778824
  Other ranks (male and female)4,8044,7614,6534,990
      Total5 5905 5635 4315 814
Non-regular forces
  Territorial Force (all ranks)6,1016,2995,9635,821
  Officers Reserve568613626610
  Other ranks*1,2571,1301,2631,259
      Total7 9268 0427 8527 690

Royal New Zealand Air Force

Command and administration.

The RNZAF is structured to provide forces for maritime surveillance and reconnaissance, offensive air support and air transport in New Zealand's area of interest.

The Chief of Air Staff commands the Royal New Zealand Air Force and is supported by the Air Staff and the staff of Defence Headquarters.

Organisation.

The RNZAF in New Zealand is organised into two functional groups: Operations Group, with its headquarters at RNZAF Base Auckland, is responsible for all operational functions and operational flying training; Support Group, with its headquarters at RNZAF Base Wigrarn, is responsible for all formal individual training (except advanced pilot training) and certain support functions such as supply and depot level maintenance. RNZAF Base Shelly Bay acts as the administrative and domestic base for all RNZAF personnel assigned to Wellington for duty in Air Staff and Defence Headquarters. Operational flying units are based at RNZAF Base Auckland and RNZAF Base Ohakea. Flying training is conducted at RNZAF Base Wigrarn while ground training is carried out at RNZAF Bases Auckland, Woodboume and Wigrarn. RNZAF Base Te Rapa is the RNZAF's stores depot. A museum and historical centre is located at Wigrarn.

The RNZAF also has personnel and helicopters serving with New Zealand Force South-east Asia.

Engineering.

Aircraft technical services are co-ordinated by Air Staff with specific levels of aircraft maintenance assigned to the bases and squadrons. The overhaul, repair and some manufacturing of aeronautical equipment is carried out at No. 1 Repair Depot, RNZAF Base Woodbourne. A proportion of repair and overhaul work is contracted to the private sector in New Zealand and overseas.

State of the RNZAF—operational units.

RoleAircraftLocation
Maritime6 OrionsRNZAF Base Auckland
Air transport2 Boeing 727s
10 Andovers
5 Hercules
Helicopters11 Iroquois
3 Sioux
7 Wasps (operated by RNZN)
3 IroquoisSingapore
Offensive air support22 SkyhawksRNZAF Base Ohakea
Advanced flying training15 Strikemasters
VIP transport3 Cessna 421CsRNZAF Base Woodboume
Flying training4 Air tourersRNZAF Base Wigram
15 Air trainers
3 Sioux helicopters
3 Friendships

Table 4.9. STRENGTH OF THE AIR FORCE

CategoryAt 31 March
1933198419851986
Source: Ministry of Defence.
Regular forces
  Officers (male and female)754744730717
  Airmen and airwomen3,6553,5523,5763,459
      Total4 4094 2964 3064 176
Non-regular forces
  Territorial Air Force208204213224
  Active Reserve903734685817
  General Reserve26695105176
      Total1 3771 0331 0031 217

Security Intelligence Service

The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service Act 1969 gave statutory recognition to the New Zealand Security Service, which had been established in 1956.

Subject to the control of the Minister in Charge of the Security Intelligence Service, the functions of the service are to obtain, correlate, and evaluate intelligence relevant to security; to advise ministers on security matters; and to inform the New Zealand Intelligence Council on any new area of potential espionage, sabotage, terrorism, or subversion. The Security Intelligence Service does not enforce security measures. Nor does it institute surveillance of any person or class of persons by reason only of his, her, or their involvement in lawful protest or dissent in respect of any matter affecting the Constitution, laws, or the Government of New Zealand.

There is a Commissioner of Security Appeals, to whom complaints may be made in writing at the office of the High Court in Wellington.

During the year ended 31 March 1986, three interception warrants were issued for the ‘detection of activities prejudicial to security’ (section 4A (1) (a) (i) of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service Act 1969). The average term of each warrant was four months and 20 days. The methods of interception used were listening devices and copying of documents.

Table 4.10. EXPENDITURE ON SECURITY INTELLIGENCE SERVICE

Year Ended 31 MarchGross ExpenditureIncrease Over Previous Year
$(000)percent 
19823,87916
19834,42614
19844,377−1
19854,5895
19865,43718
Source: Security Intelligence Service.

Further information

Diplomatic Corps and Consular and Other Representatives. Government Printing Office, 1987.

Information Bulletins (including an annual bulletin on disarmament and arms control). Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

New Zealand Representatives Overseas. Government Printing Office, 1987.

Report of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Parl. paper A. 1).

New Zealand Foreign Affairs Review. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (quarterly).

Chapter 5. Population

5.1 Demographic changes

Population statistics are based primarily on the Census of Population and Dwellings, which is taken every five years. Post-censal population estimates are based on final counts from the latest census, adjusted in accordance with later figures for births, deaths, and migration. Population estimates for sub-national areas, for example, boroughs, cities and counties, also take into account local economic developments, building activity, the numbers on school rolls, changes in boundaries, and other factors leading to, or indicating, changes in population.

The population census, and other population statistics in New Zealand arc generally on a ‘de facto’ basis, that is they refer to the population physically present at the place of enumeration on census night. The most recent Census of Population and Dwellings in New Zealand was taken on 4 March 1986, and the census counts for sub-national areas have been released regularly since early April 1986, as they became available.

In population data all references to New Zealand relate solely to geographic New Zealand.

Population change.

By world standards New Zealand's population is small, 3.3 million at the end of 1986. New Zealand's first million of population was recorded in 1908, in 1952, the second million was reached, and the third million late in 1973. Recent population projections indicate that the fourth million will not be reached until the twenty-first century.

Population growth has two components: natural increase (or excess of births over deaths) and net migration (or excess of arrivals over departures). During the early period of European settlement the bulk of the population increase was through migration. From the late 1870s natural increase displaced immigration as the chief contributor to population growth. At the 1881 census the percentages of the total population born in New Zealand and born overseas were approximately equal. Each succeeding census until 1951 recorded an increased proportion of the population being New Zealand-born. At the time of the 1951 census 86 percent of the population were New Zealand born. Since 1951, the proportion of New Zealand-born has fallen slightly. Indications are however, that this is largely a result of increasing numbers of overseas tourists and travellers being enumerated in the population census. At the 1981 census, data based on the usually resident population (that is, the population excluding tourists and other visitors) showed that 85 percent had been born in New Zealand.

Natural increase has accounted for over three-quarters of the growth in New Zealand's population during this century. However, the rate of natural increase has dropped substantially over the last quarter of a century, from 1.8 percent in 1960–61 to 1.4 percent in 1969–70 and further to 0.8 percent in 1983–85. The fall has resulted largely from the steep decline in the birth rates recorded since the early 1960s. Table 5.1 indicates the relative influences of the two factors on the population during the last decade. Compared with some European countries New Zealand's rate of natural increase is still relatively high. In 1984 Austria, England and Wales, Norway, Scotland, and Sweden all recorded natural increase rates of less than 0.2 percent, while in Denmark and the Federal Republic of Germany deaths exceeded births.

The last decade has been characterised by slow population growth, caused by substantial net emigration and low birth rates. During the intercensal period 1971–76 the New Zealand population grew by a record 266 752 (or 9.3 percent), but during the intercensal period 1976–81 the total growth was only 46 354 (or 1.5 percent). The 1976–81 rate of population growth was the lowest recorded this century. Previously, the lowest growth rates recorded were those of 1926–36 (which included the Depression), 1936–45 (which included World War II), and 1966–71 (which experienced a marked change in migration patterns).

Table 5.2 gives final population counts for the 1961–86 population censuses and annual population estimates from 31 December 1981 to 31 December 1985. These figures exclude members of New Zealand armed forces who were overseas and members of the armed forces of other countries who were in New Zealand.

The 1986 Census of Population and Dwellings produced a de facto count of 3 307 084 people. This represents an increase since the 1981 census of 131 347 (or 4.14 percent), which is a substantial increase over the low 1976–81 growth (46 354), but is still less than half that recorded during 1971–76 (266 752). These variations in the growth pattern are attributable mainly to the dramatic fluctuations in external migration balance, from a total net immigration of 103 826 during the March years 1972–76, to a total net emigration of 102 493 during the March years, 1977–81, and back again to a total net immigration of 2955 during the March years 1982–86. Fluctuations in external migration balance have continued almost unabated, with pronounced repercussions for the annual growth rate in population.

The Department of Statistics has recently released the provisional post-censal population estimates, based on the final 1986 census count, with appropriate adjustments for the births, deaths and net effect of persons leaving and arriving in New Zealand. The total population of New Zealand is estimated to have been 3 316 600 at 31 December 1986, an increase of approximately 9500 since the 1986 census. This resulted from a natural increase (excess of births over deaths) of 20 500 and emigration (excess of departures over arrivals) of 11 000.

Table 5.1. POPULATION CHANGE

December YearBirthsDeathsArrivalsDeparturesPopulation Change Due toTotal Population Change
Natural IncreaseNet Migration*
* Excludes armed forces and through passengers.
1977541792596188304090855128218−255112707
1978510292466995490698119126360−2628575
197952279253401,079,8831,107,30826939−27425−486
198050542266761,155,8861,166,77523866−1088912977
198150794251501,125,4621,131,70225644−624019404
198249938255321,077,1411,067,179244069,96234368
198350474259911,082,4161,067,173244831524339726
198451636253781,144,2911,140,406262583,88530143
198551798274801,238,9201,251,81624318−1289611422

Table 5.2. POPULATION: CENSUS DATA AND ANNUAL ESTIMATES

PeriodTotal Population*Intercensal/Annual Increase
MalesFemalesTotalNumericalPercent
* New Zealand armed forces overseas are excluded.
 At Census Date
18 April 19611,213,3761,201,6082,414,98424092211.08
22 March 19661,343,7431,333,1762,676,91926193510.85
23 March 19711,430,8561,431,7752,862,6311857126.94
23 March 19761562 0421,567,3413,129,3832667529.32
24 March 19811,578,9271,596,8103,175,737463541.48
  4 March 1986  3,307,0841313474.14
 At 31 December
19801,581,5001,594,9003,176,400125000.40
19811,588,2001,607,6003,195,800194000.61
19821,604,8001,625,0003,229,800340001.06
19831,625,2001,644,3003,269,500397001.23
19841,638,3001,661,2003,299,500300000.92
19851,644,5001,666,7003,311,200117000.35

Males and females.

The sex structure of New Zealand's population, which had always contained slightly more males, has also changed. In 1971, for the first time, a census of population recorded a slight excess of females—1 430 856 males and 1 431 775 females, a ‘sex ratio’ of 999 males per 1000 females. By 31 December 1985, this ratio had dropped to 985 males per 1000 females. There are marked differences in the sex composition of the population of different parts of New Zealand. Females tend to outnumber males in urban areas and to be outnumbered in rural areas. One important reason is the generally better employment and educational opportunities for women and girls in the larger industrial and commercial centres.

Age structure.

The age structure of a population is the composite result of the past trends in fertility, mortality, and migration. In New Zealand, as in most Western nations, the peaks and troughs in births have had major bearings on the age structure of population this century. The main changes in the age structure of New Zealand population during 1961–85 are summarised in table 5.3. The age-sex pyramid illustrates the changes between 1971 and 1985.

The effect of the fertility decline and the drop in the number of births during the 1970s is clearly evident in the narrowing base of the pyramid. While 33.1 percent of the population was under 15 years of age in 1961, the figure had dropped to 24.7 percent in 1985. Moreover in 1961, children under five and the retirement-age population (aged 60 years and over) constituted approximately the same percentage (12 percent) of New Zealand population. In 1985 there were nearly twice as many people aged 60 years and over (482 100) as children under five years of age (253 000), and they accounted for 14.6 percent of the total New Zealand population.

Another trend which has major socio-economic significance is the steady rise in the proportion of total population in the younger working ages, 20–44 years, from less than 32 percent in 1961 to over 37 percent in 1985—a consequence of the post-World War II high birth numbers. In the last quarter of a century, the median age—the age at which half the population is younger and half is older—has risen by 2.1 years, from 27.3 years in 1961 to 29.4 years in 1985. The continued ageing of population has manifold implications for policy development and planning.

Table 5.3. POPULATION AGE GROUPS

Age Group (Years)196119761985*196119761985*
* Estimated as at 31 March 1985.
 NumberPercent
Under 529207329610525296012.19.57.7
5–1450686963210055852021.020.217.0
15–191862193007373041407.79.69.2
20–591,134,9191,493,7061,693,65047.047.751.5
60–64862551272281427603.64.14.3
65 and over2086492795073393108.68.910.3
      Total2,414,9843,129,3833,291,300100.0100.0100.0

5.2 Distribution of population

Detailed final statistics on population growth and distribution from the Census of Population and Dwellings held on 4 March 1986 have been published by the Department of Statistics in three parts as Series A, Report 1, Local Authority Population and Dwelling Statistics, Series A, Report 3. Rural Population Statistics and Series B, Report 25, Usually Resident Population. Before publication of the 1986 census subject-matter reports, a series of 22 Regional Statistics reports was published (Series B), each giving final population, dwelling and household statistics by local authority and area unit for each local government region.

North and South islands.

Table 5.4 gives the total population of the North and South Islands since the Population Census of 1901. In 1858 the North Island had a larger population than the South, but this was reversed at the next census, and the South Island was more populated at each census from 1861 to 1896. In 1901 the North Island was found to have a slightly larger total population and since then the gap has steadily widened.

In table 5.4 and the tables which follow the total population is the de facto population, or population present at the place of enumeration on census night. It includes temporary visitors from overseas who are in New Zealand on census night.

Intercensal population figures reveal that the population of the North Island continues to increase at a greater rate than that of the South Island. Between the 1981 and 1986 Censuses the North Islands' population increased by 5.1 percent compared with corresponding population growth in the South Island of 1.5 percent. The higher percentage rate of population growth in the North Island during the 1981–86 intercensal period was largely due to the faster rate of natural increase and to a lesser extent, the greater rate of increase due to net migration (both external and internal).

Table 5.4. NORTH AND SOUTH ISLAND POPULATION

Census YearTotal PopulationPercentage of Population
North IslandSouth IslandTotalNorth IslandSouth Island
1901431,471384,391815,86252.947.1
1911610,599447,7131 058 31257.742.3
1921791,918479,7501 27 166862.337.7
19361 018 038555,7741 573 81264.735.3
195614 97 364676,6982 174 06268.931.1
19661 893 326783,5932 676 91970.729.3
19762 268 393860,9903 129 38372.527.5
19812 322 989852,7483 175 73773.126.9
19862 441 615865,4693 307 08473.826.2

Local government regions

The Local Government Act of 1974 provided for the constitution of local government regions. There are 22 regions covering every territorial local authority in New Zealand, except Great Barrier Island and Chatham Islands Counties. Table 5.5 shows the population of local government regions at the 1981 and 1986 censuses and the changes that have occurred during the intercensal period. The map of rates of population change also illustrates these changes. Four of the six fastest growing regions in percentage terms during the 1981–86 intercensal period—Northland, Bay of Plenty, Thames Valley, and Auckland—are located in the northern half of the North Island. This is where the resident populations are young in age structure with a significant New Zealand Maori, and for some regions, Pacific Island Polynesian content. Such populations have higher levels of natural increase. In addition, these regions are experiencing, to varying degrees, net inward migration from other areas of New Zealand and from overseas. The high intercensal growth in the other two regions—Horowhenua and Clutha-Central Otago has arisen from rapid urbanisation, and tourist and hydro-electricity development, respectively.

Table 5.5. POPULATION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT REGIONS

Local Government RegionTotal PopulationIntercensal Change
CensusNumberPercent
198119861981–861981–86
* Includes the populations of Islands not within county, city or borough boundaries and people on board vessels in New Zealand waters. Also includes the populations of Great Barrier Island and Chatham Islands Counties.
Auckland827,408887,44860,0407.3
Canterbury336,846348,71211,8663.5
Wellington323,162328,1635,0011.5
Waikato221,850228,3036,4532.9
Bay of Plenty172,480187,46214,9828.7
Hawke's Bay137,840140,7092,8692.1
Coastal-North Otago138,164137,393−771−0.6
Northland113,994126,99913,00511.4
Manawatu113,238115,5002,2622.0
Taranaki103,798107,6003,8023.7
Southland107,905104,618−3 287−3.0
Aorangi84,77281,294−3 478−4.1
Nelson Bays65,93469,6483,7145.6
Wanganui68,70269,4397371.1
Thames Valley54,34358,6654,3228.0
East Cape53,29553,9686731.3
Horowhenua49,29653,5924,2968.7
Clutha-Central Otago45,40248,7713,3697.4
Tongariro40,08940,7937041.8
Wairarapa39,68939,608−81−0.2
Marlborough37,55738,2256681.8
West Coast34,17834,9427642.2
      Total, local government regions3 169 9423 301 852131,9104.2
      Remainder*5,7955,232−563−9.7
      Total, New Zealand3 175 7373 307 084131,3474.1

Urban areas

‘Urban areas’ are statistical concepts covering areas of unified community, economic and social interests. In addition to the central city or borough, urban areas include neighbouring boroughs and town districts, and parts of counties which are regarded as suburban to the centre of population. Minor adjustments of main urban area boundaries have been made because of peripheral population growth in some of these areas since the boundaries were fixed at the 1971 census.

At the 1981 census the population criterion for a ‘main urban area’ was altered from 20 000 or more to 30 000 or more. Timaru urban area has been retained as a main urban area despite its failure to reach a population of 30 000, as it displays the other characteristics of such an area. At the 1986 census there were 17 main urban areas with the two largest urban centres—Auckland and Wellington—being subdivided into four zones (see table 5.6). In previous censuses, these zones were classified independently as ‘main urban areas’.

The intercensal rate of growth of the 17 main urban areas at the 1986 census, was 4.2 percent or approximately three times greater than that recorded at the 1981 census. The wide range of intercensal change experienced by the main urban areas reflect their different demographic, economic and social characteristics.

Table 5.6. POPULATION OF MAIN URBAN AREAS

Main Urban AreaTotal PopulationIntercensal Change
CensusNumberPercent
198119861981–861981–86
Auckland769,558820,75451,1966.7
  Northern Auckland Zone149,321162,61413,2933.9
  Western Auckland Zone116,407125,2828,8757.6
  Central Auckland Zone275,914285,0979,1833.3
  Southern Auckland Zone227,916247,76119,8458.7
Wellington321,004325,6974,6931.5
  Upper Hutt Valley Zone36,52536,046−479−1.3
  Lower Hutt Valley Zone94,73294,8771450.2
  Porirua Basin Zone54,65357,8633,2105.9
  Wellington City Zone135,094136,9111,8171.3
Christchurch289,959299,3739,4143.2
Dunedin107,445106,864−581−0.5
Hamilton97,907101,8143,9074.0
Palmerston North66,69167,4057141.1
Tauranga53,09759,4356,33811.9
Hastings52,56354,9092346, 4:5
Invercargill53,86852,807−1 061−2.0
Napier51,330521518211.6
Rotorua48,31452,0013,6877.6
New Plymouth44,09547,3843,2897.5
Nelson43,12144,5931,4723.4
Whangarei40,21244,0433,8319.5
Wanganui39,59540,7581,1632.9
Gisborne32,06232,2381760.5
Timaru29,22528,621−604−21
      Total, main urban areas2 140 0462 230 84790,8014.2

Those areas with ‘young’ population age structures and a significant New Zealand Maori and/or Pacific Island Polynesian content in their populations, tended to be the fastest growing during the 1981–86 intercensal period. Most of these main areas are located in the northern half of the North Island. Also contributing to population increase in the high-growth areas are the greater economic opportunities existing in them and/or their special importance as tourist centres (Rotorua) and retirement areas (Tauranga). While the Auckland main urban area recorded the largest numeric increase (51 196) between the 1981 and 1986 censuses, Tauranga recorded the highest percentage increase (11.9 percent). The impact of energy projects in Northland and Taranaki can also be seen in the growth recorded in Whangarei (9.5 percent) and New Plymouth (7.5 percent) during the intercensal period.

Table 5.7. POPULATION OF SECONDARY URBAN AREAS

Secondary Urban AreaTotal PopulationIntercensal Change
CensusNumberPercent
198119861981–861981–86
Kapiti20,08323,2033,12015.5
Blenheim22,10422,6815772.6
Masterton20,42220,145−277−1.4
Levin18,07018,9628924.9
Tokoroa19,33318,193−1140−5.9
Taupo15,35617,4582,10213.7
Whakatane15,15915,9547955.2
Ashburton15,30315,229−74−0.5
Oamaru14,66414,247−417−2.8
Pukekohe13,29213,8235314.0
Feilding12,20312,8025994.9
Hawera11,34411,375310.3
Greymouth11,60411,261−343−3.0
Gore12,06111,249−812−6.7
      Total, secondary urban areas220,998226,5825,5842.5

‘Secondary urban areas' were introduced as a statistical concept at the 1981 census. The criteria are similar to those for main urban areas, except that their populations should be between 10 000 and 29 999. Fourteen secondary urban areas have been defined (see table 5.7).

The total population of secondary urban areas is increasing, but not as rapidly as main urban areas. The intercensal rate of growth of secondary urban areas was 2.5 percent at the 1986 census, which was approximately twice the rate recorded at the 1981 census.

The wide range of percentage changes in the populations of these areas during the 1981–86 intercensal period reflect their different demographic composition and location. Servicing centres for the farming community have tended to lose population because of the rural economic downturn. Other secondary urban areas have increased their populations due to their close vicinity to main urban areas, growth in tourism, and the development of intensive horticulture, other primary, and some manufacturing industries. Changes are particularly noticeable in the secondary urban areas of Kapiti, Taupo, Levin, Tokoroa, Greymouth, and Gore. These secondary urban areas have more than doubled the percentage intercensal change figures recorded at the 1981 census. Kapiti, Taupo, and Levin have experienced significant rates of population increase, whereas Tokoroa, Greymouth, and Gore have experienced an increase in the rate of decline in their populations.

Minor urban areas consist of all centres with a population of 1000 or over which are not already classified as part of a main or secondary urban area. They include communities, district communities, town districts, townships, and the urban divisions of districts. With the exception of ‘townships’, the other areas have administrative functions and are defined in the next section. The population of all minor urban areas increased from 299 885 at the 1981 census to 311 175 at the 1986 census, a growth of 3.8 percent. This compares with the rise of 3.2 percent experienced during the 1976–81 intercensal period.

The rural areas of New Zealand are those which are not specifically designated as urban. They include centres of less than 1000 population plus administrative county territory where this is not included in a main, secondary or minor urban area. Extra-county islands are included in the rural population.

New Zealand's rural population increased by 4.8 percent between the 1981 and 1986 censuses, a significantly higher growth than the 1.6 percent experienced during the 1976–81 intercensal period. This indicates that the trend towards rural population, which first appeared between 1976 and 1981, has continued during the most recent intercensal period.

Table 5.8. URBAN-RURAL POPULATION

Area TypeTotal PopulationPercentage of N.Z. Population
CensusCensus
1981198619811986
Main urban areas2 140 0462 230 84767.567.5
Secondary urban areas220,998226,5827.06.9
Minor urban areas299,885311,1759.59.4
      Total, urban areas2 660 9292 768 60483.983.8
Rural areas510,462535,10716.116.2
Shipboard4,3463,373....
      Total, New Zealand3 175 7373 307 084100.0100.0

Local authorities

These are legally and geographically defined administrative territories whose status is decided upon from population size and other criteria. Local authorities include cities, boroughs, counties, districts, and town districts. In terms of percentage changes during the intercensal period 1981–86, the populations of individual areas within the various categories of local authorities show a wide variation. Whether a local authority has had an increase or decline in population between the 1981 and 1986 censuses is dependent on its location, its demographic composition, and economic situation.

Generally, those cities experiencing high population growth are in the northern half of the North Island for the reasons given previously. Cities showing intercensal declines in population are, for the most part, those with net internal outward migration caused by narrow economic bases. Also, the cities which have traditionally formed the central business districts of the largest urban areas have low positive or negative growth levels.

Under the Local Government Act 1974, a territorial local authority on reaching a population of 20 000 may by special resolution proclaim city status.

Table 5.9. POPULATION OF CITIES

CityTotal PopulationIntercensal Change
CensusNumberCensus
198119861981–861981–86
Manukau159,362177,24817,88611.2
Christchurch164,739168,2003,4612.1
Auckland144,963149,0464,0832.8
Wellington135,688137,4951,8071.3
Waitemata87,45296,3658,91310.2
Hamilton91,10994,5113,4023.7
Dunedin77,17676,964−212−0.3
Takapuna65,35369,4194,0666.2
Lower Hutt63,24563,8626171.0
Palmerston North60,10560,5033980.7
Napier48,72549,4287031.4
Invercargill49,44648,197−1249−2.5
Porirua41,10443,2132,1095.1
Tauranga37,099416114,51212.2
Whangarei36,55040,1793,6299.9
Wanganui37,01238,0841,0722.9
Hastings36,08337,6581,5754.4
New Plymouth36,04836,8658172.3
Nelson33,30434,2749702.9
East Coast Bays28,35731,325296810.5
Upper Hutt31,40531,130−275−0.9
Gisborne29,98630,020340.1
Timaru28,41227,757−655−2.3
Mt Albert26,46227,5791,1174.2
Papakura22,47323,3578843.9
Birkenhead21,32422,5821,2585.9
Papatoetoe21,70021,8831830.8
      Total, cities1 614 682 1678,75564,0734.0

Similar comments to those on population changes in cities apply to boroughs. Population change is related to demographic factors, location, and the major economic role of boroughs e.g., the servicing of farming areas, tourist centres, or retirement areas.

Under the Local Government Act 1974, a borough may be created when the population of a specified area attains 1500. The average density of this population must not be less than 2.5 persons per hectare.

Table 5.10. POPULATION OF BOROUGHS

BoroughTotal PopulationIntercensal Change
CensusNumberCensus
198119861981–861981–86
Mt Roskill33,57735,1581,5814.7
Mt Wellington19,52820,3978694.5
Mt Eden18,30518,8775723.1
Masterton18,78518,511−274−1.5
Blenheim17,84918,3084592.6
Tokoroa18,71317,628−1 085−5.8
Kapiti15,42317,3571,93412.5
Onehunga15,38616,0977114.6
Taupo13,93615,8731,93713.9
Levin14,65215,3687164.9
Ashburton14,15114,030−121−0.9
Howick13,86613,891250.2
Oamaru13,04312,652−391−3.0
Mt Maunganui11,39112,3759848.6
Tawa12,21612,251350.3
Feilding11,52212,1165945.2
One Tree Hill11,07811,165870.8
Otahuhu10,29311,0027046.8
Devonport10,41010,5431331.3
New Lynn10,44510,498530.5
Northcote10,06110,2822212.2
Cambridge8,51410,1451,63119.2
Glen Eden9,4069,6792732.9
Pukekohe9,0709,3983283.6
Mosgiel9,2649,063−201−2.2
Havelock North8,5079,0365296.2
Gore9,1858,594−591−6.4
Kawerau8,5938,311−282−3.3
Petone8,1138,2161031.3
Te Awamutu7,9228,0961742.2
Greymouth8,1037,624−479−5.9
Riccarton6,6507,2265768.7
Richmond6,8477,2043575.2
Huntly6,5346,7502163.3
Rangiora6,3856,6742894.5
Henderson6,6456,644−1
Green Island6,8996,576−3234.7
Waitara6,0126,4824707.8
Taumarunui6,5416,387−154−2.4
St. Kilda6,1476,201540.9
Dannevirke5,6635,8732103.7
Matamata5,2665,7014358.3
Ellerslie5,4045,6812775.1
Stratford5,5185,528100.2
Morrinsville5,0805,2812014.0
Kaiapoi4,9315,2343036.1
Te Puke4,5775,10652911.6
Wairoa5,4395,094−345−6.3
Marton4,8585,0592014.1
Motueka4,6935,0523597.6
Kaitaia4,7375,0112745.8
Dargaville4,7474,8591122.4
Alexandra4,3484,84249411.4
Westport4,6864,660−26−0.6
Ngaruawahia4,4354,6392044.6
Eastbourne4,5614,494−67−1.5
Otaki4,3014,4071062.5
Waiuku3,6544,35770319.2
Balclutha4,4954,227−268−6.0
Putaruru4,2224,197−25−0.6
Picton3,6334,12949613.7
Temuka3,7713,9191483.9
Carterton3,9713,902−69−1.7
Kaikohe3,6633,7991363.7
Waihi3,5383,6791414.0
Paeroa3,7023,661−41−1.1
Queenstown3,3673,6592928.7
Cromwell23643,5361,17249.6
Te Aroha3,4183,510922.7
Hokitika3,4143,427130.4
Waimate3,3933,250−143−4.2
Lyttelton3,1843,200160.5
Inglewood28393,19135212.4
Port Chalmers29172,871−46−1.6
Foxton27192,729100.4
Pahiatua25992,681823.2
Murupara3,0632,566−497−16.2
Bluff27202,537−183−6.7
Featherston24582,516582.4
Taihape25862,472−114−4.4
Eltham23702,288−82−3.5
Tuakau19822,19521310.7
Milton21932,154−39−1.8
Geraldine21282,143150.7
Mataura23452,102−243−10.4
Winton20352,082472.3
Greytown17971,888915.1
Woodville16471,582−65−3.9
Patea19381,568−370−19.1
Ohakune14811,496151.0
Martinborough13471,379322.4
Helensville13601,347−13−1.0
Runanga12641,337735.8
Raetihi12471,3237661
Newmarket12111,097−114−9.4
Kaitangata107197299−9.2
Tapanui1042924−118−11.3
Roxburgh758721−37−4.9
Lawrence600552−48−8.0
Naseby152133−19−12.5
      Total, boroughs648,604664,33015,7262.4

The high growth counties tend to be situated either on the peripherals of main or secondary urban areas, more especially in the northern part of the North island. Alternatively, they can be achieving economic progress through the introduction of horticulture or other primary industries, and the expansion of tourism.

Under the Local Government Act 1974, a county is a legally and geographically defined area which excludes any town districts, boroughs or cities that are located within the overall geographic area.

Table 5.11. POPULATION OF COUNTIES

Administrative CountyTotal PopulationIntercensal Change
CensusNumberPercent
198119861981–861981–86
* At the 1981 Census of Population and Dwellings, 1385 Army personnel were temporarily based in Marlborough County on Armed Forces exercises. A large number of these persons were from Bumham Military Camp (Malvern County).
Rodney35,69643,9768,28023.2
Paparua31,83633,4061,5704.9
Hutt26,83027,5026722.5
Tauranga21,59326,0344,44120.6
Southland26,78525,724−1 061−4.0
Franklin18,90221,2492,34712.4
Whangarei16,99720,7653,76822.2
Bay of Islands18,96120,7451,7849.4
Hawke's Bay20,30220,7314292.1
Waimea16,87818,4711,5939.4
Waikato16,82117,2234022.4
Waipa15,95016,6697194.5
Horowhenua14,92016,4601,54010.3
Taranaki12,19615,0652,86923.5
Wallace14,78914,840510.3
Rangitikei13,95113,494−457−3.3
Matamata12,33812,5752371.9
Silverpeaks12,26212,5452832.3
Taupo13,63112,480−1 151−8.4
Marlborough*12,48912,161−328−2.6
Ashburton10,77410,825510.5
Raglan9,77610,3635876.0
Piako10,33210,137−195−1.9
Mangonui3,4859,9201,43516.9
Strathallan9,3719,5201491.6
Heathcote8,7789,3205426.2
Ellesmere8,6768,9943183.7
Waitaki8,7398,8621231.4
Cook8,3988,249−149−1.8
Opotiki7,2648,21094613.0
Manawatu6,7107,40969910.4
Lake5,0227,0101,98839.6
Otamatea6,3716,8054346.8
Malvern6,2426,6003585.7
Hurunui6,5596,539−20−0.3
Kairanga6,3856,468831.3
Westland5,7506,0913415.9
Taumarunui5,9816,053721.2
Oroua5,4855,9604758.7
Wairoa5,7995,586−213−3.7
Ohinemuri4,9415,57963812.9
Hokianga4,6265,56894220.4
Hobson5,3175,4911743.3
Grey4,9555,3493948.0
Egmont5,3405,183−157−2.9
Waiheke3,6785,1111,43339.0
Hauraki Plains5,1575,102−55−1.1
Clutha5,5975,061−536−9.6
Vincent4,2934,99269916.3
Waimate5,0694,934 −1.7
Mackenzie7,7034,866−2 837−36.8
Golden Bay4,2124,64743510.3
Waiapu4,6874,628−59−1.3
Stratford4,6414,558−83−1.8
Dannevirke4,3854,315−70−1.6
Buller3,7884,1453589.5
Masterton4,0994,066−33−0.8
Kaikoura3,5863,627411.1
Tuapeka3,8453,588−257−6.7
Amuri3,0603,2521926.3
Eyre3,2603,218−42−1.3
Bruce3,2853,199−86−2.6
Wanganui3,2053,046−159−5.0
Inglewood2,7443,04229810.9
Waitotara2,9093,0321234.2
Featherston2,8482,9641164.1
Waikohu29602,861−99−3.3
Eltham2,5312,569381.5
Whangaroa2,2432,52328012.5
Wairarapa South2,4772,434−43−1.7
Clifton2,1462,39324711.5
Inangahua2,2182,308904.1
Maniototo2,4302,248-182−7.5
Patea2,4162,081−335−13.9
Akaroa1,7832,01022712.7
Pahiatua2,1192,009−110−5.2
Eketahuna1,9071,948412.1
Oxford1,7711,9121418.0
Waimate West1,9441,862−82−4.2
Waihemo1,7171,659−58−3.4
Kiwitea1,7071,600−107−6.3
Waimarino1,4531,433−20−1.4
Cheviot1,5141,384−130−8.6
Woodville1,3141,285−29−2.2
Mount Herbert1,0361,14510910.5
Pohangina8789709210.5
Great Barrier Island57285828650.0
Chatham Islands751775243.2
Wairewa638656182.8
Stewart Island600542−58−9.7
      Total, counties677,379715,11537,7365.6

A district is a territorial local authority that is neither wholly urban nor wholly rural and has been re-designated by the Local Government Commission as a district. At the 1986 census, nine districts had been constituted.

Districts are to varying degrees both urban and rural in nature. This has tended to have a marked influence on their percentage levels of intercensal population changes, both positive and negative, during 1981–86. Those that form part of, or are in close proximity to, main or secondary urban areas, have generally achieved significant positive growth during the intercensal period, e.g., Rotorua, Waimairi and Rangiora. In contrast those of a more rural nature, such as Hawera, Waitomo and Waipawa have undergone population decline or small increases over the period.

Table 5.12. POPULATION OF DISTRICTS

DistrictTotal PopulationIntercensal Change
CensusNumberPercent
198119861981–861981–86
Waimairi70,41373,2822,8694.1
Rotorua58,54062,9304,3907.5
  Urban47,97551,6023,6277.6
  Rural10,56511,3287637.2
Whakatane27,62428,5299053.3
Thames-Coromandel18,17521,7163,54119.5
  Coromandel5,5267,2161,69030.6
  Thames12,64914,5001,85114.6
Hawera12,88412,797−87−0.7
Waitomo10,89210,524−368−3.4
  Urban4,7954,787−8−0.2
  Rural6,0975,737−360−5.9
Otorohanga9,3589,282−76−0.8
Waipukurau7,9057,927220.3
Rangiora5,3916,4601,06919.8
Waipawa5,0805,2491693.3
      Total, districts226,262238,69612,4345.5

Finally, the three ‘town districts’ in New Zealand have maintained quite stable populations during the 1981–86 intercensal period and have exerted almost no influence on local authority population distribution during the period.

This is the smallest local government entity which is classified as a territorial local authority. It requires under the Local Government Act 1974 a minimum population of 500, with an average density of population of not less than one person to the acre.

Table 5.13. POPULATION OF TOWN DISTRICTS

Town DistrictTotal PopulationIntercensal Change
CensusNumberPercent
198119861981–861981–86
Hikurangi1,2971,334372.9
Waverley1,1121,2391.2711.4
Manaia1,016992−24−2.7
      Total, town districts3 4253 5651404.1

5.3 External migration

After gains of 3180 and 6558 in permanent and long-term migration for the years 1983 and 1984 respectively, there was a loss of 8084 migrants in the year ended March 1985. For the year ending March 1986, there were 35 982 permanent and long-term arrivals compared with 57 595 permanent and long-term departures. This resulted in a net loss to population of 21 613.

Total migration figures (excluding only movements of armed forces) are shown in tables 5.14 and 5.15 ‘long-term’ indicates arrivals or departures for an intended stay of 12 months or more. Conversely, ‘short-term’ refers to less than 12 months. A minus sign in migration tables denotes an excess of departures over arrivals.

The following graph illustrates all passenger migration. The excess of departures over arrivals recorded during the March years 1967–68 to 1969–70 was a migration feature which had not occurred since the Depression of the 1930s. Although this period was followed by six years of migration gains, the March years 1976–77 to 1981–82 recorded substantial annual losses, totalling an excess of 107 236 departures over arrivals. In 1983 and 1984 there was a reversal of this trend, recording an excess of arrivals over departures of 15 442 and 10 557 respectively, followed by a small gain of 217 in 1985. However, in the year ending March 1986 there was a loss of 18 518, the largest since 1980, when a loss of 22 299 was recorded.

Table 5.14. ARRIVALS IN NEW ZEALAND

Year Ended 31 MarchLong-term (Including Permanent) ArrivalsShort-term MovementsAll Passenger Arrivals
N.Z. Residents ReturningTemporary Visitors Arriving
198245,292428,414472,581946,287
198345,854381,951487,658915,463
198440,705363,722518441922,868
198536,243383,974596,9951 017 212
198635,982386,871689,0731 111 926

Table 5.15. DEPARTURES FROM NEW ZEALAND

Year Ended 31 MarchLong-term (Including Permanent) ArrivalsShort-term MovementsAll Passenger Arrivals
N.Z. Residents ReturningTemporary Visitors Arriving
198256,774419,458474,798951,030
198342,674373,193484,154900,021
198434,147361,662516,502912,311
198544,327382,316590,3521 016 995
198657,595389,937682,9121 130 444

Table 5.16. SEX OF PERSONS ARRIVING AND DEPARTING

Year Ended 31 MarchArrivalsDeparturesExcess of Arrivals Over Departures
MalesFemalesTotalMalesFemalesTotal
1982500,946445,341946,287502,856448,174951,030−4743
1983486,895428,567915,463478,186421,835900,02115,442
1984488,066434,802922,868483,292429,019912,31110,557
1985538,749478,4631017 212,539 201477,7941016 995217
1986591,900520,0261111 926599,841530,6031130 444−18 518

Long-term migration.

Table 5.17 gives an analysis of long-term (including permanent) arrivals and departures for March years. ‘Long-term arrivals’ are defined as residents returning after an absence of, or visitors intending to stay, 12 months or more. ‘Long-term departures’ are defined as residents intending to stay away for, or visitors leaving after a stay of, 12 months or more. In the year ended March 1986 there was a net loss of 21 613 from permanent and long-term migration. The main area of change was in the number of departures, which increased by 13 268 or 29.9 percent over the corresponding figures for the previous year.

Table 5.17. LONG-TERM ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES

Year Ended 31 MarchLong-term (including Permanent) ArrivalsLong-term (Including Permanent) Departures
Permanent ArrivalsLong-termPermanent and Long-term Arrivals (Immigrants)Permanent Departures of New Zealand ResidentsLong-termPermanent and Long-term Departures (Emigrants)
N.Z. Residents ReturningLong-term VisitorsN.Z. Residents DepartingLong-term Visitors Departing
198212,31226,8306,15045,29219,71933,0504,00556,774
198312,59527,1056,15445,85412,31426,1974,16342,674
198410,02924,3206,35640,7059,18220,9164,04934,147
19859,70720,2226,31436,24312,12028,0034,20444,327
198610,16919,3686,44535,98216,52635,9985,07157,595

Table 5.18. AGE AND SEX OF LONG-TERM MIGRANTS, 1985–86

Age, in YearsPermanent and Long-term ArrivalsPermanent and Long term DeparturesExcess of Arrivals Over Departures
MalesFemalesTotalMalesFemalesTotal
Under 153,8963,6127,5084,8044,7359,539−2 031
15–191,4441,5723,0162,3403,3345,674−2 658
20–242,8253,3936,2189,0888,82517,913−11 695
25–448,1887,52815,71611,1428,96620,108−4 392
45 and over1,8431,6813,5242,2482,1134,361−837
      Total18,19617,78635,98229,62227,97357,595−21 613

5.4 Births

Registration.

The law on registration of births is contained in the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1951. A birth is normally registered at the office of the Registrar nearest the place of birth. Birth statistics are compiled by the Department of Statistics from the Registrar-General's records, and the births covered by a year's statistics are those registered during the year. The figures do not include stillbirths, except where multiple births are discussed. A special classification of stillbirths is given later in this subsection.

Under section 14 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1951, provision is made for births not registered in the ordinary way to be recorded at a later date in a special register kept by the Registrar-General. Such cases include elderly people requiring evidence of age for social-welfare purposes.

Numbers and rates.

Table 5.19 shows the numbers of births and selected fertility indexes. Late registrations have been excluded from the figures. The crude birth rate fell in the early 1960s, and in the later 1960s appeared to stabilise at 22 to 23 births per 1000 of mean population. During the 1970s the crude birth rate continued to decline, and following a period of stability in the late 1970s, has fallen again.

A more refined cross-sectional measure called the ‘total fertility rate’ is also shown in the table. This is the average number of births a woman would have during her reproductive life if she was exposed to the fertility rates characteristic of various child bearing age-groups. The total fertility rate has fallen below the intrinsic replacement level since 1979 and now seems to be stabilising at a rate just above 1.9 births per woman. The total fertility rate at which any population replaces itself, under certain conditions, is approximately 2.10 births per woman. This situation is unlikely to arise in New Zealand until early next century because of the existing population age-structure.

Table 5.19. BIRTHS

Calendar YearLive BirthsCrude Birth Rate*Total Fertility RateReproduction Rates
Gross RateNet Rate
* Per 1000 of mean population.
19815079416.092.010.9780.956
19824993815.691.950.9440.922
19835047415.651.920.9340.912
198451,63615.851.930.9410.919
198551,79815.801.930.9380.916

Reproduction rates.

The reproduction indexes are based on the fact that the future size of a population is related to the number of female children born to women in the reproductive age groups at any given time. The gross reproduction rate is based on the average number of girls that will be born to a woman during her reproductive period given the prevailing age-specific fertility rates. The net rate takes into account prevailing mortality rates. A net reproduction rate of 1.0 indicates zero population growth if the population is closed to migration, and its age-sex structure has long-term stability.

Sex of children born.

The numbers of boys and girls born during the latest five years are given in table 5.20. In each year more boys than girls are born, a disparity in births that is outweighed by the higher death rates of males at most age levels. The death rate per 1000 live births for babies under 12 months of age in 1985 was 12.09 for boys and 9.47 for girls. Per 1000 mean population the death rate for children of from one to four years of age was 0.54 for boys and 0.58 for girls; for children aged five to 14 years it was 0.36 for boys and 0.29 for girls; and the pattern repeated itself for each age group through adolescence and adult life.

Table 5.20. SEX OF CHILDREN BORN

YearNumber of Births ofMale Births per 1000 Female Births
MalesFemales
198126,12624,6681,059
198225,69824,2401,060
198325 8/624,5981,052
198426,49525,1411,054
198526,55725,2411,052

Multiple births.

In 1985 there were 543 confinements resulting in all live multiple births, including 10 cases of triplets and one case of quadruplets. There were also 13 cases where one of the twins was stillborn and four cases where both twins were stillborn.

Ages of parents.

Information on the relative ages of parents of nuptial living children whose births were registered in 1985 is shown in table 5.21. Late registrations of births under section 14 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1951 are excluded.

Table 5.21. BIRTHS: AGES OF PARENTS. 1985

Age of Father, in YearsAge of Mother, in Years
Under 2020–2425–2930–3435–3940–4445–4950–5455–6465 and OverTotal Cases
Total Births Registered in 1985
Under 20954711303064736
20–24563,4064,9111,0912344917699,779
25–2957298,1766,1181,22422877201316,590
30–342679204,6252,456503124221648,739
35–3914974021,126476123351232,288
40–441320531176621122295
45 and over1465218
       Total1584 68814,23712,2865 1001 38141310964938,445

Table 5.22. BIRTHS: PREVIOUS CHILDREN OF MOTHERS, 1985*

Age of Mother, in YearsAverage Issue0123456–910 and OverTotal Nuptial Cases
* Live births.
 Number of Mothers
Under 201.2954417913736
20–241.635,1963,33110461733039,779
25–291.996,2026,1223,066925208472016,590
30–342.462,1382,8852,2529423251346218,739
35–392.90510564513362192757112,288
40–444.12415650373825399295
45 and over4.6722154418
      Total2.0614,63313,1396 9412 4447932881961138,445

First birth.

Statistics of nuptial first confinements show that, during the last five years, the percentages of first confinements during the first year and first two years after marriage have stabilised at a lower level than that prevailing earlier.

The average ages of women at the birth of their first child were as follows: 1964, 23.65; 1974, 23.29; 1981, 24.88; 1982, 25.13; 1983, 25.44; 1984, 25.74; and 1985, 25.96 years. These figures refer to nuptial births only.

Table 5.23. BIRTHS: FIRST CONFINEMENTS

YearTotal Nuptial CasesTotal Nuptial First CasesPercentage of First Cases to Total CasesFirst Cases Within 1 Year after MarriageFirst Cases Within 2 Years after Marriage
NumberPercentage to Total First CasesNumberPercentage to Total First Cases
198138,92114,66237.673,71525.346,73945.96
198238,14714,37037.673,51224.446,53245.46
198338,07114,53838.193,52524.256,59945.39
198438,62314,46637.453,35023.166,42544.41
198538,44514,63338.063,23922.136,34643.37

Table 5.24. FIRST CONFINEMENTS: AGE OF MOTHER

Age of Woman, in YearsPercentage of Total First Confinements
19341954197419841985
Under 208.909.0817.964.513.72
20–2440.3947.7148.1436.8935.51
25–2932.7927.7926.7441.4742.38
30–3413.1010.395.5113.6814.61
35–393.793.921.343.043.49
40–440.991.020.300.390.28
45 and over0.040.090.010.020.01
      Total100.00100.00100.00100.00100.00

Ex-nuptial live births.

The numbers of ex-nuptial births registered during each of the last six years are given in table 5.25. The ex-nuptial birth rate relates ex-nuptial births to the number of women not married, aged 15–49 years. It is a more relevant measure than the previously published percentage of ex-nuptial births to total births. Ex-nuptial births include children born to women living in de facto relationships.

In 1985 the total number of ex-nuptial confinements resulting in live births was 12 798. Of these 12 674 cases were single births, and 124 cases of twins. There was one case of twins where one child was stillborn. The total number of ex-nuptial live births was 12 921.

From table 5.26, it can be seen that of the 12 798 mothers, 3768 or 29.44 percent were under 20 years of age.

Table 5.25. EX-NUPTIAL BIRTHS

YearNumberRate*
* Per 1000 mean number of women not married, aged 15–49 years.
19801085737.53
19811144138.78
19821138636.87
198311,97936.88
198412,55637.08
198512,92137.57

Table 5.26. EX-NUPTIAL BIRTHS: AGE OF MOTHER, 1985

AgeNumber of Mothers
11
12
136
1432
15147
16429
17844
181066
191,244
201,082
211,128
221,064
23903
24–293,363
30–341,081
35–39341
40–4464
45 and over4
      Total12,798

Reregistration of ex-nuptial children.

An ex-nuptial child whose parents have later married may be reregistered from birth. Applications for registration must be made within three months after the date of marriage.

The number of reregistrations in each of the latest five years were as follows: 1981, 1473; 1982, 1430; 1983, 1520; 1984, 1397; and 1985, 1258.

Adoptions.

Table 5.27, which relates to cases handled by the Department of Social Welfare, shows the number and status of children adopted over the last five years ended 31 March. In 1985. 58 percent of the children adopted were ex-nuptial births. Of these children born out of wedlock, 51 percent were aged less than one year at the time of placement for adoption.

Table 5.27. ADOPTIONS

Status of Children Adopted19811982198319841985
* These are cases where, because one of the applicants is the child's natural parent, a social worker's report has not been called for.
Ex-nuptial1,014909946869732
Nuptial336345356340314
Not known*297328242251212
      Total1 6471 5821 5441 4601 258

Stillbirths.

Although it is compulsory to register a stillborn child as a type of birth, no entry is made in the register of deaths. A stillborn child is defined as one which has issued from its mother after the expiration of the 28th week of pregnancy and which was not alive at the time of such issue'. Stillbirths are not included (either as births or as deaths) in the various numbers and rates shown in this subsection or in that on deaths.

Table 5.28. STILLBIRTHS

YearNumberRate*
* Per 1000 total births.
19803496.86
19813326.49
19822975.91
19832695.30
19842615.03
19852544.88

5.5 Deaths

The death rate (which usually means the crude death rate, i.e., the number of deaths per 1000 of total mean population) is less subject to fluctuation that the birth rate. In the absence of wars, epidemics, and other large-scale disasters, it changes slowly. The crude death rate was 8.74 in 1935, and 50 years later in 1985, it was 8.38. In between, it reached a peak of 11.05 in 1942, during the Second World War, and a low point of 7.79 in 1984. In contrast, the birth rate (17.38 in 1935 and 15.80 in 1985) was as high as 27.64 in 1947 and is now below even the level of the 1930s.

Under normal conditions the most important factor affecting the crude death rate is the age structure of the population, which changes slowly. An ageing population will tend to have a high death rate, while a young one will have a low one, provided that infant mortality is not abnormally high.

Table 5.31 gives a time series for rates of death per 1000 of mean population by age groups. Health measures in New Zealand have achieved an immense saving of young life and a prolongation of life, especially among elderly women.

Table 5.29. DEATHS AND NATURAL INCREASE OF POPULATION

YearTotal PopulationRates per 1000 Mean Population
BirthsDeathsNatural IncreaseCrude Death RateNatural Increase
198150,79425,15025,6447.978.12
198249,93825,53224,4068.027.67
198350,47425,99124 48,38.067.59
198451,63625,37826,2587.798.06
198551,79827,48024,3188.387.42

Table 5.30. AGES AT DEATH REGISTERED IN 1985

Age, in YearsMalesFemalesTotal
* Excludes adjustments by the National Health Statistics Centre as a result of analysis and collation of registration forms and death certificates.
Under 1 *321239560
  1–45657113
  5–9463985
10–14554095
15–1923077307
20–2423789326
25–2920188289
30–3415190241
35–39164138302
40–44251158409
45–49357250607
50–54554332886
55–599605341,494
60–641,4148342,248
65–691,7171,0952,812
70–742,2121,5873,799
75–792,3081,9444,252
80–841,7992,0063,805
85–899741,7892,763
90–944031,1211,524
95–99101379480
100 and over176683
      Total14,52812,95227,480

Table 5.31. DEATH RATES

YearUnder 1*1–45–1415–2425–3435–4445–5455–6465–7475 and Over

* Per 1000 live births.

† Non-Maori figures only as Maori at ages not available for these years.

(Rates per 1000 of mean population in each age group)
Males
190178.606.811.893.523.976.1611.9423.1250.59141.67
192153.104.781.852.443.565.559.6119.9646.17128.60
194143.654.391.362.532.933.959.2021.1347.44140.27
196125.861.340.491.281.472.687.3919.6547.33126.31
198113.010.950.351.531.352.266.5717.3043.38114.08
198413.290.810.341.421.372.055.7216.1641.05111.43
198512.090.540.361.531.381.935.8416.6842.03119.55
Females
190163.875.501.643.584.726.7010.6219.4443.32127.98
192142.314.491.312.343.384.468.0014.8836.81120.23
194137.753.841.201.942.443.506.9015.0438.60118.92
196119.501.160.350.530.871.954.5911.2229.89104.74
198110.220.640.230.670.641.513.949.1923.7384.67
19849.740.370.220.550.661.233.708.9322.6779.76
19859.470.580.290.570.691.393.859.4423.4489.57
Both Sexes
190171.406.171.773.554.336.4011.3721.6347.87135.71
192147.824.641.582.393.475.108.8517.5941.90124.84
194139.814.121.282.222.673.728.0218.1643.04129.15
196122.761.250.420.911.182.316.0015.4137.67114.01
198111.650.800.291.110.991.895.2913.1432.6795.40
198411.360.600.281.001.011.644.7312.5030.9691.36
198510.810.560.321.061.031.6648613.0331.79100.51

Table 5.32. AVERAGE AGE AT DEATH*

YearMalesFemales
* Arithmetic mean.
 Age (years)
190141.6437.68
192148.4546.97
194158.6559.60
196163.8067.32
197164.7570.04
198165.0271.26
198265.4671.42
198365.6671.69
198465.6872.05
198566.4372.76

Registration of death.

Deaths must be registered by funeral directors within three days after burial. The law on burial and cremation is in the Burial and Cremation Act 1974. The registration by local authorities of funeral directors and mortuaries operated by them is provided for in the Health (Burial) Regulations 1946. Local authorities are charged with ensuring that adequate provision exists for the disposal of the dead. Cremation may be carried out if the deceased is not known to have left any written direction to the contrary.

Expectation of life.

In 1985, the average life expectancy of New Zealand males was 71.0 years, compared with 76.8 years for females. Women were expected to outlive men by almost six years. As shown in table 5.33, life expectancies for both sexes have gradually increased over the past 35 years, with those of females increasing more.

Table 5.33. LIFE EXPECTANCY

YearLife Expectancy at Birth (Years)
MalesFemales
1950–5267.271.3
1960–6268.473.8
1970–7268.674.6
1980–8270.476.4
198571.076.8

The publications New Zealand Life Tables and 1985 Abridged Life Tables contain detailed information on life expectancy at various ages.

Table 5.34. LIFE EXPECTANCY IN SELECTED COUNTRIES

CountryYearLife Expectancy at Birth (Years)
MalesFemales
Australia198472.679.1
Canada1980–8271.978.9
Denmark1983–8471.577.5
England and Wales1980–8271.177.1
France198370.478.5
Japan198374.279.8
Netherlands1982–8372.879.5
New Zealand198571.076.8
Sweden198373.679.6
United States198470.177.6

5.6 Population projections

As an indication of the likely future population in New Zealand, a series of the 1985-base projections is presented in the following graph to show projected changes in total population and age distribution, together with historical populations for comparison. The projection variant adopted here assumes that the population will experience medium fertility and medium short-term migration with a net gain of 5000 persons annually in the long-term.

According to the projections, the total population of New Zealand will increase from 3.3 million in the year 1985 to about 3.9 million by 2021, at an average annual growth rate of 0.5 percent. Natural increase will constitute the major part of the growth, although its effect will decrease in the later years. Births will increase in the short term from 51 000 in 1986 to 52 000 in 1994, before declining gradually to 44 000 by 2021, while deaths will increase steadily from 26 000 in 1986 to 43 000 by 2021.

The age distribution of the population is projected to undergo significant changes in the future. In summary, there will be progressively fewer young persons, but more people in the main working and elderly age groups, as illustrated by the shaded areas in the diagram. Over the period from 1986 to 2021, the population in the 0–14 years age group will decrease from 791 000 (24.0 percent of the total population) to 651 000 (16.9 percent). The population in the main working age group, 15–59 years, will increase from 2 017 000 (61.2 percent) to 2 379 000 (62.6 percent) by the year 2014, and will then decline gradually to 2 336 000 (60.6 percent) by 2021. The elderly population, aged 60 years and over, will increase from 490 000 (14.9 percent) to 866 000 (22.5 percent). The population as a whole will become older. By 2021 half of the population will be over the age of 41.2 years, compared to the median of 29.4 years in 1985.

These projections are not predictions but measures based on specified assumptions about future fertility, mortality, and migration. Because of uncertainty surrounding these variables, the projections should be treated only as an indication of future population change.

Further information

Census of Population and Dwellings 1986

Ages and Marital Status. Census Publication, Series C, Report 3. Department of Statistics.

1987 Electorate Profiles. Census Publication, Series B, Report 27. Department of Statistics.

Labour Force—Part 1. Census Publication, Series C, Report 4. Department of Statistics.

Local Authority Population and Dwelling Statistics. Census Publication, Series A, Report 2. Department of Statistics.

National Summary. Census Publication, Series C, Report 2. Department of Statistics.

Provisional National Summary Statistics. Census Publication, Series C, Report 1. Department of Statistics.

Provisional Regional Summary Statistics. Census Publication, Series B, Report 1. Department of Statistics.

Regional Statistics. Census Publication, Series B, Reports 2–23. Department of Statistics. (Reports for each local government region.)

Regional Summary. Census Publication, Series B, Report 24. Department of Statistics.

Rural Population Statistics. Census Publication, Series A, Report 3. Department of Statistics.

Usually Resident Population. Census Publication, Series B, Report 25. Department of Statistics.

The Department of Statistics will publish a number of further reports on the 1986 Census of Population and Dwellings during 1988 and 1989.

Demography, vital statistics, and migration

Demographic Profiles. Department of Statistics, 1986.

Demographic Trends Bulletin. Department of Statistics (annual).

External Migration Statistics. Department of Statistics (annual).

Fetal and Infant Deaths. National Health Statistics Centre (annual).

Hospital and Selected Morbidity Data. National Health Statistics Centre (annual).

Inter-regional Migration in New Zealand, 1971–1981. Department of Statistics, 1986.

Maps of Statistical Boundaries. Department of Statistics. (Map series).

Monthly Abstract of Statistics. Department of Statistics.

New Zealand Children 1979. Miscellaneous Bulletin Series, No. 12. Department of Statistics.

New Zealand Life Tables 1980–82. Department of Statistics, 1986.

New Zealand Population Projections 1983–2016. Department of Statistics, 1984.

New Zealand Subnational Population Projections 1986–2006. Department of Statistics, 1985.

Overseas Travel Statistics. Department of Statistics (quarterly and annual).

Profile of Women: A Statistical Comparison of Females and Males in New Zealand 1945–84. Department of Statistics, 1985.

Report of the Department of Social Welfare (Parl. paper E. 12).

Social Trends in New Zealand. Department of Statistics, 1977.

Trends and Patterns in New Zealand Fertility, 1912–1983. Department of Statistics, 1986.

Vital Statistics. Department of Statistics (annual).

Chapter 6. Social framework

6.1 Households and dwellings

Composition of households

There was a total of 1 078 296 private households living in permanent dwellings in New Zealand at the Census of Population and Dwellings held on 4 March 1986. This shows an increase of 75 183, or 7.5 percent, in the total number of private households during the 1981–86 intercensal period.

Table 6.1 describes the number of households by type counted at the 1986 census. Because the basis for deriving statistics of household composition was changed from census night' in 1981 to ‘usual composition’ in 1986, no comparable figures are available from the earlier census. A ‘one-family-only’ household consists of a husband and wife with or without unmarried children of any age who are living at home. Amounting to 67.9 percent of all private households in New Zealand at the 1986 census, one-family-only households continue to be predominant.

Figures in census tables have been rounded using simple random rounding to base three and therefore will not necessarily sum to give the stated totals. All 1986 census figures presented here should be treated as provisional, and the totals of some tables may not be consistent.

Table 6.1. USUAL HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION, 1986 CENSUS P

TypeNumberPercentage of Total
* Not elsewhere classified. Includes temporary visitor households.
One family only732,68167.9
One family plus other persons55,9805.2
Two families (with or without other persons)15,1621.4
Three or more families (with or without other persons)1,2450.1
Non-family households63,1145.9
One-person households197,12418.3
Other*12,9931.2
      Total1 078 296100.0

Dwellings

The total number of dwellings occupied on the night of the Census of Population and Dwellings increased from 1 011 882 in 1981 to 1 095 747 in 1986, a rise of 83 865, or 8.3 percent. This percentage increase was much more than that of the total New Zealand population, leading to a reduction in the average number of persons per occupied dwelling. In 1986 the average number of occupants per permanent private dwelling was 2.9, compared with 3.0 five years earlier.

Because of a change in the ‘type of dwelling’ categories used for the 1981 and 1986 censuses, only abridged statistics on types of dwellings have been presented in table 6.2.

Table 6.2. TYPES OF DWELLINGS

TypeNumber of Dwellings1986 Census PNumber of Occupants
1981 Census1986 CensusPAggregate*Average*

* Total New Zealand census night population including those whose usual place of residence is overseas.

† Sum of two houses or flats joined together or three or more flats (houses) joined together.

‡ Buildings intended for human habitation, e.g. houses, flats, cottages, etc. This category omits unoccupied caravans, tents, etc., and those which are both deserted and dilapidated.

Occupied dwellings—
  Permanent private dwellings—
    Separate house792,285862,1552 682 8133.1
    Two houses or flats joined together199 206103,314215,4092.1
    Three or more flats (houses) joined together 90,966165,2311.8
    Other11,62214,15435,0042.5
    Not specified7,71029,4273.8
      Total, permanent private dwellings1 003 1101 078 2963 127 8842.9
  Temporary private dwellings2,37610,65923,9762.3
  Non-private dwellings.6,3936,792155,22022.9
      Total, occupied dwellings1 011 8821 095 7473 307 0833.0
Unoccupied dwellings
  Occupants temporarily away30,22431,128
  Empty habitable dwellings (to let, for sale, etc.)28,69535,455
  Holiday residences38,19240,950 
      Total, unoccupied dwellings97,111107,533
Dwellings in course of erection6,83610,440

Table 6.3. NUMBER OF OCCUPANTS OF PERMANENT PRIVATE DWELLINGS

Number of Occupants1981 Census1986 CensusPIntercensal Percentage Change
DwellingsPercentageDwellingsPercentage
1184,99218.4209,46319.413.2
2293,00729.2329,26530.512.4
3164,64016.4184,37117.112.0
4181,70718.1190,83317.75.0
5–6149,96414.9139,24212.9−7.1
7 or more28,7912.925,1252.3−12.7
      Total1 003 113100.01 078 299100.07.5

Table 6.3 shows the number and distribution of permanent private dwellings by number of occupants on census night in 1981 and 1986. Changes in distribution of dwellings by numbers of occupants are a result of demographic, social and economic developments in New Zealand. The increase in the number and percentage of dwellings with one occupant reflects the increase in the average age at marriage. Similar rises in the two- and three-person dwellings are due to the changing age-sex distribution of the population, an increase in the number of stable de facto unions and a decrease in average family size. Similarly, the decline in both the number and percentage of those dwellings inhabited by five or more persons has resulted from the same factors, the reduction in average family size, which has continued during the past 20 years, being the major cause.

Tenure of dwellings

Occupied dwellings owned with or without a mortgage increased by 10.7 percent during the 1981–86 intercensal period to reach 786 633 at the 1986 Census of Population and Dwellings. In contrast, rented or leased dwellings decreased by 3.2 percent during this period to 245 340. During the previous intercensal period (1976–81) the number of rented or leased dwellings increased by 5.9 percent. Table 6.4 shows the marked change in the pattern of housing tenure between the owned and rented or leased categories during 1981–86.

Table 6.4. TENURE OF DWELLINGS

Tenure1981 Census1986 CensusP
Permanent Private DwellingsPercentage of Total SpecifiedPermanent Private DwellingsPercentage of Total Specified
* Includes figure for ‘free with job’.
Owned with mortgage423,459424446.97642.1
Owned without mortgage287,34328.8339,65732.0
Rented or leased253,38625.4245.34023.1
Provided rent free*33,5343.430,8672.9
Not specified5,38815,456
      Total1 003 110100.01 078 299100.0

Table 6.5. HOUSEHOLD AMENITIES

Amenity In DwellingPercent of All Surveyed Households*
1984–851985–86
* Household Expenditure and Income Survey.
Electric range or wall oven94.193.8
Gas, coal or oil fired range10.19.8
Microwave oven11.616.1
Telephone94.294.4
Clothes-washing machine96.096.6
Clothes dryer52.153.5
Separate refrigerator36.437.7
Refrigerator/freezer combination68.067.2
Separate deepfreeze unit58.958.8
Dish-washing machine13.915.3
Colour television (owned)72.975.0
Monochrome television (owned)22.820.8
Colour television (rented)17.716.5
No television4.24.6
Video recorder (owned)11.919.4
Video recorder (rented)..1.3
Home computer (mains operated, with keyboard)..6.7
Portable electric heater89.387.4
Fixed electric heater32.032.3
Portable gas heater2.22.3
Fixed gas heater6.46.5
Open fire42.739.1
Slow-combustion fire27.828.0
Portable kerosene heater9.58.5
Wet-back fire of any kind20.822.4
Central heating of any kind6.55.6
Solar water heating1.00.6

Household transport

At the 1986 Census of Population and Dwellings 912 786 (or 86.7 percent of those households occupying permanent private dwellings and specifying their vehicle numbers) had the use of one or more motor vehicles. This shows an increase of 79 929 over the number of private households (832 857) with the use of vehicles at the 1981 census, but a drop in the percentage of such households (from 87.5). During the 1981–86 intercensal period private households without a motor vehicle increased from 12.4 percent to 13.3 percent, while there was a corresponding decline in the one-vehicle households, from 50.1 percent to 49.3 percent. The percentage of private households with two or more vehicles also declined very slightly during this period.

Table 6.6. HOUSEHOLD TRANSPORT

Number of Motor Vehicles*1981 Census1986 CensusP
HouseholdsPercentage of TotalHouseholdsPercentage of Total

* Includes cars, station-wagons, vans, trucks, and other vehicles used on public roads. Business vehicles if available for private use are also included.

† Calculated on specified cases only.

0118,356124140,21113.3
1476,58350.1519,59449.3
2266,56228.0300,67828.5
364,4316.869,1656.6
417,5561.817,2291.6
5 or more7,7250.86,1200.6
Not specified51,89725,299
      Total1 003 113100.01 078 299100.0

6.2 Household income and expenditure

Household Expenditure and Income Survey

The New Zealand Household Expenditure and Income Survey is conducted continuously and the results are presented on a March-year basis. The survey's objectives are to provide statistics on the expenditure patterns and income levels of private households and collect information on the social and demographic characteristics of households.

A sample of approximately 4500 private households is randomly selected for the survey every third year, to provide data for the revision of the Consumers Price Index, and a smaller sample of approximately 3500 private households is selected in other years. In the 1985–86 year, 3439 private households (comprising 9897 persons) participated in the survey, each household containing an average of 2.88 persons. Questionnaires administered to each household include a household questionnaire, an expenditure questionnaire and income questionnaires. In all cases, information as reported or recorded by household members is processed without adjustment for under-reporting of income and expenditure. Overseas experience suggests that expenditure on tobacco and alcohol, meals away from home, and food items such as ice cream and confectionery, tends to be under-reported in household surveys. Other data sources indicate that a similar situation occurs in the New Zealand survey.

In tables 6.7, 6.8 and 6.9 the aggregate survey income/expenditure has been averaged over all households in the survey, rather than over only those households which reported income/expenditure. This averaging procedure has the effect of reducing some average income/expenditure statistics to a level below that which would normally be expected (e.g., expenditure on rent).

Table 6.7. INCOME DISTRIBUTION OF SURVEYED HOUSEHOLDS, 1985–86

Annual IncomeApproximate Equivalent Weekly IncomeNumber of HouseholdsAverage Weekly Income Per Household
* Including nil and loss.
$$         $     
Under 8,000*Under 15334885.34
8,000–11,999153 and under 230289195.64
12,000–15,999230 and under 307397266.25
16,000–19,999307 and under 384335346.27
20,000–23,999384 and under 460332422.22
24,000–27,999460 and under 537348496.65
28,000–32,999537 and under 633376585.34
33,000–38,999633 and under 748310688.34
39,000–49,999748 and under 959382838.40
50,000 or over959 or over3221,320.51
      Total3 439523.38

Table 6.8. EXPENDITURE FOR SELECTED FAMILY TYPES, 1985–86

Expenditure GroupCoupleCouple With 1 ChildCouple With 2 ChildrenCouple With 3 or More ChildrenSolo Parent With Child(ren)Non family HouseholdsExtended Family HouseholdsAll Households
 Average Weekly Expenditure ($)
Food60.1177.4587.78102.0959.9540.53109.7169.40
Housing79.68117.89114.4384.9378.4556.0490.1384.93
Household operation57.4368.0765.5665.1645.1034.6672.7055.37
Apparel19.0727.1630.4136.1721.1512.8638.2723.50
Transportation81.40103.4894.1399.8150.1055.07113.9981.48
Other goods41.0651.1659.4660.6930.8934.2176.6047.41
Other services54.0765.0669.9266.8435.7733.0464.6953.66
      Total expenditure392.82510.28521.69515.69327.43266.40566.10415.74
      Total households8533995354212278271773 439

Table 6.9. AVERAGE WEEKLY HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURE, 1985–86

Expenditure Group and SubgroupAverage Weekly Household Expenditure*Percentage of Total Expenditure
* Averages have been rounded to the nearest 5 cents.
 $     Percent
Food—
  Fruit5.501.3
  Vegetables5.351.3
  Meat10.252.5
  Poultry2.000.5
  Fish1.550.4
  Farm products, fats, oils9.252.2
  Cereals, cereal products9.202.2
  Sweet products, spreads, beverages8.552.1
  Other foodstuffs3.800.9
  Food consumed in eating places; takeaway foods13.953.4
      Total, food69.4016.7
Housing—
  Rent15.203.6
  Net capital outlay and related expenses8.852.1
  Mortgage payments26.506.4
  Payments to local authorities7.151.7
  Property maintenance goods12,303.0
  Property maintenance services14.953.6
  Housing expenses not elsewhere classified0.050.0
      Total, housing84.9520.4
Household operation—
  Domestic fuel and power9.852.4
  Home appliances14.903.6
  Household equipment and utensils2.600.6
  Furniture7.101.7
  Furnishings1.800.4
  Floor coverings2.850.7
  Household textiles3.400.8
  Household supplies4.151.0
  Household services8.702.1
      Total, household operation55.3513.3
Apparel—
  Men's clothing5.001.2
  Women's clothing7.751.9
  Children's clothing2.700.6
  Clothing not otherwise classifiable1.050.2
  Clothing supplies and services2.300.6
  Men's footwear1.300.3
  Women's footwear1.900.5
  Children's footwear0.850.2
  Footwear not otherwise classifiable0.500.1
  Footwear supplies and services0.200.0
      Total, apparel23.505.7
Transportation—
  Public transport in N.Z.3.951.0
  Overseas travel14.103.4
  Purchase of road vehicles28.256.8
  Vehicle running and maintenance expenses32.657.9
  Private transport costs n.e.c.2.500.6
      Total, transportation81.5019.6
Other goods—
  Tobacco products5.501.3
  Alcohol12.303.0
  Medical goods1.400.3
  Toiletries and cosmetics3.050.7
  Personal goods3.951.0
  Pets, racehorses and livestock4.001.0
  Publications, stationery and office equipment for home use6.551.6
  Leisure and recreational goods8.202.0
  Recreational vehicles1.350.3
  Goods n.e.c.1.100.3
      Total, other goods47.4011.4
Other services—
  Health5.151.2
  Personal2.700.6
  Educational and tuitional2.150.5
  Accommodation services2.400.6
  Financial, insurance and legal9.752.3
  Vocational0.950.2
  Leisure5.301.3
  Services n.e.c.0.950.2
  Expenditure n.e.c.10.952.6
  Contributions to savings13.453.2
      Total, other services53.6512.9
      Total, net expenditure415.75100.0
      Number of households3,439 

International indicators of standards of living

Relative standards of living cannot be compared by taking per-head incomes or expenditure alone. Environmental and other factors are increasingly recognised as components of the quality of life, a much less easily measured concept. In assessing standards of living, consideration is now given to the development of social indicators parallel with purely economic terms of measurement. These include health and personal safety; equality of educational opportunity; employment and quality of working life; leisure satisfaction; social-welfare provisions; social opportunity and quality; social, cultural, and communication capabilities; housing and community facilities; and the physical environment.

Methods of measurement of these factors are being recommended on an international basis. In these wider terms of reference New Zealand's position is appreciably improved.

Some comparative indicators related to standards of living are set out in table 6.10.

Table 6.10. INDICATORS OF STANDARDS OF LIVING

ItemNew ZealandUnited StatesCanadaAustraliaUnited KingdomSwedenJapan

* 1981

† 1982

‡ 1978

§ EC countries as a whole

|| 1979.

Sources: United Nations Statistical Yearbook (1982); UNESCO Statistical Yearbook (1985); The World's Telephones (AT & T) (1982); World Statistics in Brief (UN) (1985).

Motor vehicles in use—
  Passenger vehicles per 000 of population (1983)442537*419*482282*353216
  Commercial vehicles 000 (1981)29934,9953,1921 7081,89220716 147
Number per 000 of population—
  Radios (1983)89020437611,301993858713
  Television sets (1983)288790463423479390556
  Telephones (1981)588787647506507828510
Consumption per head—
  Coffee (1982) kg1.964.774.362.632.4611.731.85
  Tea (1980–82) gm2,0673667791,4953,189342955
  Sugar (1982) kg50.936.238.251.638.9§43.826.1
  Steel (1982) kg306263371367254423538
Industrial consumption—
  Wool (1982) 000 tonnes19.952.94.128.685.51.6111.7
  Cotton (1982–83) 000 tonnes..1 198.255.117.245.16.1713.0
  Tin (1982) tonnes25038,7003,4002,7006,9799428,707
Consumption per 000 of population—
  Newsprint (1982) kg51,80544,05142,19340,82923,90435,08623,961
Public education expenditure as a percentage of GNP (1983)5.26.8*8.05.9*5.58.55.7
Population per doctor (No.) (1980)638549550||559626||454761*

6.3 Marriages

Marriage may be solemnised either by a celebrant on the list of marriage celebrants under the Marriage Art 1955, or before a registrar of marriages. A licence must be obtained from a registrar before a marriage by a celebrant can be solemnised. Notice of intended marriage must be given to a registrar of marriages by one of the parties to the proposed marriage. The Marriage Amendment Act 1976 extended the right of solemnising marriages to nominated members of approved organisations of a non-religious character. Justices of the peace may also be nominated to act as marriage celebrants. In the case of a person under 20 years of age, not being a widow or widower, the consent of parents or guardian is necessary. Consent of a District Court judge may be sought in cases of refusal by any person whose consent is required.

Since 1933 the minimum age for marriage has been 16 years. No marriage is deemed to be void, however, by reason only of an infringement of the minimum age. Since 1952 every marriage to which a Maori is a party has been subject to the same law as if each of the parties was a non-Maori.

Table 6.11. MARRIAGE RATES

YearNumber of MarriagesMarriage Rate
Crude*General

* Per 1000 mean population.

† Per 1000 mean not-married population aged 16 years and over.

198022,9817.3128.84
198123,6607.4928.93
198225,5378.0230.08
198324,6787.6527.79
198425,2727.7627.47
198524,6577.5226.03P

Marital status

Table 6.12 shows the usually resident New Zealand male and female populations by marital status and in ‘de facto’ relationships, by age group at the 1986 Census of Population and Dwellings. These figures reflect the changes that have occurred in the average age at marriage, society's attitude to non-formal marriages and the age-sex distribution of the New Zealand population. Also, changes in life expectancy and divorce rates have had an impact on the numbers by age-group and sex in the ‘widowed’ and ‘divorced’ groups. The results of these trends, during the past intercensal period are also evident in table 6.13, which shows the percentage of the New Zealand usually resident population aged 15 years and over by marital status at the 1981 and 1986 censuses. The decline in the percentages of both males and females married during the intercensal period 1981–86 is a result of higher average age at marriage and the high incidence of stable de facto relationships. Improved life expectancy has resulted in the percentage of males in the widowed category remaining constant during 1981–86 and that of females declining, from 11.0 percent to 10.7 percent.

Table 6.12. MARITAL STATUS, 1986 CENSUS* P

Age Croup (Years)Marital StatusTotalDe Facto§ Relationship
Never MarriedMarriedSeparatedWidowedDivorced

* Usually resident New Zealand population.

† Includes persons remarried.

‡ Includes persons not specifying marital status.

§ Persons in this column are also included in one of the formal marital status columns.

 Males
15–19145,9148312316669152,7932,010
20–24118,23620,1511,72290294142,63212,933
25–3481,735148,63212,3934117,581254,11222,137
35–4420,250165,90312,62796013,041215,52311,571
45–5410,767123,9697,6382,1909,768156,6695,406
55–6410,215114,2854,4855,3057,269143,7662,481
65–745,82072,9871,8909,4743,07294,359672
75 and over5,43930,78368112,93399652,857264
Not specified1,8396
      Total, males 1986398,373677,54741,66431,92942,0931 214 54757,483
       Total, males 1981346,470668,68835,74529,79626,0551 130 34044,016
 Females
15–19139,7102,3433425460147,0515,709
20–2490,34842,0544,353162780139,50616,392
25–3452,689171,38716,9051,25412,357257,62519,521
35–4412,759164,97614,1843,44717,481215,3109,465
45–546,633118,6386,9278,16611,367153,8103,813
55–647,056101,0013,68423,1097,491144,0661,269
65–747,24559,0581,56342,5553,771115,584432
75 and over9,55819,02349253,6221,47686,808192
Not specified1,7253
      Total, females 1986326,007678,47148,453132,37854,7801 261 48856,796
      Total, females 1981271,875670,22142,405125,46033,7081 166 36443,941

Table 6.13. MARITAL STATUS OF ADULT POPULATION*

Marital Status19811986P
MalesFemalesMalesFemales

* Usually resident New Zealand population aged 15 years and over.

† Percentages are calculated on specified cases only.

‡ Includes persons remarried.

Never married31.323.833.426.3
Married60.458.656.954.7
Separated3.23.73.53.9
Widowed2.711.02.710.7
Divorced2.42.93.54.4
Not specified
      Total100.0100.0100.0100.0

During the 1981–86 intercensal period both males and females in the ‘divorced’ group increased as a percentage of the total usually resident in New Zealand male and female populations. This is a result of both the larger married population and the increasing incidence of divorce.

Ages of persons married. Until recently, the proportion of minors among persons marrying had been increasing over a fairly long period of years, but it is now declining slightly. In 1971 the age of majority was lowered from 21 to 20 years of age. In 1985, one bride in every 12 was under 20 years of age. Bridegrooms were usually older than their brides; only one in every 64 was under 20 years of age. Of the persons married in 1985, 2495 or 5.1 percent were under 20 years of age; 19 691 or 39.9 percent were returned as 20–24 years; 12 792 or 25.9 percent as 25–29 years; 8609 or 17.5 percent as 30–39 years; and 5727 or 11.6 percent as 40 years of age and over.

Table 6.14. AGES OF PERSONS MARRIED, 1985

Age of Bridegroom, in YearsAge of Bride, In YearsTotal Bride grooms
Under 2020–2425–2930–3435–3940–4445 and Over
Under 202511121551384
20–241,4156,020823125231118,418
25–293603,9382,5024471202567,398
30–34578361,30974220652223,244
35–3915237500516363119431,793
40–44864162253280201941,062
45 and over54681743174261,3072,358
    Total brides2 11111,2735 3942 2621 3108341 47324,657

Table 6.5 gives the average age (arithmetic mean) at marriage, but these do not correspond with the modal or most popular age, if the age at which the most marriages are celebrated may be so termed. The modal age for brides in 1985 was 21 years. In the case of bridegrooms the most popular age has varied, and for recent years it has been 21 to 24; in 1985 it was 23 years.

Table 6.15. MEAN AGE OF PERSONS MARRIED

YearBridegroomsBrides
BachelorsDivorcedWidowersSpinstersDivorcedWidows
 Age in Years
1981254139.6858.1522.9835.8951.88
198225.6939.7058.7623.2336.0952.31
198326.0139.6958.6423.5936.1252.32
198426.1239.9558.8023.7936.0552.76
198526.4040.1559.6924.0336.3952.34

Dissolution of marriage

The Family Proceedings Act 1980, which replaced the Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1963, came into force in 1981. It lays down only one ground on which an order dissolving a marriage can be made—that is, that the marriage has broken down irreconcilably. The Act also makes provision for orders declaring a marriage void and for declarations of presumption of death. To establish that the marriage has broken down irreconcilably, the parties must be living apart, and have been doing so for the previous two years.

Since 1981 applications for dissolution of marriage have been made to Family Courts.

Matrimonial Property Act 1976.

This Act reforms the law of matrimonial property. It recognises the equal contribution of husband and wife to the marriage partnership and provides for a just division of the matrimonial property between the spouses when their marriage ends by separation or dissolution.

Domestic Protection Act 1982.

This Act aims to mitigate the effects of domestic violence by providing for non-molestation orders, non-violence orders, and emergency occupation and tenancy orders.

Guardianship Amendment Act 1980.

This Act requires custody applications to be heard in a Family Court and requires the judge to appoint a lawyer to represent children's interests. The concept is emphasised that the more suitable parent is to be given custody of a child or children irrespective of the sex of the parent or age of the children. An offence of wilfully hindering access to children is created by the Act and the court is given power to require medical, psychiatric, or psychological reports on children. The Act also gives to Family Courts a power to call witnesses.

Family Court Act 1980.

This Act provides for the establishment of Family Courts. The courtrooms are less formal; the usual court procedures and ritual are simplified; and the judges do not wear wigs and gowns. In addition, the sittings are in private and are confidential.

Social Security Amendment Act 1980.

This Act introduces a scheme known as the Liable Parent Contribution Scheme which aims to provide a fair and uniform method of deciding the contributions a liable parent must make to support his or her children if the other parent is receiving a domestic purposes benefit.

Counselling and mediation provisions of the Family Proceedings Act have already affected the numbers of separation, maintenance and custody orders made by the courts. Maintenance orders, particularly for ex-nuptial children, have also been affected by the liable parent contribution legislation operative from 1981.

Table 6.16. DISSOLUTION ORDERS AND DECREES ABSOLUTE GRANTED

Ground or Evidence Presented198319841985
Applications filed for dissolution of marriage9,6449,3818,687
Evidence of irreconcilable breakdown—
  Separation order..1,2441,026
  Written separation agreement..4,6284,009
  Verbal separation agreement..1,9932,188
  Lived apart, no agreement or order..1,2441,326
    Total, irreconcilable breakdown9 5289 1098 549
  Other dissolution orders81210
    Total, dissolution orders9 5369 1218 559
Grounds for divorce decrees—
  Adultery42912
  Desertion41
  Separation by agreement961919
  Separation by court order411110
  Having lived apart for 4 years or more30127
  Non consummation11
  Other
      Total, decrees absolute2145348
      Total, all dissolution orders and decrees absolute9 7509 1748 607

Table 6.17. DURATION OF DISSOLVED MARRIAGES. 1985*

Duration of Marriage (in Years)Age (in Years) at Marriage
Under 2020–2425–2930–3435–3940–4445 and Over (including Not Stated)Total

* Excludes 48 divorce proceedings carried over from previous legislation.

† At time of dissolutions granted in 1985, calculated from year of marriage to year of order.

 Husbands (All Petitions and Applications)
Under 54835220779623775860
  5–91871,129444207105511072,230
10–142391,0143821176143701,926
15–19188846275705124361,490
20 and over1601,1475371294921102,053
      Total8224 4881 8456023281762988 559
 Wives (All Petitions and Applications)
Under 518636711859463450860
  5–97819112521216941552,230
10–14802776180733724341,926
15–1963764911235289201,490
20 and over7101,06718153236132,053
      Total3 1163 7708433412031141728 559

Table 6.18. APPLICATIONS AND ORDERS UNDER FAMILY PROCEEDINGS, GUARDIANSHIP AND DOMESTIC PROTECTION ACTS

 19841985
ApplicationsOrdersApplicationsOrders

* Includes definition of access for which the original undefined access provisions may not have been the subject of court orders.

† Under-reported. Access for non-married parties was not collected for the first few months of 1984.

Married parties
  Separation2,1565821,780497
  Maintenance2,1235091,882528
  Custody3,3461,3283,0891,282
  Access*738706737773
  Non-violence866242987324
  Non-molestation1,5103611,633432
  Occupancy of home1,6414061,618419
Non-married parties—
  Paternity1,5367891,361701
  Maintenance1,1772821,053230
  Custody1,4116681,673708
  Access*20523245251
  Non-violence458157577207
  Non-molestation594172760253
  Occupancy of home2527828486

Table 6.19. CUSTODY ORDERS, 1985

Type of PartyNumber of Children InvolvedTotal
1234567 or Over
* Joint, divided, other party.
Married—
  Custody to mother34135217953621934
  Custody to father8176279193
  Custody other*544841921155
      Total orders476476247718311 282
      Total children476952741284401882 519
Non-married—
  Custody to mother449772241553
  Custody to father45103159
  Custody, other*74156196
      Total orders5681023161708
      Total children56820493245894

Table 6.20. APPEALS TO HIGH COURT AGAINST DECISIONS IN DOMESTIC PROCEEDINGS AND FAMILY COURTS

YearHeardAllowed
198119870
198211339
198311647
198410337
19858329

Marriage guidance

The aim of the National Marriage Guidance Council of New Zealand is to enhance people's ability to establish and maintain close personal relationships, particularly in the field of marriage and family life.

Education service—The council has trained 175 active tutors in human relationships. These tutors help individuals and couples to identify their feelings, values and needs, and to practise new ways of behaving, either working in groups or through the use of public media. In 1986, tutors led 620 courses involving 14 000 people, including couples, people recently separated or widowed, school children and their parents, and various community or professional groups, from prisoners to police and Plunket nurses.

Counselling services—During 1986, 8050 cases involving 33 000 people were handled by the council's counselling services. Interviews totalled 27 900, and cases included community referral and Family Court and social welfare benefit referral.

The National Marriage Guidance Council operates in over 60 centres within 25 local councils, with 280 volunteer counsellors and 270 supervisors. Local councils have an executive, and education and counselling committees to oversee their services, and an administrator to co-ordinate daily activities. Large councils also have a director. The national office is based in Wellington and provides a range of support services and co-ordinates the training of volunteers.

6.4 Human rights, immigration and citizenship

Human Rights Commission.

An Act was passed by Parliament in 1977 to establish a Human Rights Commission and to promote the advancement of human rights in New Zealand in general accordance with the United Nations International Covenant on Human Rights. The Human Rights Commission has the general functions of promoting, encouraging, and co-ordinating programmes and activities in the field of human rights, and the specific functions of investigating alleged breaches of the wide-ranging provisions against discrimination on grounds of sex, marital status, or religious or ethical beliefs set out in Part II of the Act. Part II also makes unlawful any discrimination on grounds of colour, race, or ethnic or national origin in a number of areas not already covered by the Race Relations Act 1971. The membership of the commission consists of the Chief Human Rights Commissioner (the chairperson), the Chief Ombudsman, the Race Relations Conciliator, the Proceedings Commissioner, and up to three others appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice.

An Equal Opportunities Tribunal was constituted under the same Act. The tribunal consists of a chairperson, who must be a barrister or solicitor of the High Court, and two other persons appointed by the chairperson) for the purposes of each hearing from a panel maintained by the Minister of Justice. The principal function of the Equal Opportunities Tribunal is to adjudicate in civil proceedings brought by the commission alleging discriminatory practice under Part II of the Act.

Race Relations Conciliator.

The Race Relations Act 1971 was designed to affirm and promote racial equality in New Zealand and implements the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Discrimination is unlawful on the grounds of colour, race, or ethnic or national origins in: (a) access by the public to places, vehicles, and facilities; (b) provision of goods and services; (c) employment (including employment of independent contractors); and (d) land, housing, and other accommodation. It is also unlawful to publish or display any advertisement or notice which indicates an intention to commit a breach of any of these provisions. The Act also makes it an offence to incite racial disharmony. A breach of any of the provisions may be the subject of an investigation by the Office of the Race Relations Conciliator.

The role for the office of the conciliator is in the field of education and in resolving situations where misunderstanding due to different racial backgrounds or concepts on the part of the parties has occurred. Potential racial incidents can often by avoided by education and conciliation. This extension of the conciliator's duties from an area confined to complaints and investigation of racial discrimination to one where discrimination may not have occurred, but where racial misunderstanding exists, is in keeping with the aims of the Act of affirming and promoting racial equality in New Zealand.

There are race relations offices in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch.

Women's affairs

When the Government took office in 1984, its manifesto included a detailed women's policy, aimed at promoting equality between women and men in New Zealand. Part or the policy was a commitment to the establishment of a Ministry of Women's Affairs, and this was created in 1985. As the primary agent working for women's equality, the ministry bases its work on the women's policy, in co-operation with other government departments. All government departments have the responsibility of carrying out the parts of the policy which relate to them, e.g., health, education, justice. In 1986 the Ministry of Women's Affairs policy unit and Te Ohu Whakatupu (Maori women's secretariat) established formal liaison with all government departments in order to ensure consultation in the policy-making processes. They also began work on a checklist which government departments can use in their policy-making processes, in order to ensure that women's interests and needs are taken into account.

The following account gives some examples of work carried out on women's issues in 1986:

Childcare.

The transfer of the administration of childcare from the Department of Social Welfare to the Department of Education gave recognition to the educational rather than the welfare function of childcare. The Government approved the expenditure of $1 million for the establishment of child-care centres for public servants. Childcare funding was increased, with money going to registered centres, kohanga reo, and childcare training programmes.

Paid work-force.

Part-time work in the public service was changed from temporary to permanent status, within the career structure. A review was begun into the workings of the equal pay legislation, to examine why women are still not paid as much as men. The State Services Commission initiated a service-wide ‘equality management programme’ aimed at accelerating the advancement of women into public service management positions. Guidelines for supervisors and complainants within the public service on the handling of sexual harassment were produced jointly by the State Services Commission and the Public Service Association. The State Services Commission began to review its appointments system with a view to recognising the value of community and domestic experience as job qualifications. The Parental Leave and Employment Protection Bill was introduced to Parliament. It would provide equal opportunity for both men and women to take unpaid leave at the time of the birth or adoption of a child (see section 12.4, Labour relations).

Housing.

The Housing Corporation undertook a major consultative exercise, asking women to send it their views on housing. The Papakainga housing scheme allowed for individual owners of community land to build on that land, using the house as security for loans. Second chance and refinance loans were introduced in response to the need for housing finance following marriage breakdown. Half of the Housing Allocation Committee members are women.

Community.

The 1986 census included for the first time a question on voluntary work. A task force on social-welfare services began examining payment and tax deductability for voluntary work. The Ministry of Women's Affairs funded a pilot women's resource network, to provide training and information exchange to women involved in various community activities. The Hillary Commission for Recreation and Sport was established, with a majority of women members. Part of its brief is to encourage equal participation by women in recreational activities and equal funding for women's sport. The Ministry of Women's Affairs co-funded a gathering of rural women from all over the country so that they could work out ways of dealing with the changes in the rural sector. The Ministry of Women's Affairs began liaison with the Women's Caucus of the Disabled Persons' Assembly and offered to co-ordinate a national network of women with disabilities.

Education.

Three new positions with special responsibility for the education of women and girls were established in the Department of Education. A women's advisory committee on education was set up to advise the Minister of Education. A review was begun in coeducational secondary schools, to examine the reasons for the scarcity of women in senior positions. The Department of Education began surveying the need for childcare facilities in schools and tertiary institutions and agreed in principle to the inclusion of the education service in the policy of providing childcare for public servants.

Health.

The Department of Health established a women's policy group within the department to ensure that women's views are considered on all health issues. The Government allocated $125,000 for the funding of three pilot ‘Well-Women’ centres. A working party was set up to examine the issue of intrauterine contraceptive devices and the recommendations of its report are being implemented. A $2.9 million subsidy was given to family planning associations. A three-women committee was established to monitor work on new birth technologies. The Ministry of Women's Affairs worked closely with women's health groups as well as with the Department of Health, thus acting as a communications channel between the medical system and women in the community. Domiciliary midwifery fees increased by 50 percent, as a first step in restructuring the domiciliary midwifery system. A $2.5 million priority areas programme was used to improve the health of at-risk groups such as adolescents, Maori and young mothers. A Maori health project group was established within the Health Department, based on the belief that a more holistic approach must be taken towards Maori women's health. Ongoing consultation regarding cervical cancer screening was carried out between the Health Department, the Ministry of Women's Affairs, and the Cancer Society.

Maori women.

Within the Ministry of Women's Affairs, a Maori women's secretariat, Te Ohu Whakatupu, began its task of working to improve the position of Maori women. The State Services Commission and the Department of Social Welfare both created senior advisory officer positions to work for equal opportunity for Maori women.

Legal and political equality.

As a monitor of legislation, the Ministry of Women's Affairs advised its Minister on, for example, the Trade Union Education Bill, the Children and Young Persons Amendment Bill, the Video Recordings Bill, the Status of Children Amendment Bill, and the State-owned Enterprises Bill. Submissions by the Ministry of Women's Affairs were made on a wide range of topics such as violence, health benefits, new birth technologies, the school curriculum, cervical screening programmes, housing, and mining legislation. The ministry participated in a number of working parties: on domestic violence, tertiary study grants, parental leave, women's refuge, the Community Organisation Grants Scheme, Well-Women clinics, and cervical screening. Two amendments to the Domestic Protection Act were made, making it simpler for non-molestation orders to be made. A family violence prevention co-ordinating committee was established, to bring together the work of all the agencies working in this field. Rape crisis and sexual abuse centres were allocated $577,000, including Te Kakano o Te Whanau and the Pacific Island Women's Project. The women's refuge funding programme was increased to $1.3 million for the financial year 1986–87. A research trial was undertaken by the police, testing changes in arrest policy by police officers attending ‘domestic incidents’.

Religious professions

At the 1986 Census of Population and Dwellings the number of people identifying with a major religious profession increased from the 1981 census, in ail cases except for Anglicans. The number in this category continued to decline, as shown in table 6.21. There was also a decline in those classifying themselves in the ‘other’ category during the intercensal period.

Persons not specifying any religion or reporting themselves as having no religion more than doubled between the 1981 census and the 1986 census. In contrast, those who objected declined from 473 115 to 244 155 during the 1981–86 intercensal period. This was apparently due to persons changing their category to ‘no religion’ or ‘not specified’.

Table 6.21. RELIGIOUS PROFESSIONS

Religious Profession*Number of AdherentsPercentage
197619811986P197619811986P
* This is the only census question carrying a statutory right to object to providing the information sought.
Anglican915,202814,740784,05629.225.724.0
Presbyterian566,569523,221586,52718.116.518.0
Roman Catholic478,530456,858495,30015.314.415.2
Methodist173,526148,512152,9555.54.74.7
Baptist49,44250,04367,7161.61.62.1
Other367,012433,416339,27011.713.610.4
None and not specified140,591275,832591,8134.58.718.1
Object438,511473,115244,15514.014.97.5
      Total3 129 3833 175 7373 261 789100.0100.0100.0

Immigration policy

New Zealand's immigration policy is designed to encourage the entry of people whose skills are in demand in New Zealand, while protecting domestic employment opportunities for New Zealand citizens and permanent residents. At the same time, considerable emphasis is placed on humanitarian considerations such as the reunification of families, and the provision of settlement opportunities for refugees.

Further information may be obtained from the nearest New Zealand overseas representative, from district offices of the Department of Labour, or by writing to the Secretary of Labour, Department of Labour, Private Bag, Wellington.

Migration on occupational grounds.

Applications to migrate on occupational grounds are considered in the light of the current demand for particular skills. On the basis of a six-monthly survey of the labour market, the Department of Labour compiles and publishes the Occupational Priority List, which details skills that may be freely recruited overseas. Applicants whose skills are not on the list may also be approved if an employer submits a satisfactory case to the department.

In general, applicants for permanent entry on occupational grounds must be between the ages of 18 and 45 years, of sound mental and physical health, of good character, and, if married, have adequate means to support and accommodate their family in New Zealand. Employment must usually be prearranged. An exception to the job guarantee requirement may be made in the case of suitable applicants who are qualified and experienced in a range of computer-related occupations. This applies to suitable applicants from selected countries who are single, or married couples without children. There is also provision for the entry of business people and entrepreneurs who can bring both skills and capital which the Government considers will benefit New Zealand.

Applications are occasionally received from people who have distinguished themselves in the arts or sciences, or in public or cultural life overseas, and wish to settle in New Zealand. Although they could make a major contribution to New Zealand life, most of them do not qualify in terms of normal occupational criteria. In the same way, applications are sometimes received from people who, although outside normal criteria, have been actively involved in promoting or protecting New Zealand's interests overseas. The Minister of Immigration may approve such applications in appropriate cases.

Family reunion.

The policy on family reunion provides for the entry of relatives who are spouses and/or dependent children of New Zealand citizens or permanent residents. Parents who have no dependent children are eligible to be reunited with their adult children who are citizens or permanent residents of New Zealand, if they have no children in their home country; or more children in New Zealand than in any other single country; or where they have an equal number of children in New Zealand and their home country.

Adult children, brothers, and sisters are eligible if they are single, without children, and alone in their home country.

Outside the above guidelines, adult children, brothers and sisters (whether or not married or with children) can be formally sponsored for settlement in New Zealand by a brother, sister or parent, who has been a permanent resident of New Zealand for three years. To be eligible, the overseas relative must be between 18 and 45 years of age, have a worthwhile skill with appropriate training and at least two years' relevant work experience, and a satisfactory permanent job offer relevant to his or her skills.

All family reunion applicants must meet health and character requirements. In addition, sponsored children, brothers and sisters and all members of their families over 12 years of age, must have adequate English language skills.

Western Samoa.

Within the South Pacific region, immigrants from Western Samoa constitute by far the largest group entering New Zealand for permanent settlement under a special quota arrangement dating from the 1960s. Up to 1100 Western Samoan citizens may be accepted for permanent entry each year, over and above those who qualify under normal provisions of policy. Applicants who seek entry under the quota are required to meet normal requirements in relation to age, health, character, and accommodation, and have a guarantee of employment in any occupation prior to entry.

The Netherlands.

Under the terms of a migration agreement between the Netherlands and New Zealand, an annual quota of immigrants from the Netherlands is accepted. Migrants accepted under this arrangement are required to meet normal criteria with respect to age, health and character. The Netherlands Emigration Service guarantees to place such migrants in employment and accommodation after arrival.

Refugees.

The admission and resettlement of refugees who come within the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees continues to be an important priority of the New Zealand Government. When selecting refugees, emphasis is placed on the humanitarian circumstances of each case. The selection criteria may vary for different refugee situations, but it is considered in the best interests of the refugees themselves that those selected can be expected to adapt quickly to New Zealand conditions. Account is also taken of any previous association with New Zealand, and of links with friends or relatives living in New Zealand.

The number of refugees who can be accepted at any one time is dependent on the availability of suitable sponsors in New Zealand to assist the new arrivals establish themselves, and resettlement resources such as reasonably-priced suitable long-term accommodation, suitable employment for the breadwinners (which must in many cases be unskilled, easily-learned tasks not requiring fluency in English), English language courses, and retraining facilities. The sponsors are responsible for finding accommodation and suitable employment for the breadwinner, arranging for any children to go to school, showing the family how to shop, and for helping in other ways, sometimes over long periods.

Interdepartmental Committee on Resettlement.

The Interdepartmental Committee on Resettlement (ICR), in consultation with other government agencies and non-government bodies, reviews the facilities available to assist new migrants, and develops proposals for assistance to new migrants.

Resettlement unit.

As a part of the Immigration Division of the Department of Labour, the resettlement unit's role is to assess the range of settlement services available to new settlers and working visitors, and to make recommendations to government agencies, the Interdepartmental Committee on Resettlement and other interested bodies. The resettlement unit has continued to focus its attention on the information needs of migrants, and ways they can be better informed about New Zealand and the services available to them in New Zealand. Work undertaken by the unit has also been aimed at fostering a better understanding in New Zealand of difficulties faced by migrants and working visitors, encouraging recognition of the value of the contribution that new settlers make to New Zealand society, and suggesting ways these settlers may be assisted to take their place in the community.

Temporary entry.

Entry permits for people wishing to make tourist or business visits to New Zealand are generally issued for varying periods of up to six months, though further extensions may be granted to bona fide tourists and other visitors to allow a total stay of up to 12 months. Visitors who wish to work while in New Zealand, whether for a New Zealand employer or on behalf of an overseas company, must apply for a temporary work permit; otherwise visitors are prohibited from working. This requirement does not, however, affect Australian citizens who wish to work while in New Zealand, nor does it affect persons born in the Cook Islands, Niue, or Tokelau who are New Zealand citizens and therefore have unrestricted right to be in New Zealand.

South Pacific work permit schemes.

New Zealand has special work permit schemes in operation for citizens of Fiji, Tonga, Western Samoa, Kiribati and Tuvalu. Under these schemes, agreed upon after negotiations with the respective governments, workers may undertake employment in response to specific job offers from New Zealand employers. Under the schemes for workers from Fiji, Tonga and Western Samoa, employers are required to make financial and other commitments to ensure the welfare of Pacific Island workers while they are in New Zealand, and the Department of Labour checks that the conditions of employment offered are acceptable and that the accommodation provided is of a suitable standard. The maximum period of employment is 11 months. Different procedures apply in the case of the schemes for workers from Kiribati and Tuvalu.

Student entry.

Entry may be granted to overseas students to undertake approved courses of study, provided they make prior application and meet a number of requirements (including producing evidence of the availability of the necessary funds). The primary aim in permitting students from other countries to study in New Zealand is to train them to a stage where they can be of value in the development programmes of their own countries. For this reason, students from developing nations in the South Pacific and South-east Asia have preference.

Entry permits.

Except for New Zealand citizens and certain other categories of travellers listed below under ‘special arrangements’ and ‘trans-Tasman travellers’, all persons entering New Zealand are required to obtain entry permits under the Immigration Act 1964. All persons intending permanent residence in New Zealand should seek prior approval before setting out on their journey. This may be done by writing to the nearest overseas representative of the New Zealand Government or to the Secretary of Labour, Private Bag, Wellington, New Zealand for the necessary application forms. Visitors to New Zealand from a number of countries may not require visas or prior entry authority, provided the purpose of entry is for tourism, for business or to visit family and friends. Further details are available from the nearest overseas representative of New Zealand. Chapter 4 lists their addresses.

Production of travel documents on arrival.

All persons who arrive in New Zealand, except New Zealand citizens travelling direct from Australia and certain other trans-Tasman travellers listed below, may be required to produce a valid passport or some other acceptable and recognised travel document.

Special arrangements for Australian citizens.

Australian citizens are exempt from New Zealand entry permit requirements (but not from other provisions of the Immigration Act). They are not required to produce a passport on arrival in New Zealand if they have travelled direct from Australia.

Trans-Tasman travellers.

British Commonwealth citizens and citizens of the Republic of Ireland who have been granted permission to reside indefinitely without restriction in Australia, providing they have travelled direct from Australia to New Zealand, are exempt from visa and entry permit requirements, and from the requirement to produce a passport on arrival. They may, however, be asked to produce some evidence of their entitlement to the exemption. These travellers are not exempted from other provisions of the Immigration Act.

Prohibited immigrants.

The following categories of persons are prohibited from entry to New Zealand, whether for permanent or temporary entry:

  1. mentally disordered persons, or people suffering from tuberculosis, leprosy or syphilis;

  2. people who have been convicted of an offence and sentenced to a term of imprisonment or other form of detention for one year or more, or to any form of indeterminate detention for which they may be detained for a period of one year or more; and

  3. people who have been deported from New Zealand (except for a certain class of ship deserter), or deported from any other country.

Those within any of the above categories who enter New Zealand without first obtaining special permission to do so commit an offence under the Immigration Act 1964.

Re-entry.

People who have the status of permanent residents lose their residential status when they travel out of the country, unless they have first obtained a re-entry authority. Multiple re-entry authorities are valid for a period of up to four years, and entitle the holder to leave arid return to New Zealand on any number of occasions while the authority remains valid. Application for a re-entry authority may be lodged at any district office of the Department of Labour before departure.

Deportation.

The Immigration Act makes provision for the deportation of people in four main categories: people convicted of certain offences against the Immigration Act; permanent residents who are convicted within specified periods of their arrival in New Zealand of an offence for which the court has the power to impose imprisonment; those who have engaged in, or who belong to organisations which have engaged in, acts of terrorism, and any person who the Minister of Immigration has certified constitutes a threat to national security.

Appeals against deportation—People who have been convicted of offences against the Immigration Act may appeal in writing to the Minister of Immigration against deportation on the grounds that it would be unduly harsh or unjust to deport them. In addition, a Deportation Review Tribunal is empowered to hear appeals on humanitarian grounds from permanent residents against deportation orders following convictions for criminal offences.

Travel documents.

All persons leaving New Zealand must have a valid travel document (except for short visits by New Zealand citizens to Rarotonga and direct return). As from 1981 New Zealand citizens were required to have a passport to enter Australia. This greatly affected the number of passports issued as noted below. New Zealand citizens do not require a visa to enter Australia.

Passports—All persons who arrive in New Zealand, except New Zealand citizens travelling direct from Australia and certain other trans-Tasman travellers, may be required to produce a valid passport or some other acceptable and recognised travel document. Authority for the issue of passports is contained in the Passports Act 1980.

New Zealand passports are issued and renewed in New Zealand by the Department of Internal Affairs and overseas by New Zealand representatives. They are listed in chapter 4. During the year ended 31 March 1985 there were 138 107 New Zealand passports issued, compared with 139 640 during the previous year.

Immigration law reform

An Immigration Bill was tabled in Parliament on 14 August 1986. The Bill is intended to reform the law relating to immigration, to set out the legal basis on which people may be in New Zealand, the procedures to be followed by individuals, and their rights, and to define the powers of those who administer immigration law and policy. It makes a clear distinction between New Zealand citizens and non-citizens. It states that New Zealand citizens have the right to be in New Zealand at any time, that they do not require permission to come or go and that they cannot be deported. On the other hand, people who are not New Zealand citizens must have an appropriate permit, or qualify for an exemption from a permit, in order to be lawfully in New Zealand. The Bill became the Immigration Act 1987, which received the Royal Assent on 21 April 1987 and is expected to come into force in late 1987 and lead to far-reaching changes in New Zealand's immigration procedures.

At the same time as the Bill was introduced, the Minister of Immigration announced that the Government had decided that people who had arrived in New Zealand on or before 14 August 1983 and whose permits had expired would be eligible for the grant of permanent residence, provided they had no criminal convictions other than for overstaying. People who arrived after 14 August 1983 and whose permits had expired could apply for permanent residence, but their applications would be approved only if they fell within current immigration policy guidelines. Those who had arrived after 14 August 1983 and whose applications for permanent residence were declined would be expected to leave New Zealand. Anyone who did not do so would be subject to removal after the implementation of new immigration legislation.

Ethnicity

Limited statistics on ethnic origins only were available from the 1986 Census of Population and Dwellings for publication in this edition of the Yearbook.

Table 6.22. ETHNIC ORIGINS OF USUALLY RESIDENT NEW ZEALAND POPULATION

Ethnic Group*1976 Census1981 Census

* Half or more of given descent group.

† Covers persons who specified themselves as half or more New Zealand Maori, plus those who indicated they were persons of the Maori race of New Zealand, but did not specify the degree of Maori origin.

European2 672 9192 696 568
Maori269,954279,084
Other origins—
  Pacific Island Polynesian—
    Samoan27,74742,078
    Cook Island Maori18,54723,880
    Niuean5,6718,079
    Tongan3,8736,900
    Tokelauan1,7092,274
    Other3,4245,613
      Subtotal, Pacific Island Polynesian60,97188,824
    Chinese14,23618,480
    Indian8,86111,244
    Fijian1,3241,833
    Syrian, Lebanese, and Arab740900
    Other ethnic groups5,5509,762
      Subtotal, others30,71142,219
Not specified68,71036,609
      Total3 103 2653 143 307

Country of birth

Since 1945 the percentage of the usually resident New Zealand population of New Zealand birth has remained almost stable. At the 1981 and 1986 censuses, of the population usually resident in New Zealand who specified country of birth, those born in New Zealand were 85.6 percent and 84.5 percent respectively. This intercensal decline in the percentage of New Zealand born is a consequence of the fall in live births recorded and the net inflow of Pacific Island Polynesians during the period.

Table 6.23. PERSONS BORN OVERSEAS USUALLY RESIDENT IN NEW ZEALAND

Years of Residence1981 Census1986 CensusP
Number Born Overseas*Percentage of Specified CasesNumber Born Overseas*Percentage of Specified Cases

* Usually resident New Zealand population.

† Includes persons who specified an overseas birthplace but who did not specify a duration of residence in New Zealand.

0–457,35413.366,98714.7
5–988,11920.445,2649.9
10–19105,45024.4131,53528.9
20 and over180,56141.8211,26046.4
Not specified32,76649,878
      Total464,253100.0504,918100.0

Table 6.24. ORIGIN AND DESTINATION OF LONG-TERM AND PERMANENT MIGRANTS

Year Ended 31 MarchAustralia*United KingdomUnited StatesWestern Samoa*Cook Islands and Niue*CanadaOceaniaEuropeAsiaAll Other CountriesTotal

* Inducted in ‘Oceania’.

† Included in ‘Europe’.

‡Includes unspecified.

 Permanent and Long-term Migrants Arriving by Country of Last Residence
1982141201229021381038818100219963153703,7393,08045292
1983160781059924071069731104821322136413,5823,85445854
1984157717,61721231062559972210349,8823,923277140705
1985125376,61120111514602848182228,4844,156252236243
1986106578,1282021145862095215913101634,112282135982
 Permanent and Long-term Migrants Departing by Country of Next Residence
1982349346,68820858644991081399707,9032801293456774
1983230966,3112007685583671270107,6132609276442674
1984140977,8121842584533550176709,1172314265434147
1985219649,2161859658476603260981053222203,01544327
198633235100122108718498704375991142323733,38857595

Citizenship

The current basic legislation of New Zealand citizenship is the Citizenship Act 1977, and the Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act 1982 together with the Citizenship Regulations 1978.

Under the Citizenship Act 1977, New Zealand citizenship may be acquired in the following ways: by birth in New Zealand; by descent (i.e., birth outside New Zealand); or by grant of citizenship.

Those persons who were citizens under the British Nationality and New Zealand Citizenship Act 1948 (whether by birth, descent, naturalisation, registration or under transitional provisions) at 31 December 1977, retain their status under the 1977 Act. The 1977 Act also introduced citizenship by descent through the female line, and citizenship by recognition of adoption and paternity.

To be eligible for a grant of New Zealand citizenship, a person (other than the spouse of a New Zealand citizen; or a person under 18 years of age) must:

  1. Have resided in New Zealand for the three years immediately preceding the date of application;

  2. Be entitled in the terms of the Immigration Act 1964 to reside in New Zealand permanently;

  3. Be of full capacity;

  4. Be of good character;

  5. Have sufficient knowledge of the English language and of the responsibilities and privileges attaching to New Zealand citizenship; and

  6. Intend to continue to reside in New Zealand or to enter or continue Crown service under the New Zealand Government, or service in the employment of a person, company, society, or other body of persons resident or established in New Zealand.

There are also provisions for the grant of citizenship on the grounds of marriage to a New Zealand citizen and to minors under the age of 18. In addition, the Act contains certain limited provisions for exemption from the standard requirements for the grant of citizenship in cases of hardship, statelessness, or where the relevant parent was a New Zealand citizen by descent only.

The Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act 1982 provides primarily for the grant of citizenship to any person who:

  1. Can establish that he or she is a Western Samoan citizen or that he or she comes within the specified degrees of association with Western Samoa; and who either

  2. Was in New Zealand at any time on 14 September 1982; or

  3. Lawfully entered New Zealand on or after 15 September 1982 and is entitled to reside in New Zealand permanently in terms of the Immigration Act 1964.

Table 6.25. 6.25—Continued

Local Government RegionNumberPercentage

* Persons of all degrees of New Zealand Maori origin.

† Includes population of Great Barrier Island County, extra-county islands and onboard ship in the North Island.

‡ Includes population of Chatham Islands County, extra-county islands and onboard ship in the South Island.

  Wellington33,7628.4
  Wairarapa4,6891.2
  Remainder3770.1
      Total, North Island360,18089.3
South Island—
  Nelson Bays3,0090.7
  Marlborough26550.7
  West Coast18870.5
  Canterbury168664.2
  Aorangi26040.6
  Clutha-Central Otago21570.6
  Coastal-North Otago4,8061.2
  Southland8,6672.1
  Remainder3600.1
      Total, South Island43,01110.7
      Total, New Zealand403,191100.0

Maori age distribution.

At the 1986 Census of Population and Dwellings the New Zealand Maori population was significantly younger in age structure than the total New Zealand population, with 38.5 percent of Maoris under 15 years of age, compared with 24.1 percent for the total population. This youthfulness is further demonstrated by the fact that over 50 percent of the Maori population was under 20 years of age at the 1986 census. Only 4.3 percent of Maoris were over 60 years of age at that time, the corresponding figure for the total population being 15.0 percent. These differences reflect both the historical birth numbers and mortality levels of the Maori and total populations, with the impact of external migration being much less.

Table 6.26. MAORI AND TOTAL POPULATION BY AGE GROUP, 1986 CENSUS P

Age Group (Years)Total Population*PercentageMaori PopulationPercentage
NumberNumber
MalesFemalesTotalMalesFemalesTotal

* Usually resident New Zealand population.

† Persons of all degrees of New Zealand Maori origin.

Under 15401,454384,291785,74524.179,01776,083155,10038.5
Under 18495,324474,519969,84329.894,47091,368185,83846.1
Under 20554,247531,3391 085 58633.3103,788100,524204,31250.7
18 and over1 118 8471 169 5412288 38870.2106,590110,622217,21253.9
20 and over1 059 9241 112 7212 172 64566.797,272101,466198,73849.3
60 and over214,983273,270488,25315.08,2419,18017,4214.3
65 and over147,216202,395349,61110.75,1605,931110912.8
80 and over25,25146,77672,0272.21,3231,4882,8110.7
Not specified1,8361,7253,5616972141
      Total population1 616 0011 645 7823 261 783100.0201,129202,056403,185100.0

Maori sex ratio.

The earliest reliable statistics on the Maori population show a predominance of males. In 1881 there were 81.1 females per 100 males and the gap has progressively closed until in 1976, there were 98.9 females to every 100 males. At the 1986 census, for the first time, females outnumbered males. There were 201 129 males and 202 056 females in the total Maori population, representing a sex ratio of 100.5 females to every 100 males.

Dynamics of population change.

Maoris have a substantially higher rate of natural increase than non-Maoris, due largely to a higher birth rate, which in turn is due mainly to the more youthful age structure. Table 6.27 shows demographic indexes based on those of half or more New Zealand Maori descent.

Table 6.27. MAORI DEMOGRAPHIC INDEXES

YearLive BirthsDeathsRate of Natural Increase*Reproduction Rates
NumberCrude Birth Rate*Total Fertility RateNumberCrude Death Rate*GrossNet

* Per 1000 of mean population.

† Average number of births a woman would have during her reproductive life if she was exposed to the fertility rates characteristic of various childbearing age groups.

‡ Excess of births over deaths.

19806,42023.162.4313394.8318.331.191.15
19816,60523.612.4712904.6119.001.191.15
19826,21621.942.2713184.6517.291.091.05
19836,27121.852.2313264.6217.231.071.03
19846,74523.192.3412634.3418.851.141.10
19856,46921.982.2012724.3217.661.081.04

The Maori fertility rate has undergone a rapid and significant decline in the last 25 years, falling from an estimated 6.18 births per woman in 1962 to 2.20 births per woman in 1985. As a consequence, the gap between Maori and non-Maori average family size, as implied by total fertility rate, has narrowed over the years. In 1962 the difference between Maori and non-Maori total fertility rates was 2.0 births per woman; by 1985 this had narrowed to 0.5 births per woman. However, unlike their non-Maori counterparts, Maori women are still reproducing above the ‘replacement level’ and have an earlier childbearing pattern. In 1985 the median age at childbearing was 23.3 years for Maori women and 26.9 years for non-Maori women.

Maori life expectancy.

In 1985, the average life expectancy of Maori males was 67.4 years, compared with 71.3 years for Maori females while for non-Maoris, life expectancies were 71.2 years for males and 77.1 years for females. Therefore, Maori females were expected to outlive Maori males by nearly four years, and non-Maori females were expected to outlive non-Maori males by nearly six years. Over the past 35 years, Maoris have recorded much greater gains in life expectancies than have non-Maoris, as shown in table 6.28. In spite of these gains, however, the life expectancy for Maori males is still almost four years lower than that for non-Maori males and the life expectancy for Maori females is nearly six years lower than that for non-Maori females.

Table 6.28. COMPARISON: MAORI AND NON-MAORI LIFE EXPECTANCY

YearLife Expectancy at Birth (Years)
MaoriNon-Maori
MaleFemaleMaleFemale
1950–5254.055.968.372.4
1960–6259.061.469.274.5
1970–7261.065.069.175.2
1980–8263.868.570.877.0
198567.471.371.277.1

Maori society

Changes occurring in the Maori community over the last 10 years have paved the way for the major developments planned at the Hui Taumata in 1984 and carried out during 1985 and 1986. The apparent divisions between younger and older people, rural and urban, conservative and radical, have largely been resolved. The Maori community has achieved a unity of purpose and a high level of commitment to pursue objectives on which a consensus has gradually emerged. New strategies have emerged for maintaining a Maori lifestyle and values in a contemporary urban situation, and greater attention has been given to economic development as a necessary aspect of Maori cultural resurgence.

The Treaty of Waitangi, which Maori people have long maintained sets out the basis for a harmonious bicultural society, has been brought to the forefront of debate on race relations. The role of the Department of Maori Affairs has been under careful consideration by both the Government and the Maori community. This issue has served as a focus for a wide-ranging assessment of relations between the two signatories to the treaty.

The Waitangi Tribunal helped to focus public attention on Maori grievances in relation to the Treaty of Waitangi. Their findings on Maori claims concerning the Waitara fisheries, the Kaituna River and the Manukau Harbour raised fundamental questions about Maori rights and the recognition of Maori values in government and public administration. Maori people have been actively considering the status of the treaty for many years and the tribunal's recognition of past and ongoing injustices has now involved New Zealanders as a nation in the debate.

As a result of the tribunal's recommendations to the Government, the Waitara claims have been met; alternatives to the Kaituna discharge are being studied in depth; and the Manukau claims are still under active consideration. In 1985 the Treaty of Waitangi Amendment Bill increased the membership of the tribunal from three to seven, and empowered it to investigate disputes which arose any time after 1840. The tribunal reported on a claim over the status of Maori language during 1986. It recommended that Maori be made an official language and its use be encouraged in the public sector. The tribunal has considered its first major historical grievance—the Orakei claim—and is due to report in 1987 on it.

Te reo Maori.

New legislation dealing with te reo Maori (Maori language) was enacted during 1987. The Maori Language Act 1987 declares Maori to be an ‘official’ language and creates a right to use Maori in court proceedings. The Act also establishes a five-member Komitiana mo te Reo Maori (Maori Language Commission). Four members and a chairperson have been appointed. The commission's role is to advise the Government on ways of promoting the Maori language, and recognising it as an official language. The commission is also responsible for examining and licensing interpreters and translators of the Maori language.

Maori Economic Development Commission

The Maori Economic Development Commission was established by Cabinet in 1984 following a Maori economic development summit conference. The commission strived to follow up all issues raised at this conference, and to act as a catalyst to retarget government resources. The issues covered by the commission include Maori broadcasting, a Maori development bank, Maori involvement in the fishing industry and Maori underdevelopment. Other objectives addressed by the commission were:

  • ○ to identify and quantify the size of government resources used unproductively for Maori development;

  • ○ to identify and cost proposals for positive Maori development;

  • ○ to identify and collate characteristics of Maori development models; and

  • ○ to consider options for government agencies after the commission completed its work programme.

The commission was wound up after its work was completed in March 1986. The commission's research and proposals have triggered further developments including a proposed Maori radio network, several Maori fishing ventures, and the Maori Resource Development Corporation which was approved by Cabinet in February 1987.

Department of Maori Affairs

Community development policies.

The legislative basis for programmes is the Maori Community Development Act 1962. The programmes are designed to give effect to the department's philosophy of tu tangata: to stand tall, to stand up for oneself. By meeting Maori needs on Maori terms the department promotes the development of the Maori community and the mobilisation of the people's own resources: their human talent, traditional institutions and cultural values.

Kokiri is the administrative style which has been developed to achieve these goals. Instead of following the conventional relationship between a bureaucracy and its client group, the Department of Maori Affairs has made a commitment to let the community take the lead in deciding policy and priorities. The department's job is to use its resources to support community initiatives. A kokiri unit is a team of community workers employed by the department whose job is to assist with projects undertaken by the Maori community, e.g., establishment of kohanga reo, accommodation and employment schemes for young runaways, or urban marae projects. Monthly public meetings are held in the district where the kokiri unit operates; community representatives discuss their plans for the coming months, and the meeting itself sets the work priorities for the kokiri unit.

Kohanga reo.

A kohanga reo is a whanau/family group where a deliberate effort is made to create a Maori cultural environment, in which Maori language values and customs are naturally acquired by pre-school children from their kaumatua (elders). Through the example of the whanau, the children learn aroha (love, compassion), manaakitanga (caring, hospitality), whanaungatanga (family responsibilities) and are taught traditional knowledge, crafts and customs, all through the medium of Maori language. Successful kohanga reo naturally become centres of community interest and activity, and provide a forum for the revival of traditions and the sharing of information and knowledge throughout the Maori community.

The kohanga reo movement has demonstrated how Maori culture could be maintained and developed in modern society and has been the springboard for other community education and development programmes.

Maatua whangai is a scheme whereby young Maori people at risk of offending are directed to the care of members of their whanau, hapu or iwi. In return for the commitment of the Maori community, the Government provides some assistance with boarding costs and housing loans if necessary. Funds have also been allocated to help reinforce family networks which underpin this programme.

Rapu mahi/Hanga mahi is a scheme to increase employment of young Maori people by matching individuals who are known to be unemployed with organisations which are found to have jobs or training opportunities and creating employment opportunities in areas of Maori investment or economic growth.

Waiora is a community-based programme to promote recognition for Maori concepts of health, and to secure support, services and resources for Maori community health programmes.

Wananga.

A wananga is a traditional approach to teaching and learning which is used in conjunction with most other programmes.

Kokiri centres are community centres set up with seeding grants from Maori Affairs, and run by independent executive management committees. Employment and training schemes subsidised by the Department of Labour are established and administered by the Maori community around the kokiri centre. Other community development programmes can also operate out of kokiri centres, such as kohanga reo and rapu mahi.

Marae subsidies.

Marae are traditional centres of Maori tribal life, the venue for major social, political and ceremonial activity. The Department of Maori Affairs subsidises money raised by marae committees to renovate and maintain marae, and to provide necessary facilities so they can serve their communities effectively.

Employment and training.

Maori input to government employment and training policies is coordinated by the Employment and Training Division of the Department of Maori Affairs. The division is also presently involved with the administration of the employment and training programmes described below. Initiatives are further described in chapter 12, Employment.

Vocational training—Assistance is provided to Maori and Pacific Island students participating in pre-apprenticeship and vocational courses. On the completion of courses, efforts are made to place students in full-time employment. Support is also provided to Maori students undertaking university studies. Maori and Pacific Island youth are also placed directly with employers for a period of training. Wages are subsidised for one year, and at the end of this period of training the trainee is taken onto the employer's staff or is found similar work with another firm.

ACCESS Maori delivery system—Twenty percent of funding allocated by the government to the ACCESS programme is delivered through the tribal system comprised by the Board of Maori Affairs at a national level and tribal and regional authorities.

MANA Enterprise—The aim of this programme is to broaden the economic base through the creation of Maori enterprises and the expansion of existing Maori businesses so that employment opportunities can be created for Maori people. Tribal and regional authorities are also involved with the delivery of this programme at a regional level.

Review of Department of Maori Affairs.

In May 1985 the Minister of Maori Affairs established a committee to review the current functions and performance of the department. They were also asked to consider whether the department would become a Maori Development Corporation or Maori Development Commission.

The committee travelled widely to hear the views of Maori groups; they also received written submissions, spoke to staff of the Department of Maori Affairs, and consulted other government departments. They concluded that the Department of Maori Affairs' present structure frustrated efforts to meet Maori needs in Maori ways. A Maori Development Corporation could offer a more positive image, more effective control over resources, and greater independence, which Maori people want. The committee's report, presented in 1985, contained more detailed recommendations on the structure, functions and priorities of the proposed corporation.

Maori tribal developments

A recent trend has been the increased willingness of the Government to channel communications and resources through tribal organisations to the ‘flax roots’ of Maoridom. Runanga or trust boards have a key role to play in the implementation of the Maori Enterprise Development Scheme and maatua whangai, the development of a comprehensive Maori fisheries policy by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, the administration of Maori language boards and cultural wananga, and other activities.

Tribal structures are ideally placed to represent the whole range of Maori opinion, and because they operate in a Maori framework, they can harness the enthusiasm and commitment of the group more effectively. As this strategy is pursued, the Government will undoubtedly benefit from improved liaison with the Maori community.

There are also major benefits for Maori people. Tribal identity and pride are enhanced and there is even greater incentive for Maori people to participate in tribal affairs. Traditional institutions and networks have been revitalised and new runanga and trust boards have been established in areas where they did not exist. This strong tribal infrastructure is a key element in the emerging biculturalism in New Zealand, Maori economic development, and the adaptation of traditional strengths to meet contemporary needs, which are features of Maori society today.

Community service for Maori and Pacific Island Polynesians

The legislative basis of the Maori Community Services Programme is the Maori Community Development Act 1962, and its aim is the social and economic advancement and the promotion and maintenance of the health and general well-being of the Maori community, and the facilitation of full integration of the Maori race into the social and economic life of the country. The Act provides for subsidies to be paid on moneys raised by Maori people through their associations for the promotion of community services. An important feature of the community services programme is that it calls upon the Maori and Pacific Island people to exercise the control and direction of their own communities.

The Maori organisations consist of two statutory groups and many voluntary groups. The statutory groups are:

  • ○ Maori associations comprise the New Zealand Maori Council, the district Maori councils, Maori executive committees, and the Maori committees. All are democratically elected and work independently of the Department of Maori Affairs.

  • ○ The Department of Maori Affairs has the broad function of assisting Maori and Pacific Island peoples, particularly in social, economic, and cultural matters. Through its Community Services Division, the department gives assistance in the fields of education, employment, housing, and health.

New Zealand Maori Council.

The primary functions of the New Zealand Maori Council are to encourage Maori as individuals and in groups to take the initiative in matters affecting their own welfare and that of their kinsfolk; and to be a forum of discussion in which they can crystallise their ideas and gain the co-operation of others in actively pursuing mutually agreed objectives, and eventually achieving progressive improvement in the various spheres of welfare. By its own request the Council has the duty of maintaining and promoting harmony between Maori and non-Maori.

The New Zealand Maori Council has undertaken the administration of the reappointments of Maori wardens, and the Maori Community Development Act will be amended accordingly.

Maori wardens.

Maori wardens continue to play a prominent role in the Maori community, for they are a valuable resource in dealing with urban social issues where Maori people are involved. Government agencies have called on their services on numerous occasions over the past year, and the assistance of the wardens has been appreciated. In several instances their knowledge of Maoritanga, and their ability to communicate and mediate in tense situations, led to the peaceful resolution of confrontations between Maori people and police or other authority figures.

A review of Maori warden's role, responsibilities, functions, supervision, training, appointments and reappointments is to be undertaken and this will clarify their position. New Zealand society has changed since wardens were established in 1945, and wardens themselves have asked to have their duties and responsibilities reviewed.

Maori Women's Welfare League.

The league is a national Maori organisation, its members spread throughout eight tribally-based regions. The league has emerged as an important link within Maoridom. Its purpose is to enable its members to play an effective part in the cultural, social, educational and economic development of Maori people, and the people of New Zealand. The league has always been in the forefront of efforts towards the social advancement of the Maori people. Its most recent achievement has been a health survey conducted in 1981 by Maoris themselves to determine the Maori woman's perception of her own health and the health of her family. The health report is now available and provides a base for positive health action programmes to improve Maori health.

Community officers.

Department of Maori Affairs community officers carry out a different range of functions from those of other social workers. Their primary function is to work with groups rather than individuals. For example, it is not strictly a Maori community officer's duty to deal with a Maori child playing truant from school, but it truancy is a common problem amongst Maori students in any locality, it is the community officer's duty to hold discussions with parents and try to convince them of the importance of ensuring that their children attend school regularly. A great deal of the time of the community services staff is occupied in informing Maori and Pacific Island parents about all of the tu tangata programmes, vocational opportunities open to their children, including recruiting and organising vocational-training groups for school leavers, stimulating the formation of kohanga reo, and in dealing with youth problems in the cities. The emphasis is on youth and community development and the strengthening of the family and kin groups which have traditionally supported the individual.

Honorary community officers.

There are 520 honorary community officers who work in their communities to build awareness of the tu tangata policies implemented by the Department of Maori Affairs. Their tasks range from work on children's boards, to dealing with matua whangai. They also play an important role in other kokiri programmes and assist in the formation of support groups for the kokiri concepts.

Out-of-pocket expenses are reimbursed through a departmental grant to honorary community officer associations in each district.

6.6 Pacific Island Polynesian population

Statistics from the 1986 Census of Population and Dwellings on the Pacific Island. Polynesian population were not available for this edition of the Yearbook. The total Pacific Island Polynesian population in New Zealand numbered 89 697 at the 1981 census and was 2.9 percent of the total New Zealand population compared with 2.0 percent in 1976. Of these persons, 873 were temporary visitors in New Zealand on census night, leaving a resident Pacific Island Polynesian population of 88 824 (60 966 at the 1976 census), an intercensal increase of 27 861 (45.7 percent). Nearly half (42 078 or 47.4 percent) of the resident Pacific Island Polynesian population were Samoan while more than a quarter (23 880 or 26.9 percent) were Cook Island Maori.

Age distribution.

The Pacific Island Polynesian population in New Zealand is characterised by a high proportion of children (0–14 years) and of the main working ages (25–44 years). Some 41.3 percent of the Pacific Island Polynesian population were under 15 years of age compared with 40.0 percent of the New Zealand Maori population and only 25.2 percent of the rest of the population.

However, while both the Maori and Polynesian populations in New Zealand have youthful age structures, the proportion in the major working ages (25–44) is a distinguishing feature when comparing the two populations.

Table 6.29 shows that 29.6 percent of the Pacific Island Polynesian population were aged between 25 and 44, compared with 23.7 percent of Maoris and 26.8 percent of the population excluding Maoris and Polynesians.

Table 6.29. RESIDENT NEW ZEALAND POPULATION 1981: COMPARISON OF POLYNESIANS, NEW ZEALAND MAORIS AND OTHERS

Age (Years)Pacific Island PolynesianN.Z. MaoriEuropean* and Other
* Population excluding Pacific Island Polynesians and New Zealand Maoris.
 Percent
  0–415.212.67.3
  5–1426.127.417.9
15–1910.013.19.4
20–249.410.48.4
25–4429.623.726.8
45–597.09.015.0
60 and over2.63.915.2
      Total100.0100.0100.0

Geographical distribution.

Auckland had the largest resident Pacific Island Polynesian population at the 1981 census 57 462 or 64.7 percent of the resident Pacific Island Polynesian population of New Zealand lived in the Central Auckland statistical area. They represented 7.1 percent of the resident population of the statistical area.

The next-largest concentration was in Wellington with a Pacific Island Polynesian population of 17 580 in the Wellington statistical area (3.1 percent of the population) representing 19.8 percent of the resident Pacific Island Polynesian population in New Zealand. Only 6.5 percent (5793) of the New Zealand Pacific Island Polynesian population lived in the South Island at the 1981 census.

Urbanisation—At the 1981 census, 97.9 percent of the Pacific Island Polynesians, population were in areas classified as ‘urban’ and this population was concentrated within particular urban centres.

The Porirua Basin main urban area had the highest proportion of Polynesians, with 12.0 percent (6513) of the population being Pacific Island Polynesians. Tokoroa secondary urban area had the next-highest proportion of Polynesians with 2232 persons, constituting 11.6 percent of the resident population of the urban area.

In the Porirua Basin main urban area, the Pacific Island Polynesian population exceeded the New Zealand Maori population. This was also the case in Central Auckland main urban area which had a Pacific Island Polynesian population of 23 769 (8.7 percent of the resident population). The largest Pacific Island Polynesian population was in Southern Auckland main urban area with 25 320 representing 11.2 percent of the resident population. Between them, these four urban centres accounted for 65.1 percent of the resident Pacific Island Polynesian population in New Zealand.

Pacific Island Polynesian dwellings.

Some 18 096 permanent and private dwellings were classified as Pacific Island Polynesian at the 1981 census. They represented 1.8 percent of all permanent and private dwellings in New Zealand.

There were 85 707 occupants in these dwellings giving an average occupany rate of 4.7 persons per dwelling. This compares with an average occupancy rate of 4.2 persons per dwelling for New Zealand Maori dwellings and 2.9 for all other permanent and private dwellings (i.e., excluding Polynesian and Maori).

A total of 2217 Pacific Island Polynesian dwellings (12.3 percent) had eight or more occupants, the equivalent proportions for New Zealand Maori dwellings being 7.8 percent and for ‘other’ dwellings 0.6 percent. Some 6.1 percent of Pacific Island Polynesian dwellings had one occupant compared with 8.9 percent of New Zealand Maori dwellings and 19.3 percent of all other dwellings.

The majority of Pacific Island Polynesian dwellings were rented (10 773 or 60.3 percent), the proportion being higher than that for both Maori dwellings (50.1 percent) and other dwellings (23.1 percent). In comparison, 38.9 percent (6951) of Pacific Island Polynesian dwellings were owned (with or without a mortgage) compared with 45.3 percent of Maori dwellings and 73.6 percent of the remaining dwellings.

Table 6.30. MAORI AND POLYNESIAN OCCUPATION OF DWELLINGS, 1981 CENSUS P

Number of OccupantsPermanent and Private Dwellings
Pacific Island PolynesianNew Zealand MaoriEuropean* and Other
* Excluding Pacific Island Polynesian and Maori dwellings.
 Percent
     16.18.919.3
2–444.351.764.9
5–737.331.615.2
8 and over12.37.80.6
      Total100.0100.0100.0

Households.

Table 6.31 shows that both Pacific Island Polynesian and New Zealand Maori households had a lower proportion of households as ‘one family complete’ than did the remainder of the population.

Nearly a third of Pacific Island Polynesian households (5658 or 31.3 percent) were ‘other-family households’ (i.e., multi-family or families plus other persons). For Maoris, 24.1 percent were ‘other-family households’, while the proportion for all other households was only 8.1 percent.

For the Pacific Island Polynesian population some 75.8 percent of these ‘other-family households’ consisted of one family plus other persons, while the remaining 24.2 percent were ‘multi-family households’.

Only 6.1 percent of Polynesian households were one-person households, compared to 8.9 percent of Maori and 19.3 percent of all other households.

Table 6.31. POLYNESIAN HOUSEHOLDS, 1981 CENSUS P

Household TypeProportion of HouseholdsAverage Number of Members Per Household
Pacific Is. PolynesianN.Z. MaoriEuropean* and OtherPacific Is. PolynesianN.Z. MaoriEuropean* and Other

* Total permanent, private dwellings excluding those classified a Pacific Island Polynesian and New Zealand Maori.

† Households of which total occupants consist of members of one family (husband, wife, unmarried children), but with one or more members absent on census night.

One family complete46.445.556.24.64.33.3
One family incomplete10.615.710.23.83.73.0
Other family:
  One family plus other persons23.718.26.85.85.44.4
  Multi-family7.65.91.38.37.75.8
  Subtotal, other family31.324.18.16.46.04.6
Non-family5.65.86.12.62.52.4
One person6.18.919.31.01.01.0
      Total, households100.0100.0100.04.74.22.9

Further information

Census of Population and Dwellings.

A full list of census publications is given in the section, Department of Statistics publications at the back of this book.

General

Demographic Trends 1986. Department of Statistics (annual).

External Migration Statistics 1984–85. Department of Statistics (annual).

Household Expenditure and Income Survey Report. Department of Statistics (annual).

Immigration and New Zealand. Department of Labour, 1986.

Immigration: Occupational Priority List. Department of Labour (bi-annual).

Justice Statistics 1985. Pt. B. Department of Statistics (annual).

Monthly Abstract of Statistics. Department of Statistics.

Report of the Department of Social Welfare (Parl. paper E. 12).

Social Trends in New Zealand. Department of Statistics, 1977.

Ethnic statistics

An Investigation of Official Ethnic Statistics. Occasional Paper Series No. 5. Department of Statistics, 1983.

Demographic Trends 1986. Department of Statistics (annual).

Mortality and Demographic Data. National Health Statistics Centre, Department of Health (annual).

New Zealand Population Projections 1983–2016. Department of Statistics, 1986.

The Public Health (Annual Report of the Department of Health, Parl. paper E. 10).

Report of the Department of Maori Affairs (Parl. paper E. 13).

Review of Immigration Policy August 1986 (Parl. paper G. 42).

Trends in Health and Health Services. National Health Statistics Centre, Department of Health (three-yearly).

Vital Statistics. Department of Statistics (annual).

Chapter 7. Social welfare

7.1 Social welfare system

Social services and the concept of state-supported or state-subsidised social welfare are continually evolving to meet the changing needs of society and its members, particularly those with personal, family or financial difficulties. The New Zealand social welfare system has grown from local experience to meet local needs, rather than according to social or political theories. Even the 1938 Social Security Act, regarded as a landmark in the history of social welfare in New Zealand, did not introduce any sweeping theoretical changes, and since then ideas have been refined and enlarged rather than radically altered.

Today the main government agency in this field is the Department of Social Welfare, formed in 1972 from an amalgamation of the Social Security Department and the Child Welfare Division of the Department of Education. Also involved are the Departments of Health, Education, Justice, Labour, Maori Affairs and Internal Affairs, and the Ministry of Women's Affairs.

The present social security system cannot be characterised according to any single principle, theory or formula. For example, it looks like a form of community insurance, but is not financed, funded or administered on an insurance basis. It is financed from general taxation; but a person's benefit bears no relation to his or her tax contribution. Most benefits are income-tested and selective as to need, but three main benefits (national superannuation, family and medical) and the lesser miner's benefit are universally applied without regard to other income or means. The social-welfare system transfers income from the more to the less affluent, mainly on the basis of greatest help for those in greatest need. It reflects the traditional humanitarian, egalitarian and pragmatic approach of New Zealanders and, most importantly, reflects an acceptance of community responsibility for social welfare.

The main features of the system are:

  • ○ Eligibility for benefits (other than emergency) is based on residence for varying qualifying periods and not on the amount of tax paid.

  • ○ Benefits (other than family, miners', national superannuation and medical benefits) are subject to an income test with payments reduced if other income is over a prescribed level. National superannuitants who have other income over certain limits are subject to an income tax surcharge on that income. Where one spouse does not qualify on age grounds, national superannuation may be income tested to include payment for that spouse. Emergency benefits and some supplementary benefits are subject to tests of both income and assets.

  • ○ The concept of the family as the fundamental economic and social unit is recognised by the payments made to the otherwise ineligible but dependent spouse of a beneficiary; and the taking into account of the income of the spouse (legal or de facto) of a beneficiary when assessing the amount of those benefits subject to an income test. While receiving a benefit those with dependent children receive family support at the maximum rate.

  • ○ Contribution under a graduated income tax system and payment of benefits at a flat rate irrespective of contributions (that is, taxes paid) distinguishes the New Zealand system from those of many other countries.

  • ○ The cash and medical benefits give a comprehensive coverage of need.

  • ○ Beneficiaries are given incentives to help themselves and to work. Standard benefits have always been set below the award wages of low-earner groups, and small incomes and the ownership of most property have been disregarded in assessing an individual's benefit. Conversely, national superannuation for people over 60 years, and the benefits for widows and domestic purposes beneficiaries with dependent children, or over a prescribed age, recognise these people's right to stop working if they want to.

  • ○ Funding is through taxation. The right to ‘contract out’ on the grounds that the individual may not need, or qualify for public aid is denied in the community interest, as it is with other state services such as education, defence and police.

  • ○ The Social Security Commission has wide discretionary powers to grant, withhold or reduce benefits, and a general power of direction is given to the Ministers of Health and Social Welfare.

  • ○ With certain exceptions no person is entitled to more than one analogous benefit from either New Zealand or overseas.

  • ○ The use of standard rates with supplements, rather than differential rates according to the class of benefit, relate benefits to need rather than to the cause of need.

Department of Social Welfare

The principal functions of the Department of Social Welfare are to:

  • ○ Administer the Department of Social Welfare Act 1971, the Children and Young Persons Act 1974 and Part 1 and Part III of the Social Security Act 1964, also to provide for the administration and servicing of the War Pensions Act 1954, the Rehabilitation Act 1941, and the Disabled Persons Community Welfare Act 1975.

  • ○ Advise the minister on the development of social welfare policies for New Zealand.

  • ○ Provide such social welfare services as the minister may direct.

  • ○ Provide for the training of people to undertake social welfare activities in government or voluntary organisations.

  • ○ Maintain close liaison with, and encourage co-operation and co-ordination among, any organisations and individuals (including government departments and other agencies of the Crown) engaged in social welfare activities.

  • ○ Undertake and promote research into aspects of social welfare.

  • ○ Provide administrative services to boards, councils, committees and agencies.

The aim of the department's administrative services is to provide support, advisory, training and research facilities so that the department functions effectively and efficiently. The department is a principal adviser to the Government on matters of social welfare policy. It also has particular responsibilities to private and voluntary organisations. Units with special responsibilities for liaison with such organisations and for publicity and information have been established to keep the public informed of developments.

The objectives of the policy for benefits and pensions are:

  • ○ To safeguard individuals in the community against loss or reduction of income brought about by age, incapacity, widowhood, orphanhood, unemployment or other circumstances by providing income security at a level which will enable them to belong and participate in the community; and benefits for children as a contribution towards their maintenance.

  • ○ To provide additional benefits for those whose income and financial resources are insufficient to meet their living costs and other commitments.

  • ○ To provide pensions on the death or disablement of members of the armed forces as recompense for physical loss, at a level reviewed and set at 1 April each year in accordance with movements in the Consumers Price Index; and to provide other allowances and concessions according to the nature and extent of disablement.

The objectives of the policy for social-work services are:

  • ○ To provide as necessary for the care, development, treatment and training of children and young persons who are placed in the care of the department either by agreement with parents, by court order as a consequence of ill treatment, neglect or offending or when, for other reasons, parents are unable to provide care.

  • ○ To establish and maintain institutions, or arrange foster homes, for the care and control of children placed under the guardianship of the department.

  • ○ To promote and maintain preventive work, social work and general counselling services for individuals and families facing social and economic difficulties.

  • ○ To promote and maintain an effective rehabilitation service to ensure that people with disabilities are given encouragement, counselling and assistance to participate in community life.

  • ○ To provide advice, liaison and support (including financial) for community and voluntary organisations in the development and operation of community welfare services for children, families and people with disabilities.

Social work services involve individual and family casework and work with community groups and organisations. The emphasis is on child care and protection, and work with the young offender (under 17 years). Much of the work is concerned with children and young people and their parents where there are family difficulties, and where this may be reflected in emotional and behavioural problems in the child or young person. The residential programme includes the inspection of children's homes run by voluntary organisations.

Social welfare administration

The Social Security Commission in the Department of Social Welfare administers, under the direction of the Minister of Social Welfare, Part I and Part III of the Social Security Act 1964 dealing with cash benefits, while matters concerning medical, hospital and other related benefits are administered by the Department of Health under the direction of the Minister of Health.

The War Pensions Act 1954 is also administered by the Department of Social Welfare, which likewise handles ex-servicepersons' rehabilitation.

Child care and protection and work with the young offender are all governed by the Children and Young Persons Act 1974 and other legislation detailed later in this chapter.

Table 7.1. SOCIAL WELFARE EXPENDITURE PER HEAD OF MEAN POPULATION: TYPE OF BENEFIT AND RELATION TO GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP)

Year Ended 31 MarchExpenditure*
Gross Domestic ProductHealth BenefitsFamily BenefitOther BenefitsTotalPer Head of Mean Population

* Excluding capitalised family benefits.

† Revised, following inclusion of stock valuation adjustment.

Source: Departments of Social Welfare and Health.

 $(million)$     
198227,841x313.6297.72,472.03,083.3975.08
198331,149x348.4293.03,154.43,795.81,189.09
198433,967x377.4x289.73,444.94,112.0x1,271.10
198538,729x419.4284.23,796.94,500.51,378.28
198644,255P548.5282.04,716.65,547.11,691.13
 Expenditure as a Percentage of Gross Domestic Product
19821.13x1.07x8.88x11.02x
19831.12x0.94x10.13x12.15x
19841.11x0.85x10.14x12.07x
19851.08x0.73x9.80x11.55x
19861.240.6410.6612.54..

7.2 Social welfare benefits and pensions

New Zealand has the following types of assistance:

Cash benefits—As of right for those eligible by category, residence and income, paid at flat standard rates (plus allowance for dependants) without regard to taxes paid.

Emergency and special benefits—For those who need help but who are not, for any reason, eligible for standard benefits.

Accommodation benefits—Available to beneficiaries who have limited income and assets and who pay relatively high accommodation costs. A similar scheme also exists for non-beneficiaries.

Medical and pharmaceutical benefits—For ail members of the community; free public (and subsidised private) hospital care.

Universally applied benefits—(With no means test) for dependent children, and for those over 60 years of age.

Cash benefits

Social-welfare cash benefits are listed in table 7.2. The rates of invalids', widows', domestic purposes, sickness and unemployment benefits are adjusted every six months, at April and October, to take account of increases in the cost of living as measured by the Consumers Price Index. National superannuation, also increased every April and October, is adjusted in terms of the average after-tax ordinary-time weekly wage.

Table 7.2. CASH BENEFITS: WEEKLY RATES

BenefitWeekly Rate
January 1986April 1986October 1986

* Includes those widowed or divorced.

† Since 1 October 1986 all benefits have been subject to taxation. Rates shown are net.

‡ Since 1 October 1986 beneficiaries with children have received Family Support of $36 for the first child and $16 for each subsequent child, paid by the Inland Revenue Department. Payment for the first child is included in the above rates.

§ Family Care was replaced by Family Support from 1 October 1986.

|| The October increase incorporated a 5 percent advance compensation for GST.

¶ National Superannuation is not subject to an income test but is taxable. Rates shown are net.

Source: Department of Social Welfare.

Invalids' and sickness—$$$
  Unmarried*
    18 and over115.05117.71131.16
    Under 18 without dependants92.5995.25106.13
  Married—
    Husband or wife separately9,58898.09109.30
    Spouse included191.76196.18218.60
Widows'115.05117.71131.16
Domestic purposes—
  Solo parent or ‘woman alone’115.05117.71131.16
  Caring for sick or infirm—
    Unmarried and 18 or over115.05117.71131.16
    Unmarried and under 1892.5995.25106.13
    Married95.8898.09109.30
Unemployment—
  Unmarried person—
    20 years and over101.14104.15116.05
    Under 20 years without dependants82.0984.4294.07
    Spouse included153.87156.83174.76
Any of the above benefits with dependent children
  Solo parent and one child185.76190.18214.60
    Each subsequent child10.0010.0016.00
  Married couple with one child201.76206.18236.60
    Each subsequent child10.0010.0016.00
Miners'—
  Unmarried person115.05117.71131.16
  Married man (wife included)191.76196.18218.60
  Miner's widow115.05117.71129.56
Orphans'56.7458.0564.68
Family—
  Each dependent child6.006.006.00
Family Care—
  Each dependent child10.0010.00§
Accommodation benefit is available to beneficiaries with limited incomes and assets to assist them with accommodation costs   
Emergency and special benefits—According to circumstances   
 (21 Jan 1986)(1 Apr 1986)(1 Oct 1986)
National superannuation$$$
  Married person101.04103.25115.07
  Single person120.24122.90138.03
  Married couple202.08206.50230.14

Table 7.3. INCREASES IN INVALIDS', WIDOWS' AND MINERS' BENEFITS

Date of IncreaseAmount of Increase per Week
Married CouplesUnmarried Beneficiaries

* See footnotes table 7.2.

Source: Department of Social Welfare.

 $    $    
18 Jan 19842.641.58
18 Jul 19844422.66
26 Nov 19846.003.60
16 Jan 19853.902.34
17 Jul 198516.129.67
15 Jan 19869.285.56
1 Apr 19864.422.66
1 Oct 1986*22.4213.45

National superannuation.

National superannuation, for persons aged 60 or over, replaced age and superannuation benefits in 1977. It is subject to a residence test and is taxable, but is not subject to an income test unless payment is claimed for an unqualified spouse. No special contributions are required, as national superannuation is financed from ordinary government revenue. National super-annuitants may be liable for a tax surcharge of 18 cents in the dollar. This surcharge is on superannuitants' ‘other income’ above certain limits. Single superannuitants may have ‘other taxable income’ of $7,202, and married superannuitants $6,006 each before the surcharge starts to apply.

The after-tax rates of national superannuation represent a specified percentage of the average ordinary-time weekly wage after tax. At the introduction of the scheme, the after- tax rate for a married couple was 70 percent of the average weekly wage before tax, and rose to 80 percent from 30 August 1978. From 1979 the definition was altered so that the after-tax rate for a married couple was 80 percent of the average weekly wage after tax.

Between 11 December 1984 and October 1986 the rates of national superannuation increased by the same dollar amounts as the rates of social-security benefits, based on movements in the Consumers Price Index (CPI). However, because continued CPI-related adjustment would have meant payment at a lower rate than if wage-related adjustment was used, from October 1986 the basis for adjustment reverted to the average weekly wage.

Widows' benefits.

Subject to an income qualification, every widow who is the mother of one or more dependent children under 16 years is entitled to a benefit. In addition, any widow not being the mother of a dependent child under 16 years of age who satisfies certain conditions is also entitled to the benefit. The number of widows' benefits in force at 31 March 1986 was 13304.

Domestic purposes benefits.

Persons who qualify for domestic purposes benefit are:

  1. A woman with a dependent child or children, who is living apart from, has lost the support of, or is inadequately maintained by her husband, or who is divorced from her husband, or whose husband is a prisoner;

  2. An unmarried mother of one or more dependent children;

  3. A father of one or more dependent children who has lost his wife by death, divorce or some other cause;

  4. A woman without dependent children who comes within the definition of ‘a woman alone’, (which is a woman who has never been married or who has lost the support of her husband, and who has cared for dependent children or for incapacitated relatives); or

  5. A person required to give full-time care and attention at home to a person who would otherwise have been admitted to hospital.

In the case of both a solo parent and a woman alone, de facto marriages are considered as marriages. To qualify as a solo parent, the applicant has to establish in law the identity of the other parent of his or her child. The number of domestic purposes benefits in force at 31 March 1986 was 62 570.

Orphans' benefits.

A benefit is payable in the case of a child under 16 years of age who was born in New Zealand or whose last surviving parent was ordinarily resident in New Zealand for a period of not less than three years preceding the date of his or her death.

The number of benefits in force at 31 March 1986 was 364 in respect of 449 children.

Family benefits.

The rate of the benefit is $6 a week for each child, until he or she reaches 15 years, (16 years before 1 Oct 1986) or, if a full-time school pupil, until the end of the year in which 18 years is reached.

A family benefit or portion of a family benefit may be paid in a lump sum in advance for a period of up to 52 weeks for the first child, a child who has started the first year of intermediate or secondary education, or a child for whom it is intended to purchase a child restraint for a car. These advances may also be made for all children of multiple births.

The total number of benefits in force at 31 March 1986 was 524 143 covering 904 493 children, compared with corresponding figures of 519 739 and 916 479 at 31 March 1985. At September 1985 there were 67 502 children over 16 at school for whom benefits were being paid. The average number of children for whom benefits were paid was 1.7 per family at 31 March 1986.

The Family Benefits (Home Ownership) Act 1964 was repealed from 1 October 1986, and its provisions replaced by Housing Corporation assistance.

Table 7.4. FAMILY BENEFIT CAPITALISATION

Year Ended 31 MarchApplications for Capitalisation ApprovedCapitalised Value of Benefits
  $(000)
19812,2785,872
19822,4454,374
19833,9776,847
19846,66616,925
19857,36921,614
19869,01925,341
Source: Department of Social Welfare.

Family Care.

Family Care, introduced in November 1984, was replaced from 1 October 1986 by Family Support, administered by the Inland Revenue Department and delivered through the wage packet or, for non-wage earners, through the Department of Social Welfare. (See section 26.2, Taxation.)

Family Support (for beneficiaries).

In October 1986 Family Support replaced child supplements paid to beneficiaries. It is paid at the maximum rates of $36 a week for the first child and $16 a week for each subsequent child. Where there are two parents, both the benefit and Family Support are paid equally to both parents.

National superannuitants apply for Family Support in the same way as wage and salary earners.

Invalids' benefits.

An invalid's benefit is payable if persons aged 15 years or over are either totally blind or are permanently and severely restricted in their capacity for work as the result of an accident or by reason of illness or of any congenital defect.

In working out the income of blind persons no account is taken of their personal earnings. In addition, the benefit of totally blind persons may, within certain limits, be increased by up to 25 percent of their personal earnings. The personal earnings of severely disabled beneficiaries may be disregarded in whole or in part in calculating their benefits. At 31 March 1986 there were 21 993 invalids' benefits being paid.

Miners' benefits.

A miner's benefit is payable to any person who, while working as a miner in New Zealand, contracted pneumoconiosis or any other occupational disease and is as a result permanently and seriously incapacitated for work, provided that compensation for the same disability is not being received. There were only 10 miners' benefits being paid at 31 March 1986.

Unemployment benefits.

Applicants for unemployment benefits must show that they are unemployed; that they are capable of undertaking and are willing to undertake suitable work; that they have taken reasonable steps to obtain suitable employment; and that they have resided continuously in New Zealand for at least 12 months at any time. People are not entitled to an unemployment benefit if they are full-time students, or if not employed because of a strike, either individually, or by fellow members of their union at the same place of employment.

An unemployment benefit is not payable for the first seven days of any period of unemployment (following the expiry of wages or salary, including holiday pay) for applicants with dependants, and the first 14 days for single people, except in special circumstances.

A further waiting period of up to six weeks is imposed on high-income earners.

The Social Security Commission may postpone, for up to six weeks, the commencement of the benefit if the applicant has voluntarily become unemployed without good and sufficient reason; or has lost his or her employment because of any misconduct as a worker; or has refused to accept an offer of suitable employment; or has refused to undertake suitable job training; or has failed to take reasonable steps to obtain suitable work.

The benefit is payable so long as the beneficiary is unemployed or until he or she becomes eligible to receive another type of benefit, such as national superannuation.

If a beneficiary is not receiving a benefit in respect of a spouse, an allowance may be paid for any person who has the care of his or her home.

Benefits were granted to 144 846 people in 1984–85, and 123 722 people in 1985–86.

Emergency benefits may be granted on grounds of hardship to those who do not qualify for the ordinary unemployment benefit. The average duration of unemployment benefits (not including emergency benefits) which ceased during the year ended 31 March 1986 was 18.5 weeks (18.4 weeks for men and 18.7 weeks for women).

Table 7.5. UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS AND EMERGENCY UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS. 1986*

 UnemploymentEmergency Unemployment
MalesFemalesTotalMalesFemalesTotal

* Year ended 31 March.

† Numbers obtained from a monthly count of benefits in force.

Source: Department of Social Welfare.

Benefits granted82,86540,857123,7223,6153,1456,760
Applications declined30,75312,64043,3931,7661,6803,446
Benefits in force at 31 March 198625,41312,71138,1242,4891,7924,281
Average number in force during year;24,10011,60035,7002,4001,8004,200

Sickness benefits.

A person over the age of 15 years who is incapacitated for work through sickness or accident, and as a result suffers a loss of salary, wages or other earnings, may apply for a sickness benefit.

The number of persons granted a sickness benefit was 32 114 in 1984–85 and 25 824 in 1985–86.

Table 7.6. SICKNESS BENEFITS CEASED, 1986*

Period on Benefit (Weeks)Number of Benefits
MalesFemalesTotal

* Year ended 31 March.

Source: Department of Social Welfare.

Up to 54,2222,6346,856
5–82,2211,6243,845
9–121,1591,3042,463
13–252,4273,6096,036
26–381,0871,6042,691
39–516515671,218
52–778404481,288
78–103363206569
104 and over622346968
      Total13,59212,35225,934

Emergency benefits.

An emergency benefit may be granted on the grounds of hardship to any person who by reason of age, physical or mental disability, or any other reason is unable to earn a sufficient livelihood for herself or himself and those dependent on her or him and is ineligible for any other monetary benefit other than family benefit.

Accommodation benefit.

Accommodation benefit is for people whose income and cash assets are limited and who are paying accommodation costs in excess of a certain amount. The maximum amount of accommodation benefit is $40 a week for both married couples and single people.

Since 1973 a telephone rental concession equal to one-half of the amount of the rental may be granted to persons receiving invalids', widows', domestic purposes, and some sickness or related benefits.

Disability allowance.

A disability allowance of up to $30 a week is payable for people with disabilities receiving an income-tested benefit, or for those whose income is such that they could qualify for an income-tested benefit. The allowance can also be paid for the disabled spouse or child of such a person. The purpose of the allowance is to meet special expenses arising from the person's disability such as transport costs, special diet, domestic help or medicines not on the free list.

Handicapped child's allowance.

A non-taxable allowance of $22 a week is payable to the parents of seriously physically or mentally handicapped children other than those already being cared for in full-time residential institutions.

Special benefit.

Special benefit is for people whose income, after taking into account financial circumstances, and commitments, is insufficient to meet their essential needs. Anyone can apply

Special rest-home scheme.

A rest-home scheme operates in approved districts to help meet fees for elderly people who, on account of frailty, are no longer able to live by themselves or in their existing environment. The scheme is also available for social cases whose main requirement is accommodation.

Home help.

A home-help scheme helps those who are unable to meet the cost of necessary help in the home. Financial assistance is also available to engage a Karitane nurse in suitable cases of multiple births (i.e. triplets or more) or where there are twins and at least one other child under school age.

Essential services.

An advance may be made to beneficiaries or pensioners owning their own home for essential repairs and maintenance, to install essential services or to install essential appliances, such as heating.

Telephone rental concessions.

A telephone rental concession equal to one half of the rental is available to income-tested beneficiaries and pensioners where the duration of benefit is likely to be more than 26 weeks. Recipients of unemployment benefit are not eligible.

Training incentive allowance.

The training incentive allowance is available to certain beneficiaries to help meet costs associated with attending recognised occupational or work-related courses which provide specific work skills. Payments of up to $17 a week are available to widows, invalids and domestic purposes beneficiaries.

Transition-to-work allowance.

This allowance is available to those who have been receiving an income-tested benefit for 12 months or more and find a full-time job. It ensures that they are at least $20 a week better off working, than they would have been on a benefit and may be paid for up to 13 weeks.

Payment whilst in hospital.

Married or unmarried applicants with no dependent children receive a benefit at the current rate for the first 13 weeks of hospitalisation. The benefit is then reduced to $17.

Entitlement to a benefit of more than $17 per week following the initial 13 weeks is dependent on the beneficiary's financial and personal circumstances, his or her needs and mental condition. The benefit rate is not affected for applicants with dependent children.

Continuation of benefit, after death of beneficiary.

Benefits are paid for a period of four weeks following the death of beneficiaries, to dependants who are not entitled to lump sum payments under section 82 of the Accident Compensation Act 1982.

Lump sum payments after death.

Dependants of any person who dies are eligible to receive a single payment of $1,200 subject to their share of the net value of the deceased's estate being less than $10,000, and an income test.

A further $600 is paid for each dependent child. If the deceased was a national superannuitant or social-security beneficiary any amount paid after the date of death by way of ‘continuation of benefit after the death of beneficiaries’ will be deducted from the lump sum of $1,200.

In cases of deceased without dependants, a single payment of up to $600 may be paid to meet any funeral expenses which are not able to be paid from the deceased's estate before the payment of any other debts with the exception of estate administration fees.

Following the death of a dependent child for whom family benefit was payable, a single payment of $600 may be paid to the parents or guardians subject to a means test.

Basic income exemptions.

The basic income exemptions at the end of 1986 were:

  • ○ Widows' invalids' and domestic purposes benefits, $2,600 a year for those without children and $3,120 a year for those with children.

  • ○ Sickness, and unemployment benefits, $50 a week for those without children and $60 a week for those with children.

  • ○ Orphan's benefit, $260 a year.

  • ○ National superannuation is taxable and is paid to qualified persons, regardless of income. If the inclusion of a non-qualified spouse is sought, an income test applies. The income exemption in this case is $2,600 a year for those without children and $3,120 a year for those with children.

Family and miners' benefits are paid regardless of the financial circumstances of the beneficiary.

Adjustment of benefit for income above exemption.

Invalids', widows' and domestic purposes benefits are reduced by 30c for every complete $1 a year of gross income over the appropriate income exemption and up to $4,160 a year, then 70c for every $1 a year.

Sickness and unemployment benefits are reduced by 30c for every $1 over $50 a week (for those without children) and $60 a week (for those with children) up to $80 a week, then 70c for every $1 a week of income.

Orphans' benefits are reduced by $1 for every complete $1 of income over $260 a year.

Benefits and pensions in force.

The total number of social-welfare cash benefits in force at 31 March 1986 was 1 255 356, and these are described by category in table 7.7.

Table 7.7. CASH BENEFITS IN FORCE

Class of BenefitAt 31 March
19821983198419851986

* Increase in family benefits Is due to the inclusion of family benefits paid for children being cared for by people who were not their parents At 31 March 1986, 21 209 family benefits were paid for children being cared for by guardians.

Source: Department of Social Welfare.

 Number in Force
National superannuation430,175441,789451,128459,813465,079
Widows'14,73714,12513,92113,55713,304
Domestic purposes43,44748,12153,14456,54862,570
Orphans'365362384365364
Family459,994486 603*499,365519,739524,143
Family Care164,776115,971
Invalids'17,89118,75720,18721,46421,993
Miners'1616131110
Unemployment32,59650,74450,13638,41942,405
Sickness7,1777,6699,4529,6279,517
      Total1 006 3981 068 1861 097 7301 284 3191 255 356

Benefits and services for the disabled

In addition to the disability allowance and the handicapped child's allowance provided for under the Social Security Act, a number of services and payments are available under the Disabled Persons Community Welfare Act 1975. Assistance provided under the Act is either directed towards community agencies providing services for disabled people or to disabled individuals directly.

Assistance to community services

Building subsidy—Voluntary organisations providing day-care centres, sheltered employment workshops or residential care for disabled people can claim an 80 percent subsidy on the construction, purchase, upgrading, maintenance or rental of an appropriate building.

Capitation subsidy—To assist organisations meet the ongoing costs of disabled children in residential care by a payment based on numbers of children in residence. $102.53 per week per child is payable.

Disabled Persons' Services Programme—To promote and assist voluntary welfare organisations operating services of counselling, advice, information and support for disabled people and their families, salary grants are made for field workers, coordinators and volunteer workers. Annual grants are for up to $9,000 for full-time workers and volunteer co-ordinators and $4,000 for volunteers.

Salary subsidy—Approved organisations qualify for a 75 percent salary subsidy for supervisory staff involved in the training, sheltered employment or day care of disabled persons.

Attendant Care Scheme—This scheme provides wages for personal assistants to enable the seriously physically handicapped to live in their own home rather than in residential care.

Section 30—Disabled Persons Community Welfare Act—The Act provides for a small fund for special projects for the disabled not covered elsewhere.

In addition to the above, the New Zealand Society for the Intellectually Handicapped is funded on a national basis for various aspects of services provided, as is the Association for the Deaf for field officers and interpreters in the main centres, and the Foundation for the Blind hostel staff. Assistance to community services under the Disabled Persons Community Welfare Act during 1985–86 is listed in table 7.8.

Table 7.8. ASSISTANCE FOR SERVICES FOR THE DISABLED. 1986*

ProgrammeExpenditure
* Year ended 31 March
 $(000)
Salary subsidy for workshops and day-care facilities3,363
Building subsidy for workshops, day-care and residential facilities1,358
Disabled Persons Services Programme841
Capitation subsidy for disabled children in care219
Attendant care scheme275
Field officers for the deaf—salary subsidy79
Interpreters for the deaf53
Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind—hostel staff266
New Zealand Society for Intellectually Handicapped17,662
Disabled Persons Assembly87
Disabled Persons Community Welfare Act—Section 30 Fund10
      Total24,213

Assistance to individuals

Alternative care—The Department of Social Welfare will meet reasonable costs of alternative care of a seriously disabled child for four weeks in every year to relieve parents of the constant burden of caring. The cost of alternative care for disabled persons other than children may be met if it is justified by the circumstances of the case. During the year ended 31 March 1986, applications relating to 5936 children and 7500 adults were granted at a value of $3,316,000.

Medical expenses—Travel and accommodation expenses are available to seriously disabled people when undergoing a course of medical treatment approved by a hospital board specialist, or undergoing educational, vocational or psychological assessment. Where the person cannot travel alone and must be accompanied by an attendant, the reasonable travel costs of an attendant may be met.

The total expenditure for medical expenses for the year ended 31 March 1986 amounted to $216,000.

Loans for home alterations—Suspensory and interest-free loans are available for alterations to homes to accommodate a wheelchair, to provide handrails or to change plumbing and other fittings to meet the person's disability. During the year ended 31 March 1986, 2026 loans were approved to the value of $2,192,000.

Disability aids—Seriously disabled people may be assisted towards the cost of walking frames, prosthetic appliances or aids. Any aid must directly assist the disabled person's mobility Total expenditure for the supply of disability aids for the year ended 31 March 1986 amounted to $718,000.

Suspensory loans for motor vehicles—Suspensory loans may be granted to seriously disabled persons to assist in the purchase of a motor vehicle where such a vehicle is necessary to enable that person to obtain or retain employment or undergo training for suitable work.

The loans are also available to disabled people carrying out voluntary work for recognised community-based organisations. During the year ended 31 March 1986, a total of 134 car loans were approved at a total cost of $587,000.

Self-employment—Since December 1982 financial assistance has been available to disabled people to enable them to become self-employed. In the period up to 31 March 1986, 11 applications were granted to the value of $51,000.

Driving assessment centres—From October 1982, financial assistance was available to disabled people and people assisting them, to attend driving assessment centres. The scheme is mainly intended for those whose conditions would preclude them from driving a normal car without modification. In the year to 31 March 1986, 14 applications were granted.

Rehabilitation allowance—People undergoing short-term retraining or assessment may receive a rehabilitation allowance of $17 a week, which is payable without means test and in addition to the normal entitlement to a social security benefit. Financial assistance may also be granted towards travelling and accommodation expenses where they are required to reside away from home.

Expenses for work-related training and education—A seriously disabled person (not eligible for a training incentive allowance) may be assisted with costs while undertaking tertiary education or specific employment-related courses which provide special work skills and better equips them for employment.

Table 7.9. PAYMENTS UNDER THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT

Item1981–821982–831983–841984–851985–86

* Benefit on death prior to 28 September 1982.

† These figures were obtained by multiplying by 52 the amount paid in the week to 31 March.

‡ Includes maternity benefits relating to private hospital treatment

§ Excludes group practice loans.

|| Includes private hospital loans and grants to Royal N.Z. Plunket Society towards operating costs.

¶ Includes domestic assistance; grants to public servants and dependants in respect of medical expenses while stationed overseas; payments under section 117, Social Security Act 1964; grants to intellectually handicapped children's parents' associations and other organisations.

Sources: Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare.

 $(000)
Cash benefits—
  National superannuation1,895,8452,418,9302,526,0312,743,5123,341,211
  Widows'62,16473,95471,29578,4958,338
  Domestic purposes252,654333,617380,836460,385603,878
  Orphans'9431,1141,1861,0041,281
  Family297,705293,044289,689284,167281,957
  Family Care......60,460165,387
  Invalids'60,45479,07487,410105,724133,287
  Miners'7295787276
  Unemployment156,429195,218315,849274,689290,462
  Sickness43,52952,35562,21272,55091,762
  Payment after death*2,7372,7963,7843,4953,493
Advances for repairs to homes3474048691,0291,339
Disability allowance3,4834,5025,4437,81411,788
Handicapped childs allowance2,0973,5944,4154,9056,371
Accommodation benefit15,63621,61231,59941,58357,949
Special benefit2524158102,0364,495
Telephone rental concession1,7991,5192,8724,6044,822
      Total cash benefits2,796,1463,482,2433,784,3784,146,5245,088,896
Health benefits—
  Maternity9,95111,26011,21711,25320,183
  Medical§52,08154,90156,500x56,82555,841
  Hospital||39,60444,97046,28849,21556,778
  Pharmaceutical174,068196,098220,644254,843346,287
  Supplementary37,93741,17042,71147,14247,918
      Total medical benefits313,641348,399377,361419,279527,007

Reciprocity agreements

Australia.

The Social Security (Reciprocity with Australia) Act 1948 provided for reciprocity between New Zealand and the Commonwealth of Australia in relation to a wide range of benefits. The Act came into force on 1 July 1949. (A similar Act was passed in Australia and came into force on the same date.)

For the purpose of any application for a benefit (except the New Zealand miners' benefit) residence in Australia or birth in Australia is regarded as residence or birth in this country From 1987, orphans' and domestic purposes benefits have been included in the reciprocity arrangements.

Applicants for invalids' or widows' benefits must be qualified on residential grounds to receive the corresponding pensions under the Social Services Act (Australia) as if their residence in New Zealand had been residence in Australia. No man is entitled to receive national superannuation unless he has attained the age of 65 years. All applicants are required to establish that they would have been able to qualify on income grounds for an Australian age pension had they remained in Australia. The Act also provides that blindness or permanent incapacity for work occurring in Australia be treated as if it had occurred in New Zealand.

Reciprocal benefits in force in New Zealand at 31 March 1986 comprised 621 national superannuation benefits; 16 widows' benefits; and 63 invalids' benefits; a total of 700 compared with 720 a year earlier.

United Kingdom.

The Social Security (Reciprocity with United Kingdom) Act 1983 provides for reciprocity in a comprehensive range of benefits between New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The general principle of the convention is that people migrating from one country to the other will be taken into the social-security scheme of the receiving country and paid benefits by the receiving country under the laws and conditions applicable to other residents of that country. No man applying for national superannuation under the convention is entitled to receive payment unless he has attained the age of 65. The qualifying age for women is 60 years.

Reciprocal benefits in force in New Zealand at 31 March 1986 comprised 12 064 national superannuation benefits; 36 widows' benefits; 1 orphan's benefit and 102 invalids' benefits; a total of 12 203 compared with 12 692 a year earlier.

New Zealand residents in the United Kingdom.

In the United Kingdom the convention applies to former residents of New Zealand who claim retirement pensions, widows' pensions, widowed mothers' and guardians' allowances, family allowances, and sickness and unemployment benefits under the National Insurance Act.

The qualifying age for retirement pensions under the National Insurance Act is 60 years for women and 65 years for men.

It is to be noted that, although a man may have been in receipt of national superannuation when he left New Zealand, he is not entitled to retirement pension in the United Kingdom unless he is 65 years of age.

Revenue collection and enforcement

In 1983, revenue sections were established in 28 of the Department of Social Welfare's district offices with responsibility for the work associated with money due for maintenance, liable-parent contributions and overpaid benefits and pensions.

Maintenance.

The Family Court can make, register, confirm, vary or cancel maintenance orders and agreements.

The Department of Social Welfare is responsible for the collection and enforcement of maintenance payable under maintenance orders and registered agreements in terms of the Family Proceedings Act 1980.

The number of current maintenance orders and registered agreements continues to decline following the introduction of the Liable Parent Contribution Scheme; from 47 000 in March 1981 to 32 284 in March 1986. The amount due for enforceable orders and agreements is $31,996,644 and receipts for the year totalled $15,577,581, a collection rate of 48.7 percent. Of this amount $5.6 million was lodged to the Consolidated Account, representing maintenance for those in receipt of a domestic purposes benefit granted before 1 April 1981.

Liable Parent Contribution Scheme.

This scheme, introduced from 1 April 1981, is a system for assessing and obtaining contributions from the non-custodial parent toward the cost of paying a domestic purposes benefit to the person caring for the children. The formula for assessing the contribution is contained in the 20th schedule to the Social Security Act.

Reimbursement for domestic purposes benefit.

The pattern of reimbursement for the cost of domestic purposes benefits (maintenance orders only in 1981, maintenance orders plus liable-parent contribution from 1982) is set out in table 7.10.

Table 7.10. REIMBURSEMENT FOR DOMESTIC PURPOSES BENEFIT

Year Ended 31 MarchDPB ExpenditureMaintenance and Liable Parent Receipts in Respect of BeneficiariesRate of RecoveryNet Expenditure
 $(million)$(million)percent$(million)
1982252.716.36.5236.4
1983333.623.47.0310.2
1984380.830.38.0350.5
1985460.430.96.7429.5
1986603.933.55.5570.4
Source Department of Social Welfare.

War pensions and rehabilitation

The war pensions programme is the outcome of New Zealand's participation in two world wars in which large numbers of citizens served as members of the forces. It applies also to service in Korea and South-east Asia, and includes obligations undertaken under the charter of United Nations, and service with the Regular Force prior to 1 April 1974.

For many years social-security cash benefits and war pensions have been administered by one department although the authority for paying war pensions is vested in the War Pensions Board, an independent body appointed by the Minister in Charge of War Pensions. The administration of the War Pensions Act is, however, the responsibility of the Secretary for War Pensions who acts under the general direction and control of the Minister. Appeals in individual cases are heard by the War Pensions Appeal Board.

Rates and allowances.

The pensions for war disablement and war widows are adjusted annually in April, while income-tested pensions are adjusted twice a year in April and October, in line with movements in the Consumers Price Index.

Table 7.11. RATES OF WAR PENSIONS AND ALLOWANCES

PensionWeekly Rate
January 1986April 1986October* 1986

* The October increase incorporated a 5 percent advance compensation for GST.

† Adjusted annually at 1 April in relation to movements in the Consumers Price index.

‡ Subject to an income test and from 1 October 1986. subject to taxation.

§ Since 1 October 1986, pensioners with children have received Family Support of $36 a week for the first child and $16 a week for each subsequent child, paid by the Inland Revenue Department. Payment for the first child is included in the above rates.

Source: Department of Social Welfare.

 $     $     $     
Disablement pension
  Total disablement78.0488.1592.55
  Special additional pension for blindness or serious disablement46.8252.8955.53
Economic pension
  Unmarried person115.05117.71131.16
  Married person95.8898.09109.30
Wife's pension95.8898.09109.30
War widow's pension—
  Basic pension57.5765.0368.28
  Economic pension115.05117.71131.16
  Mother's allowance—
    One dependent child70.7174.4783.44
    Each subsequent child10.0010.0016.00
Orphan's pension57.7959.1065.73
Child's pension6.006.006.00
Widowed mother's pension (totally dependent)—
  Basic pension;57.5765.0368.28
  Economic pension109.49117.71131.16
Widowed mother's pension (partly dependent)—
  Basic pension4.004.004.00
  Economic pension112.80115.46128.91
War service pension and war veteran's allowance
  Unmarried115.05117.71131.16
  Married male95.8898.09109.30
  Married female95.8898.09109.30
  Age supplement (each)1.501.501.50
  Gratuity (veteran's widow)172.62182.74199.44
Dependent children (replacing the rates shown where there are dependent children)§
  Solo parent and one child185.76190.18214.60
    Each subsequent child10.0010.0016.00
  Married couple and one child201.76206.18236.60
    Each subsequent child10.0010.0016.00

Economic pensions, war service pensions, and war veterans allowances are subject to an income test and are reducible if income from other sources exceeds $50 a week for those without children and $60 for those with children ($2,600 and $3,120 a year respectively). In calculating a wife's pension, the income of the husband only is taken into account.

Travel grants and other concessions may be made to severely disabled persons.

The social-security legislation permits basic war disablement and war widows' pensions to be paid concurrently with any social-security benefit and to be entirely disregarded for income tests.

Pensions for dependants.

Since April 1971 wives' pensions have not been payable in respect of service on or after 3 September 1939 unless such a pension was already payable at that date. From 1 April 1971 the wife of a member of the armed forces pensioned for total blindness in respect of service on or after 3 September 1939 may receive a war service pension but not an age supplement. In addition to pensions for wives and children, a pension may be granted to any member of a deceased or disabled serviceman's family.

Economic pensions.

An ‘economic pension’ is a supplementary pension based on individual circumstances and is in addition to any pension payable as of right in respect of death or disablement.

Servicemen pensioned for minor disablement do not receive economic pensions.

Servicemen pensioned in respect of service on or after 3 September 1939 have not, from 1 April 1971, been eligible to receive an economic pension unless they were paid one at that date. At 31 March 1986 there were 1502 economic pensions in force.

War veterans' allowances.

These provide for ex-servicemen, mainly of the First World War, who have become unfit for permanent employment by reason of mental or physical incapacity. At 31 March 1986 there were 937 allowances in force.

War service pensions.

Since 1971 the war service pension has been payable, subject to an income test, to those serving in the Second World War or any subsequent war or emergency involving members of the New Zealand forces. Those serving with other Commonwealth countries may also qualify. A number of conditions apply to the grants of war-service pensions and they cannot be paid concurrently with social-security benefits other than family benefit. At 31 March 1986 there were 2103 war service pensions in force.

Emergency reserve corps pensions.

These pensions are payable where death or disablement was suffered by a member of The Emergency Reserve Corps in the course of service (including training), or was directly attributable to such service.

Mercantile marine pensions.

Pensions and allowances are paid in respect of death or disablement of members of the mercantile marine which are directly attributable to the Second World War.

Accommodation benefit.

Accommodation benefit is available to recipients of income-tested pensions and allowances, on a similar basis to social-welfare accommodation benefit. At 31 March 1986, 247 accommodation benefits were being paid to recipients of war pensions.

War bursaries.

Bursaries for educational purposes are available to children of ex-servicemen receiving a war-service pension or 70 percent disablement pension; and of deceased ex-servicemen in respect of whose deaths war pensions are paid.

During the year ended 31 March 1986, 161 bursaries were granted, expenditure being $10,000 for the year.

War Pensions Medical Research Trust Board.

When a pensioner dies, any unpaid pension money not paid to dependants in the normal way may be paid to the War Pensions Medical Research Trust Fund for research into mental disorders or other fields of medical research beneficial to format members of the forces. The fund is administered by a trust board.

Statistical review of war pensions and allowances.

During the year ended 31 March 1986 the Department of Social Welfare dealt with 2572 applications for war pensions. Of these, 2453 applications were lodged by ex-servicemen in respect of their own disabilities, the balance being made up of claims by dependants, applications for economic pensions, war veterans' allowances, war service pensions, and pensions in respect of peacetime forces. The total for the previous year was 2527. Of these, 2353 were in respect of the applicant's own disability.

The number of appeals the War Pension Appeal Board dealt with in 1985–86 was 185, of which 90 were upheld.

Table 7.12 shows for all classes of war pensions the number in force, except peacetime forces, Vietnam force and war service pensions, at the end of March in each year and the expenditure during the years given.

Table 7.12. WAR PENSIONS: NUMBER AND EXPENDITURE*

Year Ended 31 MarchFirst World War (1914–18)Second World War (1939–45)K ForceWar VeteransMercantile MarineEmergency Reserve CorpsTotal

* Excluding peacetime forces.

Source: Department of Social Welfare.

 Number in Force
19832,46122,2013191,91122626,920
19842,13322,1143351,52022626,130
19851,85322,0203481,19321625,441
19861,62521,96835993722624917
 Expenditure $(000)
198310,16668,05846013,828571392,582
19849,11155,47552010,870571076,043
19858,64663,7535629,48059682,506
19868,84662,9056628,79157881,269

Table 7.13. PENSIONS BY CLASS AND WAR OR SERVICE TYPE, 1986*

War or Type of ServiceDisablement PensionsDependants of Disabled Ex-membersDependants of Deceased ServicemenTotal
WidowsPatents and Others

* 31 March.

Source: Department of Social Welfare.

First World War (1914–18)389101,22601,625
Second World War (1939–45)18,881543,0042921,968
Korean Force3451130359
Vietnam Force351110353
Peacetime forces1,67915741,741
Other6108170
Total in force21,706674 3093426,116

Rehabilitation.

Resettlement assistance is available to men who enlisted before 1 April 1974 and who have served in South-east Asia for six months prior to 1 April 1972 and for 12 months after that date.

Application for housing loans, at a 3 percent concession rate of interest, must be lodged within five years from the date of return to New Zealand after qualifying service or two years after discharge from the armed forces, whichever is the later. Application for interest-free furniture loans must be lodged within five years of date of return to New Zealand after qualifying service or two years after discharge from the forces, whichever is later. Loans are administered by the Housing Corporation of New Zealand. Limited preference in farm ballots are also available to ex-servicemen with a farming background.

Special provisions also exist to ensure that rehabilitation assistance is available to all ex-servicemen whose rehabilitation may at any time be interrupted or become necessary as a result of disability arising from service. Expenditure for the year to 31 March 1986 totalled $50,019.

Census statistics on social welfare payments

In addition to the traditional census question on total income—defined as the income before tax a person received from all specified sources—information was sought at the 1986 census on social welfare payments received by persons aged 15 years and over. Respondents were required to specify, the nature of payments, benefits and pensions received during the 12 months ended 4 March 1986. A summary of the results is given in table 7.14.

Of the New Zealand resident population aged 15 or over, 1 122 639 or 47.1 percent specified that they were in receipt of at least one social welfare payment during the year ended 4 March 1986. National superannuation was received by the greatest number of people followed by the family benefit. Because the domestic purposes and widows' benefits and national superannuation are paid to more women than men, 68.7 percent of beneficiaries are females.

Table 7.14. POPULATION RECEIVING SOCIAL WELFARE PAYMENTS, 1986

Social Welfare PaymentReceiving Payments*Percentage of Population
MaleFemaleTotalMaleFemaleTotal

* New Zealand residents aged 15 years and over.

† Includes one payment for war pension, Family Care, domestic purposes or widow's benefit.

‡ Any other social welfare payment. This may Include one, two or three social-welfare payments. It includes all cases where the respondent has provided a written response to the question, under the option ‘Other’.

§ Includes undefined.

One payment—
  Family34,461225,717260,1783.018.410.9
  National superannuation178,257254,796433,05315.520.818.2
  Unemployment52,42528,92081,3454.52.43.4
  Sickness or invalids24,60616,35340,9592.11.31.7
  Other8,62833,68742,3150.72.71.8
      Subtotal298,380559,473857,85325.945.636.0
Two payments37,212187,338224,5503.215.39.4
Three payments1,6567,8189,4740.10.604
Other13,97116,79130,7621.21.31.3
No payments received801,663456,2371 257 90069.537.252.8
Not specified§61,66333,83195,499
      Total1 214 5471 261 4882 476 035100.0100.0100.0

7.3 Health benefits and assistance

Part II of the Social Security Act 1964 is administered by the Department of Health. It deals with medical and related benefits, applies to all New Zealand residents and provides for medical, pharmaceutical, hospital, maternity and other benefits. This section describes these benefits, while chapter 8, Health and safety, describes New Zealand's health system.

Medical benefits.

Medical benefits apply to treatment ordinarily given by medical practitioners in the course of a general practice. Certain services are excluded, principally:

  1. Medical services in maternity cases. (These services are covered by maternity benefits and are described under a later heading.)

  2. Medical services involved in any medical examination for the main purpose of obtaining a medical certificate.

  3. Medical services other than anaesthetic services, involved in or incidental to the extraction of teeth by a medical practitioner.

Every general practitioner providing any of the services outlined is entitled, on behalf of ordinary patients, to receive from the Department of Health a fee of $1.35 for a service provided in normal hours and up to $4.40 for a service rendered at night or on Saturdays, Sundays or holidays. For social welfare beneficiaries, pensioners and their dependants, and for patients approved as ‘chronically ill', the benefit ranges from $3.30 to $7.65; in the case of all children and young persons up to their 16th birthday and those for whom family benefit continues to be paid, the rate of the benefit ranges from $11.20 to $17.75. For initial consultations with recognised psychiatrists, paediatricians, neurologists, neurosurgeons, radiotherapists or specialist physicians, the department pays a benefit of $22.00; with all other specialists, the benefit paid for children and young persons is $11.00, and the benefit paid for all other patients is $5.45. These rates apply only to the first occasion on which a patient is referred by a general practitioner to a specialist, and, in the case of an inter-specialist referral, with prior agreement of the original doctor. For subsequent visits, the fee paid by the department reduces to $1.35 for each visit, except in the case of social welfare beneficiaries and pensioners and their dependants, and the ‘chronically ill’ for whom the fee is $3.30, and $5.20 in the case of children and young persons. Doctors make a claim directly from the Department of Health and ask patients for the balance of their fees. In designated rural areas, an incentive bonus is payable to general practitioners. The immunisation benefit is $7.65 when the vaccine is administered by a doctor or a registered general nurse in his or her employ and under his or her direction. The immunisation benefit is in full settlement and no extra charge should be made.

Pharmaceutical benefits.

Persons receiving medical attention under the Act are entitled, generally at little or no cost to themselves, to those medicines, drugs, approved appliances and materials prescribed by their medical practitioners or dentists and which are included in the drug tariff.

Prescriptions passed for payment in the year ended 31 March 1986 totalled 29.96 million or 9.1 per head of population. The average cost per prescription was $11.09 and the cost per head of population for the year $104.91.

Hospital benefits.

Free treatment is provided by public hospitals where a patient is entitled under the Act. In the case of private hospitals and other approved institutions, part of the costs are met. The rates from 1 October 1986 are as follows:

  1. For surgical treatment, $28.75 a day, with a minimum total of $30.00 (for less than 48 hours).

  2. For medical (including psychiatric) treatment, $22.25 a day.

  3. For geriatric treatment, $27.75 a day.

  4. Hospital treatment for maternity patients, $31 a day.

  5. For long-stay medical patients, $27.75 per day.

Free treatment is given to outpatients at public hospitals. There is also provision for the supply of contact lenses for specific eye conditions, artificial orthopaedic appliances, crutches, permanent splints, manual wheelchairs, plastic protective clothing, ileostomy and colostomy appliance urinals and components, oxygen cylinders, mist tents and similar equipment for children suffering from specific complaints.

Hospital boards pay a subsidy for hearing aids, surgical footwear, some aids for daily living and electric wheelchairs. The Department of Health provides artificial larynx, larynx batteries and battery chargers, as well as understockings and limb socks (supplied by the New Zealand Artifical Limb Board). The department also subsidises payment for breast prostheses, wigs or hairpieces and children's hearing aids.

Patients in private hospitals may be supplied by hospital boards, with intra-ocular lenses and orthopaedic implants.

A subsidy is also provided under the geriatric hospital special assistance scheme to help geriatric patients in private hospitals where the patient needs hospital care but cannot be placed in a public hospital bed. Patients must contribute towards the cost. In the case of a married patient in hospital for up to 13 weeks the income left in the hands of the spouse who is not hospitalised must be not less than the rate of national superannuation for a married couple. After 13 weeks the income left in the hands of the spouse who is not hospitalised must not be less than the rate of national superannuation for a single person plus $15 per week.

Psychiatric hospitals.

Treatment of patients in public psychiatric hospitals is also free. A licensed (private) psychiatric hospital may be recognised and approved by the Minister of Health as a hospital for the purposes of the Act, and hospital benefits paid towards treatment.

Maternity benefits.

Maternity benefits cover antenatal and post-natal advice and treatment by medical practitioners, and the services of doctors and nurses at confinements in maternity hospitals or elsewhere. Recognised specialists may make a charge on the patient over and above the benefit. Licensed private maternity hospitals are entitled to receive fees of $31.00 in respect of the day of birth of the child and for each of the succeeding 14 days.

Diagnostic imaging services.

A health benefit is paid for X-ray photographs and examinations, and related drugs or substances, where services are used on the recommendation of a medical practitioner.

X-ray photographs or examinations made or taken in dentistry or for the purposes of life insurance, visas, emigration permits, and examinations primarily to obtain medical certificates for production to some other person, are not included in the free services. Eligible X-ray examinations at public hospitals are free, but those undertaken by private radiologists are limited to a specified benefit. Additional charges are the patient's responsibility.

Laboratory diagnostic services.

Benefits cover the supply of all materials or substances needed for laboratory diagnostic services, and associated medical services except:

  1. Examination of specimens for public health.

  2. Post-mortem examinations.

  3. Laboratory services for dentistry or for life insurance.

  4. The preparation of sera and vaccines.

Physiotherapy benefits.

A benefit is available for physiotherapy recommended by a medical practitioner. Treatment is usually limited to eight weeks on a single recommendation but specified illnesses may be treated for up to six months on one recommendation.

The standard benefit is $1.10 for each treatment, with a higher rate of $1.65 payable for beneficiaries and their dependants who qualify for the higher medical benefit. Where patients are treated in groups the benefit is 45 cents per patient.

Home-nursing services.

Home-nursing services are free where they are provided by a registered nurse or midwife employed by the Department of Health, a hospital board or an organisation recognised for the purpose.

Domestic assistance.

Financial assistance is given to approved incorporated associations formed to provide domestic help required because of age and infirmity or the mother is incapacitated or needs help through family commitments. Hospital boards may also provide home-aid as part of a range of services to minimise the need for hospital or residential-home care.

Dental services.

Free dental treatment is provided to people under 16 years of age, or under 18 years if still attending school or otherwise dependent. Treatment is provided by contracting dentists for whom there is a prescribed scale of fees, or in the dental department of a public hospital.

Artificial aids.

The Social Security (Hospital Benefits for Outpatients) Regulations 1947 make provision for the supply of artificial aids, such as artificial limbs, hearing aids and contact lenses.

Breast prostheses—Women undergoing a mastectomy are entitled to a benefit to assist with the cost of a breast form. The benefit towards the cost is $198 of the initial prosthesis, and $44 per year towards replacement. An initial payment of up to $330 can be made and includes payment of the annual benefit for three years in advance. Claimants present a certificate of eligibility from their doctor to the supplier.

Contact lenses—These may be supplied for the following optical disabilities: conical cornea; serious myopia, or some cases where lens of the eye being absent. In each case the supply of contact lenses must be recommended by an approved ophthalmologist.

Lenses may also be supplied for any other eye conditions which cannot be corrected by ordinary spectacles; after recommendations by two ophthalmologists.

Hearing aids—A subsidy of $89.10 is payable by hospital boards towards the purchase of a hearing aid, where an otologist employed or engaged by a hospital board or the Department of Health determines that one is necessary

The subsidy is paid for a replacement hearing aid if the authorising otologist believes a new aid is required to improve hearing ability. For people under 16 years, the Department of Health may meet the balance of the cost.

Artificial limbs—Artificial limbs are provided free. The limb must be recommended by an approved orthopaedic surgeon and of an approved type and satisfactorily fitted.

For the purposes of the regulations ‘artificial limb’ includes artificial arms, hands, legs and feet, and includes limb socks for such limbs and, for female amputees, replacement understockings.

Ex-servicemen and women and accident victims may be required to obtain a limb under the provisions of the War Pensions Regulations 1956, or the Accident Compensation Act 1972.

Orthopaedic implants—Artificial hips and similar implants also qualify for benefit under the arrangements for artificial aids.

Wheelchairs—Manually operated wheelchairs are available through hospital boards on a free-loan basis to those who need them on medical grounds. Motorised wheelchairs are fully subsidised in approved cases.

Artificial eyes—A benefit of up to $55 is available to all patients who have had an eye removed in a private hospital For adults, the benefit is available towards the cost of the initial prosthesis only but people under 16 are also entitled to up to $55 towards the cost of replacement artificial eyes.

Wigs—An initial benefit of up to $330 is available to meet the cost of wigs for patients suffering from: congenital dystrophy of the skin; alopecia areata, severe and longstanding; or in cases of illness or treatment of illness where baldness is not permanent but is likely to be prolonged. For adults a replacement benefit of $93.50 per year is available, which may be accumulated. The replacement benefit for children is $330 per year.

Table 7.15. HEALTH BENEFIT EXPENDITURE

Item1981–821982–831983–341984–851985–86

* Now classified as medical subsidy

Source: Department of Health.

 $(000)
Maternity benefits—
  Medical practitioners' fees9,32110,56510,55410,59419,413
  Medical practitioners' motor vehicle allowance317365386365567
  Obstetric nurses' fees87845772104
  Obstetric nurses' motor vehicle allowance13585560100
 9,74811,07211,05211,09120,184
Medical benefits—
  General medical services35,26135,77834,55234,07846,860
  GMS motor vehicle allowance197193189195195
  Specialist medical services4,4644,6294,6764,7634,871
  Rural practice bonus and other incentives7557648017511,080
  Immunisation benefit6728638538951,446
  Practice nurse subsidy10,66712,614***
 52,01654,84141,07140,68254,452
Private practice and post-graduate grants6560......
Hospital benefits—
  Treatment in private hospitals—
    maternity benefits204188165162169
  Treatment in private hospitals—
    medical and surgical5,1695,9566,1826,4796,314
  Treatment in private hospitals—
    geriatric benefit30,84035,21936,33739,54641,090
  Treatment in private hospitals—
    long-stay benefit697591598802637
  Treatment in approved institutions2,8983,2033,1712,3883,112
 39,80845,15746,45349,37751,322
Pharmaceutical benefits—
  Medicines ordered by: Medical practitioners—
  Prescriptions and practitioners supply orders....214,718247,771335,810
  Others....1,6472,0903,530
Dentists—
  Prescriptions and practitioners supply orders....685743921
  Other....5781108
Private hospitals and other institutions—
  Bulk supply orders....2,5792,8373,965
  Other....9581,3201,953
 ....220,645254,842346,287
Supplementary benefits—
  Dental services8,1888,3317,9837,8868,617
  Laboratory services25,67627,93329,25633,36240,611
  Artificial aids168211248412444
  Physiotherapy services1,6592,0112,0532,1962,678
  Radiological services2,1352,5122,9422,9873,417
  Breast prostheses55108169190220
  Hair-pieces56645975118
  Miscellaneous......355
 37,93741,17042,71047,14356,110
      Total313,642348,398361,933403,135528,355

Health welfare services

Government assistance is offered to religious and voluntary organisations and local authorities in providing housing, accommodation and services for elderly people and others with special needs. Under this partnership with government, the social service agencies of all the major religious bodies, as well as other welfare organisations, have established additional accommodation for the aged, frail, and sick who need residential care in either an old people's home or a geriatric hospital. Where it is not possible to meet the needs of elderly people either through these agencies or through private facilities, the provision of residential care for the aged becomes a hospital board responsibility. At 31 March 1986 religious and welfare or private organisations provided 18 628 home and hospital beds for the elderly Hospital boards and area health boards maintain 907 old people's horns beds, and 2880 long-stay hospital beds for the elderly

Other important measures to help elderly people to remain in their homes as long as possible are receiving increased attention; for example, the provision of district nursing services, home aid, meals-on-wheels, laundry services and occupational therapy In addition, many religious and welfare homes are now providing day-care for those who do not want full accommodation in an old people's home. In general the services are provided by hospital/area health boards with voluntary organisations and old people's welfare councils assisting in various ways. The importance of old people's clubs and social centres, with an adequate range of services, is also receiving increasing recognition. Government lottery funds are being used to assist in providing suitable premises and helping welfare councils with administrative costs.

Old people's homes and hospitals.

Since 1981 religious or welfare organisations providing accommodation for old people may be granted the entire approved building cost up to maximum subsidies of $21,000 per bed for old people's homes and $25,000 for geriatric hospital beds. The policy also provides an 80 percent subsidy towards the cost of approved improvements to, and upgrading of, existing accommodation and 100 percent for fire-protection work as required by the local authority. Since 1982, subsidies have been provided towards the capital cost of day-care centres for the elderly The policy is administered by the Department of Health.

During the year 1985–86, subsidies of $5,243,153 were approved. From April 1950 to 31 March 1986 subsidies totalling $88,228,909 have been approved, and buildings erected as a result will accommodate 9271 old people.

Voluntary welfare organisations.

Over the years voluntary welfare organisations have made valuable contributions to important aspects of public health. In many cases they are encouraged and assisted in their work by grants from public funds. Among these organisations are the Royal N.Z. Plunket Society, the Children's Health Camps Board, the New Zealand Red Cross Society the St John's Ambulance Association, the New Zealand Crippled Children's Society the Hearing Association, the Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind, the Family Planning Association, the Neurological Foundation, the Rehabilitation League, the Laura Fergusson Trust for Disabled Persons, the New Zealand Society for the Intellectually Handicapped, the Cancer Society and the National Heart Foundation.

7.4 Superannuation and provident funds

For many years the Government, local authorities, and increasing numbers of private employers have operated superannuation schemes to enable employees to provide for their retirement in addition to the benefits provided under social security schemes.

The Government Superannuation Fund in its present form was established in 1948, amalgamating funds which had been in existence since the early 1900s. Its revenues consist of members' contributions, subsidies from the Consolidated Account, trading departments and other bodies, and interest earned on investments. The National Provident Fund was established as a superannuation scheme for the general public in 1911. It also provides superannuation for the employees of local authorities and other approved bodies, and maintains an investment pool in which local bodies may invest their surplus funds.

Government Superannuation Fund

The Government Superannuation Fund is administered by a board comprising the Minister of Finance as statutory chairperson, the Secretary to the Treasury as deputy chairperson, the Chairperson of the State Services Commission, the General Manager of the Railways Corporation, the Director-General of Education, the Commissioner of Police, and five members appointed on the nomination of various employee organisations plus one on the nomination of the Minister of Defence.

In 1985 significant changes were introduced to the general scheme and the police sub-scheme. Other sub-schemes are progressively being revised.

The following paragraphs are an outline of the fund as it is now structured.

Membership.

All state employees may belong to the fund and this covers those in departments under the control of the State Services Commission, the education service, the New Zealand Railways Corporation, and some staff of government postal and telecommunication services. Membership is compulsory for permanent members of the armed forces, the police, the prison service, judges of the High Court, Maori Land Court judges, District Court judges, members of Parliament, and members of the Cook Islands, Niue, and Tokelau public services.

Contributions.

Deductions are made from basic salary at rates ranging from 6.5 percent for the general scheme to 11 percent for members of Parliament.

Credit may be purchased in certain circumstances for periods of government or local authority service not currently ranking and for full-time study or periods of training outside government service and which resulted in a qualification being gained. Certain intervals in government service may also be bought retrospectively for superannuation purposes.

Contributors under the age of 50 years have the option of temporarily suspending the payment of contributions, while remaining members of the fund. Death benefits are reduced while contributions are suspended, and service is discounted when contributions resume.

Benefits.

The principal objective of the fund is the payment of an allowance on retirement, which is usually around age 60, but may be earlier if a contributor is over age 50 with at least 10 years of contributory service. An allowance is also available where retirement occurs because of medical unfitness for further duty The assessment of a retiring allowance is based upon salary service and age at retirement. For example, a 50-year-old with 30 years of service would receive an allowance equal to 34 percent of the contributor's final average salary over the preceding five years of service, grossed up to current year values. A 60-year old with 20 years of service would receive 30 percent, with 40 years of service, 60 percent. Up to a quarter of the annual allowance may be surrendered in exchange for a lump sum of 10 times the amount of the surrender.

On death before retirement, a spouse has the choice of a refund of the deceased's contributions with interest at 6 percent, a lump sum equal to the deceased's final rate of salary, or an allowance at the rate of half the allowance the contributor would have received had retirement occurred on the date of death. With this latter choice the spouse also has the option of receiving 80 percent of the contributor's capitalisation entitlement, in return for a proportionately reduced allowance.

On death after retirement a spouse is entitled to an allowance at half the rate actually being paid at the time of death. Any surviving spouse, if under the age of 61, may also surrender up to one quarter of the spouse's allowance in return for a cash payment.

On death an allowance of $1,306 a year is paid for children below 16 years of age (or 18 years where schooling is extended) or possibly to a higher age in the case of inability to earn a living because of physical or mental reasons. This amount is increased annually in line with the Consumers Price Index.

All allowances are paid in advance in instalments every 28 days and no recovery is made where an entitlement ceased during a benefit period.

Annual cost of living adjustments are paid on all new allowances from the point of commencement, at the rate of increase in the Consumers Price Index.

Options

Housing finance: Members with three or more years of contributory service may apply for a first or second mortgage from the fund; the size of the mortgage does not relate to the contributor's equity in the fund nor the length of contributory service, but rather his or her ability to service the mortgage.

Charging of contributions: Members can use their equity in the fund as security for the raising of a loan with another institution.

Special conditions.

Armed forces contributors may qualify for a retiring allowance after completing their engagements with not less than 20 years' service.

Superannuation for members of the judiciary and the Solicitor-General is compulsory with contributions ranging from 7 to 8 percent of salary, dependent upon age at appointment. The normal retirement age is 68, though there are provisions for early retirement. The maximum retiring allowance payable is two-thirds of the final salary and a refund of contributions may be taken in lieu of a pension. The standard provision for spouses and children apply.

Members of Parliament contribute at the rate of 11 percent of an ordinary member's salary for an allowance based on one thirty-second of an ordinary member's salary at the point of retirement for each year of service, up to two-thirds after approximately 21 years' service. They qualify for an allowance from 50 years of age on retiring from Parliament after not less than nine years' service (or not less than eight years if this covers the duration of at least three sessions). The standard provisions for spouses and children apply

Police officers contribute at the rate of 7.5 percent of salary. Because they are required to retire at age 55, for the calculation of retirement benefits their contributory service is increased by 25 percent with the provision that total contributory service cannot exceed 40 years unless actual service exceeds this. Members of the police are required to maintain standards of physical fitness. Where an officer is retired due to failure to meet these standards special withdrawal benefits are available. As is the case for contributors to the general scheme, members of the police with at least 10 years of contributory service may be paid a retiring allowance from age 50. Benefits available at death for spouses and children are the same as in the general scheme.

A special scheme for the armed forces was reviewed during 1986 and new provisions were being introduced through 1987.

Statistics.

As at 31 March 1986 there were 89 433 contributors to the Government Superannuation Fund and they paid $135,832,000 into the fund during the year. At the same time there were 38 825 beneficiaries who were entitled to $259,880,170 a year.

Table 7.16. GOVERNMENT SUPERANNUATION FUND ALLOWANCES, AT 31 MARCH 1986

Qualification for AllowanceNumberAnnual Amount
  $(000)
Retired for age or length of service26,500217,402
Medically unfit1,3908,115
Spouses10,10634,254
Children829108
Total allowances38,825259,880
Source: The Treasury

Total assets at 31 March 1986, which amounted to $1,434,556,000 included investments in government stock, $1,247,554,000. The average effective interest earning of the fund was 13.13 percent for the year.

Table 7.17. CONTRIBUTORS TO GOVERNMENT SUPERANNUATION FUND, AT 31 MARCH 1986

Branch of ServiceNumberPercentage of Total
Armed services11,99213.41
Education service20,36122.78
Police4,9665.55
Post Office13,95615.60
Prison officers13441.50
N.Z. Railways6,4677.23
Public Service26,46229.59
Other employers3,8854.34
      Total89,433100.00
Source: The Treasury

Table 7.18. GOVERNMENT SUPERANNUATION FUND: SUMMARY

Year Ended 31 MarchNumber of ContributorsAnnual Contributions*Interest Received From InvestmentsSubsidy From Government Trading Departments and OthersAnnual Value of AllowancesAccumulated Fund at 31 March

* Includes transfers from National Provident Fund but not contributions of Members of Parliament.

† Based on retiring and other allowances at end of year. Actual total paid during year ended 31 March 1986 was $250,218,000 plus $67,347,000 for retiring allowances capitalised.

Source: The Treasury

    $(000)  
1983116,275127,67081,427151,873170,085947,092
1984111,926123,47399,478193,405199,8601,098,633
1985108,269122,750122,527207,660214,1841,253,455
198689,433135,366164,336269,833259,8801,414,614

National Provident Fund

The National Provident Fund is administered by a board comprising the Minister of Finance as statutory chairperson, the Secretary to the Treasury the Director-General of Health, the Valuer-General, the superintendent of the fund, and up to three other members appointed by the Governor-General.

The fund provides services in four separate areas:

  1. Personal schemes—National Provident Fund pension schemes have catered for the general public on an individual basis, sometimes with encouragement from their employer or as members of a group, since 1911.

  2. Denned Benefit Plan—This scheme covers employees of all local bodies, quasi-government and other approved organisations, firefighters and nurses.

  3. National superannuation schemes—Three employer-subsidised schemes are available, one for ships' officers, one for the meat industry and the other for any employees of companies, firms, government departments, or local authorities willing to become contributing employers.

  4. Local Authorities Investment Pool—This ancillary activity enables local authorities to invest surplus funds at interest.

The state guarantees the benefits payable under all schemes. There are some elements of state subsidy in the public fund and local authority schemes, and a guarantee of minimum-interest earnings in the national schemes.

Public Fund.

The first scheme of the fund, the Level Premium Scheme, available from 1911 but now closed to new members, enabled contributors to purchase a predetermined weekly pension from 60 years of age by paying fixed regular contributions according to age on joining. For the first $20 per week a state subsidy of 25 percent was built into the contribution rates and after five years' membership contributors qualified for incapacity widows', and dependent children's allowances.

The Annual Single Premium Scheme, which was available to individuals and the self-employed from 1958 to 1979, accepted contributions of any amount from members at any time. The contributions paid during each year were applied at the end of that year towards the purchase of a pension from age 60 years according to the contributor's age at the time. Only the first $1,000 contributed each year attracted the state subsidy There was also a widow's benefit available.

These two schemes, along with the Post 60 Scheme introduced in 1965, were phased out in favour of the Gash Accumulation Scheme introduced in 1975.

Cash Accumulation Scheme.

This scheme is widely used by individuals. It enables them to select their own contributions and to choose their own date of retirement on superannuation. It is based on a cash accumulation principle and is highly regarded as the ultimate retirement benefit since it reflects the significance of changing interest rates and the impact of inflation. This scheme now provides the vehicle for superannuation previously provided by the Annual Single Premium, Level Premium, and Post 60 Schemes. Both lump-sum and pension Cash Accumulation Schemes are available.

Additional Benefit Plan.

This scheme was introduced in 1975. It allows an existing contributor to one of the fund's schemes to increase the estate or spouse benefit otherwise provided in the scheme by paying an extra stipulated contribution. Most of the fund's schemes limit the benefit payable in the event of the contributor's death to a level no greater than the equity in the fund. This usually means that in the earlier years of a contributor's membership, the estate or spouse benefit could be much less than a person would require. The Additional Benefit Plan satisfies this need.

National superannuation scheme.

An employer-subsidised superannuation scheme was introduced in 1964 for farm workers, and in 1969 was expanded and made available to other employee organisations. The scheme provides for the holding of credits during periods of non-employment, and for portability with other superannuation funds. Special variations exist for ships' officers and employees of the meat industry.

Local authorities superannuation.

The National Provident Fund continues to provide superannuation for local authorities, employees of quasi-government organisations, and charitable and religious institutions. All local authorities are deemed contributors to the fund on behalf of their permanent employees who, qualified by age, elect to become contributing employees. Other approved bodies are accepted under similar conditions by completing a special agreement with the board. This scheme is available for use by firefighters, nurses, harbourmasters and harbour board pilots, and aircrew employees of Air New Zealand. Contributory service is transferable between these schemes and with the Government Superannuation Fund.

Investment pool.

The Local Authorities Investment Pool is an avenue for short-term investment by local authorities and other approved bodies of surplus loan moneys and reserve funds. For the year ended 31 March 1986, the interest credited amounted to $35.8 million compared with $34.1 million for the year ended 31 March 1985.

Table 7.19. LOCAL AUTHORITIES INVESTMENT POOL: ACCOUNT BALANCES

As at 31 MarchLocal Authorities Investment Pool
 $(million)
1983343.1
1984376.6
1985347.6
1986275.3
Source: The Treasury

Table 7.20. NATIONAL PROVIDENT FUND LOANS TO LOCAL AUTHORITIES

Year Ended 31 MarchApplicationsAmount ConsideredAmount Approved
 No.$(million)
1983735199.8196.3
198448694.693.5
198537096.892.8
198664.0
Source: The Treasury

Table 7.21. NATIONAL PROVIDENT FUND: COMPARATIVE SURVEY

Item Year Ended 31 March
1983198419851986

* The National Provident Fund has been gradually meeting a proportion of its administration costs and since 1986 has meet the total cost.

