New Zealand Official Yearbook 95

Te Pukapuka Houanga Whaimana o Aotearoa

Cover

Decorative panel from the eastern end of Maru-Kaitatea, the wharenui (meeting house) at Takahanga marae (Ngai Tahu), Kaikoura.

At the top is Uenuku, the personification of the rainbow; his colourful cloak provides the backdrop to the figures beneath. Hemo Te Raki is in the centre, Tahu Potiki on her left and Porourangi on her right. These three formed a love triangle which resulted in Tahu Potiki moving south to form the South Island tribe of Ngai Tahu.

Photographer: Anne Noble.

New Zealand Official Yearbook
Cat no 01.001
ISSN 0078-0170

Recommended retail price: $59.95 (incl GST)

Published by Statistics New Zealand.

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Statistics New Zealand has an information desk at every office. In answer to a letter, visit, or telephone call, information officers can provide statistical information, or tell you more about the department's other services, including access to statistics on the INFOS computer data-base.

Te Hakituatahi o Aotearoa

The first flag of New Zealand 1835

For a detailed history of Te Hakituatahi o Aotearoa, see section 3.5 National emblems and anthems.

Heraldic description: on a white field, a red St George's Cross; in the upper canton, next to the staff on a blue field, a smaller St George's Cross in red, severed from the blue by a fimbriation of black, half the width of the red and in the centre of each blue quarter a white eight-point star.

The New Zealand coat of arms

New Zealand has had its own coat of arms since 1911. Prior to that the United Kingdom coat of arms (featuring a lion and a unicorn on either side of a shield and crown) was used. This design still adorns the top of the pediment on the Old Government Buildings in Wellington, which were built in 1875 to house the colony's public service.

One of the few specific changes to flow on from the granting of dominion status in 1907, was the right for New Zealand to have its own coat of arms. The design was approved by royal warrant on 26 August 1911. It appeared in the 1912 Yearbook in colour, along with a written description in full heraldic jargon. The coat of arms also appeared in the 1990 sesquicentennial edition of the Yearbook.

The coat of arms was revised in 1956. This time in the wake of further constitutional changes which saw the country become the ‘Realm of New Zealand’ instead of ‘Dominion’. Accordingly, the British lion holding aloft the Union Jack was replaced by St Edward's Crown, which had been worn by Queen Elizabeth II at her coronation.

At that same time the dress of the figures at the side of the shield was revamped, some Victorian-looking scroll work at the base of the design was replaced by two ferns, and the motto ‘onward’ was replaced by ‘New Zealand’.


Table of Contents

List of Tables

Preface

It is now five years since publication of the sesquicentennial edition of the New Zealand Official Yearbook, which captured so well the excitement and achievements of New Zealand's first 150 years. After the 1990 edition, the direction and the future of the Yearbook was re-assessed and it was decided that every five years the historical data would be updated and republished. This 98th edition of the New Zealand Official Yearbook is the first of these historical reviews. It contains revised and fresh historical tables, and an up to date history chapter.

Yet this edition is not solely devoted to the historical perspective. The 1995 Yearbook maintains the style of recent yearbooks and offers a rich variety of information with a contemporary emphasis in a range of articles on New Zealand society today. Additionally, the 1995 Yearbook presents a selection of international comparisons—articles, graphs and tables—highlighting New Zealand's place in the global community. A range of sectors are covered—forestry, agriculture, education, the labour market, transport and telecommunications.

1995 is Te Tau o te Reo Maori and the Yearbook is accenting the celebration with a variety of articles, such as Maori tourism, broadcasting, exporting, myths, the Maori Trust Office, iwi newspapers and Te Hakituatahi o Aotearoa (the first flag of New Zealand).

In an on-going process to ensure the Yearbook keeps pace with progress and maintains the important position as a reliable point of reference, the contents are re-evaluated annually. This year the communications chapter contains a section on information technology, dealing with such issues as the Internet and technological developments in medicine, health and industry. The national economy chapter has moved forward and now precedes the sectors of the economy which it summarises. Plus, added to the education chapter is a section on Maori education, which deals with Maori language immersion education and alternative educational structures for Maori.

As always, I would like to express gratitude to the Yearbook's numerous contributors for their time and effort, and the goodwill extended in supplying the information. Finally, I would like to thank the editor, Jane Evans, and all those staff at Statistics New Zealand and GP Print closely involved with the production of the 1995 Yearbook.

LEN COOK
Government Statistician

April 1995

Acknowledgements

The 1995 Yearbook was produced by the Publishing and Community Information Division of Statistics New Zealand, with the assistance of many individuals and organisations—these are listed in the ‘Contributors’ section at the end of each chapter, but the department wishes to record its thanks here.

Editor: Jane Evans.

Editorial assistant: Patrick Hudson.

Maps and diagrams: Peter McGrath.

Photograph editor: Lawrence McDonald.

Proofreading: Jane Hunt; Myra Page; Ganga Pillai; Audrey Bevan.

Photographs

Individual photographs are credited separately, usually at the bottom right-hand corner.

The editor records her thanks to the many individuals and institutions who made photographs available.

How to use the1995 Yearbook

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?

The New Zealand Official Yearbook is published 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.

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. The second section of the Yearbook begins with an overview of New Zealand's work-force and moves to a discussion of the nation in broad economic terms. Then follow descriptions of each of the constituent sectors, ending with a chapter on public sector finances.

Throughout the book cross references are made, usually by reference to numbered sections within chapters (which appear at the head of each right-hand 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 used can be found at the beginning of the index.

Deadline for 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 December 1994.

Tables

If the source of a particular table is other than Statistics New Zealand, then it is noted at the base of the table. The following symbols are used in all the tables:

x or Rrevised figure or figures
-nil or zero
 figures not available
 not yet available—space left blank
 not applicable
- -amount too small to be expressed
Pprovisional
necnot elsewhere classified
nesnot elsewhere specified
neinot elsewhere included

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 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 add up to the stated totals.

Weights and measures, and a glossary of statistical terms used, are given at the back of the book.

Colophon

Chapter 1. Geography

1.1 Physical features

New Zealand lies in the south-west Pacific Ocean and consists of two main, and a number of smaller, islands whose combined area of 270,500 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 at its narrowest point is 20 kilometres wide. 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° to 53° south latitude, and from 162° east to 173° 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 3.

Table 1.1. LAND AREA OF NEW ZEALAND(*)

Lard areaSize

*These figures were current at 1 December 1989. These areas may be adjusted as more precise boundary definitions are made.

Includes islands in territorial local authorities.

Excluding islands in territorial local authorities.

Source: Department of Survey and Land Information.

 sq km
North Island†115,777
South Island†151,215
Offshore islands‡833
Stewart Island1,746
Chatham Islands963
     Total270,534

New Zealand is more than 1,600 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. The country is also very mountainous, with less than a quarter of the land less than 200 metres above sea level. In the North Island the main ranges run generally northeast to 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 2,300 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 peakElevation

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

Peaks over 3,000 metres.

Source: Department of Survey and Land Information.

 metres
North Island— 
Ruapehu2,797
Taranaki or Egmont(*)2,518
Ngauruhoe2,290
Tongariro1,968
South Island†— 
Southern Alps 
Cook3,754
Tasman3,497
Dampier3,440
Silberhorn3,279
Lendenfeldt3,201
Hicks (St David's Dome)3,183
Torres3,163
Teichelmann3,160
Sefton3,157
Malte Brun3,155
Haast3,138
Elie de Beaumont3,117
Douglas3,085
La Perouse3,079
Heidinger3,066
Minarets3,055
Aspiring3,033
Glacier Peak3,007

On the summit of Mt Taranaki/Egmont.

New Zealand's rivers are mainly swift and difficult to navigate. They are important as sources of hydro-electric power and artificial lakes have been created as part of major hydroelectric schemes.

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
Whanganui290
Rangitikei241
Manawatu182
Whangaehu161
Mokau158
RiverLength
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(*)

LakeArea

* 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
LakeArea
Manapouri142
Hawea141
Tekapo88
Benmore (artificial)75
Hauroko71
Ohau61
Poteriteri47
Brunner39
Coleridge36
Monowai31
Aviemore (artificial)29
Dunstan (artificial)27
Rotoroa23
Mahinerangi (artificial)21

1.2 Geology

New Zealand is in an area of the world 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 earth's crust.

Two pre-European pā on hill country in the lower reaches of the Whangaehu River, near Wanganui. The pā (in the foreground and centre of the photo) are about 300 years old. From Nga Tohuwhenua mai Te Rangi: A New Zealand Archaeology in Aerial Photographs (VUP, 1994).

The boundary between the Indo-Australian plate and the Pacific plate runs through New Zealand, and the processes from their collisions have had a profound effect on New Zealand's size, shape and geology.

Rock types

The oldest rocks in New Zealand are found in Nelson, Westland and Fiordland. They have been dated back to the Paleozoic era about 570 million years ago.

Almost three-quarters of New Zealand is covered by sedimentary rocks, created by the interplay of the earth movement and erosion. The most common forms of sedimentary rocks in New Zealand are sandstone, mudstone, greywacke, conglomerate and limestone. 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). Volcanic rocks (basalt, andesite, rhyolite and ignimbrite), are the products of the many volcanic eruptions that have characterised New Zealand's geological history.

Landscape

Apparent in the New Zealand landscape today is the evidence of episodes of intense mountain building of between six million and one million years ago. During this period the mountain chains were pushed up and there was movement and displacement of the earth's crust along faults. Due to this activity well-preserved tilted fault blocks bounded by fault scarps (steep faces hundreds or even thousands of metres high) are visible in the landscape of some regions. Fault movements continue to the present day and have accompanied several major earthquakes of the past century.

Erosion has transformed the landscape during this time, carving detailed patterns of peaks, ridges, valleys and gorges. The deposition of debris has built up alluvial plains, shingle fans and other construction forms. At the coast, waves have eaten back the headlands and built beaches, spits and bars. Glaciers carved the fiords of Fiordland and the valleys occupied by most of the South Island lakes. Sea-level changes accompanied the formation, and later melting, of global glacial ice. These changes affected the erosion and deposition of the rivers and were responsible for the formation of many prominent river terraces.

Volcanic activity over the past few million years has played an important part in shaping the landscape. The largest volcanic outpourings of late geological times were in the region between Tongariro National Park and the Bay of Plenty coast. The most recognisable volcanoes in New Zealand now occur in the North Island, where a number are still active. They include Ruapehu, Tongariro, Ngaruahoe, 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.

Volcanic hazards

The New Zealand region is characterised by both a high density of active volcanoes and a high frequency of eruptions. Volcanic activity in New Zealand occurs within the North island and offshore to the north-east (Kermadec Islands). In the last 150 years, volcanoes have killed more people than earthquakes, yet the scale and style of historically recorded volcanic activity is dwarfed by events known to have occurred in the last 2,000 to 5,000 years.

Volcanism

New Zealand volcanism is recognised from five areas in the North island: the Bay of Islands, Whangarei, Auckland, White Island to Ruapehu, and Egmont. The area from White Island to Ruapehu is known as the Taupo Volcanic Zone and is by far the most frequently active. There are three major types of volcano in New Zealand:

  • Volcanic fields such as Auckland, where each eruption builds a single small volcano (eg Mount Eden), which does not erupt again. The next eruption in the field occurs at a different place, the site of which cannot be predicted until the eruption is imminent.

  • Cone volcanoes such as Egmont and Ruapehu, where a succession of small eruptions occur from roughly the same point on the earth's surface. The products of successive eruptions accumulate close to the vent to form a large cone, which is the volcano itself. The site of future eruptions can largely be predicted.

  • Caldera volcanoes, such as Taupo and Okataina (Tarawera). Eruptions at these volcanoes are occasionally so large that the ground surface collapses into the ‘hole’ left behind. For example, Lake Taupo infills a caldera formed in two episodes about 1,800 and 26,000 years ago.

TVZ contains three frequently active cone volcanoes (Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe and White Island) and the two most productive caldera volcanoes (Taupo and Okataina) in the world.

Casualties

Deaths due directly or indirectly to volcanism (and associated hydrothermal explosions) represent the biggest single source of fatalities from natural disasters in New Zealand over the last 150 years.

Economic losses due to volcanism are trivial in comparison to those from earthquakes or flooding. However, an assessment of the sizes and styles of volcanic eruptions in the geologically recent past, coupled with consideration of the economic development of the country (especially in the central North Island), shows that the record of the last 150 years represents only a fraction of the types and sizes of hazard posed by New Zealand volcanism.

DEATHS IN VOLCANIC AREAS OVER 150 YEARS

YearLocation (eruption)Cause—hazardFatalities
1846Waihi (Lake Taupo)debris avalanche/mudflow from thermal areac 60
1886Tarawera Riftlarge volcanic eruption180
1903Waimangu (Tarawera)hydrothermal explosion4
1910Waihi (Lake Taupo)debris avalanche/mudflow from thermal area1
1914White Islanddebris avalanche from crater wall11
1917Waimangu (Tarawera)hydrothermal explosion2
1953Tangiwai (Ruapehu)lahar and flood from crater lake141
   >337

Crises

The term volcanic crisis is used to describe the entire time period associated with a major volcanic eruption. It includes the precursors, the eruption and its aftermath. During all this time people and property are at risk.

The onset of a volcanic crisis is often predictable; the exact course of an eruption is not. Large volcanic eruptions are predictable because precursors like earthquakes, ground deformation and increased outputs of volcanic gas, can be used to infer that an eruption is imminent, so enabling some site-specific planning or mitigation.

Large volcanic eruptions are preceded by a period of days to years of high levels of seismicity, ground movements and changes to hot springs and gas vents. However, once an eruption has started, significant hazards can be present for much longer periods than with any other natural event. The eruption may be followed by months to decades of flooding, erosion and land instability. Volcanic crises differ in several ways from other natural disasters.

HAZARD COMPARISON

FactorsLarge eruptionsEarthquakesFlooding
Duration of hazardsDays to decadesSeconds to minutesHours to weeks
Areas affectedLocal to nationalLocal to regionalLocal to regional
Duration of precursorsDays to yearsNilHours to days
Warning timeDays to monthsNoneHours
Planning for eventsDifficultFeasibleFeasible

A unique feature of volcanic crises when compared to other kinds of natural hazards is each eruption has a far wider range of possible outcomes, each in turn with a characteristic range of threats to life and property. The major types of volcanic hazard are listed in the following table. Volcanism on a relatively minor scale (eg Ruapehu 1945) will cause disruption and damage on a regional scale, while some larger events (eg Taupo 1,800 years ago) would adversely affect the entire national economy.

Another aspect of volcanic hazards, as opposed to many other natural hazards, is that eruptions leave behind substantial quantities of material (eg 2 cubic kilometres in the case of Tarawera in 1886). This material accumulates to depths of metres or more, with serious implications for the post-eruptive recovery of affected areas.

EFFECTS OF MAIN VOLCANIC HAZARDS

HazardThreat to lifeThreat to propertyAreas affected
Ash and pumice fallGenerally low, except close to ventVariable, depends on thicknessRegional to national
Ash and pumice currentsExtremely highExtremely highLocal to regional
LavasLowExtremely highLocal
Lahars/floodingModerateHighLocal to regional
Gases/acid rainLowModerateLocal to regional

In any given area, the nature of volcanic hazards will vary with:

  • The size of the eruption (which cannot generally be pre-determined, except within broad limits).

  • The eruptive style (which can vary both rapidly in time and scale).

  • The distance from the volcano.

  • Proximity to any waterway draining the volcanic area, that might act as a pathway for flooding or lahars.

For each volcano, a hazard map of different potential eruptions can be drawn up. Each map has a number of zones specific to a particular hazard, eg lahar, ash fall etc. The risk varies enormously over small distances depending on such factors as the topography, and the wind direction at the time of the eruption. At all of New Zealand's volcanoes, with the possible exception of Ngauruhoe, the historic record is inadequate to assess the full range of activity. Therefore, studies are made of the deposits left by prehistoric eruptions and interpretations are made of the sizes and styles of each event, together with an estimation of the age, so that the return intervals of any specific kind of eruption can be made. Such information is available to various extents for all of New Zealand's volcanoes. The probability of a future eruption from a wholly new site, or of a type of activity not represented in the past history of the volcano is remote.

TAUPO VOLCANIC ZONE Cone and caldera volcanoes

Earthquakes

Compared with some other countries lying in 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. A shock of Richter magnitude 6 or above occurs on 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.

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 Northland peninsula, and the part of the South Island north of a line roughly passing 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.

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.

In geophysically disturbed regions (those with both volcanic and earthquake activity), large earthquakes are rare, although small earthquakes usually accompany volcanic eruptions. Regions of active volcanism are also subject to periodic outbreaks of small earthquakes, very numerous and all of similar magnitude. These are known as ‘earthquake swarms’ and although the number of shocks may cause alarm, it is unusual for even minor damage to result.

Surveillance

Volcanologists use three primary techniques to establish the ‘health’ of an active volcano:

  • Monitoring of volcanic earthquakes. This is done using closely spaced networks of seismometers. These networks are designed to detect the movement of magma (molten rock) below the surface and allow assessment of the possible onset and timing of eruptive activity. There are five volcano-seismic networks in New Zealand (Auckland, BOP-Rotorua, Taranaki, Tongariro and Taupo).

  • Monitoring of ground deformation. This is done using precise geodetic surveys. The concept is that if magma is moving upwards prior to an eruption, it will cause the volcano to swell (i.e. the ground surface to rise), and this swelling can be detected. A novel version of this technique uses lakes at Taupo and Okataina as giant spirit levels.

  • Monitoring of volcanic gases. Magma at depth in the earth contains gases (carbon dioxide, together with various compounds of sulphur, chlorine and fluorine) dissolved in it. As the magma rises to shallow levels prior to an eruption, these gases are released and come to the surface via fumaroles. The temperatures and absolute abundances of the gases and their relative proportions give information on the state of the magma and how close to the surface it is.

In a volcanic crisis, practical steps can be taken to mitigate risk and lessen the threat to life, but this requires accurate perception of the onset of a crisis. This perception in turn depends on a knowledge of the ‘background’ or ‘normal’ levels of seismicity, ground movement and gas flux at the volcano, coupled with ‘real-time’ determination of any significant changes from this background. In New Zealand an active volcano surveillance programme exists to define these background levels.

Mitigation

Experiences at recent large volcanic eruptions like Rabaul (Papua New Guinea) and Pinatubo (Philippines) show that it is possible to make enormous savings of human life during volcanic crises. On the other hand, Nevado del Ruiz and El Chichon show that poor planning results in major loss of life. A major feature of mitigation is public education. An informed, knowledgeable population makes intelligent decisions and ‘self-evacuation’ was a key feature at Rabaul and Pinatubo.

The principal tool to accomplish this in New Zealand is the Yellow Book series of the Ministry of Civil Defence. Communities exposed to frequent volcanic hazards evolve simple measures to limit risk. One example is Whakapapa village, Mt Ruapehu, where posters and brochures detailed precautions against lahar hazards on the ski-fields, and a lahar warning system is regularly tested as a precaution.

Ruapehu 1995

1995 marks the 50th anniversary of the 1945 eruption at Mt Ruapehu—the largest North island eruption this century. Several organisations and communities are using this to promote an increased awareness of volcanic-hazards in New Zealand. Activities include a special issue of Tephra by the Ministry of Civil Defence; public lectures and old newsreel viewing at Taupo Observatory; public lectures, an open day and civil defence exercise on the Whakapapa Skifield (co-ordinated by DOC, Ruapehu Alpine Lifts and Ruapehu District Council); community education and school colouring competition by Taupo District Council; the Caltex Volcanoes and Giants exhibition at Auckland Museum; and other activities organised by Auckland Regional Council.

Earthquakes 1994.

Earthquakes have occurred in New Zealand more frequently in the last five years than in the previous decade. This is not a cause for alarm, but a demonstration of the irregular way in which they happen. It is clear that during the 1970s and early 1980s we experienced fewer large earthquakes than normal. Earthquakes in 1994 followed the established pattern of an active region from the Bay of Plenty to the northern South Island. New Zealanders have again been fortunate that large earthquakes have not occurred close to the large cities.

One of the most significant earthquakes in New Zealand in recent years occurred on 18 June, near Arthur's Pass. Its Richter magnitude was 6.6, so it was very comparable to the damaging shock in Los Angeles on 17 January. That earthquake caused extensive damage to houses, commercial buildings, freeways and other infrastructure. The Arthur's Pass earthquake in June was felt strongly in Christchurch, but damage there was very light because the epicentre was about 115 km from the city. There are some reports of minor damage in Christchurch and surrounding towns. Localities closer to the epicentre sustained more damage but the Arthur's Pass area itself is sparsely populated. The earthquake was felt very strongly at Lake Coleridge, where an earthquake of magnitude 6.2 in June 1946 did considerable damage, especially to chimneys and brickwork.

Aftershocks began immediately, with one of magnitude 5.8 on 20 June and another of 5.6 on 21 June, and continue for months. On 16 September, there was one of magnitude 4.9. Such an aftershock sequence is fully expected after an earthquake of this size. Scientists installed 20 portable seismographs, mostly to the south and west of Arthur's Pass, within the few days following the main shock. Within one week these recorded about 10,000 aftershocks, mostly very small but important for understanding the physical process going on in the Earth to produce such big earthquakes. Initial analysis of these shows that the fault on which they occurred was oriented northwest-southeast, which is at right angles to the direction most seismologists and geologists expected. This implies a more complicated geological structure of the region than was presumed.

The Arthur's Pass region has had large earthquakes in the past. Notable was the magnitude 7 earthquake in March 1929, which has been overshadowed in popular memory by the larger shock which occurred in June of that year and caused extensive damage to Murchison, Nelson, Westport and Greymouth.

The Bay of Plenty is always an active area, particularly offshore, and 1994 was no exception. On 16 December an earthquake of magnitude 6.2 on the Richter Scale occurred 60 km north of White Island. Power was out for a short time in Opotiki, and some shops reported goods falling off shelves. It was felt throughout much of the Bay of Plenty. This area to the north of White Island has had a lot of earthquakes of this size in the past 10 years, with huge sequences of smaller shocks, but they seem not to be related directly to the volcanic activity. The volcano-seismic earthquakes there, are mostly quite small, though numerous, and very close to White Island.

Opotiki also suffered on 9 March, when an earthquake of magnitude 5.9 occurred near there and again there were reports of goods falling off shelves. This shock was also felt in Gisborne and Taumarunui. On 23 April an earthquake of magnitude 5.4 was reported felt in Auckland, but it was also in the Bay of Plenty, in this case 100 km north of White Island. On 5 June an earthquake of magnitude 5.0 was felt in Tauranga and Matamata.

Fiordland is normally very active, but it was quieter in 1994. On 28 March an earthquake of magnitude 5.1 was felt in Queenstown.

Deep earthquakes under the North island are more frequent than shallow ones, and are often felt very widely. But they do little damage because of their depth. Some of the significant ones were:

  • 8 February: magnitude 5.4, north (40 km) of Stephen's Island in Marlborough Sounds, 118 km deep, felt Opunake to Christchurch.

  • 26 March: 5.5, west of Tongariro National Park, 205 km deep.

  • 23 February: 5.9, beneath South Taranaki, 191 km deep, felt south to Christchurch.

  • 17 April: 5.4, north (30 km) of Whakatane, 139 km deep, felt Gisborne.

  • 10 May: 5.0, south of Palmerston North, 60 km deep, felt south to Wellington.

  • 10 September: 6.0, west (20 km) of Whakatane, 190 km deep, felt south to Wellington.

In 1960 a pocket of very deep earthquakes was discovered beneath northern Taranaki, at a depth of almost 600 km. Another occurred there in 1994, of magnitude 5.1 on 8 April. There are almost no earthquakes in New Zealand deeper than 300 km, except this isolated pocket. But their very great depth implies that they are not felt, and are of scientific interest only.

1.3 Climate

New Zealand is a long, narrow, mountainous country surrounded by a large expanse of ocean. The nearest major land mass is Australia some 1,600 kilometres to the west.

The climate of New Zealand is largely influenced by:

  • Its location in a latitude zone where the prevailing wind flow is westerly.

  • Its oceanic environment.

WEATHER

  • Its mountains, especially the main mountain chain which modifies the weather systems as they pass eastwards, and also provides a sheltering effect on the leeward side of the mountains. Local orography is the cause of a number of different ‘microclimates’ in a given region.

The day-to-day weather is mostly determined by a series of anticyclones and troughs of low pressure in the westerlies. Consequently New Zealand weather is changeable, typically with short periods of a few days of settled or unsettled weather. At times the westerly regime breaks down and there are cold southerly outbreaks (with snow in winter and sometimes spring), or northerly intrusions of warm, moist air when tropical depressions move southwards into New Zealand latitudes in the summer.

The main mountain chain which extends much of the length of the country is a major barrier to weather systems approaching from the west. Consequently there is a marked contrast between the climates of regions west and east of the mountains, and this is much greater than north-south climatic differences.

The surrounding ocean means that New Zealand largely has a ‘marine’ climate—except in Central Otago, which most nearly approaches a ‘continental’ climate (dry with hot summers and cold winters).

Many parts of the country are subject to extremes of wind and rain, giving rise to wind damage to buildings and forests, and flooding as depressions with their fronts pass close to or over the country. The rugged terrain is an important factor in the enhancement of the wind strength and/or rainfall.

Temperature extremes are mainly confined to places east of the main ranges. High temperatures usually occur in warm north-westerly wind conditions due to the so-called föhn effect. These high temperatures are often followed by sudden falls in temperature as a cold front moves up the east coast of both islands.

Weather 1994

1994 was an extreme year for climate in New Zealand. It was the driest year ever in eastern Northland and Hawke's Bay, where in places records began last century. For most, 1994 was a very sunny year. It was not as cold as either 1992 or 1993.

The El Niņo weather phenomenon, which waned over the summer of 1993–94, strengthened during autumn and then persist for the remainder of the year. Unlike 1992 and 1993, the El Niņo was presented without the influence of volcanic aerosols from the Mt Pinatubo volcanic eruption. The El Niņo pattern was one of the main reasons for 1994's climatic extremes.

Westerly and south-westerly airflows occurred with their highest frequency over New Zealand since measurements commenced in 1917. Anticyclones, which bring dry settled weather, occurred more often over south-east Australia and to the north of New Zealand. There were few moist north-easterly airflows, which bring higher rainfalls to northern and eastern regions.

Dry in north and east.

1994 was an exceptionally dry year for most northern and eastern regions of the North island, with record low rainfall (as low as 54 percent of average) in eastern Northland and Hawke's Bay. In these regions drier than usual weather occurred in most months. Some of the Hawke's Bay rainfall records span more than 100 years.

Table 1.5. DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD

Location1994 totalAveragePercent of averageYear records began
Kaikohe1,1221,579711956
Whangarei Airport8481,555541937
Napier Airport479875551950
Napier City445830541900
Hastings480813591892

In contrast, rainfall was well below average (by up to 25 percent) in Bay of Plenty, Gisborne and the Kaikoura coast. Gisborne's total of 701 mm was the second lowest since records began in 1906.

Wet in far south.

It was much wetter than normal in the far south, where rainfall ranged between 125 and 165 percent of average. Queenstown's rainfall (1295 mm; 162 percent of average) was the second highest there since records began in 1872. Wetter conditions also prevailed in King Country and other areas in the west and south of the South Island, with totals over 110 percent of average.

Of the four main centres, Wellington was the wettest with 1,017 mm and Christchurch the driest with 657 mm. Auckland amassed 984 mm and Dunedin 864 mm. Milford Sound was the wettest township in New Zealand with 7,215 mm. Central Otago is usually the driest region, but for 1994 Napier was the driest town recording only 445 mm.

Tyre marks form patterns in the snow at a Dunedin intersection.

Cooler year.

The national average temperature for the year was 12.3°C (0.3°C below the long term average). However, this compared favourably with the particularly cold years of 1992 and 1993, with temperatures of 11.7°C and 11.9°C respectively.

Temperatures were cool in the south-west and King Country, and slightly above average in Bay of Plenty and along the Kaikoura coast. They were most below average (by 1°C) in Fiordland, with Northland, King Country, Tongariro, Westland, inland South Canterbury and Central Otago all 0.5°C below average. Temperatures were near average in most other regions.

The highest extreme temperature for the year was 35.8°C at Ruatoria on 20 January. Winter saw temperatures fall to -13.0°C at Rainbow Skifield (Nelson Lakes National Park) on 13 July, and again at the Top of the Bruce, Mt Ruapehu on 14 October.

Sunny year.

1994 was a sunny year in all areas, except the South Island's West Coast. It was extremely sunny in Auckland and in the east of both islands, including Wellington, where totals were at least 10 percent above average.

Blenheim was the sunniest centre recording 2,671 hours, followed by Nelson was 2,589 hours. Napier's 2,588 hours was the highest there since measurements began in 1930.

Table 1.6. SUNSHINE HOURS

CityTotal hoursDeparture from averageComments
Auckland2,252+248Highest since records began in 1959.
Wellington2,245+233Highest since records began in 1928.
Christchurch2,241+249Much sunnier than usual.
Dunedin1,852+207Much sunnier than usual.

Significant weather events

  • Extremely high rainfall. The year began with Colliers Creek (in the Hokitika catchment area) measuring rainfall totalling 2,600 mm for the month. This was the second highest rainfall for New Zealand, for any month. The New Zealand record for a month stands at 2,747 mm.

    The extraordinary high rainfall on the West Coast and in the Alps affected the Hermitage (Mt Cook), resulting in isolation due to flooded rivers. High rivers also flooded parts of Alexandra, causing the evacuation of a number of tourist camps. The rain contributed to a large rise in the water level of Lake Wakatipu flooding lake-side areas of Queenstown.

  • Severe hails storms. Golf ball size hail (up to 6 cm in diameter) occurred at Hinds (south of Ashburton) on 21 February, with marble size hails stones (up to 2.5 cm in diameter) later on the same day in Nelson.

    Another severe hail storm struck Hawke's Bay orchards just before midday on 2 March, with hail stones the size of 20 cent pieces, producing extensive damage to apply and grape crops.

  • Floods. High rainfall over the night of 19 March (130 mm in 12 hours) brought severe surface flooding to Fairlie, south Canterbury, with widespread surface flooding also occurring as far south as Dunedin.

  • Prolonged dry period. A very extended period of well below average monthly rainfall persisted for the first six months of the year (from 1993) throughout Northland, Auckland, Gisborne and Hawke's Bay, with water restrictions occurring in Auckland during June (which is typically a wet month). Unusually high July and September rainfall relieved Auckland's water crisis. However, Gisborne and especially Hawke's Bay did not receive about average rainfall for the remainder of the year, resulting in extreme fire risk during the hot weather that followed in December.

  • Unusually low temperatures. Unusually low air temperatures were recorded in Auckland after a clearance from a cold southerly outbreak on 30 June. Auckland city recorded a minimum air temperature of 1.1°C, the second lowest this century (-0.1 °C occurred in June 1951). Henderson had its lowest air temperature, -4.3°C, since records began in 1985.

  • Snowfall. Cold polar southerlies brought snow to sea level, in Southland, Otago and Canterbury, and to high country areas of the North Island during the first few days of July. Up to 15 cm of snow lay in high country districts, with snow and ice closing several South Island highways, including Arthur's Pass, as well as the North Island's Desert Road.

    Snow fell to low levels over 7–8 September in Southland, Otago and the North island's Desert Road, with depths to 12 cm in some areas. At least 30,000 newborn lambs were lost during the cold snap. A few centimetres of snow even settled at Stratford, Taranaki; an extremely rare occurrence for the time of year.

  • Direst August in east. Rainfall totalled only 5 mm (8 percent of normal) at Lincoln during August, Lincoln's lowest rainfall for that month since records began in 1881. Kaikoura's rainfall was even lower, at 2 mm; the lowest since records began in 1949.

  • November rainfall. Extremes in November rainfall were recorded at: the Hermitage at Mt Cook, where 1,418 mm of rain was measured—the highest November fall since records began in 1928. Similarly, Milford Sound recorded its highest rainfall (1,360 mm) since their records began in 1930. In contrast, Kaikoura received only 4 mm during November, the second lowest rainfall since records began 45 years ago.

  • November winds. Westerly winds across New Zealand were the strongest in 45 years of record, bringing frequent gales to central and eastern regions. North-westerlies gusted to 91 knots (169 km/h) at Castlepoint on 21 December.

  • Heat wave. Extremely high temperatures were recorded in Canterbury during hot dry north westerly conditions during the afternoon of 7 December. The heat was so intense, that it caused railway tracks to buckle along the north Canterbury line. High temperatures continued the next day. New December records occurred at Timaru Airport (34.0°C), Oamaru (31.6°C) and Dunedin city (31.5°C).

  • Driest December in North and East. Rainfall totalled only 1 mm (1 percent of normal) in Napier and Hastings, 2 mm in Gisborne (2 percent of normal) and 3 mm in Motueka (4 percent of normal). These totals, and other December totals in Northland and Whakatane were the lowest since December records began.

SOUTHERN OSCILLATION INDEX

Air pressure recordings from Tahiti and Darwin

Source: NIWA

The southern oscillation and El Niņo

When the air pressure is abnormally high in the Indonesian region, it is correspondingly low in the South Pacific and vice versa. This phenomenon is called the ‘southern oscillation’. When southern oscillation episodes occur, the usual weather patterns in the southern Pacific, including New Zealand, are significantly altered.

An index, called the southern oscillation index, has been constructed using pressure recordings from Tahiti and Darwin. Usually there is a lag of some months between a major excursion of the oscillation, either positive (La Niņa) or negative (El Niņo), and a characteristic weather regime developing. The period of the southern oscillation is very irregular, varying between about two and 10 years with an average period of three to four years. However, once established, significant El Niņo and La Niņa episodes can last six to 12 months or more.

In general, very negative values of the oscillation index (El Niņo's) are associated with an increase in the frequency of southerly winds over New Zealand in winter, south-westerlies autumn and spring and westerlies during summer.

The most significant El Niņo this century occurred over the spring and summer of 1982–1983, when the oscillation index reached its largest negative value this century and rainfall was well below average in Gisborne and Hawke's Bay.

The latest El Niņo event (1991 through 1994), along with other oceanic and atmospheric influences, was a major factor contributing to the extremely low rainfall in the north and east of the North Island during 1994.

The graph shows three-month running means of the southern oscillation index (SOI) to the end of 1994.

Ozone

Ozone depletion and thinning of the global ozone shield have reached a record low in the last two years, with the level of ultraviolet light increasing over New Zealand during spring. Over Antarctica, the ‘hole’ in the ozone layer had improved only marginally from that of 1993, when it was the worst on record (88 Dobson units). The Dobson figure is a measure of the number of ozone molecules above the earth's surface.

1.4 Wildlife and vegetation

The islands of New Zealand separated from their nearest neighbours over 80 million years ago. Some of the original inhabitants endured times of turbulent change and violent upheaval, evolving and adapting to become part of a unique natural biota (or region). Other species died out (either nationally or regionally), unable to compete or survive environmental disturbances such as the ice age. For example, coconut palms were once found in New Zealand, and kauri, now confined to the north of the North island, used to grow as far south as Canterbury. Over the years the earliest inhabitants were joined by other plants and animals carried across the oceans by wind and current.

This pre-human community was notable for the absence of snakes, land mammals (save three species of bat) and many of the flowering plant families. Whole orders and families are endemic (found only in New Zealand): tuatara, moa and kiwi, all of the native lizards, and all the native earthworms (nearly 200 species) to name just a few. Many remarkable plants, insects and birds evolved to fill the ecological niches normally occupied by mammals. Others diversified to fill the new territories created by sea-level fluctuations and land uplift. With no mammalian predators on the ground but avian predators everywhere, flightlessness was not a handicap nor was greater size. Moa (11 species, some up to 3 metres tall) became extinct in pre-European times, but many other large flightless birds still remain including kiwi, the nocturnal kakapo (the only flightless parrot in the world), and weka (of the rail family). Flightless insects are numerous including many large beetles and 70 or so endemic species of the cricket-like weta.

X-rays of the Southland Museum and Art Gallery's tuatara confirm both Lucy and Mildred are carrying eggs. The two females are carrying 26 eggs while another 17 are already laid in the enclosure. These x-rays provide proof of an annual reproductive cycle for tuatara.

Reptiles and amphibians

When most people encounter reptiles or amphibians in New Zealand, they have little knowledge of what they are looking at. What people describe as the ‘common garden skink’ varies considerably from region to region, as New Zealand has 27 species and one introduced species of skink. At 350 mm the Chevron skink is the longest species, and one of the world's rarest. Its numbers are thought to be fewer than 3,000.

Geckos are less commonly encountered, however, they are surprisingly numerous in the wild. Of the 20 plus species known to occur in New Zealand, all are endemic, and all give live birth to young, usually twins. There is only one other live-bearing species in the world (from New Caledonia), all other species of gecko lay eggs. Because of their excellent camouflage, eyesight, hearing and ability to move fast over short distances, they are rarely seen.

Frogs that are heard calling throughout New Zealand are actually three Australian species introduced by acclimatisation societies in the 1890s. However, New Zealand does have at least three species of native frogs, none of which have a call. They also miss out the free-swimming tadpole stage, emerging from their eggs as small froglets. Unlike other frogs, New Zealand frogs have no ear-disks behind their eyes, have ‘tail wagging’ muscles, and several other features that place them as among the world's most ancient frogs.

The most famous of all reptiles in NZ are undeniably the 60,000 tuatara, which now only occur on offshore islands. Tuatara are represented by two species Sphenodon punctatus, and Sphenodon guntheri (which occurs only on Brothers Island). There are only 300 individuals of the latter making it one of the rarest forms of reptile on earth. The tuatara are often referred to as living fossils, because of their ancient origins. However, tuatara are aggressive predators, ambushing prey with spectacular bursts of speed and strength.

The Pacific Gecko Hoplodactylus pacificus only occurs in the northern half of New Zealand, usually near the coast. It is often found on pohutakawa trees and flax bushes feeding on the nectar in the flowers. Its main diet consists of invertebrates, particularly spiders and moths. It is endemic to New Zealand, and usually produces twins after nine months gestation. Some New Zealand gecko live over 40 years.

Practically all species of reptiles and amphibians are not just native to New Zealand, they are endemic, i.e. they occur nowhere else in the world. Their origins are thought to be late Jurassic, around 140 million years ago making them some of the most ancient species in the world.

Four species of marine turtles regularly visit the northern coasts of New Zealand, including one of the worlds’ most spectacular, the leatherback. Leatherback turtles are the heaviest reptiles on earth (the heaviest specimen weighing in at 961 kg), and are truly global in their distribution. Sightings range from off the northern coast of Norway in sight of pack ice, to further south than Stewart Island. The increases in sightings in New Zealand waters over the last two decades, are in the face of the population declines, and are a result of warmer sea temperatures.

Several sightings are made each year of two species of highly venomous sea-snakes. They are most probably involuntary travellers, washed outside their normal tropical distribution by adverse weather and sea currents.

The study of reptiles and amphibians is called herpetology. Herpetologists still have a long way to go before it is known how many species of reptiles and amphibians actually occur in New Zealand. Five new species have been revealed over the last five years, and more than 25 forms require further investigation before proper classification can be made. However, as of March 1995, the official figure are:

  • 19 species of endemic geckos

  • 27 species of endemic skinks

  • 1 specie of self-introduced skink

  • 2 species of tuatara

  • 3 species of endemic frog

  • 3 species of introduced frog

  • 4 species of marine turtles

  • 2 species of introduced fresh-water turtles

  • 2 species of marine snakes

  • 83 species of reptiles and amphibians

The main threats to species survival include habitat destruction, and prediction by introduced mammals, particularly rats and cats.

Reptiles and amphibians make up New Zealand's second largest group of species protected under the Wildlife Act. It is illegal to hunt, kill, sell, dispose of, or have in possession any protected species, without authority from the Department of Conservation.

Vic the takahe returns to Kapiti Island. One of only 130 remaining takahe, Vic is part of the recovery programme aimed at increasing the birds’ numbers. The only mainland population left is located in Fiordland's Murchison Mountains, where harsh winters and a plague of stoats have reduced takahe numbers by about a third in the past two years. Populations are being built up on four predator-free islands—Kapiti, Mana, Maud and Tiritiri Matangi in the Hauraki Gulf. The birds are regularly transferred among the islands to balance the sexes and reduce the risk of inbreeding.

New Zealand has the most diverse seabird fauna of any country (76 species). Almost a third of all the native bird species depend on the ocean for food—the feeding zones of some extending as far south as the Antarctic continent. The extensive coastline and many islands, offer a huge variety of habitat, from estuary and mud-flat to rocky cliffs and boulder bank. The ocean itself is marvellously rich—there are about 400 different marine fish resident in the waters around New Zealand as well as various species of seal, dolphins and porpoises. Thirty-two species of whale have been recorded and three of the largest (sperm, humpback and right) regularly migrate here in spring and autumn.

The most widespread and complex type of forest in New Zealand is a podocarp (conifer) broadleaf association. It is generally found at lower altitude and is characterised by the variety of species, a stratified canopy and an abundance of vines and epiphytic plants. Beech and kauri forests, in contrast are much simpler in structure. New Zealand's beech species have close relatives in Australia and South America and the five different taxa here have exploited habitats from valley floor to mountain tops. Kauri, true forest giants, dominate only in the warmer climes to the north.

Some of the most specialised of plants are those occupying the alpine zone. A remarkable 25 percent of all New Zealand's plants can be found above the treeline. Ninety-three percent of all the alpine plants are endemic (compared with 80 percent for the rest of the higher plants). Snow tussock herb-fields are one of the most distinctive elements in this cold, windswept environment. Remarkably long-lived, larger specimen's may be several centuries old. Like beech trees they seed infrequently but in profusion.

A definitive feature of New Zealand's land based plants and animals is their degree of specialisation and narrow habitat requirements (eg takahe/tussock grasslands; blue duck/fast flowing rivers and streams). This specialisation, and the adaptations which make New Zealand's wildlife so unique, render them extremely vulnerable to introduced predators (such as rats and cats) and competitors (such as deer and possums) and loss of habitat.

Introduced vegetation and wildlife

The arrival of people in Aotearoa/New Zealand heralded times of rapid change. The introduction (intentionally or accidental) of exotic plants and animals and the modification of habitat radically affected populations of native species. In the period following the arrival and expansion of Maori, forest cover was reduced and some 34 species became extinct including moa, the adzebill and the flightless goose. In the much shorter period of European settlement the area of forest was further reduced to around 25 percent of the land, 10 more birds became extinct and many more are threatened. The number of species introduced has escalated (since 1840 over 80 species of mammal, bird and fish and more than 1,600 plant species) in many places totally changing the landscape and ecology.

Table 1.7. SELECTED GROUPS OF NATIVE AND INTRODUCED SPECIES

Number of species
GroupIntroducedNativePercentage endemic(*)

* Native species not found anywhere else.

Estimated.

Source: Department of Conservation.

Marine algae3†900†43
Bryophytes—mosses851621
liverworts5†525†..
Ferns and allies2618946
Conifers2820100
Flowering plants1,842†1,81384
Earthworms40178100
Land snails/slugs12520†99
spiders/harvestment602,500†90
Insects1,1009,460†90
Freshwater fish23†2785
Amphibia33100
Reptiles—land248100
marine..5..
Birds—land/freshwater336557
marine07637
Mammals—land333100
marine1346

1.5 Time zone

One uniform time is kept throughout mainland New Zealand. This is the time 12 hours ahead of Co-ordinated Universal Time, and is named New Zealand Standard Time (NZST). It is an atomic standard, and is maintained by the New Zealand Time Service, now part of the crown research institute, Industrial Research Limited. One hour of daylight saving, named New Zealand Daylight Time, which is 13 hours ahead of Co-ordinated Universal Time (UTC), is observed from 2 am (NZST) on the first Sunday in October, until 2 am (NZST) on the third Sunday in March. Time kept in the Chatham Islands is 45 minutes ahead of that kept in New Zealand.

Contributors

  • 1.1 Department of Survey and Land Information.

  • 1.2 Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Limited.

  • 1.3 National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Limited.

  • 1.4 Department of Conservation.

  • 1.5 Department of Internal Affairs.

Special articles

Department of Conservation; BJ Scott, CJN Wilson and BF Houghton, Wairakei Research Centre, Institute of Geographical and Nuclear Sciences; Bruce Hudson, New Zealand Herpetological Society Inc.

Further information

Geography

Ward I (1976), New Zealand Atlas. Government Printer

Infomap Map Catalogue. Department of Survey and Land Information.

Geology

Braithwaite, RL and Piranjno, F (1993), ‘Metallogenic Map of New Zealand’, Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences Limited Monograph: 3, Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Limited.

Brown, LJ and Weeber, JH (1992), Geology of Christchurch Urban Area, Map 1, Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Limited.

Field, BD et al (1989), ‘Cretaceous and Cenozoic Sedimentary Basins and Geological Evolution of the Canterbury Region, South Island, New Zealand’, New Zealand Geological Survey Basin Studies: 2.

Gage, M (1980), Legends in the Rocks—An Outline of New Zealand Geology, Whitcoulls.

Kermode, LO et al (1992), Geology of Auckland Urban Area, Map 2, Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Limited.

Lillie, AR (1980), Strata and Structure in New Zealand, Tohunga Press.

Nathan, S et al (1986), ‘Cretaceous and Cenozoic Sedimentary Basins and Geological Evolution of the West Coast Region, South Island, New Zealand’, New Zealand Geological Survey Basins Survey: 1.

Riddolls, PM (1987), New Zealand Geology—Containing Geological Maps of New Zealand 1:2,000,000, DSIR, Science Information Publishing Centre.

Searle, EJ (1981), City of Volcanoes, 2nd ed, Longman Paul.

Sewell, RJ, Weaver, SD and Reay MB (1993), Geology of Banks Peninsula, Map 3, Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Limited.

Skinner, DNB et al (1993), Geology of Coromandel Harbour Area, Map 4, Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Limited.

Smith, IEM, ed (1986), ‘Late Cenozoic Volcanism in New Zealand’, Royal Society of New Zealand Bulletin 23, Royal Society of New Zealand.

Soons, J and Selby, M, eds (1982), Landforms of New Zealand, Longman Paul.

Speden, IG and Keyes, IW (1980), Illustrations of New Zealand Fossils, DSIR Information Series 150, DSIR.

Stevens, GR (1985), Lands In Collision: Discovering New Zealand's Past Geography, DSIR Information Series 161, DSIR.

Stevens, GR (1980), New Zealand Adrift: The Theory of Continental Drift in a New Zealand Setting, A. H. & A. W. Reed.

Stevens, GR (1974), Rugged Landscape, AH & AW Reed.

Suggate, RP, Stevens, GR and Te Punga, MT, eds (1978), The Geology of New Zealand, 2 vols, Government Printer.

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

Turnbull, IM et al, (1993), ‘Cretaceous and Cenozoic Sedimentary Basins of Western Southland, South Island, New Zealand’, Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Limited Monograph: 1, Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Limited.

Williams, GJ (1974), Economic Geology of New Zealand, AusIMM Monograph Series 4.

Wood, RA et al (1989), ‘Cretaceous and Cenozoic Geology of the Chatham Rise Region, South Island, New Zealand“, New Zealand Geological Survey Basin Studies: 3.

Climate

An Encyclopedia of New Zealand. McLintock, AH, ed. Government Printer, 1966.

Johnson, KF, Bibliography of New Zealand Meteorological Service Publications 1892–1985. New Zealand Meteorological Service, 1986.

Ward I (1976), New Zealand Atlas. Government Printer.

The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Environmental Data Division) operates an extensive climatological database and publishes the Monthly Climate Digest. NIWAR also stocks regional climatologies, maps and other publications.

Vegetation and wildlife

Bishop, N and Gaskin, C (1992) Natural History of New Zealand. Hodder and Stoughton.

Dawson, J (1988) Forest Vines to Snow Tussocks: the Story of New Zealand Plants. Victoria University Press.

Enting, B and Molloy, L (1982) The Ancient Islands: New Zealand's Natural Environments. Port Nicholson Press.

King, CM (1984) Immigrant Killers. Oxford University Press.

Kuschel, G (1975) Biogeography and Ecology in New Zealand. W Junk.

Mead, M (1990) Forgotten Fauna. DSIR.

Molloy, L and Cubitt, G (1994) Wild New Zealand: the Wild Landscapes and Wildlife of New Zealand. New Holland.

Reader's Digest Services (ed Robertson, CJR) (1985) Reader's Digest Complete Book of New Zealand Birds. Reader's Digest: Reed Methuen.

Salmon, JT (1980) The Native Trees of New Zealand. Reed.

Salmon, JT (1992) A Field Guide to the Alpine Plants of New Zealand. Godwit.

Chapter 2. History

Centennial Exhibition, Wellington, 1940.

2.1 New Zealand before 1840

An outpost of Polynesia

The ancestors of Aotearoa's earliest inhabitants are thought to have reached the western Pacific some 4,000 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 1,000 BC, and in this area many of the distinctive features of Polynesian social organisation and language developed. About 2,000 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 were accidental, after canoes were 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. Such a well-equipped expedition is unlikely to have been completely accidental.

Polynesian people, known today as Maori, were living in New Zealand by about the 10th century AD. They had come in one or more groups from the same general area of eastern Polynesia, known to them 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 and 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 12th 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. In the tropical Pacific the kumara is a perennial and can be propagated by direct transfer. Under the new conditions of Aotearoa 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. 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 areas with different resources.

In the early centuries of settlement the plains of Te Waipounamu supported huge numbers of large flightless birds called moa, which provided an excellent food source. Until moa numbers were seriously depleted by hunting and 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), hunting and trapping 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.

Maori social organisation.

Maori society comprised groups of varying size: whanau (extended families of perhaps 10 to 30 people), hapu (subscribes, 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 which claimed descent 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 (earthwork forts), 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.

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 pounamu (greenstone or 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 17th and 18th centuries suggests that warfare intensified in that period. Particularly in the warm, fertile northern part of Te Ika a Maui, where 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, or 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 20th 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 18th century there were probably about 100,000 people living in Aotearoa 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 to find 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 Land. It was the west coast of the South Island of the soon-to-be-renamed ‘New Zealand’. Tasman anchored a few days later, and lost four men when local Maori interpreted an exchange of trumpet fanfares as a 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.

Map of New Zealand from Parkinson's Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas (1773).

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, 10 of his men were killed and eaten at Queen Charlotte Sound. 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. By 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 of his 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

Soon after a penal colony was established at Port Jackson (now Sydney) in 1788, commercial exploitation of Aotearoa's resources became practicable. New Zealand became, 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. It reached a peak in the first decade of the 19th 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 began in 1791, and remained important for about half a century, reaching a peak in the 1830s. Most whalers were American or British. 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.

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, with exports reaching a peak about 1840. Mills were opened around the richly-forested northern coasts, most notably around 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 and set up demonstration farms. Bay whalers and other traders also grew crops and ran stock.

New Zealand's first mission station was established at Rangihoua in the Bay of Island 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 stern 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 later in the decade by the 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, such as 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. Areas such as the Bay of Islands and the Hokianga, where contact with Europeans was greatest, underwent in a few decades changes 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.

European diseases seem to have first reached epidemic proportions 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 world's 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 corn 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. By 1818 the northern Ngapuhi confederation—because of geography the pioneers of much social change in the the existence of a three-party system was to lead to much greater fluctuations in seats won than in voting patterns.

New Zealand troops leaving for World War I.

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-guaranteed markets. Between 1915 and 1925 some 40 percent of occupied land was sold. 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’ government implemented a substantial public works programme, building hydro-electric 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 and so could no longer advocate land nationalisation. Meanwhile, dissatisfaction with Coates’ 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 and Reform formed a coalition 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.

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 workforce 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 take Draconian steps when public order was thought to be endangered. ‘Disloyal’ public servants, including those who protested against wage cuts, could now be dismissed under the Finance Act 1932. Resentment of the government became widespread.

Waihi goldmine, over whether workers should accept arbitration under the 1894 Act, eventually ended amid 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 backing 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 World War II, 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.

Dominion proclamation read by Governor-General Lord Plunket, accompanied by Sir Joseph Ward, 10 September 1907.

Wartime support for Britain modified attitudes of dependence. The 6,500 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 World War I—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 military excellence. These were enhanced by achievements such as the heroic assault on Chunuk Bair in August 1915, during the Gallipoli campaign, and the role of the New Zealand Division in helping stop the 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 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 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 1913 appointment on merit, job classification and standardised procedures were the norm. As in other western economies at this time, wage and salary earners made up an increasing proportion of the workforce.

The rise of Reform

By 1900 the Liberal Party had a mass organisation as well as strong leadership. The Liberal-Labour Federation united 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 workforce 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. Radical socialists formed a Socialist Party, and (in 1909) a Federation of Labour 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 had 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.

En route during the first trip by motor car from Wellington through to Auckland, 1912. Travelling via Taihape, Taumarunui, Ohura and Te Kuiti, the trip took eight and a quarter days.

Class conflict and world war

The Liberals failed to gain a clear majority in the 1911 election, and in 1912 enough Members of Parliament 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 1900 a living could be made from a few hundred sheep or a handful of dairy cattle. Subsistence farming, widespread in the 19th century, now declined. Farming became a business, and increasingly a family business, as mechanisation reduced the number of rural labourers.

Devastation after a bush burn, Taranaki, 1907.

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 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 8,000 in 1896 to 57,000 in 1910. Reeves was not present to witness this growth of 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 Colonial Treasurer Joseph Ward (a latter-day Vogel).

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 by 1908 numbered 83 full-timers and many part-time inspectors, administered Reeves’ 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 3,200 kilometres of line by 1896 and 4,800 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, compared with 2.4 for those who married in 1923) 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 epidemics had reduced their numbers to 42,000 by 1896. Living in poor conditions—many in insanitary, makeshift camps—they grew scarcely enough for their own needs and relied increasingly on public works and seasonal work on European farms.

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 and Maori Members of Parliament 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 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 19th century European expansion world wide, this was no small achievement.

2.3 Development and depression: 1890–1935

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 and allow 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 Strike 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 (it was finally abolished in 1950). 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—freehold tenure in all but name. By 1907 more than 5,000 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. 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 export receipts 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 5,000 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. By

Richard Seddon addressing a Liberal party rally near Greytown in the 1890s. Behind him are Sir James Carroll (at left) and Sir Joseph Ward.

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, but by 1892 meat exports exceeded Ģ1 million in value annually, 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 Ģ1 million in 1883. 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. 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 exploitation of women and children in industry. 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.

Gear Meat Company, Petone, c 1900.

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 settle 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 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.

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 Maori from much of their remaining land. In the 1880s land in the King Country itself 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 were now only 7 percent of the population;

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 run holders 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 (eg, 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 five-fold (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 had merchants, bankers, and farmers. Farmers had 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, that of the South Island soared 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. The larger towns now contained groups of artisans and labourers with some capacity for combined action. In Dunedin the unemployed demanded relief work 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 and 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. 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 7,200) than a decade earlier. A large publicly-owned infrastructure of transport, communication, and other services was established. The 230 kilometres of public railways in 1873 became 1,840 kilometres by 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. Also, 6,500 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 within 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 Honourable (later Sir) Julius Vogel, Premier of New Zealand, 1874.

A line-up of 21 members of Captain Mair's Flying Column returning from a fight with Te Kooti, Lake Rotokakahi, February 1870.

would gradually introduce European concepts of law. 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. For a year the civilian Pakeha population remained virtually under siege in New Plymouth, while the British military 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 1,000 Maori warriors had not lost any territory to some 3,500 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 numbered no more than 2,000 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 co-operation, 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, however, 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 confined to Pakeha until the 1850s. European innovations provided new ways to pursue traditional social and economic rivalries. 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. Horses, sheep, schooners, and flour mills were acquired 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 advantage of individualised land tenure and, with access to credit, could make better use of technological innovations.

Koroniti, Whanganui River, 1870s.

The first census of the Maori population in 1857–58 put the total at about 56,000. To the toll of earlier diseases had been 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 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 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. 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 Ģ15,000, and 13 million hectares throughout New Zealand had been obtained by 1853 at a total cost of Ģ50,000. McLean 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 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: 1860–72

Grey hoped to gradually transform the Maori into brown-skinned Pakeha, who would ultimately be absorbed into a predominantly European population by inter-marriage. 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, fostered 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) New Zealand state was at first unable to obtain much land, despite its monopoly on purchases from 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. 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. They were also 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.

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. Demands for local self-government had nevertheless been voiced since 1840. 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 Wakefield settlements and Auckland), each with an elected provincial council and headed by a separately-elected superintendent. The vote was granted to all adult Pakeha men who met minimal property-owning requirements. Maori were in practice nearly all disfranchised. The provincial councils were barred from legislating on a range of subjects, including 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. After considerable confusion, Parliament's right to appoint ministers whose advice the Governor was normally obliged to take was recognised, and in 1856 Henry Sewell became Premier and formed the first responsible ministry.

Despite the comparatively wide franchise, for several decades only a minority of European males participated in electoral politics. Until 1879 polls in which fewer than half of those who 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 Members of Parliament 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 province before the colony's. Having been firmly established for several years before responsible central government came into effect, the provinces had taken 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: 1840–60

In the 1840s 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 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 land ideal for farming.

2.2 European and Maori: 1840–90

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 9,000 settlers to the colony. The French Nanto-Bordelaise Company had landed settlers at Akaroa in 1840. The 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 the acquisition of an increasing number of sections by absentee speculators. 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 and in cooperation with the Free Church of Scotland. Canterbury followed in 1850, with the support of the Church of England. There were only 2,000 Maori in the whole of the South Island, and land purchases 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 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 result of these campaigns was the migration of perhaps 30,000 people and, as a consequence, intractable disagreements about land rights in some areas.

The Needlewoman at Home and Abroad.

ATL

The Old World contrasted with the colonies in an 1850 edition of Punch.

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. 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 inter-tribal 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 1,000 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 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 of coercing British subjects. His authority rested on occasional visits by British warships.

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. Wakefield's vision was of the migration of integrated communities comprising all social strata from gentry to respectable working folk. 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 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 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 the only local 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

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 balance of the sexes among 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 10 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 8,000 people; by 1936 the figure was 49 percent. The opening-up of the North Island's farming hinterland before World War I, 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 5,000 Chinese migrants by 1874, but discrimination and restrictions on immigration saw their numbers fall to little more than 2,000 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 1,200 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 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 work-force 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.

Labouring during the Depression, 1932.

Maori society: 1890–1935

Even after 1890, Maori resistance to Pakeha dominance was occasionally physical. In 1898, 120 men of the regular army confronted followers of the Hokianga tohunga Hone Toia. Serious bloodshed in this ‘Dog Tax War’ was averted only by the timely intervention of a Maori Member of Parliament. 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 that 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 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 Memeber of Parliament 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 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 1918 was seven 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 iwi, 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 figure of national importance 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. By 1933,40 percent of the male Maori workforce was unemployed, compared with the Pakeha rate of 12 percent.

The first Labour Government's leader, Michael Joseph Savage.

2.4 The mid-20th 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. This victory inaugurated a long 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 with the Liberals, the administration of Labour's achievement was eventually to be taken over by its conservative 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 8,000 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 ‘level-ling 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 despite 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 parliamentary 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 Ģ29 million to Ģ8 million in the six months before 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 World War II. 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.

German tank captured by New Zealand troops, Western Desert, World War II.

As in World War I, the country's major contribution to the Allied effort was the provision of food, which went mostly to Britain and later to the Pacific theatre. While the war claimed some 12,000 New Zealand lives and saw 17,000 wounded, these were significantly lower casualties than World War I 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 workforce 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 World War II. The Balfour Report of 1926 recognised that Britain's dominions were de facto independent states. The Statute of Westminster of 1931 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 Organization. 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.

Queen Elizabeth visits Palmerston, Otago, 1953. This tour was the first visit of a reigning monarch to New Zealand.

National in office

The post-war National Party promised both more efficient management of Labour's legacy 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 snap election called to take advantage of the government's crushing termination of a major five-month-long 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 had introduced peacetime compulsory military training in 1949—were outmanoeuvred 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.

Under national, economic restrictions were slowly relaxed. Rationing was at last abolished, and import licensing was liberalised. However, economic growth was erratic and inflation proved difficult to suppress. National barely won the 1954 election, and was defeated in 1957 by a Labour Party led by the now-elderly Walter Nash.

Labour delivered on promised tax refunds, increases in social security benefits, the capitalisation of family benefit payments for house purchase, and cheap state loans for house building. But it had inherited a balance of payments crisis, and reacted by reimposing import controls and increasing both direct and indirect taxation in the ‘Black Budget’ of 1958. Derided by its opponents and unable to satisfy its supporters, Labour was well beaten by National in 1960, and was not to win office again until 1972.

State houses at Spreydon, Christchurch, 1950.

Led by the avuncular and pragmatic Keith Holyoake, National presented itself as the ‘natural party of government’, the party which would best defend the ‘national interest’ against divisive sectional concerns. Holyoake's ‘steady-does-it’ approach was well suited to a period of prosperity—real GDP per capita increased by 44 percent between 1960 and 1975.

The unprecedented prosperity of the early 1960s faltered after wool prices collapsed in 1966. In 1967 some unemployment emerged for the first time since 1940, and the currency was devalued by nearly 20 percent. Efforts to diversify the productive base were given added impetus by Britain's application to join the protectionist European Economic Community. In 1951 wool, meat and dairy products earned 90 percent of all export receipts. By 1975 the figure was little more than 50 percent, and there was also a significant contribution from wood-pulp and paper products from the exotic forests planted in the central North Island during the Depression and after World War II.

An increasing variety of agricultural and manufactured products were sold in a growing range of markets. In 1950 Britain took two-thirds of New Zealand's exports; by 1970 the proportion was less than two-fifths. Primary produce sales were increasingly handled by centralised producer boards. The main focus of secondary industry remained the further processing of imported goods for local markets, but the 1957–60 Labour Government in particular encouraged import-substitution industries. There was also growth in the local processing of primary products.

The proportion of the labour force employed in agriculture fell from a quarter in the mid-1930s to an eighth in the early 1970s, due to technological advances which permitted a steady increase in the average size of farms. Tractor numbers rose ten-fold between 1938 and the 1970s; the number of farm units fell by a third between 1955 and 1972. In the latter year, there were twice as many manufacturing workers as were found in farming. White-collar employment also increased its share of the male workforce, from a quarter in 1951 to a third in 1971. The growth of manufacturing, which was particularly marked in the Auckland region, enabled the continuation of nearly full employment until the mid-1970s.

The increasing number of women in paid work constituted one of the major changes of the post-war period. In 1951 a quarter of adult women were in paid employment; by 1971 the figure was nearly two-fifths, and more than a quarter of all married women had paid work, compared with only 8 percent in 1945. The majority of these women found white collar, particularly clerical, work. While this was less onerous than domestic service or the textile industry (where many women had previously been employed) they remained economically disadvantaged by being concentrated in a few occupations. The first minimum wage legislation, in 1936, had set the female minimum rate at 47 percent of the male. Under the Government Service Equal Pay Act 1960, public servants of both sexes now received equal remuneration for the same work. Not until 1972 did the Equal Pay Act remove overt discrimination on the basis of sex in the private sector.

The growth of both public and private bureaucracies was closely linked to the expansion of post-primary education. As a result of the post-war ‘baby boom’ and universal secondary education, spending on education rose from 6 to 14 percent of government expenditure between 1945 and 1970, and the number of secondary students more than trebled. By 1971, one New Zealander in three participated directly in the education system. The number of university students had doubled in the previous decade. Tertiary education had become a ready means of upward social mobility, thanks to an emphasis on equality of access.

Continuously rising living standards at last made New Zealand ‘God's own country’ for many in the quarter-century after 1950. The proportion of houses which were owner-occupied reached nearly 70 percent. Low-cost suburban bungalows of uniform style were furnished with a widening range of consumer durables. Electric ovens, refrigerators and washing machines, found in only about half of all homes in the 1940s, were nearly universal by the mid-1960s. Within a decade after a television service began in 1960, five out of six house-holds had acquired a set. The resulting decline of cinemas and dance-halls accentuated the trend towards home-centered leisure which had accompanied suburbanisation. Simultaneously, however, high levels of car ownership and substantial expenditure on roading brought unparalleled mobility to many families.

A tentative widening of cultural horizons owed much to a relatively small influx of European refugees in the 1930s and 1940s. They also contributed disproportionately to institutions such as the National Orchestra (founded in 1946), the New Zealand Ballet (1953) and the New Zealand Opera Company (1954), as well as to the professional theatre companies which began to emerge. But European immigrants continue to come mostly from Britain and Ireland, with the exception of some 30,000 Dutch who arrived in the 1950s and 1960s. By 1971 there were also 45,000 people from the Pacific Islands in the country. Both Western Samoa and the Cook Islands effectively became independent in the 1960s, but their citizens retained the right of entry to New Zealand.

These migrants settled mainly in the cities of Auckland and Wellington, accentuating the population shift from country to town and from south to north. By 1971, 81 percent of New Zealanders lived in urban areas, and 72 percent in the North Island. The Auckland conurbation alone contained almost a quarter of the country's people, some 700,000 of a population which had increased by nearly a million in the last two decades. Two-thirds of this growth had come from natural increase—the ‘baby boom’ lasted until use of the contraceptive pill became widespread during the 1960s. By 1961 a third of New Zealanders were aged under 15.

Family life in the 1960s.

Many of these ‘baby boomers’ were emboldened by the nightly television images of youthful protest in the United States to rebel against what they saw as the staidness and complacency of their parents. As elsewhere in the western world, a youth ‘counter-culture’ based on individual freedoms—particularly with respect to sex and drugs—set itself up against the dominant conformity. On some issues, young radicals formed powerful alliances with some of their elders. The heroic age of hydro-electric construction, which had transformed the landscape of a significant part of both islands during the 1950s and 1960s, and provided power for the growth of secondary industry, came to an end in 1972 with the election of a Labour Government resolved not to raise the level of scenic Lake Manapouri. National's equivocation when faced with the largest petition in New Zealand's history was one of the main reasons for its defeat.

National was also attacked for its failure to withdraw New Zealand troops from Vietnam. Whereas the despatch of troops to fight in Korea and Malaya in the 1950s had been widely supported, the sending (under American pressure) of an artillery battery to South Vietnam in 1965 was controversial. Although the military commitment remained small, it was opposed by increasingly large demonstrations. Many people felt that New Zealand had at last cast off the legacy of British rule, only to succumb to American hegemony. New Zealand was formally allied to the United States (and Australia) by the 1951 ANZUS treaty. The focus of the labour party's charismatic leader, Norman Kirk, on New Zealand taking charge of its own destiny as an independent nation in the South Pacific, had wide appeal.

Maori society: 1935–72

The first Labour Government came to office promising ‘economic equality with racial individuality’, and took significant steps to improve the health and economic status of Maori people, which were still markedly inferior to those of the general population. Funding of the Native Housing Act 1935 enabled the construction of some 3,000 houses by 1951, and some state houses were allocated to Maori. Experts such as HB Turbott combined with community leaders like Te Puea to introduce health programmes. Effective control of diseases like tuberculosis, 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 birthrate, saw the Maori population double within 30 years, to reach 116,000 in 1951, and double again to 227,000 by 1971. In that year almost half of all Maori were aged under 15.

Maori benefited from the expansion of the economy and shared in social security provisions, albeit for some time at lower rates that Pakeha. But it was World War II which caused the most important changes in Maori society. From 1940 both men and women joined the armed forces and were drafted into essential industries. This process was co-ordinated by the Maori War Effort Organisation, whose several hundred tribal and executive committees also took on welfare functions. The Maori members of Parliament who headed it sought to make it a semi-independent administration, but the committees were incorporated into the Maori Affairs Department under the Maori Social and Economic Advancement Act 1945 (the word ‘Maori’ had at last replaced ‘Native’ in official usage). Maori autonomy (mana Motuhake) was not to be achieved so easily.

A Maori Battalion organised on an iwi basis served throughout the war, with 640 deaths. Returning soldiers received rehabilitation assistance on the same basis as their Pakeha counterparts, whereas members of the World War I Pioneer Battalion had obtained none. Many of the officers returned to positions in the public service, the professions and iwi organisations. Maori politics at the national level was controlled by the Ratana/Labour alliance, which held all four Maori parliamentary seats from 1943 to 1963. But its members of Parliament failed to exact any meaningful price for their support of Labour when they held the balance of power in the late 1940s and between 1957 and 1960. Led by the redoubtable Whina Cooper, delegates from local welfare committees in 1951 formed the Maori Women's Welfare League, which remained the only national forum for Maori concerns for the next decade.

The paucity of leadership was made more serious by the growing problems of Maori living in urban areas, whose share of the total Maori population soared from 11 percent in 1936 to 70 percent by 1971. This migration was both an effect and a reinforcement of the integration of Maori into the national economy which had begun with their wartime direction into essential urban industries. Maori continued to find work in the cities, but mostly as unskilled labour, and the incomes of Maori families remained well below those of Pakeha families. While Maori children benefited from labour's introduction of free secondary education and a raised school-leaving age of 15, the state school system remained resolutely monocultural. By 1960 only 5 percent of Maori children were gaining school certificate, compared with 30 percent of non-Maori. Even more ominously, the Maori crime rate was three and a half times that of Pakeha. Maori migrants, concentrated in areas of poor-quality housing, were no longer under the effective control of their tribal elders, unlike the fast-diminishing Maori rural proletariat.

The official response to these problems, expressed in the 1960 Report on the Department of Maori Affairs by JK Hunn, the deputy chairman of the Public Service Commission, was that the ‘integration’ of Maori and Pakeha (in reality, the virtual assimilation of the former by the latter) was both inevitable and desirable. Already, more than half the marriages of Auckland Maori were to Pakeha. National carried out Hunn's major proposals by accelerating land and housing development, slowing the splitting up of Maori land titles, removing racially discriminatory legislation (under the Race Relations Act 1971, a race relations conciliator with formal powers was created), and setting up a Maori Education Foundation to help Maori students. National also created the New Zealand Maori Council in 1962, with the intention of both undermining Labour's political domination and facilitating the co-ordinated expression of Maori views. Maori had long wanted such a body, but to achieve Maori goals. Its district councils, based on Maori Land Court boundaries, tended to be overshadowed by tribal trust boards and incorporations, some of which controlled significant economic resources. The national body was dominated by relatively elderly, conservative men without wide support among Maori.

New forms of Maori organisation arose in response to new circumstances. Tribal, and later pan-tribal, church-based cultural groups and marae began to be established in the new suburban housing estates to which Maori were increasingly relocated in the 1960s. Maori educators met regularly to discuss Maori concerns and advocate the teaching of Maori language and culture. Eventually young urban leaders formed the activist Nga Tamatoa (‘the young warriors’), which sought not only the compulsory teaching of Maori in secondary schools, but also ratification of the Treaty of Waitangi and compensation for historic Maori grievances. The Maori Organisation on Human Rights made similar demands. These groups won support from Pakeha-led organisations such as the Citizens Association for Racial Equality and Halt All Racist Tours, both established to oppose sporting contacts with apartheid-ruled South Africa but later encouraged to also concern themselves with indigenous racism. From the 1960s, young urban Maori increasingly joined gangs such as the Mongrel Mob and Black Power. Alienated from their rural bases, from the urban structures that were replacing them and from each other, many eventually swelled the growing Maori prison population. The price of ‘integration’ was high.

The dream recedes

Labour won a huge victory in 1972 with the message that it was ‘time for a change’. The change envisaged involved image and lifestyle rather than economic fundamentals. Buoyed by a temporary boom in world agricultural prices, the country still had virtually no unemployed and ranked about 10th in the world in GDP per capita—and much higher in terms of quality of life. The successful diversification of both primary production and export markets meant that Britain's imminent entry into the European Economic Community would do little harm. Manufacturing thrived behind import licensing and tariff barriers. The new government concentrated on foreign policy issues, withdrawing the remaining troops from Vietnam, belatedly recognising the communist government of China, sending frigates to oppose French nuclear testing in the South Pacific and stopping the visit of a whites-only South African rugby team.

In 1973–4 the reaction of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to the Arab-Israeli war caused world oil prices to rise four-fold within a few months. New Zealand's terms of trade fell by 43 percent in a year, and have never recovered even to their average level in the 1960s. A large trade surplus became a billion-dollar deficit within two years. Price inflation surged well into double figures. The response of the government, headed by former Finance Minister Bill Rowling after Kirk's sudden death in late 1974 was to borrow overseas and attempt to hold down consumer prices, particularly by widening the range of industry subsidies. It also introduced a compulsory contributory superannuation scheme. National, now led by the pugnacious Robert Muldoon, promised to make ‘New Zealand the way you want it’—and to re-introduce a taxation-funded universal superannuation scheme even more generous than the previous one. National also pledged to allow South African sporting tours and crack down on Pacific Island ‘overstayers’ whose willingness to do menial work had until recently been welcomed. In 1975 National regained office in a landslide which reversed the 1972 result.

National kept the promises which had won the election. Dawn raids and random checks on Pacific Island people led to the deportation of some overstayers, at considerable cost to the country's race relations. The All Black rugby team toured South Africa in 1976, provoking a widespread boycott of the Montreal Olympics which tarnished New Zealand's international reputation and cheapened the successes achieved by its athletes. In 1981 despite having pledged to take ‘every practical step to discourage...competition...with sporting organisations...from South Africa’, Muldoon allowed a Springbok rugby team to tour the country. Large demonstrations attempted to disrupt every match, and a high proportion of the country's police were deployed. The sport which had once stirred national pride now bitterly divided the country, bringing violence in the streets on a scale scarcely witnessed before.

Springbok rugby tour demonstration, Auckland, 1981.

Muldoon also introduced his superannuation scheme, which became the largest single item of government expenditure. In 1976 the terms of trade fell still lower, and inflation reached 18 percent, well above the level of New Zealand's trading partners. Real GDP per capita growth ceased, and by 1979 there were some 25,000 unemployed and 30,000 on ‘job creation’ schemes. New Zealand's standard of living slumped to about 20th among the 24 members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Muldoon's reputation as an economic manager was severely dented, and in the 1978 election Labour won more votes than National, which nevertheless retained a comfortable majority due to the spread of votes across electorates.

Following a second ‘oil shock’ after the Iranian revolution in early 1979, the government embarked upon a ‘Think Big’ growth strategy which would make New Zealand at least 60 percent self-sufficient in energy. Natural gas was to be made into synthetic petrol, methanol and urea. The conversion of motor vehicles to run on liquefied petroleum gas and compressed natural gas was encouraged. A high dam would be built at Clyde on the Clutha River to generate hydro-electricity. Secure energy resources and the 1980 Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement with Australia under which restrictions on trans-Tasman trade were to be steadily removed, would be the basis for the development of industry and manufacturing. This would provide 410,000 new jobs in a decade, according to National's 1981 election manifesto. The New Zealand Steel mill at Glenbrook, south of Auckland, was expanded, and a second aluminium smelter was planned to complement the existing Comalco smelter at Bluff which utilised cheap power from the modified Manapouri scheme. This ambitious planning was accompanied by further controls on the economy: the Remuneration Act 1979 increased the government's ability to intervene in industrial relations and wage-fixing.

In 1981 inflation remained high and more than 50,000 were unemployed. The projected budget deficit exceeded $2 billion, and there was still no economic growth. Yet, as a result ‘Think Big’ and the polarisation of opinion over the Springbok tour (which enabled National to retain several marginal provincial electorates) the government clung to power despite once more winning fewer votes than Labour. In June 1982, with inflation soaring towards 18 percent, Muldoon imposed a wage and price freeze which was to last for nearly two years. As overseas meat prices fell, the government introduced the Supplementary Minimum Price Scheme, under which taxpayers subsidised agricultural production. The two Social Credit members of Parliament were persuaded to ensure the passage of legislation permitting the construction of the Clyde dam, but the aluminium smelter for which it was to provide power was abandoned. By 1984 the budget deficit was over $3 billion and the public overseas debt was more than $8 billion. The ‘economic magician’ had no more tricks. When he called a snap election rather than risk being defeated in the House on the issue of whether nuclear-capable American ships should be allowed into New Zealand ports, Labour (now led by young lawyer David Lange) won with a large majority.

Sir Robert Muldoon, Prime Minister from 1975-84.

Rogernomics

The new Labour Government was very different from its predecessors. Its ministers were mostly youngish professionals whose views had been formed during the free-thinking and prosperous 1960s. It faced two immediate threats.

The United States made it clear that New Zealand could not continue to be an effective member of the ANZUS alliance unless it allowed visits from American warships which might be carrying nuclear weapons. Labour, with popular support, stuck to its ban on nuclear propulsion and weaponry. National later embraced Labour's policy, and ANZUS has been inoperative since 1985. (The same year, French secret service agents sank a Greenpeace vessel in Auckland harbour, killing a crew member. The ship was about to leave to protest against French nuclear tests at Mururoa. Two of the agents were jailed and substantial financial compensation was eventually paid after mediation by the United Nations’ Secretary-General.)

The second crisis was economic. A massive run on the New Zealand dollar before the 1984 election had been stemmed only by closing the foreign exchange market. Even after being defeated Muldoon had resisted the inevitable, but was forced to accept a 20 percent devaluation. This swift action set the tone for the next six years. Labour had won the election offering its traditional approach to social and economic issues, but without having to specify detailed policies. Its Finance Minister, Roger Douglas, now set about restructuring the state and the economy at least as radically as the early Liberal and Labour governments had done—and in a very different direction. Rejecting the Keynesian approach to economic management which had been followed by both major parties for decades, ‘Rogernomics’ embraced the monetarist philosophy which held that tight control of the money supply, and therefore of the rate of inflation, would lead to the efficient allocation of resources by the ‘invisible hand’ of the market. The economic role of the state was to be minimised; the more the state withered away, the more wealth would be created. Between 1984 and 1987. Douglas and his assistants demolished the structures established by the first Labour Government.

In early 1985 the dollar was floated and controls over foreign exchange dealings were abolished. The top income tax rate of 66 cents in the dollar was halved, and the loss of revenue recouped by a 10 (later 12.5) percent Goods and Services Tax. Agricultural and consumer subsidies, import licenses and export incentives were all removed. The government departments which ran railways, forests, farms, coal mines and power stations were turned into state-owned commercial enterprises and instructed to make profits. They did so by making huge numbers of their employees redundant. The social welfare benefit system was refocused to ‘target’ those in real need. The most dramatic move away from universality was the imposition of a surcharge on well-off superannuitants which effectively returned their pensions to the state. Despite all this disruption, the government actually increased its majority in the September 1987 election, thanks in no small measure to the optimism engendered by a prolonged stock-market boom. The crash which came the following month proved to be a portent for its second term.

Labour now turned its attention to the reconstruction of the welfare state. In 1987 health, education and welfare programmes absorbed more than half of all government expenditure. Now, business-style management in the health sector replaced joint control by doctors, nurses and administrators, and helped to stabilise health spending at about 7 percent of GDP. Lange assumed the education portfolio, and oversaw the abolition of the century-old system of education boards. Schools were now managed by elected boards of trustees, with financial, management and maintenance responsibilities vastly greater than those of the school committees they replaced. Fees for tertiary education were increased greatly as a ‘user-pays’ philosophy was applied. In 1989 national superannuation was renamed the guaranteed retirement income. The qualifying age was to rise gradually from 60 to 65 years, with the entitlement for a married couple to be between 65 and 72 percent of the average wage after tax. The surcharge remained.

Sir Roger Douglas, Finance Minister with the Labour Government from 1984-88.

The juggernaut of change continued to roll through the public sector. Faced with a public debt that was nearly 80 percent of GDP and absorbed one-fifth of government spending in interest payments, Labour stated that it would break its promise at the 1987 election and sell many of the newly streamlined state agencies in order to retire debt. By late 1990 some $11 billion had been raised by this means. The largest single items were Telecom Corporation ($4.25 billion), forestry cutting rights ($1.8 billion), the State Insurance Office, Rural Bank, Post Office Bank and Air New Zealand (around $700 million each) and Petrocorp ($800 million). It was symbolic that other ‘Think Big’ assets were also sold off, including New Zealand Steel, Maui Gas, New Zealand Liquid Fuels and Synfuels; and so was the Development Finance Corporation. The public debt remained at record levels. The State Sector Act 1988 sought to ensure the application of business management principles in the ‘core’ state sector, which was restructured to separate the delivery of policy advice from the provision of services. The Public Finance Act 1989 brought public sector financial management into line with that in the private sector. The structure of local government was also changed radically, with ad hoc authorities being absorbed into geographically-based councils which were themselves much reduced in number.

Rapid change had continued despite a disagreement over its pace which led to the resignation of first Douglas and then Lange. One of Douglas's legacies was the Reserve Bank Act 1989, which gave statutory recognition to the centrality of price stability in monetary policy. This was being achieved: inflation had fallen below 5 percent. New Zealand's terms of trade had improved, and with them the balance of payments. The budget was close to being balanced. But this progress had come at the cost of 150,000 unemployed—10 percent of the workforce, not far off the rate during the 1930s. Labour's anti-nuclear stance and other foreign policy initiatives were popular, and it remained in tune with public feeling on other social issues. For example, its members had been mainly responsible for the passage of a Homosexual Law Reform Bill which legalised gay sex between consenting adults in 1986. But Labour's economic revolution had caused too many too much pain for it to win a third term, despite the substitution of the populist Mike Moore for the academic Geoffrey Palmer as Prime Minister. In October 1990 the National Party, promising a return to a ‘decent society’, won a thumping victory under the apparently moderate leadership of Jim Bolger.

The 1990s

National had been accused of ‘sleepwalking’ to an inevitable victory. That it considered it had a mandate to complete Labour's programme was confirmed by the appointment of Ruth Richardson and Jenny Shipley to the respective portfolios of finance and social welfare. Faced with a larger budget deficit than it had expected, the new government within two months made major cuts in social welfare benefits and increases in medical fees and prescription charges, and abolished compulsory unionism. In May 1991 the Employment Contracts Act restricted the right of workers to bargain collectively and to strike. Richardson's ‘Mother of all Budgets’ in July 1991 continued the dismantling of what was left of the universal benefit structure. The minister put it clearly: ‘the top third of all income earners can be expected to meet most of the cost of their social services’.

Charges were introduced for hospital services, with beneficiaries and the chronically ill entitled to subsidies. Shipley was forced to reverse plans to make the guaranteed retirement income a residual ‘safety net’ only, but the surcharge was kept despite an election promise to abolish it. Tertiary education fees were raised again, and student allowances cut. In July 1992 the management of state housing was transferred to a new state-owned enterprise. Housing New Zealand, which was to gradually move to charging market rentals for its properties, albeit with protection for elderly tenants. Rents were to be subsidised through an accommodation supplement delivered by the Department of Social Welfare. The Housing Corporation's mortgages were put on the market, and $900 million worth were sold by early 1993. Other significant asset sales in National's first term were of the Bank of New Zealand ($850 million) and New Zealand Timberlands ($366 million) in 1992 and New Zealand Rail ($330 million) in 1993.

The reshaping of the state continued apace. In mid-1993 the separation of funding from the provision of services was extended to the health sector. Responsibility for the purchasing of health services was devolved from the Department of Health to four regional health authorities, which were empowered to make contracts with public, private or voluntary bodies. Area health boards were disestablished, and most hospitals became Crown health enterprises, with appointed boards of directors who were expected to run their operations as businesses. The accident compensation system, which had for two decades provided income maintenance on a no-fault basis to all who suffered injury, was significantly altered. Levies on businesses, based on the riskiness of their occupations, were reduced, and direct levies on the wages and salaries of individuals were introduced. Accident Compensation Corporation entitlements were cut, notably by abolishing the lump-sum payments which had been made for permanent disability or loss of enjoyment of life.

When National faced the electorate in November 1993, the success of the decade-long economic experiment was still uncertain. The slump of 1990–92 was over, but real GDP per capita was still below the 1986–91 level. Despite improved terms of trade, the balance of payments remained stubbornly negative, and despite the sales of state assets New Zealand's overseas debt had fallen little from the record levels of the 1980s. Net taxation levels were not far below the peak they had reached in 1990, despite the widespread implementation of user-pays policies. Inflation had virtually disappeared and interest rates had fallen, but the unemployment rate was still above 10 percent. Voters were just sufficiently impressed to re-elect the government by the barest of margins. As well as a Labour Party unsure of how strongly to disown its Rogernomic past, the opposition now included the New Zealand First party, with a support base of the indignant elderly and northern Maori, and Alliance comprising five small predominantly left-wing parties.

Although it was unusual for four parties to be represented in Parliament, New Zealanders had become used to minor parties since the advent of Social Credit in the 1950s. Motivated partly by a sense of fairness—the idea that everyone's vote should ‘count’—but mainly by dissatisfaction with the upheavals of the last decade, the country decided in a referendum in 1993 to replace the ‘first past the post’ electoral system with a mixed member proportional system: The supporters of MMP argued that its introduction would bring more open and consensual decision-making in politics, while its opponents asserted that real power would pass from the voters to party powerbrokers operating in secret. The new system was planned for the 1996 election. Meanwhile, the 99 current MPs prepared themselves for the new era. Most preferred to seek one of the 65 constituency seats rather than take their chances on the party lists which would provide the other 55 MPs. The political system was being restructured as fundamentally as the rest of society had been.

Maori society since 1972

Maori have in many ways suffered disproportionately from the economic problems of the last two decades. The level of Maori urbanisation is now close to that of the general population, but Maori have not shared fully in the benefits this was expected to bring. They remain greatly under-represented in professional, technical and managerial positions. In 1981, 14 percent of Maori were unemployed compared with less than 4 percent of Pakeha. By 1993 the figures were 24 percent and 8 percent. Maori incomes have accordingly fallen further behind those of non-Maori. So has the proportion of Maori owning their own houses, which was 55 percent in 1991, compared with 74 percent for the whole population. By that year the proportion of Maori school-leavers with school certificate passes was 63 percent, while for all school-leavers it was 84 percent. Unemployment among young Maori has reached alarming levels, and Maori comprise around half of the prison population.

It would be misleading to paint too bleak a picture. A century after their extinction was confidently predicted, there are over half a million people with Maori blood in a total population of 3.5 million. While Maori life expectancy remains four or five years below that of non-Maori, the Maori birth rate is higher. And more than physical survival is assured. The cultural revival which began hesitantly in the cities has become a resurgence. More urban marae have been established, many associated with educational institutions. Since the late 1960s there has been a great expansion in the teaching of Maori language. By 1976, 123 secondary schools taught Maori to 11,000 pupils, and 100 primary schools offered Maori studies programmes. Since 1982 pre-schoolers have been taught in Maori through the kohanga reo movement. By the early 1990s more than 12,000 children were being taught in more than 500 kohanga reo. Increasingly, they are able to go on to kura kaupapa Maori primary schools, which provide a Maori-speaking environment in the playground as well as the classroom. Maori literature and art have thrived, and is now more appreciated by wider society. And by the wider world: between 1984 and 1986 the Te Maori exhibition of carvings and artifacts was acclaimed in the United States. At home Maori writers such as Witi Ihimaera, Patricia Grace, Alan Duff and 1985 Booker Prize winner Keri Hulme received more widespread attention, as did artists such as Robyn Kahukiura, Ralph Hotere and Cliff Whiting.

In the 1970s new organisations were formed to pursue the long-standing grievances over the loss of land and other resources, especially in the confiscations (raupatu) of the 1860s. In 1975 Dame Whina Cooper led a land march (hikoi) from the Far North to Wellington under the auspices of Te Ropu o Matakite. This body then broke up into several factions, one of which campaigned successfully for the return of a burial ground at Raglan which had formed part of a golf course. The most dramatic of these actions was the 506-day occupation by Ngati Whatua of Crown land on Bastion Point in Auckland which had originally been set aside for the tribe as a reserve. Ngati Whatua had been evicted from their homes at Okahu Bay in 1951, and were determined not to allow further subdivision of their land for expensive housing. In May 1978, however, they were removed by a large force of police, and their buildings were demolished.

Within a decade, the government had agreed to return the disputed land to Ngati Whatua, and provide a cash settlement to finance a rehabilitation programme for the tribe. The relationship between the Crown and Maori had been transformed in the intervening years. The process had begun during the 1972–75 term of Matiu Rata as Minister of Maori Affairs, the first Maori since Ngata to hold the portfolio. He had in 1975 set up a Waitangi Tribunal as a forum in which Maori complaints of future breaches of the treaty could be heard. Rata resigned from the Labour breaches of the treaty could be heard. Rata resigned from the Labour Party in 1980, and unsuccessfully contested his Northern Maori seat for the new Mana Motuhake party. Although Mana Motuhake has not won any Maori seats, it loosened Labour's grip on them, allowing a New Zealand First candidate to win Northern Maori in 1993. Aware of its vulnerability, and pressured by organisations such as the Waitangi Action Committee (which organised Waitangi Day demonstrations in the early 1980s) and by Labour Party activists, the new Labour Government of 1984 accepted that the tribunal be empowered to hear claims against Crown actions since 1840.

Participants in the great Maori land march. Marchers left Te Hapua, Northland, on 14 September 1975, arriving at Parliament Buildings, Wellington, one month later.

Maori language lesson.

This decision opened the floodgates to a pent-up tide of grievances. Major claims which were submitted included that of Ngai Tahu in the South Island, and several raupatu claims in the North Island. Only a small proportion have yet been heard. Some of the findings and recommendations, such as those of the Ngati Whatua and Ngai Tahu, have been generally accepted. Others, like the finding on the Muriwhenua claim that the treaty guaranteed Maori fishing rights, have been controversial. Under the Maori Fisheries Act 1989, a Maori Fisheries Commission entitled to 10 percent of all fisheries quota was established. In 1993 the National Government purchased half of the Sealord Products Company for Maori, in exchange for the extinguishing of all claims to commercial fishing rights under the treaty.

From 1989 the government worked on ways of resolving the great majority of historical claims. Direct negotiations with the Crown, regardless of whether the Waitangi Tribunal had heard claims and made recommendations, were offered to claimants. A set of wide-ranging policy proposals on resolving historical grievances was launched for public discussion in December 1994. These encompassed proposals on matters such as claims for natural resources, claims over land that was later incorporated into the conservation estate, claims regarding land gifted by Maori for educational and other purposes and later declared surplus, matters of iwi and hapu representation, and more.

Once finalised, the new policies were to be applied to negotiations by a new Office of Treaty Settlement. The only non-negotiable aspect of the proposals was that all claims were to be met (over 10 years) within a ‘settlement envelope’ of a billion dollars (including the Sealord settlement). It was proposed that claims be settled ‘fully and finally’, a concept which had been tried unsuccessfully before, such as in the ‘settlements’ of the 1940s with Ngai Tahu, Taranaki and Tainui. Who the recipient organisations would be, what proportion of the settlement envelope they would get, and how they would administer these resources, were fundamental issues still to be resolved. If treaty rights were converted into economic assets, those charged with their stewardships would have a huge responsibility.

The new society

By late 1994 New Zealand society was much changed from the wartime austerity of half a century earlier. The country was much wealthier, and the economic growth which had begun in 1993 was expected to continue for several years, bringing budget surpluses and allowing the repayment of overseas debt. But there was no likelihood of a return to full employment, although the unemployment rate had fallen below 8 percent. Many of the new jobs being created were in the tourist industry. Over 1992–93 New Zealand had more than a million visitors from overseas, four times the number 20 years earlier. They contributed some $4 billion to the economy. More than a third came from Australia, a quarter of a million from Asia and 135,000 from Japan. New Zealand was placing increasing emphasis on the financial resources of prospective immigrants, and granting more Asians permanent residence. In the early 1990s ethnic Chinese and white South Africans were the fastest-growing groups of new migrants.

1993 marked the centenary of women's suffrage in New Zealand, rather more cheaply and with less soul-searching than had been indulged in three years earlier on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. Women's lives were continuing to change. By the early 1990s, a quarter of families were dependent children were single-parent families, nearly half of married women had full-time paid jobs, and more than a quarter of women in two-parent families with children less than a year old were in the workforce. Other social changes complemented this trend: the gradual introduction in the early 1980s of weekend retail trading and the increasing availability of childcare. In 1992, 136,000 preschoolers were receiving early childhood education. Women were having fewer children, 2.1 each on average in 1992, compared with 3.2 in 1971. Rural women were seizing new opportunities. Many had been handling farm correspondence and accounts as well as doing other farm work. As mechanisation of agricultural tasks continued, they were increasingly able to take up or continue careers beyond the farmgate.

Women's suffrage celebrations, Turangawaewae, 1993.

Women's integration into the paid economy was aided by their educational attainments; they comprised more than half of all university students in the early 1990s, compared with less than a quarter 40 years earlier. Women also played a greater role in public life. In 1993, 21 percent of both members of parliament and senior public servants were female, as were 26 percent of local government office-holders. But the ‘glass ceiling’ continued to hold women back from the very highest positions, and their average hourly earnings remained about 80 percent of those of men. But in late 1994, the Governor-General (Dame Catherine Tizard) and the leaders of two of the three major political forces (the Labour party, under Helen Clark, and the Alliance, led by Sandra Lee) were women. All three might play crucial roles in the new MMP environment. It is also possible that by early in the new century New Zealand may have severed its remaining constitutional ties with the United Kingdom, and installed an elected president as head of state in place of the British Monarch. That the Prime Minister and leader of the main conservative party was leading the debate on this change was some indication of how fundamentally New Zealanders’ view of themselves had altered since World War II.

Table 2.5. Chronology of main events

c 1000Arrival of first Polynesian settlers in Aotearoa.
1642European discovery by Abel Tasman.
1769James Cook's first visit to New Zealand.
c 1790First severe epidemic among Maori population.
1792First sealing gang left on New Zealand coast at Dusky Sound.
1806First Pakeha women arrive in New Zealand.
1814Arrival of Rev Samuel Marsden, and establishment of Anglican mission station.
1820Hongi's visit to England.
1826Attempt at European settlement 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. New Zealand annexed, Captain Hobson arrives as Lieutenant-Governor, and Treaty of Waitangi signed. Settlements formed in the Far North and at Akaroa.
1841New Zealand proclaimed independent of New South Wales. Arrival of New Plymouth and Wanganui settlers.
1842Settlement founded at Nelson.
1843Affray at Wairau.
1845‘Northern War’.
1846Fighting near Wellington. New Zealand divided into two provinces, New Munster and New Ulster. Exploration of West Coast by Thomas Brunner party begins.
1848Otago settlement founded.
1850Canterbury settlement founded.
1852Constitution Act passed by Imperial Parliament, granting representative institutions to New Zealand, and dividing country into six provinces.
1854Opening at Auckland of first session of General Assembly.
1855First members elected to the House of Representatives under system of responsible government. Severe earthquake on both sides of Cook Strait.
1856Appointment of first ministry under system of responsible government.
1858Te Wherowhero (Potatau) becomes Maori King.
1860‘Taranaki War’.
1861Bank of New Zealand incorporated. Gold discovery at Gabriel's Gully, Otago.
1862First electric telegraph line opened—Christ-church to Lyttelton.
1863Commencement of ‘Waikato War’. Wreck of HMS Orpheus on Manukau Bar. First steam railway in New Zealand opened.
1864Hostilities in Waikato end. Discovery of gold on West Coast.
1865Seat of Government transferred to Wellington.
1866Cook Strait submarine telegraph cable laid.
1867Opening of Thames gold-field. Lyttelton railway tunnel completed. Four Maori seats provided in House of Representatives. Armed constabulary established.
1868Campaigns of Titokowaru and Te Kooti.
1869Government Life Insurance Office founded.
1870Last pitched battles of ‘New Zealand Wars’. First rugby match in 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. Universal male suffrage introduced. Kaitangata coal mine explosion. Annual property tax introduced.
1881Parihaka community forcibly broken up. Wreck of ss Tararua.
1882First shipment of frozen meat from New Zealand.
1883Direct steamer link established between New Zealand and Britain.
1884Construction of King Country section of North Island main trunk railway begins.
1886Tarawera eruption and destruction of Pink and White Terraces.
1887First national park created.
1888Birth of writer Katherine Mansfield.
1889Abolition of non-residential or property qualification to vote.
1890Great maritime strike. First election on one man one vote basis. Liberal government elected.
1891Land and Income Assessment Act passed.
1892Land for Settlements Act passed.
1893Franchise extended to women. Liquor licensing poll introduced. Elizabeth Yates elected Mayor of Onehunga.
1894Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act passed. Government Advances to Settlers Act passed. Wreck of ss Wairarapa. First ascent of Mt Cook/Aoraki.
1896Brunner Mine explosion. National Council of Women founded.
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 ss Elingamite.
1903Richard Pearse achieves semi-controlled flight near Timaru.
1905State Insurance Office founded.
1906Death of Premier Seddon.
1907New Zealand given name of Dominion.
1908North Island main trunk railway opened. Ernest Rutherford awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
1909Ss 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 Commissioner. Waihi strike. Reform ministry formed.
1913Extensive strikes with confrontations in Auckland and Wellington.
1914World War I begins. German Samoa occupied. New Zealand Expeditionary Force despatched.
1915Gallipoli campaign.
1916New Zealand Division transferred to Western Front. Battle of the Somme. Conscription introduced. Lake Coleridge electricity supply scheme opened.
1917Battle of Passchendaele.
1918End of World War I. Great influenza epidemic kills 6,700 New Zealanders.
1919Women eligible for Parliament. New Zealand represented at Peace Conference by Prime Minister.
1920First aeroplane flight across Cook Strait. League of Nations’ mandate to administer Western Samoa.
1921New Zealand Division of Royal Navy established.
1922Meat export trade placed under control of a board.
1923Death of writer Katherine Mansfield. Opening of Otira Tunnel. Ross Dependency proclaimed. Dairy Produce Export Control Act passed.
1924Direct radio communication with England.
1925Death of Prime Minister Massey.
1926Department of Scientific and Industrial Research founded.
1928First flight across Tasman Sea. United government elected.
1929Severe earthquake in Murchison-Karamea district.
1930Legislation provides for relief of unemployment.
1931Hawkes 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.
1933Elizabeth McCombs becomes first woman MP.
1934First trans-Tasman airmail. Reserve Bank incorporated.
1935First Labour government elected.
1936Inauguration of inter-island trunk air services. Reserve Bank nationalised. System of basic prices for butter and cheese introduced. 40-hour week introduced.
1937Royal New Zealand Air Force established.
1938Social Security Act passed. Introduction of import control.
1939Second World War begins. HMS Achilles takes part in Battle of the River Plate.
1940Death of Prime Minister Savage. 2nd NZEF despatched.
1941War with Japan begins.
1942Complete mobilisation. Rationing introduced. Mobilisation of women for essential work. Battle of El Alamein.
1943New Zealand Division serves in Italy.
1945War in Europe ends (8 May). War in Pacific ends (15 August). National Airways Corporation founded.
1946Family benefit of Ģ1 per week made universal as from 1 April. Bank of New Zealand nationalised.
1947Statute of Westminster adopted by New Zealand Parliament.
1949Referendum agrees to compulsory military training. National government elected.
1950Legislative Council Abolition Act passed. Naval and ground forces sent to Korean War. Wool boom.
1951Prolonged waterfront dispute. United States. Australia, and New Zealand sign ANZUS Treaty. Maori Women's Welfare League established.
1953Railway disaster at Tangiwai. First tour by reigning monarch.
1954New Zealand signs South-east Asia Collective Defence Treaty.
1955Pulp and paper mill at Kawerau opened. Rimutaka rail tunnel opened.
1956Roxburgh and Whakamaru power stations in operation. New Zealand troops sent to Malaya.
1957Scott Base established in Ross Dependency. Last hanging in New Zealand. Labour government elected.
1958PAYE taxation introduced.
1959Auckland Harbour Bridge opened. Antarctic Treaty signed.
1960Regular television programmes began in Auckland. Government Service Equal Pay Act passed. National government elected.
1961New Zealand joins International Monetary Fund.
1962Cook Strait rail-ferry service commenced with Aramoana. Western Samoa becomes independent.
1964Cook Strait power cables laid. Oil refinery opened at Whangarei.
1965Limited free trade agreement negotiated with Australia. Cook Islands became self-governing. Combat force sent to Vietnam.
1966National Library of New Zealand created.
1967Decimal currency introduced. Referendum extends hotel hours.
1968Tev Wahine founders 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 joins European Economic Community. Colour television introduced. First step of Equal Pay Act in effect. First United Women's Convention.
1974Death of Prime Minister Norman Kirk. Commonwealth Games, Christchurch.
1975Waitangi Tribunal established. National government elected.
1976New Zealand's sporting links with South Africa resulted in walk-out at Olympic Games in Montreal.
1977National superannuation scheme begins. New Zealand signs Gleneagles agreement on sporting contacts with South Africa. 200-mile exclusive economic zone established.
1978National government re-elected.
1979Air New Zealand crash on Mount Erebus.
1980Saturday retail trading legalised.
1981Controversial tour of New Zealand by South African rugby team.
1982Twelve-month wage, price, and rent freeze imposed; lasted till 1984. Kohanga reo (language nurseries) established to encourage revival of Maori.
1983Signing of Closer Economic Relations Agreement with Australia.
1984The Labour Party wins snap General Election. Government devalues the New Zealand dollar by 20 percent and re-imposes price freeze. Queen Street riot, Auckland.
1985United States request for visit by USS Buchanan declined. New Zealand dollar floated. Greenpeace protest vessel Rainbow Warrior bombed and sunk by French agents.
1986Soviet cruise ship Mikhail Lermontov sinks in Marlborough Sounds. Homosexual Law Reform Bill passed. Goods and services tax (GST) comes into effect. First visit by Pope.
1987Non-nuclear legislation becomes law. Court of Appeal ruling that Maori land claims would not be affected by transfer of assets to new state-owned enterprises. First lotto draw. New Zealand's first heart transplant performed. Waitangi Tribunal given power to decide which Crown land has Maori claimants.
1988Number of unemployed exceeds 100,000. Cyclone Bola strikes northern North Island. North Island main trunk railway electrification completed. Fisheries quota package announced for Maori tribes.
1989New Labour Party launched. Reserve Bank Act sets bank's role as maintenance of price stability. First school board elections under ‘Tomorrow's Schools’ reforms. Prime Minister Lange resigns and is replaced by Geoffrey Palmer, with Helen Clarke, the first women Deputy Prime Minister. First elections under revised local government structure. Third television channel begins. Sunday trading begins.
1990New Zealand celebrates its sesquicentennial. The XIVth Commonwealth Games are held in Auckland. Dame Catherine Tizard becomes the first female Governor-General of New Zealand. Electricorp reveals the Clyde Dam project will cost another $337 million due to remedial stabilisation work, to bring total cost to $1.35 billion. One and two cent coins cease being legal tender.
1991A contingent of 111 from the New Zealand armed forces (a medical unit, RNZAF crew and two Hercules aircraft) make up New Zealand's contribution to the multi-national force in the Gulf. The Alliance Party is formed from the Green Party, New Labour, Democrats and Mana Motuhake. Net overseas debt stands at $15,000 per head of population ($50,980 million).
1992A million dollar settlement is awarded in the cervical cancer claims. Government and Maori interests agreed on a deal for a Maori joint venture purchase of Sealord Products in return for the renouncement of commercial fishing claims. Watties Foods is bought out by American food giant Heinz for $567 million. New Zealand wins seat on the United Nations’ Security Council. National Australia Bank takes control of the Bank of New Zealand. New Zealand commemorates Abel Tasman's arrival 350 years ago.
1993New Zealand celebrates its centennial of woman's suffrage. Jobless reaches post-war record with 279,834 seeking work. Health authorities declare the New Zealand coast-line off limits to shellfish gatherers as a mystery toxin algal bloom spreads. Dame Silvia Cartwright, Chief District Court Judge, becomes the first female High Court judge. The New Zealand First Party is launched. General Election results: National 49 seats, Labour 46 and the Alliance and NZ First two seats each. Opposition MP Peter Tapsell becomes Speaker of the House, thus giving the Government a voting majority in Parliament. Mixed member proportional representation wins the electoral referendum.

Contributors

2.1–4Historical Branch, Department of Internal Affairs.
2.5Statistics New Zealand.

Chapter 3. Government

Felling elms for a civic square development, Dunedin.

3.1 Constitution

New Zealand's constitutional history can be traced back to 1840 when by the Treaty of Waitangi the Maori people exchanged their sovereignty for the guarantees of the treaty and New Zealand became a British colony. Five years earlier on 28 October 1835, an assembly of the Confederation of Tribes of New Zealand had proclaimed the country independent and signed the ‘Declaration of Independence’. New Zealand is an independent state; a monarchy with a parliamentary government. Queen Elizabeth II has the title Queen of New Zealand.

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. New Zealand's Constitution Act 1986 brings together in one Act the most important statutory constitutional provisions and clarifies the rules relating to the governmental handover of power. The Act deals with the principal components of New Zealand's statutory constitutional provisions: the Sovereign, the Executive, the legislature and the judiciary.

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 and the Habeas Corpus Act 1679.

These Acts are listed and defined in the Imperial Laws’ Application Act 1988.

SOVEREIGNS OF NEW ZEALAND
MonarchAccessionDiedAgeReigned (years)

* Abdicated; reigned 325 days.

House of Hanover    
Victoria183719018163
House of Saxe-Coburg    
Edward VII19011910689
House of Windsor    
George V191019367025
Edward VIII(*)1936......
George VI193619525615
Elizabeth II1952   

The Crown and the 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 (prerogative powers). The powers of the Governor-General are set out in the Letters Patent 1983, and it is for the courts to decide on the limits of these powers. The Governor-General's main constitutional function is to arrange for the leader of the majority party in Parliament to form a government.

The Crown is part of Parliament and the Governor-General's assent is required before Bills can become law. The Governor-General is required, however, by constitutional convention and the Letters Patent, to follow the advice of ministers. In extraordinary circumstances the Governor-General can reject advice if he or she believes that a government is intending to act unconstitutionally. This is known as the reserve power.

The Sovereign appoints the Governor-General on the Prime Minister's recommendation, normally for a term of five years.

Table 3.1. VICE-REGAL REPRESENTATIVES

Vice-regal representative*Assumed officeRetired

* Honours are specified only if held on retirement from office.