Source: The Treasury

New contributors during yearNo.7,5339,1799,4038,510
Total contributors at end of yearNo.119,264119,710119,862116,323
Local authority scheme—
  ContributorsNo.12,49811,40010,72010,318
  Contributions$(000)58,29454,34551,74957,021
Public Fund—
  ContributorsNo.106,766108,310109,142106,005
  Contributions$(000)56,40364,72567,12273,177
Pensions and allowances at end of yearNo.15,15116,08917,00717,783
Income—
  Contributions$(000)114,697119,070118,871130,198
  Interest$(000)112,885147,094176,637236,821
  Government subsidy$(000)10,4219,8329,58810,020
      Total income$(000)238,003275,996305,095377,039
Outgoings—
  Pensions and allowances$(000)42,00144,58354,38556,803
  Other benefits$(000)24,24723,49032,83453,246
  Administration costs$(000)1004406362,356*
      Total outgoings$(000)66,34868,51387,856117,404
Investment pool at end of period$(000)343,067376,637347,638x275,258
Funds at end of period (after tax)$(000)1,108,7541,316,140xl,527,758x1,786,673
Earning rate of fund (after tax) 11.6812.9113.2715.39

7.5 Social work services

Department of Social Welfare objectives

The establishment of the Department of Social Welfare from 1 April 1972 resulted in a widening of the scope of social work formerly undertaken by the Child Welfare Division of the Department of Education and the Social Security Department. Although the Department of Social Welfare is still concerned with the care, protection and control of children and young people, its objectives have widened considerably The department aims:

  • ○ To provide a social-work service that is culturally sensitive for individuals, families and communities facing social and economic difficulties, with particular emphasis on the care and control of children, the social and financial independence of disadvantaged and disabled persons, and the promotion of suitable and adequate support networks; and

  • ○ To provide assistance to approved private and voluntary organisations with activities following the objectives of the Children and Young Persons Act 1974 and the Disabled Persons Community Welfare Act 1975.

The department maintains a team of social workers and other staff who provide a general, individual and family-welfare counselling and guidance service for ail age groups as well as undertaking general field inquiry work and residential care for children and young people.

Support for community welfare services

Advisory liaison and funding support is available to a wide range of community organisations providing support, counselling, care and rehabilitation for children, families and disabled persons. Financial assistance is provided to help meet operating costs for a variety of voluntary welfare services—through the range of funding programmes noted below. Limited support for capital and establishment costs is also available. (Programmes for disability-related services are listed earlier in this chapter.)

Specific programmes providing financial assistance are as follows:

Childcare subsidy—To assist families with costs of day care for pre-school children. Entitlement is determined by an income assessment, but special provisions apply for approved welfare cases. A subsidy of up to $23.00 a week per child can be paid.

Building subsidy for children's homes—A subsidy is available for up to two-thirds of the cost of the constructions, purchase, upgrading and maintenance of residential facilities for children.

Family Services Programme—Voluntary welfare organisations providing support, information and counselling for children and families in the community may receive salary grants for field workers and co-ordinators of volunteers, and administration grants towards volunteer costs. The maximum salary grant is $9,000 per annum per staff member and the maximum administration grant $4,000.

Capitation subsidy—To help welfare organisations meet the on-going costs of providing residential care for children a subsidy of $73.24 per week per child is payable.

Adolescent Living Skills Programme—Supervised living programmes are encouraged for at risk' young people. Grants help to meet house-parent/co-ordinator, establishment and operating costs. House-parent/co-ordinator/supervisor grants can be up to $12,000, establishment grants up to $5,000, and up to $10,000 paid towards operating costs.

Emergency housing—There is joint involvement with the Housing Corporation to allocate emergency houses for homeless families, women's refuges and adolescents at risk. In addition, there is provision for financial assistance for the co-ordinators carrying out support work for families in emergency housing, with grants of $1,000 per house per annum.

Home budgeting advisory services—Financial support is provided via the Home Budgeting Advisory Council to support budgeting services in the community. The department employs budget liaison workers to assist local volunteer services, and provides travel allowances and reimbursement expenses for volunteers.

Women's refuges—Financial support, is provided to the National Collective of Women's Refuges to distribute to 46 approved refuges providing emergency accommodation and on-going support for women and children who are victims of domestic violence or abuse.

Rape and sexual abuse services—To promote and support services for victims of rape and sexual abuse and their families, annual grants are paid to assist counselling/support workers and volunteers as well as operating costs and administrative costs for a national collective, Te Kakano O te Whanau.

Telephone counselling—Community organisations offering telephone-based counselling and support for individuals and families may receive annual grants of up to $4,120 towards operating costs. Establishment grants of $1,000 are also available for new services.

Social rehabilitation—Financial assistance is given to residential social rehabilitation programmes for people with drug/alcohol addiction, emotional or psychiatric disorders, repeated offending or related difficulties. Annual grants can be made to meet budgeted deficits once residents' incomes from benefits are taken into account.

Contingency fund—To enable lump-sum grants to be made to voluntary welfare organisations towards initiatives outside the scope of other subsidy programmes or in cases of financial difficulty.

In addition to the programmes outlined above, special grants are made to national bodies for the co-ordination of voluntary welfare services; Citizens advice bureaus, the Marriage Guidance Council, Youthlink Trust, Glenburn Special School and the community-based alcohol treatment programmes operated by the Salvation Army and the Presbyterian Support Services Association.

From 1 October 1986 a number of new programmes began to provide additional assistance to voluntary welfare organisations:

  1. A staff salary subsidy for religious and welfare homes for the aged.

  2. Adolescent summer activities grants.

  3. Transport grants.

  4. The National Committee for the Prevention of Family Violence.

  5. Grants for programmes to assist the prevention of family violence aimed principally at violent men.

Table 7.22. FUNDING FOR COMMUNITY WELFARE SERVICES. 1986*

ProgrammeExpenditure
* Year ended 31 March
 $     
Childcare subsidy2,972,000
Building subsidy for residential facilities for children360,488
Family Services Programme1,153,000
Capitation subsidy—children in residential care2,498,000
Adolescent Living Skills Programme343,000
Emergency Housing Coordinators Programme45,000
Youthlink Adolescent Crisis Assessment Centre (Auckland)57,000
Glenburn Special School (Auckland)324,000
Home budget advisory services50,000
Budgeting Services Support Programme134,000
Womens Refuge National Funding Programme430,000
Rape and Sexual Abuse Services Programme170,000
Telephone Counselling Services Programme49,000
Social Rehabilitation Subsidy Programme474,000
Community-based alcohol treatment funding190,000
Co-ordination of voluntary welfare services98,000
Community volunteers105,000
Citizens advice bureaus40,000
Contingency fund300,000
      Total9,792,488

Children and young persons

Social work with children and young persons.

As at 31 March 1986, social-work staff employed by the Department of Social Welfare included 753 social workers and 571 residential social workers. Casework duties include preventive work; investigations and reporting for the Children and Young Persons Courts; supervision of children in their own homes; foster homes, institutions, and work placements; adoption work; the licensing of foster parents defined in the Act; reporting to courts on matrimonial proceedings affecting custody of children; and inspection of children's homes run by voluntary organisations and examination of requests made by them for financial subsidies. Social workers receive assistance from about 1985 social welfare volunteers from the community. These people give their time and talents to become involved, under the close supervision of the department, in giving support and assistance to individuals or families.

Residential-care facilities include long-term training centres for difficult and delinquent children, short-term facilities providing assessment, emergency, and temporary care for older children, and ‘family homes’ and group homes' which provide care for children of all ages either on a short-term or long-term basis. After a review of its residential services during 1986, the department has indicated its commitment to moving towards the community care of children and young persons rather than relying to the extent that it has on institutional care. It is in the process of developing a policy of reallocating a significant proportion of resources from institutional to community care.

Social workers undertake a wide variety of miscellaneous investigations and inquiries concerning the welfare of children. Concern for individual children may be expressed by neighbours, police, teachers, employers, doctors, solicitors and so on, or by parents themselves who are seeking advice and guidance. In some cases there will be a quick response to assistance but social workers may provide preventive oversight and guidance over several months or even two or three years if needed. Financial help can be given in special cases. In a relatively small number of cases preventive help is not sufficient and court action results.

Placements in adoption homes are made by social workers for children for whom placements have not been made by private persons and other organisations.

Adoption.

Under the Adoption Act 1955 a social worker must give prior approval to the placement for adoption of a child or young person under 20 years of age, or alternatively the applicants must apply for an interim order of adoption from the Family Court. The court is required to obtain a social worker's report on such a placement before granting an order. A waiting period of at least six months is normally required, during which the placement is supervised by a social worker, before a final order can be made.

The smaller proportion of children being offered for adoption reflects a changing pattern in society, with an increase in the proportion of single parents undertaking the sole care of children. It is no longer possible for all people who wish to adopt to actually receive a child.

The Adult Adoption Information Act 1985 was fully implemented on 1 September 1986. It allows adopted adults to apply for and receive copies of their original birth certificates through the Registrar-General and also allows the birth parents of adopted adults access to information about their birth child through the Department of Social Welfare.

Both adopted adults and birth parents may place a veto preventing the access of information directly related to themselves. The vetoes last for 10 years and are renewable.

Children's homes and childcare centres.

Inspecting children's homes operated by private organisations and administering schemes of government financial assistance to these homes is another important social welfare function. Financial assistance for each child in care and subsidies of up to two-thirds of expenditure for extension or replacement of buildings, or additions to facilities, can be available. A similar capital subsidy is available for private organisations to help in providing accommodation for unmarried mothers and their children.

Regulations for the registration and licensing of childcare centres (for example, day nurseries and creches), have been in force since 1961. They were revised in 1985 and from 1 July 1986, the principal responsibilities for licensing, policy and advisory support for childcare centres were transferred from the Department of Social Welfare to the Department of Education.

Children and young persons proceedings.

The Children and Young Persons Act 1974, which came into effect on 1 April 1975, introduced substantial changes in the procedures under which the department carries out its functions in relation to juvenile offending and other problems concerning the welfare of children.

The Act provides for young offenders to be dealt with through care, protection, and control proceedings rather than through criminal prosecutions and for children to be dealt with by children's boards rather than by courts.

Under the provisions of the Children and Young Persons Act 1974, a legal distinction is made between children (defined in the Act as persons under the age of 14 years) and young persons (defined as persons aged 14 years but less than 17 years).

Where a young person comes to notice for offending, the matter may be dealt with by the youth aid section of the New Zealand Police by way of consultation between the police and a social worker. Children's boards deal with children coming to official notice either for offending or because they are considered to be in need of care, protection, or control.

The Youth Aid Section and children's boards can deal with cases in several ways. These include warnings by the board or Youth Aid Section, oversight by a social worker or youth aid officer, counselling of the child or young person, and counselling of the parents or guardian.

Both the children's boards and the Youth Aid Section have the option of referring any matter to a Children and Young Persons Court.

A comprehensive revision of the Children and Young Persons Act 1974 was completed during 1986 and a Bill is before a select committee of Parliament. Following any modifications proposed by the select committee, the Bill is expected to become law during 1988. It proposes major changes to the present Act, including—

  • ○ A separation of jurisdictions whereby matters relating to the protection and care of children and young persons will be heard in the Family Court, while offending by young persons between 14 and 17 years old will be dealt with in a new ‘youth court’ acting as a separate division of District Courts.

  • ○ The placing of a duty or obligation on certain categories of people who come in contact with children and young persons to report actual or suspected ill-treatment or neglect of children and young persons.

  • ○ The establishment of multi-disciplinary child protection teams throughout the country to deal with suspected or actual reported cases of child abuse and neglect.

  • ○ Provision for time-limited, planned, and specific orders to be made wherever possible with built-in reviews.

The changes are expected to become law during 1987.

Table 7.23. CHILDREN'S AND YOUNG PERSONS' CASES COMING TO NOTICE

YearYouth Aid Cases Not Referred to Court or Children s BoardsChildren s Board Cases Not Referred to CourtCourt AppearancesTotal NumberPercentage Change on Previous Year
19812,2742,31112,94217,527− 4.9
19822,1132,76312,85817,734+ 1.2
19831,7812,11012,16916,060− 9.4
19841,8172,15412,23316,204+ 0.9
19851,7521,78311,26514,800− 8.7

Children and Young Persons Courts.

These were established by the Children and Young Persons Act 1974.

All offences except murder or manslaughter and minor traffic offences committed by those under 17 years of age are dealt with in Children and Young Persons Courts, the procedure and rules of which differ widely from those of the ordinary courts.

Unless no other suitable room is available, sittings of the Children and Young Persons Court are not held in a courtroom. Proceedings are not open to the public, and no report of them may be published except with the consent of the presiding judge.

When a child or young person is in need of care, protection or control, the matter is dealt with by way of complaint. This category includes offending by children under 14 years, except where a child over the age of 10 years is charged with murder or manslaughter.

When a young person is brought before a Children and Young Persons Court and charged with any offence, it is not necessary to record a conviction even if the charge is proved. The court has power, without recording a conviction, to impose any penalty or make an order as if a conviction has been recorded.

In the tables which follow, ‘distinct cases’ relate to court appearances, the most serious or most heavily penalised of the charges against each person at one court hearing being selected as the distinct case.

Table 7.24. CHILDREN AND YOUNG PERSONS COURT APPEARANCES BY TYPE OF COMPLAINT AND DECISION

Type of Complaint*19841985
MalesFemalesTotalMalesFemalesTotal

* Excludes complaints dismissed, withdrawn or struck out.

† Includes failure to exercise parental duty

‡ Includes offending by children.

§ Includes orders to come up for sentence if called upon and referrals to children's boards or District Courts.

Neglect or ill treatment276285561218264482
Beyond control6834161,099462271733
Truancy61641255347100
Breach of supervision order402060362359
      Total1 0607851 8457696051 374
Court decision—
  Admonished and/or discharged204123327168103271
  Admonished and returned to care or supervision14519
  Supervision order500375875365270635
  Committed to care of Department of Social Welfare291249540196208404
  Others§513384402464
      Total1 0607851 8457696051 374

Table 7.25. CHILDREN AND YOUNG PERSONS COURT OFFENCE CASES

Type of Offence1981198219831984

* includes interfering with vehicle.

† Includes forgery and uttering.

‡ Includes traffic offences and offences against decency

 Total Charges
Sexual offences606772110
Violent offences7889119441,232
Other offences against the person246255291311
Burglary and breaking and entering5,4116,8906,2245,755
Theft, receiving, and fraud6,1727,0736,0966,251
Unlawful conversion*4,2074,6964,1423,646
Wilful damage and arson9059128641,083
Other offences against property265219158199
Offences against good order3,0783,1712,6432,743
Other offences2,0182,1391,7801,962
      Total23,15026,33323,21423,292
 Distinct Cases
Sexual offences44394871
Violent offences528638654830
Other offences against the person168165214211
Burglary and breaking and entering2,0032,6492,3802,294
Theft, receiving, and fraud3,0263,3572,9893,062
Unlawful conversion of vehicles*1,7651,9581,6381,616
Wilful damage and arson493515485596
Other offences against property68696980
Offences against good order1,9481,9151,6291,705
Other offences1,3911,5421,1871,294
      Total11,43412,84711,29311,759

Table 7.26. CHILDREN AND YOUNG PERSONS COURT APPEARANCES FOR OFFENDING: DECISIONS MADE

DecisionTotal ChargesDistinct Cases
198219831984198219831984

* Includes periodic detention.

† Includes probation, ordered to come up for sentence, convicted and discharged, and community service.

Dismissed or withdrawn2,5192,2302,3311,4101,2181,320
Admonished and/or discharged4,0214,2324,6582,3142,4942,554
Committed to care of Department of Social Welfare844674472269197141
Placed under supervision5,9814,6734,34224851,9231,782
Committed to an institution*4,2324,2453,7121,2941,3271,210
Fined4,0663,1293,4202,9012,3632,581
Otherwise dealt with4,6704,0314,3572,1741,7712,171
      Total cases, offending26,33323,21423,29212,84711,29311,759
Males22,63119,70419,89810,7669,3729,725
Females3,7023,5103,3942,0811,9212,034

Children in care.

There are a number of ways in which children come into the department's care. The majority are placed under the guardianship of the Director-General by order of the Children and Young Persons Court because the court considers that either a child is in need of care and protection or a child's behaviour is so difficult or disturbed that he or she cannot be effectively managed in the home situation. In addition to those under guardianship, there are a number of children placed in the department's care by agreement with the parents under the provisions of section 11 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1974. Parents seeking the department's help in this way do so for a variety of reasons, such as their own serious ill health, family break-up and other pressures within the family or their desire to seek special care for a disturbed or difficult youngster. The department also provides temporary care for a number of children because a court has ordered that they be remanded for a short period in the department's custody, usually for assessment and consideration of their long-term needs pending a final court decision.

The care and oversight of children in the department's care is one of the major responsibilities of the department's social workers. On the Director-General's behalf they are responsible for arranging placements for children in care and maintaining oversight of them.

At 30 November 1985 a total of 5840 children and young persons were under the care and control of the department. The reasons for their being placed were as follows:

Placed under guardianship of the Director-General by court order4,354
Under control by virtue of an agreement with parents1,008
On court remand, postponement, warrant, etc.478
      Total5 840

Children and young persons may come into care at any time from soon after birth to age 16. (Guardianship orders under the Children and Young Persons Act 1974 are not made in respect of young people over the age of 16 years.) Discharge from care is automatic at 20 years of age but in practice, and depending on their circumstances, most are discharged with the approval of the Director-General at a much earlier age. Many return, after a period away from home, to the care of parents or members of their extended family and are discharged as soon as the Director-General is assured that they no longer need assistance.

The majority of children and young persons in care are cared for in the community and in 1985, 62.3 percent were living in foster homes, departmental family homes, in boarding schools or in the homes of relatives and friends, 13.3 percent were with their own parents as a trial to possible discharge; 9.6 percent were at work.

A number of young people, especially those in older age groups, come into care because of their inability to cope with community expectations. This is often manifested in offending against the law. With help and guidance, some of these settle in the community but some have to be admitted to the department's various institutions, usually after assessment and trial in boys' and girls' homes. A proportion go on to institutions under the control of the Department of Justice. In all, 11.9 percent of the wards in care are in institutions.

Table 7.27. CHILDREN AND YOUNG PERSONS UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE SOCIAL WELFARE DEPARTMENT, 30 NOVEMBER 1985

 NumberPercentage
Reasons for being placed in care
  Children placed under guardianship of the Director-General by court order4,35474.5
  Children under control by agreement with parents1,00817.3
  Children on court remand, postponements, warrant etc.4788.2
      Total5 840100.0
Placement of children
  In foster homes2,54043.7
  Placed with parents for trial period77813.3
  Living with and supported by relatives921.6
  In employment (excluding those with relatives, etc.)5599.6
  In residential colleges2915.0
  Receiving tertiary education130.3
  In Department of Social Welfare short-term institutions2354.0
  In Department of Social Welfare family homes70012.0
  In private institutions1773.0
  In Department of Education special schools611.0
  In hospitals140.2
  In psychiatric hospitals370.6
  On probation210.4
  In Department of Social Welfare extended-care institutions2694.6
  In youth prison or corrective training centres180.3
  Adult prison20.0
  In police custody30.1
  Absent without leave300.5
      Total5,840100.0
Source: Department of Social Welfare.

Further information

Benefits, Taxes and the 1985 Budget. Department of Social Welfare.

The Extra Years: Some Implications for New Zealand of an Ageing Population. Social Advisory Council, 1984.

A Guide to Children and Young Persons Legislation. Department of Social Welfare, 1986.

Justice Statistics. Department of Statistics (annual).

Report of the Department of Social Welfare (Parl. paper E. 12).

Report on the Government Superannuation Fund (Parl. paper B. 20).

Report of the National Provident Fund Board (Parl. paper B. 19).

The Welfare State? Social Policy in the 1980s. New Zealand Planning Council, 1979.

Chapter 8. Health and safety

8.1 Organisation of health services

The nation's health services are the responsibility of a partnership of central and local government, private medical practitioners, paramedical workers, charitable and religious organisations and private citizens, with the Government providing encouragement, financial assistance and incentives, and assuming final responsibility. This has been a deliberate policy of successive governments, although emphases have varied from time to time according to political and economic conditions and demands for specific services.

Health Service Personnel Commission.

The Health Service Personnel Act 1983 established the Health Service Personnel Commission as the employing authority for health services under the State Services Conditions of Employment Act 1977. Hospital boards and area health boards remain the legal employers of staff but exercise their authority according to policies established by the commission.

The general functions, duties, and powers of the Health Service Personnel Commission include:

  1. the provision of employment conditions for employees of area health boards and hospital boards;

  2. the co-ordination of pay-fixing throughout the public sector health service; and

  3. the development of a nationwide career service within hospital boards, area health boards and the commission by establishing consistent personnel policies and practices.

Area health boards.

For the past decade there have been continuing efforts to integrate and coordinate health care in the public, private and voluntary sectors. To this end, the Area Health Boards Act 1983 provides for the integration of public health agencies (hospital boards and Department of Health district offices) to form area health boards, which are established on the request of hospital boards and on the recommendation of the Minister of Health. There is provision for two or more hospital boards to join together to form an area health board.

In 1985, area health boards were established in Northland, Wanganui and Nelson.

The private and voluntary sectors can become involved in health planning by participation in service development groups and community committees.

Hospital boards.

General and psychiatric hospitals are controlled by locally elected hospital boards and area health boards. A hospital board of eight to 14 members is elected every three years for each hospital district. It is the duty of every hospital board to provide, maintain and staff such institutions, hospital accommodation, and medical, nursing and other services as the Minister of Health considers necessary.

The Director-General of Health is authorised to visit and inspect hospitals and to appoint assistant inspectors, and is required to report to Parliament through the Minister of Health on the administration of the Hospitals Act 1957.

Hospital boards are required to operate their own ambulance services unless they enter into some arrangement with a subsidised voluntary agency. The Order of St. John and organisations such as the Wellington Free Ambulance perform valuable services in this way.

Board of Health.

The Board of Health organises advisory work for New Zealand's health services and gives independent advice to the Minister of Health on all the major aspects of health services policy and operation. The board has set up 11 standing advisory committees covering the range of health services and with membership drawn from the community at large as well as from professional bodies and organisations.

Registration councils and boards

Doctors.

The Medical Council of New Zealand, constituted under the Medical Practitioners Act 1968, consists of the Director-General of Health, the deans of the faculties of medicine in the Universities of Otago and Auckland, eight registered medical practitioners appointed on a representative basis and one layperson.

The council deals with all applications for registration as medical practitioners under the Act. Until an applicant is able to satisfy the council that he or she has obtained 12 months experience as a house officer or has obtained comparable experience, registration is on a conditional basis. Those registered conditionally may only practise in an approved hospital. Responsible to the council is a medical education committee which supervises the training of those conditionally registered. The number of medical practitioners on the register at 30 June 1986 was 8312, but not all were practising in New Zealand. The Medical Council also has disciplinary powers, with a right of appeal to the High Court.

Dentists.

The Dental Council was constituted under the Dental Act 1963. It examines and approves the qualifications of applicants for registration as dentists, and exercises discipline over registered dentists.

Practising dentists holding annual practising certificates numbered 1259 at 31 May 1986. A Registration Board for Dental Technicians was constituted in 1968 and the number of registered dental technicians holding annual licences as at 31 March 1984 was 299.

Nurses.

The Nursing Council of New Zealand is constituted under the Nurses Act 1977 and Nurses Regulations 1986. Its primary function is the registration and enrolment of nurses. The council sets minimum standards for registration; makes recommendations on programmes leading to registration and enrolment; conducts examinations; approves schools of nursing (subject to ministerial concurrence); issues annual practising certificates; and exercises disciplinary powers. It also maintains a register of nurses with the following categories—comprehensive, general, general and obstetric, psychiatric, psychopaedic, enrolled nurses, and midwives.

Most nurses are now trained in three-year technical institute courses which lead to registration as a comprehensive nurse. Some institutes also conduct midwifery courses. Hospital boards offer one-year programmes leading to enrolment. A small number of boards also continue to offer three-year programmes which lead to registration as a general and obstetric, psychiatric, or psychopaedic nurse.

In the year ended. 31 March 1986, 40 950 nurses held annual practising certificates.

Psychologists.

The Psychologists Board is constituted under the Psychologists Act 1981. The board is concerned with the registration and conduct of persons engaged in psychology. At 31 December 1986 there were 802 registered psychologists.

Physiotherapists.

The New Zealand Physiotherapy Board is constituted under the Physiotherapy Act 1949. The board examines and registers candidates for physiotherapy practice, issues special licences and regulates the conduct of those registered under the Act.

The training period for physiotherapists is three years. Full-time training is conducted at the Auckland Technical Institute, and at Otago Polytechnic. All students are required to pass the State Examination in Physiotherapy to qualify for registration.

Between 1 April 1985 and 31 December 1986, 235 physiotherapists were registered, bringing the total on the register to 4007 with 1667 physiotherapists holding current annual practising certificates.

Occupational therapists.

The Occupational Therapy Board is constituted under the Occupational Therapy Act 1949. The board is concerned with the registration and conduct of those practising occupational therapy.

The Central Institute of Technology, Heretaunga, conducts the three-year training course and clinical experience is gained at hospitals. Students who successfully complete the course are awarded a diploma in occupational therapy and then registered. There are approximately 620 occupational therapists in active practice.

Dietitians.

The Dietitians Board, constituted under the Dietitians Act 1950, is concerned with the training, examination and registration of people practising dietetics.

The training period for a dietitian is, in the case of the holder of a degree of Bachelor of Home Science conferred by the University of Otago or of the holder of a Diploma in Home Science of the University of Otago, 12 months in a hospital training school. In the year to 31 December 1986 there were 727 registered dietitians. Annual practising certificates were issued to 284 dietitians. There were 20 new registrations during 1986.

Optometrists and dispensing opticians.

The Opticians Board constituted under the Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians Act 1976, is concerned with the registration and conduct of registered optometrists and registered dispensing opticians.

As at 31 December 1986, there were 396 registered optometrists and 59 registered dispensing opticians. There were 21 new optometrist registrations during 1986.

Podiatrists.

The Medical and Dental Auxiliaries Act 1966 provided for the constitution of a Podiatrists Board. The board's functions include promoting high standards of education and conduct among the profession, disciplining registered podiatrists and conducting special examinations. The board also deals with all applications for registration under the Act.

There are approximately 375 registered podiatrists, but only 191 are in active practice. Many of those work only part-time. Following government policy, a number of hospital boards are establishing community-oriented podiatry services, principally intended for the elderly.

Chiropractors.

The Chiropractic Board is constituted under the Chiropractors Act 1982, and is concerned with the registration and conduct of practising chiropractors.

There is no training available in New Zealand. The principal criteria for colleges applying to the New Zealand Chiropractic Board for approval is documentary evidence that the college has been accredited by the federal appointed professional accrediting agency in the United States of America, or those accrediting agencies having reciprocity with that agency. There are 115 practising chiropractors at present.

Plumbers, gasfitters and drainlayers.

The 13-member Plumbers, Gasfitters, and Drainlayers Board is concerned with the registration of people working in these trades. It issues annual licences to tradespeople; limited certificates and for certain specialised work, certificates of exemption in gasfitting and plumbing. It is also responsible for disciplinary action against craft plumbers and gasfitters if it is established their work is unsatisfactory or they have failed to meet legal responsibilities.

Drainlaying may be carried out only by registered drainlayers. Gasfitting may be carried out only by licensed gasfitters and holders of limited certificates (working in the employment, or under the supervision, of licensed gasfitters or persons holding certificates of exemption in gasfitting).

Except in specially exempted areas, all sanitary plumbing defined in the Plumbers, Gasfitters, and Drainlayers Act 1976 can be performed only by craftspeople and registered plumbers and holders of limited certificates (working in the employment or under the supervision of craft plumbers), or by persons holding a certificate of exemption.

Specifications, work standards and materials in plumbing work are prescribed in the provisions of the Drainage and Plumbing Regulations enacted under the Health Act 1956.

Pharmacists.

The Pharmacy Act 1970 requires that pharmacies in New Zealand are always supervised and controlled by a registered pharmacist. At the end of December 1986 there were 3283 pharmacists.

All registered pharmacists, except those who have conscientious objection to membership, automatically become members of the Pharmaceutical Society of New Zealand. The society is managed by a 12-member council and its role is to administer the Pharmacy Act and to protect and to promote the interests of both the profession and the public.

The present system for pharmacy education requires a minimum of three years' attendance at the School of Pharmacy, Central Institute of Technology, Heretaunga, at which the diploma in pharmacy is obtained. There is also a four-year degree course in pharmacy at the University of Otago. Graduates from both courses gain a year's practical experience before becoming eligible for registration as pharmacists.

Any pharmacist (or company in which not less than 75 percent of the share capital is owned by a pharmacist or pharmacists) may establish one pharmacy. Unqualified persons or companies in which less than 75 percent of the share capital is pharmacist-owned must get the consent of the Pharmacy Authority set up under the Act before commencing business; and in all cases the establishment of more than one pharmacy under the same ownership, or the holding of an interest in more than one pharmacy by any person, is subject to the consent of the authority. All pharmacies must be registered with the society.

At the end of December 1986 there were 1128 community pharmacies in New Zealand employing over 2000 pharmacists. A further 250 to 300 pharmacists were working in hospitals, government departments and the pharmaceutical industry.

Medical radiation technologists.

The Medical Radiation Technologists' Board is constituted under the Medical and Dental Auxiliaries Act 1966. The board is concerned with the registration, education and conduct of those practising with medical radiation technology. It has representation from the New Zealand Society of Radiographers and Medical Radiation Technologists Inc., the New Zealand Branch of the Royal Australasian College of Radiologists, and the Departments of Health and Education.

There are five classes of medical radiation technology: diagnostic radiography; radionuclide imaging; therapeutic radiography; ultrasound imaging; and magnetic resonance imaging. As at 31 December 1986 there were 1547 registered practitioners with 907 annual licences issued and 113 new registrations during the year.

Medical laboratory technologists.

The Medical Laboratory Technologists' Board is constituted under the Medical and Dental Auxiliaries Act 1966. The board is concerned with the training, examination, registration and conduct of those engaged in the practice of medical laboratory technology. It has representation from the New Zealand Institute of Medical Laboratory Technology (Inc.), the New Zealand Society of Pathologists Incorporated, and the Departments of Health and Education.

The training period is five years. The first three years are spent studying for the New Zealand Certificate in Science (Medical Science) and gaining specified laboratory experience. Thereafter, study and laboratory work continues towards the board's certificate and specialist-level examinations, which are offered in 10 disciplines. Only one subject and level may be attempted each year. On completion of two certificate-level subjects, or the certificate and specialist levels in one discipline, the trainee gains the Diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology and is eligible for registration by the board. University graduates with appropriate degrees may train for throe years and be examined for limited registration in any disciplines.

At 31 December 1986 there were 1467 full registrations, and a total of 60 holding limited registration in specified disciplines. Annual licences for 1986–87 were issued to 999 practitioners and limited registration annual licences to 50 practitioners.

Administration of health services

Local authorities.

The public health functions of local authorities are defined by statute and regulation. Elected local authorities must appoint, specified numbers of health inspectors qualified under the Health inspectors Qualifications Regulations 1975. Where a local authority is too small to need a separate full-time inspector, the Health Act permits two or more authorities to combine to share the cost. In some smaller, sparsely-populated districts where a local authority does not employ its own inspector, the departmental inspectors of health do the work and the authority pays for it. Nationally, only 25 percent of inspectors are employed by the department.

Department of Health.

In each health district and area health board the medical officer of health, who is a medical practitioner with special qualifications in community medicine, is the adviser to all local authorities in his or her district.

In some cases the medical officer of health's approval is needed before action can be taken by a local authority, while in others he or she is the first line of appeal against its decisions. Medical officers of health are required to keep the Director-General of Health and the Board of Health informed of local authority deficiencies in their responsibilities under the Health Act 1956.

Diseases which are scheduled in the Act must be notified by doctors and hospitals to the medical officer of health, who is responsible for control measures. Within this area the local authority health inspector is subject to the officer's direct supervision and control. Also undertaken by the department are new programmes of immunisation, and when these have been established vaccines are provided free to general practitioners.

New Zealand's quarantine arrangements for both aircraft and ships comply with obligations under the international health regulations. Medical officers of health administer this service with the broad objective of controlling communicable and chronic diseases and keeping New Zealand free of quarantinable diseases.

Accident prevention and the health of industrial and agricultural workers is the responsibility of the Department of Health together with the Department of Labour and the Accident Compensation Corporation. The aim of the Department of Health is to prevent occupational disease, control toxic hazards, raise standards of first-aid services and ensure the safe use of agricultural chemicals. Food and nutrition standards aim at protecting the consumer and an extensive programme backed by legislation governs the packaging, labelling, storage and sale of poisons. Special environmental problems, such as radiation protection, occupational health and atmospheric pollution are also the responsibility of the Department of Health.

Public health services in the Department of Health are organised to reflect two distinct and identifiable areas: environmental factors affecting health; and the promotion of personal good health in the community. The health protection programme covers environmental health, quarantine, occupational health and toxicology, radiation protection and the quality of food. There are also programmes which give emphasis to disease prevention and better personal health through services for women and children; the elderly, disabled and handicapped; mental health; health education and dental health.

The objectives of health education programmes are to increase understanding of the value of health and to equip the public with knowledge and skills they can use to solve health problems.

The health responsibilities for women, children and families include services for women during childbearing and while raising children; medical and nursing supervision of infants, preschool and school children; the inspection of schools and childcare centres; and the immunisation of infants against poliomyelitis and other diseases.

The programmes for elderly, disabled and handicapped people, and in the mental health area, concentrate on special needs and attempt to equip people to cope with life in the wider society.

A school dental service staffed by dental nurses and directed by dentists, provides dental care and health education for all preschool, primary and intermediate school children. Private dentists provide treatment for teenagers until 16 years or, if they remain at secondary school, until 18 years.

Nursing.

The Department of Health is responsible for the organisation and control of nursing services to the public in general, including private or public hospitals and homes for the aged, incapacitated or infirm. Considerable delegation has taken place, mainly to hospital and area health boards, whose chief nurses are responsible for the administration of the services provided. The department keeps its nursing services and those provided by boards under continuous review. Basic nursing education is provided in three hospital schools of nursing and 15 technical institutes. Formal post-basic nursing education at diploma level is available from Massey University and at degree level from Massey and Victoria Universities and four technical institutes have post-basic diploma courses. Short post-basic courses in learning and teaching are available from two teachers' colleges (in alternate years), and short courses in community health nursing are available from four technical institutes. ‘Bridging’ courses to enable registered nurses to gain comprehensive registration are available from five technical institutes. All technical institutes offering nursing courses offer short courses, in co-operation with employing authorities, to meet local needs in a variety of nursing fields on an ad hoc basis.

Within its public-health nursing service, the department employs about 500 qualified nurses. Their work includes supervising the health of babies and small children, taking part in child health (including health education) programmes not under Plunket nursing services, providing a service to small industries and people in ‘at risk’ occupations, taking part in disease control programmes, and assisting the elderly and people with mental health problems.

The Department of Health consults with over 100 regulatory and policy boards, committees, and councils and other organisations concerned with health. It also liaises with professional and other associations, voluntary health and welfare agencies, the universities and other government departments.

Health expenditure

Since 1958, the cost of public hospital administration has been borne directly by general taxation and treatment in public hospitals is free. From 1 April 1964, when the Social Security Fund was absorbed into the Consolidated Revenue Account (now the Consolidated Account), the payment of medical benefits has been made by the Department of Health from money appropriated by Parliament for this purpose. Details of medical benefits are given in chapter 7, Social welfare.

Over recent years governments have attempted to curb health spending.

A population-based method of funding hospital boards was implemented in 1983 and since then financial restraint has been applied to those boards shown by the funding formula to be advantaged. The funds recovered from these boards are available for redistribution to boards shown to be disadvantaged and submitting acceptable service development plans.

Policy for the 1986–87 financial year called for the continuation of restraints on financially advantaged boards and again these funds were available to disadvantaged boards. The total allocation for grants to hospital boards for 1986–87 was increased by 0.8 percent to maintain services.

Service planning guidelines have also been developed to help hospital boards to make the best use of resources and to encourage equitable access to services. The guidelines relate the levels of health services to catchment population: local (up to 30 000); district (30 000 to 250 000); regional (over 250 000); and national, which covers specialised services such as neurosurgery and spinal units serving the total population.

Hospital board service planning guidelines have been published for paediatrics, renal dialysis and transplantation, obstetrics and neonatal; and services for the elderly. Guidelines for cardiac surgery, alcohol and drug services, and dental services have been prepared and will be published during 1987. Work is underway on mental health; cancer treatment services; neurosurgery; neurology; cardiology; diabetes, orthopaedics; library services; services for the younger physically disabled; accident and emergency; general surgery; and general medicine.

The implementation of the funding formula and the development of service planning guidelines were accompanied by a request from the Minister of Health for each hospital board to submit a comprehensive service development plan and these are now being implemented.

Table 8.1. EXPENDITURE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

Activity Programme1982–831983–841984–851985–86

* Expenditure of $69,479 million of three area health boards is included in ‘administrative services’ in 1985–86

† Mostly grants to hospital boards.

‡ From 1 April 1983 ‘medical research’ is included in ‘administrative services’

§ From 1 April 1983 ‘health protection’ and ‘health promotion’ separated from ‘public health’ and ‘environmental protection’.

|| From 1 April 1983 ‘welfare services’ are included with ‘hospital services’.

Source: Department of Health.

 $(000)
Administrative services*13,46922,91723,45998,872
Data processing5,57312,67311,26322,981
Hospital services1,331,4481,343,1551,409,0591,585,119
Medical research8,308
Medical and pharmaceutical services303,380332,308372,050500,931
Public health and environmental protection§66,1326,2556,2695,793
Health protection§25,21325,33421,019
Health promotion§31,33832,29640,744
Dental services,35,04534,03234,56337,017
Welfare services||4,396
      Total1,767,7511,807,8911,914,2932,312,476
      Less, departmental receipts1,7532,9642,9963,461
      Net expenditure1,765,9981,804,9271,911,2972,309,015

8.2 Public health

Environmental health

Local authority control.

Under the Health Act 1956, territorial local authorities have a duty to promote and conserve the public health within their districts. They appoint health inspectors to carry out regular inspections and abate any nuisances or conditions injurious to health. Specific responsibilities include the control of sanitary conditions (including overcrowding of housing) and the regulation of plumbing and drainage. There is also the control of offensive trades, environmental noise and air pollution control of small industries. The hygiene of premises, including restaurants, in which food is manufactured or sold is another responsibility. Local authorities are also empowered to provide public water supplies, sewage disposal systems, refuse collection and disposal services, stormwater drainage, public conveniences, cemeteries, crematoria, swimming pools and other sanitary works.

Role of the Department of Health.

The objective of the department is to promote and maintain a healthy environment for the general public. Its role is to support and advise local authorities in the performance of their statutory duties, to monitor environmental health conditions and to promote improvements where necessary. For these purposes, the department, operates numerous programmes including health-protection services, periodic surveys of environmental health systems, air pollution control, financial incentives for other authorities, and staff training.

Health-protection services provided by the department include both national and international functions. They include the maintenance of food standards, quarantine, health education, communicable disease control, shellfish sanitation, and the carrying out of national surveys of water supplies, food premises and refuse disposal sites. The department organises the basic training of health inspectors employed by local authorities and conducts specialist and refresher courses for them. In the case of some smaller local authorities the necessary inspections are made by departmental officers on behalf of the authority.

Financial incentives in the form of subsidies towards the capital cost of water supply, sewage disposal and fluoridation systems are provided for local authorities by the Department of Health. These have been available since 1969 in various forms and have been particularly successful in improving environmental health.

Industrial air pollution is controlled under the Clean Air Act 1972 through a system of licensing processes known to emit air pollutants, and a requirement to meet the best practicable means for containment. The Department of Health is responsible for licensing major industrial processes, and local authorities control smaller processes. All licensed premises are monitored to ensure they conform to the requirement for containment by meeting their licence conditions. Monitoring the quality of the surrounding air is also earned out by the Department of Health.

Clean air zones, which have been established for Christchurch City and surrounding urban areas, are made under the Clean Air Act when pollution is severe enough to require special controls on the emission of air pollutants. In Christchurch there is a particular problem with domestic coal smoke, and the Act provides for control of domestic heating appliances and the granting of financial assistance for electrical space and water heating to reduce domestic smoke emissions from coal burning.

Control of medicines and drugs

The Medicines Act 1981 and the Medicines Regulations 1984 provide controls over therapeutic substances.

New medicines and related products require the approval of the Minister of Health before they can be marketed. Consent is only given when satisfactory evidence of the safety, effectiveness and quality of the product has been provided.

A medicine is defined as any substance or article, other than a medical device, which is intended wholly or principally for administration to humans for a therapeutic purpose or which is a pregnancy test. Any food, cosmetic or dentrifice (tooth powder or paste) which is claimed to be effective for a therapeutic purpose is considered to be a related product.

Any material change in a medicine or a related product has to be notified to the Director-General of Health and the changed product must not be distributed until 90 days have elapsed from the notification or until the Director-General signifies consent.

Medicines are classified as either prescription medicines, restricted medicines (for sale by a pharmacist personally) as ‘pharmacy only medicines’, or are considered safe for general sale. The legislation controls the advertising and labelling of medicines, related products and methods of treatment; the standards of manufacture, package and storage of medicines, related products and cosmetics; and the prescribing and dispensing of medicines. Licences are required for manufacturers and others dealing with medicines. Any refusal of a licence can be appealed to the Medicines Review Committee, which may also enquire info an objection to any committee's recommendation that the Minister of Health refuse to consent to the distribution of a new medicine.

Drugs.

A wide range of narcotic and other drugs are strictly controlled by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975. It is a serious offence to obtain, manufacture, possess, consume, supply or offer to supply controlled drugs unless authorised under the Act.

Controlled drugs are divided into three classes. The heaviest penalties are for offences involving drugs in class A, which include heroin, lysergide, desomorphine and cantharidin. Offences involving the possession or use of drugs in class C, which include cannabis plants, fruit and seeds, are to be punished with fines but not by imprisonment unless by reason of previous convictions or exceptional circumstances.

Illegal dealing in controlled drugs is subject to heavy penalties.

To curb drug abuse, the Departments of Health, Customs and Police jointly set up the National Drug Intelligence Bureau in 1972.

Food and nutrition

The Food Act 1981 provides for the analysis of any articles of food or drink for sale and for the inspection of places where food is sold. There are stringent measures to prevent the adulteration of food and provide for the inspection of places where food is manufactured or packed. Regulations lay down minimum standards for many classes of food, control additives of all kinds and deal with the labelling of food packages. Control is also established over all utensils and appliances coming into contact with food. Regular sampling of foods is undertaken by departmental inspectors and the samples are analysed by the Chemistry Division (DSIR) or its branch laboratories.

An important provision of the Act controls all kinds of publicity where a purchaser of any food would possibly be deceived about the properties of that food—whether or not it is standardised by regulations.

A Food Standards Committee meets regularly to discuss the latest technical advances in food production and to make recommendations for amendments to the legislation.

The nutrition section of the Department of Health provides advice on nutrition and dietetics to hospitals, and welfare and other institutions. It is responsible for education programmes and provides a nutrition information service to the public, government departments and organisations concerned with the production and marketing of food. The nutrition section also carries out dietary research projects, usually in liaison with medical research teams.

Occupational health and toxicology

Since 1957 medical officers of health have been directly responsible for occupational health within their own districts. The objective of the occupational health progamme is, in consultation with labour, management, the medical profession and other groups, to assist in maintaining and, where possible, improving the health of workers.

The Department of Labour (which is responsible for accident prevention, hours of work and employment conditions) informs the Department of Health of any health problems which factory inspectors may encounter. The Health Act 1956 gives to medical officers of health (or other authorised officers of the Department of Health) the same authority as inspectors of factories have under the health and welfare sections of the Factories and Commercial Premises Act 1981 (see section 8.6). The Department of Health also supplies information and advice on occupational health and related matters and approves respirators for use when abrasive blasting or when working with asbestos. The department arranges for medical examinations where these are available under the regulations and, in the case of the Lead Process Regulations, the medical officer of health may suspend workers where the work they are involved in is detrimental to health.

A similar understanding has been established with the Waterfront Industry Commission and the Railways Corporation, There are occupational health laboratories in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch which investigate work hazards. An occupational task force consisting of specialist doctors, nurses and scientists reinforce the usual staff available to medical officers of health to examine particular occupational health problems occurring in districts. The task force also studies problems arising in industries found throughout the country, such as forestry.

Occupational diseases.

Notifiable occupational diseases are scheduled in the Health Act 1956 and details of diseases notified are published annually in the report of the Director-General of Health.

Commercial, household, and agricultural poisons.

The Toxic Substances Act 1979 and the Toxic Substances Regulations 1983 control the advertising, distribution, use, labelling and packing of all poisons and toxic substances.

Manufacturers, importers and packers must notify the director of the Division of Public Health before dealing with any toxic substance' or a first time. This includes any toxic substance bearing a common name, chemical name or trade name which has not previously been distributed in New Zealand under that name.

The Department of Health provides technical advice to emergency services during incidents invoving chemicals.

National poisons and hazardous chemicals information centres.

These are 24-hour services operated through the University of Otago's National Toxicology Group and the accident and emergency department of the Dunedin Public Hospital. The Poisons information Centre provides information primarily to health professionals on acute poisoning situations. The Hazardous Chemicals Centre gives advice mainly to emergency services (particularly the NZ Fire Service) on hazardous chemicals emergencies.

The emergency telephone number for this service, (024) 740–999 is listed in telephone directories under the section ‘registered medical practitioners’.

Control of health hazards.

An increasing number of specific health hazards are formally controlled: asbestos; lead processes; electroplating; spraypainting; sand-blasting (materials containing free silica used in blasting in factories are restricted); fumigation; aerial application of poisons (where, in conjunction with the Civil Aviation Division of the Ministry of Transport, a special rating is required by pilots); and agricultural chemicals. Occupational health guidelines have been issued for the monitoring of users of organophosphate pesticides. Other guidelines are to protect workers in the aluminium, spraypainting, lead and electroplating industries and foundries and industries where formaldehyde and solvents are used.

Comparable guidelines are being prepared for those who use timber treatment chemicals.

Medical and nursing services in industry.

The Department of Health encourages industry to develop preventive medical and nursing services and many industries employ an occupational health nurse. In some areas the department's occupational health centres serve as a base for a preventive service to small industries, and in others, visiting occupational health nursing services are provided.

First aid.

The statutory requirements concerning first aid in factories are set out in the Factories and Commercial Premises Act 1981 and the Factories and Commercial Premises (First Aid) Regulations 1985. This legislation is administered by the Department of Labour. In businesses where more than 50 people are employed, the person responsible for first aid must be either a registered nurse or the holder of a first aid certificate.

National Acoustics Centre.

The National Acoustics Centre assists with the early detection of deafness and the conservation of hearing. The centre conducts and promotes research into occupational and other forms of deafness. An advisory service is provided for those working with the deaf, and training is given to those responsible for testing groups for hearing loss. Investigations into environmental noise are also undertaken by regional noise engineers.

Radiation protection.

The National Radiation Laboratory provides the administrative and technical services required by the Radiation Protection Act 1965 and Regulations 1973 and the Transport of Radioactive Materials Regulations 1973. Prior approval must be obtained for the import or export of any radioactive material. Each owner of irradiating apparatus (source of X-rays) or radioactive material must ensure that they are used only under the control of a licensed person.

The laboratory provides the licensees with monitoring, advisory, calibration and other services which promote radiation safety. Trained officers regularly visit all places where sources of ionising radiation are used, and a service is available for measuring the exposures received by radiation workers.

The laboratory also advises on requirements for the transport and disposal of radioactive materials and is responsible for monitoring a wide range of environmental samples for natural or manufactured radioactivity.

Mental health

Mental health services in New Zealand are currently in a state of change, particularly with regard to a shift from hospital-based to community-based psychiatric care.

Hospital boards and community organisations are involved in setting up services in the community, such as half-way houses, community mental-health centres and activity/day-care centres. For community organisations, such activity is limited by a severe shortage of funds. Hospital/area health boards are encouraged by the Department of Health to support such groups locally from board funds.

There are currently 17 psychiatric units in general hospitals, an increase from 11 in 1974. They form part of a spectrum of services in the community that will enable the psychiatrically disabled to be treated in their homes or nearby. Community mental-health centres have also been set up by some hospital boards, contributing to decreases in the number of residents in hospitals in those areas.

Family health

Medical practitioners give antenatal, neonatal, and postnatal attention under the Social Security Act 1964. Free antenatal clinics are established in connection with all public maternity hospitals and maternity wards. Antenatal classes to prepare parents for the baby's arrival are also available, and doctors can refer patients to these to supplement their own instructions. In the case of women living far away from the main centres of population, antenatal work is supplemented by the public health nurses employed by the Department of Health or area health boards, or by district nurses.

Approximately 99 percent of confinements take place in maternity hospitals or in maternity units of public hospitals. The medical care of the mother and child is based on cooperation between the Department of Health, area health boards, hospital boards, and the medical and nursing professions. All private maternity hospitals are licensed under the Hospitals Act 1957 and the Department of Health is responsible for ensuring that regulations regarding buildings, equipment and staff are observed. Medical officers of health, through their senior nursing staff, have general supervision over the work of these private hospitals.

Family planning.

Family planning advice can be obtained from general practitioners, private specialists, and from any one of the 40 clinics operated by the New Zealand Family Planning Association (Inc.) in various centres throughout the country. The Government provides a grant to meet the cost of salaries of doctors, nurses and clinical health assistants employed by the association in approved clinics.

The Government also provides a grant to the New Zealand Association of Natural Family Planning (Inc.) to meet the payment of the salary of the national coordinator, an initial one-week residential training course for up to 70 teachers each year, and an annual three-day training course for up to 100 teachers.

A number of hospital boards have established family planning clinics within their obstetrics and gynaecology departments to provide additional facilities for the public and training for doctors, medical students and nurses. Other boards are being encouraged to provide these facilities.

Child health.

The Department of Health offers a preventive child-health service. Babies are normally examined by family doctors at about six weeks of age and again at nine months. Additional examinations are given whenever there is anxiety over physical, mental or emotional development. Public health nurses undertake supervision of some infants and pre-school children although the major proportion of this service is provided by the nurses of the Plunket Society. A comprehensive examination including vision and hearing testing by trained staff is recommended for all children between the ages of three and four years. When necessary the children are referred to family doctors or medical officers of the Department of Health.

A consultative service is provided for schools, with special emphasis on the health supervision of handicapped children. Nursing staff make regular visits to all schools and, in consultation with teachers and parents, investigate children who appear to be in need of support and refer them if necessary for the appropriate services. All new entrants to school receive a health assessment and examination by the public health nurse. Parent participation is encouraged. Correspondence school children are kept under health supervision as necessary and any school child requiring treatment is referred to the family doctor. The vision and hearing tests for pre-school children are repeated on school entry and in form 1. These tests are available on request to any child suspected of either defect. Vision tests are also carried out in secondary schools in form 4.

Government supports the Children's Health Camps Board which maintains seven permanent camps for the short-stay placement of children convalescing after illness, for those whose physical health is unsatisfactory and for those suffering from minor emotional disorders. Medical officers select children for admission and undertake general health supervision of the camps. Children benefit from the ordered routine of camp life which provides a nutritious diet and a balance of free activity, rest and sleep. The Department of Education maintains school classes with emphasis on remedial teaching.

Immunisation.

Immunisation is free for a number of diseases and is usually done by the family doctor. The course of injections should be commenced as soon as possible from six weeks old. Protection against diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus is a routine procedure and a triple vaccine is used at six weeks, three months and five months of age. Oral vaccine for poliomyelitis is also given at three months and five months. Arrangements can be made for mothers who do not have family doctors to attend with their children at departmental clinics. If necessary, in country areas the public health nurse will visit the homo to immunise the child. Booster doses against diphtheria, tetanus and polio are given at 18 months, and an additional polio vaccine at five years. Further booster doses against tetanus only are given at 15 years of age and recommended at 20-yearly intervals. Measles (morbilli) vaccination is available from family doctors for infants from 12 months of age onwards. Rubella vaccination is available from family doctors for women and girls in the childbearing age groups and is also offered to 11-year -old girls at school.

Health education

It is becoming widely recognised that to a large extent our health is a direct result of how we live, work, and interact with others and with our environment. In short, our health is a result of how we behave.

Health education programmes of the Department of Health cover topics such as immunisation, hearing protection, healthy lifestyle and sexually transmitted diseases, which can be affected by positive health behaviour.

These programmes involve health education officers as planners and coordinators, who facilitate health education and health teaching in districts. Public health nurses, dental nurses, inspectors of health, medical and dental officers all devote some of their time to health education with community groups and schools in districts.

The Health Education Unit develops national health education programmes, including health education publicity on television, radio and in the press. Health information on many topics is produced as leaflets, information sheets and posters, which are available from district health offices and area health boards. Health magazine is produced quarterly and is issued free on request to the public. It provides health information and publicises some of the department's work. An audio-visual library has films and videos on many health topics, which are available to district health offices and area health boards.

Alcohol.

In New Zealand problem drinking is a major public health issue. Problem drinking covers not only those who are dependent on alcohol (and who are usually referred to as alcoholics) but also those who as a result of their drinking cause problems for themselves or others. These resulting problems may range from illness or accidents to financial problems, violence or family breakdown. At-risk male drinkers consuming 60 mls or more of alcohol per day are estimated to number over 170 000. The comparable figures for women are 40 mls or more of alcohol per day and an estimate of over 100 000 at-risk female drinkers.

Alcohol consumption for the year ended June 1985, in 750 ml bottles, was the equivalent of 203 bottles of beer, 26 bottles of wine and seven bottles of spirits for every person aged 15 years and over, including those who do not drink, or rarely drink, alcoholic beverages. Consumption of alcohol per person 15 years and over has increased 27 percent during the 20 years from 1976–1985. Most of this change occurred about 10–20 years ago, with small fluctuations in both directions in the last 10 years. Over the last 20 years there have also been significant increases in rates per 100 000 population of alcohol-related illness, as reflected in admissions to psychiatric hospitals and deaths from alcoholic liver cirrhosis.

The Alcoholic Liquor Advisory Council (ALAC) continues to fund a multi-disciplinary alcohol research unit in association with the Medical Research Council and the University of Auckland School of Medicine, and also supports other independent research projects. During 1986 the council abstracted alcohol research for publication and for on-line use on the computer-based Social Science Research Information System (SOSRIS) through the National Library. An ALAC library and information resource centre provides pamphlets, posters, and films.

Progress has been made towards the majority of clients being dealt with on an outpatient basis. At alcohol and/or drug outpatient treatment agencies, more than 7000 new-to-agency outpatients were treated in 1985 and during this time over a thousand other people received help in dealing with someone else's alcohol and/or drug problem. Employee assistance programmes continue to be developed by ALAC, providing assistance not only for those in the workplace who have alcohol problems, but also for any type of personal problem that effects work performance.

The Department of Education has developed a health syllabus with an alcohol education component which links with teaching resources previously developed by the department and the Alcoholic Liquor Advisory Council. A ‘Say When’ (health promotion) campaign has been conducted through television, radio, magazines, newspapers and community events. There is an increased focus on tackling alcohol problems at a community level and ALAC has assisted local agencies in five cities to employ community workers to promote moderation in the use of alcohol.

When applicable, the council provides advice and statistical data to the Government, government departments and other agencies, on control policies, treatment methods and facilities, and other alcohol-related matters. Most notable recently has been a submission to the Government's working party on the review of liquor legislation.

Dental health

New Zealand's dental health service combines a school dental service for children, dental benefits for adolescents, and private practice for adults. Major hospitals also provide dental services for inpatients and other special groups. Administratively, the country is divided into 13 dental districts and three area health boards. The skills of dentistry are taught at a school for dental nurses in Wellington and at the School of Dentistry, University of Otago.

School Dental Service.

This service works to maintain a high standard of dental health of preschool and school children by regular and systematic treatment at six-monthly intervals, starting at the age of two-and-a-half and continuing through to the highest class at primary or intermediate school.

School dental nurses, after completing the two-year training course, are appointed to school dental clinics where children are given routine dental care. Clinics are visited regularly by the Principal Dental Officer and Supervising Dental Nurse, who assist dental nurses to maintain high standards. Another medium for continuing education is the School Dental Service Gazette which is published five times each year.

The dental care involves examination, disease prevention measures, fillings in deciduous (first) and permanent teeth, extraction of deciduous teeth and dental health education. Some children are referred to dentists for additional care which is beyond the scope of the school dental nurses. The cost of such care is usually met as a special dental benefit. Orthodontic treatment and some other specialist services are not provided as part of school dental service or dental benefit programmes but can be obtained privately.

During the year ended 31 March 1986. 974 school dental nurses provided dental care for 526 827 children. Indicators of the success of the service are the acceptance (71 percent of preschool children aged two-and-a-half to five years, and 95 percent of primary school children are enrolled), and the improvement of dental health of children.

For children leaving the School Dental Service at the end of their primary schooling, the number of filled teeth was down to an average of 3.2 per child in 1986, and approximately 20 percent had no fillings at all in their permanent teeth.

Dental services for teenagers.

Dental care for teenagers up to 16 years of age is provided by private dental practitioners as dental benefits under the Social Security Act, the dentist being paid on a fee-service basis. Children who remain at school after age 16 and qualify for the extended family benefit, or who are otherwise dependent upon parents for support, continue to receive dental benefits up to age 18. Treatment is aimed at conserving the natural teeth. There is free choice of dentists, and dentists have the right to decline patients. Private practitioners completed 389 654 treatments under the scheme during the year ended 31 March 1986.

Dental health education.

Dental health education is an integral part of the School Dental Service and includes activities in the clinics and the classroom. Educational material is produced by the Department of Health for the School Dental Service and for general use in the community. Materials specifically for dentists are produced by the Dental Health Committee of the New Zealand Dental Association. The New Zealand Dental Health Foundation is also taking an active role in the promotion of dental health.

Dental research.

The dental unit of the Medical Research Council carries out research on a wide range of dental problems. Further research is undertaken by the School of Dentistry at the University of Otago, and there is also a research unit within the Division of Dental Health of the Department of Health.

Fluoridation.

Approximately 50 percent of New Zealand's population live in areas where the water supply is fluoridated.

Rehabilitation of disabled civilians

Increasing emphasis has been given to the rehabilitation of the disabled over recent years.

Public hospitals provide a medical rehabilitation service, with co-operation from government and other agencies, and there are rehabilitation centres for the treatment of the severely disabled in Auckland, Palmerston North and Rotorua. For the rehabilitation of people suffering from spinal injuries, specialist spinal injury centres are provided at Auckland and Christchurch. Geriatric assessment and rehabilitation units have been established by a number of hospital boards. Rehabilitation activities are also carried out in the physical medicine departments of general hospitals, and in psychiatric and psychopaedic hospitals.

The Rehabilitation League is an agent of government in vocational rehabilitation. The main function of the league is to provide facilities for work assessment and work experience for the disabled. Policy is decided by a central board of management, and district committees administer the centres which are established in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch. Dunedin and Napier.

A Rehabilitation Co-ordinating Council, comprising senior representatives from the Departments of Labour, Social Welfare, Health, and Education, and the Accident Compensation Corporation, advises the Government on steps to co-ordinate and promote rehabilitation in New Zealand.

Assistance to the disabled is described in chapter 7, Social welfare.

Health research and development

National Health Institute.

The institute is one of three science units of the Department of Health. It provides scientific support in microbiology and environmental chemistry for the department's health promotion, health protection and occupational health programmes. Its laboratories provide investigative, diagnostic and reference services for medical officers of health, hospitals, private laboratories and general practitioners. It also carries out surveillance and epidemiological studies for disease control and works internationally with the World Health Organisation and other national organisations active in disease surveillance.

An environmental chemistry section conducts studies on environmental and occupational health. The monitoring of food, water and the environment for micro-organisms of public health significance is carried out at the institute and at five regional laboratories.

The institute is the storage centre for the National Culture Collection of micro-organisms of medical or scientific importance and the National Serum Bank, a collection of sera historically representing the immune status of the population.

Health Services Research and Development Unit.

This unit is a service group within the Department of Health with research and planning functions. The unit carries out, advises on, and supports research on health and health services and publicises the findings. These studies are designed:

  1. to improve the level of knowledge and understanding about health services, trends in health issues and the social and economic factors influencing health; and

  2. to provide an informed base for decision makers.

Contact is maintained with university and medical researchers; hospital managers and board members; ward, clinic and office staff; and many ethers. The information is used to evaluate existing policies, to help in planning new policies and to increase understanding about health and health matters. Examples of current projects include:

  • ○ Studies of alternative health care;

  • ○ Women's health issues;

  • ○ The place of alcohol in people's lives;

  • ○ Smoking and the workplace;

  • ○ A survey of physically disabled adults aged under 65 receiving long-term care;

  • ○ A literature survey of AIDS; and

  • ○ Trends and patterns in health expenditure.

Medical Research Council.

The Medical Research Council is the major organisation supporting medical research in New Zealand, and acts as the central co-ordinating body. The council was established in December 1937 as a committee of the Department of Health. It became incorporated by the Medical Research Council Act 1950 as a body independent of the Government and has remained so, though it is largely financed by a government grant. It can also receive bequests and donations.

The functions of the council are:

  1. To initiate, foster and support medical research;

  2. To give information, advice and assistance to those concerned with medical research; and

  3. To collect and distribute scientific information, including publishing reports.

The council supports research in its own units (virus, dental and toxicology groups) and through project grants to research groups in universities and hospitals. It also awards scholarships, fellowships and travel grants to individuals, and assists with the staging of scientific meetings. In 1986 the council supported the equivalent of about 360 full-time research workers. The financial resources available to the council in 1986 were $13.6 million. Support is currently being provided in most fields of medicine. The council's present priority research areas are respiratory disorders, health services, the health of Polynesian populations, paediatrics and child health, mental disorders, accidents, geriatric medicine and care of the aged, and health education and health promotion (including behavioural factors in health and disease). The council is responsible for maintaining a balance in the research supported throughout New Zealand and maintains a close liaison with other medical research funding bodies. It also represents the medical research community on other bodies and has links with overseas research funding organisations.

Health statistics.

The National Health Statistics Centre is responsible for the collection, analysis and distribution of information about the health status of New Zealanders and the use of health care resources. It liaises with organisations and institutions both within and outside New Zealand and is a forum for new ideas and techniques to improve health.

Deaths by causes

The World Health Organisation's International Classification of Diseases recommends basing classification of deaths by causes on the concept of the underlying cause. The certifier's statement largely determines the cause but to obtain more accurate data, reference is also made to all autopsy reports received, cancer case registrations, coroners' reports and hospital case summaries.

Medical practitioners certified 81 percent of deaths registered in 1984, and 19 percent were certified by coroners. Of the deaths certified by doctors, 11 percent were subject to autopsy compared with 99 percent of deaths certified by coroners. Overall, 28 percent of all deaths had autopsies performed.

New Zealand adopted the ninth revision of the World Health Organisation's International Classification of Diseases in 1979. As a result, care must be taken when comparing figures since 1979 with those for previous years.

Table 8.2. MAJOR CAUSES OF DEATH*

Cause of DeathNumber of DeathsRate per Million of Mean Population
198219831984198219831984

* Further details of causes of death are available from the National Health Statistics Centre.

Source: National Health Statistics Centre.

Malignant neoplasm5,7235,9375,8881,7981,8411,807
Diabetes mellitus374369341118114105
Chronic rheumatic heart disease125135123394238
Hypertensive disease264264254838278
Ischaemic heart disease7,3017,1457,1962,2942,2152,209
Other forms of heart disease1,0681,119903336347277
Cerebrovascular disease2,8062,9372,811882911863
Disease of arteries, arterioles, and capillaries602619581189192178
Pneumonia1,0661,2751,063335395326
Bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma753742709237230218
Other diseases of respiratory system720783776226243238
Peptic ulcer181162176575054
Cirrhosis of liver140122126443839
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis178197183566156
Congenital anomalies212226212677065
Birth injury, difficult labour, other anoxic and hypoxic conditions, and other causes of perinatal mortality156168129495240
All other diseases1,9982,1272,141628659657
Motor vehicle accidents730647710229201218
All other accidents712600610224186187
Suicide and self-inflicted injury364352389114109119
All other external causes748162232519
      Total, all causes of death25,54726,00725,3838 0268 0637 790

Heart disease, malignant neoplasms (cancer), and cerebrovascular disease were again the leading causes of death in 1984 (the latest year for which data are available). These three causes accounted for approximately 67 percent of all deaths in 1984: ischaemic heart disease accounted for 28 percent of deaths, malignant neoplasms for 23 percent, and cerebrovascular disease for approximately 11 percent.

Cancer.

In New Zealand in 1984 nearly one death in four was caused by cancer. The cancer crude death rate has increased over the latest six years for which figures are available, from 171.7 per 100 000 population in 1979 to 184.1 in 1983 and 180.7 in 1984.

A detailed report on cancer mortality and morbidity in New Zealand is published annually by the National Health Statistics Centre. It covers mortality from cancer and surveys all cases reported to the National Cancer Registry.

Ninety-three percent of deaths from cancer during 1984 were at 45 years of age or above, and 63 percent were at 65 years of age or above. The lungs continue to be the major site in male deaths from cancer. Seven percent of all male deaths in 1984 were caused by lung cancer. The breasts are the major cancer site in females and accounted for 4 percent of all female deaths.

Table 8.3. DEATHS FROM CANCER, 1984

Age Groups, in YearsDeath of MalesDeath of Females
NumbersRate per 100 000 of Population at Ages GivenPercentage of Total Deaths at Ages GivenNumbersRate per 100000 of Population at Ages GivenPercentage of Total Deaths at Ages Given
Under 586.21.843.31.4
5–14155.215.3134.721.7
15–24258.25.8155.19.3
25–4413829.917.818239.342.9
45–64954324.230.3820280.044.7
65 and over2,0971 517.023.61,617844.318.3
All ages3 237200.023.52 651161.622.8
Source: National Health Statistics Centre.

Table 8.4. DEATHS FROM CANCER AT SELECTED SITES

SiteSexNumbersRates per Million Mean Population
198219831984198219831984
Buccal cavity and pharynxM806469514043
 F322433201520
OesophagusM1017775644846
 F525546323428
StomachM231195200146122124
 F133156119839673
Large intestineM254296294161185182
 F366360325229222198
RectumM16614717710592109
 F106112119666973
Bronchus, trachea, and lungM844948975534591602
 F298291307186179187
BreastM442321
 F524537504327331307
Cervix uteriF1109098695560
Corpus uteriF615751383531
Ovary, fallopian tube, and broad ligamentF1511641509410191
ProstateM289325335183203207
Bladder and other urinary organsM166160164105100101
 F698067434941
Skin, all formsM10698115676171
 F726086453752
BrainM939686596053
 F446083273751
Lymphosarcoma and reticulum-cellsarcomaM343127221917
 F313121191913
LeukaemiaM94122108597667
 F7110278446348
All other and unspecified sitesM614603610388376377
 F527592564329365344
      Total cancer deathsM3 0763 1663 2371 9451 9752 000
 F2 6472 7712 6511 6531 7081 616
Source: National Health Statistics Centre

Infant and perinatal mortality.

An infant death is defined as a live-born infant dying before the first year of life is completed. A neonatal death is defined as the death of a live-born infant before the 28th day of life; a post-neonatal death as the death of a live-born infant between the 28th day and the first year of life.

Perinatal mortality.

Perinatal deaths consist of stillbirths and deaths in the first week of life. The late foetal death (stillbirths) and the perinatal mortality rate are calculated per 1000 total births (stillbirths plus live births), while the death rate for neonatal and infant death is calculated per 1000 live births.

Table 8.5. MAORI AND NON-MAORI PERINATAL MORTALITY RATES. 1984*

Category of DeathMaoriNon-MaoriTotal Population
No.RateNo.RateNo.Rate

* Per 1000 total births (stillbirths plus live births).

Source: National Health Statistics Centre.

Late foetal314.62375.32685.2
Early neonatal253.71553.51803.5
Perinatal568.33928.74488.6
Neonatal304.42064.62364.6
Post-neonatal9413.92746.13687.1
Infant12418.448010.760411.7

Table 8.6. INFANT MORTALITY RATES FOR SELECTED COUNTRIES

CountryYearAge of Child
Under 1 YearUnder 1 Day1 and Under 7 Days7 and Under 28 Days1 Month and Under 1 Year

* Later years for Denmark, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden not available.

Sources: World Health Statistics Annual 1985; Deaths, Australian Bureau of Statistics 1984; Childhood Mortality Statistics, England and Wales 1984.

 Deaths per 1000 Live Births
Australia19849.23.11.51.03.8
Denmark1982*8.22.11.51.23.4
England and Wales19849.42.61.91.13.9
Netherlands1983*8.41.92.41.03.1
Norway1983*7.92.51.40.93.1
Sweden1983*7.01.52.10.92.5
New Zealand198411.72.11.31.17.1

Causes of infant mortality.

The principal causes of infant mortality are shown in table 8.7. The cause of death has been selected according to the main disease affecting the neonate with a specific code for sudden infant death syndrome.

Table 8.7. PRINCIPAL CAUSES OF INFANT MORTALITY FOR MAORI AND NON-MAORI, 1984

Cause of DeathMaoriNon-MaoriTotal Population
Number of DeathsRate Per 1000 Live BirthsNumber of DeathsRate Per 1000 Live BirthsNumber of DeathsRate Per 1000 Live Births

* Excludes 29 sudden Infant deaths (nine Maori and 20 non-Maori) where another condition was also present at time of death and, in accordance with WHO ICD coding rules, death was classified to that other condition.

Source: National Health Statistics Centre.

Infectious and parasitic diseases10.190.2100.2
Malignant neoplasm30.130.1
Diseases of the nervous system40.6110.2150.3
Diseases of the circulatory system10.140.150.1
Diseases of the respiratory system152.2340.8490.9
Diseases of the digestive system10.130.140.1
Congenital anomalies152.21302.91452.8
Perinatal causes—
  Birth injury50.150.1
  Hyaline membrane disease60.9190.4250.5
  Other anoxic and hypoxic conditions50.790.2140.3
  Immaturity20.3180.4200.4
  Other perinatal causes101.5551.2651.3
Sudden infant death syndrome*608.91613.62214.3
Accidents, poisonings, and violence (external causes)30.490.2120.2
Remainder (all other causes)10.1100.2110.2
      Total, all infant dear under one year12418.448010.760411.7

Maternal deaths.

The New Zealand Maternal Mortality Research Amendment Act of 1979 defines a maternal death as:

  1. A death that occurs during pregnancy or within three months of the conclusion of a pregnancy; or

  2. A death of a woman who at the time of her death was suffering from chorionepithelioma or hydatidiform mole.

This definition is for national use only and covers a wider range of cases than the maternal mortality definition recommended by the World Health Organisation. Maternal deaths from complications of pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium numbered three in 1984, with a rate of 0.6 per 10 000 live births.

Maternal deaths occurring during pregnancy or within three months of delivery, but not due to complications of pregnancy or childbirth or the puerperium numbered three in 1984 with a rate of 0.6 per 10 000 live births.

Further statistics on causes of death are found in section 8.4, Accidents. For general health statistics see section 8.3, Hospitals.

8.3 Hospitals

Hospital administration

New Zealand's public hospitals and hospital-based services are provided and maintained by hospital boards and area health boards. The responsibilities of these boards, the Department of Health and the Minister of Health are set out in the Hospitals Act 1957 and the Area Health Boards Act 1983. The provision of private hospitals is also encouraged.

The role of the Department of Health is to advise the minister on, or determine in respect of boards, the extent and standard of hospital and allied services, the building requirements to provide these services, the numbers and levels of the main groups of professional staff to be employed, the appropriate annual financial grants, and the measure of financial assistance to be given to private hospitals (including loan finance). The department also licenses and supervises private hospitals, inspects the work of all hospitals, and compiles financial and statistical data about them. There are 26 hospital boards, three area health boards and 180 private hospitals.

Hospital treatment in public hospitals is free. Private hospitals, which provide about one-sixth of the available beds, receive partial payment from the state for hospital treatment of patients; additional fees may be claimed from the patients. Hospital and home nursing services involve the Department of Health in establishing and helping to maintain minimum standards of nursing service in institutions such as general hospitals and homes for the aged; in advising, inspecting and reporting on such services in hospitals; and advising the Minister on nursing.

Advisory boards, committees and councils also help prepare health policies and programmes and, in certain cases, to administer government policies or programmes. Such agencies enable the minister and the Department of Health to draw upon expert advice and wide experience. They also ensure that non-departmental people with up-to-date knowledge, experience, and responsibility in particular areas of health play a worthwhile part in health administration. A partnership of this kind is particularly important in the case of public hospitals, which are run by democratically elected boards. Recognition of this is seen in the requirements of the Hospitals Act that the Minister of Health may not act in certain public hospital matters without a recommendation from the Hospitals Advisory Council.

Hospital accommodation

Public hospitals. At 31 March 1986 there were 178 public hospitals providing 24 666 beds throughout New Zealand. If the beds in licensed private hospitals are included, the number of general beds per 1000 of population is 6.0.

A total of 428 661 inpatient and long-stay admissions to public hospitals was recorded for the year ended 31 March 1986. This figure, which included people in surgical, medical, maternity, and psychiatric beds and non-hospital beds in old people's homes, was equivalent to 13.0 percent of the population. The 1983–84 figure was 434 123, and the 1984–85 figure was 442 129.

Outpatient and daypatient attendances (excluding X-ray, laboratory and pharmacy diagnostic services) at public hospitals totalled 4 214 177 and 324 009 respectively for the year ended 31 March 1986, compared with 4 375 278 and 315 658 for the previous year.

As at 31 March 1986 there were 50 454 names on waiting lists for admission to public hospitals. This compares with 46 502 on waiting lists at 31 March 1985.

Table 8.8. BEDS IN PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS, 1986*

Type of BedBeds AvailableAverage Number of Occupied Beds per Day
NumberProportion per 1000 of PopulationNumberProportion per 1000 of Population

* Year ended 31 March.

Source: National Health Statistics Centre.

General13,9194.210632 
Maternity2,0700.611280.3
Psychiatric and intellectually handicapped7,7702.36,5982.0
      Total hospital beds23,7597.218,3585.6
Non-hospital beds9070.38080.2
      Total24,6667.519,1665.8

Private hospitals.

At 31 March 1986 there were 168 licensed private hospitals, providing a total of 6042 beds.

The Government assists private hospitals by providing loans for new hospitals and the upgrading and extension of existing hospitals. Amounts paid under this scheme during the last three years were: 1983–84, $24,260; 1984–85, $177,000; and 1985–86, $140,000.

Table 8.9. PRIVATE HOSPITAL BEDS*

Type of HospitalNumber of HospitalsLicensed Beds
198419851986198419851986

* As at 31 March.

† Includes two hospitals with geriatric beds.

‡ Includes one hospital with medical beds already included with medical-geriatric hospitals.

Source: National Health Statistics Centre.

Maternity53125193
Medical and surgical3317161 397641624
Medical, surgical and/or geriatric1321531504,2695,1195313
Maternity, medical, and surgical111102102102
Psychiatric/geriatric314537
      Total1731751685 8385 9186 042

Table 8.10. STAFF EMPLOYED BY HOSPITAL BOARDS AND IN HOSPITALS UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

Category of StaffAs at 31 March*
1983198419851986

* All figures based on full-time equivalents.

† Includes managers and supervisors.

Source: National Health Statistics Centre.

Medical2 560.42 632.02 588.32 733.4
Dietitians134.1142.9150.5146.5
Laboratory technologists531.9549.8576.8613.5
Occupational therapist.399.1423.7406.6411.6
Physiotherapists515.6520.6525.2500.3
Radiographers440.4496.8537.6537.4
Hospital scientific officers94.886.3103.199.5
Social workers471.9497.3518.8526.1
Other staff (professional and technical)2 757.72 862.02859.82 940.7
Nursing staff (qualified)14 570.615 578.716 103.416 385.6
Nursing staff (unqualified)3942.43 664.13439.03486.1
Nursing students3 986.93 389.82 626.62027.6
Students, other615.8663.3629.8606.2
Administration and clerical staff5 727.65 711.65 737.75 903.3
Other12 092.211 605.311 509.411 356.6
      Total48841.448 824.248 312.648 274.4

Hospital finance

Hospital board expenditure is controlled by the Minister of Health. Funding for public hospital maintenance is allocated to the individual hospital boards on the basis of allocations made in the previous year, adjusted to take account of known increases in salary and wage rates and prices. Additional grants are made, when necessary, for general wage increases which may be approved after the basic allocation has been made. In general, major works are financed by loans raised by hospital boards, interest and principal repayments being met by government grants.

Table 8.11. HOSPITAL BOARD BORROWING

YearAmount UpliftedRepayment*Balance Owing

* Includes payments from sinking funds.

Source: Department of Health.

 $(000)
1981–8241,99324,879471,832
1982–8354,11440,233486,014
1983–8466,11637,497513,057
1984–8566,46046,401535,628
1985–8647,11965,781519,023

Table 8.12. GRANTS TO HOSPITAL/AREA HEALTH BOARDS

Grants to Hospital Boards1982–831983–841984–851985–86
Grants allocated directly—$(000)
Operating grants—
  Salaries and wages895,229911,797916,024948,445
  Other243,743250,859277,296319,337
      Subtotal1,138,9721,162,6561,193,3201,267,782
Supplementary grants—
Reserve for salary and wage increases24,8601,50722,174180,256
Loans—Repayments and payments into sinking fund40,45740,90550,30556,158
    —Net interest47,97452,15956,22051,670
Community care—
  Health centres835742257
  Equipment for national and regional specialty services..1,5951,3995,307
Geriatric hospital patient assistance13,84814,78317,23622,726
Special capital1,054......
Other items (including wheelchairs, hearing aids, orthopaedic implants)1,414.... 
      Subtotal129,690111,006147,756316,174
      Total1,268,6621,273,6621,341,0761,583,956
Source: Department of Health.

Public hospital patients

Principal diseases and disabilities. Detailed statistical information is supplied to the Department of Health about all patients discharged from, or dying in, public hospitals in New Zealand.

Table 8.14 shows the principal diseases and injuries treated in public hospitals in 1985, together with average days stay and conditions as a percentage of total cases. The disease headings are the 50 disease group categories of the International Classification of Diseases.

Hospital returns show each disease for which the patient was treated while in hospital, but the classification for statistical purposes has been made on the basis of the principal condition for which the patient was admitted, regardless of what other unrelated diseases may have been present or developed during the stay in hospital.

Length of stay in public hospitals.

The average length of stay in public hospitals in 1985 was 10.7 days. Among sufferers from specified diseases, the longest average stays were made by those with psychoses (69 days) followed by patients with cerebrovascular disease (66 days) and other diseases of the nervous system (35 days).

Table 8.13. AGE AND SEX OF PATIENTS IN PUBLIC HOSPITALS. 1985

Age GroupMalesFemalesTotal
  0–425,18418,22743,411
  5– 99,3056,48415,789
10–148,2286,49514,723
15–1910,85618,19829,054
20–2410,77036,90647,676
25–298,40641,68750,093
30–347,09625,89032,986
35–396,41414,10020,514
40–445,7968,57714,373
45–496,0747,21713,291
50–547,3176,96214,279
55–599,4477,44016,887
60–6411,0108,75819,768
65–6911,0799,35120,430
70–7411,70310,44122,144
75–799,5969,87519,471
80–845,9217,74513,666
85 and over3,5487,12610,674
      Total167,750251,479419,229
Source: National Health Statistics Centre.

Table 8.14. DISEASES AND CONDITIONS TREATED IN PUBLIC HOSPITALS DURING (INCLUDING READMISSIONS), 1985

Diagnostic GroupTotal Discharges or Deaths In Public HospitalsPercentage of All CasesAverage Stay (Days)

* Carcinoma-in-sltu, and malignant neoplasm of lymphatic and heamatopoletic tissue.

† Neoplasms of uncertain behaviour and neoplasms of unspecified nature

‡ Includes diseases of veins and lymphatics.

Source: National Health Statistics Centre.

Infectious and parasitic diseases (except tuberculosis)8,4932.06.4
Tuberculosis357..18.9
Malignant neoplasms*23,6205.612.7
Benign neoplasms4,1931.07.4
Disorders of thyroid gland5510.19.6
Diabetes mellitus3,1530.820.8
Other endocrine, nutritional, metabolic and immunity disorders1,7330410.8
Diseases of blood and blood-forming organs2,5330.67.2
Psychoses4,3801.069.0
Other mental disorders5,2761.318.5
Disorders of the eye and adnexa5,7931.46.2
Diseases of ear and mastoid process4,7251.13.1
Other diseases of the nervous system6,1251.535.7
Acute rheumatic fever and chronic rheumatic heart disease7270.214.4
Ischaemic heart disease13,5473.210.5
Hypertensive disease and other forms of heart disease9,2912.215.3
Cerebrovascular disease6,9601.766.2
Diseases of arteries, arterioles and capillaries3,4630.819.0
Other diseases of circulatory system5,0321.28.8
Acute respiratory infections and influenza6,0571.44.2
Pneumonia5,1261.220.4
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and allied conditions16,5353.98.7
Chronic disease of tonsils and adnoids3,5090.82.7
Other diseases of respiratory system4,8631.27.2
Diseases of oral cavity, salivary glands and jaws2,7350.72.4
Diseases of oesophagus, stomach and duodenum4,5251.17.9
Appendicitis4,4111.15.2
Hernia of abdominal cavity4,3291.05.2
Non-infective enteritis and colitis and other diseases of intestines and peritoneum6,5891.69.2
Other diseases of digestive system5,5201.39.8
Diseases of urinary system6,6351.69.3
Diseases of male genital organs3,9090.96.2
Diseases of breast and inflammatory disease of female pelvic organs4,2341.03.5
Other disorders of female genital tract10,9212.64.3
Complications of pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium (except abortion)64,77115.56.1
Pregnancy with abortive outcome8,350202.1
Diseases of skin and subcutaneous tissue5,341.49.3
Arthropathies and related disorders, dorsopathies and rheumatism except rheumatic fever13,3323.214.5
Osteopathies, chondropathies and acquired musculoskeletal deformities2,2570.516.6
Congenital anomalies6,1071.58.3
Certain conditions originating in the perinatal period7,7571.910.1
Symptoms, signs and ill-defined conditions22,8625.58.7
Fractures18,2744.415.4
Dislocations, sprains and strains of joints and adjacent muscles2,6630.66.2
Intracranial injury (except skull fracture)8,2532.03.4
Laceration and open wound6,6761.65.4
Bums1,4170.312.7
Poisoning by drugs, medicaments and non-medicinal substances3,8810.93.2
Other injuries and adverse effects, and late effects of injuries13,6173.29.8
Special admissions without current complaint or reported diagnosis and for elective procedures33,4298.06.6
      All conditions419,230100.010.7

Accident cases.

During 1985 the two largest categories of accidents came under the headings ‘accidental falls’ and ‘other accidents’ (which includes, for instance, accidents caused by cutting and piercing instruments, machinery, falling objects, fire and hot objects). Victims of accidental falls also had the longest aggregate stay in hospital. This was because of the long period spent in hospital by elderly people who have sustained fractures of the femur in falls. More than one in four patients had been injured in a fall of some kind.

Motor-vehicle traffic accidents were the fourth largest group and had the second largest aggregate stay. Road accidents are analysed in tables in section 8.4, Accidents.

Table 8.15. ACCIDENT CASES TREATED AS INPATIENTS IN PUBLIC HOSPITALS (INCLUDING READMISSIONS), 1985

Type of AccidentTotal CasesPercentage of All Accident CasesAverage Stay (Days)Aggregate Stay (Days)Aggregate Stay as Percentage of Total
Transport—
  Railway330.110.23350.1
  Motor-vehicle traffic10,50417.710.9114,42417.7
  Motor-vehicle non-traffic7161.27.65,4150.8
  Other road vehicles21833.74.610,1061.6
  Water2040.36.41,3120.2
  Air1050.211.71,2320.2
  Vehicle accidents not elsewhere classifiable12..1.619..
      Subtotal, transport13,75723.19.7132,84320.5
Non-transport—
  Accidental poisoning1,2242.11.92,2690.4
  Accidental falls14,66424.616.8246,57738.0
Surgical and medical complications and misadventures6,46610.914.996,16914.8
Late effects of accidental injury3,5155.916.155,5328.7
Adverse effects of drugs, medicaments, and biological substances1,5132.510.415,7422.4
Suicide and self inflicted injury2,6874.54.913,0872.0
Homicide and injury purposely inflicted by other persons2,3784.03.99,2111.4
Legal intervention9..5.449..
Injury undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted2360.44.41,0450.2
Injury resulting from operations of war6..8.249..
Other accidents13,05221.95.774,65611.5
      Subtotal, non-transport45,75076.911.3515,38679.5
      Total59,507100.010.9648,229100.0
Source: National Health Statistics Centre.

Accidents at home.

A high percentage of non-transport accidents, especially those involving young children and elderly people, occur at home. Domestic accidents in 1985 are included by type of accident in the previous section, but they are not separated out from accidents sustained elsewhere. Table 8.16 shows the number of patients discharged from, or dying in, public hospitals after treatment for injuries from accidents at home. It includes only inpatients in public hospitals, not the large numbers of home accident cases treated in outpatient departments, doctor's surgeries, and at home.

Table 8.16. INPATIENTS IN PUBLIC HOSPITALS AFTER ACCIDENTS AT HOME, 1985

Cause of AccidentTotal PatientsAggregate Duration of Stay in Hospital (Days)
Accidental poisoning by—
  Drugs and medicaments5621,035
  Petroleum products and other solvents111145
  Agricultural and horticultural preparations other than plant foods or fertilisers79104
  Noxious foodstuffs and poisonous plants3340
  Other solid and liquid substances3178
  Gases and vapours1650
Accidental falls6,172114,806
Struck by falling objects103848
Accidents caused by cutting and piercing instruments1,5625,717
Accidental bums87812,005
Accidents caused by foreign bodies6131,077
All other and unspecified accidents1,8039,932
      Total11,963145,837
Source: National Health Statistics Centre.

For further accident statistics, see the following section, Accidents.

Psychiatric hospitals and hospitals for the intellectually handicapped

Psychiatric hospitals and hospitals for the intellectually handicapped (except Lake Alice Hospital, Marton, which provides for security patients from throughout the country) are controlled by hospital and area health boards. The Mental Health Act 1969 transferred the control from the Department of Health to boards from 1 April 1972. Since 1978 the funding of these hospitals has been fully integrated with that of public hospitals and separate data relating to the funding of psychiatric hospitals and hospitals for the intellectually handicapped are not available.

A detailed report, Mental Health Data, is published annually by the National Health Statistics Centre. It contains administrative and clinical data about first admissions and readmissions (including replacements from leave), discharges, and deaths for all inpatients under psychiatric care. The report also presents information about psychiatric disorders in terms of age and sex, place of residence, race and length of stay.

Table 8.17. PSYCHIATRIC AND INTELLECTUALLY HANDICAPPED PATIENTS: NUMBERS AND RATES (PER 100 000 MEAN POPULATION)

YearPatients in Psychiatric Hospitals and Hospitals for the Intellectually HandicappedPatients in Psychiatric Units of Public Hospitals
Average Number ResidentRateAverage Number On Leave*RateAverage Number TotalRateAverage Number ResidentRate

* Refers only to committed and special patients.

Source: National Health Statistics Centre.

19797,487239.61,83858.89,325298.52568.2
19807,321232.52,20269.99,523302.52487.9
19817,208227.02,26871.49,476298.42497.8
19827,129224.02,35373.99,482297.92798.8
19836,927214.52,24669.59,173284.02969.2
19846,715205.62,06263.38,777269.42999.2
19856,463197.12,01961.68,482258.72979.1

Table 8.18. RATES OF FIRST ADMISSION TO PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALS (PER 100 000 MEAN POPULATION)

YearAgesTotal All Ages
0–910–1920–2930–3940–4950–5960 and Over
1982—
  Maori28166441326203146178204
  Non-Maori19104227162154141194143
1983—
  Maori17168411324145162145194
  Non-Maori19102211162140122193136
1984—
  Maori1616843332019090115199
  Non-Maori2390205147136119146124
1985—
  Maori12192493318224109102222
  Non-Maori17110206149118102150125
Source: National Health Statistics Centre.

All admissions.

The total number for all admissions to psychiatric care during 1985 was 14 298. This total was made up of 4373 first admissions, and 9925 readmissions. Included in the re-admission figure were 1417 patients replaced from leave. This last category applies only to people who may not discharge themselves, for example, special and committed patients.

The average number of occupied beds in psychiatric hospitals and hospitals for the intellectually handicapped in 1985 was about 2.0 per 1000 of population. This is the lowest figure recorded since 1877. The downward trend reflects advances in treatment and, in more recent years, the provision of alternative forms of care.

During 1985, 85 percent of first admissions and-82 percent of readmissions were on an informal (voluntary) basis.

Discharges.

All informal patients are discharged outright when they leave their hospital or unit. Committed patients may also be discharged outright or they may be given ‘discharge on leave’ which means that they are still legally committed and under the authority of the hospital. There is a further statistical category ‘discharged not committed’ which is equivalent to an outright discharge in that the patient is no longer legally under the authority of the hospital. The phrase simply indicates that although the patient entered hospital on a remand or three-week basis, it was not found necessary to keep him or her for a longer period as a committed patient.

During 1985 there were 14 403 discharges from psychiatric hospitals and hospitals for the intellectually handicapped, psychiatric units of public hospitals and institutions treating alcoholism and drug addiction. Of these, 8298 were discharged from psychiatric hospitals, 492 from hospitals for the intellectually handicapped, 4304 from public hospital psychiatric units, and 1025 from institutions licensed under the Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Act.

Almost six out of every 10 patients leaving hospital in 1985 had a stay of less than 30 days.

Table 8.19. DISCHARGES FROM PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALS, 1985

DiagnosisOutrightMean Stay DaysLeaveMean Stay DaysNot CommittedMean Stay Days
Senile and pre-senile organic psychotic conditions17924847289
Alcoholic psychoses4826625621
Drug psychoses49171090
Other organic psychotic conditions10622627417114
Schizophrenic psychoses1,6922101,047242828
Affective psychoses1,9164553283356
Paranoid states975057203622
Other psychoses3126589176221
Neurotic depression and other depressive disorders1,7823268250113
Other neurotic disorders291261231
Alcohol dependence or abuse2,44054228133213
Drug dependence or abuse266302654311
Other personality disorders930571221682015
Stress and adjustment reactions6793610139122
Non-psychotic disorders of childhood and adolescence1331
Non-psychotic mental disorders following brain damage451118877
Conditions associated with physical disorders211631946
Mental retardation6369751881,003719
No psychiatric diagnosis2861411275321
      Total11,7881242 50825310721
Source: National Health Statistics Centre.

Diagnoses.

The two leading short-list diagnostic reasons for entering inpatient care for all admissions were alcohol dependence and abuse (2629) and schizophrenic psychoses (2997).

Table 8.20. PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL DIAGNOSES, 1985

DiagnosisTotalsFirst AdmissionsReadmissionsReplacements from Leave
Senile and presenile organic psychotonditions35423610216
Alcoholic psychoses188341468
Drug psychoses6631323
Other organic psychotic conditions136576415
Schizophrenic psychoses2,6293181,658653
Affective psychoses2,3514381,613300
Paranoid states148438124
Other psychoses42717021047
Neurotic depression and other depressive disorders1,8908421,00543
Other neurotic disorders2911221654
Alcohol dependence or abuse2,4979141,52954
Drug dependence or abuse34015117613
Other personality disorders1,04330865580
Stress and adjustment reactions6913992866
Non-psychotic disorders of childhood and adolescence13103..
Non-psychotic mental disorders following brain damage5922325
Conditions associated with physical disorders835..
Mental retardation76381540142
No psychiatric diagnoses4041942064
      Total, all cases14,2984 3738 5081 417
Source: National Health Statistics Centre.

Deaths.

In 1985 there were 377 deaths in psychiatric hospitals and hospitals for the intellectually handicapped, psychiatric units of public hospitals and institutions licensed under the Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Act. This compares with 336 in 1984.

Abortion

Abortion is permitted by New Zealand law in certain circumstances. The main conditions required are that the gestation of the pregnancy is not more than 20 weeks and that continuation of the pregnancy would result in serious danger (not being danger normally associated with childbirth) to the life, or to the physical or mental health of the woman or girl; or that there is a substantial risk that the child, if born, would be so physically or mentally abnormal as to be seriously handicapped. The Crimes Act 1961 (as amended) sets out when an abortion would be unlawful.

The Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act 1977 sets out the referral procedure where a woman seeks an abortion. It also sets out the requirements when a case is determined, if, after consideration of a case, two specially appointed consultants both believe that the provisions of the law can be met, an authorising certificate is issued.

To supervise the workings of the abortion law a three-member committee, known as the Abortion Supervisory Committee, was established under the Act.

New Zealand's abortion law is kept under review by the committee, which also licenses institutions for the performance of abortion;. appoints certifying consultants to consider cases, and liaises with all those providing facilities, both public and private.

Counselling advisors also monitor counselling services for women seeking advice about their pregnancy and keep the committee informed on related issues.

Table 8.21. ABORTIONS ACCORDING TO AGE GROUP

Age Group198319841985
PercentageNumberPercentageNumberPercentageNumber
111.18..0.78..  
12220.011
131060.118
1473490.8057
1525.9218423.791691.98141
163442983.96282
173743634.98355
185004346.12436
194644676.27447
20–2431.222,24730.602,22630.462,172
25–2919.591,41020.761,51021.261,516
30–3412.6691113.6599313.52964
35–396.404618.005828.20585
40–442.741972.171582.22158
45 and over0.29210.25180.118
      Total100.007 198100.007 275100.007 130
Source: Abortion Supervisory Committee.

Table 8.22. GROUNDS ON WHICH ABORTIONS WERE AUTHORISED

Grounds19831984*1985*

* For 1984 and 1985 the categories have been enlarged to include the seven statutory grounds, and, where more than one ground was indicated, the combination of multiple grounds.

† Includes abortions on the grounds of incest.

Source: Abortion Supervisory Committee.

Serious danger to physical health482920
Serious danger to mental health6,2676,9656,901
Combination of serious danger to physical and mental health806174110
Substantial risk of abnormal child695042
Incest33
Offence under s. 131 Crimes Act51..
Mother severely subnormal313
Serious danger to mental health and risk of abnormal child4240
Serious danger to physical and mental health and substantial risk of abnormal child42
Serious danger to mental health and offence under s. 131 Crimes Act43
Serious danger to mental health and woman severely subnormal22
Other multiple grounds4
      Total7 1987 2757 130
Factors taken into account:
  The age of the woman1,0601,082736
  Alleged rape546854
  Combination of the age of woman and alleged rape..102

Table 8.23. ABORTION RATES AND RATIOS: NEW ZEALAND AND OTHER LOW FERTILITY COUNTRIES

Country*YearRate per 1000Ratio per 1000
Total PopulationWomen 15–44BirthsBirths Plus Abortions
* With the exception of New Zealand, Canada, France and Italy data have been obtained from the Alan Guttmacher Institute.
New Zealand19832.29.6142124
 19842.29.6140123P
 19852.29.3139122
Canada19812.811.1175149
Czechoslovakia19827.033.0465318
Denmark19824.219.3420296
England and Wales19832.612.0203169
Finland19822.912.6208172
France19803.215.3213176
German Federal Republic19811.46.5140123
Hungary19827.435.5606377
Italy19803.918.5342255
Japan19815.122.5295382
Netherlands residents only19831.45.9113101
Norway19813.416.3271213
Scotland19821.67.61281.14
Singapore19827.728.6448369
Sweden19823.918.9353261
United States19826.828.8426299

8.4 Accidents

Accident Compensation Act

The Accident Compensation Act 1972, which took effect from 1 April 1974, was one of the most significant developments in social welfare for many years. Its three main objectives are: to promote safety in every walk of life; to promote the concept of prompt and effective rehabilitation of all people injured by accident so as to restore them to the fullest physical, mental, social, vocational, and economic usefulness of which they are capable; and to provide prompt, fair and reasonable compensation so that every accident victim will be treated according to his or her real needs. Cover embracing all three objectives extends to virtually everyone in New Zealand, from the smallest child to the oldest citizen.

The Accident Compensation Act was revised in 1982 and the previous three-member Accident Compensation Commission replaced with the board of the Accident Compensation Corporation.

Accident Compensation Corporation

The corporation is responsible for the administration of the Accident Compensation Act and is controlled by a board of directors with up to eight members, six of whom are appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Minister of Labour. It is responsible for policy, while the managing director of the corporation is responsible for the administration of its functions and the supervision of staff.

The corporation has a head office in Wellington with regional and district offices throughout New Zealand.

Functions of the corporation

Safety—The corporation's role is to encourage accident prevention and occupational health and where accidents do occur to minimise their effects. It is intended that ultimately organisations and individuals be largely self-sufficient in accident prevention.

The corporation offers advice and guidance in accident reduction and supports accident prevention research. It also conducts and co-ordinates campaigns on specific hazards, supported by a range of accident prevention publications and resource materials. Corporation accident prevention consultants are available at a local level to assist with accident prevention activities.

Rehabilitation—The overall aim of rehabilitation is to assist injured persons to reach their maximum potential, freed as far as possible from the consequences of their accident. The corporation employs rehabilitation co-ordinators, who are located at all its offices to help injured persons identify their needs, plan and co-ordinate individual rehabilitation programmes. They also liaise with hospitals, rehabilitation agencies, government departments, employer and employee organisations in an effort to assist injured persons. The corporation also arranges any special equipment and coordinates housing, workplace and car modifications.

The corporation provides financial assistance to promote rehabilitation and also plays an important role in stimulating, supporting and fostering the establishment of additional facilities for rehabilitation where it considers they are necessary.

Compensation—Compensation is paid to injured persons to allow financial security in overcoming their incapacity. For earners the scheme provides compensation for loss of earnings at the rate of 80 percent of normal average earnings. No payment is made by the corporation for the first week following the accident, but in the case of a work accident an employer is generally required to pay an employee 80 percent of his or her normal rate of pay for this period. Self-employed persons also qualify for compensation for loss of earnings at the rate of 80 percent of normal average earnings after the first week.

There is a wide range of benefits including compensation for medical and hospital expenses and the cost of transport for medical treatment. Lump sum payments are made for permanent loss or impairment of bodily function and loss of capacity to enjoy life. In the event of a fatal accident the corporation will pay reasonable funeral expense costs and earnings-related compensation to dependants.

Further information on benefits is available from any corporation office.

Reviews and appeals—Decisions by the corporation are subject to a right of appeal. An injured person can first apply to the corporation for a review of a decision which will be conducted by a review officer appointed by the corporation. From any decision made on a review there is a right of appeal to an appeal authority, which has full power to confirm, modify, or reverse any decision by the corporation. There is a further right of appeal to the High Court on a question of law, a matter of general or public interest, or a matter which for any other reason should be heard by the High Court, and to the Court of Appeal on questions of law only.

Claims received—It should be noted that not all claims result in compensation being paid—especially those made to protect the claimant's entitlement when incapacity has not yet arisen but may do in the future.

Table 8.24. ACCIDENT COMPENSATION CLAIMS RECEIVED

ClaimsYear Ended 31 March
19821983198419851986
Earners' Account98,866107,433108,572114,066114,928
Motor Vehicle Account11,83012,48116,57216,96217,199
Supplementary Account21,28024,60128,12728,07818,453
Total claims131,976144,515153,271159,106150,580
Source: Accident Compensation Corporation.

Financing the corporation.

Accident compensation is a form of compulsory insurance where the community as a whole accepts responsibility for the accidents which inevitably will afflict a proportion of its members. The community pays in three ways:

  1. Levies on vehicle owners to pay for motor vehicle accidents. (These are collected through the Post Office as agent for the corporation when motor vehicles are registered);

  2. Levies on employers (including the Crown) and on self-employed persons to pay for other accidents to earners. (These are collected through the Inland Revenue Department as agent for the corporation);

  3. General taxation pays for other claims through the Consolidated Account.

Income and expenditure.

Table 8.25 shows income from levies, compensation payments and administrative costs for the year ended 31 March 1986. Over recent years reserves have been used to fund the excess of expenditure over levy income, but from 1 April 1987 the scheme has been ‘pay-as-you go’.

Table 8.25. ACCIDENT COMPENSATION COSTS AND ADMINISTRATION COSTS*

Income, Compensation, and Medical ExpenditureEarners Compensation AccountMotor Vehicle Compensation AccountSupplementary Compensation Account
198519861985198619851986

* Years ended 31 March.

Source: Accident Compensation Corporation.

Income—$(000)
Gross levy revenue155,286173,13240,66841,415
Investment income44,66750,52916,70617,295
Other42,92260,117
      Total income199,953223,66157,37458,71042,92260,117
Expenditure—
Earnings-related compensation-injured119,394155,17228,48834,162268266
Earnings-related compensation-dependants13,26714,98112,52513,259
Dependant's allowances and funeral expenses9721,1681,5081,837347469
Non-economic loss (i.e. lump sums)32,72653,26815,04122,0789,09312,800
Medical treatment21,46730,0805,8438,00023,83033,129
Hospital treatment8,37810,9041,2251,6712,5333,361
Dental treatment1,7842,1824174349371,268
Conveyance for medical attention2,4663,2231,8412,0921,5201,707
Rehabilitation524955663935213316
Other1,4051,6562,3043,1111,6302,161
      Total compensation and medical expenditure202,383273,58969,85587,57840,37055,476
Safety incentive bonus1,269
Financial grants461719257271227364
Levy revenue collection fee2,6355,1181,1851,371
General fund transfer16,19619,9792,9455,7382,3254,277
      Total expenditure222,943299,40574,24294,95842,92260,117
Balance of account−22,990−75,745−16,868−36,248

Accident compensation statistics.

The corporation collects a number of statistics on compensated claims. Compensated claims largely exclude injuries causing less than eight days incapacity (for which the corporation is not required to pay compensation) and claims for medical treatment only (for which the doctor is normally reimbursed directly). The corporation welcomes enquiries for statistical information. Specific enquiries should be directed to the Finance Planning and Administration Division at the corporation's head office in Wellington. Where more than summary statistics are required a charge will normally be made for the information provided.

Because of a change in statistical collection methods no summary tables of statistics were available for this edition of the Yearbook. Some statistics describing accidental injuries treated in public hospitals are in section 8.3, Hospitals.

Traffic accidents and road safety

Accidents on roads. Motor-vehicle accidents involving death or personal injury are required by law to be reported to the Road Transport Division of the Ministry of Transport or to the police. During the year ended 31 December 1985, there were 13 499 reported accidents resulting in 747 fatalities, and injuries to 18 036 other people.

Table 8.26. ROAD ACCIDENT CASUALTIES BY TYPE. 1985

Classification of AccidentsFatalInjuryTotal
Overtaking42682724
Head on (not overtaking)1381,8912,029
Lost control or ran off road on straight571,7931,850
Lost control or ran off road while cornering2063,3893,595
Collision with obstruction301,0321,062
Rear end161,0271,043
At intersections or driveways—
  Vehicles moving in same direction, one turning231,4631,486
  Vehicles crossing paths, not turning361,7591,795
  Vehicles crossing paths, one turning231,3351,358
  Vehicles merging4359363
  Vehicles moving in opposite directions, one turning right331,6991,732
Vehicles manoeuvring12938950
Pedestrian crossing road881,1461234
Pedestrian—other30146176
Miscellaneous9124133
      Total74718,78319,530
Source: Ministry of Transport.

Table 8.27. AGE OF PERSONS KILLED AND INURED IN MOTOR ACCIDENTS

Age Groups (Years)Killed*Injured
198319841985198319841985

* Killed immediately or died within 30 days of accident.

Source: Ministry of Transport.

Under 5162217287313277
  5–9171624517571565
10–14212616857862910
15–191431491524,5084,7065,048
20–241341381353,3633,5823,865
25–295365971,4581,6891,904
30–343335488981,0011,115
35–39243032643701786
40–44242931514509586
45–49201525386437480
50–54232514342404456
55–59241731345385396
60–64211525314326359
65–69183019260229291
70 and over684963550537590
Unknown age57189991,0131,155
      Total64466874716,24117,26518,783

Table 8.28. ROAD USERS KILLED AND INJURED IN MOTOR ACCIDENTS. 1985

Type of CasualtyKilledInjuredTotal
Driver of—
  Car2436,2976,540
  Rental car36164
  Taxi-4040
  Van23673696
  Truck7153160
  Articulated truck33033
  Bus11718
  Other, including unknown43539
Motorcyclist1183,3903,508
Passenger1855,1385,323
Pillion rider14515529
Cyclist211,1061,127
Pedestrian1251,2181,343
Other, including unknown110110
      Total74718,78319,530
Source: Ministry of Transport.

Table 8.29. ROAD ACCIDENT CASUALTIES AND RATES

December YearPersons KilledKilled per 10000 Vehicles on RoadPersons InjuredInjured per 10000 Vehicles on RoadCasualties (Killed and Injured) per 10 000 Vehicles
19816703.61548383.787.4
19826743.616,06885.388.9
19836443.416,24184.788.1
19846683.417 478x88.8x92.2
19857473.718,78394.197.8
Source: Ministry of Transport

Table 8.30. INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS: MOTOR ACCIDENT DEATH RATES, 1984

CountryPersons KilledKilled per 10 000 VehiclesKilled per 100 000 Population
New Zealand6683.420.2
Australia2,8223.218.2
Great Britain5,5992.910.1
Source: Ministry of Transport.

Road safety

Enforcement of traffic and other laws—Traffic on roads is controlled by the Ministry of Transport except for five cities and boroughs where it is controlled by local authorities. The ministry is also responsible for traffic on motorways. In national emergencies or major disasters, all traffic control comes under its supervision.

For further information, see section 22.4, Road transport.

Road safety education—Publicity directed towards road safety is carried out through the press, radio, television, and by means of posters and other advertising. Special road safety campaigns and traffic improvement courses are held from time to time.

The main emphasis in schools and teachers colleges centres around integrating traffic education into education programmes. Traffic education units are co-operatively planned and implemented. Traffic instructors and teachers also work together to plan and implement traffic education units that are based on the special social and traffic needs of students.

The New Zealand Defensive Driving Council provides a safety course for licensed drivers.

Advice on road safety policy is given to the Government by a permanent parliamentary select committee, by the Road Traffic Safety Research Council, and by a number of other bodies, including 24 local road safety committees.

Motor vehicle insurance.

Under the Accident Compensation Act 1972 a motor vehicle scheme provides cover for everyone in respect of personal injury caused by motor accidents. There is a Motor Vehicle Fund financed by premiums paid with the annual licence fee.

Water accidents

Table 8.31. DROWNINGS. 1986 P

LocationAge in Years
Under 55–1011–1516–2021–3031–4041–5051–60Over 60Age Not KnownTotal
Boating   510856337
Fishing off rocks1
Harbours11213-8
Household (bath/bucket)112
Lakes, dams, and ponds1113
Pools8511116
Rivers, streams, and other running waters713103534642
Scuba diving and snorkelling1315
Seas and beaches2547648541
Sludge pond, drains, etc.11
      Total1888222522152018156
Drowned as the result of a motor-vehicle accident18    
Drowned as a result of floods3    
Drowned as a result of a rafting accident:
  Private1    
  Commercial2    
(Figures included in above table.)
Source: New Zealand Water Safety Council.

General accident statistics

Accidents, poisonings and violence caused approximately 8 percent of total deaths in each of the years 1976 to 1980, 7 percent in 1981 and 1982, 6 percent in 1983 and 7 percent in 1984.

Table 8.32. DEATHS FROM EXTERNAL CAUSES*

Causes of DeathNumber of DeathsRate per Million of Mean Population
198219831984198219831984

* Registered during calendar year.

† Includes falls aboard ship and from horseback.

‡ Includes drowning from water transport.

Source: National Health Statistics Centre.

Motor-vehicle accidents730647710229201218
Other transport accidents583159181018
Accidental poisoning212416775
Accidental falls310240255977478
Accidents caused by machinery262626888
Accidents caused by fire and explosion of combustible material3526291189
Accidents caused by firearms657222
Accidental drowning and submersion12213586384226
Suicide and self-inflicted injury364352389114109119
Homicide415138131612
All other external causes167143156524448
      Total deaths from accidents, poisoning, or violence1 8801 6801 771591521543

Table 8.33. DEATHS FROM LEADING EXTERNAL CAUSES BY SEX AND AGE, 1984*

Age Group (in Years)Motor-Vehicle AccidentsAccidental DrowningsAccidental PoisoningsAccidental Falls
MFMFMFMF

* Registered during calendar year.

† Includes causes other than those shown in table.

Source: National Health Statistics Centre.

Under 15502524612
15–242286818161123
25–349323311161
35–44411691172
45–54341162161
55–642112511184
65–7433232111312
75 and over171524246122
      Total517193691788110145

Table 8.33a. Continued

Age GroupSuicide and Self-inflicted InjuryHomicideAll Accidents. Poisonings, and Violence
MFMFMF
Under 15226110549
15–24571571362101
25–3469185222152
35–4448114313335
45–543312210232
55–6436163111041
65–7427929260
75 and over2591104172
      Total2979227111 229542

Accidental falls.

The number of deaths due to accidental falls declined from 359 in 1979 to 255 in 1984. This is one accident area in which the total female mortality exceeds the male. However, there is an excess of male deaths over female deaths between the ages of 15 and 79 years. At 80 years of age and above, the higher life expectancy of females ensures that more elderly women than elderly men are exposed to the risk of fatal falls.

In 1984, 40 percent of fatal accidental falls occurred at home. Falls are the chief cause of death in domestic accidents, particularly for the aged and infirm.

Sites of non-transport accidents.

Accidents occurring at home and in residential institutions (rest homes, hospitals, etc.) accounted for 61 percent of all fatal non-transport accidents in 1984.

Table 8.34. SITES OF FATAL NON-TRANSPORT ACCIDENTS*

Place of OccurrenceNumber of AccidentsRate per Million of Mean Population
198219831984198219831984

* Excludes surgical and medical misadventure, late effects of accidental injury.

Source: National Health Statistics Centre.

Home (including home premises and vicinity and any non-institutional place of residence)253215203796762
Farm (including buildings and land under cultivation, but excluding farm and home premises)292027968
Mine and quarry324111
Industrial places and premises232324I77
Places for recreation and sport847312
Street and highway111518356
Public building (building used by the general public or a particular group of the public)1376422
Residential institution (homes, hospitals, etc.)134113108423533
Other specified places858780272725
Place not specified35293211910
      Total594515509187160156

Deaths of pre-school children.

Mortality rates among children aged one to four years in New Zealand are disappointingly high. In 1984 New Zealand's age-specific mortality rate for children aged one to four was 58.6 per 100 000 compared with 32.8 per 100 000 in Sweden (1983), 46.5 per 100 000 in England and Wales (1982), and 53.0 per 100 000 in Australia (1983). Various explanations have been attempted, but the fact remains that New Zealand pre-schoolers are at a higher risk of accidental death than pre-schoolers in many other countries with similar standards of living.

Table 8.35. DEATHS OF PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN FROM ACCIDENTS AND VIOLENCE, 1984

Causes of DeathSexAge (in Years)
1234Total
DrowningM75315
 F22
Motor-vehicle accidentsM725620
 F51118
HomicideM1124
 F11
All other external causesM32229
 F2147
      Subtotal, male 181012848
      Subtotal, female 755118
      Total 251517966
Source: National Health Statistics Centre.

8.5 Civil defence and fire safety

Civil defence

The phrase ‘civil defence’ describes the planning and organisation of the measures necessary for public safety during emergencies (except for those emergencies dealt with by the normal emergency services). Communities, using their own resources and drawing upon volunteers, have an obligation to take the steps necessary to prevent or reduce loss of life or distress, although the Ministry of Civil Defence assists local authorities in meeting their obligations and co-ordinates government planning and resources. In the event of a disaster the declaration of a state of ‘civil defence emergency’ grants special powers to territorial local authorities, and the civil defence controllers appointed by them, to the police, and to the director and commissioners of the Ministry of Civil Defence.

The Ministry of Civil Defence was established in 1959 as an integral part of the Department of Internal Affairs. The current concept of civil defence dates from December 1983 when the Civil Defence Act came into force and replaced the Civil Defence Act 1962.

Every territorial local authority has an obligation to prepare a civil defence plan, to set up a civil defence organisation, and to appoint a local controller of civil defence for the purpose of dealing with a disaster in its district should the use of civil defence measures be warranted. Neighbouring territorial authorities may unite for civil defence purposes and prepare a combined district civil defence plan, to set up a combined civil defence organisation, and to appoint a controller of civil defence. At 31 December 1986 there were 120 local and combined district civil defence organisations, and 22 regional organisations.

Every regional or united council has an obligation to prepare a civil defence plan, to appoint a regional controller of civil defence, and to set up the organisation necessary for dealing with a disaster in its region beyond the capability of any one particular local or combined district civil defence organisation.

The ministry appoints a commissioner of civil defence for each civil defence region. Most commissioners have several civil defence regions in their charge and for administrative convenience these are grouped into four civil defence zones:

Northern ZoneNorthland, Auckland, Waikato, Thames Valley, Bay of Plenty, Tongariro.
Central ZoneEast Cape, Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa, Taranaki, Wanganui, Manawatu, Horowhenua.
Wellington ZoneWellington region.
Southern ZoneSouth Island.

Each of the four commissioners exercises powers and functions established in the Civil Defence Act 1983 under the general direction of the Director of Civil Defence in Wellington. The National Civil Defence Committee—comprising the permanent heads of 14 government departments most closely involved in disaster-relief measures, together with the Chief of Defence Staff and the chairperson of the Fire Service Commission—has a responsibility to advise and assist the Minister and the Director of Civil Defence in the planning and implementation of civil defence measures. Representatives appointed by members of this committee form advisory groups at Auckland, Palmerston North and Christchurch to provide a similar service for civil defence commissioners.

A National Civil Defence Operational Headquarters is established in the sub-basement of the executive wing of Parliament Buildings and is in the charge of the Director of Civil Defence. This headquarters is ready for use but is activated only when required. It provides the means for coordinating the use of all governmental and non-governmental resources and, where necessary, for the control of the overall civil defence effort where a natural disaster makes demands which cannot be met by a regional or united council and the appropriate civil defence commissioner. Each commissioner has an established operational headquarters (Auckland, Palmerston North, Wellington and Christchurch) to enable him or her to meet operational responsibilities in each civil defence region in the zone.

Earthquake and war damage insurance

The Earthquake and War Damage Act 1944 is administered by a commission, which is chaired by the Minister of Finance. Under the Act all property insured against fire is deemed to be insured to the extent of the indemnity value against earthquake and war damage. Premiums at the rate of 5c for each $100 of insurance cover are collected by the insurance companies and paid into the Earthquake and War Damage Fund (less commission of 2.5 percent).

Advances may be made from the Consolidated Account if at any time the amount in the Earthquake and War Damage Fund is not sufficient to meet the claims made.

‘Earthquake damage' is defined as damage occurring as the direct result of earthquake or of fire caused by earthquake. In 1950 the scheme was extended to provide some protection against storm and flood of an abnormal or widespread nature. In 1954 the definition of disaster damage was extended to include volcanic eruption, and authority was given to the commission to accept insurance against landslip. This latter type of cover does not apply automatically. Finance is provided by crediting 10 percent of the premiums compulsorily collected under the Act to a special Disaster Fund. Also, since 1967 the commission has had power to underwrite geothermal activity insurance on a voluntary basis.

Regulations were gazetted in March 1984, relieving the commission of liability in respect of damage through storm and flood. The commission no longer provides cover for storm and flood damage on policies renewed or commencing after 1 August 1984. In June 1984 a limited form of land cover was introduced. Full details of cover provided are included in the Earthquake and War Damage Regulations 1984, the Earthquake and War Damage Amendment Act 1983, and the Earthquake and War Damage (Land Cover) Regulations 1984.

For the year ended 31 March 1986 a total of 747 claims were received. This compared with 912 for the previous year. The breakdown of claims was: earthquake, 200; disaster, 27; landslip, 159; and land, 361. Respective figures for the previous year were 484; 112; 316 and 211.

Earthquake claims—As a result of seismic activity, 200 claims amounting to $100,072 were registered.

Disaster claims—Claims totalled 27, with payments amounting to $59,501.

Landslip claims—A total of 159 claims for this year resulted in payments of $524,819.

Land claims—A total of 361 claims for this year resulted in payments of $510,827.

New Zealand Fire Service

Since 1976 the operation and administration of the New Zealand Fire Service has been the total responsibility of the New Zealand Fire Service Commission, which deals through commanders of regions, areas and districts.

The New Zealand Fire Service Commission—There are three permanent commissioners, one (the chairperson) with a special knowledge of administration, while the other two have senior operational experience in the fire service. The Secretary for Internal Affairs is also represented. The commission owned 1340 vehicles and 630 buildings at 31 March 1986.

Fire regions—There are six administrative regions based in Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. Their primary task is to co-ordinate their operational units to work in close-knit organisation.

Fire areas—The fire regions are divided into fire areas, of which there are 20 in all. They are responsible for developing the firefighting resources of their areas and for the training and operational efficiency of the brigades in districts within them.

Fire districts—Every united urban fire district, urban fire district and secondary urban fire district which existed immediately prior to the commencement of the Fire Service Act 1975, was declared a fire district under the new Act. There has been some adjustment of fire districts since 1976. As at 1 January 1987 they numbered 269.

Nineteen of the 269 fire districts are served mainly by permanent firefighters, augmented by more than 1000 volunteers. The remaining 250 fire districts are staffed by volunteer firefighters who are an essential part of the New Zealand Fire Service. During 1986 there were 2570 employees and 7919 volunteer firefighters and fire police officers. Several women are now employed as operational firefighters, and facilities for women are provided at all permanently staffed fire stations.

Fire safety.

The Fire Service Act requires the Fire Service Commission to take an active and coordinating role in the promotion of fire safety. Giving effect to this is a Fire Safety Division at national headquarters, with fire safety departments in each of the fire districts served by permanent firefighters providing a nationwide fire safety survey and advisory service.

Fire statistics

Fifty-three people died as a result of property fires during 1985, compared with 41 in 1984, and 42 in 1983. In 1985 the most common suspected causes of fires resulting in fatalities were vehicle accidents (6 deaths), careless disposal of smoking materials (5 deaths), misuse of heat of ignition (4 deaths) and ‘falling asleep’ (4 deaths). Ten deaths resulted from fires of which the cause was unknown.

Table 8.36. INCIDENTS ATTENDED BY FIRE BRIGADES

Incidents19841985

* An exposure fire is where a fire originating in one property spreads to another property. Because exposure fires are included in property call details, but refer to one incident only, they are subtracted from total fire incidents to reflect a clear total number of Incidents attended to by the New Zealand Fire Service.

† Major flammable liquid spills included in 1984 only.

‡Support/stabilising action and standby/assistance categories not mutually exclusive.

Fires—
  Structure fires4,5654,756
  Vehicle fires2,5762,830
  Other property fires1,3641,510
  Oven fires679633
  Chimney fires2,0151,990
  Rubbish fires3,7154,176
  Tree, grass, and scrub fires3,0834,282
  Other fires249208
 18,24620,385
Less exposure fires*187177
      Total, fire incidents18,05920,208
Non-fire incidents—
  Flammable liquid spills (under 30 litres)1,9922,105
  Flammable liquid spills (over 30 litres) 146
  Overpressure or rapture (no fire)3462
  Emergency medical calls (assistance to other agencies)298356
  Rescues (vehicle extrication etc.)1,1281,290
  Chemical, hazardous substances1,8641,945
  Special services (pump out, lock in/out, etc.)2,9942,894
  Support/stabilising action etc.534
  Standby/assistance1,959 
      Total, non-fires10,2699 332
      Total good intent calls (no action required at scene)5 1154 946
False alarms—
  Malicious1,8221,927
  Defective apparatus or installation5,6316,347
  Accidental3,4303,862
      Total, false alarms1088312,136
      Total, unreported incidents405
      Total, incidents attended44,32647,027

Fire insurance

Fire is still the main cause of property damage, but today many property owners seek protection not only against fire damage, but also against a wide range of other dangers including water damage, windstorm, explosion, breakages, theft, damage from aircraft, and impact by motor vehicles. Under houseowners' and householders' comprehensive policies, which have largely superseded fire insurance policies for covering dwellings and their contents, many thousands of additional claims are now dealt with each year. Many commercial property owners, too, have extended their fire policies to include damage from other causes.

In the year 1984–85, 2 279 626 policies with a gross cover of over $114,000 million contributed to a premium income of over $438 million. Fire claims paid during this time came to about $208 million gross.

Approximately three-quarters of the cost of maintaining the New Zealand Fire Service is met by the insurance industry through a levy on policies, with the remainder being met by government. For 1985–86 contribution.') from insurance companies totalled $83,264,000. The Fire Services Amendment Act 1986 set the level of funding by the insurance industry at 81 percent from 1 April 1986 and levels on individual policies were adjusted accordingly.

For 1984–85, Fire Service Commission levies from insurance companies totalled $40,779,000 gross.

8.6 Occupational safety and health

Administration

The responsibility for administration of occupational safety and health legislation is shared among the Department of Labour, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Energy, and Department of Health. The Accident Compensation Corporation also has an important responsibility, as outlined earlier in this chapter.

An Advisory Council for Occupational Safety and Health has been established to co-ordinate policy development on occupational safety, health and welfare matters and ensure that unnecessary overlapping of the functions of the five government agencies is avoided. As well as those agencies, the council membership includes representatives of the Federation of Labour, the Combined State Unions, the Employers' Federation, the Manufacturers' Federation, and the State Services Coordinating Committee (representing state-sector employers).

Department of Labour.

The Department of Labour is responsible for a wide range of legislation which relates to the safety, health and welfare of the workforce in industrial, commercial, agricultural, bush and construction undertakings. The principal statutes it administers are set out below. The department aims to promote and maintain safe and healthy working conditions in undertakings by carrying out regular inspections, investigating accidents and complaints, giving advice to employers, supervisors and workers, and publishing safety and health pamphlets, guides and codes of practice.

At 31 March 1987 the department employed 169 inspectors of factories, 52 construction safety inspectors, 16 bush inspectors, and 26 explosives and dangerous goods inspectors. These inspectors have extensive powers to enforce compliance with the legislation, although compliance is usually achieved through the co-operation of employers and workers.

The Factories and Commercial Premises Act 1981 applies to undertakings which include places such as bakehouses, cinemas, commercial depots, factories, hotels, laundries, laboratories, mailrooms, offices, restaurants, shops, stores, theatres, telegraph and telex offices, and warehouses. The Act also covers places where motor vehicles are repaired, serviced or tested for profit, or where food is prepared, or cooked and sold ready for immediate human consumption elsewhere. Regulations have been made under the Act prescribing rules for work with asbestos, abrasive blasting, electroplating, lead, noxious substances and spray coating, and for the provision of first aid facilities.

The Agricultural Workers Act 1977 requires employers to instruct agricultural workers in the dangers likely to arise at work and the required precautions, to provide first aid facilities and protective clothing or equipment as appropriate, and to prevent exposure to harmful noise.

The Bush Workers Act 1945 provides for the safety and protection of persons employed in felling, pruning and thinning of trees, and extends to all logging operations, transportation (including sawn timbers and waste products) other than on a public road or government railway, the construction and maintenance of roads and bridges and the shifting of any plant used in logging and related operations. The minimum standards are set out in the Safety Code for Bush Undertakings issued by the department in consultation with the industry.

The Machinery Act 1950 with certain exceptions, applies to all industrial machinery. It places an obligation on the owners of machines to securely fence moving and dangerous parts. The Act also covers amusement devices, which require a certificate from a registered engineer that the device is mechanically and structurally safe for the purpose intended. The Act also requires the testing and certification of tractor safety frames used in agricultural operations.

The Construction Act 1959 covers a wide variety of work including new construction, maintenance, and demolition of buildings, roads, harbour works, railways, canals, bridges, dams, pipelines, earthworks, and the like. Certificates of competency are issued, after examination, to scaffolders, safety supervisors and construction blasters. Registers of qualified construction divers, crane operators and construction riggers are maintained.

The Dangerous Goods Act 1974 and the Explosives Act 1957 are primarily concerned with the storage, carriage and use of dangerous goods, and the import, manufacture, sale, storage, carriage, use and disposal of explosives. The provisions relate particularly to the safety of workers as well as the general public. In most areas local authorities share with the Department of Labour the responsibility for administering parts of the Dangerous Goods Act.

Ministry of Transport

Safety of ships—A substantial portion of the Shipping and Seamen Act 1952, administered by the Ministry of Transport, is concerned with the safety of ships and those who sail in them. This Act contains the necessary authority for implementing the provisions of the international conventions of which New Zealand is a signatory. These conventions deal principally with ships engaged on international voyages, but the Shipping and Seamen Act 1952 also contains provisions for the safety of all other ships plying New Zealand coastal waters.

Aircraft—The Civil Aviation Division of the Ministry of Transport is responsible for promoting safety in all elements of private and commercial aviation including sporting activities such as parachuting and gliding.

Boilers, lifts, and cranes—The Marine Division of the Ministry of Transport carries out inspections of boilers, lifts and power cranes as required by the Boilers, Lifts and Cranes Act 1950. In the calendar year 1985 there were 29 382 inspections of boilers and unfired pressure vessels, 7426 inspections of lifts, and 3954 inspections of cranes. The figures for 1984 were 28 959, 7627 and 4392 respectively. In 1985, 39 accident investigations were carried out under the Act, with 13 people suffering injuries and three fatalities. In 1984 there were 34 accident investigations with nine people suffering injuries and two fatalities.

Ministry of Energy.

There are a number of Acts which cover the occupational safety and health of workers in specific areas of the energy field. These Acts are administered and enforced by the ministry's Policy and Regulation Division.

Within this division, the Resource Management and Mining Group is responsible for five Acts, each of which prescribes occupational safety and health standards and allows for the appointment of inspectors.

The Quarries and Tunnels Act 1982 and the Mining Act 1971 are administered and enforced by a mines, quarries and tunnels inspectorate.

The Coal Mines Act 1979 is administered and enforced by a coal mines inspectorate which consists of three sections: coal mines inspectors, engineering inspectors and mines rescue.

The Petroleum Act 1937 covers safety in activities associated with the prospecting, extraction and transporting by pipeline of petroleum and high-pressure as. A petroleum inspectorate oversees exploration and production wells and pipelines to ensure safety standards are met.

The Geothermal Energy Act 1953 covers the exploration, development and use of geothermal energy—as well as setting health and safety standards.

The ministry's Industries and Markets Group administers a range of legislation which sets safety standards for workers and the public in electricity reticulation: the Electrical Registration Act 1979, the Electric Linemen Act 1959, the Electrical Supply Regulations 1.976 and the Electrical Wiring Regulations 1976. Inspection is often carried out by officers of electrical supply authorities.

The Gas Act 1982, with regulations and codes of practice, covers safety in the reticulation and use of gases, including lpg. Gas installation inspectors are employed by supplying authorities.

Occupational health centres.

The Department of Health provides occupational health centres at strategic points in the Auckland, Hurt, Christchurch and Dunedin health districts. Attendances at occupational health centres and waterfront clinics in 1985 totalled 19 745 first attendances and 7211 re-attendances.

For further information on occupational safety and health, see section 8.2, Public health, and chapter 12, Occupations and incomes.

Farm accidents

Increasing mechanisation on New Zealand's farms continues to add to productivity but it also contributes to the risks for those who work on the land. Tables 8.37 and 8.38 outline farm accidents and fatalities while chapter 15, Agriculture provides an outline of the industry.

Table 8.37. PATIENTS DISCHARGED FROM OR DYING IN PUBLIC HOSPITALS AFTER ACCIDENTS ON FARMS. 1985*

Cause of AccidentsAge of Patients (in Years)Total Patients
0–1415–2425–4445–6465 and Over

* Excludes domestic and motor-vehicle accidents and includes readmissions.

Source: National Health Statistics Centre.

Farm machinery4352765211234
Fills4432424819185
Animals1501061146019449
Accidental poisoning10138132
Firearms273113
Fire and flames38112
Hot substances, corrosive liquids, or steam156315
Struck by falling object97196243
Cutting or piercing instruments54362197136
Other and unspecified farm mishaps2739752411176
      Total294312406214691 295

Table 8.38. DEATHS FROM ACCIDENTS ON FARMS*

Cause of Fatal AccidentAge of Deceased (in Years)Total Deaths
0–1415–2425–4445–6465 and Over
198319841983198419831984198319841983198419831984

* Excludes domestic and motor vehicle accidents.

Source: National Health Statistics Centre.

Farm machinery4641351421416
Struck by falling object11112
Animal being ridden11111124
Electric current11
Drowning or submersion13-114
Falls1111
Accidental poisoning112
Cutting or piercing instruments11
Other and unspecified213
      Total69545937322231

Further information

Health

Annual Report and Statement of Accounts. Pharmaceutical Society of New Zealand.

Cancer Data. National Health Statistics Centre, Department of Health (annual),

Hospital and Selected Morbidity Data. National Health Statistics Centre. Department of Health (annual).

Hospital Management Data. National Health Statistics Centre, Department of Health (annual).

Mental Health Data. National Health Statistics Centre, Department of Health (annual).

Mortality and Demographic Data. National Health Statistics Centre, Department of Health (annual).

New Zealand Alcohol Consumption Statistics. Alcoholic Liquor Advisory Council (annual).

New Zealand Alcohol/Drug Outpatient Statistics. Alcoholic Liquor Advisory Council (annual).

Report of the Abortion Supervisory Committee (Parl. paper E. 28).

Report of the Alcoholic Liquor Advisory Council (Parl. paper E. 26).

Safety

Diseases Arising from Occupation. Department of Health, 1984.

Labour and Employment Gazette. Department of Labour (quarterly until March 1987).

Monthly Abstract of Statistics. Department of Statistics.

Motor Accidents in New Zealand. Ministry of Transport (annual).

The Public Health: Report of the Department of Health (Parl. paper E. 10).

Report of the Accident Compensation Corporation (Parl. paper E. 19).

Report of the Advisory Council on Occupational Safety and Health (Parl. paper G. 41).

Report of the Department of Labour (Parl. paper G. 1).

Report of the Earthquake and War Damage Commission (Parl. paper B. 11).

Report of the Ministry of Transport (Parl. paper F. 5).

Report of the New Zealand Fire Service Commission (Parl. paper G. 8).

Chapter 9. Education

9.1 Trends in education

For a period of 33 years from 1945, education in New Zealand was marked by rapid growth. In 1945, school, college, and university enrolments combined were 328 000 or 19.3 percent of the population. By 1978 the combined full-year enrolments had more than tripled with enrolments reaching over 1 million or 32.2 percent of the population. The large growth in enrolments over that period was due to increased births through to 1971, a tendency of pupils to stay on longer at secondary school, and also the introduction of technical institutes and community colleges.

Since 1975 falling rolls in primary schools have resulted in a reduced demand for primary teachers and, as a consequence, intakes have been reduced to teachers colleges since 1982. It is expected that falling rolls will continue to occur in primary schools until 1991.

In 1986 the Government introduced an additional 300 primary teaching positions as part of the phased implementation of a 1:20 teacher/pupil ratio in junior classes. During the same year, the Government also introduced an additional 405 secondary teaching positions and 84 kindergarten teaching positions.

Table 9.1. STUDENT NUMBERS

Type of InstitutionAt 1 July
198419851986

* Includes technical institutes and community colleges.

† At secondary schools, one intermediate school and the Correspondence School.

‡ Teachers college students on studentships are included in university tables.

Source: Department of Education.

Pre-school—
  Non-profit-making groups3,0533,0413,879
  Playcentres15,51414,92314,509
  Kindergartens40,59841,17041,822
  Pre-school classes at primary schools8531,0441,052
  Correspondence School458488713
 60,47660,66661,975
Primary (juniors to form 2)
  Primary schools362,885352,954344,907
  Intermediate schools and attached intermediate76,10372,81769,824
  Area and district high schools (Primers to form 2)6,3446,5805,964
  Forms 1 and 2 at form 1 to 7 schools7,3217,1606,995
  Correspondence School1,4811,5991,606
  Departmental special schools304224201
  Department of Social Welfare schools494046
  Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind686168
  Private primary schools10,79810,99111,417
 465,353452,426441,028
Secondary (form 3 to form 7)
  State form 3 to form 7 schools201,792200,564200,383
  Forms 3 to 7 at state form 1 to 7 schools14,02713,95413,917
  Area schools (form 3 to form 7)3,0363,1993,191
  Correspondence School9691,0531,109
  Departmental special schools406370330
  Department of Social Welfare schools357296266
  Private secondary schools11,07011,53411,816
 231,657230,970231,012
  Technical Correspondence Institute29,75731,94933,598
Polytechnics*
  Full-time students8,1958,3569,443
  Part-time students36,21735,19435,522
  Classes at other institutions Part-time students64,48852,70149,095
 138,657128,200127,658
Teachers colleges
  Teacher training2,5512,6443,375
  Post-graduate specialist courses545987
  Other full-time courses123142x91
 2,7282 845x3,553
University institutions
  Full-time internal students33,87534,43135,177
  Part-time internal students13,57813,36814,188
  Extramural students10,78911 324x12,614
 58,24259 123x61,979
      Total957,113934 230x927,205
Percentage of population at 30 June29.628.728.6

Table 9.2. TEACHING STAFF

InstitutionPositions (Fulltime Equivalents)Full-time Staff 1986Total
19851986MaleFemale

* All staff is part-time.

† Includes teachers at full and contributing primary schools, intermediate schools, board schools, special schools, attached intermediates, teachers of special classes, special-needs teachers, primary teachers at correspondence school and reading recovery teachers.

‡ Includes advisers, psychologists, speech and reading teachers, and teachers not employed under staffing schedules such as visiting teachers, itinerant teachers, museum and zoo teachers, pool relief, physiotherapists, etc.

§ Includes all staff at form 1–7 schools.

|| Includes staff at Department of Education, Social Welfare and Justice special schools.

Source: Department of Education.

Pre-school
  Playcentres*250253
  Kindergartens1,2091,305151,2711,286
  Primary
  State18,65318,8305,59612,48718,083
  Private344336126175301
  Supporting services9821,100335525860
  Area schools579578299262561
  Composite private schools579630224306530
  Manual training683692329356685
Secondary
  State§13,93014,3447,3625,55212,914
  Private437433287109396
  Departmental special schools||18921065131196
Tertiary
  Technical institutes3,1033,2361,8548702,724
  Teachers colleges381444276130406
  Universities3,4103,5262,4794682,947

Teacher-pupil ratios shown in the graph have been revised to reflect more accurately the number of pupils needed to generate each additional teacher. Previously the ratios were generated by dividing the primary and secondary rolls at 1 July by the entitlement to staff in each branch. The revised primary ratio uses the 30 September roll divided by entitlement, while the secondary roll uses the 1 March roll divided by entitlement. Manual training teachers are now included with primary teachers for the purpose of calculating ratios. The introduction of a 1:20 ratio in junior classes at primary schools appears in the lower-primary ratios in 1985 and 1986. The introduction of extra secondary teachers in response to the Secondary Staffing Working Party report also shows up in the secondary ratios for 1985 and 1986.

Projected students.

A projection of roll numbers at 1 July, made in 1985 by the Department of Education and based on policies and trends at the time, is set out in table 9.3.

Table 9.3. PROJECTED STUDENT NUMBERS

 YearKindergartenPrimarySecondary
Actual198641,800441,000231,000
Projected198742,000434,800230,000
(1985 base)198842,600427,700224,800
 198943,100425,700216,700
 199043,700425,200210,300
 199144,300426,200203,400
Source: Department of Education.

9.2 Administration of education

Department of Education

The Education Act 1964 provides for free and secular education in state primary and secondary schools. For all children between the ages of six and 15 years, education is compulsory. University education is provided under the Universities Act 1961, and funds for universities are distributed by the University Grants Committee.

The Department of Education, whose permanent head is the Director-General of Education, has its head office in Wellington and has regional offices in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch, each being under the control of a superintendent.

The Department of Education advises the Minister of Education on policy and development, ensures that schools, teachers colleges and polytechnics are built and equipped when and where required, and that teachers are recruited and trained. The department also checks that standards are maintained in all schools (both state and private), teachers colleges and polytechnics, and assesses the efficiency of teachers. An important function of the department is to conduct curriculum revision and development, and to recommend curriculum changes to the Minister.

The control and management of state primary schools is the responsibility of the 10 education boards. State secondary schools are controlled by local secondary school boards. These boards are the employing authorities of the teachers. They disburse the grants received from the Department of Education for the maintenance of schools and building of new schools, and for equipment and teaching materials. Local property rates are not levied for educational uses. Teachers colleges and polytechnics are controlled by councils appointed by the Minister of Education.

The Department of Education directly administers the Correspondence School and state special schools. It maintains an inspectorate, supervises the staffing of schools, and conducts the School Certificate examination and Sixth Form Certificate assessment. All state and registered private schools are visited regularly by inspectors who give assistance and guidance to teachers in educational matters.

The Department of Education has official contacts with non-formal adult and community education organisations and with the University Grants Committee, although the universities are independent in their educational activities.

Education boards and school committees.

The members of education boards are elected solely by members of school committees on a ward system, but provision is also made for the appointment of a teacher to each board to represent all teachers employed by the board.

Each state primary school controlled by an education board has its school committee elected by the parents of pupils and by adults resident in the school district. It is a statutory body charged with the management of property and funds on behalf of the board.

School committees also provide an essential function in the care of school buildings, grounds, and equipment. In addition, many committees take a keen interest in the general activities of the school and provide, along with voluntary parent-teacher associations, a focal point for local opinion on educational matters.

Secondary school boards.

Secondary schools are controlled and administered by their own boards of governors. The local boards controlling secondary schools are made up of representatives of the parents of pupils, members of the education board of the district, and representatives of other local groups and organisations. Provision has recently been made for the election of teacher representatives. In some metropolitan areas, groups of secondary schools have been linked together for administrative purposes under secondary school councils, but each school still retains its own board of governors which has a large measure of autonomy in the control and management of its own school.

Polytechnics.

Polytechnics (technical institutes and community colleges), including the Technical Correspondence institute, are controlled by councils with members representing business, industry, local authorities, universities, and education and community interests.

Teachers college councils.

Teachers college councils have the usual administrative functions, combined with some professional responsibility for the training of teachers. They include representatives from education boards, the Department of Education, universities, and teachers' organisations.

Private schools.

At 1 July 1986 there were 110 private primary and secondary schools. These schools are required by the Education Act 1964 to comply with defined standards of accommodation and teaching as a prerequisite for compulsory registration. Finance and other assistance is provided by the state, including 37.5 percent of teacher salaries. Government controls are applied before new private schools can be built, and there is a requirement that after a transitional period, new teacher entrants to private schools must possess certain minimum qualifications.

In October 1975, the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act was passed to enable the voluntary integration of private schools into the state system. Most of the schools now integrated are Roman Catholic schools.

Other educational bodies

New Zealand Council for Educational Research.

The Carnegie Corporation of New York was instrumental in founding the New Zealand Council for Educational Research in 1933, and supported it with grants for 10 years. Since 1945 the council has been supported principally by state funds, the remainder coming from contributions from educational bodies, philanthropic foundations, business organisations, and its own trading operations. It has remained, however, under independent control as provided for in the New Zealand Council for Educational Research Act 1945 (revised in 1972).

In its research programme, the council has concentrated on New Zealand problems, and its main publications (more than 100 research monographs and numerous shorter studies in education) include critical surveys of major policy issues in New Zealand education and accounts of outstanding experiments in school practice. The council also publishes two periodical publications; the New Zealand Journal for Educational Studies, and a special research information package for teachers called Set. Set has, since 1980, been published jointly with the Australian Council for Educational Research.

Since the 1930s, the council has served as the main source of supply for overseas and locally standardised educational and psychological tests used by universities, government agencies, hospitals, business firms, and schools. In 1965 the council established a special unit to produce achievement tests designed specifically to suit the curricula of New Zealand schools. Known as the Progressive Achievement Tests, they are now used extensively in schools throughout this country, and also in Australia. Recently, the Measurement and Evaluation unit expanded its activities in adapting and revising several well-known overseas tests for New Zealand conditions.

The council employs its own permanent research staff as well as temporary research fellows or project assistants, and it also assists honorary research workers in other institutions such as universities, teachers colleges, and schools. Its current research programme includes major projects related to educational planning, families, women and parents, the supply of qualified people in the community, the assessment of written English, teaching practices, Maori education, adult education, early childhood education, and services for children with special needs. The council also acts as a clearing house for information on educational matters and maintains seven local institutes for educational research in Auckland, Wellington Christchurch, Dunedin, Palmerston North, Hamilton, and Suva (Fiji).

Maori Education Foundation.

The Maori Education Foundation was established in 1961 by Act of Parliament, for the general purpose of promoting and encouraging improved education for the Maori people by providing financial assistance for that purpose. The capital resources of the foundation are $3,000,000. The principal purpose for which the Board of Trustees is empowered is to apply the income of the foundation to the education and vocational training of Maoris. This includes the provision of grants to pre-school groups and the employment of a preschool officer; sponsorship of four annual speech contests; grants to secondary school pupils, and to students attending university or other tertiary institutions of similar status; the provision of scholarships and fellowships for students undertaking undergraduate or post-graduate study in New Zealand and overseas; and grants to students undertaking research or study which will be of ultimate benefit to the Maori people.

In the 1986 academic year the foundation distributed $1,500,000 in grants for pre-school education, secondary education, and to students attending tertiary institutions.

Pacific Island Polynesian Education Foundation.

In 1972 the Pacific Island Polynesian Education Foundation was established to assist Pacific Island students who reside permanently in New Zealand. The aims and objectives of the foundation are similar in most respects to those of the Maori Education Foundation. In the 1986 academic year $90,000 was spent on grants.

International education.

The Department of Education provides technical advice to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on education activities under New Zealand's Overseas Aid Programme. This includes advisory visits to Pacific Island schools preparing students for New Zealand examinations. In 1986, 156 such schools presented 11 782 candidates for School Certificate and 110 schools presented 5500 candidates for the form 6 examination. The department assists with the appointment of some 30 New Zealand teachers to Pacific Island schools each year.

Together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Labour and the University Grants Committee, the Department of Education provides advice to the Government on policy for the admission of private foreign students to New Zealand educational institutions.

The Department of Education administers a range of bilateral educational and cultural exchange activities. Each year, some 30–45 teacher exchanges are arranged between New Zealand and both the United Kingdom and Australia. In 1986, six New Zealand and Canadian teachers exchanged positions as part of the Ontario exchange scheme. The New Zealand-Japan exchange programme provides financial and administrative support for a wide range of activities for school teachers, artists and scholars. Other activities include overseas in-service training for teachers of French and German, the Language Assistants Scheme in support of French, German and Spanish, and courses for teachers of English and technical specialists in China.

New Zealand is a member of various intergovernmental organisations concerned with education. It participates in the education activities of the Commonwealth Secretariat, the South-east Asian Ministers of Education Organisation (SEAMEO), and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). New Zealand participates in the work of the Education Committee of the OECD and is a member of the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) and the Programme on Educational Building. The New Zealand Minister of Education also participates in the meetings of the Australian Education Council.

Public expenditure on education

Table 9.4 shows the net expenditure (actual expenditure less recoveries) from public funds on each branch or service of education for the years ended 31 March 1985 and 1936.

Table 9.4. EXPENDITURE ON EDUCATION

Item1984–851985–86
Net ExpenditureNet ExpenditurePercentage of Total
 $(000) 
Administration and general—
  General administration17,47324,3501.2
  Examinations1,2682,0430.1
  Research1,4671,8620.1
      Subtotal20,20828,2551.4
Preschool education—
  General administration9441,0760.1
  Free kindergartens21,72324,4741.2
  Playcentres1,8822,1510.1
  Other pre-school agencies356375
      Subtotal24,90528,0761.4
Education support services—
  General administration2,4642,8220.1
  School inspection service6,5167,4200.4
  Advisory and guidance service20,73922,8641.2
  Curriculum development and resources5,9878,2470.4
  School transport52,81360,7073.0
  Recruitment of teachers281789
      Subtotal88,800102,8495.1
Operation of schools—
  State primary schools548,121613,23230.5
  State secondary schools422,172479,19723.8
  Correspondence School12,09214,6210.7
  Integration of private schools6378..
  Assistance to private schools13,17815,0940.8
 $(000) 
  Special education36,01740,6922.0
  School buildings70,49379,5874.0
      Subtotal1,102,1361,242,50161.8
Teacher education—
  General administration328331
  Pre-service training30,84235,1471.7
  In-service training4,1034,1260.2
  Teachers college buildings2551,0440.1
      Subtotal35,52840,6482.0
Senior technical and community education—
  General administration1,2281,4240.1
  Technical institutes and community colleges108,636131,8686.6
  Assistance to students13,47415,7140.7
  Other continuing education agencies and programmes8,0118,4490.4
  Technical institute and community college buildings16,39022,3291.1
      Subtotal147,739179,7848.9
University education—
  Operation of universities210,248277,80713.8
  Assistance to students51,05655,8722.8
  University buildings27,26927,3031.4
      Subtotal280,573360,98218.0
National Library—
  Operation of National Library13,75616,2850.8
  National Library buildings7,00210,8750.6
      Subtotal20,75827,1601.4
      Total1,728,6472,010,255100.0
Source: Department of Education

Table 9.5. EDUCATION EXPENDITURE RELATED TO GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE AND POPULATION

Year Ended 31 MarchNet Education ExpenditurePercentage of Net Government ExpenditurePercentage of Gross Domestic ProductExpenditure Per Head of Mean Population
Current SalariesBuildingsTotal
  $(million) percentpercent$     
19821,376.0117.21,493.213.35.1471.25
19831.520.0118.81,638.812.95.1513.38
19841,553.4120.91,674.311.84.9517.93
19851,607.2121.41,728.611.34.5531.17
19861,868.0142.32,010.311.44.5618.86
Source: Department of Education.

Education buildings

Pre-school.

As at December 1986 there were 552 kindergartens, 674 playcentres and 611 licensed childcare centres in operation.

During 1986, one replacement building and six new buildings were provided for kindergartens. Eight purpose-built playcentre buildings were also provided using the subsidy assistance available to playcentres.

Primary.

During 1986 the education boards' capital works programmes continued to concentrate on the remodelling and upgrading of classroom and administration accommodation, with particular attention to the improvement of resource and withdrawal spaces in keeping with modern teaching requirements.

The replacement of old buildings also continued throughout the year, together with improvements to a number of school grounds and several heating systems which were in need of attention.

To make best use of available resources, existing relocatable accommodation has been used where possible.

Secondary.

The programme of replacement and upgrading of older school buildings has continued. Christchurch Girls High School now occupies its replacement premises and the new Mount Aspiring College at Wanaka was completed. The provision of multi-purpose school and community facilities such as auditoriums, gymnasiums and libraries has continued to form a significant portion of the secondary school building programme. Projects of this type were commenced or completed during the year at Birkdale College, Bream Bay College, Inangahua College, Mountainview High School, Papanui High School, Paraparaumu College, Selwyn College, Tamaki College, Tikipunga High School, Upper Hutt College, Wairarapa College, Waitaki Girls High School, Wellington Girls College and Whangarei Girls High School.

The department has continued its efforts to develop a method for assessing accommodation requirements in secondary schools to meet individual needs. A pilot evaluation project was carried out at Tikipunga High School. Further pilot studies in 1987 will be carried out to develop new procedures to assess schools' needs on an individual basis rather than using a national code.

Integrated schools.

Building obligations imposed by agreements between the Government and private schools to integrate them into the state system have placed some schools in difficult financial situations. In August 1986 the Government approved the financing of all new building work at integrated schools by means of interest-free, 25-year suspensory loans limited to a total of $11.7m per annum. The new arrangement took effect from 1 April 1986, However, loans granted prior to 1 April 1986 are still repayable.

Tertiary.

Major building projects completed at technical institutes and community colleges during 1986 include an administration block at Northland Community College, a library/administration block at Waiariki Community College, a teaching workshop and administration/classroom block at Manawatu Polytechnic, a maintenance workshop and main store at the Central Institute of Technology, a teaching/administration complex at Parumoana Community College, a teaching block at Nelson Polytechnic, an administration block at Christchurch Polytechnic, an engineering block and a teaching block at Otago Polytechnic, and a library/administration block and classroom wing at Southland Community College.

Major building works commenced in 1986 include a library block at Northland Community College, a library block at Carrington Technical Institute, a library block at Taranaki Polytechnic and a teaching block at Otago Polytechnic.

An upgraded and extended administration block at the Auckland College of Education was completed during 1986. Other work commenced at teachers' colleges during 1986 included major remodelling and upgrading at the Auckland College of Education which will enable the primary and secondary programmes to be combined, and an administration block extension at Hamilton Teachers College.

Universities.

Major reconstruction of the old arts building at the University of Auckland continued throughout 1986. A similar project, reconstruction of the historic Ivey Hall at Lincoln College, began in 1986 and will continue throughout 1987.

Construction of a new student flats complex for the University of Auckland was authorised, and work will be completed in 1987.

Authorisation was given for Victoria University of Wellington to accept tenders for construction of a music building, and for the University of Canterbury to accept a tender for the construction of three additional floors on the history building.

Construction of lecture theatres at the University of Otago began during the year.

9.3 Pre-school, primary and secondary education

Pre-school education

Early childhood education is available to children below the age of five years through a wide range of services, most of which are administered by voluntary agencies which receive some government assistance. In July 1986, administrative responsibility for childcare centres was transferred from the Department of Social Welfare to the Department of Education, uniting most early childhood services under one administrative umbrella.

Childcare centres can be open either all day or for part of the day, and are administered by a variety of groups including community and church groups, voluntary agencies and private commercial operators. The New Zealand Childcare Association, the New Zealand Licensed Childcare Centres Federation, the Associated Childcare Council and Bamado's are some of the many organisations involved in the delivery of childcare services. Childcare services are also provided in centres run by the Society for Intellectually Handicapped and the Crippled Children's Society. Family daycare schemes as well as nanny services provided in private homes form another type of childcare service.

The main organisations involved in providing part-day sessional programmes are the New Zealand Free Kindergarten Union and the New Zealand Playcentre Federation. Part-day provision is also available through mobile pre-school units, pre-school classes in primary schools, hospital pre-school groups, family playgroups and small non-profit-making pre-school groups.

Te Kohanga Reo, the other major organisation involved in early childhood education, was established on the initiative of Maori people to provide an educational environment in which children can learn Maori language and Maori cultural values.

Funding and assistance.

The Department of Education meets the full cost of some early childhood services, such as pre-school classes in primary schools, and the pre-school programme of the Correspondence School. It also pays the salaries of community pre-school workers and kindergarten teachers. Teachers colleges provide for the training of all kindergarten teachers and some childcare workers. The Department of Education also employs education officers (early childhood education), who have the administrative responsibility to give advice and guidance as well as monitoring the standards of all early-childhood groups. They also operate an equipment pool which all non-profit-making groups can use.

All but special needs kindergartens and playcentres are subsidised by the Government on a $4 to $1 basis. The Department of Education pays administration and sessional grants to kindergartons and playcentres while sessional grants are also paid to non-profit-making pre-school groups. Childcare centres operating under the childcare regulations receive grants which take into account staff training costs. Establishment grants are also available on a limited basis to non-profit-making childcare centres. The New Zealand Playcentre Federation and the New Zealand Childcare Association, Barnardo's, Kindercare Ltd, and the New Zealand Private Licence Federation also receive financial assistance with their field-based training programmes. Family daycare is funded by giants to the organisations which administer the schemes.

The Department of Social Welfare provides funding for the Society for Intellectually Handicapped, Crippled Children's Society, and provides a childcare subsidy for families in need. Nga Kohanga Reo receive their funding from the Department of Maori Affairs.

Primary education

Primary school education is compulsory from six years of age, but it is common practice for children to start formal schooling at the age of five years. If living in an isolated area, a child may be enrolled with the primary department of the Correspondence School. The final two years of the primary course, forms 1 and 2, may be taken at a full primary school, an intermediate school, an area school, or a form 1–7 school depending on where a child lives. On completing form 2, usually after eight years' school attendance, a child normally enters form 3 of a secondary school, or alternatively form 3 in an area school. All children are required to attend school until they reach the age of 15 years.

The curriculum of the primary and intermediate schools, as set out in the syllabuses, covers English (including oral and written language, reading, spelling and handwriting), mathematics, social studies, art and crafts, science, physical education, health education, and music. Maori Launguage is taught in some schools. At the forms 1 and 2 levels, the curriculum includes workshop craft and home economics which are available to both girls and boys. For some children at these levels the programme includes French.

Teachers have the assistance of advisers in a variety of fields, including science, physical education, art and crafts, reading, mathematics, music, Maori language programmes, and English language programmes for Maori and Pacific Island children. Itinerant advisers are also available to help teachers in small rural schools and teachers of infant classes. Specialist assistance in helping children with special needs is provided by the psychologists, speech therapists, visiting teachers, advisers on deaf children, and through resource centres for the visually handicapped. In addition there are classes for physically handicapped, intellectually handicapped, educationally retarded and maladjusted children.

Primary schools receive grants for general running costs, e.g., cleaning and sanitation, administration, class materials, maintenance of buildings and equipment, library books, free textbooks, special purposes, swimming pools and manual training. Grants are paid to education boards which then distribute them in accordance with scales determined by them which provide for the particular needs of their area.

The basic equipment scheme provides grants to education boards to enable them to supply all schools with consumable items of art and craft and infant apparatus, equip new school accommodation and upgrade, repair and replace equipment.

Primary schools.

Table 9.6 sets out the number of schools providing education for children at the primary level. The reduction in the number of primary schools as indicated in this table can be attributed to the integration of many private schools into the state school system.

Table 9.6. PRIMARY SCHOOLS

 19821983198419851986

* These schools also cater for students at secondary level.

Source: Department of Education.

State full primary schools1,0851,1421,1351,1291,127
State contributing primary schools9991,0231,0221,0221,016
Intermediate and attached intermediate schools161170169169169
Private primary, intermediate and special schools18561x61x66x69
Composite private schools*1921x28x29x27
Departmental and Social Welfare special schools*2525252624
Special schools under board control*6262605858
Correspondence School*11111
Area schools*3435353636
State forms 1–7 schools*4552525252
Private forms 1–7 schools*66666

Table 9.7. PRIMARY SCHOOL ROLLS

Glass LevelAt 1 July 1985At 1 July 1986
BoysGirlsTotalBoysGirlsTotal

* In 1986 this category was changed to include all pupils enrolled in special lasses or in schools for children with special needs.

Source: Department of Education.

Special classes*1,4449972,4413,8832,1416,024
Infants58,75255,547114,29958,57754,722113,299
Standard 126,08124,81450,89525,28424,79650,080
Standard 227,64626,06053,70626,01924,89250,911
Standard 327,68626,10753,79327,21125,87453,085
Standard 428,97527,66956,64427,20625,79252,998
Form 130,40229,16059,56228,64327,47356,116
Form 231,27029,81661,08629,79228,72358,515
      Total232,256220,170452,426226,615214,413441,028

Table 9.8. SIZES OF GENERAL CLASSES AT PRIMARY SCHOOLS

YearNumber of Pupils at 30 September*Total
0–1920–2425–2930–3435–3940 and Over
Classes Classes Classes Classes Classes Classes 

* Includes general classes at state full contributing, intermediate, attached intermediate and area schools. In 1986 there were 720 special classes at state schools: 696 with 0–19 pupils. 20 with 20–24 pupils and four with 25–29 pupils.

Source: Department of Education.

19822,02612.12,50214.94,88529.26,01835.91,3027.8170.116,750
19832,15612.92,37814.24,64427.66,12936.51,4588.7100.116,775
19842,17013.2238414.54,47227.25,96636.31,4088.6150.116,415
19852,26214.22,66716.74,19126.25,62535.21,2367.770.015,988
19862,31914.62,75417.44,28527.05,46334.41,0436.670.015,871

Secondary education

The present secondary school curriculum is under review by a ministerial committee of inquiry and it is likely that significant changes will be made. The existing secondary curriculum is based for the first two years, on a common core, consisting of English, social studies, general science, mathematics, music, arts and crafts, and physical education. Secondary schools are required to give all pupils a minimum number of units of instruction in the common core subjects. At the fifth to seventh form levels, students may choose from a wide range of subjects.

Table 9.9 shows the number of schools providing secondary education Figures exclude the secondary department of the Correspondence School.

Table 9.9. SECONDARY SCHOOLS

YearNumber of Schools with Secondary PupilsTotal
Forms 1–7Forms 3–7Area SchoolsDepartmental and Board Special SchoolsPrivate Schools
198252241342564416
198352264'352949419
198452263352747424
198552264362650428
198652263362148420
Source: Department of Education.

At 1 July 1986, of the 315 state form 3–7 and form 1–7 secondary schools, 215 were coeducational, 48 for boys only and 52 for girls only. Most of the private schools are single-sex schools.

Maori pupils.

An estimated 31 332 Maori pupils were receiving secondary education at 1 July 1986. This number comprised 30 639 pupils attending state secondary schools and 693 pupils attending private secondary schools.

Secondary school hostels.

In 1986 there were 63 hostels for state secondary schools and 21 private schools had hostel accommodation.

Table 9.10. ATTENDANCE AND ATTAINMENTS OF SECONDARY SCHOOL LEAVERS

Years in AttendancePupils
19841985
 No.No.Percent
One6416861.1
Two4,9735,0658.3
Three16,97416,78727.4
Four22,72722,26736.3
Five16,82915,89425.9
Six and over8836261.0
      Total63,02761,325100.0
University Scholarship2021860.3
University Bursary5,8495,5939.1
Higher School Certificate3,3293,7856.2
University Entrance9,7089,01014.7
Sixth Form Certificate8,2108,63114.1
School Certificate (three or more subjects)6,9896,67810.9
School Certificate (one or two subjects)7,7196,86611.2
No formal national academic attainment21,02120,57633.6
      Total63,02761,325100.0
Source: Department of Education.

Table 9.11. ATTENDANCE AND ATTAINMENTS OF MAORI SCHOOL-LEAVERS

AttainmentYears in Attendance of School-leavers* During or at the End of 1985
OneTwoThreeFourFiveSixTotal
MFMFMFMFMFMFMFGrand

* Does not Include deceased or students leaving to attend another secondary school.

Source: Department of Education.

University Bursaries Examination      2 7461518162143
Higher School Certificate        8488231110799206
University Entrance      103141138133208261282543
Sixth Form Certificate      31241214716328164875911,078
Three or more School Certificate subjects    114115144177263331287326613
Two School Certificate subjects    8180117122182034219226445
One School Certificate subject    156161142165212141323348671
No attainment1631241,0928751,2561,2774804586349463,0582,7925,850
      Total1631241 0928751 6071 6331 3001 47557156890484 8234 7269 549

Annual examinations

School Certificate.

The School Certificate Examination conducted by the Department of Education is taken by the majority of pupils at the end of three years of secondary education. Each candidate's course of study must include English, although the student is not required to sit the examination in that subject. A candidate may enter the examination in any number of subjects up to six and is credited with passes in the individual subjects in which he or she is successful. Grades A1 and A2 denote high achievement; B1 and B2, good achievement; C1 and C2, adequate achievement; and D, limited achievement.

Table 9.12. SCHOOL CERTIFICATE CANDIDATES

YearNew Zealand School CandidatesExtra-mural CandidatesPacific Island CandidatesTotal Entered
Number Entered%Number Entered%Number Entered%
198159,70379.85,0496.710,06913.574,821
198258,73280.04,6226.310,05013.773,404
198361,03779.75,1286.710,46213.776,627
198459,70180.34,4906.010,16813.774,359
198558,64179.94,2695.810,47214.373,382
Source: Department of Education.

Table 9.13. SCHOOL CERTIFICATE PASS RATES FOR NEW ZEALAND SCHOOL CANDIDATES*

YearPassing at Least Four SubjectsPassing at Least One SubjectFailing all SubjectsNo. of Subjects SatSubjects PassedPercentage of Subjects Passed
Number%Number%Number%TotalAverageTotalAverage

* Based on number sitting examinations.

Source: Department of Education.

198121,76537.343,57574.614,80825.4266,4834.6147,2122.555.2
198221,74337.743,34775.214,30724.8265,9844.6147,7222.655.5
198322,12637.044,58074.615,21625.4273,1214.6150,9932.555.3
198422,46738.544,08875.614,22124.4269,3754.6151,8612.656.4
198522,81039.543,46275.813,84124.2266,1784.6152,3072.757.2

Sixth Form Certificate.

Sixth Form Certificate is awarded to pupils who have satisfactorily completed a course of one year, on a single-subject basis, beyond School Certificate level. No more than six subjects can be taken.

Table 9.14. PERCENTAGE OF PUPILS AWARDED SIXTH FORM CERTIFICATE

YearNumber of Subjects Taken
654321
19827.171.79.42.12.86.8
19839.068.59.32.53.17.7
198411.766.08.82.42.98.2
198514.563.88.42.53.17.6
Source: Department of Education

Bursary and Scholarship Examinations.

The University Bursaries Examination and the University Entrance Scholarship Examination, usually taken by secondary school pupils in form 7, are conducted by the University Entrance Board; they are competitive examinations for supplementary awards for study at a university.

Higher School Certificate.

Higher School Certificate is awarded after a five-year course, to pupils who have been accepted for entry to form 6 and have satisfactorily completed an advanced course of two years. It is also awarded to pupils who have obtained an A or B bursary qualification from the University Bursaries Examination.

9.4 Special education, and other educational facilities

Special education

Whenever possible, children with physical or other handicaps are enrolled with other children at ordinary pre-school services and in ordinary classes at their local primary or secondary school. When necessary, buildings are modified, special equipment is provided, and ancillary staff are appointed to assist the teachers. Department of Education inspectors, psychologists, and other specialist advisers also help the teachers with suitable teaching programmes.

A comprehensive range of special education services has been developed for children whose special needs cannot be met in ordinary classes. Small part-time groups for pre-school children with handicaps are attached to selected kindergartens and playcentres. Education boards provide special classes, units and resource centres at primary schools or separate special schools for pupils who are intellectually handicapped, deaf, visually handicapped, physically handicapped or maladjusted, and for children who need careful assessment of their teaching needs as they enter primary school.

The education boards also administer special classes in hospitals, special schools in psychiatric hospitals, speech and language clinics and reading clinics, and employ itinerant teachers to assist children in ordinary classes who have a hearing handicap or serious reading difficulties.

Special classes for deaf, intellectually handicapped, educationally retarded and maladjusted pupils are provided at selected secondary schools.

The Department of Education administers seven residential schools—two for deaf children (which also admit day pupils), three for backward children and two for maladjusted children. The department also provides the teaching services in Department of Social Welfare institutions for socially maladjusted children, and the education service in penal institutions administered by the Department of Justice.

This network of special schools and classes is supported by four specialised guidance services which also assist children in ordinary classes: the Hearing Assessment and Guidance Service offers guidance to the parents and teachers of deaf children; the Visiting Teacher Service liaises between teachers and the parents of pupils whose progress at school may be hampered by home difficulties; advisers on children with handicaps provide guidance and advice for parents and teachers of these children; and the Psychological Service provides a comprehensive diagnostic and advisory service for children who have learning or social difficulties by maintaining a close liaison with all primary and secondary school guidance staff and with all health, education, and welfare services for children. These four services assisted approximately 31 000 pre-school and school-age children in 1986.

Under the Community Education Initiatives Scheme, pilot groups in three areas maintain a special relationship with the department, community groups, and other government agencies in helping young people with special educational needs.

In 186 1500 full-time equivalent teachers were employed by the state, either full-time or part-time, the special education and guidance services. A total of 11 441 children were enrolled in special classes and schools, and 4824 children at speech and reading clinics.

Other educational facilities

Rural education activities programmes (REAPs).

Since they began in 1979, 13 rural education activities programmes have been established. They provide extra resources to certain rural areas which are relatively isolated and sparsely populated.

The resources provided in each district contain all or most of the following—pre-school staffing; guidance and visiting teachers; curriculum support for teachers through advisers or seconded teachers; an organiser to develop continuing education; additional staffing in rural secondary schools; and a time allowance to develop liaison between schools.

Each programme has a different emphasis depending on local needs. In one area emphasis in the support services is on providing advisers in music, Maori and Pacific Island education, and junior classes, together with support for teachers in area schools and smaller secondary schools in the district. In another a special feature is the establishment of a coordinator of education outside the classroom with responsibility for developing programmes with particular emphasis on the skills associated with safety in outdoor education outside classroom activities. Another district places emphasis on developing pre-school services and the planning of co-ordinated programmes to be used by the main school and those contributing to it.

District management committees have been established as an integral part of the programmes. They have representation from pre-school interests, teacher organisations, continuing education groups, school controlling authorities, service organisations, and other interested groups. As each committee represents the interests of its district, it takes a significant part in identifying local educational requirements and in co-ordinating the use of resources.

The districts in which REAPs have been set up are the Far North, eastern Bay of Plenty, East Coast, Central Plateau, central King Country, Taihape-Ruapehu, south Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa, Marlborough, Westport-Buller, West Coast, Central Otago, and Southland.

Transport assistance and boarding bursaries.

During the 1986 school year nearly 17 percent of the total school population received transport assistance. Most pupils were conveyed by buses either under contract to education boards or operated by the Department of Education.

The school transport service carried 108 220 students to and from school daily on 2792 separate transport services which covered over 49 million kilometres. A further 6776 children received private and public transport allowances. It is estimated that nearly $71 million will be spent on school transport in the 1987–88 financial year.

The value of school boarding and course bursaries increased from $1,180 to $1,415 a year from term 3, 1986. The number of pupils receiving boarding bursaries during 1986 was 3155 compared with 3106 the previous year. A total of 376 course bursaries were awarded in 1986 compared with 409 in 1985.

Table 9.15 gives particulars of the number of children transported to school and the number in receipt of boarding bursaries as at 19 August 1986, according to the type of school attended.

Table 9.15. TRANSPORT TO SCHOOL AND BOARDING BURSARIES, 1986*

Type of SchoolPupils Transported to SchoolPupils Receiving School Boarding BursariesPupils Receiving Course Boarding Bursaries

* At 19 August.

Source: Department of Education.

State primary62,44467
State secondary52,5002,279297
Private primary2743
Private secondary2576780
      Total114,9963 156377

Correspondence School

The Correspondence School provides courses for students in four major categories: full-time students obtaining all their education through the school; students enrolled in New Zealand secondary schools but doing one or more subjects with the Correspondence School; adult part-time students who wish to continue their basic education; and teachers who wish to obtain additional qualifications at a tertiary level.

The school roll on 1 October 1986 was 18 556, made up of 510 pre-school; 819 primary; 614 special-needs section (pupils with significant educational handicaps); 989 individual programme section (pupils needing remedial tuition); 1011 secondary; 7138 students at secondary schools; and 7474 part-time students.

The 1011 full-time secondary students were enrolled for a variety of reasons—244 because of isolation, 118 for medical reasons, 184 New Zealand children living overseas, 106 pregnant, 38 in institutions, 72 school suspensions, 97 with school phobia and other psychological problems, and 70 adult full-time, 41 itinerant and 42 students who are also enrolled at other secondary schools.

For full-time students the school provides daily lessons by radio, club activities, a school magazine, periodic exhibitions of work, and parent and ex-pupil associations.

Personal contact between student and school is strengthened by resident teachers, based in major centres, who visit families regularly. Visits are also made by teachers from the school. At district level, school-day and school-week gatherings are held periodically. A residential school for invited pupils is conducted each year to provide children with an opportunity for social education by taking part in group activities. This school is of four weeks' duration.

The total staff of the Correspondence School in 1986 was 514. Of this number, 339 were secondary teachers, 89 primary (including those in special-needs and individual programme sections), 16 preschool teachers, and 70 administrative staff.

Education aids

Audio production unit.

With the transfer of the former Broadcasts to-Schools service from Radio New Zealand to the Department of Education late in 1979, there has been a change in emphasis from live broadcasts to the development of a tape-bank service to schools.

Pre-school, current events, and Correspondence School programmes are contracted to Radio New Zealand. The department has two studios in the Correspondence School complex in Wellington. These studios are used to produce a wide range of audio cassettes, as part of learning packages in support of many curriculum subjects and for the Correspondence School.

National Film Library.

The National Film Library was founded in 1942, and is the responsibility of the Department of Education. Educational films and videos are lent to financial members and distributed to the northern half of the North island by the Auckland branch, to the South Island by the Christchurch branch, and to the remainder of the country by the Wellington branch. In addition, the Wellington office also offers a service to the Chatham Islands and to Western Samoa, Tokelau, Niue, Pitcairn, and the Cook Islands.

Each year the library spends substantial amounts on films and videos, and stocks have been further augmented by valuable gifts from many of the diplomatic missions, from other government departments, and various organisations and commercial enterprises. The National Film Library now holds some of the diplomatic film libraries, which are supplemented by the embassies from time to time.

The library has approximately 45 000 prints of 7500 titles. In 1986 films and videos were issued to 3000 educational institutions and over 500 community organisations. The National Film Library also offers a record, cassette and compact disc loan service, a sample sheet music service and loan of the Claude Laurie Music Collection. These services are limited to educational institutions only.

The audio library has in stock some 10 000 discs, 15 000 audio cassettes and 60 compact discs.

Museums.

Approximately 300 000 school children make visits to museums every year. Fifteen full-time and four part-time museum education officers, funded by the Department of Education, assist schools to utilise the educational resources of the museum. Museum education services now cater for students from preschool to tertiary.

School publications.

The School Publications Branch of the Department of Education publishes a wide range of titles for children, teachers and others with an interest in education. They are issued free to schools and other educational institutions, and some are on sale at Government Bookshops.

The School Journal, which has been published since 1907, is a miscellany of fiction and non-fiction of particular interest to New Zealand children. It has long been a major and popular resource for reading and teaching. Fifteen issues are published in four parts annually, catering for four broad levels in the primary school. The School Journal Story Library is a series of high-interest titles for less able readers.

Booklets and kitsets are also published for children on particular curriculum topics.

A textbook programme includes the revised and extended Ready to Read series, for teaching children to read, and School Mathematics, a series for standards 1 to 4. Beginning School Mathematics, a programme for junior classes, is being published.

The School Publications Branch is a major publisher of Maori language material. These include Te Wharekura and Te Tautoko for secondary schools, and He Purapura, a series for primary school children. Other publications include Te Rangatahi textbooks, and various guide books for teachers of Maori language and culture.

Publications for teachers include syllabuses, handbooks and other materials to support developments in all subjects of the curriculum. The Education Gazette, the department's fortnightly office circular to the education service, is also published by the branch.

Free textbooks in schools.

Textbooks are supplied free to all primary and secondary pupils in both state and private schools. Under the free textbooks scheme, the books remain the property of the school controlling authorities and are issued on loan to pupils.

Maori language teaching.

In 1986 a total of 217 schools taught Maori at form 3 level or above. This figure includes secondary schools, area schools and form. 1–7 schools. In 1985, 1757 New Zealand school candidates sat the School Certificate examination in Maori language.

The 47 itinerant teachers of Maori continued their work as teacher-trainers in primary schools.

There are now nine official bilingual primary schools and many other schools have established bilingual classes and groups.

Consolidation of rural schools.

In order to give children in country districts the advantage of special equipment and more specialised teaching in larger schools, the consolidation of the smaller rural schools has been a feature of the last 30 years. Composite schools have been developed in recent years to bring together larger concentrations of children from form 1 and above. These are known as ‘form 1 to 7 schools’ and ‘area schools’.

The first form 1 to 7 school was opened in 1962 and by 1986 there were 58 of these schools. This type of school developed from the secondary departments of district high schools, with the addition of form 1 and 2 pupils from neighbouring primary schools. They receive improved staffing, accommodation, and equipment in order to promote equality of educational opportunity for country children.

However, a large number of form 1 and 2 children remain in country districts which are too small to support a form 1–7 school. In these districts, area schools have been established. Area schools provide education from the infant stage to form 7 for all children in the immediate vicinity, and from form 1 upwards for children from contributing schools over a wider area. The first area school was opened in 1969 and at 1 July 1986 there were 36.

9.5 Tertiary and continuing education

University education

There are six separate universities and a university college of agriculture. They are the university of Auckland, the University of Waikato (at Hamilton), Massey University (at Palmerston North), Victoria University of Wellington, the University of Canterbury (at Christchurch), the University of Otago (at Dunedin). and Lincoln College, a constituent agricultural college of the University of Canterbury.

Under the Universities Act 1961, the University Grants Committee was set up to advise the Government of the needs of New Zealand for university education and research. It determines the allocation of grants of money which it recommends for appropriation by Parliament to meet these needs, and reviews the expenditure by the universities of money appropriated by Parliament. The University Grants Committee is responsible for the award of scholarships, and through its statutory subcommittee, the Research Committee, for the distribution of a government grant for research. Another statutory subcommittee of the University Grants Committee, the Curriculum Committee, has responsibility for the regulation of courses for degrees and diplomas. In the performance of its duties it is required to ensure that equal standards between courses are maintained.

The Universities Entrance Board was established on 1 January 1962 to maintain a common educational standard for admission to the universities. The board prescribes the conditions of examinations for University Bursaries and Entrance Scholarships.

Students who have a Sixth Form Certificate qualification may apply for provisional entrance to a university. However, the majority of students complete a seventh form year before matriculating.

The special problems of legal education are the province of the Council of Legal Education which prescribes the examination requirements of candidates for admission as barristers and solicitors of the High Court.

Apart from the income from students' fees and the relatively small amounts now available to some of the universities from endowments, block grants from government determine the income of the universities to meet their running costs for each five years. Under the block grant system, grants have been calculated and approved five years in advance to enable the universities to plan their activities ahead in the knowledge of what their income from government will be. They are block grants in the sense that they are not itemised. This has the effect of making the governing bodies—the university councils—not only responsible for arranging their budgets within their incomes, but also free to make their own decisions about the allocation of new expenditure among the many competing academic proposals which arise within the institutions. With these grants the university councils have an obligation to determine the numbers of students to be admitted to any class or faculty in the university, and to reallocate, where appropriate, existing staffing or accommodation resources in response to changes in demand for courses.

All universities offer courses in the usual faculties of arts, science, and commerce, whilst law and music courses are available at Auckland, Victoria, Canterbury, and Otago. Most universities specialise in certain fields. The University of Otago provides courses in medicine, dentistry, surveying, home science, physical education, and pharmacy; the University of Canterbury in forestry, engineering and fine arts; Lincoln College in topics related to agriculture and horticulture; the University of Auckland in architecture, town planning, engineering, medicine, optometry and fine arts; and Victoria University of Wellington in architecture, public administration, and social work. Massey University has courses in agriculture, horticulture, food technology, and veterinary science, as well as extra-mural tuition in a number of subjects for students throughout New Zealand. Joint courses leading to the degree of bachelor of education are available at Waikato, Massey. Canterbury, and Otago universities in association with the local teachers colleges.

University scholarships.

The most prestigious awards for those entering university are the University Junior Scholarships. These scholarships are tenable for three to five years, depending upon the minimum time in which the holder, studying full-time, could complete the recognised course taken under the scholarship. The University Junior Scholarship provides a scholarship allowance of $500 a year and is tenable with a tertiary study grant (see below). These scholarships, together with privately-endowed scholarships, are awarded on the results of the Entrance Scholarships Examination conduced by the Universities Entrance Board.

Scholarships awarded during degree courses include senior scholarships from the individual universities and Lincoln College, and of a value to be determined by them. The various university institutions also have private scholarships for which their own students may compete. Scholarships awarded at the end of the university course are listed in full in the university calendars. Most of the post-graduate scholarships (valued at $8,004 per year) tenable in New Zealand, are awarded by the University Grants Committee for 2½ years, but may be extended for six months in special circumstances. Post-doctoral scholarships (valued at $28,000 per year) are also awarded by the University Grants Committee.

University bursaries.

A and B Bursaries of $200 and $100 a year are awarded to students who gain A or B passes in the University Bursaries Examination.

All these grants are subject to strict rules. A student who in any year does not pass a prescribed number of units or subjects at a stated level will have his/her grant suspended and it will not be reinstated unless in a subsequent year of study he/she is credited with the prescribed number of passes.

Tertiary study grants.

The grant and bursary provisions for students entering tertiary education courses were substantially revised in 1980.

Fees grants—are awarded to students enrolled either part-time or full-time who have qualified for entrance to the university. These bursaries provide payment for 50 percent of tuition fees.

Tertiary study grants—are awarded to students who hold University Entrance and Higher School Certificate or certain sixth form qualifications, and are tenable for any recognised course at a university. Also, a student who is credited with two-thirds of a full-time course in any year or a full-time course over a period of years will qualify for a tertiary study grant.

A tertiary study grant may be held simultaneously with a fees grant. In 1986 the basic grant was $37 a week.

Accommodation grants—Those receiving a tertiary study grant are also eligible for an accommodation grant of $33 a week if:

  1. They are 20 or over on 31 January in the year they are applying and not living at home, or

  2. They will not be 20 until after 31 January in the year they are applying, their parents live outside the accommodation grant boundary around the nearest tertiary institution offering the course, and they will not be residing with parents during the academic year.

Hardship and special hardship grants—Students awarded a tertiary study grant may also apply for either of these grants.

A hardship grant is available only to students who have abnormally high costs in certain specified areas (recognised as not generally borne by the majority of students), and who, in addition, are able to demonstrate severe hardship.

There is also provision for students with dependants, or students in some exceptional circumstances, to receive a special hardship grant of up to $54 a week. This is paid in addition to the study grant and, if applicable, the accommodation grant.

The tertiary study grant is also tenable for full-time courses at technical institutes and teachers colleges.

Further details of the amounts payable and other conditions for these grants and bursaries are available from university liaison officers and from the head office of the Department of Education.

University students

At 1 July 1986 there were 49 365 internal university students. In addition, there were 12 614 external students. Comparable figures for the latest five years are given in table 9.16. The number of internal students now exceeds 1.5 percent of the general population.

Table 9.16. UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

YearInternal StudentsExternal StudentsTotal
MalesFemalesMalesFemales
198225,41119,9003,4365,40254,149
198325,60020,8703,7956,24856,513
198425,80821,6454,0206,76958,242
198525,66422,1354,5837,48659,868
198625,93823,4274,7527,86261,979
Source: Department of Education.

Table 9.17. UNIVERSITY COURSES TAKEN BY INTERNAL STUDENTS, 1986

Course*Enrolled at 1 July 1986
MalesFemalesTotal

* Includes degree, diploma and certificate courses.

Source: Department of Education.

Agriculture1,2403251,565
Architecture and building science596193789
Arts and humanities4,7999,51814,317
Commerce and business administration5,8863,3859,271
Communications (incl. journalism, librarianship)156176
Dentistry15292244
Divinity and theology10750157
Education4921,7322,224
Engineering2,3351802,515
Fine arts131182313
Forestry science15727184
Home science3150153
Horticulture6125771,189
Law and jurisprudence2,4112,0234,434
Medicine and health-related1,0438221,865
Music168274442
Optometry293463
Parks and recreation137110247
Pharmacy3386119
Physical education149187336
Resource planning and management281240
Science5,0432,6257,668
Social sciences4938051,298
Social work99363462
Surveying and town planning225115340
Technology474199673
Valuation and property management26882350
Veterinary science195227422
Other323283606
      Total27,64324,71952,362
Adjustment for students enrolled in more than one course1,7051,2922,997
      Total25,93823,42749,365

Table 9.18. UNIVERSITY ENROLMENTS, 1986*

EnrolmentsInternal StudentsTotalExternal StudentsTotal StudentsOverseas Students Included
SexFull-timePart-timeAt Massey UniversityAt Own UniversityTotal

* At 1 July 1986.

Source: Department of Education.

AucklandM5,3481,6807,0283914537,081357
 F3,7652,2376,0029761036,105212
WaikatoM1,3774951,87213131,885105
 F1,2661,1382,40434342,43882
MasseyM2,7402963,2364,3704,3707,606230
 F2,1807932,9737,3397,33910,312136
VictoriaM2,7891,3744,1636513784,241330
 F2,3851,5553,94011381214,061260
CanterburyM3,5471,0324,579346404,619395
 F2,0781,5913,669643673,736193
LincolnM1,179361,215551,22084
 F490195093351226
OtagoM3,1636823,845361571934,038160
 F2,8701,0603,930631321954,125120
All universitiesM20,1435,79525,9384,5621904,75230,6901,661
 F15,0348,39323,2477,7131497,86231,2891,029

Table 9.19. FORMS OF ASSISTANCE TO INTERNAL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS*

Form of AssistanceAwards at 1 July
19851986

* Does not include overseas students. Students may receive more than one award.

Source: Department of Education.

Tertiary fees grants (full-time)658642
Tertiary fees grants (part-time)883703
Tertiary study grants23,79226,719
Accommodation grants16,69817,353
Supplementary hardship grants108115
Special hardship grants10580
A Bursaries9,8539,792
B Bursaries6,0536,216
Teachers' university studentships138111
Secondary teacher studentships341409
Teachers bursaries119
Teachers college students' fees1,4631,753
Rehabilitation and war bursaries83
State service study awards517639
Post Office study awards137143
Railway study awards86
Armed forces4948
Government employees on leave with pay to complete degrees (including teachers)156131
Medical bursaries31
Maori and Polynesian scholarships107108
Other4838
      Total number of awards61,13665,019

Table 9.20. RESIDENCES OF FULL-TIME INTERNAL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS. 1986*

Type of ResidenceAucklandWaikato MasseyVictoriaCanterburyLincolnOtagoAll Fulltime Internal StudentsTotalOverseas Students Included
MFMF

* At 1 July.

Source: Department of Education.

Own home8641584436875901384231,7061,5973,30313561
Parents' home4,2454593352,0371,7791626525,8953,7749,6694024
Hall of residence6105291,04864478652013973,2032,3315,534462247
Boarding6621973052412701601211,2247321,956172132
Shared flat or house2,6521,2102,6401,4932,1946893,3767,8396,41514,254653450
Other or not known8090149726642761854613418
      Total9 1132 6434 9205 1745 6251 6696 03320 143 15 03435,1771 496932

Table 9.21. OCCUPATIONS OF PART-TIME INTERNAL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

OccupationAt 1 July 1986
MalesFemalesTotal
No occupation other than study8929011,793
University staff411456867
Teacher288677965
Teachers college student3071,2391,546
Government employee1,0751,2812,356
Local body employee200244444
Private employment2,0271,6613,688
Self-employed person299408707
Housewife or housekeeper901,1851,275
Full-time student at technical institute142337
Other192318510
      Total5 7958 39314 188
Source: Department of Education.

Table 9.22. ASSISTED INTERNAL OVERSEAS STUDENTS AT NEW ZEALAND UNIVERSITIES, 1986

Nature of AssistanceAt 1 July 1986
MalesFemalesTotal
Assisted by the New Zealand Government—
  Bilateral aid and assistance (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)294119413
  Commonwealth scholarships33841
  Exchange students7411
  Government departments (other than Ministry of Foreign Affairs)33
  University Grants Committee or university grant14822
  United Nations development28129
  Others617
      Subtotal385141526
Other assistance from—
  Fijian Government8412
  Malaysian Government544599
  Other government22830
  Fulbright awards134
  Lee Foundation14721
  Ford Foundation123
  World Bank11
  Rotary4711
  Other211637
      Subtotal12593218
      Total, assisted internal overseas students510234744
Source: Department of Education.

Table 9.23. DEGREE GRADUATES FROM NEW ZEALAND UNIVERSITIES. 1986

CourseFirst DegreePost-Graduate
Agriculture24740
Architecture and building science9513
Arts1,678459
Commence and business administration1,116147
Dentistry475
Divinity and theology4217
Education28336
Engineering236271
Fine arts352
Forestry science1313
Home science271
Horticulture7217
Law and jurisprudence33784
Medicine (incl. human biology)35923
Mineral technology53
Music5622
Optometry11
Pharmacy206
Philosophy12
Physical education62
Public policy1
Regional and resource planning216
Science1,082586
Social sciences11752
Social work314
Surveying242
Technology3842
Town planning10
Valuation and property management571
Veterinary science567
      Total6 1581 882
Source: Department of Education.

Table 9.24. UNIVERSITY STAFF. 1986

PositionFull-time Staff at 1 JulyPart-time Staff at 1 July
MalesFemalesTotalMalesFemalesTotal
Filled teaching posts—
  Professors3301534562466
  Senior lecturers (including readers, associate professors, lecturers-in-charge)1,577160173740256458
  Lecturers4231735966146107
  Junior or assistant lecturers7677153223153
  Instructors and demonstrators (if engaged in teaching)73431161,0995751,674
      Subtotal2 4794682 9471 6467122 358
Vacant teaching posts—
  Filled by temporary staff113 29
  Not filled9 5
      Subtotal122 34
      Total established teaching posts3 0692 392
Non-teaching staff—
  Administrative, clerical and typing298908120616301317
  Technical and computer926380130637139176
  Library8726034767147214
  Student welfare39306962733
  Printing and binding544296189
  Other (grounds, trades and cleaners)43245477197482679
      Total non-teaching staff1 8361 6653 5013241 1041 428
Source: Department of Education.

Training of teachers

The training of teachers is carried out at the Auckland College of Education and the five teachers colleges at Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. Outpost centres for a small number of secondary teacher trainees are located at Whangarei, Rotorua, Hastings, New Plymouth, Hutt Valley and Invercargill. These are under the respective control of the Auckland College of Education (Whangarei), Hamilton Teachers College (Rotorua), Palmerston North Teachers College (Hastings and New Plymouth), Wellington Teachers College (Hutt Valley) and Dunedin Teachers College (Invercargill).

The minimum entry qualification for admission to primary teacher training (division A) is sixth form certificate with an acceptable grade in one subject.

The normal course of training for division A students is a period of three years at a teachers college followed by two years of satisfactory teaching in a state primary school.

Courses may be shortened to two years for trainees who are university graduates or who are partway through degree courses, or for mature trainees with relevant work experience.

Students who wish to become speech-language therapists are selected after their first year of training. A new training programme leading to a four-year Bachelor of Education (Speech-Language Therapy) is currently being developed at Christchurch.

Post-graduate courses for teachers who wish to be trained as teachers of the handicapped are available at Auckland, Palmerston North and Christchurch. Specialist post-graduate training courses for teachers of the deaf and visually handicapped are located at Auckland and Christchurch. There is also a post-graduate course for teachers who wish to be trained as bilingual (Maori English) teachers available at Hamilton Teachers College.

A two-year division E course for kindergarten teachers is available at the Auckland College of Education and all teachers colleges.

There are several course options for people wishing to train as secondary teachers. For graduates and those with other approved advanced qualifications there is a one-year division C course. Students with University Entrance may be accepted into division B which comprises up to four years consecutive or concurrent study at either the Auckland College of Education or the Christchurch Teachers College and either the local university or polytechnic. At Hamilton, division B (Waikato) consists of an intermediate full-time university year followed by four years of professional study at both the teachers college and the university.

Primary teacher trainees are encouraged to under take university study. Those at teachers colleges in Hamilton, Palmerston North, Christchurch and Dunedin enrol for the Bachelor of Education offered by the universities in those centres. Trainees at Auckland and Wellington may gain cross credits from their college courses towards degrees from Auckland or Victoria Universities.

Suitably qualifier division A and division B trainees may apply for a year's deferment of the college course or of the first year of teaching to attend university full-time.

Table 9.25 shows the number of students attending teachers colleges, on studentship, and on deferment at 1 July.

Training of pre-school teachers

Kindergarten teachers undertake a two-year course of training in teachers colleges. Playcentre personnel are trained through the playcentre movement's own training schemes. For people working in childcare there are one-year courses at Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin Teachers Colleges as well as a field-baaed training scheme operated by the New Zealand Childcare Association Some basic theory courses are available to childcare workers through the Advanced Studies for Teachers Unit of the Department of Education. Other courses combining practical on-the-job work and theoretical studies are available through some private childcare operators. The Advanced Studies for Teachers Unit and Massey University offer advanced courses for all early childhood education.

Table 9.25. STUDENTS ATTENDING TEACHERS COLLEGES AT 1 JULY

Type of Course19821983198419851986
MFMFMFMFMF

* Includes speech and Pacific Island supplementary training students.

† Include home economics and commercial.

Source: Department of Education.

Students at teachers colleges
Kindergarten—
  Division E62284209118211532209
Primary:
  Division A*5422,7123992,0833281,4863641,5834491,972
  Post-graduate courses13401.938114314452760
Secondary—
  Division B137356972347413786895487
  Division C177250133210136197165203282320
  Other one-year courses12364
      Total at teachers college by sex8763 5886552 7745562 0496302 0738142 648
      Total at teachers college4 4643 4292 6052 7033 462
Students on studentships
Primary—
  Division S341933818130189361001144
Secondary—
  Division U327501237324141212100184113227
  Division BS10201319825622313
  Division T15244325526
      Total on studentships by sex372719290528183429144311129290
      Total on studentships1091818612455419
Students on deferment
  Kindergarten..   -4-1 5
  Primary..   1077185824111
  Secondary..   911815310
  Secondary studentships37223237484723392034

Technical education

In 1945 technical education was a variant form of secondary education, it was provided by separate technical high schools and technical departments in other secondary schools, and was vocational in purpose. During the past 20–25 years technical education has been included under continuing education and has been transferred from the secondary to the tertiary sector of the educational system. Technical high schools as such no longer exist. Vocational education and training is now provided by 22 polytechnics (technical institutes and community colleges).

The passing of the Apprenticeship Act 1948 made it compulsory for apprentices to undertake technical classes. The establishment, in 1949, of the Trades Certification Board and of national trade examinations gave direction to apprentice studies. Also, the passing of the Technicians Certification Authority Act 1958 (now the Authority for Advanced Vocational Awards) and the introduction of New Zealand Certificates gave encouragement to technician studies. In 1969 the Government established technical institutes in centres where there was sufficient technical work to occupy 10 full-time tutors and advanced the opening of minor institutes in provincial centres by several years. In 1972, community colleges were established which allowed traditional technical education to be provided in conjunction with other educational needs of the local community in provincial centres. Apprenticeship training was upgraded to meet current industrial-commercial requirements by the 1983 Apprenticeship Act.

The Central Institute of Technology, which opened in 1960 at Heretaunga near Wellington, mainly provides short-term ‘block courses’ for students from throughout the country, but also provides some special full-year, full-time courses on a national level such as pharmacy, podiatry and occupational therapy. Polytechnics have opened in the six main centres, and, with the opening of Manukau Technical Institute in 1970, the first of a number of suburban institutes began to serve the Greater Auckland area. The second, Carrington, opened in 1976.

The full list of polytechnics is as follows; Auckland, Manukau, Carrington, Waikato, Taranaki, Manawatu, Central Institute of Technology, Petone Technical Institute, Wellington, Nelson, Christ-church, and Otago Polytechnics, and the New Zealand Technical Correspondence Institute. The first community college was Hawke's Bay Community College established at Napier in 1975. Since then, Northland (at Whangarei), Waiariki (at Rotorua), Tairawhiti (at Gisborne), and Bay of Plenty (at Tauranga) have been established. In 1978 Southland Polytechnic changed to a community college, and in 1984 the Regional Community College at Wanganui and the South Canterbury Community College at Timaru were established. Parumoana Community Polytechnic was opened in 1986.

A standing committee on relationships in tertiary education exists to consider the problems of placement of courses and the rationalisation of tuition in the technician, semi-professional, and professional fields.

Technician courses.

The beginnings of technician training date from the early 1950s and were a result of the efforts of the engineering profession to specify a role for a highly-trained person whose qualifications were derived not from study in a university school of engineering, but from theoretical studies taken in conjunction with industrial experience. The New Zealand Certificate of Engineering was introduced in 1954. This led, in 1960, to the establishment of the Technicians' Certification Authority to prescribe courses and syllabuses, conduct examinations for technicians, and to grant diplomas or certificates. In 1979 further recognition of the scope of the work of the authority was given, its base was broadened and it was renamed the Authority for Advanced Vocational Awards (AAVA), Both five-year New Zealand certificates and three-year technicians' certificates are offered in the following areas:

New Zealand Certificate: Advertising, building, building inspection, commerce (office management), commerce (supply), manufacturing, customs, data processing, draughting (architecture), draughting (survey/town and country planning), engineering, fire technology, hotel and catering administration, forestry, land surveying, local-government administration, quantity surveying, science, and town planning.

Technicians' Certificate. Automotive, civil, draughting, electrical, electronics, garage management, measurement control, mechanical, survey, telecommunications, waste water treatment, water treatment.

New Zealand Certificate courses are part-time and are undertaken by regular, intermittent periods of full-time classes (block courses), or by correspondence from the Technical Correspondence Institute supplemented in science and workshop subjects by short practical courses at an institute. In a few cases, study can be taken at full-time courses in a technical institute, but for the first two or three years only. All New Zealand Certificates require students to be suitably employed for three years with obligatory employment during the last two stages of the course.

During the last 15 years there has been a spectacular increase in the range of technician courses and the number of students studying for New Zealand Certificates.

Trade courses.

Apprenticeship training accounts for a significant percentage of the enrolment load of technical institutes. Examination prescriptions for a full range of trade courses are prescribed by the New Zealand Trades Certification Board, which conducts assessments and examinations during apprenticeship, and usually an advanced trade certificate examination to be taken near the end of the apprenticeship. Up to 31 March 1986, this board has issued 72 172 New Zealand Trade Certificates and 20 295 Advanced Trade Certificates.

Apprentices in almost all trades are obliged to spend at least three years in part-time vocational studies. However, the long-established pattern where apprentices attend evening theory classes and short block or day-release courses for practical training is changing.

Other courses.

In addition to the national trade and technician courses, there are a large number of courses available which have been organised regionally to meet local demands. These include courses in commerce, electronic data processing, journalism, and in industrial and commercial design. In addition, instruction is given on the examination syllabuses devised by independent organisations such as the New Zealand Society of Accountants, and the New Zealand Institute of Management.

Table 9.26. FULL-YEAR FULL-TIME STUDENTS AT TECHNICAL INSTITUTES AND COMMUNITY COLLEGES

Full-time Courses: Full-yearAt 1 July 1985At 1 July 1986
MalesFemalesTotalMalesFemalesTotal

* Classified according to the UNESCO international Standard Classification of Education. Levels are graded from preschool (level 0) to postgraduate (level 7), with level 9 describing out-of-school education without prerequisites.

Source: Department of Education.

Level 3*
  Agriculture, forestry and fisheries191837542680
  Fine and applied arts242852273360
  Commercial and business administration61,6281,634141,5421,556
  Service trades115204319133232365
  Medical science and health-related121222830
  Trade, craft, and industrial programmes28573358309149458
  General programmes61218
      Subtotal4491 9632 4125452 0222 567
Level 5*
  Agriculture, forestry and fisheries4812
  Fine and applied arts8511920490160250
  Commercial and business administration4735431016431511942
  Mass communication and documentation346498235578
  Mathematics and computer science25123723488322
  Medical science and health-related3063,2153,5213883,7264,114
  Engineering4562848439815413
  Architecture and town planning62349614247189
  Trade, craft, and industrial programmes180170350183187370
  Humanities, religion, and theology4182271926
  Service trades63036115465
  Natural science234568285684
  Social and behavioural science91423
      Subtotal1 6584 2865 9441 9444 9326 876
      Total2 1076 2498 3562 4896 9549 443

Table 9.27. FULL-YEAR PART-TIME STUDENTS IN CONTINUING EDUCATION, 1986*

Part-time CoursesMalesFemalesTotal

* As at 1 July.

† See footnote, table 9.27.

Source: Department of Education.

Level 26472,4263,073
Level 3
  Authority for Advanced Vocational Awards1,5541561,710
  Trade Certificate16,975255619,531
  Other9,20213,31522,517
Level 5
  Authority for Advanced Vocational Awards9,5143,56313,077
  Trade Certificate2,661362,697
  Other8,8846,18715,071
Level 9
Non-vocational11,69929,09740,796
      Total61,13657,336118,472

Authority for Advanced Vocational Awards and Trades Certification Board examinations.

The Authority for Advanced Vocational Awards is responsible for the curriculum and examination of all three-stage Technicians' Certificates and five-stage New Zealand Certificates. The Trade Certification Board is responsible for examination of apprentices sitting for either a Trade Certificate or Advanced Trade Certificate.

Table 9.28. TRADE CERTIFICATES ISSUED

Year Ended MarchTechnician Certificate Three-Stage CourseN.Z. Certificate Five-Stage Course: FinalTradeAdvanced TradeIndustrial Practical
19825871,0473,509945546
19834596973,337859869
19842648063,2781,028..
1985  4,0229961,141
Source: Department of Education.

New Zealand Technical Correspondence Institute.

The Department of Education established the Technical Correspondence School (now the Technical Correspondence Institute) in 1946, and from small beginnings, with a staff of 12, the institute now employs almost 500 full-time staff. With a student roll of approximately 33 000 the Technical Correspondence Institute is easily the biggest single educational institution in the country. Since 1972 the institute has operated under the control of a council comprising representatives of national organisations such as the Employers' Federation, the Federation of Labour and Federated Farmers. The institute teaches one-third of all vocational students enrolled at technical institutes in New Zealand. The institute writes, illustrates, and prints the material for all the courses it offers.

The Technical Correspondence Institute parallels the teaching subjects of other technical institutes, and also provides instruction in many subjects not taught elsewhere. A significant number of the apprentices who sit the annual Trades Certification Board examinations are directed to enrol at the Technical Correspondence Institute.

The institute also prepares a large percentage of candidates for the Authority for Advanced Vocational Awards examinations in engineering, building, commerce, draughting, and science as well as for other professional and industrial examinations. Students studying for advanced trade, technician or professional qualifications comprise about two-thirds of the roll. The Technical Correspondence Institute offers over 940 subjects, from hairdressing, plumbing, and agriculture to airline pilots' licences and professional accountancy. To enrol at the Technical Correspondence Institute students should be engaged in the vocation relevant to their course of study, so that their correspondence studies are supported by practical experience. In some cases, laboratory work or practical instruction is required as part of the course. In such cases students attend block courses at the Central Institute of Technology or other institutes.

Transition education, A significant development in recent years has been the provision of transition education and training, usually in the form of the Department of Labour's Young Persons Training Programme (YPTP) and School-leavers Training and Employment Preparation Scheme (STEPS). In some polytechnics these programmes account for from one-quarter to one-third of the total polytechnic courses offered. In 1986 these transition courses were modified and combined to create the new Training Assistance Programmes. Since 1 April 1987, the ACCESS training package has replaced many of the programmes formerly run by the Department of Labour.

Polytechnics have developed transition courses independent of the Department of Labour schemes. An example is the Link programme, in which senior secondary school students undergo specilised vocational education and training while continuing with their studies.

Health services education.

Health-related education accounts for approximately 44 percent of the full-time technical education. There are currently 15 diploma and certificate programmes in the health-related areas, and of these the basic nursing courses account for 72 percent. There are now 15 technical institutes and community colleges offering three-year comprehensive nursing courses.

In 1986 there were 1264 places available for first year students and planning approval has been given by the Government for 1456 places in 1987. Nationally, in 1986, there were 2983 students undertaking the three years of the comprehensive nursing course.

In addition, there are bridging courses for already-registered nurses to become registered comprehensive nurses; a number of short courses for nurses who wish to further their knowledge in specific aspects of nursing; and, for those seeking advanced knowledge and skills, advanced diploma in nursing courses are available.

Craft education.

There are 10 full-time two-year courses in craft design which meet the vocational education needs of the craft industries and provide employment opportunities in a range of regional centres.

The basic two-year course is at certificate level and will prepare students as skilled craftspeople able to take up employment in a variety of craft industries at technician level. It is proposed to follow the certificate with a two-year full-time diploma for selected students, to develop the specialist skills necessary to achieve the levels of excellence to be internationally competitive.

Design education.

Design courses of three to four years' duration are offered in a number of technical institutes, notably:

  • ○ Wellington Polytechnic: industrial design, textile design, visual communication design, and photography;

  • ○ Auckland Technical Institute: graphic design; and

  • ○ Carrington Technical Institute: interior design, product design;

  • ○ Christchurch Polytechnic: visual communication design.

In addition, a one-year course in visual communications is offered at Southland Community College and a one-year display and advertising course at Waikato Technical Institute. A two-year course in loom weaving is available at Nelson Polytechnic and a two-year course in ceramics at Otago Polytechnic.

Fine arts.

Otago Polytechnic runs a three or four year Diploma in Fine Arts course with major studies in painting, graphics and sculpture. A wide range of art-related recreational courses is offered throughout the country.

Adult education

National Council of Adult Education.

The functions and powers of the National Council of Adult Education are set out in the Adult Education Act 1963. One of the council's most important functions is to take an overall view of the development of adult education in New Zealand. In practice the council seeks to encourage complementary activities and to provide—through a wide and growing range of institutions, agencies, and organisations—learning opportunities for members of the community in the post-compulsory phase of their learning.

The council advises the Director-General of Education and various organisations on adult education. It co-ordinates and conducts pilot projects and experiments, maintains a national library and documentation centre on adult education and publishes magazines and occasional papers.

University extension.

Continuing education courses at universities are run by centres for continuing education.

A typical centre for continuing education in a university has a director-in-charge and a staff of lecturers in a range of academic disciplines. In addition to teaching, the staff may plan and develop sections of the department's programme or have special responsibility for geographical area and its programme. All six universities and Lincoln College carry out extension work, but they show marked differences in their approaches and systems of organisation. A large number of university academic staff are co-opted in order to supplement the activity of the full-time continuing education centre staff. The courses are conducted by various methods—lecture courses, study conferences, seminars, schools of varying lengths (both residential and non-residential), and correspondence courses. While most universities continue to offer the general public substantial extension programmes in the liberal studies area, there has been a significant increase in programmes designed for specialised groups, especially occupational. Some of these are national in scope.

Secondary schools.

Most organised adult education is done through day and evening classes at secondary schools. Since the revision of the School Certificate regulations to allow single subject passes, there has been some increase in adult classes leading to the School Certificate examination, but there is a very wide range of other examinable and non-examinable courses. A provision of the Education Act in 1975 allowed adults to return full-time or part-time to secondary schools, in day classes. There followed for the next few years a rapid increase in the number of adult admissions to day classes. In 1986 there were 578 full-time and 2408 part-time adult students. This is in addition to the evening class programmes which cater for 118 000 enrolments annually.

Correspondence education.

The main agencies in the field of distance education are the Correspondence School (with over 10 000 adult students enrolled), the extramural studies of Massey University (over 12 000), and the Technical Correspondence Institute (33 000 enrolments in 1986).

Other forms of continuing education

Many voluntary organisations make some provision for continuing education. For most of them, such as the Playcentres Federation, and the Country Women's Co-ordinating Committee, continuing education is only one aspect of their overall activities. However, several organisations, such as the New Zealand Workers' Educational Association, have continuing education as their primary purpose.

New Zealand Workers' Educational Association—The WEA is an independent voluntary organisation which provides further educational opportunities for adults. District councils exist in Auckland, West Auckland, Waikato, New Plymouth, Kapiti Coast, Wellington, Canterbury, Otago, and Southland. Branches exist in Upper Hurt, Lower Hutt, and south-east Christchurch. District councils and branches run varied programmes, including seminars, courses, summer schools, public forums, and literacy programmes. Special courses are run for the elderly, the unemployed, and trade unions. The WEA Book Discussion Scheme has 149 groups throughout the country.

Workers' Educational Association Trade Union Postal Education Service—This is an independent correspondence service. It is administered by representatives from the Federation of Labour's National Council of Adult Education, NZWEA and individual trade unions. It provides non-formal, low-cost correspondence programmes for members of affiliated trade unions and their families.

Country Women's Coordinating Committee—The committee is involved with international affairs through the Associated Country Women of the World and in particular the South Pacific area, giving financial and practical aid, and assistance with the training of women in the Pacific Islands.

Community centres.

Community centres, which opened experimentally some 40 years ago in Feilding, Christchurch, and Westport, were the forerunners of the school-based community learning centres. Generally the centres receive professional and ancillary staffing and an annual grant. In effect, 13 community learning centres have been established in association with primary and secondary schools.

Several schools which have developed large community programmes have been given lesser levels of support in the meantime. Other schools operate successful programmes within their own resources, or with additional support from the Ministry of Recreation and Sport.

All these schools have developed community education programmes which aim at increasing the community involvement in continuing education by making a wider use of schools for expanded extension programmes and, by using the resources of the community, to enrich the programmes of pupils still at school.

The Community Action Programme (CAP) in the Wairarapa region has now merged with the Wairarapa REAP. Together they provide a range of continuing education programmes to meet a wide variety of learning needs in the area. The Community Education Service (CES) in the Nelson region is at the Nelson Polytechnic and together they provide for the continuing educational needs of people in the Nelson area.

Vocational awards.

The Authority for Advanced Vocational Awards is responsible for the curriculum and examination of all three-stage Technicians Certificates or five-stage New Zealand Certificates. The Trades Certification Board is responsible for the examination of apprentices sitting for either a Trades Certificate or Advanced Trade Certificate.

Further information

Education Statistics of New Zealand. Department of Education (annual).

Educational Research Series. New Zealand Council for Educational Research

New Zealand School Enrolment Projections 1986–1996. Department of Education. 1986.

New Zealand Teachers College Summary Statistics. Department of Education (annual).

Primary Staffing Survey. Research and Statistics Division, Department of Education (annual).

Profile of Full-year Full-time Technical and Continuing Education Students—Research and Statistics Division, Department of Education (annual).

Profile of New Entrants to Teachers College. Department of Education annual).

Report of the Department of Education (Parl. paper E. 1)

Report of the Maori Education Foundation (Parl. paper E. 24)

Report of the Pacific Islands Polynesian Education Foundation (Parl. paper E. 21)

School Certificate Examination Statistics. Department of Education (annual).

Secondary Staffing Survey. Research and Statistics Division, Department of Education (annual).

State Secondary School Subject Staffing Survey. Department of Education (annual).

State Secondary Schools in New Zealand. Department of Education, 1986.

Teachers Movement Survey Results. Department of Education (annual).

Chapter 10. Justice and law

10.1 Legal system

New Zealand has inherited a tradition of an independent judiciary, seen as a protection against unnecessary intrusion by the state in the lives of citizens. The Judicature Act 1908 and the Constitution Act 1986 contain a number of constitutionally significant provisions, designed to ensure judicial independence. High Court judges (including those who sit in the Court of Appeal) are appointed by the Governor-General. They have security of tenure and may not be removed from office except by the Sovereign or the Governor-General on grounds of misbehaviour or incapacity upon an address of the House of Representatives.

The salaries of judges are determined by the Higher Salaries Commission under the Higher Salaries Commission Act 1977. Salaries may not be diminished during a judge's commission. No person may be appointed a judge unless he or she has held a practising certificate as a barrister or solicitor for at least seven years. The retirement age is 68, although former judges may be reappointed as acting judges for two years, or one year if the judge is 72.

The District Courts Act 1947 provides for the appointment and tenure of District Court judges. They are appointed by the Governor-General, who may, if he or she thinks fit, remove a judge for inability or misbehaviour. The convention against arbitrary removal ensures the independence of District Court judges in the exercise of their judicial functions. The salaries of District Court judges are also determined by the Higher Salaries Commission. Qualifications for appointment are similar to those for High Court judges. The retirement age is 68. Retired judges may be appointed from time to time by the Governor-General as acting judges for a term not exceeding two years, or one year if the person has attained the age of 72.

The appointments, salaries, tenures, and retirement of judicial officers of specialist courts are those of High Court or District Court judges depending on the ranking of the court in the hierarchy.

Hierarchy of courts

The hierarchy of courts of New Zealand consists of Her Majesty the Queen in Council (the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council); the Court of Appeal; the High Court; and the District Courts. All courts exercise both criminal and civil jurisdiction.

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is the final appeal tribunal for New Zealand. The judicial committee advises the Sovereign in the same way as it did when New Zealand was still a British colony. Most Commonwealth countries have abolished the right to appeal to the judicial committee. The right still exists in certain dependent territories (like Gibraltar and Hong Kong) and in the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Fiji, Gambia, Jamaica, Mauritius, the Seychelles, Singapore, Trinidad and Tobago. The judicial committee is not an English court although its members are primarily eminent British judges. New Zealand judges have sat on the judicial committee in recent years. The judicial committee acts like a court but it does not deliver a judgment. It submits its opinion on a case it has heard to the Sovereign. This is given effect by an Order-in Council. By constitutional convention the Sovereign is required to make the necessary order.