Dependency  
Lieutenant-Governor  
Captain William Hobson, RN30 Jan 18403 May 1841
Vice-regal representative*Assumed officeRetired
Crown colony  
Governor  
Captain William Hobson, RN3 May 184110 Sep 1842
Captain Robert FitzRoy, RN26 Dec 184317 Nov 1845
Captain George Grey18 Nov 184531 Dec 1847
Governor-in-Chief  
Sir George Grey, KCB1 Jan 18487 Mar 1853
Self-governing colony  
Governors of New Zealand  
Sir George Grey, KCB7 Mar 185331 Dec 1853
Colonel Thomas Gore Browne, CB6 Sep 18552 Oct 1861
Sir George Grey, KCB4 Dec 18615 Feb 1868
Sir George Ferguson Bowen, GCMG5 Feb 186819 Mar 1873
Rt Hon Sir James Fergusson, Bt,14 Jun 18733 Dec 1874
Marquess of Normanby, GCB, GCMG, PC9 Jan 187521 Feb 1879
Sir Hercules George Robert Robinson, GCMG17 Apr 18798 Sep 1880
Hon Sir Arthur Hamilton Gordon, GCMG29 Nov 188023 Jun 1882
Lieutenant-General Sir William Francis Drummond Jervois, GCMG, CB20 Jan 188322 Mar 1889
Earl of Onslow, GCMG2 May 188924 Feb 1892
Earl of Glasgow, GCMG7 Jun 18926 Feb 1897
Earl of Ranfurly, GCMG10 Aug 189719 Jun 1904
Lord Plunket, GCMG, KCVO, KBE20 Jun 19047 Jun 1910
Dominion  
Lord Islington, KCMG, DSO, PC22 Jun 19102 Dec 1912
Earl of Liverpool, GCMG, MVO, PC19 Dec 191227 Jun 1917
Governors-General of New Zealand  
Earl of Liverpool, GCB, GCMG, GBE, MVO, PC28 Jun 19177 Jul 1920
Viscount Jellicoe, GCB, OM, GCVO27 Sep 192026 Nov 1924
General Sir Charles Fergusson, Bt, GCMG, KCB, DSO, MVO13 Dec 19248 Feb 1930
Viscount Bledisloe, GCMG, KBE, PC19 Mar 193015 Mar 1935
Viscount Galway, GCMG, DSO, OBE, PC12 Apr 19353 Feb 1941
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Cyril Louis Norton Newall, GCB, OM, GCMG, CBE, AM22 Feb 194119 Apr 1946
Lieutenant-General the Lord Freyberg, VC, GCMG, KCB, KBE, DSO17 Jun 194615 Aug 1952
Lieutenant-General the Lord Norrie, GCMG, GCVO, CB, DSO, MC2 Dec 195225 Jul 1957
Viscount Cobham, GCMG, TD5 Sep 195713 Sep 1962
Brigadier Sir Bernard Fergusson, GCMG, GCVO, DSO, OBE9 Nov 196220 Oct 1967
Sir Arthur Espie Porritt, Bt GCMG, GCVO, CBE1 Dec 19677 Sep 1972
Sir (Edward) Denis Blundell, GCMG, GCVD, KBE, QSO27 Sep 19725 Oct 1977
Rt Hon Sir Keith Jacka Holyoake, KG, GCMG, CH, QSO26 Oct 197727 Oct 1980
Hon Sir David Stuart Beattie, GCMG, GCVO, QSO, QC6 Nov 198010 Nov 1985
His Excellency The Most Reverend Sir Paul Alfred Reeves, GCMG, GCVO20 Nov 198529 Nov 1990
Her Excellency Dame Catherine Tizard, GCMG, DBE13 Dec 1990 

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. 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 two-party system, however, the Government effectively controls proceedings in Parliament and cases of Government members voting with the Opposition are uncommon.

Recent constitutional reform

Electoral reform.

The Electoral Referendum Act 1991 provided for an indicative referendum on electoral reform. The referendum was divided into two parts. The first part asked voters to choose between electoral reform or maintaining of the present first past the post system. The second part of the ballot asked voters to indicate which of four options for electoral reform they preferred: supplementary member, single transferable vote, mixed member proportional and preferential voting.

The referendum was held on 19 September 1992. Of the 1,217,284 people who voted (roughly 55 percent of the electorate) 1,031,257 or 84.7 percent, voted for change. A clear preference was shown for mixed member proportional representation which received 70.5 percent of the votes for change. The single transferable vote system got 17.4 percent of the votes, the preferential voting system 6.6 percent and the supplementary member system 5.6 percent of the votes.

A second referendum was held in conjunction with the 1993 general election where voters chose between the present first past the post system and mixed member proportional representation. Provision for that referendum is made in the Electoral Referendum Act 1993. Details of the mixed member proportional system are set out in the Electoral Act 1993.

The electoral equation.

Privacy Act 1993.

This Act came into force on 1 July 1993 and has as one of its main purposes the promotion and protection of individual privacy in general accordance with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's 1980 Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data. Twelve information privacy principles and four public register privacy principles were established. The 12 information privacy principles deal with the collection, security, use and disclosure of personal information, access to and correction of personal information, and the assignment and use of unique identifiers. The four public register privacy principles place some controls on the availability of public register information and its subsequent use. Both sets of principles are subject to any other law on the matters covered. The principles apply to both public and private sectors.

The Act also contains a set of information matching guidelines placing controls on statutory matching programmes implemented in the public sector. Information matching involves government departments comparing aspects of the databases they hold on individuals with the databases of another government department. It can involve, for example, the matching of beneficiaries records from the Department of Social Welfare with information held by the Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Corporation relating to claims for compensation, or other government departments concerning prison inmates, people departing from New Zealand, illegal immigrants, taxpayers, recipients of student allowances and records of births, deaths and marriages. The guidelines require, for example, that notice be given to the affected individual before action can be taken on the basis of a successful match.

Jurisdiction is given to the Privacy Commissioner to grant exemptions from some of the principles and to issue codes of practice. The first code of practice issued by the commissioner was a temporary code concerning health information released shortly after the enactment of the Privacy Act 1993. The Health Information Privacy Code 1994 replaced the temporary code in late 1994 and provides stringent controls on the collection, use and disclosure of medical and health information by agencies within the health sector.

The Privacy Commissioner is empowered to deal with complaints about breaches of the principles, information matching rules and codes of practice and in the 12 months since the Act came into force some 550 complaints have been lodged. The Privacy Commissioner is also required to perform a general ‘watch-dog’ role in relation to privacy and in 1994 made a number of reports to the Minister of Justice, proposals and public statements in relation to a range of issues affecting individual privacy. A few of the more notable examples included proposed mandatory reporting of child abuse, powers of the Department of Social Welfare to demand personal information, privatisation of the government computing service and drug testing in sport.

Human Rights Act 1993.

The Human Rights Act came into force on 1 February 1994. It amalgamates the Race Relations Act 1971 and the Human Rights Commission Act 1977 and adds five new prohibited grounds of discrimination. There are now 13 prohibited grounds of discrimination: sex, marital status, religious belief, ethical belief, colour, race, ethnic or national origins, disability, age, political opinion, employment status, family status and sexual orientation. The areas in which it is unlawful to discriminate are the same as in the former legislation: employment; access to places, vehicles and facilities; provision of goods and services; provision of land, housing and other accommodation; and access to educational establishments. The Act also contains provisions relating to racial disharmony, sexual harassment, and racial harassment.

The Act introduces new procedures to assist with the resolution of complaints. The Human Rights Commission is restructured and now includes a Complaints Division to deal specifically with complaints. After investigating a complaint the Complaints Division may call a compulsory conference in order to identify the matters in issue between the parties and to explore the possibility of reaching an amicable settlement. Where a complaint cannot be settled and proceedings are commenced before the Complaints Review Tribunal the chairperson of the tribunal has the power to make interim orders to preserve the position of the parties pending final determination of the proceedings. If a party is dissatisfied with the decision of the tribunal and appeals to the High Court, there is now a further right of appeal to the Court of Appeal on a question of 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 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.

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 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 in the absence of the Sovereign, and a closing prorogation by proclamation.

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 the Clerk of the House of Representatives who notes all proceedings of the House and of any committee of the House, and provides 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 has been no instance of a successful no-confidence vote in the New Zealand Parliament since 1928.

The House of Representatives is 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 other parties 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.

Table 3.2. SEATS HELD BY POLITICAL PARTIES AFTER GENERAL ELECTIONS

ElectionTotalLiberalConservativeLabourOthersIndependent

* Country Party

Ratana

Social Credit/Democrats.

§ New Labour

Includes Speaker of the House.

ķ Two Alliance, two NZ First.

1890743825  7(4)
1893745113  6(4)
1896743925  6(4)
1899744919  2(4)
1902804719  10(4)
1905805816  6
   Reform   
19088050261 3
19118033374 6
19148033416 0
19198021478 4
192280223717 4
192580115512 2
1928802727191*6
ElectionTotalLiberalConservativeLabourOthersIndependent
193180 Coalition 51 National241*4
193580 1953+2†2*4
193880 2553 2
194380 3445 1
194680 3842  
194980 4634  
195180 5030  
195480 4535  
195780 3941  
196080 4634  
196380 4541  
196680 44351‡ 
196984 4539  
197287 3255  
197587 5532  
197892 51401‡ 
198192 47432‡ 
198495 37562‡ 
198797 4057  
199097 6729 
199399 5045⋄ 

In 1994 the number of parliamentary seats held by the National Party was reduced to 49 when a member, although remaining in Government, left to become Right of Centre. The seats held by the Labour Party were reduced to 44 when a number left to become Future New Zealand. Therefore, ‘Others’ now comprises six members.

By-elections.

A by-election was held in the Selwyn Electoral District on 13 August 1994 following the resignation of the Honourable Ruth Richardson. David Carter was elected and, having been sworn, took his seat in the House of Representatives on 25 August 1994.

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 have taken; 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 the House of Representatives is for it to receive a first reading, which is a formal introductory stage, allowing a maximum debating time of two hours. Almost all Bills are then sent to a select committee. Detailed scrutiny of legislation and facets of executive activity, eg 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. All Government Bills are referred to a select committee unless it is an Appropriation Bill, an Imprest Supply Bill or a Bill that has been accorded urgency. This procedure enables 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 principles of the Bill. Following this the Bill is considered by the whole House ‘in committee’, 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 approval. On receiving the Royal assent the Bill becomes an Act of Parliament 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. 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.

Sessions of Parliament.

The first session of the 44th New Zealand Parliament was called following the General Election of 6 November 1993, and began sitting on 21 December 1993.

Table 3.3. PARLIAMENTARY SESSIONS

ParliamentPeriod of session

Source: Clerk of the House of Representatives.

Forty-first{ 15 August 1984–12 December 1985
 26 February 1986–21 July 1987
Forty - second{ 16 September 1987–12 December 1989
 14 February 1990–6 September 1990
Forty-third{ 29 November 1990–18 January 1991
 22 January 1991–30 September 1993
Forty-fourth21 December 1993

Ninety-nine college students, one from each electorate, standing in for their local MPs in the Beehive for the Youth Parliament Conference. The students debated the bill on lowering the drinking age.

Table 3.4. SUMMARY OF PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS

 1987–90*1990†1991‡1991–93§

* First session, forty-second Parliament.

Second session, forty-second Parliament.

First session, forty-third Parliament.

§ Second session, forty-third Parliament.

Source: Clerk of the House of Representatives.

Sitting days1845610224
Government Bills    
Introduced1654312150
Referred to select committees138339124
Private Members’ Bills    
Introduced83031
Referred to select committees84032
Local Bills    
Introduced275025
Referred to select committees275025
Private Bills    
Introduced83011
Referred to select committees83011

Parliamentary Service.

(Te Ratonga Whare Paremata.) The Parliamentary Service provides administrative and support services to the Members of Parliament and the House of Representatives. The service is not a department of the executive government nor is it responsible to a minister. It is controlled by the Parliamentary Service Commission which consists of the Speaker of the House of Representatives as chairperson, and six members, three of whom are members of the Government and three from the Opposition.

Among the services provided by the Parliamentary Service are:

  • Personal staff to assist Members of Parliament in Parliament House and in the electorate.

  • The Parliamentary Library—to provide library, information and research facilities to Members of Parliament.

  • Catering services (Bellamys) for members, staff and guests.

  • Security, messenger and other services needed for the day-to-day running of Parliament.

  • Personnel, finance and administrative services to Members of Parliament and other agencies operating within Parliament House, including the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Parliamentary Counsel Office.

The Parliamentary Service is also responsible for managing the major project to strengthen and refurbish Parliament House and the Parliamentary Library. The project began in August 1992 and will be completed, at an estimated cost of $164 million, in time for members to occupy the restored building for the 1996 parliamentary year.

Salaries and allowances of parliamentarians.

These are set out in below. An electorate allowance is also paid at a rate dependent on the nature of each member's electorate, eg urban, rural, or semi-rural, and ranges from $7,600 to $18,600. A day allowance of $52 is payable where indicated for each day on which a member attends a sitting of Parliament or a committee, and a night allowance of up to $118 for each night a member requires overnight accommodation away from home by reason of such attendance. Instead of receiving night allowances for each night spent in Wellington on parliamentary business, a member may elect to receive a Wellington accommodation allowance to cover costs incurred in retaining or maintaining accommodation. The maximum amount that can be claimed in a period of six months is $6,500.

Table 3.5. PARLIAMENTARY AND MINISTERIAL SALARIES AND ALLOWANCES

 Annual salary or allowance payable from 1 July 1994*

Source: Clerk of the House of Representatives.

Salaries$
Members of the Executive 
Prime Minister181,500
Deputy Prime Minister138,500
Minister of the Crown with portfolio in Cabinet123,500
Minister of the Crown with portfolio outside Cabinet120,000
Minister of the Crown without portfolio97,000
Parliamentary Under-Secretary95,000
Officers of the House of Representatives 
Speaker123,500
Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees98,000
Deputy Chairman of Committees76,000
Leader and Deputy of the Opposition 
Leader of the Opposition123,500
Deputy Leader of the Opposition95,500
Whips 
Senior Government Whip84,500
Senior Opposition Whip84,500
Junior Government Whip80,000
Junior Opposition Whip80,000
Members of Parliament 
Member of Parliament71,000
Allowances— 
Prime Minister29,500
Deputy Prime Minister13,000
Minister of the Crown with portfolio12,000
Minister of the Crown without portfolio9,500
Parliamentary Under-Secretary9,500
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade (additional)6,000
Speaker—basic expenses allowance12,000
additional allowance8,500
Deputy Speaker or Chairman of Committees—basic expenses allowance9,500
additional allowance7,500
Deputy Chairman of Committees—basic expenses allowance6,200
additional allowance675
Leader of the Opposition—basic expenses allowance12,000
Deputy Leader of the Opposition—basic expenses allowance6,200
additional allowance4,800
Members—basic expenses allowance6,200

Members of Parliament.

shows the percentage of women Members of Parliament, and members of both sexes of various ages elected in the 1990 General Election compared to the voting population.

WOMEN IN PARLIAMENT

Beginning of parliamentary term

Table 3.6. PARLIAMENTARY REPRESENTATION

 Percentage of total Members of Parliament*Percentage of total voting, age population

* As at 1 January 1995.

1991 Census figures.

Source: Clerk of the House of Representatives.

Women21.251.4
Age groups, both sexes—  
18–29 years027.3
30–391321.4
40–495217.5
50–592712.3
60 years and over821.5

lists members of the House of Representatives during the 44th Parliament. The final results of the 1993 General Election were printed in the report The General Election (printed as Parl paper E9).

Table 3.7. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, FORTY-FOURTH PARLIAMENT

Prime Minister—Rt Hon JB Bolger.
Leader of the Opposition—Rt Hon Helen Clark.
Speaker—Hon PW Tapsell.
Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees—RJ Gerard.
Clerk of the House—DG McGee.
Member*Year of birthPrevious occupationElectorateParty

* Names are given in which individual members prefer to be addressed.

Government member.

Made Knight Bachelor 18 May 1994.

§ Restoration of title ‘Honourable’ announced 10 February 1994.

Resigned 18 July 1994.

ķ Elected in by-election 13 August 1994.

Source: Clerk of the House of Representatives.

Anderson, Robert†1936FarmerKaimaiNational
Anderton, Jim1938Company directorSydenhamAlliance
Austin, Hon Margaret1933TeacherYaldhurstLabour
Banks, Hon John†1946RestaurateurWhangareiNational
Barker, Rick1951Trade unionistHastingsLabour
Birch, Rt Hon WF†1934Consultant surveyor-engineerFranklinNational
Blincoe, John1952Research officerNelsonLabour
Bolger, Rt Hon JB†1935FarmerKing CountryNational
Bradford, Max†1942Secretary-General and consultantTaraweraNational
Braybrooke, Geoff1935Sales managerNapierLabour
Burdon, Hon Philipt1939Company directorFendaltonNational
Burton, Mark1956Community education organiserTongariroLabour
Carter, Christopher1952TeacherTe AtatuLabour
Carter, David†ķ1952Businessman/FarmerSelwynNational
Carter, John†1950Local government officerFar NorthNational
Caygill, Hon David1948Barrister and solicitorSt AlbansLabour
Clark, Rt Hon Helen1950University lecturerMt AlbertLabour
Cliffe, Hon Bruce†1946Managing directorNorth ShoreNational
Cooper, Hon Warren†1933MotelierOtagoNational
Creech, Hon Wyatt†1946AccountantWairarapaNational
Cullen, Hon Dr Michael1945University lecturerSt KildaLabour
Dalziel, Lianne1960Trade unionistChristchurch CentralLabour
Dunne, Hon Peter1954Deputy chief executive officerOnslow FutureNew Zealand
Duynhoven, Harry1955TeacherNew PlymouthLabour
Dyson, Ruth1957Employment consultantLytteltonLabour
East, Hon Paul†1946Barrister and solicitorRotoruaNational
Elder, Jack1949TeacherHendersonLabour
English, Bill†1961FarmerWallaceNational
Falloon, Hon John†1942Farm management consultantPahiatuaNational
Field, Phillip1952Trade unionistOtaraLabour
Fletcher, Chris†1955ManagerEdenNational
Gallagher, Martin1952Local authority memberHamilton WestLabour
Gardiner, Pauline†1947DirectorWellington-KaroriNational
Gerard, Jim†1937FarmerRangioraNational
Goff, Hon Phil1953University lecturerRoskillLabour
Graham, Hon DAM†1942Barrister and solicitorRemueraNational
Gray, Hon Sir Robin†‡§1931FarmerCluthaNational
Gresham, Hon Peter†1933AccountantWaitotaraNational
Hawkins, George1946TeacherManurewaLabour
Henare, Tau1961Advisory officerNorthern MaoriNZ First
Hilt, Peter†1942Company directorGlenfieldNational
Hodgson, Pete1950VeterinarianDunedin NorthLabour
Hunt, Rt Hon Jonathan1938TeacherNew LynnLabour
Keall, Judith1942ConsultantHorowhenuaLabour
Kelly, Graham1941Trade unionistPoriruaLabour
Kidd, Hon Doug†1941Barrister and solicitorMarlboroughNational
King, Hon Annette1945Chief executive officerMiramarLabour
Kyd, Warren†1939Barrister and solicitorHaurakiNational
Lange, Rt Hon David, CH1942Barrister and solicitorMangereLabour
Laws, Michael†1957Public relations consultantHawke's BayNational
Lee, Hon Graeme†§1935Company directorMatakanaNational
Lee, Sandra1952Local authority memberAuckland CentralAlliance
Luxton, Hon John†1946FarmerMatamataNational
Mackey, Janet1953Real estate agentGisborneLabour
McCardle, Peter†1951Public servantHeretaungaNational
McClay, Hon Roger†1945TeacherWaikaremoanaNational
McCully, Hon Murray†1953Public relations consultantEast Coast BaysNational
McKinnon, Rt Hon Don†1939Real estate agentAlbanyNational
McLauchlan, Joy†1948Executive officerWestern HuttNational
Maharey, Steve1953University lecturerPalmerston NorthLabour
Mallard, Trevor1954Executive assistantPencarrowLabour
Member*Year of birthPrevious occupationElectorateParty
Marshall, Hon Denis†1943Farmer and company directorRangitikeiNational
Matthewson, Hon Clive1944Civil engineerDunedin WestLabour
Maxwell, Hon Roger†1941FarmerTaranakiNational
Meurant, Ross†1947Police inspectorHobsonRight of Centre
Moore, Rt Hon Mike1949Freezing workerChristchurch NorthLabour
Neeson, Brian1945Real estate agentWaitakereNational
Neill, Alec†1950Barrister and solicitorWaitakiNational
Northey, Richard1945Adivsory officerOnehungaLabour
O’Connor, Damien1958Tourism operatorWest CoastLabour
O’Regan, Hon Katherine†1946FarmerWaipaNational
Peck, Mark1953Trade unionistInvercargillLabour
Peters, Winston§1945Barrister and solicitorTaurangaNZ First
Pettis, Jill1952Education administratorWanganuiLabour
Revell, Ian†1948Police officerBirkenheadNational
Richardson, Hon Ruth†§⋄1950Legal adviser/farmerSelwynNational
Robertson, Ross1949Industrial engineerPapatoetoeLabour
Robertson, John†1951AccountantPapakuraNational
Rogers, Trevor†1943ImporterHowickNational
Roy, Eric†1948FarmerAwaruaNational
Ryall, Tony†1964AccountantEastern Bay of PlentyNational
Shipley, Hon Jenny†1952FarmerRakaiaNational
Simich, Clem†1939General managerTamakiNational
Sinclair, Suzanne1946Tutor/Local authority memberTitirangiLabour
Smith, Hon Dr Lockwood†1948Managing directorKaiparaNational
Smith, Nick†1964EngineerTasmanNational
Sowry, Roger†1958Retail managerKapitiNational
Storey, Hon Rob†1936President of Federated FarmersWaikatoNational
Sutherland, Larry1951Trade unionistAvonLabour
Sutton, Hon Jim1941FarmerTimaruLabour
Swain, Paul1951Trade unionistEastern HuttLabour
Tapsell, Hon Peter1930Doctor of medicineEastern MaoriLabour
Tennet, Elizabeth1953Trade unionistIsland BayLabour
Tirikatene-Sullivan, Hon Whetu Marama1932Political scientistSouthern MaoriLabour
Tizard, Judith1956Electorate secretaryPanmureLabour
Upton, Hon Simon†1958Student/teacherRaglanNational
Wetere, Hon KT1935FarmerWestern MaoriLabour
White, Jill1941Local authority memberManawatuLabour
Williamson, Hon Maurice†1951Planning analystPakurangaNational
Yates, Dianne1943Education officerHamilton EastLabour

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. 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 party or parties with the confidence of 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 members of Parliament 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 have separate functions. All ministers are members of the Executive Council, but not all ministers are in Cabinet.

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 vehicle for law-making by the executive. The authority to make statutory regulations, for example, is delegated by Parliament to the Governor-General in Council.

The Cabinet is, in effect, the highest policy making body of Government. It is the main vehicle by which the executive decides on major policy issues and legislative proposals, and it co-ordinates the work of ministers. The Cabinet has a system of committees which can examine subjects in detail and recommend specific policy measures to Cabinet.

The proceedings of the Cabinet are informal and confidential, and decisions are usually made by consensus. By constitutional convention the Cabinet accepts collective responsibility for its decisions, which ensures that once a decision is made it will be publicly supported by all members of the Government. The Cabinet Office provides support services for the Cabinet and its committees. The current Secretary of the Cabinet is also the Clerk of the Executive Council.

Table 3.8. PREMIERS AND PRIME MINISTERS

Premier/Prime Minister* Term(s) of office

* Honours are specified only if held on retirement from office.

Premiers  
Henry Sewell 7 May 1856–20 May 1856
William Fox 20 May 1856–2 Jun 1856
  12 Jul 1861–6 Aug 1862
  28 Jun 1869–10 Sep 1872
  3 Mar 1873–8 Apr 1873
Edward William Stafford 2 Jun 1856–12 Jul 1861
  16 Oct 1865–28 Jun 1869
  10 Sep 1872–11 Oct 1872
Alfred Domett 6 Aug 1862–30 Oct 1863
Frederick Whitaker, MLC 30 Oct 1863–24 Nov 1864
  21 Apr 1882–25 Sep 1883
Frederick Aloysius Weld 24 Nov 1864–16 Oct 1865
George Marsden Waterhouse, MLC 11 Oct 1872–3 Mar 1873
Sir Julius Vogel, KCMG 8 Apr 1873–6 Jul 1875
  15 Feb 1876–1 Sep 1876
Daniel Pollen, MLC 6 Jul 1875–15 Feb 1876
  1 Sep 1876–13 Sep 1876
Sir Harry Albert Atkinson, KCMG 13 Sep 1876–13 Oct 1877
  (ministry reconstructed)
  25 Sep 1883–16 Aug 1884
  28 Aug 1884–3 Sep 1884
  8 Oct 1887–24 Jan 1891
Sir George Grey, KCB 13 Oct 1877–8 Oct 1879
John Hall 8 Oct 1879–21 Apr 1882
Sir Robert Stout, KCMG 16 Aug 1884–28 Aug 1884
  3 Sep 1884–8 Oct 1887
John BallanceLiberal24 Jan 1891–d 27 Apr 1893
Rt Hon Richard John SeddonLiberal1 May 1893–d 10 Jun 1906
Prime Ministers  
William Hall-JonesLiberal21 Jun 1906–6 Aug 1906
Rt Hon Sir Joseph George Ward, Bt, KCMGLiberal6 Aug 1906–28 Mar 1912
 United10 Dec 1928–28 May 1930
Thomas MacKenzieLiberal28 Mar 1912–10 Jul 1912
Rt Hon William Ferguson MasseyReform10 Jul 1912–12 Aug 1915
 National12 Aug 1919–d 10 May 1925
Sir Francis Henry Dillon Bell, GCMG, KC, MLCReform14 May 1925–30 May 1925
Rt Hon Joseph Gordon Coates, MCReform30 May 1925–10 Dec 1928
Rt Hon George William ForbesUnited28 May 1930–22 Sep 1931
 Coalition22 Sep 1931–6 Dec 1935
Rt Hon Michael Joseph SavageLabour6 Dec 1935–d 27 Mar 1940
Rt Hon Peter Fraser, CHLabour1 Apr 1940–13 Dec 1949
Rt Hon Sidney George Holland, CHNational13 Dec 1949–20 Sep 1957
Rt Hon Sir Keith Jacka Holyoake, GCMG, CHNational20 Sep 1957–12 Dec 1957
  12 Dec 1960–7 Feb 1972
Rt Hon Walter Nash, CHLabour12 Dec 1957–12 Dec 1960
Rt Hon John Ross Marshall (later Sir)National7 Feb 1972–8 Dec 1972
Rt Hon Norman Eric KirkLabour8 Dec 1973–d 31 Aug 1974
Rt Hon Wallace Edward Rowling (later Sir)Labour6 Sep 1974–12 Dec 1975
Rt Hon Sir Robert David Muldoon, GCMG, CHNational12 Dec 1975–26 Jul 1984
Rt Hon David Russell LangeLabour26 Jul 1984–8 Aug 1989
Rt Hon Geoffrey Winston Russell Palmer (later Sir)Labour8 Aug 1989–4 Sep 1990
Rt Hon Michael Kenneth MooreLabour4 Sep 1990–2 Nov 1990
Rt Hon James Brendan BolgerNational2 Nov 1990–2 Nov 1990

Table 3.9. NEW ZEALAND GOVERNMENT, AT 1 SEPTEMBER 1993

Source: Cabinet Office.

Governor-General
Her Excellency Dame Catherine Tizard, GCMG, DBE
Official Secretary: Hugo Judd
Executive Council

Membership of the Executive Council comprises all ministers with the Governor-General presiding. The Clerk of the Executive Council is Marie Shroff.

The Cabinet
Rt Hon Jim Bolger, Prime Minister.
Rt Hon Don McKinnon, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Minister of Pacific Island Affairs.
Rt Hon W F Birch, Minister of Finance.
Hon Paul East, Attorney-General, Minister of State Services.
Hon Jenny Shipley, Minister of Health, Minister of Women's Affairs.
Hon Doug Kidd, Minister of Labour, Minister of Fisheries, Minister of Energy.
Hon Philip Burdon, Minister of Commerce, Minister for State-owned Enterprises, Airways Corporation of NZ Ltd, Coal Corporation of NZ Ltd, Electricity Corporation of NZ Ltd, Forestry Corporation of New Zealand Ltd, GCS Ltd, Government Property Services Ltd, Land Corporation Ltd, Meteorological Service of New Zealand Ltd, New Zealand Forestry Corporation Ltd, New Zealand Post Ltd, New Zealand Railways Corporation, Timberlands West Coast Ltd, Works and Development Services Corporation (NZ) Ltd
Hon Simon Upton, Minister for the Environment, Minister of Research, Science and Technology, Minister for Crown Research Institutes.
Hon Dr. Lockwood Smith, Minister of Education.
Hon John Falloon, Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Forestry.
Hon Wyatt Creech, Minister of Employment, Minister of Revenue, Deputy Minister of Finance.
Hon Douglas Graham, Minister of Justice, Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control, Minister of Cultural Affairs.
Hon John Banks, Minister of Tourism, Minister for Sport, Fitness and Leisure, Minister of Local Government.
Hon Denis Marshall, Minister of Conservation, Minister of Lands.
Hon John Luxton, Minister of Maori Affairs, Minister of Police.
Hon Warren Cooper, Minister of Defence, Minister of Internal Affairs, Minister of Civil Defence.
Hon Maurice Williamson, Minister of Transport, Minister of Statistics, Minister of Communications, Minister of Broadcasting.
Hon Murray McCully, Minister of Housing, Minister of Customs.
Hon Denis Marshall, Minister of Lands, Minister of Survey and Land Information. Associate Minister of Agriculture, Associate Minister of Employment.
Hon Peter Gresham, Minister of Social Welfare, Minister for Senior Citizens.
Hon Bruce Cliffe, Minister for Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance.
Ministers outside Cabinet
Hon Sir Robin Gray, Minister of State, Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Hon Roger Maxwell, Minister of Immigration, Minister of Business Development.
Hon Roger McClay, Minister of Youth Affairs.
Hon Katherine O’Regan, Minister of Consumer Affairs.
Parliamentary Under-secretaries
Mr W J Kyd, Parliamentary Under-secretary to the: Minister of Commerce, Minister for Industry, Minister for State-owned Enterprises.
Mr A R Meurant, Parliamentary Under-secretary to the: Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Forestry.
Mr S W English, Parliamentary Under-secretary to the: Minister of Health, Minister for Crown Health Enterprises.
Other responsibilities
Ministers with other vote or statutory responsibilities are indicated below.
Rt Hon Jim Bolger, Minister in Charge of the New Zealand Intelligence Service.
Rt Hon Don McKinnon, Leader of the House.
Hon W F Birch, Government Superannuation Fund.
Hon Paul East, Minister for Crown Health Enterprises, Minister in Charge of the Audit Department, Serious Fraud Office.
Hon Philip Burdon, Minister for Industry, Minister for Trade Negotiations, Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Minister of Railways, Minister in Charge of Public Trust Office.
Hon Dr Lockwood Smith, Education Review Office, National Library.
Hon John Falloon, Minister for Racing.
Hon Douglas Graham, Minister in Charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations.
Hon Denis Marshall, Minister in Charge of the Valuation Department, Associate Minister of Agriculture, Associate Minister of Employment.
Hon John Luxton, Associate Minister of Education.
Hon Warren Cooper, Minister in Charge of War Pensions.
Hon Maurice Williamson, Minister for Information Technology, Associate Minister of Health.
Hon Murray McCully, Associate Minister of Tourism, Housing New Zealand, Housing Corporation.
Hon Bruce Cliffe, Associate Minister of Finance, Radio New Zealand Limited, Television New Zealand Limited.
Hon Roger Maxwell, Associate Minister of Employment.
Hon Roger McClay, Associate Minister of Education, Associate Minister of Social Welfare, Associate Minister of Pacific Island Affairs.
Hon Katherine O’Regan, Associate Minister of Health, Associate Minister of Social Welfare, Associate Minister of Women's Affairs.

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.

Table 3.1. VOTING PATTERNS: 1981–1993

YearElectors on Master RollValid votesInformal votesSpecial votes disallowedVotes cast to electors on Master Roll

Source: Department of Justice.

     
19812,034,7471,801,3038,99850,26391.44
19842,111,6511,929,2017,56542,03293.71
19872,114,6561,831,77711,18440,43389.06
19902,202,1571,824,09210,18042,84385.24
19932,321,6641,922,79611,36443,93285.20

Packaging up ballot boxes.

1992 ELECTORAL DISTRICTS - NORTH ISLAND

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. Only persons whose names are validly enrolled before an election are qualified to vote. Most electors cast their votes at polling booths in their electorates on polling day, but they may vote as special voters at booths outside their electorate. Special votes may also be cast before polling 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. 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. Statistics New Zealand 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.); and (b) some temporary residents of various kinds.

1992 ELECTORAL DISTRICTS - SOUTH ISLAND

The Representation Commission is responsible for defining the boundaries of electorates based on the population census. The commission has seven members. Four are officials, the Surveyor-General, the Government Statistician, the Chief Electoral Officer 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.

In determining the boundaries of the Maori electoral districts, the commission's membership is supplemented by the Chief Executive of the Ministry of Maori Development and two nominations from the House of Representatives (one each from the Government and the Opposition) and appointed by the Governor-General. These additional members to the commission must be Maori.

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.

Provisional boundaries are then settled, maps drawn up and the availability of boundary details announced in the New Zealand Gazette. Any objections and counter-objections to the

VOTER TURNOUT Percentage of enrolled electors voting at general elections

General Election year

Source: Department of Justice.

provisional electoral boundaries are then considered by the Representation Commission, which makes a final decision on the boundaries that define the new electoral districts.

General election results.

A triennial election of Members of Parliament was last held on 6 November 1993. The previous election was held on 27 October 1990. The total number of electors on the master roll for the 1993 election was 2,321,664. A total of 1,978,092 votes were cast, representing 85.2 percent of electors on the master roll.

Table 3.11. GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS

 Number of MPs 
Political party19841987*19901993

* Includes result of electoral petition which was upheld and saw the Wairarapa seat pass from Labour to National in July 1988.

Source: Department of Justice.

Alliance---2
Democrats2---
Labour56572945
National37406750
New Labour--1-
New Zealand First---2

Table 3.12. GENERAL ELECTIONS—VOTES FOR POLITICAL PARTIES

 Valid votesPercentage of total valid votes
Political party19841987*199019931984198719901993

Source: Department of Justice.

Alliance---350,064---18.21
Christian Heritage---38,749---2.02
Democrats147,162105,09130,455-7.635.741.67-
Green--124,915---6.85-
Labour829,154878,448640,915666,75942.9847.9635.1434.68
Mana Motuhake5,9899,78910,869-0.310.530.06-
National692,494806,305872,358673,89235.8944.0247.8235.05
New Labour--94,171---5.16-
New Zealand First---161,481---8.40
Other18,01726,83850,40931,8510.941.462.761.66
Total valid votes1,929,2011,831,7771,824,0921,922,796100.00100.00100.00100.00
Informal votes7,56511,18410,18011,364............
Total1,936,7661,842,9611,834,2721,934,160............

Table 3.13. SEATS CONTESTED BY POLITICAL PARTIES, 1993 GENERAL ELECTION

Political partySeats contested

Source: Department of Justice

Alliance99
Labour99
Christian Heritage98
National98
New Zealand First84
Natural Law76
McGillicuddy Serious64
Independent28
Political partySeats contested
New Zealand Defence Movement11
Unemployed Workers Rights8
Mana Maori5
Aotearoa Partnership2
Communist League2
Hard to Find Bookshop2
Real2
Others11
Total candidates689

General Licensing Poll. In 1990 the national triennial liquor licensing poll was abolished.

PARLIAMENTARY REPRESENTATION

Average number of votes cast per seat at general elections

Electoral referendum.

Following the referendum held in September 1992, a final referendum was held in conjunction with the 1993 General Election offering voters a choice between the mixed member proportional system and the current first past the post system (FPP). Of the 1,917,883 people who voted, 884,964 (46.14 percent) chose FPP and 1,032,919 (53.86 percent) chose MMP. The first MMP election is expected to be held in 1996.

Table 3.14. RESULTS OF ELECTORAL REFERENDUM POLL 1993

Voting issueVotesPercentage of vote

Source: Department of Justice.

First past the post884,96446.14
Mixed member proportional1,032,91953.86

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 or by the Governor-General in Council or the Administrator of the Government, 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 1980 conferred new rights to appear and be heard at an inquiry 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. In addition, any person who satisfies the commission that any evidence may adversely affect his or her interests has a right to be given an opportunity to be heard in respect of the matter. Usually such terms of reference for a commission are quite specific. 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 to his or her ministers. The reports are usually published.

3.3 State sector

The state sector exists to put the policies of the Government into effect. It comprises government departments, crown-owned entities, and state-owned enterprises.

At 30 June 1994 the number of staff employed in public service departments was 34,505—this compares with 36,040 a year earlier. Much of the decrease reflects transfers of functions and staff from a number of departments to the newly established Crown research institutes, and to other new Crown entities including regional health authorities and the Civil Aviation Authority, and transfers following the merger of the Traffic Safety Service of the Ministry of Transport with the New Zealand Police.

State sector reform

Since the mid-1980s the state sector has been substantially reformed and restructured. Until 1984 the business of the state was conducted by, and largely through, traditionally structured public service departments, which mixed policy, regulatory, service delivery and trading functions, supplemented by a few government-owned corporations, some of which also had mixed trading and regulatory functions. The public service was centrally managed through the State Services Commission, as employer of all departmental staff, and through the Treasury, as financial controller.

Government Buildings

Wellington's Government Buildings were planned and constructed during the 1870s when New Zealand was moving from the provincial style of administration to the central government structure of today.

The huge office block, generally accepted as the world's largest wooden public building, was built in 1875 and 1876 at the direction of Prime Minister Julius Vogel to accommodate the nation's new public service. Named the ‘Central Government Offices’ on the plans of architect William Henry Clayton, the buildings are a link with the development of New Zealand's government in the post-colonial settlement era.

The original tenders called for construction in wood or concrete, but lack of money and fears of another earthquake (similar to the one that struck Wellington in 1855) left wood as the preferred option. A tender from the construction firm of Scoular and Archibald of Ģ29,975 was accepted, but by the end of the job in 1876 cost overruns took this figure to Ģ39,703. There was no official opening, as the Government chose to avoid publishing a final cost of almost Ģ10,000 over the estimate. The offices were enlarged by the addition of wings in 1897 and 1907.

Almost 120 years after construction, the Department of Conservation has been given the task of preserving the Government Buildings as an essential part of the nation's heritage.

This is being done by a programme of restoration which by December 1995 will have returned the buildings to near 1907 condition—the year in which the final permanent extension to the north wing was complete. The principal contractors are the Wellington firm of McKee Fehl Constructors Limited, the principal architect is Works Consultancy Services, and Howard Tanner and Associates have been engaged as heritage and conservation consultants.

The restoration includes relevelling walls, floors and stairways, repairs or replacement of internal and external timbers that have suffered during almost 120 years of working life; strengthening walls and putting earthquake reinforcing into the internal brickwork that once enclosed the Treasury's bullion vaults and other government strongrooms; and countless intricate tasks, such as cleaning accumulations of old paint from exterior ornamental carvings. Jobs such as paint stripping are time-consuming as the restoration contract forbids the use of heat producing tools, such as blowtorches and gas welding plants owing to the risk of fire in the old timbers.

Throughout the restoration great care has been taken to ensure that original materials are restored in ways compatible with the original workmanship and, where the original materials have been lost or deteriorated beyond repair, replacements made to match the original. Examples of original work are held on the site so artisans can check new work for historical accuracy. Old kauri timbers salvaged from several derelict North Island freezing works have been milled to replace damaged internal woodwork; new roof spouting has been rolled to the old fashioned 19th century shape; and cast-iron internal pillars have been used in some of the old open-plan office accommodation to match with new castings in places where the open-plan style is being extended.

The buildings’ offices were originally designed to be heated by 160 fireplaces and these were stoked in winter by messengers carrying coal scuttles. The fireplaces were vented through 22 chimney stacks. However, major earthquakes in Murchison (1929) and Napier (1931) also shook Wellington and cracked brickwork in the chimneys. This led to their removal and the fireplaces being dismantled. Now, as part of the restoration, the roof level chimney pots are being replaced by replicas and new iron fireplaces cast to replace the originals—although the fireplaces will never be open for lighting.

The Government Buildings are an established Wellington landmark. The importance of the historic property as part of our national heritage is recognised by having the structure registered category ‘I’ under the Historic Places Act 1993, as a place of special or outstanding historical or cultural heritage, significance or value. The grounds around the buildings are also an historic reserve.

After the restoration the old building will be given a new future when the Victoria University law faculty takes up tenancy for the 1996 academic year. A measure of public access to the property will still be preserved in a way that is compatible with the requirements of the university.

ATL, Grant Government Buildings shortly after completion in the late 1870s. Land reclamations can be seen in the background.

THE PUBLIC SERVICE Ratio of male to female staff

In reforming the state sector, Government was guided by five principles.

  • The state should not be involved in any activities that would be more efficiently and effectively performed by the community or by private businesses.

  • Trading enterprises would operate most efficiently and effectively if structured very much along the lines of private sector businesses.

  • Departments would operate most efficiently and effectively with clearly specified and unambiguous functions.

  • Departmental managers would perform most effectively if made fully accountable for the efficient running of their organisations, without central control.

  • The costs of state activities should, as far as practicable, be fixed through real market factors: namely, that the quality, quantity and cost of products should be determined by the purchaser's requirements.

These broad principles were reflected in three important pieces of legislation:

  • The State Owned Enterprises Act 1986 provided the basis for converting the old trading departments and corporations (such as the Electricity Division and Mines Division of the Ministry of Energy, and the Postal Division and the Telecommunications Division of the New Zealand Post Office) into businesses along private sector lines.

  • The State Sector Act 1988 made departmental chief executives fully accountable for managing their organisations efficiently and effectively, and changed the role of the State Services Commission from employer and manager of the public service to employer of the chief executives. The commission is also the advisor to chief executives and government about management of the state sector.

  • The Public Finance Act 1989 changed the basis of state sector financial management from a focus on inputs (the costs of production) to focuses on outputs (the relevance and value of actual products) and on outcomes (the overall results of these outputs from the Government's point of view).

Against the background of this legislation, a great deal of work has been carried out over the last eight years on grouping the business activities of the public service and the state sector agencies more consistently. As a result of this process many departments disappeared, some were replaced by new agencies, others had their functions and size altered dramatically, while a few were converted into state-owned enterprises, some of which have since been sold.

The scale of the change can be best seen in the shape and size of the public service. When the reforms began there were only two departments with fewer than 100 staff; now there are 11 of that size. Ten years ago the service was dominated by a dozen quite large departments, including Works and Development, Forestry, Energy, Education, Housing, Inland Revenue, Social Welfare and Justice. Now half of the public service works in just the last three. When the reforms began nearly 88,000 people worked in the departments of the public service; in 1994 the figure was 34,505.

The new public service is characterised by relatively small departments with quite sharply defined policy advice, regulatory and sectorial funding functions.

The latest phase of restructuring in the state sector has seen the Ministry of Transport shed most of its regulatory functions to focus on policy advice, the Area Health Boards replaced by a new network of Regional Health Authorities and Crown Health Enterprises, and the Department of Health change in focus to become the Ministry of Health.

Policy changes

Government policy concerning state assets is to sell those it lacks reason to retain. The view of the Government is that public ownership of business enterprises does not provide the right incentives to manage such enterprises successfully. The sales of state assets is also a part of a fiscal strategy to reduce the level of public debt. Several state-owned enterprises and trading units of government departments have been sold. The Government is currently reviewing a number of state-owned enterprises for possible sale.

Widespread changes to the role of the Government in social policy are continuing. The goal of Government is that an integrated approach be taken to social policy to achieve consistency in housing, welfare, health, accident compensation and education. This includes:

  • Focusing social assistance on those in genuine need.

  • Making providers of social services more responsive to the needs of individuals and their families.

  • Providing services that the country can afford.

State Services Commissioner

The State Sector Act 1988 provides for a State Services Commission and for the positions of a State Services Commissioner and Deputy State Services Commissioner.

The commission is government's principal advisor on public sector organisational development and human resource management. The State Services Commissioner is responsible to the Minister of State Services for management of the State Services Commission. Both the commissioner and the deputy commissioner are, however, required to act independently in matters about individual employees, and in some aspects of the appointment and employment of departmental chief executives.

Artwork from the T’Arting Up Town exhibition.

The commissioner's principal functions relate to the Public Service. They include:

  • Recommending the most suitable candidates for chief executive appointments.

  • Reviewing the performance of departmental chief executives.

  • Developing chief executives and, in consultation with chief executives, developing public service senior managers.

  • Reporting to Government as directed on the implementation of its key policies.

  • Advising on industrial relations and personnel policies.

  • Advising on performance management, service-wide systems and organisational structures.

The commission also helps Government to manage major changes in the state sector. The State Sector Act enables the Prime Minister to direct the commissioner to undertake other tasks and assignments that might be required to assist the Government in the management of the State sector.

Equal employment opportunities.

Through the State Sector Act the commission is responsible for promoting, developing and monitoring Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) programmes in departments of the public service. The purpose of such programmes is defined in the Act as ‘...the identification and elimination of all aspects of policies, procedures and other institutional barriers that cause or perpetuate, or tend to cause or perpetuate inequality in respect to the employment of any persons or group of persons.’

Each department is required to develop and publish an annual EEO programme and to report to the commission about how well it has been able to implement the programme. The commission monitors progress and provides practical advice and support to departments to help them achieve their EEO objectives.

Table 3.15. CHIEF EXECUTIVES OF GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS*

DepartmentTitleName

* As at 1 March 1995.

The Controller and Auditor-General designate, D Macdonald, takes up the position in April 1995.

This new government department will come into existence on 1 July 1995.

§ The Chief Executive designate, RWG Blakely, takes up the position in April 1995.

On 1 October 1995 two new government departments will come into existence: Ministry of Justice and Department of Corrections.

Agriculture and Fisheries, Ministry ofDirector-GeneralR Ballard
Audit DepartmentActing Controller and Auditor-GeneralW Cameron†
Commerce, Ministry ofActing SecretaryK Smith
Conservation, Department ofDirector-GeneralWR Mansfield
Courts, Department forChief Executive designateW Bailey‡
Crown Law OfficeSolicitor-GeneralJJ McGrath QC
Cultural Affairs, Ministry ofChief ExecutiveCH Blake
CustomsComptrollerGW Ludlow
Defence, Ministry ofSecretaryGC Hensley
Education, Ministry ofChief ExecutiveML O’Rourke
Education Review OfficeChief ExecutiveJE Aitken
Environment, Ministry for theSecretaryRWG Blakeley
Fisheries, Ministry ofChief ExecutiveW Tuck‡
Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ministry ofSecretaryRF Nottage
Forestry, Ministry ofSecretaryJM Valentine
Government Superannuation FundChief ExecutiveR Evans
Health, Ministry ofActing Director-GeneralD Smyth
Housing, Ministry ofChief ExecutiveRG Laking
Inland Revenue DepartmentActing CommissionerG Holland
Internal Affairs, Department ofActing Chief ExecutiveR Stockdill§
Justice, Department of⋄SecretaryJ Belgrave
Labour, Department ofSecretaryJM Chetwin
Maori Development, Ministry ofChief ExecutiveHT Gardiner
National LibraryNational LibrarianPG Scott
Pacific Island AffairsChief ExecutiveA Rongo-Raea
Prime Minister and Cabinet, Department ofChief ExecutiveS Murdoch
Public Trust OfficePublic TrusteeDR Hutton
Research, Science and Technology, Ministry ofChief ExecutiveBV Walker
Serious Fraud OfficeChief ExecutiveC Sturt
Social Welfare, Department ofDirector-GeneralMC Bazley
State Services CommissionState Services CommissionerDK Hunn
Statistics New ZealandGovernment StatisticianLW Cook
Survey and Land Information, Department ofDirector-GeneralWA Robertson
Transport, Ministry ofSecretaryJO Stack
The TreasurySecretaryM Horn
Valuation New ZealandValuer-GeneralHF McDonald
Women's Affairs, Ministry ofActing SecretaryJ Lawrence
Youth Affairs, Office ofChief ExecutiveC Gibson

Functions of government departments

The functions of central government are under a continual process of review. The following account of departments was correct as at December 1994.

Agriculture and Fisheries, Ministry of.

(Te Manatū Ahuwhenua, Ahumoana.) The ministry provides policy advice to government designed to create a domestic and international environment favourable to the sustainable and productive use of New Zealand's agricultural and fisheries and resources. It also implements the Government's policies and programmes to derive maximum benefit to the nation from farming, horticulture and fishing.

MAF’s programmes aim to protect our competitive advantage as an export nation by monitoring animals, fish and plants, and preventing the introduction of exotic pests and diseases. Also, through quality assurance, it ensures that our export primary produce meets agreed standards. See chapter 18, Agriculture and section 19.3 Fisheries.

Audit Office.

See ‘Controller and Auditor-General’ below.

Ministry of Commerce.

(Te Manatū Tauhokohoko.) The ministry has advisory, programme and administrative functions in business development, competition policy, business and intellectual law, tariff policy, trade remedies, communications, regional development, energy and resources, consumer affairs and tourism.

The ministry services the portfolios of Commerce, Communications, Consumer Affairs, Energy, Tourism, Industry and Business Development.

Conservation, Department of.

(Te Papa Atawhai.) The department 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, world heritage areas, forest and farm parks, the coastal marine area (in partnership with regional councils) and marine reserves, the department is also the Government's advocate in conservation issues. See chapter 16 Land and environment.

Crown Law Office.

The Crown Law Office provides legal advice and representation to government and its ministers in matters affecting the Crown and government departments.

It has two primary aims. First, to ensure that the operations of executive Government are conducted lawfully. Second, to ensure that the Government is not prevented, through the legal process, from lawfully implementing its chosen policies.

The Solicitor-General, who is the chief executive of the Crown Law Office, performs most of the statutory and ex-officio duties of the Attorney-General 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 government itself, and contributes to protecting the legal interests and supporting the responsibilities of the Crown and its agencies, maintaining law and order, and serving the interests of justice in the community.

Cultural Affairs, Ministry of.

(Te Manatū Tikanga-ā-Iwi.) The aim of the ministry is to encourage the most efficient use of public resources to maximise understanding and appreciation of, access to and participation in New Zealand's culture, and to promote the enhancement of New Zealand's cultural identity. See chapter 12 Arts.

Customs Department.

(Te Mana Aral O Aotearoa). The department is the government's primary border management agency. It implements a range of government policies both as principal, and on an agency basis, within the context of customs, immigration and other border-related enactments. The department assists in the delivery of policies in respect of the Government's goals of a more competitive enterprise economy and increased participation in international trade. In carrying out its functions at the border, the department contributes to these goals, implementing appropriate programmes in co-operation with the business sector. See section 25.1 Administration and development.

The core business of the Customs Department is the management of the border, providing assistance and advice to industry (manufacturers, importers and exporters), and the preservation of the tax base in its revenue collection function.

Defence, Ministry of.

(Te Manatū Kaupapa Waonga.) The Ministry of Defence is the Government's principal source of advice on defence policy. It also carries out audits and assessments on the performance of the defence organisations and manages procurement projects which entail a significant change to New Zealand's defence capability. In many matters the ministry works jointly with the New Zealand Defence Force. See section 4.4 Defence.

Defence Force, New Zealand.

The primary purpose of the New Zealand Defence Force is to protect the sovereignty and advance the well-being of New Zealand by maintaining a level of armed forces sufficient to deal with small contingencies affecting New Zealand and its region, and be capable of contributing to collective efforts where our wider interests are involved. See section 4.4 Defence.

Education, Ministry of.

(Te Tāhuhu o te Matauranga.) The ministry is responsible for providing policy advice to the Minister of Education on all aspects of education from early childhood to tertiary; overseeing the implementation of approved policies and ensuring the optimum use of resources devoted to education. See chapter 9 Education.

Education Review Office.

(Te Tari Arotake Matauranga.) The overall purpose of the Education Review Office is to provide regular, independent, high quality evaluative reports for the Minister; the governing authorities and managers of schools and early childhood centres; and all those with an interest in the performance of the education sector and the educational achievements of learners.

Environment, Ministry for the.

(Te Manatū mō tē Taiao.) The role of the Ministry for the Environment is to provide policy advice to the Government that promotes sustainable management of the environment; and to encourage sustainable management of the environment through the administration of environmental statutes, advocacy, education and advice.

The Environment Act 1986 defines environment as encompassing ecosystems and their constituent parts, all natural and physical resources (including buildings and man-made structures), and the social, economic, aesthetic and cultural conditions which affect the environment or which are affected by changes to the environment.

To carry out its role, the ministry gathers information and may conduct and commission research necessary for formulating advice to the Government. It also provides the Government, its agencies, and other public authorities, with advice on: the application, operation, and effectiveness of legislation relevant to achieving the objectives of the Environment Act; procedures for assessing and monitoring environmental impacts; pollution control and the management of pollutants; identification and likelihood of natural hazards, and the reduction of their effects; and the control of hazardous substances, during the management of their manufacture, storage, transport, and disposal.

As well, the ministry works towards the resolution of conflicts relating to policies and proposals which may affect the environment. It also provides and disseminates information on environmental policies.

Besides the Environment Act 1986, the ministry administers the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act 1941, the Ozone Layer Protection Act 1990 and the Resource Management Act 1991, plus it also has responsibility for regulations made pursuant to the Resource Management Act. See section 16.2 Environmental and resource management.

Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ministry of.

(Te Manatū Aorere.) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade conducts the Government's business with foreign countries and their governments, and with international organisations.

It advises the Government on where New Zealand's advantage lies in relation to other countries. On behalf of the Government, it influences other governments in New Zealand's favour.

It looks at New Zealand's relations with other countries as a whole. It draws together the various aspects of New Zealand's national interests including relevant domestic interests to achieve most benefit for New Zealand in relation to the Government's security, political, trade and economic objectives.

Forestry, Ministry of.

(Te Manatū Ngāherehere.) The Government's forestry agency is responsible for facilitating the optimal contribution from forestry and forestry products for New Zealand's sustainable development and economic growth. This is achieved by providing information and advice to government; communicating and managing the implementation of government policies; representing government's interests in New Zealand and internationally; managing the Crown's interests and commitments; protecting New Zealand's forests and trees; and ensuring that authoritative information is available on the sector. See sections 19.1 and 19.2.

Government Superannuation Fund Department.

(Te Pūtea Penihana Kāwanatanga.) The function of the department is to provide professional management of superannuation schemes constituted under the Government Superannuation Fund Act 1956.

Health, Ministry of.

(Manatu Hauora.) The Ministry of Health is government's chief advisor and monitoring agent for health and disability support services. The principal functions of the ministry are: (a) strategic planning for the health and disability sector, including the overall direction of the health and disability sector, funding policy, advice on the purchase of health and disability support services by regional health authorities and the Public Health Commission, advice on the operating, legislative and regulatory environment for the health service and mechanisms for achieving safety, efficiency and effectiveness of service provision; (b) assessing national health needs, (c) sector oversight and co-ordination; (d) advising on health and disability policy; (e) specifying personal health and disability support; (f) administering health regulations negotiation; (g) funding service provision management and monitoring health; and (h) provision of national health information services. These roles are carried out to contribute to the outcomes for health sought by government. See chapter 8 Health and safety.

Housing, Ministry of.

(Te Whare, huru.) The ministry's main functions are the provision of: high quality and timely policy advice on housing to the Government; and efficient and effective tenancy bond and dispute resolution services across New Zealand. See section 22.4 Reform of housing assistance.

Housing Corporation.

(Te Kaporeihana Whare.) The corporation provides loan facilities to low income home-buyers.

Inland Revenue Department.

(Te Tari Taake.) The main function of the Inland Revenue Department is to assess and collect various taxes and duties. However, along with taxes such as income tax, goods and services tax, fringe benefit tax and resident withholding tax, Inland Revenue also collects accident compensation premiums on behalf of the Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Corporation. Inland Revenue also administers family support, child support, the guaranteed minimum family income scheme and student loan repayments.

Internal Affairs, Department of.

(Te Tari Taiwhenua.) The department delivers services relating to the nation's identity, heritage and administration of value to the Government and community. It provides services that: (a) protect and develop essential aspects of the nation's character, identity and heritage, including the public record and citizenship rights; (b) support the Crown and Government agencies, taking into account the provisions of the Treaty of Waitangi, and including the establishment and nurture of new agencies; (c) provide the link between central and local government; (d) help people to develop their communities; (e) safeguard the public interest in certain leisure activities; and (f) protect people against disaster, and promote fire and building safety.

Justice, Department of.

The department has a wide variety of functions including: administration of courts; registration of land transactions, births, deaths and marriages; containment of prisoners, supervision of people on community based sentences and parolees; law reform; commercial affairs (including administration of the companies legislation); 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 about 160 Acts of Parliament.

Labour, Department of.

(Te Tari Mahi) The principal responsibilities of the Department of Labour are to help unemployed job seekers into work through the provision of an employment service; to assist communities to identify and develop local employment initiatives; to ensure, through the work of its field staff, that workers are employed under safe and healthy working conditions; to administer labour legislation and service labour institutions; and to administer immigration legislation and policy, in particular by selecting migrants best able to benefit New Zealand. Among the most important legislation administered are the Employment Contracts Act 1991, the Health And Safety In Employment Act 1992 and the Immigration Act 1987.

Maori Development, Ministry of.

(Te Puni Kokiri.) Te Puni Kokiri was established on 1 January 1992, replacing Manatu Maori (Ministry of Maori Affairs) and Te Tira Ahu Iwi (Iwi Transition Agency) which, in turn, replaced the Department of Maori Affairs. Its role is to ensure Maori participate equally and fully in both public and private sectors by ensuring better access to resources.

Education, health, employment and asset management are key areas in which Te Puni Kokiri will support Maori endeavour and encourage excellence. Policy advice in these areas will focus on; (a) the design, target direction and delivery of appropriate services; (b) increasing effective access to an acceptable range of services; (c) raising the education, health and employment profiles of Maori; (d) creating business, social and community environments which welcome increased participation by Maori in partnership, programmes and services; and (e) maximising returns from Maori resources. There are 12 regional offices and six iwi provider contacts to assist iwi to access resources from government, private and voluntary sector agencies. See section 5.4 Maori society.

National Library of New Zealand

(Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa). The vision of the National Library is linking the peoples of New Zealand with information. The Library provides policy advice to the government on information availability and use in New Zealand. It collects, preserves and promotes current and historical knowledge of New Zealand and the Pacific; it improves the availability of, and access to, information through online services and resource-sharing between members of the library and information community.

National Provident Fund.

The National Provident Fund comprises 17 superannuation schemes and a global asset trust through which the schemes’ assets are managed. The superannuation schemes are provided to individuals, employees of private sector businesses, employees of local authorities, electrical supply authorities, Crown Health enterprises, and other governmental and quasi-governmental organisations. See section 24.3 Insurance and superannuation.

Pacific Island Affairs, Ministry of.

This small group advises the Minister of Pacific Island Affairs, while providing administrative back-up and co-ordination of the above council and other programmes. The ministry establishes and maintains liaison with and between Pacific Island communities in New Zealand and government agencies; monitors, reports and promotes issues related to the communities; and is developing a resource base on Pacific Island matters. See section 6.5 Pacific Island Polynesian population.

Police, New Zealand.

(Ngā Pirihimana o Aotearoa). The mission of the police is to serve the community by reducing the incidence and effects of crime, detecting and apprehending offenders, maintaining law and order and enhancing public safety. The police value statement provides that the New Zealand Police will: maintain the highest level of integrity and professionalism; respect individual rights and freedoms; consult with, and be responsive to, the needs of the community; uphold the rule of law; consult with, and be responsive to, the needs, welfare and aspirations of all police staff; and be culturally sensitive. The New Zealand Police is a state agency. See section 10.4 Police.

Prime Minister and Cabinet, Department of the.

The department provides advice to the Prime Minister on policy, constitutional and administrative issues and provides secretariat support to the Executive Council and Cabinet. It provides support services to the Governor-General and manages the Governor-General's residences. Through the External Assessments Bureau it provides intelligence assessments to the Government on developments overseas.

The department contributes to the effective co-ordination of government across departmental lines, tests the quality of advice coming from departments and acts as an ‘honest broker’ where there are conflicts over policy advice being offered by different parts of the public sector.

The department from time to time undertakes special operational functions. Its major tasks for 1994–95 are continuing the operation of the Crime Prevention Unit and of the Employment Taskforce. See section 3.2 Parliament and the Cabinet.

Public Trust Office, The.

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 income earning.

Research, Science and Technology, Ministry of.

(Te Manatū Putaiao.) Established in October 1989, the ministry's primary role is to provide advice to government on the overall policy framework, priorities and funding for research, science and technology. It is also responsible for gathering and disseminating statistics and descriptive information on research, science and technology activities and for administering government-to-government science relations. The Office of the Chief Scientist is also based in the ministry and plays an important role in ensuring the provision of technical input into government policy development. See section 15.1 Organisation of science.

Serious Fraud Office.

The Serious Fraud Office, which became operational on 26 March 1990, is primarily an operational department whose role is to detect and investigate cases of serious or complex fraud and expeditiously prosecute offenders. Based in Auckland, the office is the only government department to have its Head Office outside Wellington. See section 24.2, Commercial framework.

Social Welfare, Department of.

(Te Tari Toko i te Ora.) The principal functions of the Department of Social Welfare are: (a) to administer Parts I and III of the Social Security Act 1964, the Social Welfare (Transitional Provisions) Act 1990, the Disabled Persons Community Welfare Act 1975, the Children Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989, and the War Pensions Act 1954; (b) to advise the minister on the Development of Social Welfare Policies for New Zealand; (c) to provide such welfare services as the Government may from time to time require: (d) to maintain close liaison with and encourage co-operation and co-ordination among any organisations and individuals (including departments of state and other agencies of the Crown) engaged in social welfare activities; (e) to undertake and promote research into aspects of social welfare; (f) to provide such administrative services as the minister may from time to time direct to such boards, councils, committees, and agencies as he or she may direct; (g) to receive and disburse maintenance payments and enforce arrears in payments due under maintenance orders and registered agreements prior to the Child Support Act 1991 coming into force; and (h) under the Civil Defence Welfare Plan, in time of disaster—to make relief payments authorised by government to the homeless, and—to make payments authorised by government for hosts for billeting evacuees from a disaster area.

State Services Commission.

(Te Kömihana o ngā Tari Kāwanatanga.) See ‘State Services Commissioner’ above.

Statistics New Zealand.

(Te Tari Tatau.) 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.

Survey and Land Information, Department of.

(Te Puna Kōrero Whenua.) The department is the principal government (civil and military) survey and mapping, and land information agency. Through the Office of Crown Lands the department is also the government's principal Crown land administering agency. The department's 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, environmental planning of land, and a graphic support for the electoral system.

The main Acts administered by the department are the Survey Act 1986, Public Works Act 1981, Land Settlement Promotion and Land Acquisition Act 1952, Land Act 1948, the New Zealand Geographic Board Act 1946 and Crown Grants Act 1908. In addition in excess of 50 other statutes empower the department with specific responsibilities for land transactions. Proposals for the Reserves and Other Lands Disposal Bill are also collated by the department. See section 16.1 Land resources and ownership.

Tourism Board, New Zealand.

The board's role is to ensure New Zealand is developed and marketed competitively as a tourist destination to maximise the long term benefits to New Zealand. Its main functions are to market and promote New Zealand's tourism development and initiate programmes to foster this development; administer jointly-funded public and private sector marketing programmes; and undertake research of visitor arrivals, overseas tourism markets and regional tourism. The New Zealand Tourism Board is headed by a nine member private sector executive board appointed by the Minister of Tourism. The board has 15 overseas marketing offices and four regional offices in New Zealand. See Section 13.6 Leisure.

Trade Development Board (Tradenz), New Zealand.

The role of Tradenz is to help New Zealand business increase foreign exchange earnings. Tradenz does this by working with New Zealand exporters to identify and capitalise on market opportunities and by improving companies’ ability to compete profitably overseas.

Transport, Ministry of.

(Te Manatū Waka.) The Ministry of Transport promotes safe and sustainable transport at reasonable cost. The ministry is responsible for administering about 20 principal Acts including the Civil Aviation Act, the Shipping and Seamen Act and the Transport Act.

The core department's functions are largely policy oriented—ensuring that the Government receives high quality advice and information relating to the promotion of safe, sustainable transport at reasonable cost. As the Minister of Transport's agent, the ministry plays an important role in negotiating and monitoring contracts with the stand alone Civil Aviation Maritime Safety and Land Transport Safety Authorities. It also monitors the Government's contract on severe weather warnings with MetService New Zealand Limited and manages the Land Transport Fund. Development of any legislation for the transport sector is the ministry's responsibility. The other significant function of the ministry is to formulate and implement policies relating to domestic and international air transport, other than safety matters. It also advises government in relation to the Crown's interests in airport companies and joint venture airports operated in partnership with local authorities.

Treasury, The.

This department manages the Crown's finances and provides the Government with economic and financial advice from a broad perspective. Its roles include: providing economic, financial and commercial advice and information; implementing specific economic and financial policies; providing financial information on the operation of Government; accounting for the revenue and expenses of the Crown; managing the Crown's public debt and Treasury-managed financial assets; contributing to public understanding of economic and financial matters in a manner consistent with current constitutional conventions; and performing an actuarial role in regulating and providing to the Government actuarial advice on life insurance, superannuation and related industries. The department is organised into seven branches and includes the Government Actuary's Office.

Valuation New Zealand.

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. Since 1988 the department has introduced a three-yearly cycle. Between the three 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, 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 house and rural 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. See section 16.1 Land resources and ownership.

Women's Affairs, Ministry of.

(Te Minitatanga mō ngā Wāhine.) The ministry is the Government's primary adviser on public policy issues which affect women. The purpose of the ministry is to assist the Government to achieve for women, and especially for Maori women as tangata whenua, a society in which: women have opportunity and choice in all aspects of their lives; women fulfil their aims and aspirations; women fully and actively participate; women have adequate resources of their own; women do not face discrimination; and women's status improves. See section 6.3 Human rights, immigration and citizenship.

Youth Affairs, Ministry of.

(Te Tari Taiohi.) This ministry was established to represent the youth of New Zealand; to ensure that the concerns of the young people (defined as people from the ages of 12 to 25) of New Zealand are heard by the makers of policies, services and legislation, and to allow young people to make a contribution to the cultural, social and economic development of this country.

The ministry works through three main areas; policy advice to the Minister of Youth Affairs and Government, liaison services gathering input from young people and youth networking, and administering the Conservation Corps programme, which provides young people with opportunities for employment, training and personal development through conservation activities of benefit to local communities.

Non-departmental public bodies

Crown-owned entities.

These are organisations (in some cases statutory officers) that while not departments of the public service or state-owned enterprises, belong to the Crown. They are named in a schedule to the Public Finance Act 1989. Some well-known Crown entities are the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Human Rights Commission and the New Zealand Fire Service Commission.

State-owned enterprises.

State-owned enterprises are companies established by the Government to manage its trading activities. The principle objective of every state-owned enterprise is to operate as a successful business and, to this end, to be:

  • As profitable and efficient as comparable businesses that are not owned by the Crown.

  • A good employer.

CCMAU

The increasing number and diversity of limited liability companies owned by the Crown has led it to establish the Crown Company Monitoring Advisory Unit (CCMAU) as a centre of expertise in the monitoring of these entities. CCMAU advises and supports, primarily:

  • Minister for State-owned Enterprises.

  • Minister for Crown Research Institutes.

  • Minister for Crown Health Enterprises.

The shareholding ministers of other Crown companies (Housing New Zealand, Television New Zealand, Radio New Zealand, Animal Control Products, Learning Media and the airport companies) receive advice from the unit in their role as monitors of the Crown's ownership interest, as does the Minister of Finance, who as a shareholding minister receives unit advice via the responsible minister and in joint reports from the unit and the Treasury.

CCMAU was established on 1 July 1993 from its predecessor organisations the State-owned Enterprises Advisory Unit and the Crown Research Institutes Implementation Steering Committee. On 1 October 1993 it incorporated the Crown Health Enterprise Establishment Unit.

CCMAU’s mission is ‘to provide high quality advice that enables the shareholding ministers to hold boards of Crown companies accountable for their performance in enhancing shareholder value and meeting the other objectives and requirements of the empowering acts.’

One of the unit's chief functions is the provision of advice on management issues relating to the:

  • Performance of Crown companies against their objectives and associated statement of corporate intent/statement of intent targets (including market, financial, investment and enterprise-specific objectives) and the appropriateness of those objectives and targets.

  • Strategic direction of Crown companies.

  • Risks associated with Crown ownership.

  • Selection, appointment and assessment of directors to Crown company boards.

  • Proposals to establish and restructure Crown companies.

  • Process and outcome of Crown companies divestments.

  • Responsibilities of shareholding ministers under the relevant legislation.

Other functions include the completion of the implementation of science and technology reforms and the delivery of health care reforms; and the provision of administrative support, including:

  • Analytical and administrative support for external advisors.

  • Facilitation of information flows between the shareholding ministers and Crown company boards.

  • Co-ordination of the Crown company monitoring regime, including operating processes and facilitating the contribution of advice by other advisors.

The unit, while independent for advice purposes, is attached to the Treasury for administrative purposes. Its chief executive officer is accountable to the Minister of Finance, through the Secretary of the Treasury, for management of the unit, and appointment, remuneration and performance of staff.

The chief executive is responsible to the ministers for State–owned Enterprises, Crown Research Institutes and Crown Health Enterprises (and other shareholding ministers) for the provision of the agreed outputs.

In the 1994/95 estimate the unit was appropriated the following amounts:

Vote$(million)
Vote: Crown Research Institutes$1.301m
Vote: State-owned Enterprises$1.319m
Vote: Crown Health Enterprises$2.660m
     Total$5.280m

Some of the principal issues for units advice are:

  • The need for advice from a commercial perspective to assist ministerial decision-making in relation to Crown companies.

  • Issues of shareholder and director accountability.

  • Changes in information management and monitoring methodologies.

  • The long-term creation of shareholder value.

  • Pressures from Crown companies to expand or change their activities and, as a consequence, changing the Crown's ownership risk profile.

  • An organisation that exhibits a sense of social responsibility by having regard to the interests of the community in which it operates and by endeavouring to accommodate or encourage these when able to do so.

An annual statement of intent is signed between the shareholding government ministers and the board of directors of the respective state-owned enterprise. Performance of the enterprise is monitored against this statement.

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

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. The position is independent of the executive government and only the Governor-General, upon an address from the House of Representatives, can end the tenure. The Controller and Auditor-General and the persons acting under his or her delegation are collectively called ‘the Audit Office’. The Government has announced its intention to introduce legislation to establish the Auditor-General as an officer of Parliament.

The constitutionally important role of the Audit Office, as set out in the Public Finance Act, is to act as a monitor on behalf of Parliament and to control issues of money out of the Crown Bank Account. The Audit Office has to be satisfied that all issues from the Crown Bank Account for 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.

The Audit Office audits the financial statements of government departments, local authorities, and most government-controlled corporations, boards and companies. The office plays a key part in the accountability by these organisations. It also conducts periodic reviews of financial control systems, selected programmes or operations to ascertain whether resources have been applied effectively and efficiently in a manner consistent with the policies of the governing bodies.

Considerable emphasis is placed on reporting the results of this work. The most visible results are their financial audit reports tabled in Parliament each year.

If shortcomings are discovered during an audit, the principal recourse of the Audit Office is to report to the management of the organisation, to a minister, or to Parliament and its select committees. If there is a deficiency in money or stores, the Auditor-General has the power to surcharge the persons involved to recover the amount. This power is rarely used.

The Controller and Auditor-General uses a mix of his own staff and chartered accounting firms to carry out individual audits in accordance with requirements laid down by him. Approximately 75 percent of the audits are currently tendered out on a competitive basis between private sector firms and the operational arm of the Audit Office.

Official information

The Official Information Act 1982 is based on the principle that information shall be made available unless there is good reason for withholding it. The purposes of the Act are to:

  • Increase the availability of official information to the people of New Zealand.

  • Provide for proper access by bodies corporate to official information relating to themselves (access by individuals to information relating to them is now governed by the Privacy Act 1993).

  • Protect official information consistent with the public interest and the preservation of individual privacy.

With the exception of the Parliamentary Counsel Service, the Official Information Act covers all government departments, state-owned enterprises, and a range of statutory bodies. It does not include courts, tribunals (in relation to their judicial function), or some judicial bodies. All local authorities and statutory boards are covered under either the Official Information Act 1982 or the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987.

These Acts provide special rights of access by bodies corporate to personal information about themselves. Access by individuals to information about themselves is now governed by the Privacy Act. The definition of ‘person’ includes a corporation sole and a body of persons whether corporate or unincorporate. Therefore, requests for access to official information can be made by such bodies. The protection of the privacy of natural persons is an important issue. However, this consideration may be overturned if it is in the public interest to make the information available.

Among the criteria to be considered, when judging whether information should be withheld, are that if the information is released will it prejudice the security, defence, or economic international relations of New Zealand; the maintenance of law and order; the effective conduct of public affairs; trade secrets and commercial sensitivity; personal privacy and the safety of any person.

Ombudsmen can review a decision to refuse information; the investigation is private and free of charge. The formal recommendation of an Ombudsman is binding unless overridden by the Governor-General by Order in Council.

An information guide concerning access to personal and official information is available from the Department of Justice. In order to provide sufficient data to ease the identification of material and assist in the lodging of requests, reference can be made to the Directory of Official Information. Published every two years, the Directory is a comprehensive guide to all the organisations covered by the Act including their structure, functions, policies, documents held, contact officers and other listings which facilitate the access of information.

Ombudsmen

The principal function of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Investigations (Ombudsman) is to enquire into complaints relating to administrative decisions of government departments and related organisations, Crown health enterprises and regional health authorities. Under the Ombudsmen Act 1975 there is provision for the appointment of a Chief Ombudsman and one or more ombudsmen, in either temporary or permanent positions.

All investigations undertaken by ombudsmen are conducted in private. When an ombudsman believes a complaint can be sustained, this opinion is reported to the government department or organisation concerned along with any recommendation for action. A copy of this report is also made available to the responsible minister. At the local government level, the ombudsman reports the finding to the organisation, and provides a copy of his report to the mayor or chairperson.

Ombudsmen also investigate recommendations made to a minister by any government department, organisation or employee. Similarly, they look into any recommendations made to a full council or board of a local organisation by any committee, sub-committee, officer, employee, or member. It is also the responsibility of the Ombudsmen to investigate any complaints on decisions for the request of official information.

Ombudsmen have no authority to investigate complaints against private companies and individuals, decisions of judges, complaints directed at ministerial decisions, or at the full council of local government. They can also decide that certain complaints, although within their sphere, are better suited to other available avenues of administrative redress.

Table 3.16. COMPLAINTS TO THE OMBUDSMEN, 1993–94*

Action on complaintOmbudsmen Act 1975Official Information Act 1982Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987

* Year ended 30 June.

Source: Office of the Ombudsmen.

Declined, no jurisdiction131201
Declined or discontinued section 17849866
Resolved in course of investigation27828966
Resolved informally10815413
Sustained recommendation made16133
Sustained, no recommendation made3911-
Not sustained23819216
Formal investigation not undertaken, explanation, advice, or assistance given52511724
Still under investigation as at 30 June40228633
Total2,5861,168162

Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment

This parliamentary office was established in 1987 as part of the restructuring of the government's administration of the environment.

The Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (Te Kaitiaki Taiao a Te Whare Paremata) was also created in response to significant public demands for an independent authority to review and publicly report on the environmental effects of central and local government works and policies.

Authority for the appointment of the commissioner and the functions, powers and duties exercised by the commissioner are set out in the Environment Act 1986. Commissioner appointments are made by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the House of Representatives. The term of appointment is five years.

The principal functions of the commissioner comprise:

  • Reviews of the government systems established to manage the allocation, use and protection of natural and physical resources.

  • Investigations into the effectiveness of public authority environmental planning and management and other matters where there is considered to be significant actual or potential harm to the environment.

The commissioner is also responsible for carrying out inquiries requested by the House of Representatives and for providing reports on proposed legislation, petitions and other matters of environmental significance under consideration by the House. The commissioner's reports of investigations are published, the House advised of findings and advice is given to public authorities on ways to improve environmental management. With the exception of requests and directions made by the House of Representatives, the commissioner has the discretion to determine which reviews and investigations are conducted.

The Environment Act sets out matters for the commissioner to consider when exercising the functions of the office. The matters are diverse, including the maintenance and restoration of important ecosystems, the protection of the heritage of the tangata whenua, the prevention of pollution and the effects on communities of actual or proposed changes to natural and physical resources.

Table 3.17. REPORTS AND PAPERS BY THE COMMISSIONER 1993–94

Source: Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.

Investigation reports64
Information transfer papers256
Total316

3.4 Local government

New Zealand has a system of local government that is largely independent of the central executive government. It has, however, a subordinate role in the constitution as the powers of local authorities are only those conferred by Parliament.

Local authorities fall into three categories: regional, territorial and special purpose authorities. Many territorial authorities contain one or more communities administered by community boards, but these are not separate local authorities. The Local Government Act 1974 is the statute constituting regional councils and territorial authorities. Their boundaries are usually defined by the Local Government Commission. They have their own sources of income independent of central government, and the basic source of income (apart from the income of trading activities under the control of territorial authorities) is local taxes on landed property (rates). Rates are set by the local authorities themselves, subject to the Rating Powers Act 1988. The six special purpose authorities are constituted under their own Acts.

Several important statutes apply not only to local authorities as defined in the Local Government Act, but to a wider range of public bodies. These include: the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956; the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987; the Local Authorities (Members’ Interests) Act 1968; and the Local Elections and Polls Act 1976.

Local authorities derive their functions and powers not only from the local government legislation as such, but from numerous other Acts, such as the Resource Management Act 1991, the Transit New Zealand Act 1989, and the Building Act 1991.

Under Parliamentary Standing Orders, local authorities can promote legislation about matters affecting areas within their jurisdiction which they are not empowered to deal with already. Where permanent or major additional powers are sought, a local bill must be prepared for the consideration of Parliament. If this is enacted it becomes a local Act, and applies only to the body or bodies which promoted it.

Local authorities are answerable above all to their electorates, through triennial general elections. Legislation includes numerous provisions for local authorities to give public notice and receive public submissions before making certain important decisions. The Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 promotes open conduct of local authority meetings and sets out rights of access to official information. Local authorities may also come under the scrutiny of the Ombudsman, the Controller and Auditor-General and the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.

Under a 1992 amendment, the Minister of Local Government may appoint a review authority, where it is considered there has been serious mismanagement, and may require the local authority to implement the review authority's recommendations. Any decision by a local authority may be reviewed by appeal to the High Court, and decisions under the Resource Management Act 1991 may be appealed to the Planning Tribunal.

Local government organisation

The structure of local government was thoroughly reorganised in 1989. There are now:

  • 12 regional councils.

  • 74 territorial authorities.

  • 154 community boards.

  • 6 special authorities.

In 1989 a statement on the purposes of local government was included in the Local Government Act 1974. This holds as central the recognition of the existence of different communities in New Zealand, and their separate identities and values; and the effective participation of local persons in local government. Also included was an accountability scheme, whereby local authorities are required to conduct their affairs in an open and proper manner, separate their regulatory and non-regulatory activities, and adequately inform local communities of their activities. Emphasis was placed on setting objectives and measuring performance.

Local authorities are encouraged to corporatise or privatise their trading activities (aside from airports, seaports and energy supply operations which are covered by separate legislation). The Act requires territorial authorities to corporatise or establish as a business unit any of their operations carrying out subsidised road construction work and corporatise any public transport undertaking. Local authorities are required to consider putting out the delivery of all services to competitive tender.

Taking it to the motorways: Auckland mayors petitioning commuters.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOUNDARIES - NORTH ISLAND

With effect from 1 July 1992

LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOUNDARIES - SOUTH ISLAND

With effect from 1 July 1992

Regional councils

The regional councils are directly elected, set their own rates and have a chairperson elected by their members. Their main functions are:

  • The functions under the Resource Management Act.

  • The functions under the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act.

  • Control of pests and noxious plants.

  • Harbour regulations and marine pollution control.

  • Regional aspects of civil defence.

  • Overview transport planning.

  • Control of passenger transport operators.

Some regional councils also have other functions, such as those formerly undertaken by land drainage boards.

In 1989 regional councils in Auckland and Wellington inherited a number of public utilities and trading activities: in Auckland trunk sewerage, bulk water supply, rubbish disposal, buses, forestry, regional parks and regional roads; in Wellington bulk water supply, forestry and regional parks.

In 1992 the law governing regional councils was extensively amended to clarify the role of regional councils as regulatory authorities concerned with resource management and related functions, including public passenger transport planning in Auckland and Wellington. The differentiation between regional councils and territorial authorities is not so much hierarchical as functional, with the range of regional council functions being limited.

Also in 1992 the various operational services of the Auckland Regional Council were transferred to a new body, the Auckland Regional Services Trust. However, Auckland and Wellington regional councils both retain administration of regional parks and reserves.

The Nelson-Marlborough Regional Council was abolished from 1 July 1992 and its functions transferred to the territorial authorities of Marlborough District, Tasman District and Nelson City.

Territorial authorities.

The 74 regional authorities consist of:

  • 15 city councils.

  • 58 district councils.

  • 1 county council (Chatham Islands).

Table 3.18. REGIONAL COUNCILS

RegionCouncil members*

* As from October 1992 elections.

Source: Department of Internal Affairs.

North Island 
Northland8
Auckland13
Waikato13
Bay of Plenty11
Hawke's Bay9
Taranaki10
Manawatu-Wanganui11
Wellington14
RegionCouncil members*
South Island 
West Coast6
Canterbury13
Otago11
Southland11

Territorial authorities in New Zealand are directly elected, set their own rates, and have a mayor elected by the people. They have a wide range of functions including land use consents under the Resource Management Act 1991, noise control, litter control; roading; water supply; sewage reticulation and disposal; rubbish collection and disposal; parks and reserves; libraries; land subdivision; pensioner housing, health inspection; building consent; parking controls; and civil defence.

In 1992 it was made easier for new districts to be established on the initiative of local people, in part by reducing the minimum size of new districts (from 20,000 to 10,000).

New cities can now only be constituted by a re-organisation scheme where a new district is formed and that district:

  • Has a population of at least 50,000.

  • Is predominantly urban.

  • Is a distinct entity and a major centre of activity within the region.

Unitary authorities.

This type of authority is administered by a territorial authority, which also has regional powers. The 1989 reform legislation prevented any unitary authorities being established other than in Gisborne. However, the 1992 amendment not only created three more unitary authorities (Marlborough District, Tasman District and Nelson City) but made it possible for others to be created through local initiatives.

Table 3.19. TERRITORIAL AUTHORITIES

Cities/districtsCouncil members*

* Includes mayors.

Unitary authority.

Source: Department of Internal Affairs.

North Island 
North Shore City19
Waitakere City17
Auckland City25
Manukau City25
Hamilton City14
Napier City13
Palmerston North City16
Porirua City14
Upper Hutt City11
Hutt City16
Wellington City22
Far North District14
Whangarei District14
Kaipara District11
Rodney District12
Papakura District13
Franklin District15
Waikato District15
Waipa District13
Otorohanga District8
Waitomo District11
Thames-Coromandel District10
Hauraki District13
Matamata-Piako District13
South Waikato District15
Taupo District13
Tauranga District15
Western Bay of Plenty District13
Rotorua District13
Whakatane District16
Kawerau District11
Opotiki District11
Gisborne District†17
Wairoa District10
Hastings District15
Central Hawke's Bay District13
New Plymouth District13
New Plymouth District17
Stratford District11
Cities/districtsCouncil members*
South Taranaki District13
Ruapehu District15
Wanganui District15
Rangitikei District12
Manawatu District14
Horowhenua District13
Tararua District13
Kapiti Coast District15
Masterton District12
Carterton District12
South Wairarapa District11
South Island 
Nelson City†13
Christchurch City25
Dunedin City19
Invercargill City13
Tasman District†14
Marlborough District†14
Kaikoura District8
Buller District12
Grey District8
Westland District13
Hurunui District10
Waimakariri District15
Selwyn District14
Banks Peninsula District10
Ashburton District13
Timaru District13
Mackenzie District11
Waimate District14
Waitaki District16
Queenstown16
Central Otago District16
Clutha District16
Southland District15
Gore District12
Chatham Islands County8

Community boards

A community board is primarily an advocate for its community, and a means whereby the territorial authority can consult with the community. Any power the community board has is as delegated by the territorial authority, but cannot include such powers as levying rates, appointing staff, or owning property.

Community boards may be partly elected by the community and partly appointed by the territorial authority from among its own members, or may be entirely elected. Community boards can be established anywhere in New Zealand to serve any number of inhabitants, they

Waving not drowning—the Wellington Aquatic Centre emptied for its five-yearly maintenance check.

may be established upon the initiative either of a given number of electors or of the territorial authority, or as provided in a re-organisation scheme. Community boundaries often coincide with those of wards (divisions of the district for electoral purposes). These boards have between four and 12 members each.

Special purpose local authorities

In 1989 the number of special purpose local authorities was greatly reduced. Catchment boards, harbour boards, pest destruction boards and land drainage boards (among others) disappeared, with their functions reallocated either to regional councils or, to a lesser extent, to territorial authorities. The categories remaining include: scenic and recreation boards, airport authorities and, for the time being, area health boards, hospital boards and electric power boards. There are also a few one off authorities including: the Aotea Centre Board of Management; the Canterbury Museum Trust Board; the Council of the Auckland Institute and Museum; the Marlborough Forestry Corporation; the Otago Museum Trust Board; and the Selwyn Plantation Board.

Auckland Regional Services Trust.

This is a local authority unique to the Auckland region which has been established to assume ownership of the Auckland Regional Council's service-delivery activities and community assets. It is charged with disposing of those assets as soon as it is prudent to do so, except for bulk water and sewerage (which must not be sold) and applying proceeds to the retirement of debt.

The trust's first election was in October 1992. Its six members are elected by the regions electors. Local authority members and employees are prohibited from being trust members or directors of its companies and trust members may not be directors of those companies either.

The trust is funded by trading income, with any deficit up to 1995 to be met by the Auckland Regional Council. From 1995 the trust is expected to be self-sufficient. Surplus monies may be applied at the trust's discretion to a separate “community trust” (under the Trustee Act 1956), which the trust is required to establish by the time it starts making a surplus. The community trust will distribute its funds for charitable and other public purposes.

Local government elections and membership

Local government elections are held on the second Saturday in October every third year. The next elections will be held in 1995. All regional council, territorial authority, special purpose local authority and community board elections are conducted at the same time.

In the year before an election regional and territorial authorities are normally required to review the number of members and the number and size of their electorates. In 1991 local authorities had the option of not conducting a review but keeping existing membership and the wards or constituencies until 1995.

Electorates are known as wards in the case of territorial authorities and constituencies in the case of regions. Territorial authorities had the option of deciding whether members would be elected by the electors of the district as a whole. Regions must be divided into constituencies.

The purpose of the review was to give effective representation to communities of interest and fair representation to electors. The review process provided for objections and appeals by the public and where necessary the final decisions were made by the Local Government Commission.

Renovating Wellington's oldest flagpole. The 20 metre flagpole at Petone Railway Station was donated in 1916 by the Hornsby railway service in New South Wales to commemorate railway workers who lost their lives in World War I. The pole is half Australian hardwood and half New Zealand kauri.

Voting procedures.

Any territorial authority may decide whether an election is to be conducted by attendance at a polling booth or by post; however, postal voting was almost universal by 1992. The method of casting a vote is similar to parliamentary elections; the surnames of candidates are printed on the ballot paper and electors place a tick after the name of the candidate they wish to vote for.

Local authority franchise.

Every parliamentary elector is automatically qualified as a residential elector of a local authority if the address at which the person is registered on the electoral roll is within the district of the local authority.

Ratepayer voting was re-introduced by the Local Government Amendments Act 1991. This entitles ratepayers who are not residents to enrol and vote in any region, district or community in which they pay rates. Rolls are compiled by territorial authorities, who usually compile the rolls and conduct the elections for other authorities as well. The information for the residential electoral roll is obtained from the parliamentary electoral database and the ratepayer roll is compiled from nomination forms sent to ratepayers.

Membership of local authorities.

Any person who is a parliamentary elector may be elected to a regional council or territorial authority or community board. In 1992 a prohibition was introduced on a person being a candidate for both a regional council and a territorial authority or community board within that region. Vacancies may be filled either by an election or by appointment, depending upon the type of council, the circumstances of the vacancy and the wishes of the electors.

Remuneration of members.

Most boards and councils pay their chairperson or mayor an annual salary, while other members are paid a combination of a daily meeting allowance and an annual salary. Rates of remuneration payable to members are determined by the Minister of Local Government. Maximum and minimum salary and allowance levels are set, allowing the council or board the discretion to decide the actual rate within the prescribed limits.

The Taihape Town Hall being prepared for the centennial dinner.

Local Government Commission

The Local Government Commission comprises three members, one of whom is the chairperson, appointed by the Minister for Local Government. The commission has two major functions. Firstly, as a quasi-judicial appeal authority to hear and determine:

  • Appeals against decisions on objections to draft reorganisation schemes.

  • Appeals and counter-objections relating to ward and membership proposals of a local authority, following its triennial review of representation and membership.

  • Proposals for the constitution of communities.

  • Proposals for the reorganisation, or abolition, of communities where there is disagreement between a community board and its parent authority.

Also, in accordance with 1992 amendments to the Local Government Act 1974, the commission assumed new responsibilities relating to the preparation and processing of reorganisation proposals for:

  • New districts with a population of more than 10,000 persons.

  • New regions with a population of more than 50,000 persons.

In addition to the above roles, the commission is the determining authority for matters still requiring resolution following the implementation of the major local government reorganisation in 1989. In particular the commission may investigate property dealings of former authorities, and also approve changes in use of the special funds of former authorities.

Honours granted*   

* 1 July 1993–30 June 1994

Source: Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Grant of the title ‘The Honourable’ 6 
Honours and awards   
  Order of New Zealand Ordinary Member  1
Companion of the Queen's Service Order For community service  13
  For public service  17
  For community service (honorary)  1
Queen's Service Medal For community service  70
  For public service  64
  For community service (honorary)  1
  For public services (honorary)  1
Knight Bachelor  6
Order of St Michael and St George Knight Commander  1
  Companion  5
  Civil Military 
Order of the Bath Companion-11
Order of the British Empire Dame Commander3-3
  Knight Commander-11
  Commander16117
  Officer34539
  Member50757
  British Empire Medal11011
Other awards   
  Queen's Police Medal for Distinguished Service  6
  Queen's Fire Service Medal for Distinguished Service  1
  Air Force Cross  2
  Air Force Medal  1
  Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air  1
    Total  327
New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993546  
    Grand total873  

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 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 Flag (Jack) in the upper left quarter, and on a blue ground to the right the Southern Cross is represented by four five-pointed stars with white borders.

New Zealand coat of arms

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

New Zealand has two national anthems: ‘God Defend New Zealand’ and ‘God Save the Queen’. ‘God Defend New Zealand’ is a poem written by Thomas Bracken and set to original music composed by John J Woods. It was first performed in public on Christmas Day 1876 and formally adopted as national hymn in 1940. In 1977, with the permission of Her Majesty the Queen, the Government adopted both ‘God Defend New Zealand’ and the traditional ‘God Save the Queen’ as national anthems of equal status in New Zealand to be used in the order appropriate to the occasion. (Refer to supplement to New Zealand Gazette published Monday 21 November 1977.)

Table 3.2. ENGLISH AND MAORI TEXTS OF THE NEW ZEALAND ANTHEM

GOD DEFEND NEW ZEALANDAOTEAROA

  1. God of nations at thy feet

  2. In the bonds of love we meet.

  3. Hear our voices, we entreat,

  4. God defend our free land.

  5. Guard Pacific's triple star

  6. From the shafts of strife and war,

  7. Make her praises heard afar,

  8. God defend New Zealand.

  9. 2. Men of every creed and race

  10. Gather here before thy face,

  11. Asking thee to bless this place,

  12. God defend our free land.

  13. From dissension, envy, hate,

  14. And corruption guard our state,

  15. Make our country good and great,

  16. God defend New Zealand.

  17. 3. Peace, not war, shall be our boast,

  18. But, should foes assail our coast,

  19. Make us then a mighty host,

  20. God defend our free land.

  21. Lord of battles in thy might,

  22. Put our enemies to flight,

  23. Let our cause be just and right,

  24. God defend New Zealand.

  25. 4. Let our love for Thee increase,

  26. May thy blessings never cease,

  27. Give us plenty, give us peace,

  28. God defend our free land.

  29. From dishonour and from shame

  30. Guard our country's spotless name,

  31. Crown her with immortal fame,

  32. God defend New Zealand.

  33. 5. May our mountains ever be

  34. Freedom's ramparts on the sea,

  35. Make us faithful unto thee,

  36. God defend our free land.

  37. Guide her in the nation's van,

  38. Preaching love and truth to man,

  39. Working out thy glorious plan.

  40. God defend New Zealand.

  1. 1. El Ihoa Atua,

  2. O nga Iwi! Matoura,

  3. Ata whakarongona;

  4. Me aroha roa.

  5. Kia hua ko te pai;

  6. Kia tau to atawhai;

  7. Manaakitia mai

  8. Aotearoa.

  9. 2. Ona mano tangata

  10. Kiri whereo, kiri ma,

  11. Iwi Maori Pakeha

  12. Repeke katoa,

  13. Nei ka tono ko nga he

  14. Mau e whakaahu ke,

  15. Kia ora marire

  16. Aotearoa.

  17. 3. Tona mana kia tu!

  18. Tona kaha kia u;

  19. Tona rongo hei paku

  20. Ki te ao katoa

  21. Aua rawa nga whawhai,

  22. Nga tutu a tata mai;

  23. Kia tupu nui ai

  24. Aotearoa.

  25. 4. Waiho tona takiwa

  26. Ko te ao marama;

  27. Kia whiti tona ra Taiawhio noa.

  28. Ko te hae me te ngangau

  29. Meinga kia kore kau;

  30. Waho i te rongo mau

  31. Aotearoa.

  32. 5. Tona pai me toitu;

  33. Tika rawa, pono pu;

  34. Tona noho, tana tu;

  35. Iwi no Ihoa.

  36. Kaua mona whakama;

  37. Kia hau te ingoa;

  38. Kia tu hei tauira;

  39. Aotearoa.

3.6 Chronology 1994

January.

Arthur Porritt, Olympian athlete and administrator, surgeon and first New Zealander to be Governor-General, dies aged 93. Heavy rainfall on the West Coast, in the Alps and in Central Otago, results in flooding and evacuations. Colliers Creek (near Hokitika) measures the second highest rainfall for New Zealand for any month: 2,600 millimetres (the highest is 2,747 mm). Godfrey Bowen, champion sheep shearer, dies aged 71.

February.

An overseas buying frenzy pushes the New Zealand sharemarket leader's index (NZSE 40 capital index) up 44 points to its highest level since the 1987 crash. An anti-royalist protester sprays a can of air freshener in the direction of Prince Charles, while he is on walk-about in Auckland. After nine years the United States decides to resume ‘political, strategic and road security relations’ with New Zealand, but stresses that this ‘does not signify a restoration of our previous alliance’. Work begins on Brierley's $320 million Sky Tower. The biggest excavation in New Zealand, approximately 335,000 cubic metres of material needed to be removed in 35 weeks; at peak about 1,600 people worked on the site.

March.

Hawke's Bay fruit growers suffer $50 million damage to crops in a violent 10 minute hailstorm. The Auditor-General presents a report to Parliament on how the refurbishment of the Ohakea Air Force Base commander's house cost $632,454; sackings of base staff follow. Meat processing group Fortex goes into receivership with the loss of 2,000 jobs in Tauranga, Ashburton and Mosgiel; farmers are owed $7.5 million. Whina Cooper, Maori activist and ‘mother of the nation’, dies aged 98.

April.

Students march in main centres to protest fee increases. Todd Taskforce draft proposal suggests making students pay up to 70 percent of course costs. Fishers are to pay 1.5 percent tax quota from October, a levy that is expected to raise $22.5 million a year from 1999. The $1.4 billion Clyde Dam officially opens.

May.

Telecom announces a record annual profit of $528 million. The Government commits 250 soldiers for six months’ front-line United Nations duties in Bosnia. The International Whaling Commission creates a Southern Ocean whale sanctuary for 40 degrees south to the edge of Antarctica.

June.

Drought-stricken Aucklanders are urged to reduce water use by at least 25 percent. The first Budget surplus in 17 years is recorded. $422 million is to be dedicated to debt repayment. A United Nations Children's Fund report highlights New Zealand's record for youth suicide and child abuse; the suicide rate for 15–19 year olds was the highest of 23 countries surveyed.

July.

Stonewalling by the Opposition leads to marathon sittings in Parliament (50 hours) for the reading of the 509 clauses of the Maritime Transport Bill which opens coastal trade to foreign ships. Former Finance Minister Ruth Richardson gives notice that she is quitting politics, springing a by-election on her Christchurch electorate of Selwyn. All 2,660 state schools are allowed to move to a standard four-term year from 1996; approximately 200 schools are already trying the system. New Zealand embassy to be established in Hanoi, Vietnam, reflecting the trebling of New Zealand exports there in the past three years. An Air Force Hercules with 38 crew leaves for Rwanda, scene of one of this century's worst refugee crises.

August.

Results from the Selwyn by-election give National 42.2 percent of the vote, the Alliance 40.5, Labour 10.3 and New Zealand First 5.5. Receivers move in to recover a $205 million debt by Weddell New Zealand and close meatworks at Whangarei, Cambridge, Gisborne, Hastings and Feilding with the loss of 2,300 jobs. Government announces there will be an inquiry into Winston Peter's ‘winebox’ documents detailing the Cook Islands’ tax deals.

September.

Hobson MP Ross Meurant quits National to set up the Right of Centre Party (ROC) but keeps his under-secretary for agriculture and forestry post. The Housing Corporation sells $1 billion prime rate mortgages to the ANZ and Countrywide banks. New Zealand's first double lung transplant is performed at Green Lane Hospital.

October.

Auditor-General Jeff Chapman resigns over his personal finances; an investigation finds he owes $156,753 mostly run up on overseas trips and cash advances. Onslow MP Peter Dunne quits Labour to form Future New Zealand, directed at the urban middle class. Proposed boundaries for the 65 new MMP electorates show that many of the present 99 MPs will be pitched against colleagues for candidate selection. Auckland's supply lakes almost 90 percent full. More than 1,000 Maori march on parliament to demand more funds and better treatment for their language.

November.

EDS New Zealand, a subsidiary of the American multinational General Motors, buys the government's computer GCS for $47 million. A vicious four-day storm in central New Zealand causes two deaths and a public health scare in Wellington; damage is estimated at $1.2 million. Jim Anderton steps down as leader of the Alliance and will retire as MP for Sydenham at the next election. Charles Upham, double Victoria Cross winner, dies aged 86. New Zealand's first casino, Christchurch Casino, opens.

December.

Government puts a $1 billion settlement plan before Maori offering a non-negotiable cap on Treaty of Waitangi claims. Tainui accept the Crown's $170 million offer to settle their Treaty of Waitangi claims. The Public Health Commission set up in mid-1993 is to be disbanded and its tasks given to the Ministry of Health. Cabinet approves a plan to split the Department of Justice into three divisions: Ministry of Justice, Department of Courts and Department of Corrections. New Zealand Rail's Lynx fast-ferry makes its first crossing of Cook Strait in 90 minutes—half the time of conventional ferries. Minimum wage rates go up 2 percent, the first increase since September 1990. Fred Turnovsky, manufacturer and arts patron, dies aged 77.

Captain Charles Upham, VC and Bar.

Upham became famous among his comrades not only for his daring, but for his skill at out-thinking the enemy at close quarters.

Contributors

3.1Department of Justice.
3.2Clerk of the House of Representatives; Parliamentary Service; Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet; Department of Justice; Department of Internal Affairs.
3.3State Services Commission; government departments as listed; New Zealand Planning Council; Audit Office; Office of the Ombudsmen; Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner of the Environment.
3.4Department of Internal Affairs; Local Government Commission.
3.5Department of Internal Affairs.

Special articles

The Treasury; Government Buildings Update, Department of Conservation; Who's Who in New Zealand, ed Lambert, 12th edition, Reed Books, 1991; Dr Henare Broughton; Ko Huiarau (The United Tribes of New Zealand and Crown of England), Pururi Press, 1991.

Further information

Constitution

Burrows J F (1992), Statute Law in New Zealand, Butterworths.

Joseph P A (1993), Constitutional Law in New Zealand, Law Book Company.

Mai C and Palmer G (1993), Public Law in New Zealand: Cases, Materials, Commentary and Questions, Oxford University Press.

Mulholland R D (1985), Introduction to the New Zealand Legal System, 6th ed, Butterworths.

Robson J L et al (1967), New Zealand: The Development of its Laws and Constitution, 2nd ed, Stevens.

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

Parliament and the Cabinet

General Election, The. (Parl paper E9).

Parliamentary Bulletin. GP Print (weekly when the House of Representatives is sitting).

Report of the Department of Internal Affairs (Parl paper G7).

Report of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Parl paper G48).

Report of the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives. (Parl paper A8).

Report of the Parliamentary Service Commission (Parl paper A2).

Report of the Royal Commission on the Electoral System; Towards a Better Democracy. (Parl paper H3, 1986).

Standing Orders of the House of Representatives. GP Print, 1992.

Who's Who in the New Zealand Parliament. Parliamentary Service, 1993.

Gold and Hyam (ed) (1992), New Zealand Politics in Perspective, 3rd ed, Longman Paul.

Jackson K (1987), The Dilemma of Parliament, Allen & Unwin.

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

Ringer J B (1992), An Introduction to New Zealand Government, Hazard Press.

State sector

Directory of Official Information. Department of Justice (biennial).

Reports of the Controller and Auditor-General (Parl paper B28).

Reports of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (Parl paper C12).

Report of the Ombudsmen (Parl paper A3).

Report of the State Services Commission (Parl paper G3).

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

All government departments and many statutory organisations publish annual reports in the parliamentary paper series.

Local government

Report of the Department of Internal Affairs (Parl paper G7).

Report of the Local Government Commission (Parl paper G9).

Statement on Reform of Local and Regional Government by Minister of Local Government. Local Government Commission, 1988.

Chapter 4. International relations and defence

Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynolds inspecting the guard of honour.

4.1 Relations with other countries

Independent New Zealand foreign policy dates from 1935. In 1943 the Government established a career foreign service, and began to station its own diplomatic representatives overseas. Today, New Zealand has 45 diplomatic and consular posts located in 38 countries and territories. Multiple accreditation allows some New Zealand representatives to cover other countries from their bases.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is responsible on behalf of the government for all major policy functions related to New Zealand's external relations. The main thrust of the ministry's work is directed to the management of New Zealand's bilateral relations with other countries and interests in international institutions. Other functions include the management of New Zealand official development assistance, provision of consular services to other New Zealanders abroad, provision of operational and administrative support services to other New Zealand government agencies overseas, and management of the New Zealand Antarctic Programme.

The New Zealand Antarctic Programme is based in Christchurch at the International Antarctic Centre and also maintains a permanent New Zealand facility at Scott Base in the Ross Dependency.

The ministry is the official channel of communication between the New Zealand Government and other governments. It also administers Tokelau and undertakes external affairs and defence functions for the Cook Islands and Niue, after consultations with their respective heads of government.

The ministry consults closely with other government departments and agencies on domestic and international developments and their interrelationships. The New Zealand Trade Development Board is a particularly important partner in developing and implementing programmes to promote foreign exchange earnings.

In addition, it is responsible for operating and administering the network of diplomatic and consular posts which represent and pursue New Zealand's interests overseas. The posts also perform services overseas on behalf of all government departments and offer assistance to New Zealanders overseas, whether travelling in official or private capacities, and issue passports and visas overseas.

For the addresses of New Zealand's overseas posts, and for information on diplomatic, consular and other representation in New Zealand, refer to the Ministry's publications Overseas Posts, and the Diplomatic List: Diplomatic and Consular Representatives in New Zealand.

South Pacific

New Zealand has diplomatic missions in most of the countries of the South Pacific and maintains contact on a range of bilateral and regional issues. Over 60 percent of bilateral development assistance is directed to the South Pacific.

A special relationship exists between New Zealand and the Cook Islands, and Niue. The Cook Islands became a self-governing state in free association with New Zealand in 1965, as did Niue in 1974. Both governments have full legislative and executive competence, and can conduct their own external relations and enter into international agreements. The constitutional relationships provide for the exercise by New Zealand of certain responsibilities for defence and external relations but this does not confer any rights of control. Cook Islanders and Niueans are New Zealand citizens. The relationship between the Cook Islands and New Zealand was elaborated in 1973 as ‘one of partnership, freely entered into and freely maintained’. Tokelau is described in section 4.3 New Zealand territories.

The region (not including Australia) is of growing importance to New Zealand, with exports of $723 million in 1993. Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the French territories are the most important markets. Imports, amounting about $136 million, came principally from Fiji, Nauru and Papua New Guinea. New Zealand has taken special measures to foster trade relations with these countries and New Zealand investment in the region. A regional trade agreement, South Pacific Regional Trade and Economic Co-operation Agreement (SPARTECA), provided unrestricted duty-free access to New Zealand (and Australia) on a non-reciprocal basis for products exported by island countries. The Pacific Islands Industrial Development Scheme (PIIDS) provides financial assistance and incentives for joint ventures between New Zealand and Pacific Island companies, developing approved manufacturing operations in selected Pacific countries. Its objective is to foster economic development and employment opportunities there.

There is close co-operation with the South Pacific on defence matters. New Zealand's armed forces undertake mutual assistance programmes, joint exercises and maritime surveillance. They provide immediate help after natural disasters such as cyclones, and undertake civil development projects in isolated areas.

In 1971 the South Pacific Forum was created to build up regional co-operation in the South Pacific. Meetings are held annually, most recently in Nauru in 1993 and Brisbane in 1994. The forum provides an opportunity for states to discuss common problems, exchange views, consider priorities, and plan programmes for mutual regional benefit. The topics considered include regional trade, shipping civil aviation, telecommunications, the environment, the law of the sea, fishing, disaster relief, nuclear testing, regional security and decolonisation. The 1994 forum focused on the management of the region's resources.

The forum established the Forum Secretariat, which is charged with the implementation of forum decisions. It works on a broad range of economic and political questions. Located in Suva, the forum also set up the South Pacific Forum Fisheries Agency in Honiara to facilitate the rational utilisation and conservation of the region's marine resources, and the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), located in Apia, Western Samoa.

The Pacific Forum Line (PFL) is another endeavour in South Pacific regional co-operation. Twelve of the region's nations operate the shipping line which operates four vessels and aims to facilitate regional trade through improved shipping links. Together with other governments in the region New Zealand has made additional contributions since the PFL began operations in 1977, but PFL is now on a commercial footing. A comprehensive review of its operations is being undertaken.

Established in 1947 under the Canberra Agreement, the South Pacific Commission (comprising the independent countries of the South Pacific, the non-self-governing territories, and metropolitan governments such as Britain, France and the United States) is primarily a technical assistance organisation, and 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 is mainly funded from proportional contributions by member governments and from voluntary contributions made by certain of the member governments and by a wide range of international donors.

Australia

A diplomatic office was established in 1943 (trade posts had been established as early as 1906). The Australia-New Zealand agreement (known also as the ANZAC Pact or Canberra Pact) was signed in 1944 and the ANZUS treaty in 1952. In 1983, the two countries concluded the Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (ANZCERTA, or CER for short). Complete free trade of goods was achieved on 1 July 1990. The services protocol was signed in 1988 and provided for the progressive removal of obstacles to the flow of services and investment between the two countries. CER was reviewed again in 1992. Australia is the most important trading partner for New Zealand, which is in turn Australia's largest single market for manufactured exports. See also section 25.2 Trading partners.

New Zealand ministers participate in Australian state/federal ministerial councils covering a wide range of portfolios. There are regular meetings of foreign affairs, trade and defence ministers. The Closer Defence Relations (CDR) process has reinforced existing defence links. In 1989 New Zealand agreed to acquire two frigates through the joint ANZAC ship project with Australia. The Australian-New Zealand Foundation sponsors research projects and publications, as well as cultural exchanges. There is free movement of people under the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement. A social security agreement was signed in 1994 updating the previous agreement.

Asia

New Zealand has become increasingly involved in developments in the Asia-Pacific region. Asia provides a market for over one-third of our exports and a source of almost a third of imports. It is a major source of investment and of trained migrants. Political relations with Asian nations are close, reinforced by high-level visits and regular consultations involving officials and ministers. New Zealand maintains diplomatic missions in Bangkok, Beijing, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, New Delhi, Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo and Osaka. Missions will be established in Shanghai and Hanoi in the second half of 1995.

New Zealand is one of the original dialogue partners of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and co-operates with ASEAN in a number of regional development and trade promotion activities. The New Zealand Defence Force maintains defence co-operation programmes with the six ASEAN countries and works with Singapore and Malaysia through the Five Power Defence Arrangements.

Ice sculpture of Auckland's historic Ferry Building, opening ceremony, Winter Festival, Hokkaido, Japan.

One of the founding members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum, established in 1989, New Zealand plays an active part in APEC working groups. At the non-governmental level, New Zealand also participates in the Pacific Economic Co-operation Council, which brings together business people, academics and officials from all our major regional trading partners. Given the many mutual interests within the region, New Zealand also co-operates closely with the ASEAN nations and other regional partners in wider international forums, including the UN and the GATT/WTO.

Bilateral trade with most of our Asian trading partners is rising fast. The economic relationship with Japan is among our most important and Japan remains our second largest export market. Trade is increasingly diversified, helped by the complementary nature of the Japanese and New Zealand economies, and tourism and investment are playing an important role in the development of New Zealand's economy. Economic reform and significant gross domestic product growth rates in China are opening up exciting possibilities for New Zealand in Asia's largest market. New Zealand's two-way trade with China customarily exceeds $1 billion annually, and it was New Zealand's sixth largest export market in the year to June 1994. Two-way investment is also growing. Annual two-way trade with South Korea has recently boomed to over $1 billion, with a substantial trade surplus in New Zealand's favour. Trade with Hong Kong and Taiwan is also increasing and these markets offer considerable potential.

Launched in November 1991, the Asia 2000 Programme is a major government initiative to encourage New Zealanders to build up the skills and awareness necessary to be even more effective participants in the Asia-Pacific region. Initially administered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the aims and objectives of the programme are now carried out by the Asia 2000 Foundation. In support of the foundation's objectives, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade continues to administer the Asia 2000 programme of inward visits by key business people from Asian countries.

Americas

United States.

New Zealand's relationship with the United States is one of the most important, varied and co-operative that New Zealand maintains. Shared values underpin close governmental and private sector contacts across a broad range of bilateral, regional and multilateral activities. The United States is one of New Zealand's three most important export markets and a major source of New Zealand imports and investment. In the multilateral trade field, the two countries support similar open market philosophies. Co-operation is also close on international environmental matters and Antarctic scientific research. Programmes for scientific, cultural and educational exchange maintain an awareness of New Zealand in the United States and promote the exchange of ideas and experience.

Canada.

New Zealand and Canada enjoy a positive and close relationship, based on shared bilateral Commonwealth, UN and Asia-Pacific interests. The two countries co-operate closely on a range of issues, including disarmament, international peacekeeping and security, environmental concerns, Asia-Pacific policies and international economic matters. Canada is an important market for our agricultural goods, particularly beef. Bilateral trade and economic relations are conducted under the umbrella of the 1981 Trade and Economic Co-operation Agreement (TEC) which provides for, among other things, regular consultation on trade issues.

Latin America and the Caribbean.

New Zealand is represented in Latin America by embassies in Mexico and Chile. The Ambassador in Mexico is cross-accredited to Colombia, Peru and Venezuela, and the Ambassador in Chile to Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. The embassies’ efforts are supported by honorary consular representatives in Bogota, Lima, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo and Montevideo whose responsibilities also include the facilitation of trade. The High Commissioner in Ottawa is accredited to the Caribbean countries of Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.

Trade is the primary focus of New Zealand's relationship with Latin America and the Caribbean, mainly exports of dairy products, agricultural machinery and meat. There are opportunities for New Zealand involvement in agriculture, forestry and energy sectors. New Zealand provides a modest amount of economic and social development assistance to the region. New Zealand shares interests with those of a number of Latin American and Caribbean countries in areas such as international trade, environment, Antarctica, disarmament and Pacific regional co-operation.

Europe

Western Europe.

The European Union (EU) is one of New Zealand's four top markets, along with Australia, Japan and the United States. The outcome of the Uruguay Round of GATT negotiations will place our major sheepmeat and dairy exports to the EU on a firmer footing, and will increase the quantities which New Zealand may export. Our other main primary product exports, such as apples, kiwifruit, fish and timber have largely unrestricted access.

New Zealand exports are benefiting from the European Single Market, adopted on 1 January 1993, through the disappearance of multiple standards and import regulations. Some of the measures to provide for the free movement of goods, services, capital and people within the EU are still to be fully implemented.

The countries of the EU are important partners for New Zealand in investment and as a source of technology and expertise. An Exchange of Letters on Science and Technology Co-operation between the EU and New Zealand has been concluded, and a number of bilateral agreements in areas of specific interest to New Zealand are under consideration. The New Zealand economy benefits from European migrants with capital and entrepreneurial skills. Tourists, especially those from Germany who stay for longer periods, also make a significant contribution to the New Zealand economy.

New Zealand maintains a high level of political consultation with the EU. Since 1990 New Zealand had the opportunity for a high-level meeting with each of the revolving six-monthly presidencies of the EU. Close regular contact is maintained by New Zealand's network of posts in Western Europe with individual EU member states, and with the European Commission in Brussels, on a range of economic and political issues.

OVERSEAS REPRESENTATION

Western European countries outside the EU belong to the European Free Trade Association. The two organisations have established a European Economic Area covering most of their trade (though not agricultural trade). Austria, Sweden, Finland and Norway have negotiated to join the EU, subject to national referendums endorsing their membership. In Austria's case a referendum approving membership has already been held. The economic importance of the EU to New Zealand will be increased by such enlargement.

Central and Eastern Europe.

In general, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe continue to evolve from one-party states and centrally-planned economies towards political pluralism and free-market economies. In general, too, they are seeking to strengthen their links with Western Europe, and with the economic and security forums of Western Europe. But the pace of political and economic reform has been uneven.

New Zealand has sought to assist this reform through its involvement in the EU-led G24 process and its membership of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. A number of joint ventures, mainly in the field of agricultural technology, have been established in the region.

New Zealand has an interest in the conflict in Bosnia Herzegovina stemming from its membership of the UN Security Council in 1993 and 1994. The Government decided in May 1994 to send 250 peacekeeping troops to the former Yugoslavia as part of the UN Protection Force.

Responsibility for New Zealand's government-to-government relations with the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia lie with the New Zealand Embassy in Bonn. In 1994 the Government appointed Honorary Consuls in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. Commercial relations with Central and Eastern Europe are handled by the Tradenz Office in Hamburg.

Former Soviet Union.

Trade remains the central component of New Zealand's relations with the states of the former Soviet Union (FSU), the Russian Federation being the principal trading partner. Delays in payment caused by a shortage of hard currency disrupted trade with Russia for a time but many exporters are now doing business for cash payments in a range of products, particularly foodstuffs and consumer goods. Exporters are seeking new methods of securing contracts, including building relationships with regional executives, especially in the Russian Far East (RFE). There is a direct shipping route between New Zealand and the RFE, and several New Zealand companies have offices there. The involvement of Russian and Ukrainian fishing vessels also adds considerable value to the economic relationship.

Investment in, and technical assistance to, the countries of the FSU, coupled with the implementation of economic reforms, limited though these are in some cases, are helping to create opportunities for traders in the medium term. New Zealand consultants are undertaking projects for international agencies as a part of the economic reconstruction of the FSU.

New Zealand has an Embassy in Moscow which is accredited to Belarus, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

Middle East

New Zealand has major economic interests in the Middle East. The region is an important market for New Zealand's agricultural exports and a source of much of New Zealand's energy requirements. In the year ended June 1994, New Zealand exports to the region totalled $618 million, a decrease of 10 percent from the previous year. A drop in New Zealand's exports to Iran was the major contributing factor. Imports from the Middle East, mostly of oil products, were $757 million to June 1994. New Zealand has embassies in Teheran, Riyadh and Ankara, and accreditations to several other Middle Eastern countries. The New Zealand Trade Development Board opened a regional office in Dubai in early 1994.

For more than 40 years New Zealand has maintained an even-handed policy on the Arab-Israeli issue, consistently upholding the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and, with equal consistency, Israel's right to exist within secure borders. The Madrid round of the Middle East peace process, which began in October 1991, has New Zealand's full support as the best chance yet for a just and comprehensive settlement of this longstanding dispute.

New Zealand warmly welcomed recent positive developments in the negotiations, including the signing of the Declaration of Principles in September 1993 and subsequent accords on Palestinian interim self-government, and the July 1994 Washington Declaration ending the state of war between Israel and Jordan.

New Zealand has contributed a contingent to the Sinai Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) based on the Egypt/Israel border since 1982. The Government also contributes military personnel to the UN Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO), headquartered in Jerusalem.

New Zealand surveyors participated in the UN demarcation of the Iraq/Kuwait border. The Government has also made available military medical personnel to serve with the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) operation, charged with the elimination of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction capability and verifying that Iraq does not resume its weapons programmes. During its term on the Security Council (1993–94) New Zealand chaired the committee charged with administering the sanctions regime against Iraq.

Africa

The trend of increasing contact in recent years between New Zealand and Africa continued. New Zealand's membership of the UN Security Council (1993–94) led to a closer involvement in a wide range of African issues. New Zealand's ties with Commonwealth African countries are expected to be further strengthened through the holding of the biennial Commonwealth heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Auckland in November 1995.

New Zealand's diplomatic coverage in Africa expanded with the addition in 1994 of South Africa to the accreditations of the New Zealand High Commissioner in Harare, Zimbabwe. The High Commissioner is also accredited to Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania and Zambia. The South Africans accredited their High Commissioner in Canberra to New Zealand. Also during 1994 the New Zealand Ambassador in Madrid was accredited to Morocco. New Zealand posts in London, Paris and Riyadh are accredited to Nigeria, Algeria and Egypt respectively.

New Zealand has a long-standing involvement in development co-operation in Africa. Through its Official Development Assistance Programme, New Zealand contributes to Commonwealth and other multilateral projects on the continent and donates funds to UN and other international relief appeals.

Against the background of its firm opposition to apartheid, New Zealand was active in supporting South Africa during its peaceful transition to a multiracial democracy. New Zealanders led and participated in Commonwealth, UN and other missions to help prepare for South Africa's first fully democratic elections in April 1994 and to monitor their conduct. Economic sanctions and other measures implemented against South Africa were lifted in line with action by the UN and Commonwealth. South Africa was welcomed back into the Commonwealth in June 1994.

New Zealand has also participated in recent UN peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance missions in Africa, including in Angola, Mozambique, Rwanda and Somalia.

Total trade with African countries accounts for only a small percentage of New Zealand's global trade. The major exports to the region are dairy products, fish, wool, textiles and electrical equipment. Imports from Africa include cocoa, coffee, sisal and tobacco. In 1993–94 Algeria was New Zealand's most important African market.

Assistance to developing countries

New Zealand's Official Development Assistance (NZODA) Programme is designed primarily to provide assistance to developing countries that enables them better to meet their own economic and social needs.

In this way, the programme helps to strengthen the links between New Zealand and the peoples of developing nations, and serves to foster a mutually beneficial relationship. It also contributes to the achievement of New Zealand's own external relations and trade policies by helping to advance international economic prosperity, to maintain peace, security and stability, and protect the global environment.

The programme is an investment in the regional and global future New Zealand shares with other nations.

The programme is managed by the Development Co-operation Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in conjunction with New Zealand's diplomatic posts in partner countries. In carrying out its work, the development expertise and experience of the division are complemented by those of a wide range of New Zealanders and partner country counterparts drawn from both the private and public sectors.

Information kit received by a child sponsor.

The programme is funded by two core payments, set by Parliament. For the 1994/95 financial year these are:

  • $154,795 million as non-departmental payments (NDP). The NDP is the core of the NZODA allocation and covers transfers of New Zealand goods, services and funding.

  • $10,187 million as NZODA Management, funded as one of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade output classes.

Some other activities or transfers that meet the OECD definition of Official Development Assistance are made from other government sources. The total disbursement of NZODA currently amounts to some 0.2 percent of the New Zealand gross national product.

The NZODA Programme is divided for financial and administrative purposes into two broad schedules of activities—bilateral and multilateral.

The bilateral schedule.

The bilateral schedule is dominated by direct assistance on a one-to-one country-on-country basis, comprising in most cases a wide range of developmental projects in 20 major partner countries in the South Pacific, South East Asia and China. Direct bilateral assistance of this kind accounts for over half of NZODA spending. In addition, a number of regional programmes which serve groups of bilateral partner countries are also included on the bilateral schedule of NZODA.

Over the years, development assistance has been provided in most sectors of New Zealand expertise including agriculture, communications, conservation and environment, education and training, energy, fisheries, forestry, health, industries, public works, social infrastructure, tourism, transport, water resources and women in development (WID) programmes.

New Zealand participates in projects by contributing technical assistance, cash grants, material supplies, and training. As environmental concerns have taken a higher profile in NZODA, the list of technology transfers has grown to include nature conservation, national parks management, land use planning, soil conservation and environmental education.

The emphasis of New Zealand's development co-operation with Pacific Island countries is firmly on human resource development. As well as the considerable amounts allocated for study and training awards in New Zealand and at regional South Pacific institutions, many NZODA development projects provide technical assistance involving in-country training and staff development. Outer island and rural development are also a central feature of several of the NZODA Pacific Island country programmes.

New Zealand also promotes development of the South Pacific region as a whole with contributions to the South Pacific Forum Secretariat, the Forum Fisheries Agency, the South Pacific Commission and the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme, amongst others.

New Zealand is extending its development co-operation with Asia, where the Development Assistance Facility (DAF) will have increased funding of $5 million available in 1994/95. The Asia DAF is designed to encourage New Zealand firms and consultants to identify developmentally sound activities in the region based on New Zealand expertise and commercial strengths.

Education and training.

New Zealand recognises that people are at the centre of development, and that human resource development is the key to social and economic progress in developing countries. Besides funding of scholarships, training and programmes to strengthen education systems and institutions under bilateral country programmes, cross regional scholarships are also made available. These include the Aotearoa scholarships, Commonwealth scholarships, Geothermal Diploma students and Postgraduate scholarships.

Emergency and disaster relief.

Substantial funding is also directed to emergency and disaster relief operations (both government-to-government and through international agencies), and also to the ongoing work of non-government organisations (NGOs) working at grass-roots level in developing countries.

Emergency and disaster relief is allocated as the need arises. Where natural disasters occur in neighbouring countries of the Pacific and South East Asia, New Zealand is often able to send supplies or medical teams or other skilled people to directly help recovery work. When disaster strikes in more distant countries, New Zealand usually responds by making cash grants to international relief appeals, very often under the auspices of the major international relief organisations or NGOs.

Non-government organisations (NGOs).

The two main programmes for NZODA support of NGOs are the VASS (Voluntary Agencies Support Scheme) and support of Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA). Funding for both these schemes is included in administrative and financial purposes on the bilateral schedule.

The multilateral schedule.

The multilateral schedule of the NZODA programme comprises New Zealand's contributions to the major international development organisations. These fall into four broad categories—international financial institutions, UN Agencies, Commonwealth agencies, and various other multilateral development and humanitarian organisations, such as the International Planned Parenthood Federation and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Participation in institutions such as the International Development Association, the Asian Development Fund, the UN Development Programme, and the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation gives New Zealand a voice in international efforts to alleviate poverty through development at the global and trans-regional level. These multilateral institutions are especially helpful in directing assistance to regions where New Zealand is not widely represented on the ground. They are respected for the neutrality and the degree of expertise they can bring to bear on a wide range of development issues. New Zealand also finances individual projects with multilateral agencies.

Table 4.1. OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAMME 1994/5

Programme$(000)

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Bilateral schedule— 
   South Pacific Programmes— 
   Cook Islands13,000
   Niue10,000
   Tokelau5,200
   Western Samoa7,300
   Tonga5,600
   Papua New Guinea5,900
   Fiji5,000
   Solomon Islands4,500
   Vanuatu4,200
   Kiribati3,100
   Tuvalu2,100
   Other Pacific Island Countries725
   South Pacific Regional Programmes11,175
   South Pacific Head of Mission Funds510
     Total South Pacific Programmes78,310
Asia and other programmes— 
   ASEAN and other Asia programmes19,380
   Americas/Africa programmes3,040
   Emergency and disaster relief4,000
   Voluntary agencies5,436
   Education and training (cross-regional scholarships)17,720
   Aid advisory committee35
     Total Asia and other programmes49,611
     Total bilateral schedule127,921
Multilateral schedule— 
   International financial institutions16,247
   United Nations agencies7,295
   Commonwealth agencies1,590
   Other organisations1,742
   Total multilateral schedule26,874
   Total Official Development Assistance154,794

4.2 International Organisations

United Nations

New Zealand was a founding member of the United Nations organisation in 1945. Successive governments have strongly supported it as a major instrument for maintaining peace and security, developing friendly relations among countries, encouraging international co-operation aimed at solving economic and social problems, and promoting respect for human rights.

New Zealand was elected as a non-permanent member of the Security Council for the two years 1993–94. During this period it chaired the Iraq Sanctions Committee established under Resolution 661, led the Security Council Mission to Somalia and participated in Security Council Missions to Bosnia and Mozambique.

Over the years the range and complexity of functions of the UN 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 and where it can support efforts to secure lasting peace and security. In 1995 the UN will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its founding.

Peace operations.

During 1993–94 New Zealand strengthened its firm commitment to UN peacekeeping by increasing the number of its personnel involved in peacekeeping operations. By the middle of 1994, the New Zealand Government had authorised the deployment of over 300 personnel for UN operations in the Middle East (UNTSO and UNSCOM), the former Yugoslavia (UNPROFOR) and Africa (UNDSOMII, UNAVEM and ONUMOZ). In addition to the provision of personnel, New Zealand (as a UN member) is legally obliged to contribute financially to the cost of UN peacekeeping operations. In 1993–94 New Zealand's share of these costs amounted to more than $11 million.

Humanitarian relief.

In 1993–94 New Zealand contributed $2.9 million to humanitarian relief. This money was used for instant response to crisis situations in our own backyard and in the world's ‘hot spots’ of Rwanda, Bosnia and Angola. New Zealand contributed extra payments to multilateral organisations in recognition of the pressure on these agencies to provide assistance where conflict and famine occur. These organisations included the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Human rights.

In December 1993, the United Nations General Assembly established the position of High Commissioner for Human Rights, enhancing international efforts to promote and protect human rights. In 1994, the High Commissioner was charged with co-ordinating UN Human Rights efforts in Rwanda and has indicated that he intends to give priority to the development of an effective UN advisory services and technical assistance programme; the promotion of universal ratification of basic human rights instruments; the promotion of the rights of women and the integration of their concerns throughout the UN system and to the development of effective strategies on racism, indigenous people, migrant workers, children and minorities.

In 1994, New Zealand continued to give financial support in the field of human rights, including funds to assist victims of torture, for advisory services and for indigenous populations. At the commission on Human Rights and the Third Committee of the General Assembly (which deals with social, cultural and humanitarian issues) New Zealand supported resolutions addressing a wide range of current international human rights concerns in particular, the effective functioning of the monitoring bodies set up under international human rights instruments.

New Zealand continues to register its concern about the human rights situations in particular countries through support for the efforts of the Commission on Human Rights. This year concern was particularly directed to the situation in Rwanda. New Zealand spoke out against human rights violations at a Special Session of the Commission on Human Rights convened to address the Rwandan situation, and co-sponsored a resolution calling for the establishment of a Special Rapporteur to investigate and address human rights atrocities. New Zealand also contributed $50,000 to assist in the implementation of human rights monitors in Rwanda.

Indigenous people's issues also received special attention internationally in 1993 through the UN International Year of the World's Indigenous People. New Zealand co-sponsored the resolution proclaiming the Year in the UN General Assembly, and actively supported international activities through the year, including two contributions to a UN voluntary fund for special projects developed in consultation with indigenous people.

In the area of women's rights, New Zealand continued to play an active role in the preparation in a draft Plan of Action for the Fourth World Conference on Women being held in Beijing in 1995. New Zealand was represented at the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Women in Development in Jakarta in June which served as the region's preparatory conference for Beijing. In her speech at the conference, the Minister of Women's Affairs placed particular emphasis on the failure of the UN to adequately address women's issues, pointing to the lack of resources given to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and the under-representation of women in the UN and its specialised agencies.

As a party to international human rights covenants and conventions, New Zealand is required to report regularly to the UN monitoring bodies on the measures it has taken domestically to comply with international standards. New Zealand presented its Second Periodic Report to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women in January 1994 and during 1994 submitted its Third Periodic Report to the UN under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its Tenth and Eleventh (consolidated) Report under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

1994 was designated UN International Year of the Family (IYF). The year has been seen as an opportunity to promote acceptance of the variety of family structures that exist in New Zealand, and to increase public awareness of the different kinds of assistance and support available to families. For IYF programmes within New Zealand, the Government assigned the sum of $2.5 million. It is the role of the IYF Committee, under the auspices of the Department of Social Welfare, to ensure the achievement of the Government's objectives for the year. Additionally, an IYF Trust is managing a sum of $1 million donated by the Lotteries Grants Board, to be allocated to approved projects in relation to the year.

During 1994 preparations commenced for the World Summit for Social Development, to be held in Copenhagen in March 1995, and for the International Conference on Women, to be held in Beijing in September 1995.

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 levels 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 though education, science and culture.

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), climate and weather (WMO) and industrial development (UNIDO).

Contributions to the United Nations.

Contributions to the UN’ budget are based on members’ capacity to pay. For the three years 1992-94 New Zealand's assessed contribution rate was set at 0.24 percent of the regular budget, resulting in annual dues in 1994 of $4.6 million. Contributions to the budgets of specialised agencies are fixed according to a scale of assessment agreed by the membership as a whole. New Zealand's assessed contributions to peacekeeping operations are also assessed at 0.24 percent. In 1993-94, these dues amounted to more than $11 million.

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was negotiated in 1947 and came into force on 1 January 1948. The original signatory countries were concurrently engaged in drawing up the charter for a proposed International Trade Organisation (ITO) which would have been a UN specialised agency.

The GATT, based largely on selected parts of the draft ITO charter, was concluded in order to get trade liberalisation under way quickly, and was provided with only minimal institutional arrangements because it was expected that responsibility would soon be assumed by the ITO. However, plans for the ITO had to be abandoned when it became clear the charter would not be ratified. The GATT remained, therefore, the international instrument laying down trade rules accepted by the nations responsible for most of the world's trade.

The original ambition of establishing an international trade organisation will come to fruition in 1995 with the establishment of the World Trade Organisation (the WTO), which was agreed upon in the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations, formally concluded in Marrakesh, Morocco, on 15 April 1994. The new WTO will act as a single institutional ‘umbrella’ over all the current GATT agreements forming part of the WTO Agreement.

The GATT is a multilateral trade treaty, whose contracting parties account for about 90 percent of world trade. Its basic aim has been to liberalise world trade and to place it on a secure basis, thereby contributing to economic growth and development and the welfare of the world's people. It has done this partly through an agreed set of rules and market access commitments in relation to trade between contracting parties and partly through a series of negotiated ‘rounds’ aimed at the further liberalisation of trade between the contracting parties through the reduction of trade barriers and other measures impeding free trade between them. The GATT is thus both a code of rules and a forum in which countries can discuss and address their trade problems and negotiate and enlarge world trading opportunities.

The GATT is underpinned by certain fundamental principles:

Trade without discrimination—the ‘most favoured nation’ clause of the GATT stipulates that each contracting party must grant all contracting parties treatment as favourable as that which they grant any other country. This principle is particularly important for countries such as New Zealand, since it ensures larger countries cannot exert economic influence through discriminatory trade policies.

Protection through tariffs—any protection given to domestic industry should be through the use of tariffs, rather than less transparent means such as quotas and import licensing.

The binding of tariffs at levels negotiated among contracting parties—where tariffs have been bound, they can be increased only if compensation is offered by the importing country.

National treatment—imported products must be treated no less favourably than domestic products with respect to internal taxes, regulations and other requirements.

Consultations on the basis of equality—any contracting party may invoke the GATT’s dispute settlement provisions in cases where it considers its GATT rights have been nullified or impaired by others.

The GATT has had eight rounds of multilateral trade negotiations. The Uruguay Round (1986-94) has been the most ambitious of any of the rounds, and has:

  • Brought agriculture effectively within the GATT system for the first time.

  • Secured the eventual integration into the GATT system of the textiles and clothing sector.

  • Extended the GATT system to trade in services.

  • Strengthened GATT rules in areas such as subsidies, anti-dumping, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures, safeguards, trade-related investment measures, and dispute settlement.

  • Established a multilateral framework for protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights (TRIPS).

  • Further reduced tariffs on non-agricultural goods.

The new agreement concluded in the round, and constituting a single new treaty undertaking, includes the following:

  • The agreement establishing the WTO.

  • Agreements in Trade in Goods, comprising: the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, and a number of additional instruments; the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, including the Marrakesh Protocol to the General Agreement; he Agreement on Agriculture; the Agreement on Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary Measures; the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing; the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade; the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Investment Measures; the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures; the Agreement on Safeguards; other agreements cover customs valuation, rules of origin, import licensing procedures, and preshipment inspection.

  • The General Agreement on Trade in Services.

  • The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.

  • The Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes.

  • The Trade Policy Review Mechanism.

Knitted woollen blankets for Bosnia.

Other United Nations 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. Through the NZODA New Zealand contributes to 15 different UN organisations which address issues such as drug abuse, population planning, women's research, and training and assistance to refugees. New Zealand sent a delegation to the UN International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo which has set guidelines for population strategies for the next 20 years.

Promoting world-wide environmental concerns, Dunedin Community Spring Festival.

World Bank

The World Bank is a multilateral lending agency consisting of five closely associated institutions—the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICISID). The common objective of the institutions is to help raise the living standards in developing countries by channelling financial resources from developed countries to them.

The IBRD currently lends about US$15.6 billion a year at market rates to developing countries with relatively high per capita income. The IDA provides interest free loans worth about US$6.4 billion a year to the poorest developing countries. The IFC promotes growth in the private sector of developing countries by lending or investing in business enterprises without government guarantees. MIGA provides investors in developing countries with investment guarantees against non-commercial risk, such as expropriation, war, civil disturbance and breach of contract.

New Zealand joined the World Bank in 1961 when higher income countries with active development programmes were eligible for IBRD loans. Between 1963 and 1971 New Zealand borrowed US$102 million to finance projects such as the Cook Strait transmission cable, the Marsden ‘A’ power station and the purchase of the ferry Aranui.

New Zealand has subscribed to a total of 7,236 shares in the IBRD, which represents 0.51 percent of the total voting share and a total par value of US$723.6 million. Over 90 percent of this amount has not been called up but, together with the uncalled subscription of the other member countries, acts as a guarantee for the bank's borrowing in the financial markets. New Zealand owns 2,025 fully paid shares in the IFC which have a total par value of US$2.025 million.

New Zealand also makes contributions to the periodic replenishments of the IDA, the banks facility for lending to its poorest developing member countries. The Government decided in 1993 that New Zealand should contribute $39.58 million to the latest replenishment, amounting to a 0.119 percent share of the total replenishment. It will be paid over an eight year period from 1993.

Asian Development Bank

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a development finance institution. Established in 1965, it is owned by 37 countries from the Asia-Pacific region and 16 countries from Europe and North America. The ADB’s principal function is to promote and finance the economic and social advancement of its 33 Asia-Pacific developing country members.

New Zealand currently holds 27,170 shares in the ADB, about 2.6 percent of the bank's voting share. The shares have a total par value of US$381.35 million. The country also makes contributions to the periodic replenishment of the ADB’s Asian Development Fund, the bank's facility for lending to its poorest developing member countries. New Zealand has contributed over $51 million to the ADB since 1974.

Commonwealth

The 51 members of the Commonwealth include countries in the six continents and the five oceans of the world. Two of the smallest member countries, Nauru and Tuvalu, have special membership status. The Cook Islands and Niue, which have a continuing constitutional association with New Zealand, are associate members. South Africa rejoined the Commonwealth in April 1994.

A permanent Commonwealth Secretariat is the main agency for multilateral communication between governments. The secretariat promotes consultation, disseminates information on matters of common concern, organises meetings and conferences, and co-ordinates a wide range of other activities.

Heads of government meet every second year. The 1993 Heads of Government meeting took place in October in Nicosia, Cyprus. In 1995 the meeting will be held in Auckland, New Zealand. Commonwealth finance ministers meet annually, and ministers of agriculture, labour, health, education, women's affairs and other portfolios also meet at varying intervals.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) aims to foster inter-governmental co-operation amongst its 25 members on matters relating to economic and social policy.

Within the OECD, New Zealand's priorities have been economic, agricultural and trade issues and, more recently, environmental issues. Other areas where New Zealand participates in OECD work include education, science, health, labour, financial and investment affairs, social policy and the organisation's increasingly important work with non-member countries, particularly those from the dynamic Asian and Latin American economies, and central and eastern Europe and the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union. The OECD exchanges, analyses and disseminates a wide variety of information, including the OECD forecasts (Economic Outlook) and reports on individual member economies. The New Zealand economy is periodically subjected to a thorough review within the OECD system. Its development co-operation policy is reviewed regularly by the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee.

An example of the benefits of OECD membership is the conceptual work being done on the multilateral investment framework. This framework would see mechanisms for liberalisation, standstill and rollback, and disputes settlement covered under a single instrument. Another important focus of attention is the work on new trade issues in the post-Uruguay Round world trading environment. These include trade and the environment, trade and competition, trade and foreign direct investment, and trade and technological developments.

New Zealand is also a member of the International Energy Agency (IEA), an autonomous body of 23 member countries within the OECD framework. The IEA includes energy-related environmental issues in its overall programme of energy co-ordination, the aim of which is to promote co-operation between energy producing and consuming countries.

4.3 New Zealand Territories

Tokelau

Tokelau consists of three small atolls in the South Pacific—Atafu, Fakaofo and Nukunonu—with a combined land area of 12 square kilometres and a population of nearly 1600. The central atoll, Nukunonu, is 92 kilometres from Atafu and 64 kilometres from Fakaofo. Western Samoa is 480 kilometres to the south.

The British Government transferred administrative control of Tokelau (then known as the Union Islands) to New Zealand in 1925. Formal sovereignty was transferred to New Zealand in 1948 by Act of New Zealand Parliament. New Zealand statute law however does not apply to Tokelau unless it is expressly extended to Tokelau. In practice, no New Zealand legislation is extended to Tokelau without its consent.

Tokelau is listed as a non-self-governing territory for the purposes of the self-determination principles of the UN Charter. This status was confirmed in 1962 when New Zealand added Tokelau to the schedule of territories under the supervision of the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation.

WHALE SANCTUARIES

The main objective of New Zealand's relationship with Tokelau is that of fostering a greater degree of self-government and economic self-sufficiency for the people, in fulfilment of New Zealand's responsibilities under the UN Charter and General Assembly resolutions 1514 (XV) and 1541 (XV) covering decolonisation and the transmission of information.

The Administrator of Tokelau is Mr Lindsay Watt. He is appointed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and is responsible for ‘the administration of the executive government of Tokelau’.

Under a programme of constitutional change agreed in 1992, the role of Tokelau's political institutions is being better defined and expanded. The process under way enables the base of Tokelau government to be located within Tokelau's national level institutions rather than as before, within a public service located largely in Western Samoa. This process was formalised by the delegation on 27 January 1994 of the Administrator's powers to the General Fono and the Council of Faipule when the General Fono is not in session. Also under way is the re-location of the public service to the atolls.

The General Fono, comprising 27 members, remains Tokelau's paramount political institution, while the key operational relationship is between the three Faipule acting as senior ministers within the Council of Faipule and the senior staff of the public service. The Council's head is the Ulu o Tokelau (Leader of Tokelau), a post which rotates on a yearly basis. In 1994 the Faipule of Fakaofo, Mr Keli Neeima, was Ulu.

The Faipule are the elected leaders of their respective atolls and chair the Taupulega or village council. Traditionally each village has been largely autonomous. This was confirmed by the Tokelau Village Incorporations Regulations 1986, giving legal recognition to each village and granting it an independent law making power.

The ministerial function accordingly represents an extension of the formal responsibility of the Faipule. It can also be seen as formalising the past situation where each Faipule has provided the effective link between village and administering power; and, for that matter, between village and public service. (Before the January 1994 delegation of the Administrator's powers, the delegation was held by the head of the Tokelau Public Service, the Official Secretary, a post that is now disestablished.) These changes have added to the responsibilities of the other elected official, the Pulenuku or village mayor.

Tokelau's development prospects are restricted by its small land area and population, its geographic isolation, and by the relatively high cost in these circumstances of providing education, health and other services to three communities which are so widely separated. For these reasons Tokelau relies substantially on external financial support, primarily from New Zealand. Nonetheless the development of government structures at the national level has promoted a clear wish for Tokelau to be self-reliant to the greatest extent possible.

That wish is reflected in Tokelau's first National Strategic Plan adopted by the General Fono in June 1994. This document is seen as a ‘charted course’ for the next five to 10 years and is reflected in Tokelau's submission to a UN Visiting Mission in July 1994. The submission affirms that Tokelau has under active consideration both the constitution of a self-governing Tokelau and the act of self-determination. It also expresses a strong preference for free association with New Zealand.

Ross Dependency

The Ross Dependency consists of the land, permanent ice-shelf and islands of Antarctica between 160° east to 150° west. The land is almost entirely covered by ice, and is uninhabited except for people working on scientific research programmes. New Zealand has exercised jurisdiction over the territory since 1923. An Antarctic scientific research programme is maintained in the Ross Dependency, with New Zealand operating Scott Base on Ross Island as a permanent base. 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 42 parties to the treaty meet regularly to consider questions within its framework.

4.4 Defence

The Governor-General as Commander-in-Chief is empowered to raise and maintain the New Zealand Naval Forces, the New Zealand Army and the Royal New Zealand Air Force. These forces, together with civilian employees, constitute the New Zealand Defence Force.

The Minister of Defence's power of control of the New Zealand Defence Force is exercised through the Chief of Defence Force. The Chief of Defence Force is the principal military adviser to the minister and responsible for the carrying out of the functions and duties of the Defence Force; the general conduct of the Defence Force; the management of the activities and resources of the Defence Force; and is chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee.

The Secretary of Defence, chief executive of the Ministry of Defence, is the principal civilian adviser to the minister. The secretary is responsible for formulating advice, in consultation with the Chief of Defence Force, on defence policy; the procurement, replacement or repair of defence equipment which has major significance to military capability; and assessment and audit of the Defence Force.

Defence policy

The Government's white paper, The Defence of New Zealand 1991, provided the foundation for the longer term shaping of New Zealand's defence structure to support the country's security interests.

In updating New Zealand's defence policy, the white paper adopted a new approach. It did not try to estimate the likelihood of future threats in the Asia-Pacific region. Instead it looked at the permanent features of New Zealand's geography and situation, and factors such as demography and economic base that change only slowly, that shape New Zealand's forces and the tasks they have to carry out.

The white paper acknowledged that there is no direct threat to New Zealand's territory and stressed the importance of contributing to the defence of New Zealand's wider interests. Based upon this assessment of New Zealand's strategic situation and interests, the white paper defines New Zealand's defence policy goals in the following terms to:

  • Maintain the sovereignty of New Zealand.

  • Preserve the security of New Zealand, and its essential interests.

  • Maintain the sovereignty and security of the Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau.

  • Contribute to the security of the South Pacific states with which New Zealand shares historical or other particular interests, and to contribute generally to the security and stability of the South Pacific region.

  • Develop further the existing defence co-operation with Australia, including planning, logistics and the industrial base.

  • Maintain and develop defence co-operation with ASEAN countries, and to preserve the partnership obligations of the Five Power Defence Arrangements.

  • Work to re-establish an effective defence relationship with New Zealand's other traditional partners, especially the United States and the United Kingdom.

  • Support the United Nations by contributing forces for peacekeeping or peacemaking operations.

  • Contribute forces to other collective endeavours where New Zealand's national interests are involved.

  • Ensure that the general purpose forces implied by these goals are capable of supporting non-military interests.

Three members of the Silverdale RSA on ANZAC Day.

The white paper concluded that New Zealand's interests were best met by a strategy of ‘self reliance in partnership’. This strategy links the need for a self-reliant capability to handle immediate national tasks—the protection of New Zealand territory and sovereignty—with broader interests shared in partnership with Australia, the South Pacific and the countries beyond.

The white paper also defined the capabilities and funding methods needed to support New Zealand's national goals as economically as possible. It measured the existing Defence Force against the yardstick of the credible minimum force. Minimum because the force must be fiscally sustainable in all economic circumstances, credible because, even at a minimum level, it must meet the essential aims defined by successive governments, and reassure New Zealand's neighbours and allies that the Government has the resolve and the capability to do so.

The white paper provided the broad framework and guidance for detailed planning. Reviews have been completed of defence funding, air and sea transport, maritime surveillance and warfare (surface and sub-surface), air combat, land forces structure, mine counter-measures, naval control and protection of shipping, and naval, utility and light helicopters. The reviews have provided a foundation for the development of an integrated, rational and transparent defence planning system.

International defence relationships

Australia.

Australia is New Zealand's main defence partner and the defence relationship underpins New Zealand's defence and security system. Considerable progress has been made in recent years in strengthening the defence relationship through a process called closer defence relations. Among the objectives are the identification of methods for a more economical and effective organisation of training, base, and infrastructure support, and an examination of options for developing the structure of the two countries’ defence forces to strengthening their ability to operate together.

The Five Power Defence Arrangements.

The basis of the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) is not a formal treaty but a statement in the communiqué following the meeting of ministers from Britain, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand in 1971. The focus of the arrangements is the action and support available to Malaysia and Singapore if either of these countries should be under external threat.

Mutual Assistance Programme.

ASEAN and South Pacific countries participate in the Defence Force's Mutual Assistance Programme. The programme is a practical demonstration of New Zealand's commitment to regional security. Through training and advisory assistance, the programme contributes to the effectiveness of the armed forces in New Zealand's South Pacific neighbourhood, and it acquaints New Zealand armed forces personnel with professional counterparts, and with conditions generally, in South-East Asia. It also contributes to development projects by using the engineering and trade skills of the armed forces. The most common forms of assistance are the provision of formal courses or on-the-job training in New Zealand, the deployment overseas of training and technical teams, the attachment of military instructors to other armed forces for periods of up to two years in Fiji, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Malaysia, and civic action programmes in the engineering and medical fields.

ANZUS.

This security treaty between Australia, New Zealand and the United States came into force in 1952. Each party recognised that an armed attack in the Pacific on any of the parties would be dangerous to its own peace and safety and declared that it would act to meet the common danger in accordance with its constitutional processes. However, 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.

Co-operation with other countries.

To facilitate exchanges on military matters, defence representatives are posted to New Zealand diplomatic missions in London, Canberra, Washington, New York (United Nations), Ottawa, Jakarta, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Port Moresby and Suva. In addition, some members of these staffs are also accredited to other countries, such as Thailand, Brunei, France, Germany, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. A Wellington-based defence adviser is accredited to Cook Islands, Niue, Tonga and Western Samoa. The United Kingdom, Australia, Papua New Guinea and Malaysia have service representatives attached to their respective High Commissions in Wellington and there are service attachés on the staffs of the French, Indonesian and United States embassies in Wellington. Several other countries have service attachés accredited to, but not resident in, New Zealand.

Armed forces overseas

Singapore.

A small administrative element, known as the New Zealand Defence Support Unit, is based in Singapore to support bilateral exercises under the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) and the Mutual Assistance Programme, continued single-service deployments and training attachments. Two RNZAF officers serve at the headquarters of the Integrated Air Defence System at Butterworth, Malaysia.

United Nations Truce Supervisory Organisation (UNTSO).

The mission was first established in 1948. Military observers remain in the region to monitor cease-fires, supervise armistice agreements, prevent isolated incidents from escalating, and assist subsequent peacekeeping operations. New Zealand has seven observers in Israel and Syria with UNTSO.

Sinai Multinational Force and Observers (MFO).

This force was established in April 1982 to verify compliance with the terms of the peace treaty concluded between Egypt and Israel in 1979. The operational headquarters of MFO is in El Goran, Sinai. Ten countries contribute to MFO, including a 25-strong New Zealand contingent, which includes a training and advisory team, a heavy transport section and engineers.

United Nations Angola Verification Mission (UNAVEM).

New Zealand contributes five officers to UNAVEM, which was established in 1991 to observe the cease-fire agreement. A New Zealand officer currently fills the Chief of Staff position.

United Nations Protection Force Yugoslavia (UNPROFOR).

New Zealand has contributed observers to UNPROFOR since its inception in 1992. Nine officers are based in various locations in Bosnia and Croatia. An infantry company group of 250 personnel was deployed to Bosnia in September 1994, and was replaced after six months by a second company group.

United Nations Special Commission on Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction (UNSCOM).

Following the 1991 Gulf War, the United Nations established the Special Commission to destroy, remove or render harmless weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile capabilities. This task has been completed and the mission has moved on to its long-term monitoring phase. New Zealand has nine personnel with the mission providing medical and administrative support.

Cambodian Mine Action Centre.

This is a de-mining training centre set up by the Cambodian Government, with assistance from outside agencies. New Zealand has two de-mining instructors working at the centre.

United Nations Humanitarian Relief Operation in Rwanda.

An RNZAF Hercules and support crews were contributed to this mission in August and September 1994. The aircraft was based at Entebbe, Uganda, and flew relief supplies to Rwanda and Zaïre.

PEACEKEEPING COMMITMENTS

Since 1 January 1990

Mozambique Mine Action Centre.

There are two New Zealand mine experts in Mozambique assisting the de-mining operation, including the programme manager.

United Nations Headquarters, New York.

Two New Zealand personnel carry out staff duties at the headquarters in New York.

RNZAF Skyhawk Detachment, Nowra.

A detachment of six RNZAF Skyhawk aircraft and 56 flying and ground crew is based at Nowra, Australia in support of a combined maritime training programme. The aircraft undertake air-defence support flying for the Royal Australian Navy, providing that service with anti-air and anti-missile training.

Out on exercise, Waiouru.

Exercises

New Zealand vessels and aircraft participate in the annual Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) maritime exercise STARFISH held in Malaysian waters. Exercise TASMANEX is an annual maritime exercise which takes place in Australian and New Zealand waters. In 1995 ships and aircraft from both Australia and New Zealand will participate, along with units from Canada and the French maritime forces in the Pacific.

Significant army exercises include TAIAHA TOMBAK, a battalion deployment to Malaysia; SWIFT EAGLE, a bilateral interoperability exercise held in Australia; TAKROUNA, a combined battalion-level field exercise; SUMAN WARRIOR, an FPDA command-post exercise held in South-East Asia; and SILICON SAFARI, a combined Australian and New Zealand war-gaming exercise.

The Air Force deploys aircraft to Australia and South-East Asia each year to participate in bilateral and FPDA air-defence and maritime exercises. The Air Force also competes in FINCASTLE, an anti-submarine warfare competition between Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The Air Force participates in air-transport exercises, including the competition Exercise BULLSEYE in the United Kingdom, and Exercise SHORTHAUL with the Singaporean Air Force. Exercise TROPIC ASTRA, held in Fiji in 1994, practised tactical flying operations in a tropical environment.

Personnel exchanges.

Members of the Defence Force participate in annual exchanges with the defence forces of Australia and the United Kingdom.

Community assistance

Hydrographic survey.

The Navy produces all nautical charts for New Zealand, and for a large area of the South Pacific including Niue, Tokelau, Western Samoa and the Cook Islands. The Navy operates a hydrographic 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 1993–94, surveys of Fiordland, the Chatham Islands, Mahia Peninsula, Kaipara Harbour, Whakatane River entrance, the upper reaches of the Waitemata Harbour, the Bay of Plenty and several Pacific atolls were conducted. In addition, hydrographic investigations were carried out in Tonga and Niue.

Fisheries protection.

Naval ships and Air Force Orion aircraft patrol the New Zealand 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone. All information from surveillance patrols is passed to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. At times MAF officers are aboard the aircraft or ships when the patrols are conducted. The Air Force conducted 36 patrols and the Navy 30 throughout the New Zealand area and its approaches in 1993–94.

Search and rescue.

All three services maintain a search and rescue capability, with naval and air units maintained on a 24-hour stand-by. The Navy and Air Force have assisted in extensive sea searches, while the Army and the Air Force have assisted police in land search and rescues. The Air Force is also able to carry out emergency medical evacuation missions throughout New Zealand and the South Pacific.

Antarctic support.

Defence Force support for the New Zealand Antarctic Programme in 1993–94 included 12 return flights to McMurdo Base by Hercules aircraft. One Iroquois helicopter was stationed at McMurdo from November to February. Other support included air-cargo handling at Christchurch and McMurdo, pre-departure training camps for Antarctic Programme personnel, and fire-fighting and base-support personnel in Antarctica.

New Zealand Cadet Forces.

The Cadet Forces comprise the Sea Cadets, Air Training Corps and the New Zealand Cadet Corps. These are community-based youth groups, and are supported by the Sea Cadets Association, the Air Training Corps Association, the Returned Servicemen's Association, the New Zealand Army Association and schools. There are 98 cadet units (18 Sea Cadet, 30 Cadet Corps and 50 Air Training Corps). The total strength is 420 officers and 3,532 cadets.

Limited Service Volunteer Scheme.

Limited Service Volunteer training courses have been conducted by all three services since May 1993. The programme provides young unemployed volunteers with six weeks of residential training in outdoor activities and general life skills. A total of 785 volunteers had graduated from the courses by 30 June 1994.

Disaster relief.

The Defence Force provides assistance in the wake of natural disasters in the South Pacific. Assistance can include post-disaster reconnaissance of damage levels, transportation of relief supplies, food, medical supplies, and engineering and communications services.

Other assistance.

Other assistance provided by the Defence Force includes transportation of Department of Conservation personnel to New Zealand's outlying islands, ceremonial support for State occasions, helicopter and logistic support to the police, assistance with rural fire-fighting, explosive ordnance disposal, and support during national civil defence emergencies. The Defence Force attended and assisted veterans to attend the 50th anniversary commemorations of the Battle for Cassino, and provided representation at the D-Day and Tarawa anniversaries.

Defence expenditure

Defence funding is disaggregated to two organisations: the New Zealand Defence Force under the Chief of Defence Force and the Ministry of Defence under the Secretary of Defence. Total expenditure by the two organisations is consolidated in .

Table 4.2. DEFENCE EXPENDITURE

Year ended 30 June
Item1994x 1995

Source: New Zealand Defence Force, Ministry of Defence.

 $(000)
Operating expenses796,105,788,550
Purchase of fixed assets276,052,270,059
GST on outputs to Crown166,436,160,059
    Subtotal1,238,593,1,218,705
Less 
Sale of fixed assets10,288,50
Supply of outputs to other parties11,544,5,730
    Subtotal21,832,5,780
Total net expenditure1,216,761,1,212,925

Table 4.3. NUMBER OF DEFENCE PERSONNEL

As at 30 JuneNavyArmyAir ForceTotalCivilians

Source: New Zealand Defence Force.

19902,5315,0594,15511,7452,891
19912,6055,0873,82311,5153,119
19922,4754,6883,61710,7802,546
19932,3404,5423,44010,3222,532
19942,1884,5163,36810,0722,443

Table 4.4. INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON OF DEFENCE EXPENDITURE

Percentage of GDP
 19911992199319941995*

* Estimated.

Year ending 30 June.

Year ending 31 March.

§ Year ending 30 September.

Source: New Zealand Defence Force.

Australia†2.42.42.42.32.1
Canada‡1.81.71.71.51.4
New Zealand†1.8x1.71.51.5P1.4
Sweden†2.72.52.5x2.62.6
United Kingdom‡3.94.14.1x3.7P3.7
United States of America§4.95.14.74.2P3.9

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.

Sea Cadet.

Table 4.5. STATE OF THE NAVY

Source: New Zealand Defence Force.

Frigates (Leander class)Wellington
 Southland
 Waikato
CanterburyNaval Combat Force
Fleet tankerEndeavour
Survey shipMonowai
Inshore survey craftTakapu
TarapungaHydrographic Survey Force
Research shipTui
Inshore patrol craftMoa
 Kiwi
 Wakakura
HinauFirst New Zealand Patrol Craft Squadron
Diving support vesselManawanui
Training tenderKahu
Dockyard service craftAratiki

HMNZS Southland was placed in reserve on 1 March 1995. A commercial vessel, MV Sealift, has been purchased as a military sealift ship and will enter service late in 1995 as HMNZS Charles Upham.

Shore establishments.

The naval base at Devonport, Auckland, consists of the office of the Maritime Commander (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. Collocated with the naval bases is the dockyard, a comprehensive engineering facility for the support of naval vessels. Since 1 August 1994 the dockyard has been managed by Babcock New Zealand Limited under a 10-year commercial management agreement. HMNZS Tamaki is the naval training establishment at Narrow Neck, Devonport, although a number of training facilities are now located in the Shoal Bay area of the Devonport naval base. The RNZN Armament Depot is situated at Kauri Point and the RNZN Hydrographic Office is at Takapuna. HMNZS Wakefield is the administrative unit for RNZN personnel in the Wellington area. There are four Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve divisions based at HMNZ Ships Ngapona (Auckland), Olphert (Wellington), Pegasus (Christchurch), and Toloa (Dunedin). There is also a port headquarters in Tauranga.

THE PUBLIC SERVICE

Ratio of male to female staff

DEFENCE FORCE LOCATIONS

Table 4.6. STRENGTH OF THE NAVY

 At 31 MarchAt 30 June
Category1991199219931994

Source: New Zealand Defence Force.

Regular forces    
Officers393429419400
Ratings2,1732,1171,9111,788
     Total2,5632,5462,3302,188
Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve (all ranks)498512484424

New Zealand Army

The Army comprises regular, territorial, and reserve elements and is structured to provide the following operational options:

  • A range of deployable Regular Force units, known as Army ready response units, held at a high level of readiness.

  • A deployable Regular Force infantry battalion group.

  • A deployable Regular and Territorial Force brigade group.

  • Force Troops, such as the Special Air Service, Force Intelligence Group, signals, movement and Military Police units, to operate with or independently of the above groupings.

Command and administration.

The Chief of General Staff commands the Army, supported by the Army General Staff. The Army has the following structure:

Headquarters Land Force Command—responsible for the operational components of the Army, namely, 2nd Land Force Group, 3rd Land Force Group and Force Troops.

Headquarters Support Command—responsible for the provision of individual training, equipment management, static support and facilities, and base support, and commands the Army Training Group and 5th Base Logistics Group.

State of the Army.

Major army units comprise two Regular Force infantry battalions, six Territorial Force infantry battalions, an armoured regiment, a field artillery regiment, an engineer regiment, four signals squadrons, a Special Air Service group and five logistics regiments. Major equipment includes 26 combat reconnaissance vehicles (tracked), 78 armoured personnel-carriers, 43,105mm guns/howitzers and 50 81mm mortars.

Table 4.7. STRENGTH OF THE ARMY

 At 31 MarchAt 30 June
Category1991199219931994

Source: New Zealand Defence Force.

 
Regular Forces    
Officers662677687631
Other ranks4,2264,1353,8753,885
     Total4,8884,8124,5624,576
Territorial Force (all ranks)5,1384,5784,5494,480

Loading vehicles and personnel carriers bound for UN duties in Bosnia.

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 RNZAF supported by the Air Staff.

Organisation.

From May 1995, the RNZAF in New Zealand will be organised into one functional group: Air Command. With headquarters at RNZAF Base Auckland, it will be responsible for all operational functions, all training and all support functions. Operational flying units are based at RNZAF Base Auckland and RNZAF Base Ohakea, with a detachment of Iroquois helicopters at RNZAF Base Wigram. RNZAF Base Ohakea also hosts primary flying training, while most ground training is done at RNZAF Base Woodbourne. RNZAF Museums are located at RNZAF bases Wigram and Ohakea.

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 RNZAF Base Woodbourne. Some repair and overhaul work is contracted to the private sector in New Zealand and overseas.

Table 4.8. STATE OF THE AIR FORCE

Operational units roleAircraftLocation

Source: New Zealand Defence Force.

Maritime6 Orions 
Transport2 Boeing 727s 
 9 Andovers 
 5 HerculesRNZAF Base Auckland
Helicopters5 Wasps (operated by RNZN) 
 5 Sioux 
 12 Iroquois 
 2 IroquoisRNZAF Base Wigram
Combat Air Support6 Skyhawks 
 14 SkyhawksRoyal Australian Naval Air Station Nowra, NSW
Advanced flying training and attack flying training17 AermacchiRNZAF Base Ohakea
Flying training15 Air Trainers 

Table 4.9. STRENGTH OF THE AIR FORCE

 At 31 MarchAt 30 June
Category1991199219931994

Source: New Zealand Defence Force.

Regular forces 
Officers654634605620
Other ranks3,4253,2232,9472,748
     Total4,0793,8573,5523,368
Territorial Air Force237219187136

Security Intelligence Service

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 and to advise ministers on security matters. 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 government of New Zealand.

During the year ended 31 March 1994, three 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 27 days. The method of interception used was listening devices.

Table 4.1. EXPENDITURE ON SECURITY INTELLIGENCE SERVICE

Year ended 30 JuneGross expenditureIncrease over previous year

* Year ended 31 March.

Source: Security Intelligence Service.

 $(000)percent
1991*10,2661
199210,4702
199310,304-1.6
19949,987-3

Contributors

4.1–4.3Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
4.4New Zealand Defence Force; New Zealand Security Intelligence Service.

Special articles

Department of Conservation; Ministry of Women's Affairs.

Further information

An Introduction to the Structures and Functions of the Ministry of External Relations and Trade. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Defence of New Zealand 1991: A Policy Paper. New Zealand Government, Wellington, 1991.

Diplomatic List. Diplomatic and Consular Representatives in New Zealand. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (twice-yearly).

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

New Zealand Defence Quarterly. Ministry of Defence.

Overseas Posts, a List of New Zealand Representatives Abroad. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (twice-yearly).

Report of the Ministry of Defence (Parl Paper G4).

Report of the Ministry of External Relations and Trade (Parl Paper A1).

Report of the New Zealand Defence Force (Parl Paper G55).

New Zealand External Relations and Trade. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (monthly except January).

Rolfe, J. Defending New Zealand. Institute of Policy Studies, 1993.

Chapter 5. Population

Picnic in the gardens, Dunedin.

The demography of New Zealand has changed dramatically in the past hundred years. The nation has passed through a ‘demographic transition’ similar to those experienced by most western countries, and despite continued reliance on agricultural exports, has become highly urbanised.

Family formation patterns have changed radically, the divorce rate has soared, and de facto unions have become common. The average family size has shrunk to less than half of what it was and is now at a historic low. Substantial reductions in mortality mean that New Zealanders now expect to live, on average, over 20 years longer than they did a century ago.

The population age structure has also undergone profound changes, largely as a result of peaks and troughs in the birth rate. The number of elderly New Zealanders has increased over 20-fold since 1886, and the population is ageing—a process that is expected to hasten when the ‘baby boom’ generation reaches retirement age after the turn of the century. Low birth rates, recent emigration levels and the ‘greying’ of population have raised the prospect of a future slow growth or no growth environment.

The following discussions on population issues cover only the years since World War II, and more particularly the past 30 years. The aim is to highlight modern trends in New Zealand's demography and present those population changes from over the last half century which have affected, and continue to affect, the development of the country.

5.1 Population growth

The dramatic changes in the first 150 years of European settlement in New Zealand were frequently consistent with, and indicative of, international social and economic trends. In a nation of New Zealand's size and youth, however, the results of these trends often had a profound effect and impact. The almost cyclic nature of depression and recovery, along with the arrival of gold rushes, world wars and assisted immigration schemes saw New Zealand's population growth rates fluctuate regularly.

The population of New Zealand reached 500,000 in 1880 boosted by the introduction of government-assisted immigration. The first million was surpassed in 1908 following the economic recovery from the Depression of the 1880s and 1890s. In the aftermath of World War II the growth rate climbed dramatically (in comparison to a stagnation in the early 1930s) as the baby boom and increased immigration made their impact. The second million of population was reached in 1952, 44 years after the first million with the third added, only 21 years later, in 1973. Almost one-fifth of this population growth came from net immigration. Since 1974 New Zealand's population has increased by just under one-half of a million to reach 3.52 million at December 1993.

POPULATION GROWTH Percentage annual increase

Over the past 20 years there have been significant fluctuations in the population growth rate caused by wide swings in the level and direction of the external migration balance. In absolute terms. New Zealand's population grew by a record 266,752 during 1971–76, only 46,354 during 1976–81, 131,347 during 1981–86 and 127,866 over the latest intercensal period, 1986–91.

The decline in population growth during the 1970s and 1980s was again a noticeable international trend. A number of other developed countries, including Denmark, France, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, have all experienced reduced growth rates during this period.

Table 5.1. TOTAL NEW ZEALAND POPULATION, 1858–1991 CENSUSES

 Intercensal increase
Census*Total populationNumberPercentAverage annual (percent)

* Omits censuses of 1861, 1864, 1867 and 1871 as censuses of Maori population were not taken in these years.

1858, 24 December115,462   
1874, 1 March344,984   
1878, 3 March458,007113,02332.767.33
1881, 3 April534,03076,02316.605.10
1886, 28 March620,45186,42116.183.07
1891, 5 April668,65148,2007.771.49
1896, 12 April743,21474,56311.152.13
1901, 31 March815,86272,6489.771.89
1906, 29 April936,309120,44714.762.75
1911, 2 April1,058,312122,00313.032.52
1916, 15 October1,149,22590,9138.591.50
1921, 17 April1,271,668122,44310.652.27
1926, 20 April1,408,139136,47110.732.06
1936, 24 March1,573,812165,67311.771.13
1945, 25 September1,702,330128,5188.170.83
1951, 17 April1,939,472237,14213.932.37
1956, 17 April2,174,062234,59012.102.31
1961, 18 April2,414,984240,92211.082.12
1966, 22 March2,676,919261,93510.852.11
1971, 23 March2,862,631185,7126.941.35
1976, 23 March3,129,383266,7529.321.80
1981, 24 March3,175,73746,3541.480.29
1986, 4 March3,307,084131,3474.140.82
1991, 5 March3,434,950127,8663.870.76

Table 5.2. POPULATION, 1885–1993

YearTotal population at 31 DecemberMean population for year ended 31 DecemberYearTotal population at 31 DecemberMean population for year ended 31 December
1885619,323613,86219191,227,1811,192,665
1886631,355624,27519201,257,6111,242,396
1887645,330638,34319211,292,7171,276,652
1888649,349647,34019221,318,8841,305,126
1889658,021653,68519231,343,0211,328,193
1890667,477662,74919241,370,4031,352,618
1891676,051671,77619251,401,2301,384,428
1892692,426684,23919261,429,7001,413,800
1893714,258703,34219311,522,7001,514,200
1894728,121721,19019361,584,6001,575,200
1895740,699734,41019391,641,6001,628,500
1896754,016746,28819401,633,6001,637,300
1897768,910761,46319411,631,2001,630,900
1898783,317776,11419421,636,4001,639,500
1899796,359789,83819431,642,0001,635,600
1900808,132802,24619441,676,3001,655,800
1901830,800821,11119451,727,8001,694,700
1902851,072840,93619461,781,2001,759,600
1903875,648863,36019471,817,5001,798,300
1904900,682888,16519481,853,9001,834,700
1905925,605913,14419491,892,1001,871,700
1906956,457943,32519501,927,7001,909,100
1907977,215966,83619511,970,5001,947,600
19081,008,373992,79419522,024,6001,996,200
19091,030,6571,019,51519532,074,7002,048,800
19101,050,4101,040,53419542,118,4002,094,900
19111,075,2501,063,88719552,164,8002,139,000
19121,102,4711,088,86119562,209,2002,182,800
19131,134,5061,118,48819572,262,8002,232,500
19141,145,8381,140,17219582,316,0002,285,800
19151,152,6381,149,23819592,359,7002,334,600
19161,150,3391,149,22519602,403,6002,377,000
19171,147,4481,148,89319612,461,3002,426,700
19181,158,1491,152,79819622,515,8002,484,900
19632,566,9002,536,90019793,163,9003,137,800
19642,617,0002,589,10019803,176,4003,144,000
19652,663,8002,635,30019813,194,5003,156,700
19662,711,3002,682,60019823,226,8003,180,800
19672,745,0002,727,70019833,264,8003,221,700
19682,773,0002,753,50019843,293,0003,252,800
19692,804,0002,780,10019853,303,1003,271,500
19702,852,1002,819,60019863,313,5003,277,000
19712,898,5002,864,20019873,342,1003,303,600
19722,959,7002,915,60019883,345,2003,317,000
19733,024,9002,977,10019893,369,8003,330,200
19743,091,9003,041,80019903,410,4003,362,500
19753,143,7003,100,10019913,449,7003,406,200
19763,163,4003,131,80019923,485,4003,442,500
19773,166,4003,142,60019933,524,8003,480,200
19783,165,2003,143,500   

Around 200 people aged over 50 showed up for old-time dancing during Dunedin's Age on the Go Week.

5.2 Distribution of population

Three major trends stand out prominently in the geographic distribution and redistribution of New Zealand's population over the last 150 years. The first is an increasing proportion of people living in the north of the country. The second is a tendency for people to move from the south to the north. The third is for an increasing degree of urbanisation and, in particular, a concentration of people in the main urban centres.

North and South Islands

Following the end of the gold boom in the South Island in the 1870s, the proportion of the total population living in the South Island began to steadily decrease. From the 1896 Census onward the population of the North Island has exceeded that of the South.

Since that time the North Island's population has continued to expand at a greater rate, and its share of the total population has continued to grow. In 1951, 68 percent of the population resided in the North Island, by 1971 this figure had risen to almost 72 percent and in 1991 was at 74 percent.

Auckland is a key region in internal migration patterns, accruing population at the expense of most other regions. The second major region for receiving migrants was Waikato.

In most cases population flows favoured regions to the north. Thus, Southland lost population to Otago, Otago to Canterbury, Canterbury lost to Wellington and Wellington lost to Auckland.

The significance of the ‘drift north’, however, must be put in perspective. Internal migration is not a one-way process. Typically, for each migration stream moving in one direction there is an opposing counter stream. Further, a sizeable proportion of internal migration occurs between adjacent regions. The major flows over long distances, however, are mainly between major urban areas.

URBAN DRIFT Ratio of urban to rural population

Table 5.3. POPULATION OF NORTH AND SOUTH ISLANDS, 1858–1991 CENSUSES

CensusNorth IslandSouth IslandTotal population
185887,15028,312115,462
1874155,472189,512344,984
1878199,523258,484458,007
1881234,648299,382534,030
1886290,009330,442620,451
1891321,247347,404668,651
1896377,954365,260743,214
1901431,471384,391815,862
1906521,899414,410936,309
1911610,599447,7131,058,312
1916695,396453,8291,149,225
1921791,918479,7501,271,668
1926892,679515,4601,408,139
19361,018,038555,7741,573,812
19451,146,315556,0151,702,330
19511,313,869625,6031,939,472
19561,497,364676,6982,174,062
19611,684,785730,1992,414,984
19661,893,326783,5932,676,919
19712,051,363811,2682,862,631
19762,268,393860,9903,129,383
19812,322,989852,7483,175,737
19862,441,615865,4693,307,084
19912,553,413881,5373,434,950

The balance of urban and rural components of population is another major feature of New Zealand's changing demography.

Many influences have contributed to the persistence and amplification of the population differential between the two islands. The North Island has had a higher birth rate, a lower mortality rate and, as a result, a higher rate of natural increase. The bulk of overseas migrants settle in the North Island.

Internal migration

The movement of people within and between regions is an important determinant of New Zealand's population distribution. Overall, New Zealanders are a mobile people and, while the majority of movement is within regions, there is a significant traffic of people between regions. These latter flows have the greater impact on regional populations. In addition to affecting the size of the population of different regions, inter-regional migration also influences age structures, fertility levels and population growth rates.

For the last hundred years the trend has been for a northward drift of people. During 1986–91, regions in the north of each island gained more people from internal migration than did other regions, with the highest growth areas over this period being Auckland and Bay of Plenty in the North Island and Nelson-Marlborough and Canterbury in the South Island.

Table 5.4. MIGRATION BETWEEN REGIONAL COUNCILS, 1986–1991

Regional councilsUsually resident population aged 5 years and over at 1991 censusIn-migration (2)Out-migration (3)Gross migration (2)+(3)=(4)Net migration (2)-(3)=(5)Migration effectiveness ratio (5)/(4)x100
Northland114,88817,81717,46635,2833510.99
Auckland863,30466,41761,248127,6655,1694.05
Waikato301,14042,17440,54882,7221,6261.97
Bay of Plenty185,19031,97723,51155,4888,46615.26
Gisborne39,8254,4857,80912,294-3,324-27.04
Hawke's Bay126,13813,80316,98630,789-3,183-10.34
Taranaki97,5699,49812,54922,047-3,051-13.84
Manawatu-Wanganui204,82829,98230,91260,894-930-1.53
Wellington366,98136,26142,68478,945-6,423-8.14
Nelson-Marlborough99,38715,24912,27327,5222,97610.81
West Coast29,8954,3056,20110,506-1,896-18.05
Canterbury402,91536,36030,89767,2575,4638.12
Otago164,92519,41919,66539,084-246-0.63
Southland91,5127,22712,22519,452-4,998-25.69

Table 5.5. URBAN-RURAL POPULATION, 1881–1991 CENSUSES*

 UrbanRural
Censusnumberpercentnumberpercent

* Excludes shipping.

† Boroughs and cities vs counties (including town districts).

‡ Urban areas and towns with over 1,000 population vs remaining population.

§ Based on boundaries at 5 March 1991.

Non-Maori population†    
1881194,98140.1291,23859.9
1886245,61242.9327,32857.1
1891270,34343.4352,09756.6
1896307,29444.0391,73556.0
1901350,20245.6417,59654.4
1906424,61448.1458,79751.9
1911505,59850.4496,77949.6
1916585,30653.9501,25946.1
1921681,98856.2530,85243.8
Total population‡    
1926953,17368.0448,50132.0
19361,065,22867.9503,88532.1
19451,227,06974.2427,07625.8
19511,406,51672.7527,07827.3
19561,600,80873.8568,80626.2
19611,840,20276.4569,21723.6
19662,119,08579.3553,02320.7
19712,328,87681.5528,60918.5
19762,614,11983.6511,00416.4
1981§2,693,24284.8479,02315.1
1986§2,806,76084.9497,73015.1
1991§2,916,38284.9515,22715.0

Improved communications and transportation have allowed the centralisation of previously dispersed services, and secondary and tertiary industries continued to expand. Over four-fifths of the population lived in urban areas by 1971, and by 1991 the urban proportion of the population had risen to 85 percent of the total.

The cities

At the time of the 1991 Census, while 85 percent of the population lived in urban areas, 68 percent lived in ‘main urban areas’ (places with 30,000 people or over).

A recent feature of urbanisation has been the growing concentration of people in Auckland. In 1991, 26 percent of New Zealand's population lived there, compared with only 15 percent 70 years earlier.

Today, while a large majority of the population live in urban areas, there has been a decline in the growth of many urban areas. Between 1986 and 1991, urban areas that continued to grow were generally situated in the north of each island—between Auckland and Rotorua in the North Island and between Nelson and Christchurch in the South Island. Urban areas in the south of each island experienced virtually no growth nor lost population.

GROWTH OF CITIES Average annual intercensal growth rates for main urban areas

Table 5.6. POPULATION OF 20 LARGEST URBAN AREAS AT SELECTED CENSUSES

Urban area1886*1911*193619611986†1991†

* Excludes Maori.

†Boundaries as at 5 March 1991.

Auckland33,161102,676226,366448,365821,647885,571
Wellington25,94570,729159,357249,532325,711325,682
Christchurch29,65580,193133,515220,510300,052307,179
Hamilton23,24364,23720,09650,505140,106148,625
Dunedin1,2013,54285,607105,003107,639109,503
Palmerston North2,60610,99124,37243,18567,40570,951
Tauranga1,1481,3465,80824,65963,25470,803
Hastings1,5046,28617,92032,49057,50957,748
Rotorua-2,3908,89925,06851,99153,702
Napier7,68011,73619,17032,71653,27652,468
Invercargill8,25115,85825,91241,08852,55851,984
New Plymouth3,0935,23818,59732,38747,38448,519
Nelson7,3158,23413,49325,32144,59347,391
Whangarei-2,6649,86821,79044,31844,183
Wanganui4,90114,70225,75035,69440,75841,213
Gisborne2,1948,19615,87825,06532,23831,484
Timaru3,75411,28018,77126,42428,67627,637
Kapiti-1,0685,36712,30523,20327,380
Blenheim3,0943,7715,03611,95622,68123,637
Masterton3,1605,1829,09615,12819,93020,007

Population of local government areas today

The following tables outline the population of New Zealand's territorial local authority areas and regional councils. All data conforms with the boundaries established after the 1989 reorganisation of local government.

Table 5.7. POPULATION OF TERRITORIAL LOCAL AUTHORITIES

Territorial local authority*Census of population 1991Estimated at 31 March 1994†Estimated population change 1993-94‡

* Boundaries as at April 1993.

† Figures have been rounded.

‡A minus sign indicates a decrease in population.

§Includes persons on shipboard, and the populations of Campbell, Kermadec, Mayor and Motiti Islands (not within city, county or district boundaries).

Cities  numberpercent
North Shore152,134159,1003,6002.3
Waitakere136,716144,5002,6001.8
Auckland315,668327,8006,7002.1
Manukau226,147238,1004,5001.9
Hamilton101,448105,1001,5001.4
Napier51,64552,3005001.0
Palmerston North70,31874,5001,0001.4
Porirua46,60147,8004000.8
Upper Hutt37,09237,1001000.3
Lower Hutt94,54094,9003000.3
Wellington150,301152,1001,3000.9
Nelson37,94340,2009002.3
Christchurch292,858302,8005,2001.7
Dunedin116,577119,8001,4001.2
Invercargill56,14855,800--
     Subtotal, cities1,886,1361,952,10029,8001.6
Districts    
Far North51,56853,7008001.5
Whangarei62,64464,2006000.9
Kaipara17,32517,400--
Rodney55,78461,6002,1003.5
Papakura36,55338,3006001.6
Franklin42,19345,2001,0002.3
Thames-Coromandel25,03726,6005001.9
Hauraki16,92117,4501500.9
Waikato37,55638,5004001.0
Matamata-Piako29,40829,8002000.7
Waipa37,03138,3005001.3
Otorohanga9,2319,350700.8
South Waikato26,18625,500--
Waitomo10,0749,890-10-0.1
Taupo30,72131,7004001.3
Western Bay of Plenty30,13732,3007002.2
Tauranga67,33372,3002,1003.0
Rotorua65,09666,4007001.1
Whakatane32,11232,8003000.9
Kawerau8,1358,080-10-0.1
Opotiki8,6769,1201401.6
Gisborne44,36144,4001000.2
Wairoa10,37110,300--
Hastings64,69365,7004000.6
Central Hawke's Bay12,59012,550500.4
New Plymouth67,95169,1005000.7
Stratford9,8469,760-20-0.2
South Taranaki29,51929,100--
Ruapehu18,10417,850-100-0.6
Wanganui45,08245,9003000.7
Rangitikei16,67616,300-50-0.3
Manawatu27,18228,0003001.1
Tararua19,48219,500500.3
Horowhenua29,47630,1003001.0
Kapiti Coast35,30938,0007001.9
Masterton22,94723,4002000.9
Carterton6,9137,180400.6
South Wairarapa9,0379,3201001.1
Tasman36,41638,0007001.9
Marlborough36,76538,3006001.6
Kaikoura3,7113,790100.3
Buller10,94111,050500.5
Grey13,74213,650500.4
Westland9,2509,090500.6
Hurunui9,5699,7901001.0
Waimakariri27,86229,9008002.7
Banks Peninsula7,6397,9201201.5
Selwyn21,35922,6006002.7
Ashburton24,43524,7002000.8
Timaru43,20842,6001000.2
Mackenzie5,0574,270200.5
Waimate7,7937,700-10-0.1
Waitaki22,99123,0001000.4
Central Otago15,69614,800-100-0.7
Queenstown-Lakes15,12316,1009005.9
Clutha18,30318,050--
Southland33,68133,100--
Gore13,59613,6501000.7
     Subtotal, districts1,546,3971,587,10017,5001.1
Chatham Islands County760760-10-1.3
     Total, New Zealand§3,434,9503,541,60047,3001.4

Table 5.8. POPULATION OF REGIONAL COUNCILS*

RegionCensus of population 1991Estimated at 31 March 1994†Estimated population change 1993–94

* Boundaries as at 1 July 1992.

† Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred.

‡Includes the population of Kermadec Islands.

§ Includes the population of Chatham Islands County and Campbell Island.

North Island  number†percent
Northland131,620135,4001,4001.0
Auckland953,9801,002,70020,7002.1
Waikato338,959348,2003,6001.0
Bay of Plenty208,163217,7003,9001.8
Gisborne44,38744,400--
Hawke's Bay139,479141,0009000.6
Taranaki107,222107,9004000.4
Manawatu–Wanganui226,616232,5001,8000.8
Wellington402,892410,0003,0000.7
Remainder North Island‡95100--
     Subtotal, North Island2,553,4132,639,90035,8001.4
South Island
Tasman36,41638,0007001.9
Nelson38,00340,3009002.3
Marlborough36,76538,3006001.6
West Coast33,96133,8001000.3
Canterbury446,114458,8007,1001.6
Otago186,067189,1002,2001.2
Southland103,442102,600--
Remainder South Island§769800--
     Subtotal, South Island881,537901,70011,6001.3
Total, New Zealand3,434,9503,541,60047,3001.4

5.3 Components of population change

Population change has two main components, natural increase (the excess of births over deaths) and net migration. To indicate the relative importance of these components, in the period 1858–1989 as a whole, net migration contributed 23 percent of the total population growth in New Zealand, and natural increase the remaining 77 percent.

The relative contribution of the two components has varied from one five-year period to another, but net immigration's share has never exceeded two-fifths. In only three five-year periods (1941–45, 1966–70 and 1981–85), it contributed less than one-tenth of the total population growth, while in three periods (1931–35, 1976–80 and 1986–90) because of a net population outflow, its contribution was negative.

The volatility of migration trends contrasted with the upward trend in natural increase until 1961. The rise in natural increase has been prodigious. In 1861–65 births exceeded deaths by only 16,610. By 1961–65, the margin had soared to 205,164. Since then, the gap between births and deaths has gradually diminished because of a significant drop in the number of live births and a corresponding rise in the number of deaths. In 1981–85 births exceeded deaths by 125,109, a drop of nearly 40 percent on 20 years earlier. However, in 1989–93, births exceeded deaths by 161,812, and increase of 29 percent over 1981–85.

The following text briefly looks at the population processes—fertility, mortality and migration.

Fertility

Changing levels of fertility have played a major role in determining the size and structure of New Zealand's population over the years.

In 1935 the fertility rate in New Zealand fell to a low of 2.2 births per woman. This lower rate is attributed to fewer and later marriages, and family limitation within marriage exerting their influence.

With the demobilisation of forces after World War II and the resulting increase in marriages and births, the fertility rate recovered to 3.6 births per woman in 1947.

Table 5.9. FERTILITY TRENDS AND PATTERNS

YearTotal live birthsCrude birth rate†Total fertility rate‡Gross reproduction rate§⋄Net reproduction rate⋄ķEx-nuptial birth rateķ* *

* Non-Maori population only.

Per 1,000 mean population.

Average number of births a woman would have during her reproductive life if she was exposed to the fertility rates experienced during that year.

§ Average number of daughters a woman would bear during her reproductive life assuming that the age-of-mother-specific birth rates experienced during that year continue to apply.

Figures up to 1966 are for non-Maori population.

ķ Average number of daughters that a woman would bear during her reproductive life assuming that the age-of-mother-specific birth rates and mortality rates experienced during that year continue to apply.

* * Per 1,000 mean number of not-married women aged 15–49 years.

1881*18,73237.95    
1886*19,29934.88    
1891*18,27329.01    
1896*18,61226.33    
1901*20,49123.34    
1906*24,25227.08    
1911*26,35425.97   8.93
1916*28,50925.94   9.24
192129,62323.24   9.21
192629,90421.152.88  9.92
193128,86719.062.56   
193628,39518.032.301.040.976.71
194139,17024.022.931.371.27 
194647,52427.013.451.591.4711.67
195149,80625.573.601.641.5814.85
195656,53125.903.981.841.7717.79
196165,39026.954.312.031.9624.14
196660,00322.373.411.661.6136.92
197164,46022.513.181.551.5144.39
197655,10517.602.271.091.0736.86
198150,79416.092.010.980.9638.81
198755,25416.732.030.980.9642.44
198857,54617.352.101.021.0045.85
198958,09117.442.121.041.0148.83
199060,15317.892.181.071.0450.95
199160,00117.622.16x1.051.0352.05
199259,26617.222.121.021.0051.66
199358,86716.912.101.021.0052.07

Other features of the post-war years were New Zealanders marrying younger, and marriage becoming almost universal. By 1961 half of all women were married before age 22 years, compared with barely a quarter married by that age in the early 1940s. These trends were reinforced by early childbearing and the shortening of birth intervals. In the mid-1950s, age group 20–24 years replaced 25–29 years as the commonest age group for childbearing. The median age at first birth fell from 25.5 years in 1945 to 22.9 years in 1964. Fewer couples remained childless or had only one child. The net result was soaring birth numbers, up from just over 27,000 in 1935, to about 42,000 in 1945 and to over 65,000 in 1961. Over 1.1 million New Zealanders were born between 1945 and 1964—the ‘baby boomers’.

As was the case elsewhere, this burgeoning in the number of births was to reshape the population age structure and pose many and varied problems for policy-makers and planners in both the public and private sectors. At its peak in 1961, the total fertility rate exceeded 4.3 births per woman and significantly exceeded the figures for other developed nations. However, the upward trend was reversed in the early 1960s, just as suddenly as it had begun, which has prompted demographers to suggest that the ‘baby boom’ was merely a temporary diversion from a long-term downward trend.

Dunedin triplets.

BIRTHS TO UNMARRIED MOTHERS

The turnaround coincided with the introduction of the oral contraceptive pill in the early 1960s, but the ‘cause-and-effect’ relationship is not clear-cut. It is possible that the increased acceptance and use of the pill helped sustain the downward trend. By the mid-1970s, the post-Depression rise in fertility had ended. The total fertility rate fell below the ‘replacement level’ in 1978 and then to an all-time low of 1.92 births per woman in 1983. Its impact on the annual number of births was large. Despite a substantial increase in the number of prospective mothers, caused by the large baby boom cohorts entering the prime reproductive ages, and thus the prospects of an ‘echo boom’, births dropped from over 64,000 in 1971 to below 50,000 in 1982.

Since 1983 there has been a minor resurgence in fertility, but the total fertility rate dropped from 2.12 in 1992 to 2.10 in 1993. This level of fertility is barely sufficient for the population to replace itself without migration. However, it is still too early to suggest whether the upturn is merely a temporary phenomenon, arising largely from the making up of deferred childbearing by women aged 28–36 years, or is a long-term trend, reflecting a permanent shift to later childbearing.

The dynamics of the fertility decline or of the current low fertility levels are complex. Increased use of contraceptives, increased participation of women in the labour force, rising divorce rates and general economic conditions have probably all, directly or indirectly, contributed to it. Patterns of marriage and family formation have changed radically, with a shift away from early marriage and childbearing toward later marriage and delayed childbearing.

Between 1971 and 1986, the first marriage rate for women aged 20–24 years dropped by about two-thirds, from 308 to 113 marriages per 1,000 never married women aged 20–24 years. New Zealand women are now marrying on average, nearly four years later than they did in the early 1970s. The average age at first marriage in 1993 was 26.2 years compared with 21.8 in 1973. A growing proportion are remaining single through their twenties. At the 1991 Census over 19 percent of women aged 30–34 reported themselves as ‘never married’, compared with 6 percent in 1971.

The substantial postponement of marriage has been partly offset by the growth of de facto relationships (cohabitation outside marriage). Such relationships may be either a prelude to or a substitute for formal marriages. At the 1991 Census 12.9 percent and 8.3 percent of New Zealand women aged 25–29 years and 30–34 years, respectively, were living in de facto relationships. The national all age average was 6.2 percent.

AVERAGE AGE OF NEW MOTHERS At birth of first child

These changes partly account for the substantial rise in the number of ex-nuptial births (children born to women who are not legally married), up from just over 5,000 in 1962 to over 10,000 in 1977, and to over 22,355 in 1993. Ex-nuptial births comprised 9 percent of all births registered in New Zealand in 1963 and 38 percent in 1993. Changing social norms and the availability of social welfare benefits to single parents have contributed to this increase.

There is also a high incidence of ex-nuptial births among Maori. In 1993, 77 percent of all Maori births were classified as ex-nuptial and they accounted for one-quarter of the country's ex-nuptial births. This atypical situation does not necessarily reflect unconventional attitudes of Maori towards childbearing outside wedlock, but arises partly from the fact that Maori customary marriages are not legally recognised.

As far as the overall fertility levels are concerned, the transition in Maori fertility from relatively large to small families is of more recent origin. Their total fertility rate fell from a high of 6.2 births per woman in 1962 to 2.2 births per woman in 1990, a 65 percent drop. However, the Maori fertility rate rose slightly in 1993 to reach 2.29 in 1993. The gap between Maori and non-Maori fertility narrowed from 2.23 in 1963 to 0.02 births per woman in 1990, but has widened slightly to 0.19 in 1993.

SIZE OF THE FAMILY Average number of live births per woman born in any year*

Table 5.1. VITAL STATISTICS SUMMARY

    Life expectancy at birth†‡Average age at death
Period ending 31 DecemberTotal births*Total deaths*Natural increase*MalesFemalesMalesFemales

* For five-year period.

† Excludes Maori population.

At year after each interval, i.e. 1936, 1981.

Five-yearly       
1885†96,48229,07467,40854.0257.2126.49 
1890†94,07129,74664,32555.2958.0931.56 
1895†91,41033,52557,88557.3759.9533.38 
1900†94,68535,15159,53458.0960.5538.10 
1905†109,42340,68568,73859.1761.7640.92 
1910†127,79446,04681,74860.9663.4842.64 
1915†137,98548,98089,00560.6364.1745.35 
1920†137,01260,40576,60762.7665.4347.51 
1925148,34858,97189,37763.6666.2950.97 
1930145,80164,34281,45965.0767.6654.36 
1935137,97666,27371,70365.4668.4557.36 
1940158,95378,55580,39865.4369.0558.88 
1945191,24387,021104,22267.1770.6160.89 
1950244,45688,109156,34768.2972.4363.17 
1955263,19194,187169,00468.8873.8864.38 
1960300,089102,879197,21069.1774.5165.68 
1965317,280112,116205,16468.6774.8465.19 
1970307,547120,250187,29769.0975.1665.71 
1975304,377124,797179,58069.3775.8866.13 
1980263,134128,103135,03170.7676.8668.17 
1985254,640129,531125,10971.3877.3969.43 
1990283,868135,445148,42373.3679.2369.72 
Annual       
198755,25427,41927,83571.2977.3966.2772.60
198857,54627,4083013871.5777.5966.2873.01
198958,09127,04231,04971.9477.9666.2773.27
199060,15326,53133,62272.4278.3166.5473.26
199160,00126,50133,50072.7878.6866.9073.59
199259,26627,24932,01773.1278.8767.6774.20
199358,86727,24331,624--68.0174.19

Mortality

New Zealand has been quite successful in raising the average life expectancy of its population over the past hundred years. A temperate climate, low population density, lack of heavy industry and good nutrition gave New Zealand an early advantage over other nations in terms of health conditions.

From the middle of the nineteenth century until the 1930s, New Zealand had the lowest mortality rates in the world.

Table 5.11. DEATH RATES: SUMMARY

YearUnder 1*1–45–1415–2425–3435–4445–5455–6465–7475 and over

* Per 1,000 live births.

Non-Maori figures only as Maori at ages not available for these years.

rates per 1,000 of mean population in each age group
Males          
1901†78.606.811.893.523.976.1611.9423.1250.59141.67
1921†53.104.781.852.443.565.559.6119.9646.17128.60
194143.654.391.362.532.933.959.2021.1347.44140.27
196125.861.340.491.281.472.687.3919.6547.33126.31
198113.010.950.351.531.352.266.5717.3043.39114.11
198512.090.540.361.541.381.945.8616.7542.20120.09
198612.490.860.341.711.532.125.7116.0641.72111.40
198710.560.590.391.751.541.905.6315.4940.73110.43
198812.130.650.311.681.542.085.0715.8838.85111.33
198911.730.660.341.851.532.015.0714.4537.57106.64
19909.640.730.291.801.511.934.6814.0836.07101.75
19919.620.510.331.501.402.134.6613.7334.8498.53
19928.320.540.321.561.511.954.7113.9834.90103.26
19937.710.480.191.601.332.154.4212.6133.16100.32
Females          
1901†63.875.501.643.584.726.7010.6219.4443.32127.98
192†42.314.491.312.343.384.468.0014.8836.81120.23
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
19859.470.580.290.570.691.393.859.4423.4489.59
19869.870.480.260.550.691.273.429.3822.3984.02
19879.450.520.230.620.701.283.859.2623.2883.85
19889.350.490.250.610.701.283.448.3021.8583.42
19898.580.390.200.600.571.273.588.6021.0380.64
19906.930.370.170.590.651.243.668.8421.0775.60
19916.930.390.180.520.651.393.358.4820.1175.90
19926.110.350.240.530.551.193.237.9919.4576.31
19936.740.490.190.530.621.153.118.5519.3476.74
Both sexes          
1901†71.406.171.773.554.336.4011.3721.6347.87135.71
1921†47.824.641.582.393.475.108.8517.5941.90124.84
194139.814.121.282.222.673.728.0218.1643.04129.15
196122.761.250.420.911.182.316.0015.4137.67114.01
198111.650.800.291.110.991.895.2913.1532.6795.41
198510.810.560.331.061.031.664.8713.0631.86100.69
198611.210.680.301.141.111.694.5812.7131.0994.15
198710.030.550.311.201.121.594.7512.3731.1093.70
198810.770.570.281.151.121.684.2612.0929.4793.72
198910.190.530.271.231.041.644.3411.5228.5590.28
19908.310.560.231.201.071.594.1711.4627.9385.26
19918.320.450.261.021.021.754.0111.1126.8484.27
19927.260.450.281.051.021.573.9711.0226.5886.42
19937.240.490.191.070.971.643.7710.6325.7585.58

BIRTH AND DEATH RATES For total population

New Plymouth's oldest Plunket baby, watch by an ex-Karitane nurse, weighs a seven week old baby on the scales of Plunket dounder Sir Truby King.

A large part of this improvement in longevity occurred prior to the 1930s, and was due to the saving of life at younger ages. The infant mortality rate fell steadily in association with a major reduction in infectious diseases (and respiratory diseases), which were previously the main causes of death in New Zealand.

In the area of longevity, the significant development over recent years was the slowing down of mortality decline between 1955–57 and 1970–72, although there was a slight deterioration in male mortality during the mid-1960s.

Since 1970–72, there has been a gain of a little over four years in the life expectancy at birth of both men and women. Unlike in earlier years, a major part of this improvement has occurred at the retirement ages. However, this improvement has not altered New Zealand's slightly disadvantaged position internationally. Currently residents of at least 10 other countries can expect to live longer than New Zealanders.

There is still considerable room for improvement, especially with regard to mortality in the first year of life and at retirement ages. Although the infant mortality rate has dropped steadily in the last 50 years—from 41.7 per 1,000 in 1939 to 20.5 per 1,000 in 1962, and further to 7.2 per 1,000 in 1993, it is still high compared with some European countries. Furthermore its post neo-natal component (i.e. death of a child over 28 days but under 1 year of age) is significantly higher than the rate recently achieved in Scandinavian countries (see section 8.2, Public health).

Recent data indicates that heart disease, cancer and cerebrovascular diseases (in that order) continue to be the three leading causes of death in New Zealand, and together account for over three-fifths of all deaths among the adult population in any year. Respiratory diseases claim another 10 percent. Motor-vehicle accidents cause another 3 percent of all deaths in a year, with teenagers and those in their early twenties accounting for over four-fifths of these fatalities.

Although the whole nation has benefited from better living standards, advances in medical knowledge and technology, and improvements in health services over the years, some differentials still exist. One notable historical trend is the widening of the male-female differences in mortality. A century ago, women could expect to outlive men by two years. By 1950–52 the female advantage had increased to four years, and by 1990–92, it was about six years.

Life expectancy also varies according to ethnicity, with a substantial reduction in Maori mortality in the last three decades, and a significant convergence in the Maori-pakeha gap in longevity. The life expectancy at birth for Maori males increased from 54.0 years in 1950–52 to 68.0 years in 1990–92, a gain of 14.0 years. That for females rose by 17.1 years, from 55.9 years to 73.0 years. However, in 1991–92 a newborn pakeha male child could expect to outlive his Maori counterpart by 5.4 years. For females, the difference was 6.2 years.

LONGER LIVES Average age at death

Table 5.12. HISTORICAL LIFE EXPECTANCIES: INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON

CountryYear/PeriodMalesFemales

* Non-Maori population only.

New Zealand1901*58.160.6
Australia1901–1055.258.8
Denmark1895–190050.253.2
Japan1899–190337.838.2
Norway1891–190050.454.1
United Kingdom190648.051.6
New Zealand1950–5267.271.3
Australia1953–5567.172.8
Denmark1951–6070.173.2
Japan1950–5259.663.0
Norway1951–5571.174.7
United Kingdom195166.271.2
New Zealand1970–7268.674.6
Australia1975–7769.576.4
Denmark1971–7570.976.5
Japan197069.374.7
Norway1971–7571.477.7
United Kingdom197168.875.0
New Zealand1980–8270.476.4
Australia198171.478.4
Denmark1981–8571.577.5
Japan198073.378.8
Norway1981–8272.679.4
United Kingdom198170.876.8
New Zealand1991–9373.178.9
Australia199274.580.4
Denmark1990–9172.277.7
Japan199176.182.1
Norway199174.080.1
United Kingdom199073.078.5

Four centenarians join in at a Christmas dance, Dunedin.

External migration

New Zealand has traditionally been a country of immigration, although in the last 150 years the country's intake has been small compared with immigration flows to some New World countries, such as Australia, Canada and the United States.

Over the years, immigration has had a major impact on the size, growth rate, age-sex structure and ethnic composition of New Zealand's population, and has been a subject of vigorous public debate, especially when large-scale immigration has tested the amenities and structures of the country.

The end of World War II saw economic stability and the reintroduction, in 1947, of an assisted/free passage scheme to attract working-age industrial and agricultural labour from the United Kingdom. The immigration policy was further liberalised in 1950. Agreements were also negotiated to accept young non-British European migrants. Refugee immigration was allowed on humanitarian grounds. Subsequently, these grounds were to lead to the settlement of just under 4,000 Indo-Chinese refugees in New Zealand during the March years 1978–82. Historical and regional considerations also led to the establishment of immigration quotas for small Pacific Island countries.

Government adopted a new immigration policy in 1974, which ended unrestricted immigration from the United Kingdom and Ireland and provided for the selection of immigrants from all sources on the same criteria. The reciprocal Trans-Tasman Travel Agreement, which allows free movement of residents between Australia and New Zealand, was not changed. Similarly, the right of free entry into New Zealand was maintained for the people of the Cook Islands, Niue and the Tokelau Islands, who are regarded as New Zealand citizens. As a result, immigrants in post-war years have come from a wider range of countries than before.

Between 1951 and 1966, the country gained roughly 200,000 people. In 12 of the 16 years, net immigration was over 10,000. The economic recession of the late 1960s turned the tide again. A significant drop in immigration and a sharp upturn in emigration, resulted in a net emigration of 15,333 during 1967–69. This was just the beginning of the dramatic events to come.

The last two decades have witnessed some major and unprecedented changes in external migration levels and patterns. The preponderance of immigrants coming from the British Isles has decreased, and migration to and from Australia has become the largest in terms of volume. The rate of migration has increased significantly and there have been dramatic shifts in the flow of migrants.

The total number of arrivals has jumped nearly eight-fold, from 254,000 during 1968, to 2.0 million during the year ended 31 March 1994. This reflects the ease and relatively low cost of international travel, with tourists making up the bulk of the international traffic. During 1968–91, total departures exceeded total arrivals by an average of 111 people per annum. However, in the year ended 31 March 1994 arrivals exceeded departures by 15,793 emphasising the large swings in the external migration balance from one period to another, as shown in .

The early 1980s pointed to radical changes in permanent and long-term migration (persons whose stated intention is arriving to settle, or departing for 12 months or more). The number of permanent and long-term departures—which had shown a steep upward trend since 1961, rising from 13,305 to 82,554 in 1979—started to decline, and by 1983 had fallen to 33,871. Departures to Australia accounted for about three-fifths of this decline. In fact, in 1983 more people arrived from, than left, for Australia and there was an overall gain of 8,285. This turnaround was short-lived, and by 1989 the figure had climbed to 61,535, giving a net emigration of 12,275. During 1990, an increase in the number of permanent and long-term arrivals, and a decrease in the number of permanent and long-term departures was recorded, resulting in a net gain of 8,968. However, during the year ended March 1994 net loss of people (3,393) to Australia was again recorded.

Significantly, immigration from the South Pacific countries, although small in size, is continuing. Moreover, unlike in earlier years, New Zealanders now comprise a significant component of permanent and long-term movements, which are dominated by persons of younger working ages.

Net migration from Asia has shown a large increase over recent years. In 1987 net permanent and long term migration from Asian countries was 2,635 and by the year ended 31 March 1994 it had risen to 11,800. This increase is largely a reflection of recent changes to New Zealand's immigration policy.

Table 5.13. EXTERNAL MIGRATION: SUMMARY

 TotalPermanent and long-termShort-term
Period ended 31 MarchArrivalsDeparturesNetArrivalsDeparturesNetArrivalsDeparturesNet
Five-yearly         
188098,87730,37668,501      
188573,86144,77629,085      
189075,06379,747-4,684      
1895101,50888,06713,441      
190093,03784,3988,639      
1905141,67899,50142,177      
1910190,772146,78343,989      
1915202,087165,28636,801      
192098,47390,5327,941      
1925199,791151,28548,506      
1930192,606167,34625,26053,98816,08137,907138,618151,265-12,647
1935111,933118,076-614313,46614,830-1,36498,467103,246-4,779
1940171,424159,51411,91022,87119,2673,604148,553140,2478,306
194535,00332,4142,5896,5979,241-2,64428,40623,1735,233
1950158,637135,43923,19851,48730,02021,467107,150105,4191,731
1955306,837239,14867,689116,51037,41979,091190,327201,729-11,402
1960395,218347,02148,197115,30851,16964,139279,910295,852-15,942
1965737,703676,13761,566156,46275,05581,407581,241601,082-19,841
19701,278,8671,273,4095,458155,008127,81427,1941,123,8591,145,595-21,736
19752,506,7142,400,234106,480274,842196,99377,8492,231,8722,203,24128,631
19803,793,4833,874,575-81,092204,867319,964-115,0973,588,6163,554,61134,005
19854,772,2574,766,9935,264213,059247,712-34,6534,559,1984,519,28139,917
19907,359,3407,394,389-35,049226,420306,65380,2337,132,9207,087,73645,184
Annual         
19871,321,7291,317,3724,35744,36058,629-14,2691,277,3691,258,74318,626
19881,554,9921,555,949-95747,84463,469-15,6251,507,1481,492,48014,668
19891,669,6371,687,935-18,29846,23370,941-24,7081,623,4041,616,9946,410
19901,701,0561,702,689-1,63352,00156,019-4,0181,649,0551,646,6702,385
19911,772,5241,757,94814,57657,08845,47211,6161,715,4361,712,4762,960
19921,809,8851,806,9472,93849,01044,7234,2871,760,8751,762,224-1349
19931,898,7691,890,6898,08049,56242,7146,8481,849,2071,847,9751,232
19942,057,0052,041,21215,79357,25741,67015,5871,999,7481,999,542206

COMPONENTS OF POPULATION GROWTH Annual net migration and natural increase

5.4 Composition of the population

Age and sex of the population

The age and sex profile of a population represents the cumulative effect of past changes in the dynamics of population growth—fertility, mortality, and migration.

At present the New Zealand population contains slightly more females than males. This contrasts with the situation in the early colonial days when there was a large surplus of males, especially young males.

Each census saw the sex ratio draw closer to parity, with two exceptions when there was a temporary excess of females—during World War I and again during World War II.

In 1968 for the first time in the country's demographic history, females outnumbered males, and since then their advantage has increased steadily. The 1991 Census shows that there were 1,693,051 males and 1,741,899 females in New Zealand representing a sex ratio of 97 males per 100 females. The shift largely reflects the preponderance of females among the retirement-age population (60 years and over) which carried a sex ratio of 80 males per 100 females in 1991. At ages below 60 years, men still outnumber women by a small margin.

Table 5.14. SEX OF THE POPULATION, 1858–1991 CENSUSES

CensusMalesFemalesTotal populationSex ratio*

* Number of males per 100 females.

185865,38750,075115,462130.6
1874195,765149,219344,984131.2
1878254,936203,071458,007125.5
1881293,973240,057534,030122.5
1886335,061285,390620,451117.4
1891355,738312,913668,651113.7
1896393,033350,181743,214112.2
1901429,112386,750815,862111.0
1906496,546439,763936,309112.9
1911558,385499,9271,058,312111.7
1916577,715571,5101,149,225101.1
1921651,155620,5131,271,668104.9
1926719,642688,4971,408,139104.5
1936799,091774,7211,573,812103.1
1945832,877869,4211,702,29895.8
1951973,968965,5041,939,472100.9
19561,093,2111,080,8512,174,062101.1
19611,213,3761,201,6082,414,984101.0
19661,343,7431,333,1762,676,919100.8
19711,430,8561,4317752,862,63199.9
19761,562,0421,567,3413,129,38399.7
19811,578,9271,596,8103,175,73798.9
19861,638,3561,668,7283,307,08498.2
19911,693,0511,741,8993,434,95097.2

Changes in the age structure of New Zealand population have been profound over the past hundred years. They largely reflect the ‘roller coaster’ movements in the birth rate, with small and large birth cohorts moving into the age structure. However, migration gains/losses (dominated by persons of younger and middle working ages) have added significantly to these structural changes.

CHANGES AGESMedian age of the total population

Census years

The post-war baby boom broadened the base again and lifted the proportion of children in the population to 33 percent in 1961. With almost half of the population aged under 25 years at that time, the population looked youthful once again. The movement of small birth cohorts of the Depression years up the age scale meant a smaller proportion of workers in the population—only 55 percent in 1961. The elderly population increased in size by 84 percent, to make up over 12 percent of the total population. As the ‘youth’ and ‘aged’ components reinforced each other, the dependency ratio lifted sharply to a historical peak of 0.83, even exceeding the 1886 figure.

The subsequent sharp decline in fertility, increased longevity, and the movement of the baby boom ‘bulge’ into working ages has caused a major alignment of the age structure as well as incipient ageing. The median age of the population has risen by six and a half years since 1971, from 25.6 years to 32 years in 1993. The dependency ratio has fallen to a more favourable 0.63, due largely to a sharp drop in the ‘youth’ component.

At the end of 1993, there were 813,000 children under the age of 15 living in New Zealand (down from around 909,623 in 1971). They made up just over 23 percent of the population. The working-age population has risen considerably since 1971 (by over half a million) to number 2.156,850 by 1993. Despite this numerical increase, the proportion of the population in the working ages has declined slightly since the late 1980s. The greatest change in the age structure of the population is at the older ages. Since 1971 the number of people aged 65 years and over has increased by more than one and a half times and the number aged 80 years and over has doubled.

Finally, it is important to note that within New Zealand there are population subgroups with remarkably different age structures. Ethnic groups such as Maori and Pacific Island

AGE AND SEX OF THE POPULATION, 1991 CENSUS Total population and ethnic groups

AGE-SEX DISTRIBUTIONTotal population at selected years

Polynesians have more youthful populations, commonly characteristic of developing nations. At the 1991 Census, they contained roughly twice the proportion of children under 15 years as their non-Maori, non-Polynesian counterparts (22 percent for the latter); about seven-tenths of their populations are under 30 years, and their median ages are about 12 years lower than their non-Maori, non-Polynesian counterparts (which is 32.2 years). At the other end of the age scale, only 4 percent of Maori, and 3 percent of Pacific Island Polynesians (because of their recent migration to New Zealand) are 60 years or over, compared with 17 percent for the non-Maori, non-Pacific Island Polynesian population.

Ethnic and cultural diversity

The islands of New Zealand have been ethnically and culturally connected to Polynesia for at least 1,000 years. Less than 200 years ago, its population and cultural heritage was wholly that of Polynesia, but now New Zealand is dominated by cultural traditions that are mainly European, emanating especially from Britain.

About four-fifths of New Zealanders are of European origin, predominantly from the British Isles, but also including people from the Netherlands, Yugoslavia, Germany and other nations. The indigenous Maori population makes up the next largest group of the population, about 12.9 percent in 1991. The third main ethnic group is the Pacific Islanders, who made up around 5.0 percent of the population at the time of the 1991 Census.

The ethnic and cultural composition of New Zealand has also been shaped and reshaped by three main demographic processes; international migration, natural increase, and intermarriage between members of different groups. The most important of these processes has been international migration.

As well as those from the British Isles, nationalities from other European countries have influenced the make-up of the New Zealand population. Settlers from non-European sources have also added to the wider ethnic diversity of New Zealand.

Maori population.

Estimates of the size of the Maori population at the time of European contact in 1769 vary greatly. Figures ranging from 100,000 to 200,000 have all been advanced. There is, however, agreement that whatever the original size of the population, a substantial decline occurred over the following 70 years. It is believed that the population had dropped to no more than 100,000 by 1840.

Contact with Europeans had proved disastrous for the Maori population. By the time of the systematic colonisation in the 1840s, the Maori population, estimated at between 120,000 to 150,000 in the 1770s, had dropped to around 100,000. Tuberculosis, typhoid, venereal disease, measles and other diseases new to Maori exacted a heavy toll. The introduction of firearms and subsequent warfare, both inter-tribal and with Europeans, also resulted in a depletion of population. At the time of the first census, in 1858, numbers had been further eroded to less than 60,000. This decline, combined with European immigration, made Maori a minority group in the population by the 1860s. Numbers continued to decline further, at a rate of over 1 percent per annum, until the 1870s.

For the remainder of the nineteenth century population levels fluctuated, suggesting an arrest in the trend towards depopulation. The lowest point was reached in 1896 (42,000), and from this time onwards there was a recovery in the Maori population.

By the mid-1940s the Maori population had risen to a level comparable to that at the time European colonisation began.

The growth rate accelerated markedly after World War II, and peaked at 4.4 percent per annum during the early 1960s. This is believed to be close to the maximum possible increase for a human population that is ‘closed’ to inward migration. The rate of increase persisted at high levels until the mid-1970s.

Between 1976 and 1986 the rate of increase dropped significantly, averaging 1.3 percent per annum. By 1991 people who belonged to the Maori ethnic group numbered 434,847 and made up 12.9 percent of the population. While those with some Maori ancestry made up 15 percent of the population and numbered 511,947.

During the 1970s, international migration emerged for the first time as a significant factor in Maori population change. Large numbers of young Maori left New Zealand on a permanent or long-term basis in the 1980s. A population loss of 8,100 was recorded between 1981–1986. The main destinations of the migrants were Australia and the United Kingdom. Sizeable Maori communities now exist in Australia—particularly in Sydney. A result of this is that the Maori population is now susceptible to inward migration, both from return migration and the inward migration of Maori born overseas.

Fertility transition—Maori fertility has historically been high. Up to the 1960s the birth rate was around 45 per 1,000. However, a transition in fertility from high to low rates occurred in the 1960s and 1970s. Maori experienced one of the most rapid transitions chronicled any-where in the world when the fertility rate dropped to a level two-fifths of that prior to 1962. The 10 years from 1962–71 saw the total fertility rate begin to decline, from 6 births per woman to 5 births per woman. The rate then began to fall even more sharply, and by 1977 was 3.0 births per woman. This level had only been reached by non-Maori women in 1972. In 1993 the Maori total fertility rate was 2.3 births per woman, 0.2 higher than that for the total population.

Rural to urban migration—the change from being a largely rural to a predominantly urban population also happened extremely rapidly for Maori. By 1945 around three-quarters lived in rural areas. However, within two decades the majority of the Maori population were living in urban areas. By the mid-1970s, three-quarters lived in urban areas. It is worth noting that at this time a trend for migration from urban to rural ancestral marae became apparent. Initially such migrants were older urban Maori. More recently a wider section of urban Maori have been involved. Nevertheless, by 1981, four-fifths of the Maori population was urban and urbanisation amongst Maori has remained at this level.

Urbanisation of Maori has been accompanied by a wider geographical distribution throughout the country. In the 1920s, 95 percent of Maori lived in the North Island. Countering the trend of the total New Zealand population, Maori began to shift south, to the southern North Island and to the South Island. In 1991, 10 percent lived in the South Island while 25 percent of all New Zealanders lived in the South Island.