Appeals to the Privy Council may be brought by leave of the court appealed from, or by special leave of the Privy Council itself. Leave is granted as of right from any final judgment of the Court of Appeal, where the matter in dispute amounts to the value of $5,000 or more, or involves directly or indirectly some claim to property, or some civil right exceeding that value. The Privy Council has a discretionary power to grant special leave to appeal in criminal cases. Such leave is not commonly granted in criminal appeals from New Zealand.

The Court of Appeal is the highest appeal court in New Zealand. A Court of Appeal has existed since 1846. It is now constituted by the Judicature Amendment Act 1957.

The court consists of the Chief Justice, who is a member by virtue of his or her office as the head of the judiciary; a judge of the High Court appointed by the Governor-General as a judge of the Court of Appeal and its President, and four other judges of the High Court appointed by the Governor-General as judges of the Court of Appeal. Additional judges of the High Court may be nominated by the Chief Justice to sit on the Court of Appeal. The judges of the Court of Appeal are also judges of the High Court. They have seniority over all other judges of that court except the Chief Justice or the acting Chief Justice.

The Court of Appeal exercises an appeal jurisdiction only. Its primary function is to settle the law of New Zealand and to reconcile conflicting decisions of the courts below. It hears and determines ordinary appeals from the High Court. Certain other proceedings in inferior courts may, by order of the High Court, be removed to the Court of Appeal.

The Court of Appeal may remit any proceedings pending before it to the High Court. All judgments, decrees, and orders of the Court of Appeal may be enforced by the High Court.

Criminal jurisdiction—The Court of Appeal hears appeals against convictions and sentences imposed in the High Court or District Court. All appeals, except on a question of law, are by leave only. If it allows an appeal, the Court of Appeal may quash the conviction, vary the sentence, or order the case to be retried.

The decisions of the Court of Appeal are final except where an appeal lies to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

The High Court (then the Supreme Court) was first created in 1841.

Its jurisdiction is very wide. The Judicature Act 1908 provides that it has all the judicial jurisdiction which may be necessary to administer the laws of New Zealand.

The High Court exercises jurisdiction in cases of major crimes, Admiralty rem proceedings, the more important civil claims, appeals from inferior courts and tribunals, and reviews of administrative actions. The High Court also has inherent jurisdiction to punish for contempt of court.

The High Court is now constituted under the Judicature Act 1908. It consists of the Chief Justice and 31 other judges. The number of permanent judges is prescribed by the Act. An additional judge or judges may be appointed, whenever the Governor-General deems it necessary by reason of the absence, or anticipated absence, of any of the judges on leave before retirement. The Governor- General may also, at any time during the illness or absence of any judge, or for any other temporary purpose, appoint any person (including a former judge) to be a temporary judge for a period of no more than two years in total.

Administrative Division—The Judicature Amendment Act 1968 established the Administrative Division of the High Court. The division consists of no more than six judges of the High Court who are assigned to the division by the Chief Justice. Lay persons may be appointed to sit as members of, or assessors with, the Administrative Division if any other Act makes provision for such appointments. The division has jurisdiction to deal with (a) appeals which are to be heard and determined by it under any enactment (These are appeals from the decisions of a large number of administrative tribunals.); (b) proceedings other than appeals which are referred to it by any other enactment (More than 30 Acts confer jurisdiction on the administrative division.); and (c) applications for orders of certiorari, prohibition, or mandamus; declaratory judgments, orders, or injunctions; and applications for review under Part I of the Judicature Amendment Act 1972 which are referred to it from time to time by the Chief Justice. Applications for review may be made where any person has exercised, refused, or purported to exercise a statutory power or a statutory power of decision. The terms ‘statutory power’ and ‘statutory power of decision’ are defined in the Judicature Amendment Act 1972. There is no appeal on fact or law from the decision of the administrative division, unless provided in the statute conferring the right to appeal.

Administration of the High Court—All the judges are stationed in Wellington, Auckland, or Christ-church. The High Court travels on circuit to Whangarei, Hamilton, Rotorua, Gisborne. Napier. New Plymouth, Wanganui, Palmerston North, Blenheim. Nelson, Greymouth. Timaru, Dunedin and Invercargill. There is a High Court office at Masterton, but the court does not sit there. The Administrative Division of the High Court sits in Wellington only.

Table 10.1. JUDICIARY*

* As at 13 May 1987
Judges of the Court of Appeal and High Court
  Chief Justice: Rt. Hon. Sir Ronald Davison, G.B.E., C.M.G.
  Court of Appeal: Rt. Hon. Sir Ronald Davison, G.B.E., C.M.G. (ex officio); Rt. Hon. Sir Robin Cooke, President, K.B.E. Rt. Hon. Sir I. L M. Richardson; Rt. Hon. Sir D. W. McMulin; Rt. Hon. E. J. Somers; Rt. Hon. M. E. Casey; Hon. G. E. Bisson.
  High Court: Rt. Hon. Sir Ronald Davison, G.B.E., C.M.G.; Hon. J. P. Quilliam; Hon. M. F. Chilwell; Hon. R. I. Barker; Hon. J. F. Jeffries; Hon. J. B. Sinclair; Hon. A. D. Holland: Hon. T M. Thorp; Hon. L. M. Greig; Hon. M. Hardie Boys; Hon. J. H. Wallace; Hon. J. T. Eichelbaum; Hon. D. L. Tompkins Hon. P. G. Hillyer; Hon. R. G. Gallen; Hon. J. S. Henry; Hon. R. A. Heron; Hon. A. A. T. Ellis; Hon. N. W. Williamson; Hon. R. P. Smellie; Hon. R. E. Wylie: Hon. R. A. McCrechan; Hon. J. A. Doogue; Hon. A. P. C. Tipping; Hon. N. C. Anderson.

District Courts.

Unlike the High Court, which is one court for New Zealand, District Courts are established as separate entities in various localities.

The District Courts are constituted under the District Courts Act 1947, which limits the number of District Court judges to 93. Judges are appointed by the Governor-General, who also appoints a Chief District Court Judge, who oversees the administration of the courts and also sits in court. District Courts have extensive civil and criminal jurisdiction. A number of District Court judges are specially warranted to preside over jury trials in a number of criminal cases.

Justices of the Peace can sit as a District Court to hear a limited number of minor criminal charges. They deal with many prosecutions under the minor offences scheme. This is limited to offences which attract a maximum fine of $500.

Family Court Divisions—The Family Courts Act 1980 established Family Courts as divisions of the District Courts. The Governor-General appoints the Family Court judges, who are also judges of the District Court, and a Principal Family Court Judge.

The Family Court has jurisdiction to deal with dissolution of marriages, adoption, guardianship applications, domestic actions, matrimonial property, and similar matters.

The Family Court may state a case on a point of law to the High Court or transfer complex proceedings to that court.

Small Claims Tribunals—The Small Claims Tribunal Act 1976 established Small Claims Tribunals as divisions of the District Courts. The tribunals have jurisdiction to determine disputes up to a value of $1,000 based on contract, quasi-contract, and negligence in the use, care, or control of a motor vehicle. Every District Court, apart from the rive courts with police registrars, has a Small Claims Tribunal. There are 30 part-time referees to service the 58 tribunals.

Specialist courts

In New Zealand there are a number of courts with specialist functions.

Labour Court.

This court is constituted under the Labour Relations Act 1987. It consists of the Chief Judge and at least two other judges. For certain types of cases, in particular personal grievances, demarcation disputes and some apprenticeship matters, there is also provision for the judge to appoint two panel members from a panel established by the Minister of Labour.

The judges of the court are appointed from time to time by the Governor-General. Qualifications for appointment, tenure, and retirement age are the same as those applying to High Court judges.

Broadly speaking, the Labour Court has jurisdiction to settle disputes in the industrial relations field, except disputes of interest which are now handled by the Arbitration Commission.

The court may state a case for the Court of Appeal on any question of law (other than any question as to the construction of an award or collective agreement). Any person dissatisfied with any decision of the Court (other than a decision on the construction of an award or collective agreement) as being erroneous in point of law, may appeal to the Court of Appeal by way of case stated for the opinion of that Court on a point of law only.

Children and Young Persons

Court. Under the Children and Young Persons Act 1974 the Governor-General may establish Children and Young Persons Courts. The jurisdiction of the courts is exercised by specially warranted District Court judges. The courts deal with every complaint under the Children and Young Persons Act relating to the care, protection, or control of a child or young person. The courts have criminal jurisdiction to deal with offences committed by children and young persons, except in cases of murder, manslaughter, and traffic offences not punishable by imprisonment. Appeals from decisions of the Children and Young Persons Court and applications for review of guardianship and supervision orders may be brought to the High Court. The Children and Young Persons Act 1974 is currently under review.

The Maori Land Court and Maori Appellate Court are constituted under the Maori Affairs Act 1953.

The Governor-General may from time to time appoint a Chief Judge and other judges of the court as may be required. The judges of the Maori Land Court are also judges of the appellate court. Three or more of the judges have power to act as the Maori Appellate Court. All judges hold office during the pleasure of the Governor-General and retire at age 68. A retired judge may be appointed as a temporary judge for a period not exceeding 12 months. The Maori Land Court has jurisdiction to deal with matters relating to Maori land. The Maori Land Court or the appellate court may state a case for the opinion of the High Court on any point of law arising in proceedings before it. The decision of the High Court is subject to an appeal to the Court of Appeal. A case stated for the opinion of the High Court may be removed to the Court of Appeal for re-hearing. The decision of the High Court or Court of Appeal, as the case may be, on any case stated is binding on the Maori Land Court and the Maori Appellate Court.

The Planning Tribunal is constituted by the Town and Country Planning Act 1977.

It is a court of record and has all the powers of a District Court in the exercise of its civil jurisdiction in respect of adding and substituting parties, summoning witnesses, administering oaths, hearing evidence, conducting proceedings, and maintaining order. The tribunal consists of not more than five District Court judges, each of whom must be a planning judge, and not more than 10 other persons. Every member is appointed for a period not exceeding five years by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice, after consultation with the Minister of Works and Development. From time to time the Governor-General appoints one of the planning judges to be the Principal Planning Judge of the Planning Tribunal. The tribunal has jurisdiction to make decisions relating to the preparation, implementation, and administration of regional and district planning, maritime planning, and jurisdiction to hear appeals for water rights to Regional Water Boards, and to conduct enquiries into the compulsory taking of land and prospecting rights under the Mining Act 1981. The tribunal may state a case on a point of law for the opinion of the High Court. A party to proceedings before the tribunal who is dissatisfied with any determination as being erroneous in point of law may appeal to the High Court by way of case stated for the opinion of the court on a point of law only. All appeals are heard by the Administrative Division of the High Court.

Sources of law

The law of New Zealand consists of the common law, statute law enacted by the New Zealand Parliament, a number of United Kingdom statutes which are still in force in New Zealand, regulations, by-laws, and other forms of subordinate legislation.

The common law is sometimes referred to as case law or judge-made law.

It is based on general rules developed by the courts in England over centuries and became part of the law of New Zealand in 1840. Like any living law the common law continues to develop. When applying the common law New Zealand courts take into account common law principles developed in New Zealand and other parts of the Commonwealth, notably the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. The common law can be reversed or amended by statute law.

New Zealand statutes.

The Constitution Act 1986 contains the lawmaking power of Parliament. It replaces section 53 of the Constitution Act 1852 and states that the Parliament of New Zealand continues to have full power to make laws. Over the years that power has increased. Parliament now has full power to make laws having effect in, or in respect of, New Zealand or any part thereof, and laws having effect outside New Zealand. The extra-territorial law-making power is rarely exercised, except in relation to crimes committed aboard Commonwealth ships or aeroplanes or any ship or aircraft that arrives in New Zealand. There are no constitutional restrictions on the laws Parliament can enact.

United Kingdom statutes.

A number of United Kingdom statutes are still in force in New Zealand. They are those passed before 1840 (when New Zealand first became a British colony) which were applicable to the circumstances of the colony at that date, and statutes passed between 1840 and 1947 which extended to New Zealand expressly or by necessary implication.

In 1947 New Zealand adopted the Statute of Westminster of 1931. As a result the power of the United Kingdom Parliament to make laws for New Zealand could be exercised only at the request, and with the consent, of the New Zealand Parliament. The Constitution Act 1986 has now removed this residual power of the United Kingdom Parliament to make laws having effect in New Zealand. This had not happened since 1947. Many United Kingdom statutes have been repealed or replaced by enactments of the New Zealand Parliament. A few of particular constitutional significance remain, the Magna Carta of 1297, the Petition of Right 1627, the Bill of Rights 1688, and the Act of Settlement 1700.

Subordinate legislation.

A number of statutes empower the Governor-General to make regulations by Order-in-Council. Local authorities and a number of other bodies may make by-laws in accordance with the relevant statutes. The courts may examine regulations and by-laws and declare them invalid if they go beyond the limits prescribed by statute.

Civil jurisdiction

The High Court—has original jurisdiction to hear and determine civil proceedings including: (a) proceedings in contract and tort, (b) equity; (c) supervisory powers over inferior courts and tribunals; (d) wills and administration of the estates of deceased persons; (e) dissolution of partnerships and the taking of partnership accounts; (f) the sale and distribution of the proceeds of any property subject to a lien or charge; (g) proceedings relating to mortgages, leases, sale, or partition of land, including specific performance of contract; (h) execution of trusts, charitable or private; (i) rectification, or setting aside, or cancellation of deeds or contracts: (j) proceedings relating to the insolvency of persons and companies; (k) family law (matrimonial property, and proceedings under the Family Protection Act, and Aged and infirm Persons Protection Act); (I) electoral petitions: (m) Admiralty; and (n) absconding debtors. The court was given power to issue declaratory judgments by the Declaratory Judgments Act 1908. In the exercise of its appellate jurisdiction the High Court hears appeals from the District Courts and from a number of administrative tribunals.

District Courts—have jurisdiction to hear proceedings founded on contract or tort and other civil claims (including equitable claims) where the amount of the debt, demand, or damage, or the value of the chattels claimed is no more than $12,000.

In proceedings for the recovery of land the courts have jurisdiction if the rent payable (if any) does not exceed $6,000 a year or where the value of the land does not exceed $50,000. The District Courts may hear proceedings involving a claim exceeding $12,000 if the parties agree in writing that the court has jurisdiction to hear and determine the proceedings.

Table 10.2. HIGH COURT CIVIL JURISDICTION STATISTICS

YearNumber of Actions CommencedCases TriedJudgment Recorded (Entered or in Cases Tried)Amount of Judgments
With JuryWithout JuryNumberAmount Claimed
     $(000)$(000)
19812,902838060421,95818,457
19823,292343370935,79916,816
19833,5251242166819,77811,383
19843,627336871217,40614,050
19854,051641170017,25213,930

Court of Appeal—During 1985, 117 civil appeals were heard, of which 40 were allowed.

Table 10.3. DISTRICT COURTS CIVIL JURISDICTION STATISTICS

YearPlaints EnteredCases Disposed ofTotal Amount for Which Judgment Entered
NumberTotal Amount Sued forNumberTotal Amount Claimed
  $(000) $(000)$(000)
1981125,06179,62270,65935,23530,795
1982117,95398,66261,10329,42734,978
1983125,565107,14363,48049,55742,520
1984130,188110,34368,97054,33246,732
1985129,737121,65167,15153,08845,247

10.2 Criminal justice

One important index of crime in the community is the number convicted of offences. This gives a useful guide to the amount of crime, providing the proportion of crime reported and the proportion of known crime whose perpetrators are detected remains more or less constant. This, of course, may not be a justified assumption. A greater number of court convictions might mean merely more efficiency by the police and a greater willingness on the part of the public to report offences that previously went unreported. Care should therefore be taken to avoid reading too much into figures for court convictions.

In 1986 for the first time police statistics of reported crime were presented on a financial year basis of April to March. This is to provide better integration of all information and statistics.

For the year ended 31 March 1986, 444 646 offences were reported to the police. This is 8.1 percent more than the 411 302 reported for the same period the previous year. The clearance rate of 41.1 percent was 2.9 percent less than the 44 percent achieved in the previous year.

During the year 61 murders were reported. The number of robberies reported was 1282, an increase of 28 percent over the previous year. Aggravated robbery rose by 35 percent from 476 offences to 543 offences. Non-aggravated robbery increased 26 percent from 435 offences to 548 offences. In total, violence offences increased 6 percent from 20 843 to 22 104.

Reported rape, at 419 offences, was 12.6 percent more than the 372 reported for the previous year. The clearance rate for rape fell 5.6 percent to 71.8 percent. Of reported offences of rape 63.5 percent were cleared ‘no offence’. Sexual offences increased 6.4 percent from 3111 to 3311. The clearance rate fell from 64.6 percent to 60 percent.

Non-cannabis drug offences increased 10 percent to 965 offences when compared with the previous year. Cannabis offences rose 5.6 percent from 13 873 to 14 632 while at the same time the clearance declined slightly by one percentage point to 90.6 percent. In total, reported drug and antisocial offences fell by 1.6 percent from 50 533 to 49 734. The clearance rate remained stable at 93 percent.

Property offences numbered 298 358, or 67 percent of total offending, an increase of 12.6 percent during the year. Clearances fell 1.8 percentage points to 24.1 percent. Burglary increased 14.4 percent from 73 770 to 84 408 offences. Car conversion increased by 20 percent from 47 978 to 57 607 offences. Theft increased by 7 percent from 116 213 to 124 821 offences and fraud rose 17.8 percent from 24 412 to 28 768 offences.

During the year children under 17 years were responsible for 24.3 percent of cleared offences and 56 percent of all offenders were in the under 20 age group. Of all offenders, 82.2 percent were male and 17.8 percent were female. Thirty eight percent of cleared offences against property involved children under 17 years and 65.2 percent of offenders were aged less than 20 while, on the other hand, 14 percent of cleared offences involved children aged less than 17 years with 34.6 percent aged less than 20.

Property to the value of $254.6 million was reported stolen. Of this $110.6 million (43.4 percent) was recovered. The total number of motor vehicles reported stolen was 32 879, with a value of $125.4 million. During the year 28 810 were recovered (valued at $94.9 million), a recovery rate of 75.7 percent. Other property recovery rates were not as high, for example $4.1 million worth of video recorders were reported stolen to the police, of which $382,027 worth were recovered during the year, giving a recovery rate of 9.2 percent.

Summary criminal proceedings

District Court judges deal summarily with the majority of indictable offences. They have jurisdiction over all crimes against property and all but the most grave of other crimes, such as treason, homicide, rape, and perjury. A District Court judge may, however, decline to deal with an offence summarily, and the accused is committed for trial in the High Court in the ordinary way. The accused person also has the right to claim jury trial if he or she is charged with any offence, indictable or summary, punishable by imprisonment for more than three months.

A defendant may be prosecuted at a court hearing for several charges of one or more offences. All are included in ‘total charges’, which will therefore exceed the number of persons charged. The principal charge (i.e., that for which the heaviest sentence is imposed) for each person at each court appearance is selected to arrive at the ‘distinct case’ classification. As a person may appear before a court on more than one occasion during the year, the number of distinct cases will not necessarily correspond with the number of individual persons involved.

With the introduction in 1977 of a centralised computer source for criminal and traffic offence data, offence and other variable groupings were revised. Because of the revised groupings, data in table 10.4 are not directly comparable with those in the corresponding table shown as a time series in earlier Yearbooks. The figures refer to total charges convictions for each offence group, followed by total distinct case convictions.

Criminal trials

Until 1981, criminal trials were held only in the High Court. Since then District Court trial courts, located in 18 centres, have heard cases for all except the most serious of indictable offences, thus relieving the High Court of a heavy work load.

Criminal cases in the trial courts are of two classes: those actually tried in the trial courts: and those in which the accused person has pleaded guilty in the lower courts and been committed to the High Court or to a District Court trial court for sentence, or has been committed for trial and subsequently changed the plea to guilty.

The Court of Appeal hears appeals against convictions and sentences imposed in the High Court and in District Court trial courts. If it allows an appeal, the Court of Appeal may quash the conviction, vary the sentence, or order the case to be retried.

Juries.

Major changes to the institution of the jury in the Juries Act 1981 included the abolition of special juries, talesmen, and pretrial views. The Crown's unlimited right to stand aside prospective jurors was altered to an ability by either party to do so with the consent of the other party. Also each party can challenge six jurors without cause.

Every person between the ages of 20 and 65 is eligible for jury service subject to the exceptions mentioned below. The list of persons not eligible for jury service and grounds for excusal was revised in 1981. Those persons who because of their occupation are not appropriate to serve on a jury are ineligible, and a person may be excused if jury service would cause serious inconvenience or hardship, or if it is against a person's religious beliefs to serve on a jury.

The following persons are not qualified to serve on a jury in any court on any occasion: (a) anyone who, at any time, has been sentenced to imprisonment for life or for a term of three years or more, or to preventive detention; and (b) anyone who, at any time within the preceding five years, has been sentenced to imprisonment for a term of three months or more, or to borstal training.

The list of persons automatically ineligible is: members of the Executive Council of New Zealand; members of Parliament, judges of the High Court, judges and members of the Labour Court, judges and commissioners of the Maori Land Court, and District Court judges; visiting justices and members of the Prisons Parole Board; justices who have agreed to make themselves available from time to time to exercise the summary jurisdiction of District Courts; barristers and solicitors holding current practising certificates under the Law Practitioners Act 1955; police officers, and traffic officers; officers of the Public Service who are—employed in the head office of the Department of Justice, officers of the High Court or a District Court, officers of any penal institution or pre-release hostel or work centre, or probation officers; mentally disordered persons; and persons who are incapable of serving because of blindness, deafness, or any other permanent physical infirmity.

Compensation for criminal injuries.

The Criminal injuries Compensation Act 1963 introduced the first statutory scheme in the world for compensation by the state to persons injured by crimes of violence and to the dependants of persons killed by such acts.

The accident compensation scheme administered by the Accident Compensation Corporation now caters for all personal injury by accident in New Zealand, and thus covers the whole range of listed criminal injuries, including pregnancy by rape, and criminal infection with disease. This scheme is designed as a fund of first resort.

Legal aid.

The Legal Aid Act 1969 gave effect to the principle that no one should be prevented by lack of means from having their grievances heard and determined fairly by the courts. The aid is available for almost all civil proceedings other than dissolution of marriage. In order to receive legal aid the applicant must have a sufficiently meritorious case. Except in special cases of hardship, every aided person is required to make a contribution of $25 towards the cost of proceedings, and is also liable to make an additional contribution proportionate to his or her income and capital resources.

The Department of Social Welfare is responsible, in accordance with the Act, for investigating the resources of persons applying for legal aid; for assessing their ‘disposable income’ and ‘disposable capital’ within the statutory limits and reporting to district committees on the maximum contribution, if any, that applicants should be expected to pay towards the cost of the proceedings in respect of which legal aid is sought.

Table 10.4. CONVICTIONS FOR OFFENCES TRIED SUMMARILY IN DISTRICT COURTS

Type of Offence19801981198219831984

* From 1 February 1982 people found drunk in a public place are no longer convicted.

† Includes breaches of the Road User Charges Act and careless driving. From 1 October 1981 the infringement procedure, formerly restricted to parking breaches and speeding, was extended to include a number of minor traffic offences.

‡ Counting only the principal offence in cases where a person was charged simultaneously with two or more offences

Offences involving violence or threats of violence5,2015,1805,9075,7036,222
Sex offences4573,086455402473
Other offences against the person2,6212,7732,8132,8763,271
Unlawful taking of property (includes conversion of vehicles)23,45922,18226,41727,55026,980
Fraud and false pretences7,6828,8851026511,42712,457
Wilful damage and trespass3,5723,5663,9443,9804,393
Forgery, uttering, and currency offences1,2701,6151,5361,4521,343
Drug offences6,2975,9417,9847,4649,233
Offences against the administration of justice3,0453,1074,0564,6824,988
Drunkenness and drunken driving offences*21,35921,21220,55522,97424,261
Other imprisonable traffic offences7,9878,60310,80610,11010,576
Other offences against good order8,6938,0146,6786,4676,757
Offences against decency325310348366372
Offences against the Sale of Liquor Act9,2468,2669,0986,5796,243
Other offences18,68718,75423,23321,25121,828
      Subtotal119,901118,794134,095133,283139,397
Minor traffic offences261,340194,944188,879200,217184,003
      Total381,241313,738322,974333,500323,400
Distinct cases306,272245,404242,380250,567240,539

From 1981 minor traffic breaches excluded from the infringement procedure do not carry a conviction, but an order may be made for payment of a fine, towage fee, and costs. Except where a fine or order has been imposed, they have been included under the ‘convicted and discharged (or pay costs)’ category in table 10.5. Parking offences carrying fines or court costs only as a penalty have been excluded from this table.

Table 10.5. RESULTS OF DISTRICT COURT HEARINGS

Result of Hearing198219831984
* Mainly for traffic offences which do not involve imprisonment
imprisonment5,1465,7346,423
Corrective training753776688
Periodic detention7,3578,8069,463
Probation (under Criminal Justice Act)2,4682,1811,984
Convicted and ordered to come up for sentence if required2,2882 758x2,707
Fined*150,699151,551147,894
Convicted and discharged (or pay costs)5,4814,4994,134
Community service1,4661,7781,740
Orders made1 021x1 019x1,387
Dismissed, withdrawn, or struck out25,39823,44927,648
Discharged under section 42 of Criminal Justice Act2,6552,2552,107
      Total, distinct cases204,732204,806206,175

Traffic offences.

These form a large proportion of court prosecutions. The most frequent traffic offences dealt with are breaches of parking regulations and excessive speed. Parking infringements which result merely from overstaying a time limit are dealt with outside the criminal law, and some local authorities and the Ministry of Transport impose speeding infringement penalties. From 1981 a number of traffic breaches formerly classified as offences have also been dealt with by infringement notice, and prosecution for failure to pay does not result in a court conviction.

Table 10.6. TRAFFIC CONVICTIONS IN DISTRICT COURTS

Offence198219831984
* Includes breaches of heavy vehicle licensing and breaches of the Road User Charges Act. Excludes warrant of first offences.
Reckless, dangerous, or careless use or driving of motor vehicle causing death111122131
Reckless, dangerous, or careless use or driving of motor vehicle causing injury881779894
Driving, or in charge of, motor vehicle under the influence of drink or drugs causing death233037
Driving, or in charge of, motor vehicle under the influence of drink or drugs causing injury678977
Failing to stop motor vehicle after accident involving bodily injury866173
Driving, or in charge of, motor or other vehicle under the influence of drink or drugs19,79122,97224,261
Exceeding speed limits28,48529,09024,163
Reckless, dangerous, careless, or inconsiderate use or driving of motor vehicle35,37335,69235,238
Offences relating to the registration or licensing of motor vehicles*9,86510,80312,114
Offences relating to driver's licence15,29715,73315,468
Breaches of parking regulations78,14283,34975,325
Other traffic offences32,60035,71332,319
      Total220,721234,433220,100

Chapter 22. Transport and communication contains a table of reported traffic offences.

Table 10.7. CRIMINAL TRIALS IN THE HIGH COURT AND DISTRICT COURTS

YearTried in High CourtSentences in Case of Committal for SentenceTotal Sentences
Indictments and InformationsConvictions
MFMFMFMFTotal
 Total Counts and Charges
19811,7763461,049126848421,8971682,065
19821,1857671240668421,380821,462
19838478151952592501,1111021,213
19841,3879081155665431,476981,574
19851,4868474351782601,5251111,636
 Distinct Persons
198167362490432292071963782
198241346324312251954950599
198338243288322272751559574
198455045426332362466257719
198553554377402592963669705
 Tried in District CourtTrial CourtsTotal
Total CountsConvictions
MFMF
 Total Counts and Charges
1981........90910254348591
1982........1,5213819342461,180
1983........2,2473881,4612801,741
1984........2,4286011,5434041,947
1985........2,4654691,3682961,664
 Distinct Persons
1981........3305023221253
1982........71213050698604
1983........85211960085685
1984........93012662173694
1985........77710452567592

Of the 1470 distinct persons indicted in all trial courts during 1985, 1009 were convicted and sentenced, 20 were still awaiting trial at the end of the year, 271 were acquitted, 8 were found insane, and the prosecution was not proceeded with in the remaining 162 cases.

Table 10.8. SUMMARY OF OFFENCES—CRIMINAL TRIALS

Offence19811982198319841985
* Includes persons charged with murder but convicted of manslaughter.
High CourtTotal Counts and Charges, Convictions
Offences against the person—
  Murder165191215
  Attempted murder441125
  Manslaughter*3036272224
  Rape and attempted rape7810288137120
  Other475376418516570
Property and forgery offences836567358383465
Drug offences446249195361315
Other offences180123107131122
      Total, High Court2 0651 4621 2131 5741 636
 Distinct Persons Convicted
Offences against the person—
  Murder165181014
  Attempted murder23195
  Manslaughter*2835252024
  Rape and attempted rape54747511095
  Other272218248294308
Property and forgery offences16491569372
Drug offences18910887124135
Other offences5765645952
      Total, High Court782599574719705
District Court Trial CourtsTotal Counts, Convictions
Offences against the person85212239246233
Property and forgery offences3866271,2331,3871,120
Drug offences57158144180147
Other offences63183125134164
      Total, District Court trial courts5911 1801 7411 9471 664
 Distinct Persons Convicted
Offences against the person54119154152162
Property and forgery offences135254372367301
Drug offences371058811577
Other offences27126716052
      Total, District Court trial courts253604685694592

Table 10.9. SENTENCES IMPOSED IN TRIAL COURTS, DISTINCT PERSONS

Sentence19811982198319841985

* Also includes persons committed into the care of the Department of Social Welfare. Community service is a new penalty operative from 1 February 1981.

† Detention centre and borstal training abolished on 1 April 1981. Corrective training is a new penalty from that date.

Probation or community service*116145128125132
Ordered to come up for sentence3933363441
Discharged12121169
Fined103180182137135
Imprisoned583630640803699
Detention centre or corrective training1511161512
Periodic detention154185244290262
Borstal training8
Preventive detention111
Detained in psychiatric hospital56226
      Total1 0351 2031 2591 4131 297

On conviction for murder a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment is imposed. The death sentence for murder was abolished in 1961.

Table 10.10. HIGH COURT—APPEALS AGAINST CONVICTIONS OR ORDERS AND/OR SENTENCES IMPOSED IN DISTRICT COURTS

YearAppeals HeardAllowedAbandoned or WithdrawnDismissed
19811,708580199929
19821,728617296815
19831,775528274973
19841,892636278978
19851,734516284934

Table 10.11. COURT OF APPEAL—APPEALS AGAINST CONVICTIONS AND/OR SENTENCES IMPOSED IN TRIAL COURTS

YearAppeals LodgedAppeals Heard*
AllowedRefusedtotal
* Appeals allowed and refused will not always add to the total given because of reserved decisions or cases adjourned
198127256239300
198231690216308
198329167196264
198432997198300
198531665227290

Offending by males and females compared.

The District Courts dealt with 294 542 charges (excluding parking breaches) in 1984. Of these charges 41 028 or 13.9 percent were against females. This total includes 11 256 charges for property offences, mainly shoplifting, fraud, and false pretences, compared with 41 582 for males.

Table 10.12. TOTAL CHARGES IN DISTRICT COURTS, 1984

OffenceMalesFemales
NumberPercentNumberPercent
Offences against the person12,0044.71,2353.0
Shoplifting2,0240.83,4228.3
Fraud and false pretences9,1133.64,33210.6
Other property offences30,44512.03,5028.5
Drug offences9,1593.61,5073.7
Offences against good order and decency7,9793.17421.8
Traffic offences149,99059,218,40944.9
Other offences32,80012.97,87919.2
      Total253,514100.041,028100.0

10.3 Penal system

The penal system exists to protect the community against those who would break the laws which are laid down so that citizens may live harmoniously together, and the common good be promoted. This purpose is achieved principally through the processes of deterrence and reformation; in modern times emphasis is placed wherever possible on the rehabilitation of the offender.

The paramount consideration is to ensure that those who are a serious danger to society by reason of the nature of their offences or character of their offending, are removed from the community. Apart from that, wherever possible, sanctions are imposed that do not involve imprisonment. Where prison or other forms of detention are necessary, the aim is to provide resources to assist offenders to live within the law. The interest of the community as well as of the offender is promoted by his/her successful resettlement on release.

Treatment of offenders

The main penalties for dealing with offenders outside prison are fines, supervision, reparation, periodic detention, community service, and community care.

Fines—Fines are by far the most common sentence imposed by the courts, even if traffic offences are not taken into account For very minor offences a fine is the only sanction available to the courts, but even where there is power to sentence the offender to imprisonment the courts often content themselves with a fine.

Reparation—Where a person is convicted of an offence which caused loss or damage to another person's property, the offender may be sentenced to make reparation. This sentence was introduced by the Criminal Justice Act 1985, and can be imposed at the same time as any other community based or custodial sentence.

Supervision—The legislation on supervision is contained in Part III of the Criminal Justice Act 1985. The court may sentence to supervision any offender guilty of an offence punishable by imprisonment, either on indictment or summarily. Supervision provides the opportunity for an offender to rehabilitate himself or herself in the community. An offender may be sentenced to supervision for a period of not less than six months or more than two years, and during this time he or she must accept the supervision of a probation officer and observe any conditions imposed regarding employment and residence, and associates. These conditions are automatic, but the courts have power to impose further conditions at their discretion on granting supervision. This power makes supervision a very flexible sentence, and it is coming to be more freely and imaginatively used.

Persons on supervision or parole at 31 December of recent years were as follows (corrected figures): 1982, 8909; 1983, 9745; 1984, 9298; 1985, 1875; and 1986, 7148.

Community service—The Criminal Justice Amendment Act 1980 gives the court the power to impose a sentence of community service on convicted offenders, instead of sending them to prison. The offender continues to live and work in the community, but during leisure hours gives unpaid service to some community group. The sentence can be from 20 to 200 hours service. Before imposing this sentence the court takes into account the character and history of the offender, and the public interest.

For community service to succeed there are two other elements needed: (i) the offender must agree to do community service and (ii) the community must produce a number of groups prepared to guide an offender into useful community activities for the number of hours required by the court.

The emphasis is on the active participation of the local community, and on the benefits to both sponsor and offender. The offender works not only for but with the local sponsor group. The group accepts the services of the offender and treats the offender as a member of the group. During 1982 the number sentenced to community service was 1997, in 1983, 2438, in 1984, 2436, in 1985. 2375, and in 1986, 2297.

Periodic detention—This sentence was introduced in 1962. Where a person aged over 15 years is convicted of an offence punishable by imprisonment, he or she may be sentenced to periodic detention for up to 12 months. Under the sentence the offender is required to attend a work centre on a certain number of occasions each week and while in custody must attend classes or groups, undergo physical training, or perform work either in the centre or outside it. Work outside a centre may be at a hospital or school, at the home of an elderly or infirm person, or on Crown or local authority property. The numbers of people undergoing periodic detention at 31 December were: 1982, 3121; 1983, 3237; 1984, 3808; 1985, 3732; and 1986, 4402.

Community care—This sentence is part of the Criminal Justice Act 1985. Like community service it can only be imposed with the consent of the offender. The person is required to undergo a programme for up to one year, or six months if on a residential basis. The definition of programme is wide and can involve attending medical, social, therapeutic, educational, or rehabilitation facilities, or being placed in the care of a suitable person or group.

Other powers of the courts—Although not sentences in the strict sense, various other means are available to the courts in dealing with offenders whose offences are not serious. They include conviction and discharge. The effect is that the offender has a conviction recorded against him or her, but no sanction is imposed. Conviction coupled with an order that the offender come up for sentence if called upon within a specified period is another means. This is a suspension of punishment conditional upon good behaviour but is not subject to the positive conditions of supervision. Finally, a court, although it may find an offender guilty, may discharge him or her without conviction if it considers the offence to be of a trivial or technical character.

Detention in penal institution—The sentences of detention which the courts may impose are:

  1. Corrective training, the term fixed by statute being three months. The offender must be between 16 and 20 years of age, and he or she may be eligible for early release after serving two-thirds of the sentence. After release the offender is on probation for six months.

  2. Imprisonment for a stated period or for life. An offender sentenced to imprisonment for a fixed term may be eligible for release on parole after serving half of the sentence, or in some cases two-thirds.

  3. Preventive detention, which means detention in prison for an indefinite term to be decided by the Parole Board, but in any event not less than seven years. This sentence may be imposed on conviction for certain sexual offences, if the offender has been convicted for a sexual offence on at least one previous occasion. The offender must be 25 years of age or over. After serving seven years of the sentence the offender may be released on parole for life. Preventive detention was restricted to sexual offenders by the Criminal Justice Amendment Act 1967. Hitherto, it had been available for persistent offenders in a number of other cases.

There is a policy of restricting the use of detention of offenders in an institution as far as practicable, consistent with the protection of the community from dangerous criminals.

In 1975 a restriction on detention prohibited a sentence of detention (other than a sentence of periodic detention) being imposed on any person not legally represented at some time before conviction, unless he or she had the means to pay for legal representation but declined to employ a solicitor, or he or she was offered legal aid and refused it.

The Criminal Justice Act 1985 states that violent offenders are to be imprisoned except in special circumstances, while property offenders should not be imprisoned except in special circumstances.

Table 10.13. PERSONS PLACED ON SUPERVISION

YearMalesFemalesTotal

* The Criminal Justice Act 1985 introduced the sentence of supervision, which replaces, and is a development of the sentence of probation

Source: Department of Justice.

19817,1211,2578,378
19828,8161,53610,352
19837,9131,2889,201
19845 145x1 245x6 390.x
1985*4,4761,0755,551
1986.4,1991,1315,330

Prisons and prisoners

A sentence of corrective training has applied to both males and females aged 16 to 20 years since 1981. Borstal and detention centre training were abolished from that date The New Zealand prison population is accommodated in 24 institutions comprising 20 prisons, 4 corrective training institutions, and 1 police jail. Any person serving a sentence of not more than eight days may be detained at any police station, which is also deemed to be a prison for that period.

Table 10.14. PRISON POPULATION, RECEPTIONS, AND DISCHARGES, 1985

CategoryMalesFemalesTotal
Persons in prison at 1 January2,8731162,989
Receptions during the year (including multiple receptions of the same person, but excluding transfers of sentenced prisoners)12,12175812,879
Discharges during the year (including mutliple discharges of the same person, but excluding transfers)12,85078313,633
Persons in prison at 31 December2,144912,235
Daily average number of prisoners2,6641112,775

Not all prisoners received were actually persons undergoing sentence on conviction for criminal offences. Of the 12 879 receptions 7228 referred to persons in the following categories: remanded in custody pending a court hearing, and later released after acquittal or on a successful application for bail; given a sentence not involving custodial detention; sent after sentence to an institution other than that in which they were remanded; or still on remand at the end of the year. In 1985, 140 debtors were also received for non-payment of civil debt and nine persons were transferred to psychiatric institutions.

Table 10.15. AGES AND OFFENCES OF PRISONERS RECEIVED. 1985

Age, in YearsOffences Against the PersonDriving Under Influence of Drink or Drugs
Sexual OffencesViolent OffencesOther
MFMFMFMF
Under 215130725911
21–2431220818132
25–294511529156
30–39519136241
40–494222125
50 and over13818
      Total23376338444173
Age, in YearsBurglary, Theft and Fraud*Conversion, Wilful Damage, etc.Other OffencesTotalTotal Prisoners, Both Sexes
MFMFMFMF

* Includes forgery and currency offences.

† Includes all other property offences.

Under 21747562238515321,8631211,984
21–2433037695544261,244771,321
25–2917326213782779756853
30–39150121213001865136687
40–4951356522115216
50 and over16331380383
      Total1 467134333141 8331084 8462985 144

Table 10.16. AGES AND LENGTH OF SENTENCES OF PRISONERS RECEIVED. 1985

Age, in YearsLength of SentenceTotal
Under 1 Month1 Month and Under 3 Months3 Months* and Under 12 Months1 Year and Under 3 Years3 Years and Under 5 Years5 Years and Over

* Includes corrective training.

† Includes 13 with life Imprisonment.

151434149
16122161811239
1716223262151391
1833503093783440
19355629577174484
2041592125892381
21–2414127965718634241,321
25–29801893881353823853
30–39871223081252817687
40–4931428445104216
50–591114251868
60 and over3272115
      Total4798382 870726152795 144

Table 10.17. AGES OF CORRECTIVE TRAINING DETAINEES. 1985

Sentenced to Corrective TrainingAge, in YearsTotal
1516171819*
* Includes two males and one female shown as aged 20.
  Males3216620314387631
  Females615117746

The number of prisoners received to serve a sentence imposed during 1985 for criminal offences was 5562, but deducting multiple receptions of the same prisoner, the number of distinct persons was 5144 (4846 males and 298 females). The corresponding total for 1984 was 6472, involving 5902 distinct persons (5574 males and 328 females).

Ethnic origins of prisoners.

Of the 5144 distinct inmates received into penal institutions in 1985, 2577 were Maori, 2320 European, 235 Pacific Island Polynesian and 12 were of other or non-stated ethnic origin.

Classification and treatment of prisoners

To assist the prisons administration, classification committees operate in the main reception prisons (Mt Eden, Waikeria, Wanganui, Manawatu, Wellington, Christchurch, and Invercargill) and at Auckland Maximum and Auckland Medium Security Prisons. An important objective is to ensure that prisoners are held in humane conditions and in the minimum degree of security consistent with public safety. Wherever possible inmates are put to work on some form of constructive employment, whether it be industrial production in a secure institution or food production on a prison farm. In addition, and particularly for the younger offender, an attempt is made to teach some particular skills. A variety of evening activities have been introduced into the prisons, and training benefit is derived from these activites, whether they be recreational, educational, cultural, individual, or collective.

There are 26 full-time teachers serving in various penal institutions. Part-time teachers supplement the work. Teachers seek to help inmates disadvantaged by lack of education, and inmates undertaking further education or technical courses, either by correspondence or in prison classes. Such courses may be at any level from illiteracy to study towards a university degree. The interest shown by inmates is encouraging, as often it gives them better social and employment skills, and aids resettlement. All institutions receive at regular intervals a supply of well-chosen books from the National Library, and inmates are permitted free use of the library's request service.

Psychological services—Psychologists from the Department of Justice Psychological Service provide advice and evaluation for the penal division on policy planning, institution programme development and implementation, individual programme development and implementation, psychological treatment for individuals and groups, and in-service training for prison officers. Advice is given on the best way to provide continuing psychological services. A public or private psychological agency, private practitioner, or the department's own psychological service may be suggested. Where psychological work is undertaken for the penal division by another agency or individual, the department's psychological service gives them advice and assistance, and monitors and evaluates the service provided.

Earnings—All inmates are credited with modest earnings based on a system of marks assessed according to diligence. A portion of the earnings may be spent on tobacco, confectionery, and toilet necessities in a prison canteen, and this provides an incentive to good work and conduct. At the same time the loss of this privilege is a useful disciplinary measure. The balance of the earnings is paid to the inmate upon his or her release to help meet financial commitments during the first few days of freedom. Since October 1985 inmates can get a grant from the Department of Social Welfare on release of up to $120.

Punishments—An inmate charged with one of the less serious offences against discipline appears before the superintendent, who may impose a penalty at his or her discretion, or refer the case to a visiting justice or the court. A visiting justice may deal with all cases of offences against discipline and must deal with those which are outside the jurisdiction of the superintendent, unless it is thought they should be brought before the court. The justice's powers of punishment are wider than those of a superintendent.

Release to work.

Inmates may be released during the day to engage in private employment. The selection of inmates for this privilege is made by the superintendent. The inmates are required to contribute part of their wages towards the cost of their maintenance in the institution, and part may also be withheld in satisfaction of outstanding fines or debts. The balance is made available to their dependants or is held by the Department of Justice for payment upon final release.

Post-release care.

Offenders serving a sentence of corrective training or imprisonment for one year or more are under the supervision of a probation officer for six months on release. During any part of that period, also falling within the maximum period they could have been detained in an institution, they are subject to recall if their behaviour on release is not satisfactory. Inmates serving sentences of imprisonment for life, or preventive detention are released to the supervision of a probation officer for the life of the offender, subject to similar conditions as above. The period of supervision has a dual purpose. It is for the protection of the community against further offending, and is at the same time an did to the prisoner to re-establish himself or herself. The step from custody to freedom is a difficult one for prisoners, many of whom require assistance, advice, and guidance during this period.

Parole system.

The introduction of long sentences designed to protect society against the hardened criminal has created the need for a procedure to enable persons serving one of these sentences to be released as soon as they show that they are fit to be returned to society.

Two types of board consider parole cases. Persons sentenced to life terms of more than seven years, or preventive detention, have their cases considered by the parole board. Those sentenced to less than seven years appear before one of 17 district prisons boards.

10.4 New Zealand Police

The national administrative and operational control of the New Zealand Police is vested in the Commissioner who is responsible to the Government through the Minister of Police.

For operational purposes, New Zealand is divided into 16 police districts. Auckland district, by virtue of its greater population, is controlled by an assistant commissioner. Other districts, because of their varying size, are commanded by officers ranging in rank from chief inspector to deputy assistant commissioner. Police district commanders are responsible for the general preservation of peace and order, for the prevention of offences, and for the detection of offenders in their areas of command.

Policing is maintained by a system of mobile patrols and foot ‘beats’ co-ordinated by a communications network.

The police have the responsibility for the enforcement of the criminal law, principally the Crimes Act and the Summary Offences Act, but also various other statutes such as the Arms Act, Sale of Liquor Act. Gaming and Lotteries Act, Misuse of Drugs Act, and Transport Act. The summary prosecution of criminal offences investigated by the police is undertaken in the District Court by trained police prosecutors. Police in country districts in some cases hold additional appointments such as registrars and bailiffs at District Courts, probation officers, and honorary fishery officers.

Strength.

The effective strength of the police at 31 March 1986 was 5203 sworn personnel, including 279 policewomen, who have equal status and opportunity with their male counterparts. The department also employed 775 civilian staff.

Transport.

At 31 March 1986 the police vehicle fleet totalled 988, including 703 cars, 123 vans of various types, 52 four-wheel-drive vehicles, 110 station sedans, estate cars, command vehicles, buses, trucks, and other vehicles.

National Drug Intelligence Bureau.

For the 1985 calendar year there were a total of 15 692 drug offences reported, of which 12 266 resulted in prosecutions, an increase over the previous year of almost 1000 prosecutions.

Cannabis recovery operations were streamlined in an effort to better utilise equipment and staff resources. This resulted in an increase in seizure of cannabis plants of almost 30 percent over the previous year—from 112 212 plants to 143 131 plants.

Considerable success was achieved in 1985 in identifying methods of importation of hard drugs and identifying trafficking groups. This highlighted the value of joint police-customs efforts in border enforcement and investigation. The magnitude of some enquiries also highlighted the importance of co-ordination with overseas enforcement agencies and the value of New Zealand police liaison officers in drug source and transit countries like Thailand, Singapore and Australia.

There were increases in seizures over 1984 in the following areas: Cannabis plants from 112 212 to 143 131 plants; Cannabis resin from 14 329 grams to 24 187 grams; Cannabis seeds from 3564 grams to 6138 grams; LSD tabs from 557 tabs to 9006 tabs; Heroin from 129.47 grams to 684.05 grams: and Morphine from 7.32 grams to 17.77 grams.

Decreases were recorded in the following areas: Cannabis leaf from 487.45 kg to 339.29 kg; Cannabis oil from 76.22 grams to 9.6 grams; Cocaine from 290.22 grams to 32 grams; and Opium from 500 grams to .005 grams.

The increase in morphine and heroin seizures could in part be attributed to the increasing proportion of these products being manufactured locally in clandestine ‘homebake’ laboratories.

The police also observed that there was a trend towards the manufacture of cannabis oil within New Zealand from the locally grown cannabis plant.

The increase in LSD seizures was indicative of the ease with which this product could be imported through the mail.

Search-without-warrant powers were exercised in 635 cases, resulting in 495 seizures.

There were 10 drug deaths recorded in 1985, one of these through the injection of homebake morphine.

Armed offenders squads.

During 1985, the armed offenders squads attended 177 incidents, compared with 155 in 1984. One offender was shot at Gore by the police in 1985.

A total of 150 members throughout the country now perform armed offenders squad duties on a part-time basis.

Anti-terrorist squad.

The anti-terrorist squad made up of selected members of armed offenders squads are provided with specialised training to enable them to deal with a terrorist situation. They exercise with highly trained police negotiators and other specialist police support staff.

Refresher courses are held throughout the year. Training has also been earned out with Ministry of Defence personnel.

Close liaison has been maintained with ministry staff to ensure effective co-ordination in the event of a terrorist operation requiring defence forces support.

Search and rescue.

There were 817 police-controlled search and rescue operations during 1985–86, compared with 869 in 1984–85. These operations represent many thousands of voluntary hours by members of the Federated Mountain Clubs and the New Zealand Coast Guard Federation.

Youth aid section.

Youth aid staff throughout the country as at 31 March 1986, totalled 171. Blue Light Disco has expanded to 25 branches and continues to enjoy popularity with young people.

A safety programme for primary schools has been developed by the law related education staff in conjunction with the Department of Education and is now being mailed in selected schools.

Crime prevention.

A police/community crime prevention programme, which commenced in 1984 has had excellent results. Auckland district's house burglary offences have declined by 16 percent since 1984. There are now 5343 recognised neighbourhood support groups throughout New Zealand.

A similar programme for the rural community commenced on 20 June 1986.

Police centennial.

On 1 September 1985, the police entered their 100th year as a national body. During 1986 a number of events took place to celebrate this milestone. Thése events provided the opportunity for the police and the community to celebrate the first 100 years of formal policing in New Zealand.

Further information

Justice Statistics. Department of Statistics (annual).

Report of the Department of Justice (Parl. paper E. 5).

Report of the Legal Aid Board (Parl. paper E. 7).

Report of the New Zealand Police (Parl. paper G. 6).

Report of the Parole Board (Parl. paper E. 5A).

Royal Commission on the Courts 1978.

Tables of New Zealand Acts and Ordinances and Statutory Regulations in Force. Government Printer (annual).

Chapter 11. Arts, recreation and tourism

11.1 Support of the arts

In New Zealand, as in most other countries, both the Government and local authorities have recognised the importance of the arts in the life of the community and have provided increasing support. The traditional sources of assistance to the arts in New Zealand are: the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council, which had its origins in 1947 as a cultural fund; the New Zealand Literary Fund, administered by the Department of Internal Affairs, which was established in 1946; the New Zealand Historic Places Trust; and the National Art Gallery and Museum. More recently established are the New Zealand Authors' Fund, which compensates authors for the loss of royalties through having their books lent by libraries; and lottery profits, which are used extensively to assist art galleries, museums, and cultural organisations. The New Zealand Authors' Fund and the lottery profits schemes are administered by the Department of Internal Affairs. A major contribution to cultural activity is the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra which is administered by the Broadcasting Corporation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been involved in fostering the arts through its Cultural Exchange Programme, since 1974. The programme's objective is to facilitate exchanges in all branches of the arts, and extend overseas knowledge of New Zealand's cultural achievements. Financial contributions are also made to arts organisations through the Ministry of Recreation and Sport.

Table 11.1. GRANTS TO THE ARTS FROM GOVERNMENT. AND LOTTERY PROFITS, 1986–87*

GroupGovernment AssistanceLottery Grant

* Year ended 31 March.

Source: Department of internal Affairs.

 $(000)
Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council6,4993,894
New Zealand Film Commission4,275910
New Zealand Film Archive103105
Special projects in the arts142
Conservation of cultural property84200
New Zealand Literary Fund132150
National Art Gallery and Museum6,535212
New Zealand Historic Places Trust350777
New Zealand Authors' Fund436
Cultural Facilities Scheme 519
Art Galleries and Museum Scheme675
Crafts Council of New Zealand126
New Zealand Oral History Archive53
      Total18,4677,710

Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council.

The Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council of New Zealand was formed in 1964 to promote the practice and appreciation of the arts. The council assists individuals working in the arts, and incorporated and nonprofit making organisations, which have consistent levels of artistic achievement, maintain sound standards of management and promotion, and can offer career opportunities to trained and gifted people. Activities which are professional in character and standard thus receive priority for financial support. In 1974 the Queen Elizabeth Il Arts Council Act was amended and the council was expanded to include three regional councils and a national network of community arts councils. A council for Maori and South Pacific arts was also established in 1978. These new statutory provisions have led to the introduction of a range of programmes which complements the existing pattern of arts support. Schemes designed to assist the arts at a community level, including the preservation and extension of Maori and Polynesian cultural traditions, now absorb 16 percent of the council's annual grant. For the year ended 31 March 1987 the council received funds totalling $9,898,524, of which approximately $3.5 million was provided from New Zealand Lottery Beard profits. Forty-seven percent of these funds were used to support six professional theatres, four regional orchestras, a modern-dance company, a ballet company, and a professional opera programme. The maintenance of training schools and grants for individual artists absorbed a further 21 percent of the council's funds, and about 10 percent of the grant was used to assist touring exhibitions and performances, and a variety of practical support programmes.

New Zealand Film Commission.

The New Zealand Film Commission was established in November 1978 and its functions, powers, and duties are defined in the New Zealand Film Commission Act 1978. Administration expenditure is met by the Department of Internal Affairs. Each year, the Film Commission offers financial assistance to a considerable number of film projects, both for development and for production.

Conservation of cultural property. In

1979 an Interim Advisory Committee for the Conservation of Cultural Property was appointed to advise the Minister for the Arts on all conservation matters for cultural property. Specific areas include paintings and works of art, ethnography, books and documents, films, photographs, machinery and textiles.

Art galleries and museums.

The General Purposes Distribution Committee of the New Zealand Lottery Board provides subsidies for capital works and equipment at art galleries and museums. In addition, major metropolitan museums in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin and the New Zealand Art Gallery Directors Council receive subsidies towards the salaries of liaison officers, who provide smaller public galleries and museums with practical advice and assistance.

National Art

Gallery. The National Art Gallery, first opened in 1936, is a museum of fine arts, which holds collections and shows exhibitions covering national and international culture. It is administered by the Board of Trustees of the National Art Gallery, the National Museum and the National War Memorial. The gallery is an educational institution devoted to preserving significant art works and, through these items, interpreting to the public the artistic development of New Zealand and the achievement of New Zealand's artists. Through its international holdings and the staging of exhibitions of works from a wide international spectrum, it allows the public to view world cultural history and developments. Beyond this traditional museum role, the National Art Gallery also serves as a general cultural facility for the New Zealand community: it is a venue for performances, meetings both formal and informal, recitals, concerts, receptions, lectures, films and other related activities.

National Museum.

The National Museum was established in 1865, and its functions are to acquire, preserve and display collections of material related to New Zealand and the Pacific. The collections specialise in Maori and Pacific culture, colonial history, entomology, plants, birds, and marine animals. There is also a large specialist research library, and a photographic archive containing over 84 000 glass plate and other historical negatives. Research provide a servicing function for other government departments and the public in ethnological, biological and historical research (including antiquities). The museum publisher research results in National Museum Records, National Museum Bulletin, and the National Museum Miscellaneous Series, as well as through other government publications. General bookings and brochures are also produced in connection with educative and display functions.

Protection of antiquities and archaeological sites.

The Antiquities Act 1975 includes provisions controlling the sale of Maori artifacts in New Zealand. Artifacts found after 1976 are deemed to be Crown property. There are export controls on a range of items of historical significance; Maori artifacts; chattels relating to the European discovery, settlement or development of New Zealand; written and printed matter; works of art, reproductions, prints, films and sound recordings; specimens of animals, plants and minerals; meteorites; remains of extinct fauna; and items of shipwreck. The Historic Places Act 1980 deals with the protection of archaeological sites. It is necessary to obtain the consent of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust before damaging, destroying, or modifying any archaeological site, or undertaking a scientific archaeological investigation of any site. To enable the purchase of Maori artifacts and historic paintings, the New Zealand Lottery Board makes grants to the National Museum and to the National Art Gallery.

National Archives.

The National Archives selects, preserves, and makes available state records of permanent value, drawn from various areas of government: Parliament, ministers of the Crown, departments, the armed services, the courts, commissions of inquiry, and other agencies. Archives preserve evidence of the functions, policies, transactions and decisions of government which have affected New Zealanders. They provide information on events, great and small, which have influenced the course of New Zealand's development. To ensure their preservation, National Archives has statutory control over the disposal and destruction of public records. National Archives also advises and assists local authorities in preserving their archives.

The National Archives has its headquarters in Wellington and regional offices in Auckland and Christchurch. It holds an estimated 20 000 linear metres of written and typed documents, and in addition some 500 000 maps and plans, as well as a large number of photographs and pictures. The holdings constitute the largest source of unpublished information on a whole range of public and private activity in New Zealand—political, social, economic, scientific, military, technological and administrative. Important and interesting records from the nineteenth century include those of the New Zealand Company, the provincial governments, the Colonial Secretaries and the Governor. Records from this century include material from the numerous war-time agencies (such as the National Efficiency Board, the Aliens Authority, the National Service Department and the Rehabilitation Department) in addition to the variety of records from the war zones. There are also records from government reviews and planning (like the National Expenditure Commission, 1932, the National Development Conference, 1969–74, and the Commission for the Future, 1977–82). Papers of famous politicians such as Richard John Seddon, Sir Walter Nash and Norman Kirk are held as well as those from a number of former cabinet ministers.

National Archives arranges and describes the archives and provides reading and reference services, which are used by historians, geographers, economists, sociologists, scientists, students, lawyers, genealogists and public servants.

New Zealand Historic Places Trust.

The New Zealand Historic Places Trust is empowered by statute to identify, protect, preserve and foster public interest in historic places. Historic places include old European and Maori buildings and monuments, historic sites, Maori traditional sites, and archaelogical sites. The trust is governed by a board of trustees which includes representatives of various interested organisations. The board has the power to issue protection notices to prevent demolition or damage to buildings classified ‘A’ or ‘B’ by the trust for their historical significance or architectural qualities. Professional staff work in the trust headquarters in Wellington and regional officers and archaeologists are employed in Auckland and Otago. The trust has curators at a number of its properties. More than 17 000 members provide financial and practical support, and regional committees operate locally to advance the trust's aims. Some 4500 nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings have been classified by a trust committee. The trust has responsibility for a number of historic buildings and sites, some of which are open to the public. In addition the trust administers properties owned by other organisations and a number of historic reserves. Technical advice and financial assistance is given to private owners to assist in the preservation of both Maori and European historic buildings and sites. The trust also maintains a register of archaeological sites, and has the authority to investigate sites and prohibit unauthorised fossicking. To stimulate public interest the trust has marked many historic places with plaques and noticeboards. It also publishes leaflets, a quarterly magazine on historic preservation in New Zealand, and books, including two major works on historic buildings of the North and South Islands.

Awards in literature and the arts.

The New Zealand Literary Fund provides writers with project grants, bursaries, and guarantees for publication of literary works and magazines. The fund also offers privately sponsored awards such as the ICI Writers' Bursary, the Choysa Bursary for children's writers, the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council/New Zealand Literary Fund Playwright's Award and fellowships at Victoria University, and the Universities of Auckland and Canterbury. Promotional programmes include The New Zealand Book Awards (funded jointly with the Arts Council), the Government Publishing Awards for the New Zealand Children's Book of the Year (sponsored by the Government Printing Office), and the New Zealand Book Council's Writers in Schools Scheme. Other privately sponsored awards for writing are the James Wattie Book of the Year Award and the Bruce Mason Playwriting Award. The University of Otago offers fellowships in literature (Robert Burns Fellowship), painting and sculpture (Frances Hodgkins Fellowship), and music (Mozart Fellowship). The New Zealand Authors' Fund makes payments to writers in compensation for loss of royalties through library use of their books.

11.2 Books and libraries

In general, New Zealand is well served with libraries and the book stocks and circulation figures compare favourably with those of other English-speaking nations. In most centres the local authority maintains a public library. Under the auspices of the New Zealand Library Association, a comprehensive system of inter-library co-operation has been developed, particularly in the use of resources by means of inter-library loans. As at 31 March 1985, local authority libraries provided largely-free library services to 2.7 million people, with a book stock of 6.5 million volumes, and over 26 million issues per annum. Since 1980, library education has been given by two schools, at Victoria University of Wellington and at Wellington Teachers College.

National Library of New Zealand.

The role of the National Library is to collect, preserve and make available recorded knowledge, particularly that relating to New Zealand; to supplement and further the work of other libraries and related information services in New Zealand; and to enrich the cultural life of New Zealand and further its cultural interchanges with other nations. Activities of the National Library are carried out by six divisions: Alexander Tumbull Library (developing research and special collections); Collection Management (acquisition, cataloguing and conservation); New Zealand Bibliographic Network (on-line bibliographic database); Reference and Interloan Services (reference and inter-library lending); Regional Services (outreach and consultancy); and Corporate Services (management support, and administration).

The selection policy of the National Library is administered by the Collection Management division, and dedicated to building a collection of books, serials and non-book materials covering all subjects at a general level, but with greater depth in certain subject areas. This is determined according to the demands made on the collection by inter-library lending and on the availability of material in other libraries. Material is also acquired for 40 government department libraries. Cataloguing and classification information is input directly into the bibliographic network database.

The New Zealand Bibliographic Unit is responsible for producing the New Zealand National Bibliography, a comprehensive microfiche listing of books, pamphlets, art prints, music scores, sound recordings, maps and serials. The unit also produces the Index to New Zealand Periodicals and is responsible for the maintenance of the national agencies for international standard serial and book numbers.

A Conservation Unit operates for the preservation and restoration of material of intrinsic value, conservation of items for exhibitions, and preparation of materials for loans. The Microfilm Production Unit also has a preservation role by carrying out a programme of filming deteriorating newspapers to preserve their content. Current and old newspapers are also microfilmed.

New Zealand Bibliographic Network—The New Zealand Bibliographic Network is a national holdings database and aims to provide a co-ordinated bibliographic support system for the National Library and through networking facilities to the wider library community. It also acts as the national agency for the exchange of internationally compatible bibliographic records. The bibliographic network has the potential to be both a database and communications network. Other databases may be made available to network participants through the communication link. As at 31 December 1986, 160 libraries, excluding the National Library, were participating in the network, having access to 3.5 million bibliographic entries. Participants are also able to access, through the network, the Department of Statistics' INFOS database. The National Library co-operates with overseas libraries in the development of the computer software (the Washington Library Network) on which the database operates.

Reference and interloan—An interloans unit of the reference and interloan services division acts as a clearing-house for requests received from libraries throughout New Zealand and overseas. To satisfy the needs of the service, the National Library has the responsibility for maintaining and developing a central reference and lending collection as a national resource in many subjects and as support stock for major subject collections where there is no national subject library. Major reference material is held and there is on-line access to overseas databases. The service responded to 122 000 requests during 1985–86. The central collection holds 590 000 volumes and 1.5 million microfiche.

Outreach and consultancy services—To assist the development of public libraries and other agencies to offer free and readily-accessible library services, and to enhance rural service, the National Library supplements the resources of public libraries, develops library services where no other such provision is made, and promotes co-operation in library matters throughout New Zealand. These activities are co-ordinated by the library's Regional Services division operating from Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington and Christchurch. Public libraries eligible for the supplementary services offered are those outside the major metropolitan areas and operating a free service. They receive exchanges of books from bookvans, are provided with a request and information service, receive bulk loans of books from the operating centres and have access to special collections (including large print books, and cassettes). Direct assistance is also given to local authorities in the assessment and planning of library services. Regular exchanges of books are supplied to the Cook Islands and Niue.

Libraries receiving books and services at 31 March 1986 included 163 free public libraries, 641 small community libraries and groups and 250 other libraries and institutions. In the exchange programme 322 000 books were lent and a further 170 000 were lent as a response to requests or as loan collections. The National Library is also responsible for providing library support services to schools to facilitate access by children and young people to books and information. This is assisted by supplementing and complementing the collections of school libraries from the Regional Services division's Wellington-based collections and those of its 12 district centres.

Another important function of the National Library is the National Children's Collection. Also, information and reference services are provided as a supplement to those offered by school libraries. Advisory and consultancy staff work closely with the Department of Education in promoting school library development to ensure the strengthening of the integration between teaching practices and the necessary support services. During the year ended 31 March 1986, 2500 secondary, 376 primary and 291 preschool groups were given assistance.

The National Library also maintains SATIS (Scientific and Technical Information Service), a regionally-based information service to the business and industrial community and currently operates from centres in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The service had 670 clients in 1985–86.

Alexander Tumbull Library.

The Alexander Tumbull collections are a major historical resource for scholars and researchers. The original collection, bequeathed by Alexander Horsburgh Tumbull (1868–1918) consisted of 55 000 volumes, but acquisition since then has increased the collections to 200 000 volumes of books, 548 000 photographic prints and negatives, 40 500 drawings and prints, 22 250 maps, 2700 metres of manuscripts and 17 000 reels of microfilm. Supporting these collections are extensive collections of private papers and archives. Special collections include materials relating to New Zealand, the Pacific, early printed books, John Milton and his times, and the arts of the book. As national research collections of last resort, the library fosters research and publication based on these collections to enrich human knowledge.

Parliamentary Library.

Known until 1987 as the General Assembly Library, this library provides library, information, research and reference services for Parliament as required by the Parliamentary Service Commission. The library's collections, which number over 500 000 volumes, are strongest in subjects relevant to members of Parliament for their legislative duties. These include economics, politics, public administration, law, social sciences and biography. The library has one of the largest collections in the country of books, pamphlets, periodicals and newspapers relating to New Zealand and several New Zealand daily newspapers are indexed.

The National Documents Collection comprises parliamentary papers and publications of overseas governments, mainly English-speaking, and of international organisations such as the United Nations, the OECD, and the European Community. It is available for public use.

Copyright.

Copyright comes into existence automatically upon the completion of any original literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic work (including photographs). No registration is necessary (or even possible), nor is any other formality required for securing copyright protection. Copyright also exists in New Zealand for sound recordings, cinematograph films, broadcasts, and published editions (typography) of literary, dramatic, and musical works. Copyright in literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works (except photographs) continues until 50 years after the author's death, if the works are published in the author's lifetime, and until 50 years after publication or 75 years after death (whichever is shorter) if they are unpublished at the death of the author. Copyright in photographs, sound recordings, cinematograph films, and broadcasts continues until 50 years after the making, and in editions until 25 years after publication. Copyright in New Zealand in literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works and in cinematograph films extends to all countries which are parties to the International Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (Berne Copyright Union) and to all countries which are parties to the Universal Copyright Convention. In some cases, sound recordings, broadcasts, and published editions are also protected overseas. New Zealand is a party to both conventions. Most countries of the world have acceded to the one or the other, or both conventions. New Zealand has acceded to the Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorised Duplication of their Phonograms. The convention obliges each contracting state to protect the producers of phonograms (i.e., records, cassettes, and other exclusively aural fixations of a performance or other sounds) against the unauthorised reproduction cf their phonograms, and against the importation and distribution to the public of such unauthorised reproductions. In New Zealand certain disputes relating to performing rights of copyright works, sound recordings, or films may be determined by the Copyright Tribunal.

11.3 Radio and television

New Zealand has two nationwide television networks operated by a public corporation, the Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand and it also has extensive radio coverage by privately- and publicly-owned stations. Radio and television is regulated under the Broadcasting Act 1982, which ensures that the operation is free of direct political control, although the Government can and does make recommendations and issue directions on the operation of broadcasting stations. The Broadcasting Tribunal is the main organisation for controlling public broadcasting. There are two organisations associated with radio broadcasting; the Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand (BCNZ) controls the publicly-owned stations, and the Independent Broadcasters' Association covers privately-owned stations.

In 1985, the Government established a Royal commission to inquire into the institutions, operations, financing, and control of New Zealand broadcasting and related telecommunications and to recommend any changes to improve the ability of broadcasting to serve all New Zealanders.

Broadcasting Tribunal.

The Broadcasting Tribunal has three members, who are appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Minister of Broadcasting. Warrants are required to broadcast, they normally include conditions about ownership, hours of broadcasting, advertising location, transmission power, and other technical matters. The tribunal is empowered to consider applications and grant warrants for additional radio stations, publicly- or privately-owned, and to renew existing warrants.

The tribunal has no authority over shortwave stations. Nor may it grant a warrant for any television station additional to TV1 and TV2 (see below) without the express permission of the Minister of Broadcasting. In 1984 the Government directed the tribunal to consider four applications for a television warrant for the development of a regionally-based private television network covering all of New Zealand in competition with the Broadcasting Corporation. The tribunal hearing was completed in mid-February 1987 and a decision was reserved.

The tribunal also considers complaints which have not been satisfactorily dealt with by the Broadcasting Corporation, a privately-owned radio station, or the Complaints Committee. The tribunal must have regard for government policy on broadcasting and must comply with any written direction from the minister. Any such direction must subsequently be gazetted and laid before Parliament.

Broadcasting standards.

Public broadcasting organisations are required to maintain standards of accuracy, impartiality, decency, and good taste; and to this effect must promulgate a code governing programmes and advertising. The Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand and the Independent Broadcasters' Association are represented on the committee formulating the rules in the code.

Formal complaints from the public alleging breaches of the prescribed programme standards, may be laid with the corporation or private radio stations. Cases of alleged unfair treatment or invasion of privacy are referred to the Complaints Committee, which was established by the 1982 Broadcasting Amendment Act. All complaints must receive proper consideration, and complainants dissatisfied with the decisions of these bodies may refer to the Broadcasting Tribunal for final adjudication.

Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand.

The Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand (BCNZ) is a public corporation, responsible to Parliament through the Minister of Broadcasting, and operates a radio and television service. The corporation also publishes the New Zealand Listener and administers the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. The board of the corporation consists of not fewer than seven and not more than nine members appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Minister of Broadcasting.

The corporation's responsibility is to carry on public broadcasting services and to develop, extend, and improve them in the public interest. In doing so, it must have regard for the general broadcasting policy of the Government. The minister may direct the corporation in writing, although not on specific programmes or complaints, the gathering and presentation of news and current affairs material, the editorial content of the New Zealand Listener, or personnel matters. Any such direction by the minister must subsequently be gazetted and laid before Parliament.

The corporation is also charged with providing a range of programmes catering in a balanced way for the varied interests of the community, with maintaining a New Zealand identity in its programmes, while respecting the privacy of the individual, and with avoiding the coincident presentation of the two television channels of programmes of a like nature. The corporation is empowered and expected to promote and encourage artistic, cultural, and educational development in the community.

The Broadcasting Corporation has two principal sources of revenue—licence fees, and radio and television advertising. Since 1975 the contribution of licence fees to total revenue has steadily diminished, at the end of the 1986 financial year it accounted for less than 14 percent of the total. From 1 April 1987 the corporation has taken direct responsibility for the collection of licensing fees.

However, as an interim measure, New Zealand Post is continuing to act as the collecting agent. Since September 1986 the annual public broadcasting fee (excluding GST) has been set at $65 for colour television sets and $35 for monochrome sets. There is no separate radio licence fee. At 31 March 1986 a total of 931 047 licences had been issued of which 861 495 were for colour sets.

Table 11.2. BCNZ GROSS REVENUE FROM LICENCE FEES AND ADVERTISING

Item1981–821982–831983–841984–851985–36
 $(000)
TV licence fees38,08338,57240,02240,67240,284
Radio advertising33,33840,46242,48546,85753,694
TV advertising90,997115,617120,792148,288184,341
      Total162,418194,651203,299235,817278,319
Source: Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand.

Independent broadcasting.

The Executive Director of the Independent Broadcasting Association, based in Auckland, represents the public and private companies which run the independent radio stations. While the independent radio stations are regionally-based, there is national coverage of news and sports items through networking.

Television

Television New Zealand transmits two national television networks in colour using the PAL 625-line system. Television One is carried by seven high-powered and 437 medium- to low-powered transmitters and translators. Network Two is carried by seven high-powered and 264 medium- to low-powered transmitters and translators. Twenty-two of the transmitting stations are connected by the BCNZ microwave distribution system which, with intermediate stations, comprises a total of 46. Television One currently reaches 99.96 percent of the population, and Network Two 98.81 percent.

Programming—The BCNZ programme objectives are to provide the complementary programming allowed by a unified two-channel system, provide scope for regional television, cater to minority and cultural audience interests and, in general, realise the social, cultural and educational, as well as the entertainment potential of television. To carry out these objectives, Television New Zealand presents two programme schedules, obtaining a consistent 50/50 audience split over the two networks. Production studios are located in the four main centres, as are outside broadcast units, which are deployed for live coverage of sport, and programme production from towns and cities in both islands. Comprehensive film facilities are also installed in these centres, and electronic news gathering equipment is available. New Zealand productions accounted for 2567 hours of programme transmission in the 1985–86 year, which was 30 percent of the total transmission over both channels. A further 303 hours of regional programmes were transmitted. This content included drama, news and current affairs, light entertainment, religion, service programmes, documentaries, children's programmes, and sport. The balance of programme output is purchased from overseas, mainly from Britain, the United States, and Australia. The use of satellite links permits same-day presentation of world news items, and live telecasts of significant overseas events, particularly in the field of sport.

Radio

Radio New Zealand provides programmes for 64 medium-wave broadcasting stations, eight VHF- FM stations, and two short-wave transmitters broadcasting on a number of assigned frequencies. In addition, Radio New Zealand assists with a number of stations which operate for only part of the year. Of the medium-wave stations, 38 broadcast advertisements, although none are broadcast on Sundays, Christmas Day, or Good Friday.

At August 1987 there were 21 warrants for privately-owned radio stations, as well as several student-operated stations based on campuses. The student stations and eight other stations broadcast in FM, the remaining 13 broadcast in AM. A number of radio stations use relay stations to broadcast in several areas on one warrant.

National Radio—This is a nationwide network operated by Radio New Zealand. Originating from Wellington, it is transmitted 24 hours a day through 22 medium-wave transmitters. The station places a strong emphasis on in-depth coverage of news and current affairs.

The Concert Programme—This programme is operated by Radio New Zealand and is transmitted 18 hours a day through five FM and four AM transmitters. The programmes broadcast include serious music, drama, and discussions. During summer months the AM transmitters are used for broadcasts of sporting events.

Broadcasts from Parliament—When Parliament is in session, the Wellington-based AM transmitter 2YA broadcasts parliamentary proceedings for the entire sitting time. In addition, the Auckland station 1YC and the Dunedin station 4YC broadcast from Parliament between 2.30 p.m. and 5.30 p.m.

Access Radio is provided in Wellington on the 2YB AM transmitter, and on local community stations. Access Radio allows non-professionals to make programmes on their sphere of interest with the assistance of Radio New Zealand staff.

Private non-commercial stations—There are two warrants for private non-commercial AM stations. Radio Rhema broadcasts from Christchurch, Wellington, and Nelson for 18 hours a day. In Dunedin station 4XD broadcasts for 14 hours on Sundays and in the evenings on other days.

Commercial stations—Radio New Zealand has community stations in 28 cities and towns. These provide a range of information and entertainment programmes, are involved in community services, and participate in community activities. They broadcast 24 hours a day on 37 AM transmitters. In five centres, Radio New Zealand operates stations broadcasting contemporary music. The stations in the Manawatu, Wellington and Christchurch broadcast on FM while the stations in Auckland and Hastings broadcast on AM. During holiday periods services are broadcast in the Bay of Islands, Mount Maunganui and Ruapehu. Radio New Zealand also assist high-school students to run stations in Nelson and Blenheim.

Of the 19 private commercial stations, six are located in Auckland. Radio Pacific, located in Auckland, broadcasts information programmes, and the other private stations broadcast a mixture of information, sport and music programmes.

Short-wave service—The External Services Division of Radio New Zealand broadcasts the National Programme (including news and magazine programmes in Maori, Tongan, Samoan, Niuean and Cook Island Maori) to the South Pacific. One frequency beams the programme to Australia and Melanesian countries, and another beams it to the South Pacific islands. Radio New Zealand's Overseas Programme Unit supplements this with weekly dispatches of taped programmes; news, current affairs, talks and comment including vernacular programmes.

Developments in radio—A Maori network is under development by Radio New Zealand. Future developments include training partnerships, access stations based in tertiary institutes, and new small-community commercial stations.

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra

The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra is widely known for the high standard of its public concerts as well as its performances on radio and television. Distinguished guest conductors and celebrity artists from other countries, along with resident soloists and New Zealand choirs, appear regularly with the orchestra. As a national orchestra, its tour programme is one of the most extensive in the world, involving some 15 000 miles of internal travel annually. The playing strength is 89 players, which enables the orchestra to undertake the complete symphonic repertoire. As well as presenting nationwide concerts the orchestra has toured overseas and has made several commercial recordings. There is also a small training orchestra of string players, the Schola Musica, to give promising students experience in an orchestra. The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra also organises an annual season by the New Zealand Youth Orchestra.

New Zealand Listener

Programmes and advance information for national television channels and radio stations are published in the weekly journal, the New Zealand Listener. The average net paid circulation of the Listener in 1986 was approximately 302 000. Its readership is estimated to be 1.1 million. As well as containing programme information, the Listener is a leading periodical. It publishes interviews, articles, and reprints of broadcasts, as well as fiction, poetry, and criticism. Through its editorial and correspondence columns, the Listener provides a forum for the discussion of issues.

11.4 Newspapers and magazines

New Zealand has a large number of daily newspapers for the size of the population. Although there has been a considerable decline from the era when the country had more than 50 daily newspapers, there are still 32 (including two which publish five days a week). Of these, eight are morning newspapers and the rest evening papers. The largest, the New Zealand Herald, has an audited net circulation of more than 241 000. Only one other, the Auckland Star, has a circulation in excess of 100 000. Four have circulations below 3000, the smallest being the Hokitika Guardian with a circulation of about 1200. Of the daily newspapers now publishing, only one, The Dominion, was founded this century. The country's geography, with population centres widely scattered and transport by road and rail presenting difficulties, precluded the development of any national daily newspaper until recent times.

A feature of the newspaper publishing industry since the end of the Second World War has been a series of mergers and take-overs which has led to concentration of the ownership of a number of papers in three major companies which have stock exchange listing. This contrasts with the pattern of ownership by members of a single family, or by a partnership, which was previously predominant. New Zealand News Limited publishes seven dailies, Independent News Limited six, and Wilson and Horton Limited four. Thus 17 of the country's 32 dailies are now published by three major groups. In circulation terms, the ‘big three’ represent about 80 percent of the aggregate daily newspaper circulation in New Zealand of 1 055 000. Some independent publishers survive, including one stock exchange listed company and the few remaining family businesses.

Another feature of newspaper publishing in recent decades has been the steady growth of suburban newspapers, most of them delivered free to all households in their recognised circulation areas. The majority are weeklies; a few are bi-weekly or tri-weekly. Some are owned by the three big groups or by other daily newspaper publishers. Others are owned by individuals or small companies. The New Zealand Community Newspapers Association, to which most of these suburban ‘giveaways’ belong, has more than 70 members.

In 1986 there were seven daily newspapers in the four main metropolitan areas, with a total circulation of approximately 722 400. In the smaller cities and provincial towns there are 25 daily newspapers, and one published five days a week. New Zealand also has about 116 other newspapers, of which 99 publish one to three times a week.

There were 590 magazines, journals, and newsletters that accept advertising published in New Zealand. Of these, 93 specialised in agriculture, dairy products, farming, horticulture, fishing and forestry; 52 specialised in banking, finance, economics, commerce, data processing, local movement, law, office equipment, and insurance; 44 specialised in architecture, building, construction, engineering, environment, real estate and transport; 37 specialised in medicine, dentistry, and health; 27 specialised in industry, manufacturing, refrigeration, printing, publishing, packaging, fuel and energy; and 41 were consumer oriented or of general interest.

Table 11.3. ADVERTISING REVENUE OF NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS

Type of Publication1982–831983–841984–851985–86

* Estimated.

Source: Newspaper Advertising Bureau.

 $(million)
Newspapers, daily182187221291
Magazines, journals, and periodicals*21244667

11.5 Sport and recreation

New Zealand provides a wide choice of recreation and sporting activities in a relatively small population. Many competitive recreational activities are organised through local clubs, some of which are affiliated to national organisations. Promising players, performers, and artists have opportunities to reach national levels in their activities. In many sports the ultimate level to be reached is to represent New Zealand at the Olympic and Commonwealth Games. Opportunities and facilities exist for those interested in outdoor education and recreation. The Youth Hostels Association of New Zealand operates hostels in centres ranging from Kaitaia in the north to Invercargill in the south. In the more remote areas the New Zealand Forest Service (now the Department of Conservation) and several tramping clubs have built huts. Short courses in outdoor recreation are run by the Outward Bound School in Queen Charlotte Sound, and the Outdoor Pursuits Centre near Turangi. Educational authorities and some voluntary organisations have established outdoor recreation and education camps throughout the country, where young people are encouraged to enjoy and make use of the natural environment. Social education programmes have been introduced into many secondary schools and this has involved the introduction of a wider range of recreational activities, with encouragement to students to continue with these activities after leaving school. Most of the tertiary education institutions have facilities and staff available to serve the physical recreation needs of the students.

A recent review of the government recreation and sport programmes has resulted in the creation of a new statutory body, the Hillary Commission for Recreation and Sport. From 1 April 1987 this organisation has had responsiblity for developing policy and allocating government funds to recreation and sport. In the 1985–1986 year government funds to recreation and sport were allocated as follows: $3,427,000 was provided for distribution to local authorities to assist local activities, $1,174,000 was allocated to national recreational oranisations; $167,000 was provided to local authorities to subsidise the employment and training of recreation workers in newly-created positions; $200,000 was provided to a sport and cultural ambassadors programme; $222,000 was provided for special projects in recreation and sport including the costs of establishing the Hillary Commission and $361,000 was provided to the New Zealand Council for Recreation and Sport.

The New Zealand Mountain Safety Council and the New Zealand Water Safety Council, which are also serviced through the Ministry of Recreation and Sport, received allocations from lottery profits of $420,000 and $630,000 respectively in 1985–86. These councils work closely with local mountain and water safety committees in promoting the safe use of New Zealand's mountain, bush, and water areas.

Youth assistance—The Department of Internal Affairs administers programmes which are designed to assist young people in practical ways. During 1985–86 community organisations and local authorities were provided with grants amounting to $521,000 to employ and train youth workers under the Detached Youth Worker Funding Scheme. These youth workers generally work with young people whose basic needs are not adequately met by existing services. Administered by the New Zealand Lottery Board, Lottery Youth makes money available to youth organisations and other groups of young people. During 1985–86 the committee was allocated $850,000.

New Zealand is party with other Commonwealth nations in the Commonwealth Youth Programme. Established in 1973, the Commonwealth Youth Programme is a six-point plan of practical action: operating regional youth development centres, administering youth bursaries and study fellowships, investigating applied research, developing youth information services, assisting local youth projects, and supporting youth programmes. In New Zealand the Common wealth Youth Programme is administered by a national liaison committee, serviced by the Department of Internal Affairs and composed of representatives from the Department of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Education, the Department of Maori Affairs, the Pacific Island Affairs unit, and the National Youth Council.

Racing, gaming and lotteries

Horse racing is a popular interest and is a source of interest and excitement to the punter; of income to the racing clubs; and of taxation to the Government. Private bookmaking is illegal. On-course betting is by totalisator and off-course betting through the Totalisator Agency Board (TAB). which has branches in every centre. Greyhound racing is growing in popularity and the Racing Amendment Act 1980 extended off-course betting through the TAB to greyhound meetings.

Table 11.4. HORSE RACING

Item Year Ended 31 July
GallopingTrotting
198419851986198419851986
Racing daysNo.326325325196196197
RacesNo.3,1593,1613,1471,9581,9581,966
Stakes$(000)14,24215,82419,8157,7508,59510,637
  Average per race 4,5085,0066,2963,9584,3905,410
Totalisator turnover— $(million)
On Course 1142112.7112.466.168.870.6
With TAB..388.3415.8462.6158.3165.1183.1
 ..502.5528.5575.0224.4233.9253.8
Amount paid in dividends..401.1418.3437.9179.1185.1199.1
Source: Department of Internal Affairs.

Table 11.5. GREYHOUND RACING

ItemYear Ended 31 July
198429851986
Number of racing days808080
Number of races797795797
 $(000)
Amount of stakes141157209
Totalisator turnover—
  Win and place2,1362,8973,202
  Other2,7883,4885,913
      Total4,9246,3859,115
Amounts paid in dividends3,9214,957x7,085x
Government taxes—
  Totalisator duty329374626
Amount of totalisator turnover retained by clubs431450523
Unpaid fractions231328
Source: Department of Internal Affairs.

Gaming and lotteries—Lotteries and raffles are popular both with participants and as a means of fund-raising for sports bodies and other organisations. Financial results of the New Zealand lotteries, the net profits of which are distributed for purposes beneficial to the community, are shown below. Housie remains the most popular of the licensed games of chance. From time to time the idea of establishing gambling casinos in New Zealand has been advanced. The long-standing government policy of not permitting casino gambling has been reviewed twice in recent years, but on each occasion has been reaffirmed.

The Gaming and Lotteries Act 1977 discarded many of the former restrictions. The basic principle that gambling may not be conducted for private gain was retained, but for minor forms of gambling it is not necessary to obtain licences or permits provided conditions laid down in the Act are met. Provision has also been made for the authorisation of additional forms of gambling if the public demand for them becomes sufficient. Some prohibitions are considered necessary in the public interest. Where large numbers of participants and substantial amounts of money could be involved, licences continue to be required. The 1977 Act identifies, and provides for the control of, four forms of gambling: games of chance (such as housie); bookmaking and betting (other than betting on horse racing and greyhound racing), prize competitions (such as football pools); and lotteries (previously called raffles). Horse and greyhound racing is controlled through the Racing Act 1971.

During the year ended 31 March 1986, a total of 55 $2 Golden Kiwi Jackpot lotteries, five $5 and 11 $10 lotteries, one $6 lottery, two $20 lotteries and four $25 lotteries were drawn. The net proceeds from the lotteries are distributed for philanthropic purposes. The New Zealand Lottery Board has the responsibility of apportioning profits of lotteries to various distributing authorities which consider applications for assistance and make grants.

Table 11.6. NEW ZEALAND LOTTERIES

Item1983–841984–851985–86
Number of lotteries878078
 $(000)
Gross sales96,496100,74897,749
Commission on sales7,2947,4587,102
Expenses4,2754,2694,927
Prizes57,67060,61858,184
Lottery duty9,64910,0749,775
Direct profit17,60818,32917,761
Source: Department of Internal Affairs.

Table 11.7. ALLOCATION OF LOTTERY PROFITS

Recipient1984–851985–861986–87
 $(000)
Welfare of Aged Persons Distribution Committee825825843
Welfare Services Distribution Committee2,5152,4152,422
Youth Services Distribution Committee1,050850852
Medical Research Distribution Committee1,700500505
Scientific Research Distribution Committee450400357
General Purposes Distribution Committee10,2159,8998,890
Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council3,2503,5003,709
Minister of Internal Affairs (s. 93)9431,178650
New Zealand Film Commission950750867
      Total21,89820,31719,095
Source: Department of internal Affairs.

Outdoor leisure activities

Fishing.

A wide variety of salt-water fish abound around the coasts, in bays and harbours, and in both the North and South Islands many streams, rivers, and lakes provide excellent rainbow and brown trout fishing.

Sizes of trout vary from district to district depending on environment, climate, food available, and the numbers of anglers. Average trout weights are as follows:

North Island—rainbow 1 kg and brown 2¼ kg in the Rotorua lakes; rainbow 2¼ kg and brown 2 kg in Lake Taupo; rainbow and brown 1 kg in river systems, 1–2 kg in acclimatisation society districts.

South Island—rainbow and brown 1–1½ kg in lake systems; sea-run brown 2¼ kg in West Coast rivers; sea-run quinnat salmon 5½ kg in the east coast rivers; land-locked salmon 1–1¼ kg.

Big-game fishing.

The warm waters off the east coast of the North Island provide some of the best surf, line, and spear fishing in the world. The main bases for line fishing from charter boats are at Whangaroa, Bay of Islands (Russell, Otehei Bay, and Waitangi), Tutukaka, Mercury Bay (Whitianga), and Tuaranga (Mayor Island).

The most prized catches are broadbill, black rnarlin, striped marlin and blue marlin, while other types of big-game fish found in New Zealand waters are mainly tiger shark, hammerhead shark, mako shark, thresher shark, kingfish (yellow tail), and tuna. The best catches are usually made in February but fishing is good from December to April.

Shooting and hunting.

The principal game birds are duck, swan, pheasant, quail, geese, and chukor, but the sport is limited, the main season usually extending for about six weeks from early May.

There are fewer restrictions on staiking—no limit on the number of game animals that can be taken, no licence required, and the season is open all year round. However, commercial hunting operations have severely limited the numbers or some game animals (deer of several species, elk, chamois, and thar) that once abounded in the forest and alpine regions. Wild pigs, goats, and wallaby are still numerous in several areas. For tourists and inexperienced hunters, a guide is essential for hunting.

Skiing.

The skiing season in New Zealand extends from mid-July to late October in the North Island, and from early June to late October in the South Island. Facilities at commercial ski-fields are of a high standard and equipment and professional instruction is available at reasonable rates.

In the North Island the main skiing centre is Mount Ruapehu in the Tongariro National Park. The main ski-fields are Whakapapa and Turoa, smaller club fields exist at Tukino and also on Mount Egmont.

In the South Island the principal ski areas are Coronet Peak, Remarkables Cardrona (Queenstown), Treble Cone (Wanaka), Mount Dobson, Mount Hutt, Tekapo, Ohau and Porter Heights. There are also several smaller club ski-fields and with the operation of ski-planes in the Mount Cook region and helicopters in many areas of the South island, access to other very good skiing is available to experienced skiers. Heli-skiing is available in the Ben Ohau Ranges, the Harris Mountains, the Two Thumb Range, the Mount Cook area and at Mount Hutt, Twizel, the Remarkables and Fox Peak.

Mountaineering and tramping.

The nearness of mountains and forests to the main centres of population in New Zealand encourages tramping. Both the North and South Islands have appealing tramping routes, and parties can set out to enjoy the beauty and challenge of lonely country. In the Waitakere and Hunua Ranges near Auckland, the central ranges of the North Island; Taranaki, Tongariro, and Urewera National Parks; and throughout the extensive parks and protected natural areas of the South Island, there are tracks through beautiful scenery. There are many commercial guides in New Zealand, who can introduce people to the great outdoors and each year the New Zealand Tourist and Publicity Department publishes a list of guides for tramping and mountaineering as well as many other outdoor activities.

Walking.

Since the New Zealand Walkway Commission was established in 1976, considerable emphasis has been placed on the development of walking tracks in both rural and urban areas throughout the country. These walking tracks vary in length from about half an hour's walk up to four or five days' journey for the St James Walkway in North Canterbury. In addition to ‘walkways’, government agencies and local authorities throughout New Zealand develop and maintain both short and long tracks. Some of the more famous are the Milford and Routeburn Tracks in Fiordland, and the Heaphy Track in Nelson, which all take several days to travel.

11.6 Tourism

New Zealand's natural assets have made it possible to build an international image as one of the world's most beautiful countries. The National Parks system and undeveloped areas, relatively unpolluted air and water, open spaces, and distinctive plants and animal life are becoming increasingly desirable to international visitors. The recent world-wide expansion of tourism, and changing visitor demands have, however, resulted in changes to what New Zealand offers as a destination. More travel-experienced visitors, coming from a wider range of countries have interests that now encompass skiing, tramping, walking, white-water rafting, and a variety of other activities. Visitors are more interested in getting ‘off the beaten track’, seeing how New Zealanders live and finding out more about the distinctive features of New Zealand. The rural landscape and farm-life, the towns and the pace of life, art and craft activity, and the multi-cultural mix all contribute to New Zealand's distinctive appeal. Emphasis is now placed on aspects of cultural and historical value, and there is interest in the development of the agricultural, pastoral, and horticultural industries.

International visitors—More than 700 000 overseas visitors now arrive in New Zealand annually. Visitor arrival numbers grew by 15.4 percent in the year ended 31 March 1986, compared with 15.2 percent in the previous year. There has been a growing diversification of countries from which overseas visitors originate.

Table 11.8. NUMBERS OF INTERNATIONAL VISITORS

Year Ended 31 MarchHolidayStay with Friends and RelativesBusinessOther*Total

* Includes work or working holiday, formal education, stopover, and unspecified.

† Excludes through passengers (defined as passengers who do not stay ashore in New Zealand).

Source: New Zealand Tourist and Publicity Department.

1982248,150108,98856,12859,315472,581
1983257,910114,75958,07456,915487,658
1984285,845116,79361,25054,553518,441
1985341,984127,58668,26959,156596,995
1986404,032140,48174,66169,899689,073

In the year ended 31 March 1986. very strong growth took place, continuing the trend which emerged in 1983–84. The Pacific region appears to have recovered from a downturn in tourism which saw international arrivals in New Zealand fall to only 2 percent growth in 1982. The New Zealand Tourism Council expects an average growth rate of at least 6.75 percent to be maintained through to the end of the 1980s

Table 11.9. COUNTRY OF ORIGIN OF INTERNATIONAL VISITORS, 1986*

CountryVisitors

* Year ended 31 March.

Source: New Zealand Tourist and Publicity Department.

Australia291,044
U.S.A.133,902
Japan52,204
England33,472
Canada32,157
Germany, Fed. Rep. of10,956
United Kingdom (not otherwise specified)7,560
Singapore8,448
Netherlands5,564
Fiji5,756
Switzerland4,858
Western Samoa5,416
Hong Kong4,564
Papua New Guinea3,953
Taiwan3,316
Tonga3,104
New Caledonia3,623
Tahiti (French Polynesia)3,296
Malaysia3,208
Sweden3,512
Scotland2,666
France2,517
Cook Islands2,193
South Africa1,680
Indonesia2,137

Domestic travel—During 1985–86, New Zealanders made 14.6 million trips away from home which included at least one night away, and spent 59.7 million person nights away. New Zealanders regard holidays as part of their lifestyle. Relaxation, socialising, new experiences, nostalgia, visiting friends and relatives and participation in sports and other special events are all reasons for a holiday, and New Zealanders often travel for a combination of these reasons.

Table 11.10. DOMESTIC TRAVEL DESTINATIONS. 1986*

DestinationProportionVisitors

* Year ended 31 March.

Source: New Zealand Tourist and Publicity Department.

 PercentNo.
Auckland142 465 000
Bay of Plenty91 630 000
Canterbury71 229 000
Waikato71 175 000
Northland61 108 000
Wellington61 006 000
Hawke's Bay5889,000
Tongariro5845,000
Thames Valley4795,000
Clutha/Central Otago4749,000
Manawatu4709,000
Taranaki3608,000
Coastal/North Otago3599,000
Southland3524,000
Aorangi (South Canterbury)3474,000
Nelson Bays3468,000
West Coast2412,000
Marlborough2411,000
Wanganui2402,000
East Cape2391,000
Horowhenua2341,000
Wairarapa1230,000

Impact of tourism.

Tourism has a beneficial direct and indirect impact on the economy. International visitors, in particular, make the industry a relatively high user of labour, a high earner of foreign exchange and a relatively low user of imports. Tourism is also capital intensive. Domestic visitors account for about half the expenditure on tourism, and nearly all this is spent on transport and accommodation. The combined value of domestic and international tourism is estimated at $1,750 million for the year ended 31 March 1986. The present level of tourism employment amounts to 90 000 jobs in the total economy.

Table 11.11. OVERSEAS CURRENCY RECEIPTS FROM TOURISM*

Year Ended 31 MarchAustraliaUnited StatesCanadaUnited KingdomJapanOtherTotal

* Recorded by origin of currency, not visitor.

Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

 NZ$(million)
1982145.176.96.337.38.724.2298.5
1983135.191.88.729.812.526.2304.2
1984164.9120.514.835.217.031.9384.3
1985237.8199.324.058.126.750.7596.6
1986220.0160.519.865.432.150.2548.0

The social consequences of tourism are largely beneficial, creating employment and stimulating a diversity of activities and facilities. The nature of New Zealand tourism encourages wide-ranging contact between residents and visitors, and this contact contributes to the current high acceptance of tourism by New Zealanders.

The largely unspoiled and unpolluted environment is a major attraction for visitors, and protection and wise management of resources ensures that tourism has a positive impact. Tourism increasingly provides an alternative economic justification for protection of the environment.

Transport used by tourists.

In order of use, bus/coach (57 percent), private (41 percent), and rental (33 percent) vehicles are the three most favoured means of internal transport for international visitors. Holiday visitors favour coach travel (46 percent) or rental cars (24 percent). Those visiting friends and relatives make much greater use of private cars (60 percent) compared to holiday visitors (6 percent). Business travellers prefer air transport (21 percent) and rental cars (21 percent). A small but significant proportion of holiday visitors use campervans (5 percent) and aircraft (5 percent) as their main transport type. Most visitors use several modes of transport.

Public transport is now highly developed within New Zealand, with scheduled air services to most areas and an extensive network of coach operations. Limited rail transport, passenger, and vehicular ferry services are also available. However, there is a trend for visitors to choose forms of transport offering greater flexibility, such as campervans. In 1982, regulations were amended to increase the maximum weight limitation on standard driving licences to 3500 kgs for overseas visitors. As a consequence, campervan operators were able to increase vehicle sizes and provide greater safety and comfort for campervan users. Rental cars are used at some stage by 33 percent of all visitors to New Zealand. Several major rental car firms operate in New Zealand and the number has been increasing. The average size of rental cars has decreased in recent years.

Japanese travellers' use of transport varies considerably from other markets. The more structured style of holiday preferred is seen in the high use of air transport and coaches and low rental-car use. German holiday visitors' liking for outdoor activities is reflected in their high use of campervans (13 percent) and hitchhiking (34.5 percent). American holiday visitors make greater use of aircraft (53 percent) and coaches (70 percent) during their visits. Domestic travellers and international visitors staying in private homes usually choose private transport. Cook Strait appears to be a major physical and psychological barrier to North and South Islanders, who main holiday within their own islands.

Tourist accommodation.

Commercial accommodation has undergone several distinct stages of development, resulting in today's wide variety of facilities. It includes private hotels, guest houses, tavern/hotels, tourist flats, motels, camping grounds, motor lodges, international standard hotels, cabins, chalets, skiing, hunting and fishing lodges, and farm/home-hosting. Accommodation patterns vary greatly between regions, depending on local population, terrain and climate.

International visitors make up 41 percent of hotel guests and 17 percent of motel guests. New Zealand business travellers are the major domestic users of hotel accommodation of those surveyed (86 percent). Resort hotels attract a high proportion of overseas visitors. The trend is towards visitors using several types of accommodation, with substantial increases in the use of camping, hotel and home-hosting facilities. The main forms of accommodation used by international visitors are licensed hotel (27.5 percent), friends/relatives (25.5 percent), motel (25.0 percent), and camping ground (7.0 percent). International visitors here to visit friends and relatives do not use much commercial accommodation, 87 percent stay mainly in private homes.

Most forms of commercial accommodation, especially in smaller centres, are subject to very seasonal occupancy rates. Queenstown commercial accommodation occupancy rates varied from below 20 percent in June to 86 percent in March (1983–84). Fiordland, West Coast, and Bay of Islands (30 percent June; 85 percent March) show similar fluctuations. Overall occupancy rates for hotels and motels in New Zealand have been low by international standards, but are increasing. Other forms of accommodation such as home-hosting, campervans and hostels are attracting a larger proportion of visitors and there is an ample supply of medium- and lower-price range hotel and motel accommodation. Alternative forms are more actively promoted than in the past and the competition they provide has led to increased pressure on hotels and motels to form chains for marketing and forward reservations. Seasonal price variations are also becoming evident and the consumer is benefitting from the increased competition between and within the different forms of accommodation.

Table 11.12. ACCOMMODATION INVENTORY*

RegionsTourist Flats and CabinsFarm Home/Host Beds and BunksYouth Hostels and YMCA BedsHotel RoomsMotel UnitsBaches

* As at March 1986.

Source: New Zealand Tourist and Publicity Department.

Northland1961921249961,1902,385
Auckland (incl. Gt. Barrier is)1092653023,7641,7695,671
Waikato12264624408567959
Thames Valley19030362194053,737
Bay of Plenty3684851231,89816122,304
East Cape1134138465279263
Tongariro2823026806121,879
Taranaki917342736365357
Hawke's Bay21817660667593693
Wanganui433840577280209
Horowhenua93181841661,873
Manawatu2291315301742
Wairarapa526121591477
Wellington6159671,777597150
Nelson Bays1719652494363642
Marlborough162122603964021,218
West Coast146281011,014357634
Canterbury2713601992,4491,1142,574
Aorangi198238731,205584982
Coastal-North Otago1521021589953261,637
Clutha-Central Otago3233291461,5314642,817
Southland14715899552268915
Chatham Islands9
      Total, New Zealand3 5303 9101 44421,53812,70533,127

Facilities for visitors.

In recent years, there has been a marked trend toward more active, participatory holidays. Two elements contribute to this. Visitors want new experiences, and there is also a much greater diversity of things to do. The impetus for the development of new activities is provided by New Zealanders, both as domestic visitors and residents. As visitors now expect activities and amenities to complement New Zealand's scenic attractions, and are also looking for an insight into another culture and lifestyles, attractions and facilities developed primarily for the local or national community are increasingly used by visitors.

Community facilities include the following: community centres (including meeting venues, hobby facilities and recreation areas); theatres, art galleries (including associated theatre companies, amateur dramatic groups); choirs, national, regional, and local orchestras, and dance companies; collectives (such as the arts centre in Christchurch); libraries, display centres for items/news of local interest; radio and television stations; movie theatres; churches and events organised by church groups; local parks and gardens; playgrounds, reserves, zoos; botanical gardens; racecourses (and associated refreshment and entertainment facilities); sports facilities including golf courses, public swimming pools, bowling alleys, sportsfields, and major sports stadiums such as Queen Elizabeth II Park and Mt Smart Stadium; shopping centres; university and other open educational institutions; youth, sports, cultural or hobby grounds and their facilities; organised sport; and maraes.

A second category is dual purpose facilities, either consciously developed for use by residents and visitors, or developed into tourism attractions and includes the following: historic buildings and sites (including memorials, pa and battle sites, and famous buildings such as the Waitangi Treaty House); coffee shops, restaurants, bars, cabarets and nightclubs in non-resort areas; wildlife parks; reserves (such as the gannet sanctuary at Cape Kidnappers); recreation parks (such as Fantasyland in Hastings, Rainbow's End at Auckland), and small complexes with minigolf and bumper boats; local recreational facilities (such as canoeing on the River Avon, waterslides); horseriding, walkways and tracks (within urban green belts and in National and Forest Parks and reserves); museums (regional, historical or theme); certain churches (in particular those of architectural or historical significance such as Old St Paul's, Wellington, First Church, Dunedin, St Paul's Memorial Church, Putiki); scenic drives in urban areas (marked for the benefit of residents and visitors); lookout towers or peaks (maintained by the local community); skifields and facilities; tramping huts and shelters; local industries which open to the public (but for which tourism is a sideline—often not charged for); airports, railway and bus stations, and marinas; local festivals and competitions (such as the Golden Shears (Masterton), the Cherry Blossom Festival (Alexandra), and the Round the Bays Run (Auckland)); casual buskers, street dancers, actors and other performers.

Some facilities have been developed specifically for tourism (whether international or domestic) including the following: souvenir shops; guided tours and sightseeing trips by all means of transport (including coach, taxi, jetboat, raft, plane); agricultural demonstrations (such as the Rotorua Agrodome and Queenstown Cattledrome); large-scale heritage and theme parks with entrance fees, such as the Museum of Transport and Technology (Auckland), Shantytown (Greymouth), Ferrymead Historic Park (Christchurch), and often a high degree of community involvement; duty-free shopping facilities; rides (such as Shotover River jet, helicopter flights, glacier excursions, steamer cruises, river rafting); guided hunting, fishing and tramping excursions: activities such as gold panning (Shantytown), 3-D maze (Wanaka); carving, glassblowing, greenstone jewellery demonstrations; hiring of gear for all types of outdoor recreation (including yacht charters, ski hire, fishing and hunting equipment, camping gear, horses, bikes, hang-gliding); information centres (especially in national parks or resorts areas); guided walks (such as the Milford, Heaphy, and Routeburn walks).

Assistance to tourism.

Since 1978 the Development Finance Corporation has been a major source of loans and guarantees to encourage the building of new accommodation and facilities of an acceptable modem standard, and the extension of existing hotels and motels where there is a significant shortage of accommodation. There are special depreciation allowances for taxation purposes which apply to approved accommodation projects. The development of New Zealand tourism is encouraged by the Export Marketing Development Incentive, which provides a 67.5 percent tax rebate for certain types of expenditure incurred in promoting New Zealand tourism internationally, and by the Export Performance Incentive and the Export Promotion Grants Scheme, which provide tax rebates or grants to approved projects. These are, however, gradually being phased out. Regionally-based tourism development and marketing is assisted by the Regional Promotional Assistance Scheme.

New Zealand Tourist and Publicity Department.

The Tourist and Publicity Department is responsible for the co-ordinated promotion of New Zealand overseas as a tourism destination, and encourages and stimulates domestic tourism. A comprehensive travel service, and information and advisory services for the tourism industry are provided. Domestic offices are located at Auckland, Rotorua, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, and Queenstown. International offices are located at Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Singapore, Tokyo, Osaka, Frankfurt, London, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Vancouver. Through the National Publicity Studios and National Film Unit, the department also supplies general New Zealand publicity material, publications, films, photographs and displays for use within New Zealand and overseas to create a background knowledge of New Zealand.

New Zealand Tourism Council.

Established in 1982, the council is a 12-member advisory body to the Government. It has an independent chairperson, with members drawn largely from the private tourism sector. A permanent subcommittee of the council, the Tourism Marketing Group, widens industry involvement in the review of marketing policies and initiatives. The secretariat is provided by the New Zealand Tourist and Publicity Department.

New Zealand Tourist Industry Federation.

Established in 1984, the Tourist Industry Federation represents a wide range of national associations, industry members, and regional groups connected with the tourism industry. It serves as the united voice of the New Zealand tourism industry.

Further information

Arts and cultural activities

Details on literature awards and grants can be obtained from the New Zealand Literary Fund c/- Department of Internal Affairs, Private Bag, Wellington. Further information on the arts can be found in the following official publications.

Report of the Board of Trustees, National Art Gallery, National Museum, and National War Memorial (Parl. paper G. 12).

Report of the Department of Internal Affairs (Parl. paper. G. 7).

Report of the New Zealand Film Commission (Parl. paper G. 19).

Report of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (Parl. paper G. 10).

Report of the New Zealand Lottery Board (Parl. paper G. 7 B).

Report of the Queen Elizabeth the Second Arts Council of New Zealand (Parl. paper G. 11).

Books and libraries

See the bibliography, Books about New Zealand at the end of this volume.

Report of the Trustees of the National Library of New Zealand (Parl. paper G. 13).

Radio and television

Report of the Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand (Parl. paper F. 3).

Report of the Broadcasting Tribunal (Parl. paper F. 4).

Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Broadcasting and Related Telecommunications in New Zealand. Government Printing Office, 1986.

Recreation and sport

Freshwater Catch. Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (quarterly magazine).

New Zealand Recreation Survey. New Zealand Council for Recreation and Sport, 1977.

Report of the Department of Internal Affairs (Parl. paper G. 7).

Report of the Department of Lands and Survey (Parl. paper C. 1).

Report of the Director-General of Forests (Parl. paper C. 3).

Report of the New Zealand Council for Recreation and Sport (Parl. paper E. 20).

Report of the New Zealand Lottery Board (Parl. paper G. 7A).

Report of the Queen Elizabeth the Second National Trust (Parl. paper C. 2).

The New Zealand Council for Recreation and Sport has been associated with a number of publications mainly offering guidance on club administration, etc., and also produces three regular newsletters.

Tourism

New Zealand Tourism: Issues and Policies. New Zealand Tourism Council/Tourist and Publicity Department, 1984.

Tourist and Publicity Department Annual Report (Parl. paper G. 25).

Tourist Hotel Corporation Annual Report (Parl. paper G. 24).

A full list of research and other publications is available from the New Zealand Tourist and Publicity Department, Private Bag, Wellington.

Chapter 12. Employment

12.1 Labour force

Broadly, the labour force is the working population aged 15 years and over, including jobless people who are seeking work. The main source of labour-force data is the Department of Statistics, which collects information in two ways:

  • ○ Through the Household Labour Force Survey (which produces labour-force information every three months, based on a sample of approximately 12 000 households); and

  • ○ Through the five-yearly Census of Population and Dwellings (which collects labour-force information from everyone aged 15 years and over).

Another source of labour force data is the Department of Labour, which conducts a Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) to determine the number of jobs in various industries. Because this survey counts jobs rather than people, those holding two jobs are counted twice. The QES also omits the agricultural industry and some minor industries, as well as firms having only one employee. The Department of Labour also produces other labour-force related statistics on such things as the number of job vacancies reported to it, the number of people in subsidised work, and the number of unemployed people registering with its Employment and Vocational Guidance Service.

Official definitions of the labour force have changed as new sources of statistics have been developed, as labour market conditions have changed, and as different sources have attempted to standardise their definitions. One area of change concerns part-time workers. Until recently, both the Departments of Statistics and Labour excluded these people from their estimates of the labour force. With the launching of the Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) in September 1985, however, the Statistics Department, in accordance with International Labour Organisation (ILO) guidelines, began counting part-time workers in the labour force. The Statistics Department has also changed its definition of part-time work, from ‘less than 20 hours per week’ to ‘less than 30’, bringing it into line with the Department of Labour's definition. These changes apply not only to the Household Labour Force Survey but also to statistics from the 1986 census.

The current census and Household Labour Force Survey definitions of the labour force count ali those who work for pay or profit (including unpaid family members working 15 hours or more in a family-owned enterprise) plus unemployed people who are ‘actively’ seeking work or are about to start a job.

Household Labour Force Survey

This survey provides a comprehensive range of statistics relating to the employed, unemployed, and ‘not actively engaged’, members of New Zealand's working-age population.

Before the Household Labour Force Survey there was a lack of statistics describing labour supply and of acceptably accurate unemployment statistics. The only available source of official statistics on the total working-age population was the five-yearly Census of Population and Dwellings, which was unable to describe conditions and developments in the labour force over the short- to medium-term. The only regularly available unemployment statistics were the registration figures from the employment service of the Department of Labour.

The Household Labour Force Survey provides an improved information base for the implementation of an active employment policy. Along with their various demographic characteristics, such as age, ethnicity, and education, unemployed job-seekers are asked what steps they have taken to find a job, how long they have been seeking work, and what type of job they want. The employed are asked basic questions about their hours of work, occupation, and industry, as well as what steps they have taken to find another job, and whether they wish to work more or fewer hours. Working-age persons who are neither employed nor unemployed are asked what their main activity was during the survey reference week, whether they previously held a job, and, if so, what type of job they had and the reason for leaving it.

Since the survey results show both quarterly changes and the characteristics of key labour-force groups, the impact of broad economic, social and technological changes on the labour force can be assessed. Such an understanding of the labour market is most important for both economic and social analysis.

Information from the survey is consistent with International Labour Organisation recommendations, and uses concepts and definitions closely following those used in Australia, Canada, and the United States. (Some definitions used in the survey are given below.) The survey is conducted continually with results calculated quarterly. The quarterly statistics are averages for the three-month period, removing the within-quarter irregularities inherent in a fixed-point survey estimate. Statistics are released within two months of the end of the quarter.

Coverage. The survey population for the Household Labour Force Survey is the total usually resident, civilian, non-institutionalised population aged 15 years and over. Outside the scope of the survey are the following people:

  • ○ Long-term residents (i.e. six weeks or more) of old people's homes, hospitals and psychiatric institutions;

  • ○ Inmates of penal institutions;

  • ○ Members of the New Zealand permanent armed forces;

  • ○ Diplomats and foreign members of their staff and households;

  • ○ Members of foreign armed forces stationed in New Zealand and their dependants;

  • ○ Overseas visitors who have been resident in New Zealand for less than 12 months and who do not propose to stay for a total period of more than 12 months; and

  • ○ Children under 15 years of age.

Method of collection.

Data are collected from respondents by way of two interviewer-administered questionnaires. The first, a household questionnaire, collects demographic data about all members of the household. The second, a personal questionnaire, is administered to each member of the household coming within the scope of the survey, and collects data about the labour-force activity of all these persons, whether they are employed, unemployed, or not in the labour force.

The sample—Approximately 12 000 households are interviewed each quarter. The sample is selected using a two-stage stratified cluster design. Households are sampled on a statistically-representative random basis from the rural and urban areas throughout the North and South islands. One-eighth of the sampled households are rotated out of the survey each quarter and replaced by a new sample of households. The overlap of the sample from one survey quarter to the next improves estimates of labour force changes. Both private and non-private dwellings are included in the sample.

Field procedures—In the first quarter of the survey (December 1985) all the questionnaires were administered as a personal interview at the sampled dwellings. Personal interviews also take place when dwellings come into the sample for the first time. Subsequent quarterly interviews are conducted by telephone whenever possible. The survey is the first by the Department of Statistics to use telephones as a prime method of data collection. If possible, each member of the household coming within the scope of the survey population is interviewed. However, proxy interviews with another responsible adult are allowed. Each personal interview takes about 30 minutes, and each telephone interview about 10 minutes.

There are about 90 interviewers and fieldwork is administered by four regional offices: Auckland North, Auckland South, Wellington and Christchurch.

Definitions.

The labour force category to which a person is assigned depends on his or her actual activity (i.e., whether working, seeking work, etc.) during a survey reference week. The following definitions, which conform closely to the international standard definitions specified by the International Labour Organisation, are used:

Working-age population—The usually-resident, non-institutionalised, civilian population, aged 15 years and over.

Labour force—Members of the working-age population who are classified during their survey reference week as ‘employed’ or ‘unemployed’ as defined below.

The employed—All persons in the working-age population who during the reference week:

  • ○ Worked for one hour or more for pay or profit; or

  • ○ Worked without pay for 15 hours or more in work which contributed directly to the operation of a farm, business, or professional practice owned or operated by a relative;

  • ○ Had a job but were not at work due to their own illness or injury, personal or family responsibilities, bad weather or mechanical breakdown, direct involvement in an industrial dispute, or were on leave or holiday.

The unemployed—All persons in the working-age population who, during their reference week, were without a paid job, were available for work, and had actively looked for work in the previous four weeks, or had a new job to start within four weeks.

Persons not in the labour force—Any person who is neither employed, nor unemployed as defined above, is deemed to be ‘not in the labour force’. This includes people in the following categories: retired persons, persons with personal or family responsibilities such as unpaid housework and child care; persons attending educational institutions; persons permanently unable to work due to physical or mental handicaps; persons who were temporarily unavailable for work in the reference week; and persons who do not want work.

Unemployment rate—The term used to describe the number of unemployed expressed as a percentage of the labour force.

Labour-force participation rate—The number in the labour force expressed as a percentage of the working-age population.

Full-time workers—Those who actually worked 30 hours or more in the survey reference week. Those who usually work 30 hours or more, but who did no work in the survey reference week because of sickness, holiday, etc., are also classified as full-time workers.

Part-time workers—Those who actually worked fewer than 30 hours in the survey reference week. Persons who usually work fewer than 30 hours, but who did no work in the survey reference week because of sickness, holidays, etc., are also classified as part-timers.

Reliability of survey estimates.

The results of the Household Labour Force Survey are estimates. Two types of error are possible in an estimate based on a sample survey: non-sampling error and sampling error. Non-sampling errors include inaccuracies in reporting by respondents, errors in recording, coding or processing of data. Every effort has been made in the survey to reduce the non-sampling error to a minimum by careful design and testing of the questionnaires, intensive training and supervision of interviewers, use of standardised operating procedures, and accurate processing of survey data.

Sampling error is a measure of the variability that occurs by chance because a sample, rather than an entire population, is surveyed. The size of sampling error possibilities has been controlled by the size of sample and the use of random selection, stratification and sample allocation techniques.

Preliminary calculations were made of possible sampling errors in the survey. These show the sampling errors that it would be most prudent to allow for when using the statistics, although actual errors will normally be less. For example, when the survey result gives an estimated figure of 100 000, the maximum sampling error possible is 6200. This means that the ‘true’ value could be as much as 106 200, or as little as 93 800. Table 12.1 gives more examples.

Table 12.1. HOUSEHOLD LABOUR FORCE SURVEY SAMPLING ERRORS (PRELIMINARY ESTIMATES)

ResultSampling Error*Percentage Error
* Equivalent to the 95 percent confidence interval half-width calculations have been based on simple random sampling concepts.
       1 00060060.0
     10 0002,00020.0
   100 0006,1006.1
1 000 00015,0001.5

As the size of the survey result increases, the percentage sampling error decreases. Conversely, sampling errors for survey results under 1000 are large, making the results highly unreliable.

Response rates.

Response rates for the first five quarters of the Household Labour Force Survey were: December 1985, 83.8 percent; March 1986, 88.1 percent; June 1986, 90.2 percent; September 1986, 90.3 percent; and December 1986, 90.4 percent.

Survey results.

Data are published each quarter. Since the September 1986 quarter detailed results have been published in the quarterly publication The New Zealand Labour Force. Table 12.2 presents key statistics for each quarter of the survey.

Table 12.2. THE LABOUR FORCE*

QuarterLabour ForceNot in Labour ForceWorking-age PopulationLabour Force Participation RateUnemployment Rate
EmployedUnemployed

* Based on quarterly Household Labour Force Surveys.

† Civilian, non-institutionalised, usually resident New Zealand population aged 15 and over.

 (000)percent
 Male
December 1985888.730.0243.31 162.079.13.3
March 1986894.633.5238.31 166.479.63.6
June 1986886.033.0245.51 164.578,93.6
September 1986877.531.0252.61 161.278.23.4
December 1986880.131.9252.01 164.078.43.5
 Female
December 1985648.130.5535.31 213.955.94.5
March 1986627.434.0558.31 219.854.25.1
June 1986630.931.4559.61 221.954.24.7
September 1986631.629.4559.31 220.354.24.5
December 1986639.429.6553.21 222.254.74.4
 Total
December 19851 536.860.5778.62 375.867.23.8
March 19851 522.167.5796.62 386.266.64.2
June 19861 516.964.4805.12 386.466.34.1
September 19861 509.160.5811.92 381.565.93.9
December 19861 519.561.5805.22 386.266.33.9

Size and growth of the labour force

New Zealand's total labour force (both full-time and part-time) has grown steadily, from 914 712 persons at the 1961 census to 1 605 030 persons at the 1986 census—an increase of 690 318 or 75.5 percent, during the 25-year period. By comparison, the total New Zealand population of working age (15 years and over) increased more slowly, from 1 616 042 at the 1961 census to 2 476 041 at the 1986 census, a growth during the period of 859 399 or 53.2 percent.

The faster growth in the total labour force relative to the total population of working age is reflected in an increase in total labour-force participation from 56.6 percent to 64.8 percent during the 1961–86 intercensal period.

Labour force growth and changes in total labour-force participation levels have varied markedly between males and females between 1961 and 1986. The male labour force grew from 674 578 at the 1961 census to 935 049 at the 1986 census, an increase of 260 471 or 37.7 percent. In contrast, the female labour force increased markedly, from 240 134 to 669 981, a growth of 429 847 or 179.0 percent.

In contrast to male labour-force participation, which decreased steadily during the intercensal period 1961–86, female labour-force participation has increased rapidly. This has resulted in a marked change in the sex distribution within the labour force. At the 1961 census 73.7 percent of the total labour force were males but by the 1986 census this figure had fallen to 58.3 percent.

The size of the total labour force depends upon changes in the supply of and demand for labour. Some of the demographic, social and economic factors which impact on labour supply and demand are discussed later in this chapter.

In the graph below, the historical trends in the male, female and total labour force and in the working-age population over the intercensal period 1961–86 can be seen. The corresponding projections to the year 2011 provide an indication of the likely future labour force supply and working-age population.

According to these projections, New Zealand's total supply of labour is expected to grow by a further 397 000 to reach approximately 2 million by the year 2011. Both the male and female labour force are projected to increase steadily to reach 1 118 000 and 883 000 respectively, by that year. Most of the growth in the female labour force is projected to occur over the next 10 years when the participation rates of females are expected to increase moderately. In contrast, the number of males in the labour force will increase steadily because of an increasing male working-age population, although the participation of males will fall marginally,

By the year 2011, 73.9 percent of the male population and 56.5 percent of the female population aged 15 years and over will be in the labour force. This will represent a ratio of 126 males to 100 females in the labour force.

These projections were derived from the 1985-base New Zealand Population Projections series described in section 5.6, by applying projected age-sex specific labour-force participation rates to the projected population. Participation rates were generally assumed to decrease slightly for males and increase moderately for females during the period 1986–96 and thereafter to remain constant. It must be stressed that these are projections and not predictions. They measure the future labour force supply based on the specified assumptions, and should only be used as approximate guidelines.

Table 12.3 shows the full-time and part-time labour force at the 1986 Census of Population and Dwellings, by age group and sex. For that census the traditional coverage of employment-related questions was reintroduced (this had been changed for the 1981 census). Overseas visitors aged 15 years and over in the country on census night were again required to complete all the questions on the personal questionnaire.

Table 12.3. AGE AND SEX OF THE LABOUR FORCE. 1986 CENSUS*

Age Group (Years)MalesFemales
Full-time in Labour ForcePart-time in Labour ForceFull-time as Percentage of Total Labour ForceFull-time in Labour ForcePart-time in Labour ForceFull-time as Percentage of Total Labour Force
* Provisional population resident in New Zealand. Data on work status have been subject to a process of random rounding. All figures including totals, have been rounded using simple random rounding to base three. Individual figures therefore will not necessarily sum to give the stated totals.
15–1980,16019,22480.766,79222,51274.8
20–24119,8479,22584.088,59015,06685.5
25–29118,3326,87989.359,84124,35471.1
30–34109,8665,75795.045,09033,41757.4
35–39109,5515,17595.55126436,04858.7
40–4487,8374,02095.646,32026,24163.8
45–4975,5223,78695.239,91520,64065.9
50–5464,4553,70894.628,54515,74464.4
55–5961,2154,62693.019,653il 94662.2
60 and over33,33912,47172.89,0068,96750.1
      Total860,16674,88392.0455,040214,94167.9
Percentage of population70.86.236.117.0

Because of changes in definitions, 1986 census statistics on the full- and part-time labour force cannot be directly compared with similar series from the 1981 census. For the 1986 census the full time labour force comprised those persons aged 15 years and over working 30 hours or more per week or those unemployed and seeking full-time work. Those persons aged 15 years and over working 1–29 hours per week or unemployed and seeking part-time work, formed the part-time labour force, whereas in the 1981 and earlier censuses the cut-off point between full-time and part-time was 20 hours per week.

There was a clear structural difference between the male and female participation rates in the total labour force at the 1986 census. The overall participation rate for the male population (aged 15 years and over) was much higher, 77.7 percent compared with 53.1 percent for females. Some of the reasons for this disparity are discussed in more detail in the following section.

The impact of education can be seen in the total participation rates for the 15–19, and to a lesser extent the 20–29 years, age groups where there are large numbers of students in the not working' category.

Participation rates for the total labour force then peak until the age group 35–39 years and remain steady until the age group 50–54 years. There the recent changes in retirement patterns—earlier retirement and redundancy—begin to take effect.

Women in the labour force

Increasing participation levels of women at all working ages in both the full-time and part-time labour force, show their changing role in society. Women are now living in a more career-oriented environment than previous generations and in many cases are having to work as of economic necessity. This is especially evident in the increases in the female labour force numbers and is also consistent with later marriage, more childless marriages and changes in the time patterns of commitment to child rearing. These trends, which are common to most developed countries, tend to be less advanced in New Zealand than in similar societies.

The total New Zealand female labour force at the 1986 Census of Population and Dwellings numbered 669 981, of which 455 040 were full-time workers and 214 941 part-time workers. At the 1981 census the corresponding total figure was 550 863.

Analysis of the work status of females resident in New Zealand aged 15 years and over show that there are 218 664 ‘married’ women in the full-time labour force compared with 179 889 ‘never married’ women. In the part-time labour force the figures contrast sharply, 153 453 women being ‘married’ and only 38 769 women never married', partly a reflection of family responsibilities. (By definition ‘married’ includes the ‘first marriage’ and ‘remarried’ categories.)

Of the 214 941 females in the part-time labour force, 57 297 are aged 45 years and over, with a large number of these being in the ‘manned’ group. These figures indicate the return of many women to the work force after children.

National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women (NACEW).

The National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women was set up in 1967. It is composed of a chairperson and 12 other members. The chairperson and six council members are appointed by the Minister of Employment for their knowledge and experience in women's employment matters. The remaining six members represent the major employee and employer organisations in the private and public sectors, and the Departments of Labour and Education.

The council's primary function is to advise the Minister of Employment on all matters relating to the employment of women: for example, equal opportunity for girls and women in employment and training, parental leave, child care and the social security system as it affects women.

A second function is to promote greater public knowledge and understanding of women's employment and its implications. Accordingly, the council has made submissions to bodies such as the Commission of Inquiry into Equal Pay, the Select Committee on the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Bill and to the Department of Social Welfare on benefit reform.

Thirdly, in co-operation with the Department of Labour, which provides secretarial assistance to NACEVV, the council has published statistics and other material on women's employment issues: promoted research into the employment of women and related topics such as industrial childcare; and promoted schemes to explore ways of assisting disadvantaged groups of women in the paid workforce.

Part-time work

At the 1986 Census of Population and Dwellings 287 824 persons were members of the part-time labour force, of these 74 883 were males and 214 941 females.

Exactly comparable figures from the 1981 census cannot be derived because of the changes in definition discussed above. However, if such a direct comparison could be made there is no doubt that the figures would show a significant increase in the part-time labour force, more especially for females.

The 1986 census age-specific participation rates for the part-time workforce not only vary with age group but are also different from those for the corresponding full-time labour force. Participation rates for the part-time category are higher in the 15–19 years than the 20–29 years age group because of the labour market factors of youth employment and tertiary education. From age group 30–39 years to age group 45–49 years the level of participation is quite constant, with a peak of 17.2 percent for the 35–39 years of age group. In the 50–59 years group there is still a comparatively high level of part-time labour force participation resulting from the levels of demand for labour in particular occupations and industries, and the impact of retirement and redundancy from the full-time labour force.

The participation rate for males in the part-time labour force is much lever than that for females at all ages. This reflects the varying employment patterns of males and females by occupation and industry.

Employment status

Analysis of trends in employment status during the intercensal period 1981–86 is not possible because the 1986 census used a new definition of the full-time labour force in terms of hours worked per week. Also, the categories of employment status were made common to both the full-time and part-time labour for the 1986 census. Previously a separate set of status characteristics was adopted for the part-time work force.

A number of observations can be made from the figures in table 12.4. Firstly, the dominance of males in the ‘employer of others in own business’ and ‘self employed and not employing others’ categories. At the 1986 census 20.8 percent of males were employed in these two categories, compared with 9.6 percent of females. In contrast, ‘wage or salary earners’ constitute 73.5 percent of the total male labour force, in comparison with females where the corresponding figure is 79.0 percent.

A higher proportion of women are ‘unpaid workers in family businesses’—2.2 percent compared with 0.5 percent of males. Also, females have a higher level of unemployment than males, a situation which is discussed in more detail in section 12.2, Unemployment.

Table 12.4. EMPLOYMENT STATUS OF THE LABOUR FORCE. 1986 CENSUS*

Age Group (Years)Employer of Others in Own BusinessSelf-Employed and Not EmployingWage or Salary EarnerUnpaid Worker in FamilyUnemployed and Seeking WorkNot SpecifiedTotal
* Persons resident In New Zealand working one or more hours per week plus persons unemployed and seeking work
 Males
15–1935489178,97258217,93464899,384
20–2418606,102109,56638710,233927129,072
25–296,58213,16198,1303545,5321,455125,211
30–3411,72715,79582,5123813,4501,758115,623
35–3915,16516,90577,6854202,5322,022114,729
40–4413,53013,85160,5464051,8331,68691,857
45–4911,34611,91352,8003691,5211,35679,308
50–548,5389,87646,7313871,5121,11668,163
55–597,2429,52245,7683961,92399065,844
60–643,8705,54117,14858895755228,656
65 and over2,6585,1037,30873575659717,154
Not specified272754
      Total82,875108,654677,1965,00448,18013,140935,049
 Females
15–1927930969,26434218,62448089,301
20–248251,92688,87868710,689654103,656
25–292,3734,30566,8551,8157,88796384,195
30–343,9246,03057,9062,5026,759138378,504
35–395,0226,94865,3762,6075,6191,73787,312
40–444,3835,63755,5061,9293,7351,37472,561
45–493,5164,56346,9921,5902,8591,03860,558
50–542,3283,48034,5091,1732,07972344,292
55–591,4582,60724,6759271,41951331,602
60–646661,2248,19059450125811,430
65 and over4621,0533,8224834173126,540
Not specified61827
      Total25,23338,088521,96714,65860,5889 447669,981

industrial structure of the labour force

The industrial structure of the New Zealand labour force over the last 30 years has shown a continued shift of employment away from primary and secondary to tertiary industries. This follows a trend that has become established throughout the West.

The December 1986 quarterly Household Labour Force Survey shows that about 60 percent of the workforce is concentrated in the four service industry groups (wholesale and retail trade; transport, storage and communications; financing, insurance, real estate, etc; and community, social and personal services). This concentration is even more marked amongst females—almost three-quarters of the female labour force works in the service industries. Furthermore, one-third of females work in the community, social and personal services industrial group, which encompasses both a large number and wide variety of industries (e.g. central government administration, sanitary services, education, research, health, welfare, amusement, and repair and cleaning services).

The largest single industrial division for male employment continues to be manufacturing and overall, 36 percent of males work in secondary industries (manufacturing; electricity, gas and water; and building and construction). However, where there was an average of 28 percent of the total population in this secondary sector in the December 1986 quarter. This is a decrease from the 47 percent at the time of the 1966 census.

The primary sector (which includes agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing; and mining and quarrying) employs about 11 percent of the total population. This proportion has dropped steadily since the 1950s in line with the decreasing importance of agriculture to the New Zealand economy over the same period.

Table 12.5. INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE OF THE LABOUR FORCE. DECEMBER 1986 QUARTER*

Industry' PlacementMaleFemaleTotal

* Household Labour Force Survey.

† New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification.

Agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing111.952.2164.1
Mining and quarrying5.35.3
Manufacturing207.996.0303.9
Electricity, gas and water14.72.617.3
Building and construction93.511.4104.9
Wholesale and retail trade, etc.,137.4158.4295.7
Transport, storage and communications80.831.4112.2
Financing, insurance, real estate, etc.61.869.8131.6
Community, social, personal services162.6214.2376.8
Not specified4.33.57.8
      Total880.1639.41 519.5

Occupational structure of the labour force

The New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations lists eight major occupational groups defined in terms of the work a person performs. The distribution of persons among the occupation groups has remained relatively stable over time. The December 1986 quarter results of the Household Labour Force Survey show that the occupation group described as ‘production workers, transport equipment operators and labourers’ remains the largest group overall. Approximately 30 percent of the labour force has occupations in this group, with the concentration being most marked among males, where it accounts for 42.7 percent of employment.

There are quite different occupation distributions for males and females. Women are heavily concentrated in the ‘clerical workers’ occupation group, with 30 percent of women in that group. This group includes jobs such as typist, cashier, computer machine operator, telephone operator and library; assistant. Furthermore. 74 percent of all clerical workers were women. There are two other occupation groups in which traditional female occupations feature and where women outnumber men. These groups are ‘service workers’ where women comprise 68 percent of workers and ‘sales workers’ where the proportion is 51 percent.

In contrast, men are predominant in the ‘production’ and ‘administrative and managerial’ occupation groups where, in each case, they comprise more than 80 percent of persons in the group. The latter group includes senior government administrators, legislative officials and other managers. Males also continue to outnumber women in the agriculture-related occupations, and, more marginally, in the ‘professional, technical’ group (although in this case certain individual occupations such as nursing and teaching are largely the domain of women).

Table 12.6. OCCUPATIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE LABOUR FORCE. DECEMBER 1986 QUARTER*

Occupational GroupMaleFemaleTotal
* Household Labour Force Survey.
Professional, technical, etc.121.9109.4231.3
Administrative and managerial58.912.170.9
Clerical and related69.0197.1266.2
Sales82.786.3169.0
Service47.0100.4147.4
Agricultural, forestry, etc.119.548.7168.2
Production, transport, labourers376.282.1458.3
Not specified4.83.48.2
      Total880,1639.41 519.5

Vocational training

Apprenticeship.

Each year around 8000 apprentices begin contracts in the 36 industries with organised trade training. Typically contracts last for 8000 or 9000 working hours (four or four and a half years), although the trend is towards shorter training periods. Training is essentially carried out on the job, but is usually augmented by technical institute courses.

New Zealand apprenticeship committees, which are tripartite in constitution, are established for each industry. They ensure that training patterns and conditions of employment for apprentices are appropriate and allow apprentices to learn the trade skills needed in that industry. At the local level, a network of industry-based local committees exist to promote apprenticeship training and assist apprentices and employers with any difficulties that may arise.

Over recent years there have been a number of government initiatives to reform trade training. To assist industries with the reform process various financial incentives are offered. A number of full-time trade training courses have also been piloted in technical institutes.

Table 12.7. APPRENTICESHIP CONTRACTS IN SELECTED INDUSTRIES*

IndustryContracts Begun During YearCompleted During YearTotal in Force
* At 31 March 1987.
Carpentry9276293,340
Electrical7304492,451
Engineering7197083,037
Hairdressing9184162,341
Motor9507733,798
Plumbing3071861,043
Printing273172920

Vocational training.

The promotion of systematic training within New Zealand on a national basis is the responsibility of the Vocational Training Council (VTC). The council has members representing employer, employee, and educational groups. Two members represent the interests of women in the workforce and one represents the interests of Maori and Pacific Island people. The Vocational Training Council Act 1982 describes the council's function as to advise the Government, government departments, industry, commerce, agriculture, social welfare, and other interested organisations. The objectives of the council are to:

  • ○ Co-ordinate industry training boards;

  • ○ Identify the requirements for skills;

  • ○ Conduct research on vocational training; and

  • ○ Collect and disseminate information on vocational training and recent developments.

Recommendations may relate to improved training, or facilities, co-ordination of training schemes, finance scholarships, research, inquiries and investigations, and information services.

The council is involved in the promotion of integrated training in most industries and local authorities. It encourages a systematic approach to training throughout the economy, linked to personnel development. Representative industry training boards have been established for 29 industries. Boards include members from employer, employee, educational and other specialist groups. A major incentive has been an annual government grant to encourage the appointment of executive training officers to work for industry training boards, and 90 such positions have been established. Industry training boards examine existing training and assess the need for revised or new schemes within their particular industry.

The council has concerned itself with ‘back-up’ research and investigational studies and with promoting training programmes for particular groups within the community through advisory committees and researchers. Areas covered include: women and employment; apprenticeship and trade training; management and supervisory training; Polynesians in the workforce; and training in the field of information technology.

The council has specialist staff to assist industry with training needs, objectives for on-the-job training and training packages. The council also has regional advisers based in six centres.

12.2 Unemployment

There are three main sources of unemployment data in New Zealand:

  1. The Department of Statistics' Household Labour Force Survey (which produces quarterly unemployment estimates based on a sample of around 12 000 households);

  2. The Department of Statistics' five-yearly Census of Population and Dwellings (which asks everyone aged 15 years and over whether they are unemployed and seeking work), and

  3. The Department of Labour unemployment register (which is a monthly listing of jobless people who have registered with the Department's Employment and Vocational Guidance Service in search of full-time work).

Unfortunately, although they all use the term ‘unemployment’, these measures do not always count the same people, as they have different scope, definitions and collection methods. Table 12.8 shows how the measures can differ—though these differences are not constant, as the number of registered unemployed fluctuates monthly while the survey estimate is averaged over three months. This can sometimes result in the monthly registered unemployment rate exceeding the Household Labour Force Survey's quarterly average unemployment rate.

Table 12.8. VARYING UNEMPLOYMENT STATISTICS IN NEW ZEALAND

Data SourceCollection PeriodNumber UnemployedUnemployment Rate
* Estimate averaged over a three-month period.
   percent
Census of Population and Dwellings4 March 1986108,7646.8
Household Labour Force SurveyJanuary-March 198667 500*4.2
Registered as unemployed27 March 198654,1804.1

The five-yearly census has the broadest definition of unemployment, counting everyone who said they were both unemployed and ‘actively’ seeking full-time or part-time work in the past four weeks. The Department of Labour on the other hand, has a very narrow scope, counting only those who want full-time work and have taken the step of registering with the department's Employment and Vocational Guidance Service.

Between these two is the Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS), which provides an internationally-recognised measure of unemployment in New Zealand. Like its counterparts overseas, it follows International Labour Organisation (ILO) guidelines. It counts only those jobless who were available to start work in the previous week, and had actively' sought work in the past month, or were already waiting to start a job within the following four weeks.

None of these measures give a complete picture of the numbers out of work and wanting a job, however. The Department of Labour for example, does not count jobless people who are unregistered or registered job-seekers who only want part-time work. Meanwhile, the census and the Household Labour Force Survey exclude jobless people who did not take ‘active’ steps to find work in the past month, that is, those who only looked at newspaper advertisements and those who had given up hope of finding work. In addition, the Household Labour Force Survey also excludes active job-seekers who said they could not have taken up work the previous week. (In March 1986, for example, its estimate excluded some 45 000 jobless people who wanted work, on the grounds that they were not actively job-hunting or were unavailable for work the previous week.)

Growth of unemployment

A major disadvantage of the population census as an indicator of the trends in unemployment is that it provides data at five-yearly intervals only. Also, unemployment figures from successive censuses are not strictly comparable because of changes in definitions and coverage of the full- and part-time labour forces, and the working-age population.

Table 12.9 has been designed to show trends in the number of males and females employed and unemployed during the period 1951–86.

Table 12.9. UNEMPLOYMENT 1951–86*

Census DateUnemployed and Seeking WorkTotal Labour Force
MalesFemalesMalesFemales

* Ail persons aged 15 years and over in the total labour force or unemployed and seeking work.

† All persons aged 15 years and over in the full-time labour force or unemployed and seeking full-time work (Including persons whose usual residence is overseas).

‡ Persons resident in New Zealand aged 15 years and over in the total labour force or unemployed and seeking work (excluding persons whose usual residence is overseas).

19517,9021,726568,963171,533
19565,5582,378622,758194,094
19614,6742,224670,506224,857
19665,1253,982745,595280,444
19718,7577,411784,969333,866
197614,39211,945865,098407,235
198134,48225,776896,616550,863
198648,18060,588935,049669,981

Social and demographic characteristics of unemployment

At the 1986 Census of Population and Dwellings, and using the census definition of ‘unemployed’ (those stating they are unemployed and actively seeking full- or part-time work), a provisional total of 108 768 persons—comprising 48 180 males and 60 588 females—were unemployed. This number was 6.8 percent of the total labour force, while that for males was 5.2 percent and that for females 9.0 percent.

A breakdown by ethnic origin reveals that there were 25 197 New Zealand Maoris unemployed representing 14.9 percent of the Maori labour force. In contrast, 83 577 non-Maoris were unemployed, 5.8 percent of the non-Maori labour force.

The significance of youth unemployment is shown by the 15–19 years age group, where an unemployment rate of 19.4 percent was recorded—18.0 percent for males and 20.9 percent for females. For Maoris aged 15–19 years the rate was 28.3 percent.

In all age groups, females had a higher unemployment rate than males. For the 30–39 and 40–49 years age groups, this is partly attributable to females wishing to return to the labour force during, and after, family raising.

Table 12.10. ETHNIC ORIGIN AND AGE OF THE UNEMPLOYED, 1986 CENSUS*P

Age Group (Years)New Zealand Maori PopulationNon-Maori PopulationTotal Population
NumberPercent§NumberPercent§NumberPercent§

* Population resident in New Zealand aged 15 years and over.

† Population of all degrees of New Zealand Maori origin.

‡ Persons unemployed and actively seeking full- or part-time work.

§ Number unemployed and seeking work as a percentage of the total labour force.

15–198,91628.327,64217.636,58819.4
20–299,64216.224,6996.534,3417.8
30–393,7359.914,6254.118,3604.6
40–491,7317.18,2172.99,9483.3
50–599186.86,0153.16,9333.3
60 and over2529.82,3793.92,6334.1
      Total25,19714.983,5775.8108,7686.8

Government unemployment policies and programmes

Over recent years the Government has adopted an employment strategy that aims to address unemployment in several ways: firstly, through broader economic policies to promote economic growth; secondly, through improvements in labour market flexibility; and thirdly, through the provision of assistance to unemployed people, particularly those who are most disadvantaged in the labour market. The Government's approach has been based on the premise that a growth in the number of jobs is most likely through a more responsive and growing economy, rather than the creation of jobs through subsidies.

Employment and Vocational Guidance Service.

The Employment and Vocational Guidance Service of the Department of Labour provides a vacancy listing and job-seeker referral service to employers, maintains a register of the unemployed, and provides occupational information, job vacancy information, and referral and placement assistance to job seekers. Vocational guidance counsellors provide counselling and career information to people of all ages and backgrounds.

The Employment and Vocational Guidance Service also administers a number of programmes that offer training opportunities to the unemployed and assist disadvantaged job seekers to obtain suitable employment.

Employment and training programmes

Access training—The Access training and transition education programme is a new initiative to provide training opportunities for unemployed people. It was introduced region-by-region through 1987 and provides technical institute, community-based and work-based vocational training courses. Access is targeted at disadvantaged unemployed people in general, and at young school leavers and people with a history of unemployment in particular. Job seekers do not need to be registered with the Department of Labour to be eligible.

Access is managed by a network of regional employment and access councils (REACS) which work to ensure that the training provided through the programme is matched to the needs of local labour markets. A separate but complementary Maori delivery system has been established which will provide approximately 20 percent of Access training.

Job Opportunities Scheme—The Job Opportunities Scheme is the primary employment assistance programme. It has four options. The most used option of the scheme provides a partial wage subsidy for six months to employers who employ a job seeker who has been registered as unemployed for at least 10 weeks. A second option offers a higher level of financial assistance to employers who take on a more severely disadvantaged job seeker. Two further options provide partial subsidies to unemployed people wishing to move towards self-sufficiency in employment by establishing their own business or group enterprise.

Student Employment Subsidy Scheme—Employment assistance is provided to tertiary students who are having difficulty in finding vacation employment. Over recent years a Student Employment Subsidy Scheme has paid partial wage subsidies to employers who take on eligible tertiary students during the summer holiday period. This scheme is reviewed annually. The Government also funds Student Job Search, a network of co-ordinators who offer a job vacancy, referral and placement service to students.

Employment advisory and liaison services

Group Employment Liaison Service—The Group Employment Liaison Service works with groups of disadvantaged unemployed people to help them liaise with government departments to make better use of employment and training programmes. A network of 25 fieldworkers has been established to provide this liaison and advisory service through the offices of the Department of Labour.

Small Co-operative Enterprises Scheme—The Department of Internal Affairs funds and operates this scheme, which provides advisory and financial assistance to disadvantaged people who are unemployed and wish to set up small-scale co-operative business ventures. Finance is available in the form of grants and loans for feasibility studies, working capital, equipment and the purchase of specialist skills.

Work Development Scheme—Also offered by the Department of Internal Affairs, this scheme provides advice, support and finance to community-based projects which are working to improve the skills and employment opportunities of disadvantaged young people.

Mobility assistance.

Measures to encourage the mobility of job seekers were substantially expanded in 1986 in response to increasing differences in regional unemployment rates. A distance job search grant of up to $1,000 is available to qualifying registered unemployed job seekers to help them investigate job opportunities, housing, schooling and other matters in a new location. A mobility grant of up to $2,000 is also available to qualifying job seekers who are moving to take up a confirmed job offer, where a change of accommodation is involved.

Special assistance schemes

MANA Enterprises—This scheme (formerly the Maori Enterprise Development Scheme) was established in 1985 to assist Maori individuals, organisations and communities to create long-term employment opportunities through the development of viable, unsubsidised Maori enterprises. Grants, loans and loan guarantees are available for enterprises which aim to strengthen the Maori economic base. MANA Enterprises is administered by the Board of Maori Affairs, and funds are distributed through a network of tribal and regional authorities.

The Pacific Island Employment Development Scheme—Also established in 1985, this scheme aims to strengthen the economic base of New Zealand's Pacific Island community and to improve employment opportunities for Pacific Islanders by assisting them to develop skills and establish viable business enterprises. Grants and loans are disbursed by the Pacific Island Employment Development Board.

Community Employment Investigation Scheme—Introduced in 1987, this scheme is designed to assist unemployed people in areas suffering from rapid and significant job loss to explore options for alternative employment within their region. Funding of up to 90 percent of costs is available to individuals and groups to investigate new employment and business proposals which would increase their chances of obtaining unsubsidised employment. The scheme was introduced initially in the Gisborne and Northland (excluding Whangarei) employment districts.

12.3 Pay and incomes

Personal income

In table 12.11 average and median incomes of self-employed persons in selected industries and professions have been estimated from a restricted sample on a provisional basis. The averages and medians are based on total income derived from all sources and not on income from self-employment alone. Incomes of self-employed persons include an element of return on capital invested as well as any reward for personal work effort.

Data for the table are derived from returns submitted to the Inland Revenue Department. The tax returns do not become available for a lengthy period after the end of the income year and this, together with the necessary time required for statistical processing, results in a considerable time-lag before the final statistics are available for publication.

Table 12.11. INCOMES OF THE SELF-EMPLOYED

Activity of Sell-Employed Income EarnerAverage Income*Median Income
1982–831983–841984–851982–831983–841984–85
* Arithmetic mean.
 $
Agriculture and livestock production11,90012,30013,9009,90010,80012,500
Manufacturing10,90012,50013,4008,10010,00010,800
Building and construction14,30015,00017,30012,90013,10015,300
Wholesale and retail trade and restaurants and hotels11,20012,10013,1008,7009,40010,300
Transport and storage13,20014,00015,60011,50012.00014,100
Legal practitioners36,20043,10045,80033,90040,10045,800
Chartered accountants33,50035,10037,40030,40031,60031,600
Medical practitioners (including surgeons, specialists and physicians)41,10041,20045,20036,70035,90041,700
Dental practitioners34,10034,70039,50031,20032,40036,800
Other services13,70014,70016,50010,70011,40012,600

Table 12.12. INCOME BY EMPLOYMENT STATUS. 1986 CENSUS*P

Income GroupEmployer of Others in Own BusinessSelf-Employed and Not Employing OthersWage or Salary EarnerUnemployed and Seeking WorkOther

* Population resident in New Zealand aged 15 years and over.

† Comprises unpaid workers In family businesses and not specified.

‡ Includes nil or less.

$     Males
 2,500 or less4,0208,13317,07615,5433,051
 2,501–5,0001,0983,55210,6987,374699
 5.001–7,5002,3676,77423,3169,4021,404
 7,501–10,0003,88810,05944,0104,8691,356
10,001–15,00011,50223,673142,5365,8712,979
15,001–20,00012,15620,286157,6171,4612,313
20,001–25,00010,96513,485120,5015431,734
25,001–30,0008,8358,20877,2202611305
30,001–40,00010,6296,91255,8811741131
40,001 and over16,1615,79921687841185
Not specified125417766,6542,598978
      Total, males82,875108,654677,19348,18318,144
 Females
 2,500 or less1,8935,91940,46129,0409,777
 2,501–5,0001,2604,23044,2268,2172,562
 5.001–7,5002,3855,31660,9458,1872,742
 7,501–10,0002,8865,28974,6166,1412,223
10,001–15,0005,6827,905138,4954,4612,670
15,001–20,0003,6783,83195,9766541,302
20,001–25,0002,4242,09440,587180717
25,001–30,0001,6591,10414,35260351
30,001–40,0001,4859335,55930267
40,001 and over1,3327531,11021261
Not specified5587115,6403,6001,233
      Total, females25,23338,088521,96760,58824,102

Table 12.13. INCOME BY WORK STATUS, 1986 CENSUS*P

Income GroupFull-time in Labour ForcePart-time in Labour ForceNot WorkingTotal Population

* Population resident in New Zealand aged 15 years and over.

† Persons working 30 or more hours a week, plus persons unemployed and seeking full-time work.

‡ Persons working 1–29 hours, plus persons unemployed and seeking part time work.

§ Includes nil or less.

$     Males
 2,500 or less§31,57516,24855,779103,602
 2,501–5,00017,5625,85915,13538,556
 5,001–7.50035,9317,33283,439126,705
 7,501–10,00057,0517,13135,45199,630
10,001–15,000172,12814,43636,732223,296
15,001–20,000183,9789,85214,937208,770
20,001–25,000141,5915,6377,092154,317
25,001–30,00092,7303,1053,37299,207
30,001–40,00072,8101,9202,52377,253
40,001 and over43,5211,3951,65946,575
Not specified11,2861,97423,37636,639
      Total, males860,16674,880279,5011 214 547
 Females
 2,500 or less§30,19856,889194,157281,247
 2,501–5,00020,25040,24838,57799,072
 5,001–7,50038,04641,520161,370240,936
 7,501–10,00061,35329,80279,206170,364
10,001–15,000131,67027,54054,114213,324
15,001–20,00097,3508,09113,095118,536
20,001–25,00042,4653,5345,46351,465
25,001–30,00015,9451,5842,37019,899
30,001–40,0007,3029691,94410,212
40,001 and over2,8566211,2394,722
Not specified7,6054,13739,97251,711
      Total, females455,040214,941591,5071 261 491

Earnings

The Department of Labour completes an annual employment survey in February and quarterly sample surveys in May, August and November. For these surveys returns are required from all establishments in which at least two people are employed (on a full-time equivalent basis). This includes working proprietors. Government and local authority employment is included, but not farming, hunting, fishing, waterfront and seagoing work, or domestic service in private households. The armed forces are also excluded.

Table 12.14 shows the average weekly payout per person (covering males and females, adults and juveniles) derived from these surveys during recent years. Table 12.15 shows average hourly and weekly wage rates by sector.

Table 12.14. WEEKLY EARNINGS

Date of SurveyWeekly Wage Payout per Person*
Average Total Weekly Earnings —All PersonsAverage Ordinary Time Weekly Earnings

* Including allowances and special payments (bonuses, penal and shift allowances, paid leave, and commission).

Source: Department of Labour.

  $     $     
1984—Feb301.60279.33
 May307.23284.33
 Aug305.07284.51
 Nov309.11285.91
1985—Feb322.90296.74
 May335.88309.00
 Aug335.16311.29
 Nov347.52320.89
1986—Feb373,89346.67
 May400.28371.27
 Aug404.85378.93
 Nov411.71383.43

Table 12.15. AVERAGE HOURLY AND WEEKLY WAGE RATES. NOVEMBER 1986

Average OrdinaryPrivate SectorGovernment SectorGovernment Corporation SectorLocal Authority SectorAll Sectors
  Males10.5812.8515.9413.2511.45
  Females9.139.809.8411.329.10
  All persons9.6111.7913.3312.2310.48
Weekly earnings—$
  Males388.76492.28609.39503.76426.14
  Females283.44372.88370.41415.39324.99
  All persons345.82450.45506.02456.16383.43
Source: Department of Labour

Real disposable income

The Real Disposable Income Indexes and related statistical series measure the impact of changes in incomes, taxation and consumer prices on the purchasing power of selected groups of individuals and households within the New Zealand population. For example, the series has recently reflected the overall impact of the introduction of GST and the associated income tax/Family Support package. It is therefore an important economic indicator.

The real disposable income series is produced by the Department of Statistics. It uses information on individual incomes and other tax-related characteristics (e.g. number of dependant children) from representative sample of New Zealand private households who participated in the department's Household Expenditure and Income Survey.

To calculate the series for any particular quarter, incomes, government benefits and tax-related expenditures are projected to equivalent current levels and the appropriate tax scales applied to estimate and deduct income tax liability. The net incomes are then adjusted for inflation as measured by the Consumers Price Index (CPI), giving a measure of changes in the purchasing power of the group concerned over time.

In addition to the overall real disposable income series, two component series are published:

Average gross income indexes—measuring the changing level of gross income from all sources.

Average tax rates—expressing total personal income tax liability as a proportion of total gross income.

All series are calculated for individual full-time wage and salary earners (defined as persons working at least 30 hours per week for wages and/or salaries as a principal source of income). Series are also calculated for the households of full-time wage and salary earners and for national superannuitants.

For individual full-time wage and salary earners only, separate series are produced for the highest 20 percent of earners, the second highest 20 percent and so on down to the lowest 20 percent. Only series (or the highest, middle and lowest income groups are shown in the following tables and graph. The estimated annual gross income ranges for the December 1986 quarter are specified below:

Highest 20 percent$30,700 and over
Second highest 20 percentbetween $23,600 and $30 700
Middle 20 percentbetween $18,900 and $23,600
Second lowest 20 percentbetween $14,500 and $18,900
Lowest 20 percentbelow $14,500

The income ranges relating to the five income groups vary from quarter to quarter. The individuals falling into each group may also change due to differing wage increases between industries and, occasionally, due to changes in government benefit schemes.

Trends in the Real Disposable Income Indexes for full-time wage and salary earners are illustrated on the graph below and some significant economic events, which influenced the results, are marked.

The effects of the introduction of GST and the associated income taxation package, including the Family Support scheme, are reflected in the series for the first time in the December 1986 quarter. Family Care, a social-welfare benefit, added to the income of recipients whilst Family Support, which replaced it, reduced income tax. As Family Support is divided equally between spouses, the series for individual full-time wage and salary earners do not reflect the full effects of the scheme on families.

Table 12.16. REAL DISPOSABLE INCOME INDEXES AND RELATED MEASURES FOR FULL-TIME WAGE AND SALARY EARNERS*

Calendar QuarterLowest 20 PercentMiddle 20 PercentHighest 20 PercentAll Full-time Wage and Salary Earners
Index NumberPercentage Change From Same Quarter Previous YearIndex NumberPercentage Change From Same Quarter Previous YearIndex NumberPercentage Change From Same Quarter Previous YearIndex NumberPercentage Change From Same Quarter Previous Year

* Persons working 30 or more hours per week for wages and/or salaries as a principal source of income.

† To calculate these indexes gross incomes are first adjusted for income tax liability and then for inflation as measured by the Consumers Price Index. The series therefore measure quarterly changes in the after-tax purchasing power of gross Incomes.

‡ Measure the changing level of gross income from all sources.

§ For each group of taxpayers, total personal income tax liability is expressed as a proportion of total gross income from all sources.

 Real Disposable Income Indexes
1983—Dec957−0.7967−0.61052−1.6997−1.1
1984—Mar966−0.5977−0.31066−1.01010−0.7
            Jun9730.99740.21052−1.71004−0.5
            Sep942−0.6943−1.41016−3.5971−2.1
            Dec924−3.4924−4.4999−5.0953−4.4
1985—Mar946−2.1911−6.8984−7.7945−6.4
            Jun930x−4.4x896−8.0961−8.7926−7.8
            Sep906x−3.8x876−7.1938−7.7905−6.8
            Dec910−1.5881−4.7942−5.7909−4.6
1986—Mar940−0.69180.8972−1.2943−0.2
            Jun9653.89455.59892.99664.3
            Sep9413.99255.69663.09444.3
            DecP9504.49437.010147.69706.7
 Average Gross Income Indexes
1983—Dec13742.713792.513892.413832.4
1984—Mar14043.014122.914252.914182.9
            Jun14506.214435.314394.114444.9
            Sep14466.914375.914314.714365.5
            Dec14646.614585.714595.014605.6
1985—Mar155210.515268.115317.415328.0
            Jun1613x11.2x159110.3160211.3159910.7
            Sep1616x11.8x159911.3161012.5160611.8
            Dec166813.9165513.5166914.4166313.9
1986—Mar178414.9178116.7180217.7179016.8
            Jun190518.1189519.1192520.2190919.4
            Sep191918.8191819.9195221.2193220.3
            DecP195117.0195518.1199519.5197018.5
 Average tax rates§
1983—Dec 15.6 23.5 30.8 25.7
1984—Mar 16.0 23.9 31.2 26.1
            Jun 16.4 24.2 31.3 26.2
            Sep 16.3 24.1 31.2 26.1
            Dec 16.4 24.3x 31.5 26.4
1985—Mar 15.7 25.6 32.9 27.4
 Average tax rates above and below this fine relate to different database samples and the series is discontinuous.
1985—Mar 17.4 25.1 31.8 26.7
            Jun 17.9 25.7 33.2 27.6
            Sep 17.9 25.8 33.3 27.7
            Dec 18.3 26.2 34.0 28.2
1986—Mar 19.3 26.9 35.4 29.3
            Jun 20.3 27.4 36.8 30.2
            'Sep 20.3 27.4 37.1 30.3
            DecP 13.8 21.0 29.6 23.6

Wage indexes

Prevailing Weekly Wage Rates Index.

This index measures changes in ‘as paid’ wage and salary rates for full-time adult employees whose conditions of employment fall within the jurisdiction of the Arbitration Commission (formerly Arbitration Court) or other determining authorities. It is based on a quarterly survey of a representative sample of employers. Those pay rates actually being paid in the pay period in which the 15th day of the middle month of the quarter are surveyed. These may anticipate or follow award/agreement settlement and registration and may be at award or above-award levels. The index is not backdated for retrospective wage increases.

For the private sector, most managerial and many professional occupation groups are not included in the index because their remuneration rates are negotiated on an individual employee basis and are not subject to any award constraints. In the local authority and central government sectors persons employed at similar levels of skill and responsibility are generally included in the index although most senior executives, such as heads of departments and Cabinet ministers, are excluded.

This index is suitable for, and extensively used in, labour-cost escalation clauses.

Nominal Weekly Wage Rates Index.

This companion series measures changes in legal minimum or mandatory wages and salaries registered with the Arbitration Commission, or with other determining bodies, as at their legally effective dates.

The effects of awards and agreements are reflected in the Nominal Weekly Wage Rates Index for the first time when a copy of the relevant document has been received by the Department of Statistics. When an award change takes effect from a date in a quarter prior to the current quarter, all index numbers back to and including the effective quarter have to be revised. The backdating of changes in award rates is a very common practice, so considerable caution is required in the use of index numbers that have not been finalised, a process which generally takes up to two years.

Revision of the wage indexes.

Both the Prevailing and Nominal Weekly Wages Rates Indexes were revised at the December 1985 quarter with a new expression base of 1000. The exercise included a thorough revision of the representative sample of job descriptions which comprise the regimen of the indexes (the list of occupations for which wage rates are surveyed). The ‘weight’, or relative importance, of each job description was determined using the latest available statistical data from a wide variety of sources,

Prior to this revision, part 1 of the indexes related to wage rates under the jurisdiction of the former Arbitration Court and part 2 to those under other determining authorities. As part of the revision, the coverage has been adjusted so that part 1 now reflects wage rate changes for the private and local authority sectors and part 2 those for the central government (state) sector. Only minor changes were needed to adjust the coverage to this new classification.

New series which measure wage-rate change in the private and local authority sectors separately are available from the December 1985 quarter.

For both the Nominal and the Prevailing Weekly Wage Rates Indexes, and across all sectors, separate indexes are available for specific industry and occupation groups. Industry groupings conform to the production groups of the New Zealand system of national accounts, and the occupation groups to the New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations.

Table 12.17. PREVAILING WEEKLY WAGE RATES INDEX* ALL (INDUSTRY OR OCCUPATION) GROUPS COMBINED
Base: Dec 1985 Quarter (= 1000)

QuarterPan 1 AnalysisPart 1Part 2Part 3
Private SectorLocal Authority SectorPrivate Local Authority Sectors CombinedGovernment SectorAll Sectors Combined

* Indexes measure changes in the level of prevailing (actual) rates of pay for full-time adult employees (those aged 20 years and over, working 30 or more hours per week).

† Index movements for periods up to and including the December 1985 quarter are calculated from data relating to: Part 1: Wage and salary rates falling within the jurisdiction of the former Arbitration Court Part 2: Wage and salary rates prescribed by other industrial tribunals or determining authorities.

 Indexes
1985—Mar933922929
            Jun962932952
            Sep968932955
            Dec10001000100010001000
1986—Mar10981089109810641085
            Jun11271114112611151122
            Sep11351127113411611145
            Dec11421141114111621150
1987—Mar11921151118911661180
 Percentage change from same quarter previous year
1985—Jun8.28.58.3
            Sep8.88.58.7
            Dec12.516.413.8
1986—Mar17.715.316.8
            Jun17.019.717.9
            Sep17.224.619.8
            Dec14.214.114.116.215.0
1987—Mar8.65.78.39.68.8

12.4 Labour relations

Labour relations system

For over 90 years the rules underlying the fixing of wages and conditions of work in New Zealand have been embodied in legislation. The Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act of 1894 was the first such statutory machinery for labour relations. Its objectives were to minimise the incidence of strikes and to develop a system for the negotiation of wages and working conditions for the majority of the workforce.

Subsequent legislation covering the private sector has tended to follow these objectives. However, separate legislation and pay-fixing procedures have existed for the public sector.

Recently, New Zealand's industrial relations system has been re-evaluated and, after a thorough review process and consultation with the different parties involved, the Labour Relations Act 1987 came into effect on 1 August 1987. It replaced the former Industrial Relations Act 1973 and its provisions are described below.

The labour relations system operates within an institutional framework prescribed by the Act. There are three major institutions:

The Mediation Service—This consists of 13 mediators located in the four main centres and is headed by a Chief Mediator. The general function of a mediator is to assist the parties in dispute to resolve their differences. Mediators frequently chair conciliation councils and disputes and grievance committees.

The Arbitration Commission—This is a five-member body with a prime responsibility in wage fixing. The commission is empowered to negotiate awards and agreements, to hear and determine unresolved disputes of interest referred to it for arbitration, and to help settle disputes of interest.

The labour Court—The Labour Court has jurisdiction to hear and determine a wide variety of matters, with exclusive jurisdiction over labour relations. In most cases the court is made up of a judge sitting alone. (See section 10.1, Legal system.)

Private sector.

More than half a million workers in the private sector have their wages and conditions set by negotiations between unions and employers under a framework set out in the Labour Relations Act. The main features of this system are:

  • ○ The establishment of union coverage over workers doing particular work;

  • ○ The recognition by workers of the right of a union to negotiate wages and conditions of employment for the workers it covers;

  • ○ Definition of the coverage of negotiations (i.e., which workers and which employers will be bound by the outcome);

  • ○ The establishment of procedures to be followed by unions and employers in resolving their differences; and

  • ○ Definition of the legal status of any agreement negotiated, together with the means of enforcing it.

The way the Government intervenes to regulate labour relations has an important bearing on the outcome of union/employer negotiations. This is especially the case in New Zealand, where many of the above processes which underpin negotiations have become matters of public policy. This contrasts, for example, with the position in the United Kingdom, where the emphasis has been for unions and employers to determine the basis of their relationship, with minimum government intervention. The system of negotiations in New Zealand pivots from the registration of unions under the Labour Relations Act 1987. Although registration is voluntary, in practice the vast majority of unions register. This is because the benefits associated with registration outweigh the limitations imposed by it. The main benefits of registration can be summarised as:

  • ○ Both exclusive coverage of the workers covered by its membership rule, and exclusive rights to negotiate on behalf of those workers are assured. A union's coverage is reinforced by access to procedures for securing a union membership clause in the awards and agreements it negotiates with employers;

  • ○ There is access to conciliation procedures for the negotiation of an award, procedures to which employers are required to be a party. This, together with the definition of its coverage, reinforces the union's right to negotiate. However, it is not inevitable that an award will be made, as this finally is a matter for negotiation in conciliation proceedings;

  • ○ There is an ability to negotiate an award which fixes minimum wages and conditions of employment across an entire industry, i.e., it binds every worker and every employer in the industry to which it relates, including any employer or worker who enters me industry subsequent to the award being made. A single award can thus apply in thousands of workplaces;

  • ○ There is access to procedures for peacefully resolving disputes over the negotiation of awards and agreements (interest disputes), over the interpretation and application of awards and agreements (rights disputes), and over the treatment of individual workers (personal grievances). The procedures are supported by the Mediation Service, the Arbitration Commission and the Labour Court; and

  • ○ The awards and collective agreements negotiated by the union are enforceable under the Act, and continue to have legal effect beyond their expiry.

In return for the benefits of registration unions have to comply with certain minimum requirements relating to their Internal management.

The Labour Relations Act also provides for the registration of employer organisations. Compared to worker unions, however, the consequences of registration are vastly different. In particular, an employer organisation does not have the sole right to represent employers in the negotiation of wages and conditions of employment, nor does it have access to procedures for securing compulsory membership.

The main role of an employer organisation is to co-ordinate an industry's approach to the negotiation of the major awards. In the legal sense, it is the body which is cited by the worker union as the respondent party in the conciliation proceedings for the negotiation of an award, the effect being to automatically extend those proceedings to all employers in the industry. In the absence of an employer organisation, the worker union is required to cite a representative number of employers as a prerequisite to extending the proceedings to all employers.

There are two main categories of persons who fall outside the coverage of the formal system. First, persons who are not ‘employers’ or ‘workers’ in terms of prescribed definitions. These include apprentices, i.e., if those training for a trade qualification (separate legislation covers this group) and the self-employed (such as working proprietors and independent contractors). Second, workers who for one reason or another are not unionised, are excluded from the formal system. Included here are approximately 300 000 wage and salary earners employed in professional, technical, managerial and administrative occupations, and workers who earn above a salary bar (i.e., too much to be covered by the relevant award or agreement).

Public sector.

State pay fixing follows a separate system, although it is in many respects similar to that in the private sector. Because of the lack of commercial constraints in the public sector, pay-fixing procedures have evolved which do not rely solely on the direct and unconstrained bargaining between unions and employers which is usually found in the private sector. State pay negotiations are conducted within the framework of ‘fair relativity’ with the private sector, with consideration of labour market supply and demand. Public sector wage levels are determined in the first instance by reference to wage levels in the private sector.

Public, sector industrial relations are governed by the State Services Conditions of Employment Act 1977. Negotiations under this Act lead to the adoption of paid-rate determinations which set actual, rather than minimum, rates of remuneration and conditions of employment. Most state employees come under the umbrella of this Act.

Labour relations reform

Private sector.

The Labour Relations Act 1987 took effect from 1 August 1987. It consolidated all previous private sector industrial relations legislation under one statute.

The Act introduced substantial reforms and was the culmination of a lengthy consultative process carried out by the Government during 1985–86. In particular, union structures were changed to make them stronger and more effective, independent and efficient. Unions have been encouraged to provide more services to their members. Other measures increase the level of internal union democracy and the accountability of union officials to their members. Other major reforms include:

  • ○ Increasing the minimum size for unions from 10 to 1000 members;

  • ○ Creating opportunities (for the first time since the 1984 Act) for established union coverage to be challenged and changed as registered unions seek to extend their coverage;

  • ○ Abolishing the requirement for unions to be in either the same or a related industry either as a basis for registration or amalgamation;

  • ○ Abolishing the formal recognition of unregistered societies of workers—these groups must now choose between seeking registration as a union in their own right, joining with an already existing union, or operating alone outside the system;

  • ○ Returning to the pre-1976 provisions for obtaining a compulsory union membership clause, i.e., unions and employers negotiate such a clause in conciliation. Failing agreement on inclusion, a ballot is held of workers covered by the award, in question.

  • ○ Improving arrangements for the negotiation of awards and agreements; with the parties able to decide on the scope of their negotiations, and to apply to the Labour Commission for the inclusion of a new matter' during the currency of an award or agreement;

  • ○ Amalgamating the former Industrial Conciliation Service and the Industrial Mediation Service into one Mediation Service;

  • ○ Splitting of the former Arbitration Court's responsibilities by creating two separate institutions, the Arbitration Commission and the Labour Court;

  • ○ Widening the definition of a personal grievance to include discrimination, duress, and sexual harassment as well as unjustifiable dismissal;

  • ○ Re-defining unlawful industrial action and abolishing penalties, in favour of civil actions for an injunction or damages to be taken in the new Labour Court; and

  • ○ No longer involving the Department of Labour factory inspectorate in enforcement of wages and conditions of work. This is carried out by unions instead. Authorised union representatives have been given rights of inspection of time and wage records, and the ability to take actions for breaches of awards and agreements and take recovery actions in respect of workers. However, factory inspectors will continue to enforce statutory provisions.

Public sector.

Labour relations reforms have also been made in the state sector and wage-fixing and dispute settlement procedures are being more closely aligned to the new private sector procedures.

Another part of this reform is the ‘corporatisation’ of trading government departments. (See chapter 3). This involves several government departments and about 60 000 public sector workers whose pay and working conditions will have to be negotiated outside the formal public sector arrangements.

Unions and employer organisations

Registration of unions.

The registration process has been considerably simplified with the passing of the Labour Relations Act. Essentially, any group of persons is free to associate for the purpose of seeking registration as a worker union. There is no longer a requirement that the group be engaged in the same industry or in related industries. Whether a community of interest exists is to be determined largely by the workers themselves.

A new minimum size requirement of 1000 members is applied in the following way. In the case of a union registered at the commencement date of the Act, where its membership falls below 1000 it will have a year to take remedial action before its registration is cancelled. In the case of an application for registration where the workers concerned have not previously been organised by an existing union, it may not be possible to immediately satisfy the main precondition. For this reason, provisional registration is available for two years to allow the new union time to recruit up to 1000 members. Where this is granted, the new union is unable to lose (actual or potential) members to, nor be able to gain members from, another union. Otherwise, provisional registration carries the same rights and obligations as full registration.

Also, the requirements for union amalgamations have been liberalised. This allows unions with fewer than the required minimum of 1000 members to amalgamate to meet the new requirement.

Cancellation of registration.

A union's registration may be cancelled for other reasons than failure to meet the new minimum size requirement. Cancellation will occur if the members vote to voluntarily cancel their union's registration; if a union becomes defunct; or if it fails to furnish an annual return of officers and its membership; or if it fails to furnish its annual accounts and audit certificate.

Union membership.

All workers employed in a private-sector job must belong to the union covering that job if the award or agreement covering that job includes a compulsory membership clause.

No worker has to belong to the union before applying for or starting a job, but all workers required to must join within 14 days of being requested to. Employers may legally dismiss workers for not joining.

Provision exists for exemption from compulsory union membership on the ground of proven conscientious objection. Application for exemption to the Union Membership Exemption Tribunal costs $110. If exemption is granted, it is valid for life unless revoked by the tribunal.

Union membership is voluntary for:

  • ○ Apprentices, and is forbidden in some cases;

  • ○ ‘Youth workers’ (i.e., persons under 18 years of age) unless they are earning the adult rate:

  • ○ Those working in the public sector; and

  • ○ Those earning above a salary bar' (i.e. people who earn too much to be covered by the relevant award or agreement).

Whether union membership is compulsory or voluntary is in the first instance a negotiable matter. Unions and employers have the chance to agree on voluntary or compulsory union membership when an award or agreement is being negotiated. If they cannot agree, union members covered by the award agreement are able to decide the matter by secret ballot.

Change in union coverage.

Under the Labour Relations Act, registration still provides a union with the sole right to represent a particular category of workers, but this right is not now granted in perpetuity. The Act enables union coverage to be changed by ballots of workers affected.

There are two balloting stages. First, the union extending its coverage must ballot its own members to seek their agreement. Second, following membership approval, a ballot is conducted by the Registrar of Unions of those workers affected by the transfer of coverage. A simple majority in favour of the change of coverage is required and if it is achieved the Registrar of Unions registers the altered coverage, and adjusts the coverage of the existing union(s) where there would otherwise be a clash of coverage.

Profile of workers' unions.

By international standards, membership in unions in New Zealand is high. Of 1.1 million workers, approximately 685 000 or 63 percent belong to unions.

Latest available figures shown that 490 206 private sector workers belong to one of the 233 private sector unions, and 194 086 public sector workers are in one of the 27 public sector unions, which are known as service organisations.

Unions in the private sector are primarily based on the occupation of workers rather than on the industry in which they are employed. Some unions cover occupations which extend across a large number of industries (e.g., clerical workers, drivers), whereas others are industry-specific (e.g., meat workers, seamen). The structure has evolved in an ad hoc way, in that groups which were first to ‘stake their claim’ at the registrar's office ‘took home the prize’. The occupational orientation of unions is reflected in the structure of negotiations, with the result that a particular employee can be covered by a multitude of awards and agreements.

Table 12.18. PROFILE OF WORKERS' UNIONS

 19841985
Private sectorAt 31 December
  Number of unions registered239233
  Total membership485,484490,206
  Average size2,0312,103
  Percentage with more than 5000 members12.113.3
  Percentage of total membership70.571.7
  Percentage with 1000–500020.520.2
  Percentage of total membership19.919.7
  Percentage with less than 1000 members67.466.5
  Percentage of total membership9.68.6
Public sectorAt 30 November
  Number of service organisations2727
  Total membership188,943187,800
  Average size6,9986,955

On average, public sector organisations are larger than their private sector counterparts. Several of these (e.g., the Post Office Union and the Public Service Association) have virtually industry coverage, though others cover specific occupational classes within the state sector (e.g., police, nurses, teachers).

Two-thirds of unions do not fulfil the new minimum size requirement of 1000 members and by the end of April 1989 they will have their registration cancelled if the required minimum size is not attained. Such unions have the opportunity in the meantime to increase their numbers either by amalgamation with others or through extension to their coverage.

Union fees.

Government has set a maximum joining fee for private sector union membership at 10 percent of the last annual subscription but there is no limit to what unions may charge as annual fees. The average private sector union fee in 1986 was $74.20 per worker per year. Annual subscriptions are normally set in terms of a union's rules in a variety of ways. Either the amount is:

  1. Actually included in the rules;

  2. Set in terms of a formula (usually based on a percentage of a representative award rate of wages);

  3. Set by the union's executive: or

  4. Set by majority decision of the membership.

Similar information on union fees for public sector unions is, however, not available.

Central organisations of workers

Private sector—Most of the private sector unions are represented at the national level by the Federation of Labour (FOL), which represents and co-ordinates the interests and activities of private sector workers. As it represents most workers, it is the organisation which nominates representatives for all tripartite forums involving unions, employers and the Government.

Public sector—Most public sector service organisations are represented at the national level by the Combined State Unions (CSU), which represents and co-ordinates the interests and activities of public sector workers.

The FOL and the CSU plan to form one union organisation, called the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU), and preparations for amalgamation have been made through 1987.

Employer organisations

Private sector—Many employers belong to one or more of the 211 registered employer organisations (as at 31 December 1985), most of which are represented at the national level by the New Zealand Employers' Federation. This organisation represents and co-ordinates the interests of employers in the private sector. As it represents most employers, it is the organisation which nominates representatives for all tripartite forums.

Public sector—There is only one employer in the public sector, the Government, which has its interests represented by the State Services Co-ordinating Committee (SSCC). This organisation coordinates the interests and activities of the various employing authorities in each government department from an employer perspective. The State Services Commission (SSC) is the senior employing authority for the Government.

Work stoppages

Industrial relations legislation in New Zealand severely restricts the freedom to strike or lockout. This is in an attempt to minimise industrial action, its effect on industry and the availability of goods and services. Industrial action is only lawful when a strike or lockout arises during a dispute of interest (i.e., a dispute over the procuring of an award or agreement).

In those instances where legislation provides a dispute resolution procedure, strikes and lockouts are unlawful.

Industrial action is unlawful when a dispute concerns:

  • ○ A dispute of rights (i.e., a dispute over the operation, application or interpretation of an award or agreement);

  • ○ A personal grievance;

  • ○ Demarcation issues;

  • ○ Union membership or change of union coverage; or

  • ○ Cancellation of a union's registration.

A strike or lockout in an essential service is unlawful where the statutory period of notice is not given. (Essential services are defined and listed in a schedule to the Act.)

Statutory penalties are not now imposed in the event of unlawful industrial action. The primary remedy is now through a civil action for an injunction, or damages, or both. The Labour Court has sole jurisdiction to hear civil actions in respect of unlawful strikes and lockouts. Also, where normal procedures fail, or are likely to fail, to avert a strike or lockout, the Minister of Labour has power to call a conference of the parties involved or to appoint a committee of inquiry. Special powers are also given to the minister for resolving disputes in essential industries.

For statistical purposes, work stoppages are defined not only as those disputes which result in a strike or lockout but also as disputes in which an organised ‘go slow’, refusal to work overtime, or methods of possible resistance are clearly manifested. This includes unauthorised stopwork meetings as well as unauthorised delays in resuming work after stopwork meetings.

The indicators used to measure work stoppage activity are the number of stoppages (measuring frequency), the duration of stoppages (measuring persistence), the number of workers involved (measuring extent), the number of working days lost (measuring economic impact) and the estimated loss in wages. Instances where several stoppages occur over the same issue are recorded as one stoppage and public sector stoppages are excluded.

The five most dispute-prone industries for the period 1976 to 1985 in order of most frequent occurrence of stoppages were: meat export; water and land transport; construction (other than building); chemicals, chemical petroleum and coal products; and paper, paper products and printing.

The major categories of direct cause of work stoppages were: breakdown in negotiations, including issues relating to special payments; managerial practice (which includes staffing matters such as work allocation, promotions, dismissals and redundancy); and union matters (including sympathy strikes, demarcation disputes and allegations of victimisation). In 1985 breakdowns in negotiations accounted for 51.7 percent of stoppages, 66.8 percent of workers involved and 64.2 percent of working days lost.

The distribution of causes of stoppages vary from one industry to another. For example, the meat export industry set the national pattern with the most stoppages, workers involved and working days lost as a result of breakdown in negotiations and wage-related issues. In the construction industry, however, the order was managerial practice, conditions of work, wages issues and union matters.

On an international basis, while New Zealand's level of stoppage activity has remained relatively stable, most OECD countries are now experiencing less activity and New Zealand was the most strike prone OECD country for 1985. It is important to note, however, that there are variations between countries in the statistical coverage of stoppages (see footnotes table 12.20) and any comparisons should be treated with caution.

Table 12.19. INDUSTRIAL DISTRIBUTION OF WORK STOPPAGES, 1985*

IndustryTotal Number of StoppagesAverage Duration Per Stoppage (Working Days)Number of Workers InvolvedWorking Days LostApproximate Loss in Wages

* Work stoppages not directly related to terms and conditions of employment or involving a demand being made of a third party have been included in the statistics.

† During the actual period of the stoppages of work, no allowance is made for the fact that the work not performed at that time may have been carried out subsequently either wholly or in part.

‡ Any stoppage which involved workers in mere than one industry has been counted once in each respective industry (number and duration) but as a single stoppage in the total of all industries.

Agriculture, forestry, hunting14.0080320
Mining and quarrying69.672,4628,211634,710
Meat export works595.4958,723216,31816 014 334
Other slaughtering, preparation preserving43.253781,41674,116
Dairy products, fruit, vegetable, fish canning and preserving, vegetable, animal oils and fats163.981,79210,038465,465
Grain milling, bakery products, sugar, confectionery, etc.95.701,2744,579228,198
Beverage industries, tobacco513.591,02020,445972,439
Textiles, wearing apparel, leather208.483,95834,6732 182 604
Wood, wood products including furniture1012.351,0265,669349,678
Paper, paper products, printing and publishing326.386,12854,2932 972 525
Chemical, petroleum and coal products168.681,21510,668659,182
Rubber, plastic products138.212,40718,3741 902 101
Non-metallic mineral products159.572,43619,0441 102 906
Basic metal industries155.632,67120,8551 709 842
Fabricated metal products157.425,54816,540933,682
Transport equipment174.2810,02337,6411 948 557
Electricity, gas and water310.6717579331,950
Buildings110.002727020,196
Construction other than buildings286.8810,53187,6416 438 819
Ancillary building and construction services212.502528514,088
Wholesale trade108.454793,521190,105
Retail trade53.301,0801,49763,042
Restaurants, hotels1310.9611,32627,2181 056 407
Land transport118.419,17846,4622 363 925
Water transport203.218,98913,957748,647
Air transport114.00243
Services allied to transport2.00510480
Financing, insurance, real estate, etc.66.7911,73843,8972 395 287
Community, social and personal services289.595,2608,433413,084
Several industries26.0021,95743,3591 968 022
      Total3837.31182,154756,43247,854,391

Table 12.20. WORK STOPPAGES IN SELECTED OECD COUNTRIES 1976–1985

CountryWorking Days Lost per 1000 Employees
1976197719781979198019811982198319841985

* Excluding the communications sector.

† Excluding political and sympathy strikes.

‡ Excluding the agricultural sector.

§ Excluding public services.

|| Excluding the public sector.

¶ Excluding work stoppages Involving fewer than 1000 workers.

United Kingdom1464484131,291531117.9224.9154.41 030.8264.3
Australia*771335432795645658.7337.0261.1201.4188.3
Canada1,367381827837910806.7554.4414.0367.2280.6
Finland7251,31374132828274.484.0302.5635.186.5
France§2922111252079568.8107.263.562.934.9
Germany (FR)2612032262.30.60.8227.9_
Italy1,5881,0186251,659979446.7790.7596.0350.2163.4
New Zealand||468.7418365.9374.2365.8375.5319.3362.2399.7697.4
United States479435450388346168.491.0173.279.569.3

Pay fixing

Private sector.

Pay fixing in the private sector can be viewed in terms of the following elements:

  • ○ The national minimum wage, as established under the Minimum Wage Act 1983.

  • ○ Minimum wages established by awards and agreements made under the Labour Relations Act which either:

    1. establish minimum wages and conditions for various jobs on a national (or district) basis through awards; or

    2. establish minimum wages and conditions for various jobs at the level of the individual enterprise through agreements (including composite agreements).

  • ○ Paid rates established for particular jobs at the level of the individual enterprise by way of informal house agreements.

  • ○ Arrangements reached between individual workers and their employers (mainly in small- to medium-sized enterprises).

  • ○ General wage adjustments made by the former Arbitration Court or by the Executive, which have been superimposed on this structure.

Every year workers, unions and employers have the opportunity to renegotiate the wages and conditions in their specific industry or occupation. This process is known as the ‘wage round’.

Before each wage round, the Tripartite Wage Conference is held to allow representatives from government, private and public sector unions and employers to meet and exchange information on the economy and government policies that will affect the forthcoming wage round. All three parties must be present.

Discussion is based on past trends and likely developments in the distribution of incomes, inflation, the competitiveness of New Zealand industry, government's fiscal and monetary policy and the labour market. It also considers the interests of the low paid, including discussion on the level of the minimum wage and the race of social security benefits.

At the end of the Tripartite Wage Conference the parties may unanimously recommend guidelines to the Arbitration Commission and others involved in fixing wages.

Since the end of the wage freeze in 1984, there has been one compressed wage round and two full wage rounds. Though the compressed wage round of 1984–85 was a managed round, those of 1985–86 and 1986–87 were not.

Wage rounds in recent years show a high degree of uniformity in wage increases between the various awards. The common pattern is for the wage round to effectively be set up by a handful of key awards which are negotiated early (e.g., drivers, metal trades, electrical workers), leaving little scope for higher settlements in those which follow. In the negotiations for the awards that follow, the pressure is often centred on some payment which is unique to the particular award and over which there is some, negotiating leeway. Two factors which determine the level of settlement in the early key awards are: the increase in consumer prices immediately prior to the round, and the parties' perception of what is acceptable to the Government. Recently the Government has indicated what is acceptable (although not in any formal setting).

Early settlements are usually transferred to other awards through a series of tight linkages, based on historical relativity. These linkages became particularly entrenched during a period of wage restraint in the 1970s when all wage increases had to be justified on relativity grounds.

Negotiations for an award can be initiated by either party to it, although in reality this is usually the union. The Mediation Service arranges for a conciliation council to be formed. The decision of a council is binding on all parties, whether or not they attend conciliation. If a settlement is not obtained by negotiations, it can be referred to the Arbitration Commission if both parties agree. Agreements reached through either conciliation or arbitration are registered by the commission as an award and are enforceable on both parties.

Agreements—The Labour Relations Act 1987 lays down a procedure for negotiating and registering agreements. These agreements may cover an individual employing unit (or a group of units in particular locality) and the workers engaged in a particular occupation. They are enforceable in the same way as awards, but are binding only on the signatories to the agreement.

The Labour Relations Act introduced quite different arrangements for the negotiation of agreements to those that existed under the Industrial Relations Act 1973.

Workers must now be covered by only one document, either an award or an agreement, but not by both. At the time of initiation of negotiations for an award, a union must, if it wishes to negotiate separate agreements as well, specify the names of employers with whom it wishes to negotiate separately. Such employers and their workers are then exempted from award coverage. If the parties reach an agreement it may be registered with the Arbitration Commission and become enforceable. If the parties fail to settle any issue, they may agree to that issue being determined by the commission.

At the date of enactment of the Labour Relations Act (1 August 1987), agreements in existence were those registered under the earlier Industrial Relations Act. The ensuing wage round would then determine which agreements would continue in force outside their respective parent award, and which agreements would be abandoned by the parties.

At the time of commencement there was considerable variation in the nature of agreements. Some provided for a comprehensive code of employment and, where there was a parent award, superseded it in its entirety. Others simply superseded the award in a limited number of areas, usually wages and allowances. (The award would continue to set conditions of employment in the undertaking.) Still others contained in single clause, this often concerning a matter for which agreement could not be reached in award negotiations, and is subsequently pursued by the union on a company-by-company basis.

New matters—The Act provides new procedures for the treatment of what are known as ‘new matters’. A new matter is any that significantly affects the terms and conditions of workers which:

  1. Has arisen as a result of action of an employer since the date on which the award or agreement was settled;

  2. Is not dealt with in the award or agreement, or is dealt with only in the most general terms;

  3. Is not a dispute over the operation or interpretation of the award or agreement (i.e., a dispute of rights); and

  4. Does not relate to redundancy.

A union or employer party may consider during the term of an award or agreement that the existing document does not deal adequately with a new matter and that the parties should negotiate for either an amendment, to the existing award or agreement or another to come in to force during the currency of the existing document.

The union or employer party concerned may apply to the Labour Court to determine whether a new matter exists. If the court so determines, then the matter may be resolved either under the procedures for the negotiation of an award or an agreement.

Composite agreements—An agreement between one or more employers in any undertaking (or group of undertakings) and a number of unions or associations representing the workers engaged within the undertaking (or group of undertakings) is known as a composite agreement. Such documents are entirely voluntary and can rationalise bargaining, by reducing the number of separate agreements. However, once registered, composite agreements are enforceable under the Act.

The Act also provides for the negotiation and registration of composite awards, which are registered by the Arbitration Commission between two or more unions or associations and two or more employers or employers' organisations.

Informal house agreements—The Labour Relations Act primarily provides for the fixing of minimum rates. In certain regions, pay rates for many occupations are substantially higher than award rates. This reflects such factors as high demand for labour, higher productivity, and union pressure. Informal house agreements tend to begin with wage rates and then often broaden to include such things as extra service pay, merit evaluation schemes, production or attendance bonuses, extra holidays, and extended rights for union delegates. They are not registered or enforceable under the Labour Relations Act.

General wage adjustments.

These were an integral part of the New Zealand wage-fixing system for more than 60 years. In recent times, the statutory authority has switched between the Remuneration Act 1979 (repealed in 1980) and the General Wage Order Act 1978 (repealed in 1979). Likewise, the power for making general wage adjustments has passed between the former Arbitration Court and the Executive.

The rationale for general wage adjustments was that they removed pressure from negotiations brought about by cost-of-living and broader economic considerations. They commonly applied automatically and simultaneously to minimum rates specified in awards and voluntary collective agreements, and to state rates. They were applied to above-award rates by the agreement of the parties.

In 1986 the Economic Stabilisation (Cost of Living Allowance) Regulations 1984 were repealed, meaning the end of general wage adjustments.

Public sector pay-fixing.

The framework for pay fixing in the public sector is laid out primarily in the State Services Conditions of Employment Act 1977. The procedures of this Act, and the general rules applying within the state services, were modelled on the relevant provisions of the Industrial Relations Act 1973. Consequently, state provisions are analogous to those for the private sector in respect of applications for improvement in pay or other conditions; the procedures for negotiation (although without the formality of a conciliation council) and for arbitration (although on a different basis); dispute procedures; and access to the Mediation Service.

There are, however, a number of special features in the state pay-fixing system:

  • ○ The determination of pay and conditions by ‘occupational class’—frequently operating right across the state services in a wide variety of employment situations;

  • ○ The application of national pay rates and other conditions of employment, rather than being set by region or centre;

  • ○ Limited facility for merit or ‘performance’ pay;

  • ○ The ‘averaging’ process, which results in state provisions (both pay and conditions) reflecting the average of those in the private sector;

  • ○ The application of ‘fair relativity’ which has led to the ‘backdating’ of increases in state pay (although the degree has been greatly reduced in recent years);

  • ○ Control of top salaries by the Higher Salaries Commission;

  • ○ A system of ‘blocks’ of conditions, negotiated independently from salaries and other conditions, to reflect the complexities of the state system while maintaining a parallel with the private sector. To some extent blocks reflect the fact that there is no second-tier bargaining in the state sector;

  • ○ Formal co-ordinating machinery established by the State Services Co-ordinating Committee, which has statutory responsibility for ensuring unity among employing authorities (although a degree of autonomy is maintained), and as the principal adviser to the Government on personnel matters;

  • ○ The distinct nature of ‘industrial agreements’. In the private sector industrial agreements are the product of either an agreement between the parties or a court order. In the state sector, the equivalent of the industrial agreement is the ‘determination’ and, while determinations may be issued unilaterally by an employing authority, they usually reflect an agreement with the unions;

  • ○ A distinct system of dispute resolution, under which state sector unions have access to compulsory arbitration. Also, more sophisticated procedures for resolving personal grievances exist throughout the state sector (within various Acts, regulations and administrative instructions) than generally apply in the private sector;

  • ○ The representation, in most instances, of all employees (including chief executives) by the same union.

Working conditions

While working conditions are often set in awards and agreements, certain other conditions are determined by statute. In some cases statutes set minimum standards which must be incorporated in awards and agreements.

Equal pay.

The Equal Pay Act 1972 requires that all workers doing the same or similar work must be paid the same. All instruments fixing pay levels therefore must not discriminate on the basis of sex. Wage rates in private sector awards and collective agreements therefore apply to both men and women. In the public sector, equal pay existed for some years before it was applied universally.

Although equal pay has existed for more than 15 years there is still a marked difference between the average wages for men and for women ($426 and $325 respectively in November 1986). This is mainly due to women being predominantly employed in a narrow range of lower paid occupations. (See section 12.1. Labour force.)

Minimum wage.

The Minimum Wage Act 1983 authorises the determination of the national adult minimum wage and establishes the floor below which wages for workers cannot generally fall. It applies to workers 20 years and older and mainly protects the non-unionised sector, which is relatively small and encompasses such groups as private domestic workers and gardeners. Earlier practice was to fix it at a level slightly below that determined by the unionised sector for an unskilled adult, having regard also to the level of the unemployment benefit. In recent years the minimum wage attracted general wage increases only. The difference between the minimum wage and levels in the unionised sector then widened considerably. To address this, in 1985 the minimum wage was increased from $100.00 to $170.00 per week.

As from 2 February 1987 the minimum rate for all adult workers (male or female) became $5.25 an hour if paid by hour or on piecework, $42 a day if paid by the day and $210 a week in other cases.

Hours of work.

Industrial relations legislation has given employees in most occupations the benefit of a 40-hour, five-day week and every effort must be made to ensure that those hours are worked between Monday and Friday. Normally if more than 40 hours are worked, workers must be paid at the negotiated overtime rate. In many industries the standard working week is set at 37½ hours. Shift work often attracts special payments and conditions.

Public and annual holidays.

All workers must receive nine statutory holidays, spread throughout the year. Two additional statutory holidays may be given if a normal working day occurs when these holidays are celebrated. All workers must receive pay for these holidays.

The following fixed public holidays are observed: Christmas Day (25 December), Boxing Day (26 December), New Year's Day (1 January), 2 January (or a day in lieu), Waitangi Day (6 February) and Anzac Day (25 April). Movable national public holidays are shown in table 12.21.

Table 12.21. MOVABLE NATIONAL PUBLIC HOLIDAYS

Holiday19871988198919901991
* The Queen's actual date of birth is 21 April 1926.
Good Friday17 April1 April24 March15 April29 March
Easter Monday20 April4 April27 March18 April31 March
Queen's Birthday*1 June6 June5 June4 June3 June
Labour Day26 October24 October23 October22 October28 October

Provincial anniversaries, or a day in lieu, are observed locally. The anniversary days are: Northland (29 January), Auckland (29 January), Taranaki (31 March), Hawke's Bay (1 November), Wellington (22 January), Marlborough (1 November), Nelson (1 February), Canterbury (16 December), Westland (1 December). Otago and Southland (23 March), and the Chatham Islands (30 November). When the anniversary falls on Friday, Saturday or Sunday it is observed next Monday, if on the other days it is observed the Monday before. The holiday may be taken on another day, such as a local show day, as in Taranaki where it is taken on the second Monday in March to avoid Easter.

All workers must also receive at least three weeks (15 working days) paid annual leave each year. This leave is not usually available to a new employee until one year's continuous service with the same employer has been completed. Shift workers often qualify for an extra week's leave. One week's extra annual leave is often allowed each year to those workers with a minimum of between five and 10 years completed service.

If an employee finishes up before completing a full year's service, he or she is entitled to 6 percent of their total gross wages for the period worked. This is holiday pay in lieu of paid annual leave.

Parental leave.

The Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987 allows parents to take parental leave within 12 months of a birth or the adoption of a child under five years.

The Act replaced the Maternity Leave and Employment Protection Act 1980 and extended its provisions in several key areas.

For the parent(s) of a new child who have worked for their employer(s) for at least 10 hours a week for the 12 months before confinement or adoption there are now three forms of unpaid parental leave available:

Maternity leave—A woman is entitled to up to 14 weeks maternity leave, of which up to six weeks may be taken before the birth or, if agreed by the employer, a period before the adoption of a child under five years.

Paternity leave—A man is entitled to two weeks paternity leave from the time of childbirth by his spouse or the adoption of the child.

Extended leave—One or both parents are entitled to a total of up to 12 months leave before the first birthday or anniversary of adoption of the new child. The entitlement may be shared between both parents, although any period taken as maternity leave is deducted from the total available. Paternity leave does not affect entitlement to other parental leave.

The new Act duplicates most of the provisions of the Maternity Leave and Employment Protection Act 1980 with respect to re-employment rights, complaints procedures and termination of employment.

At the end of a period of extended parental leave, the employee may return to their position if their employer has been able to keep it open. Alternatively, he or she is entitled during the six months following parental leave to preference over other applicants for any position which is vacant in the employer's enterprise and which is substantially similar to the position they held at the beginning of the parental leave. The Act also provides that it is unlawful to terminate the employment of a woman because of her pregnancy or her state of health during the pregnancy. There are complaint procedures for a parent to use where they believe that any of the provisions of the Act have been contravened or their rights to parental leave have been affected to their disadvantage by an employer.

Termination of employment.

The minimum number of days' notice required to be given to a worker is usually contained in the award or agreement. This can vary from award to award, but is generally one pay period (typically one week). If a worker does not receive adequate notice, or considers their dismissal unjustified, then he or she may have a case for a ‘personal grievance’ (see below).

Redundancy.

There is no statutory entitlement to redundancy compensation for workers who have been made redundant. It is up to workers themselves or a union to negotiate a settlement with the employer concerned as each situation arises. Where settlements are reached, the payment usually takes the form of a number of weeks' pay for each year of service with that employer.

There is now no limit on the amount of redundancy compensation that may be paid or received, nor on who is entitled to compensation. Previously, Part III A of the Wage Adjustment Regulations 1974 set a maximum level of compensation and restricted the payment of compensation to any employee with less than 12 months' service. These regulations were repealed in December 1986.

Occupational safety and health.

To ensure that safety, health and welfare requirements set out in Acts of Parliament, regulations and codes and practice are met, factory inspectors are employed by the Department of Labour.

Trade unions also have powers of inspection to ensure that wage conditions set out in awards and agreements are being observed.

All commercial premises are inspected by the Department of Labour, including factories, shops, offices, hotels, restaurants, stores, warehouses, farms, orchards and government workshops. Factory inspectors also spend much of their time promoting safety and advising employers and employees on the many aspects of industrial safety, health and welfare.

High-risk industries are inspected at least annually. The remaining factories, shops, and other units are inspected less frequently, but at least five-yearly. Factory inspectors can order changes to unsafe plant or processes and, if the safety of individuals is threatened, can require immediate remedial action. Where breaches of safety legislation occur, by either employers or employees, remedial action is requested in writing and failure to comply can mean prosecution. All industrial accidents which result in a person being off work for more than 48 hours must be reported to the Department of Labour and serious accidents are investigated by factory inspectors.

By law all factories must be registered annually with the Department of Labour. A fee is payable and this depends on the number working in the factory. For further information on specific Acts relating to health and safety refer to chapter 8, Health and safety.

Rights disputes and personal grievances.

Disputes can arise during the currency of awards and collective agreements over the individual or collective ‘rights’ of workers. The Labour Relations Act requires awards and collective agreements to contain effective machinery for the resolution of rights and personal grievance disputes without stoppage of work. The parties have the freedom to negotiate their own procedures. Failing this, the Act provides standard procedures which are automatically inserted in all awards and agreements.

The procedure for resolution of disputes of rights is based on the principal that the making of an award or the registering of an agreement establishes ‘rights’, the interpretation or application of which can be the subject of dispute between the parties.

The elements of the procedure are as follows:

  1. Once a dispute arises, either party may invoke the procedure and cause a disputes committee to be set up, chaired by a neutral third party (almost invariably a mediator);

  2. A decision can be made by a majority of the committee or, failing that, the chairperson can either arbitrate or refer the dispute to the Labour Court for arbitration. Thus, compulsory arbitration is provided in the case of unsettled disputes. (A disputes committee decision can be appealed to the court);

  3. Work is to continue uninterrupted while the dispute is being dealt with by the procedure. Strikes or lockouts over matters within the jurisdiction of the disputes committee are unlawful.

A right of recourse is provided under the Labour Relations Act to individuals who may have a grievance against their employer based on a claim that a dismissal (or other action) is unjustified. This now includes other unjustifiable or detrimental actions, such as sexual harassment, duress and discrimination.

All awards and agreements must contain an effective procedure for the settlement of personal grievances. This means access to a personal grievance procedure is now a benefit of union membership (except in certain limited circumstances) and it is not dependent on coverage by an award or agreement. The application of the procedure for setting personal grievances is not able to be frustrated by deliberate lack of co-operation on the part of anyone (e.g., a work stoppage).

The procedure is based on the following:

  1. The decision to invoke the procedure, in the first instance, rests with the worker;

  2. The grievance should be, wherever possible, rapidly resolved in the workplace without formality;

  3. The decision whether or not to refer the dispute to a grievance committee, if still unresolved, rests with the union; and

  4. Usually the grievance committee seeks a negotiated settlement, with arbitration as a last resort. The chairperson will attempt to steer the committee to an agreement. If there is no agreement the parties to the dispute can agree to let the chairperson make a decision, or the matter can be referred to the Labour Court for final resolution.

The primary remedy for a proven grievance is, where requested, reinstatement in a position no less advantageous to the worker. The remedy for a personal grievance is, however, determined by the circumstances of each case. It may also include payment of loss of wages and compensation. Also the remedy may include recommendations concerning future action (e.g., a system of warnings or a suitable disciplinary procedure prior to any future dismissal).

The personal grievance procedure is an alternative to, and not in addition to, any right to make a complaint under the Human Rights Commission Act 1977 or the Race Relations Act 1971 on the grounds of alleged discrimination.

Further information

Employment and incomes

Census of Population and Dwellings 1981; Volume 4 Labour Force. Department of Statistics.

Census of Population and Dwellings 1981; Volume 5 Incomes. Department of Statistics.

Incomes and Income Tax of Persons. Department of Statistics (annual).

Income Trends to 1985. Department of Statistics, 1986.

Job Vacancy Survey. Department of Labour (six monthly).

Labour and Employment Gazette. Department of Labour (quarterly until March 1987).

Monthly Employment Operations. Department of Labour.

New Zealand Household Expenditure and Income Survey. Department of Statistics (annual).

New Zealand Labour Force. Department of Statistics (quarterly).

New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations. Department of Statistics, 1983.

New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification. Department of Statistics, 1983.

Report of the Department of Labour (Parl. paper G. 1).

Report of the Inland Revenue Department (Parl. paper B. 23).

Report of the State Services Commission (Parl. paper C. 3).

Skills for Young PeopleA Discussion Paper on Transition Education and Training. Ministers of Education, Employment and Maori Affairs, 1985.

Wages and Earnings. Department of Statistics (annual).

Labour relations

Industrial Relations—A Framework for Review (2 Vols.) and Summary of Submissions. Department of Labour, 1986.

Government Policy Statement on Labour Relations—September 1986. Department of Labour.

A Guide to the Labour Relations Act 1987. Department of Labour, 1987.

Pay Fixing in the State Sector A Review of Principles and Procedures in the Fixing of Pay and Associated Conditions in the New Zealand State Sector—October 1986. Hon. Stan Rodger. Minister of State Services.

Trends in Work Stoppages 1976–1985. Department of Labour (pamphlet).

Work Stoppages and Industrial Unions. Department of Statistics (annual).

Work Stoppages 1985. Department of Labour (pamphlet).

Chapter 13. Science and technology

13.1 Organisation of science

Scientific research in New Zealand is carried out by the research divisions of government departments, universities, joint government/industry-funded research associations, and private organisations (some of which receive government assistance), Accurate statistics on proportionate expenditure on research are not yet available, but the majority of research in New Zealand is funded by government departments, of which about 70 percent is expended by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. Decisions on national scientific policies are made by the Minister of Science and Technology, the Cabinet Development and Marketing Committee, and the Cabinet, subject to the guidance and control of Parliament.

From 1963 until the end of 1986 the Minister of Science and Technology was advised by a National Research Advisory Council on the planning, promotion and co-ordination of scientific research and services in New Zealand, and on the promotion of co-operation with overseas agencies.

The council was abolished on 31 December 1986. A ministerial working party on science and technology, chaired by Sir David Beattie, reported to Cabinet that month and recommended the establishment of a science and technology advisory board to serve a similar role to the former council.

Table 13.1. EXPENDITURE ON SCIENCE BY GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS

DepartmentGross Expenditure on ScienceGrants*
1983–841984–851985–861983–841984–851985–86

* Included in gross expenditure in previous columns.

Source: National Research Advisory Council.

 $(000)$(000)
Agriculture and Fisheries49,94252,50755,5822,3052,9612,555
Defence4,4463,2074,611555
Education3,0773,0624,8352,6152,6694,311
Energy8641,1731,6407881,1731,500
Forest Service17,67918,38720,685193161195
Internal Affairs2,6432,3963,68413293
Justice327340386484850
Labour341330381
Lands and Survey737740987572576776
Scientific and Industrial Research88,96391,479108,0189,2919,16310,670
Social Welfare762835939212219221
State Services Commission232268289
Trade and Industry4285105,30858565,308
Transport15,92816,62617,594137188255
Works and Development4,9355,1856,780
      Subtotal191,304197,045230,71916,23717,24825,849
Research contracts1,6212,2902,360
      Total192,925199.335233,07916,23717,24825,849

Table 13.2. GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE BY SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITY

Scientific ActivityGross Expenditure on ScienceGrants*
1983–841984–851985–361983–841984–851985–86

* Included in gross expenditure in previous columns.

† Includes elements from other activities such as manufacturing and minerals.

‡ DSIR not apportioned by activity.

Source: National Research Advisory Council.

 $(000)$(000)
Agriculture77,47380,45147,0066,9288,7923,331
Forestry17,03418,30318,124401369196
Fisheries7,8629,3039,13755105
Minerals1,5871,5991313
Manufacturing13,65312.9225,3072,2948475,307
Building and construction2,6542,7725441,1661,374
Transport3,4104,1471,7662310292
Natural environment43,20942,88329,610812609166
Social sciences4,8154.9436,9702,8762,9384,582
Human health2,7862.7012122
Energy10,44210,9372,2471,3151,7251,500
Other scientific services6,3796,0841,9903333525
DSIR108,01810,670
      Subtotal191,304197,045230,71916,23717,24825,849
Research contracts1,6212,2902,360
      Total192,925199,335233,07916,23717,24825,849

Government expenditure on buildings solely for scientific use is not included in tables 13,1 and 13.2. This totalled $17,317,000 for 1984–85 and $25,860,000 for 1985–86. The figures of government expenditure are not complete. They include expenditure on scientific, technical, and support staff of the main science units within the Public Service; grants by these departments to research associations and other agencies; and expenditure on the science buildings and equipment of these departments. They do not include expenditure on scientific research and servicing in state-owned enterprises or by the Reserve Bank; in the universities; the grants made to the non-government sector by the New Zealand Energy Research and Development Committee; the assistance to industry for research provided by the Development Finance Corporation ($3,938,000 in 1985–86); the allocation of Golden Kiwi lottery funds for scientific research ($400,000 in 1985–86); and the revenue foregone through taxation concessions to individuals and companies for expenditure on research or donations to research foundations (Income Tax Act 1976).

Table 13.3. SCIENCE BUDGET STAFF CEILINGS

Activity1983–841984–851985–86
 No. of Staff
Agriculture18092,1042,061
Forestry434457453
Fisheries183222216
Minerals334137
Manufacturing273353329
Building and construction323746
Transport82106120
Natural environment9541,036993
Social sciences748084
Human health708168
Energy210260284
Other scientific services124146167
DSIR staff not apportioned by activity476
      Total4 7544 9234 858
Source: National Research Advisory Council.

Table 13.4. GOVERNMENT RESEARCH EFFORT

Year Ended 31 MarchGross Expenditure on Science*Percentage of Total Government ExpenditureTotal Staff Employed

* Including expenditure on public buildings for science.

Source: National Research Advisory Council

 $(000)  
1981142,5311.274,732
1982179,8531.294,766
1983202,5241.324,767
1984205,8041.204,754
1985216,6521.144,923
1986258,9391.164,858

Table 13.5. INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON OF RESEARCH EFFORT*

CountryPercentage of GDP

* Most data for 1983.

Source. Report of the Ministerial Working Party on Science and Technology 1986.

Australia1.01
Belgium1.36
Canada1.35
France2.15
Japan2.56
Netherlands2.03
New Zealand1.13
Norway1.42
United Kingdom2.28
United States2.72
West Germany2.57

13.2 Research programmes

Department of Scientific and Industrial Research

DSIR's research is organised under three groups: the Biological Industries Group, the Resources Group, and the Industrial Group. There are a number of research areas within each group.

Biological industries research

Biotechnology—Modern biotechnology has arisen from basic research on the molecular genetics of living organisms. Recently this research has expanded dramatically as commercial opportunities have been perceived and the impact of these developments is being reflected in DSIR. This research is intended to produce plants, animals and micro-organisms with new characteristics and enhanced economic value and also to produce new products from biological materials—for both national and international markets. These developments are occurring in four major spheres: agriculture and horticulture; pharmaceuticals, diagnostics and animal remedies; medical therapies; and specialty chemicals including food products.

Plant breeding—The DSIR has programmes to develop improved forage legumes and grasses, forage crops, cereals and pulse crops, fruit and vegetables and turf grasses. Many of these programmes are long-term—for 10–15 years—and during the programme research objectives are adjusted with the changing needs of the food and agricultural industries. The programmes also use DSIR's strategic research base in genetics and molecular biology to improve understanding of heritability of desirable characteristics, biochemistry for evaluation of quality characters, pathology and entomology for development of disease and pest resistance, and physiology to improve knowledge of plant growth and development.

Plant productivity—DSIR research into plant productivity contributes to the technology base for New Zealand's major biological industries: pastoral and arable agriculture, and horticulture. Major programmes include studies of plant nutrition and soil fertility; crop production and management; the physical environment of biological systems; control of plant diseases, pest and weeds; and the physiology and nutrition of animals. Much of this research is developmental in nature and the results have wide application across biological industries benefiting farmers, processors, exporters and associated downstream industries.

Food science and technology—Food production is New Zealand's major industry and the present emphasis on new markets and products, improved quality, and new transportation methods has created an intense demand for new scientific and technological information. DSIR conducts research for the horticultural and arable cropping and processing industries and also the fish processing industry. Major programmes deal with food product development, study of the composition, flavour, quality and nutritive aspects of food, and also the storage and transport of arable and horticultural crops.

Biological science—New Zealand has a unique natural environment and an economy which is based largely on plants and plant products. DSIR carries out long-term strategic research to improve understanding of the nature, functions and interactions of the flora and fauna, so that environmental quality can be maintained and improved. Research is also in progress on the physiological and biochemical processes that occur in plants and animals, to generate innovation and development within New Zealand's biological industries.

Resources Group research

Marine and freshwater science—New Zealand has the world's fourth-largest Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and a highly developed system of natural and man made lakes. Beyond this zone, the Pacific Ocean occupies 32 percent of the earth's surface and powerfully influences nearly all the planetary processes, in particular climate and weather, the water cycle, and the regulation of atmospheric gases. It supports a great diversity of aquatic life, is a major sink for sediments and pollutants from the land, and generates sea-floor minerals. New Zealand's oceanic interests range from the tropical Pacific to Antarctica's Ross Sea, but studies are concentrated in the Exclusive Economic Zone, with priorities in four main areas of research—marine geoscience, marine biology, physical oceanography and freshwater studies.

Ecological science—New Zealand has a unique fauna and flora of great diversity and evolutionary importance. To retain this heritage for the benefit of New Zealanders, and because of international responsibilities for its conservation, research or, these biota and the ecosystems they constitute is of great importance. New Zealand habitats have also beer; altered by introduced mammals and plants and their impact requires investigation for management.

Earth and atmospheric science—New Zealand exhibits a wide range of geological phenomena. It also provides a remote base for international comparisons of atmospheric variations. Basic geotechnical data and background geologic information are provided for engineering site investigations, urban planning and for the assessment of a range of hazards arising from phenomena such as earthquakes and volcanism. Regional and specialist studies in sedimentary geology and geophysics, important for fossil fuel exploitation, provide background knowledge of New Zealand geology. Studies in hydrothermal activity in the central volcanic region and in Northland have provided the basis of both current geothermal energy development programmes, and criteria for ensuring the protection of certain scenic and tourist features.

Energy resources and utilisation—Many of New Zealand's energy resources require investigation, characterisation and documentation as a first step. Later there is the solving of technical problems during development and utilisation. Each major or minor energy resource requires its own methodology for resource and utilisation studies, and all work is dependent on basic studies in earth sciences.

Soil resources and soil fertility—In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for assessment of soils for agriculture, especially in relation to the expansion of horticultural crops. The genetic classification of soils which has served New Zealand soil science well during the reconnaissance phase of soil resource assessment has proved to be insufficiently precise, inadequately defined and not comprehensive enough to satisfy such modern requirements. Alternative classification systems have been investigated and special surveys undertaken. Models have been developed that incorporate soil-climate-plant relationships in the prediction of land-use performance, for the restoration of land after disturbance by mining, and for showing the benefits of improving land by drainage and other methods.

Industrial Group research

Applied and industrial chemistry—Applied chemistry skills are used to process a wide range of New Zealand's natural products into higher-value products. DSIR scientists conduct research on the selection and correct use of materials in manufacture to prevent failures which may result in lost production. Another area with potential is research into methods for handling and processing mineral and coal resources.

Mechanical engineering and production technology—DSIR scientists and engineers advise industry on the introduction of new technology. Service work, such as calibration and industrial measurement, is also provided and better design techniques and practices promoted. DSIR also advises industry on maximising the social and economic benefits of technological change.

Information and communication technology—The potential for exploiting information technology remains largely undeveloped in all but a few sectors. DSIR works with organisations to evaluate, adapt where necessary, and introduce new concepts and processes in information technology

Forensic science—Recently there has been a rapid growth in demand for services in areas such as forensic biology physical evidence, illicit drugs, forensic toxicology and blood and breath-alcohol testing. The DSIR has been working to improve the quality efficiency and range of these services.

Physical science—The DSIR provides a scientific base in the physical sciences—for technology, process, and materials development in New Zealand industry. It also maintains the primary measurement standards for the country, and provides calibration and measurement services to industry and other departments. Materials research spans a broad range of physical properties, techniques and materials and is being conducted on noise control, earthquake responses of structures, and optical technology. New nuclear techniques for use in scientific research, industry and commercial applications are being developed.

Health and environment science—The DSIR uses chemical analysis to ensure the safety and quality of foods, waters and pharmaceuticals. It also does research to help ensure sensible protection of the environment that is compatible with necessary development and use of resources. The application of radiation chemistry and radiation biology to certain health problems is also being researched.

Electronics and electrical science—The DSIR is committed to introducing new electronic technologies to New Zealand and disseminating these to the electronics and other industries. Specialised equipment is also developed to meet the needs of New Zealand industry. Electrical/electronic information, measurement and testing services are also provided to industry.

Table 13.6. DSIR GRANTS TO RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, 1985–86

InstitutionAmount

* University contracts are funded from DSIR's operating funds.

† Disestablished during 1986.

Source: DSIR

 $(000)
Universities*218
Research associations—
  Building Research Association927
  Coal Research Association454
  Concrete Research Association340
  Dairy Research Institute1,739
  Fertiliser Manufacturers' Research Association 376
  Heavy Engineering Research Association372
  Leather and Shoe Research Association299
  Logging Industry Research Association271
  Meat Industry Research Institute1,600
  Research Institute Textile Services92
  Wool Research Organisation1,159
  New buildings for research associations1,034
Overseas institutions—
  Commonwealth agricultural bureaus205
  Others146
New Zealand institutions—
  Carter Observatory296
  Cawthron Institute624
  Royal Society of New Zealand373
  Testing Laboratory Registration Council330
  Other (incl. NZ/US agreement)33
      Total10,888

Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries research

Agricultural research.

Almost all agricultural research within the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries is conducted by the Agricultural Research Division (which during 1987 became part of the new Technology Development and Implementation Group). The division has 312 scientists, 546 science technicians, and 357 other support staff. The activities of the division are administered from its head office in Wellington by a director and four assistant directors through the five regional directors and the director of Wallaceville Animal Research Centre. Work is carried out at eight main centres and stations, 34 smaller stations and areas, and on private farms throughout the country. The goal of agricultural research is to help New Zealand's meat, fibre, dairy, arable, and horticultural industries to identify and realise their export potential and increase the sustainable returns from farming. Increasing attention is being given to problems related to harvesting, processing, and marketing. The following are the main areas of research.

Animal—sheep, cattle, deer, goats and possums (including genetics, reproduction, nutrition, management, and diseases).

Soil and plant nutrition—soil and plant chemistry, fertiliser and trace-element technology, soil and plant tissue testing techniques, fertiliser requirements, modelling, and growth substrates.

Pasture and crop—plant species and cultivar evaluation, management, microbiology, and weed and pest control.

Horticulture and viticulture—cultivar evaluation, cultural practices, management, pollination, water requirements, harvesting methods, orchard mechanisation, quality evaluation and marketing (for most established crops and for a range of new ones, including floricultural and nursery crops).

Irrigation—pasture and crop water-use efficiency and response to irrigation.

Energy—evaluating crops for ethanol and methane (biogas) production.

The division is also involved in developing new products, production systems, means of harvesting, transport and marketing methods, and agricultural equipment. It has also worked on new methods of measuring and monitoring product constituents and environmental contaminants, acceptable within New Zealand and internationally; to provide essential services such as comprehensive soil and plant analyses and the associated advice on fertilisers.

Programmes are designed to accommodate local, regional, and national development objectives, and to integrate all aspects of crop production (including harvesting, processing, and marketing).

Pasture research.

Pasture research is aimed at achieving the maximum pasture response from the minimum inputs of energy, labour, fertiliser, and capital. Maximum use is made of this production by matching animal requirements as closely as possible to pasture growth. (The calving of dairy cows, for instance, is timed to ensure that maximum milk production coincides with maximum pasture growth, thus minimising the need for expensive conserved fodder, such as hay or silage.)

The use of nitrogen-fixing legumes (such as white clover) reduces the need for nitrogen fertilisers on pasture. Some urea fertiliser is used to stimulate pasture growth at the beginning of the season or to speed recovery from drought. Legumes get their nitrogen-fixing ability from rhizobia (bacteria which infect the roots of legumes). Research identifies the most efficient rhizobia strain for each legume species and ensures that each legume is infected with the right strain, although there have been problems establishing new strains in the soil environment.

New legume cultivars, adapted to certain conditions, may increase production without large applications of fertiliser (for example, ‘Grasslands Maku’ lotus will outproduce white clover on acidic, low-fertilty soils). Scientists from the division are involved in evaluating new cultivars and species, and in developing management techniques for them.

Insect pests cause large pasture and crop losses each year. Integrated pest-management systems offer the most effective and economical control, and are being developed for the major pests. The procedures include relating pest numbers and stages of development to plant damage; monitoring changes in pest populations; identifying, selecting, and propagating plant species which are either pest tolerant or resistant (for example, lotus is resistant to grass grub); screening insecticides and identifying the most cost-effective dose levels; identifying and evaluating the significance of natural pathogens; and establishing the extent to which varying farm management procedures can contribute to control.

Fertiliser is becoming increasingly expensive. Concern over the falling quality of superphosphate fertilisers resulted in the adoption of citric-acid-soluble phosphate as a measure of agronomic effectiveness. Research emphasis is on investigating new types of fertiliser and more efficient ways of application.

A comprehensive chemical soil-testing and fertilising advisory service for farmers is provided by the division. A fertiliser recommendations bulletin is published for use by farm advisers. It includes many years of research information and produces models of nutrient cycling in New Zealand in order to predict nutrient requirements and thus to formulate its recommendations. Soil, crop, and stock types; rainfall; stocking density; the degree of pasture utilisation, and its carrying capacity are all taken into account, as well as the results of the soil tests. Collation of recommendations has also been computerised.

Several of the division's scientists are researching chemical, cultural, and management systems of controlling weeds—gorse, thistles, ragwort, and hawkweed as well as weeds affecting crops.

Animal production.

Animal production can be improved by genetic selection. Selection research is being carried out at Ruakura, Templeton, lnvermay, Waikite, Tara Hills, Goudies, Rotomahana and Woodlands stations. It aims to assess the genetic resources of sheep, deer and cattle and to develop breeding strategies by which they can best be exploited to improve the national production and marketing of sheep, deer and cattle products.

Improvement of stock can be achieved by selecting the best animals within a breed, or by crossing breeds (e.g. the highly prolific, Booroola merino can be crossed with other breeds to increase their lambing percentage). The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has imported genetic material from overseas for use in cross-breeding programmes to improve lambing percentages and carcass composition (for lean-meat production). The imported breeds are the Finnish Landrace, Texel and Oxford Down and the animals and their crosses are being held on a quarantine and research station at Hopuhopu.

The overfat-lamb problem can be overcome by selecting rams whose progeny are fast-growing but lean. The division had a working party which made recommendations on problems facing the industry.

‘Special interest' field days are organised on a variety of topics. They are a popular and effective way to communicate research results.

Animal diseases.

In the North Island, facial eczema continues to be a problem. Sheep vary in their resistance to it and can thus be genetically selected for this factor. An enzyme has been identified as being produced by livers that have been damaged by facial-eczema toxin. Concentrations of the enzyme can be related to liver damage, and thus used as the basis for selecting the tolerant sheep.

Animal diseases still cause large losses and are under continuous study. Pneumonia and pleurisy, for example, cause death and carcass down-grading or rejection (perhaps even slower growth rates). A wide variety of micro-organisms have been isolated from field cases, but the exact causes of the diseases are unknown. Researchers at Wallaceville have now managed to reproduce the diseases in experimental animals. This has resulted in the development of vaccines and preliminary field tests are encouraging. Over recent years, Ruakura scientists have isolated and identified the apparent cause of ryegrass staggers among farm livestock—the toxin (the chemical structure of which was determined in 1983) is caused by an endophytic fungus which infects ryegrass. Fungus and toxin-free ryegrass has been obtained, but it is highly susceptible to attack by the Argentine stem weevil.

Irrigation.

Winchmore Irrigation Research Station is investigating the large areas of potentially irrigable land in the South Island. Effective use of water is needed to achieve the most economic return on the investment. Programmed systems of cropping involve combinations of crops with different peak water requirements. Various crops are studied, as well as the efficiency of different methods of applying the water and the responses of different soil types to irrigation.

Horticulture.

Horticulture is increasingly important in primary production. Northland has a particularly large potential for horticultural production because of its climate and soils. Research at Kerikeri will focus on different aspects of crop growing in Northland.

The division's main horticultural research centres are established at Levin and Ruakura. The following aspects of horticultural production are at present being investigated: husbandry and management; pest, disease and weed control; soil and plant analyses; harvesting; and post-harvest physiology. Regional horticultural research stations at Pukekohe, Manutuke and Hastings also collaborate in this research.

A group has also been established in Central Otago to research pip and stone fruit production and specialist crops such as herbs and medicinal plants.

Other areas of research.

As well as the more traditional forms of farming, the division studies deer, possum, goat, llama, and alpaca farming; rabbit farming and control; animal behaviour; beekeeping; environmental contamination; aquatic-weed control; energy farming; forest farming; greenhouse design and construction; fencing; the development of agricultural and horticultural equipment; and the application of electronics and robotics to agriculture and horticulture.

Ministry of Forestry research

The Ministry of Forestry undertakes and co-ordinates its forestry and forest-product research through the Forest Research Institute, which has three divisions at Rotorua and a fourth at Christ-church, employing 176 scientists, 188 technicians, and servicing staff. An advisory committee for each division of the institute ensures that the research programmes are relevant to the needs of the forestry and forest-based industries.

The institute exchanges scientific information with other research organisations in New Zealand and overseas, and provides opportunities for research fellowships, as well as some finance for universities to undertake contract research.

The institute produces its own annual report. The work of the four divisions is described below.

Forest management and resources.

This division is responsible for research into exotic forest management, including soils, harvest planning, mensuration, economics and social science, and tree physiology. A comprehensive network of research trials in forests of the Forestry Corporation and private companies has been established throughout the country.

Forest health and improvement.

This division undertakes research into tree breeding, nursery technology, forest establishment, entomology, pathology and indigenous forest management. A large research nursery exists within the institute's grounds at Rotorua. A comprehensive network of research trials has been established in forests of the Forestry Corporation and private companies throughout New Zealand.

Wood technology

This division undertakes research aimed at making the best use of wood. Its research includes: wood quality and conversion; pulp and paper; sawmilling; wood preservation; biotechnology drying and timber engineering. In carrying out its work, this division maintains close contacts with the timber and building industries and is therefore represented on numerous agencies associated with building standards and timber use and preservation.

Forestry Research Centre.

Located in the grounds of the University of Canterbury in Christ-church, this division undertakes research into methods of protecting and restoring the soil, water, and other values of forests. It studies the ecology of mountain-land forests, the biology and control of introduced animals such as deer and possums, the effects of forestry on slope stability and erosion, and the use of revegetation for productive and protective purposes.

Industry, the universities, and the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research also carry out research into many aspects of forestry and forest products.

Research by other government departments

The Ministry of Works and Development undertakes research into water and soil conservation and management functions for the National Water and Soil Conservation Authority. There are three science centres (studying water quality in Hamilton, plant materials and erosion control in Aokautere, and hydrology in Christchurch). Other activities include the department's central laboratory complex at Gracefield, which is principally an in-house facility to aid in the study and design of major engineering and building works.

Together the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries are responsible for about 70 percent of the total government science expenditure. Adding the Ministry of Forestry (the Forest Research Institute at Rotorua), the Ministry of Transport (the Meteorological Service), and the Ministry of Works and Development, brings this figure to 90 percent of government research and development expenditure. A number of other departments do, however, undertake or sponsor research.

Scientific research outside government departments

The bulk of university funding comes direct from the Department of Education but university research is funded through the University Grants Committee. A number of government departments are, however, substantially increasing their contact with the universities by granting contracts for specific programmes of research.

There are 10 industry research associations which are funded jointly by government and the industries they serve, and these are listed in table 13.6.

The only major endowed research organisation in New Zealand is the Cawthron Institute at Nelson, which was established in 1920 with a bequest of £250,000 under the will of Thomas Cawthron. As the value of the investment of the bequest has declined the institute has received increasing income from technical services earnings, and from a government grant which comprises about 41 percent of the institute's income.

The organisation of medical research is described in chapter 8.

Social sciences

As New Zealand society faces the challenges of the future such as the introduction of new technology, the communications revolution, and changing employment and lifestyle patterns, there are greater demands for social-science research. It contributes to social impact assessment and the consideration of a human dimension in planning. The central disciplines of the social sciences include psychology, sociology social anthropology human geography economics, social demography and political science. They are applied in fields such as social policy education, social administration and criminology.

There are five main contexts in which social scientific research is carried out in New Zealand: universities; research units in government departments and in some local government authorities; independent social research units which receive government funds, e.g., the New Zealand Council for Educational Research and the New Zealand Institute for Economic Research (Inc); commercial market research firms, private research consultancies and research or analysis units within private enterprises; and voluntary agencies.

Government expenditure on social-science research is funded through the Departments of Justice, Social Welfare, Education, Internal Affairs, Scientific and Industrial Research, and Survey and Land Information, and the Ministry of Forestry. It amounted to $7,418,000 for the year ended March 1986. This is 3.18 percent of government research expenditure. The Social Science Research Fund Committee (established in 1979) receives over $200,000 per year through Vote: Social Welfare to help fund social science research conducted outside government agencies.

New Zealand Institute of Economic Research.

The New Zealand Institute of Economic Research was founded in 1958, following a recommendation from the 1956 Royal Commission on Money, Banking, and Credit Systems. It is an independent, non profit-making body with the primary objective of conducting research into economic problems affecting New Zealand, it is administered by a trust board consisting of 10 trustees elected by the subscribing members to the institute and five ex officio trustees including the Governor of the Reserve Bank, two university representatives and the Director. The institute is funded from membership subscriptions (mainly from the corporate sector), contracts and consultancy, and from grant income.

The institute is the largest group of economists in New Zealand outside the Public Service and the universities. Its research programme focuses on the economy in the short and medium term, economic growth, industry energy and household economics. In addition it provides consulting and contract services.

The institute produces a variety of publications, including regular journals, research papers, discussion papers and working papers, and it contributes to the publications of other organisations.

13.3 Technology services

Patents, trade marks and designs

The Patents Act 1953, the Trade Marks Act 1953, and the Designs Act 1953 are adminstered by the New Zealand Patent Office, a division of the Department of Justice. The main function of the Patent Office is to examine patent, trade mark, and design applications to ensure that only those which comply with the requirements of the relevant Act are granted (in the case of patents) or registered (in the case of trade marks and designs).

Patents are granted for a maximum period of 16 years, provided that the appropriate renewal fees are paid at three-yearly intervals. Trade marks may be kept on the register indefinitely as long as renewal fees are paid after an initial period of seven years, and every 14 years thereafter. Registration of designs is for an initial period of five years, with provision for two more five-year periods (giving a maximum of 15 years).

New Zealand is a party to the International Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (the Paris Convention). Under this convention, each member state provides the same protection to the inventions, trade marks, and registered designs of the nationals of other member states as it accords to those of its own nationals.

Details of patent, trade mark, and design applications and registrations are published in the monthly New Zealand Patent Office Journal. The total number of applications for the granting of letters patent, and for the registration of designs and trade marks during the financial year 1986–87 was 11 452, which was 187 more than in the previous year.

Table 13.7. APPLICATIONS FOR PATENTS AND REGISTRATION OF TRADE MARKS AND DESIGNS

Year Ended MarchPatentsTrade MarksDesigns
19823,5044,725586
19833,5824,724691
19843,930478702
19853,9325,731722
19864,0056,612648
19874,1836,529740

Patents—The 4183 applications received during 1986–87 were broadly classified as follows: chemistry, 1906; mechanical engineering, 1003; home science and miscellaneous, 441; electrical engineering, 375; building technology, 232; and primary industries, 226.

Applications originating in New Zealand totalled 951; the United States, 1317; the United Kingdom, 491; Australia, 298; West Germany, 193; Switzerland, 179; Japan, 159; France, 126; the Netherlands, 99; Italy 79; Sweden, 67; Canada, 63; South Africa, 21; Denmark, 20; Belgium. 19; and the balance of 101 from 23 other countries.

Trade marks—The 6529 applications received during 1986–87 originated in the following countries: New Zealand, 2803; the United Stales, 1320; Australia, 768; the United Kingdom, 541; West Germany, 205; France, 162; Switzerland, 103; the Netherlands. 102; Italy, 70; Taiwan, 64; Canada, 50; Denmark, 48; Japan, 40; Hong Kong, 37; Sweden, 36; Korea, 21; and the balance of 159 from 32 other countries.

Trade marks registered during the year totalled 3571. Renewal of registration of 3191 trade marks was effected during the year.

Designs—A total of 689 industrial designs were registered during 1986–87.

Industrial Design Council

The New Zealand Industrial Design Council was established under the Industrial Design Act 1966 to promote the development of industrial design with the object of improving the quality efficiency, packaging, and appearance of goods produced in New Zealand.

The council provides a product development assessment service. This comprises a review of product design and quality management, and can lead to a product design award.

The council operates three award programmes:

  • Designmark—the applicant must have achieved a satisfactory level of design management expertise and quality assurance and control, and its product must have a satisfactory New Zealand manufacturing content, not be a copy and comply with relevant standards and regulations.

  • New Zealand Design Award—the applicant must have contributed a high New Zealand design and manufacturing content to its product which must have been awarded a Designmark, show innovation, and demonstrate excellence in design.

  • Prince Philip Design Award for New Zealand Industrial Design—some 40–50 recipients of a council award are invited, each year, to enter a specific product for assessment. Judging is by a specialist panel and on the basis of strict criteria set by Prince Philip who confirms the panel's decision before the winner is announced.

A corporate membership scheme gives industry the opportunity to invest in the council's work, while gaining free assessments and other benefits.

Standards Council

The Standards Act 1965 established the Standards Council as the governing body of the Standards Association of New Zealand (SANZ). Its aims are to improve efficiency and stimulate development in industry and commerce by providing standards documents, which will also assist in promoting public and industrial welfare, health, and safety The association administers the New Zealand Standard certification mark scheme, which encourages improved quality control in industry with consequent improvement in the quality of consumer goods.

It also provides a service known as ‘technical help to exporters’ (THE) which provides assistance to manufacturers whose products need to comply with the standards and regulations of overseas markets.

The council regards international standardisation as an important factor in facilitating trade. The association is the New Zealand member of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and the Pacific Area Standards Congress (PASC).

The SANZ library holds full sets of New Zealand standards, international standards (ISO and IEC) and the publications of the International Special Committee on Radio Interference. Library references also include the national standards of the UK, Australia, United States, Germany and many other countries. Copies of all standards, from whatever source, can be obtained from the association's sales service.

The association publishes new and revised New Zealand standards and amendments. Details of these and of other national and international standards activities are given in a monthly publication, Standards. A catalogue, published annually lists all the standards in use in New Zealand.

The association depends on the subscriptions of members and on sales of standards for the greater portion of its income. Sales of publications exceeded $1.3 million in the 1985–86 year. Subscribing membership of the association totalled 1826 at 31 December 1986, while 41 companies and government agencies had voluntarily increased their subscriptions to levels qualifying for recognition as sustaining members.

Further information

Directory of New Zealand Design Expertise. New Zealand Industrial Design Council, 1985.

Patent Office Journal. New Zealand Patent Office (monthly).

Bollard, E. G. Science and Technology in New Zealand: Opportunity for Change. National Research Advisory Council, 1986.

Forest Research Institute, Annual Report 1986.

Report of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (Parl. paper G. 21).

Report of the Director-General of Forests (Parl. paper C, 3).

Report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (Parl. paper C. 5).

Report of the National Research Advisory Council (Parl. paper G. 20).

Science and Technology Plan, 1984: the First Steps. National Research Advisory Council.

Science and Technology Plan, 1985: the Challenge of Change. National Research Advisory Council.

Standards. Standards Association of New Zealand (monthly).

Chapter 14. Land and environment

14.1 Land resources and ownership

New Zealand occupies 26.9 million hectares. It is predominantly mountainous and hilly country and can be categorised in terms of slope and altitude. Over two-thirds (18.5 million hectares) slopes at greater than 12 degrees and nearly half at greater than 28 degrees. Approximately three-fifths of the country (16 million hectares) is over 300 metres above sea level, with one-fifth over 900 metres. It has been estimated that in pre-Polynesian times 78 percent (21 million hectares) of the total area was under forest cover. 14 percent was made up of the alpine zone, and the balance was drylands, lakes, and swamps. Polynesian and European settlement have seen a marked reduction of the original forest cover, by fire and conversion through the use of traditional and new development methods, to suit human needs.

Table 14.1. LAND USE TODAY

Type of LandAreaPercentage of Total Area
 hectares (million) 
Total forested land7.226.8
Pasture and arable land14.453.5
Other land use4.918.2
Minor islands0.10.4
Lakes, rivers, etc.0.31.1
Total area of New Zealand26.9100.0
Source: Ministry of Forestry

Soils

Soil is a product of its environment: its composition depends on the parent ingredient, the climate, the length of time it has weathered, the topography, and the vegetation under which it has formed. The complex soil pattern of New Zealand is a result of the many different kinds of rock, and the various conditions under which the soils have formed.

New Zealand includes such extremes as the subtropical climate of North Auckland, the cold uplands of the alpine regions, and the semi-arid basins of Central Otago. The country's topography is also varied—50 percent of the land is classifiable as steep, 20 percent is moderately hilly, and only 30 percent is rolling or flat. The natural vegetation ranges from kauri forest to subalpine scrub, and from tussock grassland to broadleaf forest. Occasionally occurrences such as river floods on alluvial plains, sand drifts, or a volcanic ash eruption interrupt and alter the pattern of soil development.

Regional differences in New Zealand's soils result mainly from the effects of climate on topography. Soils weather more rapidly under high temperatures and become leached under heavy rainfall. Distinct soil gradations are found from west to east. These closely follow the isohyets (lines connecting places that receive the same amount of rain) on a climatic map.

Table 14.2. CLASSIFICATION OF NEW ZEALAND SOILS

RegionSoilsVegetation and Land Use
North Auckland Peninsula and Auckland regionLarge areas of infertile gumland soils formerly covered with kauri. Loams and clay from volcanic rocks.Patchy land use. Exotic forests on sand country and remnant kauri forest on uplands. Intensive dairying on rolling lands around Kaipara Harbour, Whangarei, Kaikohe and Dargaville. Sheep and beef on hill country.
Bay of Plenty-Waikato- Tharnes-Hauraki PlainsVolcanic ash covers much of the area, giving rise to deep, yellow-brown loams with good physical properties. Peaty and gley soils with high ground water on Hauraki Plains and parts of Waikato Basin.Intensively-farmed dairying region. Much of better dairying land in Bay of Plenty established in kiwifruit and subtropical horticulture. Maize cropping in Waikato Basin.
Volcanic PlateauPumice soils, lacking in some essential trace elements, but mostly deep, friable and highly suited to tree growth.Important watershed with large areas protected as native forest. Extensive exotic forests. Topdressing of former scrub areas with trace elements has allowed widespread farming.
East Coast-WairarapaYellow-brown earths. Significant areas of recent alluvial soils on Gisborne and Heretaunga Plains. Yellow-grey earths on rolling land south of Hawke's Bay.Semi-extensive sheep farming (wool and store sheep) on dry hill country. Intensive lamb production on flat to rolling plains. Market gardens and orchards near Gisborne, Napier, and Hastings. Important pip-fruit production. Vineyards. Pockets of dairying close to main ranges from Norsewood south.
TaranakiVolcanic ring plain consists of yellow-brown loams, usually from deep volcanic ash but stony in west. Soft-rock uplands in east Taranaki.Distinct contrast between intensive dairying on ring plain, and severely eroded inland hill country, with many steep ridges covered in second-growth forest or dense gorse.
Manawatu-HorowhenuaSand dunes and swampy hollows common along coast. Loess-covered terraces and river flats inland. Yellow-grey earths on drier terraces with sand soils near coast and organic and recent alluvial soils on lower plains.Intensive sheep production and cropping on the terrace country; semi-intensive sheep and beef in hill country of Rangitikei. Exotic forestry on coastal sand country.
Marlborough Sounds- NelsonPockets of fertile, recent alluvial soils on Waimea and Motueka Plains. Large areas of steepland soils and stony soils on Moutere Gravels.Intensive orcharding and market gardens. Exotic forests in Marlborough Sounds and Moutere Gravels.
Marlborough-Kaikoura CoastYellow-grey earths and yellow-brown earths with pockets of alluvial soils.Intensive sheep farming and cropping on river terraces, semi-intensive sheep and beef on hill country. Vineyards in lower Wairau Valley.
West CoastExtensive gley podzols and organic soils, with recent soils on alluvial flats.Indigenous forestry declining; national parks and reserves; exotic forestry on hill country of north Westland. Dairying on river flats.
CanterburyVery thick layer of gravel covered by variable thicknesses of fine material. Yellow-grey earths and associated stony soils.Intensive cropping for cereals and fodder crops. Intensive sheep production, with widespread irrigation of pasture.
OtagoHigh-county yellow-brown earths on ranges, and semi-arid soils (often stony), in basins.Extensive sheep and beef farming in uplands. Intensive orcharding in Central Otago basins, especially for stonefruit; irrigation necessary. Market gardening in lower Taieri.
SouthlandSouthland Plain mainly deposits of gravel and silt. Yellow-brown earths and recent alluvial soils. Yellow-grey earths inland in drier areas.Semi-intensive sheep and beef farming in rolling areas inland, and intensive fattening on plains. Dairying on plains near Invercargill,
Source: DSIR.

Surveying and mapping

The Department of Survey and Land Information is the national survey and mapping organisation. Its major functions include the maintenance and extension of the survey control system; examination of all land title surveys; regulation of survey standards; land planning; co-ordination of government aerial photography requirements; and the publication of topographic, cadastral, and special maps.

The survey control system, in the form of trigonometrical and other geographically located stations, provides the basis for effective integration of surveys executed by all sectors for land title definition, land development and utilisation, engineering and construction, communications, mapping production, scientific studies, and the location of marine and air navigation aids. Examination and approval by the department of all land title surveys ensures the security of tenure essential to development, and the maintenance of all survey records on a microfilm system provides for ready access and utilisation of data. The control of survey standards, maintenance of discipline, and training of professional surveyors is effected through the Survey Board, which is chaired by the Surveyor-General. Other departmental services include surveys for land title, land development, navigational purposes, earth deformation studies, administration of justice, land and environmental planning, draughting services related to local government administration, census and electoral activities, and mining applications. A start has been made on the computerisation of land records as a base for the implementation of a national land information system. The practising surveyors in the private sector play a major role in surveys of private lands under the Land Transfer Act 1952, the planning and development of housing projects, and the execution, under contract, of some government surveys.

Aerial photography.

Extensive use is made of aerial photography for photogrammetric mapping and in the annual provision of basic physical resource and planning data. Photography is undertaken by private aerial survey firms under contract to the Department of Survey and Land Information, which maintains a comprehensive library of air photos for all national purposes and general public usage. The department now receives and holds multispectral imagery collected by earth-resources satellites for use in studies associated with land use and management, regional planning, and scientific research.

Mapping.

Both the imperial maps and the basic metric topographical and cadastral maps now under production provide a reliable inventory of physical resources and an up-to-date identification of land parcels and legal situations. They are in constant demand for planning, construction, development of land, extension of public and social services, protection of the environment, the general use and guidance of the public, administration of central and local government, and defence. Regularly updated street maps cover all significant urban areas. The Department of Survey and Land Information produces and publishes a wide range of other maps for various purposes including recreation, national parks, and miscellaneous and general maps of New Zealand, the Pacific, and Antarctica. As the government mapping agency, the department produces maps needed to service the activities of other departments, particularly aeronautical charts for military and civil use, meteorological maps and charts. Topographic and orthophoto mapping produced by photogrammetric methods for projects and special purposes is executed at larger scales to provide an essential base for investigation and design of energy, irrigation, forestry, and communications projects. Map sales agencies are maintained at each of the district offices (except Wellington) and at the head office of the Department of Survey and Land Information, which also holds bulk map supplies and maintains a world reference library of maps at its map centre. In addition, a large number of private selling agents have been appointed in New Zealand and overseas. All maps for sale are listed in the Catalogue of Maps published by the department. Maps for the New Zealand land inventory are being produced with first priority being given to areas where land-use change can be anticipated. These maps are produced from authoritative data and are published to uniform standards and presentation. They show the physical and cultural data about land, and overlays can be prepared to assess physical suitability for appropriate land uses.

Registration of land ownership

Title to land in private ownership in New Zealand is a matter of public record. The keeping of these records is the function of the Land and Deeds Division of the Department of Justice.

Almost all privately-owned land in New Zealand is held under the land transfer system, presently embodied in the Land Transfer Act 1952. The objects of several Land Transfer Acts since 1870 have been to provide security of title by means of state guarantee; simplicity by use of standardised forms in language readily understood by the layperson; accuracy by the use of precise survey data; the reduction of costs by simplification of conveyancing procedures; expedition by streamlining and constantly revising recording procedures; and suitability to circumstances by relating the land registration system directly to our social and economic structures. The principal features of the system are registration of title and guarantee of that title by the state.

Under the land transfer system, land and interests in land do not pass by the execution of an instrument of transfer but by the registration of that instrument. A person acquires a legal interest in land not by entering into an agreement to purchase the land, but by registering the instrument of transfer and by being recorded on the register as the owner. The certificate of title is the pivot on which the whole land transfer system turns. A certificate of title is issued under the hand and seal of the District Land Registrar (of which there are six nationally), which guarantees to the registered proprietor of the land described in that certificate his or her rights of use, occupation, and enjoyment, the extent and position of his boundaries, and the nature of any encumbrances or interests affecting his land, such as mortgages or rights of way. Two copies of the certificate of title are issued; one copy forms the land transfer register, and the duplicate is held by the owner. This duplicate must be presented to the land registry office for noting whenever documents affecting the estate for which it was issued are submitted for registration. Any change in the registered proprietorship which occurs through transfer, death, or other devolution, and the encumbrances to which the land is subject may be entered on the register by the registration of the appropriate documents.

Guaranteed search procedures came into effect in 1984 under of the Land Transfer Amendment Act (No. 2) 1982. They were introduced to provide a greater measure of protection for those who use the land transfer system with some risk because of their inability to identify unregistered dealings which may be in competition with the documents they are seeking to register. The procedures provide government-funded protection for purchasers in the period between settlement and the time the documents giving title are registered and ownership becomes secure. This procedure is enhanced with the introduction of the automated (computerised) journal, which has been designed as an unregistered documents file. This facility will enable conveyancers to make an enquiry on any certificate of title or abstract (document) in any district before settling transactions, thereby reducing the state's liability.

Interests in, and charges against, land arising from many other statutes may be noted against the land transfer register. Successive governments have charged the Land and Deeds Division with duties of surveillance under the laws relating to the subdivision and aggregation of land, disposition of public reserves, anti-slumming requirements of local authorities, and many other aspects of land use and occupation. Certain leases and licences of Crown land may be registered under the provisions of the Land Transfer Act, and Maori land when vested in any person for a freehold estate comes automatically under the land transfer system.

Table 14.3. CERTIFICATES OF TITLE ISSUED

Year Ended 31 MarchTotal
198134,332
198236,472
198338,910
198439,913
198542,292
198644,818
Source: Department of Justice.

Control of land acquisition.

Safeguards have been made for long-term planning in the use of land, whether publicly or privately owned, in order to ensure that it and its resources are used to the best advantage of the community as a whole. Legislation introduced in 1968 and 1969 (by amendment to the Land Settlement Promotion and Land Acquisition Act 1952) prevents, where there is an operative regional plan or district scheme, the acquisition by overseas interests of land of 4000 square metres or over designated or zoned as reserves for recreation or other purposes, and all islands or parts of islands within 150 kilometres of the mainland, and the Chatham Islands.

The legislation covers rural land and farmland of 2 hectares or over. Here a purchase may be approved if specified conditions, ensuring beneficial use of the land from a national viewpoint, or permanent future residence, are met. The Administrative Division of the High Court shall grant its consent where the purchaser or lessee is a person ordinarily resident in New Zealand, i.e., who has resided in New Zealand for two and a half years and the court is satisfied that he/she intends to continue to reside in New Zealand. Where the purchaser or lessee is not a person ordinarily resident in New Zealand or is an overseas company, the court shall not grant its consent unless it is satisfied that the land is not required for any reserve purpose and that the land is not an island or forms part of the Chatham Islands. In the case of farmland, the court must be assured that the purchaser or lessee intends to conduct experimental or research work on the land which will benefit agricultural industries in New Zealand or the community generally, or that the land will be used for purposes other than agricultural, with greater advantage to the community, or in the case of an individual that he/she intends to reside permanently in New Zealand and farm the land exclusively for his/her own use and benefit and has the ability and means to do this.

Part 1 of the Land Settlement Promotion and Land Acquisition Act authorises the Minister of Lands to take, in certain circumstances, any farmland that is suitable for settlement, and is, or when subdivided and developed will be, capable of substantially increased production.

Part II deals with the control of sales and also leases (for three years or more) of farmland to prevent undue agrigation. The consent of the court is required unless the purchaser or lessee owns no farmland, has no interest in any estate or trust owning farmland, has not since the passing of the Act transferred any farmland to any person as trustee or created any trust in respect of farmland, and has entered into the transaction solely on his own behalf.

The Act prevents the purchase of farmland, without the consent of the court, by a trustee for any person under the age of 17 years, or the purchase by a company or trustee for a company to be formed where the shareholders are fewer than 10 in number and any member of such company is under the age of 17 years (or where shares will be held in trust for any person under that age at the date of the transaction).

Table 14.4. LAND TRANSFERS REGISTERED

Year Ended 31 MarchTotal TransfersTotal Consideration
NumberPercentage ChangeAmountPercentage Change
   $(million) 
1981110,282+ 10.14,400.2+23.0
1982135,460+22.86,575.6+49.4
198399,356−26.75,712.1−13.1
1984105,584+ 6.36,360.4+ 11.3
1985113,988+ 8.07,813.0+22.8
1986127,063+ 11.510,128.9+29.6

Table 14.5. CONSIDERATIONS FOR LAND TRANSFERS. 1986*

Consideration GroupFreeholdLeaseholdAll Transfers
No.Total ConsiderationAverage ConsiderationNo.Total ConsiderationAverage ConsiderationNo.Total ConsiderationAverage Consideration
* Year ended 31 March.
               $ $(million)$(000) $(million)$(000) $(million)$(000)
Under 2,0001,2331.31.0450.041.01,2781.31.0
2,000–2,9995541.32.3310.072.45851.32.3
3,000–3,9995731.93.3360.123.46092.03.3
4,000–7.9993,69921.65.82121.185.63,91122.85.8
8,000–9,9992,13018.68.8680.588.62,19819.28.8
10,000–14,9995,44565.312.01161.4112.15,56166.712.0
15,000–19,9994,70479.516.9751.2917.24,77980.816.9
20.000–49,99928,6031,021.835.750117.7035.329,1041,039.535.7
50.000–149,99967,3125,395.980.21,12892.5382.068,4405,488.480.2
150,000–199,9994,281722.6168.87612.79168,34,357735.4168.8
200.000 and over6,1152,618.8428.312652.73418.56,2412,671.5428.1
      Total, all groups124 6499,948.579.82 414180.4574.8127 06310,128.979.7

The division into freehold and leasehold demonstrates the relatively small percentage of land transfers involving leasehold property.

Table 14.6. LAND TRANSFERS BY AREA OF PROPERTY. 1986*

Size Group (Hectares)North IslandSouth IslandNew Zealand
NumberAreaTotal ConsiderationNumberAreaToted ConsiderationNumberAreaTotal Consideration
* Year ended 31 March.
  Hectares  Hectares  Hectares 
  (000)$(million) (000)$(million) (000)$(million)
Under 288,55111.66,822.1289523.41,713.6117,50315.08,535.7
2 and under 62,5299.3341.98543.183.73,38312.4425.6
6 and under 119507.7149.23553.032.21,30510.7181.4
11 and under 2069310.6121.62563.824.794914.4146.4
20 and under 501,17638.8229.645014.250.91,62653.0280.6
50 and under 7547529.2113.11589.722.363338.9135.4
75 and under 10028424.275.813411.522.141835.797.8
100 and under 20033447.290.829842.760.363290.0151.0
200 and over330169.9104.0284159.771.0614329.6175.0
      Total95,322348.58,048.231,741251.22,080.7127,063599.710,128.9

Table 14.6 includes both urban and rural land transfers. The majority of the urban transfers are in the ‘under two hectares’ size-group, which includes 92 percent of the total. Besides normal residential properties, this size-group includes many business, commercial, and industrial properties, and blocks of flats.

Table 14.7. LAND TRANSFERS BY LAND REGISTRATION DISTRICTS

Land Registration District1984–851985–86
No.AreaTotal ConsiderationNo.AreaTotal Consideration
* The urban areas of Auckland are in the North Auckland Land Registration District.
  Hectares  Hectares 
  (000)$(million) (000)$(million)
North Auckland*35,26681.02,836.545,562104.54,593.4
South Auckland17,88486.01,183.620,07488.61,406.1
Gisborne1,19331.377.51,12715.077.9
Hawke's Bay4,38039.1267.54,58739.5302.0
Taranaki3,16028.0211.03,22440.2221.9
Wellington20,365111.21,344.219,74860.71,446 9
Marlborough1,44520.283.31,58521.197.4
Nelson284919.1183.53,08043.2204.0
Westland7855.426.08115.631.1
Canterbury16718128.41,043.416,49879.41,135.8
Otago6,65672.1360.46,51948.9425.1
Southland3,28758.1196.13,24853.0187.4
      Total113,988679.97,813.0127,063599.710.128.9

Figures of average consideration, and indeed ail land transfer data, should be used with caution owing to the great diversity of property transactions covered by the figures. These transactions include, for example, sales of residential properties, farms and farmland, all classes of commercial, industrial, and business properties, sections, and parcels of land bought for such purposes as large-scale manufacturing, forestry, recreation, reserves, and later subdivision. Movements in prices of individual types of properties are indicated elsewhere (see chapter 20).

Recent figures for freehold open-market sales of farmland are shown in table 14.8. Family sales are excluded, as are leasehold sales and sales for uses other than primary production.

Table 14.8. MARKET SALES OF FREEHOLD FARMLAND

Half Year EndedNo. of SalesTotal Sale PriceIndex Number*Percentage Change From Previous Half Year

* Base (=1000) half year ended June 1980.

Source Valuation Department

 $(million)
Dec 19821,704369.02014+ 10.2
Jun 19831,130227.51989−1.2
Dec 19831,386268.22005+0.8
Jun 19841,579353.42084+3.9
Dec 19841,498329.02095+0.5
Jun 19851,217247.82137+2.0
Dec 19851,370305.42090−2.2
Jun 1986882166.82036−2.6

Valuation of land

Equitable land values are needed for: (a) levying land tax, (b) apportioning rating levies over contributing local authorities; (c) levying rates by local authorities; (d) lending money on mortgage by government departments and by trustees under the Trustee Act; (e) assessing stamp, estate and gift duties; and (f) fixing prices for transfers of land to or from the Crown. The Government Valuation of Land Act 1896 set up a separate government department to assess values of real estate for taxation and other central government purposes, and for local rating. The Valuation of Land Act 1951 and the Land Valuation Proceedings Act 1948 set the current guidelines for the department's operation. The work of the Valuation Department is directed by the Valuer-General. The actual work of valuing is done by valuers under the supervision of district valuers. The duty of the valuer is to examine each property and to estimate: (a) the capital value of the whole property (land and buildings plus other improvements); (b) the value of the land as if it were vacant; and (c) the value of the improvements (if any) upon the land. The estimated value: should be neither above, nor below the fair selling values, in view of the many different purposes for which the values are used. Increased land values generally stem from public works, the successful working of other lands in the area, and the general prosperity and development of the country. ‘Improvements’ on land are defined as items of work done or materials used on or for the benefit of the land which result in structural additions.

The valuation roll.

A valuation roll is prepared for each district over which a territorial local authority sets rates. The roll shows the ownership, description and valuation of each property, including rates postponement and special rateable values where required. District valuation rolls are revised by the Valuer-General, usually at least every five years. Special valuations are made for particular purposes such as loans by government departments or trustees and the assessment of stamp, gift and estate duties.

Since 1985 the department has operated an on-line enquiry system through which each of the 27 offices can instantly provide a printout showing information for any property in New Zealand.

Objections to valuations—When a district valuation roll is revised the Valuer-General, any local authority, or a property owner may object to any valuation. If only one property is revalued, the owner or any affected local authority may object. Objections can be taken to a land valuation tribunal, and ultimately objectors may turn to the Administrative Division of the High Court, which also hears claims for compensation under the Public Works Act 1928, and sets values under the Land Settlement Promotion and Land Acquisition Act 1952.

Rating valuations.

By law, every local authority rating on the basis of either the capital value or land value, frames their valuation roll from the district valuation roll. The third major rating system is the annual (rental) value system. The Valuer-General may be appointed to do these valuations. The annual value is defined as the rent at which a property would let from year to year, with certain reductions. These valuation rolls are prepared either annually or three-yearly. Under the Rating Act 1967, local authorities may grant applications for rates postponement for some residences in commercial and industrial zones, and for farmland in areas with urban development potential. Rates-postponement values are determined under the Valuation of Land Act 1951 or the Rating Act 1967. Special rateable values for non-conforming land in various zones are also made so these properties will not have a rating advantage. The Rating Act 1967 allows rating relief for farmland subject to rates levied by urban local authorities. The Act provides for an equitable adjustment of rates and levies between parts of a local authority if they are revalued at different times. Table 14.9 shows the gross and net values on the valuation roll. Net values include all rateable property plus properties on which local authorities receive grants in lieu of rates.

Table 14.9. NATIONAL CAPITAL AND LAND VALUES, AS AT 31 MARCH 1986

Type of Local AuthorityGross ValuesNet Values
Capital Value (Land and Improvements)Land Value*Capital Value (Land and Improvements)Land Value

* Included in previous column.

Source: Valuation Department.

 $(million)
Counties and islands51,822.827,312.847,218.226,657.5
Cities and boroughs69,602.321,408.964,561.820,477.2
Town districts51.812.447.211.6
      Total121,476.948,734.0111,827.247,146.3

Yearly revaluations of all properties in New Zealand are not made. However, using valuation equalisation, up-to-date gross values by local-body districts for the whole country have been compiled.

Table 14.10. NATIONAL GROSS EQUALISED CAPITAL VALUE, AS AT 31 MARCH 1986

Type of Local AuthorityTotal
Counties and Island*Cities and BoroughsTown Districts
$(million)
54,180.986,979.862.8141,223.6
Source: Valuation Department.

Comparing these figures with the gross values given in table 14.9 shows that valuation statistics tend to delay the appearance of current movements in the property market.

Valuers Registration Board.

The Valuers Act 1948 provides for the registration of land valuers and some control of their work. There is a registration board under the chairmanship of the Valuer. General, which issues certificates for registration to all valuers, and annual practising certificates to public valuers. The main objects of the Act are to secure a high standard of valuation work throughout the country and encourage competent valuers. Of the 1737 valuers registered as at 31 March 1986, 623 have taken out annual practising certificates for the current year. The majority of the remaining 1114 registered valuers are either employed in government departments, or do not make valuations for members of the public and thus are not required to hold annual practising certificates.

Maori land

Before European settlement, all land was held by the various groups and tribes of the Maori people in accordance with their traditional customs and usages, and the land remaining in this tenure is termed ‘Maori customary land’. By the Treaty of Waitangi, the right to purchase land from Maori was reserved to the Crown. Almost all of what had been Maori customary land was converted to other forms of title by one or other of the following processes: (a) purchase of other acquisition by the Crown (from whom the European colonists obtained land for farms, etc.); (b) the issue of a Crown grant to a Maori owner on the recommendation of the Maori Land Court; and (c) the issue of a freehold order by the Maori Land Court in favour of the Maori found entitled upon an investigation of title. This process was used instead of process (b) after the introduction of the land transfer system into New Zealand. Land in titles issued under processes (b) and (c) became known as Maori freehold land. A Maori may buy or otherwise acquire land which is not Maori freehold land, i.e. general land, and for this reason there is an unknown but considerable amount of general land owned by Maoris in addition to their holdings of Maori freehold land. The area of Maori freehold land in New Zealand is 1 181 740 hectares. Maori freehold land is subject to the jurisdiction of the Maori Land Court pursuant to the Maori Affairs Act 1953 and some general land owned by Maori is subject to certain provisions of that Act.

Maori Land Court.

The Maori Land Court consists of a Chief Judge and such other judges as the Governor-General may from time to time appoint. Its general function is to deal with problems peculiar to multiple ownership of Maori lands, including the partitioning and combining of titles for better utilisation; the effecting of exchanges; directing meetings of owners, and confirming or disallowing resolutions passed by such meetings; confirming sales; and making other miscellaneous orders (including in certain cases, determining entitlement to, and vesting in persons entitled, the beneficial interests of deceased owners, in Maori freehold land).

The Maori Appellate Court consists of any three or more judges of the Maori Land Court, provided that two judges at least shall concur in every decision of the court. With certain exceptions, the Appellate Court determines appeals, whether on law or on fact, from all final orders of the Maori Land Court.

Maori land development and rural lending.

One of the principal functions of the Board of Maori Affairs is to encourage the development and use of Maori land for the benefit of Maori owners. This is done in two ways;

Development schemes—Part XXIV of the Maori Affairs Act 1953 allows Maori landowners to vest the control of their land in the Department of Maori Affairs, which in turn carries out the development programme. The debt associated with the development is charged against the land, and is ultimately recovered from the farming operations before the land is returned to the owners' control and management. There are two common structures used for control and administration. These are 438 trusts and incorporations, under which representatives of the owners are appointed by the Maori Land Court to manage the affairs of the property. The developments undertaken cover a diverse range of enterprises. As at 30 June 1986 there were 78 development schemes in operation covering an area of 95 196 hectares, of which 58 594 hectares was in grass, 218 hectares in horticultural development, and 2206 hectares in pine forests and plantations. The pastoral schemes carried 492 128 sheep, 39 054 cattle, 1514 deer, and 4023 goats. Total stock units carried were 644 878 stock units. In addition 109 945 kilograms of milkfat was produced from sharemilker herds, run on three of the properties.

Rural lending—The Board of Maori Affairs also makes normal mortgage finance available to assist Maori farmers, trusts and incorporations, in the agricultural and horticultural areas. Substantial assistance has been given to Maori authorities for horticultural development in recent years.

14.2 Public lands

Re-allocation of public lands

Before the re-organisation of environment administration which took place in 1987, two government departments administered areas of public land owned by the Crown and covering approximately half the area of New Zealand. The former Department of Lands and Survey administered Crown land under the Land Act 1948, reserves under the Reserves Act 1977, and national parks under the National Parks Act 1980. The former New Zealand Forest Service administered extensive state forests under the Forests Act 1949. This system of public land administration had developed since the nineteenth century, and the objectives of the departments concerned, and the purposes various categories of land were held for, were mixed. For example, the Forest Service had commercial and conservation functions. It managed some planted and natural forests for timber production, while it held other natural forests in a protective role related to erosion and water resources. Some state forests also had recreational and other uses. Similarly, the Department of Lands and Survey administered sequestered areas for preservation and conservation, for example, as national parks and reserves, and it also managed large areas of Crown land for production.

One of the main aims of recent public sector reform, which is described in chapter 3, Government, has been to rationalise the commercial and other functions of public sector organisations, including environmental functions, and new agencies have been established and given non-conflicting objectives. As part of the reform, it has been necessary to re-allocate the extensive public land-holdings to the new government departments and state enterprises that came into being on 1 April 1987. The reallocation of land has had to be worked through in detail, and the broad scheme of re-allocation is illustrated in the diagram below. Commercial state forests are to be purchased by the Forestry Corporation and the titles transferred. Non-commercial forests have been re-allocated to the Department of Conservation, as have reserves and national parks. Commercial Crown land is to be purchased by the Land Corporation, and the titles transferred.

The actual position is more complicated than this general scheme. For example, the Forestry Corporation is to acquire some pieces of Crown land, and the Land Corporation some areas of state forest land. Remaining areas of unallocated Crown land are the responsibility of the residual Department of Lands, which administers the functions associated with Crown title to land of the former Department of Lands and Survey. Molesworth Station and pastoral leases, including extensive areas of South Island high country are to remain under Crown title, but be managed by the Land Corporation on the Government's behalf.

Disposal of Crown land

Until 31 March 1987 Crown land was all administered under the Land Act 1948. The Minister of Lands is charged with the administration of the Act. The central authority under the Land Act was the Land Settlement Board, which disposed of Crown land through the Department of Lands and Survey according to its classification, i.e., farm urban, commercial, industrial, and pastoral.

The administrative responsibility for the disposal of Crown land transferred to the Land Corporation from 1 April 1987 as a result of the environmental restructuring. The 1986–87 Yearbook contains a fuller description of the previous system of Crown land disposal.

Table 14.11. CROWN LAND ALLOCATED, 1986*

TenureNumberTotal Area AllocatedPurchase Price on Annual Charges

* Year ending 31 March.

Source Department of Lands

 Hectares$(000)
Freehold (cash sales)2062,1714,330
Renewable leases779,149207
Pastoral leases and licences214,6958
Deferred payment licences18020,768334
Special leases (section 67 Land Act)2675074
Licences to occupy2187,212115
Licences for removal of minerals1916
Leases of endowment and other lands4039649
      Total, 198676855,1575,117
      Total, 198596674,9184,451

Table 14.12. LEASES AND LICENCES UNDER LAND ACT 1948, AT 31 MARCH 1986

TenureLeases and LicencesAreaAnnual RentAnnual* Instalment

* Including improvement loading.

† Licences are on a royalty basis only and areas and rents are not shown.

Source: Department of Lands.

 No.Hectares$(000)$(000)
Renewable leases4,159428,1273.744167
Pastoral leases and licences3972 692 789216
Special leases81893,57242711
Deferred payment licences19,4691 425 40214.362
Miscellaneous leases and licences13336
Licences to occupy3,639159,936610
Leases of endowment and other lands49398,22250587
Licences for removal of minerals21
        Total, 198618,9974 898 0815,53814,627
        Total, 198519,8774 789 9414,73913,844

Table 14.13. LEASES AND LICENCES FREEHOLDED UNDER LAND ACT 1948, AT 31 MARCH 1986

Method of PaymentCrown LandsAreaPurchase Price
 No.Hectares$(000)
Cash495,717626
Deferred payments198196716,258
        Total, 198624725,3886,884
        Total, 198523732,2907,608
Source: Department of Lands.

Land Corporation

The Land Corporation Limited (Landcorp) arose out of decisions taken in 1985 on environmental administration restructuring. The Government's objective was to separate the commercial farming and land management activities then undertaken by the Department of Lands and Survey and place them with a business orientated agency, free to operate in a commercial manner.

As from 1 April 1987, Landcorp took over from the former Department of Lands and Survey's land development and agency farms; some 23 000 leases and licences; unalienated Crown land in rural areas where the predominant use is farming; and residential, commercial, and industrial property in urban areas. The corporation also administers South Island high-country pastoral leases on behalf of the Crown.

National parks centennial

During 1987–88 New Zealand is celebrating the centennial of the gift by Te Heuheu Tukino IV, paramount chief of Ngati Tuwharetoa, of three sacred mountains of Tongariro, Ngaurahoe, and Ruapehu as the nucleus of New Zealand's first national park. The idea of a national park was born out of a conflict between using outstanding natural areas for private profit or retaining them for preservation, and public use and enjoyment.

Maori legend tells of a small group making their way across the wild, windswept central plateau of Teika a Maui (‘the fish of Maui’ whose English name is the North Island). These people from the Arawa canoe journeyed inland to explore the high tussock country, where they lit their tribal fires and occupied the land. By the mid-nineteenth century, the descendants of the Arawa canoe, the Ngati Tuwharetoa, were concerned for the future of their sacred mountains, the volcanic peaks of the Tongariro area. They were afraid that the sacred mountains steeped in ancestral legend, might be lost to settlement since Europeans had already leased much of the surrounding country by 1878. Then Europeans eyed the rolling tussock lands below the mountains. Te Heuheu Tukino IV, speaking for his people, asked if the Government would accept this land as a gift to all the people of New Zealand, provided that the land would retain its tapu (sacred) and protected character. The suggestion was enthusiastically received, and in 1887 the mountains were accepted on behalf of future generations of New Zealanders. The first national park began as the result of Te Heuheu's concern and the Government's foresight.

New Zealand had the world's fourth national parks system, after the United States, Australia and Canada. National parks began 15 years before with the establishment of Yellowstone National Park in the United States in 1872. Now, a century later, nearly 3 million hectares of land have been set aside in New Zealand as national and maritime parks, and reserves.

Although the gift was made in 1887, it was another seven years before Tongariro National Park was formally constituted by Act of Parliament (with an area of 78 651 hectares). The concept of a national park was not altogether understood by the political leaders of the day. Prime Minister, John Ballance said in 1887 that, “… this land is particularly suited for a national park. It has all the appearance of a park in itself and many persons looking at it would imagine it had been laid out artificially and created at enormous expense for the purposes of a park.”

In 1890 representations by Taranaki settlers led to another special Act establishing Egmont National Park. This time, calls for preservation arose from the anxiety of lowland farmers about the mountain water-table and its possible destruction by settlement of highland farms.

The use of the first two parks by trampers and mountaineers gradually created support for the idea of reserving similar country as additional national parks. Fiordland, formally designated a public reserve for a national park, followed in 1905. It was chosen for its spectacular scenery and fiords, fostering public support for the concept of protecting land for scientific and recreation purposes. This resulted in the passing of the Public Reserves, Domains and National Parks Act 1928 under uniformity to the appointment of national park boards. Five more national parks were subsequently established under the Act: Mount Cook, Urewera, Nelson Lakes, Westland, and Mount Aspiring. The 1952 Act also established the National Parks Authority with the function of formulating policy and allocating finance, while separate national park boards were appointed to deal with the routine administration of each park.

The 1952 Act was replaced by the National Parks Act 1980 under which the National Parks and Reserves Authority was established with similar policy-making and financial responsibilities to the earlier authority. Twelve regional national parks and reserves boards became responsible for policymaking in national parks, scenic, scientific and nature reserves throughout the country. Both the authority and boards consist of members of the public, a provision which ensures that national park administration reflects its wishes and attitudes.

The essence of the National Parks Act 1980 is that national parks are to be maintained in their natural state and that the public is to have right of entry. The Act functions to preserve in perpetuity as national parks, for their intrinsic worth, and for the benefit, use and enjoyment of the public, areas of New Zealand that contain scenery of such distinctive quality, ecological systems, or natural features so beautiful, unique, or scientifically important that their preservation is in the national interest. The inclusion of reference to ecological systems and the scientific importance of national parks in the 1980 Act marked a philosophical development that was not present in the earlier statute. The 1980 Act continues “… the public shall have freedom of entry and access to the parks, so that they may receive in full measure the inspiration, enjoyment, recreation and other benefits that may be derived from mountains, forests, sounds, sea coasts, lakes, rivers and other natural features.”

The first national park to be created under the 1980 legislation is the Whanganui National Park, which was formally established in December 1986. The park effectively surrounds the middle reaches of the Wanganui River. A proposal for a Paparoa National Park, on the West Coast of the South Island was approved in principle in 1986. In addition to the 11 national parks, which totally protect 9 percent of New Zealand's land area, there are three maritime parks—Hauraki Gulf, Marlborough Sounds and the Bay of Islands. The Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park is sheltered from the open ocean and washed by warm Pacific currents from the north. Visited and settled by the Maori people over the last 10 centuries, the 47 islands of the park contain many archaeological and historic sites and still show the surviving remnants of once-vast kauri forests. Established in 1978, the Marlborough Sounds Maritime Park is an amalgamation of more than a hundred scenic and nature reserves, some of them accessible only by sea.

In addition to the national and maritime parks, New Zealand has 18 forest parks ranging in size from 3000 to 377 000 hectares. On 1 April 1987 the Department of Conservation assumed administrative responsibility for them, and they were renamed conservation parks. Conservation parks are managed so that their natural and historic resources are protected, while public recreation and enjoyment is facilitated. This provides for a wider range of user than in national parks.

As well as conservation parks, smaller reserves protecting many of New Zealand's most outstanding natural, cultural, and historic sites supplement the national park system. These reserves are scattered throughout both main islands, Stewart Island and many of the offshore and outlying islands, ranging from the sub-tropical Kermadecs to the sub-Antarctic islands in the Southern Ocean.

The celebration of Tongariro National Park's 100th birthday symbolises New Zealand's recognition of the value of its protected areas—not only the national and maritime parks but also the thousands of other protected natural areas throughout the country. A year-long festival, which began in July 1987 is being celebrated throughout the 13 national and maritime parks. The celebrations are intended to increase public awareness of the contribution of national parks and protected areas to the quality of life in New Zealand.

In order to co-ordinate and manage the 1987–88 centennial of national parks, a commission of eight members was appointed by the Minister of Lands in 1982. It is chaired by Sir Patrick O'Dea, a former secretary for Internal Affairs, and a past member of the National Parks and Reserves Authority. In conjunction with the commission, a secretariat developed projects at a national level, and has co-ordinated centennial activities. The commission is supported by a network of liaison officers throughout New Zealand. The secretariat and liaison officers worked under the umbrella of the Department of Lands and Survey until 31 March 1987 and now works within the Department of Conservation.

National parks administration

The current national park legislation is the National Parks Act 1980, which established a National Parks and Reserves Authority as an independent statutory body made up of 10 people representing private organisations and the public. Four members are appointed by the Minister of Conservation from public nominations; one member each representing the Royal Society of New Zealand, the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society, and Federated Mountain Clubs of New Zealand (Incorporated) on the recommendation of each organisation; and three members are appointed after consultation with the Minister of Tourism and the Minister of Local Government. The authority has general oversight and responsibility for the formulation of policy and management planning for national parks and reserves of national importance, and the day-to-day administration servicing the authority and district boards was transferred to the Department of Conservation from the former Department of Lands and Survey on 1 April 1987. At district level, 12 National Parks and Reserves Boards have been set up under the Act to have general oversight for the management of national parks and reserves of national importance within their specific region. Each board has 10 members appointed by the Minister of Conservation after public nomination and consultation with the authority, but in the case of the Tongariro/Taupo and Taranaki Boards one member of each board is appointed to represent the Maori people who donated parts of Tongariro and Egmont National Parks to the Crown. Nominations are considered on the basis of the individual's special knowledge or interest in matters connected with the policy for, and management of, national parks and reserves. Also taken into consideration are the nominated individual's interest in regional or community affairs, tourism, recreation or conservation. Rangers on the staff of the Department of Conservation are responsible for development, protection, interpretation, and management in each park. The status of national park land cannot be changed except by Act of Parliament.

New Zealand's 11 national parks, cover 2 351 715 hectares (or approximately one-twelfth of the country's land area) of beautiful or unique natural features and scenery. Accommodation, transport, and other services in or near the parks are provided by the Department of Conservation, government agencies, private enterprise, and voluntary organisations. Although the National Parks Act 1980 provides for freedom of entry and access by the public, this is subject to conditions and restrictions ‘necessary for the preservation of the native plants, and animals or for the welfare in general of the parks’. Access to ‘specially protected areas’ constituted under the Act is (if the circumstances warrant) by permit only. The Act also requires parks to be administered and maintained so that they are preserved as far as possible in their natural state, that their value as soil, water, and forest conservation areas is maintained; and that as far as possible, native plants, and animals are preserved, and introduced plants and animals exterminated.

Development permitted by the National Parks Act 1980 includes the erection of houses for rangers and park staff, and the provision of camping grounds, huts, hostels, accommodation houses and other buildings, ski tows and similar facilities, parking areas, roading and tracks. In ‘wilderness areas’, established in terms of the Act, development is restricted to foot-track access and the erection of huts for essential wild animal control operations or to facilitate scientific research. Authority policy and park management plans provide guidelines and criteria for the extent of acceptable development in national parks.

Virtually all the finance for national parks is provided by the Government, but cash donations by private individuals and organisations are encouraged: these earn a $2 for $1 subsidy from the Government. During the centennial year, half the government subsidy is applied towards the centennial commission's operations.

Of the 11 national parks, four are in the North Island and the remainder are in the South Island. A 12th, Paparoa, on the west coast of the South Island, is likely to be established soon and is included with the brief descriptions of the national parks given below:

Urewera National Park.

(212 675 hectares, established in 1954), surrounds the beautiful Lakes Waikaremoana and Waikareiti. As the traditional home of the Tuhoe, ‘the Children of the Mist’, it is rich in Maori folklore. The park protects the largest remaining area of native forest in the North Island and provides a home for many species of native birds.

Tongariro National Park.

(78 651 hectares, established in 1887), includes the three active volcanic cones of Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe, and Tongariro. Ruapehu's snowfields are the winter playground of the North Island. Lake Rotopounamu, still free from exotic fish, and Mount Pihanga are two other focal points of the park.

Egmont National Park.

(33 543 hectares, established in 1900), contains one of the world's most symmetrical mountains, and preserves magnificent scenery and vegetation within a 9-kilometre radius of the summit. Dominating Taranaki province in the west of the North Island, the near perfect cone varies from heavily-forested lower slopes to the bare scoria, rock, snow, and ice at the upper levels. The Maori name of the mountain, Taranaki', is officially recognised, with the English name, ‘Egmont’, as an alternative.

Whanganui National Park.

(74 231 hectares, established in 1986), borders the Wanganui River. Most of the parklands extend from Whakahoro in the north to Pipiriki in the south, but there are also outlying areas extending up towards Taumarunui and down as far as Aterie. The topography is dominated by a series of steep ridges, which are fairly uniform in height. The park protects one of the last remaining steepland, low-altitude forests in the North Island. The vegetation cover consists of kamahi and tawa as the dominant canopy species. A wide range of recreation opportunities is available.

Abel Tasman National Park.

(22 541 hectares, established in 1942), with a broken coastline and rich in historical significance, has numerous tidal inlets and beaches of golden sand fronting Tasman Bay. Botanically, the park is unique as its bush-clad slopes show a blending of the natural cover of both the North and South Islands, a phenomenon of nature not found elsewhere in the country.

Nelson Lakes National Park.

(101 753 hectares, established in 1956), is named after the chief focal points for visitors, the beautiful Lakes Rotoiti and Rotoroa. They nestle in rugged, mountainous country with extensive beechforest-clad lower slopes. The Mount Robert area, with its magnificent views, provides visitors with winter recreational opportunities on its ski-fields.

Paparoa National Park.

(approximately 30 000 hectares), was approved in principle by the Government late in 1986. Located on the South Island west coast, it stretches inland from the famous Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki to the top of the Paparoa Range. The park includes spectacular limestone caves, cliffs, and unbroken coastal forest. (An order published in the Gazette is required to establish the national park formally, and this is expected late in 1987, making a total of 12 national parks, covering approximately 2 382 000 hectares). ‘

Arthur's Pass National Park.

(99 270 hectares, established in 1929), is a rugged and mountainous area straddling the main divide of the Southern Alps. It is an area of high peaks (at least 30 over 1800 metres), snowfields, deep-cut valleys, snowgrass-clad ridges, forest-clad hillsides, high waterfalls, wide shingle riverbeds, and rushing torrents, all providing endless scope for physical endeavour or quiet appreciation.

Mount Cook and Westland National Parks.

(69 923 hectares, established in 1953, and 117 547 hectares, established in 1960) share a common boundary along the main divide of the Southern Alps. Westland National Park stretches from the divide to the Tasman Sea. Their magnificent alpine scenery, containing almost all of the 27 peaks over 3050 metres in height, includes New Zealand's highest mountain, the 3764-metre Mount Cook, known to the Maoris as ‘Aorangi’—freely translated as ‘Cloud Piercer’. Their attractions are as varied as their altitude, ranging from well known glaciers such as Tasman (at 29 km in length one of the longest outside polar regions), Franz Josef and Fox, to hot springs, placid lakes, the subtropical luxuriance of the rain forests, and a nesting colony of fur seals.

Mount Aspiring National Park.

(289 657 hectares, established in 1964), is a complex of impressive glaciated mountain scenery which includes the headwaters of seven major rivers. The park's distinctive character is enhanced by bush-covered mountainside and pleasant river flats and valleys. Its focal point, often referred to as the Matterhorn of New Zealand, is the 3036-metre Mount Aspiring, a four-ridged peak rising from the Bonar Therma-Volta ice shelf, and the country's highest peak outside the Mount Cook National Park.

Fiordland National Park.

(1 251 924 hectares, established in 1905), is one of the largest national parks in the world, and is renowned for the rugged grandeur of its scenery, which includes fiords, mountains, forests, waterfalls, and lakes. The better known lakes are Manapouri, backed by snowcapped peaks, and Te Anau. The park is the only known habitat of two flightless birds, the takahe (notornis) and (except for a small colony on Stewart Island) the kakapo.

Reserves

In addition to the national parks there are large numbers of reserves including scenic reserves, recreation reserves (many of these are designed primarily for organised sport), historic reserves, and nature reserves. There are also three maritime parks.

The main legislation providing for the setting aside of land for public use, e.g., for the preservation of flora and fauna, scenery preservation, or recreation, are the Land Act 1948, Local Government Act 1974, and the Conservation Act 1987. The Land Act 1948 enables land owned by the Crown, including foreshore areas, to be reserved for any purpose desirable in the public interest, while under the Local Government Act 1974 local authorites are charged with ensuring that adequate provision is made for public reserves on subdivisions of land. The Conservation Act 1987 provides for the administration of land, and natural and historic resources held by the Department of Conservation that are not covered by other legislation.

The current legislation governing the administration, management, and control of reserves is the Reserves Act 1977. This Act established seven distinct categories of reserves, each with its own management requirements. The seven categories are: recreation, historic, scenic, nature, scientific, government purpose, and local purpose. In addition there is provision to declare any reserves of national or international significance to be national reserves, which can be revoked only by Act of Parliament. All reserves are currently being classified into the above categories. The classification pros will take some time to complete but considerable progress has been made. Until finally classed, all reserves are to be administered for the purpose of their existing reservation.

Scenic reserves.

Scenic reserves, of which there are 1242 with an overall area of 340 497 hectares, are set aside to preserve features or areas of scenic interest such as native forest, limestone and glowworm caves, thermal areas, sea coast, lakes, rivers, waterfalls, scenic vantage points, and forested areas with considerable conservation value. Some of these reserves are mainly of local or regional significance, while many of the larger ones, which are in the nature of small national parks, are of national importance. Public use of scenic reserves varies greatly, ranging from off-road parking and picnicking to camping, tramping, and hunting (subject to written permit).

Scenic reserves in excess of 2000 hectares include Lewis Pass, Buller Gorge, Rakeahua, South Cape (Stewart Island), Lake Kaniere, Gouland Downs, Glenhope, Lake Brunner, Rahu (Reefton), Mangamuku Gorge, Tangarakau, Te Tapui (Cambridge), and Waioeka Gorge.

Improved maintenance, management, and control of scenic reserves has been accomplished through the classification of their principal values and most appropriate usage. The appointment of salaried reserves rangers in the Public Service to ensure that the reserves are preserved as far as possible in their natural state ‘in the public interest’ and for the ‘benefit, enjoyment, and use of the public’ has also been of considerable assistance. In addition, native trees and shrubs are being propagated at the Department of Conservation's Taupo nursery to promote scenic restoration activities in reserves throughout the North Island, with particular emphasis on the Taupo Basin in the wake of power-scheme works. A nursery has also been established at Home Creek in Southland to service requirements for the South Island.

Land of special scenic interest may, while remaining in private ownership, receive the benefits of preservation and protection of the Reserves Act 1977 through being declared private protected land. Areas which have received such protection include White Island in the Bay of Plenty, where petrels and gannets nest in large numbers annually, and a large area of the Pukeiti Rhododendron Trust property, near New Plymouth, and adjoining Egmont National Park, which is in native bush.

Historic reserves.

There are 162 areas of historic interest, totalling 2739 hectares, set aside as historic reserves. The Department of Conservation co-operates closely in the administration and investigation of historic sites with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, which has also been administered by the department from April 1987. Historic reserves mark the landfall and landing places of early voyagers such as Tasman and Cook, the site of missionary Samuel Marsden's first sermon on New Zealand soil, sites of early fortifications, of engagements during the New Zealand wars, and buildings of historic value. (The Treaty House area at Waitangi, administered by the Waitangi National Trust, is not a historic reserve in the strict sense.) Sites of Maori rock drawings and places of significance in New Zealand's early constitutional history are also preserved.

Scientific reserves.

These are generally smaller areas reserved to protect scientific examples of rare or endangered fauna and flora for scientific research and education. There are 49 such reserves covering 9249 hectares. The Minister of Conservation may prohibit entry to scientific reserves if this is considered necessary, and may also permit them to be manipulated to gain further scientific knowledge.

Nature reserves.

Land is reserved for bird sanctuaries, for the preservation of flora and fauna, or some similar purpose in cases where the land provides a habitat for bird or plant life of such importance that some control on public access is desirable. In all there are 50 reserves in this category with a total area of 186 908 hectares. Some of them are mainland areas, but most are offshore and outlying islands. Major areas of particular public interest include Little Barrier Island in Hauraki Gulf, the only known habitat of the stitch bird, and now part of the Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park; Cape Kidnappers gannet colony in Hawke's Bay; Kapiti Island off Wellington's west coast; the white heron colony in South Westland; and Taiaroa Head albatross colony near Dunedin.

All New Zealand's sub-Antarctic islands are reserved for nature purposes and provide a habitat for marine mammals and millions of sea birds. The reserves include the Auckland Islands, Campbell Island, Bounty Islands, Antipodes Islands, and Snares Islands. To the north of New Zealand, most of the land in the Kermadec Islands is similarly reserved.

Access to these reserves is by permit only, a policy followed solely in the interests of preservation of the plant and animal life to ensure an absolute minimum of human interference to anything living and growing naturally there. The reserves are administered by the Department of Conservation.

Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park.

This park was established under the Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park Act in 1967. The park may include reserves of any type on or off the east coast of the North Island from Whangamata Harbour to Home Point at the northern end of Bland Bay. It includes such well-known islands as Motuihe, Rangitoto, Browns, Motutapu, Motuora, Poor Knights, Little Barrier, and part of Kawau containing the historic Mansion House.

Marlborough Sounds Maritime Park.

This park was established in 1973 and is subject to the Reserves Act 1977. The park provides for co-ordinated management of existing scenic, historic, recreation, and other public reserves located within the coastal region stretching from Cape Soucis in the west to Rarangi in the south-east. Appropriate island reserves are also included.

Bay of Islands Maritime and Historic Park.

This park was established in 1978 under the provisions of the Reserves Act 1977. The park provides for co-ordinated management of existing scenic, historic, recreation, and other reserves located within the coastal region stretching from the Whangaroa Harbour in the north to the Whangamumu Harbour in the south, and includes many reserves on the mainland in and around Kerikeri and Russell and on many of the adjacent islands.

Wildlife reserves.

There are three classes of wildlife reserves, namely wildlife sanctuaries, wildlife refuges, and wildlife management reserves. These may be proclaimed over land of any tenure, and any such proclamation prohibits only certain actions in respect of wildlife but does not affect the land ownership. In addition, any of the three classes may be declared in respect of lands of the Crown. In such cases the declaration is made pursuant to the Land Act 1948, thus conferring upon the lands reserve status pursuant to the Reserves Act 1977 and the provisions of the Wildlife Act 1953 relating to wildlife refuge and reserves and wildlife management reserves.

Wildlife sanctuaries—The role of wildlife sanctuaries is to protect fragile wildlife habitats from the effects of entry by humans or animals; and protection of wildlife species which are low in numbers regionally or nationally, or are confined within a small number of habitats which are sensitive to disturbance. The major administrative and management objective is the total or partial exclusion of the public from such areas. Written permits to enter a sanctuary are required from the Secretary for Internal Affairs. At 31 March 1987 there were 16 wildlife sanctuaries, covering 424 hectares all but three of which are on off-shore islands, while the one wildlife sanctuary reserve covered 0.44 hectares.

Wildlife refuges—This status is given to wildlife habitats which provide havens for any classes of wildlife, and also to provide a means of signifying the importance of a wildlife habitat which for any reason may not be otherwise protected through acquisition or similar measures.

The primary management functions are to carry out habitat maintenance, and to allow the public freedom of access, except that firearms and domestic animals are prohibited. At 31 March 1987 there were about 131 wildlife refuges proclaimed over approximately 74 000 hectares, while a further 13 wildlife refuge reserves covered about 3299 hectares.

Wildlife-management reserves—The object of this class of reserve is similar to that of wildlife refuges, but the primary management functions are to protect areas for the conservation and management of wildlife and providing areas for public appreciation of wildlife. This allows freedom of public entry together with a variety of activities, including the hunting of game.

At present there are about 146 wildlife-management reserves covering approximately 12 484 hectares.

Recreation reserves.

Recreation reserves, including public domains which are now categorised as recreation reserves administered by the Department of Conservation, number 1710 and cover 53 242 hectares. These provide for the recreational needs of the people as a whole. While many such reserves are designed primarily to provide for organised sport there are a large number which preserve for public use attractive and natural areas, particularly along the coastline, and provide facilities for camping. Some outstanding examples of coastal reserves are Orewa, near Auckland, Ohope Beach, near Whakatane, Queen Elizabeth Park, near Wellington, Momorangi Bay in the Marlborough Sounds, Kaiteriteri and Pohara in the Nelson district, and Waikuku Beach in Canterbury. Widely known city reserves are the Auckland Domain and Hagley Park, Christchurch. Native bush is protected on reserve land.

Table 14.14. AREAS OF RESERVED LAND, 1987*

Type of ReservationNo.Hectares

* As at 31 March.

Source: Department of Conservation.

National parks112 351 715
Scenic reserves1,242340,497
Historic reserves1532,739
Nature reserves50186,908
Recreation reserves1,71053,242
Scientific reserves499,249

Queen Elizabeth the Second National Trust.

This trust was established in 1977 to encourage and promote the provision, protection, and enhancement of open space for the benefit and enjoyment of the people of New Zealand. In most cases the trust deals with land in private or non-government ownership, as an independent and permanent trustee. A principal function is protecting privately-owned land through purchase, accepting gifts of land, and through open-space covenants. The trust encourages and promotes co-ordination of the activities of government departments, local authorities, individuals, and organisations in matters relating to open space. It also acts as a catalyst, e.g., to a co-ordinated purchase of land, and has educational and advisory roles.

The trust is administered by a board of 10 directors, three of whom (including the chair) are appointed by the Minister of Conservation, two by election by the members, and five by the minister after consultation with Federated Farmers of New Zealand Inc., the New Zealand Maori Council, the New Zealand Counties Association Inc., and the Municipal Association of New Zealand Inc. Board meetings are attended by the permanent heads of the Departments of Conservation, Internal Affairs and Maori Affairs, the Ministry of Works and Development and the Ministry of Forestry. There is individual, corporate, and life membership.

The promotion and negotiation of open space covenants is an important aspect of the trust's work. Open-space covenants are legal agreements between the trust and a landowner or leaseholder to protect special landscape features for a specified time or, more usually, in perpetuity. They are almost always owner-initiated. From 904 enquiries, 628 applications for convenants have been approved by the board, and 190 are registered, protecting over 10 000 hectares of open space. This includes wetlands, lakes, peat lakes, coastline, tussockland, tracts of rural landscape, archaeological sites, geological formations, forest, and forest remnants.

Accepting and managing donations, bequests, and gifts of land are the other means by which the trust can help private landowners protect their land. It now owns several valuable properties such as Hollard Gardens in Taranaki, the Jackson farm in Southern Hawke's Bay, the Robert Houston Memorial Reserve in Waitomo and Tupare in Taranaki. The trust is also able to purchase open space, such as Taupo Swamp, north of Wellington, and the Lake Wainamu Scenic Reserve in the Waitakeres, Auckland, which were purchased in co-operation with other organisations and private individuals. Other activities include landscape awareness projects, establishing demonstration farms to show how landscape design and planning can be combined productively with farm management, and protection of wild and scenic rivers. The trust acts independently from the Government as a statutory trustee with increasing responsibility for the care and management of privately-owned land.

New Zealand walkways.

The purpose of the New Zealand Walkways Act 1975 is to establish walking tracks over public and private land so that the people of New Zealand can have safe, unimpeded foot access to the countryside for the benefit of physical recreation, as well as for the enjoyment of the outdoor environment and the natural and pastoral beauty, and the historical and cultural qualities of the areas through which they pass. To promote, supervise, and co-ordinate this development, the Act constituted the New Zealand Walkway Commission and charged it with the responsibility for walkway administration, with power to delegate duties to 12 district walkway committees, one for each land district constituted under the Land Act 1948, and also to other controlling authorities.

In recognition that public, local authority, government agency, and private lands would be used for walkways, the composition of the commission was structured accordingly, with the members of the commission being the nominee of the Director-General of Conservation (chairman), and a representative of each of the Municipal Association of New Zealand, the Counties Association of New Zealand, the Federated Mountain Clubs of New Zealand, and the Federated Farmers of New Zealand. Similar representation composes each district walkway committee. Between the commission's inception in 1976, and 31 March 1987, a total of 128 walkways having a combined length of over 1100 km were opened for public use. There are also numerous urban walks established by local authorities which are regarded as being complementary to the New Zealand walkways system. These will not be brought under the provisions of the New Zealand Walkways Act 1975 unless it is the wish of the local authority.

Forests

Of the 7.2 million hectares of forested land, about 6.2 million hectares is natural forest, of which nearly 5 million hectares is state-owned. The one million hectares of plantation forest is divided fairly evenly between the state and private sectors. New Zealand's major forest industries are based on its plantation forests of introduced pines which produce usable wood in 25–30 years, a much shorter time than the slower growing native species. The forest industries are described in chapter 16, Forestry.

Much of the state-owned natural forest is seen as protection forest, with its prime function being soil protection in the high-rainfall mountain lands. The limited production potential, amounting to about 1 million hectares, must be subordinate to the forests' protective role.

Management of forests.

The former Forest Service was responsible for management of much of the remaining state-owned natural forests to both conserve and protect them, and to produce timber from selected areas. From April 1987 the new Department of Conservation took over management of all the non-timber-producing forests. The new Forestry Corporation will manage the South Island native production forests.

Increased awareness among the general public of the human and physical environment continues to keep the management of the remaining natural forests under critical examination. In 1976 a policy covering state natural forests was approved by the Government. It provides principles to guide the future use and management of these forests, giving due regard to sound forestry practices, the wishes of the public, and social and economic welfare on a regional and national basis. It is likely the new agencies will refine this policy, though the principal features will remain in line with government policy and are unlikely to change dramatically.

To manage forest land on the basis of balanced use, dominant forest values (whether they are protection, amenity, production, or otherwise) must be identified and defined. Recognising forest zones is a sound basis for reconciling numerous objectives. The values identified first in forest zoning relate to soil and water conservation, and biology. Scenic appeal, potential for recreation, and wood production values are considered subsequently.

In view of the continuing rapid change in public attitude to the use of natural forests for wood production, management policies are constantly being reviewed. The Ministry for the Environment assisted in a recent study to determine which West Coast forests were suitable for wood production, and which had specific natural values worthy of preservation.

Stabilisation of sand dunes.

This aspect of the former Forest Service's work had a twofold objective: the stabilisation of dunes for the protection of farmlands, and the establishment of production forests. Marram grass and lupin are planted to stabilise and enrich the sands in certain protection zones, with trees established later. Eight schemes have been established—at Aupouri, Mangawhai, Woodhill, Waiuku, Tainui-Kawhia, Waitarere, Santoft, and later Pouto—embracing around 60 000 hectares. A most successful co-operative venture is under way in two Northland localities, where the Crown leased large areas of Maori-owned coastal sand dunes adjacent to Aupouri and Woodhill forests for stabilisation and afforestation. Several of these forests are now producing sawlogs and are being restocked with pines.

Stabilising of eroding farmlands.

Consequences of past forest clearing for farmland on some unsuitably steep areas have been accelerated water run-off and erosion, widespread landslipping, and aggradation of river beds. Subsequent flooding has been sufficiently severe to require remedial works in which reafforestation plays a major part. Afforestation began in the East Coast-Poverty Bay region in 1962 following detailed land-use studies. Harvesting is new under way in some of these critical headwater areas, with sensitive roading and logging methods being used to protect water and soil values.

Protection of forests

The vegetation of the mountainous areas—forest, scrub, and alpine grassland—is of highest importance to the welfare of New Zealand. Many rivers which bring water to the lowland farms or provide water for cities and towns, have their headwaters in the mountainous back-country.

The mountains receive frequent heavy rain and are mostly formed of rocks which erode easily when exposed to rain, wind and frost. The blanket of montane vegetation protects the thin soil layer and underlying erodible rock. Browsing animals introduced into the forests and mountains many years age are the major threat to the continued survival of vegetation in these areas. Consequently, the first step in the effective management is control of animal numbers. Techniques to assess the condition and trends of vegetation, rates of erosion, the possibility of introducing new forest and scrub species into badly depleted areas, and changes in animal population, and control were introduced by the Forest Service and other agencies.

Recreation in forests.

Most state forest has been available for public recreation without permit, restricted only for the protection of the resource and the public itself. Limitations apply principally at times of high fire danger, or in large industrially-oriented plantations where recreational opportunities are few.

Many state forests offer a wide variety of recreational opportunity including study of plant and animal life; challenging tramping; and shooting and fishing. In forested hill-country managed primarily for soil and water conservation, recreational use is almost always compatible. Private hunting can be of benefit in reducing wild animal pests. Ten recreational hunting areas in which there is a special management objective of maintaining hunting opportunity, have been gazetted and several more areas are being investigated. Provision for recreation includes improvement of access from main roads to forest boundaries; clearing and maintaining tracks; erecting bridges; making campsites and picnic places; and (sometimes in co-operation with tramping and alpine clubs) building and maintaining huts. Entry on foot is unrestricted except that, in the interests of public safety, persons carrying firearms require permits from the Department of Conservation. The older plantation forests also offer many attractions and have the advantage of accessibility. In many there are walks and picnic spots for the public and harvesting is managed carefully to maintain landscape and recreational values.

Conservation and protection of scientific values.

The Protected Areas Scientific Advisory Committee advises on the selection and management of reserves. There are 14 sanctuaries (16 300 hectares) created to preserve indigenous flora and fauna in their natural state for their scientific values. The basic aim in administering forest sanctuaries is that natural processes dominate management, no plants may be taken or destroyed, no leases or privileges over the land or over the forest produce can be assigned, and public use is restricted whenever entry is likely to affect the value for which the sanctuary was created. There are 97 dedicated areas, totalling over 176 130 hectares, set apart for the purposes of protection and maintenance of the land for specific purposes. Dedicated areas are state forest land which have some special natural value or management objective which needs to be protected. The majority are ecological areas set apart as being representative of regional forest ecosystems. Further areas are awaiting formal dedication and meanwhile are being managed in an appropriate manner.

Fire prevention.

Fire is the single greatest menace to forests; within a few hours it can destroy a valuable timber crop or an ecosystem developed over hundreds of years. Natural forests are fairly fire-resistant but can become fire-risks during drought. However, the major risk occurs in plantations of introduced pines.

The fire protection organisation of the former New Zealand Forest Service served all state-owned lands until April 1987. It also gave support to other rural fire authorities, particularly those with high-country fire hazards. This service is now jointly provided by the Forestry Corporation and the Department of Conservation who, between them protect all the corporation's forests, forests on Crown lands, scenic reserves, national parks, forest parks and other state areas. When weather or other conditions are likely to lead to the start of rural or forest fires, and endanger life and property, the Forestry Corporation or Department of Conservation may issue a warning of fire hazard conditions, impose a total ban on lighting fires in the open, and take charge of an area so endangered by declaring a regional fire emergency.

Fire danger ratings are assessed by the use of the Fire Weather Index, a system adapted from Canada and put into effect in New Zealand since 1980. The Forest and Rural Fires Act 1977 which provides for a nationwide fire control system (involving all fire authorities), affords private forest owners the opportunity for protection identical with state areas, and sets up a mediator to deal immediately with any controversy.

Wild animals.

Under the Wild Animal Control Act 1977 the Department of Conservation has been responsible since 1 April 1987 for the control of deer, goats, chamois, thar, and other introduced wild animals on all lands where uncontrolled numbers of these animals can cause damage to vegetation, soils, water and wildlife. On farm land, control of agricultural pests (rabbits, hares etc.) is the responsibility of the Agricultural Pests Destruction Council. Where an agricultural pest destruction board elects to control possums and wallabies on farmland, they may do so and rate landowners accordingly.

The widespread populations of many of these animals can have a serious effect on the growth of trees and ground cover in plantation forests as well as in protection forests. The forest floor of ferns, mosses, and shrubs may be extensively damaged by deer and goats, while the upper storey is adversely affected by the canopy-feeding possums.

In some areas where a reasonable ecological balance has developed, introduced animals are now regarded as a resource which is able to be controlled and exploited by a range of interests. Feral deer are captured alive to stock deer farms in New Zealand. Commercial helicopter hunting recovers venison for game meat exports. Feral possums are captured alive to stock fur farms in New Zealand and support trapping for fur-skin export markets. The creation of recreational hunting areas, safari-hunting high-country stations, and big-game farms, has provided a way to control wild animals and at the same time provides sports people with areas exclusively for recreational hunting.

Control of insects and disease.

Pathologists and entomologists of the Forest Research Institute maintain a constant watch on forests, woodlots, and shelter belts to detect incipient epidemics in time for effective control measures to be taken.

Aerial spraying of a copper fungicide is an effective means of dealing with pine needle blight Dothistroma pini. Radiata pine has been bred in a seed orchard programme to resist Dothistroma. Research continues towards the debilitating effect of Swiss needle cast (Phaeoayptopus gaeumannii) on the growth of Douglas fir.

Timber inspection and quarantine.

Ministry of Forestry timber inspection and quarantine cover all sawn, hewn, and natural round timber, wooden manufactured items, wooden packing, and ships' dunnage entering or leaving the country.

14.3 Environmental and resource management

Framework for planning

New Zealand's principal planning legislation, the Town and Country Planning Act 1977, provides a process by which needs, opportunities, and issues relating to land and water use can be identified and appropriate objectives and policies formulated. Measures can then be embodied in regional, district, and maritime planning schemes. The purpose of planning is defined in the Town and Country Planning Act 1977 as being “the wise use and management of the resources, and the direction and control of the development of a region, district, or area in such a way as will most effectively promote and safeguard the health, safety, and convenience, and the economic, cultural, social, and general welfare, of the people and the amenities of every part of the region, district, or area”. Opportunities for public participation in town and country planning are broad and include any body or person representing some relevant aspect of the public interest. All public bodies, including the Crown, are required to adhere to the provisions of any approved regional planning scheme.

In the administration of district planning schemes, there must be regard to section 3 of the Act, which makes reference to specific matters of national importance. All public works are subject to the procedures laid down in part VI of the Act which requires all Crown proposals that are not in conformity with the provisions of the relevant district scheme are to be advertised and to be subject to rights of objection and appeal. In considering appeals against any public work the Planning Tribunal is required to consider whether the site is suitable for the proposed work, and the economic, social, and environmental effects of the proposal. In the case of Crown works, the Minister of Works and Development can (as an alternative to an appeal) request the tribunal to conduct a public inquiry which must take into account the economic, social, and environmental effects of the proposal and any other related matters.

National planning.

In the preparation, implementation, and administration of regional, district, and maritime planning schemes the following matters, which are declared to be of national importance, must be recognised and provided for: the conservation, protection, and enhancement of the physical, cultural, and social environment; the wise use and management of New Zealand's resources; the preservation of the natural character of the coastal environment and the margins of lakes and rivers, and the protection of them from unnecessary subdivision and development; the avoidance of encroachment of urban development on, and the protection of, land having a high actual or potential value for the production of food; the prevention of scattered subdivision and urban development in rural areas; the avoidance of unnecessary expansion of urban areas into rural areas in or adjoining cities; and the relationship of the Maori people and their culture and traditions with their ancestral land. The first two and the last two of these considerations were introduced under the 1977 Town and Country Planning Act.

Regional planning.

Regional planning is concerned with establishing policies and programmes at all levels of government which reflect the needs and desires of the people of each region, and which are reconciled with the national interest and competing demands for national resources. Urban centres and rural areas cannot be planned in isolation from each other or from the nation as a whole.

Under the 1977 Town and Country Planning Act regional planning has four main features: (a) It is the responsibility of united and regional councils; (b) Regional planning schemes are to be approved by the Government before they come into operation; (c) Approved regional planning schemes must be adhered to by the Crown and every local and public authority; and (d) District and maritime planning schemes must conform with approved regional planning schemes. Matters to be dealt with in regional planning schemes have been greatly expanded under the Act to embrace social, economic, and environmental policies. Reference is made for example to “natural resources and environment—the identification, preservation, and development of the regions' natural resources including water, soil, air and other natural systems, farmlands, forests, fisheries, minerals … and areas of value for the enjoyment of nature and the landscape”.

Under the Local Government Act 1974, regional or united councils have been established for all regions of New Zealand, and all have regional planning responsibilities and powers under the Town and Country Planning Act 1977. The combined effect of these Acts is a major constitutional innovation. The regional planning process offers a means by which local and central government, representing the regional communities and the national interest respectively, can reach agreement on development and welfare policies and priorities for the allocation of resources for each region. Agreement can be expressed in the regional planning scheme, and changes of policy can be worked out within the process of changing the scheme. In addition, under part 1 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1977, the Minister of Works and Development may extend regional boundaries to include adjacent water areas and this provides for the planning of land and water to be brought together under the same administration. Almost all united or regional councils are having their regional boundaries extended to include harbours and coastal waters. The now system does not introduce another tier of government, rather it is aimed at giving a regional dimension to central government programmes and a common policy base to local government activity.

Regional planning process.

The key provision of the legislation is the requirement that once regional schemes have been agreed to by central government, all public authorities, both central and local, are required to adhere to their provisions. The significance of this step lies in the practical necessity it creates for local and central government agencies to take a constructive part, along with the regional community, in the formulation of the objectives, policies, programmes, and other provisions of each scheme. Responsibility for initiating regional planning action lies with the regional and united councils, which operate through regional planning committees that include a representative of the Crown.

The regional planning legislation aims to provide a process that allows for the public evaluation of options and alternatives—the determination of objectives and policies, and the adoption of a programme of implementation that is related to community priorities and the resources available.

National policies, or changes in policy, on such matters as energy development, transport, afforestation, or housing finance can have marked regional implications and significantly affect regional prosperity and well-being. It is important therefore that expressed regional preferences and priorities are considered as an integral part of national policy formulation, and that the regional consequences of national policies are understood before they are adopted. Two-way communication between the central government and the regions is a vital element in the new process. The new regional bodies and the regional planning system provide the opportunity for this and a proposed amendment seeks to streamline the process further.

District planning.

Every district scheme under the Town and Country Planning Act 1977 is required to have as its general purpose the wise use and management of the resources of the district, and the direction and control of its development, in such a way as will most effectively promote and safeguard the economic, cultural, social, and general welfare of the people and the preservation of the amenities of the district. It must also recognise and provide for matters of national importance defined in the Act. Every city, borough, and county council or other authority responsible for the general administration of a district must provide and maintain a district scheme unless exempted by the Minister of Works and Development. In particular, matters to be dealt with in district schemes include the preservation and conservation of the amenities of the district, and buildings, trees, bush, plants, landscapes, objects, or areas of architectural, historic, scientific, wildlife, visual, or other interest.

Councils are now beginning to recognise the potential of the district planning scheme as an effective instrument for bringing about innovative change not only in land-use control but also in environmental management and local administration in general. The key to this is the greater emphasis being placed on the scheme statement as a means of expressing policies which have been subjected to the formal approval procedures, including objection and appeal, that the Town and Country Planning Act provides. A renewed concern for a more humane basis to planning has focused on the destruction of areas of natural beauty, the loss of historic areas of cities, and the destruction of neighbourhood communities as past errors which must not be repeated. With this in mind, a number of councils make provision for special character zones. These are zones which have a special character derived from the age, condition, or character of the buildings, general layout, or landscape features. In these zones the aim is to preserve the special character (using controls where necessary), for example, by encouraging new buildings designed in sympathy with the existing environment, and by more liberal approaches to the rehabilitation and use of existing properties. Currently there are also moves towards allowing far greater social and economic diversity in rural areas.

In addition to these zones, a number of councils have adopted a variety of zones which cater for Maori-related uses on Maori land, the most prominent of these are the marae and papakainga zones. In the first instance, a zone is established which allows for the construction of the marae itself. The papakainga zone provides for residential development on Maori land which is generally in multiple ownership. These zones have essentially been created in order to balance the needs of Maori wishing to build on their ancestral land with other planning requirements.

Maritime planning.

The need to plan for areas below mean high water mark, which are subject to increasing pressures from various demands, led to the introduction of maritime planning under part V of the Town and Country Planning Act. The Act provides a statutory procedure to establish maritime planning areas on the joint recommendation of the Minister of Works and Development and the Minister of Transport; and to appoint maritime planning authorities. Four maritime planning areas have been established covering the Waitemata, Manukau, and Wellington Harbours, and the Marlborough Sounds. In each case the respective harbour board has been appointed the maritime planning authority. If the maritime planning area is within harbour limits, the appropriate harbour board becomes the authority, unless it declines the appointment. The authority is required to set up a maritime planning committee with representation from the regional or united council, the regional water board, territorial local authorities, and the central government. Maritime planning schemes are not expected to cover the whole of the coast, but only those areas where there are problems of conservation and management, or conflict between the use of the water and adjacent land areas.

Review of planning legislation.

The review of the Town and Country Planning Act 1977 is continuing. Particular attention is being paid to the objectives and future operation of town and country planning in New Zealand at regional district and maritime levels. In addition, questions are being raised concerning the social justification and economic cost-effectiveness of planning and its procedures. The review is also taking into account changes in other related areas of government policy, for example, in regional policy and local government administration.

Recreational land

New Zealand is fortunate that a large area of native forests was set aside in reserves of various types (climatic reserves, scenery preservation reserves, reserves for the preservation of flora and fauna, and reserves for the growth and preservation of timber). As a result New Zealand is well endowed with forested wilderness and with other native forests having scenic, recreational, and wildlife values. Per head of population. New Zealand probably has a larger area of forests of this type than any other developed country. Colonial land administrators laid the basis for a conservation system which is widely envied.

Many indigenous forests offer scope for leisure pursuits in surroundings of great natural beauty—for the study of wildlife (plant and animal); for walking and tramping; and for shooting and fishing. Most of the attractive forested hill country is managed primarily for soil and water conservation; recreational use can be allowed in almost all such protection forests without interfering with the main management objectives. In fact, private hunting can be of benefit in destroying wild animal pests. The former New Zealand Forest Service developed forest parks in which management planning incorporated provision for recreation. These have been transferred to the control of the Department of Conservation. Developments include the improvement of access from main roads to forest boundaries; clearing and maintaining tracks; erecting bridges; making camp sites and picnic places; and (sometimes in co-operation with tramping and alpine clubs) building and maintaining shelter huts. Entry is unrestricted except that, in the interests of safety, persons carrying firearms require permits. In order to avoid the mistakes inherent in haphazard development, the National Parks and Reserves Authority has for some years been encouraging national park boards to prepare management plans for their respective parks. These plans establish concepts and guidelines for the preservation and use of national parks, and afford the means by which park use and management can be reconciled with the preservation in perpetuity of the park's scenic beauty, and natural and historic features. A related topic is the protection and conservation of bush and trees within urban areas. Not only do trees and areas of bush provide beauty and additional amenities in urban surroundings, but they provide habitats for birds and other wildlife, encourage the cycling of water and nutrients, and assist with erosion control. Local authorities have the power to require that, when land is subdivided, trees and bush areas shall be preserved.

Until recently little was done to secure in public ownership those areas where most New Zealanders take their holidays—by the water. Along the north and north-east coasts, where the climate is best and the population densest, many of the most desirable areas of coastline have already been subdivided, notably on the North Auckland, Bay of Plenty, and Coromandel coasts. Besides limiting public access, this can destroy scenic values. Similar considerations apply in respect of lakes, rocks, and offshore islands. In recent years the Crown has purchased a number of islands or parts of islands for reserve purposes. Some of these are grouped in the Hauraki Gulf and Marlborough Sounds Maritime Parks. Moves are being made to control subdivision in coastal and lakeshore areas. Access along rivers 3 metres wide, lakes in excess of 8 hectares, and foreshores has usually been provided: on all dispositions of Crown land since 1886, on private subdivision for towns near rivers or the sea coast since 1923, and on partitions of Maori land in counties since 1967. Since the Land Act 1948 came into force there has been a requirement to lay off a 20-metre strip above the near high water mark along all the sea coast, including bays, inlets, and creeks, along the margins of lakes bigger than 8 hectares in area, and, with provision for exemptions, along all rivers and streams wider than 3 metres.

Environmental agencies

In addition to the government departments with responsibilities for administering a diversity of legislation for the protection of the physical environment, there are several authorities with responsibilities for the physical and social environment. Some of the more prominent of these are discussed below.

Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.

This parliamentary office was established by the Environment Act 1986. The parliamentary commissioner continuously reviews the systems and agencies established by the Government to manage the allocation, use, and preservation of natural and physical resources. The objective is to ascertain that the system and agencies operate to improve the quality of the environment.

The parliamentary commissioner also investigates the effectiveness of environmental planning and management carried out by public authorities and advises on ways of improving it. When any damage to the environment has occurred or might occur, the parliamentary commissioner may investigate and advise Parliament or the appropriate public authority on remedial action.

Environmental Council.

The Environmental Council reports to the Government through the minister for the Environment. Its terms of reference are: (a) to advise the minister on request, and on such matters as the council may raise itself on the state and trend of the environment and measures to be taken to manage it; (b) to publish from time to time such information upon environmental problems as the council considers necessary to serve the public interest; and (c) to co-operate with other sector councils in matters of mutual interest; in particular, to provide the Planning Council with information, forecasts, and data arising from the above, and requested by the council to enable it to carry out its functions.

The main role of the council is to advise on general matters of policy and principle rather than to examine the environmental consequences of specific projects. It has, however, alluded to specific developments to illustrate its concerns. Examples of the policy issues in which the council is involved are energy policy (specifically the environmental implications of an energy conservation strategy), trees in the landscape, environmental economics, environmental administration, the preservation of indigenous areas on private land, the environmental effects of a nuclear war, the herbicide ‘245-T’, and tussock grasslands. The council administers an environmental grants scheme, awards for which are made annually.

Nature Conservation Council.

The Nature Conservation Council provides independent advice on ways of minimising impacts on the natural environment and protecting natural resources. In 1986, the council was involved in over 120 issues, including reclamations, hilltop installations and power schemes, roading, conservation of native flora and fauna, preservation of native forests and wetlands, protection of marine resources, mining proposals, and the impact of tourist-related developments on the natural environment. A field trip to Taranaki in 1986 involved considerable discussion with local authorities, environmental organisations, and the tangata whenua on North Taranaki waste-water management issues. The council was invited to take part in a hui held at the Manukorihi marae at Waitara in October 1986 and subsequently made representations to the Government supporting Te Atiawa's efforts to protect their offshore fishing reefs.

Conservation New Zealand, which co-ordinates the various Conservation Week activities, is a technical subcommittee of the council. The 1986 Conservation Week theme was ‘Conserving Our Future’. Through the active support and participation of a number of firms, government departments and other organisations, the council was able to produce posters, leaflets and other environmental education material. Although intended primarily for Conservation Week, most of the material is still available and can be requested from the council. Conservation Week 1987, has the theme ‘What's in a Park’ to coincide with the National Parks Centennial. Another technical subcommittee of council has been set up to develop a national policy for the protection of mangrove environments. A related activity will be the publication in 1987 of a book on New Zealand mangroves, in cooperation with the Government Printer.

The council has advised government on aspects of environmental administration restructuring. One of its main concerns is that its independent advisory and educational roles should continue under the new administration. Since 1 April 1987 the council has been administered by the Department of Conservation.

Control of mineral exploitation

The Minister of Energy issues licences under the Coal Mines Act 1979 and the Mining Act 1971 for the exploration, prospecting, and mining of coal and minerals. Each licence issued generally contains conditions which restrict the working of the licence, cover rehabilitation requirements and protect the environment. Mineral exploitation on private land, as defined under the Mining Act 1971, may not in some cases require a licence under this Act. However, all gold and silver exploitation must be licensed. If a licence is not required, the operation may come under the Town and Country Planning Act 1977, and under the Quarries and Tunnels Act 1982 for safety requirements.

Water and soil conservation

Problems of flood control have affected New Zealand communities at least since the beginning of European settlement. Wholesale clearing of forested land for pastoral and agricultural production has left a heritage of soil conservation problems, especially in geologically unstable areas. A heavy consumption of water not necessarily reflecting the distribution of resources, demands careful management. Administration of water and soil resources is achieved largely through the Water and Soil Conservation Act 1967, with protection against flooding provided by the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act 1941. These Acts are administered by the National Water and Soil Conservation Authority (NWASCA), which includes members from counties, municipalities, and catchment authorities; and Maori, farming, manufacturing, and recreational interests. The main functions of the authority are to set broad national policy on water management and soil conservation and to advise the Government through the Minister of Works and Development, who is its chairman, on water and soil matters. The authority is serviced by the water and soil directorate of the Ministry of Works and Development.

Throughout the country, 20 catchment authorities administer the 1941 Act and, as regional water boards, administer the 1967 Act. The management of water use, control of rivers, mitigation of erosion, assessment of coastal, landslip, and flooding hazards, and the protection of scenic and recreational waterways are achieved largely through these Acts by the work of these authorities. Some catchment authorities are directly elected by the people of the region while others are regional commissions of representatives of the local county and municipal councils.

Planning.

Catchment authorities and the water and soil directorate are increasingly involved in planning schemes, as water and soil management becomes more complex. Catchment authority and ministry staff include hydrologists, soil conservators, planners, engineers, and scientists of many disciplines, in central and local offices.

Water resources and management.

It has been estimated that New Zealand's consumption of water approaches 2000 million cubic metres per year. Households use 210 million cubic metres, industry 260 million cubic metres, livestock 350 million cubic metres, and irrigation 1100 million cubic metres per year. Approximately 87 percent of the population is supplied by public water-supply systems. The rest rely on an independent domestic supply (rainwater collecting, aquifer bores, etc.). Industry obtains about 33 percent of its requirements from public supply systems and 66 percent from its own sources. These figures do not include the use of water for hydro-electric generation which exceeds 100 000 million cubic metres per year. Obviously, water flowing through hydro-station turbines can be used again, and on the Waikato River and its tributaries 10 state hydro stations, and a number owned by local authorities, use and reuse a flow which at Karapiro (the last station) is over 7000 million cubic metres per year. Thus the total irrigation, agricultural, industrial, and domestic water consumption could be supplied three times over by the Waikato River alone, at Karapiro.

In terms of total water resources, the country has an estimated 300 000 million cubic metres per year, although these are by no means evenly distributed. High mountains, especially in the South Island, create substantial rain-shadow areas. In a few areas, annual rainfalls of over 10 000 millimetres have been measured, while in others as little as 340 millimetres may fall in a year.

Water allocation.

By the Water and Soil Conservation Act 1967 all rights for the use of natural water were vested in the Crown. In general the management and administration of these rights was given to regional water boards to carry out on behalf of the Crown. Those wishing to use water for anything except domestic and stock purposes, or wishing to discharge wastes into natural waters, require a water right from a regional water board. The boards are thus able to ensure that available supplies are not overtaxed. Several boards have commenced studies of the total water resource in major catchments within their districts to assess the availability of the water resource and present and future demands on it.

In this process of water allocation planning, the public is given the opportunity to participate. The goal is the preparation of a water allocation plan for each region. This provides a framework within which a regional water board will operate when considering applications for rights to water. It also provides a guide to existing and prospective users of water, regarding the manner in which their rights to water may be reduced in times of water shortage.

Maintenance of water quality also comes within the purview of regional water boards. Some waters of New Zealand have been classified. A classification fixes the minimum standards of water quality and provides a permissible range of water quality within which regional water boards must operate when controlling discharges of waste.

Water rights may be restricted or suspended in order to maintain minimum standards of quality and, if a minimum flow in a river has been fixed, water rights may also be restricted or suspended to maintain that flow.

A 1981 amendment to the 1967 Act provides for water conservation orders to be placed on rivers, streams, or lakes. They may preserve wild and scenic characteristics of rivers and protect other natural features and instream uses of the country's natural water. Recreational, wildlife, fishery, scenic, or scientific interests can apply under these provisions for protection of water uses and the retention of natural conditions. Water conservation orders have so far been considered for the Motu, Ahuriri, Rakaia, Mataura and Rangitikei rivers, and Lake Wairarapa.

Underground water.

In some parts of the country, including the Canterbury Plains, the Heretaunga Plains in Hawke's Bay, and the Waimea Plain near Nelson, underground water is an important resource. The cities of Christchurch, Lower Hutt, Napier, and Hastings draw at least some of their domestic and industrial supplies as well as irrigation water from such sources. Management of underground water, and its protection from contamination, is an increasing part of regional water board work in these areas.

Irrigation.

Irrigation was initially practised in New Zealand as a drought protection measure. It was not until the 1940s that the benefits of irrigation as a farm management tool were realised. Most of the earlier irrigation was concentrated in areas of Central Otago and South Canterbury. In both areas a high soil moisture deficit is experienced during summer, with hot drying winds. More recently, irrigation schemes have been promoted in North Canterbury and in Nelson and in parts of the North island suitable for horticulture, particularly Northland and the Bay of Plenty.

Pastoral irrigation is predominant in the South Island and was traditionally centred around major rivers, drawing from them on a run-of-the-river basis, More recent schemes include storage for better water management for the needs of crops. In total, about 234 000 hectares are now irrigated, by community- and government-supported schemes. Of this area, 218 000 hectares are irrigated for pastoral purposes, mostly in the South Island, and 16 000 hectares are irrigated for horticulture, almost entirely in the North Island. Since 1960 central government has supported 26 new irrigation schemes designed to irrigate approximately 73 000 hectares. Of these, 13 schemes have been developed for pastoral and/or crop production, two for combined pastoral and horticultural development and nine are solely for horticultural development. Eight of the schemes are located in the North Island and all are for horticultural development. The 16 schemes which are located in the South Island are predominantly for pastoral and crop production, but there has been a changing emphasis to horticulture, and more recent schemes undertaken in the South Island have been for horticulture, or combined horticulture and pastoral use.

There are 20 older schemes in Canterbury and Central Otago, which have been operative for many years. Some of these schemes are under review and may be upgraded. In addition, a further 14 irrigation proposals are being investigated for approximately 30 000 hectares of land.

In 1984 a revised irrigation policy was introduced under which all new irrigation schemes would qualify for the following government assistance; a 35 percent grant for approved community irrigation scheme headworks to take or store water, and for the distribution works which deliver water to individual farm boundaries. Initially, the Government funds all these works and the landholder's share is recovered by water charges. Support for on-farm irrigation development costs is provided through Rural Banking and Finance Corporation loans.

Private irrigation undertaken by individuals or groups of farmers is practised over much of the country. Private development normally qualifies for Rural Banking and Finance Corporation loans. Water for these schemes is generally drawn from underground sources, or pumped from rivers and drains, and applied by spray or trickle methods. Private flood-irrigation is limited to small gravity-supply schemes, which are comparatively few in number.

Rural water supply schemes.

Government grants are given to territorial local authorities to assist with the construction of rural water supply schemes, and provide reliable water supplies for stock and domestic use in rural areas. Promotion of these schemes is the responsibility of the local authority and government assistance is provided, subject to schemes being economic and meeting current policy conditions. Under a policy introduced in 1984, all new schemes qualify for a 35 percent grant for construction of off-farm works, the on-farm work being undertaken at the landowners' cost. Throughout the country a total of 48 government-subsidised rural water supply schemes have recently been completed, or are under construction.

River control.

The Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act 1941 provides for the prevention of damage by erosion and the protection of property from damage by floods. River control projects carried out by catchment authorities often serve both these objectives. River training works are designed to give the river channel a stable alignment that will prevent bank erosion. Stopbanks are constructed to provide flood relief to low-lying and, mostly, highly-productive agricultural lands.

The National Water and Soil Conservation Authority encourages a catchment-wide approach to water and soil problems. Comprehensive catchment control schemes embrace land retirement from grazing and protection planting of trees in the upper catchment; bank protection works in the middle reaches; and flood alleviation and drainage works in the lower reaches of a river. The Government made $36,908,000 in grant assistance available to catchment authorities for schemes to meet these purposes in the 1985–86 financial year.

Grants are given to schemes that are in the national interest, but which for some reason would not be implemented, or would only be carried out partially or inadequately without government incentives. Riparian (riverbank) landowners, for example, may not be able to afford isolated bank protection works defending individual properties, whereas an integrated river control scheme bringing in a larger benefit area, and with a government contribution in recognition of the wider community benefits of such a scheme, would enable sufficient local funds to be raised.

Most major and many smaller rivers in New Zealand are now covered by control schemes for at least part of their length. As natural river systems change continually in response to variations in average rainfall and sediment supply, a sustained works programme is required on many rivers so that the standards of protection can be maintained. In urban areas the authority places emphasis on a policy of avoiding flood damage through planning measures such as flood-plain zoning and recommended minimum flow levels. This recognises that flood hazard partly is an artificial problem, which needs to be resolved not only by keeping water away from settlement but also by keeping settlement away from water.

Soil conservation.

Changes in vegetation from land development have resulted in disturbed soil conditions in many parts of New Zealand. The protective, stabilising, and water-controlling combination of vigorous native vegetation, litter, and spongy soil has given way to a shallow-rooted, less protective carpet of grass on a compacted, impervious, and often exhausted soil. Natural erosion, caused by climatic factors (such as high-intensity rainfall and frost heave) combined with the geological instability of much of the country, has been aggravated by man-made effects. Soil erosion now occurs on more than 8 million hectares of hill country and mountain land, about one-third of the total area of New Zealand.

In the 1940s the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Council began a number of measures to control soil erosion and to rehabilitate eroded catchments with the help of catchment authorities. Successful techniques that have been developed to control erosion include control of burning and animal pests, oversowing, topdressing, strict grazing control, soil conservation, fencing, stock-water ponds, gully control, contour ploughing, terraces, grassed waterways, and open and close tree planting. Grants at varying rates are available to farmers carrying out these control practices.

In the 1970s the New Zealand Land Resource Inventory was completed for the main islands of New Zealand. This lists the physical factors of rock type, soil, slope, erosion and vegetation, and describes, in coded form, land parcels or units in terms of those combined factors. The inventory then identifies the land-use capability of each unit. Coverage at a scale of 1:63360 has been completed and 89 000 land-management units have been mapped. The national coverage, coupled with its computer storage of both boundaries and codes, is a very effective and flexible physical base for soil conservation and general land use at regional through to local levels. Information on stock carrying capacity, fertiliser requirements, and potential for exotic forestry has been added to the inventory, and a national map series on erosion has been completed. A series of vegetation maps is in preparation.

Information from the inventory is also compiled at more detailed scales by catchment authorities for small catchments and individual farm properties, allowing soil conservators to recommend the best conservation practices, and management of particular areas of land to ensure sustained permanent production. A plan is formulated by a soil conservator and then discussed with the landowner concerned. The plan may then be adjusted to suit the landowner's ability to carry it out over several years.

Pollution

Public concern for the environment has led to an increased awareness of pollution problems. Organisations have responded by involving the public in the decision-making processes and by amending legislation to provide the appropriate controls.

At present, different parts of the physical environment are protected by different organisations, with co-ordination provided by the Ministry of the Environment. The problems of water pollution are being addressed by NWASCA and the regional water boards through the Water and Soil Conservation Act 1967, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, through the Fisheries Act, and the Department of Conservation, through the Wildlife Act, also have statutory powers to control water pollution; those of air pollution by the Department of Health under the provisions of the Clean Air Act 1972; and many local authorities have introduced bylaws to control noise problems in their areas.

Within the territorial sea and harbours, the Marine Pollution Act 1974 controls the discharge or dumping of oil or any other substance declared a pollutant. There is also a contingency plan for dealing with oil pollution in coastal waters and on the shore.

Pollution of rivers and lakes can be caused by soil erosion, farm run-off, industrial waste, or domestic sewage. The Water and Soil Conservation Act 1967 provides for the control of waste discharges through water rights. These include conditions ensuring that the discharge has had adequate treatment sufficient to protect the receiving waters. Diffuse forms of pollution like soil erosion and fertiliser run-off, require different approaches, such as through changing land use practices. Sewage and farm run-off add nutrients to the water, which in some lakes (e.g., Lakes

Rotorua and Horowhenua) have caused excessive growth of weeds and algal blooms, to the detriment of water quality. Waste disposal from cities and the forestry and meat industries are also major contributors to pollution. Urban solid-waste disposal is largely by the land-fill technique, and most major cities are establishing tip sites planned to last up to 50 or 100 years.

Organic chemical pesticides and herbicides are widely accepted as essential for efficient agriculture and horticulture. The use of such chemicals is controlled by the Agricultural Chemicals Board under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. The board controls the import of chemicals and has an approved list of proprietary herbicides and pesticides for use in different situations, such as in or near water. The board also gives guidance on the application of those chemicals.

Several divisions of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research are concerned with monitoring pollution. A chemistry division conducts surveys of mercury contamination of fish and water arising from geothermal outflows. Nitrate concentration in ground waters and insecticides in water are measured, and checks are kept on heavy metals in foods. The Oceanographic Institute traces the biological effects of heated water discharges from thermal power stations. The Physics and Engineering Laboratory participates in the Earth's Resources Technology Satellite programme. The department also assists such organisations as the Dairy Research Institute, the Meat Industry Research Institute, the Wool Research Organisation, and the Leather and Shoe Research Association, which are industrial research groups all supporting projects to reduce pollution and increase the use of by-products which have in the past been wasted.

New Zealand's geography is, in general, favourable to the dispersal of air pollutants, although some areas, such as Christchurch, suffer from air pollution. The Clean Air Act 1972 established the principle of air pollution control on industry by the best practicable means. Provision was also made for the establishment of smokeless zones. The first clean air zone has been established in Christchurch.

The Clean Air Council was established under the Clean Air Act 1972 to advise the Minister of Health on all aspects of air pollution. It advises local authorities on their work under the Act and coordinates the work of control authorities and voluntary organisations. It publishes reports from time to time, and is undertaking research work through four committees studying respectively clean air zones and domestic heating, motor vehicles and air pollution, rural pollution, and planning coordination.

Further information

Land resources and ownership

The Conveyancing Bulletin. Butterworths (eight times a year).

The Handbook for Local Authorities. Valuation Department, 1982.

Report of the Department of Justice (Parl. paper E. 5).

Report of the Department of Lands and Survey (Parl. paper C. 1).

Report of the Department of Maori Affairs (Parl. paper E. 13).

Report of the Valuation Department (Parl. paper G. 26).

The Rural Estate Market in New Zealand. Valuation Department (six-monthly).

The Urban Real Estate Market in New Zealand. Valuation Department (six-monthly).

Public lands

Report of the Department of Internal Affairs (Parl. paper G. 7).

Report of the Department of Lands and Survey (Parl. paper C. 1).

Report of the Director-General of Forests (Parl. paper C. 3).

Report of the National Parks and Reserves Authority (Parl. paper C. 10).

Report of the Queen Elizabeth the Second National Trust (Parl. paper C. 2).

Statistics of the Forests and Forest Industries of New Zealand. New Zealand Forest Service, 1986.

The Government Printer also produces a number of publications on national parks and scenic reserves.

Environmental resource management

Building and Construction: Annual Review. Ministry of Works and Development.

Catchment Control in New Zealand, by A. L. Poole. National Water and Soil Conservation Authority, 1983.

Ministry of Works and Development Statement (Parl. paper D. 1).

Proceedings of Soil and Plant Water Symposium 1976. DSIR, 1977.

Report of the Commission for the Environment (Parl. paper C. 7).

Report of the Department of Lands and Survey (Parl. paper C. 1).

Report of the Director-General of Forests (Parl. paper C. 3).

Report of the National Parks and Reserves Authority (Parl. paper C. 10).

Report of the National Water and Soil Conservation Authority (Parl. paper D. 2).

Report of the Nature Conservation Council (Parl. paper C. 4).

Report of the Queen Elizabeth the Second National Trust (Parl. paper C. 2).

Chapter 15. Agriculture

15.1 Current situation and trends

Types of farming.

Most of New Zealand's farmland is used for the pastoral production of meat, wool, and dairy products. By far the majority of animals grazed are sheep, but cattle and, more recently, deer and goats can also be seen in large numbers.

Land used for meat and wool farming is mainly hill country and rolling downs. The lowlands, and coastal plains support dairy, arable, and horticultural production. Recent increases in the use of coastal flat land for horticulture have been a major feature.

Trends in agriculture.

In 1986 the continuation of government policies to reduce assistance and the removal of most subsidies had a major effect on the agricultural sector.

Compared with other sectors, agriculture previously received high levels of assistance. Reasons for this were twofold. Firstly, prices for major agricultural products, particularly meat, had been weak for a number of years. Secondly, many domestic industries which provided the materials needed for agricultural production were heavily protected against competition from imports.

Successive governments had believed that the best way to handle what were apparently temporary difficulties for agriculture was to provide temporary assistance. The current Government has set about dismantling the whole range of assistance measures in all sectors of the New Zealand economy. For agriculture this means that a wide range of measures have now disappeared or are in the process of disappearing. The change has caused a fall in farm incomes and farmland prices.

At this stage it is difficult to assess the full impact of these changes on agriculture. However, it can be said that 1986 has been a time of uncertainty and change for the industry. It is believed that structural changes which are occurring in the economy will mean medium- to long-term benefits for both agriculture and the New Zealand economy as a whole.

Table 15.1. TENURE OF OCCUPIED FARMLAND

YearNumber of FarmsFreehold LandCrown LandLeasehold LandOther LandTotal Land Occupied
   hectares (000)  
198273,92510,8208,8531,34025021,264
198375,74511,0178,6451,38721821,266
198476,63310,9228,565148525221,224
198578,80811,0968,7251,42712921,377

Table 15.2. LAND USAGE BY LOCAL GOVERNMENT REGION, AS AT 30 JUNE 1985

Local Government RegionNo. of FarmsGrassland and LucerneFruit Vegetable and NurseryCropsPlantations of Exotic TreesTussock or Danthonia Used for GrazingTotal Area of Farms*

* Including other land on farms not classified above.

   hectares (000)  
Northland6,9936815184161,077
Auckland and Great Barrier Island7,570294111335414
Waikato8,586862599851,142
Tongariro1,382342 31357940
Thames Valley4,08822812232420
Bay of Plenty6,3392901662322821
East Cape2,1645846662191,026
Hawke's Bay3,577757111068271,137
Taranaki4,6734431277617
Wanganui1,9865122132977719
Manawatu3,738512214717578
Wairarapa1,897432172048710
Horowhenua97856325480
Wellington53646  5871
      North Island54,4076 03864768072459 752
Marlborough1,40924029254831,142
Nelson Bays2,200138538537533
West Coast1,225155 127401,797
Canterbury5,241520584436001,572
Aorangi and Chatham Islands4,1356204146118721,780
Coastal North Otago2,17825822714614958
Clutha-Central Otago2,809640230511,2892,278
      Southland5,204739149333551566
South Island24,4013 309233492904 28911,625
      New Zealand78,8089 347874251 0974 53421,377

Table 15.3. LAND USAGE BY FARM TYPE, AS AT 30 JUNE 1985

Farm TypeNumber of FarmsGrassland and LucerneHorticulture and CropsPlantations of Exotic TreesTussock or Danthonia Used for GrazingOther Land on FarmTotal Area of Farms

* Gross income of 75 percent or more is derived from stated activity.

† From 51 to 74 percent of gross income is derived from first named activity and between 20 and 40 percent from second activity.

‡ More than 50 percent of gross income is derived from stated activity.

§ Two or more activities of roughly equal proportions.

|| Includes flower growing, small-animal breeding, mushroom growing, tobacco and hop growing, beekeeping, research/educational farms, and farms not elsewhere classified.

   hectares (000)  
Dairy farming: town supply*1,114942..24102
Dairy farming: factory supply*13,3259727610731,068
Sheep farming*18,7523,547119472,6744886,875
Beef farming*7,158472410283149918
Pig farming*41472..1111
Cropping*1,4503572..14113
Dairy farming with sheep305381..3648
Dairy farming with beef7348611312102
Dairy farming with other500482..1758
Sheep farming with dairy19825....9337
Sheep farming with beef5,8532,33928389604243,788
Sheep farming with cropping1,11516151135227
Sheep farming with other7461248324222399
Beef farming with dairy18015......217
Beef farming with sheep1,74538531689107600
Beef farming with other410232421343
Cropping with sheep7576861124135
Cropping with other19579....117
Pig farming with other12451..1..7
Stud horse breeding1,432241..1228
Deer farming8574511191279
Goat farming47011....2316
Mixed livestock§3,0435632813198100902
Poultry incl. broilers41041....15
Vegetable growing1,7221321....337
Citrus orchards275..1....2
Pipfruit orchards77028....112
Stonefruit orchards30412......4
Kiwifruit orchards2,0817151..428
Grape growing37725....18
Berryfruit growing40623 ....5
Other fruit n.e.c.72145..1212
Plant nurseries425121..66
Plantations99414..94782,3223,292
Other farming||1,936903951015159
Agricultural contracting328111..1216
Idle land7,182102..62,0942,203
        Total, all farm types78,8089 3475111 0974 5345 88721,377

Table 15.4. FARM EMPLOYMENT, AS AT 30 JUNE 1985

Farm TypeWorking Owners, Leaseholders, and SharemilkersUnpaid Members of Family Assisting on FarmPaid Permanent EmployeesCasual Workers at 30 JuneSalaries and Wages Paid to Employees $(000)
Full-timePart-time

* Gross income of 75 percent or more is derived from stated activity.

† From 51 to 74 percent of gross income is derived from first-named activity and between 20 and 40 percent from second activity.

‡ More than 50 percent of gross income is derived from stated activity.

§ Two or more activities of roughly equal proportions.

|| Includes pig fanning with other, small animal breeding, mushroom growing, tobacco and hop growing, beekeeping, research/educational farms, agriculture contracting, idle land and farms not elsewhere classified.

Dairy farming town supply*1,839523454126879,354
Dairy farming: factory supply*22,5876,5732,28287155852,089
Sheep farming*20,3409,6933,3331,3061,70077,742
Beef farming*6,9942,7193642351837,452
Pig farming*51319117040143,423
Cropping*1,342584189921294,164
Dairy farming with sheep5122094318101,158
Dairy farming with beef1,31837620180373,997
Dairy farming with other911240203501294,466
Sheep farming with dairy2359643623534
Sheep farming with beef6,9602,7303,127735104063,602
Sheep farming with cropping1,349640231123865,484
Sheep farming with other86742720761914,136
Beef farming with sheep1,91983055812917410,732
Beef farming with other7153487318321,390
Cropping with sheep951393198811214,481
Cropping with other247102.3433581,276
Stud horse breeding96346231593325,494
Deer farming88553014042412,779
Goat farming52635228108673
Mixed livestock§3,9141,76894626038219,808
Poultry incl. broilers5881804313941949,194
Vegetable growing2,34181870137395818,525
Citrus orchards35313550291141,253
Pipfruit orchards1,00823959914363022,062
Stonefruit orchards34415686351153,182
Kiwifruit orchards2,6101,0031,0543831,86728,847
Grape growing4261532771046677,202
Berryfruit growing49921882447816,032
Other fruit n.e.c.8693942831184148,101
Flower growing348946665402,431
Plant nurseries540119108030355519,604
Plantations2101073,1566310560,508
Other farming||2,7251,39388237050722,221
        Total, all farm types88,74834,79521,8866,83311,882493,398

Census of agricultural contracting services 1984–85

The economic censuses of agricultural contracting services form part of the series of integrated economic censuses of New Zealand business activities. The data in table 15.5 cover all agricultural contracting carried out during the years ended 31 March 1980 and 1985 respectively.

Table 15.5. CENSUSES OF AGRICULTURAL CONTRACTING SERVICES GENERAL STATISTICS, 1979–80 AND 1984–85

Statistical Item1979–801984–85
 Number
Group enterprises2,4062,072
Enterprises2,4282,103
Activity units2,5632,256
Ancillary activity units713
Full-time working proprietors and partners engaged2,6932,067
Part-time working proprietors and partners engaged457
Full-time paid employees engaged6,7295,837
Part-time paid employees engaged3,4113,202
Total persons engaged12,83311,563
Full-time equivalent—working proprietors and partners..2,296
Full-time equivalent—paid employees8,4347,438
Full-time equivalent—total persons..9,733
Total number of vehicles7,003..
 $(000)
Opening stocks5,61210,964
Closing stocks6,41510,234
Purchases—fuel and power17,52235,464
Purchases—materials and goods26,36544,372
Salaries and wages to paid employees55,16598,111
A.C.C. levies/employer contributions etc. 2,251
Repairs and maintenance20,60424,905
Hiring/leasing of agricultural machinery..5,708
Business insurance premiums..6,067
Road user charges6081,434
Rates, local/central government fees etc.5731,032
Depreciation15,65525,696
Interest, bad debts, donations etc.6,98716,500
All other operating expenses30,41858,947
        Total purchases and expenses173,897320,487
Income from agricultural contracting195,456349,376
Subsidies received2,725305
Interest, dividends, royalties etc.1,4073,209
Other income5,92315,199
        Total sales and other income205,511368,088
Salaries to working proprietors and partners7,28010,643
Net profit/loss, before tax, and after deducting proprietors salaries25,13736,228
Net profit/loss on extraordinary items..2,927
Operating surplus37,99760,162
Value added107,439188,381
Additions to fixed assets39,69956,936
Disposals of fixed assets11,51418,213
Book value of fixed assets107,403199,409

Capital expenditure on farms

An annual survey of capital formation in the farming industry is made by the Department of Statistics. For the year ended 30 June 1985 capital expenditure was reported by 54 percent (42 556) of the 78 808 farms and plantations surveyed.

Table 15.6. CAPITAL EXPENDITURE ON FARMS

ItemYear Ended June
198319841985
* Includes construction of permanent yards, airstrips, bridges, reading, and stock or dairy water-supply systems.
 $(000)
Buildings278,562284,401256,144
Construction*51,66653,46748,487
Land development184,108179,931163,101
Transport vehicles155,634172,546222,593
Machinery171,001189,799221,732
Working animals3,0083,3653,885
        Total843,979883,509915,942

Table 15.7. FARM MACHINERY, AS AT 30 JUNE 1983*

Type of MachineNumber in Use
* Collected triennially.
Agricultural tractors91,925
Pick-up balers12,535
Harvesters—
  Forage3,922
  Header3,825
Electric fence units71,629
Grain drills9,946
Spray irrigation plants6,611
Potato harvesters1,006
Grain silos or bins19,658
Grain capacity (tonnes)774,981
Bikes42,516
Farm trucks36,585

Irrigation

Most New Zealand soils have a seasonal moisture deficiency and many soils presently farmed under dry land conditions are capable of substantially increased production under irrigation.

The area and type of land irrigated during the year ended 30 June 1985 is analysed by local government region in table 15.8.

Table 15.8. LAND IRRIGATED DURING YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 1985

Local Government RegionNo. of Farms IrrigatedGrassland and LucerneFruit (Incl. Grapes) and VegetablesOther Crops and Other LandTotal
   hectares  
Northland412961,798951,989
Auckland (incl. Gt. Barrier Is.)6036532,3311063,090
Waikato22027162862961
Tongariro74311..54
Thames Valley11828732120628
Bay of Plenty1,1304854,799975,381
East Cape2371471,247381,432
Hawke's Bay6612,4514,8641,0148,329
Taranaki705221918289
Wanganui6017418014368
Manawatu1071,4824101051,997
Wairarapa1323,3071981483,653
Horowhenua113511486411,038
Wellington16139112152
        North Island3 88610,09817,5041 76029,362
Marlborough2272,8541,5241,7126,090
Nelson Bays5221,8622,8021,2045,868
West Coast41214
Canterbury1,00731,9122,21617,95852,086
Aorangi (incl. Chatham Islands)98164,39890037,631102,929
Coastal North Otago23515,1283643,33718,828
Clutha-Central Otago51338,2901,3051,60941,204
Southland13180726213
        South Island3 502154,6259 12063,479227,222
        New Zealand7 388164,72326,62465,240256,587

Further information on irrigation is included in chapter 14, Land and environment.

Topdressing

Topdressing with artificial fertilisers has been an important factor in the intensification of grassland farming. Most New Zealand soils need fertilisers, especially phosphates, to maintain and increase production. Superphosphate has been produced in New Zealand in increasing quantities since the 1880s, using rock phosphates from Nauru and Ocean Island; Christmas Island is now an increasingly important source of supply. Over the years there has been a marked changeover from straight superphosphate as the principal fertiliser for grassland and crops—usual variants are serpentine superphosphate or aerial superphosphate, or a mixture of superphosphate with potash, additional sulphur or a trace element. Production of chemical fertilisers in superphosphate manufacturing works during the year ended 30 June 1985 totalled 1 973 700 tonnes. Half the fertilised area is covered by aerial distribution, and about 30 percent of the quantity is distributed by aeroplanes from 8000 airstrips.

Lime is used to correct soil acidity and increase the availability of trace elements. In 1985, 1.2 million tonnes of lime were applied.

Table 15.9. FERTILISER APPLICATION

Year Ended 30 JuneArea TopdressedQuantity Spread
Phosphatic FertilisersOther FertilisersBy Ground SpreadBy Air
 ha (000)ha (000)tonnes (000)tonnes (000)
19826 628.11 404.72 393.61 016.3
19835 668.41 181.02 133.8909.6
19846 054.11 204.02 173.7990.5
19856 214.11 165.62 144.8963.6

Agriculture production account

The Department of Statistics' agriculture production account provides a summary of the activities of all market-oriented establishments classified under agricultural and livestock production or agricultural services (major groups 111 and 112 of the New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification). All types of farms are included, together with agricultural services operated by contractors, such as topdressing, weed-spraying, harvesting, threshing, shearing, and scrub-cutting. Other services included are herd testing and artificial insemination. Farms operated as trading enterprises by the Department of Lands and Survey (now the Land Corporation Limited) and the Department of Maori Affairs are included.

The account includes all income derived from the activities of the establishments covered, including their characteristic farming activities, and also their ‘other’ productive activities. However, investment income (such as dividends and interest) accruing to the proprietors of farming establishments is excluded.

Tables 15.10 and 15.11 provide commodity analyses for the production account items, intermediate consumption and gross output:

Table 15.12 shows the index of the volume of agricultural production for years ended June. It should be noted that this index excludes inter-farm sales of animals, and the production of agricultural services, i.e., it relates only to ‘farm’ output of ‘land-based’ commodities. The index shows changes in the volume of production for 11 separate component product groups as well as for total farm production. The index is chain-linked year-on-year, and has an expression base of the year ended June 1978 (= 1000).

Table 15.10. AGRICULTURE PRODUCTION ACCOUNT ANALYSIS OF INTERMEDIATE CONSUMPTION

ItemYear Ended March
19811982198319841985
   $(million)  
Purchase of livestock536554547753904
Feed and grazing150180219219260
Animal health and breeding96114131157170
Weed and pest control55677599111
Fertiliser, lime, and seeds332406429460522
Fuel and power208242282295355
Repairs and maintenance410490504555632
Freight93109126141161
Other (not elsewhere classified)5886938028991,003
 2,4692,8553,1153,5774,118
Less, capitalised development821031059181
        Total, intermediate consumption2,3882,7523,0103,4864,037

Table 15.11. GROSS AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION (GROSS OUTPUT)

CommodityYear Ended March
19811982198319841985
n.e.c.—not elsewhere classified.
   $(million)  
Wool8118037559351,214
Sheep.560585499518792
Cattle5455647177201,063
Pigs65808689102
Dairy products8501,0201,1831,1981,455
Poultry products110124146143170
Crops and seeds221279267286323
Fruit, nuts, and oilseeds154183213238346
Vegetables183225225274232
Other horticultural products104127145174204
Agricultural services261295293318357
Other products, n.e.c.50608394120
Value of change in livestock—
  Sheep7060−726054
  Cattle12−2−53488
  Pigs−1−133
  Deer18323890156
  Goats1261214
Sales of live animals536563558743887
        Gross output4,549 5,0925,9007,579

Table 15.12. INDEX OF VOLUME OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION (JUNE 1978 = 1000)

CommodityYear Ended June
19811982198319841985
n.e.c.—not elsewhere classified.
  Volume Index Numbers 
Wool12471187118311761254
Sheep1178115312701207x1334
Cattle95810001045872x1003
Pigs865878888966x1050
Dairy products10921088111312301259
Poultry products1120114412291211x1356
Crops and seeds961100310941266x1306
Fruit, nuts, and oilseeds1339163815321892x2249
Vegetables933103410481060x983
Other horticultural products1782190118522230x2230
Other farm products, n.e.c.1847207025432996x3,551
        Total, all farm products1132114711841218x1307

Agricultural Producers Price Index

Six input sub-indexes have been developed for the Agricultural Producers Price Index. They relate to the following types of agricultural activity: sheep and beef farming; dairy farming; mixed cropping; horticulture; pig, poultry, and other farming; and agricultural contracting. An All Farming Inputs Price Index is also produced, which excludes agricultural contracting, and is available including or excluding livestock purchases. This series can be compared to the discontinued Farm Costs Price Index.

A sub-index for expenditure on central and local government charges has been developed, with the series being available back to the December 1982 quarter, which ensures compatibility with the other expenditure sub-indexes of the Farming Inputs Price Index.

Table 15.13. FARMING INPUTS PRICE INDEX (DECEMBER QUARTER 1982 =1000)

Year QuarterSheep FarmingDairy FarmingAll Farming (Excl. Livestock)
1982—Mar933918934
            Jun973974977
            Sep995994995
            Dec100010001000
1983—Mar100210021002
            Jun100710081007
            Sep101310201017
            Dec101210231017
1984—Mar101310231017
            Jun103410461042
            Sep107910921086
            Dec111211181116
1985—Mar114811531154
            Jun120312101209
            Sep125412581255
            Dec125612631259
1986—Mar127212791274
            Jun127412941281
            Sep130413051304

Table 15.14. FARMING INPUTS PRICE INDEX (DECEMBER QUARTER 1982 =1000)

Expenditure GroupPercentage of Base Expenditure19851986
Dec.Mar.Jun.Sep.
* Excludes wages, interest payments and government charges.
Administration3.861261130514091502
Animal health and breeding3.881232122512291249
Dairy shed expenses0.561275129113581395
Electricity1.891228122813601360
Feed, grazing, cultivating and harvesting8.201244124412571243
Fertiliser, lime and seeds14.471255126312631343
Freight5.581268126412621251
Fuel and oil6.171246124611261070
Insurance0.881260129913211369
Packaging costs1.521256125613161289
Rent and hire1.751443145014651738
Repairs, maintenance and motor vehicle repairs17.761297134513611389
Sharemilking1.30116611661166872
Shearing5.651166116911701178
Weed and pest control3.491257126212801281
Livestock purchases23.041434131411391030
All groups excluding livestock76.961259127412811304
All groups including livestock100.001299128312491241

Agricultural organisations

Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries advises government on how to derive the maximum national benefit from the agricultural, horticultural, and fishing industries. During 1987 it is planned to restructure the nine divisions in the ministry to operate through the following four business groups: technology development and implementation (MAFTech); quality management systems and services (MAFQual); fisheries management and conservation (MAFFish); and corporate services (MAFCorp).

Some ministry staff are employed to prevent the introduction of exotic animals, fish, plants, and diseases. This is to protect New Zealand's status as an approved source of species and produce for export. Officials also aim to help improve animal, fish, and plant health in New Zealand.

Where necessary, the ministry assures overseas governments and customers of the consistent purity and safety of New Zealand food products. It bases this quality assurance on internationally-agreed standards.

Other primary-industry organisations.

Production and marketing of most New Zealand agricultural products in both domestic and export markets is regulated by a wide range of statutory bodies, including the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. The marketing aspect of these bodies' work is dealt with under the various types of farming in this chapter. The Rural Banking and Finance Corporation plays an important part in financing farming operations. This organisation is discussed in chapter 26, Money and banking.

15.2 Pastoral agriculture

Pastoral agriculture is practised throughout New Zealand, with beef cattle predominating in the Far North, dairying in Waikato and Taranaki, and sheep farming in the hills and in the south of the North Island. In the South Island, sheep farming is the main form of pastoral agriculture, but there is some dairying on the flat land of both coasts.

Livestock are rarely housed, but feeding of small quantities of supplements, such as hay and silage can occur, particularly in winter. Grass growth is seasonal, largely dependent on location and climatic fluctuations, but normally occurs for between eight and 12 months of the year. Stock are grazed in paddocks, often with moveable electric fencing which, allows rotation of grazing around the farm. Lambing and calving are carefully managed to take full advantage of spring grass growth. Phosphatic fertilisers are used extensively on New Zealand's predominantly grass/clover pasture. Nitrogen fertilisers are used to a small degree.

Livestock numbers and types

Agriculture is a major industry upon which much of New Zealand's prosperity depends. Lines of development are influenced by overseas prices for farm products, inch-ding meat, wool, dairy products and, more recently, venison and it fibre. While there is a time-lag associated with livestock breeding, livestock numbers indicate how farmers are responding to market trends.

However, it must be remembered that climatic effects such as drought or floods can influence the general pattern.

New Zealand has more than 20 times as many sheep as people. Grasslands have been developed to the extent that the best sheep farms can carry up to 25 sheep per hectare, and the best dairy farms, 3.5 cows per hectare throughout the year.

At 30 June 1982 the total sheep population was 70.3 million, and beef cattle numbers were around 4.9 million. The sheep population is thought to have declined to around 67.2 million at June 1986, but the beet cattle population remained static at around 4.7 million.

Table 15.15. DISTRIBUTION OF LIVESTOCK, AS AT 30 JUNE 1985

Local Government RegionDairy CattleBeef CattleSheepPigsDeerGoats
   (000)  
Northland3775922,17513351
Auckland (incl. Gt Barrier Is.)2382501,072602533
Waikato7806164,574633664
Tongariro182072,63511817
Thames Valley43411056920512
Bay of Plenty2771481,440283927
East Cape363893,0614918
Hawke's Bay114446,28382658
Taranaki5351891,68933612
Wanganui282574,042899
Manawatu1542593,995211113
Wairarapa711703,34318418
Horowhenua5433215821
Wellington511236514
        North Island3 0163 67635,328291194337
Marlborough22841,6982086
Nelson Bays455284711812
West Coast6473464262
Canterbury531675,062712122
Aorangi (incl. Chatham Is.)371265,893312313
Coastal North Otago25752,55913410
Clutha-Central Otago141876,85251714
Southland321749,151123712
        South Island29293732,52616412690
        New Zealand3 3084 61367,854454320427

Table 15.16. SHEEP CATEGORIES

At 30 JuneRamsWethersBreeding EwesHoggetsTotal
Rams & WethersEwes
   (000)  
19819931,58250,0593,26513,98569,884
1982964138851,5602,86913,52070,301
19839361,33751,7632,65313,57470,263
19849071,34051,8752,47113,14669,739
19858711,28350,9802,30912,41067,854

Sheep breeds.

Data on sheep breeds collected in 1984 indicate that, of the 69.7 million sheep in New Zealand at the end of June 1984, 27.7 million (39.7 percent) were Romneys, 13.5 million (19.3 percent) were Coopworth, 10.6 million (15.3 percent) were Perendale, 3.8 million (5.5 percent) were Corriedale and 3.9 million (5.6 percent) were Merino and half breds. Six million sheep were classified ‘unspecified’, as the farmers did not indicate their breed.

Table 15.17. SIZE OF SHEEP FLOCKS

Size of Flock19811982198319841985
            1–998,92610,21410,0399,3909,828
      100–1992,5172,7242,6282,4682,530
      200–4993,9964,0664,1033,9884,089
      500–9993,7023,6993,7363,6623,631
1 000–1 4993,4003,3973,3983,3603,390
1 500–1 9993,6383,4923,4793,3763,359
2 000–2 4993,4743,4693,3723,3303,238
2 500–4 9997,3297,4287,4437,3087,179
5 000–9 9992,1372,1702,1522,1612,033
10 000 and over522531548568535
Total flocks39,64141,19040,89839,61139,812
Average flock size1,7631,7071,7181,7611,704

Table 15.18. CATTLE CATEGORIES

Category198319841985

* Heifers not yet in milk, and cows not in milk during season but intended to be used again for dairying.

† Includes ‘bobby’ calves.

‡ Includes cows culled from dairy herds (16 064 in 1983, 15 560 in 1984 and 18 077 in 1985).

Dairy stock—
  Cows and heifers, two years old and over—
    Cows in milk or calf2 097 7982 165 0132 220 923
    Others*80,91053,12955,104
  Heifers—
    One and under two years old477,105502,977525,427
    Under one year old427,753471,411452,098
  Bulls and bull calves intended for dairy breeding48,63950,53751,987
        Total, dairy stock3 133 9233 245 5243 308 030
Beef stock—
  Breeding cows and heifers, two years old and over1 347 8791 341 6171 352 167
  Cows, two years old and over, not used for breeding170,137184,256168,045
  Heifers—
    One and under two years old475,825485,840471,232
    Under one year old532,806523,783538,714
  Steers, bulls of all ages, and other beef cattle1 969 9121 979 5092 064 885
        Total, beef stock4 496 5594 530 5654 613 120
        Total cattle7 630 4827 776 0897 921 150

15.3 Meat

The lamb, beef and mutton produced on New Zealand farms is overwhelmingly destined for export markets. Increasingly, lamb and mutton are being exported as cuts and in boneless form although most sheepmeat continues to be exported as carcasses. Beef and veal are almost entirely exported in boned-out form or as bone-in cuts.

Table 15.19. MEAT PRODUCTION

ProductYear Ended September
19821983198419851986P
   tonnes (000)  
Beef494.9492.9418.9472.4449.9
Veal21.119.214.514.316.1
Mutton191.6200.2194.2227.4146.7
Lamb431.0480.1473.4500.9464.7
Pig meat40.139.742.947.747.1
        Total1 178.71 232.11 143.91 262.71 124.5

Meat produced for export.

Measured on a product-weight basis, export meat production declined sharply to the lowest level in seven years in the season ended September 1986. Declines in production were recorded in all categories of meat with lamb down 11 percent, mutton down 44 percent and beef and veal down 8 percent. A major factor in the decline in livestock killed was a six-week strike in freezing plants during February and March 1986, following on from a slow start in the early part of the killing season. This resulted in stock being carried through the winter and into the early months of the following season. The mutton kill was also affected by the very low returns offered by meat companies and farmers using alternative methods of disposal.

The number of lambs slaughtered for export during the 1985–86 season declined to 33.2 million, down 15 percent on the previous season's record figure. Adult sheep slaughtering for export declined 48 percent, while beef export slaughterings declined 7 percent.

About two-thirds of all lambs tailed are killed during the season and over 90 percent of the lamb meat produced is exported. Meat consumption in New Zealand represents approximately 25 percent of total production.

Table 15.20. LIVESTOCK SLAUGHTER AT MEAT EXPORT WORKS AND ABATTOIRS*

AnimalsYear Ended September
19821983198419851986

* Excludes killing on farms.

Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

  head of stock (000) 
Lambs32,11535,99534,71139 963x34,661
Sheep9,0219,2348,89510 756x6,711
Adult cattle2,1732,1561,7711 982x1,881
Calves and vealers1,071963826836942
Pigs716720768843x851

Table 15.21. MEAT EXPORT PRODUCTION

Type of MeatYear Ended September
19821983198419851986
  tonnes (000) shipping weight 
Lamb—carcasses325.3366.7343.8350.8298.8
        —cuts73.378.494.0102.5105.6
Mutton—carcasses99375.248.959.831.8
        —cuts14.231.738.242.825.4
Beef—manufacturing175.8173.1141.0174.3165.5
        —other50.153.840.951.743.3
Veal8.47.36.97.26.7
Pig meat
Other meats0.40.10.1
Variety meats50.953.950.756.944.7
Inedible meat and offal19.819.017.318.517.1
        Total817.5859.0781.7864.6738.9

New Zealand Meat Producers Board

The main responsibilities of the New Zealand Meat Producers Board are: meat export licensing; the grading, storage, and shipment of meat; market research and information; negotiating access to markets; the promotion of New Zealand meat; encouraging improvement in the quality of New Zealand meat; and meat price stabilisation.

Although the New Zealand Meat Producers Board undertakes mainly shipping, promotion and some marketing of export meat, it also plays a part in medium- to long-term product development and production projections through its technical staff and its involvement in the Meat Industry Research Institute (MIRINZ) and the New Zealand Meat and Wool Boards' Economic Service. Meat processing is handled by a range of private-sector companies, some of which are owned by produce co-operatives.

The board is funded by means of a levy on farms, imposed as a per head charge and collected at the time of slaughter. Funds from the levy and interest on investments totalled $15.8 million in the year ended September 1985. In the period expenditure exceeded income by $0.6 million.

Table 15.22. MEAT BOARD LEVY RATES, 1986

Class of MeatCents per Head
Lambs20
Other sheep and goats29
Bobby calves (under 27 kg)10
Vealers100
Other adult cattle200
Source: NZ Meat Producers Board.

The board has engaged in most activities in the export trade in the interests of the producer influencing meat marketing policy through the regulation of shipments, control over quality, and the development of markets through promotion. Following the termination of the national sheepmeat pools in December 1985 the marketing of sheepmeats has been handled by private exporters.

In its market support role the board promotes the sale of meat on an international scale. To this end it has established in its major markets a network of market consultants assisting the board through its overseas offices, which are in London, New York, Tokyo, Tehran, and Bahrain.

During 1986 the board initiated a review of the North American lamb market, with particular emphasis on whether the market, should continue to be considered a developing market, with exports being confined to one company (Devco). As a result, development market status has been withdrawn from North America and participation in the United States market has been extended to other exporters meeting the required conditions. Exports to the Canadian market continue to be handled by one company, except for highly-processed consumer products.

Meat marketing

Most meat produced in the world is supplied to domestic markets, and only about 8 percent of world output enters into international trade. Among the few countries with significant levels of exports are Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, the Netherlands, Denmark, and the Irish Republic. The principal importers are the countries of western Europe (in particular the United Kingdom), the United States, U.S.S.R., and Japan. It is significant, however, that although the European Community countries are substantial meat importers, much of the current trade now takes place between member countries of the Community as governed by the Common Agricultural Policy regulations.

During 1985–86, in contrast to the 11 percent decline in lamb production, lamb exports increased by 3 percent as stocks were reduced to more traditional levels. The main growth area for exports was Peru, rising from 2903 tonnes in 1984–85 to 22 379 tonnes in 1985–86. Other markets which showed significant increases in volume were North America, Japan, Iran, Algeria, Spain and Greece. The most significant decline was in exports to the United Kingdom, which fell by 27 percent.

Mutton exports in 1985–86 declined by 17 percent. The main factor contributing to this decline was a reduction in exports to the U.S.S.R., the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Exports of beef and veal declined 9 percent in 1985–86, reflecting the fall in production. The greatest decline in exports was recorded in those to North America.

The major markets for New Zealand meat continue to be Iran and the United Kingdom for lamb. Japan, the U.S.S.R. and the United Kingdom for mutton, and the United States and Canada for beef. In fact these six markets accounted for 75 percent of New Zealand's total meat exports in 1985–86, down slightly from 79 percent in 1984–85.

Imports of beef into the United States are subject to ‘voluntary restraint’ agreements under the counter-cyclical meat import law. If ‘voluntary restraints’ are not agreed on by the supplying countries then quotas may be imposed. Under this system New Zealand, along with other suppliers, agrees to restrict the quantity of quota meat shipped for arrival in the United States during the calendar year to a negotiated tonnage if the global estimate of US imports exceeds a ‘trigger’ level. No restraints were required in 1986. Canada also operates a counter-cyclical meat import law to control beef imports, although greater discretionary powers are vested in the Canadian Government as to whether, and at what level, quotas are to be imposed. Countervailing duties were imposed by Canada on European Community beef exports in 1986 and as a result, imports were not subject to quotas.

Shipments of beef and veal to the United States totalled 161 930 tonnes in the year ended September 1986, down 7 percent, while lamb shipments were 14 636 tonnes, up 27 percent. Shipments of beef and veal to Canada were 19 440 tonnes, down 18 percent; and lamb 8553 tonnes, up 10 percent.

Lamb exports to the United Kingdom for the year ended September 1985 decreased 27 percent to 98 783 tonnes, and mutton exports decreased 20 percent to 14 286 tonnes. Beef exports to this market are now negligible.

Iran was New Zealand's largest lamb market in 1985–86 at 124 681 tonnes, an increase of 4 percent.

Japan is New Zealand's largest mutton market, taking 30 273 tonnes in 1985–86, either directly or through South Korean processing operations. However, mutton shipments to Japan declined by 6 percent from the previous year. Lamb shipments to Japan increased 20 percent to 17 045 tonnes while beef exports declined 9 percent to 6837 tonnes.

Mutton exports to the U.S.S.R. fell 7892 tonnes in 1985–86 from 15 578 tonnes in the previous season. Lamb exports were 13 754 tonnes in contrast to exports in the previous year.

Other significant markets for New Zealand meat in 1985–86 were for lamb—Peru 22 379 tonnes; Greece 13 463 tonnes; Saudi Arabia 9661 tonnes and West Germany 8805 tonnes; for mutton—Taiwan 2888 tonnes; West Germany 2486 tonnes and Malaysia 2137 tonnes; for beef—Hong Kong 2831 tonnes; Taiwan 2637 tonnes and French Polynesia 2214 tonnes.

Meat grades and types

A standard system of classifying grades of meat is used in New Zealand. Export meat is graded according to the type of animal, weight, age and fat content. The grades are established by the New Zealand Meat Producers Board.

Sheepmeat

Lamb—is a sheep of less than 12 months of age. Animals born in the New Zealand spring will be termed lambs until 30 September in the following year. The grades used for classifying lambs are given in table 15.23. Grade A, Y, and P carcasses can be exported with no trimming of excessive fat. Grade T and F carcasses are trimmed of excessive fat prior to export as cuts. Cutter grade carcasses (grade C) are not eligible for export in carcass form due to trimming or mutilation. Intact cuts from these carcasses may be exported. Grade M, the manufacturing grade, includes carcasses which are too thin for export, are damaged, or weigh less than 9 kilograms but are too fat for the A grade.

Hogget—is a young male sheep or maiden ewe not qualifying for the lamb grade and having no more than two permanent incisors in wear. Hogget carcasses graded HX have a light fat content and HL grade carcasses have a medium fat content. Manufacturing grade carcasses are classified as mutton.

Ram—is an uncastrated male sheep having more than two permanent incisors in wear. The grade R covers all weights of rams.

Mutton—includes both ewes and wethers with more than two permanent incisors in wear. A wether must not show any of the accessory male characteristics. Carcasses graded MM are almost devoid of external fat and include all weight ranges. Carcasses graded MX have a light fat content while ML grade carcasses have a medium fat content. The MX and ML grades are further classified by whether the weight is under or over 22 kilograms. For all weight ranges, MH grade carcasses have a heavy fat content, MF grade carcasses have an excessive fat content, and MP grade is used for sheepmeat destined for processing.

Table 15.23. LAMB GRADES

WeightFat Content
AYPTFCM
 Almost devoidLightMediumHeavyExcessiveMixedMixed
Less than 9.0 kgA      
9.0–12.5 kg YLPLTLFLCL 
13.0–16.0 kg YMPMTMFMCMM
16.5–20.0 kg YXPXTHFHCH 
20.5 kg and over  PH    

Beef

Steers, heifers, cows and bulls—As a basis for determining the fat-cover category into which beef carcasses fall, the depth of subcutaneous fat over the fourth quarter of the eye muscle and the 12th rib is measured. The measurements given in table 15.24 are used as a guide by graders when classifying beef. For P and L grades the class is further divided into L1 or P1 for carcasses which have a well-muscled hindquarter and L2 or G for carcasses which are weaker in the hindquarter.

Table 15.24. BEEF GRADING SYMBOLS

SymbolFat thickness mmUse
Mup to 1Processing
L1–3Lean cuts or processing
P4–12Prime export cuts
G13–18Cuts after trimming
T19–24Cuts after substantial trimming
Eover 24

A steer is a male bovine castrated when young. A heifer is a female bovine which has no more than six permanent incisors, while cows have more than six permanent incisors. A bull is an entire bovine with masculine characteristics. Bull carcasses are classified only on weight. Beef weight ranges are measured in 25 kilogram units from 195.5 kilograms to 345 kilograms. The weight ranges for carcasses below 220 kilograms and above 270 kilograms varies with the type of carcass. Carcasses under 160 kilograms are graded M irrespective of the amount of fat.

Veal and bobby calves—Bobby veal carcasses are derived from milk-fed bovine calves generally under two weeks old. They are not subdivided into grades or weight ranges but only carcasses between 10 and 27 kilograms are eligible for export.

Vealer carcasses are derived from maiden female, castrated male, and entire males which are not showing masculine characteristics. The animals can be aged up to 14 months. The meat is finely textured and pinkish in colour, while the fat is white. Vealer carcasses weighing up to 60 kilograms are graded M, carcasses weighing between 60.5 kilograms and 115 kilograms are graded L, and those between 115.5 kilograms and 160 kilograms are graded P.

Meat prices

The Imported Meat Trade Association in the United Kingdom compiles weekly London wholesale meat prices, the basis of quotation being ‘ex-hooks to retailers at Smithfield Market’. In the absence of international standardised prices, the London wholesale prices on table 15.25 give the only indicative measure of world prices. Approximately 45 percent of the value of all New Zealand exports of frozen and chilled meat is generally accounted for by lamb.

Table 15.25. LONDON WHOLESALE LAMB PRICES

End of Last Week in MarchLamb (New Seasons Product)
Prime GradeY Grade
8 to 12.5 kg13 to 16 kg16.5 to 19.5 kg8 to 12.5 kg13 to 16 kg

* At 8 April 1983.

† 9.0 kg–12.5 kg.

‡ 16.5 kg to 20 kg.

Source: New Zealand Meat Producers Board

  New pence per kilogram equivalent 
1982143.3–145.5143.3–145.5138.9–141.1137.8–138.9141.1–143.3
1983137.1135.6122.4135.1*133.4*
1984142.6141.1131.6140.0140.0
1985152.1152.1142.2151.0151.0
1986145.5147.7143.3141.5144.4

Schedule prices—A schedule of buying prices is issued each week by the meat operators in New Zealand. The producers can sell their export meat on schedule, on a pool account system, on the hoof, or they can sell through a producer co-operative.

The New Zealand Meat Producers Board can, by use of its statutory powers, issue its own schedule of meat export prices when it considers that exporters are unduly pessimistic in their assessment of future overseas market prices, or when the schedule offered by exporters for lamb or mutton is below the board's minimum price. Intervention of this type by the board involves not only the setting of the schedule but also arranging for the marketing overseas of the various products on its own account.

The board operated a national pool for the first three months of the 1985–86 season, but this was terminated on 21 December 1985 and meat exporters again purchased stock direct from farmers by the various means described above.

Overseas prices for beef continued to be depressed during the 1985–86 season and this, coupled with increased processing costs and a rise in the value of the New Zealand dollar, resulted in supplementation being required for a brief period during April and May.

The opening schedules for the last five seasons are given in table 15.26. The prices quoted for the years 1982–83 and 1983–84 are for dressed weights ‘on the hooks’ at freezing works. However, for 1984–85 and 1985–86 the schedule prices for lamb and mutton represent the Meat Board's advance payments plus any government supplement and are for dressed weights ‘ex-freezer’. The 1986–87 schedules are dressed weight ex-freezer prices offered by the meat exporters. The prices for lamb and mutton are for bare meat only, with ah additional payment being made for the wool and pelt.

Table 15.26. OPENING NORTH ISLAND SCHEDULE PRICES

Class of Meat1982–831983–841984–851985–861986–87

* Prior to 1983–84 ML 22 kg and under.

† Based on supplementary minimum price.

Source: New Zealand Meat Producers Board.

   cents per kg  
Lamb—
  PL. 9.0–12.5 kg133.0135.5218.5130.0165.0
  PM. 13.0–16.0 kg148.0*148.5202.5142.0165.0
  YL. 9.0–12.5 kg126.0139.5226.5142.0161.0
Mutton—
  MX. 22 kg and under50.0*50.5105.552.574.0
  MM. all weights21.024.093.055.080.0
Beef-
  PI—Steer. 245.5–270 kg147.5*184.5240.0185.0197.5
  LI—Steer, 245.5–270 kg147.5184.5240.0185.0197.5
  M—Cow. 145.5 kg–170 kg126.0*132.0196.0161.0173.0
  Bull, 220.5–245 kg147.5*178.5244.0210.0208.0

Minimum prices for export meat—The current scheme was introduced in 1976. It has two principal aims: first, to establish floor prices at a more realistic level and, second, to provide a mechanism which will allow for the replenishment of the funds paid out during the periods of low prices by levying farmers' receipts when prices exceed certain ‘trigger’ levels.

Minimum prices are based on the average of the actual price for the preceding season, the estimated price for the current season (towards the end of which the determinations are made), and a forecast for the following season during which the prices will operate. The Meat Export Prices Committee may set the minima up to 10 percent above or below the average of the three seasons but has the ability to set prices outside this range in exceptional circumstances. The committee also determines the trigger prices for each of the five benchmark grades of meat. A meat income stabilisation levy is imposed when schedule prices exceed the appropriate trigger price, the proceeds going into individual buffer accounts (sheep meats and beef) established at the Reserve Bank within the Meat Industry Stabilisation Account.

In general, the scheme aims at placing a floor under the prices the producers receive, financed by funds accumulated when returns are at higher levels. It is, in short, a price-smoothing scheme which, at the same time, pays necessary regard to changes in market demand.

The lamb and mutton minimum and trigger prices are set on an ex-freezer basis instead of the delivered port works basis which is used for beef.

Owing to the size of the deficit in the Meat Industry Stabilisation Account and the agreement between the major farming organisations and government that the scheme should be terminated, the committee, in setting the minimum and trigger prices for the 1986–87 season determined that exceptional circumstances existed.

Table 15.27 shows the meat trigger prices for 1986–87. The minimum price for all classes of meat is set at a nominal 1 cent per kilogram.

Table 15.27. MEAT TRIGGER PRICES, 1986–87

Class of MeatCents per kg
Lamb—
  PM, 13.0 to 16.0 kg310
Mutton—
  MX, 22 kg and under162
Beef—
  Pi Steer, 245.5 to 270 kg400
  M Cow, 145.5 to 170 kg332
  Bull, 220.5 to 245 kg400
Source: New Zealand Meat Producers Board.

15.4 Wool

New Zealand sheep are largely dual purpose meat/wool animals and their wool is predominantly coarse; 60 percent of the clip is greater than 33 microns in diameter. This contrasts sharply with Australian wool, of which over 90 percent is less than 28 microns. New Zealand is by far the largest supplier of coarse wools, contributing over 40 percent of the world total and five times as much as the U.S.S.R., the next significant supplier. When the quantity of coarse wool entering world trade is considered, New Zealand's share becomes even greater: over 70 percent of traded coarse wools are estimated to originate in New Zealand.

Slipe wools—Represent around 12 percent of total New Zealand wool production and are a byproduct of the meat industry. They are produced by removing wool from the pelts of lambs and sheep during the fell-mongering process. New Zealand is one of the largest producers of slipe wools in the world, with the U.K. being the main customer. Slipe wools, due to their softness, are particularly suitable for end uses such as Shetland knitwear, blankets and carpets.

End use of New Zealand wool—The coarse nature of the New Zealand clip predisposes much of it to manufactured products such as carpets, handknitting yarns, and blankets.

Uses to which New Zealand wool is put vary markedly from country to country. A good example is the production of handknitting yarns in China where an unusually high proportion of quite coarse New Zealand wool is used.

Wool production.

Although New Zealand's sheep flock ranks fourth in the world, the country's raw wool production is second only to Australia on a clean mass basis. This is due to the high clip yields and lower quantities of grease and other contaminants in the wool.

Table 15.28. WOOL PRODUCTION*

Season Ended 30 JuneFlock SizeYield/HeadTotal Wool Production (Greasy)Average Auction Price (Clean Basis)

* Wool quantities are measured at point of sale rather than at source, and are therefore not strictly measures of production.

Source: New Zealand Wool Board.

 (million)(kg)tonnes (000)cents/kg
198168.85.5381337.2
198269.95.2363345.2x
198370.35.3371346.0x
198470.35.2364397.2x
198569.7x5.4373507.0x
198667.95.3358463.3

New Zealand Wool Board

The general objective of the New Zealand Wool Board is to obtain, in the interests of growers, the best possible long-term returns for New Zealand wool. Among its functions are: to promote the use of New Zealand wool in existing or new markets; to develop and maintain a marketing system for New Zealand wool suited to the requirements of the world's textile industry; to market wool to the best possible advantage; to bring about the greatest possible efficiencies in the preparation, handling, distribution, shipping, and selling of wool; to encourage the production in New Zealand of types of wool suited to market requirements; to promote research into wool and sheep; and to set minimum prices for wool and operate a minimum-price funding scheme.

The main sources of income for the board are: a levy on gross wool receipts ($68.5 million in the 1985–86 season) and interest on investments ($23.5 million for the 1985–86 season).

From the 1985–86 season, the levy was set at 5 1/2 percent.

The board is active in all aspects of the wool industry from production through to advertising wool products overseas. Its production section is engaged in the promotion of breeding practices suited to today's market, proper wool handling and clip preparation, and co-operation with wool and sheep research organisations throughout the country. A field service trains shearers in the Wool Board shearing technique. In the 1985–86 season 2908 shearers of varying levels of skill attended Wool Board courses.

Perhaps the board's biggest role is in the New Zealand marketing system and the operation of its market support schemes. It values all wool offered at auction and intervenes in the market according to its commercial judgement. In doing this it may buy wool. The board sells from the stockpile of bought-in wool, normally through the established wool trade in New Zealand. The wool is also valued for the purpose of ensuring a minimum return to growers (the minimum floor price). In the 1986–87 season the average floor price was set at an average of 443 cents per kilogram, clean weight. When the sale price for a lot at auction falls below the appropriate minimum price and the board does not buy this wool, the difference is paid to the grower as a supplementary payment. Supplement is also paid on privately sold wool, provided the buyers display it under specified conditions for appraisal by the board.

The board's market-support operations are funded by its general capital and reserves, which totalled $169 million at 30 June 1986. Supplementary payments under the minimum prices scheme are funded by a minimum-price funding levy introduced in 1976. Currently the levy is 0.5 percent of gross proceeds from all shorn wool sold for the first time. Supplementary payments are made from a separate Minimum Wool Prices Funding Account administered by the board.

A wool auction sales committee, comprising representatives of the board, the New Zealand Woolbrokers Association, and the New Zealand Council of Wool Exporters, set up under provision of the Wool Industry Act 1977, draws up and supervises the roster of wool auction sales.

The board is also empowered to grant or revoke licences to export wool. It also keeps a list of registered private buyers, registered wool exchange operators, and scourers. It is involved in the development of market innovations, such as the sale of wool by sample, it is a negotiator of freight rates, and operates a number of wool stores for its own use. Board economists conduct a market intelligence service covering production, disposal, and market prices.

The board provides a technical service to wool processors and textile manufacturers, both in New Zealand and overseas, and is extensively involved in the promotion of wool textiles, on its own account and in co-operation with garment and carpet manufacturers and the retail trade throughout New Zealand. It also supports New Zealand-manufactured wool products in export markets.

In the 1985–86 season the board's share of the budget of the International Wool Secretariat was $49.5 million. This was about 23 percent of secretariat funds. The secretariat is a partnership with Australia, South Africa, Uruguay and Brazil. It has its headquarters in London and operates in almost all countries with a substantial consumer market.

The International Wool Secretariat offers technical and fashion advice in menswear, womenswear, and furnishing to manufacturers, administers the Woolmark and the Woolblendmark (maintaining quality control in more than 15 000 factories), and promotes wool through campaigns with manufacturers and retailers. Extensive research and development is also undertaken.

The board provides around 50 percent of the revenue of the Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand (WRONZ). In 1985–86 the board's contribution was $2.1 million. Established in 1960 at Lincoln, Christchurch, the organisation has a professional staff of about 34. It conducts fundamental research on the wool fibre and applied research on scouring, processing, and performance of New Zealand wools. It is also developing the measurement of wool characteristics as an aid in marketing. The board is represented on the WRONZ executive.

The board is also represented on the Wool Testing Authority. Wool testing is used by buyers and processors as a basis for trading. Certificates are provided for yield, vegetable matter, fibre diameter, moisture content, and colour.

With the Meat Producers Board, the Wool Board maintains the New Zealand Meat and Wool Boards' Economic Service, which provides economic data for both boards and outside organisations through a survey of a representative 500 pastoral farms.

The board administers on behalf of the Government the Individual Grower Income Levy Retention Scheme. Under this scheme a proportion of the gross proceeds from the sale of wool is retained at the Reserve Bank when the adjusted weighted average sale price at auction exceeds a ‘trigger price’ set by the Minister of Agriculture (600 cents per kilogram, greasy, in the 1986–87 season). The proceeds so retained are credited to individual growers' accounts and are refundable to growers after five years, or in special circumstances as described in the regulations. Funds are held by the Reserve Bank. No money has been retained under this scheme for the past five seasons.

Wool marketing

The most common way of selling wool is by open auction in New Zealand; 66 percent was sold this way in 1985–86. The auction season runs from August to the following June. Sales are held at four centres around the country and they attract buyers representing all the main wool importing countries. Growers can also sell their wool to merchants privately in New Zealand (20 percent in 1985–86), and the New Zealand Wool Board buys certain types of wool direct under its Extra Choice Scheme. Small quantities of wool are also shipped to Britain for sale at auction.

The Wool Board's market intervention and strata price control policies help to steady the market in times of uncertainty.

In 1985–86 Wool Board stocks increased from 6307 tonnes to 19 229 tonnes during the season. The 1985–86 average auction price was 9 percent below the previous season in actual dollars (20 percent in real terms), reflecting the weakened economic conditions.

Final destination of New Zealand wool—Around 90 percent of the New Zealand clip is esimated to leave the country in a greasy, scoured, or slipe form. Over 60 percent of exports are now scoured, and exports of carded sliver and top are increasing annually. Of the 10 percent wool processed in New Zealand roughly half is exported in product form.

It is important to distinguish between initial and final destinations of New Zealand wool exports. Initial destinations have changed substantially over the years, and there are sometimes very large changes from year to year. Export destinations for wool are shown in table 15.29. During 1985–86 the largest importers were the United Kingdom, China, Japan and the Soviet Union.

With the exception of China, final destinations of end-products made from New Zealand wool have in contrast been rather more stable. Much of the wool ends to be used in the same countries as it did years ago even though the location of the early stage processing may have changed. Countries such as the U.S. and West Germany use less raw wool but import made-up carpets from other countries.

Table 15.29. EXPORT DESTINATIONS OF NEW ZEALAND RAW WOOL

Country1981–821982–831983–841984–851985–86
  (000) Tonnes Clean Equivalent 
Japan32,87830,15234,12836,98025,115
United Kingdom28,18834,18731,53236,41632,012
Soviet Union28,61326,25424,67517,69424,847
France15,53512,91420,36118,4958,850
China19,71731,77619,73035,89727,307
United States8,1068,21414,94612,47011,704
West Germany12,69312,59414,62615,70614,377
Italy11,5159,13412,15212,51710,011
Netherlands15,24218,82011,48510,87913,676
Belgium8,28710,5689,86518,41913,802
Australia and Pacific Is.9,4068,3039,51411,40610,929
Other58,53075,64564,84451,25157,173
        Total exports248,530278,561267,858278,130249,803
Source: New Zealand Wool Board.

Wool purchases

Over the past five seasons there has been a notable increase in purchases by New Zealand mills, which in 1984–85 became the largest customer. This has resulted from a large increase in manufactured product exports.

In table 15.30 it should be noted that the local mills purchase figures do not equate to wool consumed owing to resales of wools by the mills. Net domestic consumption of wool in New Zealand is among the highest in the world on a per head basis. In 1986 this was estimated at 3.75 kg per head compared with 2.37 kg in Australia, 2.08 kg in West Germany, 1.41 kg in the U.K., and 0.65 kg in the U.S.

Because New Zealand wools are predominantly of coarse quality they are not so directly competitive with the output of other major producers. Table 15.31 shows the relative positions of the main exporting countries.

Table 15.30. RAW WOOL PURCHASES BY NEW ZEALAND MILLS

Year000 Tonnes Clean Equivalent
1980–8116.6
1981–8220.6
1982–8318.9
1983–8427.8
1984–8537.5
1985–8639.3
Source: New Zealand Wool Board.

Table 15.31. MAIN EXPORTERS OF WOOL 1985–86

 Actual Weight (000) TonnesPercent of Total
Australia71834
New Zealand30723
Argentina635
South Africa534
Uruguay252
All others17113
        Total1 337100
Source: New Zealand Wool Board.

Wool product exports—The most important wool product exports from New Zealand are floor coverings and yarns. These have shown strong growth over the past two years. The value of yarn exports increased by over 120 percent since 1983, with 6849 tonnes shipped in 1985–86. Floor coverings increased by 78 percent in value terms to 4 841 000 square metres. Other wool-based export items include raw and processed sheepskins, tops, wool waste, blankets, fabrics, knitwear and other clothing.

Earnings from total wool-based products rose 10 percent to nearly $246 million in 1985–86 (f.o.b. basis) compared with nearly $224 million in the previous year, as shown in table 15.32.

Table 15.32. WOOL PRODUCT AND SHEEPSKIN EXPORT EARNINGS

Product1983–841934–851985–86P
  ($million f.o.b.) 
Wool floor coverings64.7100.0102.8
Wool yam56.084.384.2
Sheepskins—raw7.08.67.0
Sheepskins—other4.56.88.9
All other11.823.942.8
        Total144.0223.6245.7
Source: New Zealand Wool Board.

Wool prices

One of the main activities of the Wool Board is the continuance of the corporation's minimum or floor price plan, and its market intervention and strata price control schemes. The floor price plan was introduced in 1952 by the corporation's predecessor, the New Zealand Wool Commission. It guarantees wool-growers a minimum income from the wool they sell. The board prepares a table of minimum prices for all types of wool (there are almost 2000) before the start of a new selling season. The prices are fixed in agreement with the Minister of Agriculture, and are not altered during the season. If wool is sold either to commercial buyers or to the board, at a price below the appropriate minimum, a supplementary payment is made to the grower up to the floor level. Supplementary payments are made from the grower's Minimum Wool Prices Funding Account. The account is funded by a 0.5 percent levy on the returns for shorn wool sold for the first time. The average minimum price per kilogram greasy weight for the 1985–86 season was 330 cents. For the 1986–87 season the minimum price per kilogram greasy weight is unchanged, at 330 cents, or 443 cents for clean wool.

The floor price plan applies to all grower-owned scoured and greasy wool sold for the first time at auction in New Zealand, and there are also procedures to protect greasy wool sold privately in New Zealand.

The board can buy wool at any price under its market intervention policy. It will do this to prevent lots being sold significantly below the market, and to cushion declines in the price. Intervention levels can be set above, at, or below, floor prices. Levels can be changed at any time by the board's directors, although their aim is to set levels which can be held for some time. The board will bid at auction if prices drop to intervention levels. If the commercial benches do not raise the price, the board buys.

When prices are above intervention levels, the board operates its ‘strata price control’. It bids when necessary to prevent prices falling more than a set percentage on the previous day's levels.

Table 15.33 shows clean equivalent weight, sale value, and average value per kilogram of greasy wool sold at auction. The last column shows the average minimum price to growers set by the New Zealand Wool Board.

Table 15.33. WOOL SOLD AT AUCTION

Season Ended JuneGreasy and Scoured New Season Wool Sold at Auction (Clean Equivalent)Average Clean Price per KilogramTotal Sale ValueAverage Clean Auction Price (1985–86 Cents)Board Average Minimum Price per Kilogram (Clean)
 tonnes (000)cents$(million)centscents
1982185345.2638.5517.0338
1983187346.0647.5458.7339
19841873,972741.0504.4336
1985186507.0941.9577.0424
1986177463.3820.5463.3443
Source: New Zealand Wool Board.

15.5 Dairy produce

Most of the butter produced in New Zealand is of a ‘sweet cream’ type. The predominant cheese variety produced is cheddar. Wholemilk powder is made from the whole milk, while skim milk powder is made from the separated milk following the removal of the milkfat for buttermaking. Buttermilk powder is made from a by-product of the butter manufacturing process. Lactose is made from whey, a by-product of cheesemaking. At one time skim milk, buttermilk, and whey were fed to pigs, but in recent years they have almost entirely been processed to produce powders and specialised dairy products. Herd sizes have increased as suppliers with small herds have ceased production and as dairy farms have been amalgamated.

Dairy producers in New Zealand can be divided into two distinct categories, those who are ‘town supply’ and produce milk chiefly for treatment stations for local consumption, with the balance only being processed further. The interests of these suppliers are represented by the New Zealand Milk Board. The second category of supplier is for dairy factories, where products are often for export.

Town milk production.

During the year ended August 1986, town milk suppliers provided 673.9 million litres of milk. Of this, 421.6 million litres went to milk stations and eventually reached the consumer in the form of 339.3 million litres of pasteurised milk and 9.89 million litres of sweet cream. The balance of the total production went to dairy factories (215.4 million litres), and to the manufacture of ice cream, flavoured milk, yoghurt, and cottage cheese (36.9 million litres).

Table 15.34. MILK PRODUCTION

SeasonDairy Cows in MilkAverage Production per CowDairy Company Suppliers*Average Size of HerdMilkfat per Supplier
MiikfatMilk

* Does not include town milk suppliers (about 1700).

Source: New Zealand Dairy Board.

 (000)kglitres  kg
1981–822,0611443,03814,84313319,090
1982–832,1281433,01214,89613719,600
1983–842,2101543,20614,97814021,618
1984–852,2601513,17015,00014321,650
1985–862,3501533,20014,90015023,000

Table 15.35. MILK PRODUCTION AND UTILISATION OF MILKFAT*

Product1981–821982–831983–841984–851985–86P

* Year ended 31 May.

† Includes milk fed to stock and waste, but excludes separation loss.

Source: New Zealand Dairy Board.

   Production   
Milk, litres (million)6,5786,7087,3957,6477,963
Miikfat, tonnes (000)312316352362376
Liquid milk, cream, and ice cream, litres (million)487482488485490
 Utilisation of Miikfat Processed (000 tonnes)
Butter200.8209.9241.1247.7259.0
Cheese41.842.739.839.342.0
Other wholemilk products39.837.842.945.446.8
        Total282.4290.3323.8332.4347.8

Table 15.36. TOWN MILK

Year Ended 31 AugustProductionQuantity on Which Town Milk Price PaidVolume of Town Milk Sales by Milk Stations to ConsumersPrice per Litre Paid to Producers Finest GradeGovernment Subsidy per Litre of Town Milk Sales to Consumer

* Until 8 November 1984 as a result of the price freeze the price paid was 24.065.

† Subsidy ceased 1 March 1985.

Source: New Zealand Milk Board.

 litres (m)litres (m)litres (m)centscents
1981674.2471.7365.918.73510.329
1982663.0437.1357.822.9598.137
1983660.0427.5352.822.9591.593
1984679.6427.6350.424.0413.510
1985691.4x422.7349.426.792*1.545
1986673.9421.6339.327.290

Table 15.37. DAIRY FACTORY PRODUCTION

Product1981–821982–831983–841984–851985–86P
   tonnes (000)  
Creamery butter221.6238.5255.2243.1275.7
Whey butter2.92.81.81.81.8
Anhydrous miikfat (AMF)14.68.524.832.614.3
Frozen cream5.36.18.06.37.8
Cheese111.9114.4109.3117.7127.3
Condensed and evaporated milk4.44.03.62.92.8
Whole-milk powder103.6101.6111.8120.1152.8
Infant food10.016.613.611.814.0
Skim-milk powder199.8164.6219.1217.0186.2
Buttermilk powder23.724.028.628.627.9
Casein products47.465.263.164.275.4
Lactose11.810.310.811.513.0
Whey powders13.610.413.411.418.5
Source: New Zealand Dairy Board.

Dairy organisations

New Zealand Dairy Board.

The work of the Dairy Board has the broad function of linking manufacturing plans and growth with export market requirements. It is responsible by statute for the purchase and sale of export dairy products and for the development, in all respects, of the dairy industry.

The board acquires all export dairy products from the manufacturing companies, sells the goods overseas, and returns the proceeds, less marketing costs, to the companies. The board sells its products throughout the world, and is currently exporting to over 100 countries. The board either sells through its own local companies, through local agents, or in the case of some buyers, direct on a contract basis. Increasingly the board is posting its own personnel overseas in key markets as liaison representatives and, where warranted, subsidiary trading companies have been established.

New Zealand Milk Board.

The New Zealand Milk Board operates the national milk scheme and engages in other activities for the purpose of ensuring an adequate supply and efficient distribution of milk. The legislation is contained in the Milk Act 1967.

The board, with the approval of the Minister of Agriculture, may make a levy on milk to finance its operations and retail prices are fixed by Order-in-Council. The price to the producer for the milk is fixed by the Minister of Agriculture after consultation with the Milk Board. Intermediate margins, such as those for treating milk and to vendors for its delivery, are fixed by the Secretary of Trade and Industry.

The objectives of the New Zealand Milk Board are the provision of an adequate supply of milk of good quality for human consumption and the organisation of the town milk industry on an economic basis. The board arranges supply contracts with milk producer companies for all districts, reports to government on the adequacy of the town milk producer price, makes recommendations as to aspects of price fixation, fixes local allowances for cartage and such special distribution allowances as may be necessary, makes financial adjustments with all those in the industry to see that they get the prices or allowances to which they are entitled, and in doing so paid out a subsidy on behalf of government until the termination of subsidy payments from 1 April 1985.

Dairy product marketing

The international market for dairy products is characterised by its small size relative to the total world production of milk, with approximately 5 percent of production entering international trade. Because of this it is very vulnerable to fluctuations from external conditions, such as climate, commerce, and politics. It only takes marginal production changes in the major producers, transferred via shortages or surpluses on to the international market, for severe shifts to occur in the international supply position and international prices.

There are four regular dairy exporters (the European Community; New Zealand; Australia; and Canada), who provide about four-fifths of all exports. Relatively smaller quantities are exported by the Nordic countries and from eastern Europe.

The New Zealand Dairy Board exports over 600 000 tonnes of manufactured dairy products annually of which around half go to the affluent countries in Europe, North America, and Japan, and the other half to the developing countries, with a heavy emphasis on South-east Asia and South and Central America. New Zealand now relies on the United Kingdom for only one-fifth of the value of its dairy export exchange earnings, although the United Kingdom remains the principal market for butter.

Developed countries have a tendency to express social and political policies towards their farmers through price support mechanisms; high prices which are fixed with little regard to commercial reality encourage production but discourage consumption, thus creating surpluses. It is the disposal of these surpluses, by means of heavy government export subsidies, which undermines the stability of the international market.

New Zealand is almost the only country for which dairy exports are economically vital. For most other countries, dairy exports are a question of surplus disposal, and therefore inconsequential to national economics. Consequently, New Zealand maintains strong and consistent pressure in international councils to achieve a stable balance between supply and demand in international trade. While attempts in General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) or other international organisations to negotiate improved access conditions in developed countries have met with a minimum of success, international arrangements covering consultative procedures and minimum prices have contributed to stabilising markets.

The Tokyo Round' of GATT Multilateral Trade Negotiations (MTN) resulted in the negotiation of the International Dairy Arrangement to replace the OECD agreement on whole milk powder and the GATT agreements on skim-milk powder and anhydrous milkfat. The new arrangement (signed by New Zealand in December 1979), as well as extending the product coverage and providing for an annual review of the minimum prices, established the International Dairy Products Council to evaluate the international market situation and provide a forum for seeking solutions to problems in international dairy trade.

Since October 1986 the minimum prices in US dollars per tonne f.o.b. established under the arrangement are as follows: whole milk powder $880; skim-milk powder $680; buttermilk powder $680; anhydrous milkfat $1,200; butter $1,000; and cheese (certain types only) $1,030.

Coincident with the multilateral negotiations, GATT bilateral access negotiations made some progress with the EC agreement to allow the import of 9500 tonnes per annum of New Zealand cheese, from 1980. Additionally, access for cheese into the United States was secured at a higher level, with New Zealand's quota rising from 7447 tonnes to 17 442 tonnes per annum.

Butter—World butter production in 1985 was about 7.6 million tonnes. Excluding trade between the member states of the EC and New Zealand's special Protocol 18 arrangement, international commercial trade in butter for 1985 was 563 000 tonnes. The relatively small size of international trade compared with production illustrates the vulnerability of the international market to distortions resulting from the disposal by large producing countries via export subsidies. At the end of 1986 stock levels in the EC were 1.5 million tonnes.

The level of access to the United Kingdom market has been progressively reduced since the United Kingdom entered the European Community. The United Kingdom is permitted to import 76 500 tonnes of butter from New Zealand in 1987 and 74 500 tonnes in 1988. Access thereafter will be reviewed before the end of 1988.

Skim-milk powder—World production of skim-milk powder in 1985 was 4.2 million tonnes per annum.

International trade (including food aid) for 1984 was 790 000 tonnes. Increased milk production in the European Community resulted in stock levels increasing rapidly in 1982 and 1983 but by late 1984 those stocks had declined from the peak of more than 1 million tonnes to under 0.5 million tonnes.

Casein—Casein, which is produced from skim milk, was originally chiefly used in industrial products such as the manufacture of coatings for high quality paper. In the past 15 years, however, the nutritional value of caseins and their derivatives has been realised, and they are now being put to use in an increasing range of edible products. Caseins are used as high-grade protein in food manufacture, where their nutritional and functional properties make them desirable ingredients in bakery goods, speciality high-protein foods, coffee creamers, snack foods, and other products.

New Zealand is the largest exporter of casein, with most of the production going to the United States, the European Community, and Japan.

Diversification of markets—The United Kingdom continues to be the most important outlet for New Zealand butter, taking almost 40 percent of the total volume of butter exports. However, the Middle East, Soviet Union and North African butter markets are becoming increasingly more important and Iran was New Zealand's second largest butter market in 1985.

Japan and the United States are major markets for cheese and casein. Whole-milk powder, production of which has increased markedly in recent years, is primarily exported to South America, Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.

Continued diversification of markets, however, is limited as the international dairy market free of trading restrictions is finite and relatively small (equivalent to 3 percent of total world milk production). Table 15.35 shows the changing directions of New Zealand's dairy export earnings in the period since 1970.

In the Tokyo Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which was concluded in 1979, New Zealand was successful in obtaining the Agreement of the European Community to an annual quota of 9500 tonnes of New Zealand cheese. Compared with the 70 000 tonnes of cheese which New Zealand exported to the Community prior to Britain's accession, the new quota is not large, but nevertheless it has enabled New Zealand to resume the marketing of cheese throughout the European Community.

The commission of the European Community proposed that the access level for the import of New Zealand butter into Britain for 1984 be set at 83 000 tonnes, reducing by 2000 tonnes per annum to 75 000 tonnes in 1988. The Council of Agricultural Ministers agreed in part to the commission's recommendation; the principle of continued access for New Zealand butter into Britain was guaranteed for a further five-year period but quantities were set only for the first three years: 83 000, 81 000 and 79 000 tonnes respectively for 1984, 1985 and 1986. In July 1986 access was set at 76 500 tonnes for 1987 and 74 500 tonnes for 1988 with access thereafter to be negotiated before the end of 1988.

Efforts continue to be made by the New Zealand dairy industry to diversify butter exports, but market opportunities outside Europe are limited and, therefore, continued access to Britain for substantial quantities of butter remains essential.

Table 15.38. DAIRY EXPORT EARNINGS

Product197019751985
United KingdomAll MarketsUnited KingdomAll MarketsUnited KingdomAll Markets
   $(million)  
Butter104.0113.2121.0146.8233.9498.9
Cheese35.747.920.273.728.7253.6
Casein3.233.50.419.45.1273.8
Other dairy products8.847.8151.6673.4
        All dairy products151.7242.5141.6391.5267.71,699.7

Table 15.39. PERCENTAGE OF DAIRY EXPORT EARNINGS FROM UNITED KINGDOM

ProductPercentage from United Kingdom
1970197519841985
Butter91.982.448.446.9
Cheese74.527.411.011.3
Casein9.62.11.90.5
        All dairy products62.636.219.315.7

Dairy produce prices

Basic prices (then known as guaranteed prices) were introduced in 1936 for butter and cheese. The present legislative authority for the fixing of purchase prices for all dairy produce which the Dairy Board acquires for export is the Dairy Board Act 1961, as amended by the Dairy Board Amendment Acts of 1972, 1975, and 1980.

Since the 1975–76 season, the Dairy Products Prices Authority has established separate values for the milkfat and solids-non-fat (s.n.f.) components of milk on a farm-gate basis at the beginning of each season. These values are established having regard to the stability and efficiency of the dairy industry, realisations and market prospects, and the state of the Dairy Industry Accounts. They may normally not increase by more than 10 percent, nor decrease by more than 5 percent on the previous season's values.

Using the milkfat and solids-non-fat prices established by the prices authority as a base, the board, in turn, fixes the export purchase prices for the major dairy products by using New Zealand average yields and costs. The board may apply differentials between products to enable the product mix to be more closely matched with expected market requirements, but in doing so must establish purchase prices for products in such a manner that the average payment for the fat and s.n.f. components is at the level set by the prices authority.

The results of the board's export trading each season are recorded in two separate accounts—one for the seasons' trading in milkfat products, and the other for trading in s.n.f. products. The differences between export sales prices, less selling costs and the purchase prices paid, results in a surplus or deficit in both of these accounts at the end of the year.

The board may pay up to 50 percent of any surplus in either of the trading accounts as an end-of-season distribution, provided such distribution is not considered by the Government to affect adversely the national economy and the stability of the dairy industry. Any remaining surplus, and any deficit, is then transferred to a reserve account.

This system of purchase prices, trading, and reserve accounts, ensures that severe fluctuations in overseas prices are smoothed out when translated into the price the farmer received for milk. In the short term, a surplus or deficit in the reserve account may occur, but in the longer term the account must be self-balancing from overseas revenue.

Table 15.40 gives the average value of milkfat and s.n.f. in whole milk ‘at farm’ as set by the Dairy Products Prices Authority, plus the end-of-season distribution paid from the milkfat account.

Table 15.40. VALUE OF MILKFAT AND SOLID-NON-FAT

Season Ended 31 MayMilkfat ValueS.N.F. ValueEnd of Season DistributionTotal Whole Milk Value
 (cents per kilogram of milkfat)
1980–81162.0068.0035.07265.07
1981–82201.0084.0048.48333.48
1982–83224.0094.0042.75360.75
1983–84240.00100.0010.00350.00
1984–85268.00113.0015.48396.48
1985–86275.00125.00400.00
Source: New Zealand Dairy Board.

15.6 Pigs, poultry and bees

Pigs

Pig numbers fell in the late 1960s as farmers began increasingly to supply whole milk to dairy factories instead of separating off the skim milk, which was frequently used to feed pigs. There was increased emphasis on grain-feeding, and a significant increase in pig numbers in the grain-producing areas of the South Island. After falling throughout the first half of the present decade, pig numbers showed a small increase in 1976 and a very substantial increase in 1977, which was followed by further falls during the following five years. However, the numbers have been increasing again since 1983.

Table 15.41. PIGS

At 30 JuneBreeding Sows One Year Old and OverOther Pigs of All Ages (Including Boars)Total Pigs
198149,495370,764420,259
198246,830358,941405,771
198345,852362551408,403
198448,471387,925436,396
198550,688403,774454,462

Poultry

As at 30 June 1986, there were 378 poultry farmers licensed to run more than 100 birds. Farms comprising 100 birds or fewer are not required to have a licence.

Production of chicken meat during the year ended September 1986 totalled 20 645 tonnes of fresh meat and 24 599 tonnes of frozen meat.

Table 15.42. POULTRY FLOCKS*

Flock Size (Birds)198419851986
Number of RunsNumber of BirdsNumber of RunsNumber of BirdsNumber of RunsNumber of Birds

* At 30 June.

Source: New Zealand Poultry Board.

    101–1 0007754,82676538866038,541
1 001–5 000107323,303107325,44985264,695
  Over 5 0002592 845 9392572 845 9392332 702 560
        Total4433 224 0684403 225 2743783 005 796

New Zealand Poultry Board.

Under the Poultry Board Act 1980 the functions of the New Zealand Poultry Board are:

  1. To promote, organise and develop the poultry industry;

  2. To regulate and control the production, marketing, and distribution of eggs and egg products within New Zealand and elsewhere; and

  3. To assist, foster, and promote efficiency in the production, marketing, and distribution of poultry and poultry products.

However, in 1985 Government decided to deregulate egg marketing and new Poultry Board Regulations 1986 were promulgated to take effect from 1 April 1986. The new regulations took away the powers of the board in regard to marketing and distribution of eggs and egg products. Price control of eggs and egg products was removed at the same time.

The board has eight members, of whom three are appointed as representatives of government and five as representatives of poultry farmers.

Eggs.

The commercial groups sell most of their eggs through egg wholesalers (formerly licensed egg marketing agents) and are therefore mainly responsible for supplying eggs to retail shops in the cities and larger towns.

Commercial poultry farms are distributed over both islands, but there are concentrations around Auckland, Tauranga, Christchurch, and Oamaru. The egg industry does not cater for overseas markets, though limited quantities of frozen egg pulp and dried powder surplus to local requirements are exported.

Table 15.43. EGGS HANDLED BY LICENSED MARKETING AGENTS/EGG WHOLESALERS*

YearEggs

* Year ended 30 June.

Source: New Zealand Poultry Board.

 (million dozen)
1980–8151.3
1981–8251.5
1982–8351.9
1983–8451.9
1984–8549.2
1985–8648.8

Table poultry.

The Poultry Board has continued to maintain a close liaison with the New Zealand Poultry Processors' Association (Inc.), an active organisation comprising the majority of processors of all types of poultry for table-meat consumption. The main basis of concern to the board in this area has been that of ensuring and maintaining an economic outlet for the egg producing industry's by-product—the roasting fowl—some 3 million hens annually that have completed their 13–15 month laying cycle.

The continuing expansion throughout New Zealand of various ‘takeaway’ retail establishments has been a notable feature of the table poultry industry in very recent years, and has had a vast influence on the changing eating habits of the country's population. It is estimated that over 60 percent of all meat chicken marketed is sold through these increasingly popular outlets.

Bees.

The rich pasture lands of New Zealand and some of its forest and bush areas are favourable for apiculture and produce high-grade honey. Although clover is still the principal type, a number of other New Zealand native honey sources have wide national and international consumer appeal. Honeydew honey, for example, which is produced from the beech forests of the northern half of the South Island, offers considerable export possibilities.

In 1986 the total honey crop was assessed at 9471 tonnes, compared with the previous year's crop of 10 314 tonnes, with an average production of 29 kilograms per hive. About 3000 tonnes are exported annually. Traditionally this has been in bulk form, but larger quantities of cut comb and of extracted retail-pack honey are now being exported as well. These exports were worth NZ$8.8 million in 1986.

Beeswax from cappings amounted to 146 tonnes in 1986. The industry's other products include pollen, package bees and queen bees. Exports of queen bees and package bees were worth $680,000 in 1986.

There is also a rapidly increasing demand for bees for crop pollination. More than 60 000 colonies were transported in 1986 specifically for the purpose of orchard pollination (mainly for kiwifruit, berryfruit, apples, and stonefruit).

Fewer than 300 beekeepers completely depend on honey production and beekeeping for their livelihood. They are represented by the National Beekeepers Association of New Zealand, based in Wellington.

A hive levy, payable by all producers who own 50 or more honey-producing hives, is administered by the association for the benefit of the industry generally. The rate of the levy is reviewed annually—currently it is 25 cents per hive.

Table 15.44. APIARIES AND HONEY PRODUCTION, 1986

DistrictBeekeepersApiariesHivesHoney Production Tonnes
Whangarei6591,84917,867402
Auckland1,1972,95327,4501,096
Hamilton7263,10046,2851,492
Tauranga8333,66152,3241,150
Palmerston North1,3933,85139,434887
Nelson5962,26825,907871
Christchurch8043,81648,751950
Oamaru3603,18941,7301,473
Gore3662,17929,2101,150
        New Zealand6 93426,866328,9619 471
Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

15.7 Emerging livestock industries

Since the 1970s, farming of deer and goats has developed, particularly on hill country, as a complement to sheep and beef farming, and for land-use and income diversification.

Deer

Deer farming has developed since the early 1970s to become an important livestock industry. As venison finds a ready overseas market, most of the meat produced is exported. Venison was first exported in the late 1950s from wild deer herds. The peak years for exports of feral venison were 1972 and 1973, when about 4000 tonnes was exported—principally to West Germany. Feral deer have gradually been removed from the backcountry by helicopter-borne venison hunters and by live capture of deer to stock deer farms. In recent years elk from Canada and deer from Europe have been imported. Currently there are about 3500 deer farms registered with the Department of Conservation and holding over 400 000 deer.

The Department of Conservation must be notified of farms on which deer are to be held. Deer farming is generally permitted in most regions but some species may be farmed only in specified areas.

The first deer farm licence was issued in March 1970, although deer were legally held and bred in captivity from 1962 onwards. Red, wapiti and fallow deer are the predominant farmed species.

The large investment made in establishing the deer farming industry is only just beginning to realise its potential; 2237 tonnes of farm venison was exported in 1985–86, compared with 1876 tonnes the previous year. The total value of exports from the deer industry in 1985–86 was $30.2 million and includes velvet from antlers ($8 million) and hides and leather ($1.2 million).

The Game Industry Board, representing producers, processors and exporters of the deer farming industry, was formed in 1983. The board's function is to co-ordinate and develop the marketing of the products of the deer farming industry.

Goats

In the 1980s there has been a marked increase in the number of goats being farmed commercially in New Zealand for their milk, mohair, and meat production, as well as for weed control. At 30 June 1985 there were approximately 23 000 does being milked and 109 000 goats being farmed for mohair and cashgora. A further 285 000 were being farmed in cross-breeding programmes for cashgora and cashmere production. Approximately 53 tonnes of mohair was produced in the year ended June 1985.

15.8 Crops and horticulture

Although pastoral farming is the major land use in New Zealand, in recent years there have been significant increases in the area planted in horticulture and other crops.

In traditional arable production regions such as Canterbury, Southland, Hawke's Bay, and Wanganui-Manawatu there have been increased arable plantings, particularly of malting barley for the export market. Meanwhile plantings have begun in other regions such as Wairarapa. Other crops include wheat (mainly for domestic use), herbage seeds and some herbs and oilseed rape (for both domestic and export markets).

Horticultural production can be found in pockets on the two main islands. The most dramatic increases in plantings in the past decade have occurred in the Bay of Plenty during the development of kiwifruit production. However, in other areas which have traditionally grown horticultural crops such as Northland, Hawke's Bay, Poverty Bay, Horowhenua, Nelson, Marlborough, and Otago there have also been increased plantings and changes in crops planted.

Major crops for the export market include kiwifruit, pipfruit, summerfruit (stonefruit), berryfruit, and grapes (mainly for wine).

Grain, vegetable and seed crops

Animals can be grazed in open pasture for the full 12 months of the year, but the winter growth of grass, except in certain favoured localities, requires to be supplemented in order to keep stock in good condition during the colder months, and in some districts supplementary fodders are necessary in the drier summer months. Hay and silage crops are grown almost exclusively on the farms where they are consumed, though some districts specialise in the growing of certain other supplementary fodder crops. The bulk of the supplementary fodders, other than grass and clover, hay, and silage, is grown in the South Island, since the colder climate necessitates more extensive supplementary feeding than in the North Island.

The renewal and extension of pastures require the annual supply of very considerable quantities of grass seed. There is an appreciable export trade in some species of grass seeds.

Table 15.45. GRAIN AND PEAS, 1985*

CropNorth IslandSouth IslandTotalNorth IslandSouth IslandTotal
* Year ended June.
 Hectares threshedTonnes yield
Wheat11,24560,59871,84348,745260,846309,591
Oats1,14512,31513,4603,88047,10250,982
Barley22,974129,358152,33295,357549,012644,369
Peas1,62820,53822,1665,27370,35175,624
Maize17,71710617,823173,745859174,601

Wheat.

New Zealand wheat is primarily grown for domestic human consumption or for use as stock feed. Currently control of the distribution of both imported and locally produced wheat rests with the New Zealand Wheat Board, which is also responsible for the distribution of flour and associated byproducts. However, this arrangement is undergoing significant changes and the following decisions were announced in October 1984:

  1. That the flour quota system be abolished from 1 February 1987;

  2. That prices for flour, bran and pollard be deregulated from 1 February 1987;

  3. That from 1 February 1987 the board's role be restricted to trading in wheat, and as from that date, the board be required to meet mills' specifications for wheat; and

  4. That a review of the board's role post 1 February 1989 be undertaken in 1988, and that the board's monopoly trading and import role cease at 1 February 1989.

Most wheat is grown in the South Island in the Aorangi and Canterbury local government regions. In 1985 these regions provided 67 percent of the total yield of 309 591 tonnes. The main varieties planted were Oroua, Karamu, Rongotea and Takahe.

Barley.

Most barley grown in New Zealand is used for the manufacture of stock feed and for malting. Production has increased steadily in recent years as growers have increasingly exported malting and feed-quality product to overseas markets. The main growing area is the middle and southern parts of the South Island. In 1985, 39 percent of the crop came from the Aorangi local government region. In the North Island the main growing regions are Wanganui and Manawatu, which between them provided nearly 10 percent of the total crop in 1985. The main varieties of barley planted are Triumph, Goldmarker and Kym.

Maize.

Primarily grown in the eastern North Island, is used as poultry feed and increasingly as a supplementary feed for pigs and other livestock. In 1985 the Waikato local government region provided 35 percent of the crop; the Bay of Plenty 19 percent; and the East Cape 18 percent.

Oats are grown mainly for threshing and green feed. They are also used to produce milled rolled-oats, oatmeal, and oaten foods. The main local government regions for oats are Aorangi and Southland which provided 25 percent and 38 percent respectively of the 1985 crop of 50 982 tonnes. The main variety planted is Mapua (Makura).

Field peas.

Over 85 percent of peas are grown in the Canterbury and Aorangi local government regions in the South Island. The main varieties of field types were Blue Boiling and Maple.

Potatoes.

The production of potatoes is usually adequate to meet home market requirements.

Potato yields have risen to such an extent that a population of 3 million is now supplied from the same area as were 1.75 million people 30 years earlier. Most of this increased production has been the result of research, the introduction of new varieties, and better farming practice.

Table 15.46. POTATOES

SeasonArea DugYieldYield per Hectare Dug
For TableFor ProcessingFor SeedFor Pig FoodTotal
 hectares  tonnes  
1980–817,646148,47531,49821,7367,066208,77527.31
1981–828,795165,85344,37522,8745,623238,72527.14
1982–839,053174,55950,43627,3725,675258,04228.50
1983–849,864194,30560,93829,26210,086294,59129.87
1984–859,323177,83559,30325,6999,142271,97929.17

The New Zealand Potato Board was reconstituted by the Potato Industry Act 1977 to be predominantly a producer organisation.

The principal functions of the board are to promote and assist in the orderly development of the potato industry in New Zealand, and to ensure as far as practicable an adequate supply of potatoes. It maintains a register of potato plantings and charges a registration fee. The board has the power to administer a legal minimum quality standard scheme for potatoes; to specify standards for table and seed potatoes; to foster, arrange, or undertake the disposal of surplus potatoes or sub-standard potatoes or the export or import of potatoes where necessary; to further sales by publicity or otherwise; to maintain statistics and disseminate information to growers; and to foster research and development in the industry.

Onions.

Approximately 85 percent of the onion crop is normally grown in the North Island, principally in the Pukekohe district. In the 1984–85 season 2196 hectares were planted in onions. The total area planted varies between 1800 and 2300 hectares.

Seed certification. The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries operates a seed certification scheme covering the more important herbage species, cereals, brassicas, and potatoes. Bred varieties of these species are produced by the Grasslands and the Crop Research Divisions of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. These are then reproduced under the control of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, which releases them as ‘breeders’ seed', which in rum produces ‘basic seed’. The final stages in the multiplication of certified seed are known as 1st and 2nd generation seeds. Basic and certified seed, 1st and 2nd generation, are sold through the usual commercial channels.

Fruit

In the year to June 1985, 216 509 tonnes of fresh fruit at a value of $308.8 million was exported and a further $51.7 million was earned from processed fruit.

Table 15.47. AREAS PLANTED IN FRUIT

Fruit198319841985Main Districts
  hectares  
Citrus—
  Grapefruit419278248Bay of Plenty
  Lemons243200213Bay of Plenty
  Mandarins466298318Bay of Plenty, Northland
  Oranges848772771East Cape, Northland
  Tangelos741569574Bay of Plenty, Northland
Pip fruit—
  Apples6,7567,0247,226Hawke's Bay, Nelson
  Pears652660611Hawke's Bay, Nelson
Stone fruit—
  Apricots668670750Otago
  Nectarines7879481,216Hawke's Bay, Otago
  Peaches1,2741,1901,295Hawke's Bay, Auckland
  Plums398338350Hawke's Bay, Auckland
  Cherries175176Marlborough
Berry fruit—
  Blackcurrants1,302890750Canterbury, Southland
  Blueberries487516606South Auckland, Bay of Plenty
  Boysenberries571487510Nelson, South Auckland, Bay of Plenty
  Raspberries513532551Canterbury, Nelson
  Strawberries375364378Auckland
  Other brambles159168139South Auckland, Bay of Plenty
Subtropicals—
  Avocados9921,0621,217Bay of Plenty, Northland
  Feijoas323258317Bay of Plenty
  Kiwifruit13,10116,01317,978Bay of Plenty
  Tamarillos403396441Northland, Bay of Plenty
  Passionfruit85116Bay of Plenty
  Grapes (outdoor)5,9726,0075,636Gisborne, Hawke's Bay

Grape growing and wine production.

The estimated net area of the vineyards throughout New Zealand as at June 1985 was 5636 hectares. The main grape-growing areas are Gisborne, Hawke's Bay, Marlborough, Auckland, and Poverty Bay.

In table 15.49 the figures of wine production and sales are based on an annual census of New Zealand winemakers licensed under the Wine Makers Act 1981 and producing grape-wine during the current June year.

New wine put down during the 1985–86 season decreased from 60.3 million litres the previous year to 43.0 million litres, a decrease of 28.7 percent. Sales increased 18.8 percent.

Table 15.48. WINE STOCKS

Grape and Fruit WineYear Ended June
198419851986
* Differences between dosing stocks one year and opening stocks the next are caused by changes in the number of licence-holders operating from year to year and differences notified by winemakers when preparing their figures.
  litres (000) 
Winery stocks at start of season*75,68272,10185,129
Production during season42,15360,28943,036
Disposals during season43,20544,13552,432
Winery stocks at end of season*73,46186,60274,085
Losses during season, samples, spillages, own-consumption, etc.1,1691,6541,650

Table 15.49. WINE PRODUCTION AND SALES

Grape WineYear Ended June
1984–851985–86
* Includes all cocktails, liqueurs and wine-based products, 15 percent alcohol by volume and over.
 litres(000)
Production
Table wine—White still41,79927,630
                     Red and rose still4,2774,081
                     Sparkling7,8875,202
        Total table wine53,96336,913
Fortified wine* (including all cocktail liqueurs)5,6635,479
        Total production59,62642,391
Sales
                     Table wine—White still26,25632,336
                     Red and rose still3,0573,757
                     Sparkling5,4807,844
        Total table wine34,79343,937
Fortified wine*8,6297,909
        Total sales43,42251,846
Stocks at 30 June
  Table71,00559,170
  Fortified14,97214,262
        Total85,97773,432

Apples and pears.

Over 1200 orchardists consistently sell apples and pears to the New Zealand Apple and Pear Marketing Board. Over 80 percent of the total crop received comes from Nelson and Hawke's Bay.

Table 15.50 shows the quantities of the main varieties of fresh apples and pears received by districts by the Apple and Pear Marketing Board during the 1985–86 season.

The New Zealand Apple and Pear Marketing Board—was established by an Act of Parliament in 1948. The board has the power to acquire and market all apples and pears grown in New Zealand. The Act was amended in 1967 to set up the Apple and Pear Prices Authority. The current legislation is the Apple and Pear Marketing Act 1971.