Age structure—youthfulness is the central characteristic that has distinguished the Maori from the non-Maori population structure. Throughout most of this century the Maori population has been concentrated in the younger age groups—a result of the consistently high fertility of Maori.

Between 1926 and 1976, the proportion of children in the Maori population consistently exceeded 43 percent. A peak of 50 percent was achieved in 1966. In 1961 when the impact of the ‘boom’ in fertility was greatest, over 20 percent of the Maori population was less than five years old. Over the 15 years from 1971–86 significant changes to the structure of the Maori population occurred. The transition in fertility experienced in the 1970s had much impact. The median age, the point at which half the population is older and half younger, steadily increased. In 1971 it was 15.5 years, by 1986 it had risen to 19.5 years and in 1991 had risen by more than three years to 22.8 compared with 32.4 years for non-Maori. The number and proportion of children in the Maori population also changed over this period. Children made up 49 percent of the Maori population in 1971. By 1986 this had fallen to 39 percent and continued to decline to be 33 percent in 1991. Despite these changes the Maori population is still relatively youthful in comparison with the total New Zealand population.

With the decline in the proportion of children in the population there has been an expansion in the population of the working age group (15–59 years). In 1971 and 1986, 48 percent and 57 percent of the Maori population were in the working ages (15–59 years). By 1991, 58 percent of Maori were in the working ages—close to the non-Maori at 62 percent. Within the working age group, however, a higher proportion of Maori were in the 15–29 age group (30 percent of Maori compared with 24 percent of non-Maori).

Although the Maori population is moving towards a more elderly age structure it is still younger than the non-Maori population. In 1991 there were larger proportions of Maori than non-Maori in each age group under 34 years.

See also section 6.4 Maori society.

Table 5.15. ETHNIC COMPOSITION (A) TOTAL POPULATION, 1858–1976

Census*Total populationMaori†Pacific Island PolynesianChineseIndianFijianOther

* Omits censuses of 1861, 1864, 1867 and 1871 as censuses of Maori population were not taken.

Those specifying themselves as half or more New Zealand Maori plus those not specifying the degree of origin.

Usually resident.

§ Ethnic group

1858115,46256,049    59,413
1874344,98447,330 4,816  292,838
1878458,00745,542 4,433  408,032
1881534,03046,141 5,004  482,885
1886620,45143,927 4,542  571,982
1891668,65144,177 4,444  620,030
1896743,21442,113 3,85946 697,196
1901815,86245,549 2,96324 767,326
1906936,30950,309 2,5706 883,424
19111,058,31252,723 2,63015 1,002,944
19161,149,22552,9971512,147181 1,093,749
19211,271,66856,9873343,266671 1,210,410
19261,408,13963,6705883,374987 1,339,520
19361,573,81282,3269882,9431,2001091,486,246
19451,702,33098,7442,1594,9401,5541851,594,749
19511,939,472115,6763,6245,7232,4252771,811,747
19562,174,062137,1518,1036,7313,1514792,018,447
19612,414,984167,08614,3408,5244,1797462,220,109
19662,676,919201,15926,27110,2836,8431,3232,431,040
19712,862,631227,41440,91812,4707,1401,1472,573,542
19763,129,383270,03561,35414,8609,2471,5482,772,339
(B) USUALLY RESIDENT POPULATION, 1981–91
CensusTotal populationMaori§Pacific Island§Chinese§Indian§ 
19813,143,307384,933104,26219,80611,673 
19863,263,283404,778130,29326,61915,810 
19913,373,929434,847167,07344,79030,606 

ETHNIC COMPOSITION

Pacific Island Polynesians.

Since the early 1960s the cultural and ethnic diversity of New Zealand has been enhanced by the inflow of people from the Pacific Island to New Zealand. The population from Pacific Island ethnic groups has grown from a little over 100,000 in 1981 to nearly 170,000 at the 1991 Census.

In the 1970s, as a result of economic downturn, immigration from the Pacific dropped sharply, and natural increase became the major influence on the growth of the Pacific Island population. The early 1980s saw a return to net migration gains from the Pacific. From 1980 to 1984, there were 8,354 more arrivals than departures and the second half of the 1980s saw arrivals from the Pacific outnumbering departures by over 37,000. The early 1990s have seen a reversal of this trend with departures outnumbering arrivals by 1,374 from 1990 to 1994.

See also section 6.5, Pacific Island Polynesian population.

Refugees.

Refugees from Europe arrived in the 1930s and again during World War II. Many of these were Jews and Poles. The migration of refugees into New Zealand was intensified after the war. About 6,000 refugees from Poland were eventually allowed to settle in New Zealand in the immediate post-war years. Following the 1956 Hungarian uprising, a further limited intake of refugees from Hungary was received by New Zealand. As a result of the conflict in Indo-China, about 7,000 Indo-Chinese refugees have been resettled in New Zealand since 1975. This has accounted for over 90 percent of New Zealand's total refugee intake from this time. In addition to the Indo-Chinese refugees, small numbers of Chilean, Russian Jew, East European and Assyrian refugees have also been received at different times.

While the cultural diversity of New Zealand is—for the greater part—Eurocentric, the range of cultural norms present in New Zealand that have come from non-European sources, along with the existing Maori culture, suggest that New Zealand will proceed into the next century possessing a wide range of different ethnic and cultural values.

For further information on ethnicity and country of birth of the population refer to section 6.3 Human rights, immigration and citizenship.

5.5 Future population issues

What lies ahead in New Zealand's demographic future? Predicting future trends, even beyond the short-term, is a difficult task because population trends and structures influence and are in turn affected by a host of economic, social and other circumstances.

Statistics New Zealand regularly prepares a range of projections for the New Zealand population. These combine different scenarios on future changes in fertility, mortality and external migration, which appear likely in the light of the historical trends. These projections are not exactly forecasts, but illustrate what the changes in population size, growth rate and age-sex structure would be if the given assumptions are met.

The 1991-base population projections indicate that New Zealand's population will grow slowly and age steadily over the next four decades to 2031.

On the basis of natural increase (assuming that New Zealand women continue to have about two children on average) and excluding population change through migration, it is projected that the country's population will reach 4.31 million by 2031. This estimate would be an increase of 0.89 million, or 26 percent, over the 31 March 1991 figure of 3.42 million. The pace of growth, however, will slow from a rate of 1.0 percent per year during the 1991–2001 decade to 0.3 percent per year over 2021–2031, reflecting a narrowing of the gap between the number of births and deaths.

Genealogist updating an index of names of people living in Otago before 1876. The index has over 63,000 records and supplies as much information as available, such as full name, occupation, address and age.

In estimating the population including external migration gain, a net gain of 5,000 persons a year (the average number over the last 90 years), will mean an extra 270,000 persons, making a total population of 4.58 million by 2031. The Government, however, has expressed a goal of 20,000 net immigrants per annum; if this figure is attained there will be 5.39 million New Zealanders by the year 2031, an increase of 1.97 million or 58 percent during the 40 year period.

There will be profound changes in New Zealand's age structure in the future. With the ‘two child family/no immigration gain’ scenario, the median age of the population (where half the population is above this age) would rise steadily from 31.3 years in 1991 to 39.7 years in 2031. Given the ‘5,000’ net immigration scenario the median age of the population in 2031 would be 39.1 years; and using the ‘20,000’ net immigration figure, the median age would be 37.9 years.

Among the various age segments of the population, it is the elderly (aged 65 years and over), which will show the fastest growth over the 1991–2031 period. They will comprise approximately 19 percent of the total population by 2031, compared with only 11 percent in 1991. Under the ‘5,000’ net immigration scenario, New Zealand's elderly population will increase by 132 percent, from 385,000 in 1991 to 892,000 in 2031. This increase is indicative of the ‘baby boomers’ ageing and reaching retirement age in the next century. By 2031, one in every five New Zealanders will be over 64 years of age, compared with one in nine in 1991. Within the elderly age group, the number of those aged 80 years and over will more than treble from the 1991 figure of 78,000 to 246,000 in 2031. Women in this age group will, by then, outnumber men by three to two.

Projections of New Zealand's working age population (16–64 years) indicate steady growth, from 2.2 million in 1991 to 2.8 in 2021, an increase of over half a million or 26 percent. This increase is due to the projected annual accession to this age group exceeding retirements from it by an average of 19,000 persons per year. During 2021–2031 the working age population will remain stable, but will have an older age profile. The proportion of the total population who are in the working age group will drop, from 64 percent in 1991 to approximately 60 percent in 2031.

The number of children under 16 years of age is projected to increase initially from 843,000 in 1991 to peak at 986,000 in 2005, but the number will then drop to 885,000 in 2020 before rising to 928,000 in 2031. These rises and falls reflect swings in the number of births caused by changes in the number of women of childbearing age. Children aged under 16 years will comprise a smaller percentage of the total population in the future, decreasing from about 25 percent in 1991 to 20 percent in 2031.

Table 5.16. POPULATION PROJECTIONS 1991–2031*†

Age-group1991 (Base)2001201120212031

* Assuming ‘medium’ fertility and ‘medium’ mortality with long-term annual immigration of 5,000 per annum.

Figures have been rounded.

0–15843,000965,000947,000886,000928,000
16–642,190,0002,399,0002,631,0002,767,0002,765,000
65+385,000455,000543,000711,000892,000
     Total population3,418,0003,820,0004,120,0004,364,0004,584,000

Contributor

5.1–5.5

Statistics New Zealand.

Further information

A full list of 1991 Census of Population and Dwellings publications can be found in the list of Statistics New Zealand publications at the back of this volume.

Demography, vital statistics, and migration
Demographic Trends. Statistics New Zealand (annual).
Elderly Population of New Zealand. Department of Statistics, 1990.
External Migration Statistics. Statistics New Zealand (annual).
Foetal and Infant Deaths. Health Statistical Services (annual).
Hospital and Selected Morbidity Data. Health Statistical Services (annual).
The Human Face of New Zealand: A Context for Population Policy into the Twenty-first Century. Report of the Inter-departmental Committee on Population Policy Guidelines, Department of Statistics, 1990.
Inter-regional Migration in New Zealand, 1971–1981. Department of Statistics, 1986.
Maps of Statistical Boundaries. Department of Statistics. (Map series), 1986.
Key Statistics. Statistics New Zealand (monthly).
New Zealand Life Tables 1985–87. Department of Statistics, 1991.
New Zealand Sub-national Population Projections 1986–2006. Department of Statistics, 1985.
Profile of Women: A Statistical Comparison of Females and Males in New Zealand 1945–84. Department of Statistics, 1985.
Trends and Patterns in New Zealand Fertility, 1912–1983. Department of Statistics, 1986.

Chapter 6. Social framework

Multi-cultural celebrations at Tawa College.

6.1 Households

There were 1,177,665 households living in private dwellings in New Zealand at the latest Census of Population and Dwellings, held on 5 March 1991. This was an increase of 89,067 (or 8.2 percent), in the number of private households since the 1986 Census.

describes the number of households by type counted at the 1986 and 1991 censuses. ‘One family only’ households still remain predominant, although the share of households in this category fell from 67.9 percent in 1986 to 65.9 percent in 1991. ‘One person’ households are easily the next most common type, comprising 20 percent of all private households.

Table 6.1. USUAL HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION

 1986 Census1991 Census
TypeNumberPercentage of totalNumberPercentage of totalIntercensal percentage change

* Households containing temporary visitors only.

One family only739,46467.9775,55765.94.9
One family plus other persons56,5835.266,3875.617.3
Two or more families (with or without other persons)16,3921.519,8181.720.9
Non-family households64,6235.968,8205.86.5
One-person households203,61918.7235,98620.015.9
Not elsewhere classified*7,9170.711,0970.940.2
     Total1,088,598100.01,177,665100.08.2

Dwellings

The number of dwellings occupied on census night increased from 1,095,747 in 1986 to 1,185,396 in 1991, a rise of 89,649, or 8.2 percent.

shows that all types of permanent private dwellings increased in number during the 1986–1991 intercensal period. In contrast, there was a 32.1 percent decline in the number of temporary private dwellings and an 8 percent decline in the number of dwellings under construction at the time of the census.

Table 6.2. TYPES OF DWELLINGS

 Number of dwellings
Type19861991Intercensal percentage change

* Includes mobile or temporary dwellings within a motor camp.

Occupied dwellings—   
  Permanent private dwellings—   
    Separate house862,341950,64610.2
    Two houses or flats joined together103,338110,1036.5
    Three or more flats/houses joined together90,98491,1790.2
    Flat/house attached to business or shop8,1909,27913.3
    Bach, crib, hut (not in a work camp)5,9496,87615.6
    Not specified7,2092,385-66.9
     Total, permanent private dwellings1,078,0051,170,4688.6
Temporary private dwellings*10,5967,197-32.1
Total private dwellings1,088,6011,177,6658.2
Non-private dwellings7,1497,7318.1
     Total, occupied dwellings1,095,7471,185,3968.2
Unoccupied dwellings—   
  Occupants temporarily away31,12834,32810.3
  Empty habitable dwellings35,45443,25122.0
  Holiday residences40,95045,13210.2
     Total, unoccupied dwellings107,535122,71114.1
Dwellings under construction10,4409,605-8.0

The percentage increase in occupied dwellings was much more than that of the total New Zealand population, leading to a reduction in the average number of people per occupied dwelling. In 1991, the average number of occupants per private dwelling was 2.8, compared with 2.9 five years earlier. shows the decline in the average number of occupants for all dwellings types.

Table 6.3. NUMBER OF OCCUPANTS IN OCCUPIED DWELLINGS

 1986 Census1991 Census
TypeAggregateAverageAggregateAverage
Permanent private dwellings—    
  Separate house2,682,7293.12,828,0043.0
  Two houses or flats joined together215,4182.1220,4342.0
  Three or more flats/houses joined together165,1831.8162,2911.8
  Flat/house attached to business or shop22,4462.724,2252.6
  Bach, crib, hut (not in a work camp)12,2852.114,0732.0
  Not specified18,0512.56,5282.7
     Total, permanent private dwellings3,116,1122.93,255,5582.8
Temporary private dwellings22,8932.213,3141.9
     Total, private dwellings3,139,0052.93,268,8722.8
Non-private dwellings168,08123.5166,08021.5
     Total occupied dwellings3,307,0833.03,434,9492.9

shows the number and distribution of occupied private dwellings by number of occupants on census night in 1986 and 1991. Changes in distribution of dwellings by numbers of occupants are a result of demographic, social and economic trends.

Intercensal increases in both the number and percentage of dwellings with one occupant reflect demographic shifts in the population towards increasing numbers of people at the ages where living alone is most common. However, not all of the increase can be explained by demographic shifts within the population and reflect changes in the attitudes and choices of New Zealanders.

These trends, together with the growing incidence of de facto relationships, sole parents and childless marriages help explain the comparable increases in the number and percentage of dwellings with two or three occupants and the reduced (or negative) growth in dwellings with four or more occupants.

Table 6.4. NUMBER OF OCCUPANTS OF PRIVATE DWELLINGS

 1986 Census1991 Census
Number of occupantsDwellingsPercentageDwellingsPercentageIntercensal percentage change
1213,87619.6248,08521.116.0
2332,57430.6375,45331.912.9
3185,51717.0205,55717.510.8
4191,77217.6191,64616.3-0.1
5101,2809.397,3808.3-3.9
638,5473.536,6483.1-4.9
713,8481.312,7711.1-7.8
8 or more11,1871.010,1220.9-9.5
     Total1,088,601100.01,177,665100.08.2

Residents contemplating the sale of their block of pensioner units.

Tenure of dwellings.

A comparison of the 1986 and 1991 census data shows changes in the tenure of private dwellings. These can be seen in .

Occupied private dwellings owned without a mortgage increased by 15.5 percent during the intercensal period to reach 396,042 in 1991. This category increased its share of total private dwellings from 31.9 percent to 34.2 percent. There was also an increase (of 1.9 percent) in the number of occupied dwellings owned with a mortgage during this period although the share of total dwellings with this tenure status fell from 41.6 percent in 1986 to 39.4 percent in 1991. The census also reported a 25.6 percent increase in the number of private dwellings provided rent free.

HOME OWNERSHIP By ethnic composition

Table 6.5. TENURE OF PRIVATE DWELLINGS

 1986 Census1991 Census
TenureDwellingsPercentageDwellingsPercentageIntercensal percentage change
Owned with mortgage447,92141.6456,44739.41.9
Owned without mortgage342,95431.9396,04234.215.5
Rented or leased253,31723.5267,34523.15.5
Provided free31,6862.939,8043.425.6
Not specified12,723-18,024-41.7
     Total1,088,601100.01,177,665100.08.2

shows a continued decline in the servicing of the rental housing market by government departments other than the Housing Corporation and local authorities. In contrast to this, dwellings rented or leased from individuals and companies increased by 7.9 percent during the 1986–1991 intercensal period. This remains the most common category, comprising 63.7 percent of rented dwellings in 1991. The share of rented dwellings provided by the Housing Corporation also increased, from 23.2 percent in 1986 to 24.9 percent in 1991.

Table 6.6. CATEGORY OF LANDLORD FOR RENTED OR LEASED PRIVATE DWELLINGS

 1986 Census1991 Census
Category of landlordDwellingsPercentageDwellingsPercentageIntercensal percentage change
Rented or leased from—     
Private person/company151,31162.5163,24263.77.9
Housing Corporation56,24723.263,90324.913.6
Other government departments17,9167.413,4375.2-25.0
Local authority167106.915,5466.1-7.0
Landlord not specified11,130-11,217-0.8
     Total, rented or leased253,317100.0267,345100.05.5

Maori and Pacific Island households and dwellings

Composition of households.

There was a total of 131,853 households in permanent private New Zealand Maori dwellings at the 1991 Census of Population and Dwellings. The corresponding figure for households living in permanent private Pacific Island dwellings was 40,812.

In 1991 a New Zealand Maori dwelling (and, by definition, household) was defined as a dwelling where the occupier, or spouse of the occupier, specified that they belonged to the New Zealand Maori ethnic group. Pacific Island dwellings and households were defined the same way. As a consequence, a dwelling can be classified (and hence counted) as both a New Zealand Maori dwelling and a Pacific Island dwelling.

shows the usual composition of New Zealand Maori and Pacific Island households at the 1991 Census. A significant feature of this table is that the percentage distribution of Pacific Island households is weighted towards the ‘one family plus other persons’ and ‘two or more families with or without other persons’ categories. Of all Pacific Island households 25.4 percent are in the above categories compared to 16.6 percent of New Zealand Maori households.

Table 6.7. USUAL COMPOSITION OF MAORI AND PACIFIC ISLAND HOUSEHOLDS, 1991 CENSUS*

 New Zealand MaoriPacific Island
Household typeNumberPercentage of totalNumberPercentage of total

* Private dwellings where the ‘occupier’ or ‘spouse of occupier’ is a person of ‘New Zealand Maori ethnic group’ or ‘Pacific Island ethnic group’.

One family only89,75168.126,17564.1
One family plus other persons15,47411.76,90316.9
Two families (with or without other persons)5,9494.53,1537.7
Three or more families (with or without other persons)4680.43360.8
Non-family households6,3754.81,4013.4
One-person households12,6189.62,1545.3
Not elsewhere classified1,2150.96931.7
     Total131,853100.040,812100.0

HOUSEHOLD SIZE Persons per dwelling

Types of dwellings.

The 1991 Census distribution of Maori and Pacific Island households by dwelling type is given in . New Zealand Maori households show a greater tendency to live in separate houses than Pacific Island households. The reverse is true for two and three semi-detached houses or flats.

Table 6.8. TYPES OF MAORI AND PACIFIC ISLAND DWELLINGS, 1991 CENSUS*

 New Zealand MaoriPacific Island
TypeNumberPercentage of total†NumberPercentage of total†

* Private dwellings where the ‘occupier’ or ‘spouse of occupier’ is a person of ‘New Zealand Maori ethnic group’ or ‘Pacific Island ethnic group’.

Calculated in terms of specified cases only.

Occupied permanent private dwellings—    
  Separate house107,42181.930,56475.1
  Two houses or flats joined together10,6958.24,43410.9
  Three or more flats (houses) joined together9,5077.25,13912.6
  Flat/house attached to business or shop1,1340.93510.9
  Bach, crib, hut (not in work camp)1,1820.9810.2
  Not specified711...111...
     Total, permanent private dwellings130,65399.140,67799.7
Temporary private dwellings1,2000.91350.3
     Total, private dwellings131,853100.040,812100.0

Number of occupants.

The distribution of New Zealand Maori and Pacific Island dwellings by number of occupants at the 1991 Census (see ) reinforces the patterns evident in the usual composition of households by type for these two ethnic groups. Whereas 54.6 percent of Maori dwellings have three or fewer occupants, only 39.0 percent of Pacific Island dwellings do.

This can be partly explained by the lower average size of Maori families and the tendency for Pacific Island dwellings to house more than one family.

Table 6.9. NUMBER OF OCCUPANTS OF MAORI AND PACIFIC ISLAND DWELLINGS, 1991 CENSUS*

 New Zealand MaoriPacific Island
Number of occupants†DwellingsPercentage of totalDwellingsPercentage of total

* Private dwellings where the ‘occupier’ or ‘spouse of occupier’ is a person of ‘New Zealand Maori ethnic group’ or ‘Pacific Island ethnic group’.

Calculated in terms of specified cases only.

One13,59910.32,3555.8
Two30,71723.36,37215.6
Three27,64821.07,17917.6
Four26,27419.97,84819.2
Five17,14213.06,52816.0
Six8,7996.74,47011.0
Seven4,0173.02,6376.5
Eight or more3,6602.83,4208.4
     Total131,853100.040,812100.0

Tenure.

Patterns of tenure and category of landlord shown in 1991 census data reflect the household income and demographic structures of Maori and Pacific Island ethnic groups. and show that Pacific Islanders tend to be more reliant on rented or leased housing than Maori, who, in turn, are almost twice as reliant on rental housing as the general population (see ).

For occupier-owned housing, 55.3 percent of Maori dwellings, compared with 47.0 percent of Pacific Island dwellings, were owned with or without a mortgage.

Table 6.1. TENURE OF MAORI AND PACIFIC ISLAND DWELLINGS, 1991 CENSUS*

 New Zealand MaoriPacific Island
TenureDwellingsPercentageDwellingsPercentage†

* Private dwellings where the ‘occupier’ or ‘spouse of occupier’ is a person of ‘New Zealand Maori ethnic group’ or ‘Pacific Island ethnic group’.

Calculated in terms of specified cases only.

Owned with a mortgage52,46140.415,63038.9
Owned without a mortgage19,29614.93,2678.1
Rented or leased52,37440.320,42450.9
Provided free5,7454.48312.1
Not specified1,977...660...
     Total131,853100.040,812100.0

Table 6.11. CATEGORY OF LANDLORD FOR RENTED OR LEASED PRIVATE DWELLINGS, 1991 CENSUS*

 New Zealand MaoriPacific Island
Category of landlordDwellingsPercentage†DwellingsPercentage†

* Rented or leased private dwellings where the ‘occupier’ or ‘spouse of occupier’ is a person of ‘New Zealand Maori ethnic group’ or ‘Pacific Island ethnic group’.

Calculated in terms of specified cases only.

Rented or leased from—    
Private person/company24,88249.87,14636.8
Housing Corporation20,10940.211,25058.0
Other government departments3,3036.65883.0
Local authority1,6773.44112.1
Landlord not specified2,406...1,029...
     Total, rented or leased52,374100.020,424100.0

Household transport

At the 1991 Census of Population and Dwellings 1,009,086 households, or 87.6 percent of households, had the use of one or more motor vehicles for private transport. This was an increase of 88,590 over the number of private households (920,496) with the use of vehicles at the 1986 Census.

The share of households with two or more vehicles increased from 37.2 percent to 40.9 percent during the intercensal period, while there was a related decline in the percentage of one-vehicle households and households without a vehicle.

Table 6.12. HOUSEHOLD TRANSPORT

 1986 Census1991 Census
Number of motor vehicles*HouseholdsPercentage of total†HouseholdsPercentage of total†Intercensal percentage change

* Includes cars, station-wagons, vans, trucks, and other vehicles used on public roads (excludes motorcycles and scooters). Business vehicles if available for private use are also included.

Calculated on specified cases only.

0142,59313.4143,23212.40.4
1525,04849.4538,22746.72.5
2302,41528.4356,81431.018.0
369,5256.584,5377.321.6
417,3341.621,4111.923.5
5 or more6,1770.68,0970.731.1
Not specified25,509 25,347 -0.6
     Total1,088,598100.01,177,665100.08.2

Household income and expenditure

The New Zealand Household Economic Survey is conducted continuously by Statistics New Zealand and the results are presented on a March-year basis. It provides statistics on the expenditure patterns and income levels of private households and information on the social and demographic characteristics of households.

A sample of approximately 4,500 private households is randomly selected for the survey every fifth year, to provide data for the revision of the Consumers Price Index (see section 26.1, Consumer prices), and a smaller sample of approximately 3,000 private households is selected in other years. In the 1993–94 year, 3,102 private households (comprising 12,880 people) participated in the survey, each household containing an average of 2.75 people. 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, tend to be under-reported in household surveys. Other data sources indicate that a similar situation occurs in the New Zealand survey.

In the following tables the aggregate survey income/expenditure has been averaged over all households in the survey, rather than over only those households which reported income/expenditure in particular areas. This averaging procedure has the effect of reducing some average income/expenditure statistics to a level below that which would normally be expected (eg expenditure on rent).

Table 6.13. INCOME DISTRIBUTION OF HOUSEHOLDS, 1993–94*

Annual incomeApproximate equivalent weekly incomeNumber of householdsAverage weekly income per household

* As estimated from Household Economic Survey.

Including nil and loss.

$$(000)$
Under 12,100†Under 232115.4142.00
12,100–16,999232 and under 326112.8276.50
17,000–20,199326 and under 387110.1355.00
20,200–25,499387 and under 489115.5435.50
25,500–32,199489 and under 618112.2550.40
32,200–39,299618 and under 754113.4685.70
39,300–48,499754 and under 930113.6841.20
48,500–58,599930 and under 1,124112.01,021.60
58,600–76,4991,124 and under 1,467113.61,278.30
76,500 or over1,467 or over113.52,070.50
     Total1,139.9765.50 

Table 6.14. AVERAGE WEEKLY EXPENDITURE FOR SELECTED FAMILY TYPES, 1993–94

Expenditure groupYoung* one person householdOlder one person householdYoung couple with no childrenOlder couple with no childrenCouple with one childCouple with two children

* Under 45.

   $   
Food56.043.9109.585.1125.0144.5
Housing109.154.9230.668.760.1195.7
Household operations49.949.889.377.796.6102.3
Apparel13.89.230.420.832.040.4
Transport57.445.2115.091.6116.9120.5
Other goods44.133.084.857.988.688.7
Other services65.642.5104.190.9124.4137.0
     Total expenditure396.00278.40763.80492.70643.60829.10
Expenditure groupCouple with three or more childrenOne parent with childrenFamily with othersNon-family householdsAll family types

* Under45.

   $  
Food154.676.6142.9112.2102.1
Housing188.569.1137.3174.9118.1
Household operations101.264.1101.379.080.6
Apparel41.719.843.142.627.4
Transport113.051.6128.4112.892.2
Other goods81.547.197.1107.268.5
Other services127.355.0107.3108.994.8
     Total expenditure807.90383.40757.40737.70583.80

HES

Highlights 1993/94

  • Households spent an average of $584 during the 1993/94 survey year, compared to $587 in 1992/93.

  • Households received an average before tax income of $765 in 1993/94, compared to $785 in 1992/93.

  • Average annual household income before tax was $39,913 for the 1993/94 year.

  • Males personal income averaged $25,768 and females $15,981, a difference of over 60 percent.

  • Expenditure on housing increased 8.7 percent between the 1992/93 and 1993/94 surveys. Expenditure on other services such as health, education and insurance fell 5.3 percent and expenditure on transportation fell 6.8 percent.

  • In 1993/94, 7 percent of households had subscriber TV and 95 percent colour TVs. Almost 20 percent of households had a home computer and almost 70 percent owned a microwave oven.

Table 6.15. AVERAGE WEEKLY HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURE, 1991–92

Expenditure group and subgroupAverage weekly household expenditure*Percentage of total expenditure

* Averages have been rounded to the nearest 5 cents.

 $percent
Food—  
  Fruit7.201.23
  Vegetables7.801.34
  Meat12.902.20
  Poultry3.300.57
  Fish.2.000.34
  Farm products, fats, oils12.802.20
  Cereals, cereal products14.202.43
  Sweet products, spreads, beverages.11.201.93
  Other foodstuffs10.101.73
  Food consumed in eating places, takeaway foods20.603.53
     Total, food102.1017.49
Housing—  
  Rent29.305.02
  Net capital outlay and related expenses-13.00-2.22
  Mortgage payments51.908.90
  Payments to local authorities13.802.37
  Property maintenance goods15.102.59
  Property maintenance services20.403.49
  Other housing expenses0.600.10
     Total, housing118.1020.23
Household operation—  
  Domestic fuel and power19.303.31
  Home appliances16.502.83
  Household equipment and utensils2.600.45
  Furniture7.501.28
  Furnishings2.300.40
  Floor coverings2.400.41
  Household textiles3.900.67
  Household supplies6.501.12
  Household services19.603.35
     Total, household operation80.6013.81
Apparel—  
  Men's clothing4.800.82
  Women's clothing9.301.60
  Children's clothing2.200.37
  Other clothing4.100.70
  Clothing supplies and services1.900.32
  Men's footwear1.200.21
  Women's footwear1.400.23
  Children's footwear0.700.12
  Other footwear1.700.30
  Footwear supplies and services0.200.03
     Total, apparel27.404.7
Transportation—  
  Public transport within New Zealand5.300.91
  Overseas travel19.803.39
  Road vehicles24.504.20
  Vehicle ownership expenses40.006.85
  Other private transport costs2.700.45
     Total, transportation..92.2015.80
 $percent
Other goods—  
  Tobacco products7.701.33
  Alcohol14.402.47
  Medical goods4.100.71
  Toiletries and cosmetics5.100.88
  Personal goods5.300.92
  Pets, racehorses and livestock6.001.03
  Publications, stationery and office-type equipment10.601.82
  Leisure and recreational goods9.301.60
  Recreational vehicles3.200.54
  Other goods2.600.44
     Total, other goods68.5011.73
Other services—  
  Health services13.102.24
  Personal services3.700.64
  Educational and tuitional services8.201.41
  Accommodation services3.000.51
  Financial, insurance and legal services19.003.25
  Vocational services1.500.25
  Leisure services11.702.00
  Other services nee3.100.54
  Other outgoings11.301.94
  Contributions to savings20.203.45
     Total, other services94.8016.24
     Total, net expenditure583.80100.0
     Number of households surveyed3,102 

Table 6.16. HOUSEHOLD AMENITIES

 Percentage of all surveyed households*
Amenity in dwelling1991–921992–931993–94

* Household Economic Survey.

Electric range or wall oven95.594.994.8
Gas, coal or oil-fired range8.89.09.5
Microwave oven62.064.669.3
Telephone93.693.593.9
Clothes-washing machine96.296.096.9
Clothes dryer57.760.960.8
Separate refrigerator32.234.131.8
Combination refrigerator/freezer75.075.276.5
Separate deep-freeze unit55.455.754.3
Dishwashing machine23.624.625.3
Colour television (owned)92.193.294.7
Monochrome television (owned)11.29.78.4
Television (hired or rented)5.64.03.0
No television (owned hired or rented)3.03.63.5
Subscriber TV decoder (owned)2.03.86.0
Subscriber TV decoder (hired or rented)0.1 7.1
Video recorder (owned)65.668.672.2
Video recorder (hired or rented)0.80.60.4
Home computer (mains operated, with keyboard)15.917.118.6
Portable electric heater81.581579.4
Electric night store heater fixed in place8.48.38.1
Other electric heater fixed in place29.529.028.0
Portable gas heater13.415.717.1
Gas heater fixed in place9.310.09.8
Open fire29.228.126.5
Slow-combustion fire31.931.433.3
Portable kerosene heater3.12.72.6
Wet-back fire of any kind19.519.118.4
Central heating of any kind4.95.55.1

International comparisons 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 in 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.

Table 6.17. INDICATORS OF STANDARDS OF LIVING

ItemUnitYearNew ZealandUnited StatesAustraliaUnited KingdomSwedenJapan

* 1987

1990

1991

§ 1992

Sources: OECD in Figures 1994; World Statistics in Brief UN Statistical Pocketbook) 14th ed, 1992.

Areasq km(000)1992266.29,372.67,686.8244.8450.0377.8
Populationmillion19923.4255.617.557.88.7124.3
Densitypersons per sq. km199212.827.32.3236.319.3329.1
Vital statistics        
Infant mortality rateper 1000 live births19927.38.67.07.05.34.5
Life expectancy at birthmale199072.472.073.973.2‡74.876.1†
 female199078.3‡78.880.078.8‡80.482.1‡
Gross Domestic Product$US billion at current prices and exchange rates199343.46,245.4278.8927.4185.34,198.0
GDP per capita$US at current prices and exchange rates199212,09923,21516,56618,02728,48929,525
Average annual volume changepercentage1992–19821.32.83.12.31.64.0
Employment by sector        
Agriculturepercentage199210.82.95.32.23.36.4
Industrypercentage199222.624.623.926.526.534.6
Servicespercentage199266.672.570.871.370.259.0
Energy        
Total final energy consumptiontonnes of oil equivalent (million)199210.41,399.459.6152.132.8319.4
Total productiontonnes of oil equivalent (million)199112.71,636.8166.3213.831.672.8
Energy        
Total primary energy suppliesmetric tons of oil equivalent (million)199214.71,984.188.8216.246.7451.1
Total productionmetric tons of oil equivalent (million)199212.81,658.8171.4213.429.174.0
External trade        
Imports (cif)$US billion at current prices and exchange rates19919.4494.838.8222.554.6233.8
Exports (fob)$US billion at current prices and exchange rates19919.5393.839.7184.057.4286.3
Sectoral contributions        
Agriculturepercentage of GDP19917.3†2.0*3.01.52.12.3
Industrypercentage of GDP199125.9†29.2*29.629.027.841.9
Servicespercentage of GDP199166.7†68.8*67.369.470.155.8
Health and education        
Doctorsper 1000 of mean population19911.92.32.01.42.91.6
Expenditure on healthpercentage of GDP19917.613.48.66.68.66.8
Expenditure on public educationpercentage of GDP19915.57.05.55.36.53.7
Television sets in useper 1000 inhabitants1991443814480434468613
Passenger carsper 1000 inhabitants1993636.6762.7§574.8‡511.3§500.3549.6
Consumers Price Indexpercentage change from previous year1993/940.72.42.2  1.0
Currency (exchange rate)equivalent to $NZ1 mid-rate as at 31 December 1994 1.00.640.830.41 64.04

6.2 Marriage

Marriage may be solemnised either by a celebrant or before a registrar of marriages. A licence must be obtained from a registrar before a marriage by a celebrant can be solemnised, and notice must be given by one of the parties. Marriage celebrants are approved as such and listed annually in the New Zealand Gazette. They may be members of organisations (including non-religious organisations) or other persons residing in a locality. Justices of the Peace are not necessarily marriage celebrants. People under 20 years of age, not being widowed, require the consent of parents or guardian. In case of refusal, the consent of a District Court judge may be sought.

The minimum age for marriage is 16 years; no marriage, however, is deemed to be void by reason only of an infringement of the minimum age.

Table 6.18. MARRIAGE RATES

 Marriage rate
December yearNumber of marriagesCrude*General

* Per 1,000 mean population.

Per 1,000 mean not-married population aged 16 years and over.

198724,4437.4024.96
198823,4857.0823.41
198922,7336.8322.18
199023,3416.9422.19
199123,0656.7722.33
199222,0186.4019.87
199322,0566.4319.40

Marital status of the population

shows the usually resident New Zealand male and female populations by marital status and age group at the 1991 Census of Population and Dwellings. The numbers ‘never married’ and ‘married’ in each age group reflect the long-term changes that have taken place in the average age at marriage, the marriage rate and the age-sex distribution of the population.

Age-specific marriage rates have, in turn, been affected by the increasing number of people in each age group living in stable ‘de facto’ relationships. General improvements in life expectancy and earlier increases in divorce rates have had a continuing impact on the numbers in the ‘widowed’, ‘divorced’ and ‘remarried’ categories at all ages.

The outcome of these changes during the 1986–91 intercensal period is shown in table

Couple on their 69th wedding anniversary.

6.20, which shows the numbers of males and females in each marital status category and the percentage distribution of the population by marital status at the 1981 and 1986 censuses. There was a considerable increase in the percentages of both males and females ‘never married’ between the 1986 and 1991 censuses. In contrast, the corresponding percentages for the ‘married’ group showed a compensating decline. Also evident are percentage increases in the numbers ‘separated’, ‘widowed’ and ‘divorced’ during the period.

Table 6.19. MARITAL STATUS BY AGE GROUP, 1991 CENSUS*

 Never marriedMarriedRemarriedSeparatedDivorcedWidowedNot specifiedTotal

* Usually resident New Zealand population.

First marriage.

Includes persons who are still married but permanently separated.

Males        
15–19142,692396245139541,749145,002
20–24121,14611,571999722281021,857135,978
25–34110,367125,4035,73313,2847,8813993,741266,814
35–4428,950150,72321,98716,95917,2261,0923,276240,213
45–5411,778112,91719,92910,18813,9772,2472,466173,505
55–649,31293,77114,6465,4278,9945,4992,487140,136
65–746,35767,29910,9922,4154,43410,0712,037103,605
75 and over3,21329,0585,9677651,31115,1741,34756,832
      Total433,818591,14179,37450,05554,09934,64118,9601,262,085
Females        
15–19137,0611,3741512918511,341139,986
20–24103,61426,1271952,9465371651,536135,117
25–3480,640149,43910,16720,06712,8071,2513,522277,890
35–4419,734151,30523,12119,56623,7093,5372,943243,915
45–547,797110,22317,3949,66917,2268,2472,487173,046
55–646,05184,30311,4094,3809,57020,8742,334138,915
65–746,50155,0208,7901,8365,15743,0352,040122,379
75 and over7,48518,2853,3215941,97463,8161,47696,948
      Total368,880596,06774,40659,18771,001140,97617,6791,328,196
      Total802,7011,187,208153,780109,245125,100175,61436,6392,590,287

Table 6.2. DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION BY MARITAL STATUS*

 1986 Census 1991 Census Intercensal increase or decrease
Marital statusNumberPercentage distributionNumberPercentage distributionNumberPercentage

* Usually resident New Zealand population.

First marriage.

Includes persons who are still married but permanently separated.

Males      
Never married396,87933.3433,81834.936,9399.3
Married†609,15051.2591,14147.6-18,009-3.0
Remarried69,4115.879,3746.49,96314.4
Separated‡41,4273.550,0554.08,62820.8
Divorced42,0543.554,0994.312,04528.6
Widowed31,8032.734,6412.82,8388.9
Not specified19,668 18,960 -708-3.6
      Total1,210,389100.01,262,085100.051,6964.3
Females      
Never married324,63326.2368,88028.144,24713.6
Married†613,70149.5596,06745.5-17,634-2.9
Remarried66,1265.374,4065.78,28012.5
Separated‡48,1323.959,1874.511,05523.0
Divorced54,7984.471,0015.416,20330.0
Widowed132,51610.7140,97610.88,4606.4
Not specified18,006 17,679 -327-1.8
      Total1,257,912100.01,328,196100.070,2845.6

MARRIAGE Annual rates per 1,000 mean population

shows the female and male populations living in de facto relationships, by age group, irrespective of marital status. The term ‘de facto’ relates to an arrangement where two persons who are not legally married to each other live together in a relationship as a couple.

At the 1991 Census 161,856 people were living in de facto relationships, an increase of 46,828, or 40.7 percent since 1986. Of the people in this category, 81.4 percent of males and 81.0 percent of females were between the ages of 20 and 44 years. The age group with the highest number of de facto relationships is clearly the 25 to 34 year old group.

Table 6.21. DE FACTO RELATIONSHIPS*

 1986 Census*1991 Census*Intercensal increase or decrease
Age group (years)NumberPercentage distributionNumberPercentage distributionNumberPercentage

* Usually resident New Zealand population.

Males      
15–191,8993.32,5623.266334.9
20–2413,12522.816,26020.13,13523.9
25–3422,30538.832,73940.410,43446.8
35–4411,57120.116,95920.95,38846.6
45–545,3889.48,0619.92,67349.6
55–642,4454.23,2674.082233.6
65–746421.19991.235755.6
75 and over1710.32670.39656.1
      Total57,549100.081,111100.023,56240.9
Females      
15–195,79610.16,8618.51,06518.4
20–2416,77329.221,50726.64,73428.2
25–3419,82134.529,51736.69,69648.9
35–449,55216.614,37917.84,82750.5
45–543,8016.66,0547.52,25359.3
55–641,2302.11,6682.143835.6
65–744020.75850.718345.5
75 and over1080.21800.27266.7
      Total57,480100.080,745100.023,26540.5

Age at marriage

In 1993,44,112 people got married (22,056 marriages), an increase of 76 on 1992.

AVERAGE AGE AT FIRST MARRIAGE

Table 6.22. AGES OF PERSONS MARRIED, 1993

 Age of bride, in years
Age of bridegroom, in yearsUnder 2020–2425–2930–3435–3940–4445 and overTotal bridegrooms
Under 201025910-1--172
20–244043,250708106311034,512
25–291572,8223,06770814836156,953
30–34367831,8831,27130994344,410
35–399212536703443172562,131
40–445541853163712601281,319
45 and over329832063024841,4522,559
      Total brides7167,2096,4723,3101,6051,0561,68822,056

The average ages of those marrying rose from 32.2 years for men and 29.5 years for women in 1992, to 32.5 years and 29.7 years for men and women, respectively in 1993. This rise is a continuation of the upward trend in average age at marriage evident since the early 1970s as shown in . The increase in the average age at marriage is largely a reflection of a trend towards delayed marriage, increasing numbers of people remaining single, cohabitation before marriage and the growing number of people living in de facto unions.

Table 6.23. AVERAGE AGE OF PEOPLE MARRYING

 BridegroomsBrides
YearBachelorsDivorcedWidowersTotalSpinstersDivorcedWidowsTotal
197124.240.858.126.821.736.551.423.9
197624.839.157.928.022.235.451.425.0
198125.439.758.229.223.035.951.926.3
198626.640.759.330.824.337.052.427.9
199127.941.859.931.925.737.952.729.1
199228.042.260.532.226.038.253.429.5
199328.342.459.132.526.238.953.229.7

The rise in the average age at marriage for both men and women has mainly been driven by the rise in age at first marriage. The average age for people marrying for the first time in 1993 was 28.3 years for men and 26.2 years for women—the highest since the mid-1920s for men

FIRST MARRIAGES By age

MARITAL STATUS: Females Population over 20 years of age

and since figures have been collected for women. In general women are still marrying men older than themselves, but the gap between their average age at first marriage has narrowed; it was about three years in the mid-1960s and two years in 1993.

Relationship counselling

Relationship Services.

Relationship Services, formerly Marriage Guidance New Zealand (MGNZ) has 29 local offices throughout New Zealand as well as 30 outposts. Each one is chartered to the national organisation. The counselling and education work of Relationship Services is funded largely through a fee for service contract with the Department of Social Welfare. Relationship Services aims to develop positive relationships between partners and within families whether or not they live together. Counselling referrals come from the Family Court, Department of Social Welfare, other professionals and social service agencies. About 46 percent of clients self-refer. Education programmes are conducted by Relationship Services for people entering into, seeking to enrich, or resolve difficulties in their relationships, or those leaving relationships. Counselling on employment relationships and mediation work are also undertaken.

Te Korowai Aroha Aotearoa.

Established in 1990, Te Korowai Aroha Aotearoa is a professional Maori counselling agency providing education and training to iwi agencies. The iwi agencies then offer training and counselling to whanau, hapu, iwi and other Maori agencies.

The aim of Te Korowai Aroha is ‘to guide our people toward becoming self-reliant, critical thinking members of society’. It is founded on the values of:

  • Te Korowai Aroha—nurturing and strengthening the mana wairua of whanau, hapu and iwi.

  • Whakapakari—growth, development, maturity of thought achieved through whakamana, whakatinana, whakakaha and manaaki.

  • Kia Puawai—blossoming and flourishing.

  • Toitu—standing tall.

Te Korowai Aroha has 12 iwi agencies throughout the North Island. Iwi agencies may be referred to Te Korowai Aroha by the Department of Social Welfare, Family Court and other agencies; the agencies are thereafter monitored and reviewed by Te Korowai Aroha. Of all clients, 71 percent are self-referrals. Te Korowai Aroha is funded largely through the New Zealand Community Funding Agency.

Dissolution of marriage

There is only one ground on which an order dissolving a marriage can be made—that is, that the marriage has broken down irreconcilably. The Family Proceedings Act 1980, which provides the legal framework for the dissolution of marriage, also makes provision for orders declaring a marriage void and for declarations of presumption of death. To establish that a marriage has broken down irreconcilably, the parties must be living apart, and have done so for the previous two years.

Since 1981, applications for dissolution of marriage have been made to Family Courts, which are less formal and have more simplified procedures than other courts. The following are the main pieces of legislation in the area:

Matrimonial Property Act 1976.

This Act provides for the 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 Act 1968.

This Act defines the authority of parents as guardians of their children, and the powers of the court in relation to guardianship and custody of, and access to children. Most applications under the Act are required to be heard in a Family Court. The Act requires that in any proceedings relating to guardianship, custody or access the court must regard the welfare of the child as the paramount consideration. There is provision under the Act for the court to appoint a lawyer to represent the interest of any children involved, and to require social worker, medical, psychiatric or psychological reports on children.

Social Security Act 1964.

This Act contains a scheme known as the Liable Parent Contribution Scheme, which aims to provide a fair and uniform method of determining the contributions a liable parent must make to support his or her children if the other parent is receiving a domestic purposes benefit. See section 7.2, Income support.

The Child Support Act 1992 introduced a new regime for assessing non-custodial parental support of children. It replaces, from 1 July 1992, the Liable Parent Contribution Scheme which was contained in the Social Security Act 1964 and administered by the Department of Social Welfare.

The Inland Revenue Department's Child Support Agency assesses the amount of child support to be paid by parents according to a specific formula and collects and pays child support to the Crown when the custodial parents are social welfare beneficiaries, and to custodial parents not receiving social welfare benefits.

MARITAL STATUS: Males Population over 20 years of age

In addition, the agency collects and pays court-ordered spousal maintenance to qualifying spouses and maintenance in respect of spouses and/or children which has been agreed on voluntarily, if and when an application is made to the agency.

Table 6.24. DISSOLUTION ORDERS GRANTED

Ground or evidence presented198919901991x19921993
Applications filed for dissolution of marriage8,5559,0369,1529,1149,193
Evidence of irreconcilable breakdown—     
Separation order538494447360322
Written separation order3,5083,5963,7113,7873,650
Verbal separation order3,0913,4993,5753,5193,837
Lived apart, no agreement or order1,4111,4421,4151,4481,384
      Total, irreconcilable breakdown8,5489,0319,1529,1149,193
Other dissolution orders75-- 
      Total, dissolution orders8,5559,0369,1529,1149,193

MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE Year ended 31 December

Table 6.25. DURATION OF MARRIAGES ENDING IN DISSOLUTION BY AGES OF HUSBANDS AND WIVES AT MARRIAGE, 1992

 Age (in years) at marriage
Duration of marriage (in years)*Under2020–2425–2930–3435–3940–4445 and over (including not stated)Total

* Duration of marriage calculated from both month and year of dissolution.

Husbands (all petitions and applications)        
Under 53735438717375721001,198
5–963946709332180911622,483
10–1410180946124610554831,859
15–191176832831014613281,271
20 and over2531,4095061423920132,382
      Total5714,2012,3469944452503869,193
Wives (all petitions and applications)        
Under 5112507295938841621,198
5–93061,23146819812760932,483
10–144258143261466836441,859
15–1943058215757176221,271
20 and over8561,238197521612112,382
      Total2,1294,3721,4435463161552329,193

6.3 Human rights, immigration and citizenship

Human Rights Commission

The Human Rights Commission has the general role of promoting the advancement of human rights in New Zealand in accordance with the United Nations International Covenants on Human Rights. It is made up of the Chief Human Rights Commissioner (the chairperson), the Race Relations Conciliator, the Privacy Commissioner and up to three other commissioners. These are all appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice.

The commission monitors legislation, conducts inquiries and investigates complaints of unlawful discrimination prohibited by the Human Rights Act 1993. If necessary complaints can be taken to the Complaints Review Tribunal (formerly the Equal Opportunities Tribunal) for adjudication of proceedings alleging discriminatory practice. The commission encourages respect for the observance of human rights through speaking engagements, newsletters, hui, seminars and publication of educational material. It also has the responsibility of reporting to the Prime Minister on matters with human rights implications.

The grounds of unlawful discrimination under the Human Rights Act 1993 are gender, marital status, age, religious or ethical belief, disability, political opinion, employment status, family status and sexual orientation.

Office of the Race Relations Conciliator

The Race Relations Act 1971 was repealed when the new Human Rights Act 1993 came into force on 1 February 1994.

The new Act continues the provisions relating to racial discrimination. It is unlawful to discriminate on the grounds of colour, race, or ethnic or national origins (including nationality and citizenship) in: (a) access by the public to places, vehicles and facilities; (b) provision of goods and services; (c) employment; and (d) land, housing and other accommodation. It is unlawful to publish or display any advertisement that indicates an intention to discriminate on these grounds.

Complaints under the race relations provisions of the Act are now handled by a Complaints Division made up of three Human Rights commissioners and, ex officio, the Race Relations Conciliator. The areas in respect of which race complaints can be considered by the Race Relations Conciliator have now been extended to include all of those formerly contained in the Human Rights Commission Act 1977.

The Human Rights Act 1993 extends the jurisdiction of the Race Relations Conciliator to the areas of education, racial harassment and racial disharmony. Potential racial incidents can often be avoided by education. The conciliator can also report to the Prime Minister on matters affecting race relations, receive and invite representations from the public, make public statements and other related functions. This extension of the conciliator's functions is an important addition to the conciliator's earlier jurisdiction which related solely to the investigation of complaints.

The head office of the race relations conciliator is in Wellington and there are also offices in Auckland and Christchurch.

Equal Employment Opportunities

The Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) Trust was established in 1991 by the Government and the private sector, with initial funding from 30 foundation member companies and the Government. The trust is a membership-based organisation with 147 members as at August 1994. The trust aims to promote to New Zealand employers the implementation of EEO principles and EEO best practice in the workplace as a means of improving their effectiveness, efficiency and competitiveness through the successful management of diversity.

The trust commissions, monitors and evaluates research on EEO in New Zealand. It is staffed by an executive director, an administrator, database manager and office assistant who are based in Auckland. The board of trustees has public and private sector representatives. The EEO trust liaises closely with individuals and groups with expertise and interest in EEO, including EEO designated group networks, employers’ associations, EEO Practitioners’ Association, State Services Association, EEO Unit and the Human Rights Commission.

The trust has a national database of EEO resources. This contains computerised listings of materials including booklets, videos, training programmes, cultural advisers, networks, trainers, consultants and people with specific expertise in EEO issues. The Government's EEO Contestable Fund supported the database development and the production of two booklets by the trust. Making the most of a diverse workforce—an employer's guide to EEO was published in 1992 and a further publication on EEO success stories was published in 1993. The trust publishes a newsletter three times a year and disseminates a wide variety of EEO resources.

Women's issues

Women are the majority sex in New Zealand. By the year 2031, women are expected to outnumber men by 83,000. While they have achieved full equality in law, New Zealand women have still not gained equality with men in terms of economic and social status, freedom from discrimination, and access to decision-making processes.

The Ministry of Women's Affairs has as its primary role the provision of gender-specific advice to the government on public policy issues. The ministry's particular strength lies in its ability to provide practical policy responses which take account of women's lives and responsibilities. As the government's primary adviser on women's issues, the ministry has identified the following as key areas for women's progress towards equality:

  • Work—(a) greater sharing and valuing of unpaid work; (b) increased employment opportunities.

  • Education and training—(a) effective compulsory education for Maori; (b) effective post-compulsory training, including business skills and industry training.

  • Economic development—(a) sharing the benefits of projected growth in the formal economy; (b) an equitable share for Maori women in Maori commercial activity in both iwi enterprise and small business development.

  • Income—(a) access to adequate levels of income; (b) increase in women's income.

  • Family issues—(a) recognition of diversity in family structures; (b) Maori women: strengthening of links with whanau, hapu and iwi.

  • Health—(a) access to an adequate range of affordable and appropriate health services, including health promotion information; (b) Maori women: increasing involvement in the delivery and control of health services.

  • Violence—(a) reduction in violence against women.

Issues affecting women that the ministry has recently worked on include:

Work, education and economic development.

In a joint initiative with the National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women, the ministry organised meetings in Auckland and Wellington in 1994 to enable women to contribute to submissions to the Employment Taskforce. The ministry has been involved, in association with the Ministry of Education, in commissioning research on early childhood services and on the importance of these services as they affect women's ability to participate in the paid workforce. The ministry continues to support the self development, management, business and entrepreneurial skills of Maori women through the Wahine Pakari programme which has now been transferred to Te Puni Kokiri. The publication Maori Women Steps to Enterprise, first published in 1989, has been updated.

Income, wealth and family.

The ministry has been researching legal and social developments in matrimonial property law in New Zealand and overseas, including the property rights of people in de facto relationships.

Health and disability support services.

Te Ohu Whakatupu held a hui in 1994 for Maori women health providers to discuss issues and needs in the reformed health system. The ministry has provided advice on the continuing development of the Accident Compensation Regulations, recognising that women are far more likely than men to have to provide care for people who have accidents. Work has also been done on the integration of disability support services into the reformed health services environment, and the inclusion of gender issues in the strategy for mental health services.

Violence against women.

The ministry has worked to ensure that violence against women is addressed as part of the Government's Crime Prevention Strategy. The ministry has participated in the review of the Domestic Protection Act, and has been closely involved in the implementation of the Films, Videos and Publications Classification Act 1993.

Gender analysis.

The ministry is working to improve analysis by gender in the government sector, and has developed a workshop on this issue.

Pacific Islands women.

A seminar for Pacific Islands women on educational development was run by the ministry and the Education and Training Support Agency.

Nominations Service.

The ministry manages a database of over 2,000 suitably qualified and experienced women who are available for nomination to statutory boards and committees. The Nominations Service has had some success in increasing the number of women serving on such bodies.

International liaison.

The second periodic report of New Zealand to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women was presented in January 1993. The ministry also prepared the 1994 New Zealand Report on Progress Towards the Implementation of the Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women. The major international event for women in 995 is the Fourth United Nations World Conference on Women.

International Year of the Family.

In 1994 the Ministry developed three projects to mark the year. Manaaki Whanau is a research project which identifies what the common whanau values are which enable whanau to provide a stable social and cultural environment for their children. The ministry assisted in the launch of the Intra Family Income and Resource Allocation Study, set up to look at how money is distributed and allocated within families. In addition, a project to make workplaces more friendly to families is being run by the ministry, the EEO Trust and the New Zealand Employers Federation.

Education.

There is now an expectation of educators to create an environment in the education system which recognises and broadens the aspirations and achievements of women. The New Zealand Curriculum Frame specifies that the curriculum should be gender inclusive. That is, the curriculum should acknowledge and include the educational needs and experience of girls equally with those of boys, both in its content and in language methods, approaches and practices of teaching.

Participation patterns of female students in the tertiary education system are monitored by the Ministry of Education to ensure female students are not disadvantaged in gaining access to learning. The policy division of the Ministry of Education includes specialist analysts to address policy relating to female learning. Also of significance to women is the improvement in quality and accessibility of early childhood care and education.

Policy advice provided to the Minister included specific areas of Maori education such as kohanga reo and kura kaupapa Maori. There has been a focus on the particular position of Maori females in the mainstream system. Curriculum content, access to early childhood education, assessment, school leaving age, post-school training, qualifications, and community participation are some of the areas for which there are serious implications for Maori girls and women.

Religious profession

The 1991 Census of Population and Dwellings showed a continued decline in the percentage of the resident population identifying with the four traditional major religious denominations: Anglican, Presbyterian, Catholic and Methodist. From 69.1 percent at the 1976 Census the share of the population in these categories fell to 63.6 percent at the 1986 Census and then to 57.6 percent at the 1991 Census. Of the four, Catholic was the only denomination that increased in numbers between the 1986 and 1991 censuses.

Of the religions or religious denominations with an adherence of 20,000 or more, the fastest growing were ‘Mormon’ with an intercensal increase of 29.3 percent, and ‘Ratana’ with an intercensal increase of 19.8 percent. The number of people classifying themselves only as ‘Christian’ also increased by a significant 72.4 percent. also shows a considerable increase in the number of people classifying themselves as ‘Hindu’ or ‘Buddhist’, both categories having doubled since 1986.

A significant trend apparent in is the continued increase in the number of people reporting themselves as having no religion. This group increased from 533,766 in 1986 to 666,609 in 1991, a rise of 132,843, or 24.9 percent.

Table 6.26. RELIGIOUS PROFESSIONS*

 1986 Census1991 Census
Religious professionNumberPercentageNumberPercentageIntercensal percentage change

* Usually resident New Zealand population.

Anglican791,89824.7732,04822.1-7.6
Presbyterian587,67618.3540,67516.3-8.0
Catholic496,38915.5498,61215.00.4
Methodist153,2494.8138,7054.2-9.5
Christian (nod)45,3541.478,1952.472.4
Baptist68,0162.170,1552.13.1
Mormon (Latter Day Saints)37,1431.248,0091.429.3
Ratana39,7291.247,5951.419.8
Brethren19,7550.620,3370.62.9
Salvation Army16,8210.519,9920.618.9
Jehovah's Witness16,3770.519,1820.617.1
Pentecostal15,7140.518,7650.619.4
Hindu8,1480.317,6610.5116.8
Assemblies of God14,9220.517,2260.515.4
Seventh Day Adventist12,0480.413,0050.47.9
Buddhist6,5160.212,7650.495.9
Other specified96,1923.0106,3923.210.6
No religion533,79016.7666,60920.124.9
Object244,8637.6251,7097.62.8
Not specified58,686-56,289--4.1
      Total3,263,286100.03,373,926100.0-3.4

MAJOR RELIGIONS Stated religious beliefs

1991 Census year

Ethnicity

The 1991 Census of Population and Dwellings asked respondents to identify which ethnic group or groups they belonged to, on a self-determination basis. The question was intended to provide information on a person's cultural affiliation rather than their racial descent, which was the case at the 1981 Census.

Although the ethnic question included in the 1986 Census asked respondents to indicate their ‘Ethnic origin’ rather than their ‘Ethnic group’, the ethnic data from the 1986 and 1991 Censuses is generally comparable.

Responses from the 1991 Census have been coded and tabulated using the recently completed New Zealand Standard Classification of Ethnicity (NZSCE).

Table 6.27. NEW ZEALAND’S ETHNIC GROUPS

 1986 Census1991 Census
Ethnic groupNumberPercentage of totalNumberPercentage of totalIntercensal percentage change

* May include combinations of European groups, eg NZ European and/or British and/or Dutch, etc.

All groups not included above. May include combinations of other groups, eg Japanese and/or Korean and/or Middle Eastern groups.

Single ethnic group— European*2,651,59582.22,658,73879.50.3
   New Zealand Maori295,3179.2323,4939.79.5
   Samoan50,1991.668,5652.036.6
   Cook Island Maori23,9730.726,9250.812.3
   Tongan9,2250.318,2640.598.0
   Niuean8,4720.39,4290.311.3
   Tokolauan2,3160.12,8020.121.0
   Fijian1,8750.12,7600.147.2
Other Pacific Island group8131,41373.8
Total, single Pacific Island group96,8733.0130,1583.934.4
Chinese19,5660.637,6891.192.6
Indian12,1260.426,9790.8122.5
Other single ethnic groups†12,0780.425,9260.8114.7
Total, single ethnic groups3,087,55295.73,202,98095.73.7
Two or more combinations—     
   European–with New Zealand Maori94,8962.993,9872.8-1.0
   European and New Zealand Maori–with any one of Pacific Island group3,7740.14,6140.122.3
–Chinese, Indian, other2,0580.11,656-19.5
European—with any one or two of Pacific Island group17,0430.516,6020.5-2.6
European—and any one of Pacific Island group with any one of Chinese, Indian, other873624-28.5
European—with any one or twi of Chinese, Indian, other6,8520.27,8360.214.4
NZ Maori—with any one or two of Pacific Island group6,7770.29,0750.333.9
NZ Maori—and any one of Pacific Island group–with any one of Chinese, Indian, other37244720.2
NZ Maori—with any one or two of Chinese, Indian, other1,5811,575-0.4
Any two or three of Pacific Island group2,9010.13,8730.133.5
Any one or two of Pacific Island group–with any one or two of Chinese, Indian, other1,6770.11,6770.1-
Any two or three of Chinese, Indian, other357867142.9
Total, two or more combinations139,1674.3142,8364.32.6
Not specified36,564-28,113--23.1
  Total3,263,283100.03,373,929100.03.4

compares the major ethnic groups of the resident New Zealand population at the 1986 and 1991 Censuses. The most obvious feature of the table is that at both the 1986 and 1991 Censuses the vast majority of New Zealand's population (96.7 percent) indicated that they belonged to only one ethnic group.

There were significant differences in the rate of population increase recorded by these single ethnic groups, with increases ranging from 0.3 percent for the European group to 122.5 percent for the Indian group. The single ethnic groups experiencing the greatest growth were Tongans, Chinese, and Indians. The European group's share of the population decreased from 82.2 at the 1986 Census to 79.5 at the 1991 Census. This was offset by increases in the proportion of the population in the other single ethnic group categories. Of the population belonging to two or more ethnic groups, 78.0 percent reported New Zealand Maori as one of those groups, while 87.7 percent reported a European ethnic group.

Changes in the size of populations belonging to the different ethnic group categories, and in their shares of the total population over the 1986–1991 intercensal period reflect the different levels of natural increase, the size and direction of external migration flows, intermarriage between ethnic groups, and inter-ethnic mobility.

gives a comparison of the age structure of New Zealand's major ethnic groups.

Table 6.28. COMPARISON OF AGE STRUCTURE OF MAJOR ETHNIC GROUPS, 1991 CENSUS*

 Percentage of population in age group
Age group (years)EuropeanNew Zealand MaoriPacific Island§ChineseIndianOther

* Usually resident New Zealand population.

Persons of single ethnic group.

Persons who specified “New Zealand Maori” as either their sole ethnic group or as one of several ethnic groups.

§Persons who specified a Pacific Island ethnic group as either their sole ethnic group or as one of several ethnic groups (except where one group is “New Zealand Maori”)

Includes persons of “other” single ethnic group and persons of two and three ethnic groups (except where one group is “New Zealand Maori”.)

0–46.914.313.96.98.711.2
5–1413.223.221.815.416.819.7
15–197.911.510.39.28.28.3
20–247.69.910.48.910.78.6
25–3415.616.918.023.525.224.5
35–4414.910.812.418.416.916.3
45–5915.79.29.111.49.97.9
60–644.81.81.72.21.41.3
65–747.91.81.82.31.61.5
75–844.40.60.51.20.50.6
85 and over1.10.10.10.40.10.1
      Total100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0

Country of birth

Since 1945 the percentage of the resident population born in New Zealand has remained relatively stable. shows that 85.1 percent of the population in 1986 and 84.2 percent of the population in 1991 were New Zealand born. The small decline between the 1986 and 1991 censuses was a consequence of an increased net inflow of overseas-born migrants—especially from Asia and the Pacific Islands. Also evident was the reduced importance of the British Isles as a source of new settlers.

The most significant increase was in the number of New Zealand residents born in Asia. The number of persons born in China increased by 86.5 percent during the intercensal period, while those born in other Asian countries more than doubled, with significant increases being recorded in the number of immigrants from Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand.

Table 6.29. COUNTRY OF BIRTH OF POPULATION*

 1986 Census1991 Census
Country of birthNumberPercentage of specified casesNumberPercentage of specified casesIntercensal percentage change

* Usually resident New Zealand population.

New Zealand2,759,17885.12,812,03284.21.9
Australia47,3341.548,7381.53.0
Pacific Islands72,8102.298,0372.934.6
British Isles256,7627.9239,1577.2-6.5
Netherlands24,4890.824,2760.7-0.9
Germany4,4790.15,3940.220.4
United States of America7,3620.28,4510.314.8
Canada6,4140.26,6990.24.4
India6,5700.29,4590.344.0
China4,9440.29,2220.386.5
Other Asia22,3200.746,0381.4106.3
South Africa4,3200.15,6550.230.9
Other countries25,7490.826,2110.81.8
Not specified21,55534,55760.3
      Total3,263,383100.03,373,926100.03.4

BIRTHPLACES Country of birth of population

Census years

Citizenship

The current 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 established in the following ways: by birth in New Zealand; by descent (i.e., birth outside New Zealand); or by grant of citizenship.

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. This Act also introduced citizenship by descent through the female line, and citizenship by recognition of adoption and paternity.

Children born overseas after 1 January 1978 to a parent who is a New Zealand citizen otherwise than by descent, are automatically New Zealand citizens by descent. In order to preserve this status they must be registered as citizens by descent before their 22nd birthday. This can be done in New Zealand through the Citizenship Office, or at an overseas post.

For people (other than spouses of New Zealand citizens or those under 18 years) who want New Zealand citizenship, the eligibility criteria are that they must:

  • Have resided legally in New Zealand for the three years immediately preceding the date of application.

  • Be entitled in the terms of the Immigration Act 1987 to reside in New Zealand permanently.

  • Be of full capacity.

  • Be of good character.

  • Have sufficient knowledge of the English language and of the responsibilities and privileges attaching to New Zealand citizenship.

  • 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.

CITIZENSHIP Number of applications granted

Citizenship can be granted also to those who marry New Zealand citizens, and to their children. Sometimes, citizenship can be granted in cases of hardship, statelessness or where the relevant parent was a citizen by descent only.

The Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act 1982 provides primarily for the grant of citizenship to any person who 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:

  • Was in New Zealand at any time on 14 September 1982; or

  • 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 1987.

Adults who obtain New Zealand citizenship by grant may be asked to swear allegiance to the Queen of New Zealand. Commonwealth citizens (British subjects) whose country recognises Queen Elizabeth II as head of state are asked to take the oath on the application form. Other persons holding citizenship of a country which does not give this recognition are conditionally approved as New Zealand citizens, and are required to swear allegiance at a private or public ceremony to make the grant effective. Apart from this, the Citizenship Act treats citizens of countries other than Commonwealth on exactly the same basis as citizens of Commonwealth countries.

New Zealand citizens can have their citizenship taken away if they:

  • Choose a foreign nationality by any formal act other than by marriage and have acted in a manner which is contrary to the interests of New Zealand; or

  • Choose to exercise any of the privileges or perform any of the duties of another nationality or citizenship which is contrary to the interests of New Zealand; or

  • Have obtained citizenship by fraud, false representation, mistake, or wilful concealment of relevant information.

Sometimes people can renounce New Zealand citizenship, eg, when required to by countries such as Germany, which won’t accept dual citizenship. However, New Zealand citizenship must be renounced formally. This is because the New Zealand Government insists that New Zealand citizens should not become stateless during changes of citizenship. To protect citizens, government requires proof of citizenship in another country before giving approval to renounce New Zealand citizenship.

A total of 18,010 people were granted citizenship for the year ended 30 June 1994.

Adopted Russian children.

Immigration

The Immigration Amendment Act 1991 came into force on 18 November 1991. As well as the statutory changes the new Act brought, there were major changes to the polices under which the majority of immigration decisions are made.

In 1991, 10,313 people were approved for permanent residence—three years later, more than 42,000 people were approved under the new policies.

The philosophy behind these changes is that immigration should contribute to the economic and social well-being of the resident population. It has been shown immigration is an area capable of providing significant benefits as well as providing economic and lifestyle opportunities to those who choose to live here. This is especially so when migrants who are chosen to come to New Zealand have qualifications, experience and assets to establish themselves.

The polices introduced in 1991 target such migrants, essentially through a points system under which applicants score points for employability, age and settlement factors. The points system, known as the General category, replaced the occupational priority list, the non-occupational priority list and the worthwhile skills categories. A firm offer of employment is no longer compulsory, but does contribute to an applicant's points tally.

The success of the system in attracting quality migrants can be seen in the fact that the pass mark for approval has risen from 20 points to 29 points in the three years the system has been in operation.

The main thrust of the changes has been to the permanent residence policy. Replacing the Occupational Priority List, the Non-Occupational Priority List and the Worthwhile Skills categories, is the General Category. The General Category is essentially a points system under which applicants score points for employability, age and settlement factors. While a firm offer of employment is worth a number of points it is no longer compulsory. In ranking applicants by the points scored, New Zealand ensures selection of the highest quality migrants from the pool.

The other significant change was the replacement of the business investment policy has been replaced by the Business Investment Category (BIC). The BIC targets migrants with business skills and substantial capital funds to add to the national pool of skills and investment capital, thus broadening the nation's opportunities.

Approvals under the general category now account for two-thirds of total approvals. The BIC accounts for 6 percent of total approvals, but is growing rapidly—in the past year the number of successful applications has doubled.

The other major grounds for permanent entry into New Zealand have changed very little. The family category accounts for 16 percent of approvals, while the humanitarian category, the grounds for which were clearly defined by the translation of the old requirements into four clear points, accounts for 1 percent.

In general the new policies have worked very well. However, given that it is three years since they were introduced, a review of the permanent residence policies is now being undertaken, with particular emphasis being placed on the general and BIC categories to see if these new categories are indeed delivering the numbers and range of migrants the policies intended.

As the pass mark for approval under the general category has increased, it has been suggested that the range of people able to apply successfully has narrowed and that New Zealand is not getting the maximum benefit from the policy.

It is not anticipated that the review will change the major thrust of the policy, rather it will be a ‘fine-tuning’ exercise to ensure that New Zealand gets the maximum social and economic benefit from its immigration policy. While the review is expected to be complete in the first half of 1995, any changes to the current system will not be implemented under the last quarter of the year.

Production of travel documents on arrival.

All travellers, including New Zealand citizens, who arrive in New Zealand are required to produce a valid passport or some other acceptable recognised travel document.

Permits to be in New Zealand.

Except for New Zealand citizens and certain other categories of travellers specified under the Immigration Act 1987, everyone entering New Zealand is required to obtain a permit to be in New Zealand. Anyone intending to reside, work, study or undergo medical treatment in New Zealand should seek a visa before setting out on their journey.

Visitors.

Visitor permits for people wishing to make tourist or business visits to New Zealand are generally granted for an initial period of three months and may be extended up to a further six months. Visitors from a number of countries do not require visas provided the purpose of entry is for tourism, business, or to visit family and friends, and the traveller has outward tickets and adequate means of support.

Returning residents.

Residence and other permits are deemed to expire when the holders leave New Zealand. Non-New Zealand citizens granted residence and who wish to preserve this status on return from overseas travel require a Returning Resident's Visa. This is normally current for a period of four years (and may be replaced) and entitles the holder to leave and return to New Zealand on any number of occasions while the visa remains valid.

Australian citizens and residents.

Australian citizens travelling on Australian passports do not require visas, are exempt from New Zealand permit requirements (but not from other provisions of the Immigration Act) and may stay indefinitely in New Zealand. Australian residents with current Australian resident return visas do not require visas to come to New Zealand and are granted residence permits on arrival.

Permanent migrants.

There are four categories under which would be immigrants may apply for permanent residency.

General category—the emphasis of this category is on assessing the overall calibre of the applicant, with migrants being allocated points for attributes and then ranked in a pool. A number of applicants, determined by the number needed to meet the annual migration target figure, are selected monthly by their ranking. Points are given for employability, age and ability to settle. Applicants must also meet health, character and language requirements. If applicants score 20 or more points they gain admittance to a pool where they are ranked according to the number of points gained. Those scoring more than a specified total gain automatic approval. The level for automatic approval was increased in December 1994 from 28 to 29 points. The pool is swept once a month, taking a certain number of applicants. The number selected is determined by the number of people needed for that month to meet the annual migration target figure of 25,000 approvals. Such has been the demand since April 1993, that the pass mark has been set at the automatic approval level and even then approvals have been running in excess of the target.

If the target number is fewer than the number in the pool the applicants are chosen by their ranking, thus the pool pass mark is raised by demand. Applicants stay in the pool for a maximum of four sweeps. If after this time they have not passed the pool mark their applications are declined. If they still wish to be considered they may reapply.

Business Investment category—this category seeks to add to the national pool of skills and investment. Under the policy, all investments have to be lodged for at least two years with the following requirements: NZ$750,000 in a passive investment, $625,000 in an active investment in the Auckland or Wellington regions; or $500,000 in an active investment in any area outside Auckland or Wellington. Independent certification of these investments will be required and must be kept in New Zealand for at least two years or residence may be revoked. Applicants must be able to show that the business investment funds are the direct result of their own business or professional record over a period of at least three years, and that their business or professional record extends over a minimum period of 10 years. Applicants must also meet standard immigration health and character requirements.

Airport farewell.

Family category—this category covers two groups: the partner (be it through marriage, a de facto or homosexual relationship) of a New Zealand citizen or resident; or family reunion (covering parents, dependant children, and single adult siblings). Applications under this category need a sponsor or support from the New Zealand-based relative or partner.

Humanitarian category—this category allows entry into New Zealand of people whose circumstances are exceptionally difficult. Applicants are assessed under the following criteria: their circumstances must be such that they, or a New Zealand party is suffering serious physical or emotional harm; and their application is supported by a close relative who is a New Zealand citizen or resident; and they produce evidence to show why their situation can only be resolved by being granted residence in New Zealand; and it would not be contrary to public interest to allow them to reside in New Zealand.

Western Samoan quota.

A long standing arrangement (dating from the 1960s) provides that up to 1,100 Western Samoan citizens (including dependants) may be accepted for residence each year subject to a guarantee of employment without specific skill requirements and to standard age, health and character requirements.

Refugees.

The admission and settlement of refugees who come within the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees operates under an annual intake of up to 800 persons subject to the availability of community sponsorship. Allocation of settlement places within this intake is determined by the Minister of Immigration in consultation with other agencies.

Temporary workers.

People who wish to work in New Zealand on a temporary basis (usually up to three years) may be issued visas for that purpose. This facility may be used by people on exchange programmes, people with finite work contracts, people coming from overseas to honour service contracts on equipment and in similar cases. 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 work permit; otherwise visitors are prohibited from working here. This requirement does not, however, affect Australian citizens or permanent residents who wish to work while in New Zealand, nor does it affect people born in the Cook Islands, Niue or Tokelau who are New Zealand citizens and therefore have unrestricted right to be in New Zealand.

Students.

Visas may be issued to overseas students to undertake approved courses of study, provided they make prior application and meet a number of requirements (including producing evidence of payment of course fees, and the availability of the necessary funds for their maintenance and return home when their course is completed). Students from developing nations may be eligible for full scholarship or study awards administered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Removal or deportation.

The Immigration Act 1987 makes provision for the removal of people who are unlawfully in New Zealand. People who are removed from New Zealand are not eligible to return for a period of five years from the date of their departure from New Zealand. The Act also provides for a right of appeal against removal warrant on factual or humanitarian grounds.

The Immigration Act 1987 also provides for the deportation of people threatening national security, suspected terrorists and criminal offenders who are residents of New Zealand. A deportation order remains in force from the date on which it is served until the person named in the order leaves New Zealand, unless it has been quashed or revoked under the provisions of the Act. A deportee is not permitted to return to New Zealand at any time or for any purpose without special permission from the Minister of Immigration.

Administration and information.

Immigration legislation and policy is administered by the New Zealand Immigration Service of the Department of Labour. Officers also operate under delegated authority in New Zealand's diplomatic and consular missions overseas, and at ports of entry to New Zealand.

Further information about immigration policy, and/or application forms and details of fees and charges, may be obtained from the nearest Immigration Service branch office in New Zealand or from New Zealand diplomatic and consular representatives overseas.

6.4 Maori society

Demography

Statistics on the New Zealand Maori population from the 1991 Census are collected on the basis of self identification and are based on the concepts of ‘ethnic group’ or ancestry (see Ethnicity in preceding section). Ethnic group statistics are closely comparable with previous census statistics. This definition was adopted as the best option for analysing Maori population growth and distribution. It was also considered more relevant to the present day requirements of users in that it is referred to in legislation pertaining to New Zealand Maori and used to measure the Maori electoral population. People who described themselves as belonging to one, two or three ethnic categories, one of which is ‘New Zealand Maori’, are defined as belonging to the ‘New Zealand Maori ethnic group’.

Age distribution.

compares the Maori population usually resident in New Zealand at the 1986 and 1991 censuses by age group.

When the intercensal change is analysed on a consistent age group basis, i.e., the age groups 0–4 years, etc, at the 1986 Census, are compared with the 5–9 years age groups, etc, at the 1991 Census, the contribution made by net external migration and natural increase to New Zealand Maori population growth can be seen.

Table 6.3. NEW ZEALAND MAORI POPULATION BY AGE GROUP*

 1986 Census1991 Census
Age group (years)NumberPercentageNumberPercentageIntercensal change (percent)

* Persons of Maori origin or descent usually resident in New Zealand.

0–453,76013.362,00414.315.3
5–951,06012.651,07211.7 
10–1452,93213.149,97111.5-5.6
15–1730,8587.630,0216.9-2.7
18–1918,5614.619,8904.67.2
20–2444,40011.042,8559.9-3.5
25–2936,1178.939,5619.19.5
30–3427,2586.733,9997.824.7
35–3921,7625.426,0106.019.5
40–4416,3894.020,7484.826.6
45–4914,9073.715,4383.63.6
50–5411,7872.913,8333.217.4
55–599,2252.310,6502.415.4
60–646,3451.67,8361.823.5
65–694,0201.05,0641.226.0
70–742,7030.72,9310.78.4
75–791,5210.41,7250.413.4
80 and over1,1640.31,2390.36.4
      Total404,775100.0434,847100.07.43

At the 1991 Census, the New Zealand Maori population was significantly younger in age structure than the total population. This youthfulness is demonstrated by the fact that 37.5 percent of Maori were under 15 years of age, compared with 23.2 percent of the total population. In contrast, only 4.4 percent of Maori were 60 years of age and over at that time, the corresponding figure for the total population being 15.5 percent.

These differences reflect both the higher historical fertility (in terms of birth numbers) and mortality levels of the Maori population relative to the total population. The impact of the levels and directions of net external migration on the age structures of the two populations has been much less.

The decline in the New Zealand Maori populations in all age groups (except the 0–4 years age group) at the 1991 Census relative to the adjacent younger age group at the 1986 Census, indicates a net external emigration of Maori during the intercensal period. At the older age groups, the impact of mortality has also influenced this decrease. Maori birth numbers during this period have increased, as can be seen from the 1986 and 1991 census populations in the 0–4 age group.

Geographical distribution.

Changes in the regional distribution of the Maori population between the 1986 and 1991 censuses are shown in . Maori continue to be concentrated in the North Island regions (where 89.0 percent live) and more especially in the northern regions—Northland, Auckland, Bay of Plenty and Waikato. However, the proportion of the Maori population in the North Island regions has continued to decline since 1981.

The South Island's share of the Maori population accordingly showed a slight increase, from 10.6 percent to 10.9 percent, during the intercensal period. Canterbury, the only region in the South Island with a significant level of Maori settlement, received the bulk of this increased share and contained 5.0 percent of the Maori population at the 1991 Census.

Redistribution of the New Zealand Maori population during 1986–91 is the result of variations in the relative levels of natural increase (births less deaths) in the regional councils and the impact of both internal and external migration flows.

Table 6.31. NEW ZEALAND MAORI POPULATION BY REGIONAL COUNCIL*

 1986 Census1991 Census
Regional councilNumberPercentageNumberPercentageIntercensal change (percent)

* People of Maori origin or descent usually resident in New Zealand.

Includes Chatham Islands County.

North Island—     
   Northland30,6697.635,5028.215.8
   Auckland98,23524.2103,21223.75.1
   Waikato56,11813.960,64213.98.1
   Bay of Plenty47,23511.752,48812.111.1
   Gisborne17,0584.217,5654.03.0
   Hawke's Bay27,5766.828,4916.63.3
   Taranaki12,0183.012,6572.95.3
   Manawatu-Wanganui31,9207.934,6688.08.6
   Wellington40,76710.141,9349.62.9
     North Island total361,59689.3387,15989.07.1
South Island—     
   Nelson-Marlborough5,6431.46,5851.516.7
   West Coast1,9560.52,0700.55.8
   Canterbury19,7014.921,7265.010.3
   Otago6,8221.77,8601.815.2
   Southland8,7182.29,1052.14.4
      South Island total42,84010.647,34610.910.5
Extra-county islands and shipping†3420.13390.1-0.9
      New Zealand total404,775100.0434,847100.07.4

Male-female ratio.

At the 1991 Census females outnumbered males in the Maori population. This repeats the pattern established in the 1986 Census. There were 214,428 males and 220,416 females in the Maori population, representing a sex ratio of 102.8 females to every 100 males.

Dynamics of population change.

The Maori have a substantially higher rate of natural increase than non-Maori, due largely to a higher birth rate, which in turn is due mainly to the more youthful age structure. shows demographic indexes based on those of half or more New Zealand Maori descent.

The Maori fertility rate has undergone a decline in the last three decades, falling from an estimated 6.18 births per woman in 1962 to 2.16 births per woman in 1986 and stood at 2.28 in 1990. 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 the Maori and non-Maori total fertility rates was 2.0 births per woman; by 1990 this had narrowed to 0.2 births per woman. However, unlike their non-Maori counterparts, Maori women are still reproducing at above the ‘replacement level’ and have an earlier childbearing pattern. In 1990, the median age at childbearing was 24.6 years for Maori women and 28.0 years for non-Maori women.

Two carvers at work on 2.5 tonne totara log at Christchurch Arts Centre.

Table 6.32. MAORI DEMOGRAPHIC INDEXES

 Live birthsDeaths Reproduction rates
YearNumberCrude birth rate*Total fertility rateNumberCrude death rate*Rate of natural increase*‡GrossNet

* Per 1,000 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.

19826,21621.972.271,3184.6517.311.091.06
19836,27121.902.231,3264.6217.271.071.04
19846,74523.272.341,2634.3418.911.141.10
19856,46922.072.201,2724.3217.731.081.05
19866,51322.01P2.16P1,2254.14P17.87P1.04P1.02P
19876,98223.33P2.29P1,2054.03P19.30P1.11P1.09P
19886,76722.41P2.22P1,2584.17P18.24P1.09P1.07P
19896,96722.89P2.29P1,3514.44P18.45P1.11P1.08P
19906,94722.62P2.28P1,3954.54P18.08P1.12P1.09P

Life expectancy.

In 1985–87, the average life expectancy of Maori males was 67.4 years, compared with 72.3 years for Maori females, while for non-Maori, life expectancies were 71.4 years for males and 77.4 years for females. Therefore, Maori females were expected to outlive Maori males by nearly five years, and non-Maori females were expected to outlive non-Maori males by six years. Over the past 35 years, the difference in life expectancies for Maori and non-Maori has been converging, due to significant gains made by the Maori population, as shown in . In spite of these gains, however, the life expectancy for Maori males is still four years lower and that for Maori females is about five years lower than for non-Maori males and females respectively.

Table 6.33. COMPARISON: MAORI AND NON-MAORI LIFE EXPECTANCY

 Life expectancy at birth (years)
 MaoriNon-Maori
YearMaleFemaleMaleFemale
1950–5254.055.968.372.4
1960–6259.061.469.274.5
1970–7261.065.069.175.2
1980–8265.169.570.876.9
1985–8767.472.371.477.4

The Treaty of Waitangi / Te Tiriti o Waitangi

The Treaty of Waitangi has recently been brought to the forefront of debate on race relations in New Zealand (see section 3.1 Constitution).

The treaty has always been recognised within Maori society as an affirmation of rights and highly valued as a taonga, a sacred pact, entered into by the ancestors of today's New Zealanders. It has moved from obscurity through various levels of importance and now occupies an important position in relation to much of the Government's activities.

The landmark 1987 Court of Appeal case, New Zealand Maori Council v the Crown saw the special relationship between the Maori people and the Crown as one of an ongoing partnership, requiring the partners to act reasonably and with the utmost good faith towards each other.

Waitangi Tribunal.

This tribunal considers claims from any Maori who considers he or she or any group of Maori of which he or she is a member, is prejudiced by any legislation, policy or practice by or on behalf of the Crown which is inconsistent with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. The tribunal is made up of a chairperson and 16 members appointed by the Governor-General. The chairperson is the Chief Judge of the Maori Land Court, and four of the tribunal members must be Maori.

In the 1993–94 year there was a 22.4 percent increase in the number of registered claims from 352 to 431. Some 96 or just over 22 percent of the claims lodged since 1975 have now either been reported deferred, withdrawn, or taken to a stage where no further inquiry is intended. Formal Tribunal reports on Wai 350 the Maori Development Corporation claim and Wai 413 the Maori Electoral Option Claim were released.

Ministry of Maori Development / Te Puni Kokiri

The Ministry of Maori Development was established on 1 January 1992 and replaced Manatu Maori (Ministry of Maori Affairs) and Te Tira Ahu Iwi (Iwi Transition Agency). The purpose of Te Puni Kokiri is to assist in developing an environment of opportunity and choice for tangata whenua, consistent with the Treaty of Waitangi. Its role is to facilitate and support Maori achievements in four key areas: health, education, training and economic resource development. This will enable Maori people to realise their potential for the development of whanau, hapu and iwi in New Zealand society.

The key working relationships for Te Puni Kokiri are based on the following principles. Te Puni Kokiri will:

  • Provide the Minister of Maori Affairs with advice and services contributing towards the Government's desired outcomes for Maori.

  • As an agent of the Government, work with Maori communities, hapu and iwi to facilitate the exchange of services and information.

  • Engage in productive and co-operative relationships with key government agencies to improve Maori access to state services and to achieve parity in outcomes.

  • Foster international relationships with other indigenous peoples and associated agencies.

Te Puni Kokiri is organised into three main core businesses: policy, regions, and residual services. The Policy Group undertakes research and analysis and provides policy advice to government. It also designs or commissions policy projects as a means of testing policy advice. There are 12 regional offices. These offices facilitate access for Maori people to resources in the public, private or voluntary sectors, monitor local services for Maori provided by public and private agencies and facilitate the Maori community input into policy advice. Residual Services is responsible for managing the programmes which have been transferred from Te Tira Ahu Iwi until final decisions are made on the future of these services.

The Maori Trust Office continues to operate under its own legislation with the support staff provided by Te Puni Kokiri.

Maori tribal developments

A recent trend has seen the increased willingness of 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 development schemes, the development of a comprehensive Maori fisheries policy, 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 groups more effectively. As this strategy is pursued, the Government expects to 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.

Maori community services

The Maori Community Services programme, as these services are collectively known, has as its legislative basis the Maori Community Development Act 1962, the Maori Affairs Act 1953 and the Maori Purposes Fund Act 1934–35. These programmes are currently under review by the Te Puni Kokiri to be transferred to other agencies. Currently, payments for community services are made by way of grants approved to national organisations which provide the services.

National Maori organisations working alongside and partially resourced by the ministry are the New Zealand Maori Council; Maori Wardens; Maori Women's Welfare League; Te Kohanga Reo; and Maori Language Commission (Te Taura Whiri).

Additionally, there are a number of voluntary organisations initiated at community level and providing services in areas of social concern including health; drug, alcohol and solvent abuse; criminal rehabilitation; family violence; skills training; and employment and education. These organisations include the Kokiri management committees.

New Zealand Maori Council.

The New Zealand Maori Council is constituted under the Maori Community Development Act 1962. It is a founding member of the World Indigenous People's Council.

Some of the functions of the council, set out in s18 of the Act, are to:

  • Consider and discuss such matters as appear relevant to the social and economic advancement of Maori.

  • Consider and, as far as possible, act on any measures that will conserve and promote harmonious and friendly relations between Maori and other members of the community.

  • Promote, encourage and assist Maori to conserve, improve and advance their physical economic, industrial, educational, social, moral, cultural and spiritual well-being, through self-reliance, sound economic management and pride in themselves.

  • Collaborate with and assist government departments and other organisations and agencies in the development of employment, education, training, housing and health care for Maori people.

The council is responsible for advancing the provisions of the Treaty of Waitangi and effecting changes in the status of Maori through Acts of Parliament, such as the various fisheries Acts (especially the Maori Fisheries Act 1989) the State-owned Enterprises Act 1986 and the Crown Forest Assets Act 1989.

The council currently represents 14 district Maori councils, which nominate three delegates to attend full council meetings. It is the only national Maori body with a statutory framework that recognises non-iwi based representation. Apart from the urban district Maori councils, each district council is tribally represented, and the council promotes the traditional social infrastructure of whanau and hapu. The executive committee, consisting of the chairman of each district council, meets as often as possible.

Maori Congress Te Whakakotahitanga O Nga Iwi O Aotearoa.

The Maori Congress was officially launched in July 1990, after three national Maori leaders—Sir Hepi Te Heuheu, Dame Te Ata-i-Rangi Kahu and the late Mrs Te Reo Hura—sought to create a national body under which iwi could gather to share, consolidate and advance their own positions.

The objectives of the congress are the:

  • Advancement of all Maori people.

  • Exercise, by each iwi, of tino rangatiratanga.

  • Provision of a national forum for iwi representatives to address economic, social, cultural and political issues within tikanga Maori.

  • Promotion of constitutional and legislative arrangements that enable Maori people to control their own right to development and self-determination.

While acknowledging the strengths and autonomy of each iwi, the Maori Congress provides a forum at which matters of national importance, affecting all iwi and indeed all Maori people, can be debated within a Maori context. By standing apart from government, both in terms of direction and funding, it offers Maori people an opportunity to consider their own options and strategies for social, economic and cultural advancement. Furthermore, because it has a broad base and is so widely representative, it is an obvious source of collective Maori opinion from which acceptable policies for Maori development might take shape.

Congress is led by two presidents, and has three elected officers. Membership includes five delegates from 43 participating iwi. Eight committees have been formed to research and action the various interests of congress: a constitution committee; finance committee; operations committee; communication committee; government review committee; justice committee; international committee; an education committee and science committee.

Congress is involved in a range of activities all relating to iwi and Maori development. There has been extensive involvement in the development of modes for the equitable disposal of Crown assets, the representation of Maori on international bodies and the expansion of social projects, such as options for housing and economic expansion.

Maori wardens.

These voluntary workers, among other things, provide liaison between police, the courts and the Maori people.

Recently there has been recognition that, with escalating social problems, there is a need for a high degree of expertise and training and courses are being organised to meet this need. There are approximately 1,200 wardens nationally.

Honorary Community Officers.

Honorary Community Officers are appointed by the Minister to advise and assist the Maori community in respect of their general welfare, particularly health, housing, education, vocational training and employment. Provision for this programme transferred to the Community Funding Agency of the Department of Social Welfare in July 1993.

Maori Women's Welfare League.

The league is a national organisation with a country wide membership. It seeks to promote the well-being of Maori women and their families through the spiritual, physical, cultural, social and economic development of the Maori people.

The membership of the league remains stable throughout the country in both rural and urban areas. Members have been involved in many health initiatives, particularly in the promotion of immunisation of Maori children nationwide.

During 1994 planning began for a second Rapuora Research Programme. After a decade the proposal is to review Maori Women's Health. Another new initiative is the whanau programme which seeks to develop positive parenting skills. The first stage of surveying women from eight of the league's region; further stages of module development will continue into 1995.

Kohanga reo.

A kohanga reo is a whanau/family base 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.

The kohanga reo movement has demonstrated how Maori culture can be maintained and developed in modern society and has been the springboard for other community education and development programmes.

Matua whangai.

This programme provides an alternative means of addressing social problems encountered by Maori people. The objective is to deinstitutionlise Maori to prevent the flow into government institutions, and to place them in the care of their whanau, hapu or iwi. In return for the commitment of the Maori community, government provides some assistance with boarding costs and housing loans if necessary. The programme is co-ordinated through community Matua Whangai organisations with funding provided by the Community Funding Agency.

Kokiri centres.

Kokiri centres are primarily basic skills centres, run by independent executive management committees. Many operate from a marae base while others, particularly in major urban areas, have set up their headquarters in various buildings suitable for their needs.

Most kokiri centres are recognised or are in the process of gaining recognition as training providers. Other community programmes can also operate out of kokiri centres, such as kohanga reo, maatu whangai and health programmes. Some centres have fully-appointed health centres operating as part of the complex.

Maori Language Commission

(Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maōri). The Maori Language Commission was established by the Maori Language Act 1987 to promote the Maori language and its use as an official language of New Zealand, as a living language, and as an ordinary means of communication.

Marae subsidies.

Marae are traditional centres of Maori tribal life, the venue for major social, political and ceremonial activity. Te Puni Kokiri supplements 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.

See section 14.3 Training and employment assistance.

Te reo Maori

Taketake ake nō Aotearoa te reo Māori, ā, he āhua 50,000 ngā tāngata ko te reo Māori tōratou ake reo. Ko te reo Māori o Aotearoa tētahi o ngā reo o Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, ā, he reo e whanaunga ana ki ngā reo o Rarotonga, o Tahiti me Hawai’i.

Nā te kaha o te reo Pākehā i ruarua haere ai te hunga kōrero Māori mai i te tīmatanga o tēnei rautau; otirā, mai i te tūmatanga o tēnei ngahurutanga, kua oho ake te aroha o te iwi Māori ki tōna rāo. Tokohia kē nei ngā tamariki kei ngā Kōhanga Reo, kei ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori rānei e whakaakona ki te reo Māori. He autaia tonu te nui o ngā reo irirangi Māori Kua puta ake, ā, kei tua o te awe māpara ko ngā hinonga pouaka whakaata Māori.

Ko te ture i kīia ai ko te reo Māori he reo mana nō Aotearoa, i whakatūria ai hoki Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori i te tau 1987, i whakatakotoria hei urupare ki te pūirongo e tata tonu ana te puta i Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi—e pā ana taua pūirongo ki te reo Māori me tōna tūranga i ngāwhare whakawā, i ngā kurā, i ngā mahi pāho me ngā tari kāwanatanga.

Ahakoa kāore i rite i Te Ture Reo Māori 1987 te katoa o ngā whakahau a Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi, i kūia te reo Māori he reo mana, ā, ka āhei hoki te tangata ki te kōrero Māori i ngā whare whakawā o te motu.

Ko ngā uaratanga o Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori he whakatairanga, he whakaūi te reo Māori hei reo e kōrerotia whānuitia ana, kia ora tonu ai, ā, he whakaōrite i tē reo Māori me te reo Pākehā ki tā te ture titiro. Hei hanga i tētahi Aotearoa e āhei ana ngā tāngata katoa ki te kōrero i tō rātou ake reo, ahakoa ko te reo Māori, ko te reo Pākehā rānei, e aro nui atu ana Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori ki ngā rōpū e toru e whai ake nei: ki te iwi Māori, ki te hunga o ngā tari kāwanatanga me te iwi whānui.

Kei te iwi Māori tonu te uara whakaora ake i tōna reo, inā hoki kei reira te tino mātauranga ki te reo. Ko te hunga matatau ki te reo e whakahauria ana e Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori kia tukua iho e rātou tēnei taonga ki te mātātahi e tupu haere nei, ki te mātāpuputu hoki kāore i te mōhio ki te reo o ōna mātua tīpuna. I tua atu i te wero atu ki te iwi Māori kia matapakitia, kia whakatutukia he kaupapa mō te reo, ko tētahi o ngā mahi a Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori he tito, he kohi kupu hou mai hei whakamahi mā te hunga kōrero Māori (hei tauira, ‘waea whakaahua’ facsimile device, fax).

E akiakitia ana ngā tari kāwanatanga kia aro mai ki ngā awhero o te iwi Māori e pā ana ki te reo. Ko tētahi atu o ngā mahi a Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori he āwhina i aua tari ki te whakarite ratonga reo Māori. Kei te nui ngā pānui tūranga watea kua puta kē i ngā nūpepa o te motu, i ētahi atu wāhi hoki, ki ngā reo e rua, ā, kei te nui ngā pukapuka kōrero whānui kua tāngia kētia ki te reo Pākehā me te reo Māori, ā, i ētahi wā hoki, ki ngā reo o Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa.

E whakaohongia ana te iwi whānui ki ngā wawata o te iwi Māori e pā ana ki te reo, tae atu hoki ki ngā kura kaupapa Māori me te pāho reo Māori. Ahakoa ka riro mā te iwi Māori anā ēnei kaupapa e whakahaere, e tika ana kia tautokona e te iwi whānui kia pūmau ai te mana o te reo mō ake tonu atu.

New Zealand Maori, a Polynesian language closely related to Cook Islands Maori, Tahitian and Hawaiian, is the indigenous language of New Zealand, and the first language of some 50,000 Maori New Zealanders.

The number of native speakers of Maori has been declining throughout this century in the face of strong competition from English, but over the last decade there has been a renewal of interest in the language on the part of the Kohanga Reo (Maori-language preschool movement) and, more recently, the Kura Kaupapa Maori (Maori-language immersion primary schools). Many Maori radio stations have now been established and there are moves at present to establish Maori television.

The legislation that led to the declaration of Maori as an official language of New Zealand and the establishment in 1987 of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (the Maori Language Commission) was drafted in response to the imminent publication of the Waitangi Tribunal's finding on a claim relating to the use of the Maori language in courts of law, the education system, broadcasting and the public service. Although the Maori Language Act 1987 fell short of the tribunal's final recommendations, the language was declared ‘official’ and the right to speak Maori in courts of law and before a number of tribunals was established.

The mission of the Maori Language Commission is to contribute to the growth and maintenance of the Maori language as a living, widely used means of communication with a legal status equal to that of English. In working towards a society where all New Zealanders feel able to communicate in the official language of their choice, either English or Maori, Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori continues to address three main groups: the Maori people, the state sector and the general population.

Maori people themselves possess the essential element in the revitalisation of the Maori language: knowledge of the language. Those who currently speak Maori are urged to pass their knowledge on to younger generations and to others who were not brought up speaking the language. As well as offering a forum where language policy can be discussed, developed and promoted, Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori offers a technical service by undertaking language research, including the creation and collection of new terms in the Maori language such as waea whakaahua ‘facsimile device; fax’.

The state sector is encouraged to respond to the language needs of its Maori-speaking clientele. Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori assists government departments and other Crown agencies in offering a range of services in Maori. Already, large numbers of advertisements for positions in the public service appear in daily newspapers and elsewhere in a bilingual format, and much public information is now published in English and Maori, and often also in other Polynesian languages.

The general population is gradually being made aware of the language concerns of the Maori people, including the need for Maori-medium schooling and broadcasting. While it is the Maori people who are the key players in issues concerning the revitalisation of the language, the goodwill and support of the general population is required if the Maori language is to achieve status as a fully official language.

6.5 Pacific Island population

Demography

The 1991 Census provides the most recent and complete data on New Zealand's Pacific Island population. The following tables are based on an ethnic group of ancestry concept and allows comparison between the 1986 and 1991 census data. This population includes the categories of Samoan, Cook Island Maori, Niuean, Tokelauan, and other Pacific Island groups eg, Hawaiian, Tahitian. Persons who specified themselves as belonging to one or several Pacific Island categories are defined as ‘the Pacific Island Ethnic Group’.

Age distribution.

compares the Pacific Island populations at the 1986 and 1991 censuses on an age group basis.

When intercensal population growth is analysed on a consistent age group basis, i.e., the age group 0–4 years at the 1986 Census is compared with the 5–9 years group at the 1991 Census, etc a major contribution made by net immigration to the increase in the Pacific Island population during the period is evident.

In addition, the high growth of 36,780 (28.2 percent) in the resident Pacific Island population during the 1986–91 intercensal period was partly a result of significant natural increase (births less deaths) for this ethnic group.

Table 6.34. PACIFIC ISLAND POPULATION BY AGE GROUP*

 1986 Census 1991 Census
Age group (years)NumberPercentageNumberPercentageIntercensal change (percent)

* Persons of Pacific Island origin usually resident in New Zealand.

0–418,39014.125,73715.440.0
5–917,42113.419,85111.913.9
10–1415,81912.119,11011.420.8
15-1914,22310.917,22310.321.1
20–2412,99310.016,69510.028.5
25–2911,8989.115,6279.431.3
30–3410,7768.313,0807.821.4
35–398,7096.710,7856.523.8
40–445,9824.68,5475.142.9
45–494,6713.65,9973.628.4
50–543,1532.44,7102.849.4
55–592,4091.83,3392.038.6
60–641,6411.32,6221.659.8
65–691,0170.81,7341.070.5
70–746060.51,0560.674.3
75–793150.25610.378.1
80 and over2670.23900.246.1
      Total130,293100.0167,073100.028.2

At the 1991 Census of Population and Dwellings, the Pacific Island population was considerably younger in age structure than the total usually resident New Zealand population. This is shown by the fact that 38.7 percent of Pacific Islanders were under 15 years of age, compared with 23.2 percent of the total population. In contrast, only 3.8 percent of Pacific Islanders were 60 years of age and over at that time, the corresponding figure for the total population being 15.4 percent.

Judging the annual national student art competition run by the Pacific Island Business Development Trust.

PACIFIC MIGRATION Migrants to New Zealand

March years

‘Pacific’ includes Samoa (American and Western), Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Niue, Norfolk Island, Papua New Guinea, Tahiti, Tonga and ‘other Pacific.’

The Pacific Island population has a different age structure from that of the New Zealand Maori population. This is mainly the result of consistently high external net migration levels, especially for the younger working-age groups (15–24 years) during the past 20 years. It has created a Pacific Island population which is more concentrated in the middle working-age range (25–44 years) than is the case for Maori. Pacific Island births in New Zealand have only shown a significant increase in the past decade, the result of the growth in the population of reproductive age.

Distribution of population.

The distribution of the Pacific Island population by regional council is shown in . All regional councils experienced growth in their Pacific Island populations between the 1986 and 1991 censuses. In terms of numbers, Auckland experienced the greatest increase (27,384), or 74.5 percent of the national increase of 36,780 during the intercensal period.

Table 6.35. PACIFIC ISLAND POPULATION BY REGIONAL COUNCIL*

 1986 Census 1991 Census
Regional councilNumberPercentageNumberPercentageIntercensal change (percent)

* People of Pacific Island ethnic group usually resident in New Zealand.

Includes Chatham Islands County.

North Island—     
  Northland12751.01,6351.028.2
  Auckland83,93164.4111,31566.632.6
  Waikato6,1954.87,2364.316.8
  Bay of Plenty2,6072.03,2762.025.7
  Gisborne4380.35250.319.9
  Hawke's Bay2,2891.82,5201.510.1
  Taranaki5520.46360.415.2
  Manawatu-Wanganui2,5952.03,4262.132.0
  Wellington21,50416.526,05515.621.0
      North Island total121,38693.2156,62793.729.0
South Island—     
  Nelson-Marlborough5610.45880.44.8
  West Coast1380.11470.16.5
  Canterbury4,8003.75,8233.521.3
  Otago1,9711.52,3251.418.0
  Southland1,4251.11,5450.98.4
     South Island total8,8986.810,4346.317.3
Extra-county islands and shipping†9 12  
    New Zealand total130,293100.0167,073100.028.2

Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs

The Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs has the aim of encouraging Pacific Island people to contribute fully to New Zealand's social, cultural and economic life while recognising and reflecting the cultural values and aspirations of people of the Pacific. The ministry has wide-ranging brief to monitor the impact of government policy on Pacific Island communities. Activities can become diffuse unless they are closely linked with the priorities and actions of Pacific Island communities.

The policy work of the ministry will be directed towards education (particularly preschool and tertiary), skills training and employment, small business development, health and increasing the participation of Pacific Island people in public decision making.

The operational capacity of the ministry is primarily devoted to providing a skills training and employment placement service. There are also likely to be some additional social

Tattooist and his work.

development projects run to demonstrate the policy options proposed by various communities. The ministry will also continue to support the Pacific Island Business Development Trust which has already proved to be a successful model for business enterprise.

The mission of the ministry is to achieve a quality of life that is consistent with the aspirations of people from the islands of the Pacific resident in New Zealand. The ministry works towards this goal by:

  • Providing advice on key policies and issues.

  • Disseminating information and consulting Pacific Island communities.

  • Facilitating employment and training opportunities and provision of specific social services and programmes.

MAORI TRIBAL LOCATIONS Traditional areas of major tribes

  • Encouraging other government agencies to take responsibility for meeting the aspirations of Pacific Island people.

  • Promoting Pacific Island leadership that fosters self-reliance and full participation in all facets of New Zealand life.

  • Influencing and monitoring the development and implementation of government policies that affect Pacific Island people.

The Pacific Island Division of Te Puni Kokiri was transferred to the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs on 1 July 1992. This new addition is now known as the Operations Division of the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs. Their main focus is for employment and training as well as supporting the development of social services.

Contributors

6.1Statistics New Zealand.
6.2Statistics New Zealand; Marriage Guidance New Zealand; Department of Justice.
6.3Human Rights Commission; Office of the Race Relations Conciliator; Ministry of Women's Affairs; Statistics New Zealand; Department of Internal Affairs; Department of Labour.
6.4Statistics New Zealand; Ministry of Maori Development (Te Puni Kokiri); Maori Language Commission; Maori Women's Welfare League Inc.
6.5Statistics New Zealand; Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs.

Special articles

Department of Internal Affairs; Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maori (Maori Language Commission); Ministry of Women's Affairs; Statistics New Zealand; Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind; Waitangi Tribunal.

Further information

Households
Consumer Expenditure. Statistics New Zealand (annual).
Profiles of New Zealanders: Families and Households, Census of Population and Dwellings, Series E, Report 3. Statistics New Zealand.
Census of Population and Dwellings 1991, New Zealand's Social Structure. Department of Statistics.
Census of Population and Dwellings 1991, New Zealanders at Home. Department of Statistics.

Marriage

Demographic Trends. Statistics New Zealand (annual).
Report of the Department of Justice (Parl paper E5).

Human rights, immigration and citizenship

Demographic Trends. Statistics New Zealand (annual).
Report of the Department of Internal Affairs (Parl paper G7).
Report of the Department of Labour (Parl paper G1).
Report of the Human Rights Commission and the Race Relations Conciliator (Parl paper E6).

Maori population

Demographic Trends. Statistics New Zealand (annual).
Report of the Ministry of Maori Department—Te Puni Kokiri (Parl paper E47)
Census of Population and Dwellings 1991, New Zealand Maori Population and Dwellings. Department of Statistics.
Census of Population and Dwellings 1991, Iwi Population and Dwellings. Department of Statistics.

Pacific Island population

Report of the Department of Internal Affairs (Parl paper G7).
Census of Population and Dwellings 1991, Pacific Island Population and Dwellings. Department of Statistics.