The Apple and Pear Prices Authority comprises two New Zealand Fruitgrowers' Federation representatives, two government representatives and an independent chairperson. The authority's function is to determine each season the price the board must pay for the fruit it receives. This price is a New Zealand average and, within it, prices to growers vary for the different varieties, grades and sizes.

The majority of the New Zealand apple and pear crop is purchased by the board, with private gate sales by growers limited by regulations to not more than two cases per customer or, with the permission of the board, to retailers. Manufacturers may be licensed by the board to purchase their requirements direct from growers.

The board decides what proportion of the fruit is to remain in New Zealand and what proportion is to be exported. For the New Zealand market it arranges for the storage, packing and release of varieties according to their condition and keeping capacity, in order to make fruit available for as long a period as possible during the year. The board determines the wholesale prices at which fruit is sold in New Zealand by authorised wholesalers to retailers. For the export market it arranges storage and shipment of varieties to meet each individual market's requirements.

Apart from its fresh fruit activities, the board is also extensively involved in the processing of apples and pears with over 30 percent of the total crop handled being processed into fruit juices and other apple products for both domestic and export sales.

A defined mechanism exists for the distribution of any surplus achieved in the board's trading in any year. The first call on any surplus is to cover a declared capital charge for the year which is set prior to commencement of harvest. Any balance remaining, up to a declared seasonal supplementary price, is paid in full to the growers.

Should the board's trading provide a surplus in excess of the declared supplementary price, 50 percent of this further surplus is paid to growers and 50 percent is retained within a stabilisation account. This stabilisation account is used to fund losses sustained in any trading year.

Table 15.50. APPLES AND PEARS RECEIVED BY THE NEW ZEALAND APPLE AND PEAR MARKETING BOARD, 1985–86 SEASON*

VarietyHawke's BayNelsonOther DistrictsTotal

* Ended 30 September.

† Carton = 18.5 kg.

Source: New Zealand Apple and Pear Marketing Board.

  cartons (000) 
Apples—
  Granny Smith3 124.71 593.1748.35 466.1
  Sturmer Pippin90.0458.1210.3758.4
  Golden Delicious156.2608.124521 009.5
  Red Delicious2 483.7964.3469.43 917.4
  Cox's Orange Pippin241.0852.3166.91 260.2
  Gala524.9152.193.9770.9
  Other1 166.9880.6412.12 459.6
        Total apples7 787.45 508.62 346.115 642.1
Pears—
  Packham's Triumph72.197.817,0186.9
  Winter Cole79.438.110.9128.4
  Winter Nelis67.111.939.8118.8
  Other46.246.533.4126.1
        Total pears264.81943101.1560.2

Table 15.51. APPLE AND PEAR STABILISATION ACCOUNT

SeasonSurplus or DeficitRetained by BoardDistributed to GrowersStabilisation Account
CapitalStabilisation
   $(000)  
1980–81−12,042−12,042−130
1981–8217,2845,0576,1166,1165,986
1982–838,1082,6291,7643,7157,750
1983–8426,7862,30511,32313,15819,073
1984–8524,2493,9694,96315,31724,036
1985–8648,1354,29918,62125,21542,657
Source: New Zealand Apple and Pear Marketing Board.

Further information

Agricultural Statistics. Department of Statistics (annual).

Annual Report of the Tobacco Board. The Tobacco Board.

Census of Agricultural Contracting Services, 1984–85. Department of Statistics.

Monthly Abstract of Statistics. Department of Statistics.

New Zealand Agricultural Statistics. Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (annual).

New Zealand Apple & Pear Marketing Board: Report for the Year ended 30 September. New Zealand Apple & Pear Marketing Board.

New Zealand Beekeeper. National Beekeeper Association of New Zealand. (annual).

New Zealand Fertiliser Statistics. Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (annual).

New Zealand Horticulture Statistics. Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (annual).

New Zealand Meat Producer. New Zealand Meat Producers' Board (monthly).

New Zealand Meat Producers' Board Annual Report. New Zealand Meat Producers' Board.

New Zealand Milk Board Annual Report. New Zealand Milk Board.

New Zealand Pork Industry Board Annual Report. New Zealand Pork Industry Board.

New Zealand Potato Board Annual Report. New Zealand Potato Board.

New Zealand Poultry Board Annual Report. New Zealand Poultry Board.

New Zealand Wool Board Annual Report. New Zealand Wool Board.

Productivity Statistics of New Zealand Agriculture, 1960–1975. Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

Report of the Department of Lands and Survey (Parl. paper C, 1).

Report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (Parl. paper C. 5.)

Sheep Returns (Parl. paper C. 5A).

Survey of the New Zealand Dairy Industry. 5th Edition. New Zealand Dairy Board, 1984.

Chapter 16. Forest industries

16.1 Production forestry

New Zealand's forest industries are based on nearly 1.1 million hectares of forest plantations, consisting mainly of conifers. These plantations of largely radiata pine produce usable wood in 25 to 30 years, a much shorter time than the slow-growing native species. There is also very restricted production from natural forests. The Forestry Corporation manages about half of these plantations and approximately 75 percent of the natural production forests.

The plantation forest resource continues to increase, and although volumes of harvestable wood are unlikely to exceed current levels in the 1980s, in the next decade there will be a marked expansion in the supply of timber. Approximately 40 percent of all softwood harvested in New Zealand is used in export products, providing a sound basis for future exparion of the wood processing industry.

Forestry Corporation.

The corporation was established on 1 April 1987 under the State Owned Enterprises Act 1986. It took over the commercial activities of the disestablished New Zealand Forest Service, including the plantation forests and two sawmills. The corporation is empowered to undertake any activity associated with the industry from commercial forest growing to harvesting, wood processing, and distribution and marketing of finished products both internally and overseas. It may also enter into commercial activities in land uses associated with forestry, e.g., agroforestry, deer farming and recreation.

Plantation forests.

Introduced conifers form the bulk of the large and valuable plantation-forest estate; and among these radiata pine (Pinus radiate) is the supreme multi-purpose tree. Radiata pine grows rapidly in New Zealand (reaching sawlog size in 25–30 years), produces a large volume of usable wood, and is remarkably adapted to a variety of sites. Other major species are Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), Corsican pine (Pinus nigra (laricio)), and ponderosa pine (P. ponderosa). In recent years, planting of the last two species has stopped because they have proved less versatile and slower growing than radiata pine. The largest forests are in the centre of the North Island, but medium and small plantations are distributed throughout most of the country. Radiata pine constitutes about three-quarters of the area of state plantations and about 95 percent of private plantations.

State plantation forests date from 1896, when an Afforestation Branch of the Lands Department was formed and forest-tree nurseries were established at Tapanui and Ewebum in the South Island, and at Rotorua in the North Island. Planting began in 1898 and proceeded slowly until 1922, by which time 19 000 hectares had been established. From 1923 to 1936 there was a boom in afforestation, with no less than 150 000 hectares being planted by the state and 120 000 hectares by the private sector. After the boom period, planting continued on a more modest scale, but in 1961 state planting was increased and government provided for financial inducements to encourage planting by private landholders and local authorities—with the aim of doubling the plantation-forest estate by the end of the century. The annual rate of new planting by the state has increased considerably since 1961 and since 1974 has averaged some 20 000 hectares per annum, over five times the rate achieved in 1961. Private sector afforestation continues at a high rate, with 30 557 hectares planted as recently as 1984.

Now that the stage of large-scale utilisation has been reached, there are opportunities to increase productivity by correcting the deficiencies in the distribution of age classes, replacing uneconomic plantations, and improving the quality of the trees to provide diversity of marketable products. Present government policy is for trading departments to take a commercial approach to their operations. All plantation activities are assessed in terms of their economic viability. New planting is being concentrated on those areas that meet commercial rates of return. This is likely to lead to a reduction in new planting programmes.

Special-purpose plantation species have also been evaluated and these are planted on suitable sites. Uses for these timbers include furniture, cabinet work, turnery, joinery, veneer and boat-building.

Natural production forests.

Management of natural forests which have been set aside for production of timber involves restriction of the annual cut, rigid insistence on full utilisation, and block sales of carefully measured standing timber. The ecology of the natural forest associations and the silvicultural characteristics of the individual species are being studied.

Selective harvesting of terrace rimu forest in south Westland provides a favourable forest environment for the regeneration of rimu, while in the central North Island harvesting of timber from natural forest is now restricted to removal of totara for Maori cultural purposes and to recovering dead trees from a few selected forests.

The remnant kauri forests are mainly state-owned. The management objective is perpetuating kauri ecosystems in the interests of science and public enjoyment. Large representative areas of mature and immature kauri have been set aside as sanctuaries, programmes of research and artificial establishment conducted, and the annual cut reduced to the lowest level consistent with economic, social, and legal constraints.

The prospects of improving and perpetuating the beech forests on a sustained yield basis are good. Both major species, red and silver beech, when given the right conditions will regenerate freely; both grow sufficiently rapidly to produce saw-logs in 100–130 years. In the South Island, large areas of beech forest are still intact and, in the case of red beech, there are extensive stands of young forest which have regenerated after fire, wind throw, or mining activities. Against these favourable circumstances must be set the presence, in many localities, of red deer and other feral animals, whose browsing may prevent effective regeneration, and also the difficulties associated with the utilisation of the non-sawlog component of the forest crop.

Private forestry.

Plantation forest holdings other than state forests amount to 512 000 hectares. In 1985, approximately 500 hectares of new planting was carried out under the Government's forestry encouragement loan scheme (for local authorities). Also, 2000 hectares of established planting was pruned and thinned under this scheme. The phasing out of income tax deductions for forestry development expenditure was announced at the end of 1985. Approximately 33 252 hectares of new planting was carried out by the non-state sector outside government incentive schemes, but with tax deductibility. Pruning and thinning was carried out on 34 440 hectares of established planting. The Ministry of Forestry provides guidance for private growers in all plantation matters. Because of the high interest in private forestry, increasing emphasis is being given to providing information and training services. Handbooks are available, a correspondence course is offered through the Technical Correspondence Institute, and short residential courses are held periodically. Farm forestry associations also assist in promoting private sector forestry and advising on the management of woodlots.

Training in forestry

The Ministry of Forestry continues the industry-wide training service previously carried out by the New Zealand Forest Service. The Forestry Training Centre at Rotorua holds block courses for the New Zealand Certificate in Forestry and also offers a wide range of short courses in technical forestry, management and environmental subjects.

The Timber Training Centre in Rotorua provides apprenticeship and short courses in saw-doctoring, timber machining, sawmill practice, timber grading, and preservation.

The University of Canterbury offers a four-year degree course in forestry, the Bachelor of Forestry Science. This can also be taken to masters or doctorate level.

The Logging and Forest Industry Training Board administers basic skills programmes in forestry and logging practice, and the system has gained considerable acceptance in both private and state forestry.

Employment

Because the major manufacturing units are logically located near their raw material supplies, there is a concentration of employment in the forestry and wood products industries near the largest forest areas. This is seen in the central North Island, where over half the country's plantation forests are located, and where one-quarter of the regional labour force is engaged in forest industries. In fact, the forest industries have had a very marked effect on regional development. The fast growth of population in the Rotorua - Bay of Plenty area over recent decades has been due, in no small measure, to the expansion of the forest industries. Apart from the expansion of the established towns such as Rotorua, the industrial development of New Zealand Forest Products Ltd, Tasman Pulp and Paper Co. Ltd, and Caxton Paper Mills Ltd, led to the establishment of the completely new town—Kawerau—and the rapid growth of another—Tokoroa. The development of these industrial complexes has also stimulated other industries, especially transport, vehicle repair, and building and construction. Similarly, exports of forest products have increased the tonnage that has passed through the ports of Tauranga and Napier.

Table 16.1. FOREST INDUSTRIES EMPLOYEES AND WORKING PROPRIETORS

As at FebruaryForestry*LoggingSawmillingTimber MerchentingPulp, Paper, and PaperboardOther§Total

* Includes silviculture, nurseries, etc.

† Includes felling, cutting, and haulage.

‡ Includes planing mills.

§ Includes other wood industries, plywood and veneer factories, manufacture of furniture and fittings, wooden and cane containers, and wood and cork products.

Source: Ministry of Forestry.

19815,1793,0086,9993,30512,52014,76745,778
19825,2002,9277,0973,57712,38816,06847,257
19835,0552,7736,5823,52612,34614,58944,871
19845,4802,8966,4423,34512,14715,33545,645
19855,5952,5547,074..12,42515,059..

Census of Forestry and Logging 1983–84

The Censuses of Forestry and Logging form part of the series of integrated economic censuses of business activities in New Zealand being carried out by the Department of Statistics over a five-year cycle. The 1983–84 census covered all operations carried out by activity and ancillary activity units in the forestry and logging industries during the year ended 31 March 1984 (those with different balance dates submitted data for the year ended within the period 1 April 1983 to 31 March 1984).

Table 16.2. CENSUS OF FORESTRY AND LOGGING 1983–84: GENERAL STATISTICS

Statistical ItemGroup 121 ForestryGroup 122 LoggingCensus Totals
  Number 
Activity and ancillary units6264401,066
Working proprietors/partners at 28/2/84350503853
Paid employees at 28/2/845,7352,6428,377
  $(000) 
Salaries paid to working proprietors/partners1,3073,3504,657
Salaries and wages paid to paid employees69,09041,894110,984
Stocks—
  Trading, including work-in-progress:
    Opening1,7784,4706,248
    Closing2,0774,0636,139
  Standing trees:
    Opening3,508,0003,508,000
    Closing3,781,0003,781,000
Income—
  Sales of goods—standing trees (stumpage)42,641150,030271,136
      —logs (roundwood)78,464
      —other goods9,3554,67814,033
  Sales of services27,87299,884127,756
  Direct government cash grants and subsidies37,3332937,362
  Other income (excluding interest, etc.)4,1534874,640
  Sales and income (excluding interest, etc.)199,818255,109454,927
  Interest, dividends, donations, patent fees, and insurance claims received7,9412978,239
        Total sales and other income (including interest)207,759255,407463,166
Expenditure—
  Purchases of—standing trees (stumpage)1,09550,76151,856
      —goods for resale259259
      —fuel and power, etc2,81912,15114,970
  Salaries and wages paid69,09041,894110,984
  Subcontract payments62,04846,972109,020
  Depreciation3,5796,68110,260
  Other expenditure (excluding interest, etc.)122,37176,110198,481
  Expenditure (excluding interest, etc.)261,259234,570495,829
  Interest, dividends, donations, royalties, patent fees etc., paid36,8355,10841,943
        Total expenditure (including interest)298,095239,678537,773
Net profit (loss) after deducting working proprietors/partners salaries (excludes changes in values of standing trees)(91,344)11,971(79,373)
Operating surplus (includes changes in values of standing trees)211,85720,132231,989
Value added255,05870,611325,669
Gross forest development expenditure (included in total expenditure above)187,793187,793
Fixed tangible assets—
  Additions to47,36414,56561,929
  Disposals of1,5575,9037,460

Table 16.3. CENSUS OF FORESTRY AND LOGGING 1983–84: REGIONAL FORESTRY SUMMARIES

Local Government RegionsActivity Units (Including Ancillaries)Persons Engaged End FebruarySalaries and Wages to Paid EmployeesTotal Sales and IncomeAdditions to Fixed Assests
 No. $(000) 
Northland686347,26810,4775,593
Auckland382563,15312,4242,451
Thames Valley101251,1052,8141,133
Bay of Plenty655684,99118,32710,854
Waikato213405,73234,291974
Tongariro497979,87642,6613,067
East Cape273944,4704,8945,680
Hawke's Bay373553,4126,2913,072
Taranaki4402,2827,7451,413
Wanganui20194
Manawatu1523516236211
Horowhenua968948937302
Wellington733698
Wairarapa251491,1762,442819
        Total, North Island3953 97644,930144,23635,568
Nelson Bays537597,11836,7556,733
Marlborough42684,3272,456799
West Coast213963,4591,680
Canterbury23284,3926,355861
Aorangi14639331,314
Clutha - Central Otago27 2,5583,933 ‘399
Coastal - North Otago151121,3414,766240
Southland362043,4924,4841,085
        Total, South Island2312 10924,16063,52211,796
        Total, New Zealand6266 08569,090207,75947,364

Table 16.4. 16.4 CENSUS OF FORESTRY AND LOGGING 1983–84: REGIONAL LOGGING SUMMARIES

Local Government RegionsActivity Units (including Ancillaries)Persons Engaged End FebruarySalaries and Wages to Paid EmployeesTotal Sales and IncomeAdditions to Fixed Assets
 No. $(000) 
Northland22725623,545344
Auckland15627303,753349
Thames Valley8384141,751172
Bay of Plenty891,00913,13976,2614,290
Waikato6775312,849100,6782,931
Tongariro583914,70516,5492,352
East Cape345192,969363
Hawke's Bay1541
Taranaki11333241,896292
Wanganui11484102,668251
Manawatu11415032,097368
Horowhenua413
Wellington4961441122
Wairarapa38
        Total, North Island3212 52234,216212,60611,835
Nelson Bays322263,07320,1271,326
Marlborough24
West Coast13771,2337,094193
Canterbury26861,2304,826309
Aorangi8209237367
Clutha - Central Otago12717733,475291
Coastal - North Otago10322071,083104
Southland161071,0705,822440
        Total, South island1196237,67942,8002,730
        Total, New Zealand4403,14541,894255,40714,565

16.2 Timber and forest products

Roundwood.

When, by the 1930s, the easy abundance of native timber had gone, some of the plantation forests had reached the stage where harvesting could begin. By 1939, of the 1 700 000 cubic metres per annum of roundwood cut for industrial use, some 280 000 cubic metres came from the plantation forests. By 1949 the total annual removals of roundwood had increased to 2 500 000 cubic metres, with 820 000 cubic metres from the plantation forests. The plantation forests are now by far the more important source of wood. In 1985–86 they supplied 9 269 000 cubic metres, or 94 percent of the total supply. At 1 March 1985 the North Island contained 7381 plantations with a total stocked area of 767 269 hectares. Of this total, 335 831 hectares were in the Forest Service planning district of Rotorua, principally in the counties of Rotorua, Taupo, Matamata, Whakatane, and Tauranga. At the same date there were 4816 plantations with a total stocked area of 273 745 hectares in the South Island. Waimea County in Nelson contained 73 454 hectares of exotic timber plantations, over a quarter of the South Island total. Table 16.5 shows the quantities of timber produced by the forests of New Zealand to supply the forest industries, which comprise 499 sawmills, 9 plywood and veneer plants, 3 particleboard mills, 9 pulp and paper mills, and 3 fibreboard mills. This roundwood production does not include firewood.

Table 16.5. ROUNDWOOD PRODUCTION

Year Ended 31 MarchNatural ForestsPlantation ForestsTotal
  cubic metres (000) 
19825149,4469,960
19836089,0199,627
19845998,7369,335
19856758,9519,626
19866339,2699,902
Source: Ministry of Forestry.

Sawn-timber production.

Radiata pine and other pines account for about 85 percent of the total cut of exotics; Douglas fir provides most of the remainder. Only 6 percent of the country's timber requirement comes from the natural forests, and this proportion is being reduced to the point where a small, sustained yield in native timber can be maintained for special purposes.

Table 16.6. ROUGH-SAWN TIMBER PRODUCTION

Year Ended 31 MarchSoftwoods FromHardwoods FromGrand Total
Natural ForestsPlantation ForestsTotalNatural ForestsPlantation ForestsTotal
   cubic metres (000)  
19821302,1032,233343372,270
19831171,9822,099334372,136
19841121,9552,067244282,096
19851162,1622,278253282306
19861112,2602,371215262,397
Source: Ministry of Forestry.

Table 16.7. SAWN-TIMBER PRODUCTION BY SPECIES

SpeciesYear Ended 31 March
19821983198419851986
Natural forest—  cubic metres (000)  
Rimu and miro11210110010296
Matai22111
Totara21112
Kahikatea121191011
Tawa1211778
Beech1817161713
Other67231
        Total, native164150136141132
Plantation forest—
Pines1,8861,7771,7501,9362044
Douglas fir173164171175183
Eucalypts23431
Other4542345137
        Total, plantation2 1061 9861 9592 1652 265
        Total, all species2 2702 1362 0962 3062 397
Source: Ministry of Forestry.

Production of round and split produce.

Considerable quantities of native timbers have been used in the past to meet the needs for mining, fencing timbers and firewood, and for a proportion of sleeper, pole, and bridge-timber requirements, but, as with forest products in general, most post and pole requirements are now met from exotic resources. A dramatic increase in the volume of posts and poles treated (from 19 000 cubic metres in 1955 to 312 000 cubic metres in 1985–86) indicates the switch from native to introduced roundwood, together with the effective introduction and maintenance of timber preservation.

Export wood-chip industry.

The industry originated in 1969 in the Nelson region, where two mills now produce both native and exotic wood chips for export. They use trees unsuitable for sawn-timber production, enabling replanting with more productive species, and also provide outlets for forest and sawmill residues which would normally be wasted. Nelson remains the principal chip export port, handling about 50 percent of the country's total chip exports. Japan is the principal export destination.

Wood chips have been exported through the port of Mount Maunganui since 1972, through Lyttelton since 1975, through Port Chalmers since 1977 and through Bluff since 1982. Chip exports during the year ended June 1986 totalled 312 286 bone-dry units. (A bone-dry unit for radiata pine wood chips is equivalent to 2.63 cubic metres, and for beech, 2.25 cubic metres.)

Pulp and paper industry.

Over the last 10 years, total production of pulp has risen at an average annual rate of 4 percent, and production of paper at 3 percent. Production of pulp has risen from 455 000 tonnes in 1968–69 to 1 110 000 tonnes in 1985–86. The industry is mainly concentrated near the big plantation forests on the volcanic plateau of the North Island. There are nine pulp and paper plants in New Zealand, seven of which are in the North Island, and four are integrated with sawmills to utilise fully the total input of wood. There are seven pulp and paper companies.

The Tasman Pulp and Paper Co. Ltd was formed in 1952 to utilise wood from Kaingaroa State Forest and is now part of the Fletcher Challenge Corporation, the largest New Zealand company in terms of shareholders' funds. The company's plant is at Kawerau, Bay of Plenty. The pulp and paper mill began operation late in 1955. The annual rated capacity is 335 000 tonnes of newsprint and 165 000 tonnes of market chemical pulp. The company is now planning to install a fourth newsprint machine. Tasman Timber Ltd's sawmill on the same site has an annual rated capacity of 200 000 cubic metres of sawn timber.

New Zealand Forest Products Ltd utilises about 3 000 000 cubic metres of logs a year from its own radiata pine forests, and also small quantities of hardwood (tawa) from state forests. The integrated pulp mill, paper mill, sawmill, plywood mill, and reprocessing plant is situated at Kinleith, near Tokoroa. Annual production capacities are about 500 000 cubic metres of sawn timber (including NZFP subsidiaries), 39 000 cubic metres of plywood, 408 000 tonnes of kraft pulp and 260 000 tonnes of paper. Wallboard products and multiwall bag plants are located at Penrose, Auckland, with annual production capacities of 11 million square metres of wallboard products and 100 million multiwall paper bags. The company has a 40 percent shareholding in UEB Industries Ltd, and is a joint owner with UEB of Fibre Products New Zealand Ltd, a firm which makes a range of moulded pulp products, including 40 million fruit trays a year and pulp egg cartons, of which 30 million are manufactured each year. A corrugating medium machine at Tepapapa produces 25 000 tonnes of corrugating medium paper from waste paper collected in the Auckland area.

Whakatane Board Mills Ltd, a subsidiary of New Zealand Forest Products Ltd, manufactures paperboard from groundwood and from semi-chemical and waste-paper pulp produced on site. Total annual capacity is 70 000 tonnes. Wood supplies are drawn from its radiata pine forest at Matahina and hauled 42 kilometres to the mill by road. A sawmill operates adjacent to the board mill.

Caxton Paper Mills Ltd, at Kawerau, manufactures a wide range of tissues and lightweight merchant and processing papers for domestic and export markets. Three machines operate and annual production capacity exceeds 50 000 tonnes.

New Zealand Paper Mills Ltd, at Mataura, also a subsidiary of New Zealand Forest Products Ltd, has been in operation for more than 100 years. It has two machines producing a range of papers from kraft wrapping grades to special printing copy, and writing papers. The company uses New Zealand-made sulphate pulp and supplements this with wastepaper and small quantities of imported specialty pulp. Annual production capacity is 20 000 tonnes of paper.

Carter Oji Kokusaku Pan Pacific Ltd, was formed in 1969 after the Government invited tenders for the processing of 9 million cubic metres of wood from Kaingaroa State Forest. The Government awarded the sale of roughly two-thirds of the volume to Carter Consolidated Ltd. The new company has built an integrated sawmill and refiner groundwood mill at Whirinaki near Napier and has now converted the plant to thermo-mechanical pulp processing. Present productive capacity is about 240 000 tonnes of thermo-mechanical pulp and 100 000 cubic metres of sawn timber annually.

Winstone Samsung Industries Ltd's chemical thermo-mechanical pulpmill at Karioi produced its first pulp in the latter part of 1978. The plant, which uses exotic wood from Karioi State Forest, as well as sawmill residues, has a rated capacity of about 120 000 tonnes annually.

The basic products of the pulp and paper industry are mechanical and chemical pulp, which are converted into such products as newsprint, kraft, and other paper and paperboard.

Table 16.8. PULP AND PAPER PRODUCTION

Year Ended 31 MarchWood PulpNewsprintOther Printing and Writing PaperOther Paper and PaperboardTotal Paper and Paperboard
Chemical*Mechanical

* Chemical includes semi-chemical pulp.

† Mechanical Includes groundwood pulp, thermo-mechanical and chemithermo-mechanical pulp.

Source: Ministry of Forestry.

   tonnes  
1982602,976530,813322,07036,834364,110723,014
1983571,183470,730268,79234,931367,096670,819
1984562,954499,357241,57237,825414,654694,051
1985572,839572,072297,85447,849424,395770,098
1986532,250577,897212,14845,914412,905670,967

Wood-based panels.

Five factories manufacture plywood, and the total output for the year ended 31 March 1986 was 64 355 cubic metres. Total production of veneer in the industry in 1985–86 was 91 810 cubic metres. New Zealand Forest Products' plywood plant at Kinleith began production of industrial and structural grades of plywood for both domestic and export markets in 1976. The annual plant capacity is 45 000 cubic metres. Radiata pine has become increasingly important as a species for peeler-log supply because of the demand for industrial plywood, and now constitutes about 96 percent of total peeler-log production. Now that the natural forests have become depleted, the production of peeler logs for veneer and plywood manufacture has first claim on the state forests. Sawmillers harvesting timber from state natural forest are required to reserve logs suitable for peeling and divert them to veneer factories.

Manufactured from wood pulp, the different forms of fibreboard (hardboard, softboard, and medium-density fibreboard) have different properties and end uses. Production started in 1943 and has increased steadily. A mill in Canterbury began producing medium-density fibreboard by a dry process in 1976. This product has now established itself on domestic and export markets. Two further mills have been established, one in Taupo by Fletcher Wood Panels and another in Richmond by a joint-venture company. Particleboard is manufactured from roundwood and sawmill residues and is used by the domestic market for interior panelling, flooring and furniture manufacture.

In 1987, commercial production is expected from a triboard plant at Kaitaia. The board is intended for use in domestic and export markets.

Table 16.9. VENEER, PLYWOOD, FIBREBOARD, AND PARTICLEBOARD PRODUCTION

Year Ended 31 MarchVeneerPlywoodParticleboardFibreboard
  cubic metres 
198290,28159,487154,719131,656
198385,40255,178139,569121,453
193468,40447,812157,960141,744
198577,49355,283188,302145,688
198691,81064,355181,907166,166
Source: Ministry of Forestry.

Timber preservation.

Approximately 1.4 million cubic metres of timber, including roundwood, is preservative-treated in New Zealand each year. This represents the highest per capita consumption of treated timber in the world. Factors which have encouraged growth in the timber preservation industry include: The versatility, availability and high permeability of non-durable exotic softwood species such as radiata pine; regulations requiring timber to be preservative-treated; quality control carried out by the Timber Preservation Authority ensures high standards of treatment and a strong and supportive research programme which is carried out by the Forest Research Institute.

Timber preservation has expanded markets for timber products in the building, farming and export sectors.

Table 16.10. SAWN TIMBER TREATED WITH PRESERVATIVES

Year Ended 31 MarchOpen TankDiffusion* ImpregnationPressure ImpregnationTotal

* Mainly boron.

Source: Ministry of Forestry.

   cubic metres 
198210369,660628,751998,421
19832336,210618,682954,884
19843350,693636,827987,523
198511402,785664,9531 067 749
19865421,770693,1941 114 969

Quarantine.

The quarantine service provides a degree of insurance to the forest industry by limiting the movements of insects and disease into and out of New Zealand. This function is carried out by Ministry of Forestry timber inspectors, who are responsible for the inspection and disinfection of both exported and imported wood and wood products, including logs, sawn timber and manufactured wood products.

Wood utilisation standards.

In addition to Timber Preservation Authority specifications, there are a number of inter-related standards concerned with the processing and use of timber. These fulfil various functions including the promotion of judicious processing and use of timber, safety and consumer protection generally, as well as providing a sound basis for trading. Two important standards, the National Timber Grading Rules (NZS 3631:1978) and the Code of Practice for Specifying Timber and Wood-based Products for Use in Buildings (NZS 3602:1975) are currently under revision.

Overseas trade in forest products

Forest products are important earners of overseas funds. For the year ended June 1986 exports of forest products were valued at about $768 million; Australia was the largest customer, taking 43 percent (by value) of exports, mainly in the form of pulp and paper, and Japan was the next largest, taking 25 percent, mainly pulp and logs. For the same period, imports of forest products into New Zealand were valued at $281 million.

Exports.

There is an established market in Australia for sawn radiata pine and Douglas fir. Japan takes large volumes of logs, and a significant quantity of sawn timber. Logs have also been sold to South Korea and China. There are restrictions on the export of native timber. Australia takes significant volumes of pulp and paper, and Japan takes large volumes of pulp. Both chemical and mechanical pulp are exported. Newsprint accounts for 65 percent of all paper exports.

Imports.

The main categories of sawn timber imports are tropical hardwoods, Australian hardwoods, North American softwoods and radiata pine from Chile. Imported sawn timbers generally have specialist applications such as weatherboards with a natural finish, decorative furniture, panelling, and boat-building. Durable Australian hardwoods are imported for use as large poles, cross-arms, wharf, bridge and constructional timbers, etc. Douglas fir, redwood, and western red cedar from North America are imported for structural uses, exterior joinery, and weatherboards. Most of the imported Chilean radiata pine has been used for pallets, but it is expected to be used more widely in future. Short-fibred pulp and special papers are imported and constitute 54 percent of the value of total forest products imports.

Table 16.11. OVERSEAS TRADE IN FOREST PRODUCTS

Year Ended 30 JuneWood ProductsPulpPaper and Paper ProductsAll Forest Products
  Imports $(000) c.i.f. 
198237,0806,655100,873144,608
198335,9697,588104,695148,252
198441,0248,452136,084185,562
198554,26611,021234,971300,258
198652,18916,662212,149281,000
  Exports $(000) f.o.b. 
1982184,659155,739210,457550,885
1983176,930161,427165,353503,710
1984230,761190,171232,126653,057
1985318,951202,655274,352795,958
1986321,664219,791226,365767,820
Source: Ministry of Forestry.

Table 16.12. VOLUME OF SAWN-TIMBER IMPORTS

Year Ended 30 JuneHardwoodsSoftwoodsTotalLogs and Poles
  cubic metres (000) 
19821713304
19831711272x
19841815322x
19852117373
19861737554
Source: Ministry of Forestry.

Table 16.13. VOLUME OF TIMBER EXPORTS*

Year Ended 30 JuneNative TimberRadiata PineDouglas FirOther PlantationTotal PlantationTotal, All Sawn TimberLogs and Poles

* Small quantities are included in the exports.

Source: Ministry of Forestry.

   cubic metres (000)  
198254245314490496473
198333784811436440440
198463765410440445540
19855430659504509360
19864340513402407396

Table 16.14. VOLUME OF OVERSEAS TRADE IN PULP AND PAPER

Year Ended 30 JuneWood PulpFibreboard*NewsprintOther Paper and PaperboardTotal

* In cubic metres.

† Excludes manufactures of paper and paperboard; excludes minor items for which no quantities are given.

Source: Ministry of Forestry.

  Imports (tonnes) 
198210,825402,63843,80446,442
198311,56736,2214221349,434
198411,0603,3776,9955631077,632
198511,151121,1117541596,526
198623,557147,46455,458103,064
  Exports (tonnes) 
1982421,60524,918199,000110,935309,935
1983451,20724,991116,075118,800243,875
1984485,58426,949188,755130,137318,892
1985427,26520,403186,55986,460273,019
1986504,05633,897143,482105,981249,463

Further information

Census of Forestry and Logging 1983–84. Department of Statistics.

Report of the Director-General of Forests (Parl. paper C. 3).

Statistics of the Forests and Forest Industries of New Zealand. New Zealand Forest Service (annual).

Chapter 17. Fishing

17.1 Fishery resources

New Zealand's 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) was implemented on 1 April 1978 and, with an area of about 1.2 million square nautical miles, it is one of the world's largest. The Act establishing the EEZ does not extend territorial limits. It gives control over conservation and management of resources, but no claim, in real terms, to ownership. Control over all activities in the zone must be in accord with international law and the EEZ is policed by fishery-protection patrols.

The zone is divided into eight fisheries management areas. In spite of the large size of the zone some two-thirds of its area is too deep for bottom fishing methods such as trawling and longlining. The fishery resources of the zone, although substantial, are not rich by world standards. The inshore fisheries of New Zealand's territorial waters are, for the most part, fully exploited and future development depends largely on fishing the deeper waters of the zone. The sustainable biological yields in the New Zealand territorial sea and EEZ waters are currently estimated at about 350 000 tonnes of finfish, 105 000 tonnes of squid, and over 20 000 tonnes of tuna.

The advent of the 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone provided the incentive for a considerable increase in investment in larger fishing vessels to fish the deep water outside the 200-metre isobath and in fish processing facilities. It also, through government policy, led to the replacement of some licensed foreign fishing effort by co-operative fishing ventures between foreign and New Zealand companies.

The adoption of the revised Deepwater Trawl Policy in 1983 allocated quotas of deepwater species to New Zealand enterprises which may use their own or chartered vessels for catching.

Fisheries legislation was reformed by the Fisheries Act 1983 which introduced the concept of fisheries management plans. The purpose of the plans is to conserve, enhance, protect, allocate and manage the fisheries resources within the EEZ. The Act resulted in a reduction in the numbers of fishing permits issued, owing to a more restrictive definition of ‘commercial fisherman’. Each individual or company operating commercially must have a permit and each fishing vessel must be registered. The Fisheries Authority, independent of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, considers fisheries management plans as well as issuing controlled fishery licences.

The primary aims of current government fisheries policy are to:

  • ○ Ensure a continuing harvest of high quality fish for an economically sound industry providing employment, contributing to export earnings and supplying the local market;

  • ○ Encourage the development of aquaculture;

  • ○ Protect and, where possible, improve the fisheries environment;

  • ○ Enhance the natural stocks where this is practicable and economically feasible; and

  • ○ Conserve and enhance the opportunities for recreational fishing and the study of marine life.

Two important aspects of fisheries management were adopted as government policy to counter the over-fishing of a number of fish species and to permit their recovery; the introduction and implementation of total allowable catches for all major stressed finfish fisheries; and the allocation of individual transferable quotas to fishing operators, based on historically reported catches.

An amendment to the Fisheries Act was enacted on 25 July 1986 giving effect to the individual transferable quotas system.

A feature of the new policy is a ‘buy back’ of fishing rights scheme, aimed at reducing pressure on stressed inshore fish stocks. In the latter half of 1986 the Government paid out $45 million to fishing operators under the scheme.

Demersal fisheries

The three most important demersal species (living near the sea floor) fished in shallower waters are red cod (Pseudophycis bachus), barracouta (Thyrsites atun) and snapper (Chrysophrys auratus). Other important species are tarakihi (Nemadactylus macropterus), caught round the South Island and the east coast of the North Island; gurnard (Chelidonichthys kumu), taken by trawlers off the North Island and east coast of the South Island; trevally (Caranx georgianus), which is taken by trawlers and purse-seiners round the North Island; and jack mackerel (Trachurus spp.) trawled for on the north-eastern and western North Island shelf. Sole are taken mainly by trawl and flounder by set net.

The principal species taken by longline are snapper, particularly in the north-east of the North Island; and hapuku (Polyprion oxygeneios) and ling (Genypterus blacodes) in most areas, though blue cod (Parapercis colias) is the main line-caught species around Stewart Island and the Chatham Islands.

Further offshore, deeper-water species such as hoki (Macruronus novaezelandiae) and silver warehou (Seriolella punctata) are caught on the Chatham Rise and off the east coast of the South Island. Off the west coast of the South Island hoki is the principal deepwater species; and on the Campbell Plateau to the south of New Zealand, catches are dominated by southern blue whiting (Micromesistius australis). In deeper water still, at around 1000 metres and particularly on the Challenger Plateau and the Chatham Rise, catches consist largely of oreo dories (Allocyttus, Neocyttus and Pseudocyttus) and orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus). Hoki and orange roughy are increasingly important species for the domestic trawl fleet.

Pelagic fisheries

The main pelagic species (belonging to the upper layers of the open sea) taken by purse-seining are trevally, kahawai (Arripis trutta), blue mackerel (Scomber australasicus) and jack mackerel.

Five species of tuna are fished commercially in New Zealand waters. Skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis) are caught by purse-seiners round the north of the North Island in summer. Albacore (Thunnus alalunga) are caught mainly by trolling off the east coast of the North Island, the west coasts of both islands, and are also caught longline off the north-east and north coast of New Zealand by Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese vessels. The southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyi) is caught mainly by Japanese longline vessels off the east coasts of both islands, but is also caught by New Zealand vessels off the west coast of the South Island. The bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) is caught in offshore waters between North Cape and East Cape, and the yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) is caught by game-fishers between North Cape and East Cape in the warm summer months.

Crustacea

Rock lobsters (Jasus edwardsii and J. verreauxi) are caught by potting off many parts of the New Zealand coast. All rock lobster fisheries are controlled by restricted licences. Rock lobster is the most valuable coastal resource in New Zealand, even though landings have stabilised at a level considerably less than the peak of over 10 900 tonnes in 1968 which was achieved with the development of the then-new Chatham Islands fishery.

Although the giant spider crab (Jacquinotia edwardsii), jack-knife prawn (Hymenopenaeus sibogae) and scampi (Mctanephrops challengeri) are quite plentiful in some New Zealand waters, the only crustacean other than rock lobster which is becoming commercially significant is the paddle crab (Ovalipes catharus).

Molluscs

The most valuable fishery in New Zealand waters is the squid fishery. The predominant squid are arrow squid (Nototodarus sloanii) and N. gouldi which are caught by trawl and jigging methods. The resource is estimated to be capable of yielding 80 000 to 100 000 tonnes per annum but is subject to considerable annual variation.

Other commercially significant mollusc resources are the dredge oysters (Tiostrea lutaria) in Foveaux Strait: scallops (Pecten novaezealandiae) in the Marlborough Sounds, in Tasman Bay and along the North Island's north-east coastline; and paua or abalone (Haliotis iris), which occurs around the coastline, and of which about 500 tonnes per year are taken by free divers. Octopus, cockles, surf clams and pipis have the potential for further commercial exploitation.

17.2 Fish catch

Coastal

The coastal fisheries are the traditional domestic fisheries in New Zealand, consisting mostly of the prime demersal inshore finfish, pelagic finfish, rock lobster and dredge oysters. Over the past decade a trend towards utilising larger trawlers (over 35 metres) has occurred, and New Zealand fishing companies have begun to operate in deeper waters. Trawling is the principal method of taking demersal fish, accounting for 62 percent of the domestic fleet's finfish catch in 1985. Trawling is more intensive along eastern coasts of both islands. Pelagic finfish are mainly caught by purse-seining, which accounted for 7 percent of the domestic finfish catch in 1985. The remaining finfish are caught by various line methods and set-nets. In 1985, Nelson was the major fishing region with 19 percent of the total finfish landed.

Table 17.1. RECORDED COMMERCIAL LANDINGS OF FISH AND SHELLFISH

Class of Fish or Shellfish1982198319841985
  Tonnes (000) 
Orange roughy10.618.121.126.6
Banacouta10.313.212.18.2
Snapper10.78.79.29.1
Hoki7.07.79.37.2
Red cod4.06.711.313.9
Kahawai3.25.04.94.3
Tarakihi4.24.24.64.3
School shark3.03.94.94.3
Skipjack3.73.93.91.8
Trevally4.83.83.83.9
Gurnard3,43.83.73.0
Rig3.33.83.63.2
Ling2.12.72.62.6
Jack mackerel2.82.64.63.2
Eels0.91.41.41.4
Other24.328.031.320.6
        Total, finfish98.3117.5132.3117.6
Rock lobster4.85.05.55.5
Oysters—dredge9.49.79.48.7
            —farmed1.72.21.00.8
Scallops1.84.04.73.2
Mussels—wild0.90.60.30.1
            —farmed7.010.09.510.7
Squid0.61.40.71.0
Paua0.81.21.50.8
Other0.40.71.11.1
        Total, shellfish27.434.833.731.9
        Total fish125.7152.3166.0149.5
Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

Deepwater

The waters deeper than 200 metres around New Zealand are fished by domestic vessels, foreign chartered vessels and foreign licensed vessels. The preferred deep-sea finfish species were apportioned among the New Zealand companies by quota with an ‘others’ category for other individuals and companies. Since October 1986 all allocations have been issued as individual transferable quotas.

Table 17.2. DEEPWATER TRAWLING ALLOCATIONS TO NEW ZEALAND ENTERPRISES, 1986–87*

SpeciesAllocation Tonnes

* Year ended 30 September.

Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

Barracouta23,489
Hake2,368
Hoki90,731
Ling14,265
Oreo dory20,120
Orange roughy43,311
Silver warehou5,862
Squid39,023

Domestic deep-sea vessels have been purchased in recent years and may be crewed by foreign or domestic labour. Vessels chartered by joint venture companies (between a New Zealand and a foreign company) and foreign licensed vessels fish the jig squid fishery.

Table 17.3. REGISTERED COMMERCIAL FISHING VESSELS

Type of VesselAt 30 September
198419851986
Foreign licensed vessels189167158
Foreign chartered vessels1178850
Domestic vessels2,7472,5193,221
Shore fishing permits261233385
Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

Freshwater

The only significant commercial freshwater fishery is the eel fishery. The freshwater fisheries for trout, salmon, whitebait and koura are recreational although unmonitored sales of whitebait by amateur fishers are thriving. Returning salmon are caught in certain rivers by salmon farmers and by commercial fishers.

Aquaculture

The oyster farming industry is based on the stick and tray cultivation of the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas). Farms are primarily situated in waters north of Auckland. Mussel farms produce predominantly green-lipped mussels (Perna canaliculus), although some blue mussels (Mytilis edulis) have been harvested. Most mussel farms are in the Marlborough Sounds but mussels are now being reared in the Bay of Plenty, Coromandel and Northland as well. Commercial farming of quinnat salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) is carried out as open ocean ranching along the east coast of the South Island where natural stocks of salmon exist in the braided shingle rivers, such as the Waitaki. Cage rearing of salmon is being developed in Stewart Island and the Marlborough Sounds. Scallop reseeding is a newly developed aspect of aquaculture.

17.3 Fish trade

In recent years fish consumption per capita has risen, which is largely as a result of increased inclusion in restaurant menus, as home consumption has actually reduced. Per capita consumption for 1985 was estimated at 26.1 kilograms green weight. Imported fisheries products consist largely of canned sprats, sardines, anchovies, herrings, salmon, crab sticks and prawns. The New Zealand fishing industry is export-oriented, with 85 percent of landings being consigned overseas in 1985.

Table 17.4. FISHERIES EXPORTS

Commodity Exported19841985
QuantityValueQuantityValue

* Excludes quantities of oysters.

Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

  $(000) $(000)
 tonnesf.o.b.tonnesf.o.b.
Finfish or wetfish89,926242,69595,040323,041
Rock lobster2,62378,7572,70488,899
Shellfish (other Crustacea and molluscs)*50,509193,90945,434129,543
        Total143,058515,361145,053543,792

As well as rock lobster, the most significant species exported in 1985 were snapper (6500 tonnes valued at $35 million), squid (41 010 tonnes valued at $102 million) and orange roughy (11 070 tonnes valued at $119 million).

The most important export markets for New Zealand's fisheries produce in 1985 were the United States ($194 million), Japan ($173 million) and Australia ($81 million).

New Zealand Fishing Industry Board

The New Zealand Fishing Industry Board was formed in 1964 to promote the interests of all sectors of the fishing industry. It is a statutory organisation with income from an industry levy and government sources. Outside its major responsibilities for orderly and profitable development of the industry, the board deals with specialised problems at the request of individual fishers, processors, retailers, and fish farmers; as well as acting on behalf of the entire industry where, for example, liaison with the Government is required.

Practical involvement with the industry is maintained by the presence on the board of two fisher representatives, two fish processing representatives and a fish retailer. These are elected by their respective organisations. An independent chairperson, the Director-General of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries or the Director-General's nominee and one other member appointed by the Minister of Fisheries, complete the board's membership.

Continual communication with fishing and governmental organisations in many other countries is fostered. This exchange of information enables the board to bring to the industry a great diversity of developments in technology and fisheries policy areas. Principal programmes are the co-ordination of a nationwide seafood promotion campaign, and the development, in conjunction with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, of a new fisheries management regime based on individual transferable quotas.

A staff of 47, stationed in Wellington, is involved in fishing methods, aquaculture, processing, marketing, and the economics of the industry. Board staff liaise closely with the Fishing Industry Training Council, whose chairperson is also general manager of the board, in the area of industry training at all levels.

Assistance to the fishing industry

The Rural Banking and Finance Corporation is a major financier of the fishing industry. Loans are made for the purchase and equipping of fishing vessels, individual transferable quotas, cold storage, processing, packaging and aquaculture.

Table 17.5. LOAN AUTHORISATIONS FROM THE RURAL BANK TO THE FISHING INDUSTRY

Loans1984–85*1985–86*
NumberValueNumberValue

* Year ended 31 March..

Source: Rural Banking and Finance Corporation.

  $(m) $(m)
Loans for catching522.92493.26
Loans for processing facilities31.08−0.10
        Total554.00493.16

Foreign licensed fishing

Since the Territorial Sea and Exclusive Economic Zone Act came into effect in 1978, foreign trawling activity has been strictly controlled and catch limits enforced. Quotas have been issued, and licensed access agreements have been negotiated between New Zealand and the Republic of Korea, the Soviet Union and Japan.

Applications by foreign countries to fish must include plans showing areas to be fished, numbers and sizes of vessels and target species. Apportionments are made to countries for special quantities by area. By-catch levels are set for selected species. All countries licensed to fish in the EEZ are charged fees based on the value of the species caught.

Table 17.6. TRAWL ALLOCATIONS TAKEN UP BY OTHER NATIONS: FINFISH AND SQUID FISHERY, 1983–86

CountryYear Ended 30 September
FinfishSquid
 tonnes (000)
Korea, Republic of6,1502,240
U.S.S.R.10,0008,400
Japan56,1007,920
Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

The Republic of Korea was authorised to operate six squid-jigging vessels, and Japan 92 such vessels, with no tonnage restriction. Authorisations were also given for the Japanese to operate 93 tuna longliners without tonnage restriction in the southern bluefin tuna fishery, and for an unlimited number of vessels from Japan, Taiwan and Korea to operate in the albacore fishery in the northern regions of the EEZ. (Taiwan was subject to the arrangement of acceptable insurances and bonds.)

To enable local fishing interests to gain more knowledge of advanced fishing techniques, fish handling and fish processing, the Government encouraged the operation of co-operative fishing ventures with foreign partners during the five years to March 1983. This development phase then ended and the resource was allocated to New Zealand interests only, with the use of foreign vessels on charter as an option.

17.4 Census of Fishing

The Census of Fishing forms part of the series of integrated economic censuses of business activities in New Zealand being carried out by the Department of Statistics over a five-year cycle. The 1983–84 census covered all operations carried out by activity and ancillary units in the fishing industry during the year ended 31 March 1984 (those with different balance dates submitted data for the year ended within the period 1 April 1983 to 31 March 1984).

The Census of Fishing included joint fishing ventures and covered the activities of all firms whose predominant activity was the landing of wetfish, whether from the ocean, coastal waters or inland waters. Fish farming (including oyster and mussel farming) and the gathering of molluscs and seaweed by hand were also within the scope of the census. The actual activities covered ranged from the purchase of materials and supplies to the sale of the caught fish.

The definitions of terms used in table 17.7 are given in the glossary at the end of this book.

Table 17.7. GENERAL STATISTICS BY INDUSTRY MAJOR GROUP, CENSUS OF FISHING 1983–84

Statistical ItemGroup 131 Ocean and Coastal FishingGroup 132 Fishing in Inland Waters and Fish FarmingCensus TotalsPoint Ventures

* Excludes crew members of joint fishing ventures totalling 2195.

† Includes $2,393,000 salaries and wages paid to foreign crews.

‡ Includes $56,89,000 representing assessed additional operating surplus included in charter fees paid by joint ventures.

§ Confidential.

Census coverage Number 
Enterprise groups1,2872271,51416
Enterprises1,2922291,52118
Activity units1,3052341,53920
Ancillary activity units88
Working proprietors/partners at end of February1,5223121,834
Paid employees at end of February*2,0991282,22752
Census values in accounting terms $(000) 
Salaries paid to working proprietors/partners3,7713744,144
Salaries and wages paid to paid employees34,1771,09435,2703,088
Stocks—
  Opening8,8515489,4005,686
  Closing8,5486599,2074,171
Income—
  Sales of fish, shellfish, Crustacea, etc.296,3526,801303,153148,232
  Direct government cash grants and subsidies20410214
  Other income (excluding interest, etc.)7515871,338
        Sales and income (excluding interest, etc.)297,3077,398304,705148,232
  Interest, dividends, donations, royalties, patent fees and insurance claims1,9651092,074574
        Total sales and other income (including interest, etc.)299,2727,507306,779148,806
Expenditure:
  Purchases of fuel and oil44,84455545,39912,649
  Employer contributions7964684215
  Salaries and wages34,1771,09435,2703,088
  Depreciation12,26067812,938165
  Indirect taxes1,446371,484562
  Other expenses (excluding interest, etc.)170,9384,239175,177124,362
        Operating expenditure (excluding interest etc)264,4616,649271,110140,841
  Interest, bad debts, donations, royalties and patent fees paid8,6204489,068668
        Total expenditure (including interest, etc.)273,0817,096280,177141,509
Net profit, after deducting working proprietors/partners salaries22,11614822,2655,781
Census values in economic terms
Operating surplus89,44086090,30162,774
Value added137,9162,705140,62166,605
Fixed tangible assets:
  Additions to20,5961,79622,392§
  Disposals of5,3453105,656..

Further information

Catch. Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (monthly).

Fisheries Research Division Occasional Publications: Data Series. Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

Freshwater Catch. Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (quarterly).

New Zealand Census of Fishing 1983–84. Department of Statistics.

New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research. Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (quarterly).

Report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (Parl. paper C. 5).

Report of the New Zealand Fishing Industry Board (Parl. paper C. 6).

Report of the Rural Banking and Finance Corporation of New Zealand (Parl. paper B. 25).

Chapter 18. Minerals

18.1 Mineral resources

New Zealand's mineral resources are diverse, but, for the most part, extraction is on a small scale. In 1986 coal, ironsand, days, and sand and gravel for construction were the main minerals mined. Total production of non-metallic minerals (excluding coal) in the 1986 calendar year was valued at about $217 million, while metallic minerals totalled about $68 million. Mineral production is summarised in table 18.2.

There are substantial deposits of coal in both the North and South Islands and since 1974, when a major government-funded survey was begun, known reserves of recoverable coal have increased more than fivefold. These reserves now total more than 8500 million tonnes, of which South island lignites comprise approximately 7270 million tonnes. Expansion in the coal mining industry over the next decade or more will meet increased demand for coal for electricity generation and steel production, with the 100 MW power station at Huntly and expected to require up to 1.7 million tonnes of coal per year by thy early 1990s. Work also continued through 1987 on the expansion of New Zealand Steel Ltd's mill at Glenbrook, South Auckland and demand from it for up to 920 000 tonnes of coal per year is expected by 1990, although contracts for supply are still being negotiated.

Coal

New Zealand reserves of recoverable coal consist mainly of lignite (85 percent). Sub-bituminous reserves make up 11 percent, and bituminous reserves less than 4 percent. This is in contrast to current production, of which lignite is 10 percent, sub-bituminous 70 percent and bituminous 20 percent.

Table 18.1. RECOVERABLE COAL RESERVES, AS AT 31 MARCH 1986

CoalfieldMeasuredIndicatedInferredTotal
  tonnes (000) 
Bituminous—
  Collingwood909090270
  Buller41,79335,46631,688108,947
  Murchison680680
  Pike River21,8306,45028,280
  Reefton1,1001,0003,1405,240
  Garvey Creek3,7401,0901,7906,620
  Greymouth1,333127,62034,490163,443
  Other West Coast390390
  Shag Point6300306
        Subtotal, bituminous48,056187,10279,018314,176
Sub-bituminous—
  Maramarua86,80023090109,890
  Pukekawa12,21012,210
  Whangamaino7,7707,770
  Waikare92,6804,13096,810
  Huntly126,561152,04019,360297,961
  Rotowaro35,4042,36017037,934
  Glen Massey320300323
  Whatawhata1,5602041,2002,964
  Kawhia1,16934,76016,98052,909
  Tihiroa54,30054,300
  Te Kuiti3,0003,000
  Mangapehi4702,0605,7008,230
  Mokau98,6609,340108,000
  Aria590590
  Waitewhena14519,40512,49032,040
  Ohura-Tangarakau28,9844,42033,404
  Retaruke3,7203,720
  Charleston18511,6451,02512,855
  Inangahua2355422,8003,627
  Fletcher Creek1,5602,5202,1106,190
  Other West Coast28,65028,650
  Canterbury47700711
  North Otago15,90015,900
  Ohai2,5257,98013,56024,065
        Subtotal, subbituminous169,871560,157224,025954,053
Lignite—
  Hawkdun329,000329,000
  Homehills240,000240,000
  Roxburgh132,0003,450135,450
  Other Central Otago99,00099,000
  Green Island1,1435,7406,883
  Kaitangata287341,42044,520386,227
  Pomahaka26,00026,000
  Gore204,60039,200243,800
  Croydon309,000309,000
  Waimumu6,690210,0007,200223,890
  Mataura1 808 0001 808 000
  Morton mains507,000507,000
  Waimatua775,000775,000
  Ashers Waituna872,000872,000
  Other east Southland853,000463,0001 316 000
        Subtotal, lignite337,1206 257 760682,3707 277 250
        Total, all reserves555,0477 005 019985,4138 545 479
Source: Ministry of Energy.

Recoverable coal.

Recoverable coal is the quantity of coal estimated to be able to be actually mined and delivered to the mine head. The figures are based on existing mining technology which may or may not be currently practised in a given mine in New Zealand. Estimating recoverable coal requires consideration of such factors as: geology (faulting, fracturing, seam thickness), geotechnology (coal seam roof and floor conditions, groundwater conditions, slope stability), mining feasibility (mining methods, development costs, mining productivity, mine boundaries, economics) plus safety considerations and environmental constraints. The extent to which these have been evaluated in calculating recoverable coal quantities varies considerably.

As well as a varying knowledge of mining considerations there is also varying geological understanding of coal reserves. This is expressed as ‘measured’, ‘indicated’ and ‘inferred’ according to the following definitions:

Measured coal—This is coal for which the tonnage is computed from dimensions revealed in outcrops, trenches, workings and drillholes, and for which the ash content is computed from the results of detailed sampling. The sites for inspection, sampling and measurement are so closely spaced and their geological character is so well defined that the size and shape of the coalfield is well established.

Indicated coal—This is coal for which the tonnage and ash content are computed partly from specific measurements, samples or production data, and partly from projection for a reasonable distance on geological evidence. The sites available for inspection, measurement and sampling are too widely spaced or otherwise inappropriately spaced to determine the geology or ash content well enough to classify it as ‘measured’.

Inferred coal—This is coal for which the tonnage estimates are based largely on a broad knowledge of the geological character of the deposit and for which there are fewer samples or measurements than required to place the deposit in a higher category. The estimates are based on an assumed continuity or repetition for which there is geological evidence. This evidence may include comparison with other deposits of similar type.

New Zealand Coal Resources Survey.

Since 1975 this government exploration programme, formerly managed by the Mines Division of the Ministry of Energy, explored all New Zealand's major coalfields to provide information on geology, reserves, possible mining methods and coats, coal properties and uses, as well as environmental considerations. The information gained has been used by both the coal industry and energy planners.

Government funding of the survey is now being phased out, with no new contracts let since 1 May 1986. The 1986–87 budget, cut from $4.6 million to $2.7 million, was farther reduced to $1.21 million in 1987–88 and will be eliminated in 1988–89. In line with this wind-up phase, recent activity has centred around the completion of coalfield resource and mining assessment reports. Studies for Maramarua, Te Kuiti, Ruawaro, Kawhia, Tihiroa, Ohura-Tangarakau, Millerton, Upper Waimangaroa, Greymouth, Rotokohu, Canterbury, Shag Point, and Waiau-Orepuke have been completed.

18.2 Petroleum prospecting and mining

Prospecting and mining for petroleum in New Zealand is governed by the Petroleum Act 1937. This gives the Minister of Energy the authority to grant petroleum prospecting and mining licences over land and marine areas including the New Zealand continental shelf.

As at 31 December 1986 there were 25 petroleum prospecting licences covering 51 806 square kilometres of New Zealand's land area, territorial sea and continental shelf. Six petroleum mining licences cover 1063.29 square kilometres and comprise the offshore Maui field, the Kapuni, McKee and Kaimiro fields in onshore Taranaki, and two small onshore licences in Hawke's Bay and New Plymouth. The McKee-Toe Toe, Pouri and Tuhua-Pukemai fields were licenced as one petroleum mining licence, McKee, after it was confirmed that these fields were connected and therefore one field.

A high level of activity in petroleum exploration continued in New Zealand during 1986, yielding discoveries both on- and offshore Taranaki. A total of 15 wells—four offshore and 11 onshore—were drilled during 1986 and yielded one discovery offshore Taranaki and two onshore Taranaki. Kupe South-1, drilled off the Taranaki coast by the JFP Eleven jack-up rig in late 1986, discovered gas, condensate and oil. Ahuroa-2A drilled onshore Taranaki and discovered gas and condensate, white Tariki-1A, also drilled onshore Taranaki, discovered gas, condensate and oil. These discoveries have not yet been fully evaluated.

Three appraisal wells, Maui-5, 6 and 7 were drilled by the Zapata Artic semi submersible rig in the offshore Maui gas field in order to further evaluate reserves and to determine the optimum location for the future Maui-B platform.

Cape Farewell-1, Rere-1 and Toe Toe-4A, which were all being drilled at the end of 1985, were completed in early 1986. Cape Farewell-1, a deviated well drilled onshore Farewell Spit, was plugged and abandoned due to engineering problems prior to reaching the offshore structure targeted. Rere-1 encountered minor hydrocarbon shows and was plugged and abandoned. Toe Toe-4A was completed as a disposal well in the McKee field.

Card Creek-1, Hohonu-1 and Niagara-2, drilled on the West Coast of the South Island, all encountered minor hydrocarbon shows but were subsequently plugged and abandoned.

Piakau-1, drilled onshore Taranaki, showed hydrocarbons but was suspended pending further analysis.

Ahuroa-1A, Pukaruhe-1, Te Kiri-1 and Tipoka-1S which were all drilled onshore Taranaki, discovered minor hydrocarbon shows and were plugged and abandoned. Cape Egmont-1, also onshore Taranaki, was dry and was plugged and abandoned.

18.3 Mineral production

Prospecting regulations

Legislative control of mineral production is contained in the Mining Act 1971 (with Amendment), the Coal Mines Act 1979, the Iron and Steel Act 1959, the Quarries and Tunnels Act 1982, the Atomic Energy Act 1945, and the Cental Shelf Act 1964. The administrative agency is the Resource Management and Mining Group of the Ministry of Energy.

Table 18.2. PRODUCTION OF MINERALS AND METALS FROM MINES AND QUARRIES

Mineral1985*1986*
QuantityValueQuantityValue

* Year ended 31 December.

† Unless otherwise stated.

Source: Ministry of Energy.

Fuels—Tonnes$Tonnes$
  State coal1 603 927..1 745 581..
  Private coal942,040..771,448..
Metals—
  Gold (kg)886.46817,661,8151 265.45427,238,555
  Iron ore3,25913,6332,08612,600
  Ironsand concentrate2 533 20346,034,2552,59940,494,680
  Tungsten ore (scheelite)14.433127,2470.2501,750
Non-metals—
  Bentonite7,400345,5303,140600,238
  Clay for bricks, tiles183,004564,716104,532333,488
  Clay for pottery, etc.24,4714,823,62828,464500,466
  Dimension stone39,0441,518,28964,1531,238,982
  Dolomite for agriculture11,88591,1999,555382,000
  Dolomite for industry11,88591,2009,555382,000
  Greenstone12.30..6.037..
  Limestone and marl for cement1 738 1885,591,1531 012 0224,880,407
  Limestone for agriculture1 240 97611,828,035723,1727,079,082
  Limestone for industry269,3282,208,103257,6063,180,802
  Limestone for roads392,8552,494,525430,0292,459,359
  Pumice81,713409,35643,771416,694
  Rock for reclamation1 912 9876,819,2452 026 8368,990,390
  Sand for industry406,9652,095,838472,3623,258,668
  Sand, rock for building6 046 77342,561,8757 087 27064,622,344
  Sand, rock for roads and ballast17 891 86697,208,75716 742 999117,392,709
  Serpentine44,759740,00822,362466,165
  Silica sand143,4421,593,256114,1891,321,108
  Sulphur29482,3262,389146,471

Metals

Iron.

New Zealand's largest resource of potential iron ore is contained in the black sands of the western beaches, from Westport southwards in the South Island and from Wanganui to Muriwai in the North Island. Titanomagnetite sands make up most of the black sands in the North Island, but from Waikato Heads northwards the beach deposits also contain ilmenite in varying proportions. In the South Island beach sand ilmenite is the chief iron-bearing material. These beach sands have been estimated to contain some 800 million tonnes of titanomagnetite, with a further 8.6 million tonnes of ilmenite in the North Island, and 43 million tonnes in the South Island.

A process has been developed where the titanomagnetite sands can be economically smelted on a large scale to produce a good grade of steel. A steelworks has been constructed at Glenbrook, 58 kilometres south of Auckland, by New Zealand Steel Limited and the plant began production late in 1969 using ironsand deposits from the north head of the Waikato River 19 kilometres away.

New Zealand Steel Limited is currently expanding its Glenbrook plant to increase its steel production and there will be an accompanying increase in coal consumption. Slag from the steel contains vanadium and titanium. The vanadium will be extracted when the expansion is completed. The company mines iron sands at Taharoa near Kawhia and 1 517 567 tonnes were exported in 1984.

Gold.

Gold occurs in three different ways:

Alluvial gold is gold that has been eroded from its original source and carried away by a river. It is found on beaches, in streams, rivers and gravels, mostly in the South Island. Alluvial gold is mined by panning, sluicing, washing through screens or by dredging.

Lode gold occurs in quartz veins.

Disseminated gold is finely dispersed in some volcanic rocks.

Both of the latter hard rock forms of gold can be mined by underground as well as opencast methods. Most present day New Zealand goldmining is of alluvial gold.

International gold prices make re-examination of bypassed areas and the tailings of former workings attractive. Past gold-producing areas of New Zealand are currently being reassessed using modern prospecting techniques and refined geological concepts.

The main areas of interest for gold in the North Island are Northland, the Coromandel Peninsula and the central volcanic zone. In the South Island, the main areas of interest for alluvial gold are Marlborough, north-west Nelson, Westland, Central Otago and west Southland. In 1986 a total of 1265 kg of gold was recovered in New Zealand.

There are at least 100 small land-based or pontoon-mounted washing plants fed by hydraulic diggers working on the West Coast, and in Otago. This number is increasing as more mining licences are granted. In addition, the black-sand mining operations on the West Coast beaches are of considerable interest to small-scale miners.

Tungsten.

The principal ore of tungsten in New Zealand is scheelite. Some wolfram is found in Otago and Stewart Island but not in economic quantities.

The scheelite-bearing quartz veins are generally small and broken, and the scheelite is erratically distributed in the veins. Access and transport present difficulties and production costs are relatively high.

Scheelite is mined on a small scale at Glenrchy and Macraes Flat in Otago and at Top Valley in Marlborough, although in 1986 only 250 kg was mined. These areas are being evaluated for larger-scale mining potential.

Ilmenite sands.

Beaches on the West Coast of the South Island, south of Greymouth, contain reserves of ilmenite containing 45 percent titanium dioxide and often economic grades of gold.

The major use of ilmenite is as a source of titanium dioxide, used as a pigment in paint, paper, plastics, and rubber. A secondary use is as a source of titanium, a strategic metal widely used in the aerospace industry.

Areas of the West Coast are currently subject to prospecting and development proposals. The ilmenite is of marginally low grade and any major development of these resources can be expected to be between two and five years away. Earlier work undertaken by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research has provided the basis for further company evaluation. The ilmenite has some unusual properties however, and the production of titanium pigment or titanium sponge would probably involve specially developed processes which have yet to be tested commercially.

Copper, lead, zinc.

Some areas of Northland, Coromandel, Nelson and Westland have potential for base metals, although low prices mean little prospecting is being done.

Silver.

In the North Island, silver almost always occurs with gold in various proportions. The Hauraki goldfield has produced most of the silver mined in New Zealand but no major mining is being carried out at present. Silver has been found at Puhipuhi in Northland, north-west Nelson, south Westland and Central Otago, and most of these areas are being prospected at present.

Uranium.

Uranium is known to occur at two areas in Westland, but the reserves have never been fully assessed.

Manganese.

Manganese ores are found in many localities, chiefly in the older sedimentary rocks. Prior to 1960 there was some production from deposits at Bombay, Moumoukai and Otau, all in the Auckland district. Deposits are, however, generally small and shallow, and capable of producing only limited tonnages of ore.

Mercury.

Cinnabar, the principal ore of mercury, is widely distributed in New Zealand. No mining is at present being carried out. Past production has been limited, and mainly came from the sinter deposits in Northland, at Puhipuhi and Ngawha Springs.

Molybdenite.

Molybdenite occurrences in north-west Nelson have attracted several mineral exploration companies. However, due to the decline in the price of molybdenum, drilling in these areas has been discontinued. The molybdenum areas are virtually unexplored and further detailed drilling will have to be carried out before their full potential can be assessed.

Other metallic minerals.

Iron ore, antimony, arsenic, chromium, monazite, nickel and rutile have been mined in the past and some are presently being investigated. Tin is known on Stewart Island, where less than one tonne has been mined. The aluminium ore, bauxite, is found in Northland where 20 million tonnes have been indicated by the DSIR. Interest in platinum mining in New Zealand is increasing and several companies are prospecting in Nelson, south Westland and Southland.

Non-metallic minerals

Aggregates.

The term ‘aggregates’ is used to describe a variety of rocks, gravels and sands. They are found throughout New Zealand and are usually mined by small operators to supply local needs. Hundreds of firms from Kaitaia to Invercargill extract more than 26 million tonnes of aggregates, worth more than $190 million annually. Major uses are for roading, reclamation and construction.

Clays.

Clays are found throughout New Zealand and include bentonite, halloysite and kaolin. They are used in the manufacture of bricks, tiles, pipes and pottery, and as fillers in the manufacture of paper, paint, pharmaceutical and animal health products. Nearly 133 000 tonnes of clays, worth about $800,000 was extracted in New Zealand in 1986.

Bentonite—Bentonite is used as a bonding agent and for ‘drilling mud’. It is found in Hawke's Bay and in substantial quantities in Canterbury. The latter is finely ground and processed into pellet form for bulk export and milled for local and overseas markets. Although bentonite is still being imported for drilling operations because long established and reliable overseas sources are often preferred, New Zealand bentonite is now being used as well.

Halloysite—Halloysite has been mined in Northland for more than 30 years. It is used in New Zealand and exported for use as industrial fillers and in the ceramic industry.

Dolomite.

Dolomite rock is found near Collingwood. It is used in agriculture and home gardening and shipped to Whangarei for use in glassmaking. About 19 000 tonnes are extracted each year, and in 1986 this was worth around $764,000.

Greenstone.

The mineral nephrite, more popularly known as one of the varieties of ‘greenstone’, occurs as rounded aggregations in the talc or talc-serpentine rocks of the Griffin Range of north Westland. The principal supply was previously obtained from the gravels of the Arahura and Taramakau Rivers near Hokitika, and from gold-sluicing claims of the Kumara and Marsden districts. At present the main source is a deposit of greenstone boulders in Olderog Creek, a tributary of the Arahura River. The boulders are reduced in size by a portable diamond trepan saw and airlifted by helicopter. Some of the greenstone recovered in this way has been cut and polished in New Zealand for jewellery and small ornaments for the tourist trade.

The best known occurrences of bowenite, the serpentine variety of greenstone, are in Fiordland and are currently being prospected.

Limestone.

Limestone is found throughout New Zealand. More than 50 firms mine about 2.4 million tonnes, worth about $18 million each year. Limestone is used in cement manufacture, roading, pottery and agriculture. High-quality limestone from Te Kuiti and Nelson is processed for export. It is also used in New Zealand as a filler in the paint, glass, rubber, plastic and paper industries. Marble, a pure form of limestone, is mined in Nelson. It is used as a filler and in building construction.

Perlite.

Perlite is a volcanic glass which expands when heated and is used in the manufacture of insulating boards, potting mix and lightweight concrete. It is mined on a small scale in the Taupo area.

Pumice.

Most New Zealand pumice was formed during volcanic eruptions in the Rotorua-Taupo area during the last 10 000 years. More than 5000 tonnes of pumice, worth around $130,000, are dredged and separated from the river sands at Mercer and Hamilton each year. Pumice is used in Auckland and the Waikato areas to manufacture wallboard, plaster and concrete.

Salt.

At Lake Grassmere in Marlborough, salt is produced by the solar evaporation of sea water. Low rainfall, long hours of sunlight and the right wind conditions make this locality the most suitable one in New Zealand for salt production.

Salt was first harvested in 1952. About 60 000 tonnes is produced each year for New Zealand consumption. None was harvested in 1986 (due to bad weather) but 112 000 tonnes were sold. In 1985, 51 500 tonnes were harvested.

Serpentine.

Serpentine is a magnesium-rich rock used as a fertiliser additive. Deposits are mined at Piopio near Te Kuiti and Collins Valley, and at Mossburn in the South Island. About 22 000 tonnes, worth about $466,165, was mined in 1986.

Silica sand.

Northland, North Auckland, Nelson and Canterbury have deposits of silica sand. About 114 000 tonnes, Worth over $1.3 million, are mined each year. Approximately 60 000 tonnes are dredged off the spit at Parengarenga Harbour, Northland each year. The sand is barged to Auckland for use in container-glass manufacture, and to Whangarei for use in window-glass manufacture.

At Glorit and Kaukapakapa in North Auckland about 40 000 tonnes of sand are extracted each year for use as foundry sand and as filler in the building industry. There is also a silica sand deposit north-west of Glorit at Tapora. This deposit could be processed to yield a very high quality sand. In the South Island high-quality silica sand found in Canterbury and Otago is used in the manufacture of table glassware.

Considerable amounts of lump silica are found near Ida Valley and Kaitangata in Otago and near Pebbly Hills in Southland. These deposits are suitable for use in the ferrosilicon industry. They are not mined at present but are under investigation.

Asbestos.

Asbestos was mined at Takaka, Nelson, about 20 years ago, and substantial reserves of high quality (chrysotile) asbestos are known to be in the Pyke River area of South Westland. However, further prospecting is required before mining can be considered. Asbestos is used in the building industry.

Diatomite.

Diatomite occurs in the Kaimai, Oamaru, Rotorua, Taleri and Whangarei districts, but is not being mined at present. It is used in nearly all industrial filtration.

Phosphate.

The only deposit of phosphate ever to have been worked in New Zealand is that in Claredon, Otago. Mining ceased in this area in 1944. Phosphate is known to occur offshore on the Chatham Rise as nodules on the sea floor.

Sulphur.

A small amount of low-grade sulphur is currently extracted from Rotokawa, near Taupo, and used as a fertiliser additive. Investigation into the extraction of high-grade sulphur from the same deposit for use in the chemical industry is continuing and about 2400 tonnes of sulphur was mined in 1986.

Other non-metallic minerals.

The following non-metallic minerals, some of which have been mined in the past, are also found in New Zealand. They are barite (industrial uses include glassmaking and fillers), feldspar (glassmaking, ceramics, enamels), magnesite (used in agriculture), mica (used in electronics), and wollastonite (insecticide, paper and plastics production).

Coal production and consumption

Coal occurs widely in New Zealand. The major areas of coal formation have been divided into seven coal regions (Northland, Waikato, Taranaki, Nelson-Westland, Canterbury, Otago and Southland) with the major coal producing regions being Waikato, Westland and Southland.

The more important producing coalfields, with the class of coal found in each are:

Bituminous—Greymouth, Buller, Garvey Creek.

Sub bituminous—Maramarua, Huntly, Rotowaro, Ohai.

Lignite—eastern Southland.

Other coalfields which will become major producers are Waikare, (sub-bituminous), Mokau (sub-bituminous) and, potentially, those of Central Otago (lignite) and Kaitangata (lignite).

New Zealand coals are young by world standards (15–75 million years) and the geological conditions that allowed coal formation continue to the present day (for example, peats in the Waikato). Coals of this age and bituminous rank, as occur in Westland, are not common and are only found in countries such as Japan and New Zealand which have an active geological environment.

The young age of New Zealand's coking grade coals has given rise to some valuable properties which, together with low to exceptionally low ash contents, makes them attractive to world markets. The active geological history during the time of coal formation and since has, however, resulted in difficult mining conditions.

Coal consumption.

Coal has always been important to New Zealand's mineral industry. It had a higher production value than any other mineral between the First and Second World Wars. Usage slumped in the late 1960s, but with the increased price of oil, and prospects of oil shortages, coal consumption prospects have risen, especially as industries have in some cases reconverted their heating and steam plants for coal firing. Coal from the Buller coalfield is exported to Japan and Korea, although the recession in the international market has slowed plans to increase exports.

Table 18.3. PRIVATE AND STATE COAL MINING OPERATIONS

YearAnnual OutputsPersons Ordinarily Employed
UndergroundOpencastTotalSurfaceUndergroundOpencastTotal
  tonnes (000)  Number 
198067514882,1634966594981,653
198172014762,1974566594651,580
198280214422,2444547074981,659
198385816142,4725047855051,794
198484316832,5266267335571,916
1985..............
19861,0381,4792,517..8807471,627
Source: Ministry of Energy.

At 31 March 1986 the state operated seven of a total of 39 underground coal mines in production and nine of the 61 opencast mines. Total production of all types of coal from both state- and privately-owned coal mines was 880 000 tonnes from underground mines and 1 657 000 tonnes from opencast mines for the preceding year.

A low-temperature carbonisation works at Rotowaro (100 km south of Auckland) uses the Lurgi process to produce a range of products from coal taken from local state-owned coal mines.

Table 18.4. PRODUCTION OF PRIVATE COAL MINES

YearOutput
 tonnes (000)
1982853
1983866
1984805x
1985942
1986771
Source: Ministry of Energy.

Table 18.5. DISTRIBUTION OF STATE COAL SALES

UseYear Ended September
19831984*19851986

* March year, therefore six months only.

† Year ended 31 March.

‡ Six months to June only.

Source: Ministry of Energy.

  tonnes (000) 
Gasworks8392.8
Electric power397163456120
Dairy factories93556827
Freezing works82418534
Cement and lime works1978716671
Brick, tiles and pottery2130.5
Paper mills68377821
Steel production1237411160
Hospitals120429930
Carbonising1620513..
Central hearing58145724
Domestic1383311937
Export226146353151
Other59265428
        Total1 5879271 671605

18.4 Census of Mining and Quarrying

The Census of Mining and Quarrying forms part of the series of integrated economic censuses of business activities in New Zealand conducted by the Department of Statistics over a five-year cycle. The 1983–84 census covered all operations carried out by activity and ancillary activity units in the mining and quarrying industry during the year ended 31 March 1984 (those with different balance dates submitted data for the year ended within the period 1 April 1983 to 31 March 1984).

All activities from exploration or production to the point at which the goods are sold are within the scope of the census.

The statistical tables which follow give 1983–84 census totals by the four industry divisions and by local government regions. Definitions of terms used in the tables are given in the glossary at the end of this book.

Table 18.6. SUMMARY OF CENSUS OF MINING AND QUARRYING 1983–84

Statistical ItemCoal MiningPetroleum and Gas Production and ExplorationMetal Ore Mining, Exploration and ProspectingOther Mining and Quarrying ActivitiesCensus Totals
* Includes capitalised salaries and wages amounting to $5,563,000.
   Number  
Activity and ancillary units724662344524
Working proprietors/partners at end of February 198461240153256
Paid employees at end of February 19841,7201,1143731,6854,892
   $(000)  
Salaries and wages paid to working proprietors/partners311 1302,2172,659
Salaries and wages paid to employees*32,92129,7196,76627,31296,718
Stocks: (including work in progress)
  opening46,26136,5273,94411,63598,367
  closing60,95237,8873,20112,070114,111
Income:
  Sales of mined or quarried products100,659597,23858,714138,348874,402
  Sales of other products and services10,47731,034
  Direct government cash grants and subsidies1,315123,76457727659,243
  Other income (excluding interest, etc.)4,57471,264
  Sales and income (excluding interest, etc.)101,974721,00259,291153,6751,035,943
  Interest, dividends, donations, royalties, patent fees and insurance claims received44933,0152,0511,05036,565
        Total sales and other income (including interest, etc)102,424754,01861,342154,7251,072,508
Expenditure:
  Purchases of fuel and power3,5795,1273,72115,37327,801
  Purchases of all other materials and supplies, including goods for resale8,23389,5332,04021,122120,929
  Salaries and wages to paid employees31,62025,6276,69227,21591,155
  Depreciation4,95833,2593,3799,15650,752
  All other expenses (excluding interest, etc.)75,138366,63433,65059,204534,626
  Operating expenditure (excluding interest, etc.)123,529520,18149,482132,070825,264
  Interest, bad debts, donations, royalties and patent fees24,21226,2412,1466,62059,219
        Total expenditure (including interest etc.)147,741546,42251,628138,690884,482
Net profit after deducting working proprietors and partners salaries and wages−30,938208,9568,84014,253201,111
Operating surplus−6,864202,1819,06622,040226,423
Value added37,082251,07219,89960,665368,719
Fixed tangible assets:
  Additions to26,20329,8883,58216,50176,173
  Disposals of5185941,0864,0536,252

Table 18.7. REGIONAL SUMMARY, CENSUS OF MINING AND QUARRYING 1983–84

Local Government RegionsEnterprise GroupsEnterprisesActivity UnitsAncillary Activity UnitsPersons Engaged End FebruarySalaries & Wages Paid to Employees*Total Sales & IncomeAdditions to Fixed Tangible Assets

* Includes capitalised salaries and wages amounting to $5,563,000.

† As some enterprise groups and enterprises have activity units in more than one local government region totals do not sum.

 No.No.No.No.No.$(000)$(000)$(000)
Northland4343562353,02220,6691,351
Auckland41505843385,93935,6463,430
Thames Valley14171821692,2379,9361,596
Bay of Plenty888598014,465255
Waikato38395041,15421,662111,67413,735
Tongariro8882436023,5521,410
East Cape5571395702,355510
Hawke's Bay1213131061,6858,432
Taranaki181922198525,749204,3197,972
Wanganui121212223162,004294
Manawatu81091345842,403632
Horowhenua22312
Wellington32444053868,204548,63325,750
Wairarapa101011507453,844488
        Total, North Island225266315203 63272,116957,93057,425
Nelson Bays182020728454,335290
Marlborough9991671,3978,212844
West Coast525461170611,63037,94710,244
Canterbury1718203901,3305,348280
Aorangi111214597673,123468
Clutha—Central Otago2222231494833,639302
Coastal—North Otago101010831,2165,3501,079
Southland2121263906,93446,6245,242
        Total, South Island14815918361 51624,60311437818,748
        Total, New Zealand364421498265 14896,7181,072,50876,173

Further information

Annual Returns of Production from Quarries and Mineral Production Statistics. Ministry of Energy.

Census of Mining and Quarrying 1983–84. Department of Statistics.

The Geology of New Zealand. New Zealand Geological Survey, 1978.

Industrial Minerals and Rocks. Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, (annual).

Introduction to the Geology of the Coalfields of New Zealand. New Zealand Geological Survey, 1982.

Monthly Abstract of Statistics. Department of Statistics.

New Zealand Coal Reserves. Mines Division, Ministry of Energy, 1983.

Report of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (Parl. paper G. 21).

Report of the Ministry of Energy (Parl. paper D. 6).

Details of N.Z. Geological Survey map coverage and publications are available from N.Z. Geological Survey, P.O. Box 30368, Lower Hutt.

Chapter 19. Manufacturing

19.1 Industrial development

During the last 30 years there has been a continued diversification in New Zealand's industrial development, which has incorporated a number of major developments.

The Government has announced that import licensing controls will be removed from all goods outside industry plans on 1 July 1988. A review of long-term tariff rates beyond 1988 is being undertaken and a working party, comprising officials and private sector interests, has been set up.

Industries which are covered by industry plans are subject to their own separate timetables, which in most cases contain specific dates by which import licensing will be removed and also contain procedures for the review of tariffs.

Steel industry.

The two major enterprises in this industry are New Zealand Steel Ltd, established in 1970 to manufacture billet slabs and ingots utilising indigenous irons and coal and limestone resources, and Pacific Steel Ltd, established in 1960 to prepare wire rod, bars, angles and channels from scrap but also subsequently using billet from New Zealand Steel Ltd's complex at Glenbrook, south of Auckland.

In 1980 New Zealand Steel commenced a large two-stage project to expand iron- and steel-making facilities to about 750 000 tonnes a year and to provide for hot and cold rolling mills to process some 550 000 tonnes of slab.

New Zealand Steel has been financially restructured. In 1986 the Crown shareholding was expanded to approximately 90 percent in return for servicing most of the debt incurred in the expansion project.

Aluminium.

New Zealand Aluminium Smelters Ltd's primary aluminium smelter at Tiwai Point, near Bluff, is a significant producer of ingots, with a capacity of 244 000 tonnes a year. The smelter is owned by Comalco Industries Pty Ltd of Australia (with an 80 percent shareholding) and Sumitomo Aluminium Smelting Company Ltd of Japan (20 percent). The greater part of the metal production is exported to Japan and other Asian countries.

Oil refinery.

The Marsden Point oil refinery commenced production in 1964. The refinery company was established by the five major oil companies, with government and private-sector equity participation. Because the demand for refined products exceeded production capacity, the refinery has been expanded. A hydrocracker has been installed to allow more middle-distillate oils (diesel and kerosene, aviation fuels, lubrication oils and solvents) to be extracted, thus reducing imports of oil and refined products.

Natural gas.

Gas from the Maui field, which was discovered in 1969, has been allocated to a number of projects in Taranaki. These include a synthetic-petrol plant at Motunui which provides approximately one-third of New Zealand's estimated petrol requirements. Commercial production was achieved at Motunui in 1986. Other projects are a methanol plant at Waitara and an ammonia-urea plant at Kapuni.

A proposal for the sale of durene by joint venture partners ICI (NZ) Ltd and Allied Chemicals (NZ) Ltd was chosen late in 1986. Durene is an intermediary product in the synthetic fuel process. The construction of a durene processing plant is scheduled within the next three years.

The Gas and Geothermal Trading Group of the Ministry of Energy sought bids for a further major allocation of Maui Gas during 1985. In 1986 this gas was allocated to the (then) Electricity Division for the production of electricity.

Coal.

Export contracts for about 360 000 tonnes of steaming and coking coal were secured in the 1985 year, with exports going entirely to Korea and Japan. Coal prices, in line with world market conditions, remain at a low level.

Engineering.

The engineering sector encompasses skills and activities ranging from light manufacturing and metal-casting to the civil and heavy engineering fields. In the 1980–85 period, demand from the construction phase of the major energy-based projects saw a period of considerable expansion, with a valuable spin-off in the development of new skills and techniques. Conversely, the completion of these projects has brought about rationalisation because of the need to adjust to a more competitive market-based economy. Many firms now are actively pursuing export opportunities and the development of new products. Demand for skills and experience is still relatively high in the sector but there are some variations according to location.

Motor vehicle industry.

Motor vehicle component manufacture in New Zealand started in 1939 when certain parts, specifically upholstery and batteries, were excluded from importation for use on New Zealand-assembled vehicles. The industry expanded in the 1950s with the introduction of special incentives to encourage assemblers to use New Zealand products. Since then assembly companies have been required to use a growing range of parts made in New Zealand.

Activity in the motor vehicle industry in New Zealand is directed by the Motor Vehicle Industry Development Plan, which was introduced in December 1984, and will for four years. The plan gradually introduces assemblers and component manufacturers to competition from imports.

Motor vehicle assembly in New Zealand is undertaken by 10 companies in 13 plants. In 1985, of the new cars sold in New Zealand 89 percent were New Zealand-assembled. Of these, 81 percent were of Japanese origin, 14 percent Australian, and 5 percent British.

Electronics manufacture.

The electronics industry has three sectors: consumer; industrial, including telecommunications; and components.

Consumer electronics remains the largest sector, accounting for about two-thirds of output and employment, but the industrial electronics sector is expanding rapidly and becoming increasingly important. This sector produces nearly 80 percent of the industry's exports. Its products are used in agriculture, industry, medicine and science.

A review of the Electronics Industry Plan, which began in January 1984, was announced on 3 December 1986. Main features of the original plan were a tendering scheme in order to establish what long-term tariff levels should apply; the establishment of safety standards for imported electronic goods under the Electrical Wiring Regulations; and two assistance schemes, the Prototype Development Fund and the Electronics Industry Research and Development Grants Scheme, both of which will terminate in 1987.

Under the review of the plan, import licensing on audio products (except car audio) and some other tendered goods is scheduled to end during 1987.

Plastics industry.

The Plastics Industry Development Plan to 1990, implemented in 1982, aimed to encourage the industry to use its resources as efficiently as possible by lowering the level of protection under which the industry operates. Pressures towards greater international cost comparability were intended to move the local industry to developing a more sustainable base for export-led growth and greater capacity to service the domestic market. The industry has adapted well to increased import competition and, with high investment being sustained, expects to continue the growth in production established in recent years.

A review of tariffs undertaken in 1986 as part of the Plastics Industry Development Plan resulted in the decision to lower all tariffs currently over 20 percent down to that figure, over the next three years. From 1990 at the conclusion of the plan, when most products will no longer be subject to import licence restrictions, the provisions of the general tariff programme, to be established in 1988, will apply.

Textile and footwear industries.

Implemented on 1 July 1980, the Textile Industry Plan featured a liberalisation of access to materials, and increased imports of finished goods under the protection of a revised tariff structure, with the object of improving competitiveness and developing textile industry exports. Production efficiency in the woollen milling sector improved significantly with the financial assistance provided under the industry plan.

The apparel import licence tendering scheme established by the plan has provided access to a greater range of imported garments. This has created a more competitive environment for domestic manufacturers and greater consumer choice.

As part of its review of the Textile Industry Development Plan the Industries Development Commission in 1983 reported on the carpet sector, proposing measures for the controlled introduction into the New Zealand market of both imported and locally-made synthetic carpets. In 1986 the longstanding wool-rich carpet policy was abandoned, following the breakdown of the carpet industry agreement to voluntarily restrain production of certain types of synthetic carpet for the domestic market.

Government decisions on the commission's recommendations for other textile industry sectors were announced in July 1985. These included liberalisation of access for textile goods through the establishment of a textile licence tendering scheme, the exemption from import control of many textile products not made in New Zealand, and small annual increments in allocations under the apparel licence tendering scheme. Agreement in principle has now been reached with Australia on the staged introduction of reciprocal free access for apparel under ANZCERTA, commencing in January 1988.

The footwear sector of the textiles industry is also long-established in New Zealand. There are over 100 units producing around 8.5 million pairs of shoes each year and supplying over 80 percent of the market's total footwear requirements.

While the industry was originally based on leathers produced by the local tanning industry, it now produces almost as many synthetic as leather shoes.

The industry enjoys relatively high levels of tariff and licensing protection and these were reviewed under the Footwear Industry Development Plan in 1986. As a result of this review, existing access levels are to be increased through licence tendering, with adults' footwear increasing by 3 percent a year, and childrens' by 5 percent a year. The basis for footwear licences changed from volume to value on 1 July 1987.

Sugar industry.

The New Zealand Sugar Co. Ltd which owns the sugar refinery in Auckland has, in the past, imported sugar under long-term agreements negotiated by the Government. The company received protection against imports of refined sugar but its product was subject to price control.

A number of far-reaching changes affecting the industry were announced in November 1985.

The company is now responsible for negotiating its supplies of raw sugar. From 1 September 1986 the embargo on imports of refined sugar and related products was replaced by two years of licence-on-demand, with no quantitative controls thereafter. Imports of refined sugar carry no duty and sugar has been removed from price control.

Resource recovery and recycling.

The Department of Trade and Industry encourages economic use of materials which otherwise would be waste. The New Zealand Industrial Waste Recycling Register indexes usable industrial and commercial wastes and provides a free exchange service to firms and organisations throughout the country. Items recovered include ferrous and non-ferrous metals, paper, reusable glass bottles, glass, oil, solvents, some plastics and tyre rubber.

A series of published research studies and handbooks on resource conservation totalled 20 titles at the end of 1986.

19.2 Assistance to industry

The Department of Trade and Industry compiles and distributes annually the publication Government Assistance to Manufacturers and Exporters which lists the services available from government departments and government-funded organisations. Described very briefly below are some of the sources of assistance available to manufacturing industries.

Development Finance Corporation.

A description of the Development Finance Corporation of New Zealand is included in chapter 26, Money and banking. The corporation provides commercial finance and advice to manufacturing industries.

Otago Business Development Centre.

The government-assisted Otago Business Development Centre, which comes under the control of the University of Otago, provides a management and consultancy service.

Industries Development Commission.

Completion of the commission's current work on industry development studies and the Government's industry assistance policies means no function is foreseen for the commission in the future. The Temporary Safeguards Authorities Act 1987, which repeals the Industries Development Commission Act 1961, came into force in June 1987. The Act provides for the appointment of temporary safeguard authorities to replace the emergency protection provisions provided under the Industries Development Commission Act 1961.

Overseas investment

The Government publicly stresses its welcoming attitude to overseas investment, in particular where such investment is allied to the introduction of new technology and increased net foreign exchange earnings. The development of New Zealand's resources will require both technology and capital from overseas during the 1980s and beyond. Cases will continue to be assessed on their individual merits by the Overseas Investment Commission, under a liberal investment policy which makes provision for up to 100 percent foreign ownership of New Zealand enterprises.

An Investment Unit is established within the Department of Trade and Industry to attract overseas investment. The functions of the unit are to:

  • ○ Undertake activities to identify potential overseas investors and alert them to the advantages New Zealand offers as an investment location;

  • ○ Act as a contact point in New Zealand for overseas investors, providing guidance on the consents required and the best way to prepare proposals and introductions to potential New Zealand partners;

  • ○ Prepare and distribute information and publicity material;

  • ○ Advise the Department of Labour on the business elements of applications under the Business Immigration Policy; and

  • ○ Develop proposals for streamlining consent procedures.

Pacific Islands Industrial Development Scheme.

The Pacific Islands Industrial Development Scheme (PIIDS), introduced in 1976, provides financial assistance for New Zealand companies developing approved manufacturing or agro-based operations in the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Western Samoa and Vanuatu.

The objective of the scheme is to foster economic development opportunities and further the growth of employment in Pacific Island countries.

Regional development

The regional development assistance programme underwent major changes in April 1986 after a comprehensive review. The previous grant and loan schemes were terminated and a new grant scheme, the Regional Development Investigation Grant, was introduced. This scheme is more attuned to the Government's economic policy in that it aims to stimulate innovative, economically viable, and self-sustaining development which is new to regions and based on their identified resources and development opportunities. The grant is available to all areas of New Zealand and covers all legal economic activities.

Under the scheme, individuals, businesses or organisations can be assisted with the costs incurred in investigating the feasibility of proposed new developments. Assistance can also be given to organisations with regional standing to undertake studies of regional resources which have wider significance for the region. Between its introduction on 21 April 1986 and 31 March 1987, 162 applications, with a value of $2,341,703 were approved. The level of assistance depends on the area in which the investigation is to take place; if it is a priority region or a slow-growth area it would be eligible for 50 percent of qualifying costs, elsewhere it would qualify for 35 percent. The priority areas are Northland, King Country, East Coast, Taranaki, Wanganui, Wairarapa, Marlborough, Westland, Aorangi, Otago and Southland; the slow-growth areas are Golden Bay and Shannon. Government-appointed regional development councils in each region assist in the consideration of applications under the programme.

The non-priority regions are Nelson Bays, Canterbury, Hawke's Bay and Horowhenua. The Government has approved the setting up of a council to serve these regions.

The other assistance measure available is the Unit Rate Scheme, providing freight rebate for manufactured goods produced in the South Island and transported to markets in the North Island. This has been the subject of a recent review.

Major Projects Advisory Group.

The group, comprising both public and private sector interests, was established in 1981 with the aim of advising government on the scope for the involvement of domestic industry in the construction of the major energy-based projects. With the completion of these projects the group's main task has been a review of the effectiveness of its involvement in individual projects. The last of the reviews were scheduled for February 1986.

19.3 Census of Manufacturing

The first integrated economic Census of Manufacturing applied to the 1974–75 year. The census covers activity units (factories, workshops, etc.) in New Zealand, the predominant activity or which is manufacturing, processing, assembly, or repair, plus the activities of ancillary units (head offices, etc.) which service or predominantly service those activity units. Single activity-unit firms having an average of less than two persons engaged full-time are, however, not included in the census.

All activities of the manufacturing operations, from the purchase of material and supplies to the point at which the products are sold, are within the scope of the census, which is for the year ended 31 March, or the last accounting year prior to 31 March.

The integrated economic census classifies all the manufacturing industries according to the revised New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (NZSIC), which is based on the 1968 United Nations International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities.

Because of the major changes introduced, there was an unavoidable break in the continuity of manufacturing statistics. To provide some link with the previous census series, a limited number of main aggregates were collected for the 1973–74 year on the same basis as those collected for 1974–75. This link information has been published in a series of industry bulletins.

In the statistical tables which follow, the results of the 1983–84 manufacturing census are published as a grand total, industry totals and by local government region. The 1983–84 census includes for the first time:

  • ○ Small enterprises—manufacturing enterprises with less than two persons engaged.

  • ○ Ancillary enterprises—enterprises whose predominant activity was supplying ancillary services to other manufacturing enterprises within the same group of enterprises.

Definitions for terms used are given in the glossary at the back of this book.

A general statistical summary of the results of the 1983–84 integrated economic Census of Manufacturing, showing the grand totals, totals for small and ancillary enterprises, and the equivalent 1981–82 coverage (balance), is given in table 19.1.

Table 19.1. CENSUS OF MANUFACTURING 1983–84

Statistical ItemGrand TotalGrand Total Comprises
New Enterprises 1983–84Balance
SmallAncillary
* Includes capitalised salaries and wages amounting to $24,811,000.
  Number 
Activity and ancillary units15,7162,87618712,653
Working proprietors/partners at 28/2/8416,5133,1245713,332
Paid employees at 28/2/84289,3281,3444,581283,403
  $(000) 
Salaries paid to working proprietors/partners228,41115,2031,205212,003
Salaries and wages paid to employees*4,415,01411,903109,7114,293,400
Stocks, including work-in-progress: opening3,544,00816,08233,9473,493,979
      closing3,562,26916,33635,0783,510,855
Income—
  Sales of goods produced and services provided, including goods purchased for resale22,402,730157,2787,29522,238,157
  Direct government cash grants and subsidies80,8322131,42179,198
  Other income (excluding interest, etc.)474,0361,665380,00792,364
  Sales and income (excluding interest, etc. and extraordinary items)22,957,598159,155388,72322,409,720
  Interest, dividends, donations, royalties, patent fees and insurance claims received; bad debts recovered348,5731,036221,526126,011
        Total sales and other income (including interest etc.)23,306,170160,192610,24922,535,729
Expenditure—
  Purchases of all materials, components, supplies, fuels, etc.; payments for all services; and purchases of goods for resale without further processing12,487,72276,2327,88112,403,609
  Salaries and wages paid to paid employees4,390,20311,902109,5944,268,707
  Employer contributions158,9544965,287153,171
  Depreciation557,1195,40914,016537,694
  Indirect taxes53,4116532,08750,671
  Other operating expenses (excluding interest, etc.)3,328,03929,200156,4493,142,390
  Purchases and expenses (excluding interest, etc. and extraordinary items)20,975,449123,892295,31420,556,243
  Interest, bad debts, donations, royalties and patent fees paid926,6484,002237,753684,893
        Total purchases and operating expenses (including interest, etc.)21,902,097127,894533,06621,241,137
Net profit after deducting working proprietors'/partners' salaries1,193,92317,34877,1081,099,467
Operating surplus2,000,40935,51794,5401,870,352
Value added7,104,07653,766224,2196,826,091
Fixed tangible assets—
  Additions during the year2,506,75812,27358,3352,436,150
  Disposals during the year228,7745,31716,203207,254
  Book value at the end of the year9,105,95748,493380,0148,677,450

Table 19.2. INDUSTRIAL GROUPS, CENSUS OF MANUFACTURING 1983–84

IndustryEnterprise GroupsEnterprisesActivity UnitsAncillary Activity UnitsPersons Engaged End February
   Number  
Export meat works and abattoirs182144932,168
Other abattoirs and rural slaughterhouses36383951,096
Meat packers and canners27284251,524
Ham, bacon, and smallgoods465259211,908
Poultry slaughterhouses23242831,321
Game packers89112118
Slaughtering, preparing and preserving meat n.e.c.4142434702
Co-operative dairy factories313259156,156
Milk processing plants384044191,056
Ice cream factories1516254697
Manufacture of dairy products n.e.c.1111124841
Canning and preserving of fruit and vegetables596670114,855
Land-based fish factories, etc.,8488115212,970
Vegetable and animal oils and fats2124228478
Grain milling and prepared breakfast foods1524262866
Bread bakeries111143162213,053
Cake, pastry, and pie (other than meat) factories102103113111,744
Cake and pastry kitchens330331355342,115
Biscuit factories10101221,159
Sugar, cocoa, chocolate, and sugar confectionery444553222,521
Food products n.e.c.667385182,678
Prepared animal feeds4952617767
  Food manufacturing1 1131 2461 48024870,793
Distilling, rectifying, and blending spirits910142199
Wine777987111,131
Brewing and malting, and tobacco manufacturers71422132,950
Soft drinks28284031,057
  Beverage and tobacco manufacturing118131163295 337
        Total: food, beverage, and tobacco manufacturing1 2281 3771 64327776,130
Wool scouring37444611,107
Woollen fibres, spinning, and weaving24253433,013
Man-made fibres, spinning, and weaving1515162594
Dyeing, printing, and finishing yarns and textiles171818340
Canvas goods and similar articles of other fabrics108109113853
Other made-up textile goods17518018931,941
Knitting mills10611813394,550
Carpets and rugs32354162,464
Textiles n.e.c. including cordage, rope, and twine6870788885
  Manufacturing textiles5616066683215,747
Leather gloves and clothing51515851,136
Natural and artificial fur clothing2121213241
Clothing other than leather and fur7257668807718,563
  Manufacturing clothing (except footwear)7978389598519,940
Tanneries and leather finishing13142141,540
Fellmongery910132186
Fur dressing and dyeing, fur and skin articles n.e.c.3232331409
Leather and leather substitute products (excluding footwear and clothing)15315415831,325
  Manufacturing leather and products of leather, leather substitutes, and fur except footwear and clothing204210225103 460
  Footwear except of rubber, plastic or wood98105136114 856
        Total: textile, wearing apparel, leather industries1 6361 7541 9881384 4003
Sawmills251282326236,895
Planing, preserving, and seasoning timber57626921,387
Builders carpentry, and builders joinery43144245463,548
Prefabricated and precut buildings43466091,134
Plywood, veneer, and board32393921,677
Sawmills, planing, and other wood mills n.e.c.3131331430
Wooden and cane containers3435352338
Basket and cane ware14141546
Cork products and wood products n.e.c.21021121631,277
  Manufacturing wood, and wood and cork products except furniture1 0481 1231 2474816,732
Wooden furniture and upholstery792798848226,961
Mattress making89141455
Furniture and fixtures, excluding primarily of metal n.e.c.4445504412
  Manufacturing furniture and fixtures except primarily of metal842852912277 828
        Total: wood and wood products (including furniture)1 8841 9722 1597524,560
Pulp, paper, and paperboard691277,532
Corrugated board, paperboard and corrugated board boxes, cases21214683,013
Containers, and boxes of paper and paperboard n.e.c.1113161648
Wallpaper factories777317
Pulp, paper, and paperboard articles n.e.c.47505491,455
  Manufacturing paper and paper products85961352512,965
Printing and publishing newspapers, periodicals, books7492121568,546
Job and general printing507533549578,192
Servicing industries for printing trade15415716021,451
Printing, publishing, and allied industries n.e.c.767679 357
  Printing, publishing, and allied industries79985790911518,546
        Total: paper and paper products, printing and publishing8759501 04414031,511
Basic industrial chemicals except fertilisers2222324694
Chemical fertilisers81115101,199
Pesticides99236340
Fertilisers and pesticides n.e.c.1414147117
Synthetic resins, plastic materials, and man-made fibres (excludes glass)687498162,594
  Manufacturing industrial chemicals115129182434 944
Paints, varnishes, and lacquers414249331,476
Drugs and medicines343640151,656
Soap and cleaning preparations27273061,061
Perfumes, cosmetics, and other toilet preparations45454861,309
Cleaning preparations n.e.c.1515163385
Ink67147480
Chemical products n.e.c.687189291,281
  Manufacturing other chemical products225238286997 648
  Petroleum refining1415195797
  Manufacturing products of petroleum and coal1622267378
Manufacturing rubber tyres and tubes23256081,823
Rubber products n.e.c.445158111,984
  Manufacturing rubber products6575118193 807
  Manufacturing plastic products n.e.c.292309330197 519
        Total: chemicals and chemical, petroleum, coal, rubber, and plastic products68977696119225,093
  Manufacturing pottery, china, and earthenware13614116011 232
  Manufacturing glass and glass products12212313022 368
Structural clay products1721335558
Manufacture of cement, lime, and plaster692451,038
Precast concrete123129166121,976
Concrete masonry44476710779
Ready-mixed concrete556310851,031
Plaster and fibrous plaster products2424271356
Monumental masonry and stone masonry5959662402
Non-metallic mineral products n.e.c.2124292359
  Manufacturing other non-metallic mineral products327368520426 499
        Total: non-metallic mineral products (except products of petroleum and coal)5826318104510,099
  Iron and steel basic industries50515763 753
Non-ferrous basic metal products212328102,656
Non-ferrous forgings and castings5961613788
  Non-ferrous metal basic industries778489133 444
Total: basic metal industries125135146197 197
Cutlery and hand tools2729314439
Builders, joiners, etc., hardware4547485997
General hardware n.e.c.535353114
Furniture and fixtures primarily of metal87909481,291
Metal joinery, fixtures, and fittings352363382173,789
Sheet metal roofing and related products18518620852,536
Structural steel, plate metal, and boiler shop products237249300204,964
Wireworking70799961,716
Nail and fastener manufacturing1114161380
Household and kitchen utensils4445451566
Servicing industries to the metal trades26627027841,683
Fabricated metal products (excludes machinery and equipment) n.e.c.414436466427,351
  Manufacturing fabricated metal products1 7481 8562 02011325,826
Manufacturing and reconditioning of engines and turbines15216318411,089
Manufacturing agricultural machinery and equipment35335437673,462
Tool, die, and jig making16016116331,280
Metal and woodworking machinery n.e.c.4545461552
Specialised industrial machinery and equipment (excludes metal and woodworking)12112313732,755
Office, computing, and accounting machinery4141662416
Industrial machinery and equipment (except electrical) n.e.c.742758890449,442
  Manufacturing machinery (except electrical)1 5981 6411 8626118,996
Electrical industrial machinery and apparatus152164182213,094
Radio, television, and communication equipment and apparatus181188202184,647
Household durables and range making16182232,528
Other electrical appliances and housewares n.e.c.33344031,444
Electrical cables and wires56671,063
Other electrical apparatus and supplies899395132,818
  Manufacturing electrical machinery, apparatus, appliances, and supplies4574985476515,594
Ship-building and repairing25125526333,654
Motor vehicle assembly plants15202375,788
Motor vehicle body building, caravans, and trailers12413013592,007
Motor vehicle parts n.e.c.11111914283,570
Aircraft35394222,097
Other transport equipment n.e.c.27273653,952
  Manufacturing transport equipment5575876413421,068
Medical and surgical equipment and supplies n.e.c.2121236573
Laboratory, scientific, measuring and controlling equipment, n.e.c.3031317466
Photographic and optical goods1922276364
  Manufacturing professional, scientific measuring and controlling equipment n.e.c. and photographic and optical goods707481191 403
        Total: fabricated metal products, machinery and equipment4 3674 6415 15129282,887
Jewellery and related articles18518719141,031
Musical instruments10101046
Sporting and athletic goods7681811519
Brushes and brooms171726462
Toys and games8888832585
Other manufacturing industries n.e.c.213218220131,718
  Other manufacturing industries589601616204 361
        Total: other manufacturing industries589601616204 361
        Grand total, manufacturing11,71912,76014,5181 198305,841

Table 19.3. INCOME AND EXPENDITURE, CENSUS OF MANUFACTURING 1983–84

IndustryPurchases and Operating ExpensesSales and Other IncomeValue AddedAdditions to Fixed Tangible Assets
  $(000) 
Export meat works and abattoirs1,338,2831,460,676764,84495,935
Other abattoirs and rural slaughterhouses57,46861,35227,87610,900
Meat packers and canners206,822214,15835,65112,723
Ham, bacon, and smallgoods190,485197,42541,5844,863
Poultry slaughterhouses116,558125,81822,7523,314
Game packers13,98514,2492,207727
Slaughtering, preparing, and preserving meat n.e.c.41,74344,14711,3563,146
Co-operative dairy factories1,616,7441,657,887242,391198,402
Milk processing plants162,055169,14913.2065,280
Ice cream factories71,62374,02613,7663,940
Manufacture of dairy products n.e.c.94,85197,73520,9583,324
Canning and preserving of fruit and vegetables351,337379,646101,80820,748
Land-based fish factories, etc.,269,865272,28456,98615,016
Vegetable and animal oils, and fats77,41683,46919,7104,327
Grain milling and prepared breakfast foods139,162151,39229,4845,652
Bread bakeries223,623246,03364,86814,462
Cake, pastry, and pie (other than meat) factories70,36173,91124,9134,066
Cake and pastry kitchens46,60453,42421,6593,466
Biscuit factories61,18965,08022,2755,143
Sugar, cocoa, chocolate and sugar confectionery272,738305,27777,3817,431
Food products n.e.c.324,533345,59777,56013,341
Prepared animal feeds160,236170,59423,0634,417
  Food manufacturing5,907,6806,263,3291,716,298440,625
Distilling, rectifying, and blending spirits40,59845,47310,0251,599
Wine123,954111,64126,88310,121
Brewing and malting, and tobacco manufacturers347,575408,974133,26313,480
Soft drinks107,293116,92333,3127,182
  Beverage and tobacco manufacturing619,420683,011203,48332,382
        Total: food, beverage, and tobacco manufacturing6,527,1006,946,3401,919,781473,007
Wool scouring145,310151,24635,2269,830
Woollen fibres, spinning, and weaving226,243233,14562,7148,754
Man-made fibres, spinning, and weaving22,90026,73311,6771,581
Dyeing, printing and finishing yarns, and textiles12,95814,2736,966736
Canvas goods and similar articles of other fabrics32,22636,09812,3541,489
Other made-up textile goods93,689100,58328,8122,955
Knitting mills207,096229,42785,1729,399
Carpets and rugs176,738188,12454,2586,861
Textiles n.e.c. including cordage, rope and twine50,79156,14317,5992,726
  Manufacturing textiles967,9511,035,770314,77844,330
Leather gloves and clothing43,77040,04112,2433,505
Natural and artificial fur clothing6,4987,3762,790139
Clothing other than leather and fur549,689596,447250,74620,584
  Manufacturing clothing (except footwear)599,957643,864265,77924,229
Tanneries and leather finishing133,340130,53236,0274,735
Fellmongery17,25215,8515,769398
Fur dressing and dyeing, fur and skin articles n.e.c.26,31428,7376,8101,323
Leather and leather substitute products (excludes footwear and clothing)43,59046,67616,7481,659
  Manufacturing leather and products of leather220,495221,79665,3548,114
  Footwear (except of rubber, plastic, or wood)173,323188,15279,0955,663
        Total: textile, wearing apparel, leather industries1,961,7262,089,582725,00682,336
Sawmills436,605465,234159,01821,062
Planing, preserving, and seasoning timber122,297129,74035,2973,003
Builders carpentry and builders joinery157,023166,96954,3897,851
Prefabricated and precut buildings95,320100,23024,0712,126
Plywood, veneer, and board148,559160,41448,79117,744
Sawmills, planing, and other wood mills n.e.c.36,61939,23910,6822,338
Wooden and cane containers21,46023,4267,4501,404
Basket and cane ware9811,07922336
Cork products and wood products n.e.c.48,10252,70017,0603,675
  Manufacturing wood and wood and cork products (except furniture)1,066,9661,139,032356,98059,238
Wooden furniture and upholstery281,243301,264106,16511,183
Mattress making29,54333,75010,230513
Furniture and fixtures (excludes furniture manufactured primarily out of metal n.e.c.)13,91415,7365,354917
  Manufacturing furniture and fixtures (excludes furniture manufactured primarily of metal)324,700350,750121,74912,614
        Total: wood and wood products (including furniture)1,391,6661,489,782478,72971,852
Pulp, paper, and paperboard992,415978,042257,16471,447
Corrugated board, paperboard and corrugated board boxes, cases297,025312,52385,22116,410
Containers, and boxes of paper and paperboard n.e.c.59,12464,24817,884817
Wallpaper factories27,58027,44310,0021,779
Pulp, paper, and paperboard articles n.e.c.104,487113,35334,8294,256
  Manufacturing paper and paper products1,480,6311,495,608405,09994,709
Printing and publishing newspapers, periodicals, and books393,995433,785210,53929,121
Job and general printing399,688454,796178,53242,808
Servicing industries for printing trade51,76157,55530,0207,124
Printing, publishing, and allied industries n.e.c.11,93014,2985,842824
  Printing, publishing, and allied industries857,374960,434424,93479,877
        Total: paper and paper products, printing and publishing2,338,0052,456,042830,033174,587
Basic industrial chemicals except fertilisers92,20191,38638,19363,745
Chemical fertilisers331,879331,66542,75413,140
Pesticides53,29662,95515,3916,326
Fertilisers and pesticides n.e.c.11,37511,3842,324450
Synthetic resins, plastic materials, man-made fibres (excludes glass)273,330300,16181,16612,561
  Manufacturing industrial chemicals762,082797,552179,82896,222
Paints, varnishes, and lacquers164,951181,08344,3254,001
Drugs and medicines159,553181,23247,5777,449
Soap and cleaning preparations105,484117,33431,6825,097
Perfumes, cosmetics, and other toilet preparations92,33695,79626,7093,512
Cleaning preparations n.e.c.30,20133,99110,2851,348
Ink46,01152,77716,2221,624
Chemical products n.e.c.123,801137,95538,8454,560
  Manufacturing other chemical products722,337800,169215,64427,591
  Petroleum refining230,400151,12643859,508
  Manufacturing products of petroleum and coal43,75645,18111,267740
Manufacturing rubber tyres and tubes12,494125,78233,38511,247
Rubber products n.e.c.106,109113,63644,9144,900
  Manufacturing rubber products231,603239,41978,59916,147
  Manufacturing plastic products n.e.c.499,700535,48518432942,953
        Total: chemicals and chemical, petroleum, coal, rubber, and plastic products2,489,8782,568,931669,4101,043,161
  Manufacturing pottery, china, and earthenware43,82048,76420,0572,073
  Manufacturing glass and glass products146,534164,57169,0228,029
Structural clay products34,23334,04112,4502,535
Manufacture of cement, lime, and plaster137,432142,75433,19614,243
Precast concrete119,835133,99251,05611,728
Concrete masonry190,965171,30796,0484,378
Ready-mixed concrete132,436141,71032,0986,572
Plaster and fibrous plaster products35,64142,80713,161596
Monumental masonry and stone masonry16,75818,9637,6801,073
Non-metallic mineral products n.e.c.19,83222,4838,3291,695
  Manufacturing other non-metallic mineral products687,133708,057254,01842,321
        Total: non-metallic mineral products (excludes products of petroleum and coal)877,487921391343,09652,924
Iron and steel basic industries447,293455,190121,949372,957
Non-ferrous basic metal products400,611426,992154,35316,841
Non-ferrous forgings and castings64,48268,44719,2382,960
  Non-ferrous metal basic industries465,093495,440173,59219,800
        Total, basic metal industries912386950,630295341392,757
Cutlery and hand tools21,21325,3469,490963
Builders, joiners, etc., hardware45,69052,53420,0801,916
General hardware n.e.c.2,2482,9511,294440
Furniture and fixtures (primarily of metal)67,27371,00223,6372,468
Metal joinery, fixtures, and fittings221,089237,33169,9859,425
Sheet metal roofing and related products203,651229,62269,2479,021
Structural steel, plate metal, and boiler shop products314,305346,050118,63411,285
Wireworking151,423163,51239,9184,543
Nail and fastener manufacturing29,43633,7419,502252
Household and kitchen utensils26,98231,64012,5351,252
Servicing industries to the metal trades53,26161,85729,5894,844
Fabricated metal products (excludes machinery and equipment n.e.c.)446,129504,707180,50725,094
  Manufacturing fabricated metal products1,582,6991,760,291584,41871,503
Manufacturing and reconditioning engines and turbines51,70158,60221,2572,925
Manufacturing agricultural machinery and equipment196,267215,19164,1028,286
Tool, die, and jig making47,32455,79625,1564,292
Metal and woodworking machinery n.e.c.24,48727,25910,8501,034
Specialised industrial machinery and equipment (excludes metal and woodworking machinery)190,569211,24460,5305,095
Office, computing, and accounting machinery26,17027,9388,8001,177
Industrial machinery and equipment (except electrical) n.e.c.528,910568,772186,36721,306
  Manufacturing machinery (except electrical)1,065,4271,164,802377,06244,114
Electrical industrial machinery, and apparatus190,046207,53770,49911,359
Radio, television, and communication equipment, and apparatus332,361360,56791,80310,532
Household durables and range making199,192213,52861,2259,819
Other electrical appliances and housewares n.e.c.82,13687,21325,7082,610
Electrical cables and wires104,916123,09037,5672,708
Other electrical apparatus and supplies154,655168,14457,3696,217
  Manufacturing electrical machinery, apparatus, appliances, and supplies1,063,3061,160,080344,17143,244
Ship-building and repairing129,540132,80561,2824,401
Motor vehicle assembly plants726,536779,091119,94816,427
Motor vehicle body building, caravans, and trailers122,449133,23337,9294,162
Motor vehicle parts n.e.c.177,205179,29357,2605,983
Aircraft107,449130,52383,1065,393
Other transport equipment n.e.c.152,657147,46780,1366,153
  Manufacturing transport equipment1,415,8351,502,413439,66142,519
Medical and surgical equipment and supplies n.e.c.41,33644,88016,7442,668
Laboratory, scientific, measuring and controlling equipment n.e.c.21,15518,5273,678920
Photographic and optical goods20,70421,1526,573425
  Manufacturing professional, scientific measuring and controlling equipment n.e.c., and photographic and optical goods83,19484,56026,9954,014
        Total: fabricated metal products, machinery and equipment5,210,4625,672,1451,772,307205,393
Jewellery and related articles46,56249,65015,4982,942
Musical instruments2,4702,67787944
Sporting and athletic goods27,56430,0569,1571,139
Brushes and brooms21,75823,1677,920755
Toys and games30,62731,3278,3461,776
Other manufacturing industries n.e.c.64,40874,45128,3734,086
        Total: other manufacturing industries193,388211,32870,17210,742
        Grand total, manufacturing21,902,09723,306,1707,104,0762,506,758

Table 19.4. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION, CENSUS OF MANUFACTURING 1983–84

Local Government RegionActivity UnitsAncillary Activity UnitsPersons Engaged End FebruarySalaries and Wages to Paid* EmployeesTotal Sales and Other IncomeAdditions to Fixed Tangible Assets
* Includes capitalised salaries and wages amounting to $24,811,000.
  Number  $(000) 
Northland371206,32199,189544,487447,991
Auckland5,33040010 88121,529,5008,337,123770,748
Thames Valley202103,66152,133459,76849,919
Bay of Plenty7364513,676226,7561,180,72561,364
Waikato8037417,332277,8241,625,731122,543
Tongariro11031,80925,530105,8112,653
East Cape13643,42042,895154,31215,196
Hawke's Bay4922913,825213,6551,180,50465,396
Taranaki414329,579150,370952,609566,160
Wanganui232125,16474,037327,54414,972
Manawatu472399,846132,141730,97330,193
Horowhenua23193,53641,020196,5137,691
Wellington1,20420627,877411,7102,323,04096,231
Wairarapa15553,19341,633135,89910,594
        Total, North Island10,888888228,0513,318,39318,255,0382,261,652
Nelson Bays272194,71664,654327,01414,110
Marlborough13192,15925,382115,69725,425
West Coast13392,23329,580186,92414,301
Canterbury1,76917336,328498,3102,294,92588,542
Aorangi332176,46782,998392,14819,049
Clutha—Central Otago14042,82237,799128,60011,249
Coastal—North Otago4875712,037162,849726,27031,172
Southland3662211,028195,049879,55441,257
        Total, South Island3 63031077,7901,096,6215,051,132245,106
        Total, New Zealand*14,5181 198305,8414,415,01423,306,1702,506,758

Table 19.5. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT BY MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISES

Manufacturing Census (Year)Persons Engaged on Research and DevelopmentPercentage of Total Number Engaged in ManufacturingExpenditure on Research and DevelopmentPercentage to Total Value Added in Manufacturing
* Details in all but the percentage columns exclude single-establishment enterprises employing less than 10 persons and ancillary units servicing more than one industry.
 No. $(000) 
1975–76*1,4080.4715,4450.66
1976–77*1,3440.4315,4030.54
1978–79*1,3410.4522,5240.65
1981–82*1,4880.5044,0440.75
1983–84....52,3170.74

19.4 Production of selected goods

Table 19.6 shows the volume of production of selected goods. It should be noted that the figures refer to December years (except where otherwise stated) and not to production years as in most tables in this section. Quarterly or, in some cases, monthly production figures for these commodities will be found in the Monthly Abstract of Statistics, published by the Department of Statistics.

Table 19.6. VOLUME OF PRODUCTION OF SELECTED GOODS

CommodityUnit198319841985

* Includes white packed granulated sugar, bulk white granulated sugar, fine liquid sugar, castor sugar, brown sugar, coffee crystals and invert sugar.

† Year ended May.

‡ Figures related only to operations of superphosphate manufacturing works.

Television setsNo.99,556102,37792,629
Woollen and worsted yamtonnes19,30724,84726,262
Carpetssq metres (000)8,92411,61112,600
Refined sugar*tonnes (000)138155149
Buttertonnes (000)254292293
Cheesetonnes (000)114109118
Flourtonnes (000)220209211
Beerlitres (million)368384386
Passenger cars—totalNo.63,23889,77280,290
Trucks, vans, and busesNo.19,03024,99724,185
Papertonnes (000)653762687
Wood pulptonnes (000)1,0311,1481,102
Chemical fertiliserstonnes (000)1,6941,8441,779
Cigarettesmillion6,1966,2745,767

Quarterly economic survey of manufacturing

In 1974–75 the Department of Statistics introduced an enterprise-based economic Census of Manufacturing. Following completion of the first two annual censuses on the new basis, a quarterly survey of the main indicators for the manufacturing sector was developed, and this commenced with the June 1977 quarter.

The survey replaced the previous short-term survey of manufacturers' stocks (now discontinued) and was designed to provide more comprehensive economic indicators for the use of the Government, trade organisations, and business people, as well as providing data for use in the quarterly national accounts. With the cooperation of manufacturers, and because the survey is a sample one only, it is possible to publish results in a much more timely manner than is possible in the case of a full census.

Estimates of national totals are produced from a sample of approximately 1500 manufacturing units originally selected from the 1979 Census of Manufacturing and revised in June 1982. All manufacturing divisions of the New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification are represented. Allowance is made in the survey for the opening of new factories and the closure of established ones.

In order to provide a consistent long-term historical series, figures have been revised back to 1977 to conform to the new survey coverage.

The definitions used in the tables are given below:

Sales of goods, services, and all other income—The actual value of sales (whether in New Zealand or overseas) and all other income during the quarter. It includes sales of goods without processing or assembly, processing of other firms' materials, and all other income except direct government cash grants, subsidies, interest, dividends, royalties, patent fees, insurance claims received, sales tax, beer and excise duty, and fringe benefit tax. Also excluded are exchange gains and extraordinary items e.g. gains on sale of fixed assets.

Stocks—Stocks are as at the end of each quarter.

  1. Stocks of materials—Includes components, stores, fuels, containers, and other packaging materials.

  2. Stocks of finished goods and work in progress—Includes goods purchased for resale without further processing.

Additions to fixed assets—Purchase of new and secondhand fixed assets and the cost of work done by a firm's own employees, in producing, constructing and installing fixed assets for its own use. The revised survey extended the coverage of statistics to include additions to fixed assets of non-operating units.

Salaries and wages—This is the gross salaries and wages of all employees (full-time, part-time, and casual) during the quarter. It does not include drawings of working proprietors and partners.

Purchases and other operating expenses—Includes the value of purchases of all materials, components, supplies, containers and other packaging materials, fuels, electricity, and water. It also includes payments for commission and contract services, purchases for resale without processing or assembly, and all other operating expenses except interest, bad debts, donations, royalties and patent fees paid, exchange losses and extraordinary items e.g. losses on sale of fixed assets, sales tax, beer and excise duty, and fringe benefit tax.

Hours worked—Hours worked during the quarter relate to paid employees only and include overtime hours.

Table 19.7. QUARTERLY ECONOMIC SURVEY OF MANUFACTURING: ALL-INDUSTRY TOTALS

Year ended 31 MarchSales and Other IncomeStocksAdditions to Fixed AssetsSalaries and WagesPurchases and Other Operating ExpensesHours Worked
MaterialsFinished Goods
   $(million)  (000)
198218,936.91,716.61,595.31,383.33,931.713,886.5540,639
198320,660.61,845.21,71462,323.84,270.415,135.8533,302
198421,827.31,923.11,630.62,430.04,179.215,933.8509,223
198525,995.52,548.11,901.81,956.14,614.119,625.1538,357
198628,419.12,584.52,133.22,393.95,172.721,384.8543,837

Table 19.8. QUARTERLY ECONOMIC SURVEY OF MANUFACTURING, 1986*

Industry DivisionSales and Other IncomeStocksAdditions to Fixed AssetsSalaries and WagesPurchases and Other Operating ExpensesHours Worked
MaterialsFinished Goods

* Year ended 31 March.

† Includes the processing of meat and dairy products, and other primary foods.

   $(million)  (000)
Primary food4,633.6120.1154.8255.3830.43,750.375,159
Other food3,491.3273.4282.6218.4432.32,714,653,186
Textiles, clothing2,531.5253.5255.987.0556.71,758.873,950
Wood and furniture1,896.0139.7144.4162.2401.51,329.843,617
Paper and printing3,274.2265.0172.5178.5697.42,217.367,058
Chemical3,370.8429.5335.1638.4509.52,724.049,096
Non-metallic mineral973.640.563.548.4171.6663.117,549
Basic metal1,085.2130.774.2526.7185.2771.213,926
Fabricated metal6,794.6887.4610.6265.51,322.85,206.1142,080
Other manufacturing industries368.444.739.413.565.3249.88,216
        Total, all industries28,419.12,584.52,133.22,393.95,172.721,384.8543,837

Further information

Census of Manufacturing 1983–84. Department of Statistics.

Monthly Abstract of Statistics. Department of Statistics.

Report of the Department of Trade and Industry (Parl. paper G. 14).

Chapter 20. Housing and construction

20.1 Housing

The housing market was very buoyant during the year ended 31 March 1987. This was mainly due to the deregulation of the finance sector increasing the availability of mortgage finance. Another factor contributing to the buoyancy of the housing market has been the introduction of the Government's ‘Homestart’ scheme (see Housing investment).

Despite the increased availability of finance, only a very modest increase in house prices resulted during the year. The house price index increased by only 2.78 percent in the six months ended June 1986, and 4.49 percent in the six months ended December 1986, with an annual increase of 7.39 percent.

Much of the activity in the housing market has focused on sales of existing houses. New residential building, however, was an important component, particularly for the first half of the financial year. It was likely that the pending introduction of the goods and services tax encouraged a significant increase in the building of new houses, but the number of building permits issued peaked earlier than expected, in late 1985. There was, however, a boost in activity in the September 1986 quarter. The number of building permits issued for the year ended March 1987 totalled 20 128, compared with 23 035 for the previous year. In addition 61 241 permits were issued for additions and alterations for the year ended March 1987 compared with 57 236 for the previous year.

The deregulation of the financial sector is expected to lower the relative return on home ownership compared with other investments. While there are indications of interest rates moving downwards, their level, and the impact on the housing market, will depend on government policy and the underlying rate of inflation.

The rented component of the Consumers Price Index rose by almost 14 percent in the year to December 1986. The introduction of goods and services tax has not had a significant impact on rents. This compares with a 37 percent rise in rents in the year to December 1985 (following the lifting of the rent freeze in February 1985).

Housing investment.

Deregulation of the finance sector in mid-1984 has led to its rearrangement in terms of the growth of institutions and in the pattern of home-lending. Before the deregulation of the banking industry in 1987, private institutions competed aggressively to maintain market share, directing more money into the mortgage market. There has also been some diversification of loan conditions to meet client needs and the number and value of mortgage approvals through traditional lending institutions increased to historically high levels during 1986. Trading banks in particular increased their market share.

Reserve Bank figures indicate housing loans approved by the major lending institutions totalled $3,407.2 million for the year ended March 1987. This represents an increase of 82 percent from the previous year (although strictly comparable figures are not available).

Traditionally, interest rates have been lower than the inflation rate and as a result housing has been seen as a good investment. While this is no longer the case, it has not dampened investment in the housing sector.

Interest rates eased in mid-1986 but pressure on wholesale rates resulting from the Government's tight monetary policy led to an increase late in the year. First mortgage rates increased to 18.5–20.5 percent. Rates may ease in 1987–88 but their level will depend on the post-GST inflation rate and government monetary policy.

A new ‘Homestart’ scheme was introduced on 1 October 1986 to rationalise existing home ownership assistance programmes. It replaces the Home Ownership Savings Scheme, family benefit capitalisation, and building suspensory loans. ‘Homestart’ is a form of assistance offered by the Housing Corporation to help low- and middle-income families bridge the deposit gap to home ownership through the availability of a 3 percent loan with no repayments due for five years. The new scheme stimulated demand for loans from modest-income earners. Additional deposit assistance to compensate first home buyers of new houses for GST was also made available in the period following the introduction of the tax.

National Housing Commission.

The National Housing Commission advises the Minister of Housing on all matters relating to housing, and inquires into and keeps under review the housing needs of the population. It also helps co-ordinate organisations and individuals concerned with housing in New Zealand and promotes co-operation between them.

Currently there are six appointed members, comprising the chairperson (the general manager of a lending institution), an architect, a professor of law, a builder, an economist, a sociologist, and two official members from the Housing Corporation. The commission publishes five-yearly reports on the current and future position of housing in New Zealand, and the next is to be published in 1988. Up to the end of 1986 the commission had issued 71 publications based on its continuing programme of research into a variety of aspects of housing.

Table 20.1. HOUSES AND FLATS COMPLETED

Year Ended 31 MarchGovernmentPrivate and Local AuthorityTotal New Houses and Flats
State RentalTenancies*

* Includes education and hospital boards.

† City, borough and county councils, etc., and comprising pensioner units, staff housing, etc.

19822678715,90016,300
198329810014,40014,800
198430011714,90015,300
19855594917,40018,000
19865737818,40019,100

The statistics are dependent on the supply of information by local authorities, and indications are that they have been understated.

House demolitions.

According to notifications received, the total numbers of dwellings demolished in recent years have been: 1981–82, 1170; 1982–83, 878; 1983–84, 883; 1984–85, 1117; and 1985–86, 1309.

Home ownership.

More than half of New Zealand's estimated 1 190 000 dwellings have been built during the past 25 years. An average house built today is about 130 square metres in area, is single-storeyed, and normally built of timber. Approximately 90 percent of the dwellings completed annually are built for private home ownership, with most of the balance being erected by government agencies for rental purposes. There is relatively little housing built for private rental.

For information on tenure of dwellings and occupation of rented dwellings see chapter 6, Social framework.

Joint family homes.

The Joint Family Homes Act 1964 provides for a form of ownership in which a husband and wife enjoy equal rights of use, possession, and enjoyment of the family home. While a settlement exists, neither party may deal separately with his or her interest in the property, but on the death of one of them the home becomes the property of the survivor. Settlements are exempt from gift and stamp duty, and on the death of one spouse an exemption from estate duty may be claimed. In the event of claims by creditors, or the Official Assignee in bankruptcy, the property is protected to the extent of $34,000. Own-your-own flats may be settled under the Act, and the benefits of settlement may be transferred from one family home to another.

In the latest years the numbers of joint family homes registered have declined sharply compared to the total number of documents lodged in land and deeds offices, probably an effect of the Matrimonial Property Act 1976.

Table 20.2. JOINT FAMILY HOMES REGISTERED*

Year Ended 31 MarchHomes Settled

* Total numbers of land transaction Instruments registered are shown in brackets.

Source: Department of Justice.

198110 071 (693 760)
19828 769 (809 575)
19838 152 (693 666)
19849 578 (752005)
19859 332 (783028)
19869 673 (827965)

Rental housing

Tenancies.

New tenancy law, the Residential Tenancies Act 1986, came into force on 1 February 1987. The Act consolidates the law of landlord and tenant, and establishes a mediation service and Tenancy Tribunal to resolve disputes between landlords and tenants.

The Act out the lights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants in respect of bonds, rent in advance, market rent, notice and frequency of rent increases, the landlord's access to the rented property, the responsibility for repairs and maintenance of the premises, and termination of tenancies.

Bonds may be up to four weeks' rent, and must be paid into the Residential Tenancies Fund, administered by the Housing Corporation's Tenancy Bond Division. Minimum notice periods are set out for termination of tenancies, and tenancies may be terminated by order of the Tenancy Tribunal in the event of serious breach of the terms of the tenancy agreement by either party. Disputes over bonds, termination of tenancies, or any other tenancy matter, may be taken to a tenancy mediator or to the Tenancy Tribunal for resolution.

The Act is administered by the Housing Corporation's Tenancy Bond Division. The division gives out information on tenancy law and other tenancy matters, and advice on remedies available to landlords and tenants with tenancy difficulties. It provides the mediation service and acts as the office of the Tenancy Tribunal.

The Tenancy Tribunal is administered by the Department of Justice.

Housing Corporation rental housing.

Under the Housing Act 1955 the Housing Corporation builds and lets rental houses and flats, as well as making loans to local authorities to build rental accommodation. Housing Corporation rental houses and flats (formerly known as state rental houses and flats) have been built since 1937 and are allocated to tenants on the basis of need.

The Housing Corporation acquires both developed sections and undeveloped land (which it subsequently develops) to provide sites for its houses. The construction of these houses is carried out under contract, either to corporation design or on a ‘design and build’ basis by builders. Some ‘design and build’ contracts are also let for new houses on land owned by the builder, as a further method of obtaining suitable sections. Existing houses are also bought on the private market or from other government departments.

Table 20.3. HOUSING CORPORATION NEW RENTAL UNITS*

Year Ended 31 MatchRental Units

* Includes purchase of existing houses.

Source: Housing Corporation.

1981933
1982420
1983467
1984639
19851,073
19861,653

The number of additional dwelling units taken over by the corporation during the year ended 31 March 1986 totalled 1653. The number of tenancies administered on 31 March 1986 was 59 145 and rent accounts in arrears were 2.2 percent of the total compared with 1.29 percent a year earlier, Rents received from tenancies during 1985–86 amounted to $100.5 million compared with $82.7 million for 1984–85. Apart from interest, the largest single item of expenditure charged against rentals was the provision for maintenance of rental houses. For the year ended 31 March 1986 this amounted to $34.4 million compared with $33.6 million for the previous year. Rates payable to local authorities for the year totalled $22.2 million compared with the previous year's figure of $19.5 million.

The corporation continues to direct an increasing proportion of its rental programme away from peripheral development into renewal and redevelopment, particularly in the main centres. This is to encourage better utilisation of existing housing and offer a more diverse range of accommodation. The emphasis on this and other developments remains with smaller schemes, where the social and economic impact on the existing urban pattern is less marked.

20.2 House purchase and mortgage finance

Residential prices.

Statistics compiled by the Valuation Department in table 20.4 illustrate the trend in residential prices in 39 urban areas throughout New Zealand. The figures of average sale prices for sections, houses, and owner-occupier flats exclude family sales, sales of leasehold property, and other sales not subject to normal market forces.

Table 20.4. RESIDENTIAL PRICES

ItemDecember Year
198119821983198419851986
Average sale price of—  $  
  Sections14,39615,75517,84920,33924,560x30,411
  Houses40,66750,92357,58266,38375,63085,290
  Owner-occupier flats36,86748,58954,71761,85468,007x76,551
Source: Valuation Department.

Urban House Property Price Index.

This index is designed to measure changes in the average level of prices paid for residential properties and urban sections sold during each half-year. Variations in the average age of properties transferred, as an indicator of the average quality of such properties, are eliminated in the index methodology in order to arrive at a valid index of price level changes.

Table 20.5. URBAN HOUSE PROPERTY PRICE INDEX*
(December Year 1973 = 1000)

CentreResidential PropertiesSections
July-December 1984January-June 1985July-December 1985January-June 1986July-December 1984January-June 1985July-December 1985January-June 1986
* Includes urban residential properties and sections.
Whangarei4,6734,8674,9724,9756,0957,5077,3076,998
Auckland4,2964,6565,0945,4074,6435,0195,4766,275
Hamilton4,0084,3254,5844,7414,4595,3295,5556,515
Tauranga3,8374,0344,2804,4924,5785,2115,4895,774
Rotorua4,2464,6014,9255,1574,3455,0715,3685,563
Gisborne4,3314,5614,8394,8164,7624,5485,0645,755
Napier-Hastings3,8894,0404,1624,3264,3134,7285,0515,662
New Plymouth4,1444,2374,1854,0823,8514,0463,7474,490
Wanganui4,8525,1245,4075,3623,7134,5214,0665,013
Palmerston North4,3044,4634,6794,7734,9845,0786,4456,971
Masterton3,7714,2314,3164,36428343,1973,3933,853
Wellington-Hurt3,8434,1144,3294,5523,3423,9494,1184,186
Nelson4,9955,3605,7735,9365,5035,4445,9416,425
Christchurch3,8874,2614,6024,6873,6474,3444,6745,212
Timaru4,0894,5654,7754,9475,0664,6495,3086,368
Dunedin3,6883,9064,1354,1314,2824,5825,1285,432
Invercargill3,8443,9234,0534,02129203,02928133,177
17 Urban areas combined4,1254,4324,7484,9124,3824,8535,2335,811

Table 20.6. URBAN HOUSE PROPERTY PRICE INDEX: 17 LARGEST URBAN AREAS COMBINED*

Six Months EndedResidential PropertiesSections
* Weighted averaged 17 urban areas combined, December year 1973 (= 1000).
1979—Jun17952241
            Dec18342164
1980—Jun19342217
            Dec20622292
1981—Jun23332412
            Dec27172650
1982—Jun3,1922931
            Dec3,3393,181
1983—Jun3,4473,503
            Dec3,6493,620
1984—Jun3,9013,991
            Dec4,1254,382
1985—Jun4,4324,853
            Dec4,7485,233
1986—Jun4,9125,811
            Dec5,1396,148

Homestart.

Homestart is a form of assistance offered by the Housing Corporation to help low- and middle-income families bridge the deposit gap to home ownership. Families, couples and single people over the age of 26 years, buying or building their first home, may receive a 3 percent loan with no repayments for five years. The loan amounts offered depend on income and the district the applicant intends to buy or build in. The maximum available is $10,000. The interest charges are capitalised every six months until the expiry of the loan, at which time it must be either repaid or refinanced. Extra deposit assistance (up to $4,000) is available to compensate first home buyers for the effects of GST on new houses. The terms and conditions for this are the same as for standard Homestart deposit assistance, except that single people under 26 years are also eligible.

Maori housing.

The Department of Maori Affairs provides housing assistance to Maori and Pacific Island families under the Maori Housing Act 1935. From the inception of the Maori Housing Programme to 31 December 1985, the department financed 23 250 new, and 4660 existing houses. In addition, a limited number of advances are made for additions and repairs to homes, refinance of existing loans and finance to second homeowners. While the department continues to house individual Maori and Pacific Island families, its focus is changing to provide housing in a way that recognises cultural values and supports the whanau. In 1986 the department emphasised policies such as Papakainga housing (on communally-owned land), Kaumatua (elders') flats, Whareawhina (hospitality-based housing) and Wharetapiri (extended-family housing) which promote development of the whole community in line with its overall philosophy of tu tangata.

Housing finance

Important sources of housing finance are building societies, life insurance offices, trading banks, trustee savings banks, solicitors' trust funds, and the Housing Corporation. Most of the lending by institutions is in the form of table mortgages, being made initially for terms of usually up to 30 years with the Housing Corporation, about 15 years with building societies, and 10 or 20 years with the private savings banks. The general experience of these institutions is that most house mortgages are redeemed in seven to 12 years. Interest rates and the methods of calculating them vary from one institution to another.

Mortgage guarantee scheme for housing.

The Housing Corporation has statutory authority to guarantee mortgages and operates a scheme whereby an approved lender may be guaranteed repayment of a housing loan. In 1985–86 there were 4605 guarantees issued, compared with 4124 in 1984–85.

Housing Corporation finance

The Housing Corporation generally provides finance to first home seekers receiving a modest income. Some second and subsequent home seekers who demonstrate a special need may also be assisted. For the year ended 31 March 1986, the Housing Corporation authorised 19 759 residential loans for $495.2 million. Of this total, 3219 were for the purchase of new houses and 8686 for existing homes. Other types of loans included those for home improvement, refinance, ‘second chance’ and housing for the elderly.

Eligibility for loans.

The major aim of the Housing Corporation's lending policy is to assist modest-income families to buy their first homes.

In order that this assistance is extended to as many people as possible who need it, some eligibility guidelines have been established. Priority for assistance is given to couples and families whose total household income is equal to or less than the average weekly wage. Applicants must also be intending first home owners, or not have held any interest in property in either New Zealand or overseas during the previous five years. Assistance is not available to sole persons without dependants (children or elderly or disabled relatives), and applicants must be New Zealand citizens or permanent residents.

Employment-related loans.

Some assistance is available to the following groups who meet the corporation's eligibility guidelines: armed forces or rehabilitation applicants qualifying on service; applicants who meet the requirements of the Tied Accommodation Scheme (those who have lived in employer-provided housing for at least 10 years and are also modest-income earners); or state servants on transfer.

Table 20.7. AVERAGE COST OF HOUSES FINANCED BY THE HOUSING CORPORATION*

Urban AreaYear Ended 31 MatchNew HousesExisting Houses

* Calculated from 1 in 5 sample of loans authorised.

† Branch areas as quoted in previous years.

‡ Includes North Shore, Auckland Central, Henderson and Manukau urban areas. § Includes Wellington City, Kapi-Mana and Hutt.

Source: Housing Corporation.

  $$
Auckland198562,00052,000
 198667,00053,000
Hamilton198546,00052,000
 198650,00053,000
Wellington§198558,00051,000
 198658,00049,000
Christchurch198558,00044,000
 198660,00048,000
Dunedin198563,00042,000
 198663,00038,000

Housing for the elderly, handicapped arid disabled

Pensioner rental flats—Government policies encourage local authorities and religious and welfare organisations to meet the housing needs of elderly and disabled people by providing rental accommodation.

A low-interest loan of up to $35,000 for up to 25 years for each pensioner rental flat built is available. Additionally, a subsidy of $5,000 per unit is available. This combination of low interest loans and subsidies is directed at keeping the rents at a level that tenants can afford.

To ensure that the flats provided are utilised to house people most in need, an asset limit is applicable.

The amount of subsidy approved in 1985–86 was $3.49 million and loan finance provided totalled $6.46 million to provide housing for 539 people. Since the policy began in 1950, subsidy assistance has totalled $87,124 million for the accommodation of 14 410 people. (Since 1950, 14 262 flats have been built.)

Owner-occupier flats—A policy to assist the rehousing of elderly home owners in owner-occupier flats more appropriate to their needs has been in operation for some time. The Housing Corporation provides bridging finance to local authorities and religious and welfare organisations to assist them to construct owner-occupier flats for sale to elderly home owners. The corporation sometimes allows these organisations to on-lend up to $15,000 to the initial purchasers of these flats.

Relocatable ‘granny flats’—The Housing Corporation makes funds available to both local authorities and religious and welfare organisations to provide relocatable ‘granny flats’ for housing elderly persons on a home owner's property, with the same eligibility applying as for pensioner flats.

Finance available to build the flats is $32,000 per unit—$5,000 subsidy plus a low-interest loan of up to $27,000. Additional loans are available for the connection of services.

In October 1986 the corporation announced its intention to hire ‘granny flats’ directly to elderly people for placement on the properties of family or friends, or on corporation rental properties. This is to complement the existing policy.

In addition to the above assistance the corporation has also provided funding for the upgrading of older units and the construction of warden residences and community rooms.

Rural housing loans.

Under the Rural Housing Act 1939, the corporation provided loans to local authorities for re-advancing to farmers for the erection of dwellings or alterations to existing homes. This Act has been in the process of repeal and no new loans were approved in the year ended 31 March 1986. Loans approved before 1 April 1985 but not uplifted were made available as requested. On this basis 290 farmers received loans in 1985–86.

Community housing lending.

The corporation's new urban renewal programme was introduced in August 1986. It provides loans and grants to assist individual home-owners, bona fide housing organisations, housing co-operatives and local authorities undertake urban renewal projects.

Remaining commitments to local authority urban renewal projects approved prior to the discontinuation in 1983 of the Community and Housing Improvement Programme (CHIP) were met during the financial year. Details of the year's community housing loan expenditure are given in table 20.11.

State services housing.

State services houses are those built for government departments and the armed forces. The total number of such houses erected by the Housing Corporation to 31 March 1987 was 16 595, including houses built at the sites of major construction projects, such as electric power schemes.

Table 20.8. HOUSING CORPORATION LOANS AUTHORISED

Type of LoanYear Ended 31 March
1985198619851986

* Loans by the Housing Corporation on sections sold through the Housing Account.

† Discontinued from 1 October 1986.

‡ Phased out from 1 October 1986.

§ Introduced in October 1985.

Source: Housing Corporation.

 No.No.$(million)$(million)
New houses—
  Modest income2,6042,79686.28110.78
  Tenants scheme2851009.973.66
  Service related groups40632310.059.81
Existing houses—
  Modest income3,4095,83391.13192.97
  Tenants scheme1,30958844.0220.06
  Service related groups1,6462,26530.3564.01
Home improvement2,0031,62015.5012.70
Refinance/'second chance'7611,92416.1845.67
Section loans*134171.650.17
Building suspensory loans2,2272,15611.1410.83
Home-ownership supplemented loans96324.315.72
Tenancy savings scheme loans1,5934153.160.70
Housing for the elderly4775789.078.90
Rural housing loans526.70
Urban special loans150.020.27
Equity sharing loans§1768.95
        Total16,90719,759359.46495.20

Table 20.9. HOUSING CORPORATION LOANS TO LOCAL AUTHORITIES

ProgrammeLoans AuthorisedPayments Made
1984–851985–861984–851985–86
  $(000) 
Community housing4702501,1301,003
Community housing in neighbourhood improvement areas1,3102,7001,430
Property purchase5090
Purchase and rehabilitation1518015
Land redevelopment9
Source: Housing Corporation.

Table 20.10. HOUSING CORPORATION LOANS BEING ADMINISTERED

Loans on Mortgages*As at 31 March
198419851986

* These figures do not include loans administered by the Housing Corporation on an agency basis (e.g., hotel Investment, account, gas companies) or industrial loans.

Source: Housing Corporation.

Residential162,746162,647162,514
Local authority1017848
Urban housing1,5951,6621,730
Rural housing1,1261,1881,188
        Total165,568165,575165,480

Table 20.11. HOUSING CORPORATION EXPENDITURE

Year Ended 31 MarchGross ExpenditureIncrease or Decrease Over Previous YearFunded From Public AccountIncrease or Decrease in Government Expenditure
 $(000)Percent$(000)Percent
1982410,300−5175,577+21
1983433,600+6222,017+26
1984475,100+10249,956+13
1985599,200+26460,517+84
1986962,270+60503,579+9
19871,371,638+43379,608−25

Mortgages

Mortgage law.

The borrowing of money on mortgage is a principal means of financing the erection or purchase of houses and commercial buildings, and the purchase of farms. Under the Land Transfer Act 1952 ‘mortgage’ means a charge on land created under the provisions of that Act, taking effect as a security, and not operating as a transfer of the estate or interest charged.

Table 20.12. SUMMARY OF MORTGAGES REGISTERED*

Year Ended 31 MarchMortgage RegistrationsAmount Secured
Under 2 Hectares2 Hectares and OverTotalTotal AreaUnder 2 Hectares2 Hectares and OverTotal
* Excludes certain miscellaneous registrations, but may include minor duplications.
 No.No.No.ha(OOO)$(m)$(m)$(m)
1982167,25633,162200,4185,6132,289.11,256.73,545.8
1983136,31729,682165,9994,9272,182.01,381.63,563.6
1984151,13427,988179,1223,1662,660.11,354.54,014.6
1985158,26227,540185,8023,1172,930.21,378.44,308.6
1986160,79925,498186,2972,5894,128.91,405.95,534.8

Mortgage registration statistics include not only those for housing, but also for agricultural, commercial and other land uses.

The 186 297 mortgage registrations in 1985–86 were in the following categories: first table, 70 564; first flat, 44 054; subsequent table, 34 716; subsequent flat, 30 426; increases in amount, 6537.

Table 20.13 indicates the sources of finance for mortgages registered. Of the new mortgages registered in 1985–86, 28.60 percent of the aggregate advances were obtained from government agencies (of which the principal one is the Housing Corporation) compared with 23.88 percent in 1984–85.

Table 20.13. 20.13 SOURCES OF MORTGAGE FINANCE

Year Ended 31 MarchProducer Enterprises*Central GovtLocal GovtTrading BankTrustee Savings BanksBuilding SocietiesInsurance and Pension FundsHouse-holds§OtherTotal

* From 1986 excludes solicitors nominee companies.

† Includes related savings banks.

‡ Includes Government Life Insurance Corporation and State Insurance Office.

§ From 1986 Includes solicitors nominee companies.

     $(million)   
     Under 2 Hectares   
1982522.1402.73.872.3313.9233.2170.5290.4280.22,289.1
1983600.0397.76.931.292.4200.1177.9327.0348.72,181.9
1984725.7523.18.536.974.0218.6172.2363.4537.72,660.1
1985802.4580.59.447.689.6273.5221.2418.3487.72,930.2
1986195.31,105.17.663.082.0290.5248.31,143.1994.04,128.9
     2 Hectares and Over   
1982201.9405.30.18.457.826.0117.9315.4123.91,256.7
1983240.6425.80.16.640.327.7137.6366.1136.81,381.6
1984244.3454.50.86.716.525.0105.3313.1188.31,354.5
1985265.4448.21.99.512.235.2150.4305.8149.81,378.4
198689.0478.00.713.715.629.9112.3432.4234.21,405.9

20.3 Building and construction industry

Building statistics

The main official building statistics are the Department of Statistics' monthly analyses of building permits and its quarterly analyses of the value of work put in place. Other building information is available from the five-yearly Census of Building and Construction, the five-yearly Census of Population and Dwellings, and inter-industry statistics.

The prime source of the following statistics is building permits issued by local authorities. To enable a complete picture of building activity to be shown, construction commenced by government departments, hospitals, and education and harbour boards are included, even though permits may not actually be taken out.

The permit value shown usually represents the contract price or estimated cost of the building prior to the commencement of construction. The finished cost may be higher because of wage increases, the rising cost of materials, etc., particularly in the case of larger buildings.

The values of building permits for the latest five years are described by types of building in table 20.14. Permits cover alterations and additions as well as new buildings, and government and other buildings not requiring building permits are included.

Table 20.14. VALUE OF BUILDING PERMITS ISSUED

Type of BuildingYear Ended 31 March
19821983198419851986

* Includes alterations and additions.

† Includes ancillary buildings.

Dwellings—  $(million)  
  Houses669.9628.6843.1905.41,029.8
  Flats180.4165.5192.7282.2373.2
  Alterations and additions269.6294.0330.5330.0354.5
Other buildings*
  Hostels, boardinghouses25.815.613.013.120.2
  Hotels, motels, etc.49.327.161.849.9101.9
  Hospitals and nursing homes28.923.439.845.965.4
  Education buildings66.160.365.584.972.2
  Social, cultural, and recreational buildings51.172.166.569.883.4
  Shops, restaurants, taverns59.565.668.2109.5155.5
  Office and administrative189.1188.9206.5347.7500.1
  Warehouses68.670.967.3100.2161.6
  Factories, powerhouses, etc.269.9305.6221.8300.1337.3
  Farm buildings69.974.073.075.967.8
  Miscellaneous buildings3.77.315.39.021.6
        All buildings2,001.82,000.02,265.22,723.63,344.5

Table 20.15. LOCATION AND VALUE OF BUILDING PERMITS, 1985–86

Main Urban AreaNew Houses and FlatsOther Buildings Value*Total Buildings Value*
NumberValue
* Includes alterations and additions.
   $(million) 
Whangarei32517.820.441.6
Auckland (Main) Urban Area5,840395.6544.31,022.5
  Northern Auckland Zone1,468107.857.4190.7
  Western Auckland Zone1,00853.361.1125.8
  Central Auckland Zone1,475106.9300.0436.0
  Southern Auckland Zone1,889127.7125.8270.0
Hamilton77241.449.698.7
Tauranga78644.832.084.6
Rotorua57127.424.355.6
Gisborne1377.019.829.5
Napier26316.631.552.0
Hastings38219.518.943.3
New Plymouth28416.116.837.5
Wanganui28113.712.028.5
Palmerston North36420.754.981.5
Wellington (Main) Urban Area1,26883.4194.9317.5
  Upper Hurt Valley Zone17710.613.628.0
  Lower Hurt valley Zone28419.238.7687
  Porirua Basin Zone31019.59.633.5
  Wellington City Zone49734.0133.1187.3
Nelson42123.422.650.3
Christchurch1,719116.0111.9256.7
Timaru1025.915.724.1
Dunedin33521.935.966.0
Invercargill1457.812.725.8
        Total, 17 main urban areas13,995879.01,218.52,315.7

Table 20.16. TYPES OF BUILDING PERMITS AND AUTHORISATIONS, 1985–86*

Type of BuildingType of Applicant
Producer EnterprisesFinancial IntermediariesGeneral GovernmentPrivate Non-profit OrganisationsOverseas and HouseholdsTotal

* Includes alterations and additions.

† Includes ancillary building.

‡ Overseas only.

   $(000)  
Houses and flats85,76945,19715,9941,650,5361,757,501
Hostels and boardinghouses2,26515,8472,06420,176
Hotels, motels, etc.101,028265272347101,912
Hospitals and nursing homes26.4677,82019,62811,46865,382
Education buildings1,22265,3895,57772,188
Social, cultural, and recreational13,4556127,57842,26583,359
Shops, restaurants, taverns128,68326,098150543155,473
Office and administrative288,57367,982132,55710,96340500,115
Warehouses158,7209651,367511161,563
Factories, powerhouses, etc.315,6682,80618,039621174337,308
Farm buildings64,97512,65121357,846
Miscellaneous17,50773,41669821,629
        All buildings1,204,333106,009292,09291,2691,650,7503,344,452

The high proportion of the total value of building permits represented by houses and flats built by the private sector (Households) highlights the importance of private investment in residential buildings as a key to stability in the building industry. The total for houses and flats during 1985–86 includes 23 035 permits or authorisations to a total value of $1,403.0 million for new dwellings. This includes authorisations by central government for 820 new houses (value $47.3 million) and 412 new flats (value $23.2 million).

Some categories of buildings used in those and other building permit tables require additional explanation. ‘Hostels and boardinghouses’, for example, includes barracks, orphanages, nurses' homes, and boarding school accommodation; “hotels and motels' includes private and licensed hotels, but exclude taverns; ‘education buildings’ includes primary and secondary schools, teachers collages, technical institutes, university buildings, kindergartens, and play centres; and the broad category of ‘social, cultural, recreational buildings’ includes churches, halls, theatres, cinemas, clubrooms, community centres, and grandstands.

The average permit value for new houses and flats in 1985–86 was $60,908, compared with $54,525 in 1984–85, $51,214 in 1983–84, $49,695 in 1982–83 and $44,739 in 1981–82.

Table 20.17. PERMITS FOR NEW FLATS AND HOUSES

Year Ended 31 MarchNew HousesNew FlatsTotal Dwelling Permits*Total Permits All Buildings*
Dwelling UnitsValueAreaDwelling UnitsValueArea
* Includes the value of permits for alterations and additions.
 No.$(million)sq m (000)No.$(million)sq m (000)$(million)
198213,996669.91 980.05,010180.4508.11,119.92,001.8
198311,854628.61 616.34,145166.5396.71,089.12,000.0
198415,488843.12 080.64,738192.7450.81,366.32,265.2
198515,664905,42 079.06,118282.2607.41,517.72,723.6
198615,9071,029.82 137.37,128373.2710.61,757.53,344.5

Work put in place.

The Department of Statistics makes a quarterly survey of building work put in place. In contrast to the statistics based on building permits, these figures show the gross value of actual work done. It should be noted that there are varying time-lags between the issue of the building permit and the commencement of building. The actual work for which a permit is issued can be extended over varying periods. Also, the total value of this work may differ considerably from the value estimated on the building permit, especially in times of relatively rapid inflation.

Table 20.18. WORK PUT IN PLACE

Year Ended 31 MarchDwellings
New Houses and FlatsAlterations and AdditionsSubtotal
GovernmentOther
  $(million) 
198220.8697.7258.4976.9
198325.3782.9304.41,112.7
198422.1899.8326.91,248.7
198538.21,092.2342.51,472.9
198655.91,296.5363.61,716.0
Year Ended 31 MarchOther Buildings*Total
Hotels, Boarding-housesHospitalsFactoriesCommercial BuildingsSchoolsMiscellaneousSubtotal

* Includes alterations and additions.

† And ancillary buildings.

‡ Includes churches and sports entertainment buildings.

    $(million)   
198259.445.8218.8360.377.3142.7904.21,881.2
198367.243.0274.5399.372.5138.3994.72,107.4
198461.239.2323.7413.567.6158.71,063.92,312.6
198569.846.1329.0527.571.7169.91,213.92,686.8
1986105.457.2431.8786.499.2167.91,648.13,364.1

Table 20.19. BUILDING MATERIAL PRODUCTION

ItemUnitYear Ended 31 December
1983198419851986
* Year ended March.
Ready-mixed concretem3 (000)1 297x1 490x1,6181,771
Paint and varnish—
  Paints (not water-based) and enamels, lacquers, varnishes, and reaction clearslitres (000)18,13121,03020,03818,422
  Water-based paints, including emulsionslitres (000)11,42512,36113,08313,390
Fibreboardtonnes (000)86.710099x154P
Sawn timber*m3 (000)2,1362,0962,3062,398
Particleboardm3148,967179,925177 064x176,484
Plywoodm347,17752,99659,75860,492
Cementtonnes (000)760823863895

Building Industry Advisory Council.

The functions of the Building Industry Advisory Council are: (a) to advise government, through the Minister of Works and Development, on matters affecting the building and construction industries; (b) to maintain an overall and continuing review of the industries; and (c) to advise the industries on the likely effects of building trends. The nine-member council has representatives from building and civil engineering contractors, architects, professional engineers, workers, suppliers, and the Ministry of Works and Development. Members are appointed by the Minister of Works and Development on the recommendation of industry organisations.

Building Performance Guarantee Corporation.

The Building Performance Guarantee Corporation was established in 1978 to offer an insurance scheme designed to protect the buyers of new homes against the consequences of poor workmanship, the use of inferior building materials, the bankruptcy of the builder, of other failures to complete a house in accordance with the contract.

20.4 Census of Building and Construction 1984–85

The Census of Building and Construction forms part of the series of integrated economic censuses of business activities in New Zealand carried out by the Department of Statistics over a five-yearly cycle. The 1984–85 census covered all operations carried out by activity and ancillary activity units in the building and construction industries during the year ended 31 March 1985 (those with different balance dates submitted data for the year ended within the period 1 April 1984 and 31 March 1985).

Table 20.20. SUMMARY, CENSUS OF BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION 1984–85

Statistical ItemDivision 51 BulkingDivision 52 ConstructionDivision 53 Services to Building and ConstructionMajor Division 5 Building and Construction
  Number 
Group enterprises5,5251,1406,90713,530
Enterprises5,5631,1756,96613,698
Activity units5,9111,4517,11314,475
Ancillary activity units854915149
Vehicles12,62215,56518,68146,868
Full-time working proprietors and partners engaged6,1969818,15615,333
Part-time working proprietors and partners engaged8781251,1512,154
Full-time paid employees engaged18,86427,27516,70362,842
Part-time paid employees engaged1,1363981,6603,195
Total persons engaged27,07428,77927,67083,523
Full-time equivalent—working proprietors and partners6,6351,0438,73216,410
                  —paid employees19,43227,47517,53364,439
                  —total persons26,06728,51826,26480,849
Opening stocks227,95239,79147,273315,015
Closing stocks292,62361,04556,971410,639
Purchases—land and buildings98,72012,8421,567113,128
                  —fuel and power26,58780,81937,157144,563
                  —materials, equipment and goods for resale886,498454,085582,0101,922,592
Salaries and wages to paid employees337,522518,222287,6901,143,434
A.C.C. levies/employer contributions etc.11,14015,1876,15732,485
Payments to—Labour-only contractors56,94461,45525,479143,878
                  —Sub-contractors777,813626,58746,5141,450,914
Renting and leasing of plant and equipment24,477103,20717,620145,304
Business insurance premiums7,6118,1658,61924,395
Road user charges3416,6336897,663
Rates, local central government fees etc8,7695,4671,99716,233
Depreciation21,09152,02331,661104,776
Interest, bad debts, donations etc.34,113134,02323,643191,784
All other operating expenses146,129482,287112,921741,337
                        Total, purchases and expenses2,437,7552,561,0071,183,7276,182,489
Construction and renovation of buildings2,264,571126,826548,5242,939,921
Construction, other than buildings82,1792,190,020223,0972,495,295
Repairs and maintenance87,613404,002571,3083,062,922
Interest, dividends, royalties etc.18,87746,8015,50471,182
Other income141,95482,72645,913270,594
                        Total, sales and other income2,595,1942,850,3741394,3466,839,914
Salaries to working proprietors and partners57,85319,94785,615163,425
Net profit/loss, before tax, and after distributing proprietors' salaries164,248290,673134,703589,625
Net profit/loss on extraordinary items5,627−146,2313,122−137,482
Operating surplus237,347397,847238,457873,651
Value added615,665994,439566,4512,176,564
Additions to fixed assets74,180177,46882,324333,972
Disposals of fixed assets25,24837,41324,78087,442
Book value of fixed assets207,574257,929204,755670,257

Table 20.21. REGIONAL EMPLOYMENT DATA, CENSUS OF BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION 1984–85

Local Government RegionEnterprise GroupsEnterprisesActivity UnitsAncillary Activity UnitsPersons EngagedSalaries and Wages to Paid Employees
   No.  $(000)
Northland57558060366,082106,232
Auckland3,5483,6053,6893120,053266,818
Thames Valley27527528631,0289,900
Bay of Plenty84585188794,19747,727
Waikato89590695296,356102,795
Tongariro19419421541,12317,670
East Cape21321322661,27513,858
Hawke's Bay62263164853,15838,300
Taranaki52553154584,62972,389
Wanganui27828030052,31635,261
Manawatu51551953852,72133,229
Horowhenua30130130819477,605
Wellington1,3241,3381,384169,122137,544
Wairarapa1861891987647,752
        Total, North Island10,12410,25710,77910863,771897,080
Nelson Bays30630831731,48515,936
Marlborough16416417827908,877
West Coast121121150479611,002
Canterbury1,2471,2601,299116,67177,537
Aorangi33433635141,94626,442
Clutha-Central Otago31932033962,26736,245
Coastal-North Otago55456058993,57044,490
Southland45846047322,22725,843
        Total, South Island3 4403 4693 6964119,752246,373
        Total13,53013,69814,47514983,5231,143,454

Further information

Housing

Annual Accounts and Statistics. Housing Corporation of New Zealand.

Census of Population and Dwellings 1981, Volumes and Bulletins. Department of Statistics.

Fading Expectations—the Crisis in Maori Housing. Department of Maori Affairs, 1986.

Housing in New Zealand. National Housing Commission, 1986.

Infill Housing. National Housing Commission, 1986.

Marriage Breakdown and its Effect on Housing. National Housing Commission, 1985.

Population and Social Trends; Implications for New Zealand Housing. National Housing Commission, 1986.

The Private Residential Landlord and Tenant in Christchurch. National Housing Commission, 1986.

Qualify Evaluation of Residential Buildings. National Housing Commission, 1985.

Report of the Housing Corporation of New Zealand (Parl. paper B.13).

Report of the National Housing Commission (Parl. paper G.30).

Housing costs and finance

Financial Institutions; Their Ability to Lend for Housing. National Housing Commission, 1984.

Urban Heal Estate Market in New Zealand. Valuation Department (six-monthly).

Report of the Valuation Department (Parl. paper G.26).

Building and construction industry

BIAC Report. Building Industry Advisory Council (monthly).

Building Activity Bulletin. Department of Statistics (quarterly and annual).

Building and Construction: Annual Review. Ministry of Works and Development.

Building Statistics. Department of Statistics (annual).

Census of Building and Construction 1984–85. Department of Statistics.

Report of the Building Performance Guarantee Corporation (Parl. paper B.13A).

Report of the Ministry of Works and Development (Parl. paper D.1).

Chapter 21. Energy

21.1 Energy consumption

From 1945 until the early 1970s New Zealand's energy requirements grew on average by some 4 percent per annum. Steady expansion and diversification of the national economy during the 1950s, rising living standards, increasing population, and a fall in the price of energy in real terms, were largely responsible for this growth. Energy policies during this period were aimed principally at providing cheap and reliable supplies to keep up with demand.

But from late 1973 an emerging ‘energy crisis’ brought about a new emphasis on conservation. Shortfalls in electricity production as a result of droughts, which inhibited hydro-electric generation, were coupled with the ‘oil shock’ of the following year to swiftly bring New Zealanders to the realisation that energy was not in future to be as cheap or as plentiful as it had been. Energy has been a major issue for New Zealanders since.

Table 21.1 provides data from which the trends in New Zealand's consumption of primary energy since 1924 can be seen. ‘Primary energy’ is energy first obtained from natural sources, which means that coal is accounted for as it is mined, oil products as they are imported in various degrees of refinement, natural gas as it is taken from the wells at Kapuni and Maui, and so on.

For example, from the table it can be seen that 13 percent of New Zealand's primary oil requirements were derived from Maui and Kapuni condensate in 1981, and 20 percent in 1982. This decreased to 17.6 percent in 1983. Petroleum imports decreased as a percentage of total national imports of all goods during the 1981–86 period from 21.2 percent in 1981 to 10.0 percent in 1986.

In the table ‘primary electricity’ is that generated from hydro and geothermal sources. For these, generation efficiencies are ignored, and the measure of the primary energy is electricity generated. This is justifiable in the case of hydro-electricity, where the generation efficiency is high, but a large quantity of energy is wasted in producing electricity from geothermal heat. However, the wasted energy is low grade, and for the sake of simplicity is not shown in the table.

Table 21.2 provides a similar historical description of consumer energy consumption, while table 21.3 describes how primary energy supply was used to meet demand in the major sectors of the economy for 1985. Energy use in these sectors is expressed as percentages in table 21.4.

In a number of tables in this chapter, energy is measured in petajoules. The joule is the metric unit of energy and makes comparisons between the different forms of energy possible. For convenience the petajoule, (PJ) or 1015 joules is often used.

Table 21.1. TRENDS IN THE CONSUMPTION OF PRIMARY ENERGY

Calendar YearCoalWoodOilNatural GasPrimary ElectricityTotal*Imported Oil as Percentage of Total
ImportedIndigenous

* Because of rounding, totals may differ slightly from sums of individual figures.

† Does not include figures for International transport.

Source: Ministry of Energy.

    Petajoules    
192475..100.58611
193456..1937824
194472..30710928
195466..591413942
196466..1033420351
197462..1938145533258
197947..17518477035749
198054..18416377336451
198145x1139214674326x42
1982462312732816937834
198354x15121328774383x32
19845215142411157744232
1985P5216134491407546630

Table 21.2. TRENDS IN CONSUMER ENERGY CONSUMPTION

Calendar YearSolid*OilGasElectricityTotal

* Includes wood.

Source: Ministry of Energy.

   Petajoules  
19245952166
193449192373
1944623028102
19545559216132
19644890230170
197441151758257
1980381581570281
1981511432369286
1982591422676303
1983x431373383294
1984x401404883311
1985P351365484309

Table 21.3. ENERGY SUPPLY AND DEMAND, 1985

Supply and Demand of EnergySource of EnergyTotal
Solid FuelOilGasHydro GeothermalElectricity

* Decreases in stock levels appear as negative stock changes. Such decreases in stocks have to be added to indigenous production (+ imports – exports) in order to obtain figures of energy consumed. Increases in stocks have to be deducted from production in order to obtain figures of energy consumed.

† Includes fuel used in gas manufacture, and production of solid fuels such as cones from carbonisation plants, etc.

Source: Ministry of Energy.

   Petajoules  
Indigenous production68.6748.54140.5375.28333.03
Plus, Imports1.50134.93136.43
Less, Exports11.9019.9331.83
Less, International Transport20.0520.05
Stock changes*11.00−5.000.276.27
        Primary energy consumed47.27148.48140.2775.28411.30
Less, used in electricity generation10.101.4560.0675.28146.89
Less, used in liquid fuel production71.399.690.1681.23
Plus, secondary production0.1567.810.7097.60166.27
        Total energy available37.32143.4671.2297.45349.44
Less
Consumption by energy sector and losses2.580.806.0913.5723.04
Non-energy use6.2611.5017.76
        Total consumer energy (calculated)34.74136.3953.6283.88308.64
        Total consumer energy (observed)36.14138.1853.6184.02311.96
Energy demand—
  Industry18.0224.2638.9434.39115.60
  Transport0.08106.075.850.12112.12
  Domestic13.521.221.4232.7748.92
  Commercial and other uses4.526.647.4116.7535.31

The following points should be considered when examining table 21.3:

  • ○ Marsden Point refinery was shut down for expansion Jul–Dec 1985, accounting for increased oil imports and oil exports.

  • ○ The Taranaki synthetic fuels plant was commissioned late in 1985. Production is included with refinery production in row ‘secondary production’.

  • ○ Lpg production is included in indigenous oil production.

  • ○ The recorded consumer energy of gas has increased markedly over the previous year due to:

    1. Moving 11.5 PJ of use from non-energy use to consumer energy. This is an estimate of the gas used as energy in the ammonia-urea and methanol plants (as opposed to feedstock—the non-energy component).

    2. Fixing a double counting error in the same place.

Table 21.4. MARKET SHARES OF ENERGY RESOURCES, 1985

SourceIndustry and CommerceTransport (Incl. International Transport)HouseholdsThermal Electricity Generation
  Percent 
Oil20.594.62.52.0
Solid fuel14.90.127.614.1
Gas (natural and manufactured)30.75.22.983.9
Electricity33.90.167.0
        Total100.00100.00100.00100.00
Source: Ministry of Energy.

Oil.

Until the oil crisis in 1973 and the fourfold increase in the price of oil, there had been a rapid growth in the use of oil in New Zealand. This had been the result of its declining cost in real terms, its versatility, its convenience and the increasing affluence of the population.

In the year ended 31 December 1985, New Zealand used a total of 3 522 000 tonnes of petroleum products. 1986 was a transitional year for imports and production, with some 30 percent entering as refinery feedstock, and 70 percent as refined products.

Pursuant to its membership of the International Energy Agency, New Zealand is required to hold 100 days' gross stock cover for oil imports. This is held by the oil industry and government. Oil stocks at the main ports range from 22–31 days' cover for motor gasoline, 33–41 days' cover for automotive diesel, and 95–162 days' for aviation gasoline.

Gas.

New Zealand currently has four gas fields in production. These are the Kapuni field, which has been producing since 1970, the Maui field (largest of the four) which has been in production since 1979, and the McKee and Kaimiro fields, which both began production in 1984.

Maui and Kapuni gas is used by the New Plymouth, Huntly and Stratford power stations, as the feedstock for the methanol plant at Waitara and the ammonia-urea plant at Kapuni, and by many domestic and industrial consumers. It is also used at the synthetic fuels plant at Motunui where it is converted into methanol and then into gasoline. Other possible uses and users of the gas are also being considered.

Gas has been allocated to reticulation (including cng), electricity generation, methanol manufacture, synthetic gasoline production, and ammonia-urea manufacture.

Organisations for developing gas/condensate resources.

On 31 March 1978, the state-owned Petroleum Corporation of New Zealand Ltd (Petrocorp) was formed to take responsibility for the Government's interests in petroleum and natural gas. Present subsidiaries are: Natural Gas Corporation Ltd, responsible for purchase, transport and wholesale marketing of natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas; Offshore Mining Company Ltd, responsible for the Government's participation in the Maui field through its 50 percent shareholding in Maui Development Ltd, which manages the Maui project for extraction and onshore delivery of gas and condensate; Petrochemical Corporation of New Zealand Ltd (Petrochem), which owns the ammonia-urea plant, jointly with Alberta Gas Chemicals Ltd, Petragas Chemicals New Zealand Ltd, which owns the chemical methanol plant; and Petroleum Corporation of New Zealand (Exploration) Ltd, which holds the Government's interests in offshore petroleum exploration and also conducts its own onshore exploration programme. Liquigas Ltd has been formed to distribute lpg nationally to bulk installations. It consists of six participants; Rockgas, New Zealand Industrial Gases, Offshore Mining Company, Shell, BP, and Todd Petroleum.

21.2 Energy resources

Until late 1973 there seemed little difficulty in meeting the expanding demand for energy from a combination of indigenous resources and imported petroleum, and New Zealand was becoming increasingly dependent on imported fuel. The oil supply embargo announced in October 1973 by the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries sounded a clear warning of the danger that this entailed. As well as dramatically illustrating the fact that oil was no longer a reliable energy source in terms of supply, the fourfold price increases that followed the lifting of the embargo meant that oil was no longer a cheap commodity.

New Zealand's oil bill rose from $114 million in 1973 to $1,685 million in 1983, and this, coupled with uncertainty about the reliability of future supplies, made it necessary for New Zealand to adopt policies aimed at reducing petroleum consumption and decreasing dependence on imported energy.

Policies were thus put into place, and have been in operation since to meet these goals. New Zealand has significant natural energy resources. There are reserves of coal and natural gas, extensive geothermal fields, and a geographical structure which has enabled substantial hydro-electric development. After the first ‘energy crisis’, programmes for the exploitation of these resources were accelerated. Oil and gas exploration was increased, development of all indigenous energy resources was accelerated, and energy conservation programmes were developed and promoted. In combination these policies had considerable effect, and they have enabled New Zealand in recent years to supply a significant proportion of its energy requirements, particularly in electricity generation. During 1986, for instance, some 8.473 petajoules of electricity were generated on average per month. Of this, some 6.674 petajoules came from hydro-electric stations; and only 0.001 petajoules, on average, were generated from imported oil.

Emphasis has also been placed on the controlled exploitation of these reserves, in order to ensure that New Zealand will retain the position that it has achieved. Natural gas reserves in particular have come under scrutiny as they have become more important. It is cheaper to engage in major energy-production from gas than from coal, the other major resource. Utilisation of natural gas has been extended, particularly to the supply of motor-vehicle fuels, with direct cng/lpg car conversions, and with the opening of the Motunui synthetic gasoline plant. A steadily expanding gas reticulation network has permitted increasing domestic and industrial use.

The size of the Maui gas resource is uncertain, although it remains central to future energy policy development. If recoverable reserves from the field are established at 4000 PJ, as seems likely, then gas supply to all current users is probably assured and New Zealand's level of energy security, based on natural gas, condensate, and indigenous oil production, will remain at an appropriate level well into the twenty-first century. If the gas reserves prove to be substantially less, or when the field is eventually depleted, emphasis may well shift by the turn of the century to other forms of indigenous energy, such as coal, or even renewable sources such as timber.

Table 21.5. ESTIMATED RECOVERABLE FOSSIL FUEL RESOURCES, AS AT 1 APRIL 1986

FuelReserves

* Compiled from assessments of four Individual fields.

Source: Ministry of Energy.

CoalMeasured 555 million tonnes
Indicated 7 005 million tonnes
Inferred 985 million tonnes
        Total8 545 million tonnes (115 000 PJ)
Oil*Expected recoverable reserves:
1 029 PJ
Gas*Expected recoverable reserves:
5 663 PJ

21.3 Energy policy

In the past, the energy sector was subject to direct government intervention entailing centralised planning and control. Recently, this approach has been replaced by a ‘freeing-up’ of central controls and a greater reliance on the market as the best means of driving decision-making. This move has dramatically changed the emphasis of policy development within government.

For the energy sector, this has meant two major policy thrusts towards deregulation and restructuring. These developments are a direct outcome of the general programme of economic reform now occurring within New Zealand. ‘Deregulation’ refers to the ending of government intervention in the affairs of the community and the economy. ‘Restructuring’ can be defined as the re-shaping of the institutions that operate in the market, as opposed to the shaping of their environment through deregulation.

Deregulation and restructuring of the energy sector

In the economic area, deregulation is specifically aimed at exposing the economy to market pressures by opening up markets to competition and removing subsidies and controls which interfere with market forces. Deregulation also aims to make access to markets easier for potential participants. However, it is generally accepted that some form of regulation will continue to be necessary to manage those activities which are unsuited to open-market operation, or in which market forces are clearly a deficient discipline. These core areas, such as those relating to safety, will continue to require government intervention.

Energy pricing has been an important factor in promoting a more commercial approach. Reform has centred on the need to ensure that prices reflect the true cost of energy used, allowing all sectors to accurately assess the performance of different forms of energy. The underlying rationale in commercialisation and a market-driven approach is improved performance of the entire energy system.

Recent restructuring in the energy sector has been extensive. The driving force behind it has been the Government's programme of ‘corporatisation’. This process has resulted in the trading activities within the state services being separated from the non-trading functions and transformed into state-owned enterprises.

This process has resulted in the termination of State Coal Mines and the Electricity Division as divisions of the Ministry of Energy. They have been replaced by two new entities, the Coal Corporation and the Electricity Corporation who join Petrocorp as state-owned enterprises. Like the other newly created state-owned enterprises, they have limited liability under the Companies Act, but are also subject to special accountability and control provisions under the State Owned Enterprises Act. The question of their monitoring is currently being addressed, as is the question of regulatory monitoring.

The ministry's Gas and Geothermal Trading Group has also been separated from non-trading regulatory activities in this area.

A further factor of key importance in the energy sector is the existence of the several energy-related state-owned enterprises with monopolies in their own markets, which are, nevertheless, closely linked through the overall energy market.

Geothermal.

The geothermal energy market is dominated by the Crown, either through the Ministry's Gas and Geothermal Trading Group, or Electricorp. Future options are to retain the existing system; to transfer the Crown's activities to an existing state-owned enterprise or transfer all of the Crown's interests to the private sector.

Coal.

The creation of the Coal Corporation has been the major restructuring initiative in this industry. The corporation will be much more competitive with other coal producers than was its predecessor, State Coal Mines.

Oil industry.

In 1987 the Government progressively removed some of the controls on the oil industry. Minimum-price controls were removed from petrol in February and maximum-price controls from diesel and fuel oils in July. The maximum-price control on petrol will remain until the oil industry is deregulated. Discussions have taken place with the oil industry on deregulation, which would open up the market to new wholesalers and imports of refined products.

In 1987 Petrocorp purchased the Government's 51 percent of the McKee oil field and the Kaimiro gas and condensate field.

The Government is a 75 percent shareholder in the NZ Synthetic Fuels Corporation Ltd (the other shareholder is the Mobil Corporation), which processes the gas to petrol for a tolling fee. It also participates in the venture through the trading arm of the Ministry of Energy, the Gas and Geothermal Trading Group, which supplies gas to the plant and is responsible for synthetic petrol sales. Consideration is being given to combining these separate functions into a single organisation.

Natural gas industry.

Government-owned organisations which are involved in the natural gas industry are the Natural Gas Corporation (part of Petrocorp) and the Gas and Geothermal Trading Group. The Natural Gas Corporation is the wholesaler of natural gas to the reticulated gas market. The Gas and Geothermal Trading Group, in addition to its role in the synthetic fuels venture, administers the purchase of Maui gas on behalf of the Government and then sells gas to the Natural Gas Corporation and major users such as Electricorp and Petralgas.

There is currently little competition between suppliers in the gas industry, with the Natural Gas Corporation supplying all retailers, and retailers having exclusive franchises to supply particular areas. Wholesale and retail gas prices are controlled by the Commerce Commission. The removal of price controls is seen as one of the main elements of the deregulation in the gas industry, but because of the established monopolies some organisational changes will be required beforehand.

As government itself is a major participant in the gas industry, restructuring will involve some reorganisation of government interests. A move towards a more commercially-oriented presence in the gas industry occurred with the sale of shares in Petrocorp. In mid-1987, some 200 million Petrocorp shares were issued, of which 100 million were taken up by Brierley Investments Ltd, and 100 million were offered to the general public. In effect this has changed the status of Petrocorp from a state-owned enterprise to a private company, albeit with a substantial government shareholding. The level of government shareholding may be further reduced in the 1988–89 financial year.

The partial sale of Petrocorp has been made independently of gas industry deregulation and has not been intended as a step towards encouraging greater competition in the gas industry. Further restructuring of government interests in the gas industry will be aimed at promoting greater competition by freeing up access to previously restricted markets.

21.4 Electricity

New Zealand's topography, particularly the South Island, is well suited to hydro-electricity, and has resulted in a dominance of this form of generation. In the year ended 31 March 1986 hydro stations generated 73 percent of the nation's electricity. Of the balance, 23 percent was produced by conventional thermal generation fueled by gas, coal and oil, and the remaining 4 percent came from the geothermal power station at Wairakei.

The structure of the electricity industry is essentially two-tiered. The first teir being the Electricity Corporation of New Zealand (as from 1 April 1987) which is responsible for the generation of most of the nation's electricity and its transmission by way of a national grid. At the second level, supply authorities buy this bulk electricity and distribute and sell it to the end consumer.

Electricity Corporation of New Zealand Limited

The Electricity Corporation's role is the economic and efficient generation and delivery of electricity to supply authorities.

While the corporation is a new state-owned enterprise, its history extends over many decades. Originally it was known as the State Hydro-electric Department, then as the NZ Electricity Department and, until April 1987, as the Electricity Division of the Ministry of Energy. Today, the business of Electricorp is organised according to commercial principles with units responsible for generation, transmission, and the design and construction of facilities.

Since 1986, the Ministry of Energy has assumed the regulatory functions previously carried out by the former Electricity Division. The ministry sets rules and standards for all aspects of the electricity Industry, such as for the safety of electrical workers, and for electrical appliances. It also administers regulations for the supply of homes and businesses, and advises the Government on all aspects of the electricity sector.

Table 21.6. ELECTRICITY DIVISION INCOME AND EXPENDITURE, 1986

ItemYear Ended 31 March 1986

* These figures represent transfers within the electrical supply industry and therefore do not represent additional income or expenditure to the industry.

Source: Ministry of Energy.

Income—$(000)
  Gross income (including bulk sales and standby charges, excluding rates)2,524,772
  Income from bulk sales to supply authorities*916,681
  Net income (excluding rates, bulk sales, and standby charges)1,608,091
Expenditure—
  Operating (including cost of energy purchased in bulk)1,394,049
  Cost of energy purchased in bulk*916,681
Expenditure—
  Operating (excluding cost of energy purchased in bulk)477,368
  Trading, administration and general220,022
  Loan interest and depreciation568,540
  Net annual expenditure (excluding cost of energy purchased in bulk)1,265,929
  Surplus342,162

Generation

The Electricity Corporation of NZ Ltd has 38 power stations (see table 21.10) which produce 96 percent of the nation's electricity. The other 4 percent comes from supply authorities' own generation schemes.

The first government scheme was opened in 1914 at Lake Coleridge; beginning a policy of hydro development which resulted in the construction of 15 hydro schemes before the first thermal station was built at Meremere in 1958.

As at 31 March 1986 the division/corporation had 30 hydro-electric stations with a maximum capacity of 4648 megawatts (63 percent of total capacity) while the remaining eight thermal stations have a capacity of 2787 megawatts (37 percent of total capacity). The high fuel costs involved in operating thermal stations as compared to hydro generally mean that hydro stations actually produce a larger percentage of the nation's electricity (73 percent in the 1985–86 year).

This difference between maximum capacity and actual output (on average) is expressed as the annual load factor, in percentage form. The higher the percentage the more often the station is used. From the figures in table 21.10 it can be seen that hydro stations run more regularly than thermal stations. Wairakei, being geothermal, is the exception because it draws on a natural and relatively continuous resource.

Table 21.7. MEANS OF GENERATION OF ELECTRICAL ENERGY FOR PUBLIC SUPPLY

Year Ended 31 MarchGenerated by Means ofTotal
HydroSteamOil/Gas
  kWh(million) 
198118 927.93 050.0132.722 110.6
198219 538.83 106.8317.022 962.7
198317 987.15 636.3678.024 301.3
198420 198.95 084.0572.025 854.9
198520 107.46 343.5313.726 7646
198619 706.66 683.0627.527 017.1
Source: Ministry of Energy.

Table 21.8. GENERATION AND DISPOSAL

Year Ended 31 MarchGenerated for Public Supply bySold RetailNon-productive
Electricity DivisionSupply AuthoritiesOther Sources*Total

* Including local hydro.

Source: Ministry of Energy.

   kWh(million)  
198121,5395561522,11119,5402,570
198222,2397101422,96320,1042,858
198323,6196661624,30121,3712,930
198424,9978411725,85523,0272,828
198525,7549921926,76523,9942,771
198625,9851,0191327,01724,2752,742

Table 21.9. DISTRIBUTION OF POWER

Year Ended 31 MarchDomestic*IndustrialCommercialFarmingPublic LightingRail and Bus TractionTotalNumber of Consumers

* Includes domestic water-heating units.

Source: Ministry of Energy.

    kWh(million)   
19818,0357,7033,1934571233019,5401 363 165
19828,2657,7813,4274761262920,1041 377 682
19838,7338,2313,7345161282921,3711 396 783
19848,9819,4243,9624991303123,0271 417 606
19858,9989,9954,2246131353023,9941 436 730
19869,08010,0384,4175781323024,2751 462 735

Table 21.10. POWER STATIONS

StationInstalled Capacity at 31 March 1986Static HeadEnergy Generation Year Ended 31 March 1986Load Factor Year Ended 31 March 1986
Number of UnitsMW*

* In-situ maximum' rating.

† New station.

Source: Ministry of Energy.

   metres HydrokWh (million)percent
Arapuni815653801.159.50
Aratiatia38434324.543.43
Atiamuri48125285.839.50
Karapiro39630486.259.87
Mangahao52027388.849.44
Maraetai1036061786.527.50
Matahina27261291.444.60
Ohakuri411235394.939.55
Rangipo2120206406.738.12
Tokaanu4200208692.436.12
Waikaremoana—
  Kaitawa232135143.049.86
  Piripaua240113177.6
  Tual356206269.9
Waipapa35116241.252.64
Whakamaru410038489.351.34
Arnold231321.072.80
Aviemore424037863.440.83
Benmore6540922 140.343.09
Cobb632594177.461.38
Coleridge935149175.855.44
Highbank12510197.740.28
Manapouri75901773 742172.11
Monowai364728.847.67
Ohau ‘A’4264581 122.549.53
Ohau ‘B’421248892.648.55
Ohau ‘C’421248716.249.82
Roxburgh8320461 557.553.91
Tekapo ‘A’12530
Tekapo ‘B’2160146807.158.35
Waitaki710521465.656.01
North Island supply authorities49165617.9..
South Island supply authorities39134400.7..
South Island private plant  0.2..
        Subtotal, hydro2154 64819 706.5
Huntly49483 012.855.68
Marsden223037.11.84
Meremere6170130.221.92
New Plymouth56002 381.447.20
Otahuhu6259117.310.87
Stratford4208506.726.77
Wairakei91461 109.189.79
Whirinaki42163.20.16
North Island supply authorities380.2..
South Island supply authorities420.05..
North Island private plant....16.1..
South Island private plant  2.5..
        Subtotal, thermal482 7877 316.85..
Total2637 43527 017.1..

Although there is still potential for further hydro development, there are only two major projects currently under construction. The first of these is the Clyde dam which will have a maximum capacity of 432 MW and a commissioning date of early 1989. The other scheme is the Ohaaki geothermal station which will have a capacity of 100 MW and has a planned commissioning date of 1988.

While the Electricity Corporation will no doubt continue to be the major generating organisation in New Zealand, it and the present supply authorities may not be the only participants in that market.

New regulations for the electricity transmission industry will come into effect on 1 January 1988, and there will no longer be restrictions on any party seeking access to the generation market. Electricity produced may be sold to either the corporation or other customers. All parties will have the right of access to the national transmission network on non-discriminatory terms.

Planning for electricity

The forward planning of electricity consumption, on the basis of which the Electricity Division drew up its construction programme, has in the past been the job of the Electricity Sector Forecasting Committee, and the Ministry of Energy. However, since 1 April 1987 the Electricity Corporation has been responsible for its own forecasting and its own construction programme.

The construction programme of power projects has slowed down in recent years as the national demand for electricity has levelled off. (Table 21.11 shows estimates of electricity consumption up until the year 2005.)

The graph shows the growth in the use of electric power, and the principal purposes for which the power was used.

Table 21.11. ESTIMATES OF ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION

1986 Electricity Sector Forecasting Committee Estimates
Year Ended 31 MarchLowExpectedHigh
  GWh 
198727,90028,10028,600
198829,10029,40029,800
198929,90030,20031,000
199030,60031,00031,600
199131,20031,70032,400
199231,50032,20033,100
199331,80032,70033,800
199432,10033,30034,500
199532,50033,90035,600
199632,80034,60036,400
199733,30035,50037,400
199833,80036,40038,700
199934,20037,30040,100
200034,90038,10041,100
200135,90038,80042,100
200637,90043,20047,300
Source: Ministry of Energy.

Supply authorities

Electricity distribution is the responsibility of 61 supply authorities. The authorities are licensed to supply electricity to particular areas under the terms of the Electricity Act, 1968. They buy electricity in bulk from the Electricity Corporation of NZ Ltd and then sell it to individual consumers.

Thirty-eight of the supply authorities are ad hoc local bodies called electric power boards (one, Rotorua, is called an area electricity authority) with the sole function of providing electricity and related services in their districts. One other ad hoc authority (the Hurt Valley Energy Board) distributes gas as well as electricity. The remainder (22) are territorial authorities (municipalities or counties) which are responsible for distribution of electricity as well as a range of other services.

In Southland, however, distribution is at present the responsibility of the Southland Electricity Power Supply, the assets being owned by the Crown. This has been the case since 1936, when the Government took over the operations of the Southland Electricity Power Board which had severe financial difficulties. The future of this last direct government involvement in retail supply is to be resolved by March 1988.

Supply authorities range in their physical size from 3 square kilometres (Riccarton Borough Council) to Southland Electricity Power Supply with an area of 28 740 square kilometres. In terms of consumption, Auckland Electric Power Board is currently the largest with 3284 GWh in the 1985–86 financial year and the smallest is Taumarunui Borough Council with 19 GWh.

The distribution of the expenditure per kWh sold retail during 1985–86 was as follows: operating expenses 1.966 cents; trading, administration and general 0.906 cents; and loan interest and depreciation 2.342 cents, giving a total expenditure of 5.215 cents per kWh sold retail.

The income per kWh sold in 1985–86 was, by categories; domestic 5.885 cents; commercial 9.351 cents; industrial 4.459 cents; farming 9.421 cents; public lighting 7.067 cents; railway traction 9.900 cents; urban traction 6.102 cents.

Table 21.12. SUMMARY OF SUPPLY AUTHORITIES, 1986*

ItemUnitYear Ended 31 March 1986

* Includes the Electricity Division of the Ministry of Energy.

† In-situ maximum' rating.

‡ Electricity Division only.

§ Includes starting oil.

|| Excluding stocks of materials.

Source: Ministry of Energy.

Generating stationsNo.95
Capacity of generatorskW(000)7,435
Fuel used
  Coaltonnes394,392
  Light oil§tonnes3,644
  Heavy oiltonnes28,074
  Natural gasterajoules60,432
Staff employedNo.15,750
Capital expenditure (less provision for depreciation) ||
  During year (net outlay)$(m)456.3
  To date$(m)5 067.7
Generation and sales—
  Generation per head of mean populationkWh8,235
  Retail sales per head of mean populationkWh7,399
  Domestic consumption per domestic consumerkWh7,511
Income from total retail sales of electricity per kWh sold to consumerscents6.021

Local hydro.

Twenty-six of the supply authorities run small generating schemes (56 plants in total) ranging in output from 0.2 MW to 53 MW. The vast majority are small hydro schemes and they accounted for 4 percent of the nation's electricity needs in 1985–86, with a total capacity of 309 MW.

Rural Electrical Reticulation Council.

The council was established in 1945 and operates under the terms of the Electricity Act 1968. It has the responsibility of providing annual subsidies towards the cost of supplying electricity to areas which could not by themselves meet the expense of reticulation. These subsidies are funded by an annual levy on electricity sales. The council subsidises not only distribution lines but also private generating sets when these are a more economical alternative.

Although most of the country is reticulated with electricity, there are still a few areas which are not, such as the off-shore islands and remote rural districts.

An important development affecting the council's operations was the introduction of the revised Electricity Supply Regulations on 1 October 1984. The new regulations changed the basis on which supply authorities and consumers share the cost of mains supply. They also replaced an earlier guarantee system with new rules covering uneconomic supply.

In 1986 subsidy payments to 59 power boards and 41 private generating set owners totalled $1.25 million. In 1987 a subsidy of $0.5 million is expected to be approved for a centralised generating plant to supply Stewart Island consumers.

Further information

Annual Statistics in Relation to Electric Power Development and Operation in New Zealand. Ministry of Energy.

Energy Issues 1986 (Parl. paper D. 6A).

Energy Research, Development and Investigations: Programme Review and Priorities 1984–85. Ministry of Energy.

Gas Sector Forecast and Plan 1985. Ministry of Energy.

Monthly Abstract of Statistics. Department of Statistics.

Nuclear Power Generation in New Zealand (Parl. paper H. 4, 1978).

Report of the Liquid Fuels Trust Board of New Zealand (Parl. paper D. 8).

Report of the Ministry of Energy (Parl. paper D. 6).

Report of the New Zealand Gas Council (Parl. paper D. 7).

Report to the New Zealand Government of the Fact Finding Group on Nuclear Power (Parl. paper D. 9 1977).

White Paper on Export Coal-Sales Contract (Parl. paper D. 11).

White Paper on Liquigas Assurances (Parl. paper D. 12).

White Paper on New Zealand Synthetic Fuels Corporation Limited Venture Contracts (Parl. paper D. 11).

White Paper on Petralgas Supply Contract (Parl. paper D. 13).

Chapter 22. Transport and communication

The evolution of New Zealand's transport system is characterised not only by the country's remoteness from many of its trading partners, but also by its relatively small population being spread over two main islands with a combined length of nearly 2000 kilometres.

International air and telecommunications links have helped overcome the country's isolation, but there is still a heavy reliance on sea transport for overseas trade.

The establishment of road and rail links to ports served by refrigerated cargo ships has been an important factor in New Zealand's development as one of the world's major exporters of meat and dairy products. Comprehensive railway and road networks have been established over difficult terrain, frequently through innovative engineering, and at a capital cost that is high when compared with the population affected.

More recently, air services have developed to link not only the major cities, but also to provide regular flights to all provincial centres and, through smaller carriers, to many other towns and cities.

Much of this development of transport has been completed by government departments and corporations acting as monopolies. Recently a new trend has emerged—that of deregulation—and in most sectors of the transport industry there have been changes.

Legislation that encouraged the use of railways by imposing distance limits on road transport operators has been discontinued. A number of smaller airlines have been allowed to compete against the state-owned Air New Zealand, and in mid-1987 the privately-owned Ansett New Zealand began flying major domestic routes in direct competition.

A significant event affecting the country's railways was the turning of the former Railways Department into the Railways Corporation in 1982—spearheading a number of major changes in that industry.

22.1 Shipping

Over 90 percent of New Zealand exports by value are carried by sea, along with a similar proportion of imports. Coastal shipping, although it has diminished over recent decades, also remains a viable means of transport within New Zealand—particularly as inter-island ferries and for the bulk transport of such products as cement and fuels.

The development of the container ship, the unitised cargo ship, the roll-on/roll-off ship, and barge carrying systems such as the ‘lash’ (lighter aboard ship) system have brought about a world-wide revolution in the handling of maritime cargoes, and a new concept of the co-ordination of transport through the substitution of capital-intensive for labour-intensive operations. There is no sign that this revolution is coming to an end. The continuing increase in capital and operating costs, particularly the cost of fuel, has intensified the search for improved efficiency in vessels and cargo-handling methods.

Recent innovations include the hybrid vessel, combining for example lift-on and roll-on capability for greater flexibility and speed of turnaround, and improved hull and propeller design, as well as more fuel-efficient propulsion units.

New Zealand, as a country that lives by overseas trade, has had to adapt to such technological changes which extend throughout the entire transport chain from factory to port.

Overseas liner services

United Kingdom/Europe.

The New Zealand European Shipping Association and the New Zealand and United Kingdom Shipowners' Committee continued to play a pre-eminent role in the carriage of New Zealand exports to Europe. The New Zealand European Shipping Association serves Mediterranean and Northern European ports, and comprises three British and eight European lines, the Australian National Line, and the Shipping Corporation of New Zealand (trading as the New Zealand Line); whilst the New Zealand and United Kingdom Shipowners' Committee serves the United Kingdom and comprises three British lines, the Australian National Line, and the New Zealand Line. Competition from independent lines operating outside conference arrangements remains strong.

East Asia/South-east Asia.

New Zealand's outward liner trade to East Asia/South-east Asia is served by one conference, a joint service, and a number of independent operators. The New Zealand Line is a member of the Australian and New Zealand Eastern Shipping Conference, the New Zealand arm of which provides a direct container service between New Zealand and Japan.

A trans-shipment service to China has operated since 1985. New Zealand vessels carry cargoes to and from Australia for connection to China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) vessels.

Americas.

United Kingdom, West German, Belgian and New Zealand carriers supply most of the tonnage employed in liner services to these areas. Changes to United States regulations governing liner shipping have recently opened the way for shipowners to establish rationalised services similar to those found in other New Zealand trades.

Trans-Tasman.

A joint venture between the New Zealand Line and the Australian National Line was begun in mid-1983 with the introduction of an Australian-manned vessel. It has since been expanded by the introduction of a New Zealand-manned ship in February 1984 and by the addition of a second, larger New Zealand-manned vessel in August 1985 (with its smaller predecessor withdrawn in May 1986). The Union Steam Ship Company continues its established roll-on/roll-off operations, complemented by the introduction of the container ship Union Endeavour in June 1986, which replaced the Union Sydney and Union Dunedin. The re-engining programme for the turbine-powered Union Rotoiti and Union Rotorua progressed, with Union Rotoiti re-entering service in June 1986.

Tasman Pulp and Paper's specialised-product-carriers continue to carry general cargo, and BHP's steel-product carriers also offered general cargo space ex-New Zealand. The New Zealand Line, the Australian National Line and the Pacific Tasman Line continue to carry some trans-Tasman cargo while participating in other trades. The most recent addition to the trans-Tasman trade is the Tasman Express Line, which began operations in mid-1985 with a single vessel and introduced a second in December 1985.

Middle East.

Direct container services to Middle East ports are provided by two United Kingdom carriers operating a joint service, and by a Japanese shipowner. Container services are also offered by some of the lines involved in the New Zealand—United Kingdom/Europe conference trade while a number of other operators supplied container trans-shipment services. Chartered conventional tonnage continues to play an important part in this trade.

South Pacific

Pacific Forum Line—This regional shipping venture was established in June 1977 under the auspices of the South Pacific Forum. It operates three container vessels (one contributed by New Zealand) in a service linking New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Western Samoa, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia and Australia, with a feeder service to Tuvalu and Kiribati. The New Zealand vessel contribution was increased to a larger vessel, Forum New Zealand II, in 1987.

Other services—The governments of the Cook Islands, Niue and New Zealand have maintained a shipping service between their countries using two small conventional vessels, the Tiane Moana and Fetu Moana, which also traded to Tahiti. During 1987 they were replaced by one larger container vessel, under the management of the Pacific Forum Line.

Other shipping from New Zealand to the South Pacific is provided by New Zealand, French, Fijian, Polish, Norwegian and Tongan vessels.

Overseas bulk services

In tonnage terms, most of New Zealand's external trade is carried in bulk vessels. While a certain amount of bulk tonnage is dedicated to the trade—such as the two trans-Tasman forest product carriers owned by Tasman Pulp and Paper, and the bulk ore vessel used to carry alumina from Queensland to the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter—New Zealand's bulk-shipping needs are served in the main by a fluid mix of vessels.

Cargoes carried by these vessels (frequently registered in open-registry countries like Liberia and Panama) include crude oil, phosphate rock and petroleum coke inwards, and ironsands, coal and forest products outwards.

Coastal services

A regular and frequent ferry service across Cook Strait between Wellington and Picton, at the head of the Marlborough Sounds, is provided by rail ferries operated by the Railways Corporation. Two of the ferries, the Arahura and Aratika carry both passengers and freight; a third vessel, the Arahanga is confined to the carriage of freight and provides passenger accommodation only for truck drivers and others whose vehicles are carried.

The New Zealand Line vessel Coastal Trader, which provided a roll-on/roll-off service between the ports of Auckland, Onehunga and Dunedin, was withdrawn from service in November 1986. Union Steam Ship Company vessels engaged in trans-Tasman trade continue to carry cargo between New Zealand ports. Pacifica Shipping Limited, now owned by the Union Company, also operates the freight-only roll-on/roll-off vessel Spirit of Competition between Wellington and Lyttelton.

The government continued to subsidise a freight-only shipping service to the Chatham Islands while a private operator has provided a passenger/freight service to Stewart Island since September 1985.

Coastal bulk shipping.

Bulk cement distribution was handled by four small cement carriers operated by New Zealand Cement Holdings Ltd (2), the Tarakohe Shipping Company Ltd (1), and Wilsons (N.Z.) Portland Cement Ltd (1). Four product tankers operated by the Union Steam Ship Company on behalf of the oil industry distributed petroleum products from the Marsden Point oil refinery, whilst the Liquigas LPG carrier Tarihiko operates under New Zealand Shipping Corporation management.

Shipping Corporation of New Zealand

The corporation was established by Act of Parliament in 1973 and commenced trading in 1974 as a wholly government-owned national shipping line. Its objectives include:

  • ○ Establishing, maintaining, and operating shipping services both on the New Zealand coast and in foreign trades;

  • ○ Promoting, encouraging, and improving New Zealand's import/export trades; and

  • ○ Participating in negotiations and conferences within the shipping industry, particularly in connection with freight rates.

Since 1985, the corporation has used the trading name New Zealand Line.

United Kingdom/Europe.

The New Zealand Line is a member of the liner conference serving the New Zealand/U.K.-Europe trade. The New Zealand Line is also a member of the Australia/New Zealand/Europe Container Services (ANZECS) and its flagship, New Zealand Pacific, is chartered to the ANZECS consortium. In return, the New Zealand Line has a 15 percent slot-share in all ANZECS vessels.

Caribbean/United States Gulf service.

The New Zealand Line is a member of a joint service serving the trade between New Zealand and the Caribbean area in its Caribbean/east coast-North America service.

North America.

The New Zealand Line operates an intermodal service, the Australia New Zealand Container Line (ANZCL), between Australia, New Zealand and North America. From the west coast of North America the cargoes are carried by road and rail to destinations throughout Canada and the United States. Three vessels are employed in the service, New Zealand Line's container ship New Zealand Caribbean, and two time-chartered United Kingdom flagships, of which the 1500-container TEU Discovery Bay represents a significant increase in service capacity, replacing the 766-container TEU Dunedin late in 1985.

East Asia.

The New Zealand Line is a member of the Australian and New Zealand/Eastern Shipping Conference, the New Zealand arm of which provides a direct container service between New Zealand and Japan. The New Zealand Line serves its 12 percent trade share by chartering container space aboard the three container ships Godwit, Australia Mary (both Japanese flag) and Aotea (U.K. flag).

South Pacific.

The New Zealand Line at present manages and operates the Cook Islands/Niue/New Zealand Joint Shipping Service on behalf of the governments of the three countries, and two New Zealand Line vessels serve the trade under charter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The New Zealand Line also provides and administers the port agency operations in New Zealand in support of the Pacific Forum Line's Solomon Islands—Papua New Guinea service and time-charters the Forum New Zealand to the PFL with financial help from the New Zealand Government.

Coastal trade.

The New Zealand Line's roll-on/roll-off vessel, Coasted Trader, which had operated a freight-only weekly service between Auckland, Lyttelton and Dunedin since March 1974, was withdrawn from service in November 1986 and will not be replaced.

Other activities.

The New Zealand Line manages the LPG carrier Tarihiko and the seagoing crews for the Pacific Ataawhai and Northern Tide, as well as offshore and supply vessels employed in the Maui offshore gas field.

The New Zealand Line's Container Services Division offers a terminal agency service to operators at each of the four container terminals. The container terminal at Wellington is operated by Container Terminals Limited, a 51 percent owned subsidiary of the New Zealand Line.

The New Zealand Line is involved in various forms of broking activity in the international charter market, including ship broking and cargo broking, and acts as the New Zealand agent for a number of overseas shipping lines.

Registration of ships

As at 31 December 1985, there were 2072 ships on the New Zealand register, with a gross tonnage of 367 401 tons and net register tonnage of 200 226 tons. This compares with 1990 ships totalling 328 622 gross tons and 175 258 net register tons as at December 1984.

New registrations of significance included the tugs Hauraki, Seatow 21 and Te Maru; the cargo vessels Kiwi, New Zealand Caribbean, New Zealand Mariner, Sealink, Spirit of Competition, Tasman and Union Auckland, the deep-sea fishing vessel Ohau; the dumb dredge Kaheru, and the research vessel Rapuhia.

Vessels removed from the register during the year included the coastal fishing vessel Marine Countess, which was sold to overseas buyers the cargo vessel Kiwi (as above), whose registry was transferred to Nassau, Bahamas; the cargo vessels Dunedin, Marama and Waitaki and the Stewart Island ferry Wairua, which were sold to overseas buyers; and the cement carrier John Wilson, which was scrapped.

Table 22.1. 22.1 REGISTERED VESSELS INVOLVED IN DOMESTIC AND OVERSEAS TRADE*

YearNumber of VesselsNet Registered TonnageNumber of Crew

* Ships in overseas trade mainly engaged trans-Tasman and Pacific Islands trading movements.

† Shipping is not metricated and 1 net register ton equals 100 cubic feet or 2.83 cubic metres of cargo capacity.

Source: Ministry of Transport.

  Domestic 
19811443,811516
19821444,054517
19831546,260586
19841655,440516
19851756,463541
  Overseas 
19811575,313439
19821575,808441
19831372,488356
19841273,777332
19851396,393369

Port development

The New Zealand Ports Authority was established by statute in 1968. The authority's major function is to co-ordinate national harbour development arising from proposals submitted by harbour boards or other bodies and the authority itself. It also promotes an efficient and integrated ports network. When the cost of port development exceeds specific capital expenditure limits, the consent of the authority is required. Consents granted during the year ended 31 March 1986 amounted to over $16 million.

Since the establishment of cellular container terminals at Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton and Port Chalmers between 1969 and 1977, major port development has centred on multi-purpose facilities at both major and secondary ports and the provision of such specialised facilities as at Port Taranaki (hydrocarbon products). While present trade is depressed and capital development is decreasing, further expansion should be required into the early 1990s to service the growing horticulture and forest product export trades.

Port statistics

Statistics on shipping and cargo in New Zealand date back to 1841. In the earliest publications more prominence was given to the trade of New Zealand ports and the commodities handled than to the countries with which the young colony was trading. From 1968, however, a change in the method of collecting the statistics was made and from that date onwards full country data became available.

Earlier editions of the Yearbook record the massive growth in shipping that took place over the first 80 or so years since 1840, and the associated port development. The decline in ship numbers since the 1920s, accompanied by an increase in the tonnage of shipping, can also be seen from the earlier tables. Special articles on shipping and cargo feature in the Yearbooks of 1895 (Shipping companies) and 1974 (New Zealand ports and shipping developments).

Shipping statistics today are compiled from returns lodged by port authorities. These returns also detail the amount of coastal cargo loaded or unloaded at ports. Overseas cargo details are obtained from customs entry data.

In the year ended December 1985, 10 565 arrivals and 10 577 departures were recorded. The busiest port was Wellington with 2999 arrivals and 3009 departures, although a good proportion of these figures come from the Cook Strait rail ferries and foreign fishing vessels calling at the port for registration and provisioning. By tonnage, Auckland handled over 8 million net registered tons of shipping in the 1985 year, of which over 5 million net registered tons was for ships arriving from overseas ports. Table 22.2 shows the arrivals and departures of vessels for the 1985 calendar year. The imbalance between arrivals and departures at minor ports is caused by difficulties in recording barge traffic and fishing vessels.

Table 22.2. ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES BY PORTS, 1985*

PortArrivalsDeparturesTotal
NumberNet TonnageNumberNet TonnageNumberNet Tonnage
* Year ended 31 December.
Parengarenga10378,38310378,383206156,766
Houhora96,84996,8491813,698
Mangonui86,08886,0881612,176
Opua13112,71013112,71026225,420
Whangarei3322 537 3373362 574 0496685 111 386
Auckland1,0968 297 1541,0958 316 3252,19116 613 479
Onehunga148162,024148162,024296324,048
Tauranga5003 794 1804933 717 2819937 511 461
Taharoa16492,25216482,25232984,504
Gisborne56172,72056172,720112345,440
Port Taranaki4932 308 4814982 325 1859914 633 666
Napier3121 845 2153111 848 1336233 693 348
Waverley5214,3365214,33610428,672
Wanganui3920,3373920,3377840,674
Wellington2,9998 659 8333,0098 736 0006,00817 395 833
Other North Island ports21,52221,52243,044
        Total, North Island6 13128 709 4216 14128 784 19412,27257,493,615
Tarakohe6176,8166176,816122153,632
Nelson3721 471 9663751 480 1877472 952 153
Picton1,7863 055 2801,7813 062 1203,5676 117 400
Westport123153,672124154,933247308,605
Greymouth402,922402,922805,844
Lyttelton9583 594 9889603 600 5211,9187 195 509
Timaru2441 137 0832471 143 4904912 280 573
Otago4283 486 3564273 475 7118556 962 067
Invercargill (Bluff)3061 643 7423051 637 9136113 281 655
Halfmoon Bay10530,55510530,55521061,110
Chatham Islands114,334114,334228,668
        Total, South Island4 43414 657 7144 43614 669 5028 87029 327 216
        Total, New Zealand ports10,56543,367,13510,57743,453,69621,14286,820,831

Shipping movements.

Shipping movements are categorised as either ‘overseas’ or ‘coastwise’. Overseas arrivals and departures are those which have come directly from or have been cleared to a foreign port. Foreign fishing vessels working the Exclusive Economic Zone are also included in the overseas category. Coastwise arrivals and departures include the coastwise movements of overseas ships subsequent to their arrival from overseas and prior to final clearance, and also the movements of domestic shipping.

Table 22.3. OVERSEAS AND COASTWISE SHIPPING BY SELECTED PORTS, 1985*

Selected PortsCoastwiseOverseas
No. of VesselsNet Tonnage (000)No. of VesselsNet Tonnage (000)
* Year ended 31 December.
  Arrivals 
Whangarei2771,78055757
Auckland5113,2225855,075
Tauranga2952,2912051,503
Port Taranaki1851,701308608
Napier2101,406102439
Wellington2,3246,6346752,026
Nelson210927162545
Picton1,7823,036419
Lyttelton6372,4353211,160
Timaru126982118155
Otago2912,734137753
Invercargill (Bluff)202939104705
        Total, all ports7 63328,7602 93214,607
  Departures 
Whangarei2901,94146633
Auckland6494,8404463,476
Tauranga2261,9182671,800
Port Taranaki1361,0533621,272
Napier1871,224124625
Wellington2,4117,3775981,359
Nelson192860183620
Picton1,7773,024438
Lyttelton6662,670294930
Timaru102782145361
Otago2301,6561971,820
Invercargill (Bluff)192831113806
        Total, all ports7 64228,8402 93514,613

Table 22.4 allows historical comparisons to be made of shipping and cargo figures. In the years prior to the development of a rail network, the dependence on coastal shipping is obvious from the number of coastal arrivals and departures recorded compared with today. The reduction in numbers, however, has been offset by a tenfold increase since the turn of the century in the size of the ships engaged in coastal trade.

Table 22.4. SHIPPING AND CARGO TOTALS FOR SELECTED YEARS

YearCoastalOverseas
No. of Vessels*Net Tonnage (000)Cargo Tonnage (000)No. of VesselsNet Tonnage (000)Cargo Tonnage (000)

* Includes coastwise movements of vessels from 1980.

† Manifest tons to 1950, manifest tonnes to 1980, gross tonnes in 1985.

   Arrivals  
187516,2581,498..926417..
190020,9096,872..616855..
192523,5195,5362,2552,3887,8322,487
195012,8334,3662,0371,5296,3643,617
19758,25711,0817,8213,69220,09810,273
19807,79622,7555,3322,89413,01410,425
19857,63328,7604,8522,93214,6078,299
   Departures  
187516,9411,488..940418..
190020,8626,871..613825..
192523,5095,5492,2582,3817,832871
195012,8164,3052,0231,5396,2181,307
19758,29011,2077,2323,68819,9766,800
19807,79622,7045,1932,89713,09810,774
19857,64228,8404,8792,93514,6139,967

Overseas shipping.

Overseas arrivals and departures are classified according to the country last visited and the next country to which the ship is cleared. Some port information within the foreign country is also recorded. This enables analyses by ‘previous’ and ‘next’ country to be compiled. However, this should not be confused with the origin or destination of the ship or the cargo. For example, ships destined for UK/Europe will often be cleared for Panama upon their departure from New Zealand. Similarly, container vessels on the North American west coast trans trade may call at an Australian port en route.

Table 22.5. OVERSEAS ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES BY COUNTRY, 1985*

CountryArrivals from OverseasCleared for Overseas
Number of VesselsNet TonnageNumber of VesselsNet Tonnage

* Year ended 31 December.

† Includes fishing vessels at sea.

Australia5775 387 8556355 570 704
China and Taiwan26155,8753375,286
Fiji80546,19063235,047
Indonesia10160,45145259,563
Iran14109,70838272,587
Japan3422 967 2792282 268 061
Panama46515,36659717,620
Singapore79731,66169696,108
Tonga52164,3613064,720
United States79828,48491816,224
U.S.S.R.3581,4492690,548
        Total, all countries2 93214 607 4312 93514 613 479

Table 22.6. OVERSEAS ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES WITH CARGO BY TRADE ROUTES, 1985*

Trade RoutesArrivalsDepartures
Number of VesselsNet TonnageCargo TonnageNumber of VesselsNet TonnageCargo Tonnage

* Year ended 31 December.

† Includes Hawaii.

‡ Includes Mexico.

§ Excludes fishing vessels at sea but includes coastwise visits of overseas ships.

United Kingdom-Europe4676 669 920940,0395086 709 8241 348 123
North American trans west coast1981 863 651570,4011881 706 997262,437
Japan and Asia1,0958 567 7131 226 6131,1108 560 7105 573 155
Trans-Tasman6573 741 7911 796 7256684 120 6511 012 909
Singapore, India, Malaysia and Persian Gulf2852 543 1191 414 1262872 273 112610,581
North American trans east coast1942 298 329392,6551912 173 202388,404
Africa32,65747,6843,718
West Indies and South America78345,08099,09689432,163169,327
Pacific Islands4392 513 518897,9274242 574 314444,441
Miscellaneous106,77194,610
        Total§3 42628 552 5497 337 5823 47828 563 2679 813 095

Trade routes.

Since 1982 ports have been entering trade route information on the monthly returns of ship movements, thereby enabling analyses of shipping and cargo by recognised trade routes.

Under this scheme, the New Zealand ports servicing the various trade routes can be identified. The table following shows overseas departures by ports and trade routes. Note that the number of departures relates to the final clearance for overseas by the vessels concerned.

Table 22.7. OVERSEAS DEPARTURES BY SELECTED PORTS AND TRADE ROUTES, 1985*

Trade RouteNumber of VesselsNet TonnageCargo TonnageNumber of VesselsNet TonnageCargo TonnageNumber of VesselsNet TonnageCargo Tonnage

* Figures for year ended 31 December and excluding fishing vessels at sea, but including coastwise movements of overseas ships.

† Includes Hawaii.

‡ Includes Mexico.

  (000)(000) (000)(000) (000)(000)
  Auckland  Tauranga  Napier 
United Kingdom-Europe1151,93230628182423316878
North American west coast665761201316927539
Japan and Asia2371,6692661321,08789294618389
Trans-Tasman13299616779590325228321
Singapore, India, Malaysia and Persian Gulf5040458301971113418779
North American east coast61770125886106613
West Indies and South America168933814895396
Pacific Islands12552717874489601814841
  Wellington  Lyttelton  Otago 
United Kingdom-Europe801,6802493541954831,718217
North American west coast453495624196466511
Japan and Asia1239489912684941251513158
Trans-Tasman127614601104471017029542
Singapore, India, Malaysia and Persian Gulf272673433711067693
North American east coast5162510193372834836
West Indies and South America13937
Pacific Islands175954620108811
Miscellaneous4222

Coastal cargo.

All cargo is now measured in gross tonnes, instead of manifest tonnes, as part of a move towards better international comparability. Commodities recorded under coastal cargo have been limited to those items either carried in bulk or readily identifiable from ships' manifests.

For the year ended 31 December 1985 a total of 4.9 million tonnes of cargo was moved between New Zealand ports. Whangarei loaded out 1.3 million tonnes of refined petroleum products while Port Taranaki loaded 800 000 tonnes of petroleum crude and liquified petroleum gas for other ports. Bulk cement totalling 739 000 tonnes was carried from works near Whangarei (279 000 tonnes), Tarakohe (160 000 tonnes), and Westport (300 000 tonnes) during the year. Rail ferry traffic between Wellington and Picton accounted for 665 000 tonnes of southbound cargo and 721 000 tonnes northbound.

Table 22.8. COASTAL CARGO—MAJOR ITEMS CARRIED, 1985*

CommodityUnloadedLoaded
* Year ended 31 December.
 Gross tonnes
Cement733,445738,728
Coal and coke13,898243
Petroleum products2 173 2802 190 917
Sand and shingle44,17763,476
Grain15,53834,091
Motor vehicles302,827314,661
Container goods261,531267,573
Other goods1 307 2661 269 611
        Total4 851 9624 879 300

Overseas cargo.

Cargo loaded during the 1985 year for overseas destinations totalled 10.0 million tonnes of which 2.1 million tonnes were ironsands from Taharoa and Waverley. Tauranga loaded 1.5 million tonnes and Auckland, 1.2 million tonnes while total cargo loaded for overseas at South Island ports amounted to 2.7 million tonnes.

Imported cargo totalled 8.3 million tonnes for the year ended 31 December 1985. Of this, Auckland unloaded 1.9 million tonnes, Whangarei 1.4 million tonnes, Tauranga 1.2 million tonnes, and Wellington 1.1 million tonnes. South Island ports accounted for 2.2 million tonnes of inwards cargo from overseas.

Table 22.9. OVERSEAS CARGO—COMMODITIES CARRIED, 1985*

CommodityUnloadedLoaded
Cross Tonnesc.i.f.Gross Tonnesf.o.b.
* Year ended 31 December.
  $(m) $(m)
Food and live animals420,3385502 834 2055,303
Beverages and tobacco26,4149618,83432
Crude materials2 005 6466063 760 2722,441
Mineral fuels3 320 4091,705826,991219
Animal and vegetable oils43,26369141,186120
Chemicals and related products933,1301,423451,449550
Manufactured goods1 112 4522,2591 560 0441,613
Machinery and transport equipment345,9154,17548,771932
Miscellaneous manufactured articles127,9271,13035,477488
Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere4,106184348,930142
        Total8 339 5991249710 026 15811,840

Port and country data for cargo loaded are analysed in table 22.10, which gives the gross tonnage of export cargo handled by the main exporting ports of New Zealand and the total tonnage handled. The country referred to in the table is the country of destination of the cargo as declared on the export documentation.

Table 22.10. OVERSEAS CARGO LOADED BY SELECTED PORTS AND COUNTRIES, 1985*

CountryAucklandTaurangaPort TaranakiNapierWellingtonLyttelton
* Year ended 31 December.
   Gross tonnes  
Algeria11,88516,29813,2212992,425734
American Samoa11,555452215
Australia144,838270,467253,42812,09560,22965,329
Belgium10,104247664419,0312,495
Canada18,8066,83622,6701,265
China—Province of Taiwan23,99842,3241,30710,9073,3696,512
China—People's Republic of25,82760,4911,38225,1154,0498,347
Cook Islands14,087352
Cuba19,4751,063
Fiji47,83115,7841613,518
France13,5601,82717,6956,39314,6172,470
French Polynesia15,84332,72883
Germany, Federal Republic of35,4995,52728616,2732,807
Hong Kong8,23234,4775,126136,808
India8296,0152,34924,96142321,543
Indonesia13,17353,8909,03336,41929915,005
Iran14,17241,6186,44143,7309,471
Iraq2,34110,4603,9504761,561
Italy6,8711,0972,18729,2751,201
Japan183,664544,487100,896294,18486,787425,601
Korea, Republic of18,71127,69912,08216,8757,43820,727
Kuwait2,9012310,10648950
Malaysia11,48065,320123,0991,7326,810
Mexico71825,0621,5232,367603
Netherlands12,3111,281146,0394,4908,1631,684
New Caledonia8,9424,193869
Pacific Islands (Trust Terr.)76711,5781,0123010
Papua New Guinea33,7432,8319,585198,466
Peru53411,7976522,4442
Philippines8,77529,0495,3102,460
Poland4,0221,7851,0934,717113577
Samoa8,8792,071181,224
Saudi Arabia8,2061,4833,7936,9238,17467,278
Singapore11,08529,622111,8838,7179394,680
Sri Lanka3,02310,0746119331291
Thailand2,11125,570498104670
Tonga4,6102,7651,101
United Kingdom139,6081,90712,493118,94016,349
U.S.A.220,07383417,5429,542134,4258,017
U.S.S.R.6,9369,4257,17018,47012416,426
Venezuela220,72928
        Total, all countries1 195 9481 531 3781 000 747666,937573,032745,365

Merchant navy qualifications

The Marine Division of the Ministry of Transport conducts regular examinations for merchant service personnel who wish to obtain certificates of competency as master, mate, or engineer. There are different standards of certificates for foreign-going, home-trade, and restricted-limits ships. The foreign-going certificates as master, first mate, second mate, and first and second-class steam and motor engineer, are valid in most Commonwealth countries. Examinations are also conducted for skippers, mates and engineers of deep-sea, coastal, and inshore fishing boats. Voluntary examinations are held for yachtsmen and yachtswomen.

Nautical schools are maintained in Wellington and Auckland. Courses leading to the examinations for all grades of masters and mates certificates are available. Courses are also held for able seamen and ordinary seamen, for yachtsmen and yachtswomen, and in radar.

Ship survey

The Marine Division of the Ministry of Transport carries out surveys of ships as required by the Shipping and Seamen Act 1952. In the 1985 calendar year, 1342 certificates of survey were issued, compared with 1314 in 1984 and 1243 in 1983.

Fifteen foreign squid boats and 11 foreign trawlers were issued with a certifying letter and exempted from survey and manning requirements. Eighteen foreign trawlers holding certifying letters were exempted from manning only, while five had two exemptions each in the course of the year.

During 1985, 45 certificates were issued under the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea 1960, to which New Zealand is a signatory, compared with 66 in 1984, and 49 in 1983. In addition 25 surveys were carried out on overseas-registered ships towards the issue of certificates under the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea 1974 and the 1978 Protocol to that Convention.

Special surveys are also made for seaworthiness after damage, for efficiency of equipment and for tonnage measurement.

Lighthouse service

On headlands, capes, reefs, and shoals around some 7000 kilometres of coastline and the waters in harbours and lakes controlled by the Ministry of Transport there are 183 navigational aids. These aids comprise 9 staffed lighthouses, 96 automatic lights, 71 day beacons, 6 navigational buoys, 1 fog signal, and 11 radio beacons. Their provision, maintenance, and servicing is a responsibility of the Marine Division of the Ministry of Transport and costs about $2 million annually. This is met by light dues collected from overseas and coastal ships.

Wrecks

The Ministry of Transport investigates the circumstances of any wreck or shipping casualty which occurs in New Zealand waters. In cases which involve loss of life or serious damage, a Superintendent of Mercantile Marine, or other person appointed for the purpose, carries out a preliminary inquiry into the cause and circumstances of the wreck or casualty. The report of a preliminary inquiry is sent to the Minister of Transport, who may order a formal investigation. Such an investigation is usually held by a judge, assisted by technical assessors, who has the power to cancel or suspend the Certificate of Competency of any officer whose wrongful act or default has resulted in, or contributed to, loss or damage.

In the case of any wreck on coasts, rivers or lakes, a Receiver of Wreck for that district has extensive powers for the preservation of life and protection of property. Contrary to popular belief a wreck or any article belonging to it remains the property of the owner until disposed of by that person, and it is illegal to plunder or purloin any items of wreckage.

Table 22.11. SHIPPING CASUALTIES, 1985*

Type of ShipMachinery Breakdown and MiscellaneousCapsizing and CollisionStranding and GroundingFounderingFireTotal
* Year ended 31 December.
Passenger322310
Cargo423413
Fishing188510344
Dredges, tugs, etc.1225
Pleasure16264541215307
        Total18579662425379

Fishing boat casualties during 1985 resulted in the loss of 20 vessels and 12 lives. Pleasure boat accidents resulted in 38 deaths including seven deaths in non-commercial river rafting mishaps. Seventeen preliminary inquiries were carried out by marine inspectors.

Safety of ships

The Shipping and Seamen Act 1952, administered by the Ministry of Transport, is primarily concerned with the safety of ships and those who sail in them. This Act contains the necessary authority for implementing the provisions of several international conventions to which New Zealand is a signatory and also provides for the safety of all ships plying in New Zealand coastal waters, and all New Zealand registered ships on international voyages.

Marine pollution

The Marine Pollution Act 1974 gives effect to a number of international conventions relating to oil pollution, the most important of which are the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by Oil 1954, as amended in 1962 and 1969, and the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage 1969.

This Act is currently being revised to give effect to Marpol 73/78 (International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships 1973 as modified by its Protocol in 1978).

The 1954 convention is concerned with the prevention of oil pollution resulting from normal shipping operations. Marpol 73/78 not only strengthens the 1954 convention but also introduces measures to mitigate the effects of pollution resulting from tanker accidents and deals with pollution of the sea by substances other than oil.

There is a contingency plan to deal with a major spillage of oil in New Zealand waters and oil pollution control equipment, including dispersants, is stockpiled in New Zealand to deal with such an eventuality. The Act also provides for control of the dumping of waste at sea from ships. It prohibits the dumping of substances known to be harmful to the marine environment, but also allows the Ministry of Transport to issue permits for the dumping of other wastes, such as dredging spoil, under appropriate conditions and in approved sites.

22.2 Civil aviation

New Zealand ranks amongst the leading nations of the world in terms of air transport per head of population. Modern aircraft provide regular flights on a network of internal air services operated by Air New Zealand and Ansett New Zealand, supplemented by smaller operators, while internationally, Air New Zealand competes with other international airlines and provides links with London, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Tokyo and various nations in the Pacific and South-east Asian regions.

The state-owned airline, Air New Zealand, is the largest domestic air service operator. Safe Air, an Air New Zealand subsidiary, provides a freight service.

The Mount Cook Group Limited, which is substantially owned by Air New Zealand, and Ansett New Zealand, a 50 percent New Zealand-owned airline, currently provide mainly tourist orientated passenger services, although Ansett New Zealand introduced main trunk services in July 1987.

Commuter operators also provide regular services throughout the country. In addition, at most aerodromes there are light aircraft operators licensed for charter services. Some of these are aero clubs and flying schools providing facilities for flight training and private flying.

As well as Air New Zealand, international air services are operated by Qantas, United Airlines, UTA French Airlines, Singapore Airlines, British Airways, Continental Airlines, Japan Airlines, Air Pacific, Polynesian Airlines, Air Nauru, Canadian Pacific Airlines, Aerolineas Argentinas, Cook Islands international Airlines and Cathay Pacific.

Table 22.12. SUMMARY OF DOMESTIC SCHEDULED AIR SERVICES

December YearKilometres FlownPassengers CarriedPassengers-kilometresFreight Carried (Tonnes)Freight (Tonne-kilometres)Mail (Tonne-kilometres)
   (000)  
198125,6082,3561 134 23844.925,1981,378
198226,3622,2481 084 89738.622,4621,397
198328,0032,4291 167 54536.821,9181,391
198434,8372,9501 397 11545.725,4831,411
198537,2813,2551 553 97142.123,5081,369

Table 22.13. SUMMARY OF INTERNATIONAL SCHEDULED AIR SERVICES

December YearPassengers CarriedFreight Carried*Mail Carried

* Includes excess baggage.

Source: Ministry of Transport.

 (000)tonnestonnes
19811,77664,0423,016
19821,66470,4843,099
19831,69376,9033,256
19841,85188,1173,502
19852,33192,0013,889

Legislation

The principal legislation affecting civil aviation in New Zealand is the Civil Aviation Act 1964. This Act established the Department of Civil Aviation which later, under the Ministry of Transport Act 1968, became a division of the Ministry of Transport.

Air services.

The Air Services Licensing Act 1983 established the Air Services Licensing Authority, a three-person independent body, with the primary function of receiving and determining applications for air service licences. An air service licence is essential for any air transport or aerial work conducted for hire or reward. There is a right of appeal against the decisions of the Air Services Licensing Authority to the Administrative Division of the High Court. In 1986, an amendment to the Act repealed provisions which prohibited the control of air services by overseas persons.

International air services are governed by intergovernmental air transport agreements and the International Air Services Licensing Act 1947. International air tariffs are administered pursuant to the Civil Aviation Act 1964.

New Zealand is a party to the Warsaw Convention of 1929, as amended at The Hague in 1955, and this convention defines the financial liabilities of international air carriers towards their passengers. New Zealand has signed but has yet to ratify the Guatemala City Protocol which, although not in force, raises the limits of liability from $15,000 to $100,000. Air New Zealand is also a party to the airline agreement known as the Montreal Agreement, which imposes a limit of US$75,000 for travel to and from the United States. This limit is now being extended world-wide in its application, pending the entry into force of the Guatemala City Protocol. Liabilities of domestic air carriers are governed by the Carriage by Air Act 1967 and the Carriage of Goods Act 1979.

The Airport Authorities Act 1966 empowers local authorities to provide airports. Under the Act 24 local authorities entered into separate joint-venture agreements with the Crown. However, the Airport Authorities Amendment Act 1986 authorises the Crown and local authorities to form, and hold shares in, airport companies. It also provides for flexibility in charging mechanisms.

The Aviation Crimes Act 1972 gives effect to the Tokyo Convention 1963 relating to offences committed on board aircraft, the Hague Convention 1970 relating to ‘hijacking, and the Montreal Convention 1971 relating to aerial sabotage.

The Aviation Security Service was established as a branch of the Civil Aviation Division of the Ministry of Transport in 1976. The service screens passengers and baggage and, where necessary, searches passengers, baggage, cargo, aircraft, aerodromes, and navigational installations. It also carries out security patrols, and in general, reviews, investigates and inquires into security techniques, systems, devices, etc., co-operating where necessary with police, airport officials, government departments, and other responsible authorities.

The State Owned Enterprises Act 1986 and a 1987 amendment to the Civil Aviation Regulations 1953 provided for the corporatisation of a major part of the Civil Aviation Division of the Ministry of Transport. From 1 April 1987 all ground services activities, with the exception of the Aviation Security Service, became the responsibility of the Airways Corporation of New Zealand Ltd. The Civil Aviation Division of the Ministry of Transport remains responsible for aviation security, flight operations and all regulatory functions, including the setting and monitoring of standards.

Air services and facilities

The Civil Aviation Division.

The Ministry of Transport's Civil Aviation Division is charged with overseeing airworthiness, aerodromes, aviation security, air and flight safety, and flight supervision and standards. It is also responsible for the licensing of aircrew and some ground personnel. The division provides the Airways Corporation of New Zealand Ltd with specially-equipped aircraft to enable the checking and calibration of all air navigation facilities. It acts in a regulatory capacity, ensuring that facilities and services of the Airways Corporation meet set standards.

The Airways Corporation of New Zealand.

Responsible for ensuring the safe, orderly and expeditious flow of air traffic, the corporation provides extensive ground services including air traffic control, telecommunications, and airport fire and rescue services. The corporation also assists search and rescue and aerodrome emergency organisations. Elements of these ground services are provided at most aerodromes served by regular air services. In addition to control towers and flight-service stations at aerodromes, area control and flight information centres are established at Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch airports and provide services to en route aircraft throughout the country. Rescue co-ordination centres are established at Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch for major search and rescue operations in their respective regions.

The Airways Corporation provides all air navigation facilities in New Zealand. These navigation facilities include electronic aids such as non-directional medium frequency beacons (NDB), very-high-frequency omni-directional radio ranges (VOR), instrument landing systems (ILS), surveillance radar equipment (SRE), distance measuring equipment (DME) and very-high-frequency direction finding equipment (VDF). Visual aids include the visual approach slope indicator systems (VASIS) and precision approach path indicator (PAPI). An Aeronautical Information Service publishes the journal Notices to Airmen, and regular information circulars. It collaborates with the Department of Survey and Land Information in the production of aeronautical maps and charts.

The corporation also maintains an aeronautical training college at Christchurch International Airport. Regular courses are conducted in air traffic services, telecommunications engineering, and fire and rescue procedures.

Air New Zealand

Domestic.

Air New Zealand provides regular services to centres throughout the North and South Islands, with a fleet consisting at 31 March 1986 of 13 Boeing 737s and 15 Fokker Friendships. Boeing 767s are also used on some domestic services.

Table 22.14. DOMESTIC OPERATIONS OF AIR NEW ZEALAND

ItemYear Ended 31 MarchPercentage Change
1984198519861984–851985–86
Passengers carried2 262 2182 602 7932 772 023+15.1+6.5
Passenger kilometres created (million)1,6441,8381,992+11.8+8.4
Revenue passenger kilometres (million)1,1301,3041,382+15.4+6.0
Revenue passenger load factor (percent)68.771.069.4+3.3−2.3
Revenue tonne-kilometres created (million)190212233+11.6+9.9
Overall tonne-kilometres used (million)
  Passenger and baggage124141147+13.7+4.3
  Freight
  Mail     
Overall revenue load factor (percent)65.166.463.2+2.0−4.8
Source: Ministry of Transport.

International.

Air New Zealand provides services to Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Hobart, Perth, Norfolk Island, New Caledonia, Tahiti, Cook Islands, Western Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Singapore, Japan, Honolulu, Vancouver, Los Angeles and London. Its international fleet is: 1 Douglas DC 8–54F, 3 Boeing 767s, and 5 Boeing 747–200s. Boeing 737–200s are used on short-haul Pacific operations.

Table 22.15. INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS OF AIR NEW ZEALAND

ItemYear Ended 31 March
198419851986
Passengers carried997,2431 100 0091 211 743
Passenger kilometres flown (million)5,5186,0926,568
Seat kilometres available (million)8,4728,7709,268
Revenue passenger load factor (percent)65.169.570.9
Cargo and airmail tonne-kilometres (million)265286303
Total revenue tonne-kilometres (million)788865927
Total revenue load factor (percent)68.773.874.6
Source: Ministry of Transport.

Table 22.16. AIR NEW ZEALAND REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE

ItemYear Ended 31 March
19851986

* Includes aircraft lease rentals, depreciation and amortisation, interest charges, and exchange losses.

Source: Ministry of Transport.

 $(000)
Revenue—
  Passenger847,568986,677
  Cargo and mail156,702190,492
  Charter21,82342,043
  Contract77,69681,227
  Other56,21653,886
        Total revenue1,160,0051,354,325
Expenditure—
  Flying operations308,346353,115
  Engineering maintenance93,860130,378
  Aircraft and traffic servicing159,261208,181
  Passenger services86,015130,045
  Sales and marketing200,864240,456
  Administration and general41,05152,345
  Other*116,992134,329
        Total expenditure1,006,3891,248,849
Profit or loss before extraordinary items and tax credits153,616105,476

International air services

Air New Zealand's international services have already been described. Other services through New Zealand include: United Airlines and Continental Airlines—from the United States through Honolulu, to Auckland and beyond to Sydney and Melbourne; British Airways—from the United Kingdom via Australia to Auckland; Union de Transport Aeriens—from Tahiti to Auckland and beyond to Noumea; Qantas—a full range of trans-Tasman services; Singapore Airlines—direct from Singapore; Air Pacific—from Fiji to Auckland; Polynesian Airlines—from Apia via Tonga to Auckland; Air Nauru from Nauru via Niue/Villa to Auckland; Japan Air Lines from Tokyo to Auckland via Nadi; Aerolineas Argentinas—from Buenos Aires to Auckland; Canadian Pacific Airlines—from Toronto/Vancouver via Honolulu/Nadi to Auckland; Cook Islands International—from Rarotonga to Auckland; and Cathay Pacific—from Hong Kong to Auckland.

A minority financial interest is retained by Air New Zealand in the South Pacific companies Polynesian Airlines Ltd (PAL) and Air Pacific Ltd.

Distances to the Australian cities from the airports at Wellington and Christchurch differ slightly from the Auckland figures given in table 22.19 following: Wellington-Sydney, 2235 km; Wellington-Melbourne, 2589 km; and Wellington-Brisbane, 2508 km; Christchurch-Sydney, 2124 km; Christchurch-Melbourne, 2413 km; Christchurch-Brisbane, 2495 km; and Christchurch-Hobart, 2024 km.

Table 22.17. INTERNATIONAL AIR SERVICES: VOLUMES

Sector and TrafficDecember 1983December 1984December 1985
InOutInOutInOut

* Auckland, Wellington, or Christchurch to Melbourne or Brisbane (and vice versa), Wellington or Christchurch to Sydney (and vice versa); Christchurch to Hobart (and vice versa); and Auckland to Perth, Darwin, Adelaide or Townsville (and vice versa).

† Other Pacific short-haul sectors are Auckland to Noumea, Norfolk Island, Tonga, Suva, Papeete, Pago Pago, Rarotonga, or Apia (and vice versa), and includes all traffic to/from Rarotonga International Airport.

‡ Long-haul sectors are Auckland to Nauru, Honolulu, Singapore, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Tokyo, London and Buenos Aires (and vice versa).

Source: Ministry of Transport.

Trans-Tasman—
  Auckland-Sydney-Auckland—
    Rights1,0661,0631,1151,1101,1121,113
    Passengers207,578176,223240,562230,364244,542245,532
    Freight and mail (tonnes)10,05712,76311,79016,06811,79514,599
    Kilometres flown (000)2,3001,8993,1802,4132,4002,402
  Other trans-Tasman*
    Rights1,5111,5151,5021,4981,6891,686
    Passengers350,668354,093375,305377,875407,900420,468
    Freight and mail (tonnes)8,85117,48910,46819,33912,37218,574
    Kilometres flown (000)3,8313,8424,1933,7814,2364,229
Pacific short-haul—
  New Zealand-Nadi-New Zealand—
    Rights641664622648573564
    Passengers64,00468,57074,89881,56875,14078721
    Freight and mail (tonnes)1,7313,4901,8973,2261,5403,823
    Kilometres flown (000)1,3821,4321,3411,3971,2351,218
Other sectors
  Rights908881778761833838
  Passengers66,39862,74172,49463,29770,95267,664
  Freight and mail (tonnes)1,8171,8991,6881,9241,7232,306
  Kilometres flown (000)1,6001,5481,3751,3401,5001,543
Long-haul
  Rights1,1951,1971,2221,2211,3371,333
  Passengers211,058196,090193,841191,194249,356248,600
  Freight and mail (tonnes)9,82115,93711,44715,85211,76520,056
  Kilometres flown (000)7,2407,3116,8988,2238,5328,873

Table 22.18. TRAFFIC ON INTERNATIONAL SCHEDULED SERVICES BY AIRPORT*

Airport and Type of Traffic198319841985
Into New ZealandOut of New ZealandInto New ZealandOut of New ZealandInto New ZealandOut of New Zealand

* Passengers and freight in transit are excluded.

Source: Ministry of Transport.

Auckland International Airport—
  Passengers682,634644,353746,646730,194801,151806,011
  Freight (tonnes)23,50641,49730,41745,54930,98648,703
  Mail (tonnes)1,8961,0571,9931,1972,3081245
Wellington—
  Passengers64,27063,00960,30359,66367,65070,209
  Freight (tonnes)2,0393,7761,8513,0181,9812,718
  Mail (tonnes)143561256711464
Christchurch International Airport—
  Passengers126,624135,098140,228148,618158,959166,342
  Freight (tonnes)2,2435,5602,7206,4193,2236,148
  Mail (tonnes)624466439460

Table 22.19. DISTANCES FROM AUCKLAND AIRPORT TO SELECTED OVERSEAS DESTINATIONS*

DestinationDistance

* These are airport-to-airport great circle distances.

Source: Ministry of Transport.

 km
Adelaide3,247
Apia2,893
Brisbane2,293
Hong Kong9,145
Honolulu7,086
Los Angeles10,480
Melbourne2,635
Nadi2,156
Norfolk Island1,091
Noumea1,859
Pago Pago2,902
Papeete4,093
Perth5,400
Port Moresby4,126
Rarotonga3,013
San Francisco10,503
Singapore8,410
Suva2,141
Sydney2,158
Tokyo8,837
Tonga2,004
Townsville3,359

International air freight

Air freight involves mostly exports and imports to and from Australia and U.S.A. Exports are mainly made-up textiles, meat, fish and live animals, notably racehorses. Air-freighted imports consist mainly of machinery, scientific instruments, pharmaceutical products, and textiles.

Table 22.20. OVERSEAS AIR CARGO TRANSPORTED BY TYPE, 1985*

CommodityLoadedUnloaded
Gross Tonnesf.o.b. $(000)Gross Tonnesc.i.f. $(000)

* Year ended 31 December.

† Not elsewhere specified.

Food and live animals28,025245,4184,40489,016
Beverages and tobacco217662184661
Crude materials1,90942,2532799,330
Mineral fuels4317621291
Animal and vegetable oils, fats21116417
Chemicals and related products n.e.s.2,81964,1683,151194,992
Manufactured goods9,414151,1027,954216,844
Machinery and transport6,936529,70513,7091,03,514
Miscellaneous manufactured articles9,476255,0509,354514,123
Commodities n.e.s.204,95216390,962
        Total588601,293,497392342,149,149

Table 22.21. OVERSEAS AIR CARGO BY COUNTRY, 1985*

Destination/SourceLoadedUnloaded
Cross Tonnesf.o.b. $(000)Gross Tonnesc.i.f. $(000)

* Year ended 31 December.

† Includes other countries.

Australia29,843609,93522,347678,511
Bahrain1871,229148
Canada1,07220,95229756,833
China (People's Republic of)1791,80111537
China (Province of Taiwan)201,32225210,466
Cook Islands6837,9751,0145,802
Denmark483,80413714,077
Fiji1,23027,9241408,170
France783,85839044,226
French Polynesia2,45715,353295
Germany (Federal Republic of)3366,9811,15079,138
Hong Kong1,42232,46531125,961
Ireland641613628,532
Italy674,72792928,365
Japan5,03346,9021,750126,829
Korea (Republic of)1329,197421,866
Malaysia3026,106301,727
Netherlands492,50854930,438
New Caledonia4032,7239334
Norfolk Island1071,7877230
Papua New Guinea1589,6789406
Samoa (Independent State West)1002,7941041,424
Saudi Arabia3911,598..43
Singapore1,83833,66728822,167
Sweden141,53927827,774
Switzerland1983,90933939,347
Tonga681,477106711
United Arab Emirates2141,449..14
United Kingdom1,68862,3103,463237,533
U.S.A.9,496254,5984,376594,947
        Total58,8601,293,49739,2342,149,149

Aerial work

Aerial topdressing as a means of improving hill pastures and checking and preventing soil erosion began commercially in 1949. The industry developed rapidly and is a major activity in spring and autumn. The extent of aerial topdressing in any particular year is largely a reflection of the level of farm incomes.

Since the introduction of the Air Services Licensing Act 1983, some 51 ‘owner-operators’ have been granted aerial work licences, many of them former employees of established larger companies. Aerial spraying is also a significant aerial work activity. It is mainly performed by helicopters, which account for about three-quarters of total spraying work.

Table 22.22. SUMMARY OF AERIAL WORK

Aerial WorkYear Ended 31 December
19811982198319841985

* Method of application by round particles.

† March year.

Hours flown (other than training)128,406114,775106,302104,100122,433
Number of operators6475105119102
Material distributed—
  Fertiliser and lime (tonnes)1 034 067879,150835,319811,448752,353
  Seed (tonnes)4,3862,7632,2132,0645,587
  Spray (litres)41 292 88738 823 17345 528 20355 954 93453 795 834
  Animal poison (tonnes)6,0252,6963,7294,7103,444
  Supplies (tonnes)4,9835,0472,3336,6366,968
  Fencing (tonnes)5,1803,5502,0482,5332,255
  Dusts (tonnes)4193272294236
  Prills (tonnes)*83193144740418
  Miscellaneous (tonnes)7,78417,39117,69319,5609,874
  Flight training (hours flown)114,500107,70093,536107,100110,709

22.3 Railways

The New Zealand Railways Corporation operates a railway network extending over nearly 4300 kilometres and linking almost all the principal centres of population. There are also a number of short private railways mainly serving collieries and other industrial undertakings. The corporation also operates road services over more than 10 000 route kilometres of highway, and a rail and road vehicle and passenger ferry service across Cook Strait between Wellington and Picton.

The title New Zealand Railways is used for trading purposes.

Since 1985 certain information previously published in the Yearbook has been classified as confidential. Inquiries should be directed to the New Zealand Railways Corporation if more information is required.

Railway construction and engineering

Recent years have seen notable progress in the development of the railway system and a steady increase in the carrying capacity of its main lines. Extensive use is being made of the latest developments in railway technology, including diesel and electric traction, electronic equipment for centralised traffic control, equipment for freight handling and track-maintenance work, and electronic data-processing for accounting, statistics and the control of freight and rail traffic. Many new types of goods wagons are being introduced and numerous station buildings, goods sheds, bridges, etc., are being replaced by up-to-date structures.

The total route length of railways open for traffic at 31 March 1984 was 4273 kilometres—2554 kilometres in the North Island and 1718 in the South Island. The corporation was working traffic over a further seven kilometres of railways owned by government departments. Double line was worked over a total of 254 route kilometres, of which 208 kilometres were in the North Island. A total of 107.3 route kilometres of railways electrified on the 1500-volt direct current overhead contact system was in use at 31 March 1984.

In most instances, government railways in New Zealand were constructed by the Public Works Department, now the Ministry of Works and Development, and handed over to the (then) Railways Department upon completion. Recent practice has been for the Ministry of Works and Development to construct the earthworks, bridges, tunnels, and buildings, and for the Railways Department (or, now, the Railways Corporation) to lay the tracks and install signals.

Track.

All track is laid to a gauge of 1067 mm (3ft 6in.). The major routes are laid with rails 85 or 91 lb per yard (42.2 or 45.1 kg/m) but these are progressively being relaid with rails weighing 50 kg per metre. Secondary and branch lines have generally been laid with rails weighing 55, 70, and 72 lb per yard (27.3, 34.7, and 35.7 kg/m) and the practice is to re-lay these lines with heavier rails from the main lines. Treated Pinus radiata sleepers, laid about 1480 per kilometre, have gradually replaced Australian hardwood sleepers, and locally manufactured concrete sleepers are also being used on selected areas on the main routes. Track with fishplates and bolts at every joint is progressively replaced with rails welded at the joints on all major routes and on some secondary lines.

Bridges.

To carry the railways across gorges, rivers, and streams in New Zealand, about 2600 bridges and viaducts have been built with an aggregate length of 90 kilometres. The longest railway bridge is that over the Rakaia River, 55 kilometres south of Christchurch. Completed in 1939 to replace an original timber structure of the 1870s, it is 1743 metres in length.

The highest viaduct is the Mohaka, completed in 1937 to carry the Napier-Gisborne railway 97 metres above the bed of the Mohaka River. Twenty-one New Zealand railway viaducts carry the rails more than 33 metres above the rivers and streams they cross.

Tunnels.

There are 167 railway tunnels in New Zealand. The three longest tunnels are Kaimai (8.9 km), between Tauranga and Morrinsville; Rimutaka (8.8 km), between Upper Hurt and Featherston; and Otira (8.5 km), between Otira and Arthur's Pass.

Electrification of the North Island main trunk railway

Electrification of the central section of the North Island main trunk railway is due to be completed by 1988.

The section of the line involved is the 410 km between Palmerston North and Te Rapa, north of Hamilton. Integral with electrification is the installation of new signalling and communications systems (being laid underground).

A major overhaul and improvement of the line is also being completed ahead of electrification.

Together these works will enable Railways to operate longer, heavier freight trains much more quickly and economically through the mountainous central section of the North Island.

About 40 percent of all freight carried by rail moves over the North Island main trunk and about 22 percent of all diesel consumption by Railways—or 20 million litres a year—is consumed over the central section. Estimates in 1981 indicated that by reducing oil imports electrification would save $8.5 million in the first full year of operation, and $108 million in 10 years. (Oil prices were about US$30 per barrel in 1981, fell to US$10 in 1986, but by mid-1987 were back to just under US$20 per barrel.)

Electrification and track improvements will enable freight trains to cut the time taken to travel between Palmerston North and Hamilton by up to three hours, and diesel-electric passenger services will also be quicker.

The main trunk project biggest single railway development since completion of the main trunk in 1908, will cost more than $260 million.

Work started on electrification of the first section of the line, between Palmerston North and Marion, in 1984.

The first section of traction overhead, between Palmerston North and Marion, was livened in March 1987 to enable Railway's engineers to carry out, under normal operating conditions, tests of the power supply system, overhead trackside installations and the new electric locomotives.

Railways also took delivery of the first of a fleet of 22 English-built class 30 electric locomotives, and the remainder of the fleet will be delivered through 1987 and early in 1988.

Track improvements.

Many major civil engineering projects, including massive earthworks, have been completed ahead of electrification. Some were necessary to install the traction overhead and to cope with the higher axle-loads of the new electric locomotives. Others were needed to obtain maximum benefit from the power potential of the electric locomotives.

Track improvements include alterations to tunnels (either by lowering floors or ‘daylighting’), bridge and viaduct strengthening, and easing some restrictive gradients.

An example of the scale of earthworks involved is the daylighting of the Makohine tunnel between Hunterville and Taihape. About 375 000 cubic metres of earth had to be removed to turn the 180 m long tunnel into a 50 m deep cutting.

State Highway 1 through Taihape benefited from another big earthmoving project. Excavated earth, from daylighting another tunnel, was used to form an embankment which improved the previously notorious approach to Taihape from the south.

In addition to those clearance and strengthening works required specifically for electrification, Railways has also undertaken other engineering works such as curve easements and the reviewing of train crossings along the route.

A $14 million, 9 km deviation replaced a tunnel and two ageing viaducts between Ohakune and Horopito, and the Raurimu Spiral was upgraded. The latter involved lowering the floors of two of the spiral tunnels—No. 16 (96 m long), and No. 17 (384 m)—by about 300 mm.

The spiral project was part of a programme, carried out during a 12-day period in January 1986, which included major work on 12 electrification and related projects between Mangaweka and Taumarunui. These included the installation of new beams on the Toi Toi bridge, lowering the track under two other bridges, easing several curves and grades, installing culverts on the Ohakune-Horopito deviation and improving clearances, drainage and track alignment on the Kaiahi bank.

Power supply and signalling. Electrification primarily involves provision of the power supply from the national grid, installation of the traction overhead, and the purchase of electric locomotives. However, the proximity of the high voltage in the traction overhead would make the existing signalling and communication systems inoperable, thus the project includes provision of new, electrically-immune signalling and communication systems.

A 25 000 volt a.c. auto-transfer supply system is linked to the national grid and transfers power through four substations at: Bunnythorpe, north of Palmerston North: Tangiwai, between Waiouru and Ohakune; Taumarunui and Hamilton. The whole overhead system is controlled from Palmerston North where a new building houses a control room, locomotive overhaul depot, workshop, and facilities for traction overhead and power supply maintenance staff.

This system was chosen over alternatives, including the 1500 volt d.c. system in use at Otira since 1924 and in the Wellington suburban area since 1938 (which would have required about 70 power supply points).

The traction overhead comprises the protection wire (uppermost); auto-transformer feeder wire; and catenary system, with its contact wire which passes power to the locomotive. The overhead wire is raised at each road crossing for high loads. The safe maximum clearance will be clearly indicated on roadside warning signs and overheight loads can cross the railway by special arrangement.

During electrification several crossings have been closed and others made safer. A public awareness compaign for road users, including school children, points out that the live 25 000 volt traction overhead can kill and emphasises the relatively silent approach of electric locomotives, which are much quieter than diesel-electrics.

Signalling and communications, which together account for about a quarter of the project's total cost, use optical fibre cable as the primary telecommunications carrier. The optical fibre cable has been laid in a trench alongside the track and, during this work, telephone and power lines alongside the track were relocated underground. In addition to the use of fibre optics another advanced feature is the use of a.c. immune jointless track circuits in the signalling system—the first used by Railways.

In addition to existing communications, the optical fibre cable provides several other facilities: train control voice and data; traction control voice and data; inter-exchange trunk and tie lines; data networks; and numerous trackside telephone circuits.

Separate from this system, full radio links are provided for train crew to train controller and trackside maintenance personnel.

Electric locomotives.

A new fleet of triple-bogie a.c. electric locomotives are being manufactured in England by Brush Electrical Machines, a Hawker-Siddeley subsidiary. Designated ‘class 30’, the locomotives weigh 108 tonnes and have a continuous power rating of 3000 kW (4000 hp-plus) making them the most powerful ever to run in New Zealand. They may also operate in tandem.

They are able to haul 1000 tonnes up the Raurimu Spiral, the steepest section of the line, and up to 1200 tonnes on all other grades. By comparison, the 98-tonne DX diesel-electric, until now Railways' most powerful locomotive, is rated at 2050 kW and has a load limit of 720 tonnes when hauling freight trains through the spiral.

The 30s have a service speed of up to 100 km/h but will operate at a maximum of 80 km/h. (The continuous rating of 3000 kW will allow the 30s to haul a 1200 tonne train up the ruling grades of the North Island main trunk at 42 km/h—the current ‘DX’ locomotives haul 950 tonnes at 25 km/h.)

The extensive use of electronic devices, traction equipment incorporating thyristor drive, and regenerative braking are significant features of the new locomotives.

The thyristor system also simplifies the provision of regenerative braking which occurs when the locomotive is descending grades. In this mode the traction motors are connected to operate as generators and the locomotive feeds power back into the overhead for use by another locomotive, or to be fed back into the national grid. Regenerative braking is expected to result in power savings of up to 20 percent.

Passenger services

In addition to suburban services, New Zealand Railways Corporation runs three prestige passenger trains; the Silver Fern, Northerner, and Southerner.

The Silver Fern daylight express railcar runs five days a week, between Auckland and Wellington. This service is licensed, air conditioned, and has hostesses.

The Northerner express runs nightly between Auckland and Wellington, and stops at many of the smaller towns not served by the Silver Fern.

The Southerner runs six days a week between Christchurch and Invercargill. It has hostesses and a buffet car.

There are also daily services between Wellington and Gisborne, Christchurch and Picton, and Christchurch and Greymouth. Provincial passenger services to other districts are operated by Railways Road Services.

Cook Strait rail/ferry service

Two ferries carrying road and rail vehicles and passengers an operated by the Railways Corporation between Wellington and Picton: the Arahura, and the Aratka. A third vessel, the Arahanga, carries rail wagons and road freight vehicles.

The Arahura makes the Wellington-Picton crossing in 3 hours, compared to 3 hours 20 minutes taken by the other Cook Strait ferries. Round trips made by the rail ferry fleet for the year ended 31 March 1986 totalled 1712.

Revenue and expenditure

Figures in table 22.23 cannot be compared with data published in editions before the last Yearbook because from 1985 certain information has been classified as confidential. Figures for 1983 and 1984 have been recalculated according to the new system and, therefore, are comparable.

Table 22.23. NEW ZEALAND RAILWAYS CORPORATION REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE

Year Ended 31 MarchGross RevenueExpenditureNet Revenue
  $(000) 
1983659,250635,03524,215
1984631,437607,53023,907
1985599,622619,600−19,978
1986653,353699,127−45,774

Railway employees

The number of persons employed by the New Zealand Railways Corporation at 31 March 1986 was 17 811 (including 608 seagoing personnel) compared with 18 213 a year earlier.

22.4 Road transport

Capital investment in New Zealand's reading and road transport system exceeds that in all other forms of transport. There are about 93 000 kilometres of formed roads and streets, and over 1.8 million motor vehicles. The 1984–85 Census of Transport, Storage, and Communication showed that, at the end of February 1985, 10 768 persons were engaged in the provision of road passenger transport, services, 18 223 in providing freight transport by road, and 1739 in supplying supporting services to land transport such as car and truck rental, and vehicle parking facilities.

Transport licensing

The Transport Act 1962 is the main legislation governing road transport; attendant regulations set out the rules of the road, the requirements as to motor vehicle equipment, and the obligations of motor drivers and owners and pedestrians. The Act also describes a system of road transport licensing in New Zealand.

Major changes to the transport licensing system contained in the Transport Amendment Act (No. 2) 1983 were implemented on 1 June 1984.

The Act established a new system of transport licensing (qualitative licensing) for goods, passenger and rental services (and harbour ferry services) but excluded taxi services which still operate under a quantitative licensing system.

Licences are unrestricted as to area. Applicants must meet criteria relating to the nature of the service and their professional competence, financial arrangements and good repute to obtain a licence. Some protection is provided for scheduled passenger-services and harbour ferry services over specified routes. A further provision in the Act provides for the removal of area and commodity restrictions from existing goods-services licences from 1 November 1983.

Transport licensing authorities hear licence applications. A Licensing Appeal Authority determines appeals on decisions of licensing authorities, and the Charges Appeal Authority determines appeals in relation to taxi-services charges.

The Secretary for Transport no longer sets rates for any transport services, other than taxis. Public bodies continue to fix charges for their public passenger services.

On 1 November 1986, the 15 restriction on road freight cartage and its related permit system ceased to apply, opening up competition between road and rail.

Urban transport

The Urban Transport Act 1980 has facilitated a co-ordinated approach to transport planning and funding in each of New Zealand's four main urban areas.

In each area, the regional authority is required to prepare a comprehensive transport plan covering all surface transport. This is in turn developed into annual funding programmes by the regional bodies concerned. The Act also provides for urban transport funding in other centres.

The Act also established the Urban Transport Council as the national co-ordinating body for urban transport. The council prepares a combined programme of expenditure, and arranges any central government funding. It also conducts and sponsors research, and advises the Minister of Transport and local authorities on urban transport.

In 1986–87 the Urban Transport Council spent $62.35 million.

Roads and bridges

The cost of providing adequate roads in New Zealand as a proportion of annual expenditure is relatively high in comparison with many other countries, largely because of the nature of the country and the wide variety of terrain frequently encountered within relatively short distances. In most years the cost of repairing flood damage is a large item of road maintenance.

Annual reading expenditure by central and local government is now over $623 million, Maintenance accounts for over 60 percent of the expenditure, and the main emphasis of state highway development in recent years has been on the maintenance and improvement of existing reading assets. There are 14 949 bridges of more than 3 metres, with a total length of nearly 335 kilometres.

Table 22.24. FORMED ROADS AND STREETS AT 31 MARCH 1986

Nature of SurfaceLocal Authority RoadingState Highways and MotorwaysTotal
Urban* AreasRural Areas

* With a restricted speed limit.

† With an open road speed limit.

Source: National Roads Board.

  kilometres 
Paved or sealed13 369.126 524.611 015.250 908.9
Metal or gravel550.740 971.5540.142 062.3
        Total, maintained roads13 919.867 496.111 555.392 971.2

Roads administration

The main statutes covering roads administration in New Zealand are the Public Works Act 1981, the Local Government Act 1974, and the National Roads Act 1953. Administration of the country's roading system is exercised by the National Roads Board in respect of state highways and motorways, and territorial local authorities in respect of other roads.

The National Roads Board was formed in 1954 to provide a roading system balanced to meet the country's needs. It is chaired by the Minister of Works and Development and has 10 members, representing private motorists, commercial vehicle owners, counties, municipalities, the Ministry of Works and Development, and the Ministry of Transport. Government members are a minority. This ensures a wide background of knowledge and experience is brought to bear on roading matters. Essentially the board is a politically-orientated policy-making body; it is required to think and act nationally. The most important functions of the board are:

  1. To administer a National Roads Fund;

  2. To provide a roading system adequate for New Zealand's needs;

  3. To advise government on all matters concerning roading, including finance;

  4. To assist and advise local authorities on roading problems; and

  5. To undertake at intervals of not more than five years a comprehensive survey of roading in New Zealand.

The National Roads Fund is derived from road taxation paid by the users, the private motorist and the commercial vehicle operator. All taxation must be immediately available for roading purposes and, although the board and the fund are independent, Parliament can debate the board's activities.

The National Roads Board can be likened to a board of directors with the Minister of Works and Development as chairman and the Director of Roading, as chief executive officer. The board meets once a month. Most of the business is conducted in open meeting.

No staff are employed directly, but the Ministry of Works and Development provides an engineering and administrative service funded with 6.8 percent of total board expenditure. The Roading Directorate of the Ministry of Works and Development carries out the executive functions of the board and in servicing the board calls on the specialist services of other divisions and branches of the Ministry of Works and Development as required, such as for bridge design, land purchase or accounts. For state highways and motorways, the board meets the full cost of construction and maintenance, while the maintenance and construction of local authority roads is subsidised by the board. The National Roads Board is the controlling authority for state highways. As the board's agent, the Ministry of Works and Development has responsibility for financial and technical control. In certain cases, the board has delegated its powers of construction and/or maintenance to local authorities.

In the case of local authority roads, responsibility lies with the authority concerned. Apart from the question of standards on major works, there are no strings and there is no over-riding control by central government.

Under the National Roads Act, in December of each year the board is required to estimate its income for the following year and to make its primary allocations of funds expected to be available. The board then prepares a final programme of road works for the coming year. There are two sectors, and funds are allocated on the following basis: for local authorities—not less than 39 percent of motor revenue; for state highways—not less than 47 percent of motor revenue: this leaves 14 percent of motor revenue for allocation to any or all of the above, at the discretion of the board.

New Zealand is divided geographically into 21 roads districts, and funds are allocated by the board to each sector in each district as fairly and equitably as possible having regard to particular needs. In each roads district there is an advisory body known as a district roads council. These councils are representative of the same interests as the board itself. Although they have no executive powers, their recommendations concerning relative priorities have considerable influence on board decisions. In addition to its regular meetings the board makes visits of inspection to several roads districts each year. These visits give board members a better appreciation of local problems, needs, and conditions through observation and discussion. They also maintain personal contact with District Roads Councils.

Finance.

A National Roads Fund has been established within the system of public accounts, the revenue of the fund being derived mainly from motor taxation.

Fuel tax equal to 8.9c per litre from all lightweight petrol, lpg, and cng powered vehicles using public roads is paid into the fund. All heavy motor vehicles, including trailers, and all remaining lightweight vehicles (mainly diesel-powered), are required to purchase distance licences at a cost that varies according to their nominated maximum gross weight, their axle configuration, and the distance they travel.

Table 22.25. NATIONAL ROADS BOARD RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURE*

Item198419851986

* Years ended 31 March.

† Receipts are less collection expenditure.

Source: National Roads Board.

  $(000) 
Receipts—
  Petrol tax (net)138,720157,594189,248
  Road user charges96,600164,098210,537
  Cng/lpg6,95812,43823,835
  Fees and charges—
  Contribution from Consolidated Account93,00025,000
Miscellaneous receipts—
  Rents3,136  
  Sales of land and buildings2,873  
Heavy traffic fees and fines7831,060
Interest on investments462175215
Miscellaneous4856251,267
        Total receipts343,019360,990425,102
Expenditure—
  Highways maintenance108,215120,058142,912
  Highways construction51,56362,57954,885
  Local authority roading subsidies and grants144,925157,170169,060
  Special purpose roads2,6751,2281,226
Administration and general expenses—
  Ministry of Works administration21,43222,53825,854
  Fees and travelling expenses129184151
  Miscellaneous expenses3,6283,6855,450
  Property expenses3,918  
Bridging expenses—
  Bailey bridging, etc.253191392
Unauthorised expenditure537
        Total expenditure336,742367,636399,937
  Balance in fund at end of year14,7416,00631,158

State highways.

The National Roads Act provides for the declaration of roads as state highways with the approval of the Minister of Works and Development. In 1969, the National Roads Board reviewed the state highway system and re-affirmed the principle that the network must continue to be based on the pattern of national development, needs of defence, and directness of route and main travel lines. The most important principles in designing a state highway system are that the total length of the system must be based on routes of primary importance; that routes must be equitably distributed in relation to the pattern of national development; and that routes must be confined to those which have characteristics in keeping with the function of the system.

Although urban development, with its growing industrialisation, is a major issue, the National Roads Board is also aware of the need for continued development of an effective inter-regional network with adequate rural feeder roads, and balanced development of the total network is essential if primary production is to increase and production costs are to be restrained.

Table 22.26. EXPENDITURE ON STATE HIGHWAYS*

Class of Expenditure19821983198419851986

* Years ended 31 March.

† Excludes motorway structures.

‡ Maintenance figures include the cost of flood damage restoration when applicable.

Source: National Roads Board.

   $(000)  
Construction and improvement33,85232,61042,87550,03742,754
Bridges and other structures11,56711,32211,03613,09012,130
Maintenance, repairs, etc.81,33095,910108,214119,577142,912
        Total126,749139,843162,125182,704197,796

Motorways—Motorways provide efficient and economic means of communication, while the control of access and the total elimination of ribbon development improves road safety and prevents obsolescence.

The total length of motorways in use at 31 March 1986 was 121.8 kilometres.

New sealing—During the year ended 31 March 1986, 25.1 kilometres of new sealing on state highways was completed, giving 10 015.2 kilometres of sealed highway, 95.3 percent of the total length.

Roading standards—To qualify for roading subsidies local authorities are required to carry out works to a standard approved by the National Roads Board. Subsidies are not payable unless the approved standard is observed, although work of a higher standard may be undertaken provided that the additional expenditure involved is found by the local authorities concerned. From time to time the board's standards are revised to meet developments in highway practice and engineering design and also to cater for the requirements of increasing traffic. The board also produces guides to good practice, and standard specifications for roading materials and construction methods.

Local authority roading.

The National Roads Board pays a basic subsidy at the rate of $1.50 for each $2 spent by local authorities on approved works. In special cases grants are also made.

Local authorities may also receive grants for bridge replacement, but wooden bridges built 50 and 60 years ago continue to deteriorate at a greater rate than replacements can be built. In 18 years to March 1986 there were 3587 bridges completed, totalling 79 737 metres.

For the year ended 31 March 1986, $169,060,630 was paid to local authorities from the National Roads Fund for roading. To assist local authorities with their planning the National Roads Board meets 30 percent of the cost of approved transport surveys in urban areas. Plans have been completed or are in the course of preparation in all urban areas with a population in excess of 30 000 people.

Needs studies of local authority roading are carried out by the Ministry of Works and Development staff on behalf of the board on a cyclic basis to assess relative needs.

Development roading.

In addition to the expenditure on roading from the National Roads Fund, money was provided annually by the Consolidated Account (Programme: Developmental Roading) for road construction. Under this heading, subsidies were paid to local authorities for the construction of new roads giving access to new farmlands. The programme also financed access roads to lands being prepared for farm settlement by the Departments of Lands and Survey (now Land Corporation) and Maori Affairs. Other roading to qualify included that for national development and the upgrading of existing roads to meet the requirements of major industries, e.g., forestry, tourism, or energy. New roads constructed for farm access are maintained by local authorities, while national roading normally becomes the responsibility of the National Roads Board for maintenance as part of the state highway system.

Government roading expenditure from the Consolidated Account (Programme: Developmental Roading) for the year ended 31 March 1986 was $2,588,300—the programme has since been discontinued.

National roading expenditure.

Details of New Zealand public roading expenditure financed from the National Roads Fund, the Consolidated Account, and local authority funds (both from revenue and loans) are summarised in table 22.27.

Table 22.27. PUBLIC ROADING EXPENDITURE*

Item198419851986

* Years ended 31 March.

Source: National Roads Board.

  $(000) 
State highways expenditure159,777182,704197,796
Special purpose roads2,6751,2301,226
Local authority roading expenditure—
  From local authority funds172,312197,629221,036
  From National Roads Fund144,932157,082169,373
  From Consolidated Account (developmental roading)6,3146,4432,588
        Total486,010545,088592,019

Table 22.28. ROADING EXPENDITURE RELATED TO GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT

Year Ended 31 MarchRoading Expenditure: Central and Local Gov'tGross Domestic ProductRoading Expenditure as Percentage of G.D.P.
 $(million)percent
1982374.0927,8311.34
1983425.3331,1601.36
1984341.4934,3290.99
1985374.0638,6670.96
1986623.6544,8681.39
Source: National Roads Board.

Registration and licensing of vehicles

All vehicles using public roads in New Zealand are required to be registered. An annual relicensing charge is payable, which includes a licence fee, accident compensation levy, goods and services tax, and, in some cases a certificate of fitness or transport licence fee. During 1986 the administration of motor vehicle registration changed—from a system where the country's more than 2.4 million vehicles were registered for the year to 30 June to one where they are relicensed progressively throughout the year.

The annual relicensing charges are, effective 17 November 1986: ordinary motorcars, $99.33, motorcars subject to transport licence fee, $140.03; motorcycles, $36.74 (60cc or less) or $77.44; rental cars $153.23; trucks, vans and utilities from $99.33 to $209.33; and tractors, $57.64.

The various types of motor vehicles registered and licensed over recent years are itemised in the tables following.

Table 22.29. LICENSED MOTOR VEHICLES

Type of VehicleAt 31 March
19821983198419851986

* From 1 July 1984 a contract vehicle is licensed as either a truck or a service coach.

† Trailers formerly exempted from annual licence fees were entirely exempted from the requirement to be registered and licensed in 1984.

Source: New Zealand Post Office.

Cars1 360 4771 394 1091 431 7791 481 8221 511 400
Rental cars6,2477,1337,39510,11711,762
Private taxicabs265223399374368
Goods service vehicles281,235288,028294,033299 811x305,984
Contract vehicles*1,331874713....
Omnibuses2,4522,7303,0293,1693,392
Public taxicabs2,8522,6692,6202,5822660
Service coaches9731050110514831646
Motor cycles144,327143,894141,156137,442133,954
Power cycles (mopeds)1591147913791441895
        Total, motor vehicles1,801,7501 842 1891883,6081 938 241*1 972 061
Trailers, including trailer-type caravans390,052386,510390,924384,810385,916
Dealers' cars4,6234,8485,1055,1165,235
Dealers' motor cycles335294264222260
Vehicles exempted from annual licence fees88,74380,19374,31872,34462,827
Miscellaneous11,38411,35211,42411,27011,030
        Total, all vehicles2 296 8872 325 3862 365 6432 412 003x2 437 329

Table 22.30. REGISTRATIONS OF NEW VEHICLES

December YearNew Cars and Stationwagons—c.c. RatingCars Previously Registered Overseas*New Motor Cycles
850 and Under851 to 13001301 to 16001601 to 20002001 to 50005001 and OverTotal

* Included in total.

Source: New Zealand Post Office.

198274225,82524,03829,2865,38720185,4791,81222,306
198370420,97722,89926,1164,98417175,8511,76616,938
198497027,75827,32535,6446,47226898,4372,01915,975
198559623,28018,78932,3269,10833584,4342,91813,425
198684717,90718,23230,21812,39841980,0213,94613,372

Table 22.31. REGISTRATIONS OF NEW COMMERCIAL VEHICLES

December YearNew Commercial Vehicles By Cross Weight in KilogramsTotal Commercial Vehicles
2500 or Less2501 to 45004501 to 90009001 to 14 50014501 and OverOmnibus and Service Coaches
198225,4851,9501,31090487618730,712
198319,6282,1331,24994691715125,024
198419,3243,4141,4761,3301,29619527,035
198515,0004,2201 462x1 177x1 169x256x23,284
198611,8183,3361,2271,05894020418,583
Source: New Zealand Post Office.

Not included in the above tables are new tractors, of which 2449 were registered in 1982, 2201 in 1983, 2217 in 1984, 1793 in 1985, and 887 in 1986.

Motor vehicles exempted from the annual licence fee include a variety of machines such as farmers' motor vehicles used solely on the farm and only venturing on roads to proceed from one part of the farm to another, or from farm to garage for repair, etc., excavators, scoops, trench diggers, cranes, and logging trucks (used on private roads), etc.

Table 22.32. LICENSED VEHICLES BY POPULATION

As at 31 MarchNumber of Persons in Population per CarNumber of Persons in Population per Motor Vehicle*
* Excluding trailers and caravans.
19812.41.7
19822.31.7
19832.31.6x
19842.31.6x
19852.21.6
19862.21.6

Transport to work.

The 1986 census showed a large section of full-time workers (45.1 percent) drove a privately owned car, truck or van to work, while a further 11.9 percent drove a vehicle owned by the employing company. The public transport system serviced only 9.3 percent of those travelling to full-time work.

Table 22.33 shows the main means of transport to work used by those in the full-time labour force whose census night and usual residential address were the same at the 1986 Census of Population and Dwellings.

It is not possible to analyse changes in means of travel to work since the 1981 census because of a new definition of the term ‘gainfully employed in the full-time labour force’ adopted for the 1986 census, i.e., those persons working 30 hours or more per week.

Table 22.33. TRANSPORT TO WORK, 1986

Means of TransportEmployed in Full-time Labour Force*
NumberPercentage

* New Zealand residents aged 15 years and over.

† Includes Jogging or running.

Public bus89,3107.6
Train19,6321.7
Drive private vehicle530,48745.1
Drive company vehicle139,76711.9
Passenger in car, truck or company bus89,2867.6
Bicycle60,8765.2
Motorcycle, power cycle45,9573.9
Walk107,3769.1
Other8,0370.7
Work at home86,2267.3
Not specified5,343 
        Total1 182 303100.0

Motor spirit usage

Usage of motor spirits in New Zealand over recent years is shown in table 22.34. The grades shown are regular (83 and 91 octane), premium (96 octane), and other, which may include some non-petroleum based racing fuels. The figures are based on returns made by oil companies to the Customs Department in connection with the assessment of motor spirit duty. However, they include motor spirit used in farming and in industrial engines, for which the purchaser can claim a rebate of duty.

Since mid-1986 duty payable has been calculated on petroleum products at point of entry, and delivery figures are no longer available.

Table 22.34. MOTOR SPIRITS USAGE

Year Ended MarchMotor Spirits—Oil Company Deliveries*
PremiumRegularOtherTotal

* Based on deliveries by oil companies to resellers, bulk sales, and use in own fleet. Excludes diesel fuel.

† In May 1983 the octane rating of regular petrol changed from 83 to 91. Figures from that date are for 91 octane regular.

  litres (000) 
19822 216 32452,7235162 269 563
19832 230 57644,0872622 274 928
19842 218 157x136 196x2502 354 602
19852 098 938198,7942382 297 970
19862 038 891168,9672692 208 128

Diesel fuel is widely used by heavy trucks and buses, but actual figures of consumption by these vehicles are also not available.

Road safety

Enforcement of traffic and other laws.

Road traffic is controlled throughout the country by the Ministry of Transport, except in five cities and boroughs where it is controlled by local authorities (but not on motorways). In national emergencies or major disasters, all traffic control comes under the ministry's supervision.

Ministry of Transport traffic officers enforce traffic laws and driving standards. They also enforce the laws relating to heavy traffic, the allowable weights of vehicles and loads on different classes of road, and the licensing of road transport services (such as taxis and buses).

Traffic officers are not police officers and do not make criminal investigations. They form, however, a uniformed and disciplined enforcement body, and a close liaison is maintained with the police.

Traffic officers now have a wide range of tests available to them when they suspect a driver is affected by alcohol or drugs or a combination of the two. Anyone a traffic officer suspects is driving while under the influence of alcohol or who commits a driving offence may be required to give a breath screening test. If this proves to be positive the person may be required to give an evidential breath test. If this is positive, the person then has the option of either accepting the breath test reading or providing a blood sample for analysis.

Under legislation introduced in 1978 a person commits an offence and is liable for prosecution if either:

  1. His/her breath-alcohol concentration as recorded on an evidential breath-testing device exceeds 500 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath; or

  2. His/her blood-alcohol concentration exceeds 80 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.

    Under legislation introduced on 1 August 1987:

  3. Drivers subject to the new graduated driver licensing system will be subject to extensions of the learner or restricted stage if they are detected while driving with a breath-alcohol level exceeding 150 micrograms/litre or a blood-alcohol concentration exceeding 30 milligrams/100 millilitres.

  4. These lower levels will also be sufficient for an additional prosecution to be applied to those apprehended for driving without any form of driver's licence.

Wearing of seat-belts is now compulsory for drivers and front-seat passengers in most classes of light vehicles registered after January 1955. All new cars registered since 1 November 1979 must have seat-belts fitted in the rear passenger seats and it is compulsory for rear-seat passengers to wear seat-belts where fitted.

The law also requires:

Children under eight

  • ○ If an approved child restraint is available it must be used.

  • ○ If there is no approved child restraint but a seat-belt is available it must be used (where appropriate).

  • ○ If neither are available, the unrestrained child must travel in the rear seat. (Unrestrained children are allowed in the front seat only if the vehicle has no rear seat or if the rear seat is fully occupied by children.)

Children (eight and upwards) and adults

  • ○ If a seat-belt is available it must be used.

  • ○ The driver is responsible for ensuring that children use available child restraints and seat-belts.

  • ○ If there is no seat-belt available an unrestrained child must travel in the rear seat.

Since 1973 it has been compulsory for all motor cyclists and pillion riders to wear safety helmets at all speeds.

Offences.

Penalties are awarded by courts for driving and other offences under the Transport Act 1962 and attendant regulations, There is also a system in operation whereby points are automatically registered according to a fixed scale against persons convicted of driving offences.

The Secretary for Transport has authority to suspend drivers' licences for six months where 100 or more demerit points are received in less than a year, or for three months where this number of points are received within two years. Official notice of more than 60 points is given.

Breaches of certain laws are dealt with under an infringement system where a motorist may pay an infringement fee within a certain time to avoid court proceedings.

Driver licensing.

Since 1 May 1985 all drivers' licences have been valid without renewal until the end of the month in which the holder turns 71. Those special classes of licence which require annual medical tests (such as passenger service vehicles) require validation but otherwise no testing or renewal need be undertaken until the age of 70. A separate regime of medical and practical tests for renewal begins at this age.

A new form of driver's licence has been issued since 1 August 1987, coinciding with the introduction of a graduated driver licensing system. Replacement licences of this type will later be issued to all licence holders. At the same time the opportunity will be taken to ask licence holders whether they wish to donate vital organs in the event of death and if so, this will be indicated on the new licences.

This system involves a number of restrictions on learner drivers to ensure that they are protected from high-risk situations until they have obtained experience on the road in ‘normal’ conditions. Incentives for attending driver training courses are also built into the system, which will apply to all first applicants for licences under the age of 25. The new system follows three stages:

Learner stage—This normally lasts for six months. On or after their 15th birthday, applicants may undergo a theory test and a vision test to obtain a learner permit, which allows the holder to drive under the following conditions:

  1. The permit is to be carried;

  2. They must be accompanied by a full-licence holder who is in charge; and

  3. They must effectively have a zero blood-alcohol limit (below 30mg/100ml of blood or 150mcg/litre of breath).

Restricted stage—This normally lasts 18 months. After completion of the learner stage the applicant undergoes a practical driving test to obtain a restricted licence which allows the holder to drive under the following conditions:

  1. The restricted licence is to be carried;

  2. There is no driving between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. without adult supervision;

  3. No passengers are to be carried without adult supervision; and

  4. They must effectively have a zero blood-alcohol limit (below 30mg/100ml of blood or 150mcg/litre of breath).

Full licence—Issued at completion of restricted stage without further test. Breaches of the conditions in either stage will result in their extension by up to six months.

Speed limits.

The maximum speed limits for highways and motorways are: 100 km/h for cars, vans and light vehicles; 90 km/h for buses, heavy motor and articulated vehicles; and 80 km/h for school buses and any vehicles towing trailers.

A general speed limit of 50 km/h is fixed in cities, boroughs, town districts, or other localities declared to be closely populated. Areas with a speed limit of 70 km/h may also be specified by the Minister of Transport; and limited speed zones may be established for which the maximum permitted speed may be either 100 km/h or 50 km/h depending on conditions and circumstances.

Inspection of motor vehicles.

All vehicles using the roads must be inspected regularly to ensure their mechanical and structural fitness. They are inspected every six months but vehicles first registered since 1 December 1985 and less than three years old may be inspected every 12 months. Most lightweight vehicles are required to have a warrant of fitness which can be issued at approved garages, or at testing stations operated by local authorities or the Ministry of Transport. All heavy vehicles, with minor exceptions, undergo a more exacting examination for a certificate of fitness, which, in respect of passenger service buses, has special regard for the safety and comfort of passengers. Taxicabs and rental vehicles also require a certificate of fitness.

The design and standard of construction of vehicles manufactured, assembled, or modified in New Zealand are also regulated to ensure safety.

Insurance.

Details on accident compensation are given in chapter 8.

Road safety education.

Details on road safety campaigns are given in chapter 8.

Traffic offences

The following table covers only offences reported by officers of the Ministry of Transport; in addition traffic prosecutions are taken by the police, particularly for serious offences, following accidents or other police investigations. Some city councils employ their own traffic control staff, and the total number of offences are therefore rather higher than shown.

Table 22.35. TRAFFIC OFFENCES REPORTED*

Type of Offence198419851986

* Years ended 31 December.

† Include infringements and notice to prosecute offences.

Source: Ministry of Transport.

Accident-promoting offences—
  Driving or attempting to drive under the influence of drink or drugs238263300
  Breath/blood alcohol offences8,9069,1579,726
  Evidential/excess alcohol8,9369,8469,899
  Failure to fulfil duties after an accident1,2821,3901,619
  Reckless driving214251213
  Driving in a dangerous manner1,3971,4661,504
  Driving at a dangerous speed613618724
  Driving without reasonable consideration344316353
  Careless use of a motor vehicle14,04815,07617,444
  Overtaking offences9489491,062
  Failure to keep to the left4,5114,2044,198
  Failure to yield right of way2,5472,4122,803
  Failure to stop in half clear road3,0273,1463,622
  Exceeding 50 km/h67,35978,999101,221
  Exceeding 70 km/h2,4852,7654,119
  Exceeding 80 km/h36,02924,441166
  Exceeding 100 km/h7,74519,319
  Exceeding temporary speed limits8609421,108
  Exceeding by-law speed limits789454
  Failure to stop at traffic lights6,8576,4307,645
  Failure to stop at compulsory stop sign8,8488,3979,100
  Failure to give way at give way sign1,5481,4871,677
  Failure to yield right of way at pedestrian crossing520543595
  Failure to stop or give way for siren309324327
  Failure to comply with road signs3,2432,9093,230
  Failure to wear safety helmet2,8463,4693,884
  Provisional motor cyclist exceeding 50 km/h98103100
  Exceeding 70 km/h with trailer82659520
  Exceeding 70 km/h with heavy motor vehicle1,1106194
  Exceeding 80 km/h with trailer297973
  Exceeding 90 km/h with trailer4311
  Exceeding 90 km/h with heavy motor vehicle while towing23
  Exceeding 90 km/h with heavy motor vehicle90
  Exceeding other limit?4232173
  Defective brake164184227
  Lighting offences4,7555,2135,437
  Failure to dip lights99102108
  Mechanically defective or unsafe vehicle6,9026,3686,421
  Trailer offences341415496
Other (not elsewhere indicated)272654
    Subtotal192,357201,925219,949
Non accident-promoting offences
  Failure to obey officer24462,6693,050
  Owner failing to supply information125128179
  Failure to pay overloading infringement fee603330863
  Failure to pay fees133621
  Warrant of fitness offences35,77949,07046,544
  Certificate of fitness offences1,7411,6411,626
  Certificate of loading offences602544470
  Exceeding certificate of loading239200187
  Cng and lpg offences33
  No distance licence carried2,1382,0312,216
  Hubodometer offences4,6524,2204,060
  Driving without a time licence157162162
  Exceeding maximum gross weight or distance or time4,9034,0714,106
  Road user licence altered, defaced or not displayed852935446
  Driver's licence offences13,78914,36915,214
  Driving whilst disqualified3,4383,3713,540
  Probationary drivers' offences566745901
  Vehicle licences and registration offences11,59313,97615,802
  Safety-belt offences7,9836,76121,821
  Noisy motor vehicles1,097879773
  Emitting excessive smoke119121140
  Loading offences2,0421,9043,095
  Other nuisances329269253
  Cycling offences1,6022,0772,041
  Pedestrian offences6374113
  Passenger offences191197233
  Bylaw offences (other than speed limit)564275318
  Unlicensed goods service168665366
  Breach of goods service licence19810739
  Exceeding rail restriction limit1784411
  Rental vehicle offences1088279
  Taxi offences9385218
  No vehicle authority or not carried313230217
  Other transport service licence offences381490363
  Breaches of rail restrictions840691344
  Waybill and route permit offences823627285
  Miscellaneous/not elsewhere indicated1,9432,0731,967
    Subtotal102,671116,149132,096
Other notices issued
  Parking infringements and offences97,772101,09197,712
  Overloading infringements14,02414,01011,629
        Subtotals111,796115,101109,341
        Total, all offences and infringements406,824433,175461,386

22.5 Post and telecommunications

The first post office was set up at Kororareka (now Russell) in 1840. The same year overland mail routes were begun, and offices were established in the North and at Port Nicholson (Wellington). In 1858 a Post Office Act was passed which made the Post Office an independent department of state with 73 post offices.

A telegraph system began in the 1860s, and from 1865 a separate Telegraph Department was responsible for it. The North and South Islands were linked by telegraph cable in 1866 and by telephone cable in 1926.

In 1881 the telegraph and postal services were amalgamated. Later, under the Post Office Act 1959, the name of the department became the Post Office, and the minister's title became Postmaster-General.

By 1987 the Post Office had grown to be the country's largest employer with over 40 000 staff in three trading areas: postal, telecommunications, and the related Post Office Savings Bank.

From 1 April 1987 the Post Office was split into three distinct state-owned corporations and a few telecommunications regulatory functions were transferred to the Department of Trade and Industry.

New Zealand Post—Provides postal services throughout New Zealand, and acts as an agent for some telecommunications. It also continues to act as an agent for a variety of government and other organisations e.g., for the compilation of electoral rolls.

Telecom Corporation of New Zealand—Provides a national and international telecommunications network, including a range of public telephone services (e.g., telephone, telex and datalink) and of enhanced telecommunication services and customer equipment (e.g., videotex, electronic voice messaging and EFTPOS).

Post Bank—This new corporation was formed from the Post Office Savings Bank. (See chapter 26, Finance, banking and insurance.)

Information given below is for the period when all of these operations were carried out by the (then) New Zealand Post Office.

Postal services

At 31 March 1986 there were 1261 post offices in New Zealand.

The average numbers of items posted in New Zealand per head of population during the year ended 31 March 1986 were: letters, 184.7; other articles (printed papers, commercial papers, newspapers, and magazines), 45.3; and parcels, 2.8. Chartered air services are used to convey the bulk of surface mail between the North and South Islands. Private boxes installed as at 31 September 1986 totalled 165 940.

Postal delivery.

There are just over 1400 postal deliveries throughout New Zealand serving 986 500 delivery points (941 500 private houses and 45 000 business premises). Delivery is made once dally, Monday to Saturday. The majority (1100) of the deliveries are made by bicycle whilst the remainder, mainly in cities and larger towns, are by foot.

Table 22.36. ARTICLES POSTED

Year Ended 31 MarchLetters (Standard and Non-standard)Other Articles (Including Packets, Newspapers, etc.)ParcelsTotalAir Letter Class Articles
  million  kg
1981545.0104.29.5658.7977,883
1982529.8120.59.9660.21 157 383
1983564.586.09.9660.41 283 450
1984588.190.49.3687.81 302 550
1985580.7140.49.8730.91 404 910
1986607.5149.19.1765.71 473 244
Source: New Zealand Post Office.

Rural mail delivery.

In addition to the delivery and collection of mail, the rural mail delivery system enables country residents to obtain other services such as money orders and stamps at or near their gates.

Deliveries are generally performed by contractors who handle the mail in conjunction with the carriage of goods, and thus the rural mail delivery is in many areas the medium by which country residents obtain their newspapers, bread, parcels, etc. At 31 March 1986 a total of 104 252 boxholders and bagholders received service in this way, and the cost to the Post Office for the rural delivery service was approximately $15 million for the year.

Overseas airmails.

Airmail made up about 42 percent of the total weight of mail forwarded overseas for 1985–86. In 1985–86, 851 338 kg of letters, newspapers and packets, and 416 080 kg of parcels were posted by overseas airmail.

Trans-Tasman—The existing service provides for flights between New Zealand (Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch) and Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Hobart, Adelaide and Perth).

New Zealand-United Kingdom—This service operates daily to London, the transit time to the United Kingdom being normally 27 hours. At London Airport, airmails for 14 European countries are transferred to the first available flights to destination, and the majority normally arrive within 50 hours of departure from New Zealand.

New Zealand—There are direct services from Auckland to Japan and Singapore. Airmail to countries in the Far East is dispatched to Singapore or Sydney for reforwarding.

Trans-Pacific—Airlines operate a daily service to the United States.

Pacific Islands—Airmails are forwarded by various air services operating from Auckland to the Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Hawaii, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Norfolk Island, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Western Samoa (Apia). Local air services provide connections from Apia, Nauru, Fiji or Noumea to American Samoa, Kiribati, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands. There is a twice-weekly air service run by Air Nauru from Auckland.

Table 22.37. OVERSEAS PARCEL POST

Year Ended 31 MarchOverseas Parcels ReceivedOverseas Parcels Dispatched
NumberWeightNumberWeight
  kg kg
1982582,8011 953 876374,9491 185 625
1983498,5351 695 018344,4901 102 367
1984570,4662 009 547388,7951 267 416
1985585,9091 865 663471,1961 511 476
1986588,4221 988 472442,4511 528 208
Source: New Zealand Post Office.

Philatelic sales.

The New Zealand Post Office Philatelic Bureau in Wanganui handles thousands of mail orders for stamps, and services a large number of customers' standard deposit and standing order accounts. There are Philatelic Sales Centres in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton, Rotorua and Gisborne.

Table 22.38. PHILATELIC SERVICES

Year Ended 31 MarchDeposit AccountsPhilatelic RevenueMailing List Subscribers
InlandOverseasTotal
    $      
198222,64519,35642,0015,694,12796,143
198323,94519,93143,8765,092,86694,178
198424,87820,38245,2605,276,46694,146
198525,65820,83846,4966,620,72797,441
198625,98421,31747,3016,933,83399,895
Source: New Zealand Post Office.

Table 22.39. NEW STAMPS RELEASED DURING 1986

DateIssueDenominations
15 JanuaryCentenary of New Zealand Police25c × 5
5 MarchVintage Transport: Motorcycles35c, 45c, 60c, 75c
5 MarchInternational Year of Peace25c × 2
23 AprilNative birds$3, $4
1 MayNative birds30c, 45c
11 JuneScenic: Bays55c, 60c, 65c, 80c
30 JulyHealth: Children's designs30c + 3c × 2, 45c + 3c
17 SeptemberChristmas: Carols25c, 33c, 65c
5 NovemberMusic in New Zealand30c, 60c, 80c, $1
Source: New Zealand Post Office.

Money orders.

Inland postal money orders and telegraphic money orders for any amount may be purchased to send money within New Zealand, the Cook Islands, and Niue. Postal money orders may also be issued in New Zealand for payment by many foreign administrations, and an overseas telegraphic money order service is available to Australia, Fiji, Great. Britain and Northern Ireland, the Irish Republic, Norfolk Island, and Western Samoa.

Postal notes.

During the year ended 31 March 1986, postal notes valued at $1,052,051 were purchased by the public. The service was withdrawn on 1 August 1986.

British postal orders.

British postal orders are both issued and paid in New Zealand. Denominations sold are 25p, 50p, 75p, £1, and £2 sterling. These orders are a medium for making small postal remittances to some Commonwealth countries, especially the United Kingdom. During the year ended 31 March 1986 the Post Office sold 193 576 British postal orders valued at $1,160,097 and paid 66 162 orders valued at $1,059,765. On 1 April 1987 the 25p, 50p, 75p and £1 denominations were withdrawn and the £5 and £10 denominations introduced.

Telephone services

Since the first telephone exchange was installed in 1881 the telephone system has expanded to over 800 exchanges serving 1 295 022 subscribers at 31 March 1986. About one-fifth of these are installed in businesses. At the same date 16 799 applicants were awaiting service.

Telephone exchanges are grouped into 157 toll-free calling areas within which there is no charge for local calls. The long-term objective is to reduce the number of toll-free calling areas to about 80. Toll fees are charged for calls between different toll-free calling areas, at rates varying according to distance.

According to the latest comparative data available (January 1983), compiled by the American Telephone and Telegraph Co., New Zealand ranks fifth in the number of telephones per 100 of population, the leading countries being Sweden (85.6 percent), Switzerland (77.6 percent,) U.S.A. (71.0 percent), Denmark (69.7 percent) and New Zealand (60.0 percent).

Subscriber Toll Dialling (STD) service is in operation in Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Gisborne, Hamilton, Invercargill, Masterton, Napier, Nelson, New Plymouth, Oamaru, Palmerston North, Rotorua, Tauranga, Thames, Wanganui, Wellington, Whangarei and in several smaller centres. It is being progressively extended as new telephone exchange equipment is brought into service. At 31 March 1986, STD service was available to 89.7 percent of subscribers.

A broadband toll link, comprising microwave, radio, and co-axial cable systems, connects main centres from Kaikohe to Invercargill.

Table 22.40. TELEPHONE INSTALLATIONS

ItemAs at 31 March
19821983198419851986
Main telephones—
  Automatic1 123 2571 151 7791 187 0581 230 3071 267 431
  Manual45,11941,03033,66424,58922,817
Extension telephones702,262741,762785,115845,933908,463
Public telephones4,9004,9174,8474,8654,774
        Total telephones1 875 5381 939 4882 010 6842 105 6942 203 485
Telephones (all types per 1000 population)592600616639667
Applicants awaiting installations11,9257,13011,26714,98116,779
Number of toll calls (inland and outward international)105 455 227113 815 142124 603 079141 248 096158 710 933
Source: New Zealand Post Office.

Telecommunications

Telegrams.

In line with world experience there is a continuing decline in inland telegram traffic. In the year ended 31 March 1986, 1.5 million messages were lodged, compared with 1.9 million in the preceding year. Of these, 66 percent were lodged by telephone, 14 percent by telex, and 20 percent handed in over Post Office counters. At the delivery end, 56 percent were delivered by messenger, 35 percent telephoned to the addressee, and 9 percent telexed.

The public telegraph network comprises 76 teleprinter offices which interwork through Gentex (automatic circuit switching).

Bureaufax.

A bureaufax service was introduced between Auckland and Wellington in 1980, and is now available at 41 post offices. This electronic document transfer service produces a facsimile of documents, including typewritten or handwritten manuscripts, charts and graphs. Documents are transmitted to both internal and overseas destinations, and use of the service is increasing steadily. During the year ended 31 March 1986, 523 000 pages were handled.

Telex service.

The telex service is a subscriber-to-subscriber teleprinter communication service, operated through a worldwide network of automatic telex exchanges.

A manual international telex service began in 1960. Automatic inland and international service was introduced in 1964. Demand for telex service has increased steadily and, as at 31 March 1986, there were 6266 subscribers in New Zealand.

Computer-controlled telex exchanges were introduced in Auckland in June 1980 and in Wellington in May 1981. In addition to meeting the demand for new connections, the new exchanges enabled a reduction in the inland call charge because of reduced operating costs and the introduction of several special services.

Data communication services

Datel—This service provides for data communication over the switched telephone network at speeds of up to 2400 bits per second (measure of information flow). Subscribers' privately-owned terminals are connected to telephone lines through Post Office moderns which convert the data signals to a form suitable for transmission over telephone circuits. Datel calls are charged at the same rates as normal telephone calls.

Datex—Datex is a 300-bit-per-second switched text and data communication service whereby subscribers can use their word processors or computers to communicate with other datex subscribers, or to telex subscribers at the slower speed of 50 bits per second. This service was introduced in November 1981 and as at 31 March 1986 there were 193 subscribers in New Zealand. Datex calls are charged the same as telex calls.

Leased data-circuits—A service was introduced in June 1981 providing for the direct connection of subscribers' data terminal equipment by means of leased data-circuits operating at speeds of 300, 1200, 2400, 4800, and 9600 bits per second.

Electronic text services—Videotex is a two-way, interactive, electronic information service that links subscribers, video screens to databases through the telephone network. Subscribers may not only buy information but establish their own databases for use by other subscribers. Demand for the service continues to grow, and by the end of 1986 there were more than 3000 registered users accessing over 20 databases. In November a new videotex access service was introduced based on the packet switching network. Development of the public database also continues and includes a wide range of business, agriculture and other information.

A computer-based electronic messaging service called STARNET (store and retrieve network) was introduced as a pilot service in January and a full commercial service followed late in 1986.

In addition to circuits leased for electronic data, circuits are leased for private voice, teleprinter and facsimile networks, music, and fire alarm systems.

International telecommunications

Cable links—A telegraph link with Australia was established in 1876, and between Auckland and Canada via Norfolk Island, Suva and Fanning Island in 1902. In 1945, the Commonwealth's external telecommunications system was brought under government control. In accordance with the Commonwealth Telegraphic Agreement 1948, the New Zealand Post Office purchased the New Zealand assets of Cable and Wireless Ltd (the private company previously controlling these services), and took over the operation of the overseas cable services.

In July 1962, a submarine cable with a capacity of 80 telephone channels was brought into operation between New Zealand and Australia as part of a Commonwealth round-the-world cable project. The cable was extended from New Zealand to Fiji in December 1962, and in December

1963 was further extended, via Hawaii, to Canada. In March 1967 the South-east Asia Commonwealth Telephone Cable (SEACOM) extended the COMPAC system from Australia to Papua New Guinea and (via Guam) to Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore.

An additional high capacity trans-Tasman submarine cable, a joint New Zealand – Australia project was brought into service in early 1976. Known as TASMAN, this cable has a total capacity of 640 telephone circuits.

A new 15 000 kilometre cable, called ANZCAN, with a capacity of 1380 circuits replaced the earlier COMPAC cable in 1984.

It links New Zealand, Australia, Norfolk Island, Fiji, Hawaii and Canada. From Canada it links up with the tens-Atlantic cables to connect with Britain and provides high-quality circuits for telephone, telegraph and telex communication to most countries.

Satellite communications.

To keep abreast of the rapid increase in international telecommunication traffic, an earth station was opened in 1971 at Warkworth, near Auckland, for communicating with other countries via space satellites.

As well as providing additional internal and international telecommunication facilities, the earth-stations are used for both ‘live’ and recorded television relays. Two smaller earth-stations have been constructed at Wellington (Mt Crawford) and Christchurch (Rangiora) and began operation during 1986.

High frequency radio links.

With the introduction of satellite communications, services provided by HF (high frequency) radio have progressively been converted to satellite operation. However, HF radio links are still maintained with Niue, Ross Dependency (Scott Base), Chatham Islands, Raoul and Campbell Islands and Pitcairn Island.

International telephone service.

Telephone communication by cable, satellite, and radio is now available to almost all countries of the world.

An International Gateway telephone exchange in Auckland handles all New Zealand's outgoing and incoming international telephone calls. International Subscriber Dialling (ISD) enabling New Zealand subscribers to dial overseas subscribers directly was introduced on 1 December 1979. The facility is presently available to 94 percent of New Zealand subscribers who may dial 150 countries and territories.

International data service.

Datel service (operated via the switched telephone network) is available to a number of countries. Operation at speeds up to 2400 bits per second is permitted.

International packet switched service.

Packet switched service was introduced in September 1984 to Australia, United Kingdom, the United States and other overseas countries with packet switched networks.

international telex service.

Since its inception in 1960, the international telex service has grown steadily to the present 183-country network. Automatic subscriber-to-subscriber calling was introduced in New Zealand in 1968. In 1977 automatic telex service became available to ships at sea.

International bureaufax service.

The international bureaufax service, which opened in September 1980, has continued to grow.

International telegram service.

A worldwide service is available, although the traffic volume is diminishing in line with the world trend.

Radio services to shipping.

Radio stations for communication with ships at sea are located at Auckland, Wellington, Awarua and the Chatham Islands. They provide a service for the exchange of radio telegrams with ships at sea, and special rates operate for vessels registered in New Zealand and Australia. A free radio-medical service also operates for ships at sea and lighthouses on the New Zealand coast. The number of vessels licensed to operate radio equipment is 10 163.

Inland radio

The use of radio as a means of communication continues to grow. At 31 March 1986 very-high-frequency service 9069 subscribers were provided with radio-telephone service to 80 940 mobile units through 137 base stations throughout the country. A further 25 310 mobile units are provided with service through 5827 government and private owner-operated base stations. The number of citizen sets licensed totals 36 693. The amateur service provides facilities for experimental communications between people interested in radio as a hobby, and 6317 stations are operated by qualified amateur operators. There are now 183 583 radio transmitting stations of all types licensed compared with 173 818 in 1986.

Post Office finances

The figures in tables 22.41 and 22.42 relate to each of the four areas of business (of agency, banking, postal and telecommunications) before the corporatisation of the Post Office. The total of $1,792.5 million includes transfer revenues of $21.3 million, i.e., revenues earned for services rendered by each business for the other three businesses.

When these revenues (and expenditures) are consolidated to show the result for the Post Office as a single entity, all transfer revenues and expenditure are eliminated.

Table 22.41. POST OFFICE REVENUE, 1985–86

Item1985–86
 $(000)
Agency business
Fees from government departments—
  Motor registration14,314 
  Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand5,510 
  Other government departments9,20729,031
Miscellaneous 3,140
        Agency revenue 32,171
Banking business
Interest on investments—
  Government and government corporation securities227,759 
  Mortgages and personal advances115,485 
  Other investments15,826359,070
Other—
  Service charges 5,194
  Remittance services 1,274
        Banking revenue 365,538
Postal business
Postage 234,985
Other—
  Private box, bag rents and rural delivery fees6,304 
  Philatelic sales6,934 
  Overseas traffic settlements3,086 
  Miscellaneous4,61520,939
        Postal revenue 255,924
Telecommunications business
Telephone 508,296
Tolls 378,621
International services 141,577
Other—
  Telex25,386 
  Telegraph13,200 
  Radio11,154 
  Leased circuits44,367 
  Miscellaneous16,258110,365
        Telecommunications revenue 1,138,859
        Total, Post Office revenue 1,792,492
Source: New Zealand Post Office.

Table 22.42. POST OFFICE REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE*

Year Ended 31 MarchRevenueExpenditure

* Excludes taxation.

Source: New Zealand Post Office.

 $(000)
1981710,678622,116
1982816,477740,402
19831,240,1931,042,541
19841,379,2331,089,490
19851,539,6971,222,792
19861,792,4921,574,989

Table 22.42 excludes capital expansion, which has been necessary to meet demand. Substantial provisions have been required for new and replacement telecommunications systems, to provide post offices in newly-developed areas, and to replace old and inadequate offices.

In 1985–86, $346.5 million was spent on telecommunications development and $31.1 million on land and buildings. In addition, $87.0 million was invested in other assets such as motor vehicles, tools and plant, and office equipment. The capital liability of the Post Office was $862.3 million and liability under capital equipment credit arrangements was $140.1 million. Total Post Office capital expenditure in 1985–86 was financed from Loans Account borrowing of $299.4 million plus $165.2 million from internal resources.

Post Office staffing

Staff employed in various branches of the Post Office completed a range of activities either directly related to or in support of the main business operations, where branch activities involve more than a single business, survey results are applied to produce the business staff figures.

Table 22.43. POST OFFICE STAFF BY BUSINESS AREA

Full-time Equivalent StaffAverage Staff Level
1981–821982–831983–841984–851985–86
Telecommunication services24,58224,25324,1322381284,954
Postal services7,3227,6827,6538,0038,539
Banking services4,3874,5454,7084,9735,135
Agency services1,6931,3871,33412201,388
Sectoral165112130141114
        Total38,1497 97937,95738,14940,130
Source: New Zealand Post Office.

Post Office agencies

The Post Office undertook agency work for other government departments. Among the major activities in this connection are the receipt and payment of moneys on behalf of the various departments, the more important of which are listed below.

Receipts—For the following departments: Health, Survey and Land Information, Ministry of Works and Development (road user charges), Public Trust Office, Ministry of Transport, Customs (collection of duty and sales tax), and Treasury (Government Superannuation, National Provident Fund receipts, and motor-vehicle registration and licence fees).

Payments—The Departments of Social Welfare (benefits, pensions and boarding-out coupons), Health (refunds of medical expenses) and Defence, and the Ministry of Works and Development (refunds of motor spirits duty).

Other services performed by the Post Office included the issue of licences in respect of motor vehicles and radio apparatus, and assistance to the Marine and Civil Aviation Divisions of the Ministry of Transport on radio matters. On behalf of the Department of Justice in some of the smaller centres postmasters act as registrars of births, deaths, and marriages. In each of the 95 electorates a postmaster or senior officer is appointed registrar of electors with responsibilities for the compilation, maintenance, and production of electoral rolls as directed by the Chief Registrar of Electors.

22.6 Census of Transport, Storage and Communication

The censuses of transport, storage and communication form part of a series of integrated economic censuses of business activities in New Zealand carried out by the Department of Statistics over a five-yearly cycle. The 1984–85 census covered all operations by activity and ancillary activity units in the transport, storage and communication industries during the year ended 31 March 1985 (those with different balance dates submitted data for the year ended within the period 1 April 1984 and 31 March 1985).

Table 22.44. SUMMARY OF CENSUS OF TRANSPORT, STORAGE AND COMMUNICATION 1984–85

Statistical ItemTransport and StorageCommunicationTransport, Storage and Communication
  Number 
Group enterprises6,770646,833
Enterprises7,034667,100
Activity units8,5581,0279,585
Ancillary activity units2333236
Total number of vehicles40,8387,04247,880
Full-time working proprietors and partners6,996987,094
Part-time working proprietors and partners1,105321,137
Full-time paid employees55,89034,42990,319
Part-time paid employees4,9372675,204
        Total, persons engaged68,92834,826103,754
Full-time equivalent—working proprietors and partners7,5481147,662
Full-time equivalent—paid employees58,35934,56392,921
Full-time equivalent—total persons65,90734,677100,583
  $(000) 
Opening stocks86,37610486,480
Closing stocks93,97616894,144
Expenditure on commissions and fees360,92442360,966
Purchases—fuel and power594,62622,501617,127
Salaries and wages to paid employees1,279,135532,5301,811,665
Accident compensation levies/employer contributions etc.50,04335,33785,380
Renting and leasing76,09213,12489,216
Repairs and maintenance250,2663,161253,427
Business insurance premiums48,36511048,475
Road user charges79,5618179,642
Rates, local/central government fees etc.44,4077,00251,409
Depreciation260,139101,075361,215
Interest, bad debts, donations etc.181,19968,715249,914
All other operating expenses1,633,236173,3521,806,588
        Total, purchases and expenses4,357,993957,0305,815,023
Commission and fees1,109,6702361,109,907
Income from transporting passengers1,403,7447451,404,489
Income from transporting freight2,073,71731,1852,104,902
Subsidies received94,906894,914
Interest, dividends, royalties etc.118,00564118,069
Other income505,2501,238,9081,744,159
        Total, sales and other income5,305,2921,271,1476,576,439
Salaries to working proprietors and partners55,66433555,999
Net profit/loss before tax and after deducting proprietors' salaries399,234313,846713,080
Net profit/loss on extraordinary items11,925−111,924
Operating surplus518,093382,832900,924
Value added2,197,7371,117,2043,314,942
Additions to fixed assets612,971343,853956,824
Disposals of fixed assets143,97638,292182,268
Book value of fixed assets2,307,7921,232,7393,540,531

Table 22.45. REGIONAL SUMMARY OF CENSUS OF TRANSPORT, STORAGE AND COMMUNICATION 1984–85

Local Government Administrative RegionsEnterprise GroupsEnterprisesActivity UnitsAncillary Activity UnitsPersons EngagedSalaries and Wages*
* Includes capitalised salaries and wages amounting to $58,261,000.
 No.No.No.No.No.$(000)
Northland249257352142,80447,047
Auckland2,1602,2832,6536230,836575,930
Thames Valley105107136383212,667
Bay of Plenty330347444104,16582,372
Waikato463477592134,88578,512
Tongariro11511614172010,970
East Cape12412615221,10816,997
Hawke's Bay31132539983,45562,472
Taranaki22323029342,69849,825
Wanganui13513718591,56825,300
Manawatu24625130833,23751,467
Horowhenua828310877513,085
Wellington9761,0181,1873318,857353,737
Wairarapa9395113174510,459
        North Island, total5 2715 4727 06316276,6851,390,841
Nelson Bays11512917771,85533,021
Marlborough7282118796520,231
West Coast6977751,15220,742
Canterbury7157519362411,931206,426
Aorangi15116223392,21937,903
Clutha-Central Otago11412016711,07917,379
Coastal-North Otago318333415114,81385,759
Southland266275349103,05457,623
        South Island, total1 6601 7392 5227427,067479,085
        New Zealand, total6 8337 1009 585236103,7531,869,926

Further information

Transport—general

Census of Transport, Storage and Communication 1984–85. Department of Statistics.

Monthly Abstract of Statistics. Department of Statistics.

Report of the Communication and Road Safety Committee (Parl. paper I. 2A, 1987).

Report of the Ministry of Transport (Parl. paper F. 5).

Transport Statistics. Department of Statistics (annual).

Shipping

New Zealand Shipping Policy—December 1983 (Parl. paper F. 14).

Report of the New Zealand Ports Authority (Parl. paper F. 5A).

Report of the Shipping Corporation of New Zealand (Parl. paper F. 13).

Report of the Waterfront Industry Commission (Parl. paper G. 2).

Turnround of Overseas Shipping. Waterfront Industry Commission (four-monthly).

Civil aviation

Air New Zealand Annual Report. Air New Zealand.

Domestic Air Services Policy of New Zealand—November 1982 (Parl. paper F. 10).

External Aviation Policy of New Zealand—December 1985. Ministry of Transport.

New Zealand Civil Aircraft Accidents. Office of Aircraft Accident Investigation (annual).

New Zealand Civil Aviation Statistics. Ministry of Transport (annual).

Railways

Report of the Railways Department (Parl. paper F. 7).

Roads

Breath Tests in New Zealand. Ministry of Transport (annual).

Local Authority Statistics. Department of Statistics (annual).

Motor Accidents in New Zealand. Ministry of Transport (annual).

Report of the National Roads Board (Parl. paper F. 8).

Report of the New Zealand Police (Parl. paper G. 6).

Report of the Urban Transport Council (Parl. paper F. 9)

Report of the Working Party on Road User Charges (Parl. paper F. 5B, 1979).

Road Traffic Safety Research Council (annual report and research projects).

Roading Statistics. National Roads Board (annual).

Roading Survey. National Roads Board (annual).

Statistics of the Licensed Road Transport Industry. Ministry of Transport (annual).

Urban Transport in New Zealand (Parl. paper F. 5B, 1977).

Post Office

Report of the Post Office (Parl. paper F. 1).

Chapter 23. Commerce and services

23.1 Commerce and consumer affairs

Current government policy is aimed at providing an economic environment to promote the ability of the economy to change structurally. In this context regulation, in its broadest sense, refers to imposed limits or conditions having an effect on resource allocation. The degree of regulation depends on the extent to which the Government or other agencies specify what otherwise would be left to the decision of individual market participants. Deregulation can therefore be seen as the removal or reform of such constraints on markets. A reduction in intervention is not, however, the same as a lack of regulation. It is rather a change from centralised intervention to a greater dependence on competitive market mechanisms. For this reason, the Government prefers the concept of regulation reform (which includes deregulation) to that of deregulation per se.

Governments are not always the only regulators in a market. The need for anti-trust and competition policies in many countries is evidence of that. In New Zealand, the Commerce Act 1986, which is the main instrument of competition policy, has sections dealing with monopolies and mergers, and restrictive trade practices. Current government thinking regards competition as an essential ingredient in an efficient economy. It helps ensure increased efficiency, lower, more stable prices, improved availability of a wider range of goods and services, and the efficient allocation of resources. It is also important that, as part of the process of freeing up the economy, and reducing government regulation of markets, workable and effective competition is established in its place. Moves to reduce intervention will involve a greater reliance on competition to regulate markets.

Commerce Act 1986

The Commerce Act 1986 came into effect on 1 May 1986, replacing the Commerce Act 1975. The 1986 Act provides comprehensive new legislation dealing with restrictive trade practices, mergers and takeovers, and control of prices. The broad objective of the Act is to promote workable and effective competition in markets within New Zealand.

Trade practices—Part II of the Act incorporates a general prohibition against contracts, convenants, arrangements, and understandings which have the purpose or effect of substantially lessening competition in a market (unless they have the specific authorisation of the Commerce Commission), because of the existence of public benefits which outweigh the lessening in competition.

Mergers and takeovers—Part III of the Act streamlines procedures and Introduces an approval test based on whether the proposed merger would result in any person acquiring or strengthening a dominant position in a market. The scope of a ‘merger notification scheme’ has been revised to focus on mergers of greatest concern because of the impact of proposals on the industries involved.

The 1986 Act removes the ‘monopolisation’ provisions in the Commerce Act 1975, which were largely concerned with market structure, and replaces them with a provision against the use of a dominant position in a market to eliminate or deter competition.

Control of prices—Part IV of the Act places less emphasis on price control than previous legislation. Direct price control is retained as a residual mechanism, to be imposed only where competition is significantly reduced or absent in a market.

Competition is given some privacy as a policy objective. The Commerce Act 1986, however, provides a process under which other public policy objectives may be balanced against that objective.

Commerce Commission.

The Commerce Commission established under the Commerce Act 1975 is reconstituted under the 1986 Act as a body corporate with its existing membership. Under the new Act the office of ‘Examiner of Commercial Practices’ is abolished, and the investigation and enforcement roles of that office are assumed by the commission.

The commission's principal functions are:

  • ○ Investigation and enforcement of the Act's provisions relating to restrictive trade practices, mergers and takeovers and control of prices;

  • ○ Authorisation of certain restrictive trade practices on public benefit grounds;

  • ○ Determination of applications for clearance of merger or takeover proposals; and

  • ○ Determination of prices of controlled goods or services.

Under the 1986 Act the role of the commission is more investigative and administrative in character, rather than being simply a quasi-judicial body, as under the Commerce Act 1975. However, it does undertake an adjudication function. The Act streamlines commission procedures and provides for its operations to be as informal as possible.

Under the new Act the commission comprises three to five members, appointed for their experience in, or knowledge of, industry, commerce, economics, law, accounting, public administration, or consumer affairs. Provision is made for additional associate members, to be appointed in relation to a particular matter or class of matters. The commission is staffed by officers of the Department of Trade and Industry.

The Commerce Commission has responsibility for administering the Fair Trading Act 1986 which came into effect from 1 March 1987.

Deregulation.

Current government policy is based on the argument that New Zealand's previous policies discouraged structural change. Economic growth was hindered, by not allowing the market place to determine which industries would contract, so as to let resources move into more productive areas, and hence encourage growth.

Economic growth in New Zealand is now seen as being reliant on efficiency and structural adjustment. The emphasis is on the allocation of resources to their most productive use, and adjustment mechanisms which respond quickly and efficiently to market signals. Deregulation has been an element in putting these mechanisms into effect. Specific changes involving deregulation have already been made in the areas of transport, foreign exchange dealerships, and import protection. The current government's policies include a programme of industry assistance reform, a continued move away from import licensing towards tariffs, the removal of further restrictions on the operation of both the domestic financial, and foreign exchange markets, and reorganisation of state trading enterprises on a more commercial basis.

Consumer affairs

Fair Trading Act 1986.

The Fair Trading Act 1986 came into effect on 1 March 1987. The Act represents a comprehensive reform of the law relating to false trade descriptions and deceptive trade conduct. It also provides new consumer information and product safety measures. It is a complementary measure to the Commerce Act 1986, which promotes effective competition in markets.

The Fair Trading Act 1986 repealed the Merchandise Marks Act 1954, the Consumer Information Act 1969, the Wool Labelling Act 1949, and the Safety of Children's Night Clothes Act 1977, and replaced them with a comprehensive set of measures covering the following inter-related spheres:

Misleading or deceptive conduct—A new statutory prohibition on misleading or deceptive conduct in trade. Contravention of this provision gives rise to civil remedies only.

False trade descriptions—The prescriptive trade descriptions approach to false or misleading information, contained in the Merchandise Marks Act 1954 and the Consumer Information Act 1969, continues to apply in revised form to representations about goods and services. It is extended by the Fair Trading Act 1986 to apply to representations relating to sales of land and promotion of employment opportunities. Contraventions of these provisions will incur both criminal and civil liability.

Unfair practices—Prohibitions against certain unconscionable selling practices, namely, pyramid selling, third party trading stamp schemes, and misleading statements about certain business activities, are contained in the Fair Trading Act 1986. To these are added prohibitions on offers of gifts and prizes with no intention of fulfilling them, bait advertising, and referral selling. There is also a prohibition on demanding or accepting payment without intending, or being able, to supply as ordered. Contraventions of these provisions incur both criminal and civil liability. The use of physical force, harassment, or coercion in connection with the supply of goods, services, or land is also prohibited. Contravention of this last provision incurs civil liability only under the legislation.

Consumer information—The Fair Trading Act 1986 consolidates and extends information requirement powers presently in the Consumer Information Act 1969 and the Merchandise Marks Act 1954 into a single power to require information, which is vested in the Minister of Consumer Affairs.

Services and product safety standards—The Act provides for the creation of safety standards. Where goods are found to be unsafe, the Minister of Consumer Affairs is empowered to prohibit their supply and order the recall of any goods already supplied. These are powers of last resort, intended as a legal back-up to, rather than a substitute for, the work of the Product Safety Council, which promotes voluntary recall procedures and compliance with safety standards.

Enforcement of the Act's provisions is undertaken by the Commerce Commission. In addition, private actions may be taken in relation to contraventions of any provision.

Ministry of Consumer Affairs.

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs was established on 1 July 1986. it operates as a division of the Department of Trade and Industry but to responsible directly to the Minister of Consumer Affairs. The ministry's functions are to advise the Government on matters affecting consumers; to promote and participate in the review of consumer-related legislation, policies and programmes; to promote awareness among consumers and the business sector of their rights and obligations in the marketplace, so that exchange activities are undertaken without loss or disadvantage to either party; and to support and co-ordinate non-government involvement in consumer issues.

The ministry is involved in a wide range of consumer policy issues, many of which relate to the Fair Trading Act 1986. It is also developing a role in consumer education. It does not provide a consumer complaints service but is developing, in consultation with consumer organisations; a system of recording details of consumer complaints nationwide. This will be essential for highlighting problems.

The ministry also intends to develop checklists by which the impact of economic policies on consumers may be assessed. However, it will not be directly involved in broad economic policy issues.

Consumers' Institute

Consumers' Institute operates under the Consumer Council Act 1966 and the policies of the Consumer Council. Its activities include comparative tests and surveys of consumer goods and services, research into and advice on legal, financial, health and welfare matters; representations to parliamentary committees and public inquiries; consumer education; liaison with business, trade and safety associations; and a complaints advisory service.

At the end of 1986, 131 500 subscribing members received the monthly magazine Consumer. Several Consumers' Institute books are available through bookshops. Consumer Action is sent to schools, and education resource kits are also sold.

Membership subscriptions and sales of publications provide about 75 percent of the institute's finances. The remainder comes from government grants and selected non-commercial sources. While the institute liaises and co-operates with others, it maintains complete independence and impartiality.

In late 1986 the Government announced that the Consumer Council Act 1966 would be repealed and that from 1 January 1989 the Consumers' Institute would function as a privately-managed, national consumer association. It was also announced that, although the annual government grant would cease, the Government would provide contract funding in specific programmes and projects where these could be most efficiently undertaken by the institute.

Shop trading hours

Under the Shop Trading Hours Act 1977 shops may open at any time between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m., Mondays to Saturdays inclusive, but are to be closed outside these hours and on Sundays and statutory holidays, unless an extension of opening hours has been authorised by the Shop Trading Hours Commission.

The Act provides that ‘approved’ goods may be sold at any time. Goods not on the approved list are ‘restricted’ goods. If an occupier intends to open a shop to sell approved goods outside the hours mentioned, then all restricted goods must be out of sight of the public or kept in a part of the shop that is closed off.

Provision is made for orders authorising a shop occupier to open at times other the those mentioned. The majority of the shop occupiers in an ‘area’ (which may be a street, mall, or municipality) can also apply for such an order to cover the whole of the area.

‘Approved’ goods—These are listed in a schedule contained in an order made under the Act. Approved goods include bakers' and pastrycooks' goods, building supplies and domestic repair requisites, condiments, confectionery, dairy produce, drinks, fish, frozen foods, fruit and flowers, fuels, gardening supplies, aquarium flora and fauna, miscellaneous groceries, magazines and periodicals, meats and smallgoods, medicinal and household goods, motor fuels, motor accessories, photographic goods, plants, prepared and cooked foods, tobacco etc., vegetables, and a number of miscellaneous lines.

The Act makes special provision for bona fide ‘dairy-mixed businesses’ to allow them to open on a seven-day-week basis. Dairies need only complete a simple application form which is lodged with the Shop Trading Hours Commission. The application, together with a report from an inspector, is then considered by the commission without the need for a formal hearing. If the application is granted, the dairy may open outside the hours set by the Act. If it is declined the shop must observe the legally permitted hours or, if the proprietor wants to open outside those hours, he or she must confine the display to items on the approved list.

Sale of liquor

The current law relating to liquor licensing has been under review since the report of the working party on liquor was presented to the Minister of Justice in October 1986.

The principal legislation governing the sale of alcoholic liquor is the Sale of Liquor Act 1962. As a general rule it provides that no liquor may be sold without the appropriate licence, or a club charter. Licences are authorised if they are necessary or desirable in particular localities. The Act also regulates the licensed trade and accommodation, amenities, and service provided for the public.

The Wine Makers Act 1981 introduced quality standards for export wine.

The Licensing Control Commission has the following functions: to ascertain the requirements of the public as to the provision of accommodation services and other facilities on licensed premises; to determine what new licences and club charters are necessary or desirable; and to authorise their issue. It is also the commission's function to prescribe and enforce standards of accommodation, facilities and services on licensed premises, and to hear appeals from licensing committees' decisions.

There are 21 licensing committees. They are serviced by the local District Court. Each committee has five members. Four are nominated by local authorities. The chairperson is a District Court judge. Their functions are to issue licences, renew licences annually, and hear applications for cancellation or suspension of licences. There is a right of appeal to the Licensing Control Commission except on a matter of law or character, when the appeal is to the High Court. Some commission decisions are subject to appeal to the administrative division of the High Court.

Types of licence include hotel, tavern, and tourist house (premises and keeper's) licences, and wholesale, wine reseller's, booth, airport, ship, food and entertainment, and club licences. With food and entertainment or club licences the commission has a discretion to fix hours (within broad statutory parameters) and conditions.

Permits for specific purposes are also provided for. For example, patrons may take liquor to an unlicensed restaurant for consumption with their meal. A wine distributor's licence authorises the holder to sell wine to other licensees only.

There were 5669 liquor licences of various kinds in force as at 30 June 1985.

A licensee or manager can refuse to admit to a public bar any person whom he or she has reasonable cause to believe will, if admitted to the premises, engage in violent, quarrelsome, insulting, or disorderly conduct, or provoke other persons to engage in such conduct on the premises.

New licences.

The Licensing Control Commission decides after a public inquiry, at which all interested parties may make representations, whether the issue of any new hotel or tavern premises licences, or wholesale or wine resellers' licences, are necessary or desirable in particular localities. Hotel or tavern premises licences prescribe the minimum standards of accommodation, services, and other facilities. There is provision for a poll of residents whether they want a hotel or tavern in their locality. If the majority is against a licence, the commission may not authorise it unless special circumstances exist. Subject to the result of any poll, the commission may then call for applications for the new hotel or tavern premises or wholesale licence, and grant it to the most suitable applicant. When the commission decides to issue a new wine reseller's licence, however, the matter is referred to the appropriate licensing committee, which invites and considers applications. Applications for other types of licences may be made at any time and are considered at public hearings.

Hours of sale.

The hours for the sale of liquor in hotels, taverns, and chartered club bar rooms are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Hotels and taverns may open earlier than 11 a.m., but not more than 11 hours a day. Further extensions (on application) are allowed for individual hotels or taverns. They may remain open until 11 p.m. on Friday or Saturday or Christmas Eve, and 12.30 a.m. on New Year's Day, in addition to the normal 11 hours per day. With certain exceptions, sales from hotels and taverns are prohibited on Sundays, Christmas Day, and Good Friday. Hotels and taverns may serve liquor to guests and lodgers with a meal from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. the following morning. With the food and entertainment licence the commission is authorised to hours of sale between 9 a.m. and 3 a.m. on the following day. Club licence hours must generally be between 11 a.m. and 10 p.m. Permits for unlicensed restaurants authorise consumption by patrons of their own liquor until 11.30 p.m., and the vineyard bar permit authorises sales until 9 p.m. except on Sundays, Good Friday, or Christmas Day.

Drinking age.

The sale of liquor is allowed to persons of 20 years or older Liquor may also be supplied to persons of 18 years of age if the person is accompanied by a spouse of 20 or a parent. There is also a family lounge permit. Parents, guardians or adult family members may take underage children into parts of hotels, taverns, or chartered clubs. Liquor may be supplied to an unaccompanied person of 18 years of age as part of a meal.

Licensing trusts.

The system of trust control is an alternative to privately-held licences supervised by licensing committees, and the Licensing Control Commission gives the public an indirect control over the conditions under which liquor is sold. Licensing trusts are local bodies, elected by the residents and responsible to them. There are eight district trusts: Ashburton, Clutha, Geraldine, Invercargill, Masterton, Mataura, Oamaru, and Porirua. In addition local trusts operate hotels and taverns.

Suburban trusts are free to establish outlets without the need of licences, but the commission's approval must first be obtained. This allows the commission to consider the requirements of the particular area, as well as providing forum for objections. Residents also have the right to a poll on proposed new premises. There are also local licensing trusts, which operate new hotels or taverns authorised by the commission. Local trusts are set up following a poll on whether the new licence should be issued to a trust. Licensing trusts may operate catering facilities on the same basis as holders of a food and entertainment licence.

23.2 Commercial institutions

Companies and partnerships

Individuals wishing to join together to form a business have the choice of two principal forms of operation. They can form an ordinary or special partnership under the Partnership Act 1908, or they may form a registered company under the Companies Act 1955. If, as usually happens, they wish to limit their individual liability for any losses that the business may suffer, then they will choose to register a limited liability company under the Companies Act. This is by far the most usual form of business operation in New Zealand.

A registered company becomes a corporation, which is a separate legal entity from the individual members of the company. Certain important consequences flow from this. The debts of a registered company are those of the company and not of its members, that is, the shareholders in most cases. A registered company contracts in its own name and is liable on its contracts. The members, therefore, are not usually liable on its contracts. A registered company has perpetual succession. Therefore the death, bankruptcy, retirement, etc., of its members does not affect its existence or its capacity to hold property. A registered company can enter into contracts with its members. Lastly, the members of a registered company are not its agents and therefore have no power to deal with its assets, or enter into binding contracts on its behalf.

Associated with the principle of separate legal entity is that of limited liability. Most companies are registered with the members having limited liability. A company is always fully liable for claims against it; it is the members' liability for a company's debts that is limited. In the case of a company limited by shares the liability is limited to the amount, if any, unpaid on that member's shares.

Partnerships.

A partnership is defined in the Partnership Act 1908 as the relationship which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profit. Partnerships are started by mutual agreement, which can be informal, but the terms would normally be contained in a written agreement. Its characteristics are described below. Each partner is usually under a joint liability for all the partnership debts. A partnership will as a rule be dissolved by the death or retirement of a partner. Partnership interests are not usually capable of being assigned or transferred. Control and management of a partnership's affairs are (subject to the partnership agreement) vested in all the partners. Lastly, a partner is ostensibly an agent for the other partners, and can commit the partnership to, agreements and arrangements that bind them.

Despite having the highest per capita number of registered companies in the world many New Zealanders work on an individual basis as sole traders. There are no statutory restrictions, but in the event of the business failing bankruptcy is a likely consequence.

Companies legislation

Comprehensive legislation relating to companies is contained in the Companies Act 1955, which is modelled on the English Companies Act 1948, and came into force in 1957. A number of significant changes have since occurred, and the Act now reflects more of a New Zealand approach to matters affecting corporations. The Act is currently undergoing a complete review.

An important principle of the legislation is the protection of shareholders, creditors, and the general public by the requirement that there be the fullest practical disclosure of information concerning the activities of companies. Since 1983 it has been possible for new and existing companies to carry on any business without restriction to specific objects. Annual statements of account are required from public and non-exempt private companies (which have 25 percent or more of their capital held by persons domiciled overseas) and must exhibit a true and complete account of a company's affairs and transactions. There is a prescribed form of presentation, and comparative figures for the previous year have to be included.

Offers of shares to the public can only be made after the issue of a prospectus, which has to be registered with the Registrar of Companies. The Securities Act 1978 established a Securities Commission, whose responsibilities include recommending rules in this area, which are set out in the Securities Regulations 1983 and came into force in September 1983. The regulations cover restrictions on, and the content of, registered prospectuses and advertisements.

Any number of persons from two to 25 may form a private company, but in special circumstances the number may increase to 50. A public company must have a minimum of seven members. Under certain conditions a private company may be re-registered as a public company and vice versa.

The Companies Amendment Act 1963 regulates takeovers by ensuring that shareholders in other companies have enough time and information to make a proper decision about the takeover offer. The Companies Amendment Act 1964 deals with flat-owning companies, which issue occupation licences registered under the Land Transfer Act 1952.

Securities Commission.

The Securities Commission is a body corporate established under Part I of the Securities Act 1978. It consists of 10 members appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice. The chairperson is a barrister and solicitor appointed on a full-time basis. Other members and alternates are engaged on a part-time basis, and are expected to have wide experience in commercial affairs.

The functions of the Securities Commission are as follows:

  1. Law reform—

    1. To devise and recommend regulations under the Securities Act 1978.

    2. To keep under review the law relating to companies, securities and issuers of securities, and recommend changes.

  2. Surveillance of practice—To review securities practices and comment on them with power to hold enquiries in particular cases, if necessary in public.

  3. Education—To promote public understanding of the law and practice about securities.

  4. Exemptions—To exempt persons and classes of persons either temporarily or on a long-term basis, from compliance with various provisions of the Securities Act and Regulations.

  5. Substantive jurisdiction in particular cases—To suspend or cancel the registration of prospectuses, to prohibit the publication of advertisements, to exercise powers for the protection of investors in contributory mortgage schemes, to approve persons to act as trustees and statutory supervisors, to recommend that entities in difficulties should be placed under statutory management, and to hear appeals against decisions of the Registrar of Companies.

The commission's current law reform programme includes a review of the law and practice relating to (i) company mergers and takeovers; (ii) contributory mortgages; (iii), financial reporting; (iv) the duties, responsibilities and liabilities of officers of entities that have is and securities to the public, with particular reference to the use of information relevant to the value of securities, and insider trading; and (v) secondary market operations.

Table 23.1. COMPANY REGISTRATIONS

YearNew Companies RegisteredCompanies Dissolved or Struck OffCompanies Placed Under ReceivershipCompany LiquidationsTotal Number of Companies
Court OrderVoluntary
19826,3705,735259351274118,589
19836,9572,691331419293122,892
19849,6444,379288385282127,387
198510,0451,777312441294135,545
198610,2442,287347338278136,532
Source: Department of Justice.

Bankruptcy

The term bankruptcy refers to the financial insolvency of individuals only. The law relating to bankruptcy in New Zealand is contained in the main in the Insolvency Act 1967 (which came into force in 1971), the Insolvency Rules 1970, and the Insolvency Regulations 1970. Jurisdiction in bankruptcy matters is vested in the High Court.

All proceedings in bankruptcy are commenced by a petition filed in the court by either the debtor or a creditor. The filing of a debtor's petition is equivalent to an order of the court adjudging the debtor a bankrupt, no order being required in this case. Not less than $200 in total must be owing by the debtor to the creditor, or creditors, filing a petition.

The Official Assignee is a statutory officer, and an officer of the court, in whom (apart from certain statutory exceptions) all the assets of a bankrupt vest on adjudication, and who acts as a trustee in respect of those assets. The assignee is empowered to sell the bankrupt's property by auction, tender, or private treaty, and enforce debts due to the bankrupt's estate. The assignee may carry on the business of the bankrupt so far as it is necessary or expedient for its disposal or conclusion. When all the assets are realised, the assignee divides the proceeds among the creditors. Secured creditors are paid from the proceeds of the security, and other creditors are paid on a pro rata basis.

Creditors may accept a composition in satisfaction of the debts due to them. In such a case, after approval of the court, a deed of composition is executed and filed, and the bankruptcy annulled.

Upon application being made by the bankrupt, the court is empowered to grant an order of discharge, which can be absolute, conditional, or suspended. The application may be opposed by the assignee, or by any creditor whose claim has been proved. A public examination of the bankrupt may be demanded by the assignee, or by the creditors, on the passing of a resolution. In all other cases a person adjudged bankrupt is automatically discharged three years after adjudication, in the absence of any earlier application by the bankrupt.

Where a creditor is concerned that a bankrupt may realise the assets and depart, without regard for any financial obligations, application may be made under the Insolvency Act 1967 for the assignee to be appointed as a receiver/manager of the property prior to the hearing of the creditor's petition. This procedure has been used on a few occasions in recent years.

Another form of financial failure is covered by private assignments, which are not included in official bankruptcy statistics. There was 1 in 1981, 6 in 1982, 19 in 1983, and 16 in 1985.

Table 23.2. INSOLVENCY TRANSACTIONS

YearBankruptcies*Court Orders for Liquidation of CompaniesTotal Failures
Petitions by DebtorsAdjudications on Petitions by Creditors
* The bankruptcy figures include orders under Part XVI and XVII of the Insolvency Act 1967 and Part IV of the Administration Act 1969. These figures have not been adjusted for annulments granted during the year. Company liquidations include voluntary liquidations.
1981303254264821
1982324244312881
19834664033701,239
19844094053451,159
1985445443721,241

In the case of a partnership, each partner is counted in the total of transactions and also the partnership The general bankruptcy statistics do not cover assignments and compositions, but relate only to cases dealt with by official assignees. In some cases of company liquidation, subsequent court orders are given, for the winding up of companies to be transferred to private liquidators.

Table 23.3. OCCUPATIONS OF BANKRUPTS

Occupational Group19811982198319841985
Professional, technical, and related workers1212272430
Administrative and managerial workers2128595453
Clerical and related workers95112121
Sales workers907611310096
Service workers5430448090
Agricultural, animal husbandry, and forestry workers, fishermen, and hunters568111764104
Production and related workers, transport equipment operators, and labourers189212323297326
Not gainfully employed/actively engaged116120161172146
        Occupational group total547564855812866
Partnerships121223
Annulments932
        Total bankruptcy petitions557569869814869

Table 23.4. EMPLOYMENT STATUS OF BANKRUPTS

YearWorking for Salary or WagesEmployer of labourWorking or, Own Account But Not Employing LabourNot Gainfully EmployedAnnulment Partnership and Status Not KnownTotal
1981162831713510557
19821601031701315569
19832548325726114869
1984242911832962814
19852961342461903869

Company liquidation

Liquidation (sometimes called winding up) is the legal process by which a company's life is ended. The company's assets are realised, its creditors paid out, any surplus is distributed to the shareholders, and the company is then dissolved.

Liquidation is carried out in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Companies Act 1955 and the Companies (Winding Up) Rules 1956. The procedure is generally as follows:

The company passes a special resolution or the court makes an order for the company to be wound up.

A liquidator is appointed to whom control of the company's affairs passes.

The liquidator realises all the company's assets, calls in (where relevant) as much of its uncalled capital as is necessary to meet its debts, and pays out the company's creditors. If the realised assets and uncalled capital are not sufficient then the creditors are paid out according to the priorities set out in the Companies Act.

Any surplus remaining, after payment of the liquidator's expenses and all the creditors, is distributed to the company's members in accordance with its memorandum and articles of association.

The company is then dissolved.

Receivership is commonplace today.

Companies with heavy debt loads and cash-flow problems are likely to find that a receiver has been appointed over their assets, either by the court, or more usually under an express clause in a mortgage or debenture. Modern debentures usually contain a lengthy recital of the events which will enable debenture-holders to recover their loans if borrowers get into financial difficulties. One of these provisions will be the power of the debenture-holder to appoint a receiver. The usual reason for appointment of a receiver is default in payment of principal and/or interest. It is also possible for a receiver to be appointed because of any other breach of the provisions of the debenture.

The function of a receiver once appointed is to get in or realise the assets charged by the debenture, collect rents and profits, and exercise the debenture-holder's powers of realisation, then pay the net proceeds to the debenture-holder in reduction of its charge. In short, the receiver goes in, sells what is necessary to recover the amount owed to the debenture-holder (plus costs), and then gets out. No property of the company actually vests in the receiver, and, although the directors remain in office, the receiver supersedes them and exercises their powers. The receiver's status is one of agent, not officer of the company. Control of the company is transferred to the receiver, but the appointment of a receiver does not terminate the company's operations. Accordingly receivership is quite distinct from liquidation as a receiver acts for the benefit only of the debenture-holder who appointed him or her.

Stock exchange

New Zealand's share market has been through a period of great change in the past few years. Changes in the regulatory environment, the size and nature of the market, and the way it is conducted have presented the sharebroking and investment communities with a series of challenges.

The share market was one of the many facets of life affected by the changes in economic policy which followed the 1984 election. It benefited from the investment boom which followed the new government's moves to remove regulations restricting economic activity—in particular, those on borrowing and lending. Investor optimism fuelled a boom which lifted share prices by 450 percent in the four years to the end of 1986. With the rise in prices came many new investors—a high proportion of whom were buying shares for the first time.

The New Zealand Stock Exchange, which conducts the market, responded to the changes by overhauling its own regulations. As a result, sharebrokers gained the right to incorporate, open branch offices, take in non-member shareholders, trade on more than one of the four trading floors, and advertise more freely. In addition, fixed brokerage rates were abolished, so that brokerage could now be set by negotiation.

The New Zealand Stock Exchange operates under the authority of the Sharebrokers Act of 1908, as amended in 1981, from an executive office in Wellington. The executive office is responsible for the granting of listing, the supervision of listed companies as regards their compliance with the listing manual, and the collection and promulgation of all market information.

The exchange is financed by the payment of annual fees by companies listed on and by contributions from its members.

It co-ordinates stock exchanges in Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch, and Dunedin, which maintain trading floors providing the facilities for buying and selling government securities and securities in semi-government corporations and companies operating in the private sector.

The New Zealand Stock Exchange is made up of members (sharebrokers) whose function it is to act as agents on behalf of their clients. Members send their staff on to one or more of the trading floors to buy and sell shares on their clients' behalf. To become a member, a person must obtain a sharebrokers' licence; be proposed and seconded; be approved by the stock exchange committee, which is guided by character, financial standing, and experience; be elected by a meeting of members; and pay an entrance fee.

There are three broad categories of stock that people can buy on the stock exchange—shares in companies, debentures and other loans to companies, and government and semi-government stock. As on other stock exchanges around the world, company shares account for the vast bulk of trading.

The pattern of change is continuing—due in particular to the advance of computerisation. The exchange is implementing a fully-automated trading system designed to facilitate all aspects of sharemarket trading, from the initial placing of orders through to settlement and registration of the resulting transactions. This is streamlining procedures in sharebrokers' offices and has enabled the introduction of sophisticated information services. In addition, the new system will enable the introduction, if the stock exchange so decides, of screen trading. This method, which is already in use in other markets, involves buying and selling shares on a computer screen rather than using the traditional ‘open outcry’ method. Another major change in the offing is the gradual introduction of ‘scripless’ share trading, by which shares will be bought and sold without the exchange of share certificates as at present. Instead changes of ownership will be recorded electronically, abolishing serious delays in settlement and registration such as have occurred in recent years.

23.3 Domestic trade and services

‘Domestic trade’ embraces retail and wholesale businesses, hotels and restaurants, and businesses providing household and personal services. The trend of retail trade is one of the most perceptive barometers of economic activity as it constitutes a large proportion of personal expenditure on consumer goods and services.

The seventh five yearly Census of Distribution, which provides the basis for the current monthly and quarterly surveys of retail and wholesale trade, was taken for the year 1982–83. It was the second fully-integrated economic census covering the activities of establishments and ancillary units predominantly engaged in wholesale or retail trade, hotels and restaurants, etc., and the supply of personal and household services.

The census formed part of the department's second five-yearly series of integrated economic censuses.

Census of Distribution 1982–83

In 1982–83 the distribution industries were reclassified under the New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification covering the following:

  1. Wholesale trade;

  2. Retail trade;

  3. Restaurants and hotels; and

  4. Personal and household services.

The tables which follow give summaries of those four divisions. The definitions used are given in the glossary at the back of this book.

Table 23.5. GENERAL SUMMARY OF CENSUS OF DISTRIBUTION

Statistical Item19781983
 No.No.
Census coverage—
  Group enterprises..44,151
  Enterprises within those group enterprises..46,082
  Activity units47,79055,016
  Ancillary activity units547662
  Persons engaged within those activity units—full-time299,893236,577
                                                                 —part-time90,747
Fixed tangible assets—$(000)$(000)
  Purchases during the accounting year239,263733,850
  Sales during the accounting year239,530
  Book value at the end of the accounting year..3,453,412
Census values in accounting terms—
  Purchases of—
    Goods for resale13,128,75429,195,698
    Materials used in manufacturing232,6392,259,481
  Operating expenses—
    Employer contributions28,96167,723
    Salaries and wages1,346,5752,755,114
    Indirect taxes23,355101,076
    Interest etc...613,690
    Depreciation143,302301,888
    All other purchases and operating expenses1,821,9743,718,573
        Total, purchases and operating expenses 39,013,243
  Stocks—
    Closing312,2055,903,231
    Less, opening5,146,321
  Sales of—
    Goods and services17,163,71836,536,272
    Manufactured goods241,6382,785,824
  Other income—
    Interest, etc...258,822
    Subsidies262,937212,138
    Other income481,602
        Total, sales and other income, (adjusted for change in stock values)..41,031
  Net profit—
    Total sales and other income adjusted for change in stock values..41,031
    Less, total purchases and operating expenses..39,013,2
    Less, working proprietors' and partners' salaries and wages..581,9
      Net profit..1,436,339
Census values in economic terms—
  Operating surplus—
    Total sales and other income, adjusted for change in stock values17,980,49841,031,570
    Less, interest, etc. received..258,822
    Less, total purchases and operating expenses16,725,56139,013,243
    Less, interest, etc. paid..613,690
      Operating surplus1,254,9372,373,197
Value added—
    Operating surplus1,254,9372,373,197
    Employer contributions28,96167,723
    Salaries and wages1,346,5752,755,114
    Depreciation143,302301,888
    Indirect taxes23,355101,076
    Plus, capitalised salaries and wages31..
    Less, subsidies received..212,138
      Value added2,797,1615,386,860

Table 23.6. WHOLESALE TRADE, CENSUS OF DISTRIBUTION 1982–83

Statistical ItemDivision 61 Wholesale Trade
 Number
Enterprise groups4,252
Enterprises5,093
Activity units8,263
Ancillary activity units367
Unpaid workers at end of February 1983179
Working proprietors and partners engaged at end of February 19835,153
Paid employees engaged at end of February 198376,664
Full-time equivalent working proprietors and partners4,702
Full-time equivalent paid employees73,314
        Total, full-time equivalent persons engaged78,016
 Hrs(000)
Ordinary hours worked by paid employees141,016
Overtime hours worked by paid employees3,737
 $(000)
Salaries, wages and commission paid to working proprietors and partners94,582
Salaries, wages and commission paid to employees1,117,055
Stocks—
  Opening3,454,562
  Closing4,028,730
Income—
  Sales of goods bought for resale, and services19,934,488
  Direct government cash grants and subsidies10,305
  Other income (excluding interest, etc.)3,108,374
        Sales and income (excluding interest, etc.)23,053,167
  Interest, dividends, donations, royalties, patent fees and insurance claims received192,076
        Total sales and other income (including interest, etc)23,245,243
Expenditure—
  Purchases of goods for resale; materials for use in accommodation, catering or other personal and repair services16,812,961
  Salaries, wages and commission paid to employees1,117,055
  Depreciation118,690
  Other purchases and expenses (excluding interest, etc.)4,439,600
        Operating expenditure (excluding interest, etc.)22,488,305
  Interest, bad debts, donations, royalties and patent fees365795
        Total expenditure (including interest, etc)22,854,100
        Net profit/loss after deducting working proprietors' and partners' salaries and wages870,729
  Operating surplus1,139,030
  Value added2,443,214
Fixed tangible assets—
  Additions to306,413
  Disposals of128,669
Floor space—m2
  Selling space1 812 106
  Other space4 722 311
Total space6 534 417

Table 23.7. RETAIL TRADE, CENSUS OF DISTRIBUTION 1982–83

Statistical ItemDivision 62 Retail Trade
 Number
Enterprise groups24,890
Enterprises25,559
Activity units29,961
Ancillary activity units227
Unpaid workers at end of February 19833,084
Working proprietors and partners engaged at end of February 198335,784
Paid employees engaged at end of February 1983116,301
Full-time equivalent working proprietors and partners33,702
Full-time equivalent paid employees95,603
        Total, full-time equivalent persons engaged129,306
Ordinary hours worked by paid employees176,007
Overtime hours worked by paid employees6,630
 $(000)
Salaries wages and commission paid to working proprietors and partners346,301
Salaries, wages and commission paid to employees1,071,292
Stocks—
  Opening1,566,797
  Closing1,736,209
Income—
  Sales of goods bought for resale, and services13,755,783
  Direct government cash grants and subsidies200,393
  Other income (excluding interest, etc.)128,632
        Sales and income (excluding interest, etc.)14,084,809
  Interest, dividends, donations, royalties, patent fees and insurance claims received56,082
        Total sales and other income (including interest, etc.)14,140,892
Expenditure—
  Purchases of goods for resale; materials for use in accommodation, catering or other personal and repair services11,028,119
  Salaries, wages and commission paid to employees1,071,292
  Depreciation108,540
  Other purchases and expenses (excluding interest, etc.)1,158,826
      Operating expenditure (excluding interest, etc.)13,366,777
  Interest, bad debts, donations, royalties and patent fees179,290
        Total expenditure (including interest, etc.)13,546,067
      Net profit/loss after deducting working proprietors and partners salaries and wages417,937
  Operating surplus887,447
  Value added1,927,766
Fixed tangible assets—
  Additions to248,113
  Disposals of75,454
Floor space—m2
  Selling space5 006 516
  Other space2 764 957
Total space7 771 473

Table 23.8. RESTAURANTS AND HOTELS, CENSUS OF DISTRIBUTION 1982–83

Statistical ItemDivision 63 Restaurants and Hotels
 Number
Enterprise groups7,834
Enterprises7,910
Activity units8,596
Ancillary activity units33
Unpaid workers at end of February 1983846
Working proprietors and partners engaged at end of February 198311,426
Paid employees engaged at end of February 198350,434
Full-time equivalent working proprietors and partners10,991
Full-time equivalent paid employees35,611
      Full-time equivalent total persons engaged46,602
 Hrs(000)
Ordinary hours worked by paid employees61,757
Overtime hours worked by paid employees1,491
 $(000)
Salaries, wages and commission paid to working proprietors and partners61,113
Salaries, wages and commission paid to employees372,091
Stocks—
  Opening64,993
  Closing75,344
Income—
  Sales of goods bought for resale, and services1,892,389
  Direct government cash grants and subsidies564
  Other income (excluding interest, etc.)24,783
      Sales and income (excluding interest, etc.)1,917,735
  Interest, dividends, donations, royalties, patent fees and insurance claims received8,058
        Total sales and other income (including interest, etc.)1,925,793
Expenditure—
  Purchaser, of goods for resale; materials for use in accommodation, catering or other personal and repair services943,017
  Salaries, wages and commission paid to paid employees372,091
  Depreciation55,388
  Other purchases and expenses (excluding interest, etc.)379,026
      Operating expenditure (excluding interest etc.)1,749,523
  Interest, bad debts, donations, royalties and patent fees52,156
        Total expenditure (including interest, etc.)1,801,679
      Net profit/loss after deducting working proprietors' and partners' salaries and wages73,353
  Operating surplus178,564
  Value added627,686
Fixed tangible assets—
  Additions to134,333
  Disposals of20,890
Floor space—m2
  Selling space2 916 111
  Other space1 048 759
Total space3 964 870

Table 23.9. PERSONAL AND HOUSEHOLD SERVICES, CENSUS OF DISTRIBUTION 1982–83

Statistical ItemDivision 95 Personal and Household Services
 Number
Enterprise groups7,620
Enterprises7,668
Activity units8,196
Ancillary activity units35
Unpaid workers at end of February 1983237
Working proprietors and partners engaged at end of February 19839,466
Paid employees engaged at end of February 198322,096
Full-time equivalent working proprietors and partners8,980
Full-time equivalent paid employees19,048
      Full-time equivalent total persons engaged28,027
 Hrs(000)
Ordinary hours worked by paid employees33,359
Overtime hours worked by paid employees585
 $(000)
Salaries, wages and commission paid to working proprietors and partners80,003
Salaries, wages and commission paid to paid employees194,676
Stocks—
  Opening59,969
  Closing62,948
Income—
  Sales of goods bought for resale, and services953,612
  Direct government cash grants and subsidies876
  Other income (excluding interest, etc.)5,637
      Sales and income (excluding in/crest, etc.)960,126
  Interest, dividends, donations, royalties, patent fees and insurance claims received2,606
        Total sales and other income (including interest, etc.)962,732
Expenditure—
  Purchases of goods for resale; materials for use in accommodation, catering or other personal and repair services411,601
  Salaries, wages and commission paid to paid employees194,676
  Depreciation19,270
  Other purchases and expenses (excluding interest, etc.)169,401
      Operating expenditure (excluding interest, etc.)794,948
  Interest, bad debts, donations, royalties and patent fees16,449
        Total expenditure (including interest, etc.)811,397
      Net profit/loss after deducting working proprietors' and partners' salaries and wages74,311
  Operating surplus168,156
  Value added388,194
Fixed tangible assets—
  Additions to44,991
  Disposals of14,517
Floor space—m2
  Selling space560,623
  Other space680,741
Total space1 241 364

Retail trade survey

The sample survey of retail trade was revised in June 1982, based on 15 store-type groupings from the 1977–78 Census of Distribution. The survey coverage was extended to include three new store-type groups: automotive, fuel, and repairs; liquor including licensed accommodation; and accommodation; while restaurants and takeaways, previously part of the other food group, is now a separate store-type group. The survey now follows internationally accepted definitions as used in the New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification.

Table 23.10. RETAIL TRADE SURVEY: SALES

Store TypeQuarter Ended
Sep 1983Sep 1984Sep 1985Dec 1985Mar 1986Jun 1986Sep 1986
* Excludes licensed accommodation.
    $(million)   
Butcher105.1110.5117.6124.1101.4109.3103.4
Supermarket/grocer703.3765.6901.71,008.3928.8968.31,043.3
Other food52.054.955.165.758.955.860.0
Footwear46.152.358.767.754.273.963.5
Clothing and textiles157.9166.5197.8240.3187.2255.2259.3
Furniture156.3180.0208.6217.4170.9226.9318.1
Household appliances139.0202.0212.5218.6201.1238.7286.2
Hardware63.574.288.1107.093.096.2117.8
Chemist103.3114.6143.4184.8150.0158.5174.1
Department and general stores240.0266.2279.1361.2254.5314.3330.3
Restaurants and takeaways175.5198.7246.3252.6240.6266.8277.3
Liquor incl. licensed accommodation342.6367.4448.9584.2480.4465.6501.5
Accommodation*41.355.957.452.363.249.8625
Other stores290.3306.1365.5472.0396.0425.8507.9
Subtotal2,616.42,914.83,380.93,920.23,380.43,705.34,105.2
Automotive fuel and repairs1,687.42,175.52,313.82,176.52,078.82,189.22,597.6
        All stores4,303.85,090.35,694.76,090.75,459.25,894.66,702.9

Table 23.11. RETAIL TRADE SURVEY: STOCKS

 Stocks as at 31 March $(million)
19821983198419851986
Butcher7.87.38.88.77.8
Supermarket/grocer156.1157.7165.4193.3195.7
Other food3.94.76.27.17.0
Footwear66.575.779.390.591.1
Clothing and textiles178.1191.8191.6204.8219.6
Furniture111.6115.2117.3128.3151.7
Household appliances95.189.1x99.0147.9161.0
Hardware45.351.356.5x64.270.7
Chemist52.355.162.170.184.7
Department and general stores194.5213.4221.4252.2261.5
Restaurants and takeaways14.115.917.222.524.6
Liquor including licensed accommodation69.872.878.498.199.0
Other stores231.9233.0260.6281.7310.8
Subtotal1,227.11,282.91,363.71,569.61,685.5
Automotive fuel and repairs6,085568.7610.5744.6800.9
        All stores1,835.61,851.61,974.22,314.22,486.4

Seasonal fluctuations and price and population changes.

To facilitate direct comparisons between quarterly figures, seasonally adjusted values of retail trade sales have been prepared. To do this, seasonal adjustment factors were calculated representing, for each quarter, an average over several years of the ratio of sales in this quarter to the trend value for the quarter (the trend values being calculated as appropriately-centred moving averages).

A special price index has been prepared for the purpose of deflating the retail sales figures to give a series in dollars of constant purchasing power—i.e., the adjusted series shows the changes in the real volume of retail sales. The principal source of the prices used for this index are the commodity prices used in the Consumers Price Index. The prices have been appropriately weighted and the whole index expressed on the base: December quarter, 1980 (= 1000), so that application of the index to the original figures, gives a series in constant December quarter, 1980 dollars.

Table 23.12. RETAIL TRADE SEASONALLY ADJUSTED

Quarter EndedTotal Sales or TurnoverSales per Head of Population
In Current $In Constant DecQtr 1980 $In Current $In Constant DecQtr 1980 $
As RecordedSeasonally AdjustedSeasonally AdjustedAs RecordedSeasonally AdjustedSeasonally AdjustedPercentage Change*
* Each quarter on previous quarter.
  $(million) $$$ 
1984—Dec5,529.15,174.63,504.71,688.31,580.11,070.2−3.7
1985—Mar5,083.95,331.63,467.01,542.71,617.81,052.0−1.7
  Jun5,497.55,667.83,530.81,679.71,731.71,078.8+2.5
  Sep5,694.75,679.13,460.01,747.31,742.51,061.6−1.6
  Dec6,096.75,662.73,416.01,854.51,722.51,039.1−2.1
1986—Mar5,459.25,819.23,441.01,652.11,761.11,041.3+0.2
  Jun5,894.66,009.93,487.81,802.91,838.11,066.7+2.4
  Sep6,702.96,664.33,759.52,057.52,045.71,154.0+8.2

Credit sales

Instalment credit trading in New Zealand has been growing steadily in recent years, as in other developed countries. This growth generally is explained by common causes, including an increasing social acceptance and the development of borrowing facilities. There is an increasing tendency for consumer durables to be purchased on credit. Instalment credit allows high-priced goods to be acquired as opportunity or desire dictates, with less reference to the purchaser's immediate cash position. Consumer credit is provided either by retailers or finance companies. A major activity of the finance companies is the financing of motor vehicles on hire-purchase.

The Hire Purchase Act 1971 is the governing legislation in New Zealand. Regulations to control hire-purchase trade, including limits on minimum deposit and the maximum period of credit, were removed in September 1983.

The Credit Contracts Act 1981 reformed the law relating to the provision of credit under contracts of various kinds. It includes provisions to prevent oppressive contracts and conducts and ensures that all the terms of contracts are disclosed to debtors before they become irrevocably committed to them. It also includes provisions to ensure that the cost of credit is disclosed on a uniform basis in order to prevent deception and encourage competition, and to prevent misleading credit advertisement.

The quarterly survey of hire-purchase advances made by the Department of Statistics was revised for the June 1980 quarter and the revisions made retrospective to the June 1977 quarter to enable comparisons to be made. For the revised survey the list of businesses surveyed was updated to include large finance companies not previously covered and retail stores whose sales on hire-purchase exceeded $0.5 million during the year ended March 1978.

Sales on hire-purchase by businesses covered by the revised survey represented some 92 percent of total hire-purchase sales in 1977–78 as recorded in the 1978 Census of Distribution.

Table 23.13. HIRE-PURCHASE SURVEY*

 198419851986
DecMarJunSepDecMarJun

* This is a ‘restricted’ survey as indicated above.

† Advances under hire-purchase agreements.

‡ Advances as a percentage of value of purchases financed.

§ Includes appliances, furniture, TV sets, etc.

|| Total amount owing under hire purchase agreements.

¶ Percentage of amount owing that is overdue.

  Motor buses, tracks, and tractors—
  Advances ($million)66.361.761.155.649.340.049.8
  Percentage financed73686669676566
  Cars, motorcycles, caravans, etc.—
  Advances ($million)176.8147.1159.0163.0153.4135.7162.2
  Percentage financed58586059615760
Plant and machinery—
  Advances ($million)32.433.729.726.031.425.231.7
  Percentage financed78777875797976
  Household and personal goods§
  Advances ($million)87.280.692.192.594.383.7106.1
  Percentage financed83838382838382
Total advances ($million)362.7323.1341.9337.2333.4284.6349.8
Total owing ($million) ||1 725.31 806.31 907.51 977.72 020.5x2 047.82 062.0
Percentage overdue1.82.02.12.02.42.92.8

Credit card sales

A form of short-term credit trading which has grown rapidly during recent years is the use of credit cards as a substitute for cash. This has largely been the result of the introduction of bank credit cards by the four trading banks. In 1983 bank credit became available at Post Office Savings Banks. The following table gives the value of sales by trading bank cards, Trusteebank Visa, American Express and Diners Club.

Table 23.14. VALUE OF CREDIT CARD SALES

YearTotal Advances Outstanding*Billings
N.Z. Cardholders Spending in New ZealandN.Z. Cardholders Spending OverseasTotal

* As at 31 December.

Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand

   $(million) 
1982230.4608.0157.1766.0
1983316.9850.2181.11,031.3
1984428.41,110.4238.71,349.1
1985483.51,305.1237.01,542.1

Census of Services 1980–81

The first economic Census of Services formed part of the series of integrated economic censuses of business activities in New Zealand being carried out by the Department of Statistics over a five-year period. The census covers for the year ended 31 March 1981 the following activities of the New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification:

  1. Real estate and business services;

  2. Sanitary and similar services;

  3. Social and related services; and

  4. Recreational and cultural services.

Table 23.15. SUMMARY OF CENSUS OF SERVICES 1980–81

Statistical ItemIndustry Totals
Census coverage— No.
  Establishments and ancillary units 20,110
  Paid employees, and working proprietors/partners 237,572
Census values in accounting terms—
  Expenditure— $(000)
    Purchases, including fuel and power500,890 
    Levies and duty49,147 
    Employer contributions46,769 
    Salaries and wages2,310,933 
    Depreciation73,081 
    Indirect taxes13,095 
    Insurances17,234 
    Interest, etc.103,574 
    Other expenses721,897 
        Total expenditure 3,836,621
  Stocks—
    Closing stocks72,943 
    Less, opening stocks60,964 
  11,979
  Income—
    Interest, etc.50,189 
    Subsidies13,303 
    Rents, etc.12,876 
    Other4,194,957 
  4,271,324
        Total income 4,283,303
  Net profit—
    Total income adjusted for stocks4,283,303 
    Less, total expenditure3,836,621 
  446,682
    Less, salaries of working proprietors or partners 136,438
        Net profit 310,244
Census values in economic terms
  Operating surplus—
    Total income, adjusted for change in stocks4,283,303 
    Less, interest, etc., received50,1894,233,115
    Total expenditure3,836,621 
    Less, interest, etc., paid103,574 
  3,733,047
        Operating surplus 500,068
  Value added—
    Operating surplus500,068 
    Levies and duty49,147 
    Salaries and wages2,310,933 
    Employer contributions46,769 
    Depreciation73,081 
    Indirect taxes13,095 
 2,993,093 
    Plus, capitalised salaries and wages1,2792,994,372
    Less, subsidies 13,303
        Value added 2,981,069

Table 23.16. INDUSTRY LEVELS, CENSUS OF SERVICES 1980–81

ServiceEnterprise GroupsEnterprisesOperating UnitsPersons Engaged at End of FebruarySalaries and Wages Paid to Employees
EstablishmentsAncillary Units
Real estate and business services—  Number  $(000)
  Land and estate agents7097651,08154,53648,368
  Real estate valuing and appraising8787933051,089
    Subtotal, real estate7968521,17454,84149,456
  Legal services9009021,0309,64761,320
  Accounting, auditing, and bookkeeping services1,1671,2231,30519,99265,407
  Data processing and tabulating services1391491933,45838,652
  Architects3323333581,4088,967
  Consulting engineers20720828122,13421,707
  Land surveyors1321321671,53015,791
  Quantity surveyors4747663842,850
  Town planning consultant services11111339148
  Engineering, architectural, and technical services, n.e.c.21521826831,38613,836
    Subtotal, engineering, architectural, and technical services9389471,15356,88163,299
  Advertising agencies991021341153.118,633
  Commercial artists and display specialists21721722016,783,542
  Market research agencies23252925352,567
  Public relations consultant services5354541831,198
Advertising services, n.e.c.7677883422,004
    Subtotal, advertising services46547452543,26927,943
  Security services4748751,46913,177
  Debt collecting and credit rating services2933584693,450
  Typing, duplicating, and other office services898996215789
  Contract packing services2121232842,652
  Mailing and delivery services121212186436
  Management consultant services90951072902,832
  Business services, n.e.c.36537343542,82518,971
  Business services, n.e.c. (except rental and leasing)64467180645,83842,308
    Subtotal, business services4,2304,3655,0121439,085298,928
  Machinery and equipment rental and leasing18018222761,1649,381
        Total, real estate and business services5 1965 3956 4132545,090357,765
Sanitary services—
  Collection and disposal of refuse33133233811,2279,499
  Sewerage and urban drainage25125125631,45114,633
    Subtotal, sanitary and garbage disposal services38738859442,67824,132
  Cleaning services7017107911513,02349,289
  Fumigation and pest control services29292989372
        Total, sanitary and similar services1 1151 1271 4141915,79073,793
Social and related community services—  Number  $(000)
  Pre-school education1692761,478542,81516,116
  Primary education2692692,513131,512373,920
  Secondary education26526536120,659319,563
  Tertiary education343444115891197,433
  Other education services46152460822,62719,929
  Ancillary units servicing education77847714
    Subtotal, education services1,1851,3325,0046673,551927,675
  General practitioners1,6871,6871,7085,34322,425
  Private medical specialists5225225231,2824,142
  Private dental practices7657687892,59911,908
  Optometrists and dispensing opticians1561581825963,188
  Physiotherapists13313314313551,277
  Chiropractors777780209612
  Public and private hospitals1431523562263,610700,239
  Other health services159295403144,71743,619
  Medical, dental, and other health services3,6353,7864,1843778,711787,409
  Medical laboratories1818646211,4410,075
  Dental laboratories13313313613281,252
  Radiologists in private practice2929372631,848
  Medical and dental laboratories and radiologists180180237631,73513,175
  Private veterinary practices18118221939364,971
  Other veterinary practices, incl. clubs4444753575,099
  Boarding kennels and catteries, etc.71717114090
  Veterinary services, boarding kennels, and catteries, etc.29629736531,43310,160
  Ancillary units servicing medical, dental, other health, and veterinary services1010181,37317,041
      Subtotal, medical, dental, other health and vet. services4,1114,2634,78612183,252827,786
    Licensed old people's rest homes318324392175,53626,012
        Total, social and related community services5 5975 90710,182204162,3391,781,473
Recreational and cultural services—
  Motion picture production47495013733,825
  Motion picture distribution and projection8186181701,7669,426
  Radio and television broadcasting131345104,29766,756
      Total motion picture and other entertainment services139147276816,43680,008
  Racing and trotting clubs1561561573,5075,743
  Self-employed jockeys, horse trainers and TAB9909901,3394,41013,430
      Subtotal, amusement and recreational services, n.e.c.1,1461,1461,4967,91719,173
        Total, recreational and cultural services1 2851 2931 7728114,35399,181
        Total services13,17913,71719,781329237,5722,312,212

Table 23.17. INDUSTRY LEVEL BY EXPENSES AND SALES, CENSUS OF SERVICES 1980–81

ServicePurchases and Operating ExpensesTotal Sales and Other IncomeValue AddedNet Capital Additions
Real estate and business services— $(000) 
  Land and estate agents76,208100,26874,6764,131
  Real estate valuing and appraising2,8916,2704,737225
    Subtotal, real estate79,099106,53879,4124,356
  Legal services120,076207,931156,3153,901
  Accounting, auditing, and bookkeeping services117,770190,388145,7813,021
  Data processing and tabulating services102,930113,90065,36126,468
  Architects23,26435,92422,775382
  Consulting engineers43,68058,38838,3341,121
  Land surveyors22,79626,39220,2991,200
  Quantity surveyors5,5849,5497,050110
  Town planning consultant services50879046733
  Engineering, architectural, and technical services, n.e.c.27,63432,98420,360820
    Subtotal engineering, architectural, and technical services123,466164,027109,2863,666
  Advertising agencies159,746168,44829,9741,559
  Commercial artists and display specialists12,08115,8457,970601
  Market research agencies6,4677,0913,414199
  Public relations consultant services3,0043,7692,097105
  Advertising services, n.e.c.7,1078,0763,452200
    Subtotal advertising services188,404203,23046,9072,665
  Security services22,36023,95816,0301,095
  Debt collecting and credit rating services10,99211,2184,016168
  Typing, duplicating, and other office services2,2482,6981,447121
  Contract packing services12,59013,1204,115822
  Mailing and delivery services1,9442,16772025
  Management consultant services7,60210,0095,390275
  Business services, n.e.c.44,64451,73328,5621.564
    Subtotal business services, n.e.c. (except rental and leasing)102,380114,90460,2804,070
    Subtotal business services755,026994,379583,93043,730
  Machinery and equipment rental and leasing56,60563,15921,5715,514
    Total, real estate and business services890,7301,164,076684,91353,660
Sanitary services—
  Collection and disposal of refuse42,67545,33415,6841,691
  Sewerage and urban drainage58,96459,48734,0813,091
  Total sanitary and garbage disposal services101,640104,82149,7664,782
  Cleaning services66,62475,22380,1001,606
  Fumigation and pest control services1,5662,1071,06479
    Total, sanitary and similar services169,830182450110,9306,467
Social and related community services—
  Pre-school education21,35821,81114,4381,061
  Primary education427,582431,263382,06343,435
  Secondary education368,532372,637328,35942,367
  Tertiary education258,004259,904195,63121,080
  Other education services30,42531,96020,6051,424
  Ancillary units servicing education1,4301,17369610
    Subtotal, education services1,107,3311,118,748942,792109,377
  General practitioners53,604104,65175,9122,756
  Private medical specialists13,74028,50819,334736
  Private dental practices33,44557,20937,599586
  Optometrists and dispensing opticians17,04223,92011,032575
  Physiotherapists3,1715,8484,28896
  Chiropractors2,1263,8602,51282
  Public and private hospitals946,852931,634760,50289,076
  Other health services58,06259,61346,8611,869
  Medical, dental, and other health services1,128,0431,215,244958,03995,777
  Medical laboratories18,01223,26715,909201
  Dental laboratories3,7346,4674,220153
  Radiologists in private practice4,0636,6784,623164
  Medical and dental laboratories and radiologists25,80936,41224,752518
  Private veterinary practices23,30130,79413,6871,129
  Other veterinary practices, including clubs19,79020,4656,776117
  Boarding kennels and catteries, etc.1,0741,32053796
  Veterinary services, boarding kennels and catteries, etc.44,16552,58021,0001,342
  Ancillary units servicing medical, dental, other health and veterinary services65,78364,74918,9112,112
    Subtotal, medical, dental, other health and veterinary services1,263,8001,368,9841,022,70399,749
  Licensed old people's rest homes47,22351,31832,1589,310
    Total, social and related community services2,418,3542,539,0491,996,653218,437
Recreational and cultural services—
  Motion picture production14,21315,5596,2821,224
  Motion picture distribution and projection41,05246,60117,907116
  Radio and television broadcasting149,119145,95783,2698,187
    Subtotal, motion picture and other entertainment services204,384208,117107,4589.527
  Racing and trotting clubs75,39276,41933,1542,232
  Self-employed jockeys, horse trainers, and Totalisator Agency Board77,932101,51347,9622,055
    Subtotal, amusement and recreational services, n.e.c.153,324177,93381,1164,286
    Total, recreational and cultural services357,708386,049188,57413,814
    Total, services3,836,6214,271,3252,981,069292,377

Table 23.18. REGIONAL SUMMARIES BY STATISTICAL AREA, CENSUS OF SERVICES 1980–81

ServicesEnterprise GroupsEnterprisesOperating UnitsPersons Engaged at End of FebruarySalaries and Wages Paid to EmployeesPurchases and Operating ExpensesSales and Other IncomeValue AddedNet Capital Additions
EstablishmentsAncillary Units
*For further information on health, education, and recreational and cultural services refer to chapters 8, 9, and 11 of this Yearbook.
Real estate and business services—  Number    $(000)  
  Northland Central15215517419536,47412,36718,65113,965337
    Auckland1,8711,9282,1591215,311128,415356,965443,093234,94516,605
  South Auckland—
    Bay of Plenty73975085435,34139,22288,449125,60980,0084,443
  East Coast4545464623,7206,1518,8327,190304
  Hawke's Bay1891952151,75912,24324,18535,34925,012863
  Taranaki1331341479947,42113,62120,94315,3411,309
  Wellington1,1871,2201,375610,82094,666242,565305,717175,22923,594
        Total, North Island4 0604 2014 9702235,640292,162744,303958,195551,68947,456
  Marlborough4646512811,9803,4765,3784,02634
  Nelson1081121236894,7548,92312,9329,551679
  Westland3434361701,1802,2463,0492,24971
  Canterbury70972977635,31935,71885,421117,85372,3433,523
  Otago2622673131,87013,83130,15943,03228,149953
  Southland1261291441,1218,14016,20123,63716,904945
        Total, South Island1 2151 2611 44339 45065,603146,426205,881133,2246,205
        Total, New Zealand5 1965 3956 4132545,090357,765890,7301,164,076684,91353,660
Sanitary and similar services—
  Northland33334814763,1936,0176,5434,197274
  Central Auckland27227831943,38518,26456,30259,26032,1791,016
  South Auckland—
    Bay of Plenty16216320831,8829,15122,92424,87515,111443
  East Coast151519893469131,10065120
  Hawke's Bay58586815212,5867,1087,8275,069227
  Taranaki3637494752,1523,9544,4932,83758
  Wellington23023527964,10217,28733,61436,52123,152640
        Total, North Island7908009901510,93052,979130,832140,61983,1972,679
  Marlborough1818222169311,5801,8181,14966
  Nelson3030392081,2332,6912,7801,80411
  Westland1111151469581,3451,3981,168
  Canterbury1781802093268010,01817,83818,81312,628713
  Otago65679119164,22010,10810,5896,6972,944
  Southland3939486943,4555,4366,1334,28753
        Total, South Island32833242444,86020,81438,99841,53127,7333,787
        Total, New Zealand.1 1151 1271 4141915,79073,793169,830182,150110,9306.467
Social and related community services*  Number    $(000)  
  Northland18219041754,11647,81365,92169,33453,7356,369
  Central Auckland1,6571,7002,4936440,326461,605623,248661,183521,07751,464
  South Auckland-Bay of Plenty7918341,5553022,477256,071346,392365,024289,68229,057
  East Coast899018422,15423,95131,45332,87126,678984
  Hawke's Bay25927248896,56872,71996,709101,88781,1715,711
  Taranaki21021939635,33652,12367,10670,57857,1396,094
  Wellington1,0741,1301,8383733,822363,558500,602519,922405,61857,876
        Total, North Island4 1674 3767 371150114,7991,277,8401,731,4301,820,799 1,435,101157,554
  Marlborough596211421,45717,17822,17522,90618,8651,071
  Nelson14415125754,36146,53759,49262,02251,1753,642
  Westland38399811,44614,61219,85520,05415,6892,508
  Canterbury8078381,3662123,399245,166338,069354,039272,09827,328
  Otago3363546331911,851133,242182,318190,861151,95321,796
  Southland14815334365,02646,89865,01668,36851,7734,537
        Total, South Island1 4611 5532 8115447,540503,632686,924718,251561,55260,882
        Total, New Zealand5 5975 90710,182204162,3391,781,4732,418,3542,539,0491,996,653218,437
Recreational and cultural services—
  Northland21213512139745,1646,0862,89254
  Central Auckland266268361163,58329,81999,963114,66251,2774,250
  South Auckland Bay of Plenty25525631971,9659,17538,12845,45322,3031,738
  East Coast10101421588064,2915,0522,31574
  Hawke's Bay54547356442,18011,44113,4286,372247
  Taranaki50506726871,4827,1778,5703,979132
  Wellington199204291203,58236,176115,455108,14059,4965,200
        Total, North Island8278351 1605310,83280,612281,618301,391148,63311,695
  Marlborough1212141462201.1971,56660841
  Nelson28283832529704,5735,4222,81155
  Westland11111511626173,9424,4492,015233
  Canterbury262262323131,7179,56438,57543,11020,1471,014
  Otago777710968355,69219,51620,33310,206575
  Southland939311345091,5058,2879,7784,155200
        Total, South Island465465612283,52118,56976,09084,65839,9412,118
        Total, New Zealand1 2851 2931 7728114,35399,181357,708386,049188,57413,814
Total services—
  Northland38839967485,75858,45489,467100,61474,7897,034
  Central Auckland4,0604,1725,3329662,605638,1021,136,4791,278,198839,47973,334
  South Auckland-Bay of Plenty1,9442,0032,9364331,665313,619495,892560,961407,10335,681
  East Coast15916026342,86328,82342,50847,85536,8331,383
  Hawke's Bay560579844159,49289,729139,443158,491117,6257,048
  Taranaki42944065957,49263,17791,858104,58479,2967,594
  Wellington26842,7873,7836952,326511,687892,236970,300663,49487,310
        Total, North Island9 83310,20914,401240172,2011,703,5932,888,1833,221,0032,218,619219,385
  Marlborough13413820132,00020,30928,42731,66924,6471,212
  Nelson31032145785,51053,49475,67983,15665,3414,386
  Westland949516421,92417,36727,38828,95021,1212,813
  Canterbury1,9522,0082,6744033,115300,466479,903533,816377,21632,578
  Otago7387641,1462615,472156,985242,101264,815197,00526,268
  Southland403413648107,35059,99994,940107,91677,1195,736
        Total, South Island3 4633 6085 2908965,371608,619948,4381,050,321762,45072,992
        Total, New Zealand13,17913,71719,781329237,5722,312,2123,836,6214,271,3252,981,069292,377

23.4 Insurance

The first Census of Services (Insurance) 1982–83 formed part of the first series of integrated economic censuses of business activities in New Zealand being carried out by the Department of Statistics over a five-year period. The census covered the activities of all businesses classified into Division 82 of the New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification. A summary of results is given below according to the various industrial classifications.

Life insurance (industry 82110).

This division covers businesses primarily providing life insurance cover, life reinsurance, and mortgage repayment insurance. Also included are other ‘insurance’ activities carried out by those businesses, such as industrial insurance, personal accident insurance, and superannuation funds operated on behalf of others.

Table 23.19. LIFE INSURANCE: INDUSTRY COVERAGE, 1982–83

Statistical ItemNumber
Enterprise groups in the industry36
Enterprises within those groups41
Activity units (e.g. offices, etc.)274
Ancillary activity units7
Persons engaged within those activity units—full-time3,044
                                          —part-time218
Self-employed commission agents—full-time2856
                                          —part-time154

Table 23.20. LIFE INSURANCE: INDUSTRY VALUES. 1982–83

Statistical Item $(000)
Income—
  Premiums and superannuation contributions net of reinsurance654,342 
  Interest345,189 
  Dividends56,999 
  Rent and leasing (gross)83,925 
  Management fees9,645 
  Other income1,727 
        Total income 1,151,827
Operating expenses—
  Claims, payments and pensions—on maturity130,667 
    —  on death/accident89,135 
    —  on surrender183,965 
  Salaries and wages55,748 
  Commissions—self-employed agents81,568 
    —other8,579 
  Employer contributions10,702 
  Interest1,073 
  Depreciation20,881 
  Indirect taxes8,778 
  Insurances396 
  Donations and grants183 
  Management fees17,435 
  Other operating expenses75,945 
        Total operating expenses 685,057
Balance of income over operating expenses for the year 466,771
Plus—Net gains from revaluation of financial and fixed assets34,603 
    —Net gains on sale of financial and fixed assets and exchange transactions31,75466,357
      Subtotal 533,128
Less, net transfers to reserves436 
    —Policy transfers to overseas branches6,262 
    —Income tax52,518 
    —Dividends and bonuses to shareholders2,37861,593
      Increase in policyholders' funds 471,534
      End of year value of policyholders' funds 4,484,297

Table 23.21. 23.21 EXPENSES OF REAL ESTATE PROPERTY ACTIVITIES OF LIFE INSURANCE COMPANIES

Gross Rented IncomePercent
Wages1.98
Rates8.67
Other operating expenses12.00
Gross margin before interest and depreciation77.35
 100.00

Table 23.22. LIFE INSURANCE: INDUSTRY SIZE-GROUP ANALYSIS—PERSONS ENGAGED, 1982–83

Persons Engaged per EnterpriseEnterprisesUnitsPersons Engaged at End of February 1983Total Income per Fulltime Equivalent Persons EngagedBalance of Income per Full-time Equivalent Persons EngagedBalance of Income per Total Income*
ActivityAncillary
*Total income less operating expenses.
No.No.No.No.No.$$$
        0107317.3
    1–991037414,261194,69247.0
  10–396122108191,71270,16936.6
  40–99513296240,55780,95433.7
100–1996812837262,946103,29939.3
200 and over51511,984418,747177,32842.3
        Total4127473 262365,312148,04040.5

Medical insurance (industry 82120).

This division covers benefit societies providing medical, hospital and dental insurance, and funeral benefits. Included are employee benefit, benevolent and welfare societies, and friendly societies.

Table 23.23. MEDICAL INSURANCE—INDUSTRY COVERAGE. 1982–83

Statistical ItemNumber
Enterprise groups in the industry33
Enterprises within those groups41
Activity units (e.g. offices, etc.)64
Ancillary activity units0
Persons engaged within those activity units—full-time198
                        —part-time18
Self-employed commission agents—full-time124
                      —part-time46

Table 23.24. MEDICAL INSURANCE—INDUSTRY VALUES, 1982–83

Statistical Item $(000)
Income—
  Premiums, levies and contributions received49,141 
  Interest7,403 
  Dividends, rents and other income541 
        Total income 57,086
Operating expenses—
  Claims and benefits paid38,102 
  Salaries and wages2,533 
  Commissions2,013 
  Employer contributions91 
  Interest54 
  Depreciation423 
  Indirect taxes86 
  Donations and grants172 
  Management fees414 
  Other operating expenses2,153 
        Total operating expenses 46,042
Balance of income over operating expenses for the year..11,044
Less, net transfers to reserves and income tax 206
        Increase in funds..10,838
        End of year value of funds..60,233

Table 23.25. MEDICAL INSURANCE—INDUSTRY ACTIVITY ANALYSIS, 1982–83

Type of EnterpriseEnterprise GroupsActivity UnitsPaid EmployeesStart of Year Value of Funds 1982Total IncomeTotal Operating ExpensesNet Transfers to and from Reserves, etc.End of Year Value of Funds 1983
 No.No.No.$(000)$(000)$(000)$(000)$(000)
Private benefit societies112821415,83848,37841,374+ 18223,024
Employee benefit societies81423,7804,0622,550−5374,755
Friendly societies142229,7764,6462,118+ 15232,456
        Total336421649,39457,08646,042−20660,233

Fire and general insurance (industry 82130).

This division covers businesses providing fire insurance cover for commercial and domestic properties; motor vehicle insurance cover; aviation insurance cover; and other fire and accident insurance. It also covers businesses concerned primarily with fire and general reinsurance.

Table 23.26. FIRE AND GENERAL INSURANCE—INDUSTRY COVERAGE, 1982–33

Statistical ItemNumber
Enterprise groups in the industry43
Enterprises within those groups55
Activity units (e.g. offices, etc.)398
Ancillary activity units9
Persons engaged within those activity units—full-time5,042
                      —part-time209

Table 23.27. FIRE AND GENERAL INSURANCE—ANALYSES BETWEEN GROSS PREMIUMS WRITTEN/NET PREMIUMS EARNED AND GROSS/NET CLAIMS INCURRED, 1982–83

Statistical Item$(000)
*IBNR denotes ‘incurred but not received.
Premiums—
  Gross written premiums, less local facultative reinsurance ceded709,942
    Adjusted for other reinsurance premiums—
      N.Z. resident offices—received from+ 14,528
                      —ceded to−38,824
      Offshore—received from+ 14,658
                      —ceded to−93,596
      Net written premiums606,708
    Adjusted for movement in unearned premium reserve−41,137
      Net premium earned565,571
Claims—
  Gross incurred claims, less local facultative reinsurance recoveries436,147
    Adjusted for other reinsurance claims incurred—
      N.Z. resident offices—paid to+ 7,009
                      —recovered from−15,932
      Offshore—paid to+ 9,539
                      —recovered from−71,343
      Subtotal365,419
    Adjusted for IBNR* and other internal adjustments+ 8,601
      Net incurred claims374,020

Table 23.28. FIRE AND GENERAL INSURANCE—INDUSTRY VALUES IN ACCOUNTING TERMS, 1982–83

Statistical Item$(000)
*Net gain on extraordinary items (14 129 gains less 631 losses)
Income—
  Net premiums earned565,571
  Interest35,028
  Dividends31,748
  Rent and leasing (gross)7,649
  Management fees6,933
  Reinsurance commissions17,910
  Other income3,565
        Total income668,405
Operating expenses—
  Net incurred claims374,020
  Fire services levy27,512
  Salaries and wages81,617
  Commissions and brokerage55,821
  Employer contributions10,977
  Interest2,120
  Depreciation6,290
  Indirect taxes1,408
  Insurances722
  Donations and grants124
  Management fees4,802
  Other operating expenses52,619
        Total operating expenses618,032
        Net profit, before tax and extraordinary items*50,372
Fixed tangible assets
  Additions during year27,181
  Disposals during year6,439
  Book value at end of the year134,446
 13,499

Table 23.29. FIRE AND GENERAL INSURANCE—INDUSTRY VALUES IN ECONOMIC TERMS, 1982–83

Operating surplus— $(000)
* This value added represents 0.4 percent of New Zealand Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the year ended March 1983.
  Total income 668,405
  Total operating expenses618,032 
  Less, donations and grants124617,909
        Operating surplus 50,496
Value added—
  Operating surplus50,496 
  Fire services levy27,512 
  Salaries and wages81,617 
  Employer contributions10,977 
  Depreciation6,290 
  Indirect taxes1,408 
        Value added 178,301*

Superannuation and pension funds (industry 82210).

This division covers the operation of recognised superannuation, pension and mutual funds. The figures include the operations of the Government Superannuation Fund and the National Provident Fund. Tables 23.30 and 23.31 list the general coverage of the industry.

Table 23.30. SUPERANNUATION AND PENSION FUNDS—INDUSTRY COVERAGE, 1982–83

Statistical ItemNumber
Enterprise groups/enterprises within the industry1,950
Activity units1,950
Persons engaged58

Table 23.31. SUPERANNUATION AND PENSION FUNDS—INDUSTRY VALUES. 1982–83

Statistical Item$(000)
Income—
  Members’ contributions334,283 
  Employers' contributions328,154 
  Interest321,266 
  Dividends65,474 
  Rent and leasing26,276 
  Other income31,049 
        Total income 1,106,501
Operating expenses—
  Claims, payments and pensions—on maturity or retirement303,734 
              —on death/disability7,804 
              —on surrender120,916 
  Salaries and wages748 
  Commissions, all kinds173 
  Interest39,784 
  Depreciation1,659 
  Employer contributions and indirect taxes622 
  Insurances2,883 
  Management fees2,525 
  Other operating expenses3,928 
        Total operating expenses 484,777
Balance of income over operating expenses for the year 621,724
Plus, net gains:
  —from exchange transactions423 
  —from revaluation of assets27,791 
  —on sale of assets12,826 
  —on transfers from reserves7141,111
        Subtotal 662,835
Less, income tax 26
        Increase in funds 662,810
        End of year value of funds 4,137,328

Services to insurance and superannuation (industry 82301).

This division covers insurance broking and agency services; adjustment (loss adjusters), assessing and consultancy services; the selling of insurance on a commission or fee basis (other than self-employed commission agents who do not employ labour); the management of pension and superannuation funds on a commission or fee basis; other services not elsewhere classified.

Table 23.32. SERVICES TO INSURANCE AND SUPERANNUATION—INDUSTRY COVERAGE, 1982–83

Statistical ItemNumber
Enterprise groups in the industry341
Enterprises within those groups413
Activity units, (e.g. offices, etc.)494
Ancillary activity units3
Persons engaged within those activity units:
  Working proprietors/partners—full-time312
                        —part-time92
  Paid employees—full-time1,164
                        —part-time263
  Self-employed commission agents—full-time145
                      —part-time724

Table 23.33. SERVICES TO INSURANCE AND SUPERANNUATION—INDUSTRY VALUES. 1982–83

Statistical Item$(000)
Income—
  Interest7,068 
  Dividends394 
  Renting and leasing638 
  Commissions and brokerage53,209 
  Management fees3,292 
  Other income11,781 
        Total income 76,382
Operating expenses—
  Salaries and wages21,730 
  Commission, to self-employed agents4,544 
  Employer contributions1,452 
  Interest641 
  Insurance767 
  Depreciation1,498 
  Indirect taxes183 
  Bad debts, royalties, etc.226 
  Management fees1,678 
  Other operating expenses21,245 
        Total operating expenses 53,961
Net profit—
    Balance of income over operating expenses for the year 22,421
  Plus, gains in extraordinary transactions 323
        Subtotal 22,744
Less, salaries and wages paid to working proprietors and partners 6,144
Net profit, after adding extraordinary items and deducting salaries and wages paid to working proprietors and partners 16,600

Further information

Commerce and services

Census of Distribution 1982–33. Department of Statistics (bulletins and volume). Licensing Polls 1984 (Parl. paper E. 9B, 1984).

Monthly Abstract of Statistics. Department of Statistics.

Report of the Consumer Council (Parl. paper G. 29).

Report of the Department of Trade and Industry (Parl. paper G. 14).

Report of the Licensing Control Commission (Parl. paper E. 8).

Sale of Liquor in New Zealand: Report of the Working Party on Liquor. Department of Justice, 1986.

Companies and bankruptcy

Monthly Abstract of Statistics, May 1985, Appendix 111 (Bankruptcies). Department of Statistics. Report of the Department of Justice (Parl. paper E. 5).

Insurance

Census of Services, Finance and Insurance, 1983. Department of Statistics.

Insurance Statistics. Department of Statistics (annual).

Monthly Abstract of Statistics, July 1985, Appendix III (Life Insurance), Appendix IV (Fire and Accident Insurance). Department of Statistics.

Report of the Earthquake and War Damage Commission (Parl. paper B. 11).

Report of the Government Life Insurance Corporation (Parl. paper B. 22).

Report of the State Insurance Office (Parl. paper B. 21).

Chapter 24. Overseas trade

New Zealand continues to be heavily dependent on overseas trade. However, the bulk of New Zealand's trade no longer goes to Britain, though the 12-member European Community remains New Zealand's largest trading partner. Japan has become New Zealand's most important individual trading partner while Australia is the country's largest export market. Trade with the United States. Canada, the countries of East Asia, the Soviet Union and the Middle East has also become very important. Aside from a diversification of trading partners, New Zealand has been moving away from a dependence on dairy, meat and wool exports and exports from the forestry, horticulture and manufacturing industries have become increasingly significant.

24.1 Administration of trade

Trade organisations and agreements

Trade offices.

Through its network of overseas offices, and with its experienced staff and extensive information resources within New Zealand, the Department of Trade and Industry assists exporters in several ways. It has two trade divisions—International Trade Relations, and the New Zealand Trade Commission (Tradecom). Trade officers are located in 40 offices overseas, and four in New Zealand.

The International Trade Relations Division has primary responsibility for advising and assisting the Government on its trading relationships with other governments. The division is involved in securing and maintaining an environment that allows the growth of international trade by negotiation and continuing contact with trading partners either bilaterally or in international organisations such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The division communicates with other governments, either through their trade representatives in Wellington or through New Zealand representatives around the world.

Tradecom's officers assist, exporters in their trade promotion activities by providing information on potential markets, and market opportunities for individual products; reports on access conditions such as customs duties, sales tax and quotas as well as market requirements such as packaging, labelling, plant and animal health requirements; commercial intelligence and advice; information on tender opportunities; assistance at trade exhibitions; and arranging inward missions, export opportunity visits, trade missions, seminars and in-market promotions.

The services offered by Tradecom are provided on a cost-sharing basis and full details of the services and the costs involved are available from any of Tradecom's offices.

In addition, trade officers overseas (known as trade commissioners) monitor the overall pattern of New Zealand trade with then territory and report on any significant developments, such as changes in legislation or regulations which could affect New Zealand exports. They also help ensure that the government officials and influential people in their territory are aware of New Zealand's exports interests. From time to time they are required to make official representations to the government concerned, as well as representing New Zealand at international conferences.

Tradecom also administers the Export Award Scheme, which gives recognition to individuals, companies and organisations which have made significant contributions to the expansion of New Zealand's export trade.

New Zealand Export-import Corporation.

The New Zealand Export-Import Corporation was established under the New Zealand Export-import Corporation Act 1974 with the objective of promoting and encouraging the development of New Zealand's overseas trade. The corporation operates as a commercial enterprise. St may act either on its own account or on behalf of manufacturers, producers, exporters or importers as required. The corporation is also entitled to act as a purchasing and selling agent for the Government and to undertake trade transactions on its behalf.

The affairs of the corporation are managed by a board of directors comprising representatives of the private sector with wide commercial experience and two government representatives, one each from the Department of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The corporation currently maintains a trade centre in Sydney and an office in China, and it has representatives based in Caracas, Venezuela and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It holds the New Zealand interest in the Bahrain - New Zealand Cold Storage and Warehousing Company (BANZ) which operates a port and storage facility in Bahrain.

New Zealand Market Develop Board.

The board, which was established in 1986, aims to foster New Zealand's foreign exchange earnings by assisting groups to develop overseas markets for New Zealand goods and services. Groups are required to contribute a minimum of 50 percent of the funding for promotional programmes, which should desirably be long-term in scope. A number of programmes are now underway, especially in the agricultural/horticultural area.

Export credit insurance.

The Export Guarantee Office (EXGO) operates in accordance with the Export Guarantee Act 1964. The office's function is to promote export trade by providing insurance against commercial and political risks arising from the export of goods or services. It also provides guarantees to lending institutions for amounts advanced to exporters of goods or services which are covered by a contract of insurance issued by EXGO. The Export Guarantee Office can provide a wide range of policies sufficient to meet most requirements.

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)

New Zealand was one of the original parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade negotiated in Geneva in 1947 and has since taken an active part in its work. The GATT is the only body of rules governing international trade, and provides a vehicle for reducing barriers to trade and a forum for the discussion and settlement of international trade problems and disputes.

The basic GATT principle of non-discrimination, embodied in the most-favoured-nation concept, is particularly important to countries such as New Zealand, since it ensures that larger nations cannot exert economic muscle through discriminatory trade policies. By the end of 1986 a total of 92 of the world's trading nations, representing over 80 percent of total world trade, had become contracting parties to the GATT, and are therefore entitled to most-favoured-nation treatment.

A series of multilateral trade negotiations was held under the auspices of the GATT to reduce obstacles to trade and refine the rules. Earlier negotiating rounds concentrated on reducing tariff levels and binding them at agreed maximum levels. The Tokyo Round which ran from 1973 to 1979, broadened its scope and, as well as negotiating important tariff reductions and formulating codes of conduct which elaborated on or added to existing GATT rules.

New Zealand participated in all aspects of the negotiations, making a global tariff offer through ‘binding’ certain tariff rates which covered items with a trade value of around $579 million. In return for offers made in the context of bilateral negotiations, New Zealand received useful concessions on tariffs and access for our major export products, particularly for trade with the United States, the European Community and Canada. New Zealand also joined the multilateral arrangements negotiated on meat and dairy products.

In September 1986, the eighth GATT round of multilateral trade negotiations, know as the Uruguay Round, was launched to address rules governing agricultural trade and other concerns of contracting parties about the functioning of the international trading system.

GATT: International Dairy Arrangement (IDA).

This arrangement was negotiated during the Tokyo Round of GATT multilateral trade negotiations, and has been in operation since 1979. New Zealand is a member of the IDA, which contains provision for an exchange of information on the international dairy market. It has also established agreed minimum prices for certain internationally traded dairy products.

GATT: International Arrangement Regarding Bovine Meat (IMC).

New Zealand is also a member of the IMC, which was the second commodity agreement to emerge from the Tokyo Round of the GATT multilateral trade negotiations in 1979. Unlike the IDA, the IMC contains no economic provisions, but is a forum for exchanging information on production and trade of beef and sheepmeat. The IMC also meets to evaluate the market situation and outlook, and to examine possible solutions if a structural imbalance is identified.

International commodity agreements

Sugar.

Between 1973 and 1984 the bulk of New Zealand's annual requirement for sugar was imported from Australia and Fiji under long-term agreements. A major review of New Zealand's sugar importing policy was completed in 1985. The outcome of this review was to remove controls on the importation and pricing of sugar, effective from 31 August 1986,

To allow Fiji time to adjust to supplying the New Zealand market at prevailing world market prices, which are currently depressed, New Zealand entered into a three-year agreement (expiring in 1988) to compensate Fiji for any shortfall in earnings for a quantity of raw sugar exported to New Zealand.

New Zealand has been a signatory to the International Sugar Agreements in 1958, 1968 and 1978. These agreements have, in the past, incorporated mechanisms that regulate the supply and price of sugar on world markets. In 1984 negotiations for a new sugar agreement failed, and an interim agreement which contained no pricing mechanisms was finally accepted. New Zealand renewed its membership of the agreement.

Coffee.

New Zealand is a party to the International Coffee Agreement 1983 and was also a party to the previous 1968 and 1976 agreements.

The 1976 agreement incorporates provisions for adjusting basic quotas, regulating imports whenever quotas were in effect, and recording international coffee trade. As from 1 November 1980 the International Coffee Organisation has instructed importing countries to adopt the economic provisions of the International Coffee Agreement. As importers of coffee, therefore, New Zealand is required to limit imports to a level within the global quota and to limit annual imports from non- members to quantities established under the provisions of the agreement. Quotas were suspended or 1986.

Customs

The New Zealand customs tariff is based on the Customs Cooperation Council Nomenclature (CCCN), which also forms the basis for tariffs in over 150 other countries.

In 1978 a fully revised customs tariff was introduced based on the recommendation of a tariff review committee which had been given a two-year period to put forward proposals to make the tariff compatible with modern trading conditions, industrial development requirements, and administrative facility. Tariff rates were set consistent with the committee's terms of reference, which required, among other things, an assessment to be made of rates necessary to accord domestic industry a reasonable level of protection against competing imports disregarding the existence of other forms of protection.

The tariff reduced the number of individual tariff items from approximately 4700 to some 2500 and also provided for the collection of statistics on a more detailed basis.

The 1978 review also identified a number of industries where further consideration was necessary and these formed the basis of an industry study programme. These included textiles and apparel, plastics and wine. Changes were made to the tariff as a result of these studies.

The tariff was reprinted in order to implement the tariff phasing required under the Australia - New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement. Another reprint with effect from 1 July 1986 was required to implement tariff changes announced by the Government in its reform of industry assistance and amendments to the Generalised System of Preferences.

The rates of customs and excise duty enforced in New Zealand are set out in the publication The Customs Tariff of New Zealand, available from Government Bookshops.

The objectives of the customs tariff can be summarised as:

  • ○ The development of New Zealand industries.

  • ○ The implementation of New Zealand's tariff commitments in multilateral and bilateral trade agreements.

  • ○ Harmony with New Zealand's external political objectives including the provision of assistance to developing countries.

  • ○ The collection of revenue.

  • ○ The collection of statistics.

A new customs tariff, based on the Customs Co-operation Council's International Convention on the Harmonised Commodity Description Coding System (known as the HS Convention) is to be introduced on 1 January 1988. The nomenclature has been fully revised, resulting in a modern coding system which can be used in international trade. The harmonised system also aims to provide international uniformity in the classification of goods in customs tariffs and making it easier to collect, analyse and compare world trade statistics. Of particular interest is the fact that both Canada and the United States will be using the harmonised system as the basis for their tariffs.

Eligibility of goods for tariff preferential rates.

In order to qualify for entry at preferential rates, imported goods must meet certain country of origin requirements. The provisions are contained in the Customs Regulations 1968 as amended. In general, they include the following:

  • ○ Goods wholly the produce (natural products) of the exporting country.

  • ○ Goods wholly manufactured in the exporting country from unmanufactured raw materials

  • – Provisions exist in the ANZCERT agreement with Australia which are specified in the appropriate regulation.

  • ○ Goods ‘wholly obtained’. (This provision applies only to South Pacific Forum island countries and ‘Developing Country Preferences’ and is instead of the above provisions).

  • ○ Goods partly manufactured in the exporting country, provided that the final process of manufacture has been performed in that country, and also that the expenditure on material produced in that country and/or other items of factory or works costs incurred in that country in respect of each article is not less than half of the factory or works cost of the article in its finished state.

Excise.

Coincident with the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST) on 1 October 1986, the sales tax legislation was repealed and a revised excise system was introduced which extended the range of goods traditionally subject to excise duty, i.e., beer, potable spirits and tobacco it now includes motor vehicles, wines, petroleum fuels, cng and lpg.

In addition to its normal revenue collecting responsibilities, the Customs Department is now responsible for collecting goods and services tax on all goods imported into New Zealand. The revenue provisions of the Goods and Services Tax Act 1985 which apply to the importation of goods are deemed to be one of the Customs Acts.

Table 24.1. CUSTOMS AND EXCISE DUTIES

Year Ended 31 MarchCustoms and Excise Duties*Sales TaxBeer DutyMotor Spirits DutyOther ReceiptsTotal

*Including foreign fishing vessel tax but excluding beer duty.

† Including travel tax and departure tax.

   $(000)  
1982475,0911,106,91774,338295,3908,8521,960,588
1983511,8441.237,035149,138331,93612,8582,242,811
1984606,2911,339,505199,264375,04617,7722,537,878
1985794,5961,590,445208,976393,27624,3923,011,685
1986741,5331,588,023225,344407,83938,4523,001,191

Motor spirits duty paid into the National Roads Fund has been excluded from customs duties. Customs revenue as a proportion of taxation is discussed in chapter 27, Public sector finance.

Import regulations

Import licensing for private imports was introduced in 1938, and has continued to varying degrees since then. The objectives of import licensing have been diverse, but have included ensuring a stable market for industry, utilising domestic resources to the fullest extent, encouraging investment and productivity, and helping to protect the balance of payments.

In recent years, however, moves have been made towards replacing import licensing with a tariff-based regime of protection. These moves have resulted in additional licences being made available through import licence tendering since 1931.

The initial import licence tender round provided approximately $2 million access for general consumer goods and some textile products. Since then there have been additional tenders for a proportion of basic licences; under the industry plans developed by the industries Development Commission, as a result of the Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (ANZCERTA); and under the general global tendering scheme covering all goods outside industry plans.

Global import access was further increased, with a minimum of 10 percent by value of the estimated domestic production less exports (for goods not covered by industry development plans) being put up for tender under the global tender scheme. In the first global tender round (Round 19) $438 million of licence was tendered in November 1984. An extra 5 percent increase in access ($720 million) was made available in the second global tender round (Round 30) in October 1985. A further 5 percent increase in access was made available in the third global tender round (Round 43) which, has recently closed. All items with average successful premiums of 7.5 percent or less over two tender rounds are moved to licence on demand for a period of 12 months and then exempted from licensing control. Licensing controls that remain on any goods outside industry plans on 1 July 1988 will be removed at that date.

Goods covered by industry plans will continue to be subject to the licence tender programmes set down in the individual plans. In most cases, import licensing for plan goods will end within the next few years.

Administration.

Before 1975 the administration of import licensing policy was the joint responsibility of the Customs Department and the Department of Trade and Industry. In 1973, the Department of Trade and Industry assumed sole responsibility for licensing administration. The Customs Department, however, retains an important role, particularly in the receipt of applications, the issue of licences, and the administration of certain policies delegated to it.

Import provisions are published in an Import Licensing Schedule which contains the policies followed by the Government for individual products, and a number of general licensing policies. The scheme is a permanent document and is maintained through a replacement page amendment service.

Summary of overseas trade statistics

Source of data.

Import and export statistics are compiled by the Department of Statistics using data from copies of entries submitted by the importers/exporters and their agents via the Customs Department.

Basis of valuation.

Exports—Exports are shown on an f.o.b. (free on board) valuation basis in New Zealand dollars (see glossary). In some cases, however, goods are sent on consignment and the selling prices are not known until goods are disposed of at their destination. In these cases f.o.b. values are assessed on the basis of prices current at the time of export.

Goods of foreign origin previously imported into New Zealand are valued in the same way as goods of New Zealand origin, irrespective of whether the goods exported are exempt from import duty, exported ex-warehouse, or exported under drawback. In some instances the ultimate destination of exports is not known at the time of export, such goods being entered as exported to the country to which they are being shipped. This applies more particularly to wool, considerable quantities of which are shipped to the United Kingdom, and subsequently re-exported to other European countries. It should be observed, however, that in all instances where the final destination is known at the time of export, the exports are credited to that destination in the New Zealand trade statistics.

A distinction is made between exports of New Zealand produce and re-exports of imported goods.

Imports—All v.f.d. (value for duty) and c.i.f. (cost including insurance and freight) values are shown in New Zealand dollars. These values are converted from the foreign currency at the time an import entry is lodged with the Customs Department. The exchange rate used for the conversion is set by Customs on a two-weekly basis. It should be noted that where there have been wide fluctuations in the exchange rate for a specific country it is not feasible to convert the New Zealand totals back to a foreign currency total.

Two values are given for imports. The v.f.d. on which customs duty is based, equates approximately with the f.o.b. cost of the goods in the exporting country though the former often excludes special export packaging and other costs incidental to delivering the goods on board ship. Further differences may arise from price fluctuations between the purchase date and the date of shipment, and from different export and domestic price levels. The other valuation is the c.i.f. which represents the cost to the importer of buying the goods and bringing them to this country to the wharfside.

Import totals do not include gold and current coin.

General—It should be noted that Australia includes Cocos, Norfolk Island, and Christmas Island. The United States includes American Samoa, Guam, Pacific Islands Trust Territory, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and miscellaneous U.S. Pacific Islands.

Trade per head.

Trade per head of population is affected, not only by the volume of trade but also by the value, i.e., the prices received for exports and the cost of imports.

Table 24.2. TRADE PER HEAD OF MEAN POPULATION

Year Ended 30 JuneExports (f.o.b.)Imports (c.i.f.)
 $$
19822,190.322,398.66
19832,477.652,371.62
19842,659.222,781.40
19853,459.223,812.85
19863,223.883,496.88

Balance of merchandise trade.

New Zealand's balance of merchandise trade for the 1985–86 trade year ended 30 June 1986, showed a deficit of $895.2 million. Total exports were valued at $10,571.7 million (f.o.b.) and imports at $11,467.0 million (c.i.f.).

Table 24.3. VISIBLE BALANCE OF MERCHANDISE TRADE

Year Ended 30 JuneTotal Exports (f.o.b.)Total Imports (c.i.f.)Excess Exports(+) or Imports(−)
  $(000) 
19848,623,7629,020,069−396,307
198511,315,80212,472,592−1,156,790
198610,571,74711,466,970−895,223

Visible trade is not the only factor to be taken into account in considering the balance of payments between countries. Other factors are given in chapter 28, National accounts.

24.2 Trade with individual countries

The European Community (EC) remains New Zealand's largest trading partner. For the year ended June 1986 the EC accounted for 20 percent of New Zealand's exports and 22 percent of its imports. New Zealand exports to the EC have grown 76 percent over the last 10 years.

New Zealand and Japan have continued to develop closer economic and trade relations. In 1985 Japan became New Zealand's largest individual trading partner. Trade with Japan accounted for 18.1 percent of New Zealand's two-way trade in the year ended June 1986. Continued efforts are being made to improve access for New Zealand exports, particularly agricultural exports. Close contact has been maintained between the two governments, with regular consultations being held at ministerial and official level.

Australia is New Zealand's largest export market and is particularly important for manufactured goods. Trade between the two countries is governed by the Australia - New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (ANZCERTA), which will result in the removal of all restrictions on trans-Tasman trade by 1995 at the latest.

Access to the North American market is also very important, accounting for almost 17 percent of New Zealand exports in the 1985–86 year. A major concern is the number of quantitative restrictions on agricultural products imposed by the United States and Canada.

New Zealand's trading links with China, Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea and the ASEAN (Association of South-east Asian Nations) countries continue to expand and a significant volume of trade has developed. China, Hong Kong and Taiwan now account for over 5 percent of New Zealand's exports while ASEAN took 4.85 percent of exports in the 1985–86 year.

Table 24.4. DESTINATION AND ORIGIN OF EXTERNAL TRADE

YearExports*
United KingdomAustraliaJapanUnited StatesOther Countries
*Includes re-exports.
Percent of Trade f.o.b.
December Year
1920755 155
1930813 511
1940901 36
195066211021
196053431327
June Year
1970368101630
19752212121242
19801413131446
19821415131345
19831312141546
19841115161345
1985917151544
1986917141644
December Year
1920491721814
193047811826
1940471621223
19506112 720
1960441831C25
June Year
1970302181328
19751920141334
19801419131440
1982920171737
1983920171737
1984920211535
1985919201735
1986917211736

Australia.

The cornerstone of the trans-Tasman trading relationship is the Australia – New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (ANZCERTA) which came into effect on 1 January 1983. The impetus behind the agreement lay in the belief that such an arrangement, which was based on the eventual free trade of all goods, would bring economic benefits to both countries in the context of trans-Tasman and of international trade.

The agreement provides for the phased removal of duty rates by 1 January 1988 and the progressive liberalisation of all quantitative restrictions on trans-Tasman trade by 1995. The agreement applies to all goods except those which were covered by modified arrangements. Since 1983, most of these goods have been incorporated into the trade liberalisation provisions. Those goods still outside the agreement (steel, taps, stop cocks and valves, sugar, tobacco and petroleum) are the subject of continuing consultation about how best to bring them under the ANZCERTA umbrella.

The agreement also includes undertakings and detailed procedures in respect of such matters as dumping and countervailing action, intermediate goods issues, and safeguard measures to ensure that trade develops under conditions of fair competition.

Table 24.5 shows a merchandise trade balance in Australia's favour of $76 million, a reduction of 83.8 percent on the $468 million recorded in Australia's favour 12 months earlier. This resulted mainly from New Zealand importing fewer goods of Australian origin.

Exports (including re-exports) to Australia for the 1985–86 year were valued at $1,821.8 million, compared with $1,835.7 million a year earlier, a decrease of 0.8 percent.

Merchandise imports (c.i.f.) from Australia decreased by 17.6 percent, from $2,304.0 million for the 12 months ended June 1985 to $1,898.0 million in the 1986 year.

Table 24.5. TRADE WITH AUSTRALIA

Year Ended JuneTotal Exports* f.o.b.Imports c.i.f.Excess Exports (+) or Imports (−)Ratio of Trade in Australia's Favour

*Includes re-exports.

† Ratio of imports c.i.f. to exports f.o.b. (including re-exports).

  $(000)  
1977380,748731,732−350,9841:922
1978411,030674,485−263,4551:641
1979499,491817,451−317,9601:637
1980631,510911,663−280,1531:444
1981814,7251,066,158−251,4331:309
19821,025,1551,372,636−347,4811:339
1983949,0321,446,370−497,3381:524
19841,287,1411,809,564−522,4231:406
19851,835,6722,303,971−468,2991:255
19861.821,7541,897,975−76,2211:042

South Pacific.

The South Pacific has also become a significant export market, now accounting for close to 4 percent of New Zealand exports. Fiji, Papua New Guinea and French Polynesia are the principle markets in the region. Imports from the region are encouraged by the South Pacific Regional Trade and Economic Co-operation Agreement (SPARTECA).

Exports of New Zealand produce to the Pacific Island countries amounted to $356.1 million (f.o.b.) and imports (c.i.f.) from these islands came to $94.1 million in 1985–86. Exports decreased by 8.4 percent and imports decreased by 19.4 percent over the previous trade year.

South Pacific Forum island nations.

At the eleventh South Pacific Forum held in Kiribati in July 1980 the South Pacific Regional Trade and Economic Co-operation Agreement (SPARTECA) came into existence. Under this agreement New Zealand and Australia provide, on a non-reciprocal basis, duty-free and unrestricted access into their markets for most of the products exported by the Pacific Forum countries.

The agreement also includes provision for general economic, commercial and technical cooperation, safeguard provisions relating to dumped and subsidised goods and provides for special treatment and assistance to be extended to the smaller island countries. It also recognises that the full potential of the access provisions can be achieved only through closer economic co-operation and development assistance aimed at enhancing the export capabilities of the island countries. New Zealand officials have visited most of the islands to publicise the benefits of the agreement, and to discuss with individual businessmen opportunities for the export of their products to the New Zealand market.

The agreement took effect on 1 January 1981 and except for items subject to revenue duties and a few items of particular sensitivity to New Zealand the revised customs tariff introduced from that date reflected the duty-free access provisions of the agreement.

In New Zealand's case the preferential tariff applies only to goods of Pacific Island origin. These are either wholly obtained in the preferential area or partly manufactured in the area, where the Pacific Island and/or New Zealand content exceeds a nominated level. Except in special circumstances related to the development needs of smaller Island countries, this is set at 50 percent of factory cost. Australian goods can also be included as the 50 percent qualifying content where those products are already traded free under ANZCERTA.

Exports of New Zealand produce to the Pacific Forum countries amounted to $289.45 million (f.o.b.) and imports (c.i.f.) from these islands came to 93.6 million in 1985–86. Exports decreased by 25.5 percent and imports decreased by 19.7 percent from the previous year. The three major countries New Zealand exported to during 1985–86 were Fiji ($103.8 million), Papua New Guinea ($83.1 million) and French Polynesia ($48.3 million). The top three import country suppliers were Nauru ($26.1 million), Fiji ($23.1 million) and Papua New Guinea ($16.1 million).

ASEAN countries.

The member countries of the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Brunei) are an increasingly important market for New Zealand for agricultural, forestry, and manufactured exports, although dairy products still account for over half of total exports to the region. New Zealand's exports to the ASEAN group have increased substantially over the last six years to reach NZ$492 million f.o.b. (or 4 9 percent of total exports) in the trade year 1985–86. The major imports from ASEAN countries are petroleum products. New Zealand's trade relations with ASEAN are governed by the ASEAN/New Zealand Joint Trade Study Group (established in 1976) which meets periodically to review trade developments. New Zealand also continues to place a strong emphasis on bilateral relations with each individual country and has a trade agreement with each ASEAN member (except Singapore, with which New Zealand has a Scientific, Industrial and Technological Agreement, and Brunei).

Malaysia.

A trade agreement between Malaysia and New Zealand was signed in 1961, and subsequently modified by a 1975 Exchange of Letters. Under the terms of the agreement, both countries agreed to grant tariff bindings and/or margins of preference to each other for a limited range of goods of trade interest.

India.

Since the New Zealand High Commission in New Delhi was re-opened in 1984, New Zealand's trade relations with India have improved significantly. A major step was taken when a trade agreement was signed in October 1986 during a visit to New Zealand by India's Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi.

Japan.

New Zealand and Japan have continued to develop closer economic and trade relations, with Japan becoming New Zealand's largest overall trading partner with 18.1 percent of total New Zealand two-way trade for the year ending June 1986. Close contact has been maintained with regular consultations between the two governments at ministerial and official level. Continued efforts are being made to improve access for New Zealand exports, particularly dairy products, beef, selected fruits, squid, and radiata pine. Improvements have been achieved recently with the implementation of Japan's Action Programme announced in 1985, although only a small quantity of New Zealand exports has been affected by the liberalisation.

Korea.

Exports to the Republic of Korea experienced a 27 percent decline in 1985–86, from $209 million to $153 million, after a period of rapid growth. This was largely the reflection of a temporary reduction in export-led economic growth in Korea. The principal export earner was wool ($36.6 million), while hides and skins ($30.5 million) showed the most significant growth. By value, other leading exports were sheepmeat, aluminium, pulp, logs, tallow, fish and casein. New Zealand and Korea signed a trade agreement in April 1978, which superseded a January 1967 agreement.

China.

Trade between New Zealand and China has expanded substantially since normalisation of relations between the two countries in 1972, and the signing of a trade agreement in 1973. New Zealand exports to China increased from $1.7 million in 1971–72 to $298 million in 1984–85, but experienced a 23 percent decline in 1985–86, to $229 million. This was largely due to changed purchasing policies of the Chinese authorities with respect to wool, which remained the principal export earner ($149 million). Other major export items include iron and steel, forest products, tallow, aluminium, leather, and dairy products. China's exports to New Zealand have increased at a slower rate, to reach $84 million in 1985–86.

Agricultural development is an important part of China's modernisation programme and in recent years New Zealand has participated in some livestock and pasture development projects in this sector. Prospects for co-operative manufacturing ventures in light industry have already been realised in some cases, and further growth and diversification in the sale of goods and services is expected. A joint trade commission meets annually to review developments in bilateral trade.

North America.

The United States was New Zealand's second largest export market in the 1985–86 trade year, having taken exports worth $1,516.6 million. It is the major market for beef and veal, which in 1985–86 accounted for some 32 percent by value of total exports to the United States. However, this trade has been circumscribed since 1964 by the imposition of quantitative restrictions. A new Meat Import Act was passed in 1979, which sets an annual limit on imports using a counter-cyclical formula which increases the level of permissible imports when United States domestic production is low, and vice versa. No restrictions were imposed under the Meat Import Act in 1986. Other main exports to the United States are casein (the United States was the largest market for casein), fish, wool, cheese, vegetables and fruit, hides and skins, lambs and a growing range of manufactured items. Since the 1950s, an array of import quota controls has been applied to dairy products, especially butter, cheese, and milk powder. These controls have severely limited New Zealand's ability to expand its sales of dairy products to the United States, although, with the loss of the traditional British market, it is now New Zealand's largest cheese market in value and, after Japan, second largest market in volume terms.

Canada is New Zealand's tenth largest export market, having taken exports of $172 million in 1985–86. Beef and veal were our main exports to Canada, followed by lamb and mutton, fruit and vegetables, wool, sausage casings, cheese, casein, metal manufactures, and textile yarns. The Canadian Meat Import Act of 1981 permits the Canadian Government to restrict beef imports. Quotas were imposed for the first time in 1985 to restrain EC exports, with New Zealand exports being subject to a quota of 63.4 million pounds, which did not limit New Zealand shipments. Quotas were not imposed in 1986.

On 25 September 1981 a Trade and Economic Co-operation Agreement between the governments of New Zealand and Canada was signed. This agreement came into force on 1 January 1982 and replaced the 1932 trade agreement and the 1970 amending protocol, as well as the 1973 interim preferences agreement. It is designed to provide a framework for the development of a broader economic relationship between the two countries based on the present international trading environment. The agreement provides for the encouragement of bilateral trade and the facilitation of increased economic and technological co-operation.

The agreement provides that neither country should apply against goods originating in the other country, rates of duty higher than those in force on 1 January 1982. In cases where it is proposed to increase a rate of duty or reduce a margin of preference, provision has been made for consultation to take place. Consultations must also take place in an effort to reach a satisfactory solution where it is found that goods are being imported under conditions which constitute dumping.

The agreement also sets out new rules of origin, provision to consult on non-tariff measures, e.g., import licensing, and provisions in respect of agricultural, horticultural, and forestry products.

South and Central America.

Peru, Mexico, and Venezuela have become useful markets for New Zealand dairy products, especially for milk powder and anhydrous milk fat (AMF). Total New Zealand exports (including dairy products) to these countries in 1985–86 were $49 million to Peru, $41 million to Mexico, and $35 million to Venezuela. A New Zealand/Mexico Scientific and Technological Agreement (STC) was signed in Mexico in August 1983.