Chapter 7. Social welfare

Homeless man sleeping in hospital waiting room.

In recent years, government support for programmes run by voluntary welfare organisations has substantially increased and the community has become more involved in providing social welfare. Government has promoted a mixed economy of social service providers. The Department of Social Welfare now delegates more of its responsibilities to the local, district and regional levels. Issues of access to and the cultural appropriateness of services have also led to a wider range of providers.

Department of Social Welfare

During 1992 the framework for a restructured department had largely been put into place to ensure that the three major delivery functions (income support; social services to children, young persons and their families; and funding of welfare organisations) operate in a more accountable way as distinct businesses, each under a General Manager. In addition, a Social Policy Agency and a Ministerial Services Unit provide policy advice and ministerial liaison and support to the Minister of Social Welfare.

A major part of the department's role is to administer Parts I and III of the Social Security Act 1964, the Social Welfare (Transitional Provisions) Act 1990, the Disabled Persons Community Welfare Act 1975, the Children, Young Persons and their Families Act 1989 and the War Pensions Act 1954. The department also:

  • Advises the Minister on the development of social welfare policies for New Zealand.

  • Provides such welfare services as the government may from time to time require.

  • Maintains close liaison with, and encourages co-operation and co-ordination among, any organisations and individuals (including departments of state and other agencies of the Crown) engaged in social welfare activities.

  • Undertakes and promotes research into aspects of social welfare.

  • Provides such administrative services as the Minister may from time to time direct to such boards, councils, committees, and agencies.

  • Receives and disburses maintenance payments and enforces arrears in payments due before the Child Support Act 1991 came into force, maintenance orders and registered agreements under the Family Proceedings Act 1980.

  • Under the Civil Defence Welfare Plan, in time of disaster, makes relief payments authorised by government to the homeless, and makes payments authorised by government for hosts for billeting evacuees from a disaster area.

Table 7.1. SOCIAL WELFARE EXPENDITURE

 Payments on behalf of the CrownDepartmental expenditure
Year*New Zealand superannuationAll other paymentsReceipts on behalf of the CrownNet operating expensesNet capital expensesTotal

* Year ended 30 June.

Source: Department of Social Welfare.

   $(million)   
19915,1734,458245496359,916
19925,5154,2643135192410,008
19935,3164,5552644622710,096
19945,1034,688274455269,998

7.1 Income support

Unlike most overseas social security schemes, the New Zealand scheme is non-contributory. Benefits are financed from general taxation, and wage and salary earners are not required to pay regular contributions to a social security fund. An advantage of this is that people who are unable to pay contributions are covered to the same extent as wage and salary earners.

The social security system provides for a range of assistance with cash benefits paid as of right to those who meet income, residence and other eligibility criteria for each category; and other assistance available to help with specific expenses such as accommodation or those related to a disability.

INCOME SUPPORT Payments made by DSW

The New Zealand Income Support Service delivers benefits, New Zealand superannuation, war pensions and additional income support to eligible New Zealanders. The service is a substantial business distributing over $9 billion in benefits and pensions to its customers each year. Employing approximately 4,500 people in 90 offices throughout New Zealand, the service has 842,160 customers or approximately one in four New Zealanders. An average of 1,600 applications for benefits and pensions are processed each day, while nationally the service handles approximately 66,000 transactions daily by mail, telephone and personal contact.

Over the next two years the service will be focusing on providing income support assessment and payment in a faster, more accurate and appropriate way to reduce costs and improve customer service. By refining work practices and procedures, and reducing administrative time delays customers will ultimately be provided with better information on the entitlements which match their personal and family circumstances.

The following main benefits, loans and payments are paid by the service:

  • Caring benefits: domestic purposes, emergency, orphans, widows and unsupported child's benefits.

  • Incapacity benefits: emergency, invalids, and sickness benefits; disability allowance, handicapped child's allowance, loans for home alterations, loans for repair to homes and car loans for the disabled.

  • New Zealand superannuation and veterans benefits.

  • Other benefits, grants and payments: accommodation supplement, appliances and equipment grants, childcare subsidy programme, disability allowance, funeral grant, rehabilitation allowance, special benefits, and special needs grants.

  • Work related benefits: independent youth, training, and unemployment benefits and job search allowance.

  • War pensions: blinded servicemen's trust board, interest concessions land and buildings, medical treatment, other war pensions, war disability pension and war pension concessions.

The weekly rates payable for cash benefits are listed in and a brief description of each of the main cash benefits is set out in the text following. The full requirements for eligibility are beyond the scope of this publication, but more information is available from offices of the Department of Social Welfare.

Table 7.2. CASH BENEFITS: WEEKLY RATES*

BenefitBasic net benefit

* As at November 1994.

Single 16–17 year olds receive the training benefit only.

Source: Department of Social Welfare.

 $
Unemployment— 
Without children: 
Single 16–17 year olds†89.38
Single 18–24 year olds112.23
Single 25 and over134.69
Married couple224.46
With children: 
Single (1 child)192.91
Single (2 children)210.45
Married couple (1 child)238.52
Married couple (2 children)238.52
Sickness— 
Without children: 
Single 16–17 year olds112.23
Single 18–24 year olds134.69
Single 25 and over140.29
Married couple255.10
With children: 
Single (1 child)192.91
Single (2 children)210.45
Married couple (1 child)255.10
Married couple (2 children)255.10
Invalids and transitional retirement benefits— 
Without children: 
Single 16–17 year olds136.23
Single 18 and over168.35
Married couple280.58
With children: 
Single (1 child)221.14
Single (2 children)237.47
Married couple (1 child)280.58
Married couple (2 children)280.58
 $
Widows and domestic purposes benefit— 
Women alone single adult140.29
Sole parent (1 child)192.91
Sole parent (2 children)210.45
Domiciliary care domestic purposes benefit— 
Single 16–17 year olds136.23
Single 18 and over168.35
Sole parent (1 child)221.14
Sole parent (2 children)237.47
Half married rate140.29
Orphans and unsupported child benefit— 
Under 5 years56.12
5–9 years70.14
10–13 years77.16
14 and over84.17
Family support— 
First or only child42.00
Second/subsequent child aged 0–12 years27.00
Second/subsequent child, 13–15 years35.00
Second/subsequent child, 16+ years (grandparented rate)42.00
Independent youth benefit— 
Single 16–17 year olds112.23
Job search allowance— 
Single 16–17 year olds89.38
New Zealand Superannuation and veterans pension (gross rate)— 
Single living alone234.14
Single sharing213.62
Married person174.08
Married couple: both qualify348.16
Married couple: non-qualifying spouse332.52

Income-tested benefits

Invalids, sickness, widows, domestic purposes, unemployment, training, and transitional retirement benefits are income-tested with some beneficiaries subject to ‘stand down’ periods. These benefits are adjusted annually in line with movement in the Consumer Price Index, but within a wage band. The after-tax benefit rate for couples cannot be more than 72.5 percent or less than 65 percent of average after-tax wages.

Basic income exemptions.

The basic income exemption is $50 a week ($60 for beneficiaries with children). Benefits are reduced by 30 cents for every $1 a week of income over $50 and up to $80 a week. For amounts over $80 a week, the deduction is 70 cents for every dollar. For invalids, widows and domestic purposes beneficiaries, exemptions are calculated on the basis of annual rather than weekly income.

Invalids benefit.

This benefit is payable to people aged 16 years or over who are either totally blind or are permanently and severely restricted in their capacity for work as the result of an accident, illness, or congenital disability. The number of invalids benefits in force at 30 June 1994 was 37,030, an increase of 2,073 from the previous year.

Sickness benefit.

A sickness benefit is payable to persons over the age of 16 who are incapacitated for work through sickness or accident, and as a result suffer a loss of earnings. The number of sickness benefits in force at 30 June 1994 was 31,535 an increase of 2,806 from the previous year.

Widows benefit.

This benefit is payable to a woman whose husband (including de facto) has died. The number of widows benefits in force at 30 June 1994 was 9,012; of this number 2,934 were caregivers for 4,906 children. At 30 June 1993 there were 10,259 widows benefits in force, 1,247 more than at 30 June 1994.

Domestic purposes benefit.

This benefit is payable to a parent caring for children without the support of a partner, to a person caring at home for someone who would otherwise be hospitalised, and in some circumstances to an older woman alone. The number of domestic purposes benefits in force at 30 June 1994 was 100,256; of this number 96,709 were sole parents (caregivers for 165,600); 1,111 were caring for the sick or infirm; and 2,426 were women alone. At 30 June 1993 there were 96,335 domestic purposes benefits in force, 3,921 less than at 30 June 1994.

BENEFITS Beneficiaries by assistance

BENEFITS AND PENSIONS: 1899–1938
 Old ageWidowsWar
Year ended 31 MarchnoĢ(000)noĢ(000)noĢ(000)
18997,443127    
190312,481212    
190813,569333    
191316,5094121,31315  
191819,9607412,1927414,497515
192321,1817553,41118826,4601,489
192824,8751,0104,09830820,5601,152
193334,9321,2714,68731121,1041,218
193859,9533,2354,98247124,0961,597

Unemployment benefit.

This is payable to people who are unemployed, are capable and willing to undertake full-time work, and have taken reasonable steps to obtain suitable employment. The number of unemployment benefits paid decreased by 7.7 percent over the 1994 year. As at 30 June 1994 a total of 157,182 unemployment benefits were being paid. Of this number 139,426 people received the standard benefit; 257 received the Job Search allowance; 3,313 the independent youth benefit, 7,161 received the 55+ benefit while 7,025 received emergency unemployment benefits. Emergency support for unemployed students has risen with 23,035 at the end of December 1993, compared with 21,961 at the end of December 1992 and 15,528 at the end of December 1991. At 30 June 1993, 170,339 unemployment benefits were in force, 13,157 more than at 30 June 1993.

Training benefit.

The training benefit is payable to people who are not full time students, but are engaged in full time employment-related training programmes. There were 12,834 training benefits being paid as at 30 June 1994, an increase of 1,847 on the previous year.

Transitional retirement benefit.

The transitional retirement benefit is intended to help those adversely affected by the change in qualifying age for New Zealand superannuation from 60 to 65. It was introduced on 1 April 1994. At 30 June 1994 there were 6,540 people receiving a transitional retirement benefit.

Family assistance

Family support.

Family support is provided to people with dependent children who meet income eligibility requirements. It is paid to income-earners through taxation (see section 28.2, Taxation), but is delivered to beneficiaries through the social welfare system.

Child care subsidy.

The child care subsidy programme provides financial assistance to low income families with dependant children to obtain access to pre-school child care services. At 30 June 1994 there were 25,304 approved applications for subsidies, 767 less than at 30 June 1993.

Orphans and unsupported child benefits.

This benefit is payable to a person caring for an orphan or an unsupported child. As at 30 June 1994 there were 4,093 benefits being paid, an increase of 554 from the previous year.

NUMBER OF BENEFITS AND PENSIONS: 1940–94
End of financial year*UnemploymentTrainingSicknessInvalidsMinersDomestic purposesWidowsOrphans & unsupported childFamilyTransitional retirement§New Zealand superannuationVeterans

* Prior to 1990, the year ended 31 March; from 1990 onwards, the year ended 30 June.

Includes 55 plus benefit, and from 1 December 1990 the job search allowance and the independent youth benefit.

Family benefit was abolished from 1 April 1991.

§ Transitional retirement benefit was introduced on 1 April 1994 for those nearing eligibility for New Zealand superannuation.

To 1975, superannuation and age benefit combined. From 1976 Superannuation and age benefits were replaced by national superannuation. For the period 1 April 1990 to 31 March 1992 this pension was called guaranteed retirement income, and on 1 April 1994 the name was changed to New Zealand superannuation. The age of eligibility was raised to 61 on 1 April 1992, and is now being raised progressively to 65.

19404,053 2,56511,811988 10,17433011,053 93,262 
1945198 4,23312,205783 10,96542124,251 158,332 
195012 4,9319,476636 14,198366254,920 186,512 
195519 4,2778,110481 12,197300298,370 199,236 
1960312 4,0648,024353 13,049277343,193 204,036 
1965208 4,6817,951184 14,529316376,824 214,659 
1970983 5,8768,34298 15,663315408,397 241,772 
19752,894 7,8309,4144517,23116,738376452,389 289,348 
198020,850 7,50415,6472137,04016,120413460,897 405,834 
198135,666 7,10416,9611639,41215,416388461,211 418,901 
198232,596 7,17717,8911643,44714,737365459,994 430,175 
198350,744 7,66918,7571648,12114,125362460,798 441,789 
198450,136 9,45220,1871353,14413,921384460,382 451,128 
198538,419 9,62721,4641156,54813,557365455,961 459,813 
198642,405 9,51721,9931062,57013,304364455,330 465,079 
198763,922 11,11623,0871069,14613,019496450,072 473,401 
198886,782 13,13224,379974,86212,8621,537436,066 479,985 
1989123,565 16,02126,260785,61513,0262,993437,287 485,962 
1990139,6259,45319,51127,824694,82312,6765,239446,373 495,5003,428
1991153,2597,48320,14730,746397,00010,9892,931  506,0473,130
1992170,3677,85724,09331,831196,7229,8733,135  504,5615,393
1993170,33910,89728,72934,957 96,33510,2593,539  488,8936,117
1994157,18212,83431,53537,030 100,2569,0124,093 6,540477,4006,278

Community services card.

The community services card is an entitlement card which people on low income can use to obtain discounts on doctor's fees, prescriptions and hospital outpatient charges. As at 30 June 1994 there were 1,041,868 current cardholders, 9,571 fewer cardholders than at the same time the previous year.

New Zealand superannuation

The current national superannuation scheme provides $234.14 a week for a single person and $348.36 a week for a married couple (or $332.52 if one spouse does not qualify).

A tax surcharge is imposed on all income earned over a certain level, $80 a week for a single person, and $120 for a married couple, at 25 cents in the dollar net. This gives an effective marginal tax rate of 53 percent for the majority and 58 percent to some.

The qualifying age is being gradually raised from 60 to 65 by 2001.

People who wish to supplement their New Zealand superannuation when they retire can contribute to private superannuation or insurance schemes. The first half of income from all such schemes will be exempt from the surcharge. Private superannuation and insurance is described in more detail in section 24.3 Superannuation and insurance.

Veterans pension.

This is paid at the same rate as New Zealand superannuation, and is not income tested but is taxable. A total of 6,278 people received veterans pensions as at 30 June 1994, 161 more than at the same time the previous year. This pension replaces the former war service pension, war veterans allowance and economic pension.

Table 7.3. NUMBER OF BENEFITS IN FORCE

 At 30 June
Type of benefit19901991199219931994

Source: Department of Social Welfare.

New Zealand superannuation95,500506,047504,561488,893477,400
Widows12,67610,9899,87310,2599,012
Domestic purposes94,82397,00096,72296,335100,256
Orphans5,2392,9313,1353,5394,093
Family446,373    
Invalids27,82430,74631,83134,95737,030
Miners631  
Unemployment139,625153,259170,367170,339157,182
Sickness19,51120,14724,09328,72931,535
Training9,4537,4837,85710,89712,834
Transitional retirement benefit    6,540
Veterans3,4283,1305,3936,1176,278
      Total1,254,458831,735853,833850,065842,160

Table 7.4. PAYMENTS UNDER THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT 1964*

Item19901991199219931994

* Excludes payments for health benefits.

These figures were obtained by multiplying by 52 the amount paid in the week to 31 March.

Source: Department of Social Welfare.

   $(000)  
Cash benefits—     
New Zealand superannuation4,774,6765,173,8595,514,4825,315,8995,102,551
Widows114,888106,07085,46884,97786,665
Domestic purposes1,136,7181,207,8561,161,1911,159,7371,228,054
Orphans24,74220,69715,08016,47319,185
Family284,444222,996   
Invalids260,751289,212384,810372,786422,324
Miners683914-54,660
Unemployment1,235,0561,401,6281,445,2481,560,6691,498,545
Sickness229,568248,672239,415284,597329,995
Training56,46081,69674,54678,23692,502
Payment after death5,574   17,385
Advances for repairs to homes3,064    
Disability allowance†52,527    
Handicapped child's allowance11,267    
Accommodation supplement†120,566    
Special benefit†49,426    
Transitional retirement benefit    17,385
Veterans1,14729,63933,33147,79354,660
Total cash benefits8,360,9428,782,3648,917,5858,921,1678,851,866

Other assistance

NUMBER OF BENEFITS

Disability allowance.

This is an income-tested allowance payable to people with special costs arising from a disability or personal health need. As at 30 June 1994 there 101,648 current allowances, an increase of 16,598 on the previous year.

Handicapped child allowance.

A non-taxable allowance payable to the parents of seriously physically or mentally handicapped children being cared for at home. There were 11,087 children receiving an allowance as at 30 June 1994, with 2,083 applications granted in the year ending 30 June 1994, an increase of 239 from the previous year.

Special benefit.

This is for people with special or unusual costs, whose income and assets are insufficient to meet those costs, in addition to normal living expenses. This benefit was held by 32,205 customers as at 30 June 1994, an increase of 1,926 from the previous year.

Special needs grant.

This is a one-off payment made in an emergency situation where the need cannot be met in any other way, and where there are insufficient financial resources to pay for the item. For the year ending 30 June 1994, 330,516 grants were issued, a decrease of 14,556 from the previous year.

Advance payments of benefit.

Advance payments are available to some categories of long-term beneficiary to pay for essential needs which they would otherwise be unable to afford. For the year ending 30 June 1994, approximately 280,000 advance payments had been granted.

Advances for major repairs to homes.

An advance may be made to beneficiaries or pensioners owning their own homes for essential repairs and maintenance, or to install essential services or appliances. For the year ending 30 June 1994, 1,474 advances were granted.

Training incentive allowance.

This allowance is available to widows, invalids and domestic purposes beneficiaries to help meet costs associated with attending recognised occupational or work-related courses which provide specific work skills.

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 full-time work.

Payment while in hospital.

Applicants with no dependent children receive a benefit at the current rate for the first 13 weeks of hospitalisation. Thereafter they receive a reduced rate. The benefit rate is not reduced for applicants with dependent children.

Continuation of benefit after death of beneficiary.

Certain benefits may be paid for a period of four weeks following the death of beneficiaries.

Funeral grants.

A funeral grant may be paid towards reasonable funeral expenses. The grant is subject to an income and assets test which includes the assets of the deceased's estate and those of a surviving spouse or parents where the deceased is a child. Prior to August 1991 this grant was available under different conditions. For the year ending 30 June 1994, 4,695 grants had been allowed, an increase of 1,366 from the previous year.

Support of children by non-custodial parents

When a couple separates there are two means by which the non-custodial parent may be required to make payments towards the care of children.

Child support.

The responsibility to collect child support payments from the country's 90,000 non-custodial parents was transferred from the Department of Social Welfare to the Inland Revenue Department from 1 July 1992. The Child Support Agency of the Inland

EXPENDITURE ON BENEFITS AND PENSIONS: 1940–94
End of financial year*UnemploymentTrainingSicknessInvalidsMinersDomestic purposesWidowsOrphans & unsupported childFamilyTransitional retirement§New Zealand superannuationVeterans

* Prior to 1990 expenditure is for the year ended 31 March: from 1990 onwards expenditure is for the year ended 30 June.

Includes 55 plus benefit, and from 1 December 1990 the job search allowance and the independent youth benefit.

Family benefit was abolished from 1 April 1991.

§ Transitional retirement benefit was introduced on 1 April 1994 for those nearing eligibility for New Zealand superannuation.

To 1975, superannuation and age benefit combined. From 1976 superannuation and age benefits were replaced by national superannuation. For the period 1 April 1990 to 31 March 1992 this pension was called guaranteed retirement income, and on 1 April 1994 the name was changed to New Zealand superannuation. The age of eligibility was raised to 61 on 1 April 1992, and is now being raised progressively to 65.

      $(000)      
1940869 4181,884185 1,57230505 13,036 
194556 7042,145149 1,971472,810 18,974 
195021 2,0172,795240 4,3206229,702 34,627 
195511 2,5543,233257 5,3295836,358 58,002 
1960380 3,4394,237226 7,8327963,584 85,502 
1965197 3,9144,830153 10,21511065,925 110,314 
19701,465 6,0736,09399 13,74215072,318 155,822 
19755,155 15,88713,6658430,15627,967381153,175 365,803 
198066,077 33,23640,92476169,44953,342778220,854 1,334,115 
1981118,757 38,55349,58068198,05357,815865306,773 1,556,818 
1982156,429 43,52960,45472252,65462,164943297,705 1,895,845 
1983195,218 52,35579,07495333,61773,9541,114293,044 2,418,930 
1984315,849 62,21287,41078380,83671,2951,186289,689 2,526,031 
1985274,689 72,550105,72472460,38578,4951,004284,167 2,743,512 
1986290,462 91,762133,28776603,87889,3381,281281,957 3,341,211 
1987459,685 124,292159,82374709,56894,7321,700273,248 3,650,165 
1988672,694 159,850196,05169808,787104,1706,174290,556 3,986,544 
1989987,275 192,745226,30472962,871106,06214,074258,445 4,314,259 
19901,235,05656,460229,568260,751681,136,718114,88824,742284,444 4,774,6761,147
19941,498,54592,502329,995422,324 1,228,05486,66519,185 17,3855,102,55154,660

Revenue Department has the objective to ensure that non-custodial parents contribute to the support of their children according to their capacity to provide.

War disablement pensions

The war pensions programme provides pensions and concessions for those who saw service in the two world wars, Korea or Vietnam. It also includes obligations under the charter of the United Nations, and service within the Regular Force before 1 April 1974. Assistance for service people injured after that date is provided under the Accident Compensation Act 1982.

The administration of the War Pensions Act 1954 is the responsibility of the Secretary of War Pensions, who acts under the general direction and control of the Minister of War Pensions. A War Pensions Advisory Board advises the minister on war pensions policy and related matters. Decisions on eligibility for a war pension are made by 26 district office war pensions claims panels. Such decisions have both a review and appeal provision.

The war pensions programme comprises:

War disablement pension.

This pension provides compensation for disablement. Approximately 87 percent of those receiving this pension served in World War II.

Other provisions.

The war pensions programme can also provide additional allowances and concessions, including an additional pension for severe disablement, clothing allowance, travelling allowance, attendance allowance, and allowances for dependents. Approximately 85 percent of those people on dependents pension, relate to service during World War II.

War pensions are increasingly related to the elderly section of the population and have remained constant over recent years.

Veterans pension.

From 1 April 1990 a veterans pension (a social security benefit) replaced the economic pension, war service pension and veterans allowance.

Table 7.5. WAR PENSIONS AT 30 JUNE 1994

Type of pensionNumber in forceAnnual value

* Disablement and dependants pensions for police are recorded under police pensions.

The annual values have been calculated from the amount being paid in the week ended 30 June, multiplied by 52. Benefit numbers are relatively constant throughout the year.

Source: Department of Social Welfare.

  $(000)
War disablement*21,59057,791
Dependants pensions4,17121,271
Police35100
      Total25,79679,162

New Zealand Income Support Service operating a drive-through service in Mangere.

Social security agreements

Negotiations for social security agreements are currently underway with Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Finland and Italy. A agreement with Jersey and Guernsey has been finalised and came into force in 1994.

Australia.

There is reciprocity between New Zealand and Australia in relation to a wide range of benefits. For the purposes of an application for a benefit residence in one country is regarded as residence or birth in the other. As well as being qualified on residential grounds, the applicant must meet the entitlement criteria for the benefit, such as eligibility criteria concerning age or medical incapacity. The government currently reimburses Australia for the cost of age, widows and disability pensions paid to persons who left New Zealand after 1 April 1989. A new agreement is scheduled to come into force on 1 January 1995. Under this agreement each country will reimburse the other for age, widows, sole parent and disability benefits/pensions granted on or after 1 January 1983.

Greece.

A new social security agreement between New Zealand and the Hellenic Republic came into force on 1 April 1994. Under this agreement New Zealand superannuation, veteran's pension, funeral grants, orphans benefit, widows benefit, invalids benefit and domestic purposes benefits for widowers are paid to former New Zealand residents living in Greece. The rate of payment is determined, proportionately, in accordance with the period of the persons residence in New Zealand. Analogous Greek pensions are paid to persons who have contributed to the Greek social security agreement who are living in New Zealand.

The Netherlands.

Under the social security agreement between New Zealand and the Netherlands, New Zealand superannuation, veteran's pension, widows benefit, invalids benefit and domestic purposes benefits for widowers are paid to former New Zealand residents living in Holland. The rate of payment is determined, proportionately, in accordance with the period of the persons residence in New Zealand. Analogous Netherlands pensions are paid to persons who have contributed to the Netherlands social security agreement who are living in New Zealand.

Republic of Ireland.

A new social security agreement between New Zealand and Ireland came into force on 1 March 1994. Under this agreement New Zealand superannuation, veteran's pension, orphans benefit, widows benefit, invalids benefit and domestic purposes benefits for widowers are paid to former New Zealand residents living in Ireland. The rate of payment is determined, proportionately, in accordance with the period of the persons residence in New Zealand. Analogous Irish pensions are paid to persons who have contributed to the Irish Social Security Agreement who are living in New Zealand.

United Kingdom.

The Social Security (Reciprocity With United Kingdom) Order 1990 provides for reciprocity in a comprehensive range of benefits. For the purposes of an application for a benefit residence in one country is regarded as residence or birth in the other. As well as being qualified on residential grounds the applicant must meet the entitlement criteria for the benefit, such as eligibility criteria concerning age or medical incapacity.

General portability.

People receiving New Zealand superannuation or veteran's pension are able to receive 50 percent of their benefit while living overseas, provided that they were ordinarily resident in New Zealand on the date of application and are not intending to live in a country which has a social security agreement with New Zealand.

Special portability arrangement.

People eligible to receive New Zealand superannuation or veteran's pension may receive up to 100 percent of the core rate of benefit while they are living in the Cook Islands, Niue or Tokelau. The rate of payment is determined, proportionately, in accordance with the period of the persons residence in New Zealand.

Source: Department of Social Welfare

7.2 Social services

The Department of Social Welfare directly provides a range of services to children, young people and families. It also provides financial and other support to non-government organisations and groups providing social services in the community.

New Zealand Community Funding Agency

The New Zealand Community Funding Agency was established in May 1992 as one of three operating units within the Department of Social Welfare. It is responsible on behalf of the government for allocating and delivering funding to community and iwi-based social and welfare service providers throughout New Zealand. The agency's priorities include the development of appropriate services for Maori and for Pacific Island people.

The service sectors funded are:

Families in need of support—includes counselling/therapy, family/whanau resource development, parenting programmes, youth programmes and residential care.

Community welfare—includes advice and information such as Citizen's Advice Bureaux, refuges and emergency housing.

People with disabilities—includes vocational opportunities and employment placement for people with disabilities, as well as the monitoring of disability services.

Presentation of Disability Pride Good Business Award. The award is a scheme to recognise employers who employ people with disabilities.

COMMUNITY FUNDING By sector

Year ended 30 June 1994

Source: Department of Social Welfare

The agency administers programmes under the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989 and the Disabled Persons Community Welfare Act 1975. The agency is also responsible, under the 1989 Act, for the approval of child and family support services, iwi social services, cultural social services, and community services for families. In addition it funds a wide range of vocational services for people with disabilities, ranging from daily activities and life skills to training support, employment placement and supported employment.

Funding is allocated by the New Zealand Community Funding Agency through the yearly services planning process, complemented by the national needs indicator index, on the basis of clearly identified need on both a national and local basis. The index uses census data to ensure that similar needs and services are resourced equitably on a national basis. It gives a population-based weighting to seven factors—ethnicity, unemployment, population on income support, single parents with dependent children, multi-family households, regional isolation, and cost of housing.

The agency consults with service providers and gathers data from a variety of sources to develop a detailed picture of the needs of each area. The services of national organisations are also assessed. Once all of the information has been compiled and funding allocated, contracts for service provision are drawn up between the agency and the providers of the service. The contracted service is regularly evaluated through the approval and monitoring process.

During the 1993/94 financial year, the agency allocated $97 million directly to approximately 1,000 service providers. The agency also administered, on behalf of the regional health authorities, an additional $54 million residential care and support services for people with intellectual disabilities. From 1 July 1994 the disability information and advisory services and residential care and support services moved to regional health authorities.

Community Sharing Centre, Hamilton East.

During 1993/94 the agency undertook the funding of a two year pilot programme for pilot family service centres. The pilot scheme is based on a programme run at Kelvin Road School in Auckland by the Pacific Foundation and is operating in six locations. The centres coordinate culturally-appropriate health, welfare and education services in a ‘one-stop centre’, directed at families with children under five who would be unlikely to receive all of them otherwise. They include early childhood education, parenting advice and support and health services, including ‘well-child’ checks, immunisation, counselling, advisory and referral services. The pilots are located at Otara and Mangere in Auckland, Huntly, Opotiki, Porirua and Motueka.

The Community Funding Agency has offices in eight areas: Tai Tokerau (Northland), Auckland, Central North Island, East Coast/Gisborne/Hawke's Bay, Taranaki/Manawatu, Wellington/Nelson/Marlborough, Canterbury/West Coast and Otago/Southland. Each area has a central office in the major city or town and staff are based (wherever possible) in their communities. The agency's national office is located in Wellington.

New Zealand Children and Young Persons Service

The mission of the New Zealand Children and Young Persons Service is to work with families to protect children, manage young offenders, and ensure care and security for children in need.

The Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989 provides for a range of orders relating to the care, custody and guardianship of children and young persons. The service uses these orders, including interim orders, to secure a child or young person's care while working to return them to the care of their family/whanau or family group.

Table 7.6. CHILDREN AND YOUNG PERSONS UNDER THE CARE, CUSTODY OR GUARDIANSHIP OF THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL

 As at 30 June
 19931994

* Children and young persons may be removed from their usual caregiver under emergency provisions and placed in the Director-General's care.

Custody orders give authority for custody but do not change guardianship.

Guardianship orders in favour of the Director-General may be sole guardianship orders.

§ Care services may be provided by agreement between the Director-General and the parents, guardians or usual caregivers. Temporary care agreements are limited to 28 days duration, renewable once. An extended care agreement can only be made where the Director-General is satisfied that the parents, guardians or usual caregivers will resume the care of the child or young person at the termination of the agreement, and the agreement of an FGC, is obtained. An extended care agreement can only be made for a maximum of six months for a child under seven years and 12 months for any other child or young person.

A child may be subject to more than one order.

Source: Children and Young Persons Service.

via s 39: Place of safety warrant*2817
via s 40 & s 48: warrant to remove*34
via s 42: Search without warrant (police only)*110
via s 78: Custody order pending determination†305390
via s 101: Custody orders†693959
via s 102: Interim custody orders†136175
via s 110: Guardianship orders†1,3381,308
via s 139: Temporary care agreements§188199
via s 140: Extended care agreements§192199
      Total current orders2,8843,261
      Number of children and young persons in care2,6542,862

There has been an 8 percent increase in the number of children and young persons under the care, custody or guardianship of the Director-General since 1993. Despite this increase there has been a 2 percent decrease in the number of children and young persons under the Director-General's guardianship.

Youth justice family group conferences empower families/whanau to meet with the enforcement agency and with the victims of offending to make a plan to make reparation for the offending and to modify the offender's behaviour.

Family group conference—family group/whanau members, the young offender and the victim decide how the offender can be held accountable and encouraged to take responsibility for their behaviour.

Table 7.7. YOUTH JUSTICE REFERRALS, NOTIFICATIONS AND FAMILY GROUP

CONFERENCES

* In previous years this figure has included notifications from the Youth Court.

Source: Children and Young Persons Service.

 19931994
Number of referrals from enforcement agencies*4,6384,717
Number of referrals from the Youth Court1,8002,907
      Total youth justice FGCs held6,5597,083

During 1994 the number of referrals for consultation from enforcement agencies increased by 1.7 percent. There was also an increase of 61.5 percent in the number of referrals for family group conferences (FGCs) from the Youth Court. The increases are due to a greater number of police officers as a result of the merger with Ministry of Transport, additional recruits and a reported increase in the rate of offence detection by police. The significant rise in notifications from the Youth Court indicates more young people being arrested and brought before the Youth Court. In addition to the reasons given above one of the other factors responsible for this is the reported increase in serious offending.

In contrast to these increases there were only 8.0 percent more FGCs held in 1994. This indicates that a high proportion of referrals from enforcement agencies were diverted after consultation rather than proceeding to FGC.

For serious youth justice care and protection cases the service provides residential services in Auckland (Weymouth), Hamilton (Dey Street), Wellington (Epuni), Christchurch (Kingslea) and Dunedin.

The number of admissions to youth justice residences increased 15.6 percent in the 12 months to 30 June 1994. The increase is due to a 6.4 percent increase in remand admissions, and an 18.6 percent increase in supervision with residence orders.

The number of admissions to care and protection residences increased 8.9 percent in the 12 months to 30 June 1994. The demand for care and protection residential placements has remained high, with all residences operating at near to full capacity.

Table 7.8. ADMISSIONS TO RESIDENCES*

 WeymouthDey StEpuniKingsleaDunedinTotal

* Year ended 30 June 1994.

Programme capacity refers to the number of children and young persons able to be accommodated within the residence programme, eg the bed capacity at Epuni is 26 (i.e. 20 open beds and 6 secure beds) however the programme capacity is 20. This is due to the fact that when a child or young person is placed in secure care an open unit bed must be available for that child or young person should the legal grounds for placement in secure care cease to exist.

Includes the six bed national secure programme for children and young persons serving sentences of imprisonment.

§ The three secure beds at Dunedin are available to youth justice for short term emergency placement, i.e. custody on arrest.

Source: Children and Young Persons Service.

Care and protection      
Programme capacity8007823
Number of admissions996235140219
Number of individuals admitted795214534184
Number absconding140145969
Youth justice      
Programme capacity2552026‡79
Number of admissions36714516214912835
Number of individuals admitted1989811511310534
Number absconding62031460139
Total      
Programme capacity35520278102
Number of admissions466151185200521,054
Number of individuals admitted27710313615844718
Number absconding7603291  

Youth justice services.

The purpose of the Youth Justice Service is to work with families to ensure that children or young persons who commit offences are held accountable for their actions and encouraged to develop in responsible and socially acceptable ways. Services include:

  • Managing actions with offenders up to and including the age of 16 years.

  • Managing the processes of legal proceedings, including considering all available options and complying with statutory requirements.

  • Diverting offenders from formal legal proceedings.

  • Providing services to give effect to non-court and court disposals, either directly by the Service or indirectly by an approved organisation or individual.

  • Providing custodial services.

  • Overseeing the actioning of family group conference plans or Court Orders.

These services are provided under the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989 and the Criminal Justice Act 1985.

The service has contracted with the Minister of Social Welfare to provide the following services:

  • Public awareness services, including public education activities that promote the well-being of children, young persons and their families. These services are provided under the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989.

  • Risk identification and management, including the investigation and management in compliance with the law of all situations where children and young persons are reported at risk of abuse, neglect or deprivation, or exhibit harmful behaviour. These services are provided under the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989, the Guardianship Act 1968, the Family Proceedings Act 1980, the Immigration Act 1987 and other statutes and agreements.

  • Family resolution services, including the management of resolution processes by means of agreements with families and statutory family group conferences, and giving effect to plans and orders of conferences and courts. These services are provided under the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989, and the Criminal Justice Act 1985.

  • Residential and caregiver services, including the provision of accommodation and care services for the care and custody of children and young persons who have been arrested or remanded by courts, or who are in the Director-General's custody by order or agreement. These services are provided under the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989 and the Criminal Justice Act 1985.

  • Adoption and information services, including the management of adoption, including inter-country adoptions, and the provision of information to the parties of adoption about each other, in compliance with the law. These services are provided under the Adoption Act 1955 and the Adult Adoption Information Act 1985.

Care and protection services.

Care and protection notifications are the key entry point to care and protection services. They are a subset of general welfare enquiries and lead to case investigation and assessment.

Table 7.9. CHILD PROTECTION INTAKE

 Year ended June

* A single notification may encompass concern about more than one child. There may be more than one notification per child in the reporting period. One child (under the age of 14) or young person (over the age of 14 but under 17 years) may be the subject of more than one notification, enquiry, consultation or agreement. A notification is established when NZCYPS is notified or informed of a concern about a child or young person.

Source: Children and Young Persons Service.

 19931994
Number of general welfare enquiries*55,35852,542
Notifications for child abuse and neglect12,40913,580
Notifications alleging child or young persons with problem behaviour5,4965,660
Notifications alleging child or young person leaving home2,0932,231
Notifications alleging relationship difficulties2,0331,785
Notifications alleging child or young person in detrimental environment5,9196,628
Parents or caregivers seeking respite care806668
      Total number of general care and protection notifications28,75630,552

Care and protection notifications continue to show the steady upward growth evident over the last decade. Although the rate of growth between 1993 and 1994 has slowed to 6.25 percent the more serious categories continue to show a significant increase. Notifications for child abuse and neglect increased by 9.4 percent, while notifications alleging that a child or young person in a detrimental environment increased by 11.98 percent. This suggests that notifications to the service may be of a more serious nature.

Where family problems are identified following an investigation into a care and protection notification, the service responds by either referring the matter onto another agency, providing direct services through a voluntary family/whanau agreement, or providing services as an agreed outcome from a statutory family group conference (FGC). The more serious care and protection notifications are generally responded to by holding a family group conference. A family/whanau agreement may be entered into where intervention by the service is agreed to by the family on a voluntary basis. Family/whanau agreements may be signed for a three month period, renewable once. Each agreement must be reviewed.

There were fewer family/whanau agreements signed in the 1994 fiscal year (3,602) than in 1993 (5,380). This may be a reflection of the increase in more serious notifications being made to the service. The decrease in the number of family/whanau agreements may also be due to a changing requirement in recording practices and improvement in data quality in the 1994 year. Because of this improvement, any change between 1992 and 1993 needs to be interpreted with caution.

Table 7.1. CARE AND PROTECTION FAMILY GROUP CONFERENCES

 Year ended 30 June

* A referral is made when a matter is reported to a care and protection co-ordinator.

There may be more than one FGC held per child or young person for any referral.

Source: Children and Young Persons Service.

 19931994
Number of referrals made to care and protection co-ordinator*3,9885,315
Number of FGCs held†5,2194,944
Number of care and protection FGCs held that resulted in ongoing service by NZCYPS2,8943,142

Welded worker picking up food parcel from emergency foodbank.

Where a child or young person is considered in need of care or protection and a family/whanau agreement is not considered appropriate, intervention may occur through the statutory defined processes of a family group conference.

An FGC is held when an authorised agent makes a referral to a care and protection coordinator. The FGC brings together members of the child's family/whanau, or family group with others who have an active involvement or commitment to the welfare of the child. The function of the conference, if they agree that care or protection concerns exist, is to make recommendations and plans to address those concerns. All ongoing FGC plans must be reviewed. They are often reviewed by a reconvened FGC.

The number of referrals made to care and protection co-ordinators showed a 33 percent increase between 1993 and 1994. Despite this increase, their has been a slight decrease in the number of FGCs held.

Table 7.11. COURT OUTCOME SERVICES

 Year ended 30 June

* Orders in favour of the Director-General for the provision of services excluding care services. Any given court outcome may include one or more orders.

Source: Children and Young Persons Service.

 19931994
Number of section 67 applications made to court1,4691,449
Number of support orders in force during the period*691751
Number of service orders in force during the period*1,1291,018

The Family Court becomes involved in more serious situations. This is usually through an application for a declaration under s 67 of the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989 that the child or young person is in need of care or protection. Once a declaration is made, a range of orders is available to the court. Orders made by the court may involve the custody or guardianship of children and young persons. The orders require ongoing provision of support or services by the Children and Young Persons Service.

While there has been a small reduction in the number of s 67 applications for declaration in 1994, there was a 9 percent increase in the number of support orders and a 10 percent decrease in the number of service orders. While the decrease in service orders indicates that the court is requiring less financial commitment by the service, the increase in support orders indicates that the Children and Young Persons Service is being required by the court to provide more social work support and oversight to children, young persons and their families.

Social Policy Agency

The Social Policy Agency provides the ministers of Social Welfare, senior citizens and war pensions with high quality policy advice across a wide range of social policy and social equity issues.

The Social Policy Agency consists of five divisions:

  • Income maintenance policy—providing policy advice on the full range of income maintenance issues, including: income support issues for older people, those with disabilities, sole parents and the unemployed, and issues related to income assistance to families and people with special needs.

Displaying some of the meat donated by farmers for the needy at Christmas.

  • Social services policy—providing policy advice on a wide range of social services policy matters, including: child and family policy, health/welfare interface issues, funding of non-government providers of social services, and other social issues such as child welfare, youth justice, family violence, adoption, crime prevention and disability support.

  • Strategic policy and major projects—developing high quality strategies and plans for their implementation on issues which span more than one of the department's operational businesses, are outside existing business areas, or have a wider or longer focus.

  • Social policy information services—supporting the provision of an excellent policy advice service with needed, timely, and accurate information. Develops and monitors major cost models, evaluates policies and programmes, analyses information and undertakes primary and secondary research.

  • Support service—providing quality support to the operations of the Social Policy Agency.

Also contained within the Social Policy Agency is the Senior Citizens Unit. This unit provides policy and support to the Minister of Senior Citizens and assists the Minister in advocating on behalf of senior citizens. The agency has a staff of 100 and an annual budget of $9.8 million.

STAFF EMPLOYED In Department of Social Welfare

Year ended 30 June 1994

Source: Department of Social Welfare

TRITEC

TRITEC is the information technology group of the Department of Social Welfare. This group provides the department with real time, on-line computing services including the SWIFTT (Social Welfare Information for Tomorrow Today) benefit processing system and the CYPfis (Children, Young Persons and their Families information system) nation wide computing system.

The SWIFTT Benefit Processing System now includes all major benefits processed in New Zealand. In 1993, the SWIFTT system was enhanced to process benefits for national superannuation, veterans’ pension and the accommodation supplement. The most current benefit information for each client, along with a history of their benefit entitlement is recorded. The introduction and development of SWIFTT has resulted in many positive effects to the delivery of income support services. Improvements have been realised in customer service, management information, productivity and cost effectiveness.

Contributors

7.1–7.2Department of Social Welfare.

Special articles

Office of the Retirement Commissioner.

Further information

Report of the Department of Social Welfare (Parl paper E 12).

Statistical Information Report. Department of Social Welfare (annual).

Chapter 8. Health and safety

RNZAF helicopter landing at Timaru hospital with injured climber.

8.1 Organisation of health services

The New Zealand health system is made up of public, private and voluntary sectors which interact to provide and fund health care. Over 70 percent of health care is publicly funded.

Ministry of Health.

The ministry is the Government's chief advisor and monitoring agent for health and disability services. Its functions include strategic planning; health policy advice; review, specification and assessment of services; regulation and health protection; and the management of health funding.

Regional health authorities.

The four regional health authorities (RHAs) are responsible for purchasing health and disability services for New Zealanders. RHAs also manage contracts with service providers specifying the services being provided. The four authorities are: Northland, Midland, Central and Southern.

It is intended that the purchase of primary and secondary health care and disability services will be managed within an integrated budget to enhance health service effectiveness, efficiency and the quality of outcomes. Primary health services are provided to improve the health of the individual. These services are the first point of contact and include family doctors and Plunket, district or community nurses. Secondary health services are also provided to individual patients. These are community based, out-patient and hospital specialist services.

The RHAs contract with organisations such as Crown health enterprises, private hospitals, and individuals such as doctors, to purchase health care for all those who need it. The integration of funding will give incentives for more effective use of resources. RHAs will seek the best possible standard of health care, at the best possible price, and will have the option of purchasing health care from the public, private or voluntary sectors.

The integration of primary and secondary care is being achieved over a number of years.

Public Health Commission.

The Public Health Commission (PHC) advises the Minister of Health on public health matters, monitors the public health status of New Zealanders, identifies public health needs and purchases public health services. A government decision has scheduled the merger of the PHC into the Ministry of Health from 1 July 1995.

Crown health enterprises.

There are 23 Crown health enterprises. Individual Crown health enterprises generally provide health care and disability services for a particular area based around a 24-hour acute care tertiary (high technology) hospital.

National Advisory Committee on Core Health and Disability Support Services.

The committee's role is to advise the Government about which core health services it should purchase on behalf of New Zealanders. The committee undertakes widespread public consultation in developing policy advice for government.

Community trusts.

A number of public hospitals have been set up as community trusts where representatives from the local community help determine how health care services should be provided.

The reforms based on the green and white paper Your Health and the Public Health were put in place on 1 July 1993. Considerable work is underway to ensure the benefits of the reforms are fully realised.

The Government's goals of the health sector are to ensure:

  • All New Zealanders have access to an acceptable range, level and quality of health and disability services.

  • Individuals and families are encouraged to take care of and improve their health and well-being.

  • Government assistance for the purchase of health and disability services is directed to those who are least able to make provision for themselves.

  • People with disabilities can gain access on fairer terms to services which offer improved support.

  • Improvements are achieved in Maori health status so that in the future Maori will have the opportunity to enjoy the same level of health as non-Maori.

  • Health service structures, regulations and funding mechanisms are in place which encourage the efficient provision of health and disability services responsive to the preferences of users.

  • The public is protected from malpractice and unsafe products or processes.

  • Government departments and Crown agencies have adequate information to allow them to meet their obligations as health and disability services policy advisors and monitors of the sector.

  • The Government's health and disability services policies are clearly communicated to the health sector and the public.

Health expenditure

Health expenditure in New Zealand amounted to an estimated $5,832 million for the financial year ended 30 June 1993. This represented 7.6 percent of New Zealand's gross domestic product and was equivalent to $1,698 expenditure per annum per head of population. An estimated 76.5 percent of this expenditure came from public sources.

Table 8.1. HEALTH EXPENDITURE TRENDS*

Source of funding1990–911991–921992–93

* CPI deflated.

Expressed in 1992 dollars.

Source: Ministry of Health.

  $(million)† 
Public4,5355,5244,464
Private9811,2011,368
      Total5,5165,7255,832

Regulation of health service professionals

The health service workforce is made up of a large number of professions and occupations. Some require lengthy tertiary education with enrolled entry to the profession, and others have no formal training requirements.

The Ministry of Health maintains workforce data profiles for the different groups, workforce planning and retention of health professionals.

The role of registration boards/councils is to monitor entry standards for entry to the profession, register and discipline practitioners.

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 only. Conditionally registered doctors may only practise in an approved hospital under supervision. 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 1994 was 11,413, with 7,521 holding annual practising certificates. The Medical Council also has disciplinary powers, with a right of appeal to the High Court.

Dentists.

The Dental Council is governed by the Dental Act 1988. It examines and approves the qualifications of applicants for registration as dentists, promotes high standards of professional education and conduct among dentists and provides administration services for the Dentists Disciplinary Tribunal. The number of dentists on the register at 31 July 1994 was 1,916.

The Dental Act 1988 provides for a disciplinary structure with independent complaints assessment committees and a Dentists Disciplinary Tribunal, comprising both lay and dental members.

Nurses and midwives.

The Nursing Council of New Zealand is constituted under the Nurses Act 1977 and Regulations 1986. Its primary function is the registration and enrolment of nurses and midwives. The council sets minimum standards for registration and enrolment; makes recommendations on programmes leading to registration and enrolment; conducts examinations; approves schools of nursing/midwifery (subject to ministerial concurrence); issues annual practising certificates; and exercises disciplinary powers. It also maintains a register of nurses for each of the following categories: comprehensive, general, general and obstetric, psychiatric, psychopaedic, midwives and a roll for enrolled nurses.

GP VISITS Percentage of people who made six or more visits in last year

Source: Ministry of Health

In the year ended 31 March 1994, 44,670 nurses held annual practising certificates.

All registered nurses are now educated through three-year polytechnic courses which lead to registration as a comprehensive nurse. Some polytechnics offer shortened courses for graduates and enrolled nurses which lead to comprehensive registration. Polytechnics also conduct midwifery courses. All hospital-based three-year programmes have been phased out and one year programmes leading to enrolment are not being offered in 1994.

Post-basic education for nurses ranges from regular in-service and short clinical courses to diploma and transition to degree courses at polytechnics, and certificates and degrees to doctorate level at both Massey and Victoria universities.

The Ministry of Health is responsible for administering the Nurses Act and provides policy analysis and advice to the Minister of Health and other health agencies.

The Nursing Council of New Zealand, in response to the wishes of the nursing and midwifery professions, is extending its professional role. The council is planning the development of competencies linked with ongoing licence to practise, standards of practice and a code of ethics. In addition, the council has developed a draft code of conduct which will be widely distributed for comment, by the profession.

Psychologists.

The Psychologists Board is constituted under the Psychologists Act 1981. The board is concerned with the registration and conduct of those engaged in psychology. In 1994 there were 1,264 registered psychologists, with 821 holding annual practising certificates.

Physiotherapists.

The New Zealand Physiotherapy Board is constituted under the Physiotherapy Act 1949. The board registers candidates for physiotherapy practice, regulates the conduct of those registered under the Act and issues ultrasonic therapy licences.

Since 1991 four-year full-time degree courses have been conducted at the Auckland Institute of Technology and the Otago Polytechnic, in a conjoint arrangement with the University of Otago. Successful completion of a qualification from one of the approved training schools is required for registration.

In 1994 there were 4,017 registered physiotherapists with 1,898 holding annual practising certificates.

Occupational therapists.

The Occupational Therapy Board is constituted under the Occupational Therapy Act 1949. The board is concerned with the education, registration and conduct of occupational therapists.

Since 1991, the three-year full-time training courses have been conducted at the Auckland Institute of Technology and the Otago Polytechnic. Successful completion of a qualification from one of the approved training schools is required for registration. The training school at the Central Institute of Technology, Heretaunga closed at the end of 1991.

In 1994 there were 1,889 registered occupational therapists, with 885 holding annual practising certificates.

Dietitians.

The Dietitians Board is constituted under the Dietitians Act 1950. The intern training period for a dietitian is 12 months in a training school (located in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch hospitals). Students are usually already qualified in either ‘home’, ‘consumer’ or ‘applied’ science.

In 1994 there were 855 registered dietitians with 292 holding annual practising certificates.

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.

There were 535 registered optometrists with 348 holding annual practising certificates and 87 registered dispensing opticians with 59 holding annual practising certificates in 1994. Optometrists are trained at the University of Auckland in a four-year full-time degree course. Dispensing opticians are trained via a three-year correspondence course.

Podiatrists.

The Medical Auxiliaries Act 1966 provided for the constitution of a Podiatrists Board. The board sets standards of education and conduct with regard to the profession and conducts special examinations. The Central Institute of Technology conducts a three-year full-time diploma course. Students who gain this National Diploma in Podiatry are eligible for registration.

In 1994 there were 326 registered podiatrists, with 182 practising. Many of those work only part time.

Chiropractors.

The Chiropractic Board is constituted under the Chiropractors Act 1982, and is concerned with the registration and conduct of practising chiropractors.

The New Zealand Chiropractors’ Association established a school of chiropractic, the New Zealand Centre for Chiropractic Limited, in Auckland in 1994. The five-year full-time course of study includes a BSc in physiology. Training facilities include a public clinic, and a research department. Thirty placements are available each year. The principal criteria for colleges applying to the New Zealand Chiropractic Board for approval are 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. In 1994 there were 269 registered chiropractors 145 of whom were licensed to practise.

Pharmacists.

The Pharmacy Act 1970 provides for the registration of pharmacists in New Zealand. All registered pharmacists, except those who have a conscientious objection to membership, are members of the Pharmaceutical Society of New Zealand. The society is managed by a 12 member council. Its role is to administer the Pharmacy Act and protect the interests of both the public and the profession.

People wishing to enter the profession study a four-year degree programme at the University of Otago and, as graduates, must undertake a year's practical experience before becoming eligible for registration as pharmacists.

At the beginning of August 1994 there were 3,483 pharmacists on the register. The Pharmacy Act also requires that all community pharmacies are registered with the society. At the beginning of August 1994 there were 1,065 community pharmacies in New Zealand employing over 2,200 pharmacists. A further 250 and 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 Auxiliaries Act 1966. The board is concerned with the registration, education and conduct of those practising medical radiation technology. There are five classes of medical radiation technology: diagnostic radiography, radionuclide imaging, therapeutic radiography, ultrasound imaging and magnetic resonance imaging.

In 1994 there were 2,171 registered practitioners, 1,105 of whom held current practising licences. The training of diagnostic radiographers transferred from a hospital-based programme to a three-year full-time polytechnic course in 1992.

Medical laboratory technologists.

The Medical Laboratory Technologists’ Board is constituted under the Medical Auxiliaries Act 1966. The board is concerned with the training, examination, registration and conduct of those engaged in the practice of medical laboratory technology.

1991 saw major changes to the training and education of medical laboratory technologists. The traditional apprenticeship style training system was replaced by courses based in the education sector. The board has approved Auckland Technical Institute's National Diploma in Medical Laboratory Science for registration. Otago Polytechnic offers a Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science. In 1994 there were 2,183 full registrations, with 1,185 licensed to practise.

Dental technicians.

The Dental Technicians Board is constituted under the Dental Act 1988. It has the responsibility for registering clinical dental technicians and dental technicians. In 1994 there were 514 registered dental technicians with 209 holding annual practising certificates.

8.2 Medical benefits

Regional health authorities (RHAs) pay a medical benefit to doctors that covers at least part of the cost of their services to all children and adults who are Community Services Cardholders. The benefit applies to visits to general practitioners. Doctors claim the benefit direct from the RHA and receive the remainder of their fees from the patient.

The benefit for cardholder children as well as those children who are heavy users of health care is $25 if under the age of five years and $20 for children five years and over. All children in Group 3 (non-cardholder) receive a subsidy of $15 for visits to a general practitioner.

Cardholder adults in groups 1 and 2 receive a $15 benefit. The benefit for adults who are heavy users of health care is $15.

All patients receive a benefit of $22 for first referred visits to some kinds of specialist (psychiatrists, paediatricians, neurologists, radiotherapists and specialist physicians). For first referred visits to all other types of specialist the benefit for children is $11, and for other patients, $5.45.

Medical benefits do not apply to certain services, namely, maternity cases (which are covered by maternity benefits described later); examinations for medical certificates; and extraction of teeth by medical practitioners (although anaesthetics for this are included).

There is also an incentive bonus for general practitioners in some rural areas. There is an immunisation benefit of $7.65. This should cover the full cost of doctors’ vaccinations for children under 16.

Pharmaceutical benefits

New Zealand residents are entitled, at a small cost to themselves, to medicines, approved appliances and materials which are included in the pharmaceutical schedule, and prescribed by medical practitioners, midwives or dentists.

A charge is made for each prescription item which is included on the pharmaceutical schedule. This charge is $3 for all cardholders and both adults and children who are heavy users of health care. Non-cardholders pay up to $15 per item for adults and $10 per item for children. Certain medicines are also subject to an additional manufacturer's premium charge to the patient. Doctors and chemists have a list of these items.

Families pay for a maximum of 20 pharmaceutical items each year, except non-cardholder families which pay a residual charge of $2 per item after the first 20.

Hospital benefits

In-patient treatment in public hospitals is free of charge for all New Zealanders. Out-patient treatment in public hospitals is free of charge for all people in groups 1 and 2, and those people who are considered to be high users of health care.

People in group 3 face a $16 charge for children. Adults in group 3 pay $31. Group 3 families pay for a maximum of five out-patient visits each year. Exemptions are made for some sorts of treatment.

Assistance is available for geriatric patients in both public and private hospitals. Patients must contribute to the cost of their care in accordance with an income and assets test.

Psychiatric hospitals.

Treatment of patients in public psychiatric hospitals is free, and there are hospital benefits available for treatment in approved private psychiatric hospitals.

Maternity benefits

Maternity benefits cover antenatal and postnatal advice and treatment by medical practitioners and midwives, and the services of doctors and nurses at confinements in maternity hospitals or elsewhere. Recognised specialists may charge the patient over and above the benefit.

Women may receive free pregnancy and childbirth care from their general practitioners or independent midwives (through benefits paid by RHAs) or by attending antenatal clinics established in connection with public hospitals with maternity wards. Some women choose private obstetric care from a specialist.

Approximately 99 percent of births take place in hospital but independent midwives and general practitioners may provide care for those women who choose to have their baby at home. Antenatal classes, to prepare parents for their baby's arrival, are available at hospitals from independent midwives or from voluntary organisations.

All private maternity hospitals are licensed under the Hospitals Act 1957, and the Ministry of Health is responsible for ensuring that regulations regarding buildings, equipment and staff are observed.

Home nursing and home help

Home nursing is free when provided by a registered nurse or midwife employed by a Crown health enterprise or an approved organisation. There are subsidies available to associations that provide domestic help in appropriate cases to old people or families with young children. Crown health enterprises also provide home-aid as part of a range of services to reduce the need for hospital or residential home care.

Dental services

Routine dental treatment is free for people under 16, or under 18 if still at school or otherwise dependent. Dentists under contract to RHAs provide the treatment. Some public hospitals also have dental departments which provide services to patients.

A dental nurse from Brunei getting some inside information on Bertie Germ at National Archives’ exhibition.

Artificial aids

There are specific benefits available in various circumstances for a range of artificial aids. These include breast prostheses, contact lenses, hearing aids, wheelchairs, artificial eyes and wigs. Specific conditions for eligibility apply in each case as to the suitability of the aid and the necessity for it. The benefits generally contribute to the initial cost and to replacements.

Table 8.2. EXPENDITURE ON HEALTH BENEFITS

Item1990–911991–921992–931993–94

Source: Ministry of Health.

  $(000)  
Approved institutions4,5064,4993,8803,869
Artificial aids1,7722,7192,3462,338
Pharmaceutical benefits545,331556,373583,000582,931
Primary services292,154287,557304,093299,083
Private hospital services51,89055,73354,17753,251
Provider subsidies3,1573,0813,1043,084
Referral services109,873110,219118,220119,233
Geriatric hospital patient assistance107,092120,388118,432118,219
 1,115,7751,140,5691,187,2521,182,008
MEDICAL PRICES WORLD-WIDE*
CountryAntiseptic ointment per 30 gmElastic dressing strip per 24Pain relief tablet per 24Doctor's visit

* Prices have been converted into New Zealand dollars at exchange rates were correct as at November 1994. These figures are a guide to what New Zealand dollars will buy; they are not adjusted for wage rates nor do they indicate relative standards of living.

Source: Consumers’ Institute.

  NZ$  
Australia$2.872.432.784.38
Canada$6.632.612.83no charge
Fiji$3.302.501.80no charge
Franceno charge4.343.7030.59
Germany$7.366.316.3131.56
Hong Kong$5.542.453.5031.46
Ireland2.904.003.2535.28
Italy7.673.277.16no charge
Netherlands6.193.755.9131.91
New Zealand4.003.403.4533.00
Singapore3.531.662.3612.17
South Africa3.432.961.834.58
United Kingdom2.932.533.95no charge
United States of America4.843.304.2897.17

8.3 Public health

Environmental health

A major function of local government is the promotion and conservation of public health. Each local authority appoints environmental health officers to carry out regular inspections and take action on 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 from small industries. Local authorities are also empowered to provide public water supplies, sewage disposal systems, refuse collection and disposal, stormwater drainage, public conveniences, cemeteries, crematoria, swimming pools and other facilities. Health protection officers and medical officers of health are employed by Crown health enterprises and provide specialist advice to local government to improve the effectiveness of environmental health activities.

The Ministry of Health also has responsibilities in public health regulation, including licensing of hospitals and old peoples’ homes; administration of legislation on communicable and non-communicable disease control; and environmental health.

The Public Health Commission (PHC) is responsible for monitoring the state of the public health, identifying public health needs, advising the Minister of Health on matters related to public health and purchasing or arranging the purchase of public health services.

On 13 December 1994 the Minister of Health Jenny Shipley announced that the PHC was to be disestablished. Officially, this will take place on 30 June 1995. The roles and functions of the PHC will become the responsibility of the Ministry of Health, the National Advisory Committee on Core Health and Disability Support Services (Core Health Committee) and the regional health authorities.

The Ministry of Health has announced it will establish a new Public Health Group with a policy focus. The PHC’s analysis and monitoring and policy roles will be the core function of that group. The bulk of the PHC’s purchasing activity will be assumed by the regional health authorities. The Core Health Committee will provide independent public health policy advice.

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 as a pregnancy test. Any food, cosmetic or dentifrice (toothpowder 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), ‘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. The committee may also enquire into an objection to a recommendation that the Minister of Health refuse to consent to the distribution of a new medicine.

Misuse of drugs.

A wide range of narcotic and other drugs are strictly controlled by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 and the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 1977. 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 heavier penalties are for offences involving drugs in class A, which include heroin and lysergide. Classes B and C contain many drugs which are used for medical and scientific purposes, such as morphine, pethidine and codeine. Cannabis plants, as well as its fruit and seeds, and the recently manufactured ‘designer drugs’ are included in class C.

Illegal dealing in any class of controlled drug is subject to heavy penalties varying from lengthy terms of imprisonment through to fines. To curb drug abuse, the Ministry of Health, the Customs Department and the New Zealand Police have maintained the National Drug Intelligence Bureau since 1972.

Communicable disease control

The Ministry of Health and the Public Health Commission monitor disease incidence and prevalence of and immunisation coverage for communicable disease control. This includes policy development, promulgation of regulations and the fulfilment of international disease reporting requirements. The Ministry of Health manages the national co-ordination of responses to disease outbreaks and is responsible for the national immunisation schedule and the control of communicable diseases through designated officers employed by the Crown health enterprises.

Food safety and quality

The Food Act 1981 requires food for sale to be safe, and not labelled or advertised in a misleading manner. It provides for the analysis of any articles of food or drink for sale, and for the inspection of places where food is manufactured or sold, and includes stringent measures to control the adulteration of food. Regulations lay down minimum standards for the many classes of food, control additives of all kinds and deal with the labelling of food packages. There are also regulations covering utensils and appliances coming into contact with food. Sampling and inspection of foods for sale in New Zealand and investigation of food complaints are undertaken by designated officers of Crown health enterprises.

A Food Standards Committee meets regularly to discuss the latest technical advances in food production and to make recommendations for amendments to food standards.

Food hygiene regulations require premises to be registered and to meet minimum construction requirements. These regulations also contain provisions dealing with the maintenance of food premises and the conduct of workers. Environmental health officers employed by local authorities carry out inspections to check compliance with these regulations. Crown health enterprise health protection officers and medical officers of health provide specialist advice to local authorities on these matters. The Public Health Commission purchases health promotion programmes on food safety to encourage consumers to adopt safe food handling practices.

Services for older people

The focus of services for older people is assessment, rehabilitation and continuing care.

Regional health authorities purchase services for older people from public and private providers.

Until now most of the funding for long-term services for older people has been spent on hospital and rest-home care. The integration of funding through Regional Health Authorities will promote the development of more flexible and comprehensive services and the extension of assessment and rehabilitation services. Home support services development includes more support for informal caregivers and more flexible arrangements for daycare and respite care.

Voluntary welfare organisations

Over the years voluntary welfare organisations have made valuable contributions to important aspects of public health. The health vote funds, through a variety of contracts and other agreements, a wide range of independent service providers and related organisations. This includes, among others, the Royal Plunket Society, the New Zealand Family Planning Association, and the New Zealand AIDS Foundation. The key purchasing agencies in the health sector are the RHAs and the Public Health Commission. The Public Health Commission will cease this role on 1 July 1995.

Mental health

In June 1994 the Government developed an overall strategy for mental health services in New Zealand. The strategy set out the Government's goals, principles and objectives for mental health services and confirmed the fundamental change in direction from a hospital-based service to a community-based service. Following a comprehensive review of the adequacy of mental health services, Government has agreed on a number of priority areas for service development. The priority service areas are community mental health teams and community residential services for respite care and for people with high dependency needs. The priority groups are Maori, young people and people with severe psychiatric disabilities.

To guide the development of services, the Government has set a series of national objectives. These are more specific than the goals and principles—their role is to tackle the deficiencies and problems that previous reviews of the mental health services have identified.

The national objectives will act as aims for the mental health services over the next three to 10 years. They form the basis of five strategic directions:

  • Implementing community-based and comprehensive mental health services.

  • Encouraging Maori involvement in planning, developing and delivering mental health services.

  • Improving the quality of care.

  • Balancing personal rights with protection of the public.

  • Developing a national alcohol and drugs policy. Other initiatives have included:

  • An on-going review of the Mental Health Act (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) 1992.

  • A quality assurance newsletter QA Bulletin, incorporating Te Kupenga (covering Maori mental health issues), published quarterly.

  • A youth mental health resource booklet called Feeling Stink produced for those who work with young people.

  • Review of the Mason Report (1988) for forensic services looking at the implementation of the recommendations made in the report.

  • A report on economic models for primary mental health services.

Disability support services

As the result of a review of the funding of support services for people with a physical, sensory, intellectual, psychiatric or age-related disability. All government funding for disability support services has been brought together.

The RHAs are responsible for purchasing services to support the independence of people with disabilities. This includes services provided by Crown health enterprises, private businesses such as rest-homes and voluntary (not for profit) organisations. Real changes have occurred in the areas of assessment and service co-ordination for older people. Now older people have the opportunity to be assessed by a multi-disciplinary team to determine the services which best meet their needs. Improved delivery of disability support services will in the future ensure that the person's needs are matched with the most appropriate service.

Family health

The health of families is promoted through co-operation between the Ministry of Health, RHAs, the Public Health Commission, other government departments, voluntary agencies, Crown health enterprises and health professionals.

Family planning.

Family planning advice can be obtained from general practitioners, private specialists, and from clinics operated by the New Zealand Family Planning Association in various centres throughout the country. The New Zealand Family Planning Association is contracted to the RHAs and the Public Health Commission to provide a range of services, including clinics and education. These services are aimed at assisting people to make informed and responsible choices about their reproductive and sexual health.

The New Zealand Association of Natural Family Planning is also contracted to the RHAs. The association provides clinic and education services, covering natural family planning and fertility awareness for those for whom other family planning services are inappropriate or ineffective.

A number of Crown health enterprises 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.

Women's health.

Women's health is not limited to services associated with childbearing and reproduction.

Consideration of women's health issues takes into account barriers women face in accessing health services and the provision of services that are appropriate to the needs of women. Specific groups of women such as Maori women, adolescent women and older women have particular health needs that should be catered for in health planning.

The Ministry of Health provides policy advice to the Minister of Health on current issues concerning women's health. Those issues include contraception, infertility, pregnancy and childbirth services, terminations, breast cancer detection and cervical screening. Two breast screening pilot programmes have been established to assess the effectiveness and acceptability of mammography screening in New Zealand.

The provision of public health policy advice and the purchase of population-based health promotion and disease prevention services is the responsibility of the Public Health Commission. The Cervical Screening Programme is co-ordinated by the ministry, and implemented by Crown health enterprises. The programme includes a cervical cytology register which acts as a recall and back-up system for women. The national programme aims:

  • By 1995: to reduce the death rate from cervical cancer by 20 percent in Maori women aged 20 to 69 years, and by 10 percent or more in Pacific Island and Pakeha women aged 20 to 69 years.

  • By 2000: to reduce the incidence of invasive cancer to fewer than 180 cases annually.

Women's health services are provided by Crown health enterprises, health professionals and a large variety of community and consumer groups. An advisory committee on women's health provides advice and suggests priority areas to the Minister of Health.

Breastfeeding.

The Public Health Commission recommends that exclusive breastfeeding is the preferred infant feeding choice for the first four to six months of life, with subsequent supplementation of breast milk during weaning. Scientific studies have identified that breastfeeding is associated with lowered risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and allergy development in the infant. Breast milk also provides the infant with anti-bodies to protect against infection, and is an inexpensive, hygienic, readily available and complete nutritional food for the first six months of life. Benefits for the mother include a decreased risk of pre-menopausal breast cancer, a 98 percent contraceptive effect, plus it involves very little preparation and it helps mothers to return to their pre-pregnancy weight.

The Plunket National Child Health Study found that 89 percent of women planned to exclusively breastfeed their baby before the birth and 94 percent were actually initiating breastfeeding. During the first eight weeks of feeding, breastfeeding rates dropped to 79

BREASTFEEDING Average duration

Source: Public Health Commission

percent and by three months, 62 percent of mothers were still breastfeeding. This figure is high in comparison with other western countries.

Child health.

A comprehensive range of child health services which focus on disease prevention and health promotion are purchased by RHAs and the Public Health Commission. The services include a range of well child services, such as parenting support, newborn screening, developmental vision and hearing screening for children aged 0-4 years, and immunisation. The majority of well child services for this age group are provided by Crown health enterprises and the Royal New Zealand Plunket Society. Alternative providers, such as the Tipu Ora Trust, are providing services to some groups. Examination by family doctors is recommended at about six weeks of age and whenever there is anxiety over acute or chronic illness or development.

Infant mortality was 7.3 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1992. This is one of the lowest rates New Zealand has ever achieved, and is believed to be due to a dramatic reduction in cot death following the release of the preliminary findings of the New Zealand Cot Death Study.

The Children's Health Camps Board is contracted by the RHAs to provide short-term residential and non-residential care for children with minor health problems, both physical and behavioural. Referrals to the camps are primarily made by public health nurses. The Ministry of Education maintains school classes in the camps, with emphasis on remedial teaching. An increasing number of parents are attending residential and non-residential courses to improve parenting skills.

A consultative service is provided to schools by public health nurses, with special emphasis on health education and health promotion.

The differing hospital discharge rates for Maori and non-Maori children, illustrated in the table below, reflect differing usage of health services by these groups. Improving usage of primary well child care health services through specifically targeted programmes, such as that provided by the Tipu Ora Trust, is a priority area for improving the health status of Maori children. The improvement of child health services is one of the priorities identified by the Government in the policy guidelines to RHAs.

Health workers with the Public Health Commission's Glue Ear Programme, Upper Hutt. Almost one-tenth of all New Zealand school children starting school in 1992 failed hearing tests. The failure rates were higher for Maori (15.6 percent) and Pacific Islanders (14 percent).

Table 8.3. CHILDREN’S PUBLIC HOSPITAL DISCHARGE RATES 1992*

 Age group (years

* Per 1,000 mean population.

Source: Health Information Service.

Population11-45-910-14
Maori1,253.6173.689.263.7
Non-Maori1,406.0166.887.964.2
Total1,371.2168.388.264.1

The Ministry of Health provides policy advice to the Minister of Health relating to personal health services for children and their families. The provision of public health policy advice and the purchase of population-based promotion and disease prevention services is the responsibility of the Public Health Commission. The four RHAs purchase both disease prevention and treatment services, provided by a range of health care providers including health professionals and community groups.

Immunisation. Immunisation against a range of diseases is free and is usually performed by family doctors or their practice nurses, although some immunisations are given by public health nurses.

Table 8.4. RECOMMENDED IMMUNISATION SCHEDULE

AgeVaccine

* Diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough.

Diphtheria, tetanus.

Hepatitis B; immunoglobulin and vaccine are given to children of carrier mothers at birth.

§ Measles, mumps, rubella.

# Haemophilus influenza type b.

Source: Public Health Commission.

6 weeksTriple (DPT)* Hepatitis B‡
3 monthsTriple (DPT)* Poliomyelitis Hepatitis B
5 monthsTriple (DPT)* Poliomyelitis
12–15 monthsMMR§ Hepatitis B
18 monthsDouble (DT)† Poliomyelitis Hib#
5 yearsPoliomyelitis
Form 1 girlsRubella
15 yearsTetanus

Table 8.5. INFANT IMMUNISATION LEVELS BY VACCINE TYPE, 1992

Vaccine typePercentage*

* National averages of RHA levels (unweighted).

Source: Ministry of Health.

Diphtheria/tetanus/whooping cough (DPT)80.6
Diphtheria/tetanus (DT)72.9
Hepatitis B66.6
Poliomyelitis67.6
Measles82.0

Health promotion

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.

Launching the osteoporosis campaign.

ALCOHOL AVAILABLE FOR CONSUMPTION Per person aged 15 years and over

Health promotion aims to foster individual and community self-reliance. Promoting health will keep people well. Too often issues are not tackled until people get sick, and then it is too late.

The Public Health Commission has been established to improve and protect the public health. It provides policy advice on health promotion, and purchases and maintains the effectiveness of health promotion programmes. The programmes are supported by a national resource of over 300 health education materials which are distributed through a provider network of regional contact points.

Smoking

Tobacco products consumption per adult in 1993 fell 2 percent below the 1992 level to 1,579 cigarette equivalents per adult, among the lowest for developed countries. Doorstep surveys of 10,000 persons during 1992 showed that 27 percent of adults (28 percent of men and 26 percent of women) and 30 percent of 15–24 year olds, regularly smoked either manufactured or hand-rolled cigarettes.

While smoking prevalence in the total population has decreased since the 1976 Census of Population and Dwellings, there has been little change in the smoking prevalence among Maori and Pacific Islands people. Over 4,000 deaths in 1989 were estimated to be due to the smoking of cigarettes, comprising 79 percent of all drug deaths. Over 250 deaths per year are estimated to be due to passive smoking.

TOBACCO CONSUMPTION Per person aged 15 years and over

Expenditure on mass media tobacco advertising reduced 80 percent after the Smoke-free Environments Act took effect in December 1990, although debate over sponsorships still continues.

Alcohol

In New Zealand the excessive consumption of alcohol is a major personal and public health issue. A major survey in 1990 found that 84 percent of the population aged 15-45 years had consumed alcohol in the last year. Most people consumed about four to five drinks a week in a safe and responsible manner. Within the group surveyed as having consumed alcohol in the last year, the drinking patterns for men and women are different, as shown in the following table.

Table 8.6. DRINKING PATTERNS

CategoryFemale drinkersAlcohol consumed by womenMale drinkersAlcohol consumed by men

Source: Alcohol Research Unit, Auckland University.

  Percentage  
Frequent at home drinkers30481226
Young heavy drinkers12302036
Very young heavy drinkers2526
Light drinkers38115928
Light drinkers decreasing consumption186  
Spirit drinkers decreasing consumption--74

Alcohol is not the only drug that people use. A 1990 survey of drug use in New Zealand revealed that the most common pattern was for people to have used alcohol, tobacco and cannabis (33 percent). An equal percentage had used alcohol and tobacco or alcohol alone (23 percent) and a small number used alcohol and cannabis (8 percent).

In 1989 there were 758 deaths recorded as attributable to the use of alcohol—20 percent of all drug related deaths. Tobacco was the principle cause of 79 percent of these deaths. In 1990 alcohol was a factor in 44.5 percent of the 638 fatal road crashes.

Policy advice and co-ordination of health promotion and treatment services are provided by the Ministry of Health, the Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand (ALAC), the Public Health Commission and the RHAs. During 1991 ALAC was reviewed and it was agreed that its primary goal should be promotion of moderation in the use of alcohol and the development and promotion of strategies which will reduce alcohol related problems.

ALAC continues to fund a multi-disciplinary alcohol research unit in association with the Health Research Council and the University of Auckland School of Medicine, and also supports other independent research projects.

The majority of alcohol dependence cases are dealt with on an out-patient basis.

In 1990, 2,337 people were admitted to a gazetted treatment centre and about 9,000 new-to-agency patients received out-patient treatment for alcohol use disorders. The cost of these treatment services was about $30 million of which $22 million was funded through the Ministry of Health.

In the health promotion area, ALAC funds mass media advertising to raise the level of awareness of alcohol-related problems, and is encouraging host responsibility both on licensed premises and at private functions. ALAC’s programmes support the work of Crown health enterprises, particularly in respect of promoting host responsibility on licensed premises. The council has also sponsored an alcohol and drug education programme in schools, which is currently being promoted by the colleges of education. A wide variety of pamphlets and posters and more specialised information is available through the regional offices and the main library at the national office of ALAC. Contributions are made to the funding of community workers and groups around the country who are working to promote healthy choices about alcohol in their areas, such as drink-drive programmes.

The council also provides the Government, government departments and other agencies, with advice and statistics on control policies, treatment methods and facilities, and other alcohol-related matters.

See also section 24.1 Controls on trading.

Physical activity

The Life in New Zealand Survey showed that in 1991 about one-third of New Zealanders engage in physical activity to the level and duration recommended for cardiovascular fitness (i.e. high intensity activity more than twice a week and for a total of at lease one hour per week). Over 50 percent of children participate in some sport at five to seven years of age. This rises to 95 percent and 74 percent in boys and girls respectively at 14 to 15 years of age. High intensity activity is more commonly undertaken in young men and women, the rate of which declines steadily with age. More young men than young women maintain high levels of activity, but after 65 years of age, more women than men maintain moderate to high levels of physical activity.

Maori men and women both have higher levels of ‘intense’ physical exercise than European men and women. Among all women it is more common to be participating in ‘moderate’ levels of physical exercise. Maori men are more likely to be engaged in ‘intense’ physical exercise, while European men are more likely to have ‘low’ levels of physical exercise.

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 in-patients and other special groups. The skills of dentistry are taught at a school for dental therapists 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 for pre-school and school children, starting at the age of two-and-a-half and continuing through to the highest class at primary or intermediate school.

Dental therapists, after completing the two-year training course, provide children with routine dental care.

The dental care involves examination, disease prevention measures, fillings in deciduous (first) and permanent teeth, extraction of teeth and dental health education. Some children are referred to dentists for additional care which is beyond the scope of the dental therapists. The cost of such care is usually met as a special dental benefit. Orthodontic treatment and some other specialist services can only be obtained privately.

For children leaving the care of the School Dental Service at the end of their primary schooling, the number of filled teeth was down to an average of 1.5 per child in 1992, and 47 percent had no fillings at all in their permanent teeth.

Dental services for teenagers.

Children who remain in full-time study after age 16 continue to receive dental benefits up to age 18.

Dental research.

The dental unit of the Health 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.

Fluoridation.

By 1980 about 55 percent of the population lived in areas with fluoridated water supplies. In recent years several towns and cities have decided to cease fluoridation. As a result of the widespread availability of fluoride from sources other than fluoridated water (principally toothpaste) the difference in dental decay rates in communities with fluoridated and non-fluoridated water supplies has decreased. The benefit of fluoridation in preventing dental decay is greatest for those in low socio-economic groups, Maori and children.

New Zealand Health Information Service

The Ministry of Health through the New Zealand Health Information Service, (NZHIS) manages the national health information service and provides the health sector, government, public and health professionals and health managers with information on health and health service provision.

The four key activities of the NZHIS are:

  • The maintenance, management and development of the national health information collections.

  • Providing a range of specialised services and information to the Ministry of Health and clients within the health sector and the public.

  • Overseeing and co-ordinating of health information activities.

  • Providing advice and support on information and research to the health sector.

The NZHIS was established in November 1993.

Information network and core system.

A network of information services is accessible to health service and health care providers throughout the country.

National minimum dataset.

The NMDS provides the basic data on health services and health status. Information in this database is used to provide analyses of trends in health status, use of services, and patterns of morbidity and mortality.

Documentary databases.

In addition to the statistical data, the NZHIS also provides users with access through a documentary database service to a range of other health information, including information held on MEDLINE (United States National Library of Medicine).

Standards.

A crucial role for the NZHIS is the development and monitoring of standards for information in the health sector. Work is carried out to quality assure statistical information supplied by hospitals and other providers and to develop a range of suitable information technology standards covering the exchange of information in the health sector. Privacy standards have also been prepared.

Publications.

The NZHIS collects, analyses and disseminates national health information. The information is based on statistical collections of mortality, hospital in-patient morbidity and other institutional based data and data from health surveys and information provided by the primary health care sector.

Information is presented in a series of annual reports of Hospital and Selected Morbidity Data, Mental Health Data, Cancer Data, Mortality and Demographic Data, Foetal and Infant Death Data, brochures and other publications.

Health Research Council of New Zealand.

The Health Research Council of New Zealand was constituted as a body corporate by the Health Research Council Act 1990. The mission of the council is to improve human health by promoting and funding health research. Research funded by council covers a spectrum stretching from basic biomedical research to applied public health research. The Health Research Council Act requires the council to pay particular attention to health issues that affect Maori people and to ethical issues in relation to health research.

The functions of the Health Research Council include:

  • Advising the Minister of Health on national health research policy.

  • Administering funds granted to the council for the purpose of implementing national health research policy.

  • Fostering the recruitment, education, training and retention of those engaged in health research in New Zealand.

  • Initiating and supporting health research.

  • Promoting and disseminating the results of health research in ways that will be most effective in encouraging their contribution to health science, health policy and health care delivery.

The direct funding from government in 1994/95 for the council's work is $17.19 million. In determining priorities for health research, the council is required to consult widely, including with other persons who fund or produce research in the public and private sectors.

Causes of death

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 to which a death is classified, but to obtain more accurate data, reference is also made to all autopsy reports received, cancer case registrations, coroners’ reports, hospital case summaries, and Ministry of Transport and Water Safety reports.

Medical practitioners certified 83 percent of deaths registered in 1991, and 17 percent were certified by coroners. Of the deaths certified by doctors, 4 percent were subject to autopsy, compared with 49 percent of deaths certified by coroners. Overall, 12 percent of all deaths had autopsies performed.

New Zealand adopted the ninth revision of the International Classification of Diseases in 1979 and the ninth revision clinical modification in 1988. As a result, care must be taken when comparing figures since 1988 with those for previous years.

Table 8.7. MAJOR CAUSES OF DEATH*

 Number of deathsRater per million of mean population
Cause of death199019911992199019911992

* Further details of causes of death are available from Health Statistical Services.

Source: Health Information Service.

Malignant neoplasm6,7286,7886,8811,9912,0112,013
Diabetes mellitus411402458133119134
Chronic rheumatic heart disease126104130373138
Hypertensive disease184246217547363
Ischaemic heart disease6,8026,7407,0982,0131,9972,076
Other forms of heart disease1,0961,1321,146324335335
Cerebrovascular disease2,5992,6612,734769788800
Disease of arteries, arterioles, and capillaries632649636187192186
Pneumonia9751,0951,114289324326
Bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma454425409134126120
Other diseases of respiratory system1,1809631,289349285377
Peptic ulcer20337109601114
Cirrhosis of liver109132109323932
Congenital anomalies187201211556062
Conditions of perinatal mortality172157117514734
All other diseases2,6472,9912,843710881832
Motor vehicle accidents762681 225202192
All other accidents and external causes715608550212140161
Suicide and self-inflicted injury455474493135140144
      Total, all causes of death26,43726,48627,2527,8237,8467,972

Ischaemic heart disease, malignant neoplasms (cancer) and cerebrovascular disease are the leading causes of death in New Zealand and collectively account for approximately 60 percent of all deaths: ischaemic heart disease accounts for 26 percent of deaths, malignant neoplasms for 25 percent and cerebrovascular disease for 10 percent.

Further statistics on causes of death can be found in section 8.5 Accidents. For general health statistics see section 8.4 Hospitals.

SELECTED CAUSES OF DEATH Age-standardised rate

Source: Ministry of Health.

Cancer. In New Zealand one death in four is caused by cancer.

Table 8.8. DEATHS FROM CANCER, 1992

 MalesFemales

Source: Health Information Service.

Age groups in yearsNumberRate per 100,000 of population at ages givenPercentage of total deaths at ages givenNumberRate per 100,000 of population at ages givenPercentage of total deaths at ages given
Under 584.21.775.93.3
5–14145.416.273.217.4
15–24288.52.7135.811.2
25–4415129.016.519240.340.0
45–64969317.436.4830299.252.9
65 and over2,6011,468.325.22,061948.020.9
      All ages3,771213.025.63,110190.925.6

A detailed report on cancer mortality and morbidity in New Zealand is published annually by the Health Information Service. It covers cancer registrations and deaths and surveys all cases reported to the National Cancer Registry.

Ninety-five percent of deaths from cancer are at 45 years of age or above, and 68 percent at 65 years of age or above. The lungs continue to be the major site in male deaths from cancer with 6 percent of all male deaths caused by lung cancer. The breasts are the major cancer site in females and accounted for 5 percent of all female deaths.

Table 8.9. DEATHS FROM CANCER AT SELECTED SITES

 NumberRates per million mean population
SiteSex199019911992199019911992

Source: Health Information Service

Buccal cavity and pharynxM414437252622
 F21291412178
OesophagusM110114111666966
 F676563393836
StomachM186199201111120119
 F116103113686065
Large intestineM321341335192205199
 F366386351214222203
RectumM192210238115126141
 F140169136829978
Bronchus, trachea, and lungM901869947539522562
 F433426445254249257
BreastM833522
 F633588569371344328
Cervix uteriF10010684596248
Corpus uteriF665251393029
Ovary, fallopian tube, and broad ligamentF1811611611069493
ProstateM436423478261254284
Bladder and other urinary organsM1019494605656
 F485447283227
Skin, all formsM115136126698275
 F728197424756
BrainM95125108577564
 F687976404644
Lymphosarcoma and reticulum-cell sarcomaM2112101376
 F1711111066
LeukaemiaM120116153727091
 F959994565854
All other and unspecified sitesM899852930538512552
 F768847798450495460
      Total cancer deathsM3,5463,5383,7712,1232,1262,237
 F3,1913,2503,1101,8701,8991,794

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 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 1,000 total births (stillbirths plus live births), while the death rate for neonatal and infant death is calculated per 1,000 live births.

Table 8.1. FOETAL AND INFANT MORTALITY RATES, 1992*

 MaoriPacific IslandOtherTotal
Category of deathNumberRateNumberRateNumberRateNumberRate

* Rates per 1,000 live or total births.

Source: Health Information Service.

Late foetal212.9388.11853.92444.1
Early neonatal182.5122.61382.91682.8
Perinatal395.45010.73236.84126.9
Late neonatal111.571.5330.7510.9
Post neonatal669.1234.91252.62143.6
Infant9513.1429.02966.24337.3

Table 8.11. INFANT MORTALITY RATES FOR SELECTED OECD COUNTRIES, 1990*

CountryPerinatal mortality*Infant mortality†

* Rate per 1,000 total births.

Rate per 1,000 live births.

Source: OECD Health Data, 1993.

Australia10.38.2
Austria6.97.4
Germany6.07.1
Greece11.99.7
Iceland6.35.5
Japan5.54.6
New Zealand7.48.4
Portugal12.611.0
Switzerland7.76.8
United Kingdom8.17.9

The principal causes of infant mortality are shown in . 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 8.12. PRINCIPAL CAUSES OF INFANT MORTALITY FOR MAORI AND NON-MAORI, 1992

 MaoriNon-MaoriTotal population
Cause of deathNumber of deathsRate per 1,000 live birthsNumber of deathsRate per 1,000 live birthsNumber of deathsRate per 1,000 live births

Source: Health Information Service.

Infectious and parasitic diseases20.2820.0440.07
Malignant neoplasm--40.0840.07
Diseases of the nervous system10.1450.1060.10
Diseases of the circulatory system20.2850.1070.12
Diseases of the respiratory system50.6970.13120.20
Diseases of the digestive system10.1410.0220.03
Congenital anomalies131.801172.251302.19
Perinatal causes152.07971.861121.89
Sudden infant death syndrome476.50831.601302.19
Accidents, poisonings, and violence (external causes)91.24100.19190.32
Remainder (all other causes)--70.1370.12
Total, all infant deaths under one year9513.133386.504337.31

Maternal deaths.

Direct maternal deaths totalled nine in 1992, with a rate of 1.5 per 10,000 live births.

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 abortions, 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.

INFANT MORTALITY Deaths of infants under 1 year

Table 8.13. ABORTIONS ACCORDING TO AGE GROUP

 19911992P1993P
Age groupPercentageNumberPercentageNumberPercentageNumber

Source: Abortion Supervisory Committee.

11------
120.034---1
130.0670.023-1
140.28320.33380.336
151.331541.151320.9109
162.783222.643022.1249
174.304993.874433.8447
185.115925.386165.1594
196.167156.267176.1716
20–2429.703,44329.263,35330.23,539
25–2922.322,58722.932,65322.12,586
30–3415.911,84416.211,85816.51,938
35–399.331,0829.171,0519.81,147
40–442.572982.602982.9337
45 and over0.13150.18210.225
      Total100.0011,594100.0011,460100.0011,725

Table 8.14. GROUNDS ON WHICH ABORTIONS WERE AUTHORISED

Grounds19891990199119921993P

Source: Abortion Supervisory Committee.

Serious danger to physical health2226211427
Serious danger to mental health9,91110,88711,32111,23211,428
Combination of serious danger to physical and mental health10712610060111
Substantial risk of abnormal child3544668387
Incest--1-4
Offence under s 131 Crimes Act----3
Woman severely subnormal11113
Serious danger to mental health and risk of abnormal child12183786657
Serious danger to physical and mental health and substantial risk of abnormal child233-4
Serious danger to mental health and offence under s. 131 Crimes Act--111
Serious danger to mental health and woman severely subnormal11-1-
Danger to mental, physical health and woman severely subnormal-----
Other multiple grounds-222-
      Total10,20011,17311,59411,46011,725
Factors of alleged rape taken into account8366565252

Table 8.15. ABORTION RATES AND RATIOS: NEW ZEALAND AND OTHER LOW FERTILITY COUNTRIES

  Rate per 1,000Ratio per 1,000
Country*YearTotal populationWomen 15–44BirthsBirths plus abortions

* With the exception of New Zealand, Sweden, England and Wales data has been obtained from the Alan Guttmacher Institute.

Source: Abortion Supervisory Committee.

New Zealand1993P3.414.4202168
Australia19883.816.2253202
Canada1990P3.414.0232188
Denmark19913.817.6307235
England and Wales1992P3.114.8238192
Finland19902.611.5200167
France19902.812.6212175
Germany19901.25.810898
Japan19903.717.0368269
Netherlands (residents only)19881.25.19688
Norway19923.516.4252201
Scotland19882.19.7169145
Sweden1992P4.020.1284221
United States19886.527.3401286

8.4 Hospitals

Hospital and community health administration

Since 1 July 1993 Crown health enterprises (CHEs) have been responsible for providing health services in the health sector. CHEs were formed around existing large hospitals.

CHEs are expected to compete with other health care providers for contracts from the regional health authorities (RHAs). With the Public Health Commission, the four RHAs are the country's health care purchasing organisations.

Licensing and inspection of private hospitals are the delegated responsibility of the Ministry of Health.

Patient enjoying the tranquillity in new wing at Christchurch Hospital.

Hospital part-charges apply to a range of out-patient services and are targeted according to income (see 8.2 Hospital benefits). The Crown Companies Monitoring and Advisory Unit is responsible for monitoring the performance of CHEs.

Public hospital patients

In 1994, there were a total of 330 hospitals in New Zealand; 126 of these were public hospitals and 204 private. The total number of hospital beds totalled 24,120, 16,468 of which were in public hospitals and 7,652 were in private. The number of beds available per 1,000 people was 7.7, with the average number of occupied public hospital beds numbering 15,360.

Principal diseases and disabilities.

Detailed statistical information is supplied to the Ministry of Health (New Zealand Health Information Service) about all patients discharged from, or dying in, public hospitals in New Zealand.

shows the principal diseases and injuries treated in public hospitals in 1993, 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 1993 was eight days. Among sufferers from specified diseases, the longest average stays were made by those with psychoses (55 days), cerebrovascular disease (38 days) and other diseases of the nervous system (28 days).

Table 8.16. AGE AND SEX OF INPATIENTS DISCHARGED FROM PUBLIC HOSPITALS, 1993

Age groupMalesFemalesTotal

Source: Health Information Service.

0–450,78143,18393,964
5–97,3755,75413,129
10–146,4545,39911,853
15–197,35014,51021,860
20–248,98527,81336,798
25–297,62234,96642,588
30–347,55731,03738,594
35–396,86815,65022,518
40–446,5958,90615,501
45–496,8577,62914,486
50–547,6827,26114,943
55–598,5277,30315,830
60–6411,1219,01920,140
65–6914,21611,22125,437
70–7414,50812,95127,459
75–7912,94513,15926,104
80–849,03111,78420,815
85+5,82710,48116,308
      Total200,301278,026478,327

Table 8.17. DISEASES AND CONDITIONS TREATED IN PUBLIC HOSPITALS (INCLUDING RE-ADMISSIONS, EXCLUDING DAY CASES) DURING 1993

Diagnostic groupTotal discharges or deaths in public hospitalsPercentage of all casesAverage stay (days)

* Carcinoma in situ, and malignant neoplasm of lymphatic and heamatopoietic tissue.

Neoplasms of uncertain behaviour or neoplasms of unspecified nature.

Includes diseases of veins and lymphatics.

Source: Health Information Service.

Infectious and parasitic diseases (except tuberculosis)8,1231.75
Tuberculosis3540.114
Malignant neoplasms*23,7965.010
Benign neoplasms†3,0770.65
Disorders of thyroid gland4350.16
Diabetes mellitus3,3760.711
Other endocrine, nutritional, metabolic and immunity disorders2,2170.59
Diseases of blood and blood-forming organs2,8480.66
Psychoses5,7181.243
Other mental disorders4,1950.914
Disorders of the eye and adnexa6,4651.43
Diseases of ear and mastoid process3,7040.82
Other diseases of the nervous system3,2280.719
Acute rheumatic fever and chronic rheumatic heart disease5740.114
Ischaemic heart disease17,5703.77
Hypertensive disease and other forms of heart disease12,0482.59
Cerebrovascular disease8,6471.835
Diseases of arteries, arterioles and capillaries3,8740.812
Other diseases of circulatory system‡3,9530.87
Acute respiratory infections and influenza7,1461.53
Pneumonia7,5621.612
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and allied conditions14,7033.16
Chronic disease of tonsils and adenoids3,4370.71
Other diseases of respiratory system3,2620.78
Diseases of oral cavity, salivary glands and jaws1,4640.32
Diseases of oesophagus, stomach and duodenum3,8910.86
Appendicitis3,8440.84
Hernia of abdominal cavity4,1220.93
Non-infective enteritis and colitis and other diseases of intestines and peritoneum9,7962.06
Other diseases of digestive system7,4281.66
Diseases of urinary system5,9201.26
Diseases of male genital organs3,7890.85
Diseases of breast and inflammatory disease of female pelvic organs2,5840.53
Other disorders of female genital tract6,8321.44
Pregnancy and complications of pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium (except abortion)68,13814.24
Pregnancy with abortive outcome5,5951.22
Diseases of skin and subcutaneous tissue6,5701.48
Arthropathies and related disorders, dorsopathies and rheumatism except rheumatic fever14,5123.09
Osteopathies, chondropathies and acquired musculoskeletal deformities2,1850.59
Congenital anomalies5,1561.18
Certain conditions originating in the perinatal period14,5443.09
Symptoms, signs and ill-defined conditions25,5195.35
Fractures20,6864.310
Dislocations, sprains and strains of joints and adjacent muscles2,1930.54
Intracranial injury (except skull fracture)5,3021.13
Laceration and open wound6,5891.44
Burns1,2820.310
Poisoning by drugs, medicaments and non-medicinal substances2,8740.63
Other injuries and adverse effects, and late effects of injuries97,21120.37
      All conditions478,338100.08

Injury cases.

During 1991 the four largest categories of injury 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), ‘motor vehicle traffic accidents’ and ‘surgical and medical complications and misadventures’. More than one in four patients had been injured in a fall of some kind.

Table 8.18. INJURY CASES TREATED AS INPATIENTS IN PUBLIC HOSPITALS (INCLUDING READMISSIONS), 1993*

Cause of injuryTotal casesPercentage of all injury cases

* Year ended 31 December.

Source: Health Information Service.

Transport—  
  Railway25-
  Motor-vehicle traffic6,77910.4
  Motor-vehicle non-traffic7211.1
  Other road vehicles1,9483.0
  Water2140.3
  Air13-
  Vehicle accidents not elsewhere classifiable13-
    Subtotal, transport9,77815.0
Non-transport—  
  Accidental poisoning8631.3
  Accidental falls17,93627.5
Surgical and medical complications and misadventures12,81419.7
Other accidents12,70219.5
Late effects of accidental injury3,8055.8
Adverse effects of drugs, medicaments, and biological substances2,3083.5
Suicide and self inflicted injury2,7514.2
Homicide and injury purposely inflicted by other persons2,0243.1
Legal intervention by police13-
Injury undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted1540.2
Injury resulting from operations of war2-
      Subtotal, non-transport55,37285.0
      Total65,150100.0

Accidents at home.

A high percentage of non-transport accidents, especially those involving young children and elderly people, occur at home. Domestic accidents are included by type of accident in the previous section, and are listed separately in the table below. shows the number of patients discharged from, or dying in, public hospitals after treatment for injuries from accidents at home. It includes only in-patients in public hospitals, not the large numbers of home accident cases treated in out-patient departments, doctors’ surgeries and at home.

Table 8.19. INPATIENTS IN PUBLIC HOSPITALS AFTER ACCIDENTS AT HOME, 1993*

Cause of accidentTotal patients

* Year ended 31 December.

Source: Health Information Service.

Accidental poisoning by— 
  Drugs and medicaments387
  Petroleum products and other solvents59
  Agricultural and horticultural preparations other than plant foods or fertilisers36
  Noxious foodstuffs and poisonous plants21
  Other solid and liquid substances66
  Gases and vapours14
Accidental falls6,874
Struck by falling objects103
Accidents caused by cutting and piercing instruments1,485
Accidental burns877
Accidents caused by foreign bodies324
All other and unspecified accidents1,568
      Total11,819

For further accident statistics, see section 8.5 Accidents.

Table 8.2. RATES OF FIRST ADMISSION TO PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALS

 Ages* 
Year0–910–1920–2930–3940–4950–5960 and overTotal all ages

* Age specific rate per 100,000.

Age standardised rates per 100,000 standardised to Segi's world population.

Source: Health Information Service.

1988—        
  Maori521048827517013190218
  Non-Maori10108222159127103151129
1989—        
  Maori121794442601539192197
  Non-Maori119522515712995133124
1990—        
  Maori1216549633829215637230
  Non-Maori788240213165140136142
1991—        
  Maori41684703181979193208
  Non-Maori78022517412298125121
1992—        
  Maori-101398293207102122164
  Non-Maori277329191138115118114

MENTAL INSTITUTIONS Resident rate

Admissions.

The total number of admissions to psychiatric care during 1992 was 15,891. This total was made up of 4,502 first admissions and 11,389 readmissions. Included in the readmission figure were 1,429 patients replaced from leave. This last category applies only to people who may not discharge themselves, for example special and committed patients, and those with compulsory treatment status.

The average number of occupied beds in psychiatric hospitals and hospitals for the intellectually handicapped has been steadily declining since 1944. The downward trend reflects advances in treatment and, in more recent years, the provision of alternative forms of care.

During 1991, 82 percent of first admissions and 77 percent of readmissions were on an informal (voluntary) basis. shows that the two leading diagnostic reasons for entering in-patient care for all psychiatric admissions were schizophrenic psychoses and affective psychoses.

Discharges.

All informal patients are discharged outright when they leave their hospital or unit. Patients with compulsory treatment status may also be discharged outright or they may be given ‘discharge on leave’ under the authority of the hospital. There is a further statistical category ‘discharged not compulsory treatment’ 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 compulsory treatment patient.

During 1991 there were 14,757 discharges from psychiatric hospitals and hospitals for the intellectually handicapped, psychiatric units of public hospitals and institutions treating alcoholism and drug addiction. Of these, 8,207 were discharged from psychiatric hospitals, 215 from hospitals for the intellectually handicapped, 5,179 from public hospital psychiatric units and 1,155 from institutions licensed under the Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Act 1966.

Approximately six out of every 10 patients leaving hospital in 1991 had a stay of fewer than 30 days.

Table 8.21. DISCHARGES FROM PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALS, 1992*

 OutrightLeaveNot committed
DiagnosisNumberMean stay (days)NumberMean stay (days)NumberMean stay (days)

* Year ended 31 December

Source: Health Information Service.

Senile and pre-senile organic psychotic conditions20810511156--
Alcoholic psychoses4620911284--
Drug psychoses173275862318
Other organic psychotic conditions12913428250128
Schizophrenic psychoses2,8002201,2041681723
Affective psychoses2,98246596681114
Paranoid states159814865--
Other psychoses4753411069517
Neurotic depression and other depressive disorders1,411264763114
Other neurotic disorders376161896--
Alcohol dependence or abuse1,8054512864--
Drug dependence or abuse690442381--
Other personality disorders66476138106331
Stress and adjustment reactions81920419919
Non-psychotic disorders of childhood and adolescence28----
Non-psychotic disorders due to brain damage453545312114
Physiological malfunction due to mental factors1099----
Mental retardation45630077103136
No psychiatric diagnosis23218206914119
      Total112,2482582,56314719320

Table 8.22. PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL DIAGNOSES, 1992*

DiagnosisTotalsFirst admissionsReadmissionsReplacements from leave

* Year ended 31 December.

Source: Health Information Service.

Senile and pre-senile organic psychotic conditions18312162-
Alcoholic psychoses3912225
Drug psychoses2225214426
Other organic psychotic conditions125496313
Schizophrenic psychoses3,8544342,729691
Affective psychoses3,3956502,329353
Paranoid states1966610822
Other psychoses56622827662
Neurotic depression and other depressive disorders1,43351189725
Other neurotic disorders3841602177
Alcohol dependence or abuse1,9047901,08133
Drug dependence or abuse6903103746
Other personality disorders74416148598
Stress and adjustment reactions80342435920
Non-psychotic disorders of childhood and adolescence835-
Non-psychotic disorders following brain damage4113244
Physiological malfunction due to mental factors945-
Mental retardation3283224749
No psychiatric diagnoses96748247015
      Total, all cases15,8914,5029,9601,429

Deaths.

In 1992 there were 132 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 1966. This compares with 177 in 1991.

TOILETRIES PRICES WORLD-WIDE*
CountryToothpaste per 100 gmDeodorant per 25 mlCondoms per dozenSunblock per 125 ml

* Prices have been converted into New Zealand dollars at exchange rates correct at February 1995. These figures are a guide to what New Zealand dollars will buy; they are not adjusted for wage rates nor do they indicate relative standards of living.

Source: Consumers’ Institute.

  NZ$  
Australia1.741.684.528.33
Canada1.871.368.2410.19
France2.962.908.408.85
Germany2.861.599.5316.95
Hong Kong1.790.653.8913.07
Ireland1.811.2311.9416.17
New Zealand1.992.506.958.89
Singapore1.092.754.9515.50
South Africa1.361.279.837.34
Spain2.142.508.656.14
United Kingdom2.241.5611.0815.52
United States of America3.162.4211.1011.66

8.5 Accidents

Accident rehabilitation compensation and insurance

A comprehensive system of accident rehabilitation and compensation insurance is provided for all New Zealanders under the Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Act 1992. The Act has an emphasis on injury prevention, rehabilitation, risk management and compensation. It specifically acknowledges that risk management and rehabilitation are facets of injury and compensation cost control and that injury prevention, rehabilitation, risk management and compensation strategies need to be integrated.

The scheme is administered by a Crown-owned enterprise, the Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Corporation (ACC), which is controlled by a board of directors. It has a head office in Wellington and district and branch offices throughout New Zealand. The corporation's basic policies in terms of the extent of cover provided, eligibility for benefits, the limit of benefit payments and the setting of premiums are established legislatively by the government of the day. The board has a role to ensure the corporation operates with maximum efficiency within its policy parameters and that the expectations of stakeholders, claimants, earners, employers and motorists are realised. Introduced in 1974, the scheme was amended in 1992 to control costs and to ensure the costs of the scheme fall where they are incurred.

The purpose of the scheme is to reduce the social, economic and physical impact of personal injury on individuals and the community through:

  • Achieving the community's acceptance of personal responsibility for injury prevention.

  • Supporting people's return to independence through payment of weekly compensation.

  • Restoring people, as much as possible, to their pre-injury position.

  • Fund the scheme in an equitable manner.

The corporation strives to create and maintain an efficient, viable, affordable, professional and equitable compensation scheme that has been recognised internationally for outstanding performance.

ACC is a form of compulsory insurance where the community as a whole, through the premiums paid, accepts responsibility for the accidents which inevitably afflict a proportion of its members. The Motor Vehicle Licensing Premium and the Petroleum Excise Premium provide cover for motor-vehicle accidents. The Earner Premium covers the cost of non-work accidents to earners from 1 July 1992 which occur in the home, during sport or recreational activities, or at other times when a person is not working or using a motor-vehicle. The government provides revenue for cover for accidents sustained by non-earners—children, the elderly, the unemployed and those caring for dependants. Employer premiums provide cover for accidents in the workplace and non-work accidents which occurred before July 1992. The four separate funder accounts enable premiums to be closely linked to accident costs in any particular account.

The Act requires that the corporation undertake or fund safety and injury prevention programmes which are cost-effective and which will result in a reduction of costs to the corporation and ultimately to premium payers. Injury prevention priorities established for each of the four funder accounts are:

  • Employers: farming, meat industry and forestry.

  • Earners: sports injuries (specifically rugby and netball).

  • Non-earners: playground injuries to children, and falls by the elderly.

  • Motor vehicle account: motor vehicle (road) safety and motorcycle safety.

The approach adopted by the corporation recognises that injury prevention is both an individual and a community responsibility. For real gains in the long term, injury prevention programmes must be designed and implemented to foster and contribute to the on-going development of a New Zealand safety culture.

Effective rehabilitation is the cornerstone of ACC and is essential to ensure injured people are able to return to the workforce or an independent life in the community. The ACC facilitates the achievement of this objective. Its success involves partnership with the injured person and their family, the health care provider and the employer. The corporation identifies claimants’ needs and co-ordinates individual treatment, rehabilitation and compensation plans which are prepared in partnership with the injured person, the health care provider and, where appropriate, the employer. Early intervention is emphasised to ensure the injured person's medical, vocational and social rehabilitation is planned in an integrated manner.

Compensation provides claimants with financial security following an injury, without the need for them to prove fault or engage in litigation. Under the scheme injured people receive a wide range of benefits including contributions to medical costs, public hospital costs, home help, attendant care, assistance with transport and financial assistance with the costs of modifying a home or car. An independence allowance, designed to offset the additional costs associated with living with a disability, is available and weekly compensation at the rate of 80 percent of earnings is payable for earners. Financial assistance is also available where an injury results in death. In 1993/94 the corporation spent a total of $1.327 billion on compensating people injured in accidents. Just over half of that sum, almost $706 million, went on weekly compensation—providing income security for people while they were unable to work. The rest went on lump sum payments and payments, such as attendant care, home help, transport, home or vehicle modification and child-care, which are designed to help people while they are rehabilitating. The corporation spent a total of $173 million meeting the medical costs of injured people.

Table 8.23. ACCIDENT COMPENSATION CLAIMS REGISTERED BY ACCOUNT*

 At 30 June
Account19931994

* Figures are not comparable with previous years.

Source: Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Corporation.

Employers’ account293266
Motor vehicle account4544
Non-earners’ account654688
Earners’ account289333
Medical misadventure account...2
Total claims1,2811,333

Accident compensation statistics.