The Minister of Overseas Trade and Marketing led a trade and economic mission to a number of South and Central American countries in October-November 1986.

European Community.

New Zealand and the European Community (EC) have a strong trading relationship, involving not only direct bilateral trade but also shared interests in the international trading system. The community of 12 member states (including Spain and Portugal) is New Zealand's largest single trading partner, accounting for 20 percent of New Zealand's exports and 22 percent of imports for the year ended June 1986. In addition, two member states, the United Kingdom and the Federal Republic of Germany, are important single export markets for New Zealand (ranked fourth and sixth respectively in 1986).

Trade in visible goods between New Zealand and the EC in 1985–86 showed a balance in the community's favour of NZ$239 million. When invisibles are included, the balance is overwhelmingly in the favour of the community.

Despite a slight decline (7.8 percent) in the value of New Zealand exports to the community in 1985–86, overall the value of visible trade between New Zealand and the EC has grown steadily with a 72 percent increase in EC exports to New Zealand in the last 10 years and a 76 percent growth in New Zealand exports to the EC in the corresponding period. This latter growth has occurred despite a substantial reduction in New Zealand's access for butter to the British market following the United Kingdom's entry into the community, and EC restrictions on imports of agricultural products generally.

New Zealand's principal experts to the community are wool, lamb, butter, apples, kiwifruit, leather, hides and skins. Sales of manufactured items are also increasing. Special terms of access to the community market have been negotiated for butter and sheepmeat.

Under Protocol 18 of the Treaty of Accession negotiated at the time of British entry to the EC, New Zealand was provided with access to the British market for specified quantities of butter for an initial period of five years.

Successive negotiations secured access for decreasing amounts of butter until 1986. In 1986 the community's Council of Ministers granted further access for 1987 and 1988 of 76 500 and 74 500 tonnes respectively. Farther negotiation will be held on post-1988 access. New Zealand's sheepmeat trade with the community is limited by a Voluntary Restraint Agreement, whereby New Zealand has undertaken to limit exports of sheepmeat to the community to 245 500 tonnes annually in return for a reduction in the EC import tariff (from 20 to 10 percent).

Imports from the community cover a wide range of agricultural items (particularly cheese and processed foods), industrial goods and componentry, plant equipment, pharmaceuticals and sophisticated consumer items.

Outside the direct trading relationship, New Zealand and the European Community, as the world's two largest exporters of dairy products, co-operate both bilaterally and in the context of the GATT's International Dairy Arrangement to maintain satisfactory world prices and secure the stability of markets. An important objective of this co-operation is to ensure that the large subsidised surplus stocks of butter within the community do not serve to disrupt the normal, commercial trade undertaken by New Zealand and other exporters.

United Kingdom.

The United Kingdom, although no longer our predominant trading partner, remains an important market for New Zealand exports. In 1950 the United Kingdom took 66 percent of New Zealand's exports but by the year ended June 1986 its share had fallen to 9 percent, reflecting New Zealand's efforts to diversify export markets and products following British entry to the European Community.

The United Kingdom remains New Zealand's largest market for butter, wool, and lamb (although for lamb it was surpassed by Iran in both 1983–84 and 1984–85).

Eastern Europe.

New Zealand's exports to Eastern Europe decreased from the 1984–85 figure of $63 million to $39 million in 1985–86.

New Zealand's exports to the region reflect the Eastern European need to meet occasional shortfalls in domestic production of food (dairy products and mutton), and the requirement for raw materials for manufacturing (wool, tallow, and hides). Emphasis is being placed on diversification from the narrow range of traditional exports, and newer products exported to Eastern Europe include breeding sheep, seeds, milking equipment, animal identification ear tags, and pharmaceutical raw materials.

New Zealand imports from Eastern Europe dropped from $18 million in 1984–85 to $15 million in 1985–86. Goods imported were chemicals, machinery, textiles, glassware, fertilisers, rail and motor vehicles.

U.S.S.R.

New Zealand exports to the Soviet Union for the 1985–86 year totalled $241 million compared to $146 million during the previous period. This is an increase of 65 percent making the U.S.S.R. our seventh largest export market. Agricultural commodities such as dairy products, meat and wool account for almost all of our export trade.

New Zealand imports from the U.S.S.R dropped from $12.4 million during 1984–85 to $5.3 million for 1985–86. Goods imported were machine tools, fertiliser, chemicals and motor vehicles.

Middle East

Exports in this region rose from $3 million in 1970–71 to a record $748 million in 1984–85 and dropped in 1985–86 to $539 million. Iran, which took $301 million of New Zealand goods in 1985–86 was the most valuable market in the region; followed by Saudi Arabia ($85 million); and Iraq ($36 million). In the 1985–86 June year, 202 500 tonnes of lamb were sold to Iran, up from 136 000 tonnes in 1984–85.

A move to domestic fuel production, plus an increase in imports from other sources, caused a further drop in New Zealand's imports of Middle East oil. As a result, the figures for total imports from the region decreased from $526 million in 1980–81 to $330 million in 1985–86. Nearly 64 percent of New Zealand's imports from the Middle East come from Saudi Arabia ($211 million) and 32 percent from Bahrain ($105 million).

Developing countries.

New Zealand responded to the recommendation of the United Nations Committee on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) that developed countries introduce ‘Generalised Systems of Preference’ in favour of developing nations, and special developing country rates were incorporated in the customs tariff as from 1 January 1972.

When New Zealand introduced a revised Generalised System of Preference (GSP) on 1 July 1976 the new scheme was based on the negative-list concept and significantly increased the GSP coverage granted previously. Every effort was made to keen the list of exceptions to the minimum to give the greatest possible coverage to the scheme.

The revised GSP was based on an intention to maintain, in terms of GSP criteria, specified margins of preference for developing countries up to a level of 20 percent. Since 17 December 1976 special provisions have been made for the duty-free importation of specified handicraft products.

The emergence of some developing countries as newly industrialised or oil rich has necessitated a review of their entitlement to preferential tariff treatment into New Zealand.

In 1984 the GSP was reviewed. The result was a policy of country graduation whereby the GSP scheme would no longer apply to those countries whose per capita gross national product (GNP) was over 70 percent of New Zealand's per capita GNP. Since 1 July 1985 the policy of country graduation has resulted in 17 countries being graduated from New Zealand's GSP scheme, the most recent being Hong Kong. It was also decided that any country affected by the graduation policy could apply for the reinstatement of LDC (developing country) duty rates for specific tariff items. Several items have since been reinstated including 105 items for Hong Kong in 1986 and some 34 items for Singapore and Brunei.

Duty free treatment for least developed countries (LLDCs) was also introduced as a result of the 1984 tariff review. As of 1 July 1986 the list of beneficiaries of the New Zealand GSP scheme includes 146 countries and territories, of which 36 countries are listed as beneficiaries of special tariff treatment as LLDCs. The list also includes Pacific Forum island countries, which also enjoy duty free treatment under non-reciprocal free trade arrangements. Also from 1 July 1986 it was decided that the developing country rate would be calculated at 80 percent of the normal tariff rate where new and developing country rates were being created or where normal rates were being reduced. The coverage of the GSP was extended to some additional 50 items (the majority being food items, surface coating preparations or glue products).

Developing Countries Liaison Unit—Located in the trade policy division of the Department of Trade and Industry, this unit was set up in 1977 to help developing country exporters find markets for their products in New Zealand. The assistance is available to 153 countries which are classified as developing countries in the New Zealand customs tariff.

The unit provides information on the New Zealand market for a wide range of products and puts developing country exporters in touch with potential New Zealand buyers. In addition, it assists visiting businessmen and trade missions from developing countries, and helps organise trade exhibitions in New Zealand.

Other trade obligations.

New Zealand is also a party to certain commercial treaties, conventions, and arrangements with countries outside the Commonwealth resulting from direct negotiations with the countries concerned. In practice, some of the earlier arrangements (which generally provided for reciprocal most-favoured-nation tariff treatment) became superseded by New Zealand's accession to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Trade agreements which are still operative include those with Switzerland (1938 and since extended to Liechtenstein in 1956); the Federal Republic of Germany (1959, amended 1977); Japan (1958, amended 1962); the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1963, protocol 1973); the Polish People's Republic (1965); Republic of Korea (1967, amended 1976); People's Republic of Bulgaria (1968); Republic of Philippines (1968, amended 1976); Hungarian People's Republic (1970, revised and superseded 1978); The People's Republic of China (1973); Iran (1974, revised 1985); Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1975); Arab Republic of Egypt (1977); German Democratic Republic (1978); Indonesia (1978); the Socialist Republic of Romania (1979); Thailand (1981); the Republic of Iraq (1982); and India (1986).

Transport to overseas markets

The bulk of New Zealand's exports are farm products that come to hand for shipment in seasonal cycles. The cyclical nature of the produce is most pronounced for lamb, apples and pears, kiwifruit and other horticultural products, but also applies to mutton, beef and wool. Butter, cheese and other dairy products are available throughout the year, but the volume is considerably greater between October and March than during the remainder of the year. The peak season for all animal products is November to May, while for horticulture there are two peak periods, from October to December and again from February to May.

This seasonality presents transport difficulties in the marketing process. Furthermore, most of the commodities are perishable and require continuous refrigeration for periods of two to three months between production and consumption. The demand for sea freight space lags a little behind the season, generally building up in January and declining in June. The peak period of demand for air cargo space is October to March, when horticultural produce comes on stream and competes for available capacity to major markets.

Advice to the Government on policy relating to the efficiency of transport operations serving New Zealand trade is provided by an independent body, the Exports and Shipping Council, which was established in 1964. The council serves as a forum for discussion between member organisations, and the exchange of information on industry plans and developments affecting the movement and handling of goods by land, sea and air. Major industry groups represented on the council include the producer boards, freezing companies, railways, road transport operators, shipping groups, airlines, harbour boards, manufacturers, forestry, fishing and horticultural industries. The New Zealand Ports Authority, Department of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries have observer status.

For futher information see chapter 22, Transport and communication.

Table 24.6. TRADE WITH COUNTRIES, YEAR ENDED JUNE 1986

CountryExports f.o.b.Imports v.f.d.Imports c.i.f.
New Zealand ProduceTotal
By Country of OriginBy Country of Origin

*From 1 January 1986 Portugal and Spain are Included in EC countries'.

† From 1 July 1985 Faeroe Islands. Greenland. Monaco. San Marino and the Vatican City State are included in ‘other countries’.

‡ ESCAP member countries.

§ From 1 July 1985 Liechtenstein is included in ‘other countries’

||ASEAN member countries.

¶ From 1 July 1985 Yugoslavia is included in ‘other OECD countries’.

  $(000) 
OECD Countries
  EC Countries
    Belgium121,530121,99482,13093,615
    Denmark21,00521,61649,37654,379
    France146,532147,772175,556194,648
    Germany, Federal Republic of266,814269,868622,635688,207
    Greece71,74871,7481,9942,408
    Ireland14,59014,74133,85736,179
    Italy226,801227,144168,131188,399
    Luxembourg..1682,2552,523
    Netherlands157,041158,106131,176147,711
    Portugal*6,0916,1504,5205,165
    Spain*39,21939,32118,70822,241
    United Kingdom924,659933,870985,5211,083,572
    Destination unknown—E.C.45,07445,172
        Total2,041,1052,057,6702,275,8582,519,447
  Other OECD countries
    Australia1.741,8221,829,6651,737,0561,917,137
    Austria14,73914,82936,67040,484
    Canada171,951172,717226,566253,311
    Finland6,5326,61932,93337,498
    Iceland4634635468
    Japan1,528,5341,531,4592,194,3712,375,070
    New Zealand (Re-imports)  111,954117,512
    Norway4,5794,69314,46516,986
    Portugal*9,1029,1027,8028,949
    Spain*19,11119,49429,58834,503
    Sweden13,15716,109103,515113,467
    Switzerland22,77123,907108,427116,126
    Turkey10,12010,1201,0071,174
    United States1,549,8491,645,9581,828,2811,958,863
    Yugoslavia6,0606,0641,8542,067
        Total §7,139,8967,348,8688,710,4009,512,664
  China
    People's Republic of China229,089229,57883,77895,100
    Province of Taiwan128,398128,756176,393193,406
        Total357,488358,333260,171288,506
  Asia
    Afghanistan8168167681
    Bangladesh3,0753,3206,8828,064
    Brunei Darussalam1,0511,099
    Burma4148228242
    Hong Kong157,819161,075129,669139,630
    India52,66652,76138,11242,126
    Indonesia||118,509119,376139,765147,702
    Korea, Democratic People's Republic of22
    Korea, Republic of152,975153,02783,92792,099
    Macau1601601,4171,511
    Malaysia||116,398117,72650,32756273
    Maldives||1623
    Mongolia503503
    Nepal1,7631,76492108
    Pakistan26,48426,5568,5269,532
    Philippines||58,00958,11020,95827,432
    Singapore||158,931171,462396,297428,201
    Sri Lanka36,53036,5525,6326,723
    Thailand||39,48039,70221,03524,707
    Vietnam1,9061,9061,0331,133
        Total927,134945,988903,979985,571
  Oceania
    Cook Islands23,84128,6456,4027,917
    Fiji103,801119,52320,74823,134
    French Polynesia48,38349,779196291
     Kiribati2,2352,3791314
     Nauru2,1792,57317,75426,107
     New Caledonia17,36218,280167215
     Niue3,8924,193156195
     Papua New Guinea83,11289,00615,44316,146
     Pitcairn105112
     Samoa25,11527,56510,15811,856
     Solomon Islands11,42112,2651,3381,637
     Tokelau840
     Tonga25,08826,9474,6086,084
     Tuvalu83492067
     Vanuatu7,9368,526509538
    Wallis and Futuna Islands784784
        Total356,096391,53677,49794,141
  South, Central America and Caribbean
    Antigua and Barbuda420420
    Argentina4477648,8739,977
    Bahamas1,7721,7723,2853,294
    Barbados8,5628,562
    Belize566566....
    Bermuda5,7055,705163163
    Bolivia13
    Brazil15,76615,77837,54342,622
    Cayman Islands1781783643
    Chile5,9406,0525,5817,347
    Colombia4,3354,335445481
    Costa Rica1717621661
    Cuba32,23432,2341415
    Dominica1,1911,191
    Dominican Republic14,98014,98045
    Ecuador6,4426,4428,17315,805
    El Salvador10,36510,3653136
    Falkland Islands159159
    French Guiana5757
    Grenada1,0571,057
    Guadeloupe2,3802,383
    Guatemala1,2751,275817862
    Guyana6969369542
    Haiti73473422
    Honduras539539
    Jamaica2,7812,7826,4766,641
    Martinique1,3911,392
    Mexico41,51841,56617,42620,839
    Netherlands Antilles1,0941,0943,2523,369
    Nicaragua55
    Panama10,35610,361821824
    Peru49,63549,6351,5171,564
    St. Kitts-Nevis55
    St. Lucia254254
    St. Vincent and the Grenadines........
    Suriname1111
    Trinidad and Tobago15,80515,8057894
    Turks and Caicos Islands....
    Uruguay4624632628
    Venezuela35,20735,20714,65316,353
        Total273,701274,200110,213131,575
  Middle East
    Bahrain10,61910,624104,930116,182
    Egypt11,33511,3371215
    Iran (Islamic Republic of)300,966300,967487547
    Iraq36,49736,497184203
    Israel1,1251,67310,06711,025
    Jordan11,69411,6982,5162,910
    Kuwait20,24620,2476475
    Lebanon69869833
    Libyan Arab Republic5,8205,820
    Oman18,03718,127501533
    Qatar3,1303,1309651,150
    Saudi Arabia84,92385,041210,986232,870
    Syrian Arab Republic14,65914,659
    United Arab Emirates22,76722,795
    Yemen2,3162,316
    Yemen, Democratic1,2201,22011
        Total546,053546,849330,715365,515
  Eastern Europe
    Albania22
    Bulgaria23223282104
    Czechoslovakia6,4366,4365,7806,389
    German Democratic Republic5345431.1511,327
    Hungary2,3412,3411,3301,615
    Poland22,26122,2614,2095,828
    Romania1,2881,289716846
    Union of Soviet Socialist Republics241,236241,2575,3537,526
        Total274,327274,35918,62223,638
  Africa
    Algeria79,01279,012
    Angola2525
    Benin11
    Botswana707011
    Cameroon, Republic of23231516
    Central African Republic11
    Congo222571
    Djibouti2020
    Ethiopia876876312338
    Gabon509509
    Gambia33
    Ghana777721,35323,494
    Guinea-Bissau1,1921,192
    Ivory Coast2652651,4341,571
    Kenya5,9835,9831,1221,271
    Madagascar18087
    Malawi1,2851,2852,4262,883
    Mauritania513513
    Mauritius28,34528,351177202
    Morocco1,5661,566119134
    Mozambique3,4973,4971924
    Namibia1313
    Nigeria4,5434,5494648
    Reunion359359
    Senegal55
    Seychelles6162....
    Somalia66
    South Africa22,50722,74822,06026,412
    Sudan2,9882,98824
    Swaziland1515319353
    Tanzania, United Republic of50521,3431,774
    Togo493498
    Tunisia85285211
    Zaire888944
    Zambia55836899
    Zimbabwe23234,3314,731
        Total155,275155,53556,22264,819
  Other countries
    Antarctic stations (British)1
    Antarctic stations (U.S.A.)920
    Cyprus2,9462,94698129
    Gibraltar4444
    Greenland......1
    Liechtenstein258897
    Malta2.6312,632275293
    Monaco....1216
    Vatican City State46
    Destination unknown—Non EC8,1988,200
        Total13,83113,848479541
        Total, all countries10,043,80110,309,51710,468,29811,466,970
    Bunkering ships or aircraft74,129195,135
    Passengers' duty free goods7,75220,069
    Ships' stores13,34247,027
        Total, merchandise trade10,139,02410,571,74710,468,29811,466,970

24.3 Trade in commodities

Exports

The growth and diversification of the New Zealand economy are heavily dependent on increasing exports to pay for rising imports of goods and services and the overseas investment needed by industry and a growing population. Overseas trade is the lifeblood of the economy. New Zealand's export trade has become more diversified in recent years, as regards both products and markets. The traditional export commodities—dairy products, meat, and wool—remain the backbone of export trade. However, commodities produced by the fishing, forestry, horticultural, and manufacturing industries are of increasing importance.

The four major countries purchasing New Zealand produce during 1985–86 were Australia ($1,741.8 million), the United States ($1,549.8 million), Japan ($1,528.5 million) and the United Kingdom ($924.7 million).

Meat and meat preparations amounted to 17.1 percent ($1,731.7 million) of New Zealand produce exported. The main countries purchasing beef and veal were the United States ($491.2 million), Canada ($63.8 million) and Japan ($33.1 million). Lamb exports to the United Kingdom amounted to $235.2 million. The next largest customer was Iran ($202.5 million), followed by the United States ($48.0 million) and Japan ($35.9 million). Lamb exports totalled $811.6 million for the 1985–86 trade year.

Exports of dairy products and birds' eggs decreased by 3.6 percent ($1,374.8 million) over the 1984—85 figure ($1,426.5 million). Major customers of cheese exports ($267.2 million), were the United States ($78.4 million), Japan ($50.2 million) and the United Kingdom ($38.3 million). Total butter exports amounted to $538.8 million during 1985–86. The United Kingdom purchased $249.1 million of butter. Other main countries were Iran ($58.3 million), the U.S.S.R. ($40.3 million) and Iraq ($14.3 million).

The value of wool exports decreased by 13.2 percent from $1,475.4 million in 1984–85 to $1,281.4 million in 1985–86. The United Kingdom purchased the largest amount ($156.7 million), with the People's Republic of China ($147.7 million), the U.S.S.R. ($128.8 million), Japan ($125.7 million) and the Federal Republic of Germany ($76.0 million) following.

The export of fish, including crustaceans and molluscs increased by $10.6 million over the previous year. The 1985–86 value was $524.3 million.

Kiwifruit exports amounted to $294.4 million, 45.2 percent of total fruit and vegetable exports ($651.5 million).

Other significant exports during the 1985–86 trade year were unwrought aluminium ($396.9 million), hides, skins and pelts ($319.5 million), wood pulp ($219.8 million), casein ($197.0 million), sawn coniferous timber ($109.1 million) and newsprint ($99.2 million).

Table 24.7. NEW ZEALAND'S MAIN EXPORTS

Year Ended JuneMeat and Meat PreparationsDairy ProductsHides, Skins, and PeltsWool
Milk and CreamButterCheeseCasein
   f.o.b. value $(million)  
19821,564.1408.5556.4181.5142.0152.9918.8
19831,870.7436.3657.7193.5162.1x185.21,017.1
19841,722.44,156562.4235.9164.1x200,01,113.3
19852,228.1530.1636.5256.8216.2x356.31,475.4
19861,731.7564.8538.8267.2197.0319.51,281.4
Year Ended JuneFish*Sausage CasingsTallowFruit and VegetablesPulp, Paper, and Paper- boardTotalRe-exportsTotal Exports

*Chilled or frozen. Includes crayfish.

† Including commodities not listed.

    f.o.b. value $(million)  
1982153.048.653.2215.1346.76,527.8206.06,733.8
1983194.850.558.2261.6305.77.502.9432.57,935.4
1984244.255.267.7405.3396.48,366.1257.78,623.8
1985366.878.5119.0492.5455.511,011.9303.911,315.8
1986405.366.562.5651.5431.710,139.0432.710,571.7

Table 24.8. PRINCIPAL COMMODITIES EXPORTED, 1986

Commodity (New Zealand Produce)Unit of QuantityYear Ended June 1986
Quantityf.o.b. $(000)
RacehorsesNo.2,26889,316
Meat, fresh, chilled or frozen—
  Beef—
    Bone-intonne5,27227,412
    Bonelesstonne181,191640,777
  Vealtonne6,58223,546
  Lamb—
    Carcassestonne (000)242,316460,101
    Boneless or cutstonne115,019351,471
  Muttontonne90,922122,749
  Other meat and edible offalstonne42,29088,414
Milk and cream—
  Condensed and evaporatedtonne1,3195,131
  Skimmed milk powdertonne157,404207,965
  Other driedtonne176,125333,226
  Other kindslitre (000)9,12412,225
Buttertonne217,765538,795
Cheesetonne91,388267,157
Fish, fresh, chilled or frozentonne91,593319,808
Crayfish, fresh and simply preservedtonne2,73685,516
Barley, unmilledtonne230,43234,491
Maize, unmilledtonne36,0139,066
Fruit and vegetables—
  Apples, fresh, whole fruittonne156,230114,961
  Kiwifruit, freshtonne100,816294,375
  Potatoes, freshtonne12,6784,369
  Peas—
    Dry, including splittonne57,98635,981
    For sowingtonne6,4594,054
    Frozentonne15,26014,514
  Onions, freshtonne32,0027,623
  Vegetables, frozen excluding peastonne14,94821,357
Chocolate and preparationstonne8,30022,769
Feeding stuff for animals—
  Lucerne meal and pelletstonne3711
  Meal of meat, fish, etc.tonne86,39032,672
  Poultry mash and pelletstonne4,0521,673
  Other kindstonne50,33259,087
Margarine and shorteningtonne11,70126,581
Hides, skins and furskins, raw—
  Cattle hides(000)65929,141
  Calf and kid skins(000)84916,922
  Sheep and lamb skins in fleece(000)1,7676,990
  Lamb pelts(000)25,169163,588
  Sheep pelts(000)9,46773,538
  Possum skins(000)1,91112,633
Saw-logs and veneer logs, conifercu. metre387,63439,317
Timber, sawn, sliced or peeled—
  Douglas fircu. metre15,6164,518
  Radiata pinecu. metre209,68345,586
Wood pulp—
  Mechanicaltonne317,650119,058
  Sulphate, not dissolving gradestonne185,894100,376
Wool—
  Greasytonne105,255402,925
  Slipetonne19,36975,447
  Scouredtonne157,807803,004
Iron ore and concentratestonne (000)2,40843,432
Sausage casings, naturalhank (000)8,21066,454
Clover and grass seedstonne6,44814,578
Petroleum products—
  Distillate fuellitre (000)11278
  Residual fuel oillitre (000)....
Tallow, inedibletonne107,61662,496
Caseintonne55,615196,986
Caseinatestonne15,58754,695
Newsprinttonne143,48299,207
Kraft paper and kraft cardboardtonne85,16057,590
Yam of wool or hairtonne7.42190,711
Carpets and carpeting, excluding floor rugssq m (000)4,036106,725
Iron or steel—
  Bars, rods, angles, etc.tonne35,35313,646
  Universals, plates and sheetstonne38,61242,571
Aluminium, unwroughttonne207,761396,920
Finished structural parts and structures, n.e.s., of metaltonne5,82521,796
Domestic electric refrigerators and freezersno.52,68422,093

Table 24.9. TRADE BY STANDARD INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFICATIONS, 1986

Section and DivisionYear Ended June 1986
Exports of Produce f.o.b.Imports v.f.d.
 $(000)
0 Food and live animals chiefly for food
  00 Live animals chiefly for food114,46178,491
  01 Meat and meat preparations1,731,7265,413
  02 Dairy products and birds' eggs1,374,8103,980
  03 Fish, crustaceans, and molluscs, and preparations thereof524,28533,395
  04 Cereals and cereal preparations85,78436,797
  05 Vegetables and fruit651,532121,512
  06 Sugar, sugar preparations, and honey30,33154,063
  07 Coffee, tea, cocoa, spices, and manufactures thereof23,935102,744
  08 Feeding stuff for animals (not including unmilled cereals)93,4435,447
  09 Miscellaneous edible products and preparations52,30816,053
        Total, section 04,682,613457,895
1 Beverages and tobacco
  11 Beverages27,29056,471
  12 Tobacco and tobacco manufactures5,42028,842
        Total, section 132,71085,313
2 Crude materials, inedible, except fuels
  21 Hides, skins, and furskins, raw319,4668,841
  22 Oil seeds and oleaginous fruit48511,611
  23 Crude rubber (including synthetic and reclaimed)73434,191
  24 Cork and wood154,06525,825
  25 Pulp and waste paper221,51413,662
  26 Textile fibres (other than wool tops) and their wastes1,294,58028,508
  27 Crude fertilisers and crude minerals other than coal, etc.8,530107,183
  28 Metalliferous ores and metal scrap53,937159,746
  29 Crude animal and vegetable materials, n.e.s.133,04128,612
        Total, section 22,186,353418,179
3 Mineral fuels, lubricants, and related materials
  32 Coal, coke, and briquettes36,540462
  33 Petroleum, petroleum products, and related materials121,6731,245,320
  34 Gas, natural and manufactured155591
  3    Total, section 3158,3681,246,373
4 Animal and vegetable oils, fats, and waxes
  41 Animal oils and fats68,994874
  42 Fixed vegetable oils and fats1,55542,790
  43 Animal and vegetable oils and fats, processed, and waxes of animal or vegetable origin6704,962
        Total, section 471,21948,627
5 Chemicals and related products n.e.s
  51 Organic chemicals93,728176,974
  52 Inorganic chemicals3,714115,023
  53 Dyeing, tanning, and colouring materials10,43763,884
  54 Medicinal and pharmaceutical products41,863231,604
  55 Essential oils and perfumes, etc.48,62053,326
  56 Fertilisers, manufactured15,60448,737
  57 Explosives and pyrotechnic products8834,272
  58 Artificial resins and plastic materials, and cellulose esters and ethers33,063349,935
  59 Chemical materials and products, n.e.s.295,694138,249
        Total, section 5543,6051,182,004
6 Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material
  61 Leather, leather manufactures, n.e.s., and dressed furskins131,09818,458
  62 Rubber manufactures, n.e.s.16,03093,381
  63 Cork and wood manufactures (excluding furniture)113,00317,677
  64 Paper, paperboard, and articles of paper pulp, of paper, or of paperboard243,197186,096
  65 Textile yam, fabrics, made-up articles, n.e.s., and related products263,853595,289
  66 Non-metallic mineral manufactures, n.e.s.54,091133,821
  67 Iron and steel96,602443,750
  68 Non-ferrous metals447,571146,844
  69 Manufactures of metal, n.e.s.166,892242,482
        Total, section 61,532,3381,877,799
7 Machinery and transport equipment
  71 Power generating machinery and equipment6,611176,422
  72 Machinery specialised for particular industries84,403514,622
  73 Metalworking machinery12,133252,246
  74 General industrial machinery and equipment, n.e.s., and machine parts, n.e.s.102,983477,429
  75 Office machines and automatic data processing equipment4,075466,030
  76 Telecommunications, sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment32,684423,459
  77 Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, n.e.s., and electrical parts thereof137,359420,345
  78 Road vehicles (including air-cushion vehicles)34,751821,187
  79 Other transport equipment17,554498,265
        Total, section 7432,5514,050,005
8 Miscellaneous manufactured articles
  81 Sanitary, plumbing, heating, etc., fixtures and fittings, n.e.s.3,6839,832
  82 Furniture and parts thereof63,74926,271
  83 Travel goods, handbags, and similar containers2,7794,807
  84 Articles of apparel and clothing accessories78,72249,122
  85 Footwear9,08421,039
  87 Professional, scientific, and controlling instruments and apparatus, n.e.s27,264228,027
  88 Photographic apparatus, optical goods, watches and clocks4,350152,929
  89 Miscellaneous manufactured articles, n.e.s.210,092463,559
        Total, section 8399,722955,586
9 Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere in the S.I.T.C.
        Total, section 999,544146,517
        Total New Zealand produce exports10,139,024
        Re-exports432,723
        Grand total, merchandise trade10,571,74710,468,298
n.e.s. not elsewhere specified

Imports

Japan was New Zealand's principal supplier with $2,375.1 million (c.i.f.) worth of goods imported during 1985–86. The United States was the next largest supplier with $1,958.9 million, followed by Australia ($1,917.1 million) and the United Kingdom ($1,084.0 million).

Machinery and transport equipment were the largest single section of commodities imported in the 1985–86 trade year with a value of $4,324.1 million (c.i.f.). Of this amount, $918.2 million was for road vehicle purchases and $554.9 million for machinery specialised for particular industries.

The second largest group of imports was the manufactured goods classified chiefly by material ($2,095.3 million). Textile yam, fabrics and made-up articles, etc. amounted to $648.2 million of the total group, and iron and steel imports were valued at $505,8 million.

Imports of mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials came to $1,359.3 million, or 11.9 percent of total imports. A 12.2 percent decrease in imports of chemicals was recorded in 1985–86. Imports in this area went from $1,512.8 million the previous year to $1,328.5 million.

Purchases of crude inedible materials (except fuels) amounted to $497.3 million. Of this, imports of crude fertilisers and crude minerals accounted for $145.9 million while metalliferous ores and metal scrap amounted to $176.7 million.

Other large value commodities imported during 1985–86 were fruit and vegetables ($155.7 million), coffee, tea, cocoa and spices ($111.3 million), live animals ($83.2 million) and beverages ($61.7 million).

Table 24.10. PRINCIPAL COMMODITIES IMPORTED, 1986

CommodityUnit of QuantityYear Ended June 1986
Quantityv.f.d. $(000)

*Alcohol litre.

† Excludes hardboards, softboards, wallpaper, lincrusta, and window transparencies.

Sugar, not refinedtonne148,43246,780
Coffee, rawtonne6,14736,794
Wine of fresh grapeslitre (000)2,90820,869
Spirits, liqueurs, and other spirituous beverages over 40 percent proofal. litre* (000)1,89325,527
Tobacco, unmanufacturedtonne3,79527,445
Crude rubber, including synthetic and reclaimedtonne19,66534,191
Natural calcium phosphatetonne (000)48536,824
Sulphur, other than sublimed, precipitatedtonne (000)176,77546,425
Crude petroleumtonne (000)628,308212,923
Partly refined petroleumtonne (000)85,65023,760
Motor spirit (in bulk)tonne (000)757,345420,815
Kerosene and white spirit (in bulk)tonne (000)376,313182,019
Distillate fuelslitre (000)882,971306,315
Aluminium oxidetonne470,212157,326
Potassium chloride (fertiliser)tonne107,31917,285
Paper and paperboardtonne102,487167,102
Textile yarn and threadtonne14,710124,281
Cotton fabrics, woven, ext. tyrecordsq m (000)49,456115,203
Woven textile fabrics, of synthetic fibres, excl. tyrecordsq m (000)70,666140,623
Iron and steel—
  Bars and rodstonne51,97841,700
  Angles, shapes and sectionstonne51,78525,542
  Universals, plates and sheetstonne356,121262,232
  Wiretonne18,78024,821
  Tubes, pipes and fittingstonne31,50950,547
Copper and copper alloys, excl. foil, powders and flakestonne18,14962,865
Unwrought zinctonne19,64229,359
Internal combustion engines (not aircraft)no.97,25752,681
Tractorsno.3,00253,086
Electric motorsno.892,10331,618
Thermionic, cold cathode, photocathode valves and tubesno. (000)8911,857
Railway vehicles excl. containers and partsno.2
Motorcars—assembledno.11,101128,575
              —unassembledno.57,129341,582
Buses, trucks, vans—assembledno.1,64312,598
                —unassembledno.15,137157,045
Aircraft, excl. parts, balloons, airshipsno.471409,107
Ships and boats excl. those for breaking up (incl. buoys)no.14,49953,221

24.4 External trade price and volume indexes

A revised method of processing the external trade price and volume indexes has been employed by the Department of Statistics since the September 1982 quarter, following the completion of a review of the methods of calculating these indexes. The basic methodology of chain-linked, Fisher Ideal indexes has been retained, but improvements have been effected in timeliness of release and statistical quality of the indexes. The range of available indexes has also been extended.

Major features of the revision.

  1. The valuation of commodity item unit-values on which the import price indexes are based is now cost, insurance and freight (c.i.f.). Previously the current domestic value (c.d.v.) of individual item unit-values was used, with these values being rated up to c.i.f. values. The Export Price Indexes continue to be calculated on a free on board (f.o.b.) valuation basis.

  2. A commodity is regarded as having sufficient importance to be included as an explicit indicator of price or volume movement in the index when it contributes more than some specified share of its classification division value. This share is based on the variability of the commodity unit value and the total value of the division. In order to qualify for inclusion previously, commodities had to have a quarterly value of more than $16,000 or a value in the index base period of more than $20,000.

  3. Commodities for which quantity data are not available and those items unsuitable for pricing are included in the index by imputing price (unit-value) changes from other similar or related commodities. This imputation of price movements for unpriced items is now calculated at Standard International Trade Classification (SITC revision 2) group level, rather than at division level as previously.

  4. From the 1983 June year, the annual volume index is calculated by summing the quarterly volume indexes and the annual price index is calculated by summing volume weighted quarterly price indexes. Previously, June year annual indexes were calculated from consolidated annual data, and the quarterly price and volume indexes were aligned to these annual indexes.

  5. A large number of new indexes, at times limited to a single item, are now calculated. A number of these new indexes are classified by the New Zealand Standard Classification of Broad Economic Categories (NZSBEC). Commodities are, in general, allocated to NZSBEC on the basis of their main economic end-use.

  6. The base of the indexes has been changed to the year ended June 1982 (= 1000), except for the Overseas Terms of Trade Index, which remains on the traditional base of the December year 1957 (= 100).

Data used in the calculation of the indexes are derived from departmental external trade statistics, which are, in turn, processed from import and export entry forms lodged with the Customs Department. Import and export statistical quantities and values are consolidated on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis.

The indexes cover all commodities classified as merchandise trade. These are goods which add or subtract from the stock of material resources in a country as a result of their movement into or out of the country. Consequently, the term ‘merchandise’ is not confined to goods which are the subject of a commercial transaction, but covers all goods which meet the above criterion.

Calculation method.

Index type, weighting and chain-linking—All external trade index series are of the chain-linked Fisher Ideal type. This involves the calculation of two indexes (for both price and volume) for each current period. One (the so-called Laspeyres) uses the values of the previous year's data as weights and the other (the so-called Paasche) uses the values of the current period as weights. The averaging method known as the ‘geometric mean’ applied to these two indexes produces the index for the current period on the previous year's base. The indexes are then linked on to the previous year's indexes to provide a continuous time-series.

Annual indexes—The annual price indexes (June, December and March years) are calculated by volume weighting the four quarterly price indexes. The annual volume indexes are the sum of the four quarterly volume indexes.

Prior to the revision, separate June year annual indexes were calculated from annual data. The quarterly indexes were aligned, so that the sum of the four quarterly volume indexes equalled the annual volume index, and the sum of the products of the price and volume indexes, divided by the annual volume index, equalled the annual price index.

Quarterly volume indexes—The published quarterly volume indexes are expressed as annual equivalents, by multiplying each initial quarterly index by four.

Table 24.11. EXPORT PRICE INDEX
Base: Year Ended June 1982 (= 1000)

Year Ended 30 JuneButterCheeseDairy ProductsMeatWoolMeat, Wool, and By productsAll Pastoral and Dairy ProductsFood, Live Animals, Beverages, and TobaccoManufactured Goods Other Than FoodCrude Materials Other Than FuelsAll Groups
19805586785748381001916811719765961786
1981699765743927962931877851866932873
198210001000100010001000100010001000100010001000
19831052113410631033972102210361059109310151057
198410661095102310771110110510871083121611461125
198511011331115213081418139813121278149315101376
19869461288103711411371128012121168141814521285

In table 24.12 separate series are prepared for December and June years, the latter relating more closely to the farming year.

Table 24.12. EXPORT PRICE INDEX
Base: Year Ended June 1982 (= 100O)

YearAll Pastoral and Dairy ProductsAll Groups
December Year
19324645
19428279
1952193185
1962196189
1972310294
1976488484
1977570556
1978608591
1979737716
1980841827
1981935934
198210221032
198310571090
198411761232
198512881349
198612261315
June year
19324847
19428279
1952194186
1962191184
1972280269
1976430431
1977547534
1978573561
1979671647
1980811786
1981877873
198210001000
198310361057
198410871125
198513121376
198612121285

Table 24.13. IMPORT PRICE INDEX
Base: Year Ended June 1982 (= 1000)

Year Ended 30 JunePetroleum and Petroleum ProductsTextile Yam, Fabrics, etc.Iron and SteelMachinery Other than ElectricalElectrical Machinery and ApparatusTransport EquipmentFood, Live Animals, Beverages, and TobaccoManufactured Goods Other than FoodCrude Materials Other than FuelsMineral Fuels, Lubricants, and Related MaterialsAll Groups
1980594800783780797746819784661594735
1981820899899887938842971891838820878
198210001000100010001000100010001000100010001000
198310761079105311311068108411051098108510761094
198410071158110212111097126512031188116610081155
198512631524142514811285162615231483144512641442
198610991468128915291231167413861454131011001381

Table 24.14 shows a longer time series of all groups import prices index numbers on the same expression base for years ended March, June, and December.

Table 24.14. IMPORT PRICE INDEX—AIL GROUPS
Base: Year Ended June 1982 (= 1000)

YearYear Ended
31 Mar30 Jun31 Dec
1956151153154
1966156157157
1976427457494
1980684735823
1981851878940
198296610001045
1983106810941134
1984114711551292
1985136614421426
1986141613811391

Overseas terms of trade.

The Overseas Terms of Trade Index conceptually provides a measure of the changing level of the volume of imports which can be purchased by a unit quantity of exports. The index is calculated as the ratio of the level of export prices to that of import prices. On expression base: December year 1957 (= 100) the formula for calculating the Overseas Terms of Trade Index is:

Overseas Terms of Trade Index = All Groups Export Price Index/All Groups Import Price Index × 100/1 with both price indexes expressed on a common base. The choice of the base year was arbitrarily made at the time and does not indicate that 1957 was a normal or standard year so far as price levels or the terms of trade are concerned.

Table 24.15. IMPORT AND EXPORT PRICE INDEXES AND OVERSEAS TERMS OF TRADE INDEX
Base: December Year 1957 (= 100)

Year Ended JuneImport Price IndexExport Price IndexOverseas Terms of Trade IndexQuarter EndedImport Price IndexExport Price IndexOverseas Terms of Trade Index
19571001001001983—31 Mar68949872
197113411283              Jun71753274
197214013093              30 Sep72153574
1973147165113              31 Dec72553974
19741651851121984—31 Mar72454675
197521816978              30 Jun73854974
197628820872              30 Sep85862072
197732825879              31 Dec92167373
1978347270781985—31 Mar91968074
197936431286              30 Jun93867372
198046237982              30 Sep90664071
198155242176              31 Dec82460373
1982629482771986—31 Mar89262971
198368851074              30 Jun84960972
198472754275              30 Sep86563573
198590766473              31 Dec89466574
1986869620711987—31 MarP87166877

Volume index of external trade

For the index of the volume of external trade, both the import and the export series are chain- linked series with changing (price) weighting patterns, each year being calculated on base previous year and then linked on.

Table 24.16. EXPORTS
Base: Year Ended June 1982 (= 1000) for each commodity or class of commodities.

Year Ended 30 JuneButterCheeseDairy ProductsMeatWoolMeat, Wool, and ByproductsAll Pastoral and Dairy Products
19821000100010001000100010001000
1983112394110561158113911511124
1984948118710351023109210541090
19851038106310771089113311161172
198610271143115697010249971133
Year Ended 30 JuneFood, Live Animals, Beverages, and TobaccoManufactured Goods Otter Than FoodCrude Materials Other Than FuelsAll Groups
19821000100010001000
1983111697110841077
19841108122810641129
19851194133511011216
19861205129710171198

Table 24.17. IMPORTS
Base: Year Ended June 1982 (=1000) for each commodity or class of commodities.

Year Ended 30 JunePetroleum and Petroleum ProductsTextile Yam, Fabrics. etc.Iron and SteelMachinery Other than ElectricalElectrical Machinery and ApparatusTransport Equipment
1982100010001000100010001000
198397489884010971126620
19849441039103511831386739
19859671079104112491755849
198691095691612642063849
Year Ended 30 JuneFood, Live Animals, Beverages, and TobaccoManufactured Goods Other Than FoodCrude Materials Other Than FuelsMineral Fuels, Lubricants, and Related MaterialsAll Groups
198210001000100010001000
1983814901950973914
198490410111069431027
1985994116111149661137
1986951114410039091093

Further information

Export News. Department of Trade and Industry (monthly).

Exports. Department of Statistics (annual).

Imports. Department of Statistics (annual).

International Coffee Agreement, 1976 (Parl. paper A. 17 1979).

International Sugar Agreement, 1977 (Parl. paper A. 50 1979).

Monthly Abstract of Statistics. Department of Statistics.

New Zealand Standard Classifications. Department of Statistics.

New Zealand Harmonised System Classification.

New Zealand Standard Classification by Broad Economic Categories.

New Zealand Standard Trade Classification.

New Zealand Standard Country Codes (NZSCC).

Report and Analysis of External Trade. Department of Statistics (annual).

Report of the Customs Department (Parl. paper B. 24).

Report of the Department of Trade and Industry (Parl. paper G. 14).

Report of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Parl. paper A. 1).

Shipping and Cargo Statistics. Department of Statistics (annual).

White Paper on the GAIT Multilateral Trade Negotiations (Parl. paper G. 14A 1979).

Trade agreements with individual countries are published as parliamentary papers in the ‘A’ series.

Chapter 25. Prices

Price, statistics

Prices of a large number of goods and services are collected periodically by the Department of Statistics with the primary object of compiling various index number series. The fields covered are external trade (imports, exports), household expenditure (retail prices, urban house property), wool auction prices, farming inputs, capital expenditure, and industrial production (input and output prices).

It is usually possible to subdivide an index series into component group indexes which are often more relevant to specific applications than a combined series. Component group indexes are published in the Monthly Abstract of Statistics and in annual bulletins, Consumers Price Index, Producers Price Statistics and External Trade Indexes. Subdivisions of indexes not shown in these publications may be available on request.

Price indexes are constructed from prices weighted to reflect the importance of each ratio to the sector as a whole. Changes in the importance of individual items to a sector require periodic revisions of weights.

Table 25.1. PRICE INDEXES SUMMARY
Base: December quarter 1983 (=1000)

December YearProducers Price Index All Industries InputsConsumers Price IndexExport Price IndexImport Price Index
FoodAll Groups
1941 67727062
1951..109105206126
1961..151149165136
1971..231233218190
1976..393402433429
1977..460460497471
1978482509515529490
1979568597585640553
1980697719686740714
1981814840791835816
1982938944919923907
1983988982987975984
198410591039104711021122
198512221192120912071238
1986..132813691175P1209P

25.1 Consumers prices

Consumers Price Index

The Consumers Price Index (CPI) measures changes in the general level of the prices of the goods and services which households purchase; it thus provides the best available measure of the effect of changes in retail prices on the average household budget. Index series of retail prices have a long history in New Zealand, starting with a food and rent index for the four main centres from 1891, and increasing in comprehensiveness as to both commodity and geographical coverage over successive series since that time. The most recent revisions to the Consumers Price Index were made in 1965, 1974, 1977, 1980, and 1983.

The basic objective of the Consumers Price Index is to provide a multi-purpose indicator of retail price changes of those goods and services which are purchased by individuals living in New Zealand. The weights in the Consumers Price Index are based on the pattern of expenditure of the population and, over the full period for which the Consumers Price Index has been compiled, this has shown considerable alterations. Analysis of any long-term series must involve consideration of the effects of such changes in the pattern of expenditure.

The salient features of the Consumers Price Index may be summarised as follows:

  1. The basic formula used is that of Laspeyres in its aggregative form. (See glossary under ‘indexes’.)

  2. The number of published regimen items excluding fresh fruit and vegetables is 390.

  3. The sources of group and commodity weights are the average expenditure per household from the Household Expenditure Survey, supplemented by cross-checks from other statistical sources. Where considered appropriate, the base weights assigned to selected items represent expenditure on kindred items not selected for pricing.

  4. Prices are surveyed, in the main, by statistical interviewers in 25 urban areas. For some items, including rentals, postal surveys are conducted. Property and some additional prices are obtained from other government departments.

  5. The prices surveyed after 1 October 1986 include payments for goods and services tax (GST). For those commodities which are not subject to GST (e.g., dwelling rentals, mortgage interest, previously occupied housing) the prices will embody elements of GST incurred in the cost of production. This treatment is consistent with the legislation which precludes household consumers from recovering GST from their non-business-related, final consumption expenditure.

  6. Index numbers are compiled for all food and food subgroups at monthly intervals, and for all other groups and subgroups at quarterly intervals.

  7. Index numbers are published for seven chief urban areas and 12 secondary urban areas individually. Combined index numbers are also published for each of these two groupings and for all urban areas combined. Each urban area and grouping of urban areas is published on its own base.

  8. Expenditures on the following items are, for various reasons, excluded: direct taxation; purchases of shares, bonds or debentures; payments to superannuation funds and the like; savings; collectors' items; gambling; court fines; legal expenses for traffic cases, criminal and civil cases, estates, family settlements, divorces, adoptions, etc.; charitable and church donations; wages of domestic servants, home aids, home nurses, jobbing gardeners, etc.; catering and other service charges for private receptions; training, racing and stabling fees for race or trotting horses; purchase, boarding and breeding charges for animals; grazing fees and fees for pony clubs; overseas holidays (other than airfares); baby-sitting fees; life insurances other than those directly related to mortgage repayments; and interest charges on revolving credit schemes such as charge accounts and credit cards.

Full details on index methodology and changes between successive revisions are given in the publications listed in the Further information section at the end of this chapter. Revisions are normally carried out every three years. The latest revision (on base December quarter 1983=1000) was a limited one, mainly concerned with updating the commodity expenditure weighting pattern on which the index is based.

In view of the probable disruptions to normal spending patterns caused by the introduction of the goods and services tax in 1986, it was decided to defer the next major revision until 1988.

Changes in the expression bases do not alter percentage movements between index numbers, although some variation may be expected from the rounding of decimals.

The first Consumers Price Index table shows all-groups index numbers and index numbers of individual groups and subgroups for 25 urban areas combined. The group and subgroup weights are also shown as percentages of the base expenditure.

Table 25.2. CONSUMERS PRICE INDEX—ALL GROUPS—25 URBAN AREAS COMBINED
Base: Weighted average 25 urban areas, December quarter 1983 (=1000)

PeriodFoodHousingHousehold OperationApparelTransportationMiscellaneousAll Groups
Groups—
  Percentage of base expenditure18.3521.0016.006.3718.2220.06100.00
December year annual average—
  19841039105510221023107910461047
  19851192123811531140125812161209
  19861328144113241293135214061369
Quarter ended—
  1985—30 Sep1215126411821153128812351233
            31 Dec1229132912041200128712601261
  1986—31 Mar1260137512201211131012891290
            30 Jun1282141512941271131613211325
            30 Sep1306143913321283135214241369
            31 Dec1462153314521406143015881491

Table 25.3. CONSUMERS PRICE INDEX—FOOD AND HOUSING—25 URBAN AREAS COMBINED
Base: Weighted average 25 upon areas, December quarter 1983 (=1000)

PeriodFoodHousingHousehold Operation
Fruit and VegetablesMeat, Fish, and PoultryOther FoodRentalsHome OwnershipFuel and LightFurnishingsSupplies and Services
Subgroups—
  Percentage of base expenditure2.704.5311.113.1717.832.438.515.06
December year annual average—
  198410101017105610691052102110271016
  198511211121123813751214121011601114
  198612981148140816491403141812941330
Quarter ended—
  1985—30 Sep11131146126814391233126511871133
            31 Dec10831131130415261294126512091167
  1986—31 Mar12111130132515581342127612201192
            30 Jun12621092136516301377141912611289
            30 Sep12871089139916751398141712931357
            31 Dec14341280154417351497156214031483

Table 25.4. CONSUMERS PRICE INDEX—APPAREL, TRANSPORT AND MISCELLANEOUS—25 URBAN AREAS COMBINED
Base: Weighted average 25 urban areas. December quarter 1983 (= 1000)

PeriodApparelTransportationMiscellaneous
ClothingFootwearPublic TransportPrivate TransportTobacco and AlcoholOther SuppliesOther Services
Subgroups—
  Percentage of base expenditure5.121.253.0715.159.315.615.15
December year annual average—
  19841022102710281090103610501061
  19851141113611421282123911801214
  19861296127812701368141813341462
Quarter ended—
  1985—30 Sep1155114411641313125311931250
            31 Dec1202119511881307126812281281
  1986—31 Mar1211121112121330128512551334
            30 Jun1275125812541329129812931395
            30 Sep1287126912901364145013381469
            31 Dec1413137513251451163714481651

The average level of consumer prices rose by 13.2 percent between the 1985 and 1986 calendar years compared with a rise of 15.5 percent between the corresponding 1984 and 1985 years. Although price increases were recorded in all groups of the index, the major contributions to the latest 13.2 percent increase came from the following subgroups: private transport; home ownership; food other than fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and poultry; tobacco and alcoholic drink items, household furnishings and other services (e.g. health and personal services).

The following tables distinguish individual urban areas and groupings of urban areas, but the subgroup index movements are omitted.

Changes in price levels between urban areas can be compared by reference to table 25.5. The indexes from which the percentage changes have been calculated are designed on the assumption that expenditure patterns are the same in each urban area. In reality, completely identical purchase patterns, goods, services and shops do not occur. The indexes, therefore, aim at pricing the same goods and services at the same stores each period, rather than attempting consistency between urban areas. The differences in the samples between urban areas prevents comparisons of price levels.

Table 25.5. CONSUMERS PRICE INDEX—PERCENTAGE MOVEMENTS 1985 TO 1986. INDIVIDUAL URBAN AREAS AND GROUPINGS OF URBAN AREAS

Urban AreaYear Ended 31 December
FoodHousingHousehold OperationApparelTransportationMiscellaneousAll Groups
* Includes six smaller urban areas, viz Whakatane, Taupo, Hawera, Blenheim, Ashburton and Gore.
Auckland10.916.516.215.17.916.313.7
Hamilton12.516.113.013.17.114.812.9
Napier-Hastings11.316.515.414.07.215.113.2
Palmerston North11.017.214.913.77.415.013.2
Wellington-Hurt10.816.115.911.27.515.213.0
Christchurch12.116.013.011.47.215.012.6
Dunedin11.716.812.613.27.516.013.0
Seven main urban areas11.316.415.013.47.615.613.2
Whangarei10.917.315.615.87.515.813.6
Tauranga11.615.814.612.57.615.813.1
Rotorua10.717.015.612.76.815.113.0
Tokoroa12.416.614.911.46.915.613.3
Gisborne11.116.012.615.47.115.012.7
New Plymouth10.915.615.313.37.014.812.9
Wanganui10.015.715.113.07.515.913.0
Masterton11.016.513.511.87.314.912.7
Nelson14.316.214.012.37.016.013.5
Greymouth12.916.314.59.48.216.313.4
Timaru12.416.014.114.86.914.812.9
Invercargill11.016.514.215.17.015.513.0
12 secondary urban areas11.616.414.713.57.215.413.1
25 urban areas combined*11.416.414.813.47.515.613.2

Average retail prices

In table 25.6 food prices are for the months of December 1985 and December 1986. Prices other than food shown in table 25.7 are averages prevailing in the calendar quarter. These weighted average prices of selected items are used in the calculation of the CPI and provide a reliable indicator of relative movements in price levels when compared with average prices for earlier periods. However, they are not designed to give, and therefore do not necessarily provide, a statistically accurate measure of absolute average transaction prices at the stated time. Item specifications can also differ between urban areas and over time, and this adds to the variability of the weighted average price data when used to measure changes at item price levels.

Table 25.6. RETAIL PRICES OF SELECTED FOOD ITEMS

CommodityUnitPriceAnnual Percentage Change
Dec 1985Dec 1986
  $$ 
Apples, eatingkg2.552.705.9
Bananaskg1.672.2635.3
Orangeskg1,631.8412.9
Cabbagekg0.450.8282.2
Carrotskg1.382.0145.7
Onionskg0.871.6185.1
Potatoeskg0.841.0828.6
Peaches, canned425 g tin1.011.3937.6
Peas, green frozen1 kg pkt1.972.3820.8
Beef, blade steakkg6.567.138.7
  corned silversidekg6.386.948.8
  prime rib roiledkg5.365.808.2
  porterhouse steakkg9,1710.2211.5
  rump steakkg8.188.837.9
Hogget, cut leg,
  knuckle endkg4,084.387.4
  forequarterkg2.542.8211.0
Lamb, leg, wholekg4.414.819.1
Pork, cut leg, knuckle endkg6.248.0128.4
Pork, loin chopskg6.558.5430.4
Bacon, middle rasherskg10.8213.8528.0
Mincekg4.494.888.7
Ham, cooked, pressed, slicedkg12.1415.1124.5
Sausageskg2873.2713.9
Fish, sole or flounder, wetkg5.126.4225.4
  fresh, filleted—e.g. tarakihi/groperkg10.9113.7526.0
Salmon, canned220 g2.482.542.4
Chicken, deep frozenNo. 6 (Med)5.266.1516.9
Eggs, min. 636 g/dozenDozen1.892.2318.0
Butter500g1.481.629.5
Cheese, mild cheddarkg4.965.5411.7
Milk, delivered600 ml0.400.4512.5
Milk powder, full cream400 g tin2.622.879.5
Biscuits, chocolate wheaten200 g1.201.4722.5
Bread, sliced, wrapped750 g1.001.2222.0
Cake, block, light fruit500 g2.973.4817.2
Oatmeal, fine porridge1.4 kg2.272.7420.7
Flour, white1.5 kg1.351.5212.6
Rice, long grain500 g0.650.719.2
Breakfast flake biscuits750 g1.882.4027.7
Honey500 g ctn1.522.0333.6
Jam, apricot400 g tin1.271.6429.1
Coffee, instant100 g jar3.604.6830.0
Tea250 g2.202.19-0.5
Margarine, table500g1.771.865.1
Cooking oil, vegetable500 ml2.282.27-0.4
Salt, iodised2 kg bag0.981.1820.4
Spaghetti in tomato sauce440 g tin0.951.2531.6
Soup, tomato450 g tin0.911.2133.0
Sugar, white1.5 kg pkt1.291.4310.9
Aerated waters incl. bottle1.25 litre1.711.858.2
Ice cream, vanilla2 litre2.903.075.9
Chocolate, block150 g1.922.014.7
Meals, grill, steak and chipsEach8.3510.4024.6
Meals, coffee and 2 sandwichesEach1.902.4629.5
Takeaways, chicken, hot snackBox2.973.6221.9
Takeaways, hamburger, hotEach1.581.9624.1

Table 25.7. RETAIL PRICES OF SELECTED ITEMS

CommodityUnitPriceAnnual Percentage Change
Nov 1985Nov 1986
  $$%
Timber, dressed, 150 mm × 25 mm finishing tanalised radiata pinePer 100 lineal metres298.87377.7826.4
Concrete blocks, 390 mm × 190 mm × 140 mmPer 100120.45149.9824.5
Paint (waterbased), highgloss white4 litre tin48.0557.5519.8
Coal, domestic255 kg49.3462.3826.4
Electricity, domestic (incl. water heating)-30 days2520 MJ42.0752.0223.7
Gas, domestic-30 days1100 MJ10.5513.4627.6
Electric jug, chrome finish, 1500 W std elementEach49.2550.462.5
Electric range, four elements, automaticEach968.03995.462.8
Refrigerator, single temp., 0.26 cumEach733.80819.3411.7
Refrigerator, dual temp., freezer-fridge 0.32 cu mEach1,010.231140.2712.9
T.V. set, colour 56 cmEach1,512.541616.866.9
Lawn mower, rotary type, two-stroke, 46 cmEach694.64697.860.5
Venetian blind, 175 cm wide, 130 cm dropEach193.61235.5621.7
Carpet, broadloom, 80/20 wool/nylon. 950 g/m2Metre176.54209.7918,8
Vinyl flooring, 183 cmMetre45.7352.4214.6
Pillow, dacron-filledEach12.3715.1722.6
Mixing bowl, stainless steel, 20 cmEach13.5014.618.2
Fork, table, stainless steel, med. qualityEach0.961.1317.7
Torch battery, dry cell, 1250Each0.901.0921.1
Electric light bulb, 100 wattEach0.820.9515.9
Household cleaning powder500 g1.191.4622.7
Detergent, plastic container990 ml2.202.4812.7
Disinfectant560 ml1.391.7525.9
Fly spray, aerosol335 ml can2.633.4417.0
Shoe polish38 g1.171.202.6
Soap powder1.10 kg2.192.5918.3
Postal letter, standard, surfaceEach0.250.3020.0
Telephone rental (private), main exchange1 year213.00273.9028.6
Drycleaning, man's two piece suitEach7.7110.4335.3
Licence, TV., black and white1 year27.5038.5040.0
Licence, T.V., colour1 year45.0071.5058.9
Pantyhose, sheer, av. size, popular brandPair2.883.5222.2
Shorts, casual sports, boy'sPair9.2311.7227.0
Socks, ankle, girl'sPair2.973.7024.6
Nursery squares, 76 cm × 76 cm, cottonDoz.36.7742.2915.0
Baby's vestEach4.065.0624.6
Dress patternEach4.195.6534.8
Wool, hand knitting, crepe, double knitting50 g2.843.5525.0
Slippers, felt, man'sPair15.3718.9823.5
Shoe repairs, cemented leather half sole, size 5 woman'sPair16.5920.4223.1
Bicycle, man's 10 speed, without accessories, N.Z. manufactureEach380.39424.1911.5
Petrol, 96 octane10 litres9.008.36-7.1
Cigarettes, filter tippedpkt of 201.752.7356.0
Tobacco, cigarette50 g3.185.0659.1
Beer in public bar—glass200 ml0.560.7025.0
Wine, N.Z. sherry medium dry2 litre flagon13.0614.5911.7
Aspirin, 24 tabletspkt1.772.3331.6
Razor blades (not bonded)pkt of 51.942.2817.5
Baby talcum powder330 g3.353.9016.4
Toilet paper, two-ply, 37.8 m4 rolls2.142.7428.0
Toilet soap150 g0.560.6210.7
ToothbrushEach1.622.0828.4
Toothpaste100 g tube1.251.314.8
Suitcase, largeEach77.8985.089.2
Umbrella, collapsible, woman'sEach14.3218.1626.8
Envelopes, 89 mm × 146 mm gummedpkt of 200.811.0327.2
Writing pad, 203 mm × 127 mm, lightweight80 leaf pad1.231.240.8
Pencil, black leadEach0.390.5130.8
Film colour slide (including processing), 35 mm, 25 ASA 20 exposuresEach16.2415.922.0
Developing and printing, 126 colour film, 12 prints, 87 mm × 90 mmTotal8.669.6411.3
Tennis balls, 2nd gradePair5.606.7520.5
Newspaper, delivered, dailyEach0.300.3930.0
Popular book, paperbackEach5.508.7559.1
Optician's fee, full examination and spectacles with caseEach121.36153.3126.3
Dental filling, simple amalgam, one surfaceEach18.1323.5129.7
Dentures, full set, acrylicSet461.26554.3120.2
Football admission to ground, club gameEach2.112.3310.4
Cinema admission, adult, eveningsSeat4.095.2327.9
Rugby club subscription, per annumPer member38.7744.7415.4
Tennis club subscription, per annumPer member74.3191.4723.1
Funeral, burialEach1,448.131,803.2624.5
      cremationEach1,232.741,567.3527.1
Hair cut, woman's wetEach18.6922.9322.7
      man's dryEach6.938.8327.4

International comparisons.

Table 25.8 provides a comparison of Consumer Price Indexes of selected countries. Comparisons may be drawn between the movements in price levels experienced by domestic consumers in each country. The indexes do not convey any information about the relative price levels existing in each country. Indexes published by each country have been converted to a common base of December quarter 1980 (= 1000).

Table 25.8. INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS OF CONSUMER PRICE INDEXES
Base: December quarter 1980 (=1000)

YearNew ZealandAustraliaCanadaFrance (Paris)JapanUnited KingdomUnited States
19811094106310791083102710771062
19821270118111961210105511701126
19831364130112641323107312231160
19841447135113191422109812841200
19851671144313721505112013621243

25.2 Producers prices

Producers Price Index

The Producers Price Index is intended to provide a measure of average price changes over all industrial and government sectors of the economy.

Price indexes for inputs and outputs at both all-industry and group levels are contained in this index. The all-groups level of the Producers Price Index reflects price level movements as these affect the inputs and sales of business and government. Industry groups for which separate index series are available correspond with the New Zealand System of National Accounts production groups. It is conceptually impossible to calculate an output index for the non-market-oriented groups of central government services, local government services, and private non-profit services to households. Their activities differ substantially in character from market-oriented industries in that their output is produced for free distribution or at prices which bear no relationship to the cost of production.

The use of identical industry classification in the national accounts and in the Producers Price Index is part of the Department of Statistics' long-term policy to integrate all economic statistics. With price deflation of the current value of each industry's input of goods and services and its output, it is possible to calculate the industry's real net output and contribution to the gross domestic product. This will be in constant prices or, effectively, in volume terms.

The commodity expenditure weighting patterns and selection of price-surveyed items are based on data from the economic censuses of business activity undertaken by the Department of Statistics. Additional information for weighting purposes has been obtained from other government departments, producer boards, professional organisations and the business community. Specifications for the goods and services that are price-surveyed have been obtained in collaboration with suppliers of the price data to ensure representativeness of priced commodities and adherence to these specifications over time.

The weight assigned to an industry to obtain the all-industry group index is based on the New Zealand System of National Accounts Production Accounts for 1983–84.

Tables 25.9 and 25.10 show price indexes of inputs (i.e., current purchases of commodities and services) and of outputs by industry groups. Output prices are those prevailing at the factory door, farm gate, or forest gate or as near to this point as is possible to price. Sales taxes and subsidies have been excluded. Input prices include sales taxes and subsidies. Prices of imported items include freight, insurance and customs duty.

The industry production group and subgroup output indexes after the September quarter 1986 will exclude GST.

Table 25.9. PRODUCERS PRICE INDEX—INPUTS
Base: December quarter 1982 (=1000)

Industry GroupQuarter Ended
31 Dec 198231 Dec 198531 Mar 198630 Jun 198630 Sep 1986

*Includes Industry groups 5 to 13.

†Includes Industry groups 1 to 21.

  1 Agriculture10001297128312491242
    Sheep and beef farming10001331130112511238
    Dairy farming10001248125412301219
    Mixed cropping10001282128412781313
    Horticulture10001278129013081319
    Pig, poultry and other farming10001217121612151221
    All farming10001299128312491241
    Agricultural contracting10001252127612731281
  2 Fishing and hunting10001299133213091348
  3 Forestry and logging10001318134213691386
  4 Mining and quarrying10001206122112541275
  5 Food, beverages and tobacco10001265126812341196
    Primary food processing10001254124911811110
    Other food processing10001202122012421262
  6 Textiles, apparel and leather10001228126812951337
  7 Wood and wood products10001337137314371472
  8 Paper, printing and publishing10001233126313011325
  9 Chemicals, petroleum and plastics10001205120310081013
10 Non-metallic mineral products10001237127813141347
11 Basic metals10001104113711641172
12 Machinery and metal products10001319134213841430
13 Other manufacturing10001221125112511296
14 Electricity, gas and water10001300131014391446
15 Construction10001266131013501369
16 Trade, restaurants and hotels10001264130713451397
    Wholesale and retail trade10001268132013651418
    Hotels, restaurants, takeaways10001260128213011348
17 Transport and storage10001220127812711251
    Road transport10001240126612651280
    Transport and storage other than road10001212128312731240
18 Communication10001176120712681289
19 Insurance and financing10001375142715251598
20 Ownership of dwellings10001302134913881437
21 Community and personal services10001300132013561392
22 Central government10001278131613641399
23 Local government10001260128813311365
24 Private non-profit services10001283132713881423
All manufacturing groups*10001258127612541265
All market groups10001277130413141334
        All industry10001277130413171337

Table 25.10. PRODUCERS PRICE INDEX—OUTPUTS
Base: December quarter 1982 (=1000)

Industry GroupQuarter Ended
31 Dec 198231 Dec 198531 Mar 198630 Jun 198630 Sep 1986

*Includes Industry groups 5 to 13.

† Includes industry groups 1 to 21.

  1 Agriculture10001229122711551142
  2 Fishing and hunting10001526155915991737
  3 Forestry and logging10001673179019311956
  4 Mining and quarrying10001137118810951079
  5 Food, beverages and tobacco10001255127512661231
    Primary food processing10001223124812161141
    Other food processing10001277128713181354
  6 Textiles, apparel and leather10001239126312741263
  7 Wood and wood products10001300132614171438
  8 Paper, printing, and publishing10001226126213041350
  9 Chemicals, petroleum and plastics10001322125412501217
10 Non-metallic mineral products10001230127713131348
11 Basic metals10001191122412411257
12 Machinery and metal products10001314134413891431
13 Other manufacturing10001251127813031338
14 Electricity, gas and water10001264126814161418
15 Construction10001230127413171353
16 Trade, restaurants and hotels10001283130913351365
    Wholesale and retail trade10001275129613201344
    Hotels, restaurants, takeaways10001319136013941448
17 Transport and storage10001153119512431247
    Road transport10001220126312951318
    Transport and storage other than road10001118115812131207
18 Communication10001138113813061383
19 Insurance and financing10001378143615811658
20 Ownership of dwellings10001622164917161739
21 Community and personal services10001295135314101459
All manufacturing groups*10001275128813071309
All market groups10001284131113491369

25.3 Capital expenditure prices

A series of price indexes, jointly called the Capital Expenditure Price Index (CEPI), was released in May 1981 by the Government Statistician. These indexes provide measures of price level changes of physical capital assets purchased by businesses and government in New Zealand

The concept of price employed is the ‘price to the final user’ and does not include freight or installation costs unless these are normally included in the final price, No account can be taken of special discounts. Sales tax has been included where applicable. Since 1 October 1986 GST has been excluded from the measurement of price changes for capital assets surveyed for the Capital Expenditure Price Index.

Each capital expenditure asset-type index is constructed by combining the relative price changes of representative items. The importance given to each item is determined by the expenditure made on all the assets which that item represents. The relative importance of any item, vis-a-vis other price items, is known technically as the ‘weight’ for that item.

Because expenditure on capital items tends to be irregular, the weights used in the Capital Expenditure Price Index have, in general, been based on expenditure over a two- to five-year period ranging from 1975–76 to 1979–80. In deriving the weighting pattern for the index the Department of Statistics has primarily used statistics on external trade, manufacturing, and building. These have been supplemented with data from a diversity of sources including other government departments, marketing and producer boards, manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers. A revision of the index is currently being undertaken and should be completed in early 1988.

It should be noted that the index numbers relate to the price levels ruling at the mid-point of each quarter.

Table 25.11. CAPITAL EXPENDITURE PRICE INDEX
Base: December Quarter 1979 (=1000)

Capital AssetQuarter Ended
Dec 1985Mar 1986Jun 1986Sep 1986
Residential buildings—
  Houses, flats, garages2066217222562290
  Hostels1996206521432177
Non-residential buildings—
  Commercial buildings1938200320862131
  Factories1966202721082149
  Hospitals, rest homes1973203021082163
  Educational buildings1991205021272177
  Motels, hotels1970203521122156
  Farm buildings2092210621592202
Other construction—
  Transport ways2057210521972291
  Pipelines1915198120672148
  Electrical works1787186919241983
  Earthmoving and site work2008203921092169
Land improvements—
  Land clearing2035210121352143
  Fencing1743175817931801
  Irrigation and land drainage1913194020052046
  Reclamation and river control2027205921212170
Transport vehicles—
  Cars, less than 1600 c.c.1979200921652327
  Cars, 1600 c.c. and above1888190019582049
  Commercial vehicles, less than 2500 kg2049208321792363
  Commercial vehicles, 2500 kg and over1832187019412014
  Buses2329233225072533
  Trailers1901193019491952
  Motorcycles1375125112911380
  Fishing boats2268230723652386
  Light fixed-wing aircraft284929263,0923,354
  Helicopters25323,09529663,334
Plant, machinery, and equipment—
  Agricultural tractors1666166516981706
  Self-propelled harvesting machinery1926192619261946
  Other harvesting and mowing machinery1726172617451735
  Soil preparation and cultivation machinery2029204520842108
  Other agricultural machinery and equipment1853195019551977
  Farm motorcycles1662148315511568
  Self-propelled construction machinery2058208319712043
  Non-self-propelled construction machinery, quarrying machinery0964206220982106
  Food and drink processing machinery1953201920672207
  Bottling and packaging machinery1904204520162095
  Textile machinery1969209521772407
  Woodworking machinery1877193519472072
  Printing and publishing equipment1818180918351958
  Metal working machinery187119341978199S
  Forklifts and mobile material-handling equipment1682170017781828
  Mechanical hoists, conveyors, etc.2486251825532615
  Electrical distribution equipment2037200120162086
  Electric motors, up to 7 kW (1–9 hp)1724178417361736
  Electric motors, 7 kW and over (over 9 hp)1972200020002000
  Industrial engines, non-electric2121212521272171
  Airconditioning and cooling equipment1863189719631964
  Refrigerating equipment1855188719352016
  Industrial boilers and heating equipment2171220721842256
  Pumping and compressing equipment1869192220002031
  Office and shop equipment, electronic1119114310701112
  Office and shop equipment, non-electronic1422144913921445
  Office and shop furniture and fittings2136221622832360
  Duplicating and photocopying machines762786807818
  Scales and weighing machinery1235124612541284
  Shipping and transportation containers2111206020722115
  Tanks, vats, and storage units1904202120582094
  Photographic and optical equipment1778182918311910
  Technical and scientific equipment1992205020382118
  Medical, dental, and hospital furniture and equipment1928202220742283
  Stereo equipment107810931024946
  Television receivers1354133813501408
  Peripheral data processing units1349136413961413
  Radio-telephone and telegraphic equipment1590164717611793
  Domestic-type furniture and furnishings1880191119952058
  Domestic-type appliances1677170217431762
  Domestic-type equipment and utensils1716174418021897
  Portable power tools1792188919141964
  Sport and recreation equipment1903190519411975

More information on the methodology of the index is available from the Department of Statistics.

Further information

Consumers Price Index. Department of Statistics (annual).

External Trade Indexes. Department of Statistics (annual).

Monthly Abstract of Statistics. Department of Statistics.

Prices Statistics. Department of Statistics (annual).

Producers Prices Statistics. Department of Statistics (annual).

Report of the Consumers Price Index Advisory Committee (Parl. paper G. 28a, 1978, and Parl. paper H. 40, 1971).

Report on Consumers Price Index Revision 1980. Department of Statistics.

Chapter 26. Money and banking

26.1 Financial institutions

Banking system

The financial sector has undergone a period of dramatic change since 1984, the culmination of a process of gradual evolution and reform which started over a decade earlier, but was substantially accelerated from mid-1984 onwards.

Until the early 1960s, the financial sector was largely dominated by a few major institutions, most notably the trading banks. Monetary policy was implemented primarily through direct and relatively detailed controls over the operations of those major financial institutions. Over the subsequent two decades, the process of financial innovation and increasing sophistication in the financial sector saw the growth of a range of new financial institutions, particularly in areas less subject to direct controls, and also a rapid expansion in the variety of financial services available to the public. The approach to policy-making also changed over this period, with a gradual move away from direct controls towards the greater use of system-based policy instalments which are neutral with respect to individual institutions (i.e., apply evenly to all institutions operating in the market). Most significantly, in a relatively short period following the change of government in 1984, most direct controls on the financial sector were removed.

The impact on the financial system of these changes in the way policy is implemented has been substantial. The result has been rapid growth in money market activity since 1984, the development of a sizeable secondary market in government securities, the introduction of a range of new financial instruments, including forward contracts, options, and interest rate and exchange rate futures, and the growing use of such hedging devices to handle interest rate and exchange rate risk.

The removal of direct controls has also resulted in significant changes at an institutional level, though the process of institutional change is likely to continue, and perhaps accelerate, over the next few years as a result of subsequent legislative amendments. These amendments are aimed at making financial markets more contestable, by removing barriers to entry, and dismantling the array of regulatory restrictions and privileges which historically have applied to different categories of financial institutions. The most notable development has been the passing into law late in 1986 of the Reserve Bank Amendment Act 1986, which contained provisions enabling suitably qualified financial institutions to apply to become ‘registered banks’. Previously ‘bank’ status was restricted by law to the four trading banks, private savings banks, trustee banks, the Post Office Bank, and the Reserve Bank. Work is also in progress towards amending the legislation controlling trustee banks and building societies, again with the aim of placing these institutions in a more neutral operating environment. Finally, changes have been introduced with respect to several government-owned financial institutions, notably the Post Office Savings Bank and the Development Finance Corporation.

While the following discussion relates to the New Zealand financial system as it stood at the beginning of 1987, the reader should bear in mind that further institutional changes are expected as a consequence of the developments outlined above. In particular, a significant development during 1987 has been the advent of several new registered banks.

Currency

The present decimal currency system was introduced 20 years ago on 10 July 1967, when the dollar as the monetary unit replaced the previous system of pounds, shillings and pence.

Since 1934 the Reserve Bank has had the sole right to issue banknotes in New Zealand. Coin is a liability of the Treasury but is distributed by the Reserve Bank. Notes and coin are issued in response to the demands of the public, which fluctuate in line with both seasonal and general economic influences, most notably changes in the level of economic activity and in domestic prices. The demand for currency may also be influenced by innovations in methods of payment, such as the advent of credit cards and the automatic crediting or debiting of payments to cheque account balances.

Notes and coin form only a relatively small part of the public's total holdings of money balances, amounting to about one-fifth of the narrowly defined money supply (M1) and roughly 3 percent of the broad money supply (M3). By far the bulk of the public's ‘money’ or ‘near money’ asset holdings is made up of deposits with banks or other financial institutions. Movements in these broader monetary aggregates tend to be of more significance from an economic policy perspective than changes in the level of notes and coin in circulation, as the latter is likely to be more heavily influenced by technological or financial innovations of the type described above.

Notes issued by the Reserve Bank are constituted legal tender under the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1964 and consequently bear the words “This note is legal tender for …” in recognition of the legal obligation the Government has to honour liabilities in respect of such notes. Coins also constitute legal tender in terms of the Decimal Currency Act 1964.

Reserve Bank of New Zealand

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand, the central bank, was established in 1933 as a privately-owned institution, but became a fully state-owned institution in 1936. A brief survey of its historical development was included in this section in the 1976 and earlier Yearbooks. The Reserve Bank has 10 directors, comprising the Governor, the Deputy Governor, the Secretary to the Treasury, and seven other directors appointed by the Governor-General by Order-in-Council. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1964, and subsequent amendments, provide the Bank with powers broadly in line with modern central banking practice.

Functions of the Reserve Bank

—Among the main functions of the bank are:

  1. To act as the central bank of New Zealand;

  2. To advise the Government on matters relating to monetary policy, banking, credit, and overseas exchange;

  3. To give effect to the monetary policy of the Government, as communicated by the Minis of Finance, and to any resolution of Parliament in relation to that policy. Such policy should be directed to the maintenance and promotion of economic and social welfare in New Zealand, with the aim of promoting the highest level of production, trade, and employment, and maintaining a stable internal price level. Unlike some foreign central banks, the Reserve Bank has no statutory independence in the formulation of monetary policy, as it must give effect to the monetary policy of the Government. However, it does have a central role in the policy formulation process though its advisory function, and, in addition, the bank has a significant degree of independence in terms of the day-to-day implementation of monetary policy within the guidelines agreed with the Government. Further information on the instruments of monetary control and their operation is given later in this chapter;

  4. To maintain public confidence in the operation and stability of the financial system, and more specifically, to prevent a failure in one part of the system from developing into a more generalised loss of confidence throughout the rest of the financial system. The Reserve Bank Amendment Act 1986 contains detailed powers for the bank in terms of monitoring the prudential soundness of specified financial institutions and facilitating the orderly exit of failed institutions;

  5. To manage the note and coin issue, and in conjunction with the Treasury, the public debt and foreign exchange reserves;

  6. To collect statistics from financial institutions relating to monetary and credit developments and interest rates regularly. These statistics are published in the Reserve Bank Bulletin.

  7. To receive and assess applications for registration as ‘registered banks’; and

  8. To act as banker to the Government.

The Reserve Bank also retains powers under Part IV of the Reserve Bank Act 1964 to fix the exchange rate and to implement exchange control regulations. As discussed in section 26.2, however, exchange control was effectively removed in December 1984 and the exchange rate was floated in March 1985.

Details of the liabilities and assets of the Reserve Bank at the end of June for the latest three years are shown in the following tables.

Table 26.1. LIABILITIES OF THE RESERVE BANK

YearBank NotesState Overseas LiabilitiesOther LiabilitiesTotal Liabilities
DepositsShort- termLong- termAllocation of Special Drawing Rights
MarketingOther
 $(million)
 At End of June
1984656.21,720.1243.235.2592.61,229.8226.6172,64,876.4
1985705.7x945.2x273.8x165.7x267.3x1,588.0x307.6x250.7x4,504.0x
1986775.51,987.3318.562.4684.61,096.6287.6304.45,516.9
Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

Table 26.2. ASSETS OF THE RESERVE BANK

YearOverseas AssetsInvestments in New ZealandAdvances and DiscountsOther Assets
GoldShort- termLong- termSpecial Drawing RightsStateMarketingTrading BanksOther
 $(million)
 At End of June
19840.7641.314.80.12,587.63.21,408.549.019.5151.7
19850.71,719.4x18.7x2.71,070.5x142.5x1,409.0x5.90.3x134.3x
19860.72,217.114.82.21,137.6380.31,660.94.30.398.7
Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

Registered banks

Until recently, a specific Act of Parliament was requited for a financial institution to include the word ‘bank’ (or any derivative of ‘bank’) in its name. Accordingly each of the four trading banks has its own legislation, as do the trustee banks, the private savings banks, and the former Post Office Savings Bank (now Post Bank). Those institutions enjoyed certain privilege' relative to other financial institutions, relating in particular to the status traditionally carried by the word ‘bank’ in financial markets and also in the area of raising funds from depositors (such as authorised trustee status and, in the case of transferable certificates of deposit issued by trading banks, exemption from stamp duty).

To create an environment which as far as possible is competitively neutral between institutional groups, the Government has introduced a new legislative framework governing entry into banking. With the enactment of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Amendment Act 1986, the Reserve Bank has been empowered to register new banks as from 1 April 1987. The objective of the policy is to promote a competitive, contestable financial sector, by significantly reducing the restrictions that previously inhibited institutions from competing on an equal footing.

Under the ‘new banks’ policy, there is no limit placed on the number of banks that can be registered, nor is there a time limit on the receipt of applications. In addition, the policy places no particular limit on the entry of banks from abroad, whether they be branch operations or subsidiaries of overseas banks.

In general, the criteria applied in considering registration are qualitative in nature. The only quantitative criterion applied is a minimum capital requirement of $15 million paid-up capital and $30 million issued capital (in the case of branches of overseas banks, a permanent contribution of at least $15 million endowment capital is required). Other matters to which the Reserve Bank has regard when assisting applications for bank registration include expertise in the business of banking; standing in the market; prudential and accounting policies; capital adequacy; internal management systems; and the quality of senior management. In the case of overseas applicants, the Reserve Bank is also required to have regard to the reciprocal rights of access of New Zealand banks to an applicant's country of domicile. There are, however, no requirements as to the type of business a registered bank must engage in, nor for a specific branch network.

The new framework provides little basis on which to distinguish between ‘bank’ and ‘non-bank’ financial institutions. The principal privilege registered banks enjoy, apart from any status that registration itself may carry, is the right to use the word ‘bank’ in their names. Otherwise ‘non-bank’ institutions will be able to compete on a more or less equal footing with registered banks. The opportunity has also been taken to address other regulatory distinctions between ‘banks’ and ‘non- banks’. The four existing trading banks were deemed by the Reserve Bank Amendment Act 1986 to become registered banks. These are the Bank of New Zealand, the Westpac Banking Corporation, which is incorporated in Australia, the ANZ Banking Group (New Zealand) Limited, and the National Bank of New Zealand Limited. The Bank of New Zealand is majority state-owned. The trading banks jointly own a computer company, Databank Systems Limited, which has a national network of computer centres, and handles the daily operations of the trading banks, including the clearing of cheques.

In April 1987 the Reserve Bank received the first group of nine applications for registration as registered banks.

Table 26.3. SELECTED LIABILITIES OF TRADING BANKS*

YearLiabilities in New ZealandLiabilities Outside New ZealandTotal LiabilitiesTotal Deposits Per Head of Mean Population
DepositsOther Liabilities
DemandTime

* Trading bank business only, excludes liabilities of savings bank subsidiaries, shareholders' funds, capital liabilities to overseas head offices, contingencies, interbank accounts, and transit items within New Zealand.

† Compensatory deposits included.

Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

 $(million)
 Monthly Average for Calendar Year
19822,214.04,395.0143.3242.17,494.42,233.5x
19832,381.65,498.6125.2347.48,352.82,443.1x
19842,610.56,512.6354.3x432.79,910.1x2,800.0x
19852,713.68,925.4131.1671.612,441.73,549.8
19863,214.510,960.1181.6920.315,276.54,322.4
 At End of June
19822,376.74.756.1188.3208.17,529.12,251.1x
19832,308.15,152.8133.4328.77,923.02,329.5x
19842,518.85,930.5306.6313.79,069.62,605.3x
19852,700.58,800.2114.2618.812,233.73,515.7
19863,123.310.419.6133.5834.814.511.24.130.2

Table 26.4. SELECTED ASSETS OF TRADING BANKS

YearCoinReserve Bank NotesDemand Deposits Held in Reserve BankOverseas AssetsInvestmentsLoans*Other AssetsTotal Selected AssetsRatio of Loans to Total Deposits

* Includes advances, discounts and term lending but excludes interbank lending.

† Includes Interbank lending, land and buildings.

Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand

 $(million)
 Monthly Average for Calendar Year
19828.06841.5560.31,333.35,793.2246.48,011.181.5
19837.865.00.2618.42,183.65,913.7276.09,064.775.0
19847.868.3603.92,843.86,958.3x358.510,840.6x76.3x
19858.261.455.6943.53,495.68,789.6414.913,768.875.5
19868.167.243.71,009.94,790.910,664.9563.417,148.175.2
 At End of June
19827.561.9619.11,246.05,867.8254.58,056.982.3
19836.956.6573.31,823.45,857.7307.38,625.278.5
19847.161.5525.12,176.77,050.6295.710,116.783.4
19857.559.81,004.53,001.38.823.0435.313,331.476.7
19867.564.1942.74,523.710,262.0515.716,315.775.3

Savings banks

The group of institutions known as savings banks includes the Post Bank, the trustee savings banks, and the four private savings banks, which are operated by the trading banks.

Post Bank (formerly the Post Office Savings Bank).

In April 1987 the Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) was incorporated as a separate government-owned corporation and changed its name to Post Bank. See also chapter 3, Government.

The POSB had been a national institution since 1869, when it was set up with the aim of providing a reliable, widely accessible deposit service to small savers. In the late 1950s the POSB had 80 percent of the savings bank business in New Zealand. However, increased competition from trustee banks and the private savings banks subsequently led to an erosion of this market share. Moreover the savings banks as a group tended to be more heavily controlled than were many other financial institutions and suffered a decline in market share as a result. The POSB in particular was required to invest entirely in government stock, and to offer rates on deposits which were set by the Government. During the 1970s, however, these controls were gradually relaxed, and the POSB was permitted to lend part of its funds to the private sector by way of mortgages, personal loans, and overdrafts. In addition controls on investment account interest rates were largely removed. The deposits of the POSB were subject to a government guarantee, which presently continues for the deposits of Post Bank, but is to be phased out after a period.

The POSB had assets of over $3,000 million at 31 March 1986. There were 910 offices and 230 agencies of the POSB operating in New Zealand as at September 1986 with total lending being $1,093.9 million in February 1987, $937.2 million of which was for first mortgages.

Trustee banks.

The trustee banks have grown up on a regional basis, with the first bank opening in Wellington in 1846. Traditionally they have targeted the small saver and have provided mainly housing finance through mortgages. They have no formal ownership structure but could be viewed as community banks.

A comprehensive review of the Trustee Banks Act 1983 is currently underway. The objective is to provide the banks with the capacity to compete on an equal footing with other financial institutitions, removing the existing operational and structural controls embodied in the Trustee Banks Act 1983. These controls include constraints on the banks' ability to borrow or purchase shares, and controls on the banks' constitutional structure (e.g., appointment and powers of trustees).

The new legislation required to effect the restructuring of the trustee banks is not likely to be enacted until, at the earliest, the latter half of 1987. However, as an interim step to facilitate the restructuring, a range of operating freedoms were granted late in 1986 (to the extent the current Act allows). Among others, these freedoms enable the banks to provide banking services to corporate clients (previously limited to personal clientele); to trade in bills of exchange, government stock, and mortgages; and to borrow to a greater extent without requiring ministerial consent. During 1986 a holding company was formed to co-ordinate the activities of nine of the 12 trustee banks.

A government guarantee currently applies to the deposits of the trustee banks, but as part of the restructuring process, this guarantee will be removed once the banks have an adequate capital structure in place.

Private savings banks.

From the mid-1950s, the trading banks sought government approval to operate savings accounts. This was designed, in part, to compensate for their decreasing share of both deposit-taking and lending business, which arose mainly due to limitations imposed on the trading banks by the monetary authorities. In its desire to encourage savings, the government agreed in 1964 to the trading banks entering this field.

The private savings banks, which are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the respective trading banks, are registered as private companies under the Companies Act 1955. The Private Savings Bank Act 1964 requires that effective control of each private savings bank be vested in the parent company, which is required by the statute to guarantee its subsidiary.

There are now no longer any regulatory reasons for the trading banks to segment this type of business, and the last three years have seen a gradual running down in the assets and liabilities of the private savings banks.

Table 26.5. SAVINGS BANK DEPOSITS AND ADVANCES

 Total DepositsTotal Advances
198519361987198519861987
 $(million)
January5,721.77,158.17,669.32,713.83,210.13,812.1
February5,750.27,161.5 2,740.83,220.1 
March5,794.17,192.9 2,767.43,248.2 
April5,935.87,206.8 2,805.03,278.0 
May5,995.87,343.2 2,864.43,322.6 
June5,993.17,452.4 2,935.43.348.8 
July6,014.17,535.8 3,040.43,390.9 
August6052.07,647.1 3,121.23,462.0 
September6,009.07,539.1 3,150.83,558.1 
October6,075.67,636.6 3,182.23,621.6 
November6,177.67,674.1 3,234.83,703.9 
December6,256.67,775.8 3,224.33,753.7 
Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand

Building societies

The first building societies in New Zealand were established in the 1860s. Over the years they developed into two distinct types of society—permanent and terminating societies. Both have specialised in home mortgage finance.

Building societies expanded rapidly in New Zealand during the 1950s and early 1960s. They provided a range of savings accounts and investment services and have become an increasingly important source of home finance. They are at present required to place the bulk of the funds they raise into housing finance loans, but the Government has recently enacted amendments to the legislation covering building societies which are designed to place the societies in a more neutral operating environment. They include the provision for societies to convert to companies.

Merchant banks

Merchant banks are largely involved in corporate financing activities and trade finance. They operate in both the domestic and international money markets and deal in money marked instruments such as commercial bills and government securities, as well as organising longer-term finance facilities and offering financial advisory services.

Merchant banking operations began to emerge in New Zealand in the 1950s when the short-term money market was developing. However, these operations were limited until 1971, when the Government allowed overseas banks to take up shareholding in New Zealand merchant banks. In addition, each of the trading banks operating in New Zealand established an equity interest in a merchant bank.

Further stimulus has been given to the development of merchant banks with the deregulation of the financial system in 1984. Merchant banks have since been able to develop a wide range of innovative financial services designed to satisfy their clients' funding needs more effectively. Securing of assets, foreign exchange dealing, improvements in the marketability of debt, the tailoring of facilities to include such products as options and convertible debt facilities, and the establishment of links with stockbroking firms have all been areas of development by merchant banks. In addition, New Zealand merchant banks have expanded their involvement in international financial markets.

Finance companies

Hire purchase finance provides the major basis for the acitivities of most finance companies, but many also provide a range of additional financial services such as corporate finance, commercial bills, foreign exchange transactions, import/export advice, investment advice, leasing mortgages, and extended credit facilities.

Finance companies recorded rapid growth in relative terms over the 1960s and 1970s, with their share of total M3 deposits (see above) increasing from 1.1 percent on December 1960 to 18.6 percent in mid-1984.

Since the moves to deregulate the financial sector in 1984, however, finance companies have faced strong competition from other deposit-taking institutions.

Table 26.6. DEPOSITS. DEBENTURES AND NOTES HELD BY FINANCE COMPANIES*

TermAs at 31 March
19821983198419851986

* Statistics are for large companies so designated by the Reserve Bank and owing to changes in coverage, annual figures are not directly comparable.

Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

 $(million)
At call159.0355.7510.3595.51,060.4
Under 3 months269.9377.1508.6649.4682.5
3–5 months230.9428.3394.6449.1584.9
6–11 months298.9423.3614.4629.5911.9
12–23 months378.4432.0637.5936.01,002.4
2 years and over448.5420.7505.6596.2780.5
      Total1,785.62,437.13,171.03,855.75,022.6

Stock and station agents

Stock and station agents originally began business as general merchants or retailers. Over time they expanded their operations to woolbroking, livestock transactions, land and property, supplying merchandise, machinery, equipment, and miscellaneous farm requirements, as well as the provision of financial services to the farming community These agents developed specialised financial services including the operation of current accounts for farmers, the acceptance of term deposits, and the making of secured and unsucured loans for seasonal and farming development needs. Stock and station agents prefer to provide only short- and medium-term finance, leaving the provision of longer-term finance to other financial institutions. The fortunes of the agents have fluctuated with those of the farming industry, and over recent years they have also faced growing competition from other financial intermediaries. The current downturn in the farming industry is reflected in the results for the year ended 31 December 1986, with total deposits (including debentures and bank overdraft) down 1.0 percent to $277.4 million. Total advances for the year ended 31 December 1986 were $507 million, down 8.2 percent on that recorded for 31 December 1985.

Other banking institutions

Development Finance Corporation of New Zealand (DFC).

The corporation is a New Zealand owned commercial, financial services group offering a diversified range of services to institutions, businesses, and individuals. The majority of DFC's share capital is owned by the New Zealand Government and vested in the Minister of Trade and Industry.

The corporation was originally set up as a development bank and has a long-term orientation, with expertise in managing medium- to long-term risks. This expertise was acquired through the project analysis, risk assessment, and financial structuring crucial to DFC's successful development financing, and has more recently been augmented by new services such as trade finance, investment banking, and foreign exchange and futures dealing.

DFC is structured into four specialist units: three wholly-owned subsidiaries—business banking, equity investment and venture capital, investment banking—and a parent company, which handles all Treasury, trading, and capital market activities.

DFC's business banking operation supports any viable business acitivity, and specialises in helping businesses establish new ventures or expand or develop existing operations. Projects are assessed in terms of their commercial viability, the strength of their management, and security. Financial and advisory trade services for importers and exporters are also provided.

DFC Ventures offers a full range of equity finance and venture capital assistance, investing in new companies from the start-up stage through to providing additional capital for futher growth.

Zealcorp Financial Ltd, DFC's investment banking subsidiary, offers businesses and institutions consulting and advisory services, special structuring, and underwriting.

DFC has been self-funding since 1976, raising its funds in both New Zealand and overseas, and has maintained a strong and well respected presence in the international capital markets since 1977. The international rating agency Standard and Poor's has assigned DFC an AA—long-term bond rating. This makes DFC the first New Zealand entity, other than the Government, to obtain such a rating. The rating relates to a 10 year, $US100 million Eurobond issue guaranteed by DFC in July 1985.

Rural Banking and Finance Corporation of New Zealand.

The corporation was established by Act of Parliament in 1974, with the broad objective of providing development finance to individuals and organisations in the farming, fishing and related industries. It is the most recent of a number of government institutions which have encouraged land development through loans to farmers at reasonable rates and on stable terms since the government first entered the field with the Advances to Settlers Act of 1894.

Since late 1984 the Government decision to reduce concessional lending to land-based industry has meant a changing role for the Rural Bank. The flow of government capital loans to the corporation ceased in 1985 and by 1 April 1987 it had phased out all new lending at concessional rates of interest, and lending on these terms has reduced from $337 million in 1985–86 to $87 million in 1986–87.

The deregulation of the finance and banking sector has also required the Rural Bank to restructure its operations and, today, its borrowing and lending are on an almost-completely commercial footing. However, since 1985 existing clients who borrowed under previous concessional lending schemes for farm puchase, farm workers' holdings, irrigation, and other items have had their interest rates progressively increased to market rates. This process will take some time to complete.

Demand for new loans at commercial rates of interest nevertheless continues to grow. In 1986—87, 2330 loans were approved (totalling $218 million). This compares with 1589 loans approved in 1985–86 (for a total of $108 million) and 1524 loans in 1984–85 (for a total of $71 million).

While finance is still available for traditional areas of agriculture, ‘off-farm’ lending has grown significantly—from $16 million in 1985–86 to $34 million in 1986–87—in line with a policy of assisting both ‘core’ and ‘downstream’ rural industries. There has also been a marked increase in lending to non-traditional farming, such as deer and goat farming ventures.

26.2 Monetary policy

The major objective of monetary policy is a reasonable degree of price stability. In the current New Zealand context, this implies a reduction of inflation to a level at least as low as the inflation rates of the country's major trading partners. Such price stability is an important element of an economy with sustained real economic growth.

As noted above, the policy instruments which are used to achieve these objectives have altered significantly since 1984, although the changes have generally been in line with the gradual trend in policy evident throughout the 1970s, away from direct controls over the financial system and towards the greater use of market-based instruments. To a large extent, this trend was motivated by the increasing sophistication and technological innovation in the financial sector which was rendering direct controls increasingly less effective. In addition, there was a growing concern with the adverse impact of direct controls on the efficiency of the financial sector.

Recent policy developments

The rest of this section discusses recent policy developments, focussing on policy changes post- July 1984, and the current operating environment for monetary policy. The discussion begins with a brief summary of the way monetary policy was implemented prior to July 1984.

Before July 1984.

The arrangements for implementing monetary policy adopted prior to July 1984 are discussed in more detail in previous editions of the Yearbook. For a comprehensive discussion, see Monetary Policy and the New Zealand Financial System, Reserve Bank of New Zealand, 1983.

The main instrument of monetary policy in the past was a complex system of reserve asset-ratio requirements applied in various forms, and at various levels, to a wide range of financial institutional groups. This was supplemented from time to time by credit growth guidelines, qualitative lending directives, and by direct controls on lending and/or deposit interest rates. Public debt policy (i.e., the sale of government debt) was also used for monetary policy purposes from time to time, most notably through the issuance of competitive debt instruments aimed at the retail segment of the market. Wholesale debt sales were not used actively for monetary policy purposes, owing to general unwillingness on the part of successive governments to offer competitive rates of interest on wholesale public debt. This also meant that there was no active secondary market in government stock and little scope for using open market operations as a monetary policy instrument. Finally the government operated a fixed-exchange-rate regime, and as a consequence, balance of payments flows impacted fully on the reserves base of the financial system and had a significant impact on domestic monetary conditions.

As noted previously, there was a general trend away from the use of institution-specific controls in the operation of monetary policy over the 1970s and early 1980s. This was evident both in moves to bring the ratios applying to different institutional groups more in line with each other, and also in periodic attempts to create an environment more conducive to the use of public debt policy instruments and open market operations as an influence on monetary conditions: most notably, the move from a tap to a tender method of issuing wholesale government debt in September 1983. Underlying this trend was a concern over the distortions caused by of using direct controls for monetary policy purposes and, in particular, their leading to the rapid growth of financial intermediation activity outside the controlled sector. This defeated the objective of the controls, in terms of influencing financial conditions throughout the economy, and reducing the efficiency of the financial sector as a whole. The rise in the relative size of the fiscal deficit over this period, and associated growth in the Government's borrowing requirement, created a further need for establishing a market for government securities outside the captive (i.e., ratioed) financial institutions.

However, despite these considerations, there were also periods when the trend away from direct controls was reversed: most notably in the period from 1981–84, when interest rate and other financial sector controls were restored.

Monetary policy after July 1984.

The trend towards use of more market-based instruments for implementing monetary policy re-emerged and was rapidly accelerated following the election in July 1984. The new government initiated a programme of comprehensive deregulation of the financial system which had two broad objectives. The first was to ensure that government intervention in the area of monetary policy should be implemented in a way which would encourage the development of an efficient financial sector, The second reflected a desire to put in place a framework for monetary policy which would give the authorities more effective control over domestic monetary conditions, and so facilitate the attainment of a more stable and predictable macroeconomic environment.

These reforms, and the main features of the new policy environment, are discussed in detail in the Reserve Bank publication, Financial Policy Reform, 1986. The major policy changes which impacted on the financial sector were:

  • ○ The interest rate controls introduced under the previous regime were removed on 18 July 1984;

  • ○ There was an immediate shift to a more active public debt policy, as interest rate concerns gave way to greater concerns over domestic liquidity conditions and, in particular, to the objective of offsetting the domestic liquidity impact of the fiscal deficit. This change was readily facilitated by the previous shift from a ‘tap’ to a tender method of selling government stock;

  • ○ The marginal ratio applied to finance companies' lending in excess of 1 percent per month was removed on 18 July 1984, and remaining credit growth guidelines were abolished on 31 August;

  • ○ Exchange controls were effectively removed from 21 December 1984;

  • ○ Changes to the Reserve Bank's discount policy, which included a doubling of discount margins (on 24 July 1984) and a closing of the discount window of government securities of more than six months to maturity (on 24 December 1984);

  • ○ All compulsory ratios were abolished from 11 February 1985; and

  • ○ The exchange rate was floated on 2 March 1985.

Flexible interest rates were an integral part of the strategy of obtaining more effective control over monetary conditions, as interest rates represent the cost of using money and are an important mechanism by which changes in the supply of, and demand for, money influence expenditure decisions throughout the economy. Economic theory suggests, and the experience of the past decade has demonstrated, that it is not possible to control simultaneously both interest rate levels and money and credit growth for any length of time. The removal of these controls left the way clear for the more effective use of public debt sales as a major instrument of monetary policy.

Along with the commitment of the authorities to an active public debt policy, the floating of the exchange rate and the changes to the Reserve Bank's discount policy gave the Government the potential for far greater control over domestic liquidity conditions than previously had been possible. With the Reserve Bank no longer prepared to buy or sell foreign exchange on demand, any individual wishing to exchange foreign currency for New Zealand dollars must find someone else who wishes to purchase that currency, thereby leaving domestic liquidity unchanged. Similarly, with the Reserve Bank limiting its obligation to purchase government securities by narrowing the ‘discount window’ to securities with six months or less to maturity, the sale of long-term government debt became an effective means of controlling financial sector liquidity. Access to the window was subsequently narrowed further in early 1986 to securities with one month or less to maturity.

With all direct controls on the financial sector having been removed, monetary policy is now operated primarily by controlling growth in the monetary base over time. The monetary base definition currently most commonly used in New Zealand is ‘primary liquidity’ (PL). This comprises the cash balances held by settlement institutions at the Reserve Bank plus discountable government securities outstanding (which the Reserve Bank is prepared to repurchase at any time, and therefore represent a potential source of settlement cash for the financial system). Financial institutions seek to hold primary liquidity as a buffer stock in order to enable them to settle daily transactions with the Reserve Bank (mainly related to government transactions, since the Government banks with the Reserve Bank) and also to settle transactions between private sector financial institutions themselves. By controlling the supply of settlement cash and primary liquidity relative to demand, the Reserve Bank can influence short-term interest rates and those other variables which affect the level of nominal economic activity and inflation: most notably, the overall interest rate structure, money and credit growth and the exchange rate.

The main instrument used to control the supply of primary liquidity is sales of new issue medium-term government debt through regular stock tenders (usually held on a monthly basis). This is supplemented during the year by sales of shorter-dated government debt (called Treasury bills), which are sold by way of weekly tenders, and by open market operations (i.e., purchases and sales of existing government securities on the secondary market). Both government stock and Treasury bills are wholesale debt instruments, i.e., they are aimed mainly at large institutional investors rather than at small savers. The government stock tender programme has been determined to date on the basis of ‘fully funding’ net public sector injections into primary liquidity, which effectively means holding the average level of primary liquidity constant. This is expected to be consistent with the objective of achieving a substantial reduction in the underlying rate of inflation over time.

The exact nature of the relationships between the operating targets (i.e., settlement cash and primary liquidity), the intermediate variables (i.e., interest rates, money and credit growth and the exchange rate) and the ultimate objective of policy (inflation) is not well understood. This is particularly the case at present, given that the current policy environment is relatively new. Accordingly, considerable judgement is required on the part of the authorities in setting the targets for settlement cash and primary liquidity. In making such judgements, a wide range of indicators is taken into account: particularly movements in interest rates, the monetary aggregates and the exchange rate. Adjustments in the policy settings for cash and primary liquidity have been required on occasions in response to indicators.

Recent monetary developments

Movements in the various monetary indicators since July 1984 have been heavily influenced by the Government's adoption of a firm monetary policy stance, combined with the effects of deregulation, which have severely affected the main monetary and credit aggregates.

On coming into office in July 1984, the new government initially devalued the New Zealand dollar by 20 percent and removed most interest rate controls in order to avert the foreign exchange crisis which had developed in the lead-up to the 1984 election. Over the subsequent period prior to floating the exchange rate in March 1985, the setting of policy was essentially based on fully funding net public sector liquidity injections by selling medium-term government stock in the regular tenders. This policy was intended to ensure that the fiscal deficit was not financed by way of ‘printing money’, which would have fueled inflation.

Following the float, an initial target was adopted for the underlying level of primary liquidity of around $600-$700 million. This was judged to be consistent with the desired firm monetary policy stance. Government securities with up to six months to maturity were discountable at the Reserve Bank over this period, and were therefore included in the definition of primary liquidity, so that short-term movements in primary liquidity were dominated by seasonal influences associated with funding the March and September tax drains. This led to some confusion among market participants as to how to interpret the underlying policy stance, and largely in response to this, access to the discount window was subsequently narrowed to include only government securities with less than one month to maturity. The primary liquidity definition was modified accordingly.

This change was announced in December 1985 and took effect over the March 1986 quarter. A target level at around $400-$500 million was established initially for average primary liquidity balances under the new one month definition, and in addition, the Reserve Bank moved to more actively target a fixed daily level for the settlement cash component of primary liquidity. This again was aimed at making the stance of monetary policy more transparent. The daily cash target was initially set at $50 million. Towards the end of 1986, both the cash and primary liquidity targets were reduced following signs that financial institutions had become more comfortable with the new operating environment, and that the demand for cash and primary liquidity had declined as a result. The cash target was lowered in two steps to $30 million, while from October onwards, the Reserve Bank began targeting average monthly primary liquidity balances of less than $400 million. Apart from an allowance for the seasonal increase in primary liquidity over February and March, those targets were maintained through until April 1987, when the cash target was temporarily increased to $40 million in response to sustained upward pressures on short-term interest rates which were experienced during that month. The $30 million cash target was restored subsequently in early May.

A feature of monetary developments since July 1984 has been the markedly higher interest rate structure. This has been a necessary part of the adoption of a firm anti-inflationary monetary policy stance, coupled with the need to fund a relatively large ongoing fiscal deficit. Substantial swings have also been observed in the interest rate structure to date, due to a number of factors including:

  • ○ Seasonal influences associated mainly with the March and September tax-drain periods;

  • ○ Demand pressures and rapid credit growth associated with the relatively bouyant domestic economy in 1984—85 and again prior to the introduction of the goods and services tax;

  • ○ Changing expectations regarding the speed with which inflation would be reduced; and

  • ○ Uncertainty over the underlying trend in the fiscal deficit and consequently over the size of the Government's borrowing programme.

In addition, although the domestic money markets have grown rapidly since deregulation, they remain relatively thin by international standards, and in addition, money market participants still lack experience with operating in a deregulated environment. As a consequence, interest rate volatility induced by the above influences has tended to be more marked than would otherwise be the case.

The exchange rate has also remained generally firm over this period, rising slightly on a trade- weighted index basis over the first two years under a floating exchange rate regime despite the existence of it marked inflation differential between New Zealand and its main trading partners (normally this differential would be expected to lead to a depreciation in the nominal exchange rate over time). Again, this in large part has reflected the firm monetary policy stance, although significant fluctuations have been recorded in the effective exchange rate from time to time, in line with changing domestic liquidity conditions. Substantial movements have also been recorded in bilateral exchange rates between the New Zealand dollar and currencies of the major trading partners, reflecting the large swings experienced in exchange rates overseas (see also section 26.3).

Movements in the main money and credit aggregates have been very difficult to interpret since mid-1984 as a result of the major structural shifts which have taken place in the financial system following deregulation. The broad monetary aggregates were initially inflated by the Impact of ‘reintermediation’, that is, the main institutional groups regained market share which had been eroded previously during the period of financial sector controls. Further distortionary influences have arisen on occasions as a consequence of inter-institutional funding activities and corporate ‘round- tripping’, whereby companies take advantage of a differential between wholesale money market and overdraft interest rates during periods of tight domestic liquidity by drawing on their overdraft facilities to reinvest on the money market at higher rates. While not eliminated entirely, the problems caused by inter-institutional funding have been reduced with the production of a new set of monetary and credit aggregates which feature a significantly extended institutional coverage and a greater emphasis on identifying inter-institutional flows. Corporate ‘round tripping’, however, is still very difficult to identify in the statistics collected and, as a consequence of these sorts of influences, much less emphasis has been placed on movements in the aggregates as an indicator of monetary conditions in recent years.

Wholesale short-term interest rates had firmed sharply over late 1986-early 1987, as a consequence of seasonal pressures, combined with firm control by the authorities over the supply of primary liquidity in the face of previous rapid lending and deposit growth by financial institutions. This meant that the interest rate yield curve had taken on a steeply-negative slope, (suggesting that inflation, and therefore interest rates, is expected to decline in the future). The exchange rate had also firmed relative to the levels recorded in the September 1986 quarter. Money and credit growth appeared to be slowing, though from a high base following the rapid growth in late 1986. Finally, in the retail sector, domestic economic activity had turned down following the GST-induced boom, and the inflation rate was slowing again following the one-off impact of goods and services tax. More detail on recent monetary policy developments can be found in the Reserve Bank Bulletin.

Table 26.7. MONEY SUPPLY AND CREDIT AGGREGATES

Selected AggregatesAs at 31 March
198219831984198519861987

* Readily available money supply.

† Broad money supply, Including term deposits.

 $(million)
Monetary
  Notes and coin held by the public595650652718831868
  Transaction account balances—
    (a) Registered banks2,3602,3682,5672,5163,0043,737
    (b) Savings institutions130154217272394531
  Less, inter institutional transaction balances5152557268115
  Less, government deposits1208287566263
      Ml*2,9143,0383,2893,3784,0994,958
  Other funds—
    (a) Registered banks6,1497,0937,6259,37911,85715,362
    (b) Financial corporations3,1434,2885,1967,55510,45813,088
    (c) Savings institutions4,9835,5176,3637,0607,6518,351
      Total14,27516,89819,18423,99429,96636,801
  Less, other inter-institutional funding1,9662,6042,5072,0461,6353,528
  Less, government deposits066185299355438
      M315,22317,26619,78125,02732,07537,793
Credit
  Gross claims—
    (a) Registered banks6,8106,6457,4979,42811.67316,343
    (b) Financial corporations5,4336,9247,91610,53214,76315.839
    (c) Savings institutions2,9713,3193,8544,4595,7106.787
    (d) Other (Reserve Bank)5710131720
 15,21916,89519,27724,43232,16338,989
  Less, Inter-institutional claims1,3431,6671,6571,4891,4072,817
      Private sector credit13,87615,22817,62022,94330,75636,172
  Marketing and stabilisation7051,2451,0061,1291,405−40
  Claims on government—
    (a) Registered banks1,5952,7972,8192,4563,2323,798
    (b) Financial corporations3805058591,2022,0281,284
    (c) Savings institutions2,3162,5853,1393,1272,9132,346
    (d) Reserve Bank509−631−126−490−3831,188
    (e) Coins in circulation545762667583
      Total4,8545,3136,7536,3617,8658,699
      Domestic credit19,43521,78625,37930,43340,02644,831

Government securities market

The Government currently sells three types of debt instruments to meet its financing requirements:

  1. Government stock, which is a medium-term (generally two-, five-, or 10-year) instrument paying a fixed coupon or interest rate, and aimed at the wholesale market (mainly large institutional investors) (Since September 1983, government stock has been sold through regular, usually monthly, competitive tenders, whereby the price, or the effective yield, is determined by market bids. Previously stock was sold by ‘tap’ issue, whereby the Government set the price of the issue, and the amount sold was determined by market demand.)

  2. Treasury bills, which are short-term (usually less than one year) wholesale debt instruments, primarily used to meet the Government's seasonal financing needs during the year (Bills are zero coupon instruments, i.e., they pay no interest but rather are initially sold at a discount to their par value, implying an effective yield for the holder of the bills. Bills have been sold through regular weekly tenders since January 1985; previously being sold by tap issue); and

  3. Retail stock, which is aimed mainly at small savers (A variety of retail instruments have been issued by government in the past but, since November 1985, the sole retail instrument on issue has been ‘Kiwi Bonds’. This is fixed-interest instrument which is transferable, i.e., may be sold by the holder to another party, but is not redeemable prior to maturity. Kiwi Bonds are issued with two- and four year maturities. The interest rate is set by the Government on the basis of a formula, whereby the rates on each issue are linked to the current market yields on wholesale government stock of comparable maturities.)

The secondary market in government securities (where existing debt instruments are bought and sold) is largely confined to government stock. Turnover in the market has grown significantly over the last five years. Average weekly turnover in 1986 is estimated to have been $388 million (about 2.3 percent of outstanding government stock), compared with $8 million in 1981 (about 0.1 percent of outstanding government stock). Transactions are usually in multiples of $1 million with settlement on a seven-day basis.

A key factor in the growth of the government stock market has been the major policy changes in recent years: notably the removal of all interest rate controls and an associated move to accept bids in the government stock tenders which reflect market interest rates; a substantial increase in the amount of medium-term stock sold through tenders; the removal of exchange controls; and the abolition of statutory requirements for certain financial institutions to hold specified levels of public sector securities.

Previously, when government stock was sold by tap issue, and also in the early stages of stock tendering (when bids were often rejected because the yields were considered by the Government to be too high), the yields available were generally unattractive to institutional investors. As a result, the demand for stock tended to be limited to those financial institutions which had a legal requirement to hold a certain level of stock. Market-related yields are now accepted in tenders, and as a result, government stock has become a more attractive investment option for the private sector and is now held by a wide range of holders, including foreign investors.

One notable change in this regard has been in the amount of stock registered in the name of trustee and nominee companies. From a level of about 1 percent of total outstanding government debt held in the name of such companies in 1980, the amount now held is almost 10 percent. As nominee companies are the main channel through which overseas investors purchase stock, this change is indicative of the increased foreign interest in New Zealand government securities.

A futures contract on five-year government stock has been traded on the New Zealand Futures Exchange since March 1986. This involves an agreement to buy or sell stock at an agreed price at some point in the future and is an important device for hedging interest-rate risk. Each contract is for $100,000 of stock and, in recent times, daily trading has averaged 660 contracts, although actual daily volumes have been quite variable.

No significant secondary market has been developed as yet for Treasury bills. Bills have to date been sold in variable quantities and maturities to meet the Government's seasonal financial requirements. As a consequence, they have not been available in predictable quantities on a regular basis and this has probably discouraged interest from institutions looking for a standardised short-term (90-, 180- or 360-day) security in which to invest. In addition, the market for bills has to date been dominated by the small group of financial institutions which operate settlement accounts with the Reserve Bank (mainly trading banks) and are prepared to pay a premium relative to other investors for the potential liquidity offered by Treasury bills. (This arises because the Reserve Bank will only discount, or purchase in exchange for settlement cash, short-dated government securities, including Treasury bills.) The growth and development of the government securities markable in the past three years offers substantial benefits for the Government, and ultimately the taxpayer, in terms of improving the terms on which the Government is able to borrow. As the depth of the secondary market increases, the effective liquidity of government securities as an investment also increases (i.e., it becomes easier for holders of such securities to dispose of them to other investors if they so desire). This in turn means that investors require a lower yield to invest in New Zealand government securities, thereby lowering the interest rate at which the Government is able to borrow.

26.3 Overseas exchange

New Zealand exchange rates

New Zealand's exchange rate system has moved through four broad stages since 1973.

Prior to July 1973 the value of the New Zealand dollar was pegged, or fixed; initially against sterling and later against the US dollar. This link was broken in 1973, with the New Zealand currency instead being fixed against a basket of the currencies of the country's main trading partners. Although the value of the dollar still changed on a day-to-day basis against these currencies its average value was kept constant. Changes against the basket were relatively infrequent and were in the form of discrete devaluations or revaluations. (The 1976 and 1985 Yearbooks present more detailed accounts of exchange rate developments prior to and during this period.)

In 1979 a more flexible exchange rate system was introduced. Instead of infrequent but relatively large adjustments to the exchange rate, the new ‘crawling peg system’ enabled smaller (usually less than 0.5 percent), more frequent changes to be made. The main criterion for adjustment was the amount by which inflation in New Zealand (as indicated by movements in consumer prices and export costs) differed from the average overseas inflation rate. Where the New Zealand rate of inflation exceeded that of its major trading partners then, other things being equal, the average value of the New Zealand dollar would be reduced in a number of small steps to yield a devaluation which would approximately reflect the inflation differential. Some account was also taken of other factors affecting the balance of payments—for instance long-term changes in the terms of trade, and the impact of policy measures such as those aimed at shifting investment towards export-based production.

In June 1982 the crawling peg system was suspended and the New Zealand dollar was once again fixed against the basket of currencies. In July 1984, following the general election, the dollar was devalued 20 percent against the basket, but then remained fixed at its new value.

On 2 March 1985, following a series of other economic policy measures, the decision to float the New Zealand dollar was announced. Since that date, the value of the New Zealand dollar against other currencies has been determined by demand and supply conditions in the foreign exchange market. This contrasts with all the previous arrangements, where the authorities had set the exchange rate, by virtue of the Reserve Bank being prepared to clear the market, (buying or selling foreign exchange), at the predetermined rate. Under the float, the Reserve Bank continues to monitor and supervise the market. It also purchases the Government's current account foreign exchange requirements in the market, but no longer quotes exchange rates or stands in the market to buy or sell foreign currency on demand. Accordingly, the authorised foreign exchange dealers are free to deal with their customers in currencies at negotiated rates.

A major reason for the shift to a floating exchange-rate system was to complement the monetary policy initiatives taken in 1984 to address the high rate of inflation in New Zealand. Other reasons underlying the decision to float, however, were also important, as noted below.

Firstly, there are considerable difficulties under an administered exchange rate regime in assessing what exchange rate is appropriate for underlying economic conditions, as the information necessary for an adequately informed decision is rarely available. In practice, adjustments tend to be made in the form of large discrete changes, rather than smoother, more gradual movements. This often means that the exchange rate will be out of line with its long-run, sustainable level for long periods. With a floating rate, on the other hand, the adjustment tends to occur on a more-or-less continuous basis, in response to changes in the supply of, and demand for, foreign exchange.

Secondly, where the authorities fix the exchange rate, and it is kept out of line with economic fundamentals, the costs of defending that rate tend to fall on the taxpayer. With a floating rate system the process of market forces pits market participants against each other and avoids the situation where the taxpayer is placed at risk.

From a policy perspective, under a fixed exchange rate regime, interest rates and the money supply are primary adjustment mechanisms which allow the economy to respond to internal economic changes or external disruptions; whereas a floating exchange rate provides an additional channel whereby these shocks may be absorbed.

Recent exchange rate developments.

The New Zealand dollar remained relatively strong through the first year of the float, with the Reserve Bank's indicative exchange rate index finishing the year slightly above its pre-float level. There were, nevertheless, substantial movements against the currencies of major trading partners during the year.

The exchange rate passed through a number of distinct phases over the course of the 1985–86 financial year. The first, from March 1985 to mid-June, saw the exchange rate remain steady in terms of the exchange rate index, with market participants still evaluating the nature of the new policy environment. From mid-June 1985 the dollar began to appreciate considerably, peaking in mid-October at some 20 percent above its pre-float level. The major factor behind this appreciation was a general tightening in monetary conditions and corresponding increases in domestic interest rates.

From mid-October 1985 to early December, the exchange rate became more volatile, as domestic interest rates eased, before declining a sharp 14 percent against the index in December. The exchange rate subsequently remained relatively stable or strengthened slightly over the first half of 1986, in line with higher domestic interest rates over the March quarter in particular.

This appreciation was reversed between June and September 1986, however, with the trade- weighted index falling 8.8 percent. This mainly reflected a significant reduction in New Zealand domestic interest rates, and hence in the interest rate differential between New Zealand and overseas assets, together with some influence from the weakening Australian dollar. From October onwards, the New Zealand dollar once more strengthened, with the index appreciating about 8 percent over the second half of 1986–87. Again, a dominant influence was the higher domestic interest-rate structure over this period.

Although there have been quite wide swings in the New Zealand dollar's effective exchange rate since the float, short-term volatility has not been excessive in international terms. This is indicative of the growing depth of the market. For example, in 1986–87 there were only three days when the US/NZ dollar exchange rate moved more than 3 percent, and over the year as a whole, daily movements against the US dollar averaged 0.8 percent. This compared with average movements against the US dollar of 0.6 percent for the Australian dollar and 0.3 percent for sterling. Moreover, the differences narrow further on a weekly basis.

Foreign exchange market

Several foreign exchange market policy measures were introduced in 1984–85, to complement the major economic policy changes which have been discussed earlier in this chapter. These measures, which are outlined below, were designed mainly to enhance the efficiency and depth of the foreign exchange market. In this sense, they built upon the extended earlier changes, in particular the move in April 1983 to allow institutions other than trading banks to deal in foreign exchange. The overall effect of these changes has been rapid growth in the depth of the New Zealand foreign exchange market, which in turn means significant benefits for the New Zealand economy in terms of the range of foreign exchange services offered (including devices for managing foreign exchange risk), the more competitive pricing of those services, and the improved ability of the market to absorb large transactions and financial shocks.

In October 1984, the limits which had applied to foreign exchange dealers' holdings of spot foreign currency balances were relaxed and subsequently removed totally. At the same time, dealers were allowed to borrow offshore up to the amount of the increased spot balance limits. It was also announced in late December 1984 that the restriction limiting overseas ownership of foreign exchange dealers to a maximum of 70 percent had been lifted to allow 100 percent foreign ownership. This move was taken as part of the policy of encouraging dealers to increase their capitalisation (so as to enhance dealers' ability to manage and carry foreign exchange risk) and also helped to bring further experience and depth to the market.

Other measures implemented over the same period which affected the foreign exchange market were the abolition of rules restricting overseas borrowing to a fixed term of at least 12 months (October 1984), and the removal of all restrictions on access to New Zealand capital markets by overseas-owned companies operating in New Zealand (November 1984). Restrictions prohibiting New Zealand financial institutions from borrowing overseas were also modified, allowing them to borrow more freely to fund their day-to-day operations.

A key policy change occurred in December 1984, when exchange controls were effectively abolished. The remaining controls are of a prudential nature, related to maintaining the financial stability and integrity of the foreign exchange market (involving, for instance, agreed exposure limits on dealers' foreign-exchange currency positions).

The foreign exchange market has grown rapidly in terms of size and depth over this period, with an expansion in both turnover levels and the range of services available. The number of authorised foreign exchange dealers has risen from 15 in March 1985 to 19 as at the end of March 1987 (including two that had still to commence operations), and New Zealand dollar turnover (spot plus forward exchange) has risen from a daily average of $1,000 million in March 1985 to $7,200 million in March 1987. In addition, four foreign exchange brokers were operative in the New Zealand market as at March 1987.

On floating the New Zealand dollar, it was stressed that the Reserve Bank retained the right to intervene in the foreign exchange market to smooth unsettled market conditions or undue exchange rate volatility. However, no such action was necessary over the first two years of the float, with Reserve Bank operations in the foreign exchange market being limited to meeting the Government's current account foreign-exchange needs, minor market testing, and the ongoing management, in conjunction with the Treasury, of New Zealand's official overseas reserves.

Further information

Census of Services 1982–83. Department of Statistics.

Economic Trends and Policies. New Zealand Planning Council, Economic Monitoring Group (annual).

External Economic Structure and Policy. Reserve Bank of New Zealand (1981).

Financial Policy Reform. Reserve Bank of New Zealand (1986).

Financial Statement (‘Budget’, Parl. paper B. 6).

Inflation. New Zealand Monetary and Economic Council (1977).

Monetary Policy and the New Zealand Financial System. Reserve Bank of New Zealand (2nd ed., 1983).

Monthly Abstract of Statistics. Department of Statistics.

New Zealand News Review. Reserve Bank of New Zealand (monthly).

Report of the Bank of New Zealand (Parl. paper B. 15).

Report of the Department of Justice (Parl. paper E. 5).

Report of the Development Finance Corporation of New Zealand (Parl. paper B. 26).

Report of the Post Office (Parl. paper F. 1).

Report of the Registrar of Building Societies (Parl. paper B. 14).

Report of the Registrar of Friendly Societies and Credit Unions (Parl. paper B. 18).

Report of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (Parl. paper B. 16).

Report of the Rural Banking and Finance Corporation of New Zealand (Parl. paper B. 25).

Report of the Small Business Agency (Parl. paper B. 26A).

Reserve Bank of New Zealand Bulletin. Reserve Bank of New Zealand (monthly).

Weekly Statistical Release. Reserve Bank of New Zealand (weekly).

Chapter 27. Public sector finance

27.1 Central government finance

The Government, by budgeting for either a surplus or a deficit, or by varying the impact of taxation and the level of government expenditure on certain sectors of the economy, is able to regulate internal economic activity.

Taxing, charging, and borrowing are the three options available to the Government to finance its expenditure. These avenues are chosen to be the most efficient and equitable way of paying for particular services. However, finance and raising revenue cannot be considered in isolation. Some government expenditure, such as pensions, superannuation payments, and family benefits can alter the equity of the tax system. Also the system of raising revenue chosen must be in accord with the Government's economic policy. This effectively means that any system of government finance, embracing both expenditure and the raising of revenue, must be designed to achieve the economic objectives of growth, a high level of employment, price stability and external balance of payments in an efficient manner—tempered by the prevailing views about freedom and the equitable distribution of income.

Structure of the public accounts

The general structure of the public accounts is set out in the Public Finance Act 1977 and they comprise the following accounts:

Consolidated Account and National Roads Fund—All taxation is credited to either the Consolidated Account or the National Roads Fund. The Consolidated Account also receives most miscellaneous revenues, and ordinary expenditure is debited to it.

Highways taxation is credited to the National Roads Fund, which meets both capital and maintenance expenditure on roading, but a proportion of the motor spirits duty and road user charges are credited to the Consolidated Account.

Loans Account and Loans Redemption Account—The Loans Account receives loan money raised for works and development. A proportion of this is transferred to the Consolidated Account, and most of the balance is advanced by way of capital to the Housing Corporation, the Rural Banking and Finance Corporation, the Ministry of Energy, and other state enterprises outside the public account.

Money received into the Loans Redemption Account includes an annual contribution from the Consolidated Account towards the repayment of the public debt, the proceeds of issues of Treasury bills, and money borrowed for the purpose of repaying or converting loans to the Crown. The main purpose of the account is the repayment or conversion of loans, but money not required for these purposes may be transferred to the Loans Account.

Reserve Account and Trust Account—Any money in the Consolidated Account regarded as surplus to immediate requirements may be transferred to the Reserve Account and invested in New Zealand or overseas. The Minister of Finance has authority to realise these investments and retransfer the proceeds to the Consolidated Account at his discretion.

Money held in trust or awaiting disposal is paid into the Trust Account. Funds in the Trust Account may be invested in government or other approved securities.

In addition to these six accounts there is a Suspense Account. This is simply a holding account for receipts banked to the credit of the public accounts but not yet allocated to one of the six accounts.

The financial year commences on 1 April and ends on 31 March. The expenditure of public money is authorised by an annual Appropriation Act, which lapses at the end of the financial year. However, the Minister of Finance is authorised to pay money for services for a period of three months from the commencement of the next financial year, pending the granting of supplies by Parliament.

Government expenditure

Table 27.1 shows gross government expenditure as well as the net expenditure financed from the public accounts. The functional classification is intended to focus attention on the broad areas of the economy in which there is substantial government activity.

The public accounts shown are prepared on a receipts and payments (cash) basis, and consequently the accounts of the operations of various departments (prepared on an accrual basis) shown in other sections will differ to some extent from those appearing here.

Fuller explanations of some items are given with the similar table in the Budget (Parl. paper B. 6).

Table 27.1. GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE: PUBLIC ACCOUNT

Item1983–841984–851985–86
GrossNet*GrossNet*GrossNet*

* Net expenditure is generally arrived at by deducting trading and departmental receipts from gross expenditure.

† Includes the Government Computing Service, previously under ‘general administration’.

‡ Milk subsidy now funded through Vote: Agriculture and Fisheries.

§ Includes a decease in the imprest accounts of $0.7 million in 1983–84. and increases of $30.0 million in 1984–85 and $6.3 million in 1935–86.

Source: The Treasury.

 $(million)
Administration—
  General administration441.9386.0501.0420.4657.3617.0
  Law and order335.9271.3366.6292.1470.8391.1
  Government services237.2165.3261.6179.4354.3193.2
  Miscellaneous services52.98.714.610.915.511.4
  Stabilisation9.99.9
 1,077.8841.21,143.8902.81,497.81,212.6
Foreign relations—
  Defence673.0660.2756.4745.1870.5852.1
  Foreign Affairs175.2169.2201.5196.8231.3226.6
 848.28,294957.9941.91,101.71,078.7
Development of industry—
  Land use1,287.4986.21,245.8838.7954.6460.8
  Fuel and power1,3438340.71,522.0260.61.800.888.6
  Other industrial services591.1555.5657.5613.2758.0666.6
 3,222.31,882.43,425.31,712.53,513.41,216.0
Education—
  Education1,690.51,674.31,746.91,728.62,028.42,010.3
Social services—
  Social Welfare4,005.73,973.94,387.04,352.75,363.45,325.9
  Other social services144.875.5266.3104.83,994123.2
 4,150.54,049.44,653.34,457.55,762.85,449.0
Health-
  Health1,807.91,804.91,914.51,911.52,312.52,309.0
Transport and communications—
  Transport706.9537.2663.0545.7709.4586.2
  Communications1,100.1(0.1)1,449.7(2.4)1,902.3279.4
 1,807.0537.12,112.7543.32,611.7865.7
Debt services and miscellaneous—
  Debt services2,041.92,041.92,562.62,562.63,340.03,340.0
  Miscellaneous investment transactions227.0198.5§158.6152.7§8.0(44.1)
  Miscellaneous financing transactions390.7390.7404.1404.1235.1235.1
 2,659.62,631.13,125.33,119.43,583.03,530.9
Total17.263.814,250.019,079.615,317.522,411.417,672.3

Table 27.2. FINANCING OF GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE

Item1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 

* Net expenditure as in previous table.

† Excludes suppliers' credit and currency realignment adjustments.

Source: The Treasury.

 $(million)
Expenditure*
  Administration841.3 902.7 1,212.6 
  Foreign relations829.4 941.9 1,078.7 
  Development of industry1,882.4 1,712.5 1,216.0 
  Education1,674.3 1,728.6 2,010.3 
  Social services4,049.4 4,457.5 5,449.1 
  Health1,804.9 1,911.5 2,309.0 
  Transport and communications537.2 543.3 865.7 
  Debt services and miscellaneous investment transactions2,240.4 2,715.3 3,295.9 
      Subtotal 13,859.3 14.913.3 17,437.2
Miscellaneous financing transactions 390.7 404.1 235.1
      Total expenditure 14,250.0 15,317.4 17,672.3
Financed from
  Taxation—
    Income tax7,453.3 8,348.5 10,567.2 
    Customs, sales tax, and beer duty2,117.8 2,564.6 2,520.5 
    Highways tax242.3 334.1 423.6 
    Motor spirits tax224.1 224.8 208.7 
    Other taxation393.7 441.6 515.9 
      Total taxation 10,431.2 11,913.6 14,235,9
  Interest, profits, and miscellaneous receipts718.1 620.5 1,565.4 
      Total taxation, interest, etc. 11,149.3 12,534.1 15,801.3
  Amount to be financed from borrowing 3,100.7 2,783.5 1,871.0
Borrowing in New Zealand5,093.1 4,887.9 4,024.5 
  Less, repayments in New Zealand2,526.7 2,999.6 2,946.8 
 2,566.4 1,888.3 1,077.7 
  Plus, sales (less purchases) of investment;−184.4 −386.1 −60.0 
  Net borrowing New Zealand +2,382.0 + 1,502.2 1,017.8
  Internal surplus (+) deficit (–) −718.7 −1,281.3 −853.2
Borrowing overseas1,702.7 5,003.5 3,635.1 
  Less, repayment overseas1,019.3 3,563.9 2,747.7 
 683.4 1,439.6 887.5 
  Plus, sales (less purchases) of overseas investments+37.5 −137.3 −27.8 
  Net borrowing overseas 720.8 1,302.3 859.7
  Cash surplus (+) deficit (–) +2.2 +21.0 +6.5

Table 27.3 shows details of expenditure from the principal public account, the Consolidated Account. Most of the revenue of the Consolidated Account is derived from taxation. This is shown in detail in section 27.2 above.

Table 27.3. GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE: CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNT

Item1933–841984–851985–86

* The total claim on the Reserve Bank indemnity for 1984–85 includes full payment for realised and unrealised exchange losses. In previous years only realised losses were settled. The policy of settling the Indemnity by the issue of non-interest bearing stock was discontinued. For 1985 and 1986 settlement has been made by a cash payment from the Consolidated Account rather than Loans Account.

† Expenditure for the following votes was previously made from: Ombudsmen—from Vote Legislative; Privacy Commissioner—from Vote Legislative; Women's Affairs—from Vote State Services Commission; Parliamentary Services—replaced Legislative Department from 1 October 1985.

‡ In terms of section 52A of the Public Finance Act 1977, the revolving fund for procurement and supply of stationery was from 1 April 1982 extended to all activities. Thus receipts are now credited to the Trust Account. The payment records the transfer of part of the sum appropriated by Parliament for the purposes of the fund.

Source: The Treasury.

 $(000)
Permanent appropriations—
  Under special Acts, legislature—
    Civil List4,9835,4087,636
Debt services—
  Interest2,014,8752,530,0333,302,380
  Transfer to Loans Redemption Account187,328218,787282,463
  Administration and management26,97732,59137,590
      Debt services2,229,1802,781,4113,622,433
  Superannuation112,901130,871185,757
  Miscellaneous49,921797,289*187,324*
      Subtotal, permanent appropriations and debt servicing2,396,9853,714,9794,003,150
Annual appropriations—
  General administration—
    Vote—
      Accident Compensation105119185
      Audit6,0337,07210,263
      Broadcasting195187230
      Building Performance Guarantee Corporation191921
      Commission for the Environment1,1021,3391,968
      Customs32,59634,68541,051
      Government Life Insurance Corporation103237
      Inland Revenue68,52173,436115,097
      Internal Affairs64,62174,143106,138
      Legislative12,24112,693-
      Ombudsmen912
      Parliamentary Services15,969
      Privacy Commissioner81
      Prime Minister's Department2,0172,0942,41
      Railways1028790
    State Services Commission65,67165,620109,844
    Statistics16,94417,86131,648
    Treasury13,04714,57420,164
    Valuation13,95514,31915,831
    Women's Affairs409
      General administration297,179318,280472,402
Law and order—
  Vote—
    Crown Law2,5012,8593,627
    Justice135,859153,871201,616
    Police185,703196,978248,192
    Security Intelligence Service4,3774,5895,437
      Law and order328,440158,297458,872
Government services—
  Vote-
    Government Printing Office7,61211,4103,008
    Works and Development181,145193,380213,701
      Government services188,757204,790216,709
Stabilisation—
  Vote-
    Stabilisation9,941....
      Subtotal, administration824,316881,3671,147,983
Foreign relations—
  Vote-
    Defence672,978756,408870,456
    Foreign Affairs174,856201,237230,925
      Subtotal, foreign relations847,834957,6451,101,381
Development of industry—
  Land use—
    Agriculture and Fisheries792,957635,955298,860
    Forest Service281,493369,687333,939
    Lands and Survey143,569148,446118,716
    Maori Affairs36,92235,53541,.405
    Rural Banking and Finance Corporation12,52727,87589,204
      Land use1,267,4681,217,498882,124
  Fuel and power—
    Energy277,230110,729107,147
  Other industrial services—
    Labour393,342454,970460,628
    Scientific and Industrial Research99,126105,124125,556
    Tourist and Publicity25,99230,04245,829
    Trade and Industry71,60466,38776,003
      Other industrial services590,064656,523708,016
      Subtotal, development of industry2,134,7621,984,7501,697,287
  Education—
    Education1,690,4881,746,8682,028.416
  Social services—
    Housing Corporation80,056171,217286,029
    Internal Affairs4,5562,9324,969
    Maori Affairs29,85031,83845,846
    Social Welfare4,005,6584,386,9955,363,389
      Social services4,120,1204,592,9825,700,233
  Health-
    Health1,807,8911,914,2932,312,476
Transport and communications—
  Transport—
    Roads, etc.99,54832,8463,938
    Transport270,227257,165300,050
    Post Office3,9899,1484,527
      Transport and communications373,764299,159308,515
      Annual appropriations11,799,17512,377,06414,296,291
Unauthorised expenditure8824129,325
Transfer to Reserve Account
Exchange differences on overseas transactionsCr 23,31970,087122,440
      Total payments14,172,92916,162,37118,451,206

Table 27.4. NATIONAL ROADS FUND: RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS

Item1983–841984–851985–86
Receipts—$(000)
  Motor spirits duty (less refunds)138,720157,594189,248
  Road user charges (less refunds)96,600164,098210,520
  Other taxation, etc.6,96512,45123,837
  Contribution from Consolidated Account93,00025,000
  Receipts from land and property6,2705,15210,257
  Miscellaneous1,4311,8011,418
  Interest463176215
  Excess of payments over receipts6,697
      Total receipts343,449372,969435,495
Payments—
  State highways maintenance108,345120,167143,012
  State highways construction51,60162,59654,936
  Subsidies to local authorities144,925158,157170,287
  Administration and general expenses28,39127,13232,559
  Purchase of land and property4,647
  Unauthorised expenditure537
  Excess of receipts over payments6,27730,047
      Total payments343,449372,969435,495
      Balance at end of year14,7418,04438,091
Source: The Treasury.

Table 27.5. LOANS ACCOUNTS: RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS

Items1983–841984–851985–86

* Includes capital equipment credit arrangements.

† For 1984 settlement of the Reserve Bank Indemnity has been Included as a permanent appropriation payment in the Loans Account. For 1985 settlement has been made by a cash payment from the Consolidated Account.

Source: The Treasury.

Receipts$(000)
Loans raised—
  In New Zealand5,244,5235,403,3023,876,277
  Overseas*1,726,0472,854,2881,972,008
International Finance Agreements Act 1961—
  Non-negotiable, non-interest-bearing stock and notes issued to international financial institutions203,6466,913276,309
Securities issued: Reserve Bank indemnity116,703
      Total receipts7,290,9198,264,5036,124,594
Payments   
Permanent appropriations—
  Subscriptions—Asian Development Bank (ADB)1,0401,4011,149
    International Bank For Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)412539468
    International Monetary Fund (IMF)45,3762
Encashment of securities—Asian Development Bank401003,000
    International Bank for Reconstruction and Development100120160
Charges and expenses of raising loans
  New Zealand87,965345,584332,044
  Overseas20,69157,75411,108
Reserve Bank indemnity116,703
      Total, permanent appropriations272,327405,498347,931
Annual appropriations—
  Development of industry—
    Energy268,601233,290197,900
Social services—
    Housing Corporation30,20060,20062,450
Miscellaneous investment and financing transactions—
  Capital participation—
    Export-Import Corporation-2,000
    Bank of New Zealand19,250
    New Zealand Steel Development Ltd125,00096,000
    Petroleum Corporation of New Zealand Ltd31,53858,057
    Tourist Hotel Corporation of New Zealand4,2942,4301,201
  Housing Corporation139,700229,100155,100
  Post Office299,396
  Rural Banking and Finance Corporation251,000175,00080,000
      Total, annual appropriations869,583854,077798,047
Loan receipts from previous year allocated211
Capital equipment purchased under credit arrangements116,56270,03237,786
Transfer to consolidated account2,430,0002,115,0001,580,000
Transfer to loans redemption account3,390,0004,785,0003,120,000
Security in favour of—
  Asian Development Bank (ADB)1,5382,0831,724
  International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)3,6634,8304,208
  International Monetary Fund (IMF)198,445270,377
      Total payments7,282,3298,236,5206,160,073
    Excess of receipts over payments8,59027,983Cr 35,479
 7,290,9198,264,5036,124,594

Table 27.6. PUBLIC ACCOUNTS: SUMMARY OF BALANCES

AccountBalance at 31 March
1983198419851986

* Cash received but not yet allocated.

Source: The Treasury.

 $(000)
Consolidated Account104,113108,688117,153121,460
Loans Redemption Account999,7531,104,1091,790,9921,857,299
Loans Account68,03176,621104,60469,125
National Roads Fund8,46414,7418,04438,091
Reserve Account506,014518,345383,909363,635
Suspense Account*4261348862,103
Trust Account35,27247,81439,34793,776
      Total1,722,0731,870,4522,444,9352,545,489

Table 27.7. PUBLIC ACCOUNTS: COMPOSITION OF TOTAL BALANCES

NatureAt 31 March
1983198419851986
 $(000)
Cash91,50993,688114,773121,243
Imprests77,49376,794106,792113,109
Investments in New Zealand561,547745,9151,131,9151,191,870
Investments overseas991,524954,0551,091,4551,119,267
      Total1.722,0731,870,4522,444,9352,545,489
Source: The Treasury.

27.2 Taxation

The following summary of the New Zealand tax system takes into account all relevant amending legislation effective at 31 March 1987. The tax year is from 1 April to 31 March.

Personal income tax

Income tax is levied under the Income Tax Act 1976 and is chargeable on most forms of income received by individuals, companies, and estates.

Income, because of its many forms, is not exhaustively defined, but includes earnings from the following: property; labour or effort; pensions, estates, and trusts (pensions paid by countries with which New Zealand has a double tax agreement, are generally exempt from tax in the country of origin and subject to tax in New Zealand. If a pension is taxed in the country of origin, credit is allowed in a New Zealand income tax assessment for the overseas tax paid to the extent that it does not exceed New Zealand tax payable on that income); value of benefit allowances received in cash or kind; unemployment benefits and other income-tested benefits paid by the Department of Social Welfare; and wages or income (earnings-related compensation) paid by the Accident Compensation Corporation where a taxpayer is unable to work because of personal injury or incapacity.

There is no capital gains tax in New Zealand but certain ‘gains’ are deemed to be income.

These are profits on the sale of patent rights, and profits on the sale of property (land and buildings). Generally, profits from ordinary sales of a person's private residence, business, or farm property, are exempt from tax.

Apart from ordinary sales of a person's residence, business, or farm property, profits on sale of property are subject to income tax where the owner:

  • ○ acquires the property for the purpose or intention of resale;

  • ○ deals in property;

  • ○ is a builder;

  • ○ makes a profit which is primarily due to rezoning or likely rezoning;

  • ○ subdivides the property within 10 years of purchase; or

  • ○ subdivides the property more than 10 years after purchase and carries out extensive subdivisional work before selling. (Only the ‘development profit’ is taxable in this case.).

‘Pay as You Earn' system.

A ‘Pay as You Earn’ (PAYE) system of collecting income tax is used for individuals.

Income for PAYE purposes falls into two general classes—

Salaries, wages and other remuneration—With these, PA YE tax is deducted at time of payment.

Business, farming, investment, and professional incomes—With these incomes, tax is not deducted at time of receipt but the taxpayer pays ‘provisional tax’, usually based on the income tax paid for the previous year.

In both cases an adjustment or ‘square-up’ is made when the return of income for the particular year is furnished. Tax, which is called ‘terminal tax’, is assessed on the basis of the annual return, and credit is allowed for the tax deductions or provisional tax paid during the year. If there is an overpayment the taxpayer will receive a refund or credit against future tax—if insufficient tax was paid there will be further tax to pay.

At the beginning of each year employees complete a tax code declaration, which also incorporates a tax deduction certificate. The certificate is returned to the employee on termination of employment or at the end of the financial year and shows the total amount of income earned; tax deducted; extra pays; superannuation deducted; the period of employment; and tax-free allowances.

This information is used when the employee completes a tax return at the end of the tax year.

Family support.

The Family Support Tax Credit and Guaranteed Minimum Family Income Schemes were introduced on 1 October 1986 to replace the Family Rebate which had previously been available through the income tax system.

These schemes are designed to assist low-income families by providing regular financial assistance throughout the year rather than a lump sum payment at the end of each financial year, as had been the case with the previous income tax rebate. The entitlements are paid out in equal amounts to each spouse through one of three methods:

  • ○ By reducing the PAYE tax deducted from a person's wages and thereby increasing the ‘take home pay’; or

  • ○ As a social welfare benefit or an increase to an existing benefit; or

  • ○ As an income tax credit at the end of the financial year.

Families with children for whom family benefit is payable are eligible for the additional benefit from the Family Support Tax Credit and Guaranteed Minimum Family Income Schemes. The Family Support entitlement is $1,872 for the first child and a further $832 for every additional child. This is reduced by 18 cents for every dollar of gross family income over $14,000. The Guaranteed Minimum Family Income Scheme ensures that a family's net income is at least $10,816 per annum.

Annual returns of income.

Most salary and wage earners file tax returns each year and refunds can arise as a result of exemptions and rebates being claimed which are not allowed for in the tax code declaration, or being employed for part of the year only. Most salary and wage earners use the return form IR 5, which is required to be completed and sent to the Inland Revenue Department by 7 June. Salary and wage earners are assessed on their total taxable income, less any deduction for expenses and special exemptions. Rebates and the taxes previously paid are deducted from the tax assessed to give either a refund or further tax to pay. About 70 percent of returns result in a refund. For more about tax exemptions and rebates see below.

Provisional tax.

Individuals who are self-employed or in partnership, or who receive income from investments, pay provisional tax. Provisional tax is payable in instalments—generally in two payments, one in September and the other in the following March.

Provisional tax is calculated using as a base the income received during the previous financial year.

Provisional taxpayers use form IR 3 which is to be furnished by 7 September. Expenses are deducted from the gross business or investment income and tax is calculated on the net income less any special exemptions. Credit is given for the provisional tax already paid and for any rebates. If there is an overpayment the taxpayer will receive a refund or credit against future tax. If insufficient tax was paid there will be further tax to pay.

Deductions for expenses.

People in business—Expenses which are incurred in producing income and are relevant and incidental to deriving that income, may be claimed as a deduction from income. Expenses of a private, domestic, or capital nature are not deductible.

Salary and wage earners—Salary and wage earners may claim 2 percent of salary or wages up to a maximum claim of $52 without receipt. Actual and reasonable income-related expenses, which are supported by receipts or other appropriate evidence, may also be claimed, less any reimbursing allowances paid by employers.

Exempt income.

Income is exempt from tax in New Zealand only if provisions are made in the Income Tax Act 1976.

Some of the more common items exempt from tax are the following: maintenance or alimony payments; the first $200 of interest and dividends from all sources; some war pensions and service disability pensions; interest on National Development Bonds (not exceeding $500 in any one year); income derived by charitable and certain nonprofit organisations; lottery and raffle prizes.

Special exemption.

A special exemption is deducted from the income before tax is calculated.

Table 27.8. SPECIAL EXEMPTION: YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 1987

ExemptionAmount
Life insurance, personal accident and sickness premiums paid for self, wife, or children, and superannuation.The amount paid or contributed up to a maximum exemption of—
  $1,200 if a member of an employer-subsidised superannuation fund for the whole year with proportionate increases if a member for only part of the year.   $1,400 in other cases.
NOTE: Contracts entered into after 8 November 1984 are limited to designated superannuation schemes, policies of pension insurance and specified medical funds. Premiums paid to overseas life insurance companies are allowable.
Source: Inland Revenue Department.

Rebates.

Rebates are deducted from the total tax payable.

Table 27.9. REBATES: YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 1987

RebateAmount

* In order to correctly calculate both the principal income earner and family rebates where a person enters or leaves New Zealand, the income derived during that part of the year he or she was resident in New Zealand is grossed up to its full-year equivalent.

Source: Inland Revenue Department.

Principal income earner*Allowable to individuals other than children; spouses of principal income earners; national superannuitants; principal income earners eligible for the family rebate.
Individuals whose income—
  Is up to (and including) $6,117, qualify for a rebate of 4.25 cents for $1 of income.
  Exceeds $6,117 but does not exceed $12,000, qualify for a rebate of $260.
  Exceeds $12,000 a rebate of $260 diminished by 8.25 cents per $1 of the excess.
Family rebate*Allowable to the principal income earner of a family with a child for whom the family benefit is paid. It is also available to widows, widowers and other solo parents who are in receipt of the family benefit.
  The full rebate of $962 is claimable where the combined incomes of the spouses do not exceed $9,800 for the year.
 Where the combined income is—
  Over $9,800 and up to $14,000, the rebate will abate at 7.5 cents for each $1 of income in excess of $9,800.
  Over $14,000 the rebate will abate at 10 cents for each $1 of income in excess of $14,000.
  No rebate is payable for combined incomes of $20,470 and over.
Transitional tax allowanceThis can be claimed if net income was under $9,880 and the taxpayer worked for more than 20 hours each week. Can be claimed in addition to the Principle Income Earner rebate. Further information is available from the Inland Revenue Department.
Housekeeper (under certain circumstances)Limited to the smaller of 33 cents for each complete dollar of payment made or $310.
Dependent relativeLimited to the smaller of 33 cents for each complete dollar contributed to the support of a relative, or $60.   A maximum of two dependants may be claimed.
Child rebateIf the taxpayer was a child for whom the Family Benefit was payable, a rebate of $156 can be claimed.
Special home, farm, or fishing-vessel ownership account45 cents for each $1 of annual savings increase in Special Home, or Farm Ownership or Fishing Vessel Ownership Account. Maximum rebateable savings are: Home Ownership—$3,000 per year (rebate $1,350); Farm Ownership—$5,000 per year (rebate $2,250); Fishing Vessel Ownership—$5,000 per year (rebate $2,250).
First home mortgage rebateA rebate of 31 cents for each dollar of qualifying interest is allowable to first home owners who also occupy the property. The maximum rebate is $1,000 in any one year and the rebate is allowable in respect of the first five years of ownership. The property must have been acquired prior to 9 November 1984.
Donations and school fees33 percent of all qualifying charitable donations and school fees. The maximum rebate being $200. The minimum qualifying payment for charitable donations is $5.

Table 27.10. PERSONAL INCOME TAX RATES: YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 1987

Taxable IncomeBasic Tax RateTotal
 cents$
    0–6,00017.501,050.00
  6,001–9,50024.001,890.00
  9,501–25,00031.506,772.50
25,001–30,00037.558,650.00
30,001–38,00052.0512,814.00
  Over 38,00057.00
Source: Inland Revenue Department.

For the year ended 31 March 1987 there was a 21.5 percent surcharge on a national superannuitant's income other than national superannuation. An exemption of $7,202 applies to that other income before the surchage takes effect. For married couples their combined exemption is $12,012.

Residential qualifications to pay income tax

New Zealand residents—New Zealand residents are liable to New Zealand tax on all income including income from outside New Zealand. Credit is allowed for any tax paid overseas, but this is limited to the New Zealand tax payable on that income.

A New Zealand resident is defined for tax purposes as a person whose permanent place of abode is in New Zealand. In general where a person is present in New Zealand for a period of not less than 365 days, he or she will be classified as a New Zealand resident throughout that period. Conversely a person absent from New Zealand for a period of not less than 365 days will generally be treated as not resident during that absence. This means that people who come to New Zealand with the intention of residing permanently or to stay more than 365 days are taxed on their total income from all sources, both inside and outside New Zealand, as from the date of arrival.

Visitors—A person who comes to New Zealand and intends to stay less than 365 days is taxed as a visitor or non-resident. If he/she stays for a longer period he/she is normally deemed to be a resident for tax purposes. A person not resident in New Zealand is liable to New Zealand tax on income from New Zealand but not on income from outside New Zealand.

Visitors are taxed on income from a New Zealand employer for personal services while in New Zealand; income from an overseas employer for personal services in New Zealand (there are certain exemption periods which are outlined in the following paragraphs); and any other income from New Zealand sources. The employer deducts the tax from the salary or wages of a visitor in the same way as for a resident, and in an annual assessment the visitor is allowed a proportion of the rebates allowable to a New Zealand resident. The proportion is based on the amount of time spent working in New Zealand. Visitors are not entitled to claim the special exemption in respect of life Insurance, or superannuation payments.

A visitor (other than a public entertainer) who performs personal (including professional) services in New Zealand for an overseas employer is exempt from New Zealand tax provided:

  1. the length of the visit or visits is not more than 92 days in any income year; and

  2. the income received from the performance of those personal services in New Zealand is chargeable with tax in the country where the visitor is normally resident.

Public entertainers are subject to a withholding tax of 20 percent on the gross income derived by them. This is a final tax unless the entertainer considers that the true rate will be lower. To be taxed at a lower rate a return of the income received and expenses incurred in New Zealand must be furnished.

Agreements to avoid double taxation have been entered into between New Zealand and Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Fiji, Finland, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Japan, Italy, Korea, Malaysia, The Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. A visitor from one of these countries who receives income for personal services in New Zealand from an overseas employer should refer to the relevant agreement. Depending on the circumstances and the terms of the particular agreement, the exemption period of 92 days could be extended.

Non-residents—The Income Tax Act 1976 also covers persons who are not resident in New Zealand during any part of the income year, but who derive income from a New Zealand source. A withholding tax is imposed on the following classes of income derived from New Zealand by nonresidents—dividends, interest, and royalties as defined payments.

The rate of tax is 30 percent on the gross payments of dividends, and 15 percent on gross payments of interest and royalties. It is a final tax on dividends, cultural royalties and on interest, except where the borrower and the lender are associated persons. On other royalties, ‘know how’ payments, and interest where the payer and payee are associated persons, it is a minimum tax. A later assessment may be made if the rate of income tax on the income is greater than the withholding tax.

These provisions may be varied by the double tax agreements, and the relevant agreement should be referred to.

Capital brought into New Zealand—Capital brought into New Zealand is free from tax, and there is no limit on the amount that may be brought into the country. However, income earned from investing that capital is taxable.

Fringe benefit tax

This tax took effect from 1 April 1985. It is a tax at 45 percent of the value of taxable fringe benefits provided by an employer to an employee. It is payable by the employer quarterly during the year. There are three main groups of taxable fringe benefits. These are:

  1. The private use or enjoyment of a motor vehicle, or the availability of a motor vehicle for private use or enjoyment, by an employee;

  2. Low-interest loans; and

  3. Other employment-related benefits, i.e., free, subsidised or discounted transport, goods and services (other than transport).

Company taxation

Company taxation is also levied under the Income Tax Act 1976, although companies in New Zealand are taxed in a different way to individual taxpayers. The main differences are that:

  • ○ A company does not get any of the special exemptions or rebates which the individual taxpayer may claim;

  • ○ A company does not get the interest exemptions;

  • ○ Dividends received by a company incorporated in New Zealand are exempt from income tax. This exemption does not apply to life insurance companies; and

  • ○ The rate of income tax is different.

New Zealand companies.

Income tax—Resident companies pay tax on their income at the flat rate of 48 cents in the dollar.

Excess retention tax—Privately-controlled New Zealand investment companies are liable for an ‘excess retention tax’ if the investment company does not pay a dividend equal to at 'east 40 percent of its tax-paid profits and 100 percent of its dividends from other companies. The rate of excess retention tax is 35 cents in the dollar on any ‘insufficient distribution’. A refund of excess retention tax paid will be made if, in a later year, the investment company declares a dividend greater than the amount needed for that year.

Special types of companies.

Differing methods of assessment apply to overseas shipping companies, life insurance companies and certain types of mining companies.

Non-resident companies.

Non-resident companies are taxed in the same way as resident companies except that they pay an additional tax of 5 percent of their income on top of the 48 percent rate payable by a resident company. Dividends paid to non-residents are subject to a non-resident withholding tax of 30 percent of the gross income. A withholding tax of 15 percent is payable on interest and royalties. Both of these rates may be limited by the various double tax agreements. This is the final liability except for interest paid between associated persons and royalties (other than ‘cultural’ royalties), when there may be an end-of-year assessment.

These provisions may be varied by a double taxation agreement and the relevant agreement should be referred to. Special concessions apply to non-resident investment companies receiving dividends or interest from approved ‘development investments’, and processors of minerals to the primary metal stage under a ‘special development project’.

Incentive legislation.

There are tax incentives to help New Zealand's export drive and to encourage agricultural development, mining, fishing, winemaking, and other industries. Some of these are being phased out. Full details are obtainable from the Inland Revenue Department.

Goods and services tax (GST)

This new tax took effect from 1 October 1986. it is a broad-based consumer tax levied at a flat rate of 10 percent on all goods and services supplied in New Zealand by a registered person.

GST does not cover private recreation pursuits or hobbies, employment under a contract of service, or exempt activities. It does apply to some business sales of land and property, local authority rates, fire and general insurance and supplies made by government departments.

Suppliers of goods and services who are registered for GST pay GST on purchases of goods and services, but a credit may be claimed for this tax. Therefore no GST is borne by the supplier, who includes GST in the price of the goods and services sold. This amount, less the input tax paid, is remitted with a GST return to the Inland Revenue Department. GST is therefore only borne by the final consumer.

Registration for GST is compulsory where the value of gross turnover exceeds $24,000 in any 12- month period. Registration is optional for persons with an annual turnover under $24,000 but there are advantages in registering, as unregistered persons cannot claim a credit for GST included in their costs.

The point at which GST is levied is generally the earlier date of invoice or payment.

The standard return period is two months.

Taxes relating to property and transactions

Land tax.

Land tax is assessed on the total ‘land value’ of land owned at 31 March each year after allowing any special exemption. Both companies and individual taxpayers are liable to land tax, which is due and payable on 7 October each year. The last day for payment is 7 November.

Various types of land, including land used solely or principally for farming or agricultural activities, and various land owners are exempt from land tax.

Special exemption—The exemption is $175,000 reduced by $1 for every $1 by which the ‘land value’ exceeds $175,000. Thus no exemption is allowable when the ‘land value’ exceeds $350,000.

Rate of land tax—Land tax is charged at a flat rate of 2 percent of the taxable land value (land value after exemptions).

Special adjustments—There are special adjustments for absentee owners and in addition companies and estates can be subject to a special basis of assessment.

Estate duty.

Generally, estate duty is a tax on the total net wealth of a deceased person.

The first $450,000 of the final balance of a deceased estate is exempt from death duties, but a 40 percent duty is payable on any amount above $450,000.

The following reliefs have been abolished: widows; widowers; infant children; orphan infant children; and lineal ancestors or lineal descendants in the estates of deceased servicemen. However, there are the following exemptions from estate duty:

Joint family homes—A home registered under the Joint Family Homes Act 1964 is excluded from the dutiable estate of the first spouse to die,

Matrimonial home allowance—Where the deceased had an interest in a matrimonial home (other than a joint family home) that interest is excluded if the home or other property of equivalent value passes to the surviving spouse.

Pensions from superannuation funds—These are excluded from the estate up to $2,000 per annum if payable to the deceased's spouse for the rest of his or her life or until remarriage.

Personal chattels—The value of any furniture and personal effects passing to the surviving spouse is excluded from the dutiable estate. In addition, the first $6,000 of personal chattels passing to any other person is also excluded from the estate.

Charitable bequests—Bequests to charities of up to $25,000 are exempt from duty.

The pamphlet Estate and Gift Duties, available from the Inland Revenue Department, supplies more information.

Stamp duty.

Stamp duty is payable on documents, executed in New Zealand or elsewhere, affecting property situated, or to be situated, in New Zealand.

Table 27.11. RATES OF STAMP DUTY

Type of DocumentRate of Duty
Transfer of—
  Mortgage, debenture, shares, share rights, mining rights40 cents for each $100 or part of $100 of the value of the property.
  All other property, including land1 percent for the first $50,000 of the value of the property; 1.5 percent for the excess over $50,000 up to $100,000; 2 percent for the excess over $100,000.
Leases—
  Rentals40 cents for each $100 or part of $100 of 1 year's rent.
Deed$10.
Duplicate or counterpart$1.
Cheques (as from 4 July 1980)5 cents for each bill of exchange.
Source: Inland Revenue Department.

The pamphlet Stamp Duty, available from the Inland Revenue Department, supplies more information.

Gift duty.

Individual or aggregated gifts with a value of over $27,000 are subject to gift duty.

A gift statement is required to be filed with the Inland Revenue Department for any gift or gifts valued at $12,000 or more.

There is an exemption for small gifts of up to $2,000 in value made by a donor in good faith as part of the normal expenditure.

Table 27.12. RATES OF GIFT DUTY*

Value of Item ‘b’ in section 62Rate

* Applies to all dutiable gifts made on or after 1 April 1984.

Source: Inland Revenue Department.

               $ 
Not exceeding 27,000Nil
27,001–36,0005 percent on excess over $27,000
36,001–54,000$450 plus 10 percent of excess over $36,000
54,001–72,000$2,250 plus 20 percent of exess over $54,000
Exceeding 72,000$5,850 plus 25 percent of excess over $72,000

Credit card transaction duty.

A duty of 5 cents is charged for each transaction entered into by the holders of multi-purpose credit cards.

Roads taxation

Prior to 31 March 1978 the National Roads Fund derived its revenues from a tax on motor spirits, heavy traffic licence fees, and a mileage tax on vehicles not using motor spirits. From 1 April 1978 road user charges replaced heavy traffic licence fees and mileage tax. Other revenues of the fund, which are not classed as taxation, consist of interest earned, and miscellaneous receipts—e.g., fees and fines from overweight vehicles and receipts from the sale of materials. The tax on petrol paid to the fund is 8.9 cents per litre.

The Local Government Act 1974 authorises territorial local authorities to levy a local authorities petroleum tax on motor spirits and diesel fuel. The proceeds of any tax imposed are distributed among the constituent local authorities according to their proportions of total rate revenue. This legislation was designed to spread the rating burden of taxpayers. The maximum tax rate permissible is 0.66 cents per litre on motor spirits, and 0.33 cents per litre on diesel fuel.

A tax on compressed natural gas (cng) was imposed from 1 April 1982 initially at the rate of $1.74 per gigajoule. It is now $2.59 per gigajoule.

Liquefied petroleum gas (lpg) is taxed at 6.86 cents per litre.

Racing taxation

The government taxation on totalisator turnover is at the rate of 5.5 percent of gross on-course and off-course investments for each day of a race meeting conducted by a totalisator club. For race meetings conducted by a restricted totalisator club the rate for each day of a race meeting is 5 percent of the amount (if any) by which the gross investments on that day's races exceeds $300,000. A totalisator club is entitled to a rebate of duty equal to 2½ percent of the first $100,000 of the gross investments received by the club in any one year.

Totalisator turnover for the year ended 31 July 1986 rose by 9.01 percent, from $766.8 million in the previous year to $835.9 million.

Taxation review authorities

The Inland Revenue Department Act provides for the establishment of one or more taxation review authorities. There are at present four authorities. Each consists of one person who is a barrister or solicitor of the High Court of not less than seven years practice, and is appointed by the Governor-General. The functions of the authority are to sit as a judicial authority for hearing and determining such objections to assessments of tax or duty, or the decisions or determinations of the Commissioner of Inland Revenue, as are authorised by the relevant legislation. A determination of an authority is subject to an appeal to the High Court as to any question of fact (where the tax or duty exceeds $2,000) and to any question of law.

Tax revenue

A summary of income tax revenue and total public account taxation revenue is given for a series of years in table 27.13.

Table 27.13. SUMMARY OF TAX REVENUE*

Year Ended 31 MarchIncome TaxPercentage of Total Taxation (All Sources)Total Public Account Taxation
TotalPer Head of Mean PopulationTotal*Per Head of Mean Population

* Includes taxation revenue paid into both the Consolidated Account and the National Roads Fund.

Source: The Treasury.

 $(million)$      $(million)$     
19752,136.0701.0174.52,865.3940.37
19804,465.61,429.1074.26,020.01,926.52
19815,298.91,683.9675.27,050.52,240.59
19826,514.72,060.2574.08,798.02,782.33
19837,455.52,335.5473.810,097.53.163.17
19847,453.32,304.0371.510,431.23,224.64
19858,348.52,556.7370.111,913.63,648.61
198610,567.23,210.9474.214,235.94,325.70

Table 27.14. RECEIPTS OF TAXATION

Item1982–831983–841984–851985–86

* Additional to portions paid into National Roads Fund.

Source: The Treasury

 $(million)
Consolidated Account—
  Direct taxation—
    Income tax7,455.57,453.38,348.510,567.2
    Estate and gift duty31.833.031.728.4
    Land tax34.436.243.755.9
      Total, direct taxation7,521.87,522.58,423.910,651.5
  Indirect taxation—
    Customs and excise duty511.8606.3794.6741.5
    Beer duty149.1199.3209.0225.3
    Motor spirits duty*184.4224.1224.8208.7
    Motor vehicles fees and charges86.197.4102.0121.5
    Sales tax1,211.71,312.31,561.01,553.6
    Film-hire tax1.21.61.40.4
    Racing duty*57.062.667.069.8
    International departure tax14.714.715.616.7
    Domestic air travel tax10.512.513.917.7
    Energy resources levy40.244.252.872.1
  Stamp duties—
    On instalments54.866.787.1110.4
    On cheques, etc.14.015.016.316.8
    Lottery duty6.99.710.29.4
      Total, indirect taxation2,342.72,666.43,155.53,160.8
      Total taxation receipts to Consolidated Account9,864.510,188.911,579.513,812.3
National Roads Fund—
  Highways taxation233.0242.3334.1423.6
      Total public account taxation10,097.510,431.211,913.614,235.9

Table 27.15. COMPARISON OF PUBLIC ACCOUNT TAXATION AND NATIONAL DISPOSABLE INCOME

Year Ended 31 MarchNational Disposable IncomePublic Account Taxation
TotalPercentage of National Disposable Income
 $(million)percent
198225,361x8,798.034.7x
198328,202x10,097.535.8x
198430,370x10,431.234.3x
198534,434x11,913.634.6x
198639,277x14,235.936.2x
Source: The Treasury.

Table 27.16. NATIONAL ROADS FUND: TAXATION RECEIPTS FOR ROADS PURPOSES*

Year Ended 31 MarchMotor Spirits DutyCng/LpgHeavy Traffic and Other FeesRoad User ChargesTotal

* Refunds have been deducted.

† Less rebates and collection expenses.

Source: National Roads Board.

 $(000)
1982128,53582,533211,068
1983131,9583,20090996,948233,015
1984138,7206,959..96,600242,279
1985157,59012,450164,100334,140
1986189.24823,835210,537423,620

Death duty.

Statistics relating to deceased persons estates certified for duty during the year ended 3.1 March 1985 are given in the following tables. Estates of Maoris are included, but not hereditary interests in Maori land.

Table 27.17. ESTATES CERTIFIED BY SIZE OF ESTATE VALUE, 1984–85

Net Value of EstateEstates of MalesEstates of FemalesTotal EstatesAggregate Net Value of EstatesEstate Duties Assessed
$(000)No.No.No.$(000)$(000)
    Under 4171141312650
    4 and under 611086196990
    6 and under 81201692892,014
    8 and under 101571773343,004
  10 and under 121531432963,269
  12 and under 141651473124,044
  14 and under 161661433094,635
  16 and under 181421542965,026
  18 and under 201421633055,802
  20 and under 221531483016,320
  22 and under 241661413077,051
  24 and under 3045845991724,733
  30 and under 3536036172123,379
  35 and under 4039437977328,9015
  40 and under 4533935169029,391
  45 and under 5034930565431,077
  50 and under 606235751,19865,5787
  60 and under 7048439487856,964
  70 and under 8037830067850,632
  80 and under 9033623657248,58010
  90 and under 10023418742139,959
100 and under 12035427062468,2607
120 and under 14025618844457,569
140 and under 16020410430845,80833
160 and under 20027914742676,034
200 and under 26021010831872,23321
260 and under 3501826024272,4698
350 and under 40061198030,090104
400 and under 45050146427,068269
450 and under 5001922110,024391
500 and over963112796,05615,032
      Total, 1984–857 3116 10213,413997,60915,890
      Total, 1983–847 7846 51314,297887,31614,933

The average net value per estate certified during 1984–85 was $74,376. Estates of males averaged $84,277 in value and estates of females $62,514. Duty assessed on estates of males amounted to $12.0 million and on estates of females $3.9 million

Table 27.18. AVERAGE ESTATE DUTY ASSESSED, 1984–85

Net Value of EstateAverage Duty AssessedAverage Duty as Percentage of Average Net Value of Estate
Estates of MalesEstates of FemalesCombined AverageEstates of MalesEstates of FemalesCombined Average
$(000)$(000)Percent
       Under 400
400 and under 4504.53.04.21.10.71.0
450 and under 50019.69.618.64.12.03.9
500 and under 60033.839.835.26.37.36.5
600 and under 65070.873.671.311.411.611.4
650 and under 70085.392.486.812.613612.8
700 and under 750120.2104.8117.216.614.716.2
750 and under 800130.4168.2141.216.921.818.3
800 and under 900142.6177.2147.616.619.817.1
900 and under 1000216.8219.1217.822.823.122.9
1000 and under 1500311.0207.6278.625.419.423.7
1500 and over429.6438.5431.423.827.724.6
All estates, 1984–851.61.01.21.91.01.6
All estates, 1983–841.41.01.02.01.21.7

Table 27.19. ASSETS AND DEBTS BY SIZE OF ESTATE CERTIFIED FOR DUTY, 1984–85

Item Net Value of Estate*
Under $6,000$6,000 and Under $10,000$10,000 and Under $20,000$20,000 and Under $24,000$24,000 and Under $40,000$40,000 and Under $100,000$100,000 and Under $200,000$200,000 and OverAll Estates

* No allowance is made for the matrimonial home allowances.

† Excludes any interests in joint family homes.

‡ Only debts allowable under the Estate and Gift Duties Act are included.

Gross assets
Cash$(000)1,2673,52410,4524,61421,92276,52347,00135,812201,116
Average per estate$2,4955,6576,8867,5899,09315,03126,08342,03214,994
Furniture, effects, etc.$(000)1572581,1205002,75110,4357,8126,57929,611
Average per estate$3084137388221,1412,0504,3357,7222,208
Farm stock, implements, etc.$(000)231337421438592,3718,86912,654
Average per estate$45212464591691,31610,410943
Private business interests$(000)231862362721,8614,52820,37027,171
Average per estate$452941601133662,51323,9092,026
Assurance policies$(000)2954532,2251,0514,45716,95710,9987,87944,317
Average per estate$5807271,4661,7291,8493,3316,1039,2483,304
Loans$(000)1501531,6731,0146,26627,34931,26342,964110,832
Average per estate$2962451,1021,6672,5995,37217,34950,4288,263
Shares, etc.$(000)1534442,2931,3797,15239,09447,00281,361178,879
Average per estate$3017121,5112,2682,9677,67926,08395,49513,336
Real property$(000)4478546,1765,08133,814139,97681,88988,336356,573
Average per estate$8791,3714,0698,35814,02527,49545,444103,68026,584
Other property$(000)1061115523701,6168,3808,0329,09228,258
Average per estate$2081783646096701,6464,45710,6712,107
Notional estate$(000)79901,1365123,24712,20311,12313,00241,391
Average per estate$1551447488421,3472,3976,17215,2603,086
Overseas property$(000)11859801451,4652,49610,03014,293
Average per estate$32839132602881,38511,7721,066
Debts
Unsecured$(000)7407962,0349023,4849,3394,2809,28030,854
Secured$(000)3191211,3133671,2883,5832,5657,07616,632
    Total$(000)1,0599173,3471,2694,77212,9226,84516,35647,487
Average debt per estate$2,0851,4712,2052,0871,9792,5383,79919,1973,540
Net value of estate$(000)1,6405,01822,77613,37177,013322,181247,670307,939997,609
Average per estate$3,2298,05515,00421,99231,94363,284137,441361,43174,376

Realty comprised 34.1 percent of gross estate assets, while the proportion of cash was 19.2 percent.

Table 27.20. DECEASED PERSONS' ESTATES BY OCCUPATIONS, 1984–85

Occupational GroupUnder $20,000$ 20,000 to 39,999$ 40,000 to 59,999$ 60,000 to 99,999$ 100,000 to 139,000$ 140,000 to 259,000$ 260,000 and OverTotal
* Including retired persons and unpaid household workers.
 Number of Estates
Physical life scientists, technicians, etc.2182-1115
Architects, engineers, technicians, aircraft and ships officers1621 3618179141
Medical, dental, veterinary, and related workers20291932173916172
Teachers, Energy and jurists37436761252412269
Artists, authors, sportsmen and sportswomen and related workers11814649-52
Professional, technical, administrative and managerial workers678610015010812492727
Clerical and related workers13717815516671507764
Transport and communication workers1428262092-99
Sales workers8511196107424726514
Protective service workers, armed forces, etc.1517121564-69
Housekeepers, cooks, waiters, maids, etc.1821121448178
Caretakers, launderers, hairdressers, and related service workers2323131437184
Farmers and farm managers861321512391532632191,243
Agriculture, animal husbandry, and forestry workers, fishermen and hunters6570464415104254
Miners, quarrymen, well drillers, production supervisors, etc.2334282544118
Metal and chemical processers etc.5979131
Spinners, weavers, knitters, dyers, etc.4457121
Food, beverage, and tobacco processers65564927853213
Tailors, dressmakers, shoemakers and leather goods makers etc.1017141062-59
Machinery fitters, assemblers, instrument makers, electrical fitters and related electrical and electronic workers84121939126194438
Jewellery, glass formers, potters, printers, and production workers n.e.c.4448353463-170
Painters, bricklayers, carpenters, cabinet makers and other related construction workers153187133126452910681
Stationary engine operators, material and freight handlers, transport equipment operators1361551199219102533
Labourers, and occupations not stated or not in employment*1,5271,6221,3181,2224773751276,668
      Total2 6473 0212 5422 54910681 05253413,413

Company taxation.

The definition of ‘company’ for the purposes of these statistics is extended to include government trading undertakings, co-operative companies, industrial provident societies, etc., which are liable to be assessed for income tax. Company tax returns are also completed by some unincorporated bodies and some groups of individuals (not partnerships or estates) and these are included in the survey sample.

Table 27.21 contains final estimates of the assessable income and tax assessed (after deduction of tax credits) of companies for the 1982–83 and 1983–84 income years. These company income statistics are based on a sample of the company tax returns received and are subject to varying levels of sampling error. Detailed information on the sampling methodology is available on request.

Table 27.21. COMPANY INCOMES—ASSESSABLE INCOME AND TAX ASSESSED BY INDUSTRY

Industry Division1982–331983–84
Number of Returns*Assessable IncomeTax AssessedNumber of Returns*Assessable IncomeTax Assessed

* Numbers are rounded to nearest 10.

† After deduction of export tax credits.

 $(million)$(million)
Agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing7,03030.612.66,94036.915.2
Mining and quarrying370182.782.0420171.777.3
Manufacturing10,640859.3321.410,7101,077.7364.4
Electricity, gas and water202.41.0204.62.0
Building and construction7,14088.636.57,300114.345.0
Wholesale and retail trade and restaurants and hotels24,910554.9236,725,070792.2324.9
Transport, storage and communication2,90049.620.63,00080.832.6
Financing, insurance, real estate and business services24,320688.6265.124,910961.7382.1
Community, social and personal services5,38035.916.05,56042.118.3
      Total82,7202,492.6991.983,9203,281.91,261.8

Table 27.22. INCOME OF COMPANIES

Year Ended 31 MarchNumber of ReturnsAssessable Income Before Losses*Assessable IncomeOrdinary Dividends ReceivedIncome Tax AssessedExport Tax Credits

* Assessable income before deduction of losses carried forward from previous years.

† Includes non-resident withholding tax.

 $(million)
198080,8331,718.81,464.8280.8630.5
198180,8262,186.21,865.4364.8748.5185.5
198282,1902,728.52,419.1535.1962.3259.6
198382,7202,749.92,492.6618.4991.9301.3
198483,9203,742.43,281.9863.41,261.8434.8

A strict comparison of the figures for any year with those of another is not possible, as changes in compilation practice and numerous amendments in income tax law have affected the comparability of the figures.

Table 27.23. INCOME AND EXPENDITURE OF COMPANIES, 1983–84

Industry GroupStocks at End of PeriodIncomeExpenditureDepreciation
Sales and ServicesInterest Rents and RoyaltiesPurchasesSalaries and WagesInterest Rents and Royalties
 $(million)
Agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing201.11,527.032.3303.3308.1154.872.8
Mining and quarrying22.6855.321.976.6129.363.0
Manufacturing—
  Food, beverages and tobacco848.18,202.453.54,329.51,197.5218.4171.1
  Textile, wearing apparel and leather goods364.02,028.57.7983.6472.670.734.8
  Wood and wood products, including furniture260.71,866.031.0884.3386.081.661.7
  Paper and paper products, printing and publishing314.72,251.211.4895.4514.297.268.2
  Chemicals and chemical, petroleum, coal, rubber and plastic products524.42,598.934.81,341.5371.0134.569.6
  Non-metallic mineral products except products of petroleum and coal106.3888.94.9365.5165.438.128.1
  Basic metal industries146.2916.55.5395.1122.366.128.2
  Fabricated metal products, machinery and equipment1,101.45,947.825.23,435.51,130.4156.8102.2
  Other manufacturing industries40.3204.41.2104.644.710.23.6
Electricity, gas and water3.056.40.225.07.41.32.7
Building and construction295.63,344.425.81,495.0702,473.873.6
Wholesale and retail trade and restaurants and hotels4,866.139,695.7211.431,461.92,883.9924.6296.0
Transport, storage and communication15.53,409.128.682.7719.8131.0154.5
Financing, insurance, real estate and business services82.54,564.84,204.6169.31,257.42,824.4166.4
Community, social and personal services60.41,331.723.7324.8461.861.9113.0
      Total9,253.279,689.04,723.846,597.210,821.45,174.81,439.6

One point which should be noted is that the purchase figures for the ‘agriculture, hunting, forestry, and fishing’ industry division and the ‘mining and quarrying’ industry division do not include purchases for forestry companies or for mining and quarrying companies. It was found that there was a considerable lack of uniformity in such data for that type of company. This was probably connected with differing treatments of royalty and equivalent payments.

Companies with overseas affiliations—The Department of Statistics has identified most companies operating in New Zealand that are considered to be subject to some degree of overseas control. Two types of company were selected as meeting these two criteria; first, branches of overseas organisations operating in New Zealand, and second, New Zealand registered companies with 25 percent or more of their equity shareholding subject to overseas control. The second category includes companies in which overseas residents have a 5 percent or greater shareholding and also companies which are subject to this degree of control without themselves having any overseas owners. For instance if a New Zealand company was 50 per cent owned by another New Zealand company which itself was 50 percent overseas owned, the company would qualify as having 25 percent overseas control. These are generally termed ‘second generation’ companies.

Overseas companies whose only New Zealand income is from such sources as investments, patents rights, royalties and copyrights are not included in the 1530 companies contained in the sample. Also excluded are those overseas companies such as air and shipping lines, which enjoy exemption from New Zealand income tax under the terms of double taxation agreements with their own countries.

The 25 percent minimum equity criterion used to classify a New Zealand company as subject to some degree of overseas control, approximates the definition of international private direct investment used by such organisations as the International Monetary Fund. Although the measure of overseas control of New Zealand firms varies according to a great number of circumstances, minimum holding of 25 percent does provide a consistent and practical criterion for assuming its presence.

In table 27.24 the five significant variables for the 1530 overseas controlled companies are shown in industry groups together with the totals for all companies, including the overseas controlled companies, in those industry groups. Care should be taken in comparing these results with earlier years as changes in overseas ownership occur frequently.

It also needs to be noted that the New Zealand companies include government trading departments, which may follow profit policies different from private sector companies, and for which capital values are not always included in paid-up capital. The figures suggest that there is some concentration of branches and subsidiaries of overseas companies in the manufacturing groups and mining and quarrying; these industries offer scope to large concerns with access to capital and technical expertise.

Table 27.24. COMPANIES WITH OVERSEAS AFFILIATIONS, 1982–83

Industry GroupType of CompanyReturnsAssessable IncomeIncome Tax AssessedExport Tax CreditsSalaries and Wage*Dividends Paid
* Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10.
  Number*$(million)
Agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishingOverseas404.71.11.42.40.6
All7,03030.612.64.2286.621.6
Mining and quarryingOverseas60130.158.69.527.2
All370182.782.076.728.4
Manufacturing—
  Food, beverages, and tobaccoOverseas4055.821.65.8233.315.1
All1,090213.882.534.31,177.474.6
  Textile, wearing apparel and leather goodsOverseas306.62.82.130.31.9
All1,24067.023.728.7460.715.8
  Wood and wood products, including furniture

  Paper and paper products, printing and publishing
Overseas7028.011.43.054.88.0
All2,580136.650.460.6782.068.9
  Chemicals and chemical, petroleum, coal, rubber and plastic productsOverseas110114.043.99.3198.826.8
All710144.055.715.0385.636.9
  Non-metallic mineral products except products of petroleum and coalOverseas1022.88.33.152.613.8
All43041.716.05.1150.822.3
  Basic metal industriesOverseas102.51.10.846.41.6
All1107.22.04.2115.511.2
  Fabricated metal products, machinery and equipmentOverseas190111.844.78.8354.826.2
All4,010242.989.04361,079.346.2
  Other manufacturing industriesOverseas202.91.00.88.00.8
All4606.22.13.038.45.0
Electricity, gas and water

Building and construction
Overseas309.84.517.80.5
All7,16091.037.54.0663.28.6
Wholesale and retail trade and restaurants and hotelsOverseas440126.455.25.8310.056.2
All24,910554.9236.752.12,695.7160.9
Transport, storage and communicationOverseas408.23.51.186.61.3
All2,90049.620.640.0710.616.9
Financing, insurance, real estate and business servicesOverseas440283.911.1.90.3364.8120.6
All24,320688.6265.15.61,105.2406.0
Community, social and personal servicesOverseas209.84.458.422
All5,38035.916.00.8422.09.5
      TotalOverseas1,530917.3374.042.01,828.5302.6
All82,7202,492.6991.9301.310,149.6932.6

27.3 Public debt

The principal legislative measure which is concerned with public indebtedness is the Public Finance Act 1977. The money comprising the public debt has been borrowed on the security of the public revenues of New Zealand. No portion of the public estate is pledged for either principal or interest.

At 31 March 1986, 46.0 percent of the public debt was owing to overseas investors, and 16.5 percent was held by government departments or institutions such as the Post Office, the Government Superannuation Board, and the Earthquake and War Damage Commission, The corresponding figures for the year ended 31 March 1985 were 43.9 percent and 20.6 percent respectively.

Most of the present public debt was borrowed for national development. A National Development Loans Account, into which money for national development was to be paid, was established within the Public Account as from 1 April 1942. Money from this account, now renamed the Loans Account, is transferred as required to the Consolidated Fund or to accounts now outside the public accounts such as Electricity Supply or the Housing Corporation. Transfers and appropriations during the latest three years are given in section 27.1.

Table 27.25. TOTAL PUBLIC DEBT OUTSTANDING

Type and CurrencyOutstanding at 31 MarchIncrease or Decrease
19851986

* Treasury bills.

Source: The Treasury.

 $(000)
External debt—
  Pounds sterling1,659,0841,905,125+246,041
  Deutschmarks1,454,0961,419,145−34,951
  Dutch guilders151,489166,037+ 14,548
  Japanese yen3,820,5984,579,490+758,892
  Swiss francs1,849,6184,362,524+945,823
  Canadian dollars28,6041,858,682+9,064
  Australian dollars10,5174,924−5,593
  United States dollars3,416,70118,116−10,488
  Miscellaneous18,787412,154+393,367
Internal debt—
  Long-term15,537,13716,496,069+958,932
  Floating debt*299,670779,980+480,310
      Total28,246,30132,002,246+3,755,945

The net increase of $3,755.9 million in the public debt during the year ended 31 March 1986 represented a 13.3 percent rise. The external debt rose by 18.7 percent and the internal debt by 9.1 percent.

Table 27.26. EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL PUBLIC DEBT

Outstanding at 31 MarchExternal DebtInternal DebtTotal Debt
AmountPercent Increase on Previous Year
AmountPercent of Total DebtAmountPercent of Total Debt
Source: The Treasury.
 $(million) $(million) $(million) 
19771,826.629.04,462.671.06,289.213.2
19782,446.732.75,037.167.37,483.819.0
19792,920.133.15,899.466.98,819.517.8
19803,567.534.56,778.965.510,346.417.3
19814,236.136.57,381.063.511,617.112.3
19825,549.438.68,832.061.414,381.423.8
19837,764.741.410,968.058.518,732.830.3
19848,226.337.613,652.462.421,878716.8
198512,409.543.915,836.856.128,246.329.1
198614,726.246.017,276.054.032,002.213.3

A significant feature in table 27.26 is the growth of external debt as a percentage of the total public debt.

Table 27.27. GROSS INDEBTEDNESS OF CENTRAL GOVERNMENT

As at 31 MarchAmountPer Head of Population
 $(m)$     
198111,6173,663.65
198214,3814,508.13
198318,7335,799.62
198421,3796,700.05
198528,2468,582.02
198632,0029,729.12
Source: The Treasury.

Table 27.28. INTEREST PAYMENTS

Year Ended 31 MarchInterestInterest on Overseas Debt as Percentage of Exports of Goods and Services*Recovery of Interest from Government Enterprises and InvestmentsNet Interest CostNet Cost as a Percentage of Total Taxation
OverseasNew ZealandTotal

* Revised to include exports of goods and services.

† Revised to include interest credited to the Reserve Account.

Source: The Treasury.

    $(000)   
1982416,265786,6631,202,9285.0677,770525,1586.0
1983514,955960,8371,475,7925.6740,189735,6037.3
1984620,1991,394,6762,014,8755.8815,1971,199,67811.5
1985896,8081,633,2252,530,0336.71,018,2361,511,79712.7
19861,026,4272,275,9533,302,3807.61,485,8371,816,54312.8

Table 27.29. MATURITY DATES OF PUBLIC DEBT OUTSTANDING, AS AT 31 MARCH 1986

Loans Maturing in Financial Year Ending 31 March*DueTotal Debt (Nominal Amount)
OverseasNew Zealand
PublicDepartmental and Other

* The Government has the option to redeem many of the securities at an earlier date.

† At 31 March 1986 the obligation in respect of premiums on redemptions was $371,017,411.

Source: The Treasury

 $(000)
19871,440,3691,585,806560,7243,586,899
19881,415,3781,446,554623,2333,485,165
1989918,2841,987,9391,020,7453,926,968
19901,631,743712,430232,6392,576,812
19911,094,7661,265,008604,6542,964,428
19921,860,3761,000,367526,5273,387,270
19931,158,082637,830442,8732,238,785
1994373,282425,430348,3251,147,037
19951,735,236623,724370,9202,729,880
1996380,228319,998136,102836,328
1998564,653....564,653
2000..22,77562,22585,000
2001950,570....950,570
2002..80,12544,875125,000
2006380,228....380,228
2009266,798....266,798
2011285,171....285,171
2015271,033....271,033
Inflation Adjusted Savings Bonds..726,897..726,897
Kiwi Bonds..210,94531,000241,945
Kiwi Savings Stock..354,36326354,389
Our N.Z. Bonds..40,762..40,762
Premium Stock..50,14810050,248
Treasury bills..512,325267,655779,980
      Total14,726,19712,003,4265,272,62332,002,246

Table 27.30. PUBLIC DEBT TRANSACTIONS, 1985–86

 New ZealandOverseas£StgDeutschmarkDutch Guilders
 Currency $(000)
Loans raised (gross value)—
  For general purposes3,876,2771,934,222261,301....
  Capital equipment credit arrangements..37,7864,0296,499..
  For repayment of loans (incl. Tsy bills)8,980,2751,682,732274,952....
      Total, loans raised12,856,5523,654,740540,2826,499..
Loans repaid—
  For general repayments (incl. Tsy bills)11,417,3102,610,841552,773375,76030,189
  Capital equipment credit arrangements..96,40438,447....
  IBRD..1,835......
      Total, loans repaid11,417,3102,709,080591,220375,76030,189
Increase (decrease) in debt due to—
  1 June 1985 realignment..693,693303,176147,21216,448
  1 September 1985 realignment..(1,442,709)(137,025)(113,368)(11,631)
  1 December 1985 realignment..343,482(13,089)45,3415,104
  1 March 1986 realignment..1,776,577143,917255,12534,816
      Total, realignments increase (decrease)..1,371,043296,979334,31044,737
Net increase (decrease) during the year1,439,2422,316,703246,041(34,951)14,548
Public debt at 1 April 198515,836,80712,409,4941,659,0841,454,096151,489
Public debt at 31 March 198617,276,04914,726,1971,905,1251,419,145166,037
 $32,002,246   
 Japanese YenUS$Swiss FrancsAust.$Can.$Misc.
 Currency $(000)
Loans raised (gross value)—
  For general purposes261,6201,085,939......325,362
  Capital equipment credit arrangements8,58918,669........
  For repayment of loans (incl. Tsy bills)..1,407,780........
      Total, loans raised270,2092,512,388......325,362
Loans repaid—
  For general repayments (incl. Tsy bills)319,379891,523439,425....1,792
  Capital equipment credit arrangements18,38226,9001,2874,1066,0631,219
  IBRD.......1,835
      Total, loans repaid337,761918,423440,7124,1066,0634,846
Increase (decrease) in debt due to—
  1 June 1985 realignment98,187(68,644)197,067(643)(79)969
  1 September 1985 realignment(456,524)(601,390)(91,921)(901)(4,181)(25,768)
  1 December 1985 realignment433,521(176,788)45,962(434)(1,379)5,244
  1 March 1986 realignment751,260198,680298,6684911,21492,406
Total, realignments increase (decrease)826,444(648,142)449,776(1,487)(4,425)72,851
Net increase (decrease) during the year758,892945,8239,064(5,593)(10,488)393,367
Public debt at 1 April 19853,820,5983416,7011,849,61810,51728,60418,787
Public debt at 31 March 19864,579,4904,362,5241,858,6824,92418,116412,154

Table 27.31. PUBLIC DEBT HELD BY GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS

 As at 31 March
198419851986
 $(000)
Investments held by accounts within the Public Account5,8735,8725,871
Earthquake and War Damage Commission849,5151,028,3641,224,491
Government Life Insurance142,071243,437293,201
Government Superannuation Board1,077,0001,219,7801,240,188
Maori Trustee2,5551,600826
National Provident Fund142,438263,728365,321
Post Office1,517,0251,776,1731,439,094
Public Trustee6,9757,0754,800
Reserve Bank1,002,5431,077,608485,500
Housing Corporation of New Zealand87,91495,952105,117
Rural Banking and Finance Corporation72,35876,30881,169
State Insurance Office12,25018,04527,045
      Total4,918,5175,813,9425,272,623
Source: The Treasury.

27.4 Local government finance

The constitution and franchise of local authorities are described in chapter 3.

Local government is concerned with the provision of facilities for the population of a limited area, with finances levied from that area. The major local authorities are territorial; city, borough, district, and county councils. These authorities raise money mainly by rates on property and by loans. They expend it on the provision of roads, water supply, sewerage, transport, recreational and a wide range of other services. Electric power boards and harbour boards, among the larger of the other local authorities, collect revenue from consumers or users in payment for the facilities or services provided. Hospital boards and area health boards, which are funded through the Department of Health, are omitted from most of the statistics contained in this section. A special note is made where they are included, while summarised data relating to hospital boards and area health boards will be found in chapter 8.

In general, the local authority financial year ends on 31 March. Exceptions are harbour boards where the year ends on 30 September and united councils where the year ends on the last day of February.

Income

Local authorities are largely dependent on revenue from rates to carry out their activities.

Rating.

Rating provides a financial base which is independent of central government, is relatively cheap to administer and can be adapted to suit local circumstances. There are three main systems of rating:

  1. land value;

  2. capital value (i.e., land plus improvements); and

  3. annual (rental) value.

In 1985–86 most territorial authorities in New Zealand (178 of a total of 231) rate on the land value system; 22 rate on the capital value; and 10 on the annual value. A further 12 territorial authorities rate on the capital and land values in different parts of the district.

For rating on either the capital value or the land value, the rating roll is based on the district valuation roll prepared by the Valuation Department. Where the rating is on the annual value, the territorial authority generally prepares its valuation roll on the basis of the valuations made by its own valuers. Provision is made for the Valuer-General to act as a territorial authority valuer where an annual roll is to be prepared.

The Rating Act 1967 contains the machinery provisions for the making and levying of rates. The individual empowering Acts for each class of local authority contain their specific rating powers, e.g., the Local Government Act 1974 describes the rating powers of territorial authorities.

There are three broad classes of territorial authority rates:

  1. general—for general purposes;

  2. separate rates—levied for a variety of purposes including works and services, fire protection, sewerage and storm water drainage and lighting; and

  3. special rates—may be imposed to secure the repayment of loan money.

A territorial authority may levy each year on each separately rateable property a uniform annual charge not exceeding $150 (or a lesser amount in the case of any rating area where the levying of a charge of $150 would exceed the maximum authorised general rate). In addition there are a wide range of services for which uniform charges may be levied instead of separate rates.

Sales of commodities and services.

Income from the sale of commodities and services includes; the sale of electricity and gas, public transport fares, and other user charges for council facilities such as libraries, swimming pools and car parking spaces. Income from licences includes dog registration fees and inspection fees.

Grants from central government

A substantial portion of local authority revenue is derived from grants and subsidies. These grants and subsidies include:

Civil defence.

A dollar for dollar subsidy, up to a maximum based on population figures, is paid by the Ministry of Civil Defence towards civil defence expenditure on communications and rescue equipment, alteration and construction of buildings, and salaries of civil defence staff.

Community welfare, cultural and recreational facilities.

Much of the $7 million distributed by the Department of Internal Affairs to local authorities in 1985–86 was provided for recreation and sport, community and regional service projects, and art galleries and museums.

In addition, the Department of Social Welfare has funds available for territorial authorities to establish child-care schemes, rehabilitation or day-care for disabled persons, or other appropriate social-welfare programmes.

Electricity.

Assistance to local authorities for small hydro schemes is provided through the Committee on Local Hydro Development, while the Rural Electrical Reticulation Council provides subsidies towards the cost of rural distribution lines for power boards and territorial authorities.

Employment.

A range of training and employment schemes are administered by the Department of Labour. The emphasis has recently changed from fully subsidised schemes to a set of training-based programmes. On some training programmes trainees receive a training allowance from the Department of Labour. On work-based schemes, however, the employing authority is required to pay the trainee at the relevant award rate and will receive a partial subsidy from the department.

Historic places.

Local authorities which own, or are responsible for looking after a historic place or site, can apply to the Historic Places Trust for a loan or grant from that fund.

Housing.

The Housing Corporation of New Zealand administers a number of schemes relating to housing and urban renewal. These include a combination of loans and subsidies to meet up to the total cost of building fiats for the elderly and disabled, subsidies and loans for the building of relocatable granny flats, assistance to modernise older flats and provide emergency housing, and loans to build doctors' surgeries in areas where they are needed.

National Roads Board.

Funding from the National Roads Board is an important source of revenue for territorial authorities. (See chapter 22 for information on roads.)

Noxious pests and plants.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries operates a dollar for dollar subsidy scheme on the cost of noxious plant control activities. Just over $2 million was paid to district noxious plant authorities in 1985–86.

Urban passenger transport.

The Urban Transport Council was formed in 1981 and is now the funding body for all urban transport subsidy programmes. In 1985–86 the council allocated $62.4 million. All municipal and private operators and urban services administered by the New Zealand Railways Corporation are now funded through the Urban Transport Council.

Water supply, sewage disposal and wastes recycling.

A comprehensive water and sewerage subsidy scheme is administered by the Department of Health and provides assistance towards the residential content of such works. Water and sewerage subsidies totalled $17.57 million in 1984–85, the last year for which figures are available. In addition the Ministry of Works and Development provides subsidies towards the cost of piped water supply to rural areas and, together with the Rural Banking and Finance Corporation, provides for a combination of loans and grants for approved community irrigation schemes. Some finance is available from the Department of Trade and Industry for long-term waste conversion and recycling programmes.

Petroleum tax.

The Local Government Act 1974 provides for territorial authorities and united and regional councils to receive the proceeds of a tax of 0.33 cents per litre on diesel fuel and 0.66 cents per litre on petrol. In 1985–86, $17.49 million in petroleum tax was paid to local authorities. The figure for 1984–85 was $18.42 million.

Revenue sharing

In November 1985 the Government announced that ‘revenue sharing’ with territorial and regional authorities would commence from 1 October 1986. Revenue sharing can be briefly described as a system under which government shares some of its tax revenue with territorial and regional authorities, with authorities able to spend it how they see fit.

There are two components to the present revenue sharing scheme; a general revenues assistance component, and an incentive grant component.

General revenues assistance component.

Under this component, $14 million plus GST was distributed to territorial and regional authorities for the period 1 October 1986 to 31 March 1987. This sum was distributed under an interim formula based on rate revenue which was recommended by the joint central government/local government Working Party on Revenue Sharing. The working party reported to the Ministers of Finance and Local Government in May 1987 on:

  • ○ A policy and distribution machinery which will provide territorial and regional authorities with general revenues assistance on an equitable basis and reflect their revenue needs and variations in functional responsibilities;

  • ○ The extent to which grants and subsidy schemes currently available to territorial and regional authorities, (except National Roads Board and water and sewerage grants and subsidies), should also be translated into general revenue assistance funds;

  • ○ A method of indexation for revenue sharing to maintain its value in real terms; and

  • ○ Procedures for monitoring the revenue sharing scheme and for its regular review.

The report is being considered by the Government. Under the interim formula $24 million plus GST will be distributed during 1987–88.

Incentive grant component.

The Territorial and Regional Authorities Incentive Grant Scheme operates under this component of revenue sharing. The general purpose of the scheme is to assist in the restructuring and strengthening of regional and territorial authorities. Grants from the scheme are considered under the following four broad categories of initiatives:

  • ○ restructuring at the levels of regional and territorial authorities;

  • ○ the undertaking of new functions, (including those previously of central government);

  • ○ the introduction of innovative projects; and

  • ○ the provision of special amenities, facilities or services which are of national or regional significance.

Under this scheme $781,580 plus GST was distributed to eight territorial authorities and two regional authorities for the period 1 October 1986 to 31 March 1987. For 1987–88 $3.27 million plus GST was allocated.

Table 27.32. SOURCES OF REVENUE OF ALL LOCAL AUTHORITIES*

Year Ended 31 MarchRates, Levies, Fines, etc.Grants from Central and Local GovernmentSales of Commodities and Services incl. Water RatesOther ReceiptsTotal Receipts
* Includes electric power boards.
 $(000)
1981502,108200,1111,336,500108,7382,147,457
1982608,844250,2941,506,993129,5372,495,668
1983714,680300,5751,804,035159,7922,977,081
1984763,612392,6071,884,822187,2883,228,329
1985812,900429,6712,070,393216,6073,529,571

Table 27.33. RECEIPTS OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES, 1984–85

Local AuthorityRates, Levies, Fines, etc.Grants from Central and Local GovernmentSales of Commodities and ServicesOther ReceiptsTotal Receipts
 $(000)
City and borough councils529,032139,097591,67795,4111,355,217
County councils168,257132,92849,76616,247367,199
District councils47,37725,13621,5406,252100,306
Electric power boards2644897,80523,733921,608
Harbour boards668189217,30030,081248,239
Regional authorities6,18283,30388,15825,824203,466
Urban drainage boards21,6245,3231,7881,81730,552
Catchment boards24,21814,7308,8195,70653,472
Pest destruction boards5,4616,86245041913,191
Urban transport board7,2204,2546,1681,26618,908
Other local authorities2,83517,805186,9259,851217,413
      Total812,900429,6712,070,393216,6073,529,571

Expenditure

The purchase of commodities and services makes up over half the expenditure of local authorities. Other substantial areas of expenditure are labour costs, which are one-third of the total, and interest payments. Traditional areas of local authority expenditure are roading, water supply, sewerage, drainage and refuse collection while local authority responsibilities have tended to increase in areas such as land use planning and the provision of recreation and welfare services.

Table 27.34. PAYMENTS BY ALL LOCAL AUTHORITIES

Year Ended 31 MarchLabour and Related CostsPurchases of Commodities and ServicesAll InterestOther PaymentsTotal Payments
 $(000)
1980515,908933,48498,994114,1911,662,577
1981619,6081,116,474120,583130,7291,987,395
1982767,9661,251,488139,415152,9092,311,778
1983859,3761,502,280159,888178,4102,699,955
1984908,6711,652,928192,528221,8632,975,990
1985959,3041,822,994211,326263,9983,257,622

Table 27.35. PAYMENTS OF ALL LOCAL AUTHORITIES, 1984–85

Local Authority TypeLabour and Related CostsInterestPurchases of Commodities and ServicesOther PaymentsTotal Payments
 $(000)
City and borough councils419,10881,588630,65798,0131,229,365
County councils117,85317,134187,95816,442339,387
District councils34,4304,39844,4634,78288,072
Electric power boards138,89844,251677,77156,194917,113
Harbour boards103,60427,88468,91325,833226,233
Regional authorities55,13125,56441,92532,614155,234
Urban drainage boards9,5895,1536,88647422,102
Catchment boards23,4171,53819,7562,11646,826
Pest destruction boards6,3991364,87144111,847
Urban transport board9,6031344,3852,29516,417
Other local authorities41,2723,547135,40924,795205,025
      Total959,304211,3261,822,994263,9983,257,622

Table 27.36. RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS OF TERRITORIAL LOCAL AUTHORITIES

Item1982–831983–841984–85
Receipts—$(million)
  Rates and grants in lieu608.9648.1692.0
  Other taxes and fines51.557.059.2
  Grants and contributions from central government2155293.2325.7
  Grants and contributions from local authorities49.255.264.4
  Sales of main product395.4417.6446.7
  Other commodities and services256.5265.3304.8
  Interest47.956.577.4
  Miscellaneous current receipts53.867.173.0
      Total1,678.81,860.02,043.2
Payments—
  Labour and related costs553.4591.6628.4
  Interest paid97.9118.5128.8
  Levies and grants to central government and local authorities57.983.6100.0
  Bulk purchase for resale199.2214.4229.6
  Other commodities and services526.4605.6677.5
  Other current payments41.049.761.1
      Subtotal1,475.81,663.51,825.3
      Less, capitalised payments52.970.563.0
      Total1,422.91,593.01,762.3

Table 27.37. RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS OF TERRITORIAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT BY ACTIVITY*

Activity1982–831983–841984–85
ReceiptsPaymentsReceiptsPaymentsReceiptsPayments
* Excludes sales and purchases of fixed assets and repayments of loans.
 $(million)
Electricity supply255.1214.0266.2232.3283.6257.3
Passenger transport68.169.694.893.5114.5105.4
Water supply128.5115.7137.3122.7157.2138.9
Road construction and maintenance270.8272.4329.7329.7358.5354.1
Refuse, sewerage, and drainage144.7136.4160.4150.0177.5163.6
Abattoirs21.919.820.618.920.118.5
Libraries38.736.841.139.545.642.7
Parks and domains97.092.1111.5102.6129.2116.9

A wide variety of public utilities and amenities are provided by territorial local government, the main activities being electricity supply, water supply roading, sewerage, drainage, and refuse collection.

Many of the services provided are also trading undertakings. Generally speaking, territorial local authorities are restrained from operating trading undertakings that are particularly profitable. Public transport undertakings, which are usually a substantial burden upon ratepayers, are particularly unprofitable. The only major exception is electricity distribution, from which most territorial local authorities make surpluses.

Borrowing

The Local Authority Loans Act 1956 requires all local authorities wishing to raise a loan to obtain authorisation of the Local Authorities Loans Board, except for those loans covered by the Local Authorities Exemption Order 3986.

As a general rule, local authorities may raise a loan by special order and without a poll of electors, but in the case of a local authority that is a rating body a poll of electors is to be taken if:

  1. the Local Authorities Loans Board requires a poll to be taken; or

  2. before the date fixed for the meeting of the local authority to confirm the resolution to raise the loan not less than 5 percent of the electors demand a poll; or

  3. the local authority itself decides to take a poll.

A poll is not required in cases such as renewal loans, loans raised for emergency expenditure by reason of flood, storm, earthquake, etc., or loans for work of national and local importance and carried out by an agreement between the Government and a local authority

Where a poll is required the proposal is carried if a bare majority of the valid votes recorded is in favour. The properties and revenue of the local authority may be pledged as security for the repayment of any principal sum or interest thereon, or a special rate may be levied for the same purpose.

Borrowing by certain types of local authority is subject to special previsions. Under the Hospitals Act 1957 and the Area Health Boards Act 1983 hospital boards and area health boards must first obtain the approval of the Minister of Health before borrowing. Harbour boards derive their authority to borrow for harbour works from special empowering legislation, and similar authority is given for the capital works of certain other local authorities.

Since November 1984 the rates for loans have been determined only by the rates which prevail on the New Zealand securities market.

Table 27.38. OPERATIONS OF THE LOCAL AUTHORITIES LOANS BOARD*

Year Ended 31 MarchValue of Total ApplicationsSanctioned
New WorksRedemption LoansExemption Order Notifications
* Includes hospital boards and Fire Service Commission.
 $(million)
1982400.6311.350.4..
1983409.9289.937.0..
1984404.5304.31.682.6
1985388.9303.480.0
1986296.6176.1117.6

Table 27.39. LOANS AUTHORISED, RAISED AND UPLIFTED, 1985–86

AuthorityAmounts AuthorisedAmounts RaisedBalanceAmounts Uplifted
 $(000)
Territorial local authority—
  Cities and boroughs136,44642,50693,94042,506
  County councils13,6184,5559,0634,555
  District councils14,3133,79510,5183,795
  Regional authority7,2554,1413,1142,441
  Town districts
Other local authority—
  Catchment districts2,1071,1969111,163
  Electric power and gas boards33,6348,16925,4658,169
  Harbour boards23,7449,55914,1856,820
  Urban drainage boards4,6102,3412,2692,341
  Valley authority2,0002,000
  Pest destruction boards22
Central government—
  Fire Service Commission9,7202,0007,7202,000
  Hospital boards32,75022,59410,15612,594
      Total280,199100,856179,34386,384

Table 27.40. GROSS PUBLIC DEBT OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND ANNUAL CHARGES*

Year Ended 31 MarchGross Public DebtAnnual Loan Charge
AmountRate Per Head of Mean PopulationAmountRate Per Head of Mean Population
* Excludes hospital board debt and Fire Service Commission debt.
 $(000)$$(000)$
19811,546,220487.6185,36458.4
19821,672,000524.8209,61265.8
19831,878,835582.3299,29592.3
19842,062,593632.5335,407102.9
19852,207,427676.0360,258110.3

In table 27.41 it should be noted that the debt of electric power districts shown does not represent the complete local authority debt on account of electric power activities, since a considerable portion of the city and borough debt, and a small part of the county and town district debt also, was incurred for that purpose.

Table 27.41. GROSS PUBLIC DEBT BY TYPE OF LOCAL AUTHORITY

Year Ended 31 MarchCities, Boroughs and Town DistrictsCountiesRegional AuthoritiesElectric Power DistrictsHarbour DistrictsUrban Drainage DistrictsOther DistrictsTotal
 $(000)
1981614,271121,031184,150240,925251,05554,35280,4361,546,220
1982663,969136,091203,074301,162253,8393,73460,1301,672,000
1983731,870153,288223,369374,270271,13553,80371,0991,878,835
1984800,935169,314235,956438,609288,52753,95275,3002,062,593
1985856,112180,565247,951477,235320,65851,01373,8932,207,427

Further information

Budget (Parl. paper B. 6).

Forms of Financial Assistance Available to Local Authorities. Department of Internal Affairs, 1986.

Income and Income Tax of Companies. Department of Statistics (annual).

Local Authority Statistics. Department of Statistics (annual).

Monthly Abstract of Statistics. Department of Statistics.

Monthly Abstract of Statistics July 1986 Appendix (Estates Passed for Death Duty). Department of Statistics.

The Public Accounts (Parl. paper B. 1 [Pt. I and II]).

Report of the Department of Internal Affairs (Parl. paper G. 7).

Report of the Inland Revenue Department (Parl. paper B. 23).

Report of the Local Authorities Loans Board (Parl. paper B. 17).

Report of the Local Government Commission (Parl. paper G. 9).

Report of the Valuation Department (Parl. paper G. 26).

Report of the Working Party on Revenue Sharing. Department of Internal Affairs, 1987.

Chapter 28. National economy

28.1 Business censuses

The Department of Statistics introduced a series of five-yearly economic censuses of New Zealand business in 1978. A large part of business activity has been surveyed since then, with the businesses being grouped according to the New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (NZSIC), which is consistent with international definitions. The results of the completed censuses contained in the second five-yearly series are summarised in tables 28.1 and 28.2.

Following extensive consultation with users of business statistics, significant developments have been introduced. Care is being taken to maintain comparability with previous series. The developments are as follows:

  1. The replacement of the five-yearly cycle of economic censuses by an ‘economy wide’ census once every five years, beginning in 1987;

  2. An annual sample ‘enterprise survey’ from 1986 of the non-agricultural sector of the economy; and

  3. An annual update of the department's Business Directory from February 1986.

The Economy Wide Census.

The move to an economy wide census is in response to a perceived need for a ‘snapshot’ of the economy where all New Zealand industries can be analysed simultaneously on constant data and their inter-relationships examined. This will also allow the many large businesses involved in numerous different industries to balance the data back to their books of account, and the overall result should allow a marked improvement in the quality of data used in the national accounts, price indexes, inter-industry tables, and several major econometric models of the economy.

The Enterprise Survey.

The annual Enterprise Survey is in response to frequent requests for an annual series of the most important financial data items, such as profitability and value added for major industries. As a sample survey the results will be available much earlier than the existing pattern of census data. The availability of data by 53 industry groups will allow the National Accounts to be published in far more detail than the present 20 private sector production groups.

The annual Business Directory update.

The annual Business Directory update is being introduced because many users of statistical data require detailed small-area, non-financial data about businesses in New Zealand covering such matters as their location, size, activity and degree of overseas ownership.

This information, which has formerly been provided by using data collected as part of the five-yearly rolling cycle of economic censuses, has been provided since 1986 from the department's Business Directory which is updated annually. This leaves the economy wide census and the enterprise survey free to concentrate on financial data. Since these surveys obtain their registers from the Business Directory linking of the two sets of data continues to be possible if required.

Definitions of terms used in the presentation of business census data are included in the glossary at the back of this book, although it should be noted that these may vary according to the year in question.

Further details, including results of all censuses at subgroup (industry) level of the New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification, are available in the business censuses series of publications.

Table 28.1. GENERAL SUMMARY OF BUSINESS CENSUSES 1982–83 TO 1984–85, INDUSTRIAL GROUPS

 Census YearEnterprise GroupsEnterprisesActivity UnitsPersons Engaged
Major division 1: Agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing—  Number  
  Division 11: Agriculture—
    Major group 112: Agricultural contracting services1984–852,0722,1032,26911,563
  Division 12: Forestry and logging—
    Major group 121: Forestry1983–844234496266,085
    Major group 122: Logging1983–843913944403,145
  Division 13: Fishing1983–841,5141,5211,5474,061
Major division 2: Mining and quarrying1983–843644215245,148
Major division 3: Manufacturing1983–8411,71912,76015,716305,841
Major division 4: Electricity gas and water—
  Group 4102: Gas1982–831819351,038
 1983–841718371,053
 1984–851618311,033
 1985–861618311,046
Major division 5: Building and construction1984–8513,53013,69814,62483,523
Major division 6: Wholesale and retail trade; restaurants and hotels—
  Division 61: Wholesale trade1982–834,2525,0938,63081,817
  Division 62: Retail trade1982–8324,89025,55930,188152,085
  Division 63: Restaurants and hotels1982–837,8347,9108,62961,860
Major division 7: Transport, storage and communication—
  Division 71: Transport and storage1984–856,7707,0348,78168,928
  Division 72: Communication1984–8564661,03034,826
Major division 8: Finance, insurance, real estate and business services—
  Division 81: Finance1982–839911,4613,06335,592
  Division 82: Insurance1982–832,3792,5003,19910,618
Major division 9: Community social and personal services—
  Division 95: Personal and household services1982–837,6207,6688,23131,562

Table 28.2. GENERAL SUMMARY OF BUSINESS CENSUSES 1982–83 TO 1984–85, INCOME AND EXPENDITURE

 Census YearTotal ExpenditureTotal Income (Adjusted for Stocks)Net Profit (Before Tax)Value Added
* Includes increase in funds during year of $(000) 1,145,182: End of year value of funds $(million) 8,682.
Major division 1: Agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing—  $(000)  
  Division 11: Agriculture—
    Major group 112: Agriculture contracting services1984–85320,437367,35846,871188,381
  Division 12: Forestry and logging—
    Major group 121: Forestry1983–84298,095208,058−90,037255,058
    Major group. 122: Logging1983–84239,678255,00015,32270,611
  Division 13: Fishing1983–84280,177306,58626,409140,621
Major division 2: Mining and quarrying1983–84884,4821,038,252203,770368,719
Major division 3: Manufacturing1983–8421,902,09723,324,4311,422,3347,104,076
Major division 4: Electricity gas and water—
  Group 4102: Gas1982–8387,34996,1538,80432,100
 1983–8496,441105,6529,21133,561
 1984–85114,532126,95212,42139,851
 1985–86140,005152,55612,55145,520
Major division 5: Building and construction—1984–856,182,4896,935,538753,0492,176,554
Major division 6: Wholesale and retail trade; restaurants and hotels—
  Division 61: Wholesale trade1982–8322,854,10023,819,411870,7292,443,214
  Division 62: Retail trade1982–8313,546,06714,310,304417,9311,927,766
  Division 63: Restaurants and hotels1982–831,801,6791,936,14473,353627,686
Major division 7: Transport, storage and communication—
  Division 71: Transport and storage1984–854,857,9935,312,892434,8992,197,737
  Division 72: Communication1984–85957,0301,271,211314,1811,117,204
Major division 8: Finance, insurance, real estate and business services—
  Division 81: Finance1982–833,454,9074,099,471669,8501,256,176
  Division 82: Insurance1982–831,877,8693,060,2011,225,653*..
Major division 9: Community social and personal services—
  Division 95: Personal and household services1982–83811,397965,71174,311388,194

28.2 National accounts

The New Zealand System of National Accounts (NZSNA) provides a systematic analysis of the performance of the New Zealand economy Information on production and associated flows of income and expenditure meet a variety of needs, including economic analysis, forecasting, and policy formulation. The system is based on an internationally accepted standard detailed in A System of National Accounts (United Nations, 1968). In addition to providing key economic information, the national accounts also provide the basic framework of standard concepts, definitions, and classifications for economic agents and transactions. The economic censuses and surveys of the Department of Statistics are all integrated in the system, as is the inter-industry study Balance of payments statistics follow similar concepts and provide the basis of the External Transactions Account of the national accounts.

Annual national accounts for years ended 31 March are calculated twice each year. In September, provisonal estimates are prepared for the preceding March year only for the Consolidated Accounts of the Nation. These estimates are revised next March as more information becomes available. Detailed breakdowns of some of the main aggregates are also published at this time. The information used to compile the accounts becomes available progressively over a lengthy period, and for many areas of the economy may not be available for up to three years after the March year to which it relates. Consequently national accounts estimates are subject to revision during this period. All revisions to earlier years are published with the estimates prepared in March.

Tables in this section contain data for the latest available five years. For the Consolidated Accounts of the Nation, data are provided for the years ended March 1982 to 1986, while detailed breakdowns of the main aggregates are included for the years ended March 1981 to 1985. Full national accounts series back to 1971–72 are available from the Department of Statistics on request.

Explanation of national accounting terms

Gross domestic product (GDP).

The total market value of goods and services produced in New Zealand after deducting the cost of goods and services utilised in the process of production, but before deducting allowances for the consumption of fixed capital.

Gross national expenditure.

The total expenditure within a given period on final goods and services by New Zealand residents (i.e., excluding goods and services used up during the process of production).

Gross national product (GNP).

The income accruing within a given period to New Zealand residents from their services in supplying factors of production in New Zealand and overseas, plus net indirect taxes, and before the deduction of allowances for the consumption of fixed capital.

National income at market prices.

This item is equivalent to Gross National Product after the deduction of allowances for consumption of fixed capital. It is a measure of income accruing to New Zealanders from their services in supplying factors of production in New Zealand and overseas, plus net indirect taxes.

National disposable income.

The total income of New Zealand residents from all sources available for final consumption or savings.

Compensation of employees.

Payments of salaries and wages, whether in cash or in kind, to employees. Includes contributions paid on employees' behalf to superannuation funds, private pension schemes, the Accident Compensation Corporation, casualty and life insurance schemes, etc.

Consumption of fixed capital.

The value of depreciation at ordinary rates allowed for taxation purposes, plus an estimate for the normal rate of accidental damage based on the insurance claims by each industry group.

Indirect taxes.

Taxes which are assessed on producers in respect of the production, sale, purchase, and use of goods and services, and add to the market process of these goods and services. Includes sales tax, local authority rates, import and excise duties, and also registration fees, such as motor vehicle registration, which are paid by producers.

Subsidies.

Grants made by government to market-oriented producers, who regard the transfers as an addition to income from current production. These grants include payments to ensure a guaranteed price, or to enable market prices of goods and services to be held below the cost of production. Transfers out of rates receipts made by local authorities to finance the losses of their trading departments, and deliberately incurred losses of government trading organisations are also included.

Intermediate consumption.

The value of non-durable goods and services used in production. Valuation is at purchasers' values.

Gross output at producers' values:

  1. Market production groups—The total market value including commodity taxes on all goods and services produced during the year, including stocks of work-in-progress. Included is output produced for sale in the market, and capital formation on own account.

  2. Non-market production groups—These producers may sell a proportion of their output in the market, and such receipts are included in total output. However, most of the services produced represent unmarketed output and are valued at cost price. This assumption is necessary because there is no other basis for valuation.

Operating surplus.

This is a residual item, being gross output at producers' values less the sum of intermediate consumption, compensation of employees, consumption of fixed capital, and indirect taxes net of subsidies. It is approximately equal to accounting profit before the deduction of direct taxes, dividends and bad debts, and before the deduction of interest paid, or the addition of interest received.

Final consumption expenditure:

  1. Resident households—All outlays on consumer goods and services, including expenditure on consumer durables such as motor vehicles and furniture; included are payments made by the Government on behalf of households, and the imputed rent of owner-occupied dwellings.

  2. Producers of general (central and local) government services and private non-profit services to households—Total current expenditure by these producers less the value of any sales or own account capital formation (i.e., the total net current costs incurred in providing the services).

Increase in stocks.

The change in value of stocks of raw materials, work-in-progress, and finished goods, between the beginning and the end of the year.

  1. Value of the physical increase in stocks—The change in stocks valued at the average prices for the year. This valuation removes capital gains and losses caused by holding stocks purchased at prices higher or lower than those ruling during the year.

  2. Increase in book value of stocks—The change in stocks as valued in accounting records.

Gross fixed capital formation.

The outlays of producers on durable real assets, such as buildings, motor vehicles, plant and machinery, hydroelectric construction, roading, and improvements to land. In measuring the outlays, sales of similar goods are deducted. Land is excluded from gross fixed capital formation. Included is the value of construction work done by a firm's own employees. The term ‘gross’ indicates that consumption of fixed capital has not been deducted from the value of the outlays.

Statistical discrepancy.

In these accounts the items making up gross domestic product and expenditure on gross domestic product are estimated independently. Including the statistical discrepancy on the expenditure side of the first Consolidated Account, Gross Domestic Products and Expenditure, is simply a convention. It does not imply that one side of this account is more accurate than the other. The case is the same with the Capital Finance Account and the External Transactions Account.

Savings.

The residual item in the National Income and Outlay Account after all current receipts and disbursements have been accounted for.

Purchase of intangible assets from the rest of the world, net.

The value of purchases by residents from non-residents of intangible assets, less sales of such assets by residents to non-residents. Examples of these types of assets are mineral rights, fishing quotas, patents, copyrights, and trademarks. In the NZSNA flows associated with this item are not distinguishable in the source data and consequently are included in exports/imports of goods and services.

Capital transfers from the rest of the world, net.

The excess of the value of capital transfers by non-residents to New Zealand residents over the value of similar transfers by residents to nonresidents. Capital transfers are unrequited transfers in cash or in kind which are not considered by the recipient as adding to current income, nor by the donor as reducing current income. Examples are unilateral transfers of capital goods, legacies, investment grants, and transfers of migrants' funds. In the NZSNA it has not been possible to identify all of these flows separately, and they have been included in current transfers to/from the rest of the world.

Exports of goods and services.

All goods and services produced by New Zealand residents and purchased by the rest of the world. Exports of merchandise are valued f.o.b. (free-on-board).

Imports of goods and services.

All goods and services produced by the rest of the world and purchased by New Zealand residents. Imports of merchandise are valued c.i.f. (cost, including insurance and freight).

Compensation of employees to/from the rest of the world.

In theory, these items cover the compensation residents of one country earn from employment in another where they are classed as non-resident, because their stay is for a period of less than 12 months. In practice, available data do not permit estimates of these items.

Property and entrepreneurial income to/from the rest of the world.

The property income component of these items refers to the transfers of income accruing to the owners of financial assets, intangible assets such as patents, copyrights and concessions, and mineral rights. This income is mainly in the form of interest, dividends, rent, and royalties. The entrepreneurial income refers to the actual withdrawals of income from enterprises operating overseas, such as the branches of foreign companies.

Other current transfers to/from the rest of the world.

In theory, these items cover all current transfers other than property and entrepreneurial income. However, in practice, it has not been possible to identify all these transfers separately and the figures are deficient in two respects. First, not all current transfers can be identified. In particular, those associated with insurance transactions are omitted, since all insurance flows are recorded as either exports or imports of services. Second, it has proved difficult to distinguish between current and capital transfers to the rest of the world, and in the NZSNA all have been treated as current.

Surplus of the nation on current transactions.

The excess in the External Transactions Account of current receipts over current disbursements.

Net incurrence of foreign liabilities.

The change in actual indebtedness of New Zealanders to nonresidents. It relates to the issue, less the redemption, of financial claims, such as currency and transferable deposits, bonds, corporate equities, loans, and long term trade credits. Changes in the holdings of paid-up capital of companies, and changes in inter-company indebtedness are also included.

Net acquisition of foreign financial assets.

The change in actual claims by New Zealanders, or non-residents. It relates to the purchase, less the sale, of financial claims, such as those described for the net incurrence of foreign liabilities. It also includes changes in New Zealand's holdings of special drawing rights in its reserve position at the International Monetary Fund, and in the assets of the New Zealand banking system.

Table 28.3. PRINCIPAL AGGREGATES OF THE NATIONAL ACCOUNTS

AggregatesYear Ended March
19821983198419851986
 $(million)
Gross Domestic Product27,84131,14933,96738,72944,255
  Plus, net factor receipts from rest of world−615−860−1,128−1,470−1,646
Gross National Product27,22630,28932,83937,25942,609
  Less, consumption of fixed capital1,8972,2052,5823,0333,518
National Income at Market Prices25,32928,08430,25734,226 
  Plus, net current transfers from rest of world32118113208186
National Disposable Income25,36128,20230,37034,43439,277

Consolidated Accounts of the Nation

The Consolidated Accounts of the Nation comprise four accounts as follows:

  1. Gross domestic product and expenditure—Gross domestic product is a measure of the value added from all economic activity in New Zealand. The account shows the various forms of income generated by the economy and the categories of the final expenditure on the domestic product.

  2. National disposable income and its appropriation—National disposable income is the value of income available to New Zealanders, consisting mainly of the incomes generated in New Zealand. Adjustments are made for the income pad to, and received from, the rest of the world. The account also shows that part of disposable income which was spent by New Zealanders on current consumption, and the position of income which was saved.

  3. Capital finance—Capital expenditure is recorded in this account. The difference between the accumulation of capital assets and the sources of funds (mainly savings and the income set aside for the use of assets) gives a residual to be borrowed from (or lent to) the rest of the world.

  4. External transactions—This account brings together all transactions with the rest of the world. The residual ‘Surplus of Nation on Current Transactions’ records New Zealand's net borrowing from the rest of the world.

Table 28.4. GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT AND EXPENDITURE

ItemYear Ended March
19821983198419851986
 $(million)
Compensation of employees15,64317,13517,42518,94921,860
Operating surplus7,9659,12510,76212,83614,479
Consumption of fixed capital1,8972,2052,5823,0333,518
Indirect taxes2,9133,4393,8454,5084,762
Less, subsidies577755656597363
Gross Domestic Product27,84131,14933,96738,72944,255
Final consumption expenditure—
  General government5,0015,5445,8386,1847,752
  Private16,64518,58920,04122,51426,286
Value of physical increase in stocks3173654911,900583
Gross fixed capital formation6,5877,7258,3289,34111,241
Statistical discrepancy250139-470229287
Gross national expenditure28,80032,36334,22940,16745,649
Exports of goods and services8,2499,11610,81513,34813,797
Less, imports of goods and services9,20810,33011,07714,78615,191
Expenditure on Gross Domestic Product27,84131,14933,96738,72944,255

Table 28.5. NATIONAL INCOME AND OUTLAY

ItemYear Ended March
19821983198419851986
 $(million)
Final consumption expenditure—
  Government—Central4,4104,8685,0505,3536,276
  Government—Local591677789831976
  Private—Households16,36718,29619,75322,19525,933
  Private—Non-profit organisations serving households278293288318354
  Savings3,7154,0684,4905,7365,739
Appropriation of National Disposable Income25,36128,20230,37034,43439,277
Compensation of employees15,64317,13517,42518,94921,860
Compensation of employees from the rest of the world, net..........
Operating surplus7,9659,12510,76212,83614,479
Property and entrepreneurial income from the rest of the world−615−860−1,128−1,470−1,646
Indirect taxes2,9133,4393,8544,5084,762
Less, subsidies577755656597363
National income25,32928,08430,25734,22639,091
Current transfers from the rest of the world, net32118113208186
National Disposable Income25,36128,20230,37034,43439,277

Table 28.6. CAPITAL FINANCE

ItemYear Ended March
19821983198419851986
* Includes all government-owned producer enterprises.
 $(million)
Value of physical increase in stocks3173654911,900583
Gross fixed capital formation—
  Private4,6285,0935,3686,5417,490
  Central government*1,4672,0452,3442,2063,073
  Local government*493588616594678
Purchase of intangible assets from the rest of the world, net..........
Net lending to the rest of the world−1,542−1,956−1,277−2,700−2,854
Gross Accumulation5,3626,1347,5428,5408,970
Savings3,7154,0684,4905,7365,739
Consumption of fixed capital1,8972,2052,5823,0333,518
Capital transfers from the rest of the world, net..........
Statistical discrepancy−250−139470−229−287
Finance of Gross Accumulation5,3626,1347,5428,5408,970

Table 28.7. EXTERNAL TRANSACTIONS

ItemYear Ended March
19821983198419851986
 $(million)
 Current
Exports of goods and services8,2499,11610,81513,34813,797
Compensation of employees from the rest of the world..........
Property and entrepreneurial income from the rest of the world188208232275328
Other current transfers from the rest of the world343413455653710
Current receipts8,7809,73711,50214,27614,835
Imports of goods and services9,20810,33011,07714,78615,191
Compensation of employees to the rest of the world..........
Property and entrepreneurial income to the rest of the world8031,0681,3601,7451,974
Other current transfers to the rest of the world311295342445524
Surplus of nation on current transactions−1,542−1,956−1,277−2,700−2,854
Current disbursements8,7809,73711,50214,22214,835
 Capital
Surplus of nation on current transactions−1,542−1,956−1,277−2,700−2,854
Capital transfers from the rest of the world, net........
Net incurrence of foreign liabilities1,8023,984......
Capital receipts2602,028−1,277−2,700−2,854
Purchase of intangible assets from the rest of the world, net..........
Net acquisition of foreign financial assets−41,489......
Statistical discrepancy264539  ..
Capital disbursements2602,028......

Inter-industry studies

Input-output analysis was devised to define and measure the interdependence of the different industries within the economy. For example, the input-output tables can be used to analyse the effect of an increase in production for export of the meat freezing and preserving industry in terms of the increased supporting production required of all the other industries in the economy, and whether that production goes directly to the meat export works, or indirectly to them through other industries. In commodity terms, the effect of an increase in production of meat carcasses and cuts can be analysed in terms of the direct and indirect supporting production required of all other commodities in the economy.

The main objective of an inter-industry study is to provide an economic statement of the industrial structure of the economy for a given year, measuring the direct and indirect inter-relationships between industries and commodities. Aims are as follows:

  1. To provide an overall view of the economy;

  2. To trace the probable effects of major rises or falls in one industry's demand throughout the economy;

  3. To enable the effect of actual or hypothesized changes in the economy to be estimated more accurately than is otherwise possible. Examples of such changes are government policies affecting consumer prices, wages, exchange rates, etc.; and

  4. To provide a measure of the relative demands of industries for imports and the contribution to exports. This demonstrates which industries are the best net earners of overseas exchange.

The 1976–77 Inter-Industry Study of the New Zealand Economy was the sixth undertaken by the Department of Statistics. The 1971–72 and 1976–77 studies adopted the concepts used in the System of National Accounts (United Nations 1968) and these studies are conceptually reconcilable with the national accounts. The 1976–77 study introduced commodity into commodity input-output tables.

Work on the 1981–82 Inter-Industry Study is well advanced. The first tables are expected to be available in 1988. Considerable delay is inevitable with a full-scale study because an enormous amount of preparatory investigation is necessary and the detailed information required is not available for a considerable time after the relevant period. The Department of Statistics updated its 25-industry 1971–72 transactions table to 1976–77 using information from the provisional national accounts for 1976–77. Derived tables were also recalculated for 1976–77 and published together with a description of the updating methodology. Updating the 1976–77 study to 1981–82 (by an improved methodology which provides 25-category commodity into commodity and inter-industry transactions tables) was completed in 1984. Similar tables for 1983–84 are now available.

Gross domestic product by production group

The contribution of each producer to gross domestic product (GDP) is measured by the value which it adds in producing goods and services. For each producer, value added may be calculated in two ways: as the gross output of goods and services less the value of goods and services used up in production; or, as the sum of the individual components of value added, i.e., compensation of employees, plus operating surplus, plus consumption of fixed capital, plus indirect taxes, less subsidies.

Individual producers are grouped into production groups on the basis of common economic activity. The classification used to define these production groups distinguishes between those producers that are market-oriented, and those that produce goods and services not normally marketed. Market producers are classified by industry based on the New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification, while those not normally producing for the market are subdivided into those owned by central government, by local government, and by private non-profit organisations which provide services for households.

The system explicitly recognises the Government as a producer when it carries out its conventional role of the provision of administrative, health, education, and defence services, etc. Similarly the large number of organisations which provide services on a non-profit basis—religious orders, schools, hospitals, sporting clubs, etc.—are included as a separate group in the national accounts. Also included among the non-market production groups is an account recording the wages paid by households employing domestic labour.

Table 28.8, showing contributions to GDP by production group, is a summary of data contained in full production accounts which are prepared for each of 25 production groups, and which are also analysed by private, central government, and local government sectors. These accounts are published annually in an appendix to the Monthly Abstract of Statistics.

Table 28.8. CONTRIBUTION TO GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP) BY PRODUCTION GROUP

Production GroupYear Ended March
19811982198319841985
 $(million)
Market production groups
Agriculture2,1612,2482,1172,4133,542
Fishing and hunting617890105122
Forestry and logging295339346426627
Mining and quarrying184247389312435
Food, beverages, and tobacco1,3971,6732,0392,3362,497
Textiles, apparel, and leather560716756708834
Manufacture of wood products367472442517615
Manufacture of paper products, and printing6067268048441,135
Manufacture of chemicals, petroleum, rubber, plastic470595668674848
Manufacture of non-metallic mineral products227337373399436
Basic metal industries173217298335442
Manufacture of fabricated metal products1,2291,7221,8391,9342,271
Other manufacturing56837181113
Electricity gas, and water7268229541,0551,081
Construction1,1421,5091,6961,8332,047
Trade, restaurants, and hotels4,4175,3576,2076,8687,098
Transport and storage1,2331,4421,6121,9312,192
Communication6307169081,0281,088
Financing, insurance, real estate, and business services2,3542,9513,4043,8204,422
Ownership of owner-occupied dwellings8311,0041,1741,2711,438
Community social, and personal services8611,0201,1441,2291,443
Nominal industry (bank service charge)−603−834−975−1,127−1,328
      Total, market production groups19,37723,43826,35628,99433,399
Non-market production groups
Central government services2,8273,3663,6863,7673,915
Local government services279355402435465
Private non-profit services236271274256281
Domestic services of households1518192121
      Total, non-market production groups3,3574,0103,3814,4794,683
      Total, all production groups22,73427,44930,73733,47338,082
Plus, import duties231337362432556
Plus, other indirect taxes3755516281
Gross Domestic Product23,00227,84131,14933,96738,729

In table 28.8 the entry ‘Nominal industry (bank service charge)’ requires further explanation Banks and similar financial institutions largely finance their activities by the excess of interest and other property income received over property income paid out. In the national accounts, property income receipts and payments are regarded as transfers, and not as receipts and payments for a financial service. Therefore, if financial institutions were treated like producers in other industries, their value added would be very small, due to their property income being excluded from the production account.

To overcome this problem, financial institutions are recorded as receiving an imputed bank service charge which is paid by the users of banking services. Rather than spread the payment of this imputed charge across all users, in the national accounts the convention is adopted that it is all paid by a nominal industry, which accordingly has a negative operating surplus equal to the value of the charge. The result is that financial institutions show a realistic operating surplus, while the total operating suplus of all producers, and GDP is unaffected.

Gross fixed capital formation

Gross fixed capital formation tables record purchases of capital assets, reduced by the value of sales, plus the value of construction work done by an establishment's own employees; no deduction has been made for assets used up during the period of account. Land purchases and sales, but not land improvements, are excluded by definition.

Tables 28.9 and 28.10 showing breakdowns of gross capital formation by production group and asset type are summaries of detailed tables, including separate series for private, central and local government sectors, which are available from the Department of Statistics on request.

Table 28.9. GROSS CAPITAL FORMATION BY PRODUCTION GROUP

Production GroupYear Ended March
19811982198319841985
 $(million)
Market production groups
Agriculture602770781802861
Fishing and hunting
Forestry and logging3646384462
Mining and quarrying73638114113
Manufacture of food, beverages, and tobacco348393394393440
Textiles, apparel, and leather3135686586
Manufacture of wood products32274241107
Manufacture of paper products, and printing86115137141239
Manufacture of chemicals, petroleum, rubber, plastic1983481,023991825
Manufacture of non-metallic mineral products2053633942
Basic metal industries29172294339283
Manufacture of fabricated metal products86125148160203
Other manufacturing333810
Electricity gas, and water404518610628547
Construction150227212256303
Trade, restaurants, and hotels464608665702804
Transport and storage327612452438760
Communication98119197277301
Financing, insurance, real estate and business services437538575737887
Community, social, and personal services
Ownership of owner-occupied dwellings7841,0951,1681,3191,561
      Total, market production groups4,1085,8746,9527,4958,434
Non-market production groups
Central government services380410449469525
Local government services199223240266279
Private non-profit services67818498103
Domestic services of households
      Total, non-market production groups646714773833907
      Total, all production groups4,7546,5877,7258,3289,341

Table 28.10. GROSS FIXED CAPITAL FORMATION BY TYPE OF CAPITAL GOOD

Year Ended MarchResidential BuildingsNon-Residential BuildingsOther ConstructionLand ImprovementsTransport EquipmentPlant, Machinery and Other EquipmentTotal
 $(million)
19818818215822168121,4424,754
19821,1791,0329392741,2301,9336,587
19831,2811,1011,3602751,1952,5137,725
19841,4571,1681,5312491,1882,7348,328
19851,6641,3501,3192421,7653,0029,341

Increase in stocks.

Table 28.11 shows the value of the physical increase in stocks of raw materials, work-in-progress, and finished goods by production group. This is a new measure, which removes capital gains and losses caused by holding stocks purchased at prices higher or lower than those ruling during the year. Statistics showing increases in book value of stocks are available from the Department of Statistics on request.

Table 28.11. INCREASE IN STOCKS

Production GroupYear Ended March
19811982198319841985
 $(million)
Market production groups
Agriculture11986−65241382
Fishing and hunting52
Forestry and logging205258289365522
Mining and quarrying18−7−51
Manufacture of food, beverages, and tobacco−198−14−5839
Textiles, apparel, and leather−268−32−1252
Manufacture of wood products−4810−25−18
Manufacture of paper products, and printing10−1331−137
Manufacture of chemicals, petroleum, rubber, and plastic−38−3911−2922
Manufacture of non-metallic mineral products−16−1−4−3−6
Basic metal industries−2−2−101715
Manufacture of fabricated metal products−80138−110147
Other manufacturing−3213
Electricity gas, and water−27−176426
Construction−1−31163
Trade, restaurants, and hotels−91−592588
Transport and storage−17−18−3
Communication8334083
Financing, insurance, real estate, and business services, community social, personal services99511-14
Ownership of owner-occupied dwellings
      Total, market production groups413143614881,896
Non-market production groups
Central government services232434
Local government services
Private non-profit services
Domestic services of households
      Total, all production groups653173654911,900

Gross domestic product at constant prices

Gross domestic product at constant prices is calculated by removing the effects of price changes from the current price production accounts. The series below provide a measure of GDP divided into 21 production groups at constant 1977–78 prices. By removing the effects of price changes, these constant price GDP statistics enable annual comparisons to be made of the relative volume of goods and services produced in the economy. Details on industries provide information on structural changes in the economy which are not readily observed in the current price accounts.

With the constant price series it has not been possible to produce separate statistics for all 25 production groups used in the current price accounts. The production groups which have been amalgamated are as follow:

  1. Manufacturing of fabricated metal products; machinery and equipment; and other manufacturing industries;

  2. Community, social, and personal services; private non-profit services to households; and domestic services of households; and

  3. Central government services; and local government services.

Table 28.12. CONTRIBUTION TO GDP AT CONSTANT PRICES BY PRODUCTION GROUP

Year Ended MarchIndustrial Croups
19811982198319841985
* For imputed bank service charge.
 $(million)
Agriculture1,6011,5591,6591,6081,743
Fishing and hunting4749495348
Forestry and logging154159159164184
Mining and quarrying105113166129174
Food, beverages, tobacco8869139719741,004
Textiles, apparel, and leather396420426415461
Wood and wood products212238216227253
Paper, printing, and publishing433443427463522
Chemicals, petroleum, and plastics270391284301344
Non-metallic mineral products159194202203222
Basic metal industries118132139154172
Machinery and metal products, miscellaneous8921,0421,0441,0571,212
Electricity, gas, water457466468495518
Construction754822818880915
Trade, restaurants, and hotels2,7922,9063,8342,9113,056
Transport and storage8808918819751,056
Communications424449469498544
Financing, insurance, real estate and business services1,6881,7701,7521,8862,011
Owner-occupied dwellings746757771783797
Community and personal services764793796820856
General government services1,8091,8481,8631,8891,900
Plus, unallocated indirect taxes210267236227274
Less, nominal industry*−338−345−354−417−467
      Gross Domestic Product15,45816,17816,27316,69217,797

The series of gross domestic product at constant prices commenced in 1977–78, replacing the previously published Index of Real GDP A historical series of GDP expressed at 1977–78 base year prices has been calculated from 1954–55 to 1977–78 and is available on request from the Department of Statistics. The historical series does not account for stocks valued at the average prices for each year. Increases in book values are used.

Quarterly indexes of gross domestic product at constant prices.

In addition to the annual constant price series shown above, quarterly indexes of gross domestic product at constant prices are also calculated. The quarterly indexes are fully reconciled with the annual series, but are not available at the same level of production group detail used in the annual constant price series.

The following production groups from the annual constant price series have been combined;

  1. Fishing and hunting; Forestry and logging; Mining and quarrying;

  2. Food, beverages, tobacco; Textiles, apparel and leather; Wood and wood products; Paper; printing and publishing; Chemicals, petroleum and plastics; Non-metallic mineral products; Basic metal industries; Machinery and metal products, miscellaneous; and

  3. Transport and storage; Communications; Financing, insurance, real estate and business services; Community and personal services.

Quarterly indexes for unallocated indirect taxes and the nominal industry are not available.

Both actual and seasonally adjusted indexes of GDP at constant prices are shown in table 28.13 for the four quarters to September 1986.

Table 28.13. INDEXES OF GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT AT CONSTANT PRICES*
Base: 1977–78 (= 100.0)

Industrial GroupsQuarter Ended
December 1985March 1986June 1986September 1986
* Quarterly indexes are shown as annual equivalents.
Actual—
  Agriculture21016781119
  Fishing, hunting, forestry mining153150158160
  Manufacturing124111127125
  Electricity gas, water133129147164
  Construction11798105115
  Trade, restaurants, hotels11099106116
  Owner-occupied dwellings115116116117
  Transport, communications, business and personal services138135137138
  General government services107102113114
      Gross Domestic Product129.8118.3117.8124.9
Seasonally adjusted—
  Agriculture144142150144
  Fishing, hunting, forestry mining148149146142
  Manufacturing121114126125
  Electricity gas, water139140145150
  Construction112106103110
  Trade, restaurants, hotels104104106114
  Owner-occupied dwellings115116116117
  Transport, communications, business and personal services137136138138
  General government services108109109110
      Gross Domestic Product121.5119.2123.2125.4

Indexes of employment and productivity

The index of employment is based on the number of persons in the total labour force as estimated by the Department of Labour. The total labour force consists of all persons actively engaged for 20 or more hours per week, including the armed forces and those on subsidised employment, but excluding the unemployed.

Increases in gross domestic product at constant prices are partly due to increases in the number of persons engaged in the labour force, and other factors such as greater labour effort, improved skills of the labour force, addition of productive fixed capital assets, and improvements in management.

The indexes of gross domestic product at constant prices, employment, and GDP at constant prices per labour force member are given in table 28.14.

Table 28.14. INDEX OF GDP AT CONSTANT PRICES PER LABOUR FORCE MEMBER
(Base: 1977–78 = 100.0)

YearGDP at Constant 1977–78 PricesEmploymentConstant Price GDP per Labour Force Member
IndexAnnual Percentage IncreaseIndexAnnual Percentage IncreaseIndexAnnual Percentage Increase
1979–80102.72.5101.31.2101.41.3
1980–81103.30.6101.80.5101.50.1
1981–82108.14.6103.31.5104.73.2
1982–83108.60.5104.00.7104.4−0.3
1983–84116.62.8103.5−0.5107.93.4

Real national disposable income

Real national disposable income provides a measure of changes in the purchasing power of income earned by New Zealanders. The income earned by New Zealanders may be used to purchase both domestically produced and imported goods and services. The quantity of imports which may be purchased out of current income depends upon two factors—

  1. The amount of export income available to purchase imports after that income has been adjusted for net property and entrepreneurial payments, and net current transfers, from the rest of the world (this income is termed ‘uncommitted exports’); and

  2. Changes in the terms of trade, i.e., the ratio of export prices to import prices. Any purchase of additional imports must be financed by overseas borrowing and/or the depletion of overseas assets.

Table 28.15. UNCOMMITTED EXPORTS

YearExports of Goods and Services (1)Net Property and Entrepreneurial income From the Rest of the World (2)Net Current Transfers From the Rest of the World (3)Uncommitted Exports (1) + (2) + (3) (4)
 $(million)
1981–828,249−615327,666
1982–839,116−8601188,374
1983–8410,815−1,1281139,800
1984–8513,348−1,47020812,086
1985–8613,797−1,64618612,337

Uncommitted exports are adjusted for changes in the terms of trade by deflating current values of uncommitted exports by changes in import prices. By adding this to gross domestic product at constant prices, the purchasing power of real national disposable income is derived. This income represents the real value of goods and services which can be purchased, both here and abroad, by New Zealand residents out of current income. Table 28.16 shows the derivation of real national disposable income.

Table 28.16. REAL NATIONAL DISPOSABLE INCOME

YearGross Domestic Product at 1977–78 Prices (1)Exports at 1977–78 Prices (2)Uncommitted Exports Corrected for the Terms of Trade (3)Real National Disposable Income (1) – (2) + (3) (4)
 $(million)
1981–8216,1784,7734,34615,751
1982–8316,2734,8614,27915,691
1983–8416,6925,3524,58915,929
1984–8517,7975,7294,76516,833
1985–8618,0815,7534,67116,999

As well as the real national disposable income series an associated series of gross national expenditure at constant prices has been produced. This series is calculated by deducting constant price exports from gross domestic product at constant prices, and adding constant price imports.

Table 28.17. GDP AND GROSS NATIONAL EXPENDITURE AT CONSTANT PRICES

YearGross Domestic Product at 1977–78 Prices (1)Exports at 1977–78 Prices (2)Imports at 1977–78 Prices (3)Gross National Expenditure at 1977–78 Prices (1) – (2) + (3) (4)
 $(million)
1981–8216,1784,7735,18216,587
1982–8316,2734,8615,24016,652
1983–8416,6925,3525,17216,512
1984–8517,7975,7295,82617,894
1985–8618,0815,7535,77318,101

28.3 Balance of payments

A country's overseas balance of payments statement is a comprehensive account of its economic transactions with the rest of the world. The New Zealand balance of payments estimates are based on the principles set out in the Balance of Payments Manual Fourth Edition, International Monetary Fund, and are in conformity with the methods used by other countries.

Annual estimates of the New Zealand balance of payments, together with an explanation of methodology, are shown in more detail in the annual volume Overseas Balance of Paymentspublished by the Department of Statistics. Annual, quarterly, and monthly estimates are available through the department's ‘INFOS’ database. Annual and quarterly estimates are also published in the Monthly Abstract of Statistics.

Major principles

The major principles used in preparing a balance of payments statement are:

  1. Goods sold from one country to another are recorded at the time ownership changes, and other transactions are recorded at the time they occur;

  2. Exports and imports of merchandise are valued at f.o.b. (free on board) in the exporting country;

  3. As far as possible, all transactions are shown on a gross, rather than on a net, settlement basis;

  4. Wherever possible, all transactions are valued at market prices; and

  5. All transactions are recorded in New Zealand dollars. Where another currency was used for the transaction the currency exchange rates ruling at the time the transaction occurred have been used to convert the transaction to New Zealand dollars.

Explanation of balance of payments terms

Exports/imports (as published in external trade statistics).

These are for March years and are otherwise identical with the figures published in chapter 24, Overseas trade. Exports are valued f.o.b. (free on board); imports are valued c.i.f. (cost, insurance, and freight).

Adjustments to balance of payments concepts.

There are some imports and exports which are included in the balance of payments but not in external trade statistics. These include ships and aircraft purchased by New Zealand residents for use in international trade.

A considerable portion of New Zealand's exports are sold on consignment in the United Kingdom. The change of ownership occurs well after the goods have been recorded in New Zealand external trade statistics. Also, the valuation in external trade statistics is an estimate of future realisations. Adjustments to bring trade statistics to balance of payments concepts show mainly as a credit entry.

The debit entry contains the adjustment of imports from c.i.f. value to f.o.b. value.

Exports/imports (f.o.b. exporting country).

New Zealand's exports and imports of merchandise on balance of payments basis.

Balance on merchandise trade.

The surplus of exports f.o.b. over imports f.o.b.

Transportation, travel, insurance, other miscellaneous services, and government transactions.

The exports of services from, and imports of services to, New Zealand. The balance on services is the difference between the sum of the credit entries and the sum of the debit entries for these items.

International investment income.

The credit entries show the income accruing to New Zealand residents from overseas investments, while the debit entries show the income accruing to overseas residents from their investments in New Zealand.

Transfers.

This item provides the counter-entries for gifts of goods, services, and financial assets to and from New Zealand. Examples are immigrants' transfers, gifts and donations, foreign aid payments, and relief supplies.

Balance on invisibles.

The balance on services plus international investment income credits, minus international investment income debits, plus transfer credits, minus transfer debits.

Balance on current account.

The balance on merchandise trade, plus the balance on invisibles. It is a measure of the surplus of outflows of goods, services, and transfers from New Zealand over the inflows of goods, services, and transfers into New Zealand.

Private overseas direct investment in New Zealand, New Zealand private direct investment overseas, and other private long-term capital movements.

These items show the changes in long-term claims on the rest of the world, and in long-term liabilities to the rest of the world, of the private sector.

Government capital movements.

Includes all government capital movements except movements in government-held reserve assets, and government borrowing to maintain New Zealand's foreign exchange reserve. Direct investment transactions of government-owned corporations are included.

Capital movements by monetary institutions.

This item includes those capital movements by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and the trading banks which are not movements in reserve assets or borrowing to maintain reserves.

Residual.

This is the balancing item. It offsets any difference between the sum of the credit column and the sum of the debit column. It covers any errors in the balance of payments estimates and all omissions. Included in the omissions are short-term private capital movements.

Reserve Bank liabilities.

Borrowing undertaken by the Government, Reserve Bank, and other organisations for the purpose of maintaining the level of New Zealand's reserves.

Net apparent capital inflow.

An indicator of the net capital inflow which occurred during the period. A negative sign denotes a net outflow. The item includes net transactions in reserve related liabilities, direct investment flows, other long-term private and government capital movements, capital movements by monetary institutions, and the residual item.

Reserve transactions.

The movements in New Zealand's foreign exchange reserves during the year. Reserves measured in New Zealand dollars may change because transactions have occurred, or because the value of the New Zealand dollar has changed relative to the currency in which the reserve asset is denominated. The presentation shows the total change in reserves and, separately, a counterpart to changes in reserves caused by exchange rate changes. The difference between these two items is equal to the change in reserves caused by transactions in reserve assets.

New Zealand's reserves may change because of an allocation of special drawing rights by the International Monetary Fund. This is not regarded as a transaction, and there is a counterpart item for such an allocation.

Net transactions in reserves and reserve-related liabilities.

Overseas borrowing by the Government, Reserve Bank, and other organisations is not the only means of influencing the level of official reserves. For example, official reserves may be run down to meet interest payments on government overseas borrowing. This item gives an indication of the magnitude of transactions (independent of transactions in reserve-related liabilities, exchange rate movements, on the allocation of SDRs) which have influenced official reserves during the period.

Geographic area.

The geographic area covered by New Zealand balance of payments statistics in this edition of the Yearbook excludes the Cook Islands, Niue, and Tokelau from 1983–84 on.

Geographic division

The regional break-up of the balance of payments is on a geographical (as distinct from a currency) basis. This means that it is not the currency in which any economic transaction is settled, but the residence of New Zealand's immediate partner in the transaction which determines in which region the transaction is recorded. Any exception to this rule is due to statistical necessity, insufficiency of basic data, etc., rather than choice.

United Kingdom (including Channel Islands).

Australia (including Norfolk Island, Christmas Island, and Cocos Islands).

USA.

United States of America, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and other American islands in the Pacific.

Other EC Countries.

The members of the European Community which form a common market; Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Greece (from 1 January 1981), Italy the Federal German Republic, Denmark, Ireland, and Spain and Portugal (after 1 January 1986). The United Kingdom is also a member of the EC but is shown separately.

Other OECD.

Austria. Canada, Finland, Greece (before 1 January 1981), Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Portugal and Spain (before 1 January 1986), Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey.

Asia-Oceania.

Asian countries east of Iran, and all Pacific countries except Australia, Japan, the Americas, and New Zealand.

Latin America-Caribbean.

All the Americas except Canada and the USA.

Other countries.

All countries not included in any other group.

International organisations.

Transactions with the United Nations and its agencies, the International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Finance Corporation, the Asian Development Bank, the South Pacific Air Transport Council, and other international organisations.

Accounting system

The system used in preparing the New Zealand balance of payments statement is by double entry. Every transaction results in a pair of equal credit and debit entries. Any entries which are not automatically paired are deliberately furnished with special off-setting entries. The sum of all the credit entries in the statement is thus, in principle, numerically equal to the sum of all the debit entries, with any inequality that may arise being attributable to net statistical errors and omissions. In practice, the residual item comprises short-term capital movements, data on which are not compiled, as well as errors and omissions.

Accounting period.

All estimates are for financial years ended 31 March.

Residents and non-residents.

The balance of payments is a record of economic transactions between residents and non-residents. Residents include the general government, all individuals, private non-profit organisations and enterprises, located or operating within the territory of an economy.

General government

The general government of New Zealand includes New Zealand embassies, consulates and military establishments located abroad. Conversely the embassies and consulates, etc., of foreign governments which are located in New Zealand are not considered to be New Zealand residents.

Individuals.

The concept of residence adopted for individuals is designed to encompass all persons who may be expected to consume goods and services, participate in production, or engage in other economic activities in New Zealand, on other than a temporary basis.

As a general rule, persons who live, or who intend to live, in New Zealand for at least one year are considered to be residents. The exception to this are employees of foreign governments, such as diplomatic and consular representatives, and personnel stationed in New Zealand. These employees are regarded as non-residents. New Zealand citizens who are employed by foreign embassies are regarded as New Zealand residents employed by foreigners.

Enterprises.

Enterprises resident in New Zealand are the actual units that engage in the production of goods and services in New Zealand. Therefore, subsidiaries and branches of overseas companies are treated as residents, while subsidiaries and branches of New Zealand companies operating overseas are regarded as residents of the country in which they operate.

Mobile equipment.

Mobile equipment, such as ships, aircraft, and oil rigs, is treated as an import and export of merchandise only when purchased or sold by a New Zealand-resident organisation. (Purchases and/or sales are imputed for financial lease arrangements.)

Foreign exchange transactions

The Department of Statistics has commenced a new statistical series covering the transactions of New Zealand foreign exchange dealers from July 1986. This replaces the overseas exchange transactions record previously maintained by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. Details are available from the department. See also chapter 26, Money and banking, which describes overseas exchange and the foreign exchange market.

Comparison with external transactions account of the national accounts

As far as possible, the balance of payments statement and the external transactions account are prepared using the same principles and definitions. However, they have different uses and there are some major differences in content. The most important of these is the inclusion of the undistributed earnings of direct investment enterprises in the balance of payments. These earnings are included as a memorandum item in the external transactions account. Therefore the balance on current account (i.e., the surplus of the nation on current account) in the external transactions account is more favourable than the balance on current account as shown in the balance of payments statement.

Users' preference.

A user who is interested in the effect of New Zealand's transactions with the rest of the world on the major economic aggregates of the economy should use the external transactions account of the national accounts, which is an integrated system designed for this type of analysis.

A user who is interested in a close examination of New Zealand's external transactions should use the balance of payments, which offers a more detailed classification of transactions than the external transactions account.

Table 28.18. SUMMARY OF NEW ZEALAND TRANSACTIONS WITH OTHER COUNTRIES

Item1933–84*1984–85*1985–86*
CreditDebitCreditDebitCreditDebit

* Figures are derived from quarterly balance of payments data, and are subject to later revision. Quarterly statistics are not available on a regional basis.

† Includes direct investment, other private and government capital movements, capital movements by monetary institutions, and errors and omissions.

 NZ$(million)
Exports/imports (as published in external trade statistics)8,3868,53910,52011,64210,89312,092
Adjustments to balance of payments concepts182−627−129−887−121−929
Exports/imports (f.o.b. exporting country)8,5687,91210,39110,75510,77211,164
      Balance on merchandise trade655−364−391
Transportation1,3491,3441,5331,6011,6641,681
Travel384668597839548817
Insurance11332352346
Other miscellaneous services3426934771,0745311,031
Government transactions1101709319173200
      Balance on services−712−1,033−934
International investment income3521,7973992,4594582,657
Transfers454349652442710524
Balance on invisibles−2,051−2,882−2,948
Balance on current account−1,397−3,245−3,338
Residual (includes short-term private capital movements and errors and omissions)3021,9043,271
Government borrowing (net)7731,6051,005
Reserve Bank borrowing (net)−125−194−53
Other official borrowing (net)−23−270
IMF drawings (net)
Net transactions in reserve related liabilities6481,388682
Net apparent capital inflow9503,2923,953
Changes in reserve assets
  Monetary gold
Special drawing rights (SDRs)—
  Total change in holdings−39−2
  Counterpart to allocation/cancellation−1
  Counterpart to valuation changes1
  Change due to transactions−28−2
Reserve position at the IMF—
  Total change in holdings45−45
  Counterpart to valuation changes
  Change due to transactions45−45
Reserve Bank overseas reserves—
  Total change in holdings−538 751 633
  Counterpart to valuation changes−1
  Change due to transactions−538751635
Treasury overseas reserves—
  Total change in holdings−439795
  Counterpart to valuation changes−91762113
  Change due to transactions48−665−18
Summary of reserve transactions—
  Total change in reserves−538811728
  Counterpart to valuation changes−92763112
  Changes in reserves due to transactions−44648616
  Net transactions in reserves and reserve related liabilities1,0941,34066
      Total reserves at 31 March (as shown in Reserve Bank Bulletin)1,128 1,940 2,667

Table 28.19. REGIONAL SUMMARIES OF BALANCE OF PAYMENTS TRANSACTIONS

 Merchandise Trade BalanceInvisibles BalanceCurrent Account BalanceNet Capital Movements*Net Compensatory FinancingNet Transactions in Reserves
* Includes all transactions in financial assets and liabilities other than transactions in reserves and reserve related liabilities. Excludes errors and omissions.
 NZ$(million) 1981–82
United Kingdom328−454−321891,294−8
Other EC61−141−59412412
Australia−488−303−845406..
United States−281−384−645−41−30021
Japan−143-131−27384183−108
Other OECD−88−127−2084228−9
Asia-Oceania214−31159−871
Latin America, Caribbean128−2610251
Other countries254−262288325
International organisations−39−55−7−13047
      Total 1981–82−14−1,662−1,6286381,331−40
 NZ$(million) 1982–83
United Kingdom156−558−298938255−187
Other EEC10−147−110613−338
Australia−645−212−831169
United States−225−658−845582575−72
Japan−172−127−296330378−274
Other OECD−89−150−227−1392597
Asia-Oceania126−6349285
Latin America, Caribbean1293133−28
Other countries551−46506480−100
International organisations−26−85−12−104−7
      Total 1982–83−158−1,984−2,0042,1331,456−971

Commentary.

New Zealand's economy is small and dependent on overseas trade. The value of exports of merchandise over the three years 1983–84, 1984–85, and 1985–86 averaged 25 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), and the value of its imports of merchandise (valued f.o.b.) averaged 26 percent. The current account receipts (credits) in its balance of payments averaged 35 percent of its GDR and the current account payments (debits) averaged 41 percent.

Over these three years, the earnings from merchandise exports made up 73 percent of total current account credits, while the cost (f.o.b.) of imports of goods accounted for 62 percent of current account payments. Thus the balance of payments is dominated by the fluctuations in the earnings from exports and in the payments for imports of goods. The balance on merchandise trade is strongly influenced by changes in the terms of trade as well as by changes in the volumes of exports and of imports.

The balance on current account for the 1985–86 financial year was a deficit of $3,338 million. This can be compared to a deficit of $3,245 million in 1984–85. There was a total increase in overseas reserves of $616 million in 1985–86, compared with an increase of $48 million in 1984–85.

Further information

National accounts

Consolidated National Accounts for New Zealand on an SNA Basis. Research Paper No. 32, D. Grindell (ed). Reserve Bank of New Zealand, 1981.

National Accounting Analysis of the Public Accounts, 1975–76 to 1984–85. Monthly Abstract of Statistics, November/December 1986, Appendix V Department of Statistics.

National Accounts in Constant Prices. Monthly Abstract of Statistics, September 1984, Appendix I. Department of Statistics.

New Zealand System of National Accounts 1971–72 to 1985–86. Monthly Abstract of Statistics, November/December 1986, Appendix IV Department of Statistics.

New Zealand System of National Accounts, Concepts and Design, 1971–72 to 1980–81, Department of Statistics.

New Zealand's Real National Disposable Income. Monthly Abstract of Statistics, June 1985, Appendix I. Department of Statistics.

Quarterly National Accounts at Constant Prices. Monthly Abstract of Statistics, August 1985, Appendix VI. Department of Statistics.

Quarterly Predictions. New Zealand Institute of Economic Research.

A System of National Accounts. Studies in Methods, Series F, No. 2, Rev. 3. United Nations, 1968.

Balance of payments

Overseas Balance of Payments. Department of Statistics (annual).

Inter-industry studies

Inter-industry Study of the New Zealand Economy (1959–60, 2 parts), (1971–72, 1 part), (1976–77, provisional Bulletin), (1976–77, 1 part). Department of Statistics.

Provisional New Zealand Input—Output Tables 1981–82. Department of Statistics.

Chapter 29. Weights and measures

New Zealand had converted from the Imperial to the International System of units for measurement by 1976. Almost all the statistics in this volume are in metric (SI) units, except for shipping (excluding cargo).

Metric to Imperial  Metric multiples
Length
  1 millimetre (mm)= 0.04 inches (in.)1 centimetre (cm)= 10 millimetres (mm)
  1 centimetre (cm)= 0.39 inches (in.)1 metre (m)= 100 centimetres (cm)
  1 metre (m)= 39.37 inches (in.)1 kilometre (km)= 1 000 metres (m)
 = 1.09 yards (yds)  
  1 kilometre (km)= 0.62 miles  
Area
  1 square metre (m2)= 10.76 square feet (sq. ft)1 hectare (ha)= 10 000 square metres (m2)
 = 1.20 square yards (sq. yd)1 square kilometre (km2)= 100 hectares (ha)
  1 hectare (ha)= 2.47 acres  
  1 square kilometre (km2)= 247 acres  
 = 0.39 square miles  
Volume and capacity
  1 cubic centimetre (cm3)= 0.06 cubic inches (cu. in.)1 cubic metre (m3)= 10 000 000 cubic centimetres (cc)
  1 cubic metre (m3)= 35.31 cubic feet (cu. ft)1 litre (l)= 1 000 millilitres (ml)
 = 1.31 cubic yards (cu. yd)1 millilitre (ml)= 1 cubic centimetre (cc)
  1 litre (l)= 1.76 pints1 cubic metre (cm3)= 1 000 litres (l)
 = 0.22 gallons  
Mass (weight)
  1 gram (g)= 0.04 ounces (oz)  
  1 kilogram (kg)= 2.20 pounds (lb)1 kilogram (kg)= 1 000 grams (g)
  1 tonne (t)= 2 204.62 pounds (lb)1 tonne (t)= 1 000 kilograms (kg)
 = 0.98 tons  
Velocity
  1 kilometre per hour (km/h)= 0.62 miles per hour (mph)  
Pressure
1 kilopascal (kPa)= 0.15 pounds per square inch (psi)1 megapascal (MPa)= 1 000 kilopascals (kPa)
  1 megapascal (MPa)= 0.06 tons per square inc (tons psi)  
Temperature
  Degrees Fahrenheit (°F)= 9°C/5 + 32  
  Degrees Celsius (°C)= 5(°F–32)4/9  
Energy
  1 kilojoule (kJ)= 0.95 British thermal units (Btu)1 megajoule (MJ)= 1 000 kilojoules (kJ)
 = 0.24 calories (cal)1 kilowatt hour (kWh)= 3.6 megajouies (MJ)
  1 gigajoule (GJ)= 1 000 megajouies (MJ)
  1 petajoule (PJ)= 1 million gigajoules (GJ)
Power
  1 kilowatt (kW)= 1.34 UK horsepower1 kilowatt (kW)= 1 000 watts
  1 megawatt (MW)= 1 000 kilowatts (kW)
  1 gigawatt (GW)= 1 000 megawatts (MW)

Chapter 30.

Glossary of statistical terms

Terms used in business census results before 1982–83 are included at the end of this glossary.

Activity unit—A separate operating unit engaged in New Zealand In one (or predominantly one) kind of economic activity from a single location—includes an ancillary activity unit.

Ancillary activity unit—An administrative or genera] servicing unit such as a head office, storage unit, laboratory, etc., the prime function of which is to provide services for other locations of the enterprise.

Bone-in weight—Dressed carcass weight, including bone.

C.i.f. (cost including insurance and height)—A basis for valuation of merchandise imports. representing the cost to the importer of buying the goods and bringing them to the wharfside in New Zealand.

Census—A type of survey in which all members of a given population provide information. These units may be people, companies, buildings, local authorities, etc. The Department of Statistics carries out a range of national censuses at regular intervals, such as the Census of Population and Dwellings, the Census of Fishing, and the Census of Manufacturing. (See also sample survey.)

De facto relationship—A stable relationship between persons of the opposite sex living together but not legally married. A question using this term was first introduced at the 1931 Census of Population and Dwellings. At previous censuses, persons in such relationships were coded as married, depending on answers to other census questions.

Density (of population)—Usually expressed as the average number of persons per square kilometre (or hectare) in a particular locality.

Depreciation—As charged in the books of account on fixed tangible assets owned by the establishments and ancillary units.

Employer contributions—Payments to superannuation, pension and welfare schemes, and accident compensation levies.

Enterprise—A single business entity operating in New Zealand either as a legally constituted body such as a company, partnership, trust, local or central government trading organisation, incorporated society, or self-employed individual.

Enterprise group—An independent business unit operating in New Zealand either as a single business entity, or a group of business entities under common ownership or control.

Establishment—A separate operating unit engaged in New Zealand in one (or predominantly one) kind of economic activity from a single location.

Ex-nuptial birth—Birth of a child out of wedlock, including from a de facto relationship (see above).

Exports (as applied to balance of payments data)—Goods and services sold by New Zealand-resident producers to non-residents. (See also merchandise exports, invisibles, and re-exports.)

F.o.b. (free on board)—A basis for valuation of merchandise exports. It is the current market value of goods in the country of origin, including all costs necessary to get them on board the ship or aircraft, but excluding freight, insurance, and other costs involved in transporting goods between countries.

Fertility—The actual level of reproductive performance of a population, based on the number of live births that occur. Fertility is normally measured in terms of women of child-bearing age, defined as 15–44 years, although births to women outside this age range can occur.

Gross tonne—The unit of actual weight of cargo, including packaging but not including the weight of a reusable container.

Imports (as applied to balance of payments data)—All goods and services purchased by New Zealand residents from non-residents. (See also merchandise trade and invisible (trade).)

Indexes—Indexes are used to measure the total impact of changes in the attributes of commodities which cannot be compared directly. In New Zealand the most common use of index numbers is to measure changes in prices or money values over time. When calculating a price index the type, quantity and quality of each commodity are held constant so mat the price movement can be measured. There are a number of methods for calculating index numbers and a type called the Laspeyres index is that most often encountered. The most frequently quoted index is the Consumers Price Index which reports quarterly the change in price level of those goods and services purchased by private New Zealand households during the index-base period. By expressing the changes as an index, price changes in commodities as diverse as beef, hairdressing and club subscriptions can all be aggregated to produce a measure of overall price change.

Using the Consumers Price Index as an example, a fixed-base Laspeyres index is compiled as follows:

  1. The base for measurement is established by choosing a representative selection of goods and services from commodities purchased by New Zealand households in the previous year. The commodities in the base are often referred to as a basket of goods or an index regimen and the time period as a base year. By convention the index number of 1000 is used to express the value of the basket of goods in the base year.

  2. As part of the process of establishing the base, a weight is assigned to each commodity. This weight shows the relative importance of the commodity in household expenditure. The weighting procedure ensures that major expenditure items are given their due importance. For example, a small increase in the price of commodities like bread or petrol will be more significant than a large increase in the price of pianos.

  3. Once the base for measurement is established, the quantity, type and quality of the commodities chosen are kept constant so that the price movement alone is measured. This continues to be the case until the index base is revised. Such revisions are needed because new products come onto the market, old products disappear and the pattern of household expenditure changes.

  4. Data on the current prices of the commodities in the base are then obtained at three-monthly intervals.

  5. Once collected, the current prices are compared with the prices in the base year and the percentage increase or decrease for each commodity is computed. Finally the index is obtained by multiplying the percentage changes for each commodity by their assigned weights and aggregating these changes for all commodities.

Indirect taxes—Covers land tax, road user charges, licence fees and rates.

Insurances—Business insurance premiums paid.

Interest etc.—Interest, bad debts, donations, royalties, insurance claims paid or received and patent fees.

Invisible (trade)—Export and import of services such as transport, travel, and insurance.

Labour force (full-time)—The section of the population aged 15 years and over who are employed for 30 hours a week or more for financial gain or as an unpaid relative assisting. The labour force includes those in the armed forces and those unemployed seeking work.

Main urban areas—Non-administrative areas with a population of 30 000 or more containing a central city or borough, and neighbouring areas regarded as suburbs of the main centre. Twenty-three areas of New Zealand have been defined as main urban areas for the purposes of presenting primarily demographic data.

Mean population—The average number of people in an area during a given period, usually a year. This measure may be estimated in terms of simple or weighted averages of population, monthly or quarterly during the reference period.

Merchandise exports—Goods of domestic origin, and re-exports, sent from New Zealand to other countries.

Merchandise imports—Goods landed in New Zealand, having been consigned from other countries, for immediate consumption or for storage in bonded warehouses.

Merchandise trade—All goods which add to or subtract from the stock of material resources in a country, as a result of their movement in or out of it.

Migrant (or Mover)—A person whose usual address at the 1981 Census of Population and Dwellings was different from that of five years earlier.

Minor urban areas—Towns of 1000 or more population, not already included in main or secondary urban areas.

Mortality—The actual level of mortality of a population based on the actual number of deaths that occur within it.

Mover—see migrant.

National parks—Areas which may contain considerable forest land, set aside in their natural state for public enjoyment. They are administered by the Department of Conservation.

Net profit—The difference between total income and total expenditure, less working proprietors/partners salaries and wages.

Operating surplus—Interest, etc., paid/received are deducted from the respective accounting value totals to arrive at the ‘operating surplus’ measurement used in the value-added calculation.

Other expenditure—All other operating expenses excluding salaries and drawings by working proprietors/partners and expenses of a capital nature.

Other income—Income from rental of plant and equipment, service connection charges, etc.

Paid employees—The total number of people engaged, full-time and part-time, in the activity and ancillary units at or on the nearest payday to 28 February.

Persons engaged—The total number of persons engaged, full-time and part-time in activity and ancillary activity units at or on the nearest payday to 28 February during the census year.

Population projection—A conditional forecast of the future size and/or composition of a specified population. It calculates the effect on the current (base) population during successive periods if certain stated assumptions apply.

Provisional (statistics)—Statistics which are derived using preliminary or incomplete data and released before final data become available.

Purchases—Purchases of materials, supplies, goods for resale, fuels, and electricity.

Re-exports—Goods, materials or articles exported in the same condition as they were imported, and imported goods which have undergone operations such as repair, repacking, or bottling which leave them essentially unchanged before exporting.

Rent and leasing—Total expenditure on or income from the rent and leasing of land and buildings and of plant, equipment and vehicles.

Reserves—Any land set apart for any public purpose (with some exceptions as set out in the Reserves Act 1977). There are legal impediments to any exploitation of timber on reserve land. Rural areas (or rural localities)—Counties and boroughs (or parts of), located outside any urban area. Large rural counties have been subdivided into smaller areas for statistical purposes.

Salaries and wages—Gross earnings during the accounting year of all paid employees in the establishments or ancillary units included in the census. Included are such items as overtime, sick and holiday pay, bonuses, payments under piece-rate schemes, all benefit allowances, severance pay, value of free supplies and sales commission paid to own employees.

Sales—Sales of manufactured goods and services provided, including sales of goods purchased for resale without any further processing.

Sample survey—A type of survey in which only a representative proportion of the given population provides detailed information. The sample statistics are summarised and are used to estimate statistics for the full population.

Seasonal adjustments—Adjustments made to statistical time series (usually monthly or quarterly) to provide a refined series for trend analysis in which the fluctuations due to seasonal variations have been removed.

Secondary urban areas—These centre on a major borough, and include adjacent parts of counties suburban to that borough.

Smaller urban centres (or small centres)—The secondary and minor urban areas referred to above.

Standard International Trade Classification (S.I.T.C.)—A classification published by the United Nations defining export and import commodities.

State forests—Formerly areas administered by the New Zealand Forest Service, now by the Forestry Corporation (for production forestry) and the Department of Conservation (for other purposes).

State forest parks—State-owned forests which are sufficiently distinctive to be designated state forest parks. They are open for public recreation and there is public participation in their management through an advisory committee for each park appointed by the Minister of Conservation from nominations by interested organisations and individuals.

Statistical areas—Non-administrative areas corresponding roughly to the boundaries of the former provincial districts. Currently 13 areas are defined as statistical areas for the purposes of presenting regional statistical data.

Statistical divisions—The main non-administrative centres of the country containing a population of 75 000 or more, within a reasonably compact area with common economic and cultural interests. There are seven areas defined as statistical divisions for the purposes of presenting statistical data.

Subsidies—Direct government cash grants and subsidies, other than for capital purposes.

Tonne-kilometre—A measure of the total weight of freight carried (in tonnes) multiplied by the distance carried (in kilometres).

Total expenditure—Purchases and operating expenses, excluding losses in extraordinary items, less working proprietors/partners salaries and wages.

Total income—Sales and other income, excluding gains in extra ordinary items, adjusted for difference between opening and closing stocks.

Unoccupied Crown land—Land owned by the Crown, and not subject to any occupation, licence, lease, or tenancy, or set aside for any public purpose.

Urban areas—see main urban areas; minor urban areas; secondary urban areas.

V.f.d. (value for duty)—This is the assessed value of merchandise imports on which duty is based. It is roughly equivalent to the current domestic value of goods in the exporting country.

Value added—The amount added to goods and services by the contributions of capital and labour (i.e., the costs of bought-in materials and services has been deducted from the total value of output).

Vital statistics—Statistics of events such as births, deaths, and marriages which influence the numbers of a population.

Vitals—see vital statistics.

Terms used for business censuses up to 1981–82

For further information on business censuses see chapter 28, National economy.

Ancillary unit—Any unit such as head office, laboratory, workshop etc., of which the prime function is to provide services for an establishment, or establishments, under the same ownership.

Capital expenditure less disposals—The amount spent on the purchase of new and secondhand fixed assets, less the proceeds received from the sale of any such assets.

Depreciation—Depreciation, as charged in the books of account, on fixed tangible assets owned by establishments.

Establishment—A separate operating unit engaged in one, or predominantly one, kind of economic activity. Whilst normally at a single physical location, in the transport or building industries an establishment may include activities at several locations which are accounted for as one activity.

Paid employees—see persons engaged.

Persons engaged—The total number of persons engaged (paid employees and working proprietors/partners) full-time and part-time. This number is taken at or on the nearest payday to 28 February in the year of each census. (Before 1979–80 the date was 15 April after the close of the census.) Unpaid relatives assisting are included in the Censuses of Distribution, and Agriculture, but not in other censuses.

Purchases and other operating expenses—Total purchases and operating expenses, less interest, bad debts, donations, royalties and patent fees. Also excludes salaries and wages paid, and depreciation.

Total salaries and wages paid—Gross earnings, during the accounting year, of all paid employees included in the census. Included are such items as: overtime; sick and holiday pay; bonuses; payments under piece-rate schemes; all benefit allowances; severance pay; value of free supplies; sales commission paid to employees. Also included are any capitalised salaries and wages.

Turnover—Total sales and other income, less: interest; dividends; donations; grants; royalties; insurance claims received. Capital work done by employees is included.

Value added—This is equal to the sum of salaries and wages, depreciation and profit, before interest is brought to account. It can also be calculated by deducting from the value of output, the cost of bought-in material and bought-in non-labour services.

Chapter 31.

Books about New Zealand

The following list of books has been compiled to give New Zealand and overseas readers a selective approach to the country's literature and sources of information. Entries are arranged alphabetically under appropriate subject headings, which are in approximate order of the Dewey Classification. The following abbreviations for places of publication have been used: Ak (Auckland), Wn (Wellington), Ch (Christchurch), and Dn (Dunedin). The selection covers books published in New Zealand as well as books published overseas about New Zealand. Works of less than 75 pages are indicated by an asterisk.

The New Zealand National Bibliography is published monthly and cumulated annually in microfiche. It lists books, pamphlets, music, maps, periodicals, and selected non-book materials. It is prepared in the New Zealand Bibliographic Unit, and available from the National Library of New Zealand, Private Bag, Wellington.

General reference, bibliography, and encyclopaedias

AIR NEW ZEALAND ALMANAC, compiled and edited by Max Lambert and Ron Palenski, Eileen Lambert and Kathy Palenski. Ak, Moa Almanac Press, 1986.

BAGNALL, A. G. New Zealand national bibliography to the year 1960. Wn, Govt Print., 1970–80. Vol. 1, to 1889. Vol. 2–4, 1890–1960.

BATEMAN NEW ZEALAND ENCYCLOPAEDIA, editor-in-chief, G. McLauchlan. Ak, David Bateman, 1984.

BLOOMFIELD, G. T. New Zealand, a handbook of historical statistics. Boston, G. K. Hall, 1984.

DIRECTORYOF OFFICIAL INFORMATION. Wn, State Services Commission, 1985.

DUNMORE BOOKOF NEW ZEALAND RECORDS, edited by P. Dunmore, Palmerston North, Dunmore Press, 1977.

ELLIS, N. comp. New Zealand associations, societies and clubs; a national directory. 2nd ed. Wn, Victoria University Press with Price Milburn, 1979.

ENCYCLOPAEDIAOF NEW ZEALAND, edited by A. H. McLintock. 3 vol. Wn, Govt Print., 1966. (Out of print.)

FRASER, B. Ed. The New Zealand book of events. Ak: Reed Methuen, 1986.

GILDERDALE, B. A sea change: 145 years of New Zealand junior fiction. Ak, Longman Paul, 1982.

GUIDETO NEW ZEALAND INFORMATION SOURCES, Palmerston North, Massey University, 1975. Bibliographies have been published on plants and animals, fanning, field and horticultural crops, education, livestock farming, fisheries, forestry, religion, and official publications.

HEINEMANN NEW ZEALAND DICTIONARY, edited by H. W. Orsman. Ak, Heinemann Educational, 1979.

*MILLETT, A. P. U. and F. T. H. COLE. Bibliographical work in New Zealand 1985; work in progress and work published. Hamilton, University of Waikato Library, 1985.

NATIONAL REGISTEROF ARCHIVESAND MANUSCRIPTSIN NEW ZEALAND., Vol. 1, Pt 1. Compiled by National Archives of New Zealand. Wn, National Library of New Zealand, 1979.

NEW ZEALAND BOOKSIN PRINT 1984–85. Melbourne, Thorpe, 1985.

NEW ZEALAND LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, Bibliography of New Zealand bibliographies. Wn, 1967.

OXFORD NEW ZEALAND ENCYCLOPAEDIA, London. O.U.P., 1965. (Out of print.)

ROBERTSON, E and P. H. HUGHES, New Zealand Royal Commissions, Commissions and Committees of Inquiry, 1864–1981: a checklist. Wn, New Zealand Library Association, 1982.

TAYLOR, C. R. H. A bibliography of publications on the New Zealand Maori. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1972.

TAYLOR, C. R. H. A Pacific bibliography. 2nd ed. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1965. (Out of print.)

UNION LISTOF THESESOFTHE UNIVERSITYOF NEW ZEALAND, 1910–1954. Wn, New Zealand Library Association, 1956. (Out of print.) Supplement, 1955–1962. Supplement, 1963–1967. Supplement, 1968–1971. Supplement, 1971–1975. Supplement, 1976–1978.

WILSON, N. and A. BOLLARD. A bibliography of New Zealand industrial economics research. Wn, Department of Trade and Industry, 1984.

*WOOD, G. A. A guide for students of New Zealand history. Dn, McIndoe, 1973.

Social sciences and public administration

AGEING NEW ZEALANDERS, edited by R. A. Barker, F. M. Caughey, M. W. Guthrie. Wn, Dept of Health, 1982.

BEDGGOOD, D. Rich and poor in New Zealand. Sydney, Allen and Unwin, 1980.

BEYOND NEW ZEALAND. The foreign policy of a small state, edited by John Henderson, Keith Jackson, and Richard Kennaway. Ak, Methuen, 1980.

BLACKBURN, A. Race against time. Wn, Human Rights Commission, 1982.

BUSH, G. W. A. Local government and politics in New Zealand. Sydney, Allen and Unwin, 1980.

DAVIS, P. Health and health care in New Zealand. Ak, Longman Paul, 1981.

EASTON, B. Social policy and the welfare state in New Zealand. Ak, Allen and Unwin, 1980.

FAMILIESIN NEW ZEALAND SOCIETY, edited by P. G. Koopman-Boyden. Wn, Methuen New Zealand, 1978.

GEARE, A. J. The system of industrial relations in New Zealand. Wn, Butterworths, 1983.

GRAY, A. The Jones men; 100 New Zealand men talk about their lives. Wn, Reed, 1983.

GRIMSHAW, P. Women's suffrage in New Zealand. Ak, Auckland U.P.: Wn, O.U.P., 1972.

GUSTAFSON, B. S. Labour's path to political independence. Ak, Auckland University Press, 1980.

HANSON, E. A. The politics of social security. Ak, Auckland University Press, 1980.

HILL, M. et al. Shades of deviance: a New Zealand collection, Palmerston North, Dunmore Press.

ISSUESIN EQUITY by Judith Davey and Peggy Koopman-Boyden. Wn, New Zealand Planning Council, 1983.

LEVINE, S. Maori policitical perspectives. Ak, Hutchinson, New Zealand, 1985.

MCGEE, D. G. Parliamentary practice in New Zealand. Wn, Govt Print., 1985.

MCGIBBON, I. C. Blue-water rationale: the naval defence of New Zealand, 1914–1942. Wn, Govt Print., 1981.

McGILL, D. The other New Zealanders. Wn, Mallinson Rendel, 1982.

McGILL, J. F. Immigration and the New Zealand economy. Wn, New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, 1981.

MASCARENHAS, R. C. (ed.) Public and private enterprise in New Zealand. Wn, New Zealand Institute of Public Administration, 1983.

MASCARENHAS, R. C. Public enterprise in New Zealand. Wn, New Zealand Institute of Public Administration, 1982.

MOL, Hans. The fixed and the fickle: religion and identity in New Zealand. Dn, Pilgrims Southern Press, 1982.

MULGAN, R. G. Democracy and power in New Zealand: a study of New Zealand politics. Ak, O.U.P., 1984.

NEW ZEALAND POPULATION: PATTERNSOF CHANGE. (Population Monitoring Group. Report No 1). Wn, New Zealand Planning Council, 1984.

NEW ZEALAND, SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES, edited by Paul Spoonley, David Pearson, Ian Shirley. Palmerston North, Dunmore Press, 1982.

PALMER, G. Unbridled power: an interpretation of New Zealand's constitution and government. Wn, O.U.P., 1979.

PEARSON, D. G. Johnsonville: continuity and change in a New Zealand township. Sydney, Allen and Unwin, 1980.

PEARSON, D. G. and D. C. THORNS. Eclipse of equality. Sydney, Allen and Unwin, 1983.

THE PATHTO REFORM, edited by C. Burns. Wn, New Zealand Institute of Public Administration, 1982.

PEOPLE LIKE US, CELEBRATING CULTURAL DIVERSITY, edited by Anthony Haas, Allison Webber, Pam Brown. Wn, Asia Pacific Books, 1982.

PHILLIPS, R. Divorce in New Zealand: A social history. Ak, O.U.P., 1981.

THE POPULATIONOF NEW ZEALAND, edited by R. J. W. Neveille and C. J. O'Neill. Ak, Longman Paul, 1979.

RELIGIONIN NEW ZEALAND SOCIETY, edited by Brian Colless and Peter Donovan. Palmerston North, Dunmore Press, 1980.

ROTH, B. and T. HAMMOND. Toil and trouble; the struggle for a better life in New Zealand. Ak, Methuen, New Zealand, 1981.

ROTH, B. Trade unions in New Zealand. Wn, Reed, 1974.

SCOTT, C. D. Local and regional government in New Zealand: function and finance. Sydney, Allen and Unwin. 1979.

SOCIAL WELFAREAND NEW ZEALAND SOCIETY, edited by A. D. Trlin. Wn, Methuen, 1977.

STATE SERVANTSANDTHE PUBLICINTHE 1980s, edited by R. M. Alley, Wn, New Zealand Institute of Public Administration, 1980.

VOLUNTARY UNIONISM; PROCEEDINGSOFA SEMINAR, 5 October 1983, edited by P. Brosnan. Wn, Industrial Relations Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, 1983.

WHO MAKES SOCIAL POLICY? New Zealand Planning Council. Wn, 1982.

WOMENIN NEW ZEALAND SOCIETY, edited by P. Bunkle and B. Hughes. Sydney, Allen and Unwin, 1980.

Economics

BOSTON, J. Incomes policy in New Zealand. Wn, Victoria University Press for the Institute of Policy Studies, 1984.

BURROWES, A. W. and R. D. MULHOLLAND. Investing on the New Zealand sharemarket. Rev. ed. Ak, Macmillan, 1983.

CAMPBELL, R. and A. KIRK. After the freeze: New Zealand unions in the economy. Eastbourne, Port Nicholson Press, 1983.

EASTON, B. H. Economics for New Zealand social democrats. Dn, John McIndoe Ltd, 1981.

EASTON, B. H. Income Distribution in New Zealand. Wn, NZIER, 1983.

EASTON, B. H. and N. J. THOMSON. An introduction to the New Zealand economy. St Lucia, Qld, University of Queensland Press, 1982.

ECONOMIC SUMMIT CONFERENCE. A briefing on the New Zealand economy. Wn, Govt Print., 1984.

EXTERNAL ECONOMIC STRUCTUREAND POLICY, AN ANALYSISOF NEW ZEALAND'S BALANCEOF PAYMENTS, edited by R. S. Deane, P. W. E. Nicholl, and M. J. Walsh. Wn, Reserve Bank of New Zealand, 1981.

GOULD, J. The rake's progress? The New Zealand economy since 1945. Ak, Hodder and Stoughton, 1983.

HAWKE, G. R. Between government and banks. Wn, Govt Print., 1973.

HAWKE, G. R. The Making of New Zealand: an economic history. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1985.

HAYWOOD, E., D. ROSE and A. STROOMBERGEN. Towards 1990: patterns of national and sectoral development. Wn, NZ Planning Council, 1983.

HORSFIELD, A. K. and D. J. O'DEA. Equity investment in New Zealand. Wn, Govt Print., 1983.

INFLATIONAND ECONOMIC ADJUSTMENT, edited by R. A. Buckle. Wn, Dept of Economics, Victoria University of Wellington, 1983.

LODGE, J. The European Community and New Zealand. London, F. Pinter, 1982.

MONETARY POLICYANDTHE NEW ZEALAND FINANCIAL SYSTEM, edited by R. S. Deane, P. W. Nicholl and R. G. Smith. 2nd ed. Wn, Reserve Bank of New Zealand, 1983.

NATIONAL INCOMES POLICY, PROCEEDINGSOFA SEMINAR, edited by Pat Walsh. Wn, Industrial Relations Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, 1982.

NEW ZEALAND VALUATION DEPT. Handbook for local authorities. 4th ed. Wn, 1982.

PRESTON, D. A. Government accounting in New Zealand. Wn, Govt Print., 1980.

STONE, R. J. C. Makers of fortune, Ak, Auckland University Press/Oxford University Press, 1973.

STUDIESOFTHE NEW ZEALAND LABOUR MARKET, ed B. H. Easton. Wn, NZI 1988

TISDALE, C. A. and J. T. WARD. Economics in our society. Milton, Qld, Jacaranda Press, 1981.

THE TREASURY. Economic management. Wn, Govt Print., 1984.

WARD, A. H. A Command of co-operatives. Wn, N.Z. Dairy Board, 1975.

Periodicals—

BULLETINOFTHE RESERVE BANKOF NEW ZEALAND. Wn, Reserve Bank (monthly).

THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT. Wn, Govt Print. (annual).

MEDIUM TERM REVIEW. Wn, NZ Institute of Economic Research (annual).

NEW ZEALAND: OECD ECONOMIC SURVEY. Paris, OECD (about 18-monthly).

QUARTERLY PREDICTIONS. Wn, NZ Institute of Economic Research (quarterly).

QUARTERLY SURVEYOF BUSINESS OPINION. Wn, NZ Institute of Economic Research (quarterly).

REPORTOFTHE ECONOMIC MONITORING GROUP. Wn, New Zealand Planning Council (annual).

Law

AFFORD, J., S. KOS, and B. NAPIER. The law and you: a practical guide for New Zealanders. Wn, Reed, 1981.

BLAIR, A. P. Accident compensation in New Zealand: the law relating to compensation for personal injury by accident in New Zealand. 2nd ed. Wn, Butterworths, 1983.

BROOKS. B. T. The practice of industrial relations in New Zealand. Ak, Commerce Clearing House (New Zealand), 1978.

BUTTERWORTHS FAMILY LAW GUIDE. Wn, Butterworths, 1983.

CAMPBELL, L. G. The framework of industrial law in New Zealand. 2nd ed. Wn, Victoria University of Wellington, Industrial Relations Centre, 1982.

DOYLE, M. W. Criminal procedure in New Zealand. Wn, Sweet and Maxwell, 1978.

DUNCAN, P. C. The layman and the law in New Zealand. Ak, J. M. McGregor, 1981.

FAMILY GUIDETO NEW ZEALAND LAW. Surrey Hills, NSW, Reader's Digest, 1980.

HINDE. G. W. and M. S. HINDE. New Zealand law dictionary. 3rd ed. Wn, Butterworths, 1979.

MCBRIDE, T. J. New Zealand civil rights handbook. Wn, Price Milburn, Butterworths, 1980.

MULHOLLAND, R. D. Business law today. 2nd ed. Palmerston North. Dunmore Press, 1985.

MULHOLLAND, R. D. Consumer law in New Zealand. Palmerston North, Dunmore Press, 1982.

MULHOLLAND, R. D. Introduction to the New Zealand legal system. 6th ed. Wn, Butterworths, 1985.

NEW ZEALAND LAWS, STATUTES, ETC. Reprint of the Statutes of New Zealand, 1908–57. Wn, Govt Print, 1958–1961. 16 vol.

NORTHEY, J. F. Index to New Zealand legal writing. Ak, Legal Research Foundation, 1982. Annual supplements also published.

O'KEEFE, J. A. B. The principles and practice of rating and rating valuations in New Zealand. Auckland University, 1982.

TAPP, P. and M. WILSON. Women and the law in New Zealand. Ak, Methuen, 1982.

WILLIAMS, D. A. R. Environmental law in New Zealand. Wn, Butterworths, 1980.

Education

BARRINGTON, J. M. and T. H. BEAGLEHOLE. Maori schools in a changing society: an historical review. Wn, New Zealand Council for Educational Research, 1974.

BOSHIER, R. Adult and continuing education in New Zealand, 1851–1978: a bibliography. Vancouver, Adult Education Research Centre, Faculty of Education. University of British Columbia; Toronto, International Council for Adult Education, 1979.

CAMPBELL, W. J. Realities of teacher development. Wn, Dent of Education, 1977.

CUMMING, I. and A. CUMMING. History of state education in New Zealand, 1840–1975. Wn, Pitman, 1978.

EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMOF NEW ZEALAND, Washington. D.C., US Government Printing Office, 1981.

EDUCATIONANDTHE EQUALITYOFTHE SEXES: conference on women and education sponsored by the Committee on Women and the Department of Education, 23–27 November 1975, Victoria University of Wellington. Wn, Dept of Education, 1976.

FITZGERALD, T. K. Education and identity; a study of the New Zealand Maori graduate. Wn, New Zealand Council for Educational Research, 1977.

FORWARDTO BASICS, edited by J. Shallcrass. Wn, New Zealand Education Institute, 1978.

GADD, D. B. H. Cultural difference in the classroom: the special needs of Maoris in pakeha schools. Ak, Heinemann Educational, 1976

GUIDANCEIN NEW ZEALAND SECONDARY SCHOOLS, compiled and edited by G. Hermansson. Ak, New Zealand Counselling and Guidance Association, 1981.

MCDONALD, G. Maori mothers and pre-school education. Wn, New Zealand Council for Educational Research, 1973.

MEADE, A. comp. New Zealand early childhood care and education: bibliography, 1965–1978; with annotations. Wn, New Zealand Council for Educational Research, 1979.

NEW ZEALAND COMMITTEEON HEALTHAND SOCIAL EDUCATION. Growing, sharing, learning; the report of the committee on health and social education. 2nd ed. Wn, Dept of Education, 1978.

NEW ZEALAND EARLY CHILDHOOD CAREAND DEVELOPMENT CONVENTION: 2nd, University of Canterbury, 1979. Early childhood in New Zealand: their needs, our concern. Ch, Christchurch Teachers College, 1979.

*NEW ZEALAND EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL. Review of educational developments, 1974–1978: progress on recommendations of the educational development conference. Wn, Educational Development Council, 1978.

NEW ZEALAND NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEEON MAORI EDUCATION. He Huarahi. Wn, Dept of Education, 1980.

NEW ZEALAND RESEARCH COMMITTEEON OPEN PLAN SCHOOLS. Report on open plan education in New Zealand primary schools, Wn, Dept of Education, 1977.

PARTON, H. The University of New Zealand. Ak, Auckland University Press; Wn, O.U.P., 1979.

POLICIESOF EDUCATIONIN NEW ZEALAND, edited by M. Clark. Wn, New Zealand Council for Educational Research, 1981.

RAMSAY, P. D. K. and others. The family and the school in New Zealand society: an introduction to the sociology of New Zealand education. Carlton, Vic., Pitman, 1975.

ROTH, H. O. A bibliography of New Zealand education. Wn, New Zealand Council for Educational Research, 1964.

SHUKER, R. Educating the workers: a history of the Workers' Education Association. Palmerston North, Dunmore, 1984.

SUTTON-SMITH, B. A history of children's play: New Zealand, 1840–1950. Wn, New Zealand Council for Educational Research, 1982.

WILLIAMS, B. M. Structures and attitudes in New Zealand adult education, 1945–75. Wn, New Zealand Council for Educational Research, 1978.

Women

ABIGAIL, Jill. Secondary school influences on the training and career aspirations of girls: a study in 17 Wellington schools. Wn, Vocational Training Council, 1983.

BARRINGTON, Rosemary and Alison GRAY. The Smith Women: 100 New Zealand women talk about their lives. Wn, Reed, 1981.

CELEBRATING WOMEN: New Zealand women and their stories. Produced by Mediawomen of New Zealand. Whatamongo Bay, Cape Catley, 1984.

CONFERENCEON WOMENAND RECREATION (1981: Wellington, New Zealand). Papers and reports from the Conference on Women and Recreation, 31 August-3 September, 1981. Wn, New Zealand Council for Recreation and Sport, 1981.

DANN, Christine. Up From Under: Women and Liberation in New Zealand 1970–1985. Wn, Allen and Unwin, 1985.

EBBETT, E. When the boys were away: New Zealand women in World War II. Wn, Reed, 1984.

HUGHES, Beryl and BUNKLE, Phillida (eds) Women in New Zealand Society. Ak, Allen and Unwin, 1980.

MEIN SMITH, P. Maternity in dispute: New Zealand, 1920–1939. Wn, Department of Internal Affairs in conjunction with Govt Print., 1986.

MURCHIE, Elizabeth. Rapuora: health and Maori women. Wn, Maori Women's Welfare League, 1984.

MYERS, V. Head and shoulders. Ak, Penguin Books, 1986.

NATIONAL WOMEN'S HEALTH CONFERENCE, 1982: a report on the Women's Health Network National Conference held on the 17th; 18th, 19th September, 1982. Tauranga, NZ Women's Health Network, 1983.

NEW WOMEN'S FICTION. Edited by Cathie Dunsford. Ak, New Women's Press, 1986.

PHILLIPS, Jenny. Mothers matter too: a book for New Zealand women at home. Wn, Reed, 1983.

PROFILEOF WOMEN. Department of Statistics, 1985.

RAPEIN NEW ZEALAND: papers presented at the Rape Symposium, Wellington 11–12 September 1983. Edited by Hilary Haines and Max Abbott. Ak, Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand, 1983.

SARGISON, Patricia. Victoria's furthest daughters: a bibliography of published sources for the study of women in New Zealand, 1830–1914. Wn, Alexander Turnbull Library, 1984.

TAYLOR, N. M. The New Zealand people at war: the home front. Wn, Department of Internal Affairs in conjunction with Govt Print., 1986.

THE ROLEOF WOMENIN NEW ZEALAND SOCIETY. NZ Parliament. House of Representatives. Select Committee on Women's Rights. Women's Rights Committee. June 1975 (report). Wn, Govt Print., 1975.

WOMENIN WARTIME: New Zealand women tell their story. Edited by Lauris Edmond with Carolyn Milward. Wn, Govt Print., 1986.

WOMEN'S STUDIES CONFERENCE PAPERS: papers of Women's Studies Association Conference 1978–1984. Various editors. Women's Studies Association (NZ).

WOMEN'S WORK: contemporary short stories by New Zealand women. Chosen by Marion McLeod and Lydia Wevers. Ak, Oxford University Press, 1985.

The Maori

TE AO HURITHURI; The world moves on: aspects of maoritanga, edited by M. King. Wn, Hicks Smith, 1975. Reprinted 1977.

BEST, E. Games and pastimes of the Maori. Wn, Board of Maori Ethnological Research for the Dominion Museum, 1924. Reprinted Wn, Govt Print., 1976.

BEST, E. The Maori as he was. Wn, Dominion Museum, 1924. Reprinted Wn, Govt Print., 1974.

BEST, E. Maori agriculture. Wn, Board of Maori Ethnological Research for the Dominion Museum, 1925. Reprinted Wn, Govt Print., 1976.

BIGGS, B. The complete English-Maori dictionary. Ak, Auckland University Press, Wn, O.U.P., 1981.

BIGGS, B. Let's learn Maori: a guide to the study of the Maori language. Wn, Reed, 1975.

BINNEY, J. and G. CHAPLIN. Nga morehu—the survivors. Ak, Oxford University Press, 1986.

BRAILSFORD, B. The tattooed land—the southern frontiers of the Pa Maori. Wn, Reed, 1981.

BUCK, Sir P. The coming of the Maori. 2nd ed. Wn, Whitcombe and Tombs, 1974.

DANSEY, H. Maori custom today. Auckland, Shortland Publications, reprinted 1978.

DAVIDSON, J. The prehistory of New Zealand. Ak, Longman Paul, 1984.

DUFF, R. S. The Moa-hunter period of Maori culture. 3rd ed. Wn, Govt Print., 1977.

FIRTH, R. W. Economics of the New Zealand Maori. 2nd ed. Wn, Govt Print., 1972.

HANSON, F. and L. Counterpoint in Maori. London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1983.

HART, R. and A. W. REED. Maori myth and legend. Wn, Reed, 1983.

HE MATAPUNA—SOME MAORI PERSPECTIVES, N.Z. Planning Council, Wn, 1979.

INTOTHE WORLDOF LIGHT: AN ANTHOLOGYOF MAORI WRITING, edited by Witi Ihimaera and D. S. Lang. Ak, Heinemann, 1982.

KING, M. Being Pakeha: an encounter with New Zealand and the Maori renaissance. Ak, Hodder and Stoughton, 1985.

KING, M. Maori: a photographic and social history. Ak, Heinemann, 1983.

LEWIS, D. The Maori: Heirs of Tane. London, Orbis, 1982.

MAORIIS MY NAME: Historical Maori writings in translation, edited by John Caselbero. Dn, McIndoe, 1975.

THE MAORI PEOPLEINTHE NINETEEN SIXTIES: A symposium edited by E. G. Schwimmer. Ak, Longman Paul, 1972.

MEADE, S. M. Te Toi Whakario: the art of Maori carving. (New ed.) Ak, Reed Methuen, 1986.

METGE, J. The Maoris of New Zealand: Rautahi. London, Routledge, 1976.

NGATA, A; SIR. Na to hoa aroha—from your dear friend: the correspondence between Sir Apirana Ngata and Sir Peter Buck, 1925–1950. Edited by M. P. K. Sorrenson. Ak, Auckland University Press, 1986.

THE OLD-TIME MAORI. Makeriti (Maggie Papakura). Edited by T K. Penmman. London: Gollancz, 1938. Ak, New Women's Press, 1986.

ORBELL, M. Hawaiki: a new approach to Maori tradition. Ch, University of Canterbury, 1985.

POOL, D. I. The Maori population of New Zealand, 1769–1971. Ak, Auckland University Press, 1977.

REED, A. W. Treasury of Maori exploration: legends relating to the first Polynesian explorers of New Zealand. Wn, Reed, 1977.

RYAN, P. M. A dictionary of modern Maori. Ak, Heinemann Educational, 1974.

SALMOND, A. Hui: a study of Maori ceremonial gatherings. Wn, Reed, 1975.

SCHWIMMER, E. G. The world of the Maori. Wn, Reed, 1974.

SELECTED READINGSIN MAORI, edited by B. Biggs, P. Hohepa, and S. M. Mead. Wn, Reed, 1967.

SIMMONS, D. R. Whakairo: Maori tribal art. Ak, O.U.P., 1985.

SIMMONS, D. R. The great New Zealand myth: a study of the discovery and origin traditions of the Maori. Wn, Reed, 1976.

SORRENSON, M. P. K. Maori origins and migrations: the genesis of some Pakeha myths and legends. Ak, Auckland University Press, 1979.

STIRLING, F. Eruera: the teachings of a Maori elder. Wn, O.U.P., 1980.

TAUROA, H. Te marae: a guide to customs and protocol. Ak, Reed Methuen, 1986.

TAYLOR, C. R. H. A bibliography of publications on the New Zealand Maori and the Moriori of the Chatham Islands. London, Oxford, 1972.

TUHE MAURI ORA: Aspects of Maoritanga, edited by M. King. Wn, Methuen New Zealand, 1978.

WALKER, R. J. Nga tau tohetohe—years of anger. Ak, Penguin, 1987.

WILLIAMS, H. W. A bibliography of printed Maori to 1900, and Supplement. Wn, Govt Print., 1975.

WILLIAMS, W. A dictionary of the Maori language. H. W. Williams, rev. and augmented by the Advisory Committee on the Teaching of the Maori language, Department of Education. 7th ed. Wn, Govt Print., 1975.

Science, general

BIOGEOGRAPHY ECOLOGYIN NEW ZEALAND, edited by G. Kuschel. Tne Hague, Dr W. Juur, 1975.

DIRECTORYOF NEW ZEALAND SCIENCE. 5th ed. Wn, New Zealand Association of Scientists, 1975.

ELLIS, N. E. The New Zealand environment: a bibliography of material available through New Zealand public libraries, including a select list of overseas publications, 1968–1974. Wn, Nature Conservation Council, 1975. Supplements also published.

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIESIN NEW ZEALAND. Paris, OECD, 1981.

LANDSAT II OVER NEW ZEALAND: monitoring our resources from space, edited by P. J. Ellis, I. L. Thomas and M. J. McDonnell. Wn, DSIR, 1978.

NEW ZEALAND'S NATURE HERITAGE. Ak, Hamlyn, 1976.

Geology

ADKIN, G. L. and B. W. COLLINS. A bibliography of New Zealand geology to 1950. Wn, DSIR, 1967. (Out of print.) Index, compiled by D. L. Jenkins. Wn, DSIR, 1976.

BIBLIOGRAPHYOF NEW ZEALAND GEOLOGY, 1951–1969, compiled by Guyon Warren and others. Wn, DSIR, 1977. Updates Adkin (above).

BIBY, G. A. Earthquakes. London, Heinemann, 1980.

FLEMING, Sir C. A. The geological history of New Zealand and its life. Ak, Auckland University Press, 1979.

GAGE, M. Legends in the rocks: an outline of New Zealand geology. Ch, Whitcoulls, 1980.

GEOCHEMISTRY, 1977: a collection of papers by New Zealand geochemists in honour of S. H. Wilson, compiled by A. J. Ellis. Wn, DSIR, 1977.

GEOLOGYOF NEW ZEALAND, chief editor, R. P. Suggate, associate editors, G. R. Stevens, M. T. Te Punga. 2 vols. Wn, Govt Print., 1980.

HOUGHTON, B. F. Geyserland: a guide to the volcanoes and geothermal areas of Rotorua. Lower Hutt, Geological Society of New Zealand, 1982.

LANDFORMSOF NEW ZEALAND, edited by J. M. Soons and M. J. Selby. Ak, Longman Paul, 1982.

NEW ZEALAND CAVE ATLAS, compiled by P. C. Crossley, B. P. Hurst and R. G. West. Ak, University of Auckland, Dept of Geography, 1981.

SALMON, J. H. M. A history of goldmining in New Zealand. Wn, Govt Print., 1963.

STEVENS, G. R. Rugged landscape: the geology of central New Zealand. Wn, Reed, 1974.

STEVENS, G. R. New Zealand adrift. Wn, Reed, 1980.

TAYLOR, E. and J. COLE. Volcanic New Zealand. Ak, O.U.P., 1983.

Zoology

AYLING, A. M. Collins guide to the sea fishes of New Zealand. Ak, Collins, 1982.

BULLER, Sir W. L. Birds of New Zealand. Facsimile Diamond Jubilee ed. Wn, Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand, 1983.

BULL, P. C., P. D. GAZE and C. J. R. ROBERTSON. Bird distribution in New Zealand: a provisional atlas, 1969–1976. Wn, Ornithological Society of New Zealand, 1978.

CHAPMAN, M. A. and M. H. LEWIS. An introduction to the freshwater Crustacea of New Zealand. Ak, Collins, 1976.

CUSA, N. W. and R. M. LOCKLEY. New Zealand endangered species. Ak, Cassell, 1980.

DOAK, W. T. Fishes of the New Zealand region. Rev. ed. Ak, Hodder and Stoughton, 1978.

FALLA, R. A., R. B. SIBSON, and E. G. TURBOTT. A new guide to birds of New Zealand and outlying islands. Rev. ed. London, 1979.

FORSTER, R. R., and L. M. FORSTER. Small land animals of New Zealand. Dn, McIndoe, 1970.

FORSTER, R. R. New Zealand spiders. Ak, Collins, 1973.

GIBBS, G. W. New Zealand butterflies. Ak, Collins, 1980.

GUNSON, D. Collins guide to the New Zealand seashore. Ak, Collins, 1983.

KING, C. M. Immigrant killers: introduced predators and the conservation of birds in New Zealand. Ak, O.U.P., 1984.

MCDOWALL, R. M. New Zealand freshwater fishes: a guide and natural history. Ak, Heinemann Educational, 1978.

MARSHALL, J., F. C. KINSKY and C. J. R. ROBERTSON. The Fiat book of common birds in New Zealand. 3 vols. Wn, Reed, 1972–75.

MILLER, D. Common insects in New Zealand. Wn, Reed, 1971.

O'BRIEN, C. A. A book of New Zealand wildlife. Ak, Landsdowne Press, 1981.

POWELL, A. W. B. New Zealand mollusca: marine, land and freshwater shells. Ak, Collins, 1979.

POWELL, A. W. B. Shells of New Zealand, an illustrated handbook, 5th ed. Ch, Whitcoulls, 1976.

RAMSAY, G. W. and P. SINGH. Guide to New Zealand entomology. Ak, Entomological Society of New Zealand, 1982.

SHARELL, R. New Zealand insects and their story. Ak, Collins, 1971.

SHARELL, R. The tuatara, lizards, and frogs of New Zealand. London, Collins, 1966.

SIBSON, R. B. Birds at risk: rare or endangered species of New Zealand. Wn, Reed, 1982.

SOPER, M. F. Birds of New Zealand and outlying islands. Ch, Whitcoulls, 1984.

WILD ANIMALSIN NEW ZEALAND, compiled under the direction of A. L. Poole. Wn, Reed, 1970

Botany

ALLISON, K. W. and J. CHILD. The mosses of New Zealand. Dn, University of Otago Press, 1971.

BURSVALL, S. W. Great trees of New Zealand. Wn, Reed and New Zealand Forest Service, 1984.

CHINNOCK, R. J. and E. HEATH. Common ferns and fern allies. Wn, Reed, 1981.

CONNOR, H. E. The poisonous plants in New Zealand. 2nd ed. Wn, Govt Print., 1977.

CROWE, A. A field guide to the native edible plants of New Zealand. Ak, Collins, 1981.

EAGLE, A. L. Trees and shrubs of New Zealand in colour: 228 botanical paintings. Ak, Collins, 1975. Also published 1978 in two volumes as Eagle's 100 trees of New Zealand, and Eagle's 100 shrubs and climbers of New Zealand.

FISHER, M. E. New Zealand ferns in your garden. Ak, Collins, 1976

FLORAOF NEW ZEALAND, Wn, Govt Print., Vol. 1 by H. H. Allan, 1961. Vol. 2 by L. B. Moore and E. Edgar, 1970. Vol. 3 by A. J. Healey and E. Edgar, 1980.

GALLOWAY, D. J., Flora of New Zealand: Lichens. Wn, Govt Print., 1985.

GIVEN, D. R. Rare and endangered plants of New Zealand. Wn, Reed, 1981.

JOHNS, J. H. and B. MOLLOY. Native orchids of New Zealand. Wn, Reed, 1983.

LAING, R. M., and E. W. BLACKWELL. Plants of New Zealand. 7th ed. Ch, Whitcombe and Tombs, 1964.

MARK, A. F., and N. M. ADAMS. New Zealand alpine plants. Wn, Reed, 1973.

MATTHEWS, L. J. and Z. CARTER. South African proteaceae in New Zealand. Manakau, Matthews Publishing, 1983.

MOORE, L. B. and J. B. IRWIN. The Oxford book of New Zealand plants. Wn, O.U.P., 1978.

MORTIMER, J. Trees for the New Zealand countryside: a planter's guide. Ak, Silverfish, 1984.

PARHAM, B. E. V. and A. J. HEALY. Common weeds in New Zealand: an illustrated guide to their identification with a section on noxious plants. Rev. ed. Wn, Govt Print., 1981.

POOLE, A. L., and N. M. ADAMS. Trees and shrubs of New Zealand. Wn, Govt Print., 1980.

SALMON, J. T. The native trees of New Zealand. Wn, Reed, 1980.

TAYLOR, G. M. Mushrooms and toadstools in New Zealand. Wn, Reed, 1981.

Technology and agriculture

ATKINSON, J. D. DSIR's First fifty years. Wn, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, 1976.

BURTON, D. TWO hundred years of New Zealand food and cookery. Wn, Reed, 1982.

CAUGHLEY, G. The deer wars: the story of deer in New Zealand. Ak, Heinemann, 1983.

THE FARMINGOF DEER, WORLD TRENDSAND MODERN TECHNIQUES, edited by David Yerex. Wn, Agricultural Promotion Associates, 1982.

FENEMORE, P. G. Plant pests and their control. Wn, Butterworths, 1982.

FISHER, M. E., E. SATCHELL, and J. M. WATKINS. Gardening with New Zealand plants, shrubs, and trees. Rev. ed. Ak, Collins, 1975.

GIBBS, H. S. New Zealand soils. Wn, O.U.P., 1980.

HARRISON, R. E. Handbook of bulbs and perennials for the southern hemisphere. 2nd. ed. Rev. Palmerston North, R. E. Harrison, 1971.

HARRISON, R. E. Handbook of trees and shrubs. New ed. Rev. Wn, Reed, 1979.

HEALY, A. J. F. Identification of weeds and clover. Wn, Editorial Services, 1982.

HEALY, B. A hundred million trees: the story of New Zealand Forest Products Ltd. Ak, Hodder and Stoughton, 1982.

HOLDEN P. The wild pig in New Zealand. Ak, Hodder and Stoughton, 1982.

LANGER, R. H. M. Pastures and pasture plants. Wn, Reed, 1973.

LEACH, H. 1,000 years of gardening in New Zealand. Wn, Reed, 1984.

LEITCH, D. B. Railways of New Zealand. Ak, L. Fullerton: Newton Abbot, Devon, David and Charles, 1972.

LEVY, E. B. Grasslands of New Zealand. 3rd ed. Wn, Govt Print., 1970.

MCLAUCHLAN, G. The farming of New Zealand. Ak, Australia and New Zealand Book Company, 1981.

MCLEAN, I. The future for New Zealand agriculture: economic strategies for the 1980s. Wn, Fourth Estate Books, 1978.

MATTHEWS, B. W. Gardens of New Zealand. Ak: Hamlyn, 1975.

METCALF, L. J. The cultivation of New Zealand trees and shrubs. Wn, Reed, 1972.

MORTON, H. The whale's wake. Dn, McIndoe, 1982.

MUNRO, M. N. and J. MUNRO. A taste of New Zealand in food and pictures. Wn, Reed, 1977.

NEW ZEALAND FARMERS VETERINARY GUIDE. 4th. ed. Wn, New Zealand Dairy Exporter, 1972.

NEW ZEALAND INSECT PESTS, edited by D. N. Ferro, Lincoln, Lincoln University College of Agriculture, 1976.

NEW ZEALAND MINISTRYOF AGRICULTUREAND FISHERIES. New Zealand Agriculture. Wn, Govt Print., 1974.

NOONAN, R. J. By design: a brief history of the Public Works Department, Ministry of Works. Wn, Govt Print., 1975.

PEARCE, G. L. The pioneer craftsmen of New Zealand. Ak, Collins, 1982.

SCHOFIELD, J. C. Materials for the New Zealand potter. Wn, Govt Print., 1977.

SHEEP PRODUCTION, BREEDINGAND REPRODUCTION, edited by G. A. Wickham and M. F. McDonald. Wn, New Zealand Institute of Agricultural Science, 1982.

SIMPSON, T. E. Kauri and radiata: origin and expansion of the timber industry of New Zealand. Ak, Hodder and Stoughton, 1973.

THORNTON, G. G. New Zealand's industrial heritage. Wn, Reed, 1982.

TROUP, G. S. Steel roads of New Zealand: an illustrated survey. Wn, Reed, 1973.

Arts

ARCHEY, Sir G. E. Whaowhia: Maori art and its artists. Ak, Collins, 1977.

BARROW, T. T. Decorative art of the New Zealand Maori. 4th ed. Wn, Reed, 1975.

BARROW, T. T. Maori art of New Zealand. Wn, Reed; Paris, Unesco Press, 1978.

BLUMHARDT, D. and B. BRAKE. Craft New Zealand. Wn, Reed, 1981.

BRAKE, B., J. M. MCNEISH and D. SIMMONS. Art of the Pacific. Wn, O.U.P., 1979.

BROWN, G. H. and H. KEITH. An introduction to New Zealand painting, 1839–1980. Rev. ed. Ak, Collins, 1982.

BROWN, G. H. Colin McCahon, artist. Wn, Reed, 1984.

BROWN, G. H. New Zealand painting 1940–1960, conformity and dissension. Wn, Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council, 1981.

BUSCH, G. Working men. Wn, National Art Gallery, 1984.

CAPE, P. I. New Zealand painting since 1960: a study in themes and developments. Ak, Collins, 1979.

CAPE, P. I. Please touch: a survey of the three-dimensional arts. Ak, Collins, 1980.

CAPE, P. I. Prints and printmakers in New Zealand. Ak, Collins, 1974.

CORRUGATED IRONIN NEW ZEALAND, G. Chapple et al. Wn, Reed, 1983.

DOCKING, G. C. TWO hundred years of New Zealand painting. 2nd ed. Wn, Reed, 1982.

DOWNES, P. E. Shadows on the stage. Theatre in New Zealand: the first seventy years. Dn. McIndoe, 1975.

DOWNES, P. E. and P. HARCOURT. Voices in the air: radio broadcasting in New Zealand. Wn, Methuen, 1976.

ELLIS, E. M. and D. G. ELLIS. Early prints of New Zealand, 1642–1875. Ch, Avon Fine Prints, 1978.

FOWLER, M. and R. VANDE VOORT. The New Zealand house. Ak, Landsdowne, 1983.

HARCOURT, P. M. A dramatic appearance: New Zealand theatre, 1920–1970. Wn, Methuen, 1978.

*HILL, P. M. New Zealand architecture. Wn, Dept of Education, 1976.

HISTORIC BUILDINGSOF NEW ZEALAND: NORTH ISLAND, edited by Frances Porter. Ak, Cassell New Zealand, 1979.

HISTORIC BUILDINGSOF NEW ZEALAND: SOUTH ISLAND, edited by F. Porter. Ak, Methuen, 1983.

MCLEAN, M. E. and M. ORBELL. Traditional songs of the Maori. Ak, Auckland University Press; Wn, Oxford University Press, 1979.

N.Z. ART & ANTIQUES YEARBOOK, 1982–83: incorporating N.Z. art auction records. Wn, Newrick Associates, 1982.

*NEW ZEALAND FOLK SONGS: Songs of a young country, compiled by N. Colquhon. 2nd ed. Wn, Reed, 1972.

NEW ZEALAND POSTER BOOK, 1830–1940, compiled by E. Ellis. Wn, Reed, 1977.

NEW ZEALAND POTTERS: their work and words, edited by D. Blumhardt. Wn, Reed, 1976.

NORMAN, P. T. Bibliography of New Zealand compositions, vol. 1. Ch, Nota Bene Music, 1982.

PERFORMANCE: A HANDBOOKOFTHE PERFORMING ARTSIN NEW ZEALAND. Wn, Association of Community Theatres, 1982.

PLATTS, U. Nineteenth century New Zealand artists. Ch, Avon Fine Prints, 1980.

SMYTH, B. W. and H. HOWORTH. Books and pamphlets relating to culture and the arcs in New Zealand: a bibliography including works published to the end of the year 1977. Ch, Dept of Extension Studies, University of Canterbury; Wn, New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO, 1979.

TE MAORI: Maori art from New Zealand collections, edited by S. M. Mead. Ak, Heinemann, 1984.

THOMPSON, F., E. Littlewood and M. NORRIS. Craft hunter's guide, New Zealand 1980 Ak, 1980. (Available from Pitmans.)

THOMSON, K. W. Art galleries and museums of New Zealand. Wn, Reed, 1981.

VIEWS/EXPOSURES: ten contemporary New Zealand photographers. Wn, National Art Gallery, 1982.

Sport, including mountaineering

AGNEW, I. J. Kiwis can fly. Ak, Marketforce, 1976.

ALLAN, W. J. D. Power and sail: a complete guide to yachting and boating in New Zealand. Ak, Heinemann, 1975.

BAKER, M. Coast to coast. Lyttelton, Icon Publishers, 1986.

BLAKE, P. Lion: the Round the World Race with Lion New Zealand. Ak, Hodder and Stoughton, 1986.

BISMAN, R. A salute to trotting: a history of harness racing in New Zealand. Ak, Moa Publications, 1983.

BRITTENDEN, R. T. The finest years: twenty years of New Zealand cricket. Wn, Reed, 1977.

BYRNE, J. Wing shooting in New Zealand: pheasant, quail, partridge, duck and goose. Wn, Reed. 1982.

CHESTER, R. H. and N. A. C. MCMILLAN. Men in black. Rev. and updated ed. Ak, Moa Publications, 1983.

COSTELLO, J. B. New Zealand galloping greats. Enl. ed. Ak, Moa Publications, 1977.

ELENIO, P. Centrecourt: a century of New Zealand tennis, 1886–1986. Wn, New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association, 1986.

FORRESTER, R. and N. ILLINGWORTH. Hunting in New Zealand. New rev. ed. Wn, Reed, 1979.

GARNER, I. and I. WALTER. New Zealand soccer: the impossible dream. Ak, Hodder and Stoughton, 1982.

GLENGARRY, J. The great decade of New Zealand racing, 1970–1980. Ak, Collins, 1983.

GOODING, B. KZ7: inside stories of fear and loathing. Ak, Reed Methuen, 1987.

HOWITT, R. J. New Zealand rugby greats. Ak, Moa Publications, 1982.

LOUSLEY, D. P. Guide to the ski-fields of the South Island, New Zealand. Dn, McIndoe, 1976.

MEMORABLE MOMENTSIN NEW ZEALAND SPORT, edited by Don Cameron. Ak, Moa Publications, 1979.

NEW ZEALAND SPORTING CLUBS DIRECTORY 1980. Ak, Tasman, 1980. RADIO NEW ZEALAND SPORTS ANNUAL. Wn, Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand, 1982.

SCANLAN, M. The New Zealand boating handbook. Wn, Reed, 1980.

SPORT NEW ZEALAND. Ak, New Zealand International Publishing Group, 1982.

TODD, S. P. DB sporting records of New Zealand, Ak, Moa Publications, 1976.

WILSON, J. The New Zealand fisherman's bible. Ak, Lansdowne Press, 1981.

Literature, general

A BOOKOF NEW ZEALAND, edited by J. C. Reid and P. Cape. Rev. and enl. ed. Ak, Collins 1979.

MCCORMICK, E. H. New Zealand literature: a survey, London, O.U.P., 1959. (Out of print.)

THE OXFORD BOOKOF NEW ZEALAND WRITING SINCE 1945, chosen by M. P. Jackson and V. O'Sullivan. Ak, Oxford University Press, 1983.

STEAD, C. K. In the glass case: essays on New Zealand literature. Ak, Auckland University Press and Oxford University Press, 1981.

THOMSON, J. E. P. New Zealand literature to 1977: a guide to information sources. Detroit, Gale, 1980.

WOMEN WRITERSOF NEW ZEALAND, 1932–1982: JUBILEE HISTORYAND WRITINGSOFTHE NEW ZEALAND WOMEN WRITERS' SOCIETY, edited by Margaret Hayward and Joy Cowley. Wn, Colonial Associates, 1982.

Poetry

*ADCOCK, F. Selected poems. Oxford, O.U.P., 1983.

ANTHOLOGYOF TWENTIETH CENTURY NEW ZEALAND POETRY, selected by V. O'Sullivan. 2nd ed. Wn, O.U.P., 1976.

BAXTER, J. K. Selected poems. Ak, O.U.P., 1982.

BERTRAM, J. M. Charles Brasch. Wn, O.U.P., 1976.

BRASCH, C. Collected poems. Ak, O.U.P., 1984.

CAMPBELL, A. Collected poems, 1947–1981. Martinborough, Taylor, 1981.

CURNOW, A. Selected poems. Ak, Penguin, 1982.

EDMOND, M. End wall. Ak, O U.P., 1981.

FAIRBURN, A. R. D. Collected poems. Ch, Pegasus Press, 1975.

FIFTEEN CONTEMPORARY NEW ZEALAND POETS. Dn, Pilgrims South Press, 1980.

GLOVER, D. Selected poems. Ak, Penguin, 1981.

HULME, K. The silences between: Moeraki conversations. Ak, Auckland University Press, 1982.

HUNT, S. Collected poems, 1963–1980. Ak, Penguin, 1980.

HYDE, R. Selected poems. Ak, O.U.P., 1984.

JACKAMAN, R. Shaman and Charlatan. Ak, Cicada, 1981.

JOHNSON, L. Coming and going. Wn, Mallinson Rendel, 1982.

MCCORMICK, G. Zephyr. Gisborne, Piano Publishing, 1982.

MANHIRE, B. Good looks. Ak, Auckland University Press, 1982.

MITCALFE, B. Maori poetry: the singing word. Wn, Price Milburn, 1974.

NGA MOTEATEA, edited by A. T. Ngata. 3 vol. Wn, Polynesian Society, 1959–72. Collection of Maori songs.

*NEW ZEALAND LOVE POEMS, chosen by J. Bertram. Dn, McIndoe, 1977.

OLIVER, W. H. Out of season. Wn, O.U.P. 1980.

*O'SULLIVAN, V. G. The rose ballroom and other poems. Dn, McIndoe, 1982.

O'SULLIVAN, V. G. James K. Baxter. Wn, O.U.P., 1976.

THE OXFORD BOOKOF CONTEMPORARY NEW ZEALAND POETRY CHOSENBY FLEUR ADCOCK. Ak, Oxford University Press, 1982.

PENGUIN BOOKOF NEW ZEALAND VERSE, edited by T. A. M. Curnow. Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1966.

PENGUIN BOOKOF NEW ZEALAND VERSE, edited by Ian Wedde and Margaret Orbell. Ak, Penguin, 1985.

SEWELL, B. Solo flight. Dn, McIndoe, 1982.

SOUTHAM, B. The people dance. Dn, Northcott Reeves, 1982.

STEAD, C. K. Geographies. Ak, Auckland University Press, 1982.

STEAD, C. K. Poems of a decade. Dn, Pilgrims South Press, 1983.

*THOMSON, J. E. P. Denis Glover. Wn, O.U.P., 1977.

*TUWHARE, H. No ordinary sun. 3rd ed. Dn, McIndoe, 1977.

WEIR, J. E., and B. A. LYON. A preliminary bibliography of works by and works about James K. Baxter. Ch, University of Canterbury, 1981.

Fiction

BIRD, HAWK, BOGIE: essays on Janet Frame, edited by Jeanne Delbaere. Aarhus, Dangaroo Press, 1978.

BURNS, J. New Zealand novels and novelists, 1861–1979: an annotated bibliography. Ak, Heinemann, 1981.

COPLAND, R. A. Frank Sargeson. Wn, O.U.P., 1976.

COWLEY, C. J. The growing season. London, Hodder and Stoughton, 1979.

CRITICAL ESSAYSONTHE NEW ZEALAND NOVEL, edited by Cherry Hankin. Ak, Heinemann Educational, 1976.

CRITICAL ESSAYSONTHE NEW ZEALAND SHORT STORY, edited by Cherry Hankin. Ak, Heinemann, 1982.

CROSS, I. R. The God boy. Ch, Whitcombe and Tombs, 1972.

DAVIN, D. M. Roads from home. Ak, Auckland University Press, 1976.

DU FRESNE, Y. Farvel and other stories. Wn, Victoria University Press, 1980.

DUGGAN, M. Collected stories. Ak, Auckland University Press and Oxford University Press, 1981.

EVANS, P. D. Janet Frame. Boston, Twayne, 1977.

FRAME, J. Living in the Maniototo. New York, Braziller, 1979.

FRAME, J. Owls do cry. London, W. H. Allen. 1961.

FRAME, J. A state of siege. Ch, Pegasus Press, 1967.

FRAME, J. You are now entering the human heart: stories. Wn, Victoria University Press, 1983.

GEE, M. Games of choice. Wn, O.U.P., 1977.

GEE, M. Meg. London, Faber; Ak, Penguin, 1981.

GEE, M. Plumb. Wn, O.U.P.; London, Faber and Faber, 1979.

GEE, M. The priests of ferris. Ak, O.U.P., 1984.

GEE, M. Sole survivor. London, Faber; Ak, Penguin, 1983.

GIFKINS, M. After the revolution and other stories. Ak, Longman Paul, 1982.

GRACE, P. F. Mutuwhenua: the moon sleeps. Ak, Longman Paul, 1982.

GRACE, P. F. The dream sleepers and other stories. Ak, Longman Paul, 1980.

GRACE, P. F. Potiki. Ak, Viking, 1986.

GROVER, R. Cork of war: Ngati Toa and the British mission, an historical narrative. Dn, McIndoe, 1982.

HALEY, R. The settlement. Ak, Hodder and Stoughton, 1986.

HILLIARD, N. H. Maori girl. London, Heinemann, 1971.

HILLIARD, N. H. Send somebody nice. London, Hale, 1976.

HULME, K. The bone people. Ak, Spiral, Hodder and Stoughton, 1985.

HULME, K. Te Kaihau—the windeater. New York, G. Braziller, 1987.

HYDE, R. The godwits fly. 2nd ed. Ak, Auckland University Press, 1970.

IHIMAERA, W. The matriarch. Ak, Heinemann, 1986.

IHIMAERA, W. The new net goes fishing. Ak, Heinemann, 1977.

IHIMAERA, W. Tangi. Ak, Heinemann, 1974.

IHIMAERA, W. Whanau. Ak, Heinemann, 1974.

KIDMAN, F. A breed of women. Sydney, Harper and Row, 1979.

KIDMAN, F. Mrs Dixon and friend, short stories. Ak, Heinemann, 1982.

LEE, J. A. Children of the poor. Ch, Whitcombe and Tombs, 1973.

MCCAULEY, S. Other halves. Ak, Hodder and Stoughton, 1982.

MCNEISH, J. Joy. Ak, Hodder and Stoughton, 1982.

MCNEISH, J. Mackenzie: a novel. Ak, Penguin 1974.

MANDER, J. Allen Adair. Ak, Auckland University Press, 1971.

MANSFIELD, K. The stories of Katherine Mansfield. Ak, O.U.P., 1984.

MARSHALL, O. The master of big jingles and other stories. Dn, McIndoe, 1982.

MORRIESON, J. R. H. Pallet on the floor. Palmerston North, Dunmore Press, 1976.

MORRIESON, J. R. H. The scarecrow. Ak, Heinemann, 1976.

MULGAN, J. A. E. Man alone. 2nd ed. Ak, Longman Paul, 1975.

N.Z. LISTENER SHORT STORIES, chosen by B. Manhire. 2 vol. Wn, Methuen New Zealand, 1977–78.

NEW WOMEN'S FICTION. Edited by Cathie Dunsford. Ak, New Women's Press, 1986.

NEW ZEALAND SHORT STORIES, Wn, O.U.P., 1975–84. 4 series.

PICKARD, A. G. All part of the game: the stories of A. P. Gaskell. Ak, Auckland University Press, 1978.

SARGESON, F. Stories. Ak, Penguin, 1982.

SHADBOLT, M. F. R. Figures in light: selected stories. London, Hodder and Stoughton, 1978.

SHADBOLT, M. F. R. The Lovelock version. Ak, Hodder and Stoughton, 1980.

SHADBOLT, M. F. R. Season of the jew. London, Hodder and Stoughton, 1986.

SHADBOLT, M. F. R. Strangers and journeys. London, Hodder and Stoughton, 1972.

SHIRLEY TEMPLEISA WIFEAND MOTHER: 34 stories, edited by C. C. Catley. Whatamongo Bay, Cape Catley, 1977.

STEAD, C. K. All visitors ashore. Ak, Collins, 1984.

STEAD, C. K. Five for the symbol. Ak, Longman Paul, 1981.

STEAD, C. K. Smith's dream. Ak, Longman Paul, 1971.

STEVENS, J. The New Zealand novel, 1860–1965. 2nd ed. Wn, Reed, 1966.

TEMPLE, P. Beak of the moon. Ak, Collins, 1981.

WEDDE, I. Symmes hole. Ak, Penguin, 1986.

WENDT, A. Sons for the return home. Ak, Longman Paul, 1973.

WOMEN'S WORK: contemporary short stories by New Zealand women. Edited by Marion McLeod and Lydia Wevers. Ak, Oxford University Press, 1985.

Drama

*BAXTER, J. K. Jack Winter's dream. Wn, Price Milburn for Victoria University Press, 1979.

CONTEMPORARY NEW ZEALAND PLAYS, selected by H. McNaughton. Wn, O.U.P., 1974.

DIRECTORYOF NEW ZEALAND PLAYSAND PLAYWRIGHTS. Rev. ed. Wn, Playmarker, 1981.

HALL, R. L. Middle-age spread. Wn, Price Milburn, 1978.

HALL, R. L. Glide time: a play in four acts set in the public service. Wn, Price Milburn, 1977.

MCGEE, G. Foreskin's lament. Wn, Price Milburn and Victoria University Press, 1981.

MCGEE, G. Out in the cold. Wn, Victoria University Press, 1984.

MCGEE, G. Tooth and claw. Wn, Victoria University Press, 1984.

MCNAUGHTON, H. D. New Zealand drama: a bibliographical guide. Ch, Library, University of Canterbury, 1974.

MCNAUGHTON, H. D. New Zealand drama. Boston, Twayne, 1981.

MASON, B. Blood of the lamb. Wn, Price Milburn, 1981.

MASON, B. The pohutukawa tree. Wn, Victoria University Press, 1984.

THOMPSON, J. New Zealand drama, 1930–80. Ak, O.U.P., 1984.

Description and travel

ABOUT NEW ZEALAND. Wn, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1982.

ALEXANDER, L. Adventure holidays in New Zealand. Wn, INL Print, 1982.

BARRIBALL, M. New Zealand, images, impressions. Wn, Reed, 1982.

CHAVASSE, C. G. R. and J. H. JOHNS. New Zealand forest parks. Wn, Govt Print., 1983.

COBB, L. and J. DUNCAN. New Zealand's national parks. Ak, Hamlyn, 1980.

CONLON, D. Presenting New Zealand. Ak, Golden Press, 1982.

A DAYINTHE LIFEOF NEW ZEALAND; Friday, March 18th, 1983. Ak, McGregor, 1983.

FOSTER, B. and V. WRIGHT. Stockman country: a New Zealand mustering adventure. Wn, Listener, 1983.

JOYCE, R. and B. SAUNDERS. Discover New Zealand, the glorious islands. Ak, Landsdowne, 1982.

KING, M. and M. BARRIBALL. New Zealand in colour. Wn, Reed, 1982.

MATTHEWS, G. The edge of the land: the coastline of New Zealand. Ch, Whitcoulls, 1983.

NEW ZEALAND ATLAS, edited by Ian Wards. Wn, Govt Print., 1976.

NEW ZEALAND AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION. AA road atlas of New Zealand. Rev. ed. Ak, Hamlyn, 1978.

NEW ZEALAND AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION. AA BOOKOF NEW ZEALAND WALKWAYS. Sydney, Landsdowne, 1982.

NEW ZEALAND AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION. AA BOOKOFTHE NEW ZEALAND COUNTRYSIDE. Ak, Hamlyn, 1978.

NEW ZEALANDIN MAPS, edited by A. G. Anderson. London, Hodder and Stoughton, 1977.

PEAT, N. Detours, a journey through small-town New Zealand. Ch, Whitcoulls, 1982.

POPE, D. and J. POPE. The Mobil illustrated guide to New Zealand. Wn, Reed, 1982.

POPE, D. M. and J. D. POPE. Mobil New Zealand travel guide, North Island. 3rd ed. Wn, Reed, 1977.

POPE, D. M. South Island. 3rd ed. Wn, Reed, 1978.

REED, A. W. Place names of New Zealand. Wn, Reed, 1975. Supplement, 1979.

ROBERTS, G. and B. TURNER. New Zealand high country. Wn, Millwood, 1983.

WILD NEW ZEALAND. Sydney, Reader's Digest, 1981.

WISES NEW ZEALAND GUIDE: a gazetteer of New Zealand. 7th ed. Ak, Wises Publications, 1979.

Historical works

ADAMS, P. W. T. Fatal necessity: British intervention in New Zealand, 1830–1847. Ak, Auckland University Press, 1977.

ARNOLD, R. The farthest promised land: English villagers, New Zealand immigrants of the 1870s. Wn, Victoria University Press; Price Milburn, 1981.

ATKINSON, J. New Zealand as it was … today. Ak, In Focus Publishing, 1984.

BEAGLEHOLE, J. C. The discovery of New Zealand. 2nd ed. London, O.U.P., 1961. (Out of print.)

BEGG, A. C. and N. C. BEGG. James Cook and New Zealand. Wn, Govt Print., 1969.

BELICH, J. The New Zealand Wars and the Victorian interpretation of racial conflict. Ak, Auckland University Press, 1986.

BENTLEY G. Portrait of an air force; the Royal New Zealand Air Force 1937–1987. Wn, Grantham House, 1987.

BRETT, H. White wings. Ak, Brett Printing Co., 1924–28. Reprinted Ch, Capper Press, 1976. 2 vol. Also other facsimile titles by the same publisher.

COOK, J. The journals of Captain James Cook on his voyages of discovery. Edited by J. C. Beaglehole. Cambridge, Hakluyt Society, 1955–5 vol. to date. (Hakluyt Society. Extra series No. 34.)

COWAN, J. The New Zealand wars: a history of the Maori campaigns and the pioneering period. Wn: Govt Print, 1956. 2 vol.

CUMBERLAND, K. B. Landmarks. Surrey Hills N.S.W., Reader's Digest, 1981.

ELDRED-GRIGG, S. Pleasures of the flesh: sex and drugs in colonial New Zealand, 1840–1915. Wn, Reed, 1984.

ELDRED-GRIGG, S. A southern gentry: New Zealanders who inherited the earth. Wn, Reed, 1980.

EWING, R. and R. MACPHERSON. The history of New Zealand aviation. Ak, Heinemann, 1986.

FACSIMILESOFTHE DECLARATIONOF INDEPENDENCEANDTHE TREATYOF WAITANGI. Wn, Govt Print., 1976.

GRANT, I. F. The unauthorised version: a cartoon history of New Zealand. Ak, Cassell, 1980.

HILL, R. S. Policing the colonial frontier: the theory and practice of coercive social and racial control in New Zealand, 1767–1867. Wn, Govt Print., 1986.

INGRAM, C. W. N. New Zealand shipwrecks, 1795–1975. 6th ed. Wn, Reed, 1984.

JACKSON, W. K. The New Zealand Legislative Council: a study of the establishment, failure, and abolition of an upper house. Dn, University of Otago Press, 1972.

KAY, R. and T. EDEN. Portrait of a century: the history of the N.Z. Academy of Fine Arts, 1882–1982. Wn, Millwood, 1983.

KING, M. New Zealanders at war. Ak, Heinemann, 1981.

LISSINGTON, M. P. New Zealand and Japan, 1900–1941. Wn, Govt Print., 1972.

LISSINGTON, M. P. New Zealand and the United States, 1840–1944. Wn, Govt Print., 1972.

LOOKING BACK: a photographic history of New Zealand, compiled by K. Sinclair and W. Harrex. Wn, O.U.P., 1978.

MCLEOD, J. Myth and reality: the New Zealand soldier in World War II. Ak, Reed Methuen, 1986.

MCLINTOCK, A. H. Crown colony government in New Zealand. Wn, Govt Print., 1958.

MCNAB, R. The old whaling days: a history of southern New Zealand from 1830 to 1840. Ak, Golden Press, 1975.

MADDOCK, S. These antipodes: a New Zealand album, 1814 to 1854. Ak, Collins, 1979.

MANING, F. E. Old New Zealand: a tale of the good old times and a history of the war in the north told by an old chief of the Ngapuhi tribe. Ak, Golden Press, 1973. Reprint. (First published 1863.)

MILLEN, J. Colonial tears and sweat: the working class in nineteenth-century New Zealand. Wn, Reed, 1984.

MORRELL, W. P. The Anglican church in New Zealand: a history. Dn, McIndoe, 1973.

MORRELL, W. P. The provincial system in New Zealand, 1852–76. 2nd rev. ed. Ch, Whitcombe and Tombs, 1964.

NEW ZEALAND CENTENNIAL BRANCH. Making New Zealand: pictorial surveys of a century. Wn, 1939–40. 2 vol. (Out of print.)

NEW ZEALAND HISTORIC PLACES TRUST. Leaflets on various historic sites: booklets.

NEW ZEALAND WAR HISTORY BRANCH. Documents relating to New Zealand's participation in the second world war, 1939–45. Wn, 1949–63. 3 vol. (Out of print.)

NEW ZEALAND'S HERITAGE: The making of a nation. Ak, Hamlyn, 1977. 7 vol. in 105 pts, issued weekly.

OLIVER, W. H, The story of New Zealand. 2nd ed. London, Faber, 1963.

THE OXFORD HISTORYOF NEW ZEALAND, edited by W. H. Oliver with B. R. Williams. Oxford, Clarendon Press: Wn, Oxford University Press, 1981.

PASCOE, J. D. Exploration New Zealand. Wn, Reed. 1971.

PUGSLEY, C. Gallipoli: the New Zealand story. Ak, Hodder and Stoughton, 1984.

ROCH, S. The red and the gold: an informal account of the Waihi strike, 1912. Ak, Oxford University Press, 1982.

SIMPSON, A. C. The road to Erewhon. Ak, Beaux Arts, 1976.

SIMPSON, A. C. The sugarbag years. Wn, A. Taylor, 1974.

SINCLAIR, K. A. A destiny apart. Wn, Allen and Unwin, PNP, 1976.

SINCLAIR, K. A. History of New Zealand. Rev. ed. London, Lane, 1980.

SINCLAIR, K. A. The origins of the Maori wars. 2nd ed. Ak, Auckland University Press, 1974.

SUTCH, W. B. Poverty and progress in New Zealand. A reassessment. 2nd rev. ed. Wn, Reed, 1969.

SUTCH, W. B. The quest for security in New Zealand. 1840 to 1966. Wn, O.U.P., 1966.

TAYLOR, R. Te Ika a Maui, or New Zealand and its inhabitants. Wn, Reed, 1974.

THIRTEEN FACETS: Essays to celebrate the silver jubilee of Queen Elizabeth the Second, 1952–1977, edited by I. Wards. Wn, Govt Print., 1978.

WAKEFIELD, E. J. Adventure in New Zealand. Ak, Golden Press, 1975.

WILSON, O. From Hongi Hika to Hone Heke: a quarter century of upheaval. Dn, McIndoe, 1985.

WOMENIN HISTORY. Edited by B. Brookes, C. Macdonald and M. Tennant. Wn, Port Nicholson Press, 1986.

WOOD, F. L. W. The Zealand people at war: political and external affairs. Wn, Historical Publications Branch in conjunction with Reed, 1971.

Regional and local works

The following are representative of the many titles in this category:

ACLAND, L. G. D. The early Canterbury runs. 4th. ed. Ch, Whitcoulls, 1975.

ALINGTON, M. H. Unquiet earth: a history of the Bolton Street cemetery. Wn, Wellington City Council, Govt Print., 1978.

ALLAN, R. M. Nelson a history of early settlement. Wn, Reed, 1965.

ANDERSEN, J. C. Place names of Banks Peninsula: a topographical history. Wn, Govt Print., 1927. Reprinted Ch, Capper Press, 1976. Also other facsimile titles by the same publisher.

BAGNALL, A. G. Wairarapa. Masterton, Hedley's Bookshop, 1976.

BARBER, L. H. The view from Pirongia: the history of Waipa county. Ak, Richards Publishing, 1978.

BEGG, A. C. and N. C. BEGG. Port preservation. Ch, Whitcombe and Tombs, 1973.

BOYD, M. City of the plains: a history of Hastings. Wn, Victoria University Press, for the Hastings City Council, 1984.

BUCHANAN, J. D. H. The Maori history and place names of Hawke's Bay. Wn, Reed, 1973.

CAMPBELL, M. D. N. Story of Napier, 1874–1974. Napier, Napier City Council, 1975.

CARKEEK, W. The Kapiti Coast: Maori history and place names. Wn, Reed, 1966. Reprinted Ch, Capper Press, 1978.

DREAVER, A. J. Horowhenua County and its people: a centennial history. Horowhenua County Council, 1984.

ELDRED-GRIGG, S. A new history of Canterbury. Dn, McIndoe, 1982.

FIELD, T. A. Relics of the goldfields, Central Otago. Dn, McIndoe, 1976.

GARDNER, W. J. The Amuri: a county history. 2nd ed. Amuri County Council, 1983.

GIBBONS, P. J. Astride the river: a history of Hamilton. Ch, Whitcoulls for the Hamilton City Council, 1977.

GOODALL, M., and G. J. GRIFFITHS. Maori Dunedin. Dn, Otago Heritage Books, 1980.

GUTHRIE-SMITH, W. H. Tutira: The story of a New Zealand sheep station. 4th ed. Wn, Reed, 1969.

HALL-JONES, Fiordland explored: an illustrated history. Wn, Reed, 1976.

A HISTORYOF CANTERBURY. Canterbury centennial historical and literary committee. 3 vol. Ch, Whitcombe and Tombs, 1957–71.

HOLCROFT, M. H. The line of road: a history of Manawatu County, 1876–1976. Dn, McIndoe for the Manawatu County Council, 1977.

HOWARD, B. H. Rakiura: a history of Stewart Island. Dn, Reed, 1974.

IRVINE-SMITH, F. L. The streets of my city: Wellington, New Zealand. Wn, Reed, 1967.

LAMBERT, G. An illustrated history of Taranaki. Palmerston North, Dunmore Press, 1983.

LAMBERT, T. The story of old Wairoa and the East Coast district, North Island, New Zealand. Dn, Coulls Somervilie Wilkie, 1925. Reprinted Ch, Capper Press, 1977.

MCARA, J. B. Gold mining at Waihi, 1878–1952. Waihi, Waihi Historical Society, 1978.

MCLEAN, G. J. Otago Harbour: currents of controversy. Dn, Otago Harbour Board, 1985.

MAIN, W. Auckland through a Victorian lens. Wn, Millwood Press, 1977.

MAY, P. R. The West Coast gold rushes. 2nd rev. ed. Ch, Pegasus, 1967.

NORDMEYER, A. Waitaki: the river and its lakes, the land and its people. Oamaru, Waitaki Lakes Committee, 1981.

OLIVER, W. H. Challenge and response: a study of the development of the Gisborne East Coast region. Gisborne, East Coast Development Research Association, 1971.

OLSSEN, E. A history of Otago. Dn, McIndoe, 1984.

PARKER, S. K. Cambridge: an illustrated history 1886–1986: the centenary of local government in Cambridge. Cambridge Borough Council, 1986.

REED, A. H. The story of Northland. Wn, Reed, 1975.

SCOTT, D. Seven lives on Salt River. Ak, Hodder and Stoughton and Southern Cross Books, 1987.

SMART, M. J. G. and A. P. BATES. The Wanganui story. Wanganui, Wanganui Newspapers, 1972.

SMEDLEY, B. Homewood and its families. Wn, Mallinson Rendel, 1980.

*STANDISH, M. W. The Waimate mission station. Wn, Govt Print., 1962.

TULLETT, J. S. The industrious heart: a history of New Plymouth. New Plymouth, New Plymouth City Council, 1981.

WOODHOUSE, A. E. Blue cliffs, the biography of a South Canterbury sheep station, 1856–1970. Wn, Reed, 1982.

Biography

HONOURS, TITLES, STYLES, AND PRECEDENCEIN NEW ZEALAND, compiled and edited by P. P. O'Shea. Wn, Govt Print., 1977. Supplement, 1980.

WHO'S WHOIN NEW ZEALAND, 11th ed., edited by J. E. Traue. Wn, Reed, 1978.

BASSET, J. Sir Harry Atkinson, 1831–1892. Ak, Auckland University Press, 1975.

BEAGLEHOLE, J. C. The life of Captain James Cook. London, Black, 1974.

BINNEY, J., G. CHAPLIN and C. WALLACE. Mihaia: The prophet Rua Kenana and his community at Maungapuhatu. Wn, O.U.P., 1979.

BROOKING, T. W. H. And captain of their souls: an interpretative essay on the life and times of Captain William Cargiil. Dn, Otago Heritage Books, 1984.

BURNS, P. Te Rauparaha. Wn, Reed, 1980.

CHAPPLE, G. Rewi Alley of China. Ak, Hodder and Stoughton, 1982.

CONDLIFFE, J. B. Te Rangi Hiroa: the life of Sir Peter Buck. Ch, Whitcombe and Tombs, 1971.

CRESSWELL, W. D. The letters of D'Arcy Cresswell. Ch, University of Canterbury, 1971.

DALZIEL, R. Julius Vogel: business politician. Ak, Auckland University Press and Oxford University Press, 1986.

DAVIES, S. Bread and roses: her story/Sonja Davies. Ak, Australia and New Zealand Book Co., Masterton, Eraser Books, 1984.

EDWARDS, J. Break down these bars: Jim Edwards as told to David Ballantyne. Edited by Graham Adams. Ak, Penguin, 1987.

FAIRBURN, A. R. D. The letters of A. R. D. Fairburn, selected and edited by L. Edmond. Ak, Oxford University Press, 1981.

FINGLETON, D. Kiri Te Kanawa. London, Collins, 1982.

FRAME, J. To the Is-land: an autobiography: volume one. London, Women's Press; Ak, Hutchinson Group, 1983.

FRAME, J. An angel at my table: an autobiography: volume two. Ak, Hutchinson, 1984.

FRAME, J. The envoy from mirror city: an autobiography: volume three. Ak, Hutchinson, 1985.

GORDON, J. All the world's a stage. Wn, Mallinson Rendel 1981.

GUSTAFSON, B. From the cradle to the grave: a biography of Michael Joseph Savage. Ak, Reed Methuen, 1986.

HARPER, B. Petticoat pioneers: South Island women of the colonial era. Wn, Reed, 1980.

HAYWARD, M. Diary of the Kirk years. Wn, Reed: Queen Charlotte Sound, Cape Catley, 1981.

HENDERSON, J. M. Ratana: the man, the church, the political movement. 2nd ed. Wn, Polynesian Society, 1972.

JOURNALOFA RAMBLER: The journal of John Boultbee. Edited by June Starke. Ak, Oxford University Press; Wn, Alexander Turnbull Library Endowment Trust, 1986.

KING, M. Te Puea. Ak, Hodder and Stoughton, 1982.

KING, M. Whina: a biography of Whina Cooper. Ak, Hodder and Stoughton, 1983.

LEE, J. A. The John A. Lee diaries, 1936–40. Ch, Whitcoulls, 1981.

LUSH, V. The Waikato journals, 1864–68, 1881–82. Ch, Pegasus, 1982.

MACGREGOR, M. F. Petticoat pioneers: North Island women of the colonial era. 2 vol. Wn, Reed, 1973.

MCCORMICK, E. H. Omai, Pacific envoy. Ak, Auckland University Press, 1977.

MCCORMICK, E. H. Portrait of Frances Hodgkins. Ak, Auckland University Press; O.U.P., 1981.

MCNEISH, J. Walking on my feet: A. R. D. Fairburn, 1904–1957. Ak, Collins, 1983.

MARSH, N. Black beech and honeydew: an autobiography. Rev. and enl. ed. Ak, Collins, 1981.

MARSHALL, J. Memoirs. Vol. 1; 1912 to 1960. Ak, Collins, 1983.

MEYERS, J. Katherine Mansfield: a biography. Ak, Hodder and Stoughton, 1979. Also published London, H. Hamilton, 1978.

NOTABLE NEW ZEALANDERS. Ak, Hamlyn, 1979.

OLIVER, W. H. James K. Baxter: a portrait. Wn, Port Nicholson Press, 1983.

OLSSEN, E. N. John A. Lee. Dn, University of Otago Press, 1977.

O'SHEA, P. P. An unknown few: the story of those holders of the George Cross, the Empire Gallantry Medal, and the Albert Medals associated with New Zealand. Wn, Govt Print., 1981.

RAESIDE, J. D. Sovereign chief: a biography of Baron de Thierry. Ch, Caxton Press, 1977.

ROLLESTON, R. William and Mary Rolleston. Wn, Reed, 1971.

SARGESON, F. Sargeson. Ak, Penguin, 1981.

SCOTT, R. G. A stake in the country; Assid Abraham Corban and his family, 1892–1977. Ak, Southern Cross Books, 1977.

SHADBOLT, M. F. R. Love and legend: some 20th century New Zealanders. Ak, Hodder and Stoughton, 1976.

SINCLAIR, K. Walter Nash. Ak, Auckland University Press, 1976.

SINCLAIR, K. William Pember Reeves: New Zealand Fabian. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1965.

STIRLING, A. M. Amiria: the life story of a Maori woman, as told to Anne Salmond. Wn, Reed, 1976.

STONE, R. J. C. Young Logan Campbell. Ak, Auckland University Press, 1982.

TE WIATA, B. Inia Te Wiata, most happy fella. Ak, Hutchinson, 1982.

THOMSON, J. M. A distant music, the life and times of Alfred Hill, 1870–1960. Ak, O.U.P., 1980.

TRUSSELL, D. Fairburn. Ak, Auckland University Press and Oxford University Press, 1984.

WEBSTER, P. Rua and the Maori millennium. Wn, Price Milburn for Victoria University Press, 1979.

WILSON, O. An outsider looks back: reflections on experience. Wn, Port Nicholson Press, 1982.

Humour

BALL, M. The cry of the grey ghost. Wn, INL Print, 1983.

BALL, M. Stanley. Wn, INL Print, 1982.

BALL, M. They've put custard with my bone! Wn, INL Print, 1982.

BROCKIE, B. Brockie's bones of contention. Wn, Fourth Estate Group, 1983.

FLETCHER, D. Grasp and Co. Wn, INL Print, 1983.

GADSBY, J., D. MCPHAIL and A. K. GRANT. The McPhail and Gadsby Book. Ch, Whitcoulls, 1983.

GRANT, A. K. The paua and the glory: the story of New Zealand's rise to international insignificance. Ak, Allen and Unwin, 1982.

HENSHAW, D. The best of Jock. Ak, Hodder and Stoughton, 1983.

MCLEOD, R. Rosemary McLeod's bedside book. Martinborough, Alister Taylor, 1981.

MINHINNICK. Just a min—: cartoons from the New Zealand Herald. Ak, Wilson and Horton, 1983.

ROBERTSON, D. A dog's breakfast. Ak, Lindon, 1983.

SEFTON, R. HOW to use a dead kiwi. Ak, Lindon, 1983.

Chapter 32.

Department of Statistics publications

Publications marked with an asterisk are obtainable only from the Department of Statistics, Wellington. All other publications may be obtained from the Government Printer: Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

General

Annual Report of the Government Statistician (Parliamentary Paper G. 28)

Employment Statistics

Handbook on Survey Procedures*

Inter-industry Study of the New Zealand Economy

Monthly Abstract of Statistics

New Zealand (annual brochure) *

New Zealand Business Patterns 1986*

New Zealand Life Tables

New Zealand Population Projections 1983–2016

New Zealand Sub-national Population Projections 1986–2006

New Zealand System of National Accounts

New Zealand Tables of Working Life*

Pocket Digest of Statistics

Publications Catalogue*

Report on the 1980 Revision of the Consumers Price Index

Statistics—The People to Ask (departmental directory) *

Statistics—Product Index*

Social Indicators Survey Report 1980–81

Social Indicators Working Paper No. 1: Defining Unemployment

Annual statistical reports

Agricultural Statistics

Building Statistics (see also Bulletins)

Consumers Price Index

Demographic Trends

Exports

External Migration Statistics

External Trade Price and Volume Indexes

External Trade, Report and Analysis of Household Expenditure and Income Survey

Imports

Insurance Statistics

Justice Statistics: Parts A and B

Local Authority Statistics

Overseas Balance of Payments

Producers Prices Statistics

Shipping and Cargo Movements

Statistics of Incomes and Income Tax of Persons

Statistics of Incomes and Income Tax of Companies

Transport Statistics

Vital Statistics

Wages and Earnings

Work Stoppages and Industrial Unions

Five-yearly statistical reports

Census of Population and Dwellings 1986

A2 Local Authority Population and Dwelling Statistics

B1 Provisional Regional Summary Statistics

Local Government Regions

B2. Northland

B3 Auckland

B4 Thames Valley

B5 Bay of Plenty

B6 Waikato

B7 Tongariro

B8 East Cape

B9 Hawke's Bay

B10 Taranaki

B11 Wanganui

B12 Manawatu

B13 Horowhenua

B14 Wellington

B15 Wairarapa

B16 Nelson Bays

B17 Marlborough

B13 West Coast

B19 Canterbury

B20 Aorangi

B21 Clutha/Central Otago

B22 Coastal/North Otago

B23 Southland

B24 Regional Summary

B25 Usually Resident Population

B26 Hospital Board Districts and Health Districts

B27 Electorate Profiles

B28 Population Atlas

C1 Provisional National Summary Statistics

C2 National Summary

C3 Ages and Marital Status

C4 Labour Force Part 1

C5 Labour Force Part 2

D1 Questionnaire Content and Submissions

D2 Range and Availability of Statistics Part 1 Table Contents

D3 Range and Availability of Statistics Part 2 Comparability 1986–81 Population Censuses

D4 Scope of the Census

D5 Census Data Files

D6 Population Census Statistics—How and Where to Obtain Them

The following census reports will be published during 1988. Information on publication dates can be obtained from the enquiries officer at any of the department's offices.

C6 Birthplaces and Ethnic Origin

C7 Internal Migration

C8 Incomes and Social Welfare Payments

C9 New Zealand Maori Population and Dwellings

C10 Pacific Island Polynesian Population and Dwellings

C11 Dwellings

C12 Households

C13 Families

C14 Religious Professions

C15 Education and Training

C16 Total Population Statistics

C17 Overseas Visitor Statistics

Census of Agricultural Contracting Services 1984–85

Census of Building and Construction 1984–85

Census of Distribution 1982–83

Census of Fishing 1983–84

Census of Forestry and Logging 1983–84

Census of Manufacturing 1983–84

Census of Mining and Quarrying 1983–84

Census of Services 1980–81

Census of Services (Finance and Insurance) 1982–83

Census of Transport, Storage and Communication 1984–85

Bulletins

Building Statistics Bulletin BC/MP/00 (monthly)*

Building Statistics Bulletin BC/QP/00 (quarterly)*

Building Statistics Bulletin BC/AP/00 (annually)*

Census of Distribution 1982–83

C1 Wholesale Trade

C2 Retail Trade

C3 Restaurants and Hotels

C4 Personal and Household Services

Census of Manufacturing 1983–84

B1 Local Government Administration Regional Measurements

C1 Manufacture of Food, Beverages and Tobacco

C2 Textile, Wearing Apparel and Leather Industries

C3 Manufacture of Wood and Wood Products, including Furniture

C4 Manufacture of Paper and Paper Products, Printing and Publishing

C5 Manufacture of Chemicals and Chemical Products, Petroleum, Coal, Rubber and Plastic Products

C6 Manufacture of Non-metallic Mineral Products, except Products of Petroleum and Coal C7 Basic Metal Industries

C8 Manufacture of Fabricated Metal Products, Machinery and Equipment

C9 Other Manufacturing Industries

The New Zealand Labour Force (quarterly)

Overseas Travel Statistics (quarterly) *

Overseas Travel Statistics (annually) *

Miscellaneous series*

Inter-regional Migration in New Zealand 1971–81

Merchandise Trade with Australia (quarterly) *

Occasional paper series*

The Effect of Increases in Nominal Incomes on Personal Income Tax Rates

ASSET—A Simulation System for Evaluating Taxation

A Comparison of New Zealand and Australian Manufacturing Industries 1981–82

New Zealand Rural Profile

An Investigation of Official Ethnic Statistics

New Zealand standard classifications*

New Zealand Harmonised System Classification

New Zealand Standard Classification by Broad Economic Categories

New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (NZSCO)

New Zealand Standard Country Codes (NZSCC)

New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification

New Zealand Standard Institutional Sector Classification Manual (NZISC)

New Zealand Standard Trade Classification

Reviews of statistics*

Report of the Review Committee on Continuing Education Statistics (1976)

Report of the Review Committee on Tourism Statistics (1977)

Report of the Review Committee on Forestry Statistics (1979)

Report of the Review Committee on Agriculture Statistics (1979)

Report of the Review Committee on Housing Statistics (1979)

Report of the Review Committee on New Zealand Transport Statistics (1980)

Report of the Review Committee on Statistics on the Processing and Marketing of Meat, Wool and Dairy Produce (1981)

Report of the Review Committee on New Zealand Fisheries Statistics (1981)

Report of the Review Committee on Justice Statistics (1982)

Report of the Review Committee on Finance Statistics (1983)

Report of the Review Committee on Energy and Mining Statistics (1983)

Report of the Review Committee on New Zealand Wine Statistics (1983)

Review of Plastics Statistics (1984)

Report of the Review Committee on New Zealand Statistics of Accidents Involving Injury (1984)

Report of the Standard Land Use Code Committee (1984)

Report of the Review Committee on New Zealand Fertility and Related Statistics (1984)

Review of Electronic Statistics (1986)

Study of Research and Development Statistics (1983)

A regularly updated list of the department's publications is published in the Monthly Abstract of Statistics.

Further details on this list and the complete Publications Catalogue are available from any office of the department.

Chapter 33. Yearbook special articles 1976–87

Special articles before 1976 are listed in the 1985 and earlier Yearbooks.

SubjectYear
Tourism: the invisible export1976
One hundred years of Lands and Survey1976
Royal visit 19771977
New Zealand at the turning point1977
Education in the New Zealand community1977
Abbreviations, contractions, and acronyms1978
General Price Index1978
Abbreviations, contractions, and acronyms (revised)1979
The child and learning in a multi-cultural society1979
The New Zealand environment and changes in environmental management since 19701980
Life tables: a measure of life expectancy1980
Golden fleece: The evolution of the New Zealand wool industry1981
Consumers Price Index 1980 revision1981
General election 19811982
A century of meat exports1982
INFOS (Information Network for Official Statistics)1984
New Zealand women: their changing situation, 1970–841985
Goods and services tax1986–87

Index

Coverage

Individual commodities or products are indexed separately only when they are unusually significant, e.g., Wool. Where there is no individual entry, look on pages listed under the appropriate general index entry:

  1. General commodity or product headings, e.g., Crops, Dairy products, Minerals. Meat; or

  2. General economic and business activity headings, e.g., Retail trade, Manufacturing, Prices.

Similarly, specific services and industries should be looked for in listings under general headings such as Business censuses or National accounts.

Names of places and geographic features are not indexed separately, but can be found on pages listed under the relevant headings, e.g., Cities; Mountains; Population. Exceptions are names of countries, and inhabited islands.

Acts of Parliament are not indexed separately, and statutory bodies are indexed separately only where there is a major reference.

A large number of organisations and bodies indexed by name have the prefixes ‘National’ or ‘New Zealand’. If there is no reference under a more generally known name, they may be found under these prefixes (e.g., National Film Library; New Zealand Dairy Board).

A

Abortion, 239–241
Access training scheme, 340
Accident Compensation Corporation, 241–243
Accidents, 235–236, 241
cases of, treated in public hospitals, 235–236
Safety
drowning, 245–246
Safety
fatal, 244–247
Safety
prevention of
Safety
in traffic, 243–245
work, 247 Accommodation benefit, 186–187
Accommodation, tourist, 324–325
Acts of Parliament, 50, 52
Adoption, 143, 207–208 Adult education, 282, 284–285
Advertising, newspaper and periodical, 317
Aerial topdressing, 414, 541–542
Africa, relations with, 101
Age distribution, of population, 126–127, 171, 177
Agricultural land, 375, 409, 410
Agricultural Producers Price Index, 416–417
Agricultural Production Account, 414–416
Agricultural production, aspects of
crops, 439–44.1
marketing, of products, 423, 429, 433
Agriculture, aspects of, 408–409, 417
accidents, 254
aquaculture, 460
capital expenditure, 412–413
cattle, 420
contracting services, census of, 411–412
dairy farming, 431–433
deer farming, 438–439
farm employees, 411
goal farming, 439
historical development of, 26, 29, 30, 33, 38
irrigation, 370, 403–404, 413–414
machinery for, 413
producers price index, 416–417
research on, 365, 368–370
sheep, and sheep farming, 419–420, 427
soils for, 375–377 Aid. overseas, 101–104
Air force, 121–122
Air freight, 535–542
Air mail, 557–558
Air New Zealand, 63, 524, 537–538
Air pollution, 406
Air transport,
Aviation
Airlines, 535–536, 539
Airports, 537
Airways Corporation of New Zealand Ltd. 63, 64, 537
Alcohol
and health, 224
legal aspects of consumption, 553, 554, 570–571
Alcoholic Liquor Advisory Council, 224
Alexander Turnbull Library, 313
Aluminium, 478
Ambassadors, 108–111, 111–114
foreign, in New Zealand, 111–114
New Zealand, overseas, 95, 108–111
Amenities, of dwellings, 151
Ammonia urea plant, 478
Animals and plants, 11–15
Animals, farm, 418–420
Anniversary day holidays, provincial, 359
Antarctica, 115
Ante-natal services, 222 Antiquities, protection of, 308
ANZUS (Australia, New Zealand and United States) Treaty, 95, 99, 116
Apiaries, 437–438
Appeals against convictions and sentences, 288, 298
Apples and pears, 442–443
Apprentices, 280, 281, 336–337
Aquaculture, 460
Arbitration Commission, 349
Arbitration Court,
Labour Court
Archaeological sites, protection of, 308, 311
Area health boards, 213
Area, total land, 1–2
Armed forces, 117
assistance to community, 117–118
New Zealand Army, 120–121
Royal New Zealand Air Force, 121–122
Royal New Zealand Navy, 119–120
strength of, 119–122
Arrivals, in country
(Immigration), 139, 140
Art galleries, 308
Artificial aids, 198
Arts and cultural activities, 307
awards in, 311
Arts Council (Queen Elizabeth II), 307–308
ASEAN (Association of South-east Asian Nations), 98–99, 609–610
Asian countries, relations with, 98–99, 609–610
Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN), 98–99, 609–610
Audit Office, 56, 68
Australia New Zealand and United States Treaty (ANZUS), 95, 99, 116
Australia New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (CER), 97, 98, 605
Australia, relations with, 97–98, 608–609
Average Gross Income Index, 345–346
Average retail prices, 633–636
Average Tax Rates Index, 347
Aviation, 535
freight and passenger operations, 535–542
international, 538–541
licensing of, 536–537
services to, 536–537
Awards in literature and art, 311

B

Baches, 325
Balance of payments, 707–708
definition and principles of, 708–710
summaries, 711–712
Bank cards, 584–585, 671
Bank notes, 641–642
Bankruptcies, 573–575
Banks and banking, 641
Development Finance Corporation, 481, 647–648
finance companies, 646–647
registration of banks, 643–644
Reserve Bank of New Zealand, 36, 641, 642–643
savings banks, 645–646
trading banks, 644
Beef, 424–425
exports, 619
Beer,
consumption, 225
duty on, 605
production, 494
Bees and beekeeping, 437–438
Benefits,
accident compensation, 241–243
accommodation, 186–187
death, 187–188
dental, 198, 225
domestic purposes, 158, 184, 192
emergency, 186
family, 185
handicapped child's allowance, 187
health, 196–199
hospital, 196–197
invalids', 185
laboratory, 197
maternity, 197
medical, 196
orphans', 184
pharmaceutical, 196
physiotherapy, 197
sickness, 186
social welfare, 182–184, 187–188, 195–196
unemployment, 337–342
war pensions and allowances, 192–195
widows' 184
Betting, 318
Bibliography, books about New Zealand, 719
Birthplaces, of population, 167–168
Births and birth rates
ex-nuptial, 143
registration of, 140
Books and libraries, 311
Boroughs and borough councils, 79
population of, 134–135
Brides and bridegrooms, 155–156, 157–158
Books about New Zealand, 719
Broadcasting, 313–316
radio, 313, 315–316, 561–562
television, 313, 315
Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand, 314–315
Broadcasting Tribunal, 314
Building and construction
census of, 509–511
materials used, 509
permits and work put in place, 497, 506–508
of rental houses, 498
Building Industry Advisory Council, 509
Building Performance Guarantee Corporation, 509
Building societies, 646
Buildings, 505–508
construction of, 497, 506–508
for education institutions, 262–263
historic, 311
used as dwellings, 149–150
Bureaufax services, 560–561
Burial and cremation, 146
Bursaries,
school boarding, 270
for tertiary study, 274
university, 269
war, 194
Buses, 546, 551
school, 270
Business censuses, 692–694
Business directory, 692
Butter, 434

C

Cabinet, 57–58, 92–93
Campbell Island, 2
Canada, relations with, 99, 610–611
Capital Expenditure Price Index, 638–640
Capital Finance Accounts, 699
Capital gains, tax on, 664
Capitalisation of family benefit, 185
Cargo,
air, 535–542
handled at ports, 528–534
Caribbean, relations with, 100
Carpets and carpet yarns
(Textiles), 479–480
Cars, 550–552
licensing of, 550–552
Casein, 434
Cattle, 420
Caucuses, political party, 49–50
Census of Agricultural Contracting Services, 411–412
Census of Building and Construction 509–511
Census of Distribution, 576–581
Census of Fishing, 462–463
Census of Forestry and Logging, 447–450
Census of Manufacturing, 482–494
Census of Mining and Quarrying, 475–477
Census of Population and Dwellings, results of, 124–125, 128, 149
dwellings, 149–151
employment, 331–335
incomes, 342–344
population, 124–138, 170–173
Census of Services, 585–593
insurance, 593–600
Census of Transport, Storage, and Communication, results of, 564–565
Central government finance, 657, 659–660, 664
expenditure, 658–662
Public accounts, 657, 658–659, 664
Public debt, 680–682
revenue, 659–660, 672–673
CER (Australia New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement), 97, 98, 605
Cereals, 439–440
Chatham Islands, 2
Cheese, 431–432
Chemicals, poisonous, 220–221
Chicken, 436, 437
Childbirth, 140–144
births and birth rate, 140–143
infant mortality, 229–230
maternal deaths, 230
maternity benefits, 197
maternity leave, 359–360
stillbirths, 144, 229
Childcare and pre-school education, 161–162, 208, 264
Children, 207, 208
in care of Department of Social Welfare, 207, 210–211
custody and guardianship of, 159–160
day-care for, 161–162, 208, 264
deaths of, 248
health of, 222
and justice system, 208–209
long-term care for, 208
Childrens and Young Persons Courts, 209–210, 290
Children's health camps, 222–223
Children's homes, 208
China, relations and trade with, 610
CHIP (Community Housing Improvement Programme), 503–504
Chiropractors, 215
Churches and religious organisations, number of adherents of, 163
Cities and city councils
(Urban areas), 79
population of, 133
Citizenship, 168–170
Civil aviation, 535
Civil defence, 248–249
Civil jurisdiction of courts, 291–292
Clays and clay products, 471
Climate, 7
Cng (compressed natural gas), 478, 514, 517
Coal, 464, 478, 515, 516
consumption 474–475, 512–513
mining of, 473–474
resources, 464–467
Coal Corporation of New Zealand Ltd, 63, 64
Coastal shipping, 97, 253, 524
Coat of arms, 83
Coates, J Gordon, 32, 35
Coins and coinage, 641–642
Colleges,
secondary, 259, 263, 266–268, 284
teachers, 259, 278–280
Colonisation, 21–22
Commerce Commission, 567–568
Commerce legislation, 567–568
Commercial practices, 567
Commission for the Environment, 66
Commissions of Inquiry, 56–57
Commodity agreements, international, 603
Commonwealth, relations with, 107
Communications, Census of Transport, Storage and, 564–565
Community and Housing Improvement Programme (CHIP), 503–504
Community care ordered by courts, 300
Community centres, 285
Community colleges, 281, 282
Community councils, 81
Community Employment Development Scheme, 342
Community housing, 503
Community service, imposed by courts, 299
Companies, 570, 571, 574
bankrupt, 573–575
finance, 646–647
incomes of, 678–680
mergers of, 567
registrations, 573
taxation of, 669, 677
Compensation, accident, 241–243
Compressed natural gas (cng), 478, 514, 517
Conservation of cultural property, 308
Conservation of natural resources
forests, 395–396, 397–398
by recycling, 481
research on, 366, 371
of soils, 375–377
Consolidated Account, 657, 660–662
Consolidated Accounts of the Nation, 697–699
Constitution, 45–46, 49
history of, 22, 23, 29, 37
recent reform, 46–49
Construction, 498, 505–511
of housing, 497
Consumer Council, 569
Consumer protection, 568–569
Consumers Price Index, 629
all groups, 25 market centres, 630–631
basis of, 630
each group, for individual centres, 631, 632
international comparison, 636
Containerisation, 524
Continuing education, 282, 284–285
Contraception, 222
Convictions,
appeals against, 298
numbers of, 294–295, 297
sentencing on, 297–298
Cook Islands, 95–96
Cook, James, 19
Cook Strait rail/ferry service, 526, 545
Copyright, 313
Corporations, government,
State-owned enterprises
Corrective training, 300
Correspondence school, 271, 285
Cost of living, 152–154
Council for Educational Research, 260
Counties and county councils, 79
Counties, population of, 136–137
Court of Appeal, 287–288
Courts, 287, 290
of Appeal, 287–288
Childrens and Young Persons, 209–210, 290
District, 158, 289–290
Family, 158, 160, 207, 289
High, 78, 160, 288–289, 291, 292
trial, 293, 296–298
CPI (Consumers Price Index), 629
Credit, 584, 648
Credit cards, 584–585, 671
Cremation and burial, 146
Crime, 292–293, 298, 305
compensation for, 294
criminal jurisdiction, 288
murder, 292, 297
rape and sexual offences, 292, 294, 297
theft, 292–293, 294, 297
Criminal trials, 293, 296–298
Crops, 439–441
fruit, 441
grains, 439–440
seeds, 441
vegetables, 440–441
Crown land, 384–386
Crown Law Office, 68
Currency, 641–642
Customs Department, 68, 604–605
Customs tariff and revenue, 604–605, 659

D

Dairy farming, 431–433
Dairy products, 431, 433
butter, 434
casein, 434
cheese, 431–432
exports, 435
marketing of, 433–435
milk and milk products, 431–432
prices, 435–436
production, 432–433
Data services, 560
Daycare, 161–162, 208, 264
Daylight saving, 15
Deaf persons, 198, 221
Death benefits, 187–188
Death duty, estates passed for, 673–677
Deaths and death rates, 144–146, 227–230, 239
accidental, 244–247
of children, 248
infant, 229–230
registration of, 172
stillbirths, 144, 229
Debt, 680, 690
private, 573–575
public, 680–682
Deer farming, 438–439
Defence, 115–116, 118–119
civil, 248–249
Ministry of, 68, 115
Defence agreements, 116–117
Dental benefits, 198, 225
Dental health, 224–225
Dentists, 214
Department of Conservation, 66, 68, 384
Department of Education, 68–69, 258–259
Department of Health, 70, 216–217, 219, 226
Department of Internal Affairs, 70–71
Department of Justice, 71
Department of Labour, 71, 252–253, 328, 340, 360
Department of Lands, 384
Department of Lands and Survey, 66, 71, 384
Department of Maori Affairs, 71, 174–175
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, 72, 365–368
Department of Social Welfare, 72, 180, 181–182, 205
Department of Statistics, 72
publications, 737
Department of Survey and Land Information, 66, 72–73, 377–378
Department of Trade and Industry, 73, 605
industrial development, and, 481–482
overseas trade, and, 601–602
Departments, functions of government, 68–74
Departures, from country, 139
Deportation, 166
Depression, economic, 27, 32–33
Design, industrial, 284, 373
Detached Youth Worker Scheme, 318
Developing countries, relations with, 612–613
Development Finance Corporation, 481, 647–648
Dietitians, 214–215
Diplomatic, consular and other representation in New Zealand, 111–114
Diplomatic representatives overseas, 108–111
Disability allowances, 187
Disabled children, education of, 269–270
Disabled persons
artificial aids for, 198
Diseases, 227–229, 234–235
Displaced persons, 164–165
Dissolution of marriage, 158–159
District communities and community councils, 80–81
District Courts, 158, 289–290
civil cases, 291, 292
criminal cases, 293, 294–295
traffic offences, 295–296
District planning, 399–400
Districts and district councils, 79
Divorce, 158–159
Doctors, 213–214
Domestic assistance, 187, 198
Domestic Proceedings Court,
Family Courts, Domestic purposes benefits, 158, 184, 192
Domestic trade, 576
census of distribution, 576–581
retail trade, 578–579, 582–583
wholesale trade, 577–578
Domestic travel, 322–323
Drinking, legal aspects of, 553, 554, 570–571
Drivers' licences, 554
Driving offences, 295–296, 555–556
Drowning, 245–246
Drugs,
legal, control of, 219–220
offences involving, 304–305
DSIR (Department of Scientific and Industrial Research), 72, 365–368
Dwellings
tenure of, 150–151, 499

E

Earthquake and War Damage Commission, 250
Earthquakes, 3, 6–7
EC (European Community), 100, 611–612
Economic censuses,
Business censuses
Economic history,
1840–1919, 26, 27–28, 29–31
1919 to present day, 32–33, 35–36, 37–39
Education
administration of, 258–260
adult, 282, 284–285
aids and amenities, 271–272
buildings, 262–263
community, 285
curriculum, 264–265, 266
Department of, 68–69, 258–259
international, 260–261
of Maoris, 174, 267–268
of Pacific Island Polynesians, 260
preschool, 161–162, 208, 264
public expenditure on, 261–262
roll numbers, 256–257
rural, 270, 272
special, 269–270
teaching staff employed, 257–258
technical, 280–284
university, 263, 272–273
Educational research, 260
EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone), 457, 461–462
Eggs, 437
Elections, 54–56
licensing poll, 56
local body, 81–82
parliamentary, 54–55
results of latest, 84–92
Electorates, 54, 55
listed, 52–54
Electric power boards, 522
Electricity, 517
consumption of, 512–513
generation of, 518–521
historical development, 518
planning for, 520–521
supply authorities, 522
Electricity Corporation of New Zealand Ltd, 63, 64, 517
Electronics, 479
Embassies, 108–111, 111–114
of foreign countries, 111–114
New Zealand, overseas, 95, 108–111
Emergency benefits, 186
Emergency Reserve Corps pensions, 194
Emigration, 138–140, 168
Employers, 353
Employment
farm, 411
Human Rights Commission
in health services, 232
Human Rights Commission
and human rights
Human Rights Commission
in the Public Service, 58–60
status, 334–335
surveys of, 328, 344
of women, 333–334
Employment and Vocational Guidance Service, 340
Energy, 512
consumption, 512–514, 521
demand and supply, 513–514
Ministry of, 69, 253, 516, 517–518
planning, 515–517
resources, 515
Energy, forms of, 512
coal, 464, 478, 515, 516
electricity, 517
gas, 512–514, 517
geothermal, 516
petroleum, 516
Engineering industry, 478–479
Enterprise survey, 692
Environment
agencies responsible for, 66, 384, 401
Commission for, 66
and mineral exploitation, 402
research on, 366, 371
Environmental Council, 401
Environmental health, 218–219
Equal employment opportunities, 60
Equal Opportunities Tribunal, 161
Erosion, 6
Estate duty, 670
Ethnic groups in population, 167
Maori,
Maori population
Pacific Island Polynesians
Pacific Island Polynesians,
Pacific Island Polynesians
Race relations and racial discrimination, 161
European Community (EC), 100, 611–612
European countries, relations with, 100, 611–612
Europeans, 19–20, 22
settlement by, 21–22
Examinations, 268–269
Exchange rates
(Foreign exchange market, Overseas exchange transactions), 654–655
Excise duties, 604–605, 659
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), 457, 461–462
Executive Council, Cabinet and, 47, 57
Ex-nuptial births, 143
Exotic forests, 445
Explorers of New Zealand, 17, 19–20
Export awards, 602
Export Guarantee Office, 602
Export Prices Index, 624–627
Exports, 606
agricultural,
Marketing, of agricultural products
destinations, by country and commodity, 614–68
main, value of, by commodity groups, 618–620
value and volume of, by commodity, 619–620
value of, by SITC, 621–622
Exports and Shipping Council, 613–614
External migration, 138–140
emigration, 138–140, 168
immigration, 138–140, 163–168
External trade
annual, by country, 614–618
commodities, trade in, 619–620
by country and region, 607–613
per head, 607
price and volume indexes, 627–628
statistics of, types and sources, 606
terms of, index, 626–627
External transactions account, 699, 710–711

F

Factories
(Manufacturing industry), 252–253, 360
Fair trading legislation, 568–569
Families,
Households
Family benefits, 185
Family Care payments, 185
Family Courts, 158, 160, 207, 289
Family law, 158
Family planning, 222
Family Support Scheme, 185, 665
Farm employment, 411
Farming,
Agriculture, aspects of
Farming Inputs Price Index, 416–417
Farms, types of, 408, 410
Federation of Labour, 353
Ferries, Cook Strait, 526, 545
Fertiliser
(Topdressing), 414
Fertility rate, 126–127, 141, 172
Fiji, 96
Films, 308
National Film Library, 271
New Zealand Film Commission, 308
Finance companies, 646–647
Fines, 299
Fire insurance, 251–252, 596–598
Fire Service, New Zealand, 250–251
First aid, 221
Fish,
catch, 458–460
exports, 460
species, 457–458
Fisheries resources, 457–458
protection of, 457, 461–462
Fishing,
census of, 462–463
by foreign vessels, 461–462
industry, 457
recreational, 320
Fishing vessels, 460
Rag, New Zealand, 83
Fluoridation, 225
Food,
expenditure on, 153
and nutrition, 220
processing research, 365–366
standards, 151
Food and Agriculture Organisation, United Nations (FAO), 106
Footwear, 479–480
Foreign Affairs, Ministry of, 69, 108
Foreign exchange market, 655–656, 710
Foreign policy
(Official Development Assistance (ODA)), 95
Foreign trade,
External trade
Forest parks, 400
Forest products,
Timber and forest products
Forest Research Institute, 371
Forestry and logging, 445
employment in, 447
Timber and forest products
census of, 447–450
Timber and forest products
private, 446–447
Timber and forest products
production, 445
Timber and forest products
products,
Timber and forest products
research into, 371
state, 66, 69, 445
training in, 447
Forestry Corporation Ltd, New Zealand, 63, 64, 384, 445
Forestry, Ministry of, 66, 69, 371, 447
Forests, 445
conservation and protection 395–396, 397–398
exotic, 446–447
native, 13–14, 395, 446
recreation in, 396–397
Freight, 528, 540
air, 535–542
shipping, 97, 253, 524
Fringe benefit tax, 669
Frost, 9–10
Fruit, 441
Fuels, 512–516, 552–553
coal, 464, 478, 515, 516
gas, 512–514, 517

G

Galleries, art, 308
Gaming, 319
Gas, 512–514, 517
liquefied petroleum (LPG), 514
natural, 478, 514, 517
GELS (Group Employment Liaison Service), 340–341
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), 106, 602–603
General Assembly Library, 313
General elections, 54–55
Generalised System of Preference, 612–613
Geographical features, 1–3
glaciers, 2
lakes, 2–3
mountains, 2
Geology
(Minerals and mineral products), 3–6
Geothermal power, 516
Geriatric hospitals, 200
Gift duty, 671
Glaciers, 2
Glossary of statistical terms, 715
Goat farming, 439
Gold, 26, 470
Golden Kiwi lottery, 319
Goods and services tax (GST), 604–605, 669–670
Government Computing Service, 69
Government departments
functions of, 68–74
public debt held by, 685
Government finance,
Central government finance Government Life Insurance Corporation, 69
Government Printing Office, 70
Government Property Services Ltd, 60–61
Government stock and securities, 653–654
Government Superannuation Fund, 201–203, 598
Governor General, 45, 47, 49, 57
Graduates, university, 263, 272–273
Grains, 439–440
Gravel, 471
Greenstone, 471
Grey, George, 23, 24, 26
Gross domestic product, 695
in constant prices, 703–706, 707
and expenditure, 698
by production group, 700–702
Gross fixed capital formation, 696, 702–703
Gross national expenditure, 695
Group Employment Liaison Service (GELS), 340–341
GST,
Goods and services tax
Guardianship, 158

H

Hail, 9
Handicapped child's allowance, 187
Handicapped persons, 188–190
Harbour boards, 79–80
Harbours,
Ports
Health,
and causes of death, 227–231
Department of, 70, 216–217, 219, 226
environmental, 218–219
expenditure, 198–199, 217–218
and hospitals, 196–197, 230
Maori, 174
mental, 221–222
occupational, 220–221, 252–254
practitioners, 213–216, 283
research, 226–227
services structure, 213, 216–217
Health benefits, 196–199
Health, Board of, 213
Health boards, area, 213
Health camps, 222–223
Health education, 223–224, 225
Health insurance, 595–596
Health Service Personnel Commission, 213
High Court, 78, 160, 288–289, 291, 292
Higher School Certificate, 269
Highways, 549
Hillary Commission for Recreation and Sport, 318
Hire purchase, 584
Historic places, 311
Historic reserves, 393
History of New Zealand
chronology of events, 41–44
Economic history
Social history
constitutional, 22, 23, 29, 37
Economic history
Social history
economic,
Economic history
Social history
social,
Social history
Holidays, 359
Home appliances, 151
Home help, 187, 198
Homes, children's, 208
Homestart, 498, 501
Homicide, 292, 297
Honey, 438
Horticulture
(Crops), 365, 370, 441–443
Hospital benefits, 196–197
Hospital boards, 213, 230–231
finances, 232–233
Hospitals, 196–197, 230
beds and waiting lists, 231–232
geriatric, 200
patients treated, 233–236
private, 231–232
psychiatric, 197, 236–239
staff, 232
Hotels, 570–571, 579–580
Hours of work, 359
House of Representatives, 45–49, 49–54
Household Labour Force Survey, 328–331
Household services, 581
Households, 149–152
amenities of, 151
composition of, 149, 178–179
expenditure by, 152–154
incomes of, 152
Housework, 581
Housing
community, 503
(Housing Corporation,
Mortgages), 500–505
(Rents), 150–151, 499–500
costs of, 153, 500–502
(Housing Corporation,
Mortgages), 500–505
(Rents), 150–151, 499–500
demolition, 499
(Housing Corporation,
Mortgages), 500–505
(Rents), 150–151, 499–500
of elderly persons, 503
(Housing Corporation,
Mortgages), 500–505
(Rents), 150–151, 499–500
Homestart, 498, 501
(Housing Corporation,
Mortgages), 500–505
(Rents), 150–151, 499–500
investment, 498
(Housing Corporation,
Mortgages), 500–505
(Rents), 150–151, 499–500
loans for
(Housing Corporation,
Mortgages), 500–505
(Rents), 150–151, 499–500
Maori, 174, 267–268
(Rents), 150–151, 499–500
market, 497–498
(Rents), 150–151, 499–500
for Pacific Island Polynesians, 501–502
(Rents), 150–151, 499–500
rental
(Rents), 150–151, 499–500
rural, 503
state services, 503
Housing Corporation, 70, 499–500, 502–504
Human rights, 161
elimination of discrimination, 161–163
promotion of equal opportunity, 358–359
Human Rights Commission, 161
Humidity, 9
Hunting, 320
Hydroelectric power, 518–519, 522

I

IMF (International Monetary Fund), 106
Immigration, 138–140, 163–168
Immunisation, 223
Import licensing, 605
Import Price Index, 624–627
Imports, 606–607
origin of, 614–618
value and volume of principal items, 623–624
value by SITC, 621–622
Imprisonment, 300
Income tax, 664–668
exemptions and rebates, 666–667
index of, 347
revenue from, 672, 673
Incomes
of companies, 570, 571, 574
of households, 152
Index of Employment, 705
Index of Gross Domestic Product, 705, 706
Indexes, explained, 715–716
Indexes, listed,
Agricultural Producers Price Index, 416–417
Capital Expenditure Price Index, 638–640
Consumers Price Index, 629
Export Prices Index, 624–627
Farming inputs Price Index, 416–417
Imports, 606–607
Index of Employment, 705
Index of Gross Domestic Product, 705, 706
Prevailing Weekly Wage Rates Index, 347–348
Producers Price Index, 636–638
Real Disposable Income Index, 345–346
Reproduction Index, 141
Terms of Trade index, 626–627
Urban House Property Price Index, 500–501
Volume Index of External Trade, 627–628
Industrial accidents, 247
Industrial design, 284, 373
Industrial relations
in the Public Service, 59–60
Industrial safety, 252–254, 360
Industrial structure of labour force, 335–336
Industries Development Commission, 481
Industry,
Manufacturing industry
Infant mortality, 229–230
Inflation,
Consumers Price Index
Information Authority, 76
Inland Revenue Department, 70
Insolvency, 573–575
Insurance, 593, 599–600
accident, 241–243
earthquake and war damage, 250
fire, 251–252, 596–598
Government Life, 69
health, 595–596
life, 593–595
State, 72
Intellectually handicapped adults and children, 236–239, 269–270
Interest rates, 649, 650, 651, 652, 653
Inter-industry studies, 700
Internal Affairs, Department of, 70–71
Internal migration, 128–129
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), 106
International commodity agreements, 603
International comparisons,
abortion ratios, 240–241
consumer prices, 636
infant mortality, 229
life expectancy, 146
research and development expenditure, 365
standards of living, 154–155
work stoppages, 355–356
International Development Association (IDA), 106
International Finance Corporation (IFC), 106
International Monetary Fund (IMF), 106
International organisations, participation in, 105–108
International relations, 95
International Whaling Commission (IWC), 108
International Wool Secretariat, 428
Invalids' benefits, 185
Investment, 481
Iron and ironsands
(Steel), 468, 470
Irrigation, 370, 403–404, 413–414

J

Japan, relations with, 610
Job creation programmes, 340–341
Joint family homes, 499
Judges and judiciary, 47, 287, 289
Juries, 293–294
Justice, Department of, 71
Justice, system of,
Courts

K

Kermadec Islands, 2
Kindergartens, 264
Kohanga Reo programme, 174, 264

L

Laboratories, dental and medical, 216, 226
Laboratory benefit, 197
Labour Court, 290, 349
Labour, Department of, 71, 252–253, 328, 340, 360
Labour force
and Index of Gross Domestic Product, 705–706
Occupational groups
industrial structure of, 335–336
Occupational groups
occupations,
Occupational groups
part-time, 334
projections, 332
Quarterly Employment Survey, 328, 344
survey of, 328–331
women in, 333–334
Labour Party, 31, 32, 35–36, 84–85
Labour relations,
reform, 348–350
system of, 350–351
Lakes, 2–3
Lamb, 424–425
Land,
agricultural, 375, 409, 410
area, total, 1–2
Crown, 384–386
development and settlement of, 22, 26–27, 29
leasehold and leases, 384–386
Maori, 22, 24–25, 35, 383
occupied, 409
recreational, 390, 392, 400
registration of ownership, 378–379
surveys of, 377–378
title to, 378–379
transfers of, 379–381
use of, 375, 408, 409, 410
valuation of, 381–382
Land Corporation Ltd, 63, 64, 66, 384, 386
Land Settlement Board, 384
Land tax, 670
Land transfers, 379–381
Land wars, 22, 24–26, 28, 33–34
Lands and Survey, Department of, 66, 71, 384
Latitude and longitude, 1
Law, sources of, 291
Laws,
Legislation
Leasehold land and leases, 384–386
Legal aid, 294
Legal systems, 158, 287, 291
civil jurisdiction, 291, 292
criminal jurisdiction, 288
Legal tender, 642
Legislation, 50, 52
Lending,
Loans
Liberal political party, 28–29, 31, 32
Libraries, 311
Licences and licensing,
drivers', 554
imports, 605
liquor, 570–571
motor vehicles, 550–552
radio and television, 314
road transport, 546
Licensing Control Commission, 570, 571
Licensing Trusts, 571
Life expectancy, 146, 172–173
Life insurance, 593–595
Government Life Insurance Corporation, 69
Life tables, 146, 172–173
Lighthouse service, 534
Lime and limestone, 471
fertiliser, 414
Liquefied petroleum gas (Ipg), 514
Liquor,
Alcohol
Liquor licensing, 1570–571
Livestock, 418–420
cattle, 420
deer farming, 438–439
goat farming, 439
pigs, 436
poultry, 436–437
sheep, and sheep farming, 419–420, 427
Loans,
for farms, 648
fishing industry, 461
housing, for disabled persons, 189
housing, for Maoris and Polynesians, 501–502
mortgages, 505
Loans Accounts, 657, 663
Local authorities
election of, 81–82
health functions, 216, 218–219
housing, 504
investment and superannuation, 204
membership of, 82
powers of, 81
roading and transport, 549–550
Local Authorities Loans Board, 690
Local government, 77–83
community, 80–81
planning and, 80, 398–399
reform of, 83
regional, 80
special purpose, 79–80
territorial, 78–79
Local Government Commission, 83
Local government finance, 685, 688, 689
borrowing, 690–691
expenditure, 688–690
income from grants, 686–687
income from rates, 685–686
revenue sharing, 687
Local government regions, population of, 128–130
Lockouts, 353–356
Logging,
Census of Forestry and Logging
Lotteries, 319
funding from, 307, 320

M

Maatua Whangai, 174
Machinery, manufacture of, 478–479
Magistrates' Courts,
District Courts
Mail, 557–558
Major Projects Advisory Group, 482
Mana Enterprises Scheme, 341
Mana Motuhake Party, 85
Manufacturing industry, 478
assistance to, 481–482
census of, 482–494
geographical distribution of, 493
historical development of, 26, 27, 33, 36
inter-industry studies, 700
main indicators of, 482–494
quarterly economic survey of, 494–496
research into, 366–368, 494
selected production, 494
Maori, 173–174
discrimination against, 161
education of, 174, 267–268
employment and training of, 175
health of, 174
housing and household amenities of, 178–179, 501–502
tribal developments among, 175
unemployment among, 339–340
women, 162
Maori Affairs, Department of, 71, 174–175
Maori Community Officers, 176–177
Maori Community Services Programme, 176–177
Maori Council, New Zealand, 176
Maori Economic Development Commission, 173–174
Maori Education Foundation, 260
Maori electorates, 54–55
Maori history,
pre-European, 17–19
1770–1890, 20–21, 24–26, 28
1890 to present day, 33–35, 36, 39–40
Maori land, 22, 24–25, 35, 383
Maori Land Court and Maori Appellate Court, 290, 383
Maori language, 173, 264, 272
Maori population
age distribution of, 171
birth and death rates of, 171–172
geographical distribution of, 170–171
historical, 19, 20, 24
households in, 179
infant mortality in, 230
life expectancies of, 172–173
sex ratio of, 171
Maori wardens, 176
Maori Women's Welfare League, 176
Mapping, 377–378
Marine pollution, 405, 535
Marital status, 156–157
Maritime parks and reserves, 393–394, 401
Maritime planning, 400
Marketing, of agricultural products, 423, 429, 433
authorities, meat, wool and dairy products, 422–423, 427–428, 433
authorities, poultry, wheat, potatoes, apples and pears, 437, 439–440, 440 443
Marriage, 155–158
and the law, 155
Marriage guidance, 160–161
Marriages 155–156, 157–158
dissolution of, 158–159
Marsden Point
oil refinery, 478
Maternal deaths, 230
Maternity benefits, 197
Maternity leave, 359–360
Meat and meat products
beef, 424–425
chicken, 436, 437
exports, 423, 619–620
grading of, 424–425
pigmeats, 421
prices, 425–426, 625
processing, 420–421
production, 421–422
sheepmeats, 424
veal, 425
Mediation Service, 349
Medical benefits, 196
Medical Council, 213–214
Medical insurance, 595–596
Medical laboratory technologists, 216
Medical practitioners, 213–214
Medical radiation technologists, 216
Medical Research Council, 226
Medicines, 219–220
Members of Parliament,
listed, 52–54
salaries and allowances, 50–51
Mercantile marine pensions, 194
Merchant banks, 646
Merchant navy qualifications, 534
Mergers, 567
Metals, 468–471
gold, 26, 470
steel, 478
Metric system, 714
Micronesia, Federated States of
Middle East, relations with, 100–101, 612
Migration, external,
External migration
Milk and milk products
production, 431–432
town milk supply, 457, 458
Minerals and mineral products
metallic, 468–471
non-metallic, 471–473
production, 468–474
Miners' benefits, 185
Mining
laws on, 402, 468
and quarrying, census of, 475–477
safety and working conditions, 253
Ministers of the Crown, listed, 57–58, 92–93
Ministry for the Environment, 66, 69
Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, 68, 417
research by, 368–370
Ministry of Civil Defence, 71, 248–249
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, 569
Ministry of Defence
(Armed forces), 68, 115
Ministry of Energy, 69, 253, 516, 517–518
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 69, 108
overseas posts, 95, 108–111
Ministry of Forestry, 66, 69, 371, 447
Ministry of Transport, 73, 253, 536–537
Ministry of Women's Affairs, 74, 161–163
Ministry of Works and Development, 74
Monetary policy, 649–652
Money supply, 652
Monopolies, 567, 568
Mortality, 144–146, 227–230, 239
Mortgages, 505
Housing Corporation, 70, 499–500, 502–504
housing, loans for 500–505
Mothers, 172
births and birthrate, 140–143
maternal deaths, 230
maternity benefits, 197
maternity leave, 359–360
Motor spirits, duty on, 548
Motor vehicle industry, 479
Motor vehicles,
licensing, 550–552
Motorways, 549
Mountaineering, 321
Mountains, 2
Multiple births, 141
Murder, 292, 297
Museums, 271, 308
Mutton, 424

N

Narcotics,
Drugs
National Accounts, New Zealand System of (NZSNA), 694–697
National Acoustics Centre, 221
National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women, 333–334
National anthems, 83–84
National Archives, 308, 310
National Art Gallery, 308
National disposable income, 695, 706–707
National Drug Intelligence Bureau, 304–305
National Film Library, 271
National Health Institute, 226
National Health Statistics Centre, 226–227
National Housing Commission, 498
National identity, rise of 31–32, 39
National Library of New Zealand, 311–313
National Licensing Poll, 56
National Museum, 308
National parks
administration of, 390, 401
centennial of, 386
history of, 386–389
listed, 390–392
National Party, 35, 37, 84–85
National Provident Fund, 203–205, 598
National Radiation Laboratory, 221
National Research Advisory Council, 363
National Roads Board, 547–550
National Roads Fund, 547–548, 550, 657, 662
National superannuation, 184
National Trust, 394–395
National Water and Soil Conservation Authority, 402
Natural gas, industrial development of, 478, 514, 517
Natural increase, of population, 125–126
Nature Conservation Council, 402
Nature reserves, 393
Navy, Royal New Zealand, 119–120
Netherlands, immigration from, 164
New Zealand Apple and Pear Marketing Board, 442, 443
New Zealand Army, 120–121
New Zealand Australia Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (CER), 97, 98, 605
New Zealand Bibliographic Network, 312
New Zealand Certificate, 281
New Zealand Council for Educational Research, 260
New Zealand Recreation and Sport, Hillary Commission for, 318
New Zealand Dairy Board, 433
New Zealand Democratic Party, 85
New Zealand Employers' Federation, 353
New Zealand Export-Import Corporation, 602
New Zealand Film Commission, 308
New Zealand Fire Service, 250–251
New Zealand Fishing Industry Board, 460–461
New Zealand Forest Service, 66, 69, 445
New Zealand Forestry Corporation Ltd, 63, 64, 384,
New Zealand Government stock and securities, 653–654
New Zealand Historic Places Trust, 311
New Zealand Household Expenditure and Income Survey, 152–154
New Zealand Institute of Economic Research 372
New Zealand Land Resources Inventory, 405
New Zealand Listener, 316
New Zealand Lottery Board, 319–320
New Zealand Maori Council, 176
New Zealand Market Development Board, 602
New Zealand Meat Producers Board, 422–423
New Zealand Milk Board, 433
New Zealand Mountain Safety Council, 318
New Zealand Party, 84–85
New Zealand Planning Council, 74–75
New Zealand Police, 71, 303–305
New Zealand Ports Authority, 527, 542–546
New Zealand Post Ltd, 71, 557–559
New Zealand Potato Board, 440
New Zealand Poultry Board, 437
New Zealand Railways Corporation, 72, 524, 542
revenue and expenditure, 546
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, 316
New Zealand System of National Accounts (NZSNA), 694–697
New Zealand Technical Correspondence Institute, 283
New Zealand Time Service, 15
New Zealand Trade Certification Board, 283
New Zealand Trade Commission
Department of Trade and Industry
New Zealand Walkway Commission, 395
New Zealand Wars, 22, 24–26, 28, 33–34
New Zealand Water Safety Council, 318
New Zealand Wheat Board, 439–440
New Zealand Wool Board, 427–428
New Zealand Workers Educational Association (WEA), 285
New Zealand's overseas posts, 95, 108–111
Newspapers and magazines, 316–317
Niue, relations with, 95, 96
Noise, 221
Nominal Weekly Wage Rates Index, 347
North America, trade relations with, 610–611
Nurses, and nursing services, 197, 214, 217, 221, 283
NZSNA (New Zealand System of National Accounts), 694–697

O

Occupational groups, 336
emigration and immigration by, 163–164
self-employed, 342
teachers, 257–258
Occupational health, 220–221, 252–254
Occupational safety, 252–254, 360
in agriculture, 252, 254
in factories, 360
Occupational therapists, 214
Occupied land, 409
OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), 107–108
Official Development Assistance (ODA), 101–104
Official information, 75–76
Oil,
Petroleum
Oils, 478
Old people
homes and hospitals for, 200
Ombudsmen, 76–77
Optometrists and opticians, 215
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 107–108
Orphans, benefits for, 184
Otago Business Development Centre, 481
Overseas aid, 101–104
Overseas balance of payments, 707–708
Overseas debt, 680–682
Overseas exchange transactions, 710
Overseas investment, in New Zealand, 481
Overseas students, 277
Overseas trade,
External trade

P

Pacific countries, relations with, 95–97, 609
Pacific Forum Line, 97, 525
Pacific Island Employment Development Scheme, 341–342
Pacific Island Polynesian population, 177–179
dwellings, 178
geographical distribution, 177–178
households, 178–179
Pacific Island Polynesians, 177–179
discrimination against, 161
unemployed, 339–340
Pacific Islands Industrial Development Scheme (PIIDS), 96, 481–482
Pacific Islands Polynesian Education Foundation, 260
Paper, 452–453, 456
Parental leave, 359–360
Parks
forest, 400
national, 386–392
Parliament, 45–49, 49–54
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, 401
Parliamentary Library, 313
Parole system, 303
Partnerships, 570–571
Part-time work, 334
Passports, 165, 166
Pastoralism, history of 26, 29
Patents and trade marks, 372–373
Patients, hospital, 196–197, 230
Pay, fixing rates of, 356–358
PAYE tax, 665
Penal system, 299
corrective training, 300
fines, 299
imprisonment, 300
parole system, 303
prisons and prisoners, 300–303
probation, 299, 300
Pensions, 182, 194
other benefits,
Benefits
superannuation, 200, 598–599
Perinatal mortality, 229–230
Periodic detention, 299
Permits, building and construction, 498, 505–511
Personal services, 581
Pest control, 397–398
Petroleum, 516
consumption, 512–514
liquefied petroleum gas (Lpg), 514
oil stockholding, 514
prospecting and drilling, 467
Petroleum Corporation of New Zealand Ltd, 63, 514, 516–517
Pharmaceutical benefits, 196
Pharmacists, 215
Physiotherapists, 214
Physiotherapy benefits, 197
Pigmeats, 421
Pigs, 436
Planning, 74–75, 80, 398–400, 402–403
district, 399–400
New Zealand Planning Council, 74–75
regional, 398–399
Planning Tribunal, 290
Plants and animals, 11–15
Plastics, 479
Play centres, 264
Plumbers, gasfitters and drainlayers, 215
Podiatrists, 215
Poisons, 220–221
Police, New Zealand, 71, 303–305
Political parties, 55–56
Pollution, 405–406
air, 406
water, 405–406
Polynesians,
Pacific Island Polynesians
Population
age distribution, 126–127, 171, 177
Maori population
Pacific Island Polynesians
birthplaces, 167–168
Maori population
Pacific Island Polynesians
change in, 124–128, 129
Maori population
Pacific Island Polynesians
ethnic groups in, 167
Maori population
Pacific Island Polynesians
geographical distribution of, 128–138
Maori population
Pacific Island Polynesians
of local government regions, 128–130
Maori population
Pacific Island Polynesians
Maori,
Maori population
Pacific Island Polynesians
marital status of, 156–157
Pacific Island Polynesians
Polynesian,
Pacific Island Polynesians
projections of, 147
religious professions of, 163
rural, 132
sex ratio in, 126, 127
urban, 130–133
Ports, 537–532
Post Office, 71–72, 557–563
mail, 557–558
New Zealand Post Ltd, 71, 557–559
revenue and expenditure, 562–563
telephone and telegraph services, 559, 561
Post Office Bank Ltd, 72, 557, 645
Poultry and eggs, 436–437
Power boards, electric, 522
Pre-school education and childcare, 161–162, 208, 264
Te Kohanga Reo programme, 174, 264
Preventive detention, 300
Prevailing Weekly Wage Rates Index, 347–348
Price control, 567
Price indexes, 629
Capital Expenditure Price Index, 638–640
Consumers Price Index, 629
Export Prices Index, 624–627
External Trade Index, revision of, 624–627
Import Prices Index, 624–627
Producers Price Index, 636–638
Urban House Property Price Index, 500–501
Prices, 629
control of, 567
farm products, 425–426, 430–431, 435–436
housing, 500–501
international comparison, 636
retail trade, 633–636
Primary schools, 264–266
Prime Minister's Department, 72
Prisons and prisoners, 300–303
Private hospitals, 231–232
Private savings banks, 645
Private schools, 259–260, 263
Privy Council, Judicial Committee of, 287
Probation,
Supervision ordered by Courts
Producers Price Index, 636–638
Production accounts, 700, 701
Provinces, history of, 23–24, 27
Psychiatric hospitals, 197, 236–239
Psychological services and psychologists, 214, 302
Public accounts, 657, 658–659, 664
Public debt, 680–682
interest on, 683
maturity of, 683
transactions, 683–685
Public holidays, 359
Public lands
Crown land, 384–386
National parks,
Queen Elizabeth the Second National Trust, 394–395
State forests, 66, 69, 445
Walkways, 321, 395
Public Service
reform of, 61–66, 384
Public Trust Office, 72
Public works, 26–27, 30
Pulp and paper, 452–453, 456

Q

Quangos, 74
Quarries and quarrying
(Minerals and mineral products), 475–477
Quarterly Economic Survey of Manufacturing, 494–496
Quarterly Employment Survey, 328, 344
Quarterly Survey of Retail Trade, 582–583
Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council, 307–308
Queen Elizabeth the Second National Trust, 394–395

R

Race relations and racial discrimination
(Ethnic groups in population), 161
Racing, 318–319, 671–672
Radiation, 221
Radio, 313, 315–316, 561–562
Raffles, 319
Railways, 542–546
development of, 26, 30
electrification of, 543–545
New Zealand Railways Corporation, 72, 524, 542
Rainfall, 8, 9–10
Raoul Island, 2
Rape and sexual offences, 292, 294, 297
Rapu Mahi/Hanga Mahi programme, 174
Rates, local authority, 685–686
Real Disposable Income Indexes, 345–346
Receivership, 574–575
Recreation and sport, 317–318
Recreation reserves, 394
Recycling, 481
Redundancy, 360
Refinery, petroleum, 478
Reform political party, 31, 32
Refugees, 164–165
Regional development, 447, 482
Regional government, 80
Regional planning, 398–399
Regional water boards, 402
Registered banks, 643–644
Rehabilitation, 225
after accidents, 241
of war veterans, 195
Religious professions of population, 163
Rents, 499
Reparation ordered by Courts, 299
Representation Commission, 55
Reproduction rates, 141
Research, scientific, 365–372
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, 72, 365–368
National Research Advisory Council, 363
Reserve Bank of New Zealand, 36, 641, 642–643
Reserves, land, 392–394, 401
Resettlement unit, refugee, 165
Resource conservation,
Conservation of natural resources
Rest homes, 200
Restaurants, 579–580
Retail prices, 633–636
Retail trade, 578–579, 582–583
credit, 584, 648
hire purchase, 584
shops, 569–570
Rivers, 2–3, 404–405
Roads, 547–550
National Roads Fund, 547–548, 550, 657, 662
safety, 245, 553–555
taxes for, 671
transport, 546
Rock aggregate, 471
Rocks, types of,
Geology
Ross Dependency, 2, 115
Royal commissions, 56–57
Royal New Zealand Air Force, 121–122
Royal New Zealand Navy, 119–120
Rural Banking and Finance Corporation, 72, 648
Rural Education Activities Programmes (REAPs), 270
Rural Electrical Reticulation Council, 522–523
Rural population, 132

S

Safety, 248–254
fire, 251
occupational, 252–254, 360
on mountains, 318
road, 245, 553–555
water, 318
Salaries,
Wages
Salt, 473
Sand dunes, 396
Satellites, 561
Savings banks, 645–646
Post Office Savings Bank, 72, 557, 645
private, 645
trustee, 645
Scenic reserves, 392–393
School Certificate, 268
School Dental Service, 224–225
Schools
broadcasts to, 271
correspondence, 271, 285
primary, 264–266
private, 259–260, 263
publications for, 271–272
pupils of, numbers enrolled, 256–257, 265–266
secondary, 259, 263, 266–268, 284
transport to, 270
Science and scientific services
staff and expenditure, 363–365
Scientific and Industrial Research, Department of, 72, 365–368
Scientific reserves, 393
SCOPE (Small Co-operative Enterprises Scheme), 341
Search and rescue operations, 118, 305
Secondary schools, 259, 263, 266–268, 284
Securities Commission, 572
Securities, government, 653–654
Security Intelligence Service (SIS), 122–123
Seddon, Richard John, 29, 31
Seeds, 441
Seismic activity, 3, 6–7
Self-employed, 342
Sentencing, on conviction, 299–302
Services, Census of, 585–593
Share market, 575
Sheep, and sheep farming, 419–420, 427
Sheepmeats, 424
Shellfish, 458, 460
Shipping, 97, 253, 524
coastal, 526, 527, 532
Cook Strait ferries, 526
register of, 527
surveys of, 534, 535
to overseas markets, 524–525, 529–532, 613–614
Shipping Corporation of New Zealand, 63, 64, 526–527
Ships, 524–527
fishing vessels, 460
Shipwrecks, 534–535
Shoes,
Footwear
Shops, 569–570
Sickness benefits, 186
SITC (Standard International Trade Classification), 621–622
Sixth Form Certificate 268–269
Skiing, 320–321
Skim milk and skim-milk powder, 434
Small Claims Tribunal, 289–290
Small Co-operative Enterprises Scheme (SCOPE), 341
Smelters, aluminium, 478
Snow, 9
Social Credit Party,
New Zealand Democratic Party
Social history
1840–1935, 29–30, 33
1935 to present day, 36, 37–39
Social sciences, 372
Social welfare, 182, 190
benefits,
Benefits
Department of, 72, 180, 181–182, 205
system, 180–182, 191–192
Social work, 181–182, 205, 207
Soil erosion, 396, 405
Soil types, 375–377
South and Central America, relations with, 99–100, 611
South Pacific countries relations with, 95–97, 609
South Pacific Bureau for Economic Co-operation (SPEC), 97
South Pacific Commission, 97
South Pacific Forum, 96–97, 525, 609
South Pacific Regional Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement (SPARTECA), 96, 609
Soviet Union, relations with, 100, 612
Special education, 269–270
Special articles in previous Yearbooks, 741
Special-purpose authorities, 79–80
Sports, 317–318
Stamp duty, 670–671
Standard international Trade Classification (SITC), 621–622
Standard of living, international indicators, 154–155
Standards Council, 374
Standing Orders of the House of Representatives, 49
State forests, 66, 69, 445
State Insurance Office, 72
State-owned enterprises, 62–66, 384, 516–517
Air New Zealand, 63, 524, 537–538
Airways Corporation, 63, 64, 537
Coal Corporation, 63, 64
Electricity Corporation, 63, 64, 517
Forestry Corporation, 63, 64, 384, 445
Government Property Services, 60–61
Land Corporation, 63, 64, 66, 384, 386
New Zealand Post, 71, 557–559
Petroleum Corporation, 63, 514, 516–517
Post Office Bank Ltd, 72, 557, 645
Railways Corporation, 72, 524, 542
Shipping Corporation, 63, 64, 526–527
Telecom, 71–72, 557
Tourist Hotel Corporation, 63
State services, 58–61, 350, 358
State Services Commission, 59–60
Statistics, Department of,
Department of Statistics
Statute of Westminster, 37
Statutes, 50, 52
Statutory bodies, boards, and committees, 74
Steel, 478
Stillbirths, 144, 229
Stock and station agents, 647
Stock change, by production group, 703
Stock exchange, 575
Storage, 564–565
Strikes, 353–356
Students, 214–216
disabled, 269
Maori, 267–268
numbers, 256–257
overseas, 277
part-time, 276–277, 282
primary school, 256, 265
projected numbers of, 258
teachers college, 257, 279–280
technical, 282
university, 274–277
Sugar, 480–481
Sunshine, 9–10
Superannuation, 200, 598–599
Government Superannuation Fund, 201–203, 598
National Provident Fund, 203–205, 598
National Superannuation, 184
Supervision ordered by Courts, 299, 300
Supreme Court,
High Court
Surveys, land, 377–378

T

TAB (Totalisator Agency Board), 318
Tariff (customs), 604–605, 659
Tasman, Abel, 19
Taxation review authorities, 672
Taxation, system of
(Goods and services tax (GST)), 664
Taxes
estate duty, 670
Goods and services tax (GST)
Income tax
excise duties, 604–605, 659
Goods and services tax (GST)
Income tax
fringe benefit tax, 669
Goods and services tax (GST)
Income tax
gift duty, 671
Goods and services tax (GST)
Income tax
goods and services
Goods and services tax (GST)
Income tax
income,
Income tax
land tax, 670
on companies, 669, 677
on visitors and non-residents, 668
PAYE tax, 665
stamp duty, 670–671
Te Kohanga Reo programme, 174, 264
Teachers, 257–258
Teachers colleges, 259, 278–280
Technical education, 280–284
Technical institutes, 259
Telecom Corporation of New Zealand Ltd, 71–72, 557
Telecommunications, 559–561
Telephone services, 559, 561
Television, 313, 315
licenses, 314
Telex, 560
Temperatures, air 8, 10–11
Tenancy, 499
Tenancy Tribunal, 499
Terms of Trade Index, 626–627
Territorial authorities
boroughs, 79
county councils, 79
district councils, 79
finances, 685
Territories, New Zealand
Ross Dependency, 2, 115
Tokelau, 2, 96, 114–115
Tertiary Study Grants, 274
Textiles
(Wool), 479–480
Theft, 292–293, 294, 297
Thermal activity, 3, 6–7
Thermal generation of electricity, 518, 520
Thunderstorms, 9
Timber and forest products, 450
exports of, 452, 454–456
imports of, 455
production of, 450–454
Timber Preservation Authority, 454
Time, 15
Tokelau, 2, 96, 114–115
Topdressing, 414, 541–542
Tornadoes, 9
Totalisator Agency Board (TAB), 318
Tourism, 321–324, 325–326
Tourist and Publicity Department, 73, 326–327
Tourist Hotel Corporation of New Zealand, 63
Town milk supply, 431, 432
Trade, 601, 607
domestic,
Domestic trade
External trade
external,
External trade
terms of, 626–627
Trade and Industry, Department of, 73, 605
industrial development, and, 481–482
overseas trade, and, 601–602
Trade marks, 372–373
Trade organisations end agreements, 106, 601–603, 613
Trade practices, 567
Trade representatives overseas, 108–111, 601–602
Trade routes, maritime, 524, 529–532
Trade training, 336–337
apprentices, 280, 281, 336–337
technical education, 280–284
Trades Certification Board, 283
Vocational Training Council, 337
Trade unions, 351–353
Trading banks, 644
Trading legislation, 568–569
Traffic, 553
accidents, 243–245
offences, 295–296, 555–556
safety, 245, 553–555
Training, vocational, 278, 280, 336–337
Vocational Training Council, 337
Transport, 524
air, 535
Census of Transport, Storage and Communication, 564–565
household expenditure on, 151–152, 154
licensing, 546
Ministry of, 73, 253, 536–537
rail, 542
road, 546
sea, 524
to overseas markets, 524–525, 529–532, 613–614
to work, 552
Treasury, The, 73
Treaties,
defence agreements, 116–117
trade agreements, 106, 601–603, 613
Treaty of Waitangi, 22, 23, 34, 45, 173, 383
Trial courts, 293, 296–298
Trustee savings banks, 645
Tu Tangata programme, 174–175

U

Unemployment
benefits paid for, 185–186
history of, 31, 33
Maori, 339–340
of Pacific Island Polynesians, 339–340
Unions, of employers, 353
Unions, of workers, 351–353
United councils, 80
United Kingdom, relations with, 612
United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), 106
United Nations, New Zealand membership of, 105–107
United States of America, relations with, 99, 610
Universities, 263, 272–273
extension programme, 284
graduates from, 277–278
scholarships and bursaries to, 273–274, 276
staff in, 278
students in, 274–277
Urban areas
population of, 130–133
transport in, 546–547
Urban House Property Price Index, 500–501

V

Valuation Department, 74, 381–382
Valuation of land, 381–382
Value added tax,
Goods and services tax (GST)
Valuers, registration of, 383
Values Party, 85
Vegetables, 440–441
Vegetation and wildlife, 11–15
Violent crime, 292, 294, 297
Vital statistics
(Births and birth rates,
Deaths and death rates,
Marriage), 140–147
Vocational guidance, 340
Vocational Training Council, 337
Vogelism, 26–27
Volcanoes, 3, 4, 6, 7
Volume Index of External Trade, 627–628
Volunteer Service Abroad, 101
Voting,
Elections

W

Wages, 344, 347–348
Nominal Weekly Wage Rates Index, 347
Prevailing Weekly Wage Rates Index, 347–348
Real Disposable Income Indexes, 345–346
Waiora (community health programmes), 174
Waitangi, Treaty of, 22, 23, 34, 45, 173, 383
Waitangi Tribunal, 173
Wakefield settlements, 21, 22, 26
Walkways, 321, 395
Wananga (teaching and learning), 174
War bursaries, 194
War, New Zealand's participation in, 31–32, 36
War pensions and allowances, 192–195
Water and soil conservation, 402–405
Water pollution, 405–406
Water supply, 403, 404
fluoridation of, 225
irrigation, 370, 403–404, 413–414
Regional water boards, 402
WEA (New Zealand Workers Educational Association), 285
Weights and measures, 714
Welfare organisations, 200, 206–207
Western Samoa, 95, 96, 164
Wholesale trade, 577–578
Widows, benefits for, 184
Wildlife and vegetation, 11–15
Wildlife reserves, 394
Winds, 8
Wine and winemaking, 441–442
Women, 161–163
as mothers,
Mothers
discrimination against, 163
in the labour force, 162, 333–334
Maori, 162
members of Parliament, 52
Ministry of Women's Affairs, 74, 161–163
ratio in population, 126
Wood,
Timber and forest products
Wool, 427
exports, 429, 430
International Wool Secretariat, 428
New Zealand Wool Board, 427–428
prices, 430–431
production, 427
Wool Research Organisation, 428
Wool Testing Authority, 428
Woollen mills, New Zealand, 429–430
Work development scheme, 341
Work stoppages, 353–356
Working conditions
(Occupational health), 358–361
Working hours, 359
Works and Development, Ministry of, 74
World Bank, 106
World Health Organisation, 106, 226
Wrecks, 534–535

X

X-ray services, 197

Y

Yearbooks, special articles in previous, 741
Youth hostels, 325
Youth, programmes, 318

Z

Zealand, New, 1–741