The ACC 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).

Statistics showing the type and location of accidents causing injury can be found later in this section, while statistics for accidental injuries treated in public hospitals appear in section 8.4, Hospitals.

Table 8.24. ACCIDENT COMPENSATION INCOME AND EXPENDITURE 1994*

 Employers’ accountMotor vehicle accountNon-earners’ accountEarners’ accountMedical misadventureTotal1993 Total

* Year ended 30 June.

Source: Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Corporation.

    Income—$   
Premium income697,914,363321,677,686187,487,267249,850,718651,2351,457,581,2691,415,141,642
Less collection fees(15,204,000)(1,994,374)-(10,800,000)-(27,998,374)(22,023,784)
Investment income28,607,02017,127,6311,986,79310,094,849-57,816,293134,419,136
      Total income711,317,383336,810,943189,474,059249,145,567651,2351,487,399,1871,527,536,993
Expenditure—       
Income maintenance535,034,18491,922,5022,965,54975,245,977317,503705,485,716662,720,872
Independence allowance and lump sums165,226,68437,240,87972,970,8713,606,04480,675279,125,154333,001,749
Death benefits27,628,34720,077,5852,012,7882,442,29333,32252,194,33451,412,628
Vocational rehabilitation2,933,363992,837754,675490,7033,2855,174,8644,765,540
Social rehabilitation15,676,13914,609,04721,791,3923,821,59363,57555,961,74534,034,961
Medical treatment55,794,09811,541,82059,007,74046,531,76092,103172,967,521154,429,661
Hospital treatment8,984,9491,061,7845,004,8006,253,8324,63421,310,00020,816,412
Dental treatment2,123,568834,2674,064,7732,262,0353,1339,287,7768,791,417
Conveyance for treatment4,757,5955,579,5445,955,9084,513,3556,24220,812,64518,719,217
Miscellaneous benefits3,129,457718,407402,470343,304(2,286)4,591,3523,277,773
      Total benefits821,288,385184,578,673174,930,967145,510,897602,1841,326,911,1071,291,970,231
Financial grants1,325,9171,259,075271,040267,5294463,124,0072,165,136
Public health costs36,585,215102,165,007---138,750,222148,670,223
Occupational safety and health15,636,000----15,636,00023,101,685
Total operating costs71,784,67723,389,24314,131,02012,628,57648,604121,982,120123,362,963
      Total expenditure946,620,195311,391,998189,333,026158,407,003651,2351,606,403,4571,589,270,238
Surplus/(deficit) for the year(235,302,811)25,418,945141,03390,738,564-(119,004,270)(61,733,245)
Accumulated funds 1 July140,592,921254,404,7594,040,147165,844,365-564,882,192626,615,437
Accumulated funds 30 June(94,709,891)279,823,7044,181,180256,582,929-445,877,922564,882,192

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 Land Transport Safety Authority or to the police. During the year ended 31 December 1993 there were 10,994 reported accidents resulting in 600 fatalities and injuries to 15,108 other people.

Table 8.25. ROAD ACCIDENT CASUALTIES BY TYPE, 1993

Classification of accidentsKilledSeriousMinorTotal

Source: Land Transport Safety Authority.

Overtaking or lane change36143419598
Head on (not overtaking)1555371,1021,794
Lost control or ran off road on straight593361,1261,521
Lost control or ran off road while cornering1507062,3593,215
Collision with obstruction10128505643
Rear end7769431,026
At intersections or driveways—    
  Vehicles moving in same direction, one turning7147802956
  Vehicles crossing paths, not turning302211,0591,310
  Vehicles crossing paths, one turning181639851,166
  Vehicles merging246216264
  Vehicles moving in opposite directions, one turning right192261,0691,314
Vehicles manoeuvring12114589715
Pedestrian crossing road54267565886
Pedestrian—other183693147
Miscellaneous235377153
      Total6003,19911,90915,708

ROAD DEATHS Death rate from motor vehicle accidents

Precariously perched with a stabilising leg embedded in the road.

Table 8.26. AGE OF PERSONS KILLED AND INJURED IN MOTOR ACCIDENTS

 Killed*Injured
Age groups (years)199119921993199119921993

* Killed immediately or died within 30 days of accident.

Source: Land Transport Safety Authority.

Under 5142019310318271
5–916148498504446
10–1421169740708672
15–19101105973,4203,0872,851
20–241301321103,1083,0322,752
25–296857721,9031,7761,664
30–345343461,4251,3531,264
35–394344371,050984956
40–44402345761799773
45–49213020583619634
50–54221910507519468
55–59161111363376327
60–6422149369338329
65–69202415335277307
70–74202022271290238
75–7991622265243195
80 and over182718200241213
Unknown age163130658657748
      Total65064660016,76616,12115,108

Table 8.27. ROAD USERS KILLED AND INJURED IN ROAD MOTOR ACCIDENTS, 1993

Type of casualtyKilledSerious injuryMinor injuryTotal

Source: Land Transport Safety Authority.

Driver of—    
Car2271,0895,4096,725
Taxi-34952
Van21173549743
Truck1046164220
Bus-11314
Motorcycle744689341,476
Other181120
Unknown----
Passenger of—    
Car1466622,8123,620
Taxi--1919
Van17125419561
Truck2147389
Bus232833
Motorcycle655104165
Other-314
Unknown----
Cyclist17224686927
Pedestrian743166331,023
Other and unknown39517
      Total6003,19911,90915,708

ROAD ACCIDENTS Contributing factors by percentage, 1993

Source: Ministry of Transport.

Table 8.28. ROAD ACCIDENT CASUALTIES AND RATES

December yearPersons killedPersons killed per 100,000 populationPersons injuredPersons injured per 100,000 populationTotal casualties per 100,000 population

Source: Land Transport Safety Authority.

198872821.717,324516.2537.9
198976122.516,526488.3510.8
199072921.317,698516.1537.4
199165018.816,766486.0504.8
199264618.516,121462.5481.0
199360017.015,108428.6445.6

Table 8.29. INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS: MOTOR ACCIDENT DEATH RATES

CountryYearPersons killedPersons killed per 10,000 vehicles*Persons killed per 100,000 population

* Estimated for New Zealand.

Source: Land Transport Safety Authority.

New Zealand19936002.717.0
Australia19921,9771.911.2
United Kingdom19924,3791.57.6
USA199239,2352.015.4
Japan199313,2691.910.6
Canada19923,5012.012.3
Germany19939,9492.212.3
Sweden19936321.57.3
France19939,5683.416.6

Road safety.

Road safety is administered by the Ministry of Transport with the road laws enforced by the New Zealand Police. For further information, see section 23.4, Road transport.

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 colleges of education centres around integrating traffic education into school programmes.

Traffic education units are co-operatively planned and implemented. Police officers, teachers and others in the community also work together to plan and implement traffic education interventions that are based on the special social and traffic needs of the community.

THE ROAD TOLL Numbers killed

A network of 45 people who co-ordinate community organisations working in road safety are also based in each local authority. The New Zealand Automobile Association also provides the New Zealand Defensive Driving Course for licensed drivers.

Advice on road safety policy is given to government by the Transport Select Committee, by the Officials’ Committee on Road Safety, and by a number of other bodies, including local road safety committees.

Motor vehicle insurance.

Under the Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Act 1992 a Motor Vehicle Licensing Premium and Petroleum Excise Premium provides cover for motor-vehicle accidents. The Motor Vehicle Account, one of the four funder accounts, has set as its injury prevention priorities road safety and motorcycle safety. See Accident compensation.

Water accidents

The New Zealand Water Safety Council.

The New Zealand Water Safety Council is a collective organisation, made up of most of the aquatic agencies in New Zealand, for example, the Swimming Federation, the Surf Life Saving Association, the Royal Life Saving Society and the Maritime Safety Authority. The council is funded by the Lottery Grants Board and through sponsorship by organisations such as the Lotteries Commission.

Drowning is New Zealand's third highest cause of accidental death, with only road crashes and falls being greater in number. The drowning statistics have shown, on average, a 3 percent drop over the last 10 years, peaking at 222 deaths in 1985 and currently at 134 for 1993. There are currently no statistics which show the accident rates in the water; however, if a traditional formula is applied of 300:29:1 for non-injury accidents, minor accidents and major accidents, there are probably at least 3,500 non-death accidents and at least 36,000 near misses annually.

Boaties reflecting on their good luck and the importance of wearing life jackets.

The danger age for drowning is between 18 and 35 and it is almost exclusively a male problem. The only areas in which women are statistically significant are in the suicide group and the over 75 age group. This is probably because of limited access to the activities which expose the participants to the danger of drowning, such as boating, fishing and scuba diving.

New Zealand enacted a Pool Fencing Act in 1987, which required all owners of home pools to adequately fence. This arose from statistics of the early 1980s when 53 pre-school children drowned in backyard pools in a four year period. While the Act has been controversial and difficult to enforce, public knowledge of the issue has resulted in a substantial drop in pre-school drowning in home pools to only five in the last two years.

While drownings as a whole are decreasing, there are three areas where there has been a substantial increase: adventure activities, rock fishing and under 4 metre power boating (dinghies). In 1993 the small boat drownings rose from an average of six to an all time high of 15. The rise in adventure-based drownings is probably due to the increased popularity of these activities in recent years and reflects the greater statistical pool. Increases in rock fishing and small dinghy drownings are cause for great concern as they seem to reflect a lack of knowledge of, or an unwillingness to follow, basic safety precautions.

Table 8.3. DROWNINGS

 Year ended 31 December
Location1990199119921993

* Includes drownings in pools, rivers, seas and others.

Source: NZ Water Safety Council.

Boating31142131
Surf activities11-1
Whitewater activities3354
Angling49610
Scuba diving and snorkelling91067
Swimming*2719613
River crossing3322
Other water-related3261
Non-water related1123
      Total recreational82625472
Immersion incidents—    
  Adult1915149
  Children 5–152752
  Preschool-pools10423
  Preschool-other4254
Rescuing others4452
Vehicle accidents7211415
Tourism and commercial----
Commercial fishing47710
Employment related11-2
Floods and civil emergencies----
Suicides and homicides10171715
      Total non-recreational61786962
      Total drownings143140123134

General accident statistics

Annually, accidents, poisonings and violence cause approximately 7 percent of total deaths.

Table 8.31. DEATHS FROM EXTERNAL CAUSES*

 Number of deathsRate per million of mean population
Causes of death199019911992199019911992

* Registered during calendar year.

Includes falls aboard ship and from horseback.

Includes drowning from water transport.

Source: Health Information Service.

Motor vehicle accidents762681656225202192
Other transport accidents†965957281717
Accidental poisoning113117395
Accidental falls248209226736266
Accidents caused by machinery161618555
Accidents caused by fire and explosion of combustible material283032899
Accidents caused by firearms8810223
Accidental drowning and suffocation‡7411495223428
Suicide and self-inflicted injury455474493135140144
Homicide786682232024
All other external causes15675125462237
  Total deaths from accidents, poisoning, or violence193217631811572522530

Table 8.32. DEATHS FROM LEADING EXTERNAL CAUSES BY SEX AND AGE, 1992*

 Motor vehicle accidentsAccidental drowningsAccidental poisoningsAccidental falls

* Registered during calendar year.

Source: Health Information Service.

Age group (in years)MFMFMFMF
Under 152531116--13
15–24182581014252
25–34892511-4261
35–4457171013154
45–543916411-6-
55–6421103---73
65–74232022--126
75 and over261711--55110
      All ages462194521212597129
 Suicide and self-inflicted injuryHomicideAll other causes of accidentsAll accidents, poisonings and violence
Age group (in years)MFMFMFMF
Under 154111326138058
15–241121710439436591
25–34981513778830459
35–4459145626516852
45–544221822055245
55–644516321429333
65–74226211367645
75 and over156231318113157
      All ages397965428229611,251697

Accidental falls.

There were 226 deaths due to accidental falls in 1992. This is one accident area in which the total female mortality rate exceeds that for males; although there is an excess of male deaths over female deaths between the ages of 15 and 64 years. At 65 years of age and above, the higher life expectancy of females means that more elderly women than elderly men are exposed to the risk of fatal falls.

In 1991, 38 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 51 percent of all fatal non-transport accidents in 1991.

Table 8.33. SITES OF FATAL NON-TRANSPORT ACCIDENTS*

 Number of accidentsRate per million of mean population
Place of occurrence199019911992199019911992

* Excludes surgical and medical misadventure, late effects of accidental injury.

Source: Health Information Service.

Home (including home premises and vicinity and any non-institutional place of residence)190171150565144
Farm (including buildings and land under cultivation, but excluding farm and home premises)181418545
Mine and quarry-23-11
Industrial places and premises211611653
Places for recreation and sport91514344
Street and highway949313
Public building (building used by the general public or a particular group of the public)121112434
Residential institution (homes, hospitals, etc.)896065261819
Other specified places848883252624
Place not specified587197172128
      Total490452462145134135

Deaths of pre-school children.

Mortality rates among children aged one to four years in New Zealand are disappointingly high. In 1992, New Zealand's age-specific mortality rate for children aged one to four was 45.1 per 100,000. This shows a 15 percent decrease since 1989 at which time the rate was 53.2 per 100,000.

Table 8.34. DEATHS OF PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN FROM ACCIDENTS AND VIOLENCE, 1992

 Age (in years) 
Causes of deathSex1234Total

Source: Health Information Service.

DrowningM23-27
 F11--2
Motor vehicle accidentsM13228
 F31329
HomicideM32-16
 F-----
All other external causesM3-429
 F31--3
      Subtotal, male986730 
      Subtotal, female733215 
      Total 16119945

8.6 Civil defence and fire safety

Civil defence

The Ministry of Civil Defence was established in 1959 as part of the Department of Internal Affairs. The current Civil Defence Act dates from December 1983.

The phrase ‘civil defence’ describes the planning and organisation of measures necessary for public safety during events beyond the capability of regular emergency services. Communities have an obligation to take the steps necessary to prevent or reduce loss of life or distress by using their own resources and drawing on volunteers. Territorial authorities and regional councils form civil defence organisations and prepare appropriate plans. The Ministry of Civil Defence, through offices in Auckland, Palmerston North and Christchurch, helps local authorities to meet their obligations and co-ordinates government planning. The ministry also provides financial support for local and regional civil defence work and through the National Civil Defence School encourages training and planning.

A declaration of a state of civil defence emergency grants special powers to civil defence controllers appointed under civil defence plans, the police and to the ministry's director and commissioners.

The National Civil Defence Committee advises and assists the minister and the Director of Civil Defence in the planning and implementation of civil defence measures.

A National Civil Defence Headquarters is established in the sub-basement of the Executive Wing of Parliament Buildings (the Beehive). It is kept ready for use but is activated only when required.

Natural disaster insurance

The Earthquake Commission (formerly Earthquake & War Damage Commission) administers the Earthquake Commission Act 1993. This provides private property owners in New Zealand, who have purchased fire insurance, with insurance cover for damage to residential properties (dwelling, personal property and land) caused by:

  • Earthquake, natural landslip, volcanic eruption, hydrothermal activity or tsunami.

  • In the case of residential land, storm or flood.

  • Fire occasioned by or through or in consequence of any of these.

War damage has been removed as an insured peril.

The cover provided for residential properties is now replacement value to a maximum of $100,000 on dwellings and an additional $20,000 on personal property (exclusive of GST). Land cover is provided outside these limits. The commission is currently phasing out cover on non-residential property. Cover is voluntary and must be applied for at reducing levels. The maximum amount of cover being offered in 1995 is 25 percent of the indemnity value of a property. By 31 December 1996 the commission will no longer insure non-residential property. Premiums at the rate of 5 cents per $100 cover are collected by insurance companies and paid to the commission.

The Earthquake Commission is a Crown entity, controlled by provisions in the Public Finance Act 1989 and the State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986, and a body corporate with perpetual succession, a common seal and capital of $1.5 billion. It is responsible to the Minister of Finance who usually delegates responsibility to one of the Associate Ministers of Finance. The commission's board consists of between five and nine commissioners appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Minister of Finance. Every commissioner is appointed for a term of up to three years, but may be re-appointed.

Claims for the year ended 30 June 1994, excluding assessor's and engineer's fees, totalled 4,917 earthquake claims ($7,961,407), 38 landslip claims ($209,734) and 232 land claims ($321,880).

Children's car seats donated to Plunket rental scheme.

Fireman battling blazing housefire.

Fire fighting

Fire-fighting services are organised nationally as the New Zealand Fire Service.

New Zealand Fire Service Commission.

The commission is the national administrative body which deals through the commanders of regions, areas and districts. There are three part-time commissioners appointed by government and the Secretary for Internal Affairs.

Organisation of fire fighting.

There are six administrative regions, based in Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. Their primary task is to co-ordinate operational units.

The fire regions are divided into fire areas, of which there are 20 in all. They are responsible for developing the fire-fighting resources of their areas and for the training and operational efficiency of the brigades in districts within them. The fire areas are further divided into fire districts, of which there are 269.

Nineteen of the 269 fire districts are served mainly by permanent firefighters, augmented by more than 1,000 volunteers. The remaining 250 fire districts are staffed by volunteer firefighters who are an essential part of the New Zealand Fire Service. During 1993 there were 2,443 employees and 6,454 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.

Approximately 90 percent 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 the year ended 30 June 1993 contributions from insurance companies totalled $180,333,000 while Government contributed $12,950,000. This compares with levies of $187,014,000 and a government contribution of $14,449,000 for the 12 months ended 30 June 1992.

Fire safety.

The Fire Service Act requires the Fire Service Commission to take an active and co-ordinating 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.

Table 8.35. INCIDENTS ATTENDED BY FIRE BRIGADES*

Incidents19921993

* This table excludes mutual aid calls and calls to the vicinity of another fire.

An exposure fire is where a fire originating in one property spreads to another property. They are subtracted from total fire incidents to reflect a clear total number of incidents attended.

Source: NZ Fire Service.

Fires—  
  Structure fires4,4963,815
  Vehicle fires2,7202,665
  Television and home appliances221275
  Oven fires667962
  Chimney fires1,5761,508
  Rubbish fires3,7134,424
  Tree, grass and scrub fires3,4584,569
  Yard storage/standing crops634363
  Authorised controlled burning2,3281,290
  Investigation only (out on arrival)--
Other fires2,0081,520
 21,82121,391
Less, exposure fires†207216
      Total, fire incidents22,02821,175
  Overpressure rupture with no combustion5838
  Hazardous substance emergencies2,0641,863
  Hazardous condition standby680892
  Special service incidents5,2565,761
  False alarms (good intent)2,2323,784
  False alarms (malicious)1,5691,571
  False alarms (equipment failure)8,4408,087
  False alarms (other)258449
      Total incidents attended42,58543,620

Fire statistics.

Thirty-three people died as a result of property fires during 1993, compared with 33 in 1992 and 26 in 1991. In 1993 the most common suspected causes of fires resulting in fatalities were collision, overturn, knockdowns and falling asleep.

Fire insurance is described in section 24.3 Insurance and superannuation.

8.7 Occupational safety and health

Primary responsibility for the provision of occupational safety and health policy and services is held by the Occupational Safety and Health Service (OSH) of the Department of Labour. The Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Corporation (ACC) also plays a major role in the field (see section 8.5 Accidents).

Legislation.

The predominant piece of occupational safety and health legislation is the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992. Its principal object is the prevention of harm to employees while at work. It also contains three means of achieving this object:

  • The promotion of excellent health and safety management.

  • A requirement for people in industry to perform specific duties.

  • The making of regulations and approved codes of practice relating to specific hazards.

A major thrust of the Act is that it sets out the responsibilities of employers, employees and others in all industries to manage the risks they face in their work on a day-to-day basis. It spells out primary responsibilities for all those involved with the workplace. Detail for ensuring safe and healthy conditions in specific industries or processes comes through either regulations made under the Act, codes of practice approved by the Minister of Labour, or more detailed guidelines issued by the Department of Labour after consultation with industry.

Under the Act, employers have the primary responsibility for ensuring the health and safety of their workers by:

  • Providing a safe and healthy working environment.

  • Implementing effective hazard identification and control methods.

  • Providing training and supervision of their employees.

  • Involving employees in the development of procedures for dealing with hazards and emergencies.

Other parties also have responsibilities under the Act. Employees, for example, are responsible for ensuring that through their work they do not endanger their own health and safety, or that of other people. People who control a place of work, are self-employed, or are the principal to a contract also have responsibilities to employees, the public and others under the Act.

Occupational Safety and Health Service.

This is one of five services to industry maintained by the Department of Labour. It is the primary authority responsible for setting occupational safety and health standards for all industries.

The role of the Occupational Safety and Health Service is to minimise the economic and social cost of workplace illness and injury. This involves administering and enforcing the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992, developing occupational safety and health policy and providing health services to industry.

The service has extensive direct involvement with industry. It employs inspection staff with specific industry experience, as well as medical, engineering, scientific and technical personnel to provide advisory services. In 1993–94 its 280 staff reported over 120,000 intervention activities in workplaces. Of these, approximately 60 percent of the total recorded activities related to the enforcement of legislation, while 40 percent comprised promotional and non-enforcement activities.

Funding for the service comes from a proportion of the levies charged by the Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Corporation. Service expenditure was budgeted as $21,753 million for 1994–95. This was divided into three main programme areas: administering legislation, $15,332 million; promoting excellent safety and health management in industry, $4,763 million; and business and policy advice, $1,658 million.

Safety and health management programmes.

OSH has two major goals for improving health and safety management in industry: the promotion of excellence, and active administration (including enforcement) of the legislation.

The enterprise self-management programme promotes excellent management. It sees OSH fieldworkers using a range of approaches and resources as they work with the management of individual companies to, firstly, build an awareness of the need to manage risk, and then help to build risk management systems into workplaces. During 1993–94,900 enterprises were involved in this programme. The service also maintains a series of awareness raising and education programmes at both a local and national level.

Two further initiatives aim to ensure the law is understood and complied with by industry. The high hazard workplaces programme sees workplaces with high hazard processes or activities visited regularly and their safety and health performance monitored. During 1993–94 OSH staff visited 16,400 workplaces under this programme and approximately 19,000 improvements to procedures or equipment were required. Another surveillance programme covers the inspection and assessment of businesses not part of the enterprise self-management or high hazard programmes. Under this programme 5,680 visits were made to workplaces to determine compliance with the legislation during 1993–94.

Responses to hazardous situations and other incidents continue to be a priority for OSH personnel. The service investigates all workplace fatalities and works closely with emergency services, local authorities, and defence forces in the area of explosives and dangerous goods and other emergencies where public safety is threatened. OSH also surveys agents certifying the safety of hazardous equipment and audits places of work for compliance with the law.

OSH health and technical staff are responsible for the monitoring of international developments of relevance to New Zealand

Occupational health.

OSH maintains a Notifiable Occupational Disease System, with voluntary reporting of suspected cases by health professionals. OSH medical staff investigate all notifications of suspected occupational disease or illness, and this involved 832 cases in 1993–94. An Asbestos Exposure Register for people exposed to asbestos through their occupation has also been maintained since March 1992, and there had been approximately 12,500 notifications by the end of August 1994.

Table 8.36. OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE NOTIFICATIONS 1 APRIL 1992–30 AUGUST 1994

Disease categoriesNotifications

Source: OSH.

Asbestos related515
Occupational respiratory disease138
Occupational disease due to chemical exposure192
Chronic solvent-induced neurotoxicity147
Occupational skin disease66
Occupational illness due to infection82
Occupational noise-induced hearing loss430
Occupational overuse syndrome/osteoarthritis434

Contributors

8.1Ministry of Health; Medical Council of New Zealand; Nursing Council of New Zealand; Dental Council of New Zealand; Pharmaceutical Society of New Zealand.
8.2Ministry of Health
8.3Ministry of Health; Alcohol Advisory Council; Medical Research Council; Health Information Service; Abortion Supervisory Committee.
8.4Ministry of Health; Health Information Service.
8.5Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Corporation; Ministry of Transport; Water Safety Council; Health Information Service.
8.6Department of Internal Affairs; Earthquake and War Damage Commission; New Zealand Fire Service Commission.
8.7Department of Labour.

Special articles

Ministry of Health; Statistics New Zealand.

Further information

Health

Alcohol Consumption in New Zealand. Alcohol Advisory Council (annual).
Annual Report and Statement of Accounts. Pharmaceutical Society of New Zealand.
Cancer Data. Health Statistical Services, Ministry of Health (annual).
Hospital and Selected Morbidity Data. New Zealand Health Information Services, Ministry of Health (annual).
Hospital Management Data. New Zealand Health Information Services, Ministry of Health (annual).
Mental Health Data. New Zealand Health Information Services, Ministry of Health (annual).
Mortality and Demographic Data. New Zealand Health Information Services, Ministry of Health (annual).
The Public Health: Report of the Department of Health (Parl paper E10).
Report of the Abortion Supervisory Committee (Parl paper E28).
Report of the Alcohol Advisory Council (Parl paper E26).

Safety

Accident Compensation: A Fairer Scheme, Department of Labour, 1991.
An Introduction to the Notifiable Occupational Disease System. Occupational Safety and Health Service, Department of Labour.
Business Plan 1994–95. Occupational Safety and Health Service, Department of Labour.
Key Statistics. Department of Statistics (monthly).
Motor Accidents in New Zealand. Land Transport Safety Authority, Ministry of Transport (annual).
Report of the Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Corporation (Parl paper E19).
Report of the Department of Labour (Parl paper G1).
Report of the Earthquake and War Damage Commission (Parl paper B11).
Report of the Ministry of Transport (Parl paper F5).
Report of the National Poisons and Hazardous Chemicals Information Centre. National Toxicology Group (annual).
Report of the New Zealand Fire Service Commission (Parl paper G8).

Chapter 9. Education

9.1 Administration of education

Education agencies

Early Childhood Development Unit—Nga Kaitaunaki Kohungahunga.

The ECDU is a government agency created to support the early childhood education of children 0 to 5 years of age. There are 10 offices throughout New Zealand with Pakeha, Maori and Pacific Island staff available to assist parents who have young children. Advice and support is given on an individual and group basis to assist people who are working in or setting up early childhood education centres. Seminars and workshops are also provided to assist people and organisations wanting information about early childhood education. Services provided include the following:

  • Support for the establishment of early childhood education services.

  • National information service on early childhood education.

  • Directory of early childhood education services.

  • Provision of early childhood education resources.

  • Promotion activities about early childhood education.

  • Operation of parent support projects.

  • Grants and advice and support to Pacific Island language groups.

  • Grants and advice and support to playgroups.

  • Advisory support and professional development to licensed and chartered early childhood services.

  • Advice, support and resources for Pacific Island families through the Anau Ako Pasifika Project.

  • Family-friendly workplace seminars for staff in participating organisations.

  • Advice to government and non-government organisations on early childhood issues.

In addition the ECDU is the New Zealand national centre for Parents as First Teachers (PAFT) which is a programme offering support and guidance for parents of young children (0 to three years) to develop their parenting skills and knowledge about the education and health of their young children. The ECDU currently manages 20 programmes around the country.

Special Education Service—He Tohu Ūmanga Mātauranga.

The Special Education Service is a Crown entity offering a New Zealand-wide service of advice, guidance and specialist support for the benefit of people with special educational and developmental needs. Services provided include the following:

  • Educational and developmental assessment.

  • Programming assistance for individuals, families, schools and early childhood centres.

  • Specialist educational therapies and teaching.

  • Training for people working with those who have disabilities.

  • Placement advice and assistance for schools, families and communities.

  • Early intervention teaching and advisory services.

  • Specialist liaison services between schools and families.

  • Advice to government and non-government agencies on special education policy and practices.

  • Initiatives for Maori (He Tokonga Whakaora Maori).

  • Education resources and software.

Staff of the service include advisers on deaf children, early intervention teachers and advisers, visiting teachers, speech language therapists, kai takawaenga, advisers on special needs and psychologists.

The service is funded from a variety of government and non-government contracts and provides some services on a fee for service basis. The bulk of its income currently comes from a major contract with the Minister of Education for the provision of some specific services. These are its ‘Core Services’ and the contracted number of hours are provided free of charge to individuals, schools and early childhood education centres. These services are provided equitably on a population basis across the country.

The Careers Service—Rapuara.

The Careers Service is a careers advice and information service which helps people choose the work, education and training that suits them and which promotes the development of education programmes which will help meet their future needs.

A Crown entity, the Careers Service was established in July 1990. It is directly responsible to the Minister of Education who appoints a board to oversee its work. The Careers Service contracts with the Minister of Education to deliver a range of services to agreed consumers through a document of accountability signed between the Minister and the board. Services include information and advice, curriculum support, facilitation of school-industry links, administration of the Link Programme and counselling. Being partly funded by the Crown, the document of accountability also allows the negotiation of contracts with other organisations, both public and private.

Education and Training Support Agency. The Education and Training Support Agency is an education Crown entity with a board appointed by the Minister of Education. The agency's purpose is to advance a range of training options for its customers, who include employers, industry training organisations, training providers and trainees. The agency is responsible for the following major training initiatives:

  • Skill New Zealand.

  • Training Opportunities Programme.

  • Skill Start.

  • Skill Pathways.

  • Skill Enhancement.

Ministry of Education—Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga.

The Ministry of Education is responsible for providing policy advice to the Minister of Education on all aspects of education from early childhood to tertiary, including employment-related education and training, overseeing the implementation of approved policies and ensuring the optimum use of resources devoted to education.

The ministry provides funding to early childhood centres, schools, universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, and wananga and ensures this money is distributed according to government policy. It approves charters in all of these institutions and also negotiates funding bids for tertiary institutions.

The ministry administers legislation and manages all education property owned by the Crown. It is responsible for developing national guidelines on all aspects of education, including national curriculum objectives. It also conducts research and collects education statistics. The ministry will ensure the delivery of education advisory services, special education services, curriculum and early childhood development through contractual arrangements with other agencies.

New Zealand Qualifications Authority—Mana Tohu Mātauranga o Aotearoa.

The aim of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority is to promote improvement in the quality of education and training in New Zealand through the development and maintenance of a comprehensive, accessible and flexible National Qualifications Framework.

Its main functions are to:

Develop and maintain a comprehensive, flexible and accessible National Qualifications Framework.

  • Oversee the setting of standards for qualifications.

  • Ensure New Zealand qualifications are recognised overseas, and overseas qualifications are recognised in New Zealand.

  • Administer national examinations, both secondary and tertiary.

The Qualifications Authority is a Crown agency—an independent body which reports directly to the Minister of Education.

Education Review Office—Te Tari Arotake Mātauranga.

The Education Review Office provides information and analysis in the following areas:

  • Assurance Audit Reports—the management of individual schools or early childhood centres is audited in terms of their contractual undertakings as specified in charters and legislation. In general, a school is audited every two to three years.

  • Effectiveness Review Reports—the factors affecting student achievement in individual schools are identified and analysed.

  • Education Evaluation Reports—the national performance of schools and early childhood services as a whole is assessed, including management systems and structures, curricula content and delivery issues.

Learning Media—Te Pou Taki Kōrero.

Learning Media Limited is a registered Crown company. Its principal objective is to provide, through contracts with the Ministry of Education, the basic materials and services necessary to support the national education guidelines. It carries out all aspects of the planning, development, production, dissemination, and promotion of resources for learning. The emphasis is on materials that document and support early childhood education and the national curriculum for schools, for example, curriculum statements, teachers’ handbooks, pupils’ books and classroom materials in all media. Materials include picture packs, slide sets, audio cassettes, video cassettes, and books of all kinds.

Learning Media also publishes policy documents and international material for the Ministry of Education, the New Zealand Education Gazette, and the School Journal (which is published in four broad levels to cater for different levels in primary schools).

Publishing in the Maori language is an important function of Learning Media, and a range of reading material at different levels is published. A course for teachers to learn Maori (Te Ata Hapara), using audio-cassettes and booklets, is available, as are handbooks to assist teachers in planning class programmes in Maori, and a variety of other supporting resources. Pacific Islands language materials are also produced.

The Ready to Read books and associated handbooks for teaching reading in junior classes have proved to be both innovative and successful. They are marketed overseas, especially in the United States and Australia.

The Ministry of Education pays for materials to be issued free to schools, or at a small charge. The public may purchase personal copies of most items at a normal retail price.

Schools receive funding within their operating grants for purchase of additional materials of their choosing from publishers and bookshops. These include textbooks and library items. The work of Learning Media is complementary to that of commercial providers.

Teacher Registration Board.

The Teacher Registration Board is a Crown entity, established under the 1989 Education Act. It approves the registration of teachers and maintains a register of teachers. There are 56,000 teachers on record.

Other administrative bodies

Boards of Trustees.

All state primary and secondary schools in New Zealand are governed by Boards of Trustees. Members of a board are elected by parents of students enrolled at the school. Members include three to seven parent representatives, the principal of the school and a staff representative. One student enrolled full-time in a class above form three may also be elected to a board as a student representative.

Boards may co-opt additional members, to ensure, for instance, that there is a gender balance and that the board reflects the ethnic and socio-economic diversity of the student body of the school. Boards that administer integrated schools may include members appointed by the proprietors of the school or schools.

Each board of trustees has a large measure of autonomy in its control of the management of its school. It has responsibility for payment of ancillary staff salaries, salaries of designated management positions in schools and for the allocation of funds for the operational activities of the school. The board must also ensure that there is a written charter of aims, purposes and objectives of the school approved by the Minister of Education. The school charter includes the National Education Guidelines and local goals and objectives which reflect the particular aspirations of individual schools and their communities.

Polytechnic councils.

Polytechnics are controlled by councils. Members represent business, industry, local authorities, universities, women's and ethnic groups, as well as education and community interests.

Auckland Museum's Computer Discovery Space.

College of Education councils.

Councils of colleges of education include representatives from universities and teacher organisations.

University councils.

Each university is established under its own Act of Parliament and is also subject to the provisions of the Education Act 1989 as amended by the Education Amendment Act 1990. All matters relating to management are the responsibility of the council of the institution, which represents the interests of staff, students and the community.

Education service centres.

Education Service Centres offer services such as administration of school transport, payroll, property, and other administration services to schools.

Other educational bodies

New Zealand Council for Educational Research—Te Rūnanga o Aotearoa Mo Te Whakawā i Te Mātauranga.

As a result of an independent review of NZCER in 1989, the research function of the council was reorganised during 1990–91 under two main themes:

  • Educational achievement: assessment, monitoring, and reporting.

  • Educational institutions in change: policies and practices.

Within these two themes, projects are undertaken at each of the three levels of the education system—early childhood, the formal school system, and tertiary education. As examples, current projects in the area of educational achievement include revisions of the PAT tests and a study of the feasibility of establishing an assessment resource bank for assessment of students at transition points from primary to intermediate or secondary level. In the area of educational institutions in change, current projects include studies of training of teachers of preschool children, the training of primary and secondary school teachers, the impact on primary and intermediate schools of the reforms in educational administration, Qualifications Framework levels, a study of family service centres, and an evaluation of the schools network.

The council undertakes contract research compatible with its research programmes. Contract research has been undertaken for the Ministry of Education, other government departments and statutory bodies, including the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, and professional organisations.

The council's Maori unit, Te Wahanga Kaupapa Maori, emphasises Maori language and education projects. Two electronic information networks, established by Te Wahanga Kaupapa Maori in 1991 with assistance from IBM, have attracted increasing interest and membership. Work is proceeding on the recognition of prior learning and a learners’ dictionary of Maori.

A comprehensive range of research reports, periodicals, tests and other publication products was released during the period 1993–94. These include the reports Windows on Teacher Education; Teacher Development in State Secondary Schools; Evaluation of the Delivery of Teacher Development for HIV/AIDS-Sexuality Education; Evaluation of Remedial Spelling Programmes for the Failing Standard 4 Speller; Conductive Education; What Research on Early Childhood Education/Care Outcomes Can and Can’t Tell Policy Makers; Early Childhood Education and Care; Employment and Childcare Arrangements Among Families; and The Learning Needs of Disadvantaged Job Seekers.

The fourth revised and updated edition of A Directory of Philanthropic Trusts in New Zealand was published in association with the Funding Information Service.

Also distributed during the year were two issues each of the periodicals set: research information for teachers, the New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies and the NZCER Newsletter. Two Best of set issues were also published in association with the Funding Information Service. The council also acts as a clearing house for information on educational matters and five local institutes for educational research in Tai Tokerau (Northland), Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Suva (Fiji).

Maori Education Trust—Te Kaupapa Mātauranga Mo Te Iwi Māori.

Formerly (until 30 September 1993) the Maori Education Foundation, the trust awards scholarships, and makes grants and awards that promote and encourage the better education of Maori. The board of trustees allocates funds to sponsor annual speech contests; whakamana whanau; boarding grants to secondary education and scholarships for tertiary education. In 1993, $1,815,101 was distributed for Maori education and at 31 December 1993 the trust had net assets of $7,709,627.

Education expenditure and funding

Table 9.1. GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE ON EDUCATION

Year ending 30 JuneEducation financial net expenditurePercent of GDP*Net government expenditurePercent of government expenditure

* Year ended 31 March.

Estimated actual.

Forecast.

Source: Ministry of Education.

 $(million)percent$(million)percent
19914,4016.030,29914.5
19924,4676.129,17415.3
19934,5045.829,14815.8
1994†4,654-29,37115.8
1995‡4,861-30,80315.8

Early childhood education funding.

Chartered early childhood services are funded at a rate of $2.25 per hour per child over two years of age and $4.50 per hour per child under two years of age for up to six hours per day, up to 30 hours a week.

Kindergartens are funded at an average rate of $2.875 per child per hour for up to eight three hour sessions (24 hours) per week.

Funding for capital works for non-profit-making early childhood groups is available from a grant and loans scheme.

Te Kohanga Reo, the Maori initiative early childhood service, is funded at the same rate as other chartered early childhood services at a rate of $2.25 and $4.50. The funding is administered by the national Te Kohanga Reo Trust.

School funding.

The costs of teachers’ salaries (excluding senior management salaries), school transport, teacher removal expenses, major capital works and long-term maintenance are paid directly by the Ministry of Education. Since February 1992, 70 schools have been taking part in a three year trial of bulk funding of teacher salaries. All other costs are funded by bulk grants to individual schools, with expenditure being controlled by each school's board of trustees. From 1993 a salaries grant for designated management positions has been paid directly to boards of trustees. Financial management of the schools is subject to review and audit by the Audit Office. Education management and attainment is to be reviewed by the Education Review Office.

Special education.

All special education schools, classes, units and pupils are funded at the appropriate institutions. Discretionary allocations of staffing, equipment and grants are made to meet the requirements of the pupils.

Tertiary education funding.

As a result of reforms in the tertiary sector, a new system for funding tertiary institutions was introduced at the beginning of 1991.

EFTS funding system

—the Equivalent Full-Time Student (EFTS) system funds tertiary institutions in bulk according to the number of students and the courses that those students are taking. Polytechnics, colleges of education, universities and wananga receive state subsidies for the number of equivalent full-time students in each of the course cost categories at their institution. These funded places are provided by the government in advance of the funding year. The funding is inclusive of capital works.

The EFTS funding system has abolished detailed central decision-making about levels of staffing, operating grants, and capital works projects. These responsibilities now lie with the management of tertiary institutions themselves.

Improved accountability is required from all tertiary institutions under the EFTS funding system. Each institution must meet the requirements of the Public Finance Act 1989 and the Education Act 1989.

Study Right

—the Study Right policy, introduced in 1992, ties in closely with the EFTS funding system. Under Study Right, the government pays a subsidy towards the estimated tuition costs according to a student's Study Right status. Students who satisfy the criteria of Study Right are eligible for a higher rate.

The Study Right policy is part of the government's strategy to encourage school leavers to continue with tertiary education and training. Consequently, students eligible for Study Right are largely those aged under 22 at first enrolment. Some beneficiaries will attract the Study Right level of tuition subsidy, subject to the three year limit of Study Right.

Student loans

—the Student Loan Scheme was established in 1992 to assist students to participate in tertiary education. Under the scheme eligible students may receive a loan from the government to cover:

  • Fees—the compulsory fees which are payable by students at enrolment. Students enrolled at private training establishments can borrow up to $4,500 only for their compulsory fees.

  • Course-related costs—a maximum amount of $1,000 a year for full-time full year courses to assist with course-related costs such as equipment, textbooks, field trips. Part-time full-year and full-time part-year students can borrow a proportion of this. The amount is determined by the weighting of the course.

  • Living allowance—a maximum amount of $4,500 a year (less any entitlement to student allowances). The living component is only available to full-time students undertaking an approved course or programme.

Loans on which interest will be charged are repayable through the Inland Revenue Department. The level of repayments is based on taxable income.

Applications are made through the institution at which the student will be enrolling. Student loans officers are available at each institution to assist in making these applications. The ministry updates the student loans information booklet every year.

Capital charge scheme

—it was announced in the 1991 Budget that the Government had agreed in principle to a capital charge scheme for tertiary education institutions. The objective of the scheme is to ensure that the cost of capital is reflected in the resource and pricing decisions of institutions. The Government is still considering the details of the scheme's structure.

Private training establishments

—the EFTS funding system was expanded to provide state funding to subsidise certain programmes in private training establishments (PTEs) in 1993. The same levels of accountability as state tertiary institutions are expected. Funding for PTEs will amount to $6 million in 1995.

Other providers of tertiary education and training

—all tertiary sectors are now funded according to the EFTS funding system. In addition to EFTS funding, a number of providers receive grants for activities that are not funded through the EFTS system.

For instance, the New Zealand School of Dance and the New Zealand Drama School are now funded through the Ministry of Education.

In the 1994 academic year, the university sector received a total of $642 million through the EFTS funding system. The polytechnics received $402 million, and the colleges of education received $55 million through the EFTS funding system. Two wananga (Maori tertiary institutions) received $2 million.

International links

The Ministry of Education (in consultation with the Ministry of External Relations and Trade, the New Zealand Immigration Service and the Trade Development Board) has responsibilities for the Government's foreign student policy and its implementation, particularly as it affects fee-paying students. It compiles data on foreign students and provides information on policy and application procedures.

The ministry contracts a range of bilateral educational and cultural exchange activities to the New Zealand Council for Teacher Education. Each year, teacher exchanges are arranged between New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and Germany. The New Zealand-Japan Exchange Programme provides financial and administrative support for a wide range of activities for school teachers, artists and scholars. There are also opportunities for study visits by New Zealand teachers to Japan or in-service support for teachers of Japanese in New Zealand by visiting Japanese lecturers. Other exchange activities include overseas in-service training for teachers of French and German, the Language Assistants Scheme to support the teaching of French, German and Spanish.

New Zealand is a member of various intergovernmental organisations concerned with education. It participates in the education activities of the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organisation, the Commonwealth Secretariat, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development through the Education Committee of the OECD, and a large number of other international organisations such as the Ministerial Council for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA), Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC), and the South East Asian Ministers of Education Organisation (SEAMEO).

9.2 Early childhood, primary and secondary education

Early childhood education is available to children under six years old through a wide range of services, most of which are administered by voluntary agencies with government assistance.

The Education Act 1989 provides for free education in state primary and secondary schools between the ages of five and 19, and attendance is compulsory until the age of 16 years.

Primary school education is compulsory from six years of age, but children usually start formal schooling at the age of five. 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 or form 1–7 school.

School terms

Primary and secondary schools are required to be open for at least 394 half days and 380 half days, respectively, each year. The school year is divided into three terms. The first term commences usually on the fifth Monday of the year (in secondary schools, the fifth Monday or Tuesday). Boards of trustees may apply to vary their school's terms and holidays to take local circumstances into account. In 1995, some schools will follow a four term year and a few will follow a six term year.

Early childhood care and education

Many early childhood services in New Zealand have evolved from individual and community initiatives resulting in a diverse system of early childhood education with a high degree of autonomy. The main providers of early childhood education are free kindergartens, playcentres, Pacific Island language groups, childcare centres, home-based services and nga kohanga reo. Early childhood education programmes are, on the whole, developmental and based in learning through play.

All early childhood centres wishing to receive government funding must be licensed and chartered. Licensing ensures that basic standards of quality are maintained. A charter sets out a centre's objectives and practices. Chartered groups receive funding direct from government in the form of a bulk grant.

Playcentres.

Playcentres are co-operatives organised and staffed by parents who undertake training provided by their associations and their national organisation, the New Zealand Playcentre Federation.

Pacific Island language groups.

Pacific Island language groups provide programmes based on the language and cultural values of Pacific Island people. These programmes emphasise language development, both in Pacific Island languages and English, and increasing parental knowledge in early childhood care and education.

Free kindergartens.

The New Zealand Free Kindergarten Associations Inc and the Kindergarten Federation represent kindergarten associations throughout the country. Each kindergarten has its own committee, but the management responsibility lies with the association. Parents are involved in the establishment of kindergartens and in all aspects of their administration.

Home-based services (family free daycare).

Home-based care is a system whereby parents of young children or babies are linked to caregivers who are often themselves parents of young children. Trained co-ordinators supervise the arrangement, and may organise regular playgroups or workshop meetings for parents and caregivers.

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION, 1993

Childcare centres.

Childcare centres include all situations or locations where more than two children, under the age of six years, are receiving care and education outside the home. Each centre is autonomous. Some are administered by individuals; others by a committee, trust, firm or organisation. They may describe themselves as private kindergartens, education centres, playcentres, pre-schools, or by a name which indicates their particular philosophy or purpose. A significant number are community co-operatives, using a considerable amount of voluntary help from parents.

Playgroups.

Playgroups are community-based, non-profit-making early childhood centres where groups of parents and children meet regularly for the purpose of early childhood care and education. Playgroups receive funding support from government but one exempt from the need to be licensed or chartered.

Primary and secondary school curricula

A programme of reform of the curriculum is currently underway. The New Zealand Curriculum Framework and national curriculum statements, will provide the basis for programmes in schools.

New Zealand curriculum framework.

The New Zealand Curriculum Framework describes the broad elements which are fundamental to learning and teaching in New Zealand schools. It states a range of broad curriculum principles which underpin and give direction to all teaching and learning in New Zealand schools. The principles state that the curriculum will:

  • Be broad, balanced and common.

  • Be inclusive of all students.

  • Foster success and achievement for all students.

  • Enable students to become independent and life long learners.

  • Ensure that learning progresses coherently throughout schooling.

  • Recognise New Zealand's bicultural identity.

  • Reflect the multicultural nature of New Zealand society.

  • Be co-operatively designed.

  • Relate to the wider world.

The framework specifies seven essential learning areas which describe in broad terms the knowledge and understandings which all students will learn: language and languages/te korero, nga reo; mathematics/pangarau; science/putaiao; social sciences/tikanga-a-iwi; the arts/nga toi; health and physical well being/hauora; and technology/hangarau. It sets out the essential skills to be developed by all students through the context of the essential learning areas. These are grouped under the following categories: communication; numeracy; information; problem solving; self-management and competitive; social and co-operative; physical; and work and study. The framework outlines the desirable attitudes and values which should form part of every student's learning.

The Curriculum Framework also outlines the policy for assessment at school and national levels. The New Zealand curriculum builds on the close relationship between learning and assessment. Assessment procedures will be applied throughout schooling to measure student progress and achievement against the defined objectives of the New Zealand curriculum. Such procedures will build on established classroom practices, and will draw on research and experience in New Zealand and overseas. Furthermore the Curriculum Framework outlines: assessment at key transition points of school, at school entry, at the start of year seven (form 1) and year nine (form 3); records of school achievement; national monitoring of standards; and assessment for qualifications.

Curriculum statements.

The New Zealand Curriculum Framework provides direction to the development of the more specific national curriculum statements. These supporting statements spell out in more detail the required learning described in the framework document. National curriculum statements, Mathematics in the New Zealand Curriculum and Science in the New Zealand Curriculum have been distributed and are now mandatory in schools. English in the New Zealand Curriculum has been published and distributed to schools. The national curriculum statement Technology in the New Zealand Curriculum will be distributed to schools during the 1995 school year.

The curriculum statements for senior sciences (biology, chemistry and physics) have been published and distributed to schools. Draft curriculum statements in te reo Maori, pangarau (Maori Mathematics in the New Zealand Curriculum) and putaiao (Maori Science in the New Zealand Curriculum) will be published and distributed to schools in the 1995 school year. Draft national curriculum statements in social studies and health and physical well-being will be distributed to schools for comment during the 1995 school year.

Primary school curriculum.

The New Zealand curriculum for primary and intermediate schools comprises national curriculum statements in Mathematics in the New Zealand Curriculum and Science in the New Zealand Curriculum and syllabus statements for English (including oral and written language, reading, spelling and handwriting), social studies, art, physical education, health education and music. At intermediate level (forms 1 and 2), the curriculum includes workshop craft and home economics. These syllabuses will be progressively replaced by national curriculum statements.

Secondary school curriculum.

The New Zealand curriculum for secondary schools comprises national curriculum statements in Mathematics in the New Zealand Curriculum and Science in the New Zealand Curriculum and a set of syllabus statements for English, social studies, art, physical education, workshop craft, health education and music. These syllabuses will be progressively replaced by national curriculum statements. Students may also chose from a wide range of optional subjects, particularly at year 11 (form 5) to year 13 (form 7).

Achievement initiative.

Student achievement is always a key issue in the education community. Learners, their parents and caregivers, schools and the larger community may have different and particular approaches to the issue, but all are agreed that a prime goal of our education system is the best possible educational achievement for all students. Recognising the importance of educational achievement, the National Education Goals, which are deemed to be part of all state school's charters, include as goal one: ‘The highest standards of achievement, through programmes which enable all students to realise their full potential as individuals, and to develop the values needed to become full members of New Zealand's society’ and, as goal six, ‘Excellence achieved through the establishment of clear learning objectives, monitoring student performance against those objectives and programmes to meet individual need.’

Currently an important focus on student achievements is the Government's Achievement Initiative Policy which is being developed within the New Zealand Curriculum Framework. With this policy, the Government has made a strong commitment to further improving the levels of achievement in New Zealand schools, and to ensuring a clear sense of direction for all involved in schooling. It has three main elements:

  • The establishment of clear achievement standards for all levels of compulsory schooling, initially in English, mathematics, science, technology, te reo Maori, social studies and later in other subjects.

  • The development of national assessment procedures at key transition points, by which the learning progress of all students can be monitored in those subjects.

  • The allocation of resources to support learning needs—these needs may be those of underachieving students, or those of exceptional ability.

The policy acknowledges that:

  • Individuals learn at different rates, at different stages and in different ways.

  • Sound learning builds on the learner's current knowledge and previous experience.

  • Some students need extra help at stages of their schooling.

  • The prime role of classroom assessment is to improve learning.

  • Most school classes include learners with a range of achievement and needs.

  • Classroom teachers must be given professional freedom and trust to take into account the particular needs of their students.

Secondary school attainments

School Certificate.

The School Certificate examination is taken by most pupils at the end of three years of secondary education. With the exception of part-time students, each candidate's course of study must include English or te reo Maori, although the student is not required to sit the examination in these subjects. A candidate may enter the examination in any number of subjects up to six and is credited with a grade for each subject. There are five grades: A (highest), B, C, D, E.

SCHOOL QUALIFICATIONS Highest attainment of secondary school leavers

Sixth Form Certificate.

Sixth Form Certificate is awarded, on a single-subject basis, to pupils who have satisfactorily completed a course of one year beyond School Certificate level. Most students enter in five or six subjects. Grades are awarded on a 1 to 9 scale, grade 1 being the highest.

Higher School Certificate.

Higher School Certificate is awarded to students who have satisfactorily completed a five-year course of study at a secondary school. At least three-fifths of the course undertaken by the students must be at a level in advance of Sixth Form Certificate. It is also awarded to pupils who have obtained an A or B Bursary qualification from the University Bursaries Examination.

University Entrance, Bursaries and Scholarships Examination.

The University Entrance, Bursaries and Scholarships Examination, usually taken by secondary school pupils in Form 7 is conducted by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority. Students may qualify for entrance to university through their results in this examination. Results in this examination are also used in making supplementary awards for study at a university. Outstanding achievement in individual subjects is recognised by the award of subject scholarships. All round excellence leads to the award of top scholar certificates, a letter of congratulations from the Governor-General and a monetary prize.

National Qualifications Framework.

By 1997/98 senior secondary, industry and tertiary education will be brought together into the National Qualifications Framework. The strong demand for a single, co-ordinated qualifications Authority as a Crown agency specifically to carry out this task. National standards-setting groups have been established for most areas of skill and knowledge. Their task is to develop unit standards, package these into framework qualifications (National Certificates, National Diplomas or Degrees) and develop moderation plans to ensure consistent assessment.

Table 9.2. SCHOOL CERTIFICATE CANDIDATES*

New Zealand school candidatesExtra-mural candidatesPacific Island school candidatesTotal candidates
YearNumber enteredPercentage of totalNumber enteredPercentage of totalNumber enteredPercentage of total 

* Based on number of candidates sitting examinations.

Figures for extra-mural candidates not collected since 1991.

From 1991 Pacific Island figures include candidates from Niue and Cook Islands only.

Source: New Zealand Qualifications Authority.

198860,84391.83,1084.72,3123.566,263
198960,99392.92,7984.31,8812.965,452
199061,31990.12,4433.64,3206.368,082
1991†65,75899.5--298‡0.566,081
199266,09799.6--2770.466,374
199364,48999.5--3490.564,838

Table 9.3. NUMBER OF SUBJECTS TAKEN BY SIXTH FORM CERTIFICATE STUDENTS

Number of subjects taken
Year7654321
Source: New Zealand Qualifications Authority.
   percentage of total   
1989 18.745.211.66.96.511.1
1990 17.744.411.67.57.311.5
1991 17.142.212.38.18.112.2
1992 18.037.614.08.88.912.7
19930.118.834.814.98.98.813.6

Table 9.4. ATTENDANCE OF SECONDARY SCHOOL LEAVERS, 1993

NZ European/European/PakehaMaoriPacific IslandAsianOtherTotal by gender 
Years in attendanceMaleFemaleMaleFemaleMaleFemaleMaleFemaleMaleFemaleMaleFemaleGrand total

Source: Ministry of Education.

One998612485343311737271218489
Two2912122751801005715191436954711,166
Three2,3211,5721,0841,013448279825535343,9702,9536,923
Four5,4984,7161,4591,57158248119515264547,7986,97414,772
Five11,27611,5981,7131,81277184588179716618314,80715,23530,042
Six1,085770252202206120855943261,6711,1772,848
Total20,57018,9544,9074,8632,1411,8151,2691,08932530729,21227,02856,240

Table 9.5. ATTAINMENT BY ETHNICITY, 1993

NZ European/European/PakehaMaoriPacific IslandAsianOtherTotal by gender 
AttainmentMaleFemaleMaleFemaleMaleFemaleMaleFemaleMaleFemaleMaleFemaleGrand total

* One or more subjects irrespective of grade awarded.

Source: Ministry of Education.

University Bursary4,3314,9052492591148049446877555,2655,76711,032
Entrance qualification1,2251,3081031237590717125201,4991,6123,111
Higher School Cert2,6542,398439419260311195157505983,5983,3446,942
6th Form Certificate*5,9695,6361,1621,33355854924220561647,9927,78715,779
School Certificate* No formal3,8692,9131,1741,2355733651158532415,7634,63910,402
qualifications2,5221,7941,7801,49456142015210380685,0953,8798,974
Total20,57018,9544,9074,8632,1411,8151,2691,08932530729,21227,02856,240

Assessment for the school system.

The New Zealand Curriculum Framework sets out three kinds of assessment for the school system: school-based assessment which emphasises diagnostic formative assessment to improve teaching and learning; transition point assessment at school entry, at the beginning of form 1 and the beginning of form 3 using nationally developed assessment resources; and national monitoring through the assessment of nationally representative samples of students at ages eight and 12, on a rolling four-year cycle to identify national achievement trends over time to identify learning needs.

Establishments

Educational institutions.

sets out the number of educational institutions providing education in the pre-school, primary, primary and secondary, secondary and tertiary areas at the primary and intermediate (forms 1 and 2) level. The reduction in the number of state primary schools as indicated in this table can be attributed to the closure of a number of schools where rolls had fallen below nine pupils.

SIXTH FORM SUBJECT Percent of females and males enrolled

Table 9.6. NUMBERS OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

Type of institution1990199119921993

* Includes one YWCA mobile kindergarten and eight free kindergarten association mobiles.

Includes seven health camps and two hospital schools—students attending these institutions have been counted with their regular schools in other tables.

Figures include 20 form 3–7 schools with attached intermediates.

Source: Ministry of Education

Licensed early childhood services    
Childcare centres662741852970
Home-based services40537288
Kindergartens*575578582582
Playcentres621606578577
Te kohanga reo616630719809
Registered and provisionally registered schools    
Primary    
State full primary schools1,0991,1121,1521,176
State contributing primary schools1,008999954928
State intermediate schools148148148147
Private primary and intermediate87828678
Special    
State special schools†44434141
State-funded special schools (Other Vote: Education)5554
Private special schools5554
Composite    
Correspondence1111
Area schools37383940
Private schools28283242
Secondary    
State form 3–7 schools‡259259261261
State form 1–7 schools55565758
Private secondary schools (form 1–7 and form 3–7)20202120
Tertiary    
Polytechnics25252525
Colleges of education6555
Universities7777

Table 9.7. STUDENT NUMBERS 1983 AND 1993 AS AT 1 JULY

Type of institution19831993

* Playcentre figures for 1983 do not include children under two and a half. Preschool classes at primary school were disestablished at Jan 1993—for comparison purposes they are under licensed childcare.

Data collected from schools in 1993 includes both full-time and part-time students.

Source: Ministry of Education

Licensed early childhood services*  
Correspondence School495783
Home-based services...4,907
Te kohanga reo4,13214,514
Playcentres16,17021,540
Licensed childcare centres25,70745,158
Kindergartens40,34046,030
      Subtotal86,844132,932
Schools  
Primary education (J1-form 2)  
State primary372,042337,456
State intermediate77,73355,567
State area6,3486,819
State forms 1–77,4217,175
State forms 3–7 (attached intermediate)...2,350
State correspondence1,3831,157
Private schools10,67012,986
      Subtotal475,597423,510
Secondary education (form 3–7)  
State forms 3–7201,685183,566
State area2,9173,339
State forms 1–713,94815,287
State forms 3–7 (attached intermediate)...7,888
State correspondence8852,423
Private schools10,63511,284
      Subtotal230,070223,787
Special education  
State schools attached classes...4,048
State special schools6141,834
Private special schools...78
Other vote: education special schools550208
      Subtotal1,1646,168
Foreign fee-paying students  
State schools...1,654
Private schools...267
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Scholarship students  
State schools...423
Private schools...7
Adults in regular classes  
State schools...10,736
Private schools...8
       Total schools706,831666,560
Homeschooling...3,141
Post-compulsory  
Polytechnics  
Full-time7,95634,051
Part-time67,48354,376
      Subtotal75,43988,427
Colleges of education  
Full-time3,5045,839
Part-time...5,033
      Subtotal3,50410,872
Universities  
Full-time33,14459,270
Part-time23,36938,565
      Subtotal56,51397,835
Government funded private training establishments  
Full-time...880
Part-time...121
      Subtotal...1,001
      Total post compulsory135,456198,135

Maori pupils.

In July 1993 there were 37,637 Maori pupils receiving secondary education. This number comprised 18,728 male pupils and 18,909 female pupils. These figures, and further breakdowns (see and ), are used in the analysis of the differences in school retention rates and levels of education attained between Maori and non-Maori, and the ratio of Maori males to Maori females staying on at school.

Consolidation of primary and secondary schools.

In order to provide children in rural districts with improved opportunities in schools with special facilities and more specialised teaching in larger schools, the consolidation of smaller rural schools has been a feature of the last 30 years.

Education Development Initiative.

The Education Development Initiative (EDI) enables people to look at how education is being delivered in schools in their locality. They can then enhance educational opportunities for students by looking at how education is being delivered and making better use of existing school resources. EDI involves three basic aims, to: strengthen the curriculum for students in each school; reflect the preferences of a local community; and achieve agreed changes within existing resources. Twenty-four school communities around New Zealand have reshaped the school structures in their district using EDI.

EDUCATION: 1875–1993
 Early childhood educationPrimarySecondaryUniversity studentsPolytechnic studentsCollege of education students
Year*schoolsstudentsschoolsstudentsschoolsstudents   

* Year ending 31 December until 1925; thereafter 1 July.

Early childhood figures only include playcentres and kindergarten until 1990, when they also include childcare, kohanga reo and Pacific Island language groups.

Primary includes all children attending primary and intermediate level classes.

§ Prior to 1990 polytechnic figures included all students attending polytechnic; for 1990 they include only those attending on 31 July.

 no(000)no(000)no(000)   
1875  83054.24    
1880  117195.2141.6211  
1885  1363116.5242.6442  
1890  1566134.1222.1596  
1895  1831145.8242.5742  
1900  2157149.4866.9805  
1905  2192158.1866.91153 211
1910  2508179.6949.11862 380
1915  2765210.812911.52039 390
1920  2777225.313115.43822 680
1925  2995247.318123.24442 1271
1930  3045252.620931.04801 1155
1935  2950232.321631.95101 429
1940  2656243.323436.15528 1457
1945  2874252.524846.98425 1431
1950  2377304.626953.711515 2684
1955  2423365.431380.810851 2847
1960  2517425.0354111.41580976633828
1965 27.82594472.9376157.922145290744790
1970 41.12595516.7386186.831908432047587
1975109854.82543525.3392219.735499560988004
1980120856.92556507.9396226.343933730675919
1985134060.72386452.4373230.959123760542703
19902832123.42455420.4326230.27891956771§5766
19933026132.92329423.5339223.8978358842710872

Private schools.

These schools comply with standards of accommodation, staffing, equipment and curriculum, as a prerequisite for registration. Some financial assistance is provided by the state towards the running costs and teachers salaries. The Private Schools Conditional Integration Act 1975 has allowed for the voluntary integration of private schools into the state system, and this has happened progressively.

Private schools are subject to the provisions for registration and review contained within the Education Act 1989. Integrated schools operate under the same system of control and management as state primary and secondary schools apart from the fact that the proprietor owns the land and buildings. Non-integrated private schools are controlled by boards of governors or committees of trustees.

Correspondence School.

This is a national school administered by an elected board of trustees composed of parents, community representatives, school representatives and a student. It provides courses for four major categories of students: early childhood and full-time students obtaining all their education through the school; students enrolled in New Zealand primary or secondary schools but doing one or more subjects with the Correspondence School; and adult part-time students who wish to continue their basic education.

Building aircraft at Rangi Ruru Girls’ High School.

The school roll on 1 July 1994 was made up of 802 early childhood; 1,303 primary; 949 special education; 1,749 secondary full-time students; 7,157 part-time adult students; and 8,804 pupils from other secondary schools studying some subjects by correspondence.

Possum project for science fair, Wellington.

The full-time secondary students were enrolled for a variety of reasons such as isolation, medical reasons, New Zealand children living overseas, pregnancy, living in institutions, school suspensions, school phobia and other psychological problems, and adult full-time, itinerancy and students who are also enrolled at other secondary schools. For full-time correspondence school students the school provides daily lessons in print, tape and video. Regular radio broadcasts, club activities, a school magazine and parent and ex-pupil associations extend the school's work. Information technologies are being used extensively for administration and resource development and a range of educational applications.

Personal contact between students and the school is strengthened by regional representatives based in major centres who visit families regularly. Visits are also made by teachers from the school. At the district level, school-day and school-week gatherings are held periodically. A residential school for invited pupils from forms 1 to 4 is held each year to provide children with an opportunity for social education through taking part in group activities.

The total full-time teacher equivalent positions of the Correspondence School for 1994 were 310 secondary teacher positions, 95 primary teacher positions, 17 early childhood teacher positions and 113 support staff.

Table 9.8. TEACHING POSITIONS

Type of institution199119921993

* Playcentre staffing is an estimate only.

State special figures include staff at Other Vote: Education special schools.

Source: Ministry of Education.

Early childhood   
Playcentres*2272671,600
Kindergartens1,5451,511217
Licensed childcare......4,497
Home-based......114
Primary   
State20,16619,64719,300
Private419434430
Composite   
State684684729
Private696719788
Correspondence School...371373
Secondary   
State14,62014,60914,463
Private515514483
Special Schools   
State†615568563
Private†201815
Tertiary   
Polytechnics4,4534,9145,092
Colleges of education575598642
Universities3,7683,8604,088

Teacher-pupil ratios.

The ratios shown in have been calculated using the grading roll of a school divided by the staffing entitlement (measured in full-time teacher equivalents).

Table 9.9. TEACHER-PUPIL RATIOS IN STATE SCHOOLS

 PrimaryCompositeSecondary
YearAll teachersClassroom ratioAll teachersClassroom ratioAll teachersClassroom ratio

Source: Ministry of Education.

199119.7624.3913.6916.2615.7117.95
199219.8524.8714.0617.1215.8518.11
199320.1025.4713.5316.8615.7417.94

Projected student numbers.

The table below gives actual 1 July rolls and projected rolls for the period 1994 to 1996.

Table 9.1. STUDENT NUMBERS

YearPrimarySecondary

* Projected (1993 base) as at 1 July (primary) and 1 March (secondary).

Source: Ministry of Education.

1991416,100233,840
1992417,400236,480
1993423,500232,120
1994*430,600229,000
1995*440,500228,920
1996*451,700229,530
1997*463,100230,470

School boarding and course bursaries.

The value of school boarding and course bursaries was increased to $1,990 as from the beginning term three 1994.

School transport.

During the year ended 30 June 1994, 110,000 pupils received school transport assistance daily.

Approximately 2,200 school bus services carried 100,000 students to and from school each day. In addition, some 5,000 special needs pupils received assistance in the form of taxi or bus services. Transport allowances were paid to the remaining 5,000 students.

Special education

Boards of trustees govern special schools and special education classes in regular schools and in hospitals. Special education services are available for children in regular schools, although the option of enrolling children in special facilities, is retained as a choice for parents. As resources permit, buildings are modified, special equipment is provided and additional staff appointed to assist teachers.

The Special Education Service, a Crown entity, is funded by the Government to provide advice, guidance and support for the benefit of people under the age of 21. The staff of the Special Education Service provide a range of special education services to schools and early childhood services, children and their families.

Residential special schools provide teaching and other services to meet the needs of some children with sensory disabilities. There are other residential special schools which provide programmes for children with severe learning, behavioural and/or emotional needs. There are also day special schools in some locations which provide for students with intellectual or physical disabilities. As well there are schools in health camps, some hospitals and some welfare institutions. A significant number of special education classes and units which meet a range of special education needs are attached to regular schools.

In 1994 there were 58 residential or day special schools. In addition there were 787.7 special education teachers working either with special education classes and units or providing a range of support to children with special education needs enrolled in regular classes.

School certificate art folios being scrutinised by art exam moderators.

Teacher training

There are five colleges of education offering courses in teacher training. They are situated in Auckland, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. The School of Education at the University of Waikato also offers teacher training.

Teacher training in early childhood education and Maori language is also offered by other tertiary providers.

Early childhood workers and teachers.

Three-year training programmes for early childhood workers and teachers are operated at each of the colleges of education. The Advanced Studies for Teachers Unit at Palmerston North College of Education and Massey University offer advanced courses for all early childhood education workers and teachers.

Primary teacher training.

The normal course of training for primary teacher trainees (division A) is a period of three years at a college of education, 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.

Approximately 80 percent of primary teacher trainees undertake university degree study. Conjoint programmes are offered at all institutions.

Special education training.

Students who wish to become speech/language therapists enrol for a four-year Bachelor of Education (Speech-Language Therapy) degree at the University of Canterbury.

Postgraduate courses for teachers who wish to be trained as teachers of people with disabilities are available at Auckland, Palmerston North, Wellington and Christchurch. Specialist postgraduate training courses for teachers of the deaf and visually impaired are located at Auckland and Christchurch.

There is also a postgraduate course for bilingual (Maori/English) teachers available at the School of Education at the University of Waikato.

Secondary teacher training.

Two options are available to people who wish to train as secondary teachers. For graduates and those with other approved advanced qualifications there is a one-year (division C) course. People with University Entrance or acceptable Sixth Form Certificate may be accepted into division B which involves up to four years consecutive or concurrent study. All colleges of education provide both division B and C courses.

Table 9.11. TEACHER TRAINEES AT 31 JULY 1993

 Pre-service teacher trainees
 Early childhoodPrimarySecondary
InstitutionMFTotalMFTotalMFTotal

Source: Ministry of Education.

Auckland College of Education122842962841,0521,336136209339
Waikato University School of Education41811851455577023876114
Palmerston North College of Education5156161167546713193352
Wellington College of Education9283292175563738112334
Christchurch College of Education6145151109498607124190314
Dunedin College of Education7135142123435558152641
      Total students431,1841,2271,0033,6514,654337557894

Continuing education for teachers.

A wide range of professional education papers is offered to teachers. The majority of the papers are intended to provide credits towards diploma qualifications and service increments for certified teachers.

The Advanced Studies for Teachers Unit at Palmerston North College of Education caters for the continuing education of teachers and other adult learners through distance education. It is a teaching department within the college, with a core of permanent professional tutorial and administrative staff. College of education staff throughout New Zealand act as part-time tutors for these courses.

Colleges of education offer a range of approved after-hours advanced study courses for teachers who wish to advance their professional qualifications.

Resources for teaching

Rural education activities programmes (REAPs).

The Rural Education Activities Programme is a community managed and co-ordinated package of education resources based in the rural communities of the Far North, Eastern Bay of Plenty, East Coast, Central Plateau, Central King Country, Ruapehu, Southern Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa, Marlborough, Buller, Westland, Central Otago and Southland. Each REAP has received a professional staffing allocation, including components from a range of education services: early childhood, visiting teacher, liaison time for teachers in schools, advisory time, rural staffing, outdoor education organiser and community education organiser.

The purpose of the REAP is to provide support and assistance of a supplementary and complementary educational nature for all sectors of the defined rural community, across early childhood, primary, secondary and continuing education, which will enhance, promote and provide lifelong learning opportunities, community development and personal development in a manner that is equitable, appropriate, effective and efficient.

From 1 January 1991 the REAPs were bulk funded on the basis of base funding and a per capita amount. Each REAP is an incorporated society. Management committees are locally elected and appointed and will govern and manage the REAP.

Reading recovery.

The Reading Recovery Programme is an early intervention programme which provides intensive individual help to any child who is falling behind in reading and writing after one year at school. During 1993, 14,323 children took part in the programme. Seventy-one percent of state schools provide reading recovery. Twenty-seven percent of six year olds were in a reading recovery programme.

Resource teachers of reading.

These 68 specialist teachers attached to schools throughout New Zealand provide long-term assistance for children with serious reading difficulties.

Information studies and teacher librarianship.

A three year part time information studies and teacher librarianship programme is being offered through the six colleges of education. Trained teacher librarians work with other teachers in all subject areas to develop students who are confident, independent learners, capable of using a wide range of information skills and resources. They are also responsible for the management of the school's library resource centre.

Other advisory services.

Primary and secondary advisers are employed on a full or part-time basis by colleges of education in Auckland, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin and the School of Education at the University of Waikato. They provide advice and guidance to schools and run professional development programmes for teachers throughout the country. Particular emphasis is given to assisting schools to reach their local and curriculum charter objectives within the context of the National Educational Guidelines and the National Administration Guidelines.

Both the Early Childhood Development Unit and the Special Education Service provide specialist assistance and advice.

Source: Ministry of Education.

9.3 Post-compulsory education and training

Universities

There are seven universities in New Zealand. They are the University of Auckland, the University of Waikato, Massey University, Victoria University of Wellington, the University of Canterbury, Lincoln University and the University of Otago.

All universities offer courses in the usual faculties of arts, science, and commerce, while law and music courses are available at Auckland, Waikato, Victoria, Canterbury, and Otago. Most universities specialise in certain fields. The University of Otago provides courses in medicine, dentistry, physical education, pharmacy and surveying; the University of Canterbury in forestry, engineering and fine arts; Lincoln University in topics related to agriculture and horticulture; the University of Auckland in architecture, 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 wide range of subjects throughout New Zealand. Conjoint programmes leading to the Bachelor of Education degree and Diploma of Teaching are available at several universities in association with local colleges of education.

Each university sets its own programmes, and each university council sets the dates for terms or semesters. All matters relating to management are the responsibility of the council of the institution, which represents the interests of staff, students and community. The council is also responsible for approving course regulations and for maintaining the equivalences of courses for degrees and other qualifications.

Table 9.12. ENROLMENTS AT UNIVERSITIES 1993

CourseMaleFemaleTotal

Source: Ministry of Education.

Postgraduate degrees, diplomas, certificates and other programmes—   
Doctorate1,0837101,793
Masters3,5213,1626,683
Bachelors with honours1,0951,0912,186
Postgraduate diplomas3,2563,4366,692
Postgraduate certificate52281333
      Subtotal9,0078,68017,687
Undergraduate degrees, diplomas, certificates, and other programmes—   
Bachelor degrees35,38240,11975,501
Undergraduate diplomas2,4412,4464,887
Undergraduate certificates2,5943,7376,331
Institution-awarded certificates5486761,224
      Subtotal40,96546,97887,943
Adjustment for multiple enrolments3,5084,2877,795
Total enrolments46,46451,37197,835

Table 9.13. DEGREES AWARDED, 1993

 DoctorateMastersBachelors honours (postgraduate)Diploma (postgraduate)Certificate Postgraduate
ProgrammeMaleFemaleMaleFemaleMaleFemaleMaleFemaleMaleFemale

Source: Ministry of Education.

General programmes------5656--
Education1-3568--61135--
Art, music and handcrafts1-4935915--
Humanities1591472561672344363--
Religion and theology-2--3141--
Social, behavioural and communication skills17123343-948130623
Commercial and business7173434733319523614311176
Law--2219877833--
Natural and applied sciences8027272041282071044940-
Mathematics21----146--
Computing7-21--121--
Medical and health161120135889111--
Industrial trades and crafts------21--
Engineering2526912--263--
Architectural, town planning and resource planning2-7188-1--
Agriculture, forestry and fishing623412262710339--
Transport and communication----------
Service trades----------
Mass communication-----2671 --
Sport and recreation----7212--
Other courses------125--
Not stated108--------
      Total189751,31190984667179482611799
Less multiple completions1-4229645435332-
      Total graduates188751,26988078261775979311599
 BachelorsDiploma (undergraduate)Certificate PostgraduateTotalGrand Total
ProgrammeMaleFemaleMaleFemaleMaleFemaleMaleFemale 
General programmes----125758115
Education95421562624512529371,189
Arts, music and handcrafts6696----83125208
Humanities1,1262,173--23741,5212,8094,330
Religion and theology2614---2332053
Social, behavioural and communication skills1252652-2461255543798
Commercial and business1,08670815711354282,7181,6114,329
Law237251--1771965265471,073
Natural and applied sciences1,038737----1,5781,0362,614
Mathematics------16723
Computing367----57966
Medical and health28323910141124434420854
Industrial trades and crafts------213
Engineering41747--1-53864602
Architectural, town planning and resource planning16584----18294276
Agriculture, forestry and fishing171111142262112503229732
Transport and communication41----415
Service trades--39--3912
Mass communication--1---277198
Sport and recreation3853-1435061111
Other courses----54686673139
Not stated------10818
      Total4,9135,2073714253745218,9158,73317,648
Less multiple completions1319818334454337301638
      Total graduates4,7825,1093533923304678,5788,43217,010

MOST POPULAR UNIVERSITY PROGRAMMES, 1993

Source: Ministry of Education.

Table 9.14. ASSISTED OVERSEAS STUDENTS AT NEW ZEALAND UNIVERSITIES, 1993

Form of assistanceTotal

* Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Grant parented—overseas students enrolled prior to 1989 are treated the same as New Zealand students until their term of study is completed.

Source: Ministry of Education.

MFAT* Full scholarship416
MFAT* Fees scholarship492
Full-fee paying1,450
Exchange scheme108
Transition—grant parented†84
Postgraduate Research32
Not stated53
Treated as New Zealand student559
Total3,194

Table 9.15. UNIVERSITY STAFF, 1993*

 Full-timePart-timeTotal
PositionMaleFemaleMaleFemale

*As at 31 July.

Source: Ministry of Education.

Academic staff—     
Vice-Chancellor1611119
Professor36820402430
Associate professor4003035103571
Senior lecturer1,181234293911,799
Lecturer752476751511,454
Assistant lecturer86981526342
Teaching fellow151373671
Other academic staff151227-54
      Total academic staff2,8338876303904,740
Support staff—     
Management6418--82
General clerical3691,406404922,307
Technical76830620971,209
Library8429252205633
Computer196491811274
Community, liaison and welfare4745826126
Medical1046828
Early childhood-24-1437
Trades23827118284
Grounds keeping6881-77
Caretaking, cleaning and security1163739271463
      Total support staff1,9782,2151851,1425,520
      Total staff4,8113,1028151,53210,260

Table 9.16. UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

 Internal students External studentsTotal
YearMalesFemalesMalesFemales 
Source: Ministry of Education.
198829,18827,7425,9299,45472,313
198932,04430,8316,3889,96079,223
199032,86132,4335,5458,08078,919
199136,14836,2336,3039,28987,973
199237,77638,5446,71910,14393,182
199339,58341,1386,88110,23397,835

Student support

The reformed Student Allowances Scheme, introduced in 1992, provides a range of allowances for tertiary students 16 years and over, and secondary students aged 18 years and over on 1 January of the year they are attending secondary school.

For single students the rate of allowance is dependent on the student's age, parental income (if student is under 25 years old) and whether or not the student lives at home. There are also separate rates for students with a dependant spouse and/or dependant children, those with an earning spouse, and those married to another student.

In addition, there are two separate provisions allowing for students under 25 years to apply for an allowance without being tested on the taxable income of both parents. These are:

  • The provision for only one parent's income to be tested to determine entitlement to a targeted benefit.

  • The independent circumstances allowance, where the student can be considered independent of both parents and receive the maximum targeted allowance.

Single students receiving a targeted student allowance and living away from their parental home, some married students, and those receiving a ‘with dependents’ rate of allowance may also qualify for an accommodation benefit, if they are receiving a targeted student allowance.

Rates of allowances may change annually and may be subject to review. The Ministry of Education annually updates the Student Allowances Information Booklet which is available from the Student Allowances Officers at each polytechnic, college of education, and university, and from the Student Loans and Allowances Division, Ministry of Education, National Office.

Student Allowances Officers at each tertiary institution are also available to assist students and potential students with enquiries relating to student allowances.

Table 9.17. STUDENT ALLOWANCE CLIENTS AT 31 JULY 1993

Allowance typeSecondary schoolsPolytechnicsColleges of educationUniversitiesPrivate institutionsTotal
Source: Ministry of Education.
16-24 years old away from home1985,4011,19711,33334218,471
16-24 years old at home6444,5214484,87216810,653
25+ away from home522,2934273,1112566,139
25+ at home93546139425843
Accommodation benefit32410,2952,15417,66691231,342
Couple allowance935152758631,233
Students with dependants221,0792508491582,358
Independent circumstances761,1452041,576903,091
Earning spouse away-5418674143
Earning spouse at home19850404768452,086
      Total allowances1,35326,3435,20641,3942,06376,359
Adjustment for more than one allowance32410,2952,14517,66691231,342
      Total students1,02916,0483,06123,7281,15145,017

BACHELOR DEGREES AWARDED

Percentage, 1993

TERTIARY ATTENDANCE, 1993

Polytechnics

Over recent decades vocational education and training has moved away from the secondary to the continuing education sector, with training formerly provided by technical high schools now provided for by polytechnics. Polytechnics provide a diverse range of vocational and professional programmes and cover an increasing number of subjects at various levels of specialisation.

There are 25 polytechnics in New Zealand. They are Northland Polytechnic, Unitec-Institute of Technology, Auckland Institute of Technology, Manukau Polytechnic, Waikato Polytechnic, Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, Waiariki Polytechnic, Tairawhiti Polytechnic, Hawke's Bay Polytechnic, Wairarapa Community Polytechnic, Taranaki Polytechnic, Wanganui Regional Polytechnic, Manawatu Polytechnic, Whitireia Polytechnic, Central Institute of Technology, The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand, Hutt Valley Polytechnic, Wellington Polytechnic, Nelson Polytechnic, Tai Poutini Polytechnic, Christchurch Polytechnic, Aoraki Polytechnic, Otago Polytechnic, Telford Polytechnic and Southland Polytechnic.

Polytechnics are controlled by their own councils. Members of polytechnic councils represent business, industry, local authorities, universities, women's and ethnic groups, as well as education and community interests.

The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand.

This is one of New Zealand's largest education providers with 550 staff educating 30,000 students every year. Nearly 75 percent of these students are in paid employment and are taking advantage of the flexibility that distance education and open learning provides.

The Open Polytechnic offers over 600 courses and programmes ranging from certificate to degree level and beyond. Three faculties (Commerce, Human Sciences and Physical Sciences and Technology) are based at its Lower Hutt campus. Students can enrol for most Open Polytechnic courses at any time of the year.

While printed material is still the main learning resource, audio and video cassettes, CD Rom audio graphics and home laboratory kits are increasingly included in the material sent to students. Full library and research services are also available by correspondence. Teaching modes used by the Open Polytechnic students include teleconferencing, face-to-face seminars, computer networking, workplace training packages, study groups, block courses and now video conferencing and fully equipped regional resource centres. All students have one-to-one access to their tutors through the use of toll-free telephone lines.

The Open Polytechnic is recognised internationally as a leader in open learning. Open learning provides maximum flexibility for students when it comes to choosing how, when, where and at what pace they want to learn. Numerous educators from overseas regularly visit the Open Polytechnic to review the latest techniques in distance education. The Open Polytechnic has established several longstanding co-operative relationships with overseas institutions, and an increasing number of foreign students are taking advantage of a New Zealand tertiary education through the Open Polytechnic.

The design and production of courses, training programmes and workplace assessment training for industry is an important part of Open Polytechnic stand-alone consultancy services. Innovation and excellence in education are seen in the core generic course content, staircasing of qualifications, fully standard based assessment and extensive industry involvement.

Central Institute of Technology.

Over 5,000 students a year come to the Central Institute of Technology (CIT) from all over New Zealand to study the wide range of courses offered. Most courses fall into the areas of health and science, management or engineering, including many unique courses such as dental technology, podiatry, computer and software engineering, interior design, medical radiation therapy and embalming and funeral directing. An international flavour is added to the campus by CITEC Training Solutions, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CIT that manages training programmes for overseas students, some coming from as far away as Hong Kong, Switzerland and Pakistan.

Percent in selected programmes 1993

Source: Ministry of Education.

A variety of qualifications are offered including bachelor degrees, diplomas, awards, certificates and New Zealand certificates. Studies can take from a few weeks to four years full-time study. Most courses are available to school leavers, although some educational prerequisites are required for some courses. Experienced professional people can acquire new skills at intensive short courses and seminars, and people seeking ‘second chance’ education can enrol in foundation or ‘bridging’ courses leading to either employment or further study.

The campus is located at Heretaunga in Upper Hutt.

Authority for Advanced Vocational Awards and Trades Certification Board examinations.

The New Zealand Qualifications Authority has responsibility for Trades Certification and Advanced Vocational Awards, including the curriculum and examination of all three-stage technician certificates, five-stage New Zealand Certificate Courses and the examination of candidates sitting trade certificate or advanced trade certificate qualifications. The New Zealand Diploma offers an advanced qualification for students who have completed a New Zealand Certificate in the same, or a related, area.

Technician courses

—Both the five-year New Zealand Certificate and the three-year Technicians’ certificate are offered in a variety of vocational areas. New Zealand Certificate courses are part-time and require regular study at day-release and evening classes or intermittent periods of full-time study block courses.

Most subjects may be studied through the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand. Students may also study selected New Zealand certificate courses full time at a polytechnic. All New Zealand certificates require students to complete not less than three years of suitable work experience.

Trade courses

—Training for trade qualifications accounts for a significant percentage of the work of polytechnics. The New Zealand Qualifications Authority has approved a wide range of trade courses and prescriptions under which assessment, examination and certification are conducted. Education and training requirements for the various trades are listed in the respective prescriptions. They specify a mix of theory and practical training, to be obtained through education providers and through on-job experience. The completion of prescribed requirements leads to issue of Trade Certificate and Advanced Trade Certificate qualifications.

Table 9.18. TECHNICIAN, TRADE AND INDUSTRIAL PRACTICE CERTIFICATES ISSUED

Industrial practice
Year ended JuneNZ DiplomaTechnicians certificates three-stageNZ certificates five-stage course finalTrade certificatesAdvanced trade certificatesIndustrial practiceTypingShorthandIntermediateBasic

*Includes typing and shorthand.

Source: NZ Qualifications Authority.

1988..3724552,8909801,6772,18960....
1989..3489053,1859434,536 5,202....
1990..755612,7831,0425,7314,528217....
1991161041,3722,507633......4,5215,150
19926526602,358608......4,556*5,254
19935284721,974417......4,8035,482

Other courses.

In addition to the national trade and technician courses, there is a large number of important courses such as national certificate, national diploma and polytechnic diploma courses. These have been developed nationally to meet vocational needs. These include courses in business studies, electronic data processing, journalism, and industrial and commercial design and crafts. In addition, instruction is given on the separate examination syllabuses for independent organisations such as the New Zealand Society of Accountants, the New Zealand Institute of Management, and the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand. A wide range of vocational courses has also been organised regionally to meet local demands. Many full-time polytechnic students take a three-year full time nursing course.

Skill New Zealand.

Skill New Zealand is a strategy designed to raise the skill levels of all New Zealanders. It revolves around two key components—the Government's Industry Skills Training Strategy and elements of the new National Qualifications Framework. The Industry Skills Training Strategy is designed to:

  • Increase the number of skills and occupations covered by industry-wide training systems.

  • Broaden the range of people who have access to recognised training.

  • Make training more responsive to industry needs.

  • Link training to the National Qualifications Framework.

  • Build and foster a training culture throughout New Zealand.

The National Qualifications Framework is an integral part of post-compulsory education and training policies. It spans general, vocational and industry-based education and training across the post-compulsory sector. The framework made up of eight levels, with levels 1–4 comprising the new National Certificate and Levels 5–7 the new National Diploma. Initial degrees are at Level 7, and post-graduate degrees and diplomas at Level 8 of the Framework.

Table 9.2. ENROLMENTS AT POLYTECHNICS, 1993

CoursePost-graduate diplomasPost-graduate CertificateBachelorsNational/NZ diplomaLocal polytechnic diplomaNational certificateAdvanced National certificateTrade certificateAdvanced trade certificateNZ CertificateLocal poly- technic certificateFoundationOtherTotal

Source: Ministry of Education.

General programmes--11-------106-104221
Literacy----------76423351,101
Education---227710----1,156-92,061
Art, music and handcrafts--443451,28055----1,403174143,414
Humanities--59-203-----2,481--2,743
Social behavioural and communication skills--89-306919-50-323,907285405,628
Commerce and business studies-631,1151,34728719,88657323705074,89516721929,152
Law related-----713----37--750
Natural and applied sciences--157228357---701511363-1894
Mathematics and computing22----4049--961,074143231,771
Medical science and health42-921114,02638---21948972056,309
Industrial trades and crafts---1,4902991,3312545,721975203,5501,32951215,481
Engineering--6111158227-28311317775-531,896
Architectural and town planning---104142335---5,384322--6,287 
Agriculture forestry and fishery---86640-931356813,11822125,525 
Transport and communication---66-468---67408-3921,401
Service trades----246928601,9405644,197167397,637
Mass communication--308233------37130-942
Sport and recreation--2-23070----80834521,196
General pre-employment----------4812747222
Other programme----------20043-243
      Total64633,1663,3518,11626,1758968,9481,1477,83031,0792,9832,05695,874

Transition education

Schools, polytechnics and community providers play important roles in providing transition education and training.

Schools funding is currently supplemented by tagged funding additional to entitlement to encourage schools to both maintain alternative programmes leading back to the mainstream, and to encourage the integration of transition skills development across the curriculum. Polytechnics provide substantial and numerous transition programmes to assist people to move into higher level education and training courses.

Schools, polytechnics and community providers are all involved in the Link Programme, which allows secondary students to undergo specialised vocational education and training or to experience the tertiary education sector, while continue their secondary study. The Careers Service has responsibility for the co-ordination and administration of Link, as part of its statutory role in the promotion and facilitation of career development and transition education programmes. The administration of Link is one of the outputs in the document of accountability as are the Manaaki Programmes which seek to increase Maori participation in senior secondary and tertiary education. Decisions on the Link courses to be purchased are made by 22 Link Advisory Committees which represent school interests. There is over 50 percent female participation in these courses.

Continuing education

National Resource Centre for Adult Education and Community Learning.

In 1990 the resource centre was established to: promote and assist the adult education needs of the community; collect and distribute information resources; act as a network centre for people and groups involved in adult and community learning; set up and monitor research projects; and accommodate national community learning organisations. This centre is funded by a grant from the Ministry of Education.

Community Learning Aotearoa New Zealand (CLANZ).

This committee gives recommendations on the dispersal of grants to community groups for non-formal adult learning projects.

University Continuing Education.

All seven universities have centres for continuing education.

A typical university education centre has a director-in-charge and a staff of lecturers in a range of academic disciplines. The courses are conducted by various methods—lecture courses, study conferences, seminars, schools of varying lengths (both residential and non-residential), and correspondence courses. Most universities continue to offer the general public substantial continuing education programmes in the liberal studies area. There has been, however, a significant increase in programmes designed for specialist groups, especially occupational. Some of these are national in scope.

School community education programme.

School community education programmes provide educational opportunities for adults within the school community. The programme is developed by a programme co-ordinator with a sub-committee of the school board of trustees to meet the community's defined needs. Schools receive an allocation of tutor hours and associated staffing allowances. Fifteen percent of the allocated hours must be available for use by local community groups and all courses are required to fall under one of the following headings: adult basic education, training for volunteer community workers, parent education, personal development, or specific community need. Courses that do not fall under these categories can be offered on a self-funded basis. In 1994, 256 schools received an allocation of community education tutor hours.

In July 1993 there were 1,166 full-time adult students and 9,578 part-time adult students attending day classes at secondary schools. This is in addition to the community education programmes in schools which had 49,782 enrolments.

Polytechnics also provide a range of community education courses and programmes for adults both on-campus and through out-posts established to give students in smaller centres the opportunity of participating in some form of tertiary education. Enrolments in general and community education courses in polytechnics reached 27,237 in 1993.

Distance education.

The main agencies in the field of distance education are the Correspondence School (with 20,764 students enrolled at 1 July 1994), the extramural studies department of Massey University (with 15,903 students enrolled in 1993), and the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand (with 25,628 students enrolled at 31 August 1994).

Organisations contributing to non-formal and 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, Adult Reading and Learning Assistance and Te Ataarangi have community education as their primary purpose.

Dominion Looking at cell division.

9.4 Maori education

Research continues to show that educational achievement among Maori is low. While Maori achievement has increased across the New Zealand education system in recent years, it has not kept pace with that of other groups.

The Government is focusing on a number of important issues to promote and stimulate growth in Maori education. Development of Maori language immersion education is being pursued through three significant areas:

  • Support for the recovery of te reo Maori as a living language.

  • Greater participation by Maori parents in education.

  • The relative merits of mainstream education and alternative structures on addressing Maori educational needs.

Increased demand for Maori immersion education has progressed from the early childhood sector to the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors as a result of the increase in Maori language immersion programmes. The exploration of alternative educational achievement among Maori has occurred in an environment which encourages a diversity of educational provision. Alternative programmes are being looked at and trialed, and iwi (tribes) are being assisted to develop their own education plans.

Early childhood education

Since 1983 the number of Maori children enrolled in early childhood education has more than double from 12,516 to 28.503. In 1993 Maori enrolments in early childhood education increased at a faster rate (17 percent) than total enrolments.

In nga kohanga reo the Maori language is the medium of learning and instruction. Kohanga reo are unique in that they are the only childhood education service in New Zealand where Maori make up the majority of the children and have grown rapidly since the early 1980s. They are now the single-most popular form of early childhood education for Maori families and in 1993, 49 percent of all Maori children in early childhood education were enrolled in kohanga reo. Kindergartens are currently the second largest providers of early childhood education to Maori children, catering for some 6,400 Maori children, followed by childcare centres (4,201), play centres (1,774) and other funded playgroups (811).

Kura Kaupapa Maori

Maori medium education in schools is rapidly expanding. In 1990 there were six officially designated kura kaupapa Maori (Maori medium schools) catering for 190 students, while in the beginning of 1994 there were 28 schooling 1,667 students. In 1993,335 schools other then kura kaupapa Maori were offering some form of Maori medium education. These schools catered for 17,996 Maori students or almost 14 percent of total Maori enrolments. In 115 of these 335 schools, the language of instruction is Maori for 80 percent of the class time. However, for both primary and secondary classes, the most common degree of immersion was in the 30 to 50 percent range.

Maori enrolments at the senior secondary school level have been steadily increasing over the last 10 years. A relatively high, and increasing, proportion of Maori are in their second year fifth form. Maori have also made up an increasing proportion of senior secondary school students in recent years, especially in form 7. This increase may be due in part to both changes in the classification of sixth and seventh form students and the raising of the school leaving age.

Procession of Maori graduates, University of Canterbury.

Tertiary education

In the tertiary sector during 1993, Maori were most likely to be enrolled in polytechnics, while non-Maori were most likely to be enrolled in university. A total of 18,527 Maori were enrolled in a formal programme of tertiary education. Maori made up 8 percent of university students, 10 percent of college of education students and 10 of all tertiary students. Where Maori were enrolled in university, they were more likely to be part-time, and over 50 percent of Maori women attending university were over the age of 25. Maori were more likely to be full time at colleges of education and polytechnics.

Two wananga (tertiary establishments) were established and state funded in June 1993: Te Wananga o Aotearoa in Te Awamutu and Te Wananga o Raukawa in Otaki. Funding allocated to Ruakawa and Aotearoa totalled 281 equivalent full-time students. A third wananga, te Wananga o Awanui in Whakatane is currently under development for 1995. There are approximately 10 other Maori organisations wishing to explore the concept of wananga status in the future. Government and iwi will assess the future development and growth of wananga as a viable option for Maori participation in the tertiary sector.

Maori language education resources.

The Government supports targeting funds to increase teacher training in the Maori language to support the New Zealand Curriculum Framework in Maori and increase the supply of learning resources to meet the needs of Maori medium education. The Government is also considering the impact of the Education for the 21st Century goals on Maori education.

Contributors

9.1Ministry of Education; New Zealand Council for Educational Research; Education Review Office; Teacher Registration Board; Maori Education Foundation; New Zealand Qualifications Authority; Education and Training Support Agency; The Careers Service—Rapuara; The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand.
9.2-9.4Ministry of Education.

Special articles

Ministry of Education; New Zealand Council for Educational Research; Early Childhood Development Unit.

Further information

  • Annual Report of the New Zealand Council for Educational Research.

  • Education in New Zealand (Statistical Brochure), Ministry of Education (annual).

  • Education Statistics of New Zealand. Ministry of Education (annual).

  • Educational Research Series. New Zealand Council for Educational Research.

  • Maori in Education—Te Maori i Roto i Nga Mahi Whakaaranga, Ministry of Education, 1993.

  • New Zealand Polytechnic, College of Education and Teacher Trainee Summary Statistics 1991. Ministry of Education.

  • New Zealand Schools 1993—A Report on the Compulsory Schools Sector in New Zealand (Parl paper E2)

  • Report of the Ministry of Education (Parl paper El)

  • Report of Education Review Office (Parl paper E39)

  • Report of Education and Training Support Agency (Parl paper E46)

  • Report of Career Development and Transition Education Service (Parl paper E27)

  • Report of New Zealand Qualifications Authority (Parl paper E44)

  • Report of the Maori Education Foundation (Parl paper E24)

  • Report of the Pacific Islands Polynesian Education Foundation (Parl paper E21)

  • Report of the Teacher Registration Board (Parl paper Ex).

  • Reports of the University Grants Committee and University Institutions (Parl paper E3).

  • Secondary Staffing Survey. Research and Statistics Division, Ministry of Education (annual).

  • Staffing of State Primary Schools 1992. Ministry of Education.

  • Staffing of Form 1–7 and Form 3–7 State Secondary Schools 1992. Ministry of Education.

  • Tertiary Education Statistics, Ministry of Education, 1992.

Chapter 10. Justice and law

High Court swearing in, Wellington.

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. Judges (including those who sit in the Court of Appeal) are appointed by the Governor-General. Neither Court of Appeal nor High Court Judges may 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. District Court judges may be removed from office by the Governor-General, but only on the grounds of inability or misbehaviour.

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 years of age or over when reappointed.

Hierarchy of courts

At the head of the hierarchy of courts of New Zealand is the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Below this is the Court of Appeal, followed by the High Court, and the District Courts. All courts exercise both criminal and civil jurisdiction.

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

The Privy Council is the final appeal tribunal for New Zealand.

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, instead it submits its opinion on a case it has heard to the Sovereign, who is then 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.

The highest appeal court in New Zealand, the Court of Appeal has existed since 1846 and is constituted by the Judicature Amendment Act 1957.

The primary function of the Court of Appeal 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 the lower courts may, by order of the High Court, be removed to the Court of Appeal. The court does, however, also have some original jurisdiction.

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 its President; and five 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 may remit any proceedings pending before it to the High Court and all its judgments, decrees, and orders may be enforced by the High Court.

The decisions of the Court of Appeal are final except where an appeal is sent to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

Criminal jurisdiction

—the Court of Appeal hears appeals against convictions and sentences imposed in the High Court or District Court trial courts. 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 High Court.

The High Court of New Zealand was first established (as the Supreme Court) in 1841. It has all the jurisdiction which may be necessary for a court to administer the laws of New Zealand.

The High Court exercises jurisdiction in cases of major crimes, Admiralty proceedings, the more important civil claims, appeals from lower courts and tribunals, and reviews of administrative actions. The High Court also has inherent jurisdiction to punish for contempt of court. It consists of the Chief Justice and 32 other judges, as prescribed by the Judicature Act 1908. An additional judge or judges may be appointed, by the Governor-General when it is deemed necessary due to the illness, absence or anticipated absence of any judge.

All the judges of the High Court are stationed in Wellington, Auckland, Hamilton, or Christchurch. The High Court travels on circuit to Whangarei, Rotorua, Gisborne, Napier, New Plymouth, Wanganui, Palmerston North, Blenheim, Nelson, Greymouth, Timaru, Dunedin and Invercargill. There are High Court offices at Masterton and Tauranga, but the court does not sit in those areas.

Commercial list

—instead of being included in the normal order of cases to be heard in the High Court, a separate list of commercial cases is kept to ensure they are resolved quickly. The Judicature Amendment Act 1986 made provision for the establishment of this list at the office of the High Court at Auckland for an initial period of four years. The Governor-General may extend that period by notice in the New Zealand Gazette or declare that it continue indefinitely.

Masters

—there may be up to six masters of the High Court with the legal qualifications and experience necessary for judicial appointment. Masters may exercise certain powers of the High Court concurrently with High Court judges. Masters deal inter-alia with applications for summary judgments, specified company and land transfer matters, the assessment of damages where liability has been determined, and trials where the amount of the debt or damages only is in dispute. There are at present five masters: Master Anne Gambrill, Master J W Hansen, Master J C A Thomson, Master T Kennedy Grant and Master P F Feenstra.

Table 10.1. JUDGES OF THE COURT OF APPEAL AND HIGH COURT*

*As at 10 September 1994.
Chief Justice:Rt Hon Justice Sir Thomas Eichelbaum, GBE.
Court of Appeal:Rt Hon Justice Sir Thomas Eichelbaum, GBE (ex officio); Rt Hon Justice Sir Robin Cooke, KBE, President; Rt Hon Justice Sir Ivor Richardson; Rt Hon Justice Sir Maurice Casey; Rt Hon Justice M Hardie-Boys; Rt Hon Justice T M Gault; Rt Hon Justice I L McKay;
High Court:Rt Hon Justice Sir Thomas Eichelbaum, GBE; Hon Justice R I Barker; Hon Justice A D Holland; Hon Justice T M Thorp; Hon Justice L M Greig; Hon Justice J H Wallace; Hon Justice D L Tompkins; Hon Justice R G Gallen; Hon Justice J S Henry; Hon Justice R A Heron; Hon Justice A A T Ellis; Hon Justice N W Williamson; Hon Justice R P Smellie; Hon Justice R A McGechan; Hon Justice J A Doogue; Hon Justice A P C Tipping; Hon Justice N C Anderson; Hon Justice J B Robertson; Hon Justice R L Fisher; Hon Justice C C Fraser; Hon Justice D P Neazor; Hon Justice E W Thomas; Hon Justice P G S Pennlington; Hon Justice P B Temm; Hon Justice P Blanchard; Hon Justice R G Hammond; Hon Justice S R Cartwright.

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, at present limits the number of District Court judges to 98. Judges are appointed by the Governor-General, who also appoints a Chief District Court Judge. The Chief Judge 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 of criminal cases.

Justices of the Peace can sit as a District Court judge to hear a limited number of minor criminal and traffic charges which, if proven, attract a maximum fine of $500.

Specialist courts

In New Zealand there are a number of courts with specialist functions.

Employment Court.

This court is constituted under the Employment Contracts Act 1991. It consists of the Chief Judge of the Employment Court and five other judges 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. The Employment Court is located only in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

Broadly speaking, the Employment Court has jurisdiction to deal with matters in the labour relations field. These include hearing and determining appeals or reviews of adjudicated decisions of the Employment Tribunal (see below) in respect of personal grievances, disputes about employment contracts etc; hearing and determining any questions of law referred to it by the tribunal; hearing and determining penalties in relation to freedom of association and strikes and lockouts; and issuing compliance orders on specified matters.

Family Courts.

Family Courts have been established since 1980 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.

Family Courts have jurisdiction to deal with dissolution of marriages, adoption, guardianship applications, domestic actions, matrimonial property, child support, care and protection applications in respect of children and young persons, mental health compulsory treatment applications, protection of personal property rights applications and similar matters. They may state a case on a point of law to the High Court or transfer complex proceedings to that court.

Youth Courts.

These courts are constituted by the Children, Young Persons, and their Families Act 1989. The jurisdiction of the courts is exercised by specially designated District Court judges. Offences committed by children (under 14 years) and young persons (older than 14 but less than 17 years of age) come before the Youth Courts initially and most are dealt with there. The remainder proceed to District Courts or the High Court. The Youth Courts do not hear matters relating to the care or protection of children and young people. These are dealt with in the Family Courts.

Maori Land Court and Maori Appellate Court.

These courts are constituted under the Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993 and have jurisdiction to hear matters relating to Maori land. 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 Maori Appellate Court. Three or more of the judges have power to act as the Maori Appellate Court.

The Maori Land Court or the Maori 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. 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. See section 16.1, Maori land for more information.

Tribunals

Over 100 tribunals, authorities, boards, committees or related bodies exist to deal with disputes, largely between individuals, on matters such as environmental planning; economic issues; scientific and technical matters; censorship; welfare and benefits; taxation; occupational licensing and discipline; activity licensing, eg, shop trading hours and company registration. The main tribunals which deal with individual disputes are described below together with the Waitangi Tribunal and the Planning Tribunal, two of the most important of all tribunals.

Employment Tribunal.

The Employment Tribunal is constituted under the Employment Contracts Act 1991. It consists of the Chief of the Tribunal and 13 other mediator and/or adjudicator members, appointed from time to time by the Governor-General. The tribunal is located in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

The tribunal's jurisdiction includes:

  • Providing mediation assistance in all matters properly brought before it (here the parties are assisted to resolve their differences for themselves). Emphasis is placed on mediation as a first step towards resolution of differences between employers and employees.

  • Adjudicating on unresolved personal grievances, disputes about employment contracts, recovery of unpaid or underpaid wages, and recovery of penalties for breach of an employment contract or certain parts of the Employment Contracts Act (adjudication involves both parties stating their case to an adjudicator and the adjudicator making a decision for them).

  • Issuing compliance orders on specified matters.

Appeals or reviews of tribunal decisions involving adjudication can be taken in the Employment Court.

First night sitting of the Otahuhu District Court.

Disputes Tribunals.

These tribunals (previously known as Small Claims Tribunals) were established in 1976 as divisions of the District Courts. The tribunals have jurisdiction to determine disputes up to a value of $3,000 based on contract, quasi-contract, or tort (in respect of the destruction or loss of any property, damage or injury to any property, or recovery of property). Claims may also be determined by the tribunal up to the value of $5,000 if the plaintiff and the defendant agree to settle in this way, rather than take the matter to a higher court. Every District Court, apart from the five courts with police registrars, has a disputes tribunal. There are 54 part-time referees to service the 56 tribunals.

Complaints Review Tribunal.

Formerly the Equal Opportunities Tribunal, this tribunal was set up under the Human Rights Commission Act 1977, and is continued under the Human Rights Act 1993. Its function is to deal with complaints of discrimination and breaches of privacy, which have not been settled by either the Human Rights Commission, the Race Relations Conciliator or the Privacy Commission.

The tribunal has powers similar to a District Court. It hears the complaint from the beginning and makes a decision. It can award damages and order other remedies. Each sitting of the tribunal is chaired by a barrister or solicitor with two other appointees with experience in the area.

Residential Tenancies Tribunals.

These were set up under the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 to determine all disputes arising between landlords and tenants, to which the Act applies. They are set up on similar lines to disputes tribunals—the hearings take place at District Court premises under the authority of part-time adjudicators. See also section 22.1, Housing.

Waitangi Tribunal.

This tribunal was set up under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 to consider claims by the Maori people under the Treaty of Waitangi. It was originally set up to consider only claims from 1975 onwards but its jurisdiction was extended in 1985 to claims dating back to 1840. See also section 6.4, Maori population.

Planning Tribunal.

This tribunal is constituted under the Resource Management Act 1991. The tribunal consists of not more than five Planning Judges and not more than 10 Planning Commissioners appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice, after consultation with the Minister for the Environment and the Minister of Maori Affairs. Any number of alternate Planning Judges and Deputy Planning Commissioners may hold office.

The Planning Tribunal has jurisdiction to determine appeals, applications, submissions on resource consent applications and references on local authorities’ plans under the Resource Management Act. It also makes recommendations on water conservation order applications. These are predominantly concerned with land and water use.

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.

Sometimes referred to as case law or judge-made law, the common law 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 statute 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.

Parliament has full power to make laws having effect in, or in respect of, any part of New Zealand 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.

United Kingdom statutes.

A number of United Kingdom statutes are still in force in New Zealand. They are those statutes passed before 1840 (when New Zealand first became a British colony) which were applicable to the circumstances of the colony at that date, and others passed between 1840 and 1947 which extended to New Zealand expressly or by necessary implication. 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 Habeus Corpus Act 1679, and the Act of Settlement 1700.

Subordinate legislation.

Many 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.

Law Commission

The Law Commission (Te Aka Matua o te Ture) is an independent advisory body set up to undertake the systematic review, reform and development of New Zealand law. It aims to help achieve coherent and accessible laws that reflect the heritage and aspirations of New Zealand society. Established by the Law Commission Act 1985, the commission is funded through Vote: Justice, has a membership of five commissioners, and maintains a staff of between 10 and 15 legal researchers and a director.

The Law Commission may initiate projects or may be given references by the Minister of Justice. In making its recommendations the commission is required to take into account te ao Maori and to give consideration to the multicultural character of New Zealand society. It consults widely when developing its proposals for reform and generally publishes discussion papers inviting responses before formulating final recommendations. In all its work, the commission must have regard to the desirability of simplifying the expression and content of the law.

The commission currently has five references from the Minister of Justice. The first calls for an examination of the law, structures and practices governing the procedure in criminal cases from the time an offence is suspected to have been committed until the offender is convicted. The second major reference asks the commission to examine the rules of evidence and make recommendations for their reform, with a view to codification. The third reference is concerned with the legal position of the Crown, including the civil and criminal liability of the Crown and its officers and agencies and a review of the Crown Proceedings Act 1950. As an adjunct to this work, the commission is proposing to consider the question of state immunity. The fourth reference is to make the law and practice governing the remedy for unlawful detention known as habeas corpus clearer and more accessible, and the fifth is a review of some of the provisions of the Official Information Act 1982.

In early 1994, the commission received a reference from the Minister of Justice asking it to consider ’for the purpose of protecting members of the public from substantial risk of harm from individuals whose release into the community would pose that risk’ relevant provisions of the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992 and the Criminal Justice Act 1985, including the definition of ‘mental disorder’ in the 1992 Act. This reference was given priority. The commission appeared before the select committee considering an amendment to the mental health legislation and the commission's report on the issues was tabled on 30 August 1994. A major project is currently underway to review the law of succession as well as smaller projects on the areas of guarantees and remedies for wrongs to goods.

The commission strives to ensure that its work takes account of relevant considerations in international law. It also endeavours to promote awareness of New Zealand's international obligations in other organisations, and to this end is preparing a guide to international legal materials.

Finally, under its Act, the commission is to advise on the review of any aspect of the law conducted by government departments or other public sector entities. The volume of this advisory work continues to grow and is an important way in which the commission can assist in achieving clear and accessible law.

Law library.

Civil jurisdiction

The High Court has original jurisdiction to hear and determine civil proceedings including:

  • Proceedings in contract and tort.

  • Equity.

  • Supervisory powers over inferior courts and tribunals.

  • Wills and administration of the estates of the deceased.

  • Dissolution of partnerships and the taking of partnership accounts.

  • The sale and distribution of the proceeds of any property subject to a lien or charge.

  • Proceedings relating to mortgages, leases, sale, or partition of land, including specific performance of contract.

  • Execution of trusts, charitable or private.

  • Rectification, or setting aside, or cancellation of deeds or contracts.

  • Proceedings relating to the insolvency of individuals and companies.

  • Family law (matrimonial property, and proceedings under the Family Protection Act 1955).

  • Electoral petitions.

  • Admiralty.

  • Absconding debtors.

The High Court also issues declaratory judgments and hears appeals from the District Courts and from a number of administrative tribunals. Decisions on many civil proceedings in the High Court may be appealed to the Court of Appeal.

District Courts have jurisdiction to hear proceedings founded on contract or tort and other civil claims (including equitable claims) where the amount of debt, demand, or damage, or value of the chattels claimed, is no more than $200,000. The jurisdiction was increased from $50,000 to $200,000 by an amendment to the District Courts Act 1947 on 1 July 1992. In proceedings for recovery of land the courts have jurisdiction if the rent payable (if any) does not exceed $62,500 a year or where the value of the land does not exceed $500,000.

The District Court Rules 1992 also came into force on 1 July 1992. They are not merely a revision of the 1948 rules, but a new set of rules designed to bring procedures in the District Court into line with those in the High Court. The rules apply to all matters within the civil jurisdiction of the District Court, except where other rules provide procedures for any class of litigation.

Otahuhu and Christchurch District Courts commenced a four month pilot in mid July 1994 to hear Disputes Tribunals claims and minor traffic cases on two evenings each week. The main objectives for holding night hearings are to make courts more accessible to the public and to reduce the cost to the people who have to attend court. An evaluation is being undertaken and information gathered will be presented in a report to be finalised in 1995.

Jury service

Every person between the ages of 20 and 65 years (inclusive) is eligible for jury service, subject to some exceptions. Those 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. Also precluded are people with recent prison records and those who have been imprisoned beyond three years.

Legal aid

The Legal Services Act 1991 brings together in one statute the civil and criminal legal aid schemes and aligns them as far as possible. It also gives statutory recognition to the duty solicitor scheme and to community law centres. The Act establishes a new administrative structure—the Legal Services Board and District Committees. The board is responsible for the legal aid budget. Its role is, however, wider. It can for instance investigate other ways of providing legal services to the public and set up pilot schemes.

Community law centres and neighbourhood law offices

These are offices set up to provide various legal services, particularly advice to people who cannot afford a lawyer. They also develop legal resource material. There are currently eight such offices nationally. They receive funding from a variety of sources, including city councils and central government, and the amount of funding varies from centre to centre. Staff are paid out of these funds.

10.2 Criminal justice

In New Zealand the more serious crimes are defined by the Crimes Act 1961. The Summary Offences Act 1981 provides for a wide variety of lesser offences not included in the Crimes Act. These include offences such as disorderly behaviour, offences against public order, offences against the person and property—such as common assault, wilful damage, and loitering and trespass.

A new Crimes Bill was introduced in 1989 and referred to Parliament's Justice and Law Reform Select Committee. The bill represented the first major review of New Zealand's criminal law since the enactment of the Crimes Act 1961. It proposed significant changes to the law relating to murder and manslaughter. The bill also set out the basic principles of criminal responsibility, updated the rules relating to parties, conspiracies and attempts, and rewrote and streamlined the law governing property offences. New offences were proposed, to deal with the theft of trade secrets and interference with computers. The Crimes Consultative Committee, which was set up in 1989 by the then Minister of Justice to examine the Bill, presented its report to the Hon Douglas Graham in April 1991. The report recommends that an amended version of the Bill should proceed. As yet no further action has been taken.

Other recent legislation affecting criminal justice includes:

  • Privacy Act 1993—promotes and protects individual privacy. The Act does not apply to courts and tribunals in relation to judicial information. However, administrative information concerning courts operations such as statistics, procedures, performance standards etc, is subject to the Act.

  • Evidence Amendment Act 1994—provides for evidence by way of video links and telephone conferences between New Zealand and Australia.

  • Family Proceedings Amendment Act 1994—allows district court registrars to make dissolution orders in the absence of the parties in certain circumstances.

Reported non-traffic offences

For the year ended 30 June 1994 a total of 491,748 non-traffic offences were reported to the police, a decrease of 3.2 percent from the previous year. This compared with increases in non-traffic offences of 2.3 percent and 7.2 percent for the years ended 30 June 1993 and 1992 respectively. The clearance rate was 43.1 percent in 1994 compared with 37.8 percent in 1993. The number of violent offences increased from 33,103 for the year ended 30 June 1993 to 41,830 (26.3 percent increase) at the same time in 1994, but the clearance rate for violent crime improved from 80.2 percent in 1993 to 81.8 percent in 1994.

During the year a total of 61 known murders were investigated. This compares with 42 in the same period in 1993. The number of robberies reported was 1,790, a decrease of 1.7 percent over the previous year. Aggravated robbery decreased by 7.3 percent from 1,026 offences for the year ended 30 June 1993 to 951 in 1994. Non-aggravated robbery increased by 7.7 percent from 630 offences to 679 offences.

There were 1,205 reported sexual violations (a 0.6 percent increase in the number of offences reported in 1993). The clearance rate decreased from 74.9 percent to 73.5 percent. The number of sexual offences decreased by 4 percent, while that of sexual attacks decreased by 4.9 percent.

During 1993/94 non-cannabis drug offences increased by 24.7 percent to 1,505 when compared to the previous year. Cannabis offences increased by 22.3 percent to 25,737 and of these, 15,885 cases were prosecuted.

OFFENCES: 1878–1993
Calendar yearReportedCleared
Source: Police.
187814,157..
188017,83716,723
188518,95517,723
189013,11512,177
189514,01012,435
190018,35817,131
190520,24919,251
191025,10623,949
191528,41227,096
192026,10624,718
192530,47028,668
193037,21433,690
193533,16830,601
194045,00941,619
194534,00027,965
195035,383..
195563,550..
1960102,79266,857
1965132,31173,294
1970165,85994,785
1975233,644115,671
1980349,193166,535
1985435,640182,849
1990488,886201,942
1991525,622210,575
1992518,693194,280
1993502,460202,778

Examining vehicle after armed offender alert, Eastbourne.

In total, reported drug and antisocial offences increased by 22.6 percent from 49,741 to 60,995 and the clearance rate decreased from 90 percent in 1993 to 88.9 percent in 1994.

Dishonesty offences reported decreased by 11.1 percent but still accounted for the major proportion of all reported non-traffic offences, 62.7 percent compared with 68.4 percent in 1993. Within this group, burglary offences decreased by 14 percent from 100,604 to 86,421, theft decreased by 7 percent from 149,842 to 139,341, vehicle taking and interference decreased by 16.5 percent from 62,457 to 52,140 and fraud decreased by 11.8 percent from 30,858 to 27,216.

Of the 29 districts, 19 reported a decrease in the number of reported non-traffic offences during the year ended 30 June 1994.

Children and young persons (i.e. those under 17 years of age) were responsible for 22 percent of cleared offences and 46 percent of all offenders were under 21 years of age. Of all offenders 80.9 percent were male and 19.1 percent were female. In the offence category of dishonesty, 34.2 percent of cleared offences involved children and 57.2 percent of offenders in this category were aged under 21 years.

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, unlawful sexual connection, 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.

District Court trial courts, currently located in 19 centres, hear cases for all criminal trials except the most serious of indictable offences, which are dealt with in the High Court. Criminal cases in the High Court are of two classes: those actually committed for trial or sent up for sentence.

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.

Convictions for non-traffic offences

The total number of prosecutions for non-traffic offences was higher in 1993 than in any of the seven previous years. The proportion of prosecutions resulting in a formally recorded verdict of the court that the charge was proved has been falling since 1990. This trend was influenced by increased use of diversion by the police from the late 1980s. Consequently, the rise of ‘not proved’ verdicts does not mean that there has been an increase of prosecutions where the charge could not be proved. Diverted cases do not result in a formally proved verdict, but a necessary condition of diversion is that the offender admits guilt. Also, some ‘not proved’ cases will have involved young offenders who were brought to court, then referred to a family group conference where the matter was resolved. There may have been an admission of guilt at or before the family group conference in these cases.

The severity of offences which resulted in conviction increased considerably over the 10 year period under examination. The average seriousness of the cases which resulted in conviction in 1993 was slightly lower than in the two preceding years. This result was not due to a decrease in convictions for more serious offences. Rather, it was due to the increase in convictions for less serious offences outstripping that for more serious offences in 1993.

Table 10.2. CONVICTIONS FOR ALL OFFENCES*

Offence type19841987

* Except traffic offences.

Source: Department of Justice.

Violent7,4028,758
Other against persons2,8583,685
Against property50,42755,053
Involving drugs9,76112,325
Against justice5,2306,118
Against good order7,3268,297
Miscellaneous23,69816,574
      Total106,702110,810
Offence type1991x1992x1993Overall percentage change
Violent9,53510,68013,159+78
Other against persons2,5882,6852,977+4
Against property54,66657,37957,500+1.4
Involving drugs11,55311,44013,265+36
Against justice10,55711,08012,285+135
Against good order6,4876,2467,448+2
Miscellaneous11,41613,87519,995-16
      Total106,802113,885125,629+ 19

The total number of convictions for violent offences was considerably higher in 1993 than in any other year in the past decade. In particular, convictions relating to serious violent offences have continued to increase. The number of convictions for all four categories of violent sex offences (rape, unlawful sexual connection, attempted sexual violation and indecent assault) were higher in 1993 than in any previous year in the last decade. Just under three-quarters of the convictions for a serious violent sex offence in 1993 involved a victim aged 16 years or less. It should be noted that over a third of the convictions for violent sex offences in 1993 related to offences which occurred prior to 1990. The large increase in the number of convictions for serious violent sexual offences over the last decade may be due not only to an increase in the occurrence of these offences, but also to an increased likelihood of such offences being reported, including an increased likelihood of offences which occurred many years ago being reported.

The most serious category of assault, injuring or wounding, showed a steadily increasing trend between 1984 and 1991, but the number of convictions has decreased slightly in the last two years. The same could not be said for less serious assaults. For both aggravated assault and ‘other assaults’, the number of convictions in 1993 was the highest recorded in the decade. Convictions for threatening to kill or do grievous bodily harm more than doubled over the 10 year period under examination. The number of conviction for aggravated robbery has been considerably higher in the last two years compared to earlier years. Convictions for violent offences accounted for 10 percent of convictions for non-traffic offences in 1993, compared to 7 percent in 1984.

A figure for the overall percentage change has not been shown for offences in this or subsequent tables where the number of convictions is low, or where legislative changes have resulted in incomplete data.

CONVICTIONS, NON-TRAFFIC OFFENCES

By type of offence

Table 10.3. CONVICTIONS FOR VIOLENT OFFENCES

Offence type19841987

*Includes convictions for manslaughter which involved the use of a motor vehicle.

Before 1986 the figures shown for the category attempted sexual violation relate to the offence of attempted rape.

Includes both robbery and assault with intent to rob.

Source: Department of Justice.

Murder1147
Manslaughter*2236
Attempted murder1314
Kidnapping or abduction2582
Rape99139
Unlawful sexual connection...80
Attempted sexual violation†3047
Indecent assault311463
Aggravated burglary...21
Aggravated robbery209263
Robbery‡148155
Injuring or wounding172234
Aggravated assault537584
Other assault5,6386,297
Threaten to kill or do GBH164221
Other violence2375
      Total7,4028,758
Offence type1991x1992x1993
Murder284525
Manslaughter*364238
Attempted murder14127
Kidnapping or abduction815973
Rape159149242
Unlawful sexual connection267341423
Attempted sexual violation†565586
Indecent assault7289431,106
Aggravated burglary596752
Aggravated robbery285402436
Robbery‡171143156
Injuring or wounding370354312
Aggravated assault703713896
Other assault6,2206,8768,774
Threaten to kill or do GBH266368412
Other violence92120121
      Total9,53510,68013,159

Table 10.4. CONVICTIONS FOR OTHER OFFENCES AGAINST THE PERSON

Offence type198419871991x

* Sex offences reported in the violent offences category are not included in these figures.

Excludes threatening to kill or do grievous bodily harm, now classified as a violent offence.

Source: Department of Justice.

Incest274824
Other sex offences*254238277
Obstructing or resisting any official2,1552,9171,978
Threats and intimidation†339367183
Other83115126
      Total2,8583,6852,588
Offence type1992x1993Overall percentage change
Incest6347-
Other sex offences*396405+59
Obstructing or resisting any official1,8932,098-3
Threats and intimidation†214274-19
Other119153+84
      Total2,6852,977+4

Throughout the decade, property offences accounted for the greatest proportion of all non-traffic convictions. Although the number of convictions for property offences was higher in 1993 than in any of the previous nine years, expressed as a proportion of all convictions for non-traffic offences, the 1993 figure (45 percent) was the lowest in the decade. Convictions for fraud have increased in the last few years, with the 1992 and 1993 figures being considerably higher than those in previous years. Although the number of convictions for burglary fluctuated over the period 1984 to 1993, on average, there have been fewer convictions for this offence each year since 1988. Convictions for receiving stolen property have increased strongly in number in the 1990s, while convictions for motor vehicle conversion have decreased since the mid 1980s.

Table 10.5. NUMBER OF CONVICTIONS FOR PROPERTY OFFENCES

Offence type198419871991x

*Includes fraud, false pretences, and forgery.

Source: Department of Justice.

Burglary8,0398,0617,881
Theft14,09415,36314,477
Receiving stolen goods2,6493,1163,226
Motor vehicle conversion3,8463,9563,356
Fraud*15,14917,25917,860
Arson167173143
Wilful damage3,8233,9383,685
Other2,6603,1874,038
      Total50,42755,05354,666
Offence type1992x1993Overall percentage change
Burglary7,2627,384-8
Theft14,67215,456+10
Receiving stolen goods3,5724,125+56
Motor vehicle conversion2,8632,564-33
Fraud*21,42619,578+29
Arson159187+12
Wilful damage3,5994,111+8
Other3,8264,095+54
      Total57,37957,500+14

The vast majority of convictions for drug offences involve possession, use, or dealing in cannabis. The total number of convictions for drug offences remained relatively constant between 1989 and 1992, but the average seriousness of these convictions increased strongly. This trend was due to a decrease in the number of convictions for possession or use of cannabis, and a concurrent increase in the number of convictions for dealing in cannabis and dealing in ‘other’ drugs. In 1993 the number of convictions for drug offences increased considerably, but the average seriousness of the convictions decreased substantially. This was due to a large increase in 1993 in the number of convictions for the least serious of the drug offences, namely possession or use of cannabis.

Table 10.6. CONVICTIONS FOR DRUG OFFENCES

Offence type198419871991x1992x1993Overall percentage change
Source: Department of Justice.
Use cannabis6,2737,5386,4836,1017,422+18
Deal in cannabis2,0962,5263,0733,3063,503+67
Other cannabis7971,1751,0911,1391,482+86
Use heroin1834343034-
Use LSD1322363930-
Use cocaine145344- 
Use other drug148427320252270+82
Deal in other drug238197348376355+49
Other drug164401165193165+1
      Total9,76112,32511,55311,44013,265+36

Memorial to the police dead.

The number of convictions for offences against the administration of justice more than doubled between 1983 and 1993. Two major contributing factors were a steady increase in the number of convictions for breach of periodic detention (an increase of 102 percent over the 10 year period), and large increases in the number of convictions for breach of bail after the introduction of this offence in August 1987.

Table 10.7. CONVICTIONS FOR OFFENCES AGAINST THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE

Offence type198419871991x1992x1993Overall percentage change
Source: Department of Justice.
Breach periodic detention3,2874,0555,7136,0066,653+102
Breach probation/supervision679426464542596-12
Breach parole-125251340470-
Breach community service14490259350455+216
Breach of bail-1722,4022,4002,670-
Breach non-molestation order137199243321383+180
Escape custody380395345380320-16
Obstruct/pervert course of justice484810010693+94
Other555608780635645+16
      Total5,2306,11810,55711,08012,285+135

Between 1986 and 1990 there was a rapid decline in the number of convictions for offences against good order, and since 1990 the number has remained at a lower level than in the 1980s.

Table 10.8. CONVICTIONS FOR OFFENCES AGAINST GOOD ORDER

Offence type19841987199119921993Overall percentage change
Source: Department of Justice.
Riot261633-
Unlawful assembly5058324230-
Possessing an offensive weapon9511,4621,1731,0331,172+23
Offensive language1,4561,668630551641-56
Disorderly behaviour3,0983,2402,1912,3023,101-
Trespassing1,3961,4952,0421,9732,210+58
Other349373413342291-17
      Total7,3268,2976,4876,2467,448+2

A large majority (81 percent) of the cases which resulted in a conviction in 1993 for a non-traffic offence involved a male offender. Forty-four percent of the cases involved European offenders, 36 percent involved Maori offenders, 6 percent involved Pacific Island offenders, 2 percent involved offenders of some other ethnicity, and for 13 percent of the cases the ethnicity of the offender was not recorded in the data. Eighteen percent of the cases which resulted in a conviction in 1993 for a non-traffic offence involved a teenage offender, and another 27 percent involved an offender aged between 20 and 24 years.

Sentencing for non-traffic offences

The use of custodial, community-based, and deferred sentences increased to varying degrees over the 10 year period under examination, while decreasing use was made of monetary penalties. However, in 1993 there was a slight drop in the percentage of cases resulting in the two most severe sentences (custody and periodic detention) compared to 1992. At the same time there was a small increase in the use of supervision, and a slightly larger increase in the use of monetary penalties as the most serious sentence for non-traffic cases. These patterns were repeated for most types of offence.

The average seriousness of cases involving non-traffic offences increased substantially between 1984 and 1992, then dropped slightly in 1993. Changes in the seriousness of cases coming before the courts impacted on the types of sentences which were imposed over the decade.

The number of cases which have resulted in a custodial sentence for a non-traffic offence has increased substantially since 1988. In 1993, 6,781 cases resulted in a custodial sentence for a non-traffic offence, the highest figure in the last decade. The proportion of cases resulting in a custodial sentence rose by 2 percent in 1990 and has remained at a higher level since then. The proportion was marginally lower in 1993 than in 1992 which may be associated with the slightly lower average seriousness of cases resulting in a conviction in 1993 compared with 1992. Cases resulting in a custodial sentence related to substantially more serious offences, on average, in 1993 than in 1984, and this has resulted in an increase in the average length of custodial sentences which were awarded. In 1993 the average custodial sentence length (including preventive detention) for a non-traffic offence was 12.5 months, compared to 7.9 months in 1984. These figures do not include offenders sentenced to life imprisonment.

Nearly half (49 percent) of the cases which resulted in a custodial sentence for an offence other than a traffic offence related to Maori offenders, 41 percent to European offenders and 7 percent to Pacific Island peoples. Over two-thirds of the cases which resulted in a custodial sentence in 1993 related to people aged under 30, while 19 percent related to teenage offenders, 30 percent to offenders aged between 20 and 24 years and 21 percent to offenders aged between 25 and 29 years.

The recent increase in the number of cases which resulted in a custodial sentence, and the increase in the length of sentences which were awarded, has resulted in a marked increase in the number of inmates in New Zealand's prisons. During 1993 there was an average of 4,049 sentenced inmates in prison at any one time, an increase of 49 percent on the average muster during 1984 (2,714). The muster of inmates remanded in custody has also increased. In 1993 the average number of remand inmates in prison at any one time was 483, an increase of 68 percent over the figure for 1984 (288 remand inmates).

SENTENCING, NON-TRAFFIC OFFENCES

By type of offence

Just under half (47 percent) of the non-traffic cases which involved a remand in custody in 1993 resulted in a custodial sentence when the case was finalised. Violent offence cases were the most likely to be remanded in custody, and these cases were also the most likely to be awarded a custodial sentence after a custodial remand, although only 54 percent of violent offence cases involving a custodial remand were so sentenced.

Over the period 1984 to 1993 there was a dramatic increase in the use of periodic detention. The number of cases which resulted in periodic detention for a non-traffic offence increased from 6,698 in 1984 to 14,557 in 1993, an increase of 117 percent. In 1984, 12 percent of cases resulted in a sentence of periodic detention, but by 1992 the proportion reached 27 percent. In 1993 this proportion dropped slightly to be just over 25 percent. As was the case with custodial sentences, the slight decrease in 1993 may be associated with the lower average seriousness of cases resulting in conviction in 1993.

There has been a large increase in the number of cases resulting in community service in recent years. Between 1984 and 1988, 2 percent to 3 percent of the non-traffic cases resulted in a sentence of community service, but the proportion in 1993 was just over 8 percent. While the number of non-traffic cases resulting in community service has increased considerably in the last few years, the average seriousness of the cases resulting in community service has decreased. Nearly one-third of the people sentenced to community service in 1993 were female, a higher proportion than for the other community-based sentences.

In the last two years a slightly higher number of non-traffic cases have resulted in community care/programmes compared to earlier years. However, community care/programmes have been imposed on less than 2 percent of all non-traffic cases each year since 1985. Since the introduction of the sentence, there has been an increasing trend in the seriousness of cases resulting in this sentence.

The number of cases which resulted in supervision as the most serious sentence was higher in 1993 than in any of the nine previous years. In 1993 just under 6 percent of cases resulted in supervision as the most serious sentence, the highest figure in the last four years. Cases resulting in supervision in recent years have been more serious, on average, than those which resulted in supervision earlier in the decade.

The number of cases involving a non-traffic offence for which the most serious sentence imposed was a monetary penalty (usually a fine) halved between 1984 and 1992. In 1993 there was a sizeable increase in the number of cases resulting in a monetary penalty. In 1984 monetary penalties comprised two-thirds of all such sentences imposed, but this proportion had decreased to 38 percent by 1992, before increasing to 41 percent in 1993. The increase in the proportion of non-traffic cases resulting in a monetary penalty as the most serious sentence in 1993 may be as a result of the lower average seriousness of cases resulting in conviction in that year.

The large decrease over the decade in the use of monetary penalties, and the concurrent in increase in the use of community-based sentences, was, however, not entirely due to changes in the seriousness of cases coming before the courts. In recent years, periodic detention and community service sentence have been increasingly imposed instead of monetary penalties for cases involving offences of similar seriousness. In 1993 this trend was reversed slightly for offences with lower seriousness.

For many types of violent offences, the majority of cases resulted in a custodial sentence throughout the 10 year period. The average length of the custodial sentences (including preventive detention) awarded for violent offences increased considerably over the decade, from an average of 13.6 months in 1984 to an average of 22.5 months in 1992. The 1993 figure (22.0 months) was slightly lower than the 1992 figure. The increase in the average length of custodial sentences for violent offence cases as a group between 1984 and 1992, and the slight drop in 1993, coincided with a similar pattern in the seriousness of the violent offences which resulted in conviction over this period.

The average length of custodial sentences (including preventive detention) imposed for rape increased strongly between 1984 and 1988 (from 49.3 months to 74.4 months), then dropped a little in 1989. Since then, the average custodial sentence length has fluctuated somewhat, although at a higher level than before 1987. The average length of the custodial sentences imposed for rape in 1993 was 71.9 months (just under six years), the highest figure since 1988.

The Criminal Justice Act 1985 included a presumption against custodial sentences for most property offenders. Generally, there was a decrease in the proportion of cases which resulted in a custodial sentence after the new Act was introduced for most property offences, and the proportion has remained at a lower level since then. Custodial sentence lengths for burglary, on average, increased by just over one month over the last decade. Sentences for fraud have been a little longer, on average, since 1989, as have sentences for theft since 1991.

Table 10.9. SENTENCES FOR NON-TRAFFIC OFFENCES*

Sentence type19841987

* Only the most serious sentence imposed is shown for cases where more than one sentence was imposed.

Monetary penalties are: fines, compensation.

Because of incomplete data in the category ‘No sentence or costs’ no cases from that category were included in the totals.

Source: Department of Justice.

Custodial5,7945,671
Periodic detention6,6989,385
Community care 683
Community service1,4261,335
Probation or supervision2,4933,112
Monetary†38,56935,047
Deferment2,0532,433
Other37343
No sentence or costs 2,502
      Total57,40657,709
Sentence type199119921993
Custodial5,9616,2276,781
Periodic detention13,06313,50114,557
Community care795869810
Community service3,7944,4824,824
Probation or supervision2,2892,5803,259
Monetary†20,06318,96423,559
Deferment2,7113,2413,311
Other302429
No sentence or costs2,6113,0453,718
      Total48,70649,88857,130

Convictions and sentencing for traffic offences

A large proportion of all convictions each year relate to traffic offences. In 1993, a third of all convictions resulted from traffic offences.

Table 10.1. CONVICTIONS FOR TRAFFIC OFFENCES

Offence type198419871991x

* A percentage change figure is not shown for the categories ‘Other traffic’ and ‘Total’ because the decriminalisation of some offences means that it is not possible to compare figures for different years.

Includes cases where the offender refused to supply a blood specimen, or was convicted for driving under the influence of drugs.

Drive causing death186186167
Drive causing injury9701,1891,510
Driving with excess alcohol†18,91821,59131,006
Driving while disqualified5,9427,17613,292
Other traffic40,82745,72633,625
      Total66,84375,86879,600
Offence type1992x1993Overall percentage change*
Drive causing death141115-38
Drive causing injury1,4411,455+50
Driving with excess alcohol†25,20424,146+28
Driving while disqualified12,21711,101+87
Other traffic29,88825,600-
Total68,89162,417-

The number of convictions for serious traffic offences, most notably driving while disqualified and driving with excess alcohol, increased considerably until 1991, then decreased thereafter. Part of the decrease in convictions in 1992 and 1993 was probably due to fewer officers being available for traffic enforcement because of training which had to be undertaken when the police and Ministry of Transport merged in July 1992. Increased public awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving, and initiatives such as the introduction of compulsory breath-testing in 1993 may have changed some people's attitude to driving with excess alcohol. There has also been a significant downward trend in recent yeas in the number of convictions for driving offences which resulted in the death of another person, with the 1993 figure (115) being the lowest number of convictions in the last decade. It should be noted, however, that some people who kill a person while driving a motor vehicle will be charged with manslaughter rather than driving causing death.

The number of cases involving a traffic offence which resulted in imprisonment increased by 75 percent over the 10 year period. In 1984 there were 1,276 cases which resulted in a custodial sentence, but by 1993 the figure had increased to 2,239 cases. The average length of custodial sentences imposed for traffic offences increased steadily between 1985 and 1990, and has remained reasonably stable in recent years at about five months.

The number of community-based sentences imposed for traffic offences increased significantly over the 10 year period. The number of such cases increased from 3,806 in 1984 to 15,980 in 1991, but since then the number has dropped slightly to be 15,113 in 1993. This small decrease in the last two years is probably due to the decrease in convictions for serious traffic offences in the last two years. Part of the large increase in community-based sentences between 1988 and 1991 may have been due to an amendment to the Transport Act towards the end of 1988 which allowed a community-based sentence to be substituted for a mandatory disqualification in some cases. A sizeable proportion of all cases sentenced to a community-based sentence related to a traffic offence. In 1993, 37 percent of all periodic detention cases, 52 percent of all community service cases, 22 percent of all supervision cases and 31 percent of all community care/programme cases were the result of a traffic offence.

Even though the proportion of cases resulting in a custodial sentence for driving while disqualified is not large (17 percent in 1993), because of the large number of cases resulting from this offence, a sizeable number of offenders are imprisoned each year for driving while disqualified. In 1993, 1,502 cases of this type resulted in imprisonment, while 17 percent of all cases (traffic and non-traffic), resulted in imprisonment. In 1984, one in four cases involving driving while disqualified resulted in a sentence of periodic detention, but by 1993, one in two offenders convicted for this offence received a periodic detention sentence.

Table 10.11. SENTENCING OF TRAFFIC OFFENCES*

Sentence type19841987

* Only the most serious sentence imposed is shown for cases where more than one sentence was imposed.

Monetary penalties are: fines, compensation and reparation.

Because of incomplete data in the category ‘No sentence or costs’ no cases from that category were included in the totals.

Custodial1,2761,360
Periodic detention2,8304,320
Community care 178
Community service641721
Probation or supervision335452
Monetary†40,28745,090
Deferment4533
Driving disqualification326417
Other  
No sentence or costs 1,470
      Total45,74052,571
Sentence type199119921993
Custodial2,2672,2052,239
Periodic detention10,2168,9958,722
Community care324413367
Community service4,8395,4145,192
Probation or supervision601631895
Monetary†35,89730,05426,956
Deferment929697
Driving disqualification1,102915935
Other   
No sentence or costs1,4891,5991,354
      Total55,33848,72345,340

Compensation for criminal injuries

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Act 1963 introduced the first statutory scheme in the world for compensation by the state to those injured by crimes of violence and to the dependants of persons killed by such acts. The accident compensation scheme administered by the Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Corporation 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. See section 8.5, Accidents.

10.3 Corrections systems

New Zealand's corrections system is responsible for protecting the community from offenders through both deterrence and reformation, with increasing emphasis on rehabilitation over recent years.

The primary consideration is to ensure that those who are a serious danger to society by reason of the nature of their offences or the character of their offending are removed from the community. Apart from that, wherever possible, sanctions are imposed which 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 or her successful resettlement on release.

Speed camera set-up.

The Corrections Operations Group of the Department of Justice is made up of three divisions which have responsibility for delivering corrections services. These are the Community Corrections Division (which is responsible for offenders on community-based sentences), the Penal Institutes Division (which is responsible for New Zealand prisons), and the Psychological Services Division (which provides psychological services as required to prison inmates and those on community-based sentences).

Community Corrections Division

The mission of the Community Corrections Division is to contribute to promoting order and safety in society, reducing re-offending and reducing imprisonment by providing information on offenders, inmates and victims and administering community-based orders within the terms of the Criminal Justice Act 1985, and the Criminal Justice Amendment Act 1993.

Provision of information.

The division provides reports to judges and parole authorities on appropriate options for sentence or release of offenders. The division has sought to encourage the use of community-based sentences in relation to imprisonment through reports and recommendations.

A survey of judges’ view on sentencing was conducted by the division and a report produced in June 1994. In summary, this survey showed that there is very strong appreciation by judges of court services by probation officers.

Table 10.12. REPORTS ON COMMUNITY-BASED SENTENCING*

Report type199219931994

* Year to 30 June.

These figures include information relating to oral information, which was not collected prior to 1993/94.

Source: Department of Justice

Remand pre-sentence reports18,67316,49014,369
Courts servicing—same day reports and oral information15,53316,52622,264†
Reparation reports3,2243,5892,944
Community service agreements 1,132565
Parole reports2,4232,3161,623
Home leave reports2,8301,9591,322
Special purpose reports41120075

Community-based sentencing.

Ensuring compliance with community-based sentences contributes to the promotion of order and safety in the community. Innovative and well-constructed programmes across all sentences make use of community-based initiatives. A community liaison policy has been developed which actively promotes a closer working relationship with communities, and enhances access to community-based services/support groups that provide opportunities for social integration for offenders.

Reviews of community-based sentences are regularly undertaken to improve the quality of service delivery, the most recent being a review of community service completed in April 1993. Recommendations are implemented as is appropriate, and implementation is continually assessed.

The division is involved in setting up a home detention pilot in the Auckland metropolitan area. The Criminal Justice Amendment Act 1993 details the conditions that apply to release of offenders on home detention and monitoring responsibilities.

Supervision

—an offender may be sentenced to supervision for between six months and two years, and during that period must accept supervision by a probation officer and observe conditions relating to residence, employment and association. Additional conditions may be imposed by the judge directing the sentence.

During the year ended 30 June 1994, 8,423 supervision orders were imposed and the number of people sentenced to supervision, as at 30 June 1994, was 5,765.

Community service

—this sentence requires an offender to provide unpaid service to a community organisation. The minimum number of hours which can be imposed is 20 and the maximum is 200, and the sentence must be completed within a 12 month period. The consent of the offender must be obtained prior to imposition.

During 1993–94, 15,174 community service orders were imposed and the number of people subject to that sentence, as at 30 June 1994, was 7,489.

Periodic detention

—the maximum length of the sentence is 12 months and during that period offenders are required to place themselves in the custody of the warden of a periodic detention centre for specified periods, the normal period of custody being eight hours each week. While in custody, the offender carries out supervised work in the community.

During the year ended 30 June 1994, 25,843 periodic detention orders were imposed and the number of people subject to that sentence, as at 30 June 1994, was 7,771.

Community programme

—this sentence requires the consent of the offender, who is required to undergo a programme which may involve attendance at medical, educational or rehabilitative facilities, or placement in the care of suitable community groups or individuals. The sentence cannot exceed 12 months, but may comprise a residential component for a maximum of six months.

During the year ended 30 June 1994, 1,048 orders for community care were imposed, and the number of people subject to that sentence, as at 30 June 1994, was 623.

Parole

—the period of parole supervision has a dual purpose: it is for the protection of the community against further offending, and to assist the prisoner in becoming re-established in the community.

Offenders serving a sentence of corrective training or imprisonment for more than 12 months are released to the supervision of a probation officer. Offenders sentenced to more than 12 months’ imprisonment and eligible for parole at one-third of their sentence can be released on home detention or to a habilitation centre, for a period of up to 12 months. Offenders serving sentences of imprisonment for life, or preventive detention, are, if parole is granted, released to the supervision of a probation officer for the life of the offender.

Combined custodial/community-based sentences

—an offender may be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 12 months or less followed by a community-based sentence or combination of community-based sentences. An offender may be sentenced to a suspended term of imprisonment of between six months and two years. This may be imposed with a community-based sentence or combination of community-based sentences.

Table 10.13. COMMUNITY-BASED SENTENCING*

As at 30 June
Sentence19901991199219931994

* Taken from Wanganui Computer statistics from 1989–1992; 1992 onwards figures taken from the Justice Performance Management System and therefore not comparable with earlier years.

Periodic detention7,8418,5987,7607,3567,771
Community service4,2556,2157,3207,1347,489
Community programme402595709655623
Supervisions5,3574,8044,8404,5675,765
Parole1,1511,4311,6011,5541,574

Penal Institutions Division

The mission of the Penal Institutions Division is ‘to contribute to promoting order and safety in society, reducing the likelihood of re-offending and promoting a fair, just and humane correctional system by providing secure, fair, safe and humane management, including provision of programmes and services for persons committed to penal custody’.

This means the role of prisons encompasses not only the deprivation of liberty for a period of time as imposed by the courts, but also the provision of programmes to assist inmates to address their educational, cultural and social needs, with the aim of reducing re-offending.

As a result of the He Ara Hou reforms announced in 1989, the country's 19 prisons are moving towards unit management and case management of inmates. Unit management seeks to facilitate fair and humane containment and assists in the reintegration of inmates through the development of small semi-autonomous units with constancy of occupancy and staff. Inmates live and work in small groups, with staff assigned to units on a semi-permanent basis.

Unit management is most successful when coupled with case management in which all offenders serving sentences of 12 months or more have individual case management plans developed with them for their time in prison. Case management ensures that inmates have a sense of purpose during their time in custody, goals to aim for and a plan to work to, and that culturally appropriate programmes are available for this to occur.

Penal institutions

New Zealand's penal institutions are listed in . Any person serving a sentence of up to eight days may be detained at a police station which is deemed to be prison for that period.

Table 10.14. PENAL INSTITUTIONS*

CategoryInstitutionCapacity

* At 13 August 1993.

Includes Napier Prison (minimum security).

Includes Wanganui (City) Prison (minimum security).

§ Included in other categories.

ķ Included in Arohata Women's Prison.

Maximum securityAuckland Prison (East Division)210
Medium securityAuckland Prison (West Division)319
 Christchurch Prison525
 Invercargill Prison172
 Mangaroa Prison†421
 Mount Eden Prison250
 Rimutaka Prison636
 Waikeria Prison330
 Wanganui Prison‡120
 Wellington Prison59
Minimum securityDunedin Prison190
 Manawatu Prison108
 New Plymouth Prison80
 Ohura Prison236
 Rangipo Prison Farm254
 Rolleston Prison298
 Tongariro Prison Farm298
Male remand centres (Medium security)Christchurch Prison (Addington) 
 Dunedin Prison 
 Invercargill Prison 
 Manawatu Prison 
 Mount Eden Prison§
 Napier Prison 
 New Plymouth Prison 
 Waikeria Prison 
 Wanganui Prison 
 Wellington Prison 
Corrective training institutionsArohata Corrective Training Institutionķ 
 Tongariro Corrective Training Institution§
Female institutions and remand centresArohata Women's Prison111
 Christchurch Women's Prison63
 Mount Eden Prison (female division)54

Numbers in prison per 10,000 mean population

Detention in penal institution

The sentences of detention which the courts may impose are set out in the Criminal Justice Act 1985 and the 1993 amendment Act, and are:

Corrective training—the term fixed by statute is three months. The offender must be between 16 and 19 years of age and he or she may be eligible for final release after serving two-thirds of the sentence. After release the offender is subject to supervision by the Community Corrections Division for six months.

Imprisonment—for a stated period or for life. On conviction for murder a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment is imposed. The death penalty for murder was abolished in 1961. Capital punishment was removed as a penalty for all crimes, most recently treason and mutiny in the armed forces in 1989.

An offender sentenced to imprisonment for a fixed term of more than one year may in most cases be eligible for release on parole after serving one-third of the sentence, or else may be released after two-thirds of the term with a minimum of six months of conditions imposed. Those sentenced to one year or less are eligible for final release of sentence after half of their term has expired and are subject to certain conditions.

Preventive detention—means detention in prison for an indefinite term to be decided by the Parole Board, but in any event not less than 10 years. This sentence may be imposed on conviction for certain sexual or violent offences. The offender must be 21 years of age or over. After serving 10 years of the sentence the offender may be released on parole for life.

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.

The increase in the number of cases given custodial sentences, together with the increase in the length of custodial sentences has resulted in a marked increase in the number of inmates in New Zealand prisons. During 1992, there was an average of 3,834 sentenced inmates in prison at any one time, an increase of 49 percent on the average muster during 1983 (2,565). The muster of inmates remanded in custody has also increased. In 1992, the average number of remand inmates in prison at any one time was 444, an increase of 57 percent over the figure for 1983 (283 remand inmates).

Census of prison inmates.

The following detailed statistics are taken from the census of inmates carried out on 14 November 1991 and published in the Department of Justice's Census of Prison Inmates 1991. The information was obtained directly from the prisons or extracted from the Wanganui Computer.

As at 14 November 1991 all prisons had less than the maximum manageable number of inmates. In total, there were 3,821 sentenced inmates, comprised of 139 females and 3,682 males. In addition, there were 411 remand inmates within the prisons (nine female and 402 male) making a grand total of 4,232 prisoners. A further 19 remand prisoners were held in police cells.

Age and ethnicity

—in total, 2,356 inmates (62 percent) were under the age of 30, while 40 percent of this figure (1,515 inmates) were under the age of 25. Just over 56 percent of female inmates were under 30 years of age compared with 62 percent of male inmates. Fourteen percent of inmates were 40 years or over.

Table 10.15. AGE DISTRIBUTION OF INMATES*

 FemaleMaleTotal
AgeNumberPercentNumberPercentNumberPercent

* As at 14 November 1991.

Source: Department of Justice.

14–1996.941011.241911.0
20–243224.41,06429.01,09628.9
25–293325.280822.184122.2
30–343224.455415.158615.4
35–39129.23258.93378.9
40–49118.43389.23499.2
50+21.51644.51664.4
      Total1311003,6631003,794100

Of the 3,537 inmates surveyed, almost all identified only one ethnic group. Of the 121 female respondents, 39 percent specified New Zealand European, 46 percent New Zealand Maori and 5 percent Pacific Island. Forty percent of male inmates specified New Zealand European, 43 percent New Zealand Maori and 9 percent Pacific Island only.

When ethnic origin by age group was surveyed, New Zealand Maori under the age of 30 years made up 71 percent of inmates, while (in the same age group) 57 percent of inmates were identified as New Zealand European and 62 percent were of a Pacific Island ethnic group. In the 40 years and over category, 18 percent of the inmates were New Zealand European, 13 percent Pacific Island and 8 percent New Zealand Maori.

Major offence

—the census shows that 51 percent of all male inmates were imprisoned for violent crimes. The next largest offending group were those inmates imprisoned for offences against property (24 percent), followed by traffic offenders (8.9 percent, not including offences where death or injury resulted) and then by drug offenders (7.3 percent).

Table 10.16. MAJOR OFFENCE OF INMATES*

 FemaleMaleTotal
Major offenceNumberPercentNumberPercentNumberPercent

* As at 14 November 1991.

Source: Department of Justice.

Violence4433.61,88451.41,92850.8
Other against persons32.31464.01493.9
Against property5239.1786023.591224.0
Involving drugs2116.02687.32897.6
Good order--200.5200.5
Traffic64.63278.93338.8
Against justice10.81163.21173.1
Miscellaneous43.1421.1461.2
       Total1311003,6631003,794100

The most common violent offences for male inmates given custodial sentences were aggravated robbery (18 percent of violent offenders and 9 percent of all inmates) and injuring and wounding (13 percent of violent offenders and 7 percent of all inmates).

The most significant major offence groups represented for females were property offences (40 percent) and violent offences (34 percent). A smaller proportion of female prisoners were incarcerated for drug offences (16 percent) and six females were in custody for traffic offences. The most common violent offences for which female offenders were given custodial sentences were murder (25 percent of all violent offenders and 8 percent of all inmates) and injuring and wounding (26 percent of violent offenders and 8 percent of all inmates).

Thirty-nine inmates were in prison for a driving offence involving death or injury. Eight percent of all inmates were imprisoned for driving while disqualified and 0.4 percent were in prison for drink-driving.

Sentence length

—the figures show that 34 percent of female inmates and 26 percent of male inmates were serving a total custodial sentence of less than one year in duration. A total of 11 females and 183 males were serving sentences of life imprisonment. Forty males were serving preventive detention sentences. Excluding life and preventive detention sentences, four females (3 percent of all female inmates) and 666 males (18 percent of all male inmates) were sentenced to a custodial sentence of at least five years in duration.

Table 10.17. TOTAL SENTENCE LENGTH FOR INMATES*

 FemaleMaleTotal
Sentence lengthNumberPercentNumberPercentNumberPercent

* As at 14 November 1991.

Source: Department of Justice

Under 3 months43.1431.2471.2
3 months and under 6 months118.42727.42837.5
6 months and under 1 year3022.962917.265917.4
1 and under 2 years3123.773920.277020.3
2 and under 3 years2317.644712.247012.4
3 and under 5 years1713.064417.666117.4
5 and under 7 years32.337910.338210.1
7 and under 10 years10.82115.82125.6
10 years and over--762.1762.0
Life118.41835.01945.1
Preventive detention--401.1401.1
      Total1311003,6631003,794100

Fifty-three percent of female inmates and 38 percent of male inmates has at least one year in custody remaining to be served. Most inmates are released on parole or remission before the expiry of their sentence.

Offending history

—thirty-nine percent of female inmates had a previous term in custody, compared to 61 percent of male inmates who had served a previous prison term. Sixty-seven percent of female inmates and 82 percent of male inmates had at least six convictions recorded prior to the census date, while 44 percent of female and 49 percent of male inmates had more than 20 convictions.

Table 10.18. TOTAL TIME SPENT IN PRISON ON PREVIOUS OCCASIONS*

 FemaleMale
Total time spent in prisonNumberPercentNumberPercent

* As at 14 November 1991.

Source: Department of Justice.

No previous incarcerations8061.11,44539.5
Under 6 months2116.071719.6
6 months and under 1 year107.63559.7
1 and under 2 years107.642611.6
2 and under 3 years32.32386.5
3 and under 5 years53.82918.0
5 and under 7 years21.51233.4
7 and under 10 years00.0541.5
10 years and over00.0100.3
      Total1311003,659100
Traffic offenders

—at the time of the census six female and 327 male inmates were imprisoned for traffic offences (other than those which involved death or injury). Almost all traffic offenders had a total of at least six convictions, 78 percent had more than 20 convictions and 33 percent had more than 50 convictions.

Classification status

—fifty-four percent of the male inmates at the time of the census had a minimum security classification status, 39 percent were classified as suitable for medium security and only 4 percent had a maximum security classification. The majority of female inmates had a minimum security classification status.

An important objective is to ensure that inmates are held in humane conditions and the minimum degree of security consistent with public safety. Wherever possible inmates are given some sort of constructive employment, which can be either maintenance of the prison, industrial production, or work on farms, forestry or horticulture.

There is a full-time education co-ordinator in each penal institution who is responsible for contracting educational services from the community. Courses may be at any level from literacy to university study. The study gives inmates the chance to better their social and employment skills and aids re-integration into the community.

Increasingly prisons also offer specialised programmes such as the Kia Marama programme for people who sexually offend against children, anger management and drug and alcohol programmes which inmates are encouraged to participate in to help resolve problems and attitudes. In addition prisons offer cultural programmes and recreational activities, including hobby and sports.

Earnings.

Modest earnings are paid to inmates who work or are involved in re-integrative programmes. Payments vary depending on the nature of the work or activity and the standard of performance; the maximum is 92 cents a day. Money earned is banked in a personal trust account and may be spent on personal items through a weekly shopping system.

Inmates who have been in prison for more than 31 days are eligible on release for the steps to freedom grant which is administered by the New Zealand Income Support Service. This grant provides a maximum of $350 and is abated by any prison earnings the inmate may have.

Punishments.

An inmate charged with one of the less serious offences against discipline appears either before the general manager or a visiting justice who may impose a penalty. Serious cases are referred to an outside court.

Release to work.

A small number of selected inmates may be released during the day for outside employment. They are required to contribute to the cost of their board and part of their earnings may also be withheld to fund debts and family expenses.

Parole system.

The introduction of longer sentences designed to protect society from 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, terms of seven years or more or preventive detention have their cases considered by a national parole board. Those sentenced to between one and seven years appear before one of 17 district prisons boards (see also Community Corrections).

Psychological Services Division.

The Psychological Services Division is a regionally-based service with offices in eight centres. It has a staff of 54 psychologists and also employs on a fee for service basis psychologists in private practice, with about 30 being employed at any one time. Psychological services are provided to both the Penal Institutions Division and the Community Corrections Division, to community agencies dealing with offenders, and to courts, the district prisons boards and the Parole Board.

The main work of the division is the psychological assessment and treatment of convicted offenders who are either serving a prison sentence or a community-based sentence administered by the Community Corrections Division. It also provides psychological assessments for courts at the pre-sentence stage, and for the district prisons boards and the Parole Board to assist in parole decisions.

Other work it undertakes is the provision of advice to the Corrections Group, the Department of Justice and the Minister of Justice on policy, practices and procedures, and to staff of the penal institutions and community corrections divisions and community agencies on ways to assist individual offenders. It participates in programme development, implementation and evaluation and provides training for prison and probation officers, staff of community agencies and post-graduate psychology students.

The division carries out several research projects each year to give a sound base for the advice it gives; to improve the assessment and treatment methods it uses; and to evaluate the effectiveness of both its own interventions and programmes offered by the penal institutions and community corrections divisions and community agencies working with offenders.

10.4 Police

The national administrative and operational control of the New Zealand Police is vested in a commissioner who is responsible to the Government through the Minister of Police.

For operational purposes, New Zealand is divided into six police regions, each controlled by an assistant commissioner.

Collecting money for community fun day.

Regional 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 critical areas for policing for the next five years have been identified and stated as strategic goals which are to:

  • Reduce the incidence and effects of crime.

  • Protect property, enhance public safety and maintain law and order.

  • Improve the detection and apprehension of offenders.

  • Improve the safe and efficient use of roads.

  • Implement and maintain community orientated policing.

  • Strengthen public confidence and satisfaction with police services.

  • Achieve excellence and equity in the management of our people and resources.

These goals are being worked towards through a range of strategies.

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.

Police policy has moved towards a more community-oriented approach, with officers of all types encouraged to see themselves as responsible for well-defined communities. Police systems and establishments are also reflecting this approach.

The effective strength of the police at 1 July 1994 was 6,842 sworn personnel, including 798 women and 1,687 non-sworn full-time equivalent positions.

Police operations

Armed offenders squads.

These groups of specially trained and equipped officers are mobilised to deal with offenders with weapons. During the year ended 30 June 1994, armed offenders squads attended 520 incidents, compared with 589 in 1993.

A total of 224 members throughout the country now perform armed offenders squad duties on a part-time basis.

Special Tactics Group.

This group is made up of selected members of armed offenders squads, and is provided with specialised training to enable it to deal with acts of terrorism. The squad exercises with highly trained police negotiators and other specialist police support staff.

Refresher courses are held frequently and training has also been carried out with Ministry of Defence personnel. Close liaison has been maintained with ministry staff to ensure effective co-ordination if needed.

Search and rescue.

There were 978 police-controlled search and rescue operations during the year ended 30 June 1994. These operations also involved many thousands of voluntary hours by, among others, members of the Federated Mountain Clubs and the Royal New Zealand Coast Guard Federation.

Law-related education programme.

There are 134 police staff who implement parts of the law-related education programme. Their task is to encourage teachers and police to cooperatively plan law-related themes suitable for use in classrooms, such as the child abuse programme, ‘Keeping Ourselves Safe’, and the drug education programme ‘DARE’.

Police dogs.

A comprehensive network of police dogs and handlers is maintained throughout New Zealand. During the year ended 30 June 1994 police dogs were deployed on 37,134 incidents. There were 80 general and dual purpose dogs (dual purpose dogs are trained to locate narcotics), 8 narcotic detector teams, and 3 explosive detector teams. In addition there were 18 trainee dog handlers, giving a total strength of 109 teams.

Community constables.

Community constables have a wide brief within the areas that they work. They assess law-related problems and work to resolve them by enlisting community support—acting as a catalyst for community solutions to law-related problems. They may work from police stations, their own offices in shopping centres or other locations, or from a kiosk, such as in the Cathedral Square in Christchurch. At 30 June 1994 there were 176 community constables spread over all six police regions.

Youth Aid Section.

Under the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989, the New Zealand Police must follow the principle that unless the public interest requires otherwise, criminal proceedings are not instituted against children or young persons if there is an alternative means of dealing with the matter. Thus, of the 39,981 offences attributed to children and young persons in the year to 30 June 1994, 84.7 percent were finalised by way of warning or youth aid alternative action, 7.4 percent were referred for family group conference after a Youth Court appearance.

Population per police officer

Youth aid staff throughout the country as at 30 June 1994 totalled 130 full-time and 39 part-time members. Each youth aid full-time officer attended, on average, 43 family group conferences during the year.

Community Support Groups.

There were 18,794 community support groups throughout New Zealand as at 30 June 1994, and 73 victim support groups.

National Drug Intelligence Bureau.

For the year ending 30 June 1994 there were a total of 27,242 drug offences reported, of which 89.1 percent were cleared. In the year to June 1994, search without warrant powers were exercised in 3,944 cases, resulting in 3,198 seizures (81.1 percent).

Table 10.19. DRUG SEIZURES BY SUBSTANCE

Substance1991–921992–931993–94
Source: New Zealand Police.
Heroin (grams)3082,191103
Heroin (millilitres)11278435
Cocaine (grams)2,1496,280310
Opium (grams)212737
Morphine (grams)262431
Morphine (millilitres)7072,4491,032
Analgesics (tabs)40,8419,40313,979
LSD (tabs)27,29923,45625,945
Psilocybine (grams)2,4333,1624,071
Psilocybine (mushrooms)35010,0791,888
Amphetamine (grams)320163715
Methamphetamine (grams)552837182
Cannabis plant (number)300,041306,573220,011
Cannabis leaf (grams)432,136578,888765,263
Cannabis oil (grams)3,8112,426259,641
Cannabis resin (grams)1,5047,372670

Reported offences.

A summary of offences reported to the police for the year ended 30 June 1994 can be found at the beginning of section 10.2, Criminal justice.

Police Complaints Authority

The authority is a one-member body, an experienced barrister or solicitor being appointed for a period of between two and five years. The present incumbent, Sir John Jeffries, is a retired High Court Judge. It is an independent authority, funded by the Department of Justice. Its function is to receive complaints from the public against individual members of the police force or the procedures or policy of the police affecting the person making the complaint and, where grounds are established, to either investigate individual complaints itself, or oversee investigations by the police. It also reviews police investigations carried out at the request of the authority, and has jurisdiction to investigate where any person suffers death or serious injuries as a result of police operations.

Where the authority investigates and upholds a complaint itself, it may recommend disciplinary or other action to the Commissioner of Police. It also has recourse to the Attorney-General if its recommendations regarding the outcome of internal police investigations are not acted upon.

In the year to 30 June 1994, 1,607 complaints were received, 1,510 of which were accepted for investigation; 219 were upheld.

Contributors

10.1Department of Justice.
10.2New Zealand Police; Department of Justice.
10.3Department of Justice.
10.4New Zealand Police.

Special articles

New Zealand Police; Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet; Legal Services Board; Lay Observers.

Further information

  • Conviction and Sentencing of Offenders in New Zealand: 1983 to 1992. Department of Justice.

  • Census of Prison Inmates 1991. Department of Justice.

  • Changes to the Seriousness of Offending and in the Pattern of Sentencing: 1979 to 1988. Department of Justice.

  • Report of the Department of Justice (Parl paper E5).

  • Report of the Law Commission (Parl paper E31).

  • Report of the Legal Aid Board (Parl paper E7).

  • Report of the New Zealand Police (Parl paper G6).

  • Report of the Parole Board (Parl paper E5a).

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

  • The Law Commission publishes in series both their preliminary papers and reports.

Chapter 11. Communications

New telephone directories in Otahuhu warehouse.

The communications infrastructure in New Zealand has undergone dramatic changes in recent years. Over the past decade, competition has been progressively introduced into all aspects of the communications market. Today it is one of the most rapidly growing sectors of the economy.

The Communications Division of the Ministry of Commerce provides advice to the Minister of Communications on broadcasting policy issues, manages the radio spectrum, and carries out regulatory functions relating to communications. It administers the Telecommunications Act 1987, Postal Services Act 1987, Radiocommunications Act 1989 and Broadcasting Act 1989.

11.1 Mass media

Broadcasting policy

Historically, most broadcasting services in New Zealand were provided by the Government. In 1989 a new broadcasting policy regime was established to improve economic efficiency within the broadcasting industry while ensuring that government's social objectives continued to be met. The Government intended to increase economic efficiency by introducing a more competitive and flexible market for broadcasting services. The following steps were proposed:

  • It would be made easier for new broadcasters to enter the industry.

  • Ownership restrictions would be reduced or removed altogether.

  • It would be made easier for new technologies to be used and new services provided.

  • In the interests of increasing efficiency, the Government's commercial and noncommercial objectives would be separated.

The Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand Restructuring Act 1988 dissolved the Broadcasting Commission and replaced it with two state-owned enterprises, Radio New Zealand Limited (RNZ) and Television New Zealand Limited (TVNZ), each with its own management board. TVNZ was required to vest its transmission assets in a subsidiary company, Broadcast Communications Limited (BCL). Aotearoa Maori Radio, which had been managed by a subcommittee of the Broadcasting Commission, was established as a charitable trust to be managed on an independent basis and has, since 1989, been broadcasting on a full-time basis to Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

Limits on overseas shareholdings in New Zealand broadcasting companies were removed in 1991.

The Broadcasting Act 1989 established the Broadcasting Commission and the Broadcasting Standards Authority and provided for election broadcasting and restricted the scope for political intervention in the management or programming of TVNZ or RNZ.

Broadcasting Commission (NZ on Air).

The commission's role is to promote cultural and social objectives in broadcasting and such other activities seen as unlikely to receive sufficient commercial provision. NZ On Air collects the Public Broadcasting Fee (currently set at $110 per annum per household with a television set) and disburses it to meet its statutory objectives, namely to:

  • Reflect and develop New Zealand identity and culture by promoting programmes about New Zealand and New Zealand interests and promoting Maori language and culture.

  • Maintain, and where considered appropriate, extend television and radio coverage to New Zealand communities that otherwise would not receive a commercially viable signal.

  • Ensure that a range of programmes is available to provide for the interests of women, children, people with disabilities and other minorities, including ethnic minorities.

  • Encourage the establishment and operation of archives of programmes that are likely to be of historical interest in New Zealand.

NZ On Air fulfils these objectives by providing funds for broadcasting, production of programmes and archiving of programmes. When allocating funding for programme production, NZ On Air is required to take into account such factors as availability of other sources of funding, likely audience size and the likelihood of a programme being broadcast.

The members of the Broadcasting Commission, which operates under the name New Zealand on Air (NZ On Air), are appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Minister of Communications.

In 1992/93, NZ On Air spent $50.7m on the production of television programmes; $23.4m on National Radio; Concert FM and access radio services; and $7.7m on Maori radio. It also spent $1.4m on remote television coverage.

Broadcasting standards.

The Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) is an independent body established to enforce and oversee the standards and objectives specified by the Broadcasting Act 1989. The four members of the authority are appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Minister of Communications. The authority's functions are to:

  • Encourage broadcasters to develop and observe codes on the protection of children; the portrayal of violence; fair and accurate programming and procedures for correcting factual errors and redressing unfairness; restrictions on the promotion of liquor; safeguards in the area of human rights; and the presentation of appropriate warnings.

  • Develop other codes where appropriate.

  • Conduct research and publish findings.

In relation to complaints, the authority:

  • Hears and determines complaints against broadcasters when the complainant is dissatisfied with the action taken by broadcasters, or when the issue relates to issues of individual privacy.

  • Publishes its findings.

  • May impose penalties (the most severe being a 24 hour restriction on broadcasting).

There are appeal rights to the High Court against the authority's decisions.

Between July 1993 and June 1994, the authority issued 151 decisions on formal complaints. Of these complaints, 58 alleged a breach of balance, fairness and accuracy. The second largest area of complaint alleged a breach of good taste and decency. Of the 151 decisions issued, 136 related to television and 15 to radio.

Brand advertising of liquor on radio and television has been permitted since 1 February 1992. Such advertising is subject to strict programme and advertising controls which were reviewed after the first six months. In July 1993, responsibility for all advertising complaints except those concerning the incidental promotion and saturation advertising of liquor, was transferred to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), an industry-funded body. A further two-year review of liquor advertising standards was undertaken by the BSA (for incidental and saturation advertising) and the ASA during 1994.

In the year ended 16 June 1994, the Advertising Standards Authority considered 209 complaints, 32 (15 percent) of which related to liquor advertising. In comparison, in the previous year 27 percent of complaints related to liquor advertising. Overall, the level of complaints relating to liquor advertising has dropped significantly.

The Broadcasting Standards Authority is also responsible for the allocation of free election broadcasting time and, for this particular function, its membership is increased by two, one member to represent the Government and the other, all Opposition parties.

Maori broadcasting.

Under the Radiocommunications Act 1989, frequencies suitable for radio and television were reserved throughout New Zealand for the promotion of Maori language and culture.

Prior to the broadcasting reforms of 1988–89, one iwi-based radio station (Wellington's Te Upoko o Te Ika) had been broadcasting continuously. There are now 24 iwi-based radio stations, 23 of which broadcast on frequencies reserved by government for the promotion of Maori language and culture. In addition to the iwi stations, Aotearoa Maori Radio broadcasts to Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

Since 1989, New Zealand on Air has provided public funding for the operating and capital costs of Maori radio stations, and for the production of Maori programmes for broadcast on network television. The Broadcasting Amendment Act 1993 established a new Maori broadcasting funding agency, Te Reo Whakapuaki Irirangi, better known as ‘Te Mangai Paho’. On 1 January 1995 Te Mängai Päho will assume primary responsibility for the allocation of public funding for Maori broadcasting.

Television

Television New Zealand Limited.

The TVNZ Group operates two channels, Television One and Channel 2 and has a number of subsidiaries and other broadcasting interests.

Rugby league commentators talk their way through the Manly vs Canberra game at Carlaw Park, Auckland, 1994

TVNZ aims to provide New Zealanders with quality communications products and services. It also endeavours to present programmes which reflect and foster New Zealand's identity and culture. A state-owned enterprise, it is charged with being a commercially successful electronic communications business. It is headed by a group chief executive reporting to a board of directors appointed by government.

TVNZ broadcasts its services to approximately 1,126,000 households, and has almost 100 percent coverage of the New Zealand population. Both Television One and Channel 2 broadcast seven days a week and since October 1994, Channel 2 has broadcast 24 hours a day.

Television One aims to provide quality New Zealand and British drama, news, sport and information. It presents many of New Zealand's highest rating local programmes, including Crimewatch and Country Calendar.

Channel 2 features comedy, drama, family entertainment, children's programmes and the latest music specials.

Over 13,000 hours of television are broadcast each year on the two channels. Imported programming is mainly sourced from the United Kingdom, America and Australia. TVNZ accesses satellite-delivered programming from the BBC, ITV, CBS, ABC (US), ABC (Australia), Channel 9 and other Australian networks. Nearly 30 percent of programmes are locally produced.

TVNZ comprises many divisions and subsidiary companies, including programming and production, multi-media, satellite services, services for television stations in the South Pacific, Teletext, regional television stations and signal distribution.

TVNZ’s main revenue source is advertising. Its advertising revenue was $261 million in 1993 (total revenue $372 million) compared with $240 million in 1992. For the year ended 31 December 1993, TVNZ reported a net profit after tax of $32.6 million, compared with $23 million in 1992.

The TVNZ Group continues to diversify into new broadcast and communications technologies. It has invested in SKY TV, CLEAR Communications, the Singapore-based Asia Business News, Fiji Television and its own subsidiary BCL.

TV3 Network Services Limited.

New Zealand's private national television network was launched on 25 November 1989. It currently reaches around 96 percent of the population. The station's headquarters are in Auckland with studio facilities in Wellington and Christchurch.

In December 1991, after 19 months in receivership, shareholding in TV3 was bought by Can West Global Communications Corporation, a Canadian television company, which took a 20 percent stake in the network. Westpac Banking Corporation also raised its shareholding to 48 percent. The remaining 32 percent is held by TV3 Network Holdings Limited (in receivership).

The network's programming targets the 18–49 age group with a complete range of programming—news, current affairs, sport, sitcoms, movies and drama series, along with children's programming. Approximately 40 percent of the 130 hours of broadcasting each week is locally sourced, with other programmes coining primarily from Australia, the United States and Britain.

SKY Television.

New Zealand's first entry into pay television began broadcasting on 18 May 1990. SKY provides movies sports and news on three scrambled UHF channels. To receive the broadcast the subscriber must have a decoder and, where necessary, a dedicated UHF aerial.

Subscribers are SKY’s main source of revenue, keeping commercial time down to two or three minutes per hour compared to eight to 12 minutes on commercial stations. SKY currently has approximately 170,000 subscribers and expects to have over 200,000 by March 1995.

SKY offers news and sports broadcasts 24 hours a day and movies for 14 hours a day. The news is provided by the BBC and CNN networks and, generally, broadcast live. The sports network endeavours to broadcast major events live or as close to live as possible and provides coverage of a diverse range of sports. SKY Movies presented by HBO shows a mixture of classics and new releases which it rotates over different times and days.

Two new SKY channels were launched during 1994, Discovery in October and Orange in December. This channel expansion comes on top of the recently completed geographical expansion, which now has the SKY signal reaching 800,000 homes.

First introduced in 1979, the Cat and Kiwi said ‘Goodnight’ to New Zealanders on TV2 (now Channel 2) for 15 years. They retired on 19 October 1994 when Channel 2 started broadcasting non-stop, 24 hours a day.

Regional television services.

Canterbury Television (CTV) commenced broadcasting in June 1991 using UHF television licences purchased at tender in February 1990, and has its own production house, CTV Limited, which started operations in October 1989. The channel has a strong emphasis on local content, with approximately 70 percent of its programmes being locally produced.

CRY TV and Max: The Music Channel are music stations broadcasting in Christchurch and Auckland, respectively. Both broadcast music videos and coverage of local bands on UHF frequencies.

TVNZ has announced plans to establish regional television stations in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Dunedin. The stations will be managed by Horizon Pacific Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of TVNZ. TVNZ has negotiated a programming contract with the BBC World Service Television, under which BBC World Service news, current affairs and information programming will be broadcast on the regional stations. The Horizon Pacific stations will also broadcast local news, current affairs and sporting events.

Action TV.

This channel, owned by the Totalisator Agency Board (TAB), commenced broadcasting in November 1992. It broadcasts live racing, race results and programmes about racing to Auckland, Waikato, the Bay of Plenty and Wellington, using UHF frequencies.

The TAB has leased the down-time on this channel to SKY Television commenced broadcasting in October 1994.

Local television services.

Geyserland TV (Rotorua) and ITV (Queenstown) provide tourist information services to hotels, motels and similar facilities in their respective areas of coverage.

Cable television.

The first cable operator in New Zealand is Kiwi Cable Limited, which operates a cable television system, Kapiti Television, in Paraparaumu. It is owned by two United States companies, Todd Communications and United International Holdings. As at August 1994. Kiwi Cable had approximately 500 subscribers. Subscribers receive 14 channels, including a community channel, Television One, Channel 2, TV3, Action TV, CNN, music channels and a religious channel. Subscribers also have access to a video-on-demand service which enables them to receive the movie of their choice on the channel, provided the particular movie and channel space are available.

Telecom, in partnership with SKY Television, is trialling cable in two Auckland suburbs. Six hundred households receive fibre optic cable access to television and telephone services. The project aims to investigate New Zealand viewers’ responses to increased choice in television. Viewers in the scheme receive Television One, Channel 2, TV3, the three SKY channels and six additional channels.

BCL is trialling cable in 90 households in the Wellington suburb of Whitby, where topography has made television reception difficult in the past. Households in the trial receive Television One, Channel 2, TV3, Action TV and the three SKY Television channels via coaxial cable from the local BCL translator.

Table 11.1. HOURS OF LOCAL CONTENT ON TELEVISION

YearTV OneChannel 2TV3Total
Source: Ministry of Commerce.
1988142468702111
198917908901322812
1990247477210034249
19911811101612124039
19922526122719625715
19932005104217414788

The decrease in hours of local content in 1993 was primarily due to the fact that coverage of the Olympic Games significantly increased the hours of local content broadcast in 1992.

Radio broadcasting

Since the broadcasting reforms of 1988–89, the number of registered radio frequencies has increased substantially. As at 1 July 1988 a total of 81 AM and 76 FM frequencies were in use throughout New Zealand.

As at 30 June 1993, 150 AM and 288 FM frequencies were registered with the Registrar of Radio Frequencies. It is difficult to ascertain how many of the registered frequencies are in use but most licence holders commence broadcasting shortly after registration.

Radiocommunications Act.

The Radiocommunications Act 1989 provided a revised framework for spectrum allocation in order to cope with an increased demand for frequencies resulting from broadcasting and telecommunications reforms. It established a market-based system for spectrum management, with up to 20 year tradeable spectrum property rights. Property rights were initially awarded to the highest tenderer. Such rights not only encourage investment in spectrum use, but also provide for situations where a number of uses are possible.

Broadcasters operating under warrants issued by the Broadcasting Tribunal on 1 July 1989 were entitled to a licence under the Radiocommunications Act. These licences were issued for a 20 year period in return for a one-off lump sum payment or an annual payment for each of the 20 years.

Allocation by tender.

Most of the significant remaining UHF television, FM sound radio and AM sound radio frequencies have now been tendered. Tendering is conducted on a first price, sealed bid basis. The registration of licences following tendering establishes the tradeable right which is recorded in a publicly accessible register. An annual administration fee is payable to the Ministry of Commerce by all registered licence holders.

Additional licences are created, where technically possible, and tendered when there is demand for them. Amendments to licences, such as changes of transmission site, increases in power etc, are accommodated where possible. Where an amendment is likely to result in an estimated increase in the value of the licence in excess of $5,000 or other parties have expressed interest in the frequency, the licence is required to be re-tendered. The existing licence-holder has preferred bidder status in that they are given the opportunity to match the top bid if they choose to do so. Pending tender, licences are often made available for interim use for a rental that is related to the value of the licence.

Radio New Zealand.

Radio New Zealand Limited (RNZ Limited) was constituted as a separate state-owned enterprise at the end of 1988 when the Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand, of which Radio New Zealand had been a service, was dissolved. The BCNZ’s radio assets were to pass through the Crown straight to the new state-owned enterprise, but Maori interests claimed that the new state-owned enterprise structure was inadequate to carry out Treaty of Waitangi language and culture obligations.

While the issue was argued in the courts, the assets were legally frozen in Crown ownership and RNZ Limited made use of them under licence. The company was therefore not the legal owner and, because of that and of Maori sensitivities relating to the situation, it could not manipulate major assets in a normal business manner to meet its plans and needs until early August 1992, when the way was finally cleared for the assets to be vested in the Radio New Zealand state-owned enterprise.

In addition to the performance required from all state-owned enterprises, RNZ Limited must provide a range programmes consistent with government social and cultural broadcasting objectives as set for all broadcasters by the Broadcasting Act 1989.

In addition to actual broadcasting, the company's activities include engineering, sales, and local and national news services. Its broadcasting falls into two main categories: commercial or community radio, recently rebranded and re-organised as ZBNewstalk (a developing network) with a growing number of local FM stations providing a ‘Classic Hits’ programme as an alternative; and New Zealand Public Radio (non-commercial).

In response to allegations that the present structure provides an opportunity for public funds to be diverted to the support of the commercial side of RNZ’s business, there has been political pressure to separate the commercial and the public broadcasting functions more clearly. A first step has been taken in this process by the formation of a wholly owned but separately managed subsidiary company, New Zealand Public Radio Limited, which owns and controls the assets used for public broadcasting and carries on the non-commercial activities. The separation of the two operations has become established and New Zealand Public Radio Limited has three divisions: National Radio; Concert FM and RNZ News and Current Affairs. Each is under its own separate general manager in the separate company structure.

Commercial—not counting regional repeaters of main stations or stations broadcasting on both AM and FM bands, more than 30 commercial or community stations, each with a local management grouped under several regional management structures, and ultimately responsible to either a central metropolitan or provincial management, broadcast either on a largely local basis or as part of ZBNewstalk. A commercial network links most stations for national and international news bulletins and New Zealand programmes (eg national talkback). Some stations outside the ZBNewstalk grouping aim more at young adult/contemporary music audiences; others are more oriented towards general family listening. Many services have been either converted to FM or broadcast on both FM and AM (the latter may serve different audiences at some time of the day). The powerful AM transmitters formerly used for Concert Programme transmission have been grouped to form the AM Network, broadcasting under contract and as a statutory obligation, the proceedings of Parliament and extended sports coverage. The commercial services are funded entirely by advertising revenue, sponsorship or commercial contract.

New Zealand Public Radio

—the non-commercial services are funded by a share of the Public Broadcasting Fee collected and allocated by NZ on Air. The networked National Radio and Concert FM services are the principle ones. Public Radio also covers the Sound Archive in Christchurch where many thousands of historical tapes, discs and commercial gramophone records are preserved. Te Reo O Aotearoa, the RNZ Maori and Pacific Island language unit, produces a wide range of Maori, Pacific Island and English programmes broadcast through National Radio. The RNZ International short wave service is managed by Public Radio, but funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Radio Bureau

—with offices in the three main cities, the Radio Bureau is concerned with the selling and placement of commercial station advertising on a New Zealand-wide basis for both RNZ Limited and also a significant number of independent radio broadcasters.

Engineering and Operations

—primarily concerned with RNZ’s technical and property requirements, maintenance, and development and construction, Engineering and Operations also provide specialised, external consultancy and contract services to the industry. Recently, the department was scaled down, with fewer staff centrally and the company's needs being met by main-centre technical offices.

RNZ News

—a central operation which gathers national news (with specialist and general reporters attached every RNZ station, central office and Parliament), and international news from correspondents, and three international 24 hour wire services. RNZ News prepares and produces news bulletins and programmes for all RNZ services, and also provides news and information services under contract to a number of external broadcasting and non-broadcasting clients.

For the year ended 30 June 1994, Radio New Zealand's total consolidated income of $90,117,000 was made up of advertising (net) $59,170,000; Broadcasting Fee $21,286,000; and other various income of $9,661,000. Total consolidated expenditure was $86,475,000 with abnormal items totalling a further $2,063,000, leaving a net profit of $1,579,000. Total assets amounted to $43,062,000.

Private radio broadcasters.

The Ministry of Commerce estimates that, as at 2 April 1994, 165 radio stations were broadcasting separate programmes on a continuous basis, compared with 64 in 1988. Of these, 122 were privately-owned, compared with 30 in 1988. New radio formats have emerged throughout the country, including ‘classic hits’, easy listening, country music and talkback stations. The Independent Broadcasters Association based in Auckland represents the private companies which operate independent radio stations. There are 54 members with stations in all metropolitan and provincial markets. Stations include both locally operated and network operations. News and sports are provided by Independent Radio News (IRN), based in Auckland.

Non-commercial broadcasting.

The Crown has reserved AM radio frequencies and UHF television frequencies throughout the country for use by non-commercial broadcasters. AM frequencies have been reserved in all communities with populations of 10,000 or more. Broadcasters may have access to reserved spectrum for non-profit community purposes. In each case, a licence is allocated upon application to an appropriate community organisation which is responsible for ensuring that all interested groups have access to airtime on the frequency. Use of reserved frequencies is restricted to non-profit activities.

Operating the ZLW console for the last time, high on the Tinakori Hill.

Access radio stations.

Access stations provide airtime on a non-profit basis to a range of minority groups in the community. At present there are eight access radio stations operating in New Zealand. All have been assisted in providing access to minority community groups by funding from NZ On Air. NZ on Air funding for access radio in 1992/93 was $1.8m.

Newspapers and magazines

Considering the size of its population, New Zealand has a high number of daily newspapers. There are 28 daily newspapers published in New Zealand, of these eight are morning newspapers and 20 are published in the evening.

Of the eight morning dailies, the New Zealand Herald has the largest audited net circulation at 246,092 copies daily. The others have circulations ranging from 3,000 to about 105,000.

There is a concentration of ownership of the majority of the country's daily papers in two major companies. The two major publishing groups are independent Newspapers Limited and Wilson and Horton Limited. Between them, these two groups now account for almost 90 percent of New Zealand's aggregate daily newspaper circulation of about 1 million copies daily. The previously dominant pattern of single family, or partnership, style of newspaper ownership survives only in some centres.

There are two Sunday newspapers, Sunday Star Times and Sunday News, both published by Independent Newspapers Limited.

A feature of newspaper publishing over the last 15 years has been the growth of community newspapers, most of them delivered free to all households in their recognised circulation area, although 11 have paid circulations. The New Zealand Community Newspapers Association has 114 members which between them publish over 2.1 millions copies per issue. The great majority are tabloid, but six are broadsheet. Most are weekly, but about 33 are bi- or triweekly and five are fortnightly. Many of these community papers are owned by the two big newspapers publishing groups or by publishers of other newspapers outside the groups. Some are owned by individuals or by small companies.

There are over 2,300 magazines available in New Zealand on a regular basis. Of this number, 58 are listed with the New Zealand Audit Bureau of Circulations as being either published in New Zealand or New Zealand editions. Most of these local magazines (34) are published monthly, 11 are published on an alternate month basis and six are weeklies.

Table 11.2. MAGAZINE CIRCULATION*

PublicationCirculationPublished

* These figures cover January-June 1994.

Source: Audit Bureau of Circulations..

Directions530,221Bi-monthly
Food Plus250,000Quarterly
TV Guide245,987Weekly
Woman's Day220,363Weekly
Reader's Digest (NZ Edition)153,449Monthly
NZ Woman's Weekly146,453Weekly
Australian Woman's Weekly117,767Monthly
Computerworld Computer Listings115,479Bi-monthly
Listener, TV & Radio Times114,703Weekly
Grapevine109,836Monthly
New Idea NZ87,243Weekly
Straight Furrow85,716Fortnightly
Tearaway74,804Monthly
NZ Gardener66,564Monthly
Little Treasures51,977Bi-monthly
Crosslink49,527Monthly
Next45,801Monthly
Time New Zealand Edition41,195Weekly
North & South40,136Monthly
Auckland Today36,000Bi-monthly
New Zealand Geographic35,127Quarterly
More34,602Monthly
NZ Home and Building33,666Bi-monthly
Cross Country31,549Monthly
Signature29,795Bi-monthly
Fashion Quarterly28,415Quarterly
Your Home28,742Monthly
Metro27,262Monthly

Display of winning entries from the 1994 Qantas Press Awards.

Advertising

Advertising industry.

Approximately 900 people are employed in advertising agencies, and 200 in advertising-related services. Advertising revenue also contributes to the employment of another 9,000 people in the publishing, radio and television industries.

At the end of March 1994, there were approximately 150 agencies, most of which (122) were New Zealand-owned, with the remainder (28) affiliated to multi-nationals by total or partial ownership (these tend to be the larger agencies). The number of agencies with overseas interests has grown from 12 in 1983 to 28 in 1994.

Total advertising expenditure (media and non-media) in New Zealand for the year ended March 1994 was approximately $1.9 billion. Of this, $1.3 billion was spent on media advertising—television, radio, newspaper, magazines, direct mail, cinema and outdoor. The remaining $600 million came from production and non-media advertising, such as promotions, and expenditure on advertising production. Forty-five percent of expenditure on media advertising ($587 million) was made through advertising agencies, with agencies placing around 80 percent of advertising on television, 80 percent in magazines, 20 percent on radio, 15 percent in newspapers and 20 percent of advertising through other media.

Table 11.3. MEDIA ADVERTISING 1994

MediumExpenditureShare

* Outdoor, cinema, telemarketing.

Source: Advertising Agencies Association of New Zealand Inc..

 $millionpercent
Daily newspapers36928
Community newspapers1159
Television45535
Radio14411
Magazines1028
Direct mail978
Other*221

Table 11.4. ADVERTISING EXPENDITURE BY INDUSTRY, 1994

IndustryExpenditure
Source: AGB Nielsen.
$million Retail298
Foodstuffs152
Leisure/travel/entertainment138
Household100
Agriculture/industry/office84
Investment/finance/banking77
Beverages64
Toiletries/cosmetics58
Automotive54
Pharmaceutical32

Industry organisations and self-regulation.

The Advertising Agencies’ Association of New Zealand is an incorporated body representing the interests of its members on issues affecting the advertising industry and agencies. There are 42 member agencies which collectively represent about 90 percent of agency billings in New Zealand. The Association of New Zealand Advertisers represents the interests of advertisers.

The industry has two self-regulatory bodies, the Advertising Standards Authority, and the Advertising Standards Complaints Board. The authority's function is to promulgate codes of practice and develop policies on advertising standards. The board's function is to adjudicate on complaints and advise the ASA on codes and public issues.

11.2 Telecommunications

Prior to 1987, Telecom had a monopoly on the provision of general telecommunication services. The Telecommunications Act 1987 ended this monopoly, requiring Telecom to allow integration of externally-produced equipment and services to its telecommunications network. Telecommunication services are now subject only to the constraints of general law, some rules relating to international services, and the need to obtain radio frequency licences, where required.

The deregulation of the telecommunications customer premises market was phased in over several years. Residential wiring and telex equipment was deregulated on 1 October 1987. Deregulation was extended to telephones on 1 May 1988, and PABX equipment on 1 April 1989.

Competition issues.

Competition in the industry is developing from several sources. CLEAR Communications Limited has entered the market, offering domestic and international toll and leased line services. Synet Communications 1990 Limited offers toll bypass services and BellSouth Limited offers a GSM cellular service. Over 190 companies and individuals hold ‘Telepermits’, allowing them to supply equipment which can be attached to the Telecom network. There are numerous suppliers of services such as packet switching, pay phones and private networks.

In recent years, new services and technologies have been introduced into the telecommunications market. These include ISDN services for business users, video conferencing, interactive voice response systems, centrex and frame relay, all of which are now widely available. Some broadband services are also being trialed.

Primary school children learning how to use the phone.

Competition in long-distance and international services has increased substantially since 1989. All New Zealand telephone customers now have access to an alternative long distance call service. Local loop services have not shown the same development, however, and Telecom effectively remains the only provider. CLEAR provides a limited number of local access lines. Negotiations between CLEAR and Telecom for an interconnection agreement which would enable CLEAR to provide local loop services have not yet been resolved, although CLEAR has been provided with interconnection for a line side local loop service. The parties are awaiting a Privy Council decision, on the basis of which they will negotiate a local loop service interconnection price.

Since 1987, the Government has introduced the following measures to support the new telecommunications regime:

  • In 1991, the Minister of Communications issued a policy statement reaffirming the Government's commitment too a competitive telecommunications environment. This statement noted the Government's expectation that telecommunications operators would act in good faith and provide interconnection on fair and reasonable terms, and reserved the option of further regulation, should this prove necessary.

  • The New Zealand Telecommunications Numbering Advisory group was established in 1992 to address issues relating to the allocation and management of telecommunications numbering.

  • In 1992, provision was made for joint briefing sessions to be provided to the Government at the request of telecommunications operators.

Telephone services.

New Zealand continues to have a high telephone density, with 468 main lines per 1,000 people. The telephone network provides 1.593 million main lines. The network is one of the most advanced in the world, with 97 percent of customers served by digital exchanges. Customers connected to a digital exchange have access to an additional range of telephone services.

Telecommunications services by cable, satellite and radio are available to almost all countries of the world. Competition is emerging in the provision of international services, with Telecom, Clear Communications and AUSSAT Pty Limited (the Australian satellite operation) offering services overseas.

Cellular and other mobile services, including paging and mobile radio, have developed rapidly. In 1987, Telecom began operating a cellular network based on the AMPS-B frequency. The network, which provides extensive land and mobile coverage, is currently available to 95 percent of the New Zealand population, with more than four percent of the population using mobile phones. Telecom began introducing a digital cellular network in 1992, after winning the AMPS-A frequency in open tender in 1990. BellSouth now offers a GSM cellular telephone service using the TACS-A band of radio spectrum. The fourth cellular frequency, TACS-B was won in open tender in 1993 by Telstra (formerly Telecom Australia), who have yet to introduce a service.

Digitalisation and the rapid installation of optical fibre cable throughout New Zealand continue to increase the networks capacity to carry voice, data and image transmission at extremely high volumes and speeds. An integrated digital network (ISDN) which enables simultaneous voice, data and video transmission was commissioned in 1992. As a result, a growing number of customers are using video conferencing services to link up with people in other places within New Zealand, and overseas. A new trans-Tasman optical fibre cable system (TASMAN 2) was commissioned in 1992. The PacRim East submarine cable from Auckland to Hawaii was completed in 1993. PacRim West, linking New Zealand with Asia, was scheduled for completion at the end of 1994.

Significant new intelligent network platforms have been introduced into the network. These provide 0800 and 0900 services, wide area Centrex, automated calling card, virtual private networks, voice mail services and call answering facilities.

A new telecommunications service between New Zealand and Antarctica's Scott Base was introduced in January 1992. Using this service, Scott Base staff are able to connect to the Crown research institutes computer network in New Zealand, and through gateways from this network to international science and computing networks. Scientists based in New Zealand and other countries are able to monitor their Antarctic experiments, helping to manage them from many thousands of kilometres away. See section 11.4 for further discussion of international and national computer networks.

Telecom Corporation of New Zealand Limited.

Telecom is the leading supplier of telecommunications services in New Zealand and operates one of the most technologically advanced communications networks in the world. The advanced digital network is the result of a $3.8 billion modernisation and investment programme. This programme was begun in 1987 to prepare Telecom to operate competitively in one of the most open and deregulated environments in the world. Today 97 percent of the total number of lines are connected to digital exchanges.

Telecom has been privately owned since September 1990 when it was purchased from the Government for $4.25 billion. The purchaser was a consortium of two leading United States telecommunications suppliers, Bell Atlantic and Ameritech, and two New Zealand companies, Fay Richwhite and Freightways. Following a joint worldwide offering by Bell Atlantic and Ameritech in July 1991 and further sales in 1993, each of these US companies held 24.8 percent of the share capital in Telecom as at 31 March 1994.

Telecom provides local, national and international telephone services and a wide range of other telecommunication services, including cellular telecommunication, data communications, leased circuits, directories, paging and mobile radio. Telecom is also a major distributor of telecommunication equipment in New Zealand.

Since 1988 Telecom has been progressively introducing volume-based charging, to replace distance-based. The number of charging steps has been reduced from 10 to eight and special rates introduced on a number of major routes; the average national and international call price dropped 55 percent from March 1988 to June 1993. This is part of the planned implementation of a tariff rebalancing programme which will reduce cross-subsidies among services and establish prices, more accurately reflecting the real cost of services.

Within the Asia-Pacific region, Telecom is well placed to participate in telecommunications investment opportunities. The corporation recently bid for major contracts in Australia and Indonesia, and Pacific Star (a Telecom/Bell Atlantic joint venture) has been appointed to manage the Queensland State Government telecommunications network.

RESIDENTIAL PHONES

OECD price comparison

Display of the 17 regional telephone book covers competing for the $15,000 National Telecom Directory Award

CLEAR Communications Limited.

In response to the deregulation of the New Zealand telecommunications industry, CLEAR was launched in November 1990. The company is owned by two New Zealand shareholders, the Todd Corporation and Television New Zealand, with two major international telecommunications companies, MCI Communications from the United States and Bell Canada International. The total shareholder capital investment by all partners is in excess of $170 million.

CLEAR was established to provide a full range of competitive toll, leased circuit specialist local network services. In an agreement reached with the Telecom Corporation of New Zealand Limited, CLEAR interconnects its long distance network to the Telecom local networks for the operation of these services. Leased circuit operations commenced in December 1990 and toll services in May 1991. CLEAR had over 30,000 toll customers within the first six months of operation and now has an estimated 20 percent of the national and 23 percent of the international toll markets with over 215,000 customers.

Subscribers can make both national and international toll calls through existing telephone equipment. No new numbers, special equipment or connections are required. CLEAR toll services are available throughout New Zealand.

CLEAR Communications has one of the world's most modern telecommunications networks, consisting of fibre optic cables, digital microwave radio facilities, a satellite earth-station and digital switches supplied by Northern Telecom of Canada. The company is presently enhancing this network with an additional fibre optic cable in the North Island and it has plans for a further cable in the South Island.

CLEAR is a significant new employer in New Zealand with a current staff level of over 670 permanent staff located in offices in 12 cities throughout the country.

Telegrams.

The inland and international telegram service is operated by the Telegram Company, which is owned by Synet Communications Limited, a fully-owned subsidiary of New Zealand Post.

11.3 Postal services

The Postal Services Act 1987 gives New Zealand Post the sole right to carry a defined standard letter of up to 200 grams. This protection now covers only the standard 45 cent letter. With the development of electronic substitutes, most postal markets are contestable and many are highly competitive. Under a ’deed of understanding’ with the Government, New Zealand Post is required to charge a nationally uniform price for standard letters, deliver six days a week, maintain a minimum number of retail outlets and maintain the price of postage for the standard letter in relativity with the Consumers Price Index.

The deed was originally established for a period of three years. It was rolled over in September 1992 for a transitional period of some months while the Government undertook a review of the letter post monopoly to determine whether increased competition should be permitted in letter post services. Following the decision to retain New Zealand Post's monopoly on the carriage of basic letters, the life of the deed was extended to 31 March 1995. In making this decision, it was noted that, while there were potential benefits in permitting open competition in letter services, there was public concern that the universal price-equalised service guaranteed by the monopoly might be at risk in a competitive environment. In the absence of clear agreement on measures to maintain service levels nationwide (and particularly to remote rural residents), the Government chose to retain New Zealand Post's statutory protection.

The right of New Zealand Post to charge for rural delivery services was challenged during 1992, when Federated Farmers took action in the High Court against New Zealand Post, following an increase in the rural delivery fee, from $40 to $80 in April 1992. While the deed of understanding guarantees delivery services at a specified frequency to rural residents (most receive six day a week delivery service), it does not include conditions about charging for the rural delivery service itself. Federated Farmers submitted that the stamp price should cover the full cost of delivery, that New Zealand Post did not have a legal basis for charging a rural delivery fee and that the company had breached contractual obligations to deliver mail as addressed by the sender. The High Court found against Federated Farmers.

New Zealand Post Limited

New Zealand Post is a state-owned enterprise with the shares held by two ministers on behalf of the Crown. Its principal business is providing postal services within New Zealand, and to and from other countries.

New Zealand Post took over a network of approximately 1,200 offices formerly the postal and agency business of the New Zealand Post Office. The composition of the network of post offices has since changed so that now more than 80 percent are operated on an agency basis or on commission. The New Zealand Post network now consists of:

  • Post Shops (formerly post offices).

  • Post Centre franchises providing sales of stamps, postal products, delivery of mail across the counter and holding mail for pick-up by New Zealand Post.

  • Stamp retailers such as small shops.

  • Stamp booklet outlets such as supermarkets and service stations.

Table 11.5. POSTAL OUTLETS, 1994

As at 31 MarchNumber
Source: New Zealand Post.
Post Shops245
Post Centre franchises644
Stamp retailers1,026
Stamp booklet outlets2,823
Total4,738

Besides the provision of letter and parcel delivery and retail transaction services the company also issues postage stamps, operates a philatelic business and has strategic investments in mail related businesses. New Zealand Post has assets of $425 million, and employs over 8,900 staff, including full-time, part-time and subsidiary staff.

POSTAL SERVICES: 1855-1994
Year*LettersAll mailPost OfficesRural box holders

* Calendar year to 1945, thereafter year ending 31 March.

Total postal deliveries to households and businesses only.

As at 1 November 1991.

§ Includes all postal outlets: official post shops, post agencies, postal delivery centres, stamp retailers and stamp book outlets.

Source: NZ Post.

  (000) items  
1855171....-
1860890....-
18654,443....-
18705,646..457-
187510,428..647-
188022,824..856-
188535,830..1,043-
189043,91770,0001,185-
189529,58754,4871,404-
190039,89876,8021,686-
190571,116122,4941,937-
1910196,769310,2372,257-
1915242,548356,5202,402-
1920259,743360,7472,207-
1925294,631471,5041,98213,066
1930313,148542,0031,77321,000
1935288,645526,1271,77723,517
1940296,684531,9421,70532,382
1945140,335236,8441,60736,963
1950169,798343,0241,50851,827
1955180,105386,3811,44264,125
1960210,300464,3001,44071,880
1965263,100551,4001,43575,591
1970288,600595,4001,51477,379
1975351,100699,0001,43583,834
1980541,200654,3001,32194,860
1985580,700730,9001,269103,365
1990†598,5001,195,5711,684‡§..
1994†743,8281,252,7374,738§109,141

John McComlic

American astronaut holding framed print of the NZ Post stamp commemorating the 25th anniversary of man landing on the moon.

Inland postal services.

Any postal item, from a letter to a parcel up to 20 kilograms, can be sent by ‘Fast Post’ or by Post. Fast Post offers next working day delivery between major towns and cities, with Post providing next working day delivery across town, and two to three working days across New Zealand. Other services include EasiPost, a prepaid priority service for documents up to 1 kg; assured services such as Registration and Insurance; and, the CourierPost service which from 1991 became available to the public through Post Shops.

Within its two-stream postal system, New Zealand Post gives discounts for bulk mailing, and handles unaddressed mail (circulars) and direct mail.

Table 11.6. POSTAL DELIVERIES AND VOLUME OF ARTICLES POSTED

 Year ended 31 March
 199219931994
Source: New Zealand Post.
Deliveries to— number 
  Households1,025,6951,036,1841,051,021
Businesses—   
  By delivery50,43150,20555,726
  By business and individual box and bag148,859149,611145,990

Postal volumes.

For the year ended 31 March 1994, New Zealand Post carried 707,603,000 Post medium letters (1993: 667,752,000) and 16,225,000 Fast Post medium letters (1993: 16,427,000).

Overseas mail services.

Surface and airmail services are operated from New Zealand. Courier Post International offers a guaranteed, top priority delivery of letters and documents and parcels to 100 countries.

Other special services include international reply coupons, print post direct bags, free postage for literature for people who are blind or visually impaired, and advice of delivery.

Stamp issues.

New Zealand Post produced 13 stamp issues during the 1994 calendar year. A variety of philatelic products are sold by mail order through the Philatelic Bureau at Wanganui, at philatelic sales centres and through Post Shops.

Table 11.7. 1994 STAMP ISSUES

DateIssueDenominations
Source: New Zealand Post.
19 JanuaryTourism45c, 80c, $1.00, $1.50, $1.80
 Tourism Booklet10 x 45c Stamps
 New Zealand Endeavour$1.00
18 February$20 Definitive$20
24 March1950s45c, 80c, $1.00, $1.20, $1.50, $1.80
27 AprilScenic—Four Seasons45c, 70c, $1.50, $1.80
 Kiwiana Booklet10 x 45c stamps
8 JulyMaori Myths45c, 80c, $1.00, $1.20, $1.50, $1.80
20 July75th anniversary 
 Children's Health Camps3 x 50c stamps, 80c
 Health miniature sheet$2.35
 25th anniversary Man on the Moon$1.50
 Self-Adhesive “A to B”45c
16 AugustWild Animals10 x 45c stamps
21 SeptemberChristmas45c, 70c, 80c, $1.00, $1.50, $1.80
 Christmas Booklet10 x 45c stamps
 Christmas miniature sheet$2.95
2 NovemberCentenary of New Zealand Cricket45c, 80c, $1.00, $1.80
 Cricket Booklet10 x 45c stamps

The retail network.

Postal and post-related services are available at 889 retail outlets. Stamps and stamp booklets are available at a further 3,849 outlets. The 245 Post Shops owned by New Zealand Post employ 2,200 people and use 1,200 computer terminals connected to a number of networks. These operate to accept payments for Telecom, motor registration, New Zealand on Air, Housing New Zealand and a number of other bills. Seventy percent of New Zealanders over the age of 15 use the services of a Post Shop about once a month.

Recent performance.

Seven years after corporatisation New Zealand Post has turned the loss-making postal division of the former Post Office into a profitable business. In the 1992/3 financial year New Zealand Post made a profit of $66 million. A turnover of $620 million was recorded for the year with a 5.9 percent increase in the volume of letter mail.

11.4 Information technology

New Zealand has a very competitive information technology (IT) market, with a range of equipment and software companies suppling an avid domestic market and niche export markets overseas. New Zealanders are enthusiastic early adopters of new technologies: the rapid take-up of mobile cellular phones is an example. New Zealand has one of the quickest take up rates in the world. Although the penetration of personal computers (PCs) into homes is still relatively low, just 17 percent of New Zealand homes had a PC in 1993 compared with 33 percent of US homes, the computer in the workplace, as a learning tool, and as an entertainment source is gaining rapid acceptance.

The Communications Division of the Ministry of Commerce is responsible for providing policy advice to the Government on information technology, telecommunications, broadcasting and the radio spectrum. It also manages the radio spectrum and carries out regulatory functions relating to communications. Thus all aspects of information technology convergence are dealt with in the same division. The Minister of Communications also holds the portfolios of information technology and broadcasting.

IT Policy Unit.

The IT Policy Unit was set up in the Ministry of Commerce's Communications Division in July 1993 to provide policy advice to the Minister for Information Technology and to government on information technology issues as they affect the economy and society. The unit also monitors overseas trends in technology policy and technology developments. Additionally, the unit acts as a point of contact for the IT industry with government and provides support for the Information Technology Advisory Group (ITAG) and the Interdepartmental Committee on Information Technology (ICIT).

ITAG is a 10 member group of representatives from the leading private sector IT organisations in New Zealand. It was established by the Minister for Information Technology in September 1993. ITAG’s role is to provide advice to the minister on issues relating to the Government's economic policy making role from a supplier and user perspective. It is also charged with acting as an interface between the IT industry and government and with developing a medium to long term strategy for IT in New Zealand.

ICIT’s function is to advise the government on issues relating to the government's role as a purchaser and user of IT equipment. As government departments are autonomous and chief executives responsible for all purchase decisions, ICIT’s role is concerned with any issues crossing departmental boundaries. It comprises a main committee of six representatives of government agencies and three sub-committees dealing with purchasing, standards and inter-connectivity, and information management. It reports to the Minister of State Services.

Information technology industry.

The IT industry comprises those industry sectors whose business is IT-related, including computing, broadcasting and telecommunications. However, many people employed in IT occupations work in organisations that are not part of the IT industry, eg computer analysts at a bank's head office. At the 1991 Census there were just over 40,000 employed in the IT industry, including those working in non-IT occupations, eg an accountant in a computer bureau. There were a further 27,000 working in IT occupations outside the IT industry, making a total of 67,000, or 4 percent of the labour force, working in an IT occupation and/or for an IT-related firm.

Figures for IT exports and imports into New Zealand have in the past only been available for hardware, as they are logged as goods that enter or leave the country. Exports and imports of software and services are the subject of an industry survey being conducted by Statistics New Zealand.

Since 1991 there has been a steady but gradual increase in the value of IT hardware imports into New Zealand despite the decline in unit value of many IT goods, implying the number of units arriving has increased more rapidly than their total value. IT hardware exports are rising dramatically, showing a sustained increase in value since 1989 to just over $100 million, mostly accounted for by an increase in exports of hardware for broadcasting and television. However, exports of data processing hardware doubled between 1991 and 1993 to $17 million.

A survey of the IT industry by International Data Corporation in July 1994 predicted strong growth in usage of IT equipment and applications in most areas over the next 12 months. The survey, covering 62 New Zealand-based organisations, concentrated on IT trends. It showed most organisations anticipating significant growth over the next 12 to 24 months. Local area networks, electronic data interchange (EDI), multi-media and client server services were expected to have the most dramatic increase in usage. By the end of 1995, about 76 percent of the organisations expect to be using EDI and about 40 percent multi-media, up from just 5 percent. Use of more widespread technologies, including mobile computing and electronic mail etc, is also expected to increase.

Internet.

The Internet may be one of the most important information technology tools reshaping the worlds of commerce, politics and social interaction. The Internet provides access to vast quantities of information and gives freedom in finding it. It has gateways into most parts of the world, linking about 3.25 million host computers and about 20 million users. About 150,000 users are joining each month. The Internet's attraction is the wealth of information that is available, particularly scientific and technical information, but also latest events, news and sports, documented as soon as they happen, as well as debates and discussions on any and every subject, tours (of cities, institutions and universities) and much governmental information, particularly from and about the United States Government.

In New Zealand, the Internet has grown from just a few users in the scientific and research communities in 1990 to over 50,000 users. In July 1994 these users were making use of just under 15,000 host computers, an increase of 157 percent from the year before. Users have until recently, mainly been university students, and the number of student users is likely to grow rapidly as more schools connect to it.

Education.

IT has been slowly infiltrating the classroom over the last two decades. However, interactive educational software is proving to be the aid that turns the computer into the high technology learning tool it has always promised to be. Schools around the world are finding this type of software makes mastering the basics fun, and at a higher level provides realistic simulations that help teach complex topics and strengthen students’ problem-solving skills. The computer's attractiveness for teaching is being reinforced as digital electronics and high speed links provide a growing number of schools with electronic access to libraries and universities and to other schools. Schools across the country and around the world are connecting with each other, so students can learn about life in other regions.

In Europe the impact of computers on the educational process has been widely demonstrated. In the educational use of computers, the British are leaders in IT innovation, both in the amount of equipment used and the use to which it is put. It is not unusual for leading British secondary schools to spend up to ú300,000 each year on IT. This emphasis is having two beneficial effects. Firstly, students are taught the sort of thinking processes required to use spreadsheets, word processors and other software packages, making for a potentially more productive workforce. Secondly, computers are giving a big boost to learning in general, eg the use of word processors in English has helped pupils with writing. Additionally, schools that have invested in IT are believed to have a lower truancy rate because of the technology's ability to enliven otherwise routine lessons.

In New Zealand there has been rapid growth in the numbers and use of computers in schools since 1985. In 1989, most schools had at most one computer for every 20 pupils. In 1994 this ratio had improved to about one computer per 16 pupils. However, in the absence of a specified statement on computers, a wide, ad hoc range of computing activities and hardware has been installed in schools. The range of makes, models and software installed has in the past made it difficult to prepare teachers to teach students to use these computers. In general, teacher knowledge of computers has been self taught. However, teachers are increasing their computer knowledge, and the number of teachers who can, and do use computers in school is increasing.

The Ministry of Education is currently engaged in a number of IT initiatives, including the draft technology curriculum, which will increase the use of information technology in the classroom. Key among these, is teacher training in IT. In 1994 the Ministry of Education organised seven regional technology training programmes for more than 3,700 teachers, bringing the total number of teachers who have had technology training to 4,500 by the end of the year.

Other ministry IT initiatives include providing funding for two CD-Rom projects being developed by the Correspondence School: Japanese for beginners and transformation geometry for fifth formers; four technology development high schools; a trial of audiographic equipment to provide improved access and choice for rural schools in Canterbury; a schools electronic network to help with administration, to which over 300 schools had connections by June 1994; and the establishment of a national help desk for computer users in education.

The ministry has also, in co-operation with the Correspondence School, undertaken an exploratory study of videophone technology to evaluate its potential for improved access for students in rural schools. New Zealand's geography and population dispersal provide a strong reason for this kind of distance learning technology. Early reports of results indicate that through this project, teachers and students were able to instantly establish a rapport over any distance.

Health.

Long distances are also expected to be a key focus of IT in health care. IT is expected to have a profound effect on the way people receive and manage their medical care in the future. As well as enabling health care professionals and hospitals to share life-saving information instantaneously, treatment over long distances (or tele-medicine) is expected to become much more widespread. Long distance treatment enables any number of specialists anywhere in the world to be consulted before a diagnosis is made.

Trials of such tele-medicine have already occurred in New Zealand. Health Waikato, the Hamilton based Crown health enterprise, has run an initial trial of diagnosis by video involving long distance psychiatric consultation and assessment enabled Hamilton doctors to diagnose Waikato and King Country patients. Health Waikato has investigated the feasibility of such a service further and believes it will mean specialists are able to see more patients than usual and so more efficiently use their funding. The service works by linking the specialist to the patient's local doctor's practice. The specialist consults with the patient via a video link and can carry out some diagnostic checks via a range of instruments handled by the GP which, through computer technology, relay the information to the specialist.

Pakuranga College Students at work in their media studies studio.

Operation of these tele-medicine services means specialists are able to cut down on the long hours of travelling required to attend clinics in other centres. Rural patients will also no longer have to travel long distance to see the specialists based in Hamilton. With its tele-medicine service, Health Waikato believes it will get around the problem of ensuring people in isolated rural areas will have the same access to health services as city dwellers do.

Contributors

  • 11.1 Ministry of Commerce; NZ On Air; Broadcasting Standards Authority; Independent Broadcasting Association; Television New Zealand; TV3 Network Services Limited; Sky Television; Radio New Zealand Limited; New Zealand Press Council; New Zealand Audit Bureau of Circulations; Advertising Agencies Association.

  • 11.2 Ministry of Commerce; Telecom Corporation of New Zealand Limited; CLEAR Communications Limited.

  • 11.3 Ministry of Commerce; New Zealand Post Limited.

  • 11.4 Ministry of Commerce.

Special articles

Television New Zealand; Ministry of Commerce; Te Māngai Pāho; New Zealand Press Council; Te Puni Kokiri; New Zealand Post.

Further information

Mass media

  • Annual Report of the Ministry of Commerce (Parl paper G46).

  • Annual Report of Television New Zealand Limited.

  • Annual Report of TV3 Network Services.

  • Annual Report of Radio New Zealand Limited.

  • Annual Report of New Zealand on Air.

  • Summary of Circulations, New Zealand Audit Bureau of Circulations (bi-annual).

Telecommunications

  • Annual Report of the Telecom Corporation of New Zealand Limited.

  • Report of the Residual Management Unit of the Department of Trade and Industry (Parl paper G14).

  • Report of the Ministry of Commerce (Parl paper G46).

  • Annual Report of CLEAR Communications Limited.

Postal services

  • Annual Report of New Zealand Post Limited.

  • Report of the Ministry of Commerce (Parl paper G46).

Chapter 12. Arts

Water reservoir mural outside of Rotorua.

12.1 Supporting arts and culture

In New Zealand, as in most other countries, both government and local authorities recognise the importance of the arts and the nation's cultural heritage in the life of the community, and provide support accordingly. Central agencies charged with providing assistance to the arts in New Zealand are: the Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa; the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa; the New Zealand Film Commission; the New Zealand Historic Places Trust; National Archives; and the New Zealand Film Archive.

Profits from state-run lotteries are used extensively to assist art galleries, museums, and cultural organisations and projects. New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funding is administered by the Department of Internal Affairs, which also administers the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, National Archives and the Historical Branch.

The Ministry of Cultural Affairs was established on 1 January 1991. The ministry provides advice to government on cultural matters. It assists government in its provision and management of cultural resources for the benefit of all New Zealanders. The ministry's main functions are providing:

  • Policy advice: reviewing cultural sector legislation, advising on cultural policy issues, developing policy proposals and initiating projects, investigations and studies which have significance to the cultural sector.

  • Services to the Minister of Cultural Affairs: preparation of replies to ministerial correspondence and general services which assist the minister in meeting his portfolio obligations.

  • Administration of payments to cultural sector organisations: management and disbursement of payments on behalf of the Crown to the five cultural sector organisations and the monitoring of the Government's investment in these agencies.

The ministry administers the Government's funding contributions to the following cultural sector organisations:

  • New Zealand Film Commission.

  • Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

  • Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa.

  • New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

  • New Zealand Film Archive.

Table 12.1. GRANTS TO THE ARTS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE SECTOR, 1993–94

GroupGovernment assistanceLottery grant*

* Does not include GST.

Source: Ministry of Cultural Affairs; Lottery Grants Board; Historic Places Trust; Department of Internal Affairs.

  $(000)
Museum of New Zealand82,4711,000
Arts Council of New Zealand3,80718,075
New Zealand Film Commission1,0007,832
New Zealand Film Archive86603
New Zealand Historic Places Trust1,7901,700
Antiquities Act costs21 
Lottery community facilities-12,542
National Archives8,996 
Dictionary of New Zealand Biography847 
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra7,990 
Historical Branch (Internal Affairs)979 
Ministry of Cultural Affairs1,479 

‘Magpie’, the Winner of the Supreme Wearable Art Award at the New Zealand Wearable Art Award.

Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa

The Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa is an independent body with statutory responsibility to encourage, promote and support the arts for the benefit of all New Zealanders. The council operates under the Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa Act 1994 and the Public Finance Act 1989. It is funded by the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board and the New Zealand Government and is a Crown entity operating independently of government.

The Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa Act became law on 1 July 1994. This Act abolished the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council and its constituent councils of the Council for Maori and South Pacific Arts, known as Te Waka Toi, and the northern, central and southern regional arts councils. The new Act establishes a governing structure consisting of a national body known as the Arts Council of New Zealand, and two arts boards whose function is to deliver funding to arts organisations and artists. One board, known as the Arts Board, supports the arts for all New Zealanders. Funding for Pacific Islands arts is provided by the Arts Board, through a South Pacific Arts Committee. The other board, named Te Waka Toi, is responsible for Maori arts. The council and boards each have seven members appointed by the Minister of Cultural Affairs.

The arts boards may establish community arts councils and are required to distribute funds to community arts through ‘community arts providers’ who represent a geographic area or a defined community of interest.

The Act requires the Arts Council to recognise New Zealand's cultural diversity, the role in the arts of Maori as tangata whenua, and the arts of the Pacific Island peoples of New Zealand. It must also recognise and uphold the principles of participation, access, excellence and innovation, professionalism and advocacy, and promote the development of a New Zealand identity in the arts.

As an advocate for the arts, the Arts Council provides information, advisory and research services to the arts sector. It is required to maintain relationships with other agencies and organisations and, to this end, fosters relationships with sectors such as local government, education, health, justice and social welfare, in order to encourage the development of arts activity.

Programmes and policies.

At present the new council is in a transition phase and, during this period, has retained the objectives and core policies and programmes of the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council. Investment is governed by policy that ensures that funds are used for specified outcomes. These outcomes include access to the arts, audience development, community development, the development and support of infrastructure, innovation, international cultural exchange, improved marketing, professional development and the fostering of excellence and enterprise. The Arts Council also follows the ‘peer assessment’ principle, whereby granting decisions concerning individual artists are made by peer panels of artists and art workers.

Projects in the major art forms of craft, dance, film, literature, music, theatre and visual arts are administered by the Arts Development Unit of the national office. In each art form, granting schemes support a range of initiatives including new innovative work, residences, tours, exhibitions, seminars, master classes, international activity, market development, professional development, international cultural exchange, industry and infrastructure development, and commissions.

Professional arts companies in the fields of theatre, dance, music and the visual arts receive support through the Arts Investment Programme. In addition to base grants to support artistic and administrative activities, these companies are eligible to apply for contestable funds. The latter enable companies to develop artistic strengths, employ appropriately trained people in key areas and foster their professional development, develop education programmes, develop planning expertise, strengthen management structures and establish a secure financial position.

Other schemes managed by the Arts Development Unit include publications schemes, the Waewae Tapu (Distinguished Visitors) Programme, a block grant scheme for publishers, the New Zealand Book Awards, the Author's Fund (which recompenses writers for library borrowing) and support for selected organisations that provide marketing and other services for particular art forms.

Maori arts and Pacific Island arts projects are administered by Te Waka Toi, the unit for Maori and South Pacific Arts. A range of programmes support initiatives such as wanaaga, festivals, performances, marae art, seminars, workshops, hui, recording projects, tours, waka projects, publications, research, arts in education, international activity and cultural exchange. These programmes support both traditional and contemporary art forms.

Projects with a community or regional focus are administered by the northern, central and southern regional offices and the volunteer community arts councils. The regional programmes aim to increase access to and participation in the arts, especially through the provision of resources that lead to the growth of community-based arts activity.

Support is given to such activities as regional touring programmes, the employment of community arts workers and short-term project workers, and the activities of over 100 community arts councils. Grants to arts groups are made with community interests as the main priority. An important priority of both the regional offices and community arts councils is local authority liaison, particularly with the aim of encouraging local authorities to develop arts and cultural policies.

Portrait painting at the University of Canterbury Fine Arts School's Summer school.

Advocacy, research, recreational arts, arts in education and information programmes are administered by the Research and Information Unit of the national office.

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra

The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra is the country's leading performing arts organisation and as such attracts prominent international artists and conductors. Based in Wellington and performing regularly in centres throughout New Zealand, its 50,000 kms ‘on the road’ each year make it one of the world's most travelled orchestras.

The orchestra is an independent Crown-owned entity with a board of directors appointed by government, with funding support from the Ministry of Cultural Affairs.

The NZSO numbers 90 players drawn from the international pool of musicians and has an administration of 17. The orchestra gives over 100 concerts each year and, as well as presenting nine subscription series of major symphonic repertoire in six centres (seven as from 1995), performs light music, outdoor concerts, pops, special concerts for families and schools, opera and ballet, television and radio broadcasts, and has an ever-growing commitment to commercial recordings. The late morning Tea & Symphony concerts commenced in 1993 have brought orchestral music to a wider audience. The orchestra also commissions, performs and records works by New Zealand composers.

The NZSO has made three overseas visits to date—to Australia in 1974, to Hong Kong in 1980, and to Expo92 in Seville when it performed in an outstandingly successful concert with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and then Chief Conductor Franz-Paul Decker as part of the New Zealand Day celebrations.

The NZSO has a long recording history which, until 1988, was mainly for local consumption. With the release in 1989 of its first commercial CD for Koch, featuring the works of Samuel Barber, it moved into the world market. This CD appeared on the American Billboard charts and was nominated for an international award. Subsequent recordings have drawn favourable reviews internationally and one of the most recent, the music of Miklos Rosza, was featured on the cover of the American Fanfare magazine and named as Pick of the Month by Gramophone. In 1993 the NZSO began a three-year contract to record for HNH of Hong Kong on the Naxos and Marco Polo labels.

The Concertmaster of the NZSO is Wilma Smith.

New Zealand Film Commission

The mission of the Film Commission (Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga) is to sustain a vibrant, innovative and culturally relevant film industry in New Zealand and to promote the country as a centre of quality productions in the Asia Pacific region.

The functions, powers, and duties of the commission are defined in the New Zealand Film Commission Act 1978. The Film Commission receives funding through Government Vote: Cultural Affairs and as a distribution agency for the Lottery Grants Board. Each year, the Film Commission offers financial support to a considerable number of film projects, both for development and for production. In the 16 years since the commission was established more than 50 features and more than 126 shorts have been made with commission funding.

Copyright

Copyright comes into existence automatically upon the completion of any original literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic work, including photographs. No registration is necessary, 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 of 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 of literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works and of 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. New Zealand is a party to both these conventions. New Zealand has also acceded to the Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorised Duplication of their Phonograms. In New Zealand certain disputes relating to performing rights of copyright works, sound recordings or films may be determined by the Copyright Tribunal.

Censorship

The Films, Videos and Publications Act 1993 unites censorship provisions for all media under a single consistent regime. The Act defines a ‘publication’ as:

  1. film, book, sound recording, picture, newspaper, photograph, photographic negative, photographic plate, or photographic slide:

  2. Any print or writing:

  3. Any print or other thing—

    1. That has printed on it, or otherwise shown upon it, any word, statement, sign or representation; or

    2. On which is recorded or stored any information that, by the use of computer or other electronic device, is capable of being reproduced or shown as any word, statement, sign, or representation:’

Film is further defined as ‘a cinematographic film, video recordings, and any other material record of visual moving images.’

Administration.

The Act came into force on 1 October 1994 and replaced the existing censorship bodies with:

Industry Labelling Body

—an industry based group, including at least one community representative, responsible for issuing labels for films and videos which would not be classified as restricted or objectionable, it is guided by classifications assigned by overseas bodies. Ratings are consumer guides only and do not carry legal sanctions. If a film is likely to be restricted or objectionable, or if the body is having difficulty assigning a rating, the film must be referred to the Office of Film and Literature Classifications.

Office of Film and Literature Classifications

—classifies material from all media that is likely to be restricted or objectionable, and has jurisdiction over advertising material in respect of films. It is a stand-alone Crown entity made up of a chief censor, a deputy chief censor and a number of classification officers. The chief censor and deputy chief censor are appointed by the Governor General on the recommendation of the Minister of Internal Affairs with the agreement of the ministers of women's affairs and justice. Films may be submitted to the office by the Labelling Body (on behalf of distributors), the Secretary for Internal Affairs, the Comptroller of Customs or by any other person with the leave of the chief censor. The same groups may submit publications other than film. The Chief Censor can also ‘call in’ publications where they deem it necessary. Classifications assigned by the office are legally enforceable. The Act makes the possession of banned (that is, objectionable) material illegal for the first time.

Film and Literature Board of Review

—made up of members of the public appointed by the Minister of Internal Affairs. The Act entitles the original applicant, the owner, maker, publisher or authorised distributor, or any other person given leave by the Secretary for Internal Affairs, to submit a publication to the board.

Classification.

There are three general levels of classification under the 1993 Act: unrestricted, restricted and objectionable. Within these parameters, the censorship bodies have a wide degree of latitude to restrict material to different age groups, special interest groups and commercial outlets.

Material is considered objectionable if it ‘describes, depicts, expresses or otherwise deals with matters such as sex, horror, crime, cruelty, or violence in such a manner that the availability of the publications is likely to be injurious to the public good’. Under the 1993 Act, possession of objectionable material, whether or not it has been declared objectionable by the Office of Film and Literature Classification, is a criminal offence.

Applying moko on the set of Once Were Warriors.

Following classification, films are labelled according to a ‘traffic light’ system: green for unrestricted; yellow for unrestricted films recommended for a certain age; and red labels for restricted material.

Publications other than film are not required to be labelled unless they are classified. Publishers of magazines and books are therefore not required to submit their products to the office, but if they are later found to be objectionable after it has been made available, then the publishers and distributors may be prosecuted.

12.2 The national collection

Art galleries and museums

There are approximately 600 public museums and art galleries in New Zealand. Many are relatively small collections oriented towards the history or fabric of a particular region or location. The larger museums, of which there are many, carry out research, print catalogues and research papers and maintain education programmes for visitors and others.

Over 60 percent of museums and art galleries are funded by local government, although the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board provides subsidies for capital works schemes and provides salaries for liaison officers attached to the four metropolitan museums.

Presentation of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa's foundation stone by Te Atiawa.

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

Founded in 1992, it is a museum of art, history, Maori culture and the natural environment. Its focus is on Aotearoa New Zealand and its place in the world.

The museum houses a large collection of Maori taonga including, Te Hau Ki Turanga, which is the oldest, extant Maori building in New Zealand. There is a collection of Polynesian, Micronesian and Melanesian art and culture and an extensive natural environment collection.

The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa holds a collection of paintings, drawings, graphic art, photography, and sculpture by New Zealand artists as well as Australian, British and foreign works. There are important collections of works by Natalia Gontcharova, Frances Hodgkins, Raymond McIntyre and Colin McCahon.

The Hector Library is New Zealand's most comprehensive resource for students of systematic biology, ethnology and early European exploration of the region. It also houses art publications, archives, manuscripts, papers of artists, critics, dealers, slides and ephemera. The photographic collection includes artworks, 19th century historical images, natural history images and taonga.

Conservation of cultural property.

The Cultural Property Council advises the Minister of Internal Affairs on all cultural property conservation matters, covering the specific areas of: paintings and works of art, ethnography, books and documents, films, photographs, machinery and textiles.

Historic places

New Zealand Historic Places Trust Pouhere Taonga.

The country's leading heritage agency, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust is responsible for promoting the identification, protection, preservation and conservation of the historical and cultural heritage of New Zealand. This includes both Maori and European buildings and sites, historic areas, Maori traditional sites including wahi tapu (sites sacred to Maori) and archaeological sites.

One of the trust's key tasks is to maintain and add to a register of historic places, established by the Historic Places Act 1993. The trust monitors any development proposals for properties or sites listed on the register and is able to offer heritage advice to owners and developers. An important aspect of this work is liaising with territorial authorities to help them identify and protect historic places and sites in their region.

Previously the trust operated a four-fold classification system of historic buildings. Under the new Act, the trust has scope to cover other sites of historical significance, including historic areas, wahi tapu and wahi tapu areas. As a result, the trust is able to present a much wider and more representative model of New Zealand history from first settlement. The new historic places categories are defined as follows:

  • Category I Places of special or outstanding historical or cultural heritage significance or value.

  • Category II Places of historic or cultural significance of value.

Historic areas, wahi tapu and wahi tapu areas are included on the register, but are not categorised as Category I or Category II.

The trust owns or manages 56 properties throughout the country, ranging from Pompallier, New Zealand's oldest surviving industrial building in the Bay of Islands, to the Southland Provincial Council Building in Invercargill. A number of properties are open to the public, including Pompallier, which re-opened in December 1993 following a three-year major conservation project. Built by French Marist missionaries as a printery and storehouse in 1841–2, the building now operates as a working museum, complete with printery, tannery and bookbindery.

The functions of the trust's newly formed Maori Heritage Council includes ensuring the protection of wahi tapu, wahi tapu areas and historic places and areas of Maori interest. The trust teaches hands-on heritage conservation to marae communities throughout the country and also holds responsibility for all archaeological sites in New Zealand. The trust's Maori name. Pouhere Taonga, means ‘pillar that binds all treasures.’

Public interest in the activities of the trust is generated and maintained by plaques and noticeboards at many historic sites, together with a series of publications, including books, leaflets, newsletters and the magazine New Zealand Historic Places, issued bi-monthly.

The staff of the trust, including curators and those employed in regional offices in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, are supported by more than 28,000 volunteer members.

Protection of antiquities and archaeological and traditional sites.

There are a number of legal provisions to protect items and sites of historical and cultural significance. The Antiquities Act 1975 includes provisions controlling the sale of Maori artefacts in New Zealand. Artefacts found after 1976 are deemed to be Crown property. There are export controls on a range of items of cultural significance: Maori artefacts; 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.

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.

Archaeologist holding a shard from Katherine Mansfield's toilet, along with an intact toilet from the same period.

New Zealand Film Archive

The New Zealand Film Archive, Nga Kaitiaki O Nga Taonga Whitiahua, was established in 1981 to acquire, preserve and make permanently available for research, study and public screening a national collection of film and television materials of artistic, social and historic value. The archive is a charitable trust—not a government body—with a board of trustees selected to represent community, Maori, film and archival interests. Income is derived from the Lottery Grants Board, New Zealand Film Commission, the Ministry of Arts and Culture and NZ on Air, sponsorship and commercial activity.

The collection includes New Zealand and overseas films dating from 1896 to the present day comprising documentaries, feature films, shorts, animation, newsreels, television programmes, advertisements and home movies. The archive also houses a wide variety of promotional, critical and historical documentation. Information is held for New Zealand and overseas films. This includes film reference books and periodicals, stills, posters, publicity, designs, unpublished scripts, special collections, clippings, production files and equipment.

The archive has begun a nation-wide Last Film Search, sponsored by the Bank of New Zealand. Two regional searches will be conducted annually until 2000. The primary aim is to locate any surviving film shot on nitrate stock—which until 1952 was used for all professional motion pictures. Nitrate begins an irreversible process of decay from the time it is manufactured and has an unpredictable life span of 30 to 70 years. The Last Film Search also collects all film materials of national significance.

The restored Pompallier House at Russell.

During 1993 the Film Archive moved to new premises in central Wellington. Planning is now underway to develop the Film Centre to include cinemas, exhibition areas, a retail outlet and cafe. Providing public access to the collections is a priority. A public access database storing information about the collections is in development while the library and viewing facilities are open to the public.

The archive also draws on the collections of overseas colleagues in FIAF (Federation Internationale des Archives du Film) for screenings of rarely seen films. International celebrations are being planned for the centenary of the moving image in 1995. For New Zealand the major celebrations will take place in 1996, 100 years after the first screening of moving pictures at the Opera House in Auckland on 13 October 1896.

National Archives

National Archives, Te Whare Tohu Tuhituhinga o Aotearoa, is the country's largest repository of unpublished information on the history and development of New Zealand. It holds about 60,000 linear metres of paper documents, plus 550,000 maps and plans, large collections of films, videos, photographs, art works, posters, microfilms and objects. This wide variety of archives document the social, political, economic, scientific, military, legal, technical and administrative development of the country. Archives contain information on episodes, great and small, that have influenced and shaped the development of our nation; they are the raw material for the history of New Zealand.

12.3 Books and libraries

New Zealanders’ interest in books compares favourably with other English-speaking nations. There is a vigorous book publishing industry that caters not only for the local market but, particularly in the case of educational books, for an increasing number of overseas purchasers.

Libraries are distributed throughout the country, from very small school and community libraries to large library systems.

Book publishing

The New Zealand book market comprises New Zealand published books and overseas published books distributed by New Zealand agents, or distributed by New Zealand publishers representatives (sales agents), or ordered direct from overseas by the end user. Most of the book publishing industries are made up of companies who import as well as publish, though some are involved exclusively in one or other activity.

Industry sources estimate that the total number of books sold in New Zealand is around 400 million. This figures includes books sold through the book trade, books imported directly by institutions (libraries, etc.) and private imports. It is estimated that books published in New Zealand comprise approximately 35 percent of the total.

The number of publishers or producers of New Zealand books is around 300 though only 100 of these are specialist book publishers or importers of books. This specialist group is responsible for the production and distribution for over three-quarters of all new titles available in New Zealand and accounts for over 90 percent of the sales. The other 200 publishers comprise mainly government departments, local bodies, historic societies, business organisations, special interest groups and individuals.

The number of New Zealand titles produced by commercial publishers has increased by more than 100 percent in the last 10 years. The largest growth has been in educational publishing where healthy export markets have been developed. Educational publishing accounts for approximately 20 percent of all sales by value. However, economic pressure on the industry has led to titles being kept in print for a shorter period. Titles with low sales tend to be sold off cheaply and are not reprinted.

In recent years the majority of New Zealand published books have tended to be printed overseas where printing prices are lower. Generally the number of copies printed (or imported) of new New Zealand books has been declining. The average print run in 1986 was around 5,000 copies. The figure may now be around 3,000 copies.

The majority of major book publishers are located on Auckland's North Shore. Wellington has a smaller number of general book publishers but is a centre for legal and government book publishing.

The New Zealand book publishing industry has its own professional body, the Book Publishers Association of New Zealand. The association represents the wide ranging interests of its members, such as marketing, copyright concerns and the development of book exporting.

Libraries

The library needs of the majority of New Zealanders are met through public libraries provided by local authorities. Since local authority amalgamation, most of the 74 cities and districts provide a co-ordinated library service to the whole district population. There is usually one central district or city library and a number of other service points. The total number of permanent service points in 1993 was 260 within 92 library systems.

In the year ended 30 June 1993, local authority libraries held a book stock of over 8.5 million volumes, and made approximately 38 million issues.

There are some 58 libraries in tertiary education institutions, including the seven university libraries, each of which have major collections, and there is provision for a library or library room in every school. The seven New Zealand universities finance their libraries largely from government grants. Research collections have been developed, all have online integrated library systems and are linked nationally through the New Zealand Bibliographic Network. The holdings of all university libraries together were some six million volumes in 1992. Over 290 specialist libraries and information centres serve government departments, businesses and other organisations.

A co-operative inter-library lending system allows resource-sharing among its 246 member libraries. The Interloan scheme is administered jointly by the National Library and the New Zealand Library and Information Association.

Since 1980, librarianship has been taught at two schools; a postgraduate diploma course at Victoria University of Wellington, and a certificate course at Wellington College of Education. There is also an archives and records course at the Wairarapa Polytechnic; school library skills are taught through the Auckland College of Education.

National Library of New Zealand.

The mission statement of the National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, is to contribute to the building of a learning society and an enterprise economy within New Zealand by supporting the creation of an environment where information is readily available and widely used.

The National Library is the principal adviser to government on library policy and information issues. It collects, preserves and makes accessible an important part of the documentary heritage of New Zealand. It makes available an authoritative record of New Zealand publishing. It co-ordinates the availability of national information resources, and delivers information through the New Zealand Library system.

The collections which can be accessed through the reference and lending service include approximately 710,000 books, mainly in the social sciences and the humanities; approximately 8,670 current journal titles and monographs-in-series in all subject areas including medicine, technology and pure science; over 2 million microfiche and microfilm; approximately 4,400 music scores; a collection of sound recordings including 10,000 compact discs; over 120,000 children's books; all daily New Zealand newspapers; a selection of overseas newspapers; and a schools collection of over 660,000 books and approximately 16,000 videos and films.

The National Library in Wellington provides a cultural as well as an information resource for New Zealanders. Visitors can view displays in the National Library Gallery and the Turnbull Room. Items from the library's heritage collections are featured in changing exhibitions and displays, which may also include touring exhibitions from other institutions. A programme of events including openings, tours and other activities supports the exhibitions. The National Library has its own programme of exhibitions touring in other parts of the country.

The following services are available from the National Library:

Research and reference service

—the National Library provides a reference service to answer enquiries for information that cannot be satisfied from resources in other New Zealand libraries. The information service provides access to information in the National Library's extensive collections of New Zealand and overseas books, serials, music and local and overseas databases. The Family History Centre is being developed to bring together New Zealand and overseas biographical resources.

Services to libraries

—in addition to the information service, a range of services are provided to other New Zealand libraries to facilitate, enhance and back up their work and collections.

These include: loan and copy services; resource sharing tools and directories (online or printed); bibliographic tracing and referral services; database services (New Zealand Bibliographic Network and Kiwinet); a range of publications, such as bibliographies and training guides.

Kiwinet

—is the National Library's online information network. It hosts 29 databases which provide information on all aspects of New Zealand, including business, the social sciences, arts, commerce, the humanities and law. Over 850 clients access the service, often on a daily basis, nationwide and internationally.

The New Zealand Bibliographic Network (NZBN)

—is an outline computer system which links most public, university, government and special libraries in New Zealand to a central bibliographic database. NZBN’s prime function is to support libraries throughout New Zealand in their reference, interloan, cataloguing and acquisitions activities. There are over 260 member libraries.

Alexander Turnbull Library

—is a national research collection specialising in documentary materials relating to New Zealand and the Pacific, John Milton and his times, English literature, early printed books, voyages of discovery and exploration, and the arts and crafts of the book. It is based on the collections of Alexander Horsburgh Turnbull, a wealthy Wellington merchant who died in 1918 and bequeathed to the nation some 55,000 volumes as well as manuscripts, paintings and sketches, which he had collected during his lifetime. Turnbull's original collections continue to guide the library's collecting policy, but new initiatives, such as the Archive of New Zealand Music, the New Zealand Cartoon Archive and the Oral History Centre have been developed to reflect the importance of these media in recording aspects of the New Zealand experience.

Automated access to unpublished collections is being developed on TAPUHI (Turnbull's Automation Project for Unpublished Heritage Items). The cataloguing and indexing of published material focuses on giving access to commonly used books and serials to give researchers better access to locally-held New Zealand collections.

The library receives the output of several major international microfilming projects and maintains its own copying programme. The availability of all of these microfilms on interloan greatly enhances the resources available to researchers all over New Zealand.

Reference and research services based on these collections are available to those whose needs cannot be met by other libraries. The collections are not generally available for lending.

Mummer play celebrating St George's Day, Christchurch Arts Centre.

Examining books from the Henry Shaw Collection at the Auckland Library.

At July 1994, the collection included approximately 249,400 books: 16,500 rare books; 47,077 maps; 1,483,800 photographic prints, negatives and albums; 50,000 paintings, drawings and prints; 19,200 discs, tapes and cassettes; 1,000 linear metres of newspapers; 6,330 shelf metres of manuscripts; 3,020 metres of serials; and 49,966 microfilms.

The Dorothy Neale White Collection

—this is a research collection of over 6,500 children's books and magazines read in New Zealand up to 1940.

Services to schools

—the National Library offers a national service to strengthen school access to information that supports the New Zealand Curriculum through the School Libraries 2000 Programme.

This integrated programme incorporates three sub-programmes to strengthen school access to information through:

  • The development of the school library or information centre to support learning programmes.

  • The development of products which improve schools access to National Library services.

  • A national collection of resources for use to support learning programmes.

The School Libraries 2000 Programme is delivered from 14 National Library centres across New Zealand.

Infoserve

—this was established to meet the information needs of the business community. Infoserve provides a national service from offices staffed by information consultants in Auckland and Wellington.

Infoserve has access to 5,000 online national and international databases, and published information from many books, conference papers and journals.

Client services include information searches on technical research, company, market or industry profiles, competitors or contacts and document supply. These can be expanded to monitor market trends, industry groups, competitors and the economy.

Recording New Zealand publishing

—under the legal deposit provisions of the Copyright Act 1962, the National Library receives three copies of every publication produced in New Zealand. The National Library is responsible for making available the authoritative record of New Zealand publishing in book and non-book formats. The New Zealand National Bibliography includes most of the country's publications, and is published on fiche and as part of the NZBN database. Index New Zealand (INNZ) is a subject index to the contents of New Zealand general and scholarly serials, newspapers, theses and conference papers.

Parliamentary Library.

This library provides library, information, research and reference services for Parliament as required by the Parliamentary Service Commission. The library's collection, which numbers over 500,000 volumes, is strongest in areas such as economics, politics, public administration, law, social sciences and biography, all being subjects relevant to members of Parliament for their legislative duties. The library has one of the largest collections in the country of books, pamphlets, periodicals and newspapers relating to New Zealand.

The International 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. This collection is available for public use.

Hocken Library.

Founded in 1910 through the gift of Dr T. M. Hocken, physician, bibliographer and collector of Dunedin, the Hocken Library contains major research collections of New Zealand, Pacific and early Australian material. Administered in trust by the University of Otago, the library includes substantial holdings of books, newspapers and periodicals (165,000); sound recordings (9,200); microfilms (5,000); maps (8,800); photographs (906,000); posters (15,100); paintings (9,800), including modern works of art; and manuscripts, particularly of early missionaries and literary figures. The library's archives and manuscripts total 4,720 linear metres, and are rich in Otago sources—business, local government, education, health, sport, the goldfields, the churches and the University of Otago. In 1991 the library attracted 10,224 readers and 787 written enquiries were answered.

Following the establishment of a regional branch in Dunedin, many of the library's holdings of public archives have been transferred to the National Archives.

Contributors

12.1Ministry of Cultural Affairs; Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council; New Zealand Symphony Orchestra; New Zealand Film Commission; Department of Internal Affairs; Department of Justice.
12.2Department of Internal Affairs; Department of Conservation; New Zealand Film Archive.
12.3Book Publishers Association of New Zealand; National Library of New Zealand; Parliamentary Service; University of Otago.

Special articles

Office of Film and Literature Classification; New Zealand Film Commission.

Further information

Fostering the arts

  • Report of Ministry of Cultural Affairs (Parl paper G10).

  • Report of the Department of Internal Affairs (Parl paper G7).

  • Report of the New Zealand Film Commission (Parl paper G19).

  • Report of the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board (Parl paper G7b).

  • Report of the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council of New Zealand (Parl paper G11).

  • Report of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (Parl paper G10).

The national collection

  • Report of the Board of Trustees, National Art Gallery, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongawera (Parl paper G12).

Books and libraries

  • Annual Report of the Hocken Library.

  • Report of the Trustees of the National Library of New Zealand (Parl paper G13).

Chapter 13. Leisure and tourism

“The Big Fish”.

13.1 Sport, fitness and leisure

Sport, fitness and leisure have played an important part in creating and shaping New Zealand's national image, both at home and abroad, and contribute much to the lifestyle New Zealanders enjoy. In New Zealand there is the potential for everyone to participate in some form of sport or leisure activity and it is government policy to promote access to it for all New Zealanders.

Sport has been a predominant focus for cultural identity and New Zealand is perhaps best known for the calibre of its international sportspeople. But other forms of leisure activity are equally as important within the nation's life. The 125,000-strong membership of the New Zealand Arts Assembly, which represents 14 national bodies and 1,546 clubs and groups, attests to the importance of the recreational arts as a form of participatory recreation. Outdoor recreation is favoured by a relatively pristine environment, rich in scenic beauty. An extensive and varied park system which includes national, forest and maritime parks, historic and scenic reserves, walkways and a large number of local parks and reserves showcases the environment and provides a full spectrum of recreational opportunity. The country's national parks and reserves are described in section 16.3.

The 1990 Life in New Zealand Survey, a baseline study of sport and leisure involvement identified five main reasons for participation in physical activity. These were: to feel good, to have fun, to keep healthy, to do things with friends and to do things with family. Top sports for the population over 15 years were swimming/diving, cycling, snooker/pool, tennis and aerobics. In the recreational physical activity section walking came out tops followed by running/jogging, cycling and fitness classes. In terms of favourite leisure activities reading was most popular followed by watching television and videos, visiting friends, listening to music and gardening.

Providing for sport and leisure

Hillary Commission for Sport, Fitness and Leisure.

The commission initiates, supports and facilitates programmes and policies aimed at raising the quantity and quality of active participation in sport, fitness and leisure among all age groups of New Zealanders, at all levels of competence.

The nine-member commission employs approximately 36 staff. Ex-All Black captain, Wilson Whineray is the commission's presiding member. It is funded by the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board and government.

In the year ended 30 June 1993 the commission distributed more than $14 million to sport, fitness and leisure groups. This included $4.4 million which was directed through local authorities to fund local sport, fitness and leisure, $4.5 million to assist national sports, fitness and leisure organisations, $0.8 million to the New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association, $2.4 million to the New Zealand Sports Foundation, and $2.6 million towards the development of regional sports trusts and their programmes. In addition, the Hillary Commission has developed initiatives and programmes in sport, fitness and leisure such as the highly successful KiwiSport modified sports codes and programmes for Maori, women, older adults, people with disabilities, drugs in sport and fair play.

Older adults.

With an increasing proportion of New Zealand's population over the age of 50 the commission introduced the Active in Age programme in 1990. Active in Age is the vehicle for a range of initiatives aimed at increasing the participation of this age group in sport, fitness and leisure activities by promoting the benefits of leading healthy, active lifestyles. Increasing numbers of older adults are participating in a wide range of physical leisure activities, and research (both in New Zealand and overseas) shows clear improvements in the fitness, flexibility, heart rate and blood pressure of participants.

The commission has encouraged local authorities to establish Fifties Forward programmes which meet the physical and social needs of older adults. A television programme, 50

Forward is designed specifically for this age group and features exercise routines, medical and nutritional information for older adults and interviews with prominent older New Zealanders in full and active lives.

People with disabilities.

Full and active participation in sport and leisure need not be affected by a person's disability. Through its KiwiAble programme the commission encourages people with disabilities to capitalise on their abilities and skills. KiwiAble stresses the ability of individuals rather than any disability.

The majority of people with disabilities can be included in mainstream sport and leisure activities. A number of resources the Hillary Commission produces provide teachers and sports leaders with simple and effective guidelines for bringing people with disabilities into the main group.

Recent research conducted by the Hillary Commission reveals that:

  • There are more similarities than differences between people with disabilities and their able-bodied counterparts when it comes to sport, fitness and leisure.

  • People with disabilities participate at the same rate although a lower intensity level.

  • People with disabilities feel they are unable to participate with their choice of companion, i.e. 47 percent participate alone whereas only 31 percent wish to do so.

  • A major barrier to more participation among people with disabilities is the actual disability rather than physical access or cost.

Other central government bodies.

A wide array of other government departments, corporations and statutory bodies are concerned with recreation. The Department of Conservation is, for example, a principal land manager in the sphere of outdoor recreation, whilst the Department of Internal Affairs administers a number of programmes to help local authorities and community organisations provide for the needs of young people.

New Zealand is a 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 Commonwealth Youth Programme is administered by the Ministry of Youth Affairs.

Local government.

The provision of sport and leisure facilities such as libraries, community centres, parks and playing fields has long been an accepted part of the responsibilities of local and regional authorities. The Hillary Commission report The Business of Sport and Leisure estimates that local government invests $430 million each year in the provision of leisure services and facilities with $300 million dedicated to physical leisure.

Voluntary sector.

Volunteers are the backbone of sport, fitness and leisure in New Zealand. Life in New Zealand showed that 30 percent of all New Zealanders regularly spend their leisure time in voluntary support roles for sport, fitness and leisure activities. In 1990 the Hillary Commission launched the Volunteer Involvement Programme to give formal recognition and support to the work of sport, fitness and leisure volunteers. A funding programme was also developed to enable local organisations to recruit, train and retain volunteers.

Leisure industry.

In 1992 the Hillary Commission commissioned Business and Economic Research Limited to undertake a major study on the impact of the sport and leisure industry in New Zealand. The resulting document, The Business of Sport and Leisure, reveals some very interesting facts:

  • Sport and leisure is a $4.5 million a day business.

  • New Zealand's sport and leisure industry supports 22,745 jobs.

  • Sport and leisure pays $300 million a year in taxes.

  • Sport and leisure directly and indirectly contributes $1,648 million to New Zealand's gross domestic product.

  • Tourism generated by sport and leisure contributed $210 million and supported 4,013 jobs in 1991.

  • Sport and leisure benefits from $200 million of free volunteer effort every year.

  • New Zealanders spent $725 million on physical leisure goods in 1990/91. This represents 2.1 percent of household expenditure.

The 1994 Business Directory compiled by Statistics New Zealand showed 23,662 New Zealanders as being employed within the category ‘recreation services’, an increase over the 21,108 recorded a year earlier.

Sport

For many New Zealanders the successful New Zealand sportsman or woman represents the archetype of the battler succeeding against the odds. International sporting events in which New Zealand features have the power to arouse intense nationalistic fervour. New Zealanders have fared exceptionally well in the international arena despite the country's distance from the world's major venues and, until the early 1970s, a comparative lack of state or corporate funding.

Various reasons have been advanced for New Zealand's success. A small population may have helped produce an affinity between the national hero and weekend athlete, and, while a generally temperate climate has made it possible for athletes to train year round, there is sufficient variety of terrain and climate to foster a wide range of summer and winter pursuits.

Traditionally New Zealanders have excelled in rugby union, which has been regarded as the national sport, and track and field athletics. However, Sir Edmund Hillary, who with Sherpa Tensing Norgay in 1953 was the first to climb Mount Everest, probably remains New Zealand's best internationally known sportsman. Over more recent years New Zealanders have had sustained international success in rowing, rugby, netball, squash, softball, cricket, yachting and other disciplines.

Specific successes in other sports have included Olympic medals in skiing, swimming, yachting, windsurfing, boxing, equestrian, cycling, marathon running and athletics. World titles have been won in swimming, ice racing and darts.

Sports participation.

New Zealand's success at an elite level is founded on a broad base of mass participation and support. The New Zealand Assembly for Sport, which represents over 50 national associations, claims a collective membership of over 1.5 million.

The 1990 Life in New Zealand survey found that 85 percent of the population had participated in a leisure or physical activity in the last four weeks with 47 percent of all New Zealanders belonging to at least one sport, fitness or leisure club.

Life in New Zealand

also found that the most popular sports activity participated in by New Zealanders was aquatic sports (swimming/diving/water polo) with 28 percent of the population involved. The three most popular activities for women were swimming (29 percent), cycling (17 percent) and aerobics (16 percent). The three most popular activities for men were swimming (26 percent), snooker/pool, etc (23 percent) and cycling (16 percent).

Participation in sport changed dramatically with age while participation rates in general fell with increasing age. In contrast, golf participation in both men and women peaked in the 45–64 age group, and lawn bowls slowly built to 18 percent in the 65-plus age group.

The table below describes participation rates for the most common sports activities in New Zealand.

Dancing the St Bernard's Waltz.

Table 13.1. PARTICIPATION IN MAJOR SPORTS BY PEOPLE OVER 15 IN 1990

SportParticipation (percent of population)
Source: Hillary Commission.
Aerobics/exercises12
Archery, pistol/rifle shooting3
Athletics/harriers5
Baseball/softball5
Basketball5
Boxing/wrestling1
Canoeing2
Cricket7
Cycling17
Fencing0
Golf8
Gymnastics1
Hockey/lacrosse5
Horse riding3
Lawn bowls/croquet5
Martial arts2
Motor boating7
Motorcycling/trail biking5
Netball4
Orienteering1
Rink sports1
Rowing2
Rugby League3
Rugby Union5
Sailing4
Skateboarding2

New Zealand Sports Foundation.

The foundation is an organisation independent of all sports bodies or groups, and government.

The objective of the New Zealand Sports Foundation is to assist our current and potential high performance sportsmen and sportswomen to succeed at international level and by so doing bring credit to themselves, their sport and our country as a whole. It was conceived as a joint venture between the public and private sector, and the original proposition, which is valid today in every respect, including demonstrated performance, was that the foundation should be equally funded by the two sectors.

At 30 June 1993 more than $23 million assistance had been made available to more than 2,000 athletes, coaches and scientists from more than 50 organisations. The foundation currently operates on an annual grants budget approaching $5 million.

Over the past six years the foundation has proved remarkably successful in identifying and supporting outstanding sports talent thus facilitating international success. New Zealand's record at international events in a multitude of sports bears that out.

The foundation is committed to its objectives and works with the Hillary Commission, the Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association, and national federations and associations representing non-Olympic sports for the betterment of New Zealand sport.

Dominion

Anna Simcic competing for New Zealand.

New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association.

The association is responsible for a number of programmes and initiatives that promote sport and elite competition for New Zealanders. It oversees the administration, selection, development and funding of teams that compete at Olympic and Commonwealth Games level. Thirty-eight sports federations are members of the NZOCGA.

Educational and promotional activities are a major part of the association's functions. A number of events are organised every year to celebrate the principles of mass participation and fair play, including the Olympic Day Run. Educational material is prepared for primary and secondary schools and the association provides library and information service, including a video section and archive with records and correspondence dating back to the first meetings of the International Olympic Committee.

Outdoor leisure activities

Recent research conducted by the Hilary Commission reveals that:

  • Walking is the most common outdoor activity followed by fishing, swimming, cycling, tramping, sailing, jogging and hunting.

  • 54 percent of New Zealanders participate in at least one outdoor activity per month; 36 percent participate regularly.

  • The four main reasons for participation in outdoor leisure activities are: physical health, enjoying nature, having fun, and relaxing and reducing stress.

Fishing.

A wide variety of fish abound around the coasts, in bays and harbours. Rainbow and brown trout are found in the lakes and rivers of the North Island, and the lakes of the South Island. The South Island also has sea-run brown trout in West Coast rivers, sea-run quinnat salmon in East Coast rivers and land-locked salmon.

Average sizes of trout vary from district to district depending on environment, climate, food available, and the numbers of anglers.

With the exception of the Lake Taupo Fishery, which is managed by the Department of Conservation, trout and salmon fisheries are managed by regional fish and game councils. These were established in 1990 to manage sportsfish and gamebirds and have taken over from acclimatisation societies.

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 Tauranga (Mayor Island).

The most prized catches are broadbill, black marlin, 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 to eight weeks depending on the fish and game region. By tradition the season starts on the first weekend of May.

There are few restrictions on big game hunting. Generally speaking there is no limit on the number of game animals that can be taken, no licence requirement and the season is open for most species all year round. Deer of several species, chamois, thar, wild pigs, goats and wallaby are numerous in several areas. For tourists and inexperienced hunters, the services of an experienced guide are recommended. For further information contact the Department of Conservation.

Skiing.

The skiing season in New Zealand extends from June to late October at ski areas in the North and South Islands. Many fields also have snowmaking equipment to ensure reliable snow depth and quality. New Zealand has 12 commercial ski areas, 12 club ski fields and one commercial cross-country ski area.

In the North Island the main skiing centre is Mount Ruapehu in the Tongariro National Park. There are two commercial ski fields, Whakapapa and Turoa, and one club field (Tukino) at Ruapehu, with the Maunganui ski club area on Mount Egmont in Taranaki.

In the South Island the commercial ski areas are Coronet Peak, the Remarkables (Queenstown), Cardrona, Treble Cone (Wanaka), Ohau, Mount Dobson (Aorangi), Porter Heights, Mount Hutt, Mount Lyford (Canterbury), and Rainbow Valley (Marlborough). There are 10 smaller ski club fields in the South Island.

The Waioru Nordic Ski Area on the Pisa Range near Wanaka offers 24 kilometres of cross-country skiing. Glacier skiing on the Tasman and Fox Glaciers, with access via skiplanes, is also available, while guided heliskiing and ski touring open up the Ben Ohau Ranges, the Harris Mountains, the Two Thumbs Range, the Mount Cook/Tasman Glacier area, Mount Hutt and Queenstown in the South Island and the Ruahine Ranges in the North.

The International Ski Federation (FIS) has sanctioned the holding of international ski competitions at Mount Hutt, Whakapapa, the Remarkables, Coronet Peak and Turoa, with Mount Hutt hosting the Continental cups and FIS races which are held annually.

Mountaineering and tramping.

The nearness of mountains and forests to the main centres of population in New Zealand gives the opportunity for adventures away from civilisation. In the Waitakere and Hunua Ranges, near Auckland, the many national and forest parks and reserves of the North Island, and through the extensive parks and protected natural areas of the South Island, there are tracks through beautiful scenery. Tramping tracks range from halfday family oriented walks to challenging tramps in back-country and alpine isolation. Climbing (both rock and ice) is becoming more popular with many opportunities for this activity found throughout New Zealand. Information on mountaineering and tramping in New Zealand is available through commercial guiding companies or the Department of Conservation. The Great Walks are New Zealand's most famous tracks and are popular with both New Zealanders and visitors from overseas. They include: Lake Waikaremoana, Te Urewa National Park; Tongariro Northern Circuit, Tongariro National Park; Abel Tasman Coast Track, Abel Tasman National Park; Heaphy Track, North-west Nelson National Park; Routeburn Track, Mt Aspiring and Fiordland National Parks; Milford Track, Fiordland National Park; Kepler Track, Rakiura Track, Stewart Island. Most of these tracks take two to four days to complete and are well marked. Huts and campsites are provided for overnight accommodation.

The Abel Tasman Coastal Track is the most popular of the tracks with around 24,000 overnight visitors per year, while the Milford Track has around 10,000 overnight visitors annually. Next come the Routeburn, Kepler, Lake Waikaremoana and Heaphy tracks.

Walking.

Since 1976, emphasis has been placed on establishing walking tracks in rural and urban areas throughout the country. The ‘walkways’ system offers walking opportunities over primarily private land and is a complementary system to the network of back-country tramping tracks. Walkways vary in length from half-hour walks to four or five days journeying for the St James Walkway in North Canterbury. In addition to ‘walkways’, government agencies and local authorities throughout New Zealand develop and maintain public walking tracks.

The Hillary Commission has been involved in walking projects for a number of years. In September 1994 the commission and the National Heart Foundation ran a joint walking campaign. Thousands of people throughout the country took part in walking groups and special walks organised as part of the promotion.

Mountain biking.

The use of bicycles, particularly mountain-bikes, has been increasing since the early 1980s. From 1984 to 1994 sales of mountain-bikes have risen from 15,000 to over 80,000 per annum. The Karapoti Challenge, New Zealand's premier mountain-bike race, attracted 40 participants in 1984, in 1994,1,000 people competed. Wellington is one of the most popular cities for mountain-biking; 20 percent of national mountain-bike sales occur in the capital (housing only 10 percent of the population).

New Zealand has an amazing variety of mountain-bike rides, urban and rural. However, there are some restrictions on where bikes can be used. Mountain bikes are allowed on certain tracks managed by the Department of Conservation and regional councils, but in national parks they are only allowed on formed roads.

Giving rodeo a go at the Amuri Show.

Racing and gambling

Racing.

There are thoroughbred and harness racing clubs in most cities and larger towns, as well as many smaller centres throughout New Zealand. The number of meetings held each year and the stakes offered vary widely—particularly between the larger city and the smaller provincial clubs, which may hold meetings as infrequently as once a year. There is also a strong horse breeding industry, with annual yearling sales attracting an increasing number of overseas buyers, although, with few notable exceptions, New Zealand-bred horses have had their greatest successes in Australian feature races.

On-course and off-course betting is conducted through the Totalisator Agency Board (TAB), which has branches throughout the country. Turnover is taxed by central government and certain deductions are made to assist with stakes, amenities and the upkeep of clubs and the balance being the pool from which dividends are declared.

Greyhound racing's traditionally small attendances and turnover have steadily increased since the 1980 extension of TAB betting facilities to greyhound meetings.

For the first time since the 1989 racing season total betting turnover has increased, due to improved off-course turnover achieved by the TAB. However, the increase in off-course turnover was partly offset by a decline in on-course turnover, a trend that is a major concern in the industry.

Table 13.2. RACE MEETINGS*

  GallopingTrottingGreyhounds
 199319941993199419931994 

* Full totalisator meetings only, for years ended July.

Source: Office of Minister for Racing.

Race meetings 34433223122298102
On-course turnover$(000)77,37669,72550,76445,5792,9732,943
TAB turnover$(000)459,272456,167237,000240,17737,62146,635
Total dividends$(000)422,748414,665226,457225,74231,60036,842

Lotteries and gaming.

Under the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1977 gambling may only be run to benefit charities and the community. Larger games and lotteries need to be licensed, smaller ones are exempt providing they meet the requirements of the Act.

The Act distinguishes between five forms of gambling: games of chance (including housie and gaming machines); bookmaking and betting (other than betting on horse racing and greyhound racing); prize competitions (pick the score competitions); lotteries (raffles); and instant games (‘scratch’ tickets). Horse and greyhoud racing is controlled through the Racing Act 1971 and casinos through the Casino Control Act 1990.

Work on new legislation relating to gaming machines progressed throughout 1994 and is currently waiting for introduction to Parliament. There are now an estimated 7,735 machines in 2,230 hotels and club rooms. Machine turnover for the 1993/94 year is estimated to be $960 million. Total turnover for all other licensed gaming for the 1993/94 financial year (except Lotto and Instant Kiwi) is estimated at $65 million. The New Zealand Lotteries Commission recorded total sales for the year ended 30 June 1994 of $607 million being $484 million for Lotto and $123 million for Instant Kiwi.

Casino licences have been issued for New Zealand's first casino by the Casino Control Authority. The Christchurch casino began operating in October 1994, and a casino is expected to open in Auckland in 1996.

The Department of Internal Affairs will be responsible for supervising and inspecting licensed casino operations in New Zealand. It will also license all gaming and management staff employed in casinos.

Table 13.3. ALLOCATION OF LOTTERY PROFITS

Recipient1992-931993-941994-95

* These amounts include carry forwards from previous financial year.

† = Distribution Committee.

Source: Department of Internal Affairs.

 $(million)  
Hillary Commission24.0* 23.024.1
Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council18.717.318.1
New Zealand Film Commission7.87.58.0
Lottery General DC†21.512.713.4
Alcohol and Drug Sub-committee3.22.51.1
Lottery Community Facilities DC11.711.612.5
Lottery Welfare DC11.50.112.8
Individuals with Disabilities Sub-committee3.23.23.2
Lottery Environment and Heritage DC7.08.08.0
Lottery Aged DC4.04.03.8
Lottery Youth DC6.05.66.2
Lottery Health DC3.93.54.2
Lottery Science DC3.50.32.9
Science Centres Sub-committee4.52.4 
Ministry of Internal Affairs Discretionary Fund0.50.20.2
       Total131.0101.9118.5

Cycling by some unusual obstacles, Taieri Plains.

13.2 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 all desirable to international visitors. However, recent growth in tourism and changing visitor demands have 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 walking, bungy jumping and a variety of outdoor adventure activities, as well as different cultural experiences.

Visitors today are more interested in finding out more about the distinctive features of not only the New Zealand countryside, but also the way of life. 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.

The tourism industry

Tourism is the world's largest industry, according to research carried out by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). In 1991 tourism employed 180 million people worldwide (one in every 10 workers). WTTC estimates that by 1994 travel and tourism will provide employment for 1 in every 9 workers and generate US$3.4 trillion in gross output a year.

In New Zealand, tourism is a $22 million a day business and is one of the top foreign exchange earners. For the year ended 30 June 1994, the combined value of international and domestic tourism was estimated at $8.1 billion. Domestic travel accounts for about half the expenditure on tourism.

New Zealand's current share of the international tourism market is small at 0.2 percent, but visitor arrivals are growing at twice the world average. For the year ended June 1994, the number of visitors to New Zealand increased by 11.8 percent to 1,235,256. The World Tourism Organisation predicted in 1993 that world tourism will grow at 3.5-5 percent through to the year 2000, but the growth rate to the East Asia–Pacific region, including New Zealand, will be higher at 6.8 percent per annum.

TOURIST EXPENDITURE

As a growing labour intensive industry, tourism generates an increasingly wide range of jobs for New Zealanders. The number of equivalent full-time jobs supported directly by tourism is about 83,000. A further 109,000 jobs are in areas servicing tourism. In the period 1991 to 1994, it is estimated that the growth in expenditure by overseas visitors has generated more than 23,600 additional full-time equivalent jobs in New Zealand. Given further expected growth in tourism, the tourism industry will continue to be a leading generator of new job opportunities for New Zealand.

Social impact.

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. In a 1994 survey of New Zealanders’ attitudes towards tourism, 97 percent of people surveyed saw tourism as important or very important to the economy and 85 percent believed tourism will improve or make no difference to New Zealanders’ lifestyle. In a 1992 survey, 52 percent of respondents said they had hosted international visitors and 49 percent of the workforce said their work involved direct contact with overseas visitors.

Environmental impact.

New Zealand's largely unspoiled and unpolluted environment is a major attraction for visitors. Protection and careful management of New Zealand's resources will help ensure tourism has a positive impact on the environment. Increasingly the industry is working with environmental partners to preserve and, where possible, enhance the environment, ensuring sustainable growth for the tourism industry. For tourism, sustainability means preserving the quality of the visitor experience for present and future visitors, meeting the needs of the host community, and protecting and enhancing the attraction for the future. In this way, tourism provides a strong justification for the protection of the environment, historic places and cultural sites.

As many of New Zealand's finest natural attractions are located on the land administered by the Department of Conservation, the relationship and co-operation between tourism operators and the department has become increasingly important. The department has been working with the Tourism Policy Group of the Ministry of Commerce and the New Zealand Tourism Board on strategies for managing the growth of visitors and providing visitor facilities and services on the conservation estate.

Table 13.4. EXPENDITURE BY TOURISTS FROM SELECTED COUNTRIES, 1993*

Country of residenceTotal travel expenditure†Mean expenditure per personMean expenditure per day

* New Zealand International Visitors’ Survey, year ended 30 September.

Excludes international airfares. Includes pre-paid, cash and credit card spending during respondents’ visit to New Zealand.

Source: New Zealand Tourism Board.

 $ (million)$$
Australia424.71,320.3795.66
United States243.71,874,37135.21
Japan392.13,148.24236.58
United Kingdom193.92,135.9269.79
Canada49.01,974.6072.68
Germany159.03,314.27104.95
Singapore36.11,882.96192.32
Taiwan83.92,481.85173.85
Hong Kong42.62,248.75162.66
Other Europe128.12,465.1978.46
Other Asia105.81,949.87128.38
Other countries204.52,197.6586.89
       Total2,063.52,040.93110.88

Facilities for visitors.

In recent years, there has been a marked trend toward more active, participatory holidays. Visitors and domestic travellers want new experiences, and there is also a much greater diversity of things to do. The variety of activities has increased as the demand for leisure activities among New Zealanders has increased. As visitors now expect activities and amenities that complement New Zealand's scenic attractions, and provide insight into another culture and lifestyle, attractions and facilities developed primarily for the local community are increasingly used by visitors.

Tourism Facilities Development Grants Programme.

The government has a tourism grants programme administered by the New Zealand Tourism Board. Its purpose is to increase the stock of nationally significant public sector built attractions. The funding available under this programme for the 1994/95 financial year is $600,000. Competition for the grants means that only a few projects can be funded each year. Funding is not available for projects and organisations liable for income tax. Applicants need to show they have raised half of the cost of their project before a grant can be considered. Applications are considered in June and December.

Visitors per 1,000 population

In the past many grants have gone towards preserving historical places, cultural sites and the environment, as well as providing facilities that visitors and local people can enjoy. Projects funded since the programme began in 1985 have included the development or upgrading of walkways and tracks, the conservation of townscapes (such as art deco features at Napier and the whitestone buildings at Oamaru), the establishment or extension of museums and historic parks, and information displays and exhibits for visitors (such as the ‘Roaring 40’s’ sub-Antarctic audio-visual experience at the Southland Museum and the audio-visual display at the Tairoa Head Royal Albatross colony).

Tourist accommodation.

Commercial accommodation has undergone several distinct stages of development, resulting in today's wide variety of facilities. It includes private hotels, guesthouses, tavern/hotels, tourist flats, motels, camping grounds, motor lodges, international standard hotels, cabins, chalets, lodges, backpackers’ hostels, and farm/home-hosting. Accommodation patterns vary greatly between regions, depending on local population, terrain and climate.

Of all the person nights spent in New Zealand by international visitors in the year ended September 1993, 5 percent were spent in top class hotels, 10 percent were spent in mid-range hotels and motor inns and 12 percent were spent in motels.

The use of private homes by international visitors accounted for 39 percent of total person nights, and campervans, tents and camping grounds absorbed 7 percent of all person nights for the year ended September 1993.

Transport used by visitors.

New Zealand has a highly developed public transport system, with scheduled air services to most areas and an extensive network of coach operations. 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 rental cars and campervans.

Danish family on six month cycle tour of New Zealand.

In order of use, domestic air (34 percent), private car (34 percent), rental car (25 percent) and organised coach tours (22 percent) are the four most favoured means of internal transport for international visitors. Holiday/vacation visitors favour domestic air (38 percent), organised coach tours (34.1 percent) and rental cars (29 percent). Those visiting friends and relatives make much greater use of private cars (74 percent) compared with holiday visitors (15 percent). Business travellers prefer private cars (37.1 percent) and domestic air (33 percent). Most visitors use several modes of transport.

Bicycling trips have proven a popular trend amongst some tourists in recent years, providing a new way for visitors to experience the New Zealand countryside.

International visitors

More than 1.2 million overseas visitors arrived in New Zealand in the year to 31 March 1994. Visitor arrival numbers grew by 11.7 percent in the year ended 31 March 1994, compared with 8.7 percent in the previous year. The number of countries from which overseas visitors originate has been growing increasingly diverse.

Table 13.5. NUMBERS OF INTERNATIONAL VISITORS

Year ended 31 MarchHolidayStay with friends and relativesBusinessOther*Total

* Includes conference/convention work or working holiday, formal education, stopover, and unspecified.

1984285,845116,79361,25054,553518,441
1985341,984127,58668,26959,156596,995
1986404,036140,48174,66169,895689,073
1987441,081157,61976,08788,422763,209
1988455,834194,93288,215116,511855,492
1989439,249207,333100,224120,716867,522
1990464,545224,875109,110134,901933,431
1991491,591238,034103,899133,538967,062
1992519,274245,845106,238128,357999,714
1993593,415255,149114,183123,8101,086,557
1994702,945272,507121,925115,9411,213,318

82 year old backpacker off on another trip.

Table 13.6. COUNTRY OF LAST PERMANENT RESIDENCE OF INTERNATIONAL VISITORS

Year ended 31 March
Country1991199219931994
Australia343,299341,098361,995369,482
United States139,030134,710134,003150,666
Japan105,716125,226131,078140,405
United Kingdom87,96392,90096,809110,720
Germany32,17138,06451,27959,440
Taiwan11,04919,47331,62248,140
Canada33,54528,94125,97828,398
Hong Kong16,11419,35120,31624,659
Singapore15,25118,06719,27724,746
Korea, Republic of3,8128,69016,40837,702
Switzerland11,29811,96412,51413,750
Thailand5,9807,27111,25317,859
Malaysia9,7839,10111,01113,477
Netherlands7,6248,42810,13411,407
Indonesia4,8985,9178,78710,784
Fiji7,5127,3908,0448,874
New Caledonia4,4715,2447,2977,654
Sweden8,2887,9726,2266,545
France3,8294,7385,5005,956
Tahiti (French Polynesia)3,9975,0054,8626,038
Austria2,5673,1474,2275,244

OVERSEAS VISITORS

Total numbers

Domestic travel

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. During 1989–90, New Zealanders made 10.3 million trips away from home which included at least one night away, and spent 41.4 million person nights away. This information has not been collected since 1990.

Table 13.7. DOMESTIC TRAVEL DESTINATIONS

 Year ended March 1989Year ended March 1990
RegionProportionVisitorsProportionVisitors
Source: New Zealand Tourism Board.
 percentno (000)percentno (000)
Northland6.82,9098.23,423
Auckland13.45,72015.86,574
Thames Valley6.12,6124.71,982
Waikato5.32,2835.42,274
Bay of Plenty9.54,0517.43,094
East Cape1.87712.41,008
Tongariro4.21,8193.31,393
Taranaki2.91,2472.41,018
Wanganui2.81,2142.1884
Manawatu3.31,4213.01,247
Hawke's Bay4.61,9804.21,774
Wairarapa1.25421.0429
Horowhenua1.56462.0859
Wellington6.62,8056.22,596
Nelson Bays2.51,1103.51,487
Marlborough3.21,3701.8754
Canterbury9.44,0209.33,885
Aorangi2.41,0392.81,199
West Coast2.39832.3979
Coast/North Otago3.21,3853.81,604
Clutha/Central Otago4.51,9494.51,886
Southland1.98252.51,072

Tourism organisations

New Zealand Tourism Board.

The Tourism Board is responsible for the co-ordinated marketing and promotion of New Zealand overseas as a tourism destination. Its object is to ensure that New Zealand is developed and marketed as a tourism destination to maximise the long term benefits to New Zealand. The Tourism Board encourages the tourism industry to develop new products and to market them internationally. The Tourism Board maintains 15 overseas marketing and promotion offices located in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Singapore, Taipei, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Vancouver, Frankfurt and London. There are four regional offices in New Zealand, in Auckland, Rotorua, Christchurch and Queenstown.

Ministry of Commerce (Tourism Policy Group).

The group's principal role is to provide advice to the government on policy issues of national and international significance relevant to the tourism sector. Other functions include representing the government's tourism interests in interdepartmental and intergovernmental activities; managing and reviewing Crown lands and Acts for which it has responsibility; and providing services including information for Parliament and the Minister of Tourism. The Tourism Policy Group seeks to ensure policies which affect tourism are consistent and conducive to sustainable tourism growth, increased foreign exchange earnings and job creation as well as sensitive to environmental and social needs.

New Zealand Tourism Industry Association.

Established in 1953 as the New Zealand Travel & Holiday Association the functions of the association have evolved as the tourism industry has increased in economic importance in New Zealand. It serves as the united voice of all those enterprises involved in New Zealand's tourism industry. This ranges from the large corporate members through to the small one person services providers. There are many smaller association groups which represent individual product sectors within tourism but the New Zealand Tourism Industry Association provides an organisational framework to link those groups and the various regional tourism organisations involved in promoting their geographical areas.

Contributors

13.1

Hillary Commission for Sport, Fitness and Leisure; New Zealand Arts Assembly; New Zealand Assembly for Sport; New Zealand Sports Foundation; Department of Conservation; Office of the Minister for Racing; Department of Internal Affairs; Lotteries Grants Board.

13.2New Zealand Tourism Board; Ministry of Commerce, Tourism Policy Group; New Zealand Tourism Industry Association.

Special articles

Cricket New Zealand; Department of Internal Affairs; Aotearoa Maori Tourism Federation; New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association; New Zealand Sport Monthly.

Further information

Recreation and sport

  • Business of Sport and Leisure, The. Hillary Commission for Sport, Fitness and Leisure, 1993.

  • Freshwater Catch. Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (quarterly).

  • Life in New Zealand. Hillary Commission for Recreation and Sport, 1990.

  • New Zealanders’ Participation in Outdoor Activities. Hillary Commission for Sport, Fitness and Leisure, 1993.

  • Profile of New Zealanders Wanting To Be More Physically Active. Hillary Commission for Sport, Fitness and Leisure, 1993.

  • Report of the Department of Internal Affairs (Parl paper G7).

  • Report of the Hillary Commission for Sport, Fitness and Leisure (Parl paper E32).

  • Report of the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board (Parl paper G7b).

  • Report of the Queen Elizabeth the Second National Trust (Parl paper C2).

Tourism

  • New Zealand International Visitors Survey. New Zealand Tourism Board (annual).

  • Report of the New Zealand Tourism Board (Parl paper G25).

  • Report of the Ministry of Commerce (Parl paper G46).

  • Tourism in New Zealand: Facts and Forecasts. New Zealand Tourism Board and New Zealand Tourism Industry Association, June 1994.

  • Tourism Sector Review: New Zealand Tourism at a glance. Ernst & Young.

Chapter 14. Employment

Preparing to strip an engine.

14.1 Labour force

In general terms the labour force includes people aged 15 years and over who are either employed or unemployed. The main source of labour force data is Statistics New Zealand which collects information in four ways, through the:

  • Household Labour Force Survey (which produces quarterly estimates of labour market indicators, based on a sample of 16,000 households).

  • Five-yearly Census of Population and Dwellings.

  • Quarterly Employment Survey (which counts the number of jobs in various industries).

  • Labour Cost Survey (which surveys labour-related costs for a fixed set of job descriptions).

Another source is the Department of Labour, which produces statistics on the number of job vacancies reported to it, people in subsidised work, the number of people registered as wanting work with the New Zealand Employment Service, and the number and extent of work stoppages.

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.

The Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS), in accordance with International Labour Organisation (ILO) guidelines, includes part-time workers in the labour force. The definition of part-time work is ‘less than 30 hours per week’. These definitions also apply to statistics from the 1991 Census.

The 1991 Census and the Household Labour Force Survey definitions of the labour force include all those people who work for one hour or more per week for pay or profit (including unpaid family members working in a family enterprise) plus unemployed people who are available for and actively seeking work, and those who have a job to start within four weeks regardless of whether or not they were actively looking for work.

Table 14.1. THE LABOUR FORCE*

 Labour force    
Quarter endedEmployedUnemployedNot in labour forceWorking-age population*Labour force participation rateUnemployment rate

* Household Labour Force Survey.

† The civilian, non-institutionalised usually resident New Zealand population aged 15 and over.

  (000)  percent 
Male      
1992—Jun821.497.8339.01,258.273.110.6
      Sep812.699.5348.91,260.972.310.9
      Dec827.499.4338.11,264.973.310.7
1993—Mar829.599.3338.41,267.173.310.7
      Jun836.593.1341.31,270.973.110.0
      Sep834.088.4351.41,273.772.49.6
      Dec853.892.3332.31,278.474.09.8
1994—Mar857.891.3334.91,284.073.99.6
      Jun865.181.1341.91,288.273.58.6
Female      
1992—Jun648.064.5609.01,321.553.99.1
      Sep642.562.8618.51,323.853.38.9
      Dec654.770.1603.01,327.854.69.7
1993—Mar645.569.1618.21,332.853.69.7
      Jun650.066.0620.31,336.353.69.2
      Sep662.858.9618.01,339.853.98.2
      Dec671.261.7611.51,344.454.58.4
1994—Mar674.469.8605.71,349.955.19.4
      Jun680.056.4617.81,354.254.47.7
 Labour force    
Quarter endedEmployedUnemployedNot in labour forceWorking-age population*Labour force participation rateUnemployment rate
  (000)  percent 
Total      
1992—Jun1,469.4162.3948.02,579.763.39.9
      Sep1,455.0162.3967.42,584.762.610.0
      Dec1,482.1169.5941.12,592.763.710.3
1993—Mar1,475.0168.4956.52,599.963.210.2
      Jun1,486.5159.2961.72,607.363.19.7
      Sep1,496.8147.3969.52,613.562.99.0
      Dec1,525.0154.1943.82,622.864.09.2
1994—Mar1,532.2161.0940.62,633.964.39.5
      Jun1,545.1137.5959.82,642.463.78.2

New Zealand's labour force grew steadily from 914,712 persons at the 1961 Census to 1,608,612 persons at the 1986 Census—an increase of 693,900 or 75.9 percent during the 25 year period. However during the 1986-1991 intercensal period the number of persons in the labour force dropped to 1,564,173, a decrease of 44,439 or 2.8 percent. This was despite a continuing increase in both the number of persons aged 15 and over (from 2,468,301 to 2,590,284) and in the more usual working ages of 15–59 (from 1,987,386 to 2,069,607).

shows that the labour force has started to grow recently. Between June 1992 and June 1994, the labour force as measured by the HLFS increased by 50,900 or 3.1 percent. Over the same period, the number of persons aged 15 and over increased by 62,700 or 2.4 percent. The result was a slight increase in the labour force participation rate.

Labour force growth and changes in labour force participation levels varied markedly for males and females between 1961 and 1991. There was an extremely high level of growth in the female labour force, from 240,134 persons at the 1961 Census to 678,390 at the 1991 Census, an increase of 438,256 or 182.5 percent. This growth however did slow to a more modest 1.3 percent in the 1986–1991 intercensal period. The size of the male labour force increased less markedly (by 39.1 percent) between 1961 and 1986, and decreased by a significant 5.6 percent in the 1986–1991 intercensal period.

In contrast to male labour force participation, which decreased slowly but steadily during the intercensal period 1961–1991, female labour force participation has increased rapidly. This has resulted in an obvious change in the sex distribution of the labour force. At the 1961 Census 73.7 percent of the labour force were male, but by the 1991 Census this figure had fallen to 56.6 percent.

However, male and female labour participation increased by similar amounts between June 1992 and June 1994. The male labour force increased by 27,000 or 2.9 percent, and the female labour force increased by 23,900 or 3.4 percent. The male and female participation rates increased by 0.4 and 0.5 percentage points respectively.

LABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE, 1994

Age specific

There is a clear difference in male and female participation in the labour force. As the age specific labour force participation rate graph shows, at every age group male participation is higher than female participation, the difference being particularly marked in the main child-bearing ages (between 25 and 34). In 1994, the overall labour force participation rate of males (73.4 percent) is almost 20 percentage points higher than that for females.

Table 14.2. LABOUR FORCE BY FULL-TIME AND PART-TIME STATUS, 1989 AND 1994*

 MaleFemale
 1989199419891994

* Household Labour Force Survey. Annual averages for the years ended March 1989 and 1994.

For unemployed persons, full-time means seeking 30 or more hours of work per week. Part-time means seeking fewer than 30 hours per week.

 (000)(000)
Full-time    
  Employed794.1763.4418.1425.3
  Unemployed†52.283.326.143.2
  Total846.3846.8444.2468.4
Part-time    
  Employed61.982.0218.6239.3
  Unemployed†5.08.014.721.0
  Total66.890.0233.4260.2
Total full and part-time labour force913.2936.8677.6728.7
Percent in labour force full-time92.790.465.664.3
Total working-age population1,209.41,276.81,268.41,342.6
Participation rate (full-time)70.066.335.034.9
Participation rate (part-time)5.57.018.419.4

shows the male and female full and part-time labour force in 1989 and 1994. Almost three times as many women as men are participating in the labour force on a part-time basis. The number of part-time workers of both sexes has increased in recent years; the number of males in the labour force part-time increased by 34.7 percent between 1989 and 1994, and the number of females in the part-time labour force increased by 11.5 percent. The definition of full-time includes all persons working 30 or more hours per week and all those persons who were unemployed and looking for more than 30 hours employment per week. Therefore part-time includes those people working or unemployed and looking for one to 29 hours of work per week.

Women in the labour force

At every census since 1961, the difference between male and female labour force participation rates has decreased. Male participation rates have decreased at every census since 1961, with the largest decrease coming between 1986 and 1991. By comparison, female labour force participation rates increased between 1961 and 1986, while between 1986 and 1991 the participation rates declined but at a slower rate than that for males.

Increased participation in the labour force by women reflects their changing role in society. Women are now living in a more career-oriented society than previously and, like men, work because 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 patterns of child-rearing.

National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women (NACEW).

The National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women is composed of a chairperson and 16 other members. The chairperson and seven council members are appointed by the Minister of Employment for their knowledge and experience in women's employment matters. The remaining nine members represent the major employee and employer organisations in the private and public sectors, the Department of Labour, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Women's Affairs, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Te Puni Kokiri.

The council's primary function is to advise the Minister of Employment on all matters relating to the employment of women. NACEW’s priorities for 1994 were the Taskforce on Employment Policy, parental leaves and completing work on women's access to industry training and the women and self-employment report.

A second function is to promote greater public knowledge and understanding of women's employment and its implications. In 1993–1994 NACEW published its research into women and self-employment, ‘Te Wahine Hanga Mahi—The Women and Self-employment Report’, which analyses both statistical data and interviews with 48 self-employed women. The council also made two submissions to the Taskforce on Employment Policy. The council's annual report and publications are also publicly available.

FULL-TIME LABOUR FORCE: 1891-1991
 Employment status  
Census yearEmployersSelf-employed and not employing othersWage and salary earnersUnemployedOther†TotalUnemployment rateParticipation rates‡

* Maori excluded before 1951.

Includes relatives assisting but not receiving wages. Excludes categories not applicable and not specified from 1916.

Ratio of economically active population to total working-age population.

§Included in ‘other’.

|| Definition of full-time work changed from a minimum of 20 hours per week to 30 per week for 1986 census.

   number   percentpercent
Male—        
189124,84230,288120,476§31,740207,346 61.6
189628,81842,599132,72714,75920,959239,8626.263.8
190134,00247,317166,4328,46718,341274,5593.166.3
190641,47646,936203,9878,18923,253323,8412.567.3
191143,92756,708231,6537,15224,416363,8562.066.5
191643,25655,755220,7835,92025,619351,3331.762.1
192147,59164,152269,03611,0716,752398,6022.864.1
192648,22662,226305,12010,6949,586435,8522.563.9
193653,53664,069322,09551,99610,928502,62410.366.8
194547,52454,961359,9315,8233,970472,2091.260.4
195163,57071,325423,1747,9021,066567,0371.458.4
195666,86472,239476,6375,5581,208622,5060.957.0
196162,23161,862540,3164,674766669,8490.755.3
196666,17061,975610,7325,125312744,3140.755.5
197159,81562,185651,4998,757250782,5061.154.9
197670,98776,751699,23614,392670862,1261.755.4
198164,32975,840696,89134,4823,573876,6093.9 
1986||81,849100,383651,861 3,810841,344 52.8
199178,300101,841541,13778,6725,067812,9559.764.4
Female—        
18911,3913,20427,945§12,87745,417 14.9
18961,6275,73137,1682,6375,90753,0705.015.4
19012,0108,75048,0881,3595,46465,6712.117.1
19062,3337,93155,4911,3728,11775,2441.817.1
19112,7669,65964,2641,20312,36990,2611.318.2
19162,6297,90474,3021,15613,32999,3201.217.7
19212,9388,76088,4312,1545,408107,6912.018.3
19263,3587,70596,4252,4351,065110,9882.217.2
19365,0049,627117,8463,509892136,8782.618.9
19454,9976,272148,9361,0901,694162,9890.719.9
19515,9337,683154,5201,7261,248171,1101.017.8
19565,9837,856176,7212,3781,038193,9761.218.0
19614,6916,045210,5662,2241,122224,6481.018.7
19667,2547,856260,0813,982488279,6111.421.0
19718,10310,101307,0647,411353333,0322.223.3
197612,50014,760363,84411,9453,205406,2542.926.0
198114,05217,289392,23525,7761,446455,7365.7 
1986||19,42824,657383,532 1,956436,866 23.2
199120,39426,433358,65946,4226,762463,34110.034.9
Total—        
189126,23333,492148,121§44,617252,763 40.3
189630,44548,330169,89517,39626,866292,8325.941.6
190136,01256,067214,5209,82623,805340,2302.944.0
190643,80954,867259,4789,56131,370399,0852.444.9
191146,69366,367295,9178,35568,155454,1171.845.0
191645,88563,659295,0857,07638,948450,6531.641.4
192150,52972,912357,46713,22512,160506,2932.643.5
192651,58469,931401,54513,12910,651546,8402.444.0
193658,54073,696439,94155,50511,820639,5028.743.2
194552,52161,233508,8676,9135,664635,1981.139.6
195169,50379,008577,6949,6282,314738,1471.338.1
195672,84780,095653,3587,9362,246816,4821.037.6
196166,92267,907750,8826,8981,888894,4971.037.0
196673,42469,831870,8139,1078001,023,9251.038.3
197167,91872,286958,56316,1686031,115,5381.439.1
197683,48791,5111,063,08026,3373,8751,268,3802.140.7
198178,38193,1291,089,12660,2585,0191,332,3454.541.9
1986||101,277125,0401,035,393 5,7661,278,210 38.6
199198,691128,277899,799125,09411,8291,276,2909.849.3

Thirdly, in co-operation with the Department of Labour, which provides secretarial assistance to NACEW, the council has published statistics and other material on women's employment issues; promoted research into the employment of women and related topics.

Full-time and part-time work

The population resident in New Zealand employed in the full-time labour force, i.e. working 30 hours or more per week, decreased from 1,278,192 at the 1986 census to 1,151,199 at the 1991 Census, a decline of 126,993 or 9.9 percent. By contrast, the number of persons working one to 29 hours per week increased by 27,984 or 12.7 percent, to 249,201.

Between 1986 and 1991 the composition of the employed population changed quite dramatically in terms of both hours worked and the sex of those employed. As can be seen in there were large increases in the number of employed males in the part-time labour force for all the hours worked categories, especially the one to four hours category. Conversely the number of males working full-time decreased by 12.7 percent in the intercensal period.

The female labour force showed less pronounced movements, with an increase of 9.4 percent in part-time numbers being more than offset by a decrease of 4.6 percent in women working in the full-time labour force.

Table 14.3. HOURS OF WORK*

 MalesFemales
Hours worked per week1986 Census1991 CensusPercentage intercensal change1986 Census1991 CensusPercentage intercensal change

* Population resident in New Zealand and gainfully employed in the labour force.

Excludes persons unemployed and seeking work.

Part-time labour force      
 1–42,9434,63257.410,67712,89420.8
 5–911,03413,03818.227,51932,85619.4
10–148,34011,32235.829,68833,96614.4
15–197,3058,56817.331,51832,7393.9
20–2411,11815,51939.644,28648,0458.5
25–295,6137,71337.426,17527,9126.6
Not specified2,640  2,352  

      Total, part-time

48,99660,78624.1172,221188,4159.4
Full-time labour force      
30–3417,99121,95422.039,40542,5137.9
35–3959,01645,117-23.687,68180,838-7.8
40–44367,122308,967-15.8210,045194,010-7.6
45–49124,854106,866-14.430,02134,71315.6
50–5499,11498,277-0.818,90325,01432.3
55–5936,07834,968-3.17,0658,75423.9
60–6452,47056,3617.49,67812,47128.9
65–6912,56713,1975.02,0372,80837.8
70–7418,41420,2119.84,0024,86921.7
75 or more28,59328,365-0.89,97210,9299.6
Not specified25,110  18,054  

      Total, full-time

841,329734,283-12.7436,863416,916-4.6
      Total890,325795,069-10.7609,084605,334-0.6

Hours of work.

Data regarding the number of hours of work in each week are presently collected by Statistics New Zealand from two sources:

  • The Household Labour Force Survey which asks respondents for the number of hours they usually work, the number of hours actually worked in the survey reference week and where the usual and actual hours differ the reason for any difference.

  • The Quarterly Employment Survey which asks enterprises for the details of the number of paid ordinary and overtime hours worked in the week preceding the 20th of the month.

Given the shift from full to part-time hours of work highlighted above, a decrease would have been expected in the length of the average work week, but shows that this is not the case. Average total weekly hours have remained at approximately 39 paid hours per week since 1987.

However, a shift in the composition of these hours has occurred over the last three years. The average number of ordinary time hours worked has increased from 36.66 hours per week in 1988 to 37.53 hours per week in 1994. Conversely the number of overtime hours worked in the average week has decreased by 0.43 of an hour (about 26 minutes) over the same period. This may be the result of recent changes in the terms of employment contracts extending the number of hours defined as ‘ordinary time’.

ETHNIC EMPLOYMENT

By major industry group

Table 14.4. AVERAGE WEEKLY HOURS PAID FOR, 1987–1993*

 Total hours paid for
 MalesFemalesTotal
Year as at FebruaryOrdinary timeOvertimeTotal†Ordinary timeOver timeTotal†Ordinary timeOvertimeTotal†

* Quarterly Employment Survey.

Average ordinary time and total paid hours are averages for full-time equivalent employees. The number of overtime hours paid for is averaged over the number of full-time employees only, it is assumed only full-time employees work overtime. For this reason average weekly total hours paid for is not the sum of average weekly ordinary time hours and average weekly overtime hours paid for.

198737.303.1040.3035.901.4037.1036.702.5039.00
198837.203.0040.0035.801.3036.9036.662.3038.70
198937.563.0140.4335.971.4137.1236.882.3939.01
199037.423.1840.4335.791.4836.9736.712.5138.91
199137.492.7440.0835.851.2936.8736.762.1638.66
199237.852.5340.2336.141.0736.9837.081.9438.77
199338.242.5540.6236.360.9837.1137.391.9139.04

Status in employment

As would be expected wage and salary earners account for the majority of employed persons. Data from the HLFS indicates that during the year ended March 1994, 78 percent of employed persons were wage and salary earners. Those persons who were self-employed made up the next largest category, approximately 12 percent of employed persons.

Males dominate among those who are self-employed and those who employ others. shows that in 1994, 70 percent of persons in these categories were male. Similarly females dominate amongst those working unpaid in a family business. Females made up approximately 67 percent of this category.

The restructuring of the New Zealand economy during the mid to late 1980s, coupled with the economic recession of 1990-91, has caused shifts in status in employment. The total number of employed persons increased by 17,300 or 1.2 percent between 1989 and 1994. The number of wage and salary earners decreased by 20,400 or 1.7 percent in the last five years, but this was more than offset by increases in the number of New Zealanders in self-employment (21,700 or 13.7 percent), employing others (9,300 or 7.9 percent), and working unpaid in a family business (6,300 or 64.3 percent).

Table 14.5. STATUS IN EMPLOYMENT OF EMPLOYED PERSONS, 1989 AND 1994*

 MalesFemales
Status19891994Percentage change19891994Percentage change

* Household Labour Force Survey. Annual averages for the years ended March 1989 and 1994.

 (000) (000) 
Employee651.0620.9-4.6551.8561.41.7
Employer86.690.64.630.736.017.3
Self-employed112.4126.212.346.054.017.4
Unpaid in family business3.45.355.96.410.868.8
Not specified2.72.6-3.71.72.335.3
      Total856.0845.5-1.2636.8664.64.4

Industrial structure of the labour force

shows the distribution of employed persons by industry during 1994. The industries presented here are grouped into major divisions consistent with the New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (NZSIC). The largest number of the employed are engaged in the ‘community, social and personal services’ division (28.6 percent), followed by the ‘wholesale, retail, restaurants and hotels’ division (21.0 percent) and the ‘manufacturing’ division (17.3 percent). The divisions employing the fewest people are the ‘mining and quarrying’ and the ‘electricity, gas and water’ divisions, each employing less than 1 percent of employed persons.

Over 60 percent of female employment is concentrated in two industrial divisions, the ‘community, social and personal services’ (40.2 percent) and ‘wholesale, retail, restaurants and hotels’ (23.3 percent). Male employment is more evenly spread, with the ‘manufacturing’ division the single largest employer of males (21.3 percent).

Over the last five years the industrial structure of New Zealand employment has shown a continuation of the long-term shift in employment away from primary (agriculture, hunting, fishing and forestry) and secondary (mining, quarrying, building and construction, manufacturing, transport and communications) industries into the services sector (wholesale and retail trade, restaurant and hotels, finance, insurance and real estate, and community, social and personal services).

As the following graph shows, the percentage of males employed full-time in agriculture and the other primary industries fell from 19.8 percent in 1956 to 12.4 percent in 1991. The percentage of males involved in manufacturing, mining and quarrying, electricity, gas and water, and building all fell between 1956 and 1991. In the services sector finance, insurance and real estate registered the largest increase in full-time male employment (from 2.1 percent to 10.4 percent). Similarly the percentage of full-time male employment in community, social and personal services, wholesale and retail trade all increased.

FULL-TIME MALE EMPLOYMENT BY INDUSTRY

Female employment shows a different pattern. As is shown in the graph below, full-time female unemployment appears to have shifted from manufacturing and community, social and personal services into business and financial services, insurance and property.

Table 14.6. EMPLOYED PERSONS BY INDUSTRY, 1994*

    Percentage distribution
Major divisionMaleFemaleTotalMaleFemaleTotal

* Household Labour Force Survey. Annual average for the year ended March 1994.

Based on adequately defined cases only.

  (000)    
Agriculture, hunting, fishing and forestry108.650.0158.612.97.510.5
Mining and quarrying3.7 4.00.4 0.3
Manufacturing180.581.4262.021.412.317.4
Electricity, gas and water8.81.910.71.00.30.7
Construction74.49.183.58.81.45.5
Wholesale, retail, restaurants and hotels161.5155.0316.419.123.321.0
Transport, storage and communications65.024.789.87.73.76.0
Business and financial services77.074.2151.29.111.210.0
Community, social and personal services164.5267.3431.819.540.328.6
Not adequately defined  2.2   
      Total845.5664.61,510.1100.0100.0100.0

Occupational structure of the labour force

Statistics New Zealand classifies occupations into nine major groups for the purposes of statistical collection and reporting. The system used for classifying occupations into major groups is the New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (NZSCO).

FULL-TIME FEMALE EMPLOYMENT BY INDUSTRY

suggests that New Zealanders are relatively evenly spread amongst the occupations. The largest occupational group in 1994 was ‘clerical workers’, with 13.7 percent of employed persons being engaged in this occupation. The smallest occupational group are engaged in ‘elementary occupations’ (6.7 percent).

Table 14.7. EMPLOYED PERSONS BY OCCUPATION AND GENDER, 1994*

    Percentage distribution
Major occupational groupsMaleFemaleTotalMaleFemaleTotal

* Household Labour Force Survey. Annual average for the year ended March 1994.

Percentage calculations are based on adequately defined cases only.

Legislators, administrators and managers139.163.2202.216.59.513.4
Professionals81.699.6181.29.715.012.0
Technicians and associate professionals95.277.4172.611.311.711.4
Clerks45.2161.8206.85.424.413.7
Service and sales workers68.3131.6199.98.119.813.3
Agriculture and fishery workers108.446.8155.212.87.010.3
Trades workers135.58.8144.216.01.39.6
Plant and machine operators and assemblers108.435.9144.412.85.49.6
Elementary occupations62.738.8101.57.45.86.7
Not adequately defined1.2 2.0   
Total845.5664.61,510.1100.0100.0100.0

OCCUPATIONS OF EMPLOYED MEN, 1994

Significant differences emerge in occupational distribution when the number of employed is separated by gender. Men are quite evenly distributed among the occupational groups. The largest occupational group for males is the ‘legislators, administrators and managers group’; approximately one in six males are involved in these occupations (16.5 percent). Not far behind this group is the ‘trades workers’ group, in which 16.0 percent of males are occupied. The smallest occupational group for males is ‘clerical workers’ (5.3 percent).

Women tend to be concentrated in a much smaller number of occupations. Nearly a quarter of employed females are employed as ‘clerks’, with a further 19.8 percent employed as ‘service or sales workers’. The smallest occupational group for females are ‘trades workers’, accounting for 1.3 percent of female employment.

There is still a large degree of occupational segregation in the New Zealand labour force, i.e. so-called ‘male’ and ‘female’ occupations still exist. Males are over-represented in the trades, machine operators, agriculture and fisheries workers, and in legislators, administrators and managers groups. In contrast females are over-represented in the clerical and service/sales occupations.

OCCUPATIONS OF EMPLOYED WOMEN, 1994

14.2 Unemployment

There are three main sources of unemployment data in New Zealand, the:

  • Statistics New Zealand's Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS).

  • Statistics New Zealand's five-yearly Census of Population and Dwellings.

  • Department of Labour's job seeker register.

These measures differ from each other in their scope, collection methods and the way they define unemployment. The 1991 Census counts people as unemployed if, on census night, they were without paid employment and were available for and actively seeking paid employment. ‘Active’ job search requires that a person do more than look through job advertisements in newspapers. The HLFS definition of unemployment is similar to that used by the 1991 Census but also includes people who have a job arranged to start within four weeks, regardless of whether or not they were actively seeking work. This is based on the International Labour Organisation definition of unemployment, used in many countries.

The Department of Labour's measure of ‘registered unemployed’ is a count of all those who are unemployed, seeking full-time work and who have registered with the New Zealand Employment Service. Registration is open to all job-seekers but is required of those receiving the unemployment benefit. The Department of Labour releases monthly updates of registered unemployment data.

Definitional differences mean that persons counted as ‘unemployed’ by one measure may be excluded by another. For instance, a person on the Employment Service Register may have a temporary job working a few hours each week and would therefore be counted as ‘employed’ by the HLFS. Similarly some persons without work may choose not to register with the Employment Service but could be counted in the HLFS definition 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. In addition, unemployment figures in successive censuses are not strictly comparable because of changes in definitions of full and part-time labour forces, and the working-age population. Short term trends are measured in the HLFS but the series did not begin until 1986. The dramatic increase in unemployment since the mid-1970s is illustrated in the adjacent graph.

REGISTERED UNEMPLOYED

Including vacation workers

Demographic and social characteristics of the unemployed

In the year ended March 1994, 155,400 persons were counted by the HLFS as being unemployed. This is equivalent to 9.4 percent of the total labour force. The unemployment rate for males was higher than that for females, at 9.8 percent and 8.8 percent respectively. The variation in unemployment rates is even wider when other social and demographic characteristics are taken into account.

shows the distribution of the unemployed by educational attainment. The unemployment rate is highest among those people with no educational qualifications (14.9 percent) and lowest for those people with both school and post-school qualifications.

Table 14.8. UNEMPLOYED PERSONS BY EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, 1994*

 Number of unemployedUnemployment rate
Educational attainmentMaleFemaleTotalMaleFemaleTotal

* Household Labour Force Survey. Annual average for the year ended March 1994.

  (000)  percent 
No qualifications40.223.864.016.413.014.9
School qualification20.818.339.19.78.49.0
Post school but no school qualification11.06.217.29.212.610.2
Post school and school qualification18.815.334.15.45.65.5
Not specified      
Total91.364.1155.49.88.89.4

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE, 1994

Age specific

The unemployed are concentrated in the younger age groups. As can be seen in , nearly half of the unemployed are aged 29 or younger, whereas there are fewer than 1,000 unemployed persons in each of the 60-64 and 65 and over age groups. As the graph of age-specific unemployment rates shows, the rate of unemployment for 15-19 year olds is more than twice as high as the overall rate of unemployment. Similarly, the unemployment rate for 20-24 year olds is significantly higher than the overall rate.

Table 14.9. UNEMPLOYED PERSONS BY AGE, 1994*

 Number of unemployedUnemployment rate
AgeMaleFemaleTotalMaleFemaleTotal

* Household Labour Force Survey. Annual average for the year ended March 1994.

  (000)  percent 
15–1915.313.829.121.721.321.5
20–2418.412.230.615.412.214.0
25–2912.28.620.710.69.810.2
30–3411.07.518.48.78.28.5
35–399.26.515.77.87.07.4
40–447.45.813.26.66.36.5
45–496.23.810.16.24.55.4
50–546.23.910.17.96.57.3
55–594.51.76.27.94.96.8
60-64      
65 and over      
      Total91.364.1155.49.88.89.4

Unemployment rates for Maori and Pacific Island people are more than three times those for Europeans. shows that the unemployment rates for Pacific Island people, New Zealand Maori and Europeans are 24.2 percent, 22.8 percent and 7.1 percent respectively.

Table 14.1. UNEMPLOYED PERSONS BY ETHNICITY, 1994*

 Number of unemployedUnemployment rate
AgeMaleFemaleTotalMaleFemaleTotal

* Household Labour Force Survey. Annual average for the year ended March 1994.

  (000)  percent 
European/pakeha58.241.499.67.46.8 
7.1      
New Zealand Maori19.313.933.224.321.022.8
Pacific Island group9.86.216.026.821.024.2
Other4.12.56.613.611.512.7
Not specified      
      Total91.364.1155.49.88.89.4

Unemployed workers’ protest in the foyer of the Reserve Bank.

Duration of unemployment

The average duration of unemployment (the length of time people are unemployed) has increased steadily in recent years.

This increase in duration was reflected in a significant increase in the proportion of the unemployed who were ‘long-term unemployed’. For the purposes of the HLFS ‘long-term unemployment’ is defined as a period of unemployment lasting more than 26 weeks. The long-term unemployed accounted for 24.8 percent of total unemployment during 1987, but by 1993 they accounted for more than half (54.2 percent) of the unemployed (excluding those who did not specify a duration of unemployment). There was a slight improvement in 1994, with the ‘long-term unemployed’ falling to 49.1 percent of the total unemployed. shows how the numbers of people unemployed for various durations have changed in recent years.

Table 14.11. PERSONS UNEMPLOYED, BY DURATION OF UNEMPLOYMENT AND SEX*

Average for the year ended March1-45-89-1314-2627-5253 weeks and overNot specifiedTotal

* Household Labour Force Survey.

    (000)    
Males        
19876.33.93.55.1432.77.533.3
19887.45.03.35.85.84.17.839.2
19898.67.66.88.210.88.07.257.1
19909.47.26.210.011.812.68.465.6
199111.68.27.613.713.918.17.280.3
199212.09.18.416.822.028.36.7103.4
19939.87.47.014.418.635.06.999.0
199411.06.66.412.316.931.56.591.3
Females        
19878.03.62.73.93.31.97.330.7
19887.44.12.93.63.81.86.630.2
19898.65.24.85.6583.97.040.8
199010.25.95.66.56.85.56.346.8
199111.37.05.98.28.48.16.555.4
199211.47.87.211.412.712.75.869.2
19939.76.47.49.912.616.56.166.6
199410.46.05.99.411.415.55.464.1
Total        
198714.27.56.29.07.64.614.864.0
198814.89.16.29.49.65.914.569.5
198917.212.911.613.816.511.914.198.0
199019.613.211.816.518.718.014.7112.4
199122.815.313.421.922.226.213.7135.7
199223.416.915.628.334.841.012.5172.6
199319.513.812.424.231.351.413.0165.6
199421.412.612.421.828.347.011.9155.4

14.3 Training and employment assistance

With the introduction of Skill New Zealand, the artificial divide between ‘academic’ and ‘vocational’ education and training is disappearing. The two government agencies responsible for Skill New Zealand are the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and the Education and Training Support Agency.

In addition to a number of Skill New Zealand initiatives which aim to foster high quality industry training, the Education and Training Support Agency is responsible for the Training Opportunities Programme, which aims to provide training for the long-term unemployed people with low or no qualifications.

Education and Training Support Agency

The Education and Training Support Agency was established by the Education Amendment Act 1990. The agency reports directly to the Minister of Education through its board. It's purpose is to advance a range of training options for its customers, who include employers, industry training organisations, training providers and trainees. With 15 regional offices and associated sub-offices, the agency has an extensive regional structure, as well as a national office based in Wellington.

The Education and Training Support Agency's mission is ‘Skills Development for Work’, reflecting a commitment to raising New Zealanders’ skill levels. The programmes administered by the agency fall under the Skill New Zealand umbrella. Skills development is essential for economic growth and the ability to compete on the international market. Equipping New Zealanders with tomorrow's skills improves not just individual job prospects, but the economic prospects of the nation.

The agency is committed to providing equal opportunity in training, and has a special focus on those who have not been well served by traditional educational institutions. The agency works closely with its customers to understand their needs and develop solutions from a range of services. The agency has also developed a close working relationship with the New Zealand Qualifications Authority, so to ensure all training is carried out to nationally recognised standards. As units of learning are progressively developed by the Qualifications Authority, training organised by the agency will be recognised in the National Qualifications Framework.

The Education and Training Support Agency is responsible for the following major training initiatives:

  • Skill New Zealand.

  • Skill Start.

  • Training Opportunities Programme.

  • Skill Pathways.

  • Skill Enhancement.

Some apprenticeships and primary industry cadetships are also administered by the agency.

Skill New Zealand.

Skill New Zealand incorporates the National Qualifications Framework and the Industry Training Strategy. The Education and Training Support Agency is responsible for the latter. They work closely with New Zealand Qualifications Authority to promote industry-managed training responsive to the needs of employers, employees and trainees.

Skill New Zealand aims to:

  • Extend systematic training to industries and occupations which do not currently have formal training systems.

  • Ensure that existing industry training arrangements can be developed to meet future needs.

  • Provide for training to national industry standards which will be recognised in the national qualifications framework.

Under the Industry Training Act 1992, industries are progressively taking over responsibility for developing, implementing and administering their own training.

Industry Training Organisations

—the agency's board is responsible for recognising and supporting Industry Training Organisations (ITOs). The agency assists ITOs to develop and establish systematic training arrangements.

ITOs are established by particular industries or groups of industries and are responsible for:

  • Setting national skill standards for their industry.

  • Developing training packages for employers in their industry.

  • Arranging for delivery of training on and off-job.

  • Deciding how to monitor training standards and the assessment of trainees.

At the end of 1993/94, there were 40 officially recognised ITOs and a number of other organisations going through the recognition process.

Apprenticeship training and primary industry cadet schemes—

responsibility for apprenticeship training and primary industry cadetship training is progressively being transferred to the ITOs, as they are established and developed. About 70 percent of all new apprenticeships in the 1993/94 year were administered by ITOs. The agency continues to administer those apprenticeships and cadetships which are yet to be transferred. Each industry continues to set the training requirements for the industry.

Instead of an apprenticeship contract, new apprentices have an employment contract under the Employment Contracts Act, and a training agreement.

Skill Start

—Skill Start is an incentive payment to encourage employers to recruit young trainees for systematic on-job vocational education. The payment is made to employers taking on apprentices and other trainees aged between 16 and 21, and is intended to off-set some of the initial costs of taking on a trainee. As ITOs take over responsibility for apprenticeships and other vocational education in their industry they also take over responsibility for administering the Skill Start payments. ITOs administered 2,450 Skill Start payments in the 1993/94 year, out of a total of 3,683.

Training Opportunities.

Training Opportunities provides access to education and training for people who have low or no qualifications or limited skills. It is targeted particularly towards young people, and people who have been unemployed for six months or more.

The programme is fully funded for targeted trainees. The agency contracts with a variety of training providers for courses which meet a variety of skill needs, including work based training options.

Outcomes sought from the programme are:

  • The acquisition of, or credit towards, nationally recognised qualifications (as units of learning leading to national qualifications become available).

  • Further education and training, or employment.

Skill Pathways.

The principal objective of the Skill Pathways initiative is the design and promotion of a variety of vocational education and training pathways for young people. Skill Pathways uses a mix of on and off-job vocational education and training which is linked to the National Qualifications Framework.

Three principal types of pathway are being funded, initially on a two year transitional basis. School-based pathways enable school students to attain vocational or technical units involving some on-job learning; similar pathways are available for students in polytechnics or private training establishments; and employment-based pathways enable entry level vocational education and training to be conducted on a systematic and verifiable basis.

Making of TVNZ education and careers programme at Burnham Camp.

Skill Enhancement.

Skill Enhancement (formerly known as Maori Vocational Training) provides vocational education from a range of providers for young Maori and Pacific Island people, in both institutional and work-based settings. The aim of the programme is to offer the personal support to trainees that have always been the trademark of the programme and its predecessors, and to provide a culturally appropriate training environment for trainees.

The Careers Service

The Careers Service, formerly known as Quest Rapuara: the Career Development and Transition Education Service, is a careers advice and information service which helps people choose the work, education and training that suits them and which promotes the development of education programmes which will help meet their future needs.

A Crown entity, the Careers Service was established in July 1990. It is directly responsible to the Minister of Education who appoints a board to oversee its work. The Careers Service contracts with the Minister of Education to deliver a range of services to agreed consumers through a document of accountability signed between the minister and the board. Being partly funded by the Crown, the document of accountability also allows the negotiation of contracts with other organisations, both public and private.

The Careers Service is the leading provider of careers guidance, information and advice to New Zealanders. Its principal services are:

  • Career information: it researches, produces and distributes occupational, training and labour market information packaged in a variety of ways (career database, leaflets, books, posters, kits and videos). The Quest Database has been available to the public since February 1991. It contains detailed descriptions of approximately 650 jobs and over 4,500 courses. The database is available to the public in each of the Careers Service 22 offices. In addition the Database has been purchased by tertiary institutions, libraries, prisons, New Zealand Qualifications Authority, New Zealand Employment Service, Education and Training Support Agency, Workbridge, ACCESS providers and over 390 secondary schools.

  • Interpretation: it helps trainers and educators run effective career development and transition education programmes.

  • Career counselling and advice: it provides career counselling services which are culturally appropriate and gender inclusive to groups identified by the minister.

  • The Link Programme: it administers this programme which helps students prepare for the transition from school to post-school education and training and in experiencing exposure to tertiary education while still at school.

  • Manaaki Programmes: it administers the Manaaki Tauira and Manaaki Akonga Rua programmes which are designed to improve Maori participation rates in tertiary and senior secondary education. This is an annual contract.

The Careers Service has an infrastructure of five regions and 22 offices offering nationwide service.

Employment assistance measures

New Zealand Employment Service.

The Employment Service (NZES) of the Department of Labour was established in 1988 to provide a nationwide employment placement service through 70 employment centres. The service aims to assist all New Zealanders who are unemployed into work.

NZES provides a service to employers by providing recruiting services offering job seekers from their register at no extra cost. They also have a range of programmes and products which help job seekers towards employment.

Job Plus

—helps job seekers into permanent full-time employment through partial subsidies to employers for a limited time (usually about six months). Eligible job seekers must be enrolled with the service for more than six months, be in receipt of a work-tested benefit and be assessed as needing extra help or training to secure a job.

Enterprise Allowance

—helps job seekers into self-employment by providing an income during the initial stage of establishing their business. Eligible job seekers must be enrolled with the service for at least 15 weeks, and most Enterprise Allowance clients are in fact enrolled for more than six months. Job seekers may also be eligible for a business training and advice grant of up to $600. Job seekers can also capitalise a portion of their Enterprise Allowance up to a maximum of $5,000. Clients must meet the normal Enterprise Allowance criteria, complete a ‘Be Your Own Boss’ training course, have a minimum of $1,000 equity in the business and have exhausted other forms of funding.

Community Taskforce

—a work experience programme for job seekers who have been enrolled for more than three months. It aims to provide job seekers with skills to improve their chances of finding work. It also enables organisations to get projects which benefit the community off the ground. Sponsors provide three days work experience a week for up to six months while participants continue to receive a benefit and are paid an additional $15 per week to cover costs.

Taskforce Green

—a programme which provides project-based work to job seekers who have been enrolled with the service for more than six months. Employers are paid a partial wage subsidy while employees receive a wage negotiated with the employer. The programme is open to both public and private sector employers for projects of benefit to the environment and the community. It aims to provide job seekers, who have been out of work for some time, a chance to get recent work experience, update or enhance old skills or gain new skills to improve their chances of finding work.

Taskforce Green workers on a Department of Conservation project in the Bay of Islands.

Job Clubs, Job Wise, Job Action and Job Search Seminars

—help job seekers enrolled with the service to improve their job seeking skills. Job Clubs are run over two weeks and teach job seekers a complete range of job search, interview and cold-calling skills. Job Search Seminars are intensive one day sessions on job search techniques. Job Wise is a special programme to assist long-term job seekers to who have been out of work for some time. Job Action is a programme specifically designed for job seekers who have been out of work for longer than two years to enhance their employability and to develop with each of them an individualised commitment to look for work.

Wahine Ahuru/Turning Point

—a programme to help women who are returning to paid work. The programme runs mornings only over two weeks and teaches confidence, motivation and the skills needed to track down the right job or training.

Tane Atawhai

—similar to Wahine Ahuru, but aimed at helping men who are returning to paid work.

Modification Grants

—help employers to recruit people with disabilities by funding modifications to the workplace, equipment or access to enable the person to work to his or her ability.

Employment and training for Maori and Pacific Island Polynesians.

Maori input to government employment and training policies is co-ordinated by the Ministry of Maori Development (see also section 6.4).

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, after which the trainee is taken onto the employer's staff or is found similar work with another firm.

Funding allocated by the government to the ACCESS programme is delivered through a network of tribal and regional authorities.

MANA Enterprises

—this programme is designed to provide grant funding to an iwi collective with a commercially viable proposal. It is not intended that MANA fund individuals or be the sole provider of funds, but to provide a level of financial assistance so as to attract other joint venture partners or financiers.

Community Employment Group.

The Community Employment Group of the Department of Labour works with local communities to help maximise opportunities for employment and to assist people to move towards self-sufficiency and positive activity.

A network of field advisors spread throughout New Zealand is available to provide help and advice to community organisations working in the employment and enterprise area. This involves helping them to develop and implement ideas which may lead to opportunities for employment, firstly through the provision of advice and secondly, where appropriate, through offering small grants to partially cover project costs. For example, field advisors can assist with running a community planning day, putting people in touch with other resources, sources of funding or partnership opportunities and linking the most disadvantaged groups into the mainstream.

Groups worked with include community organisations such as volunteer agencies, Maori and Pacific Island groups, local government, sports organisations, churches, enterprise agencies, co-operatives, trusts, women's groups, service clubs, and socially alienated groups with barriers to employment, such as gangs.

The Community Employment Group had developed a number of programmes, originally funded as pilots or one-off projects, into national initiatives. These have been assisted through both field staff expertise and project funding.

Be Your Own Boss

—an integrated package of training and advice for the unemployed and non-business wise aiming to run a business.

Business Grow

—a referral and information service aimed at encouraging growth and expansion in existing businesses.

Company Rebuilders

—retired business people provide advice to help save businesses in danger of collapse.

Community Employment Mobile Information Services

—brings information on employment opportunities and enterprise development to isolated communities.

SportWorks

—builds on the organisational and human resources found in communities to develop opportunities for employment and positive activity among local people.

Mature Employment Service

—helps mature unemployed through counselling and referral to appropriate agencies.

Volunteer Centres

—match and train people interested in voluntary work (many of whom are unemployed) with positions in non-profit or community organisations.

Heritage and tourism strategies

—restore, develop and market historic aspects of local communities to attract visitors and create opportunities for employment.

Mahi A Iwi

—works in partnership with iwi, through the development of enterprise skills training, resource utilisation strategies and one-off projects, to facilitate opportunities for employment.

Mainstreet

—communities work to make their town centres more attractive to visitors and locals, to attract more spending to the area and increase opportunities for employment.

Small town self-help

—investigates employment, training and economic development for employment opportunities in rural towns.

14.4 Pay and incomes

Personal income

Personal income information from the 1991 Census of Population and Dwellings shows significant income disparities between males and females. relates the median personal incomes of males and females in the labour force to their employment status, and shows that for all employment status categories the income for males is higher than that of their female counterparts. The disparity is greatest, in dollar terms, among persons who are employers of others in their own business, where the male median income exceeds the female median income by $11,334.

Table 14.12. MEDIAN INCOMES BY EMPLOYMENT STATUS, 1991 CENSUS*

 Median incomes ($)
Employment statusMaleFemaleTotal

* Population resident in New Zealand aged 15 years and over.

Wage or salary earner26,74518,01122,574
Self employed and not employing others22,38914,63420,283
Employer of others in own business32,82221,48829,303
Unpaid worker in family business9,2176,7697,871
Unemployed and actively seeking work7,4467,1187,330
Not specified21,19314,27217,998
      Total, labour force24,67316,27720,864

Income disparities are also present in the broad work status statistics shown in . The larger income differential in the total labour force, relative to the full-time and part-time labour forces, is due to the larger proportion of females in the part time labour force.

Median income disparities within the full-time and part-time labour forces are mainly the result of the different occupational and industry mixes of females and males.

Table 14.13. MEDIAN INCOMES BY WORK STATUS, 1991 CENSUS*

Median incomes ($)
Work statusMaleFemaleTotal

* Population resident in New Zealand aged 15 years and over, persons unemployed and actively seeking full-time work, and actively seeking part-time work.

Persons working 30 or more hours a week, plus

Persons working 1–29 hours, plus persons unemployed

Full-time in labour force†25,72120,20223,479
Part-time in labour force†10,4839,1199,355
Non-labour force8,9718,8408,890
      Total19,24311,27814,142

Unemployed trainees at work on a Housing New Zealand house in Otara.

Earnings

Apart from the five-yearly Census of Population and Dwellings the other source of information on earnings is the Quarterly Employment Survey. The Quarterly Employment Survey covers all businesses with more than two ‘full-time equivalent’ employees (excluding working proprietors). Information is collected for the payweek ended immediately on or before the 20th of the middle month of the quarter and is deemed to apply to the mid-point of the month concerned.

Industries excluded from the survey are: agriculture and agricultural contracting, fishing, hunting and trapping, seagoing work, domestic services in households, the armed forces and the owning and leasing of real estate.

The average weekly levels of ordinary time and overtime earnings are shown in . Average weekly total earnings and average weekly ordinary time earnings have increased in recent quarters. Average weekly overtime earnings show a distinct seasonal pattern, tending to be higher in the February and November surveys than at other times of the year. The unusual increase in average weekly overtime earnings between February and May 1994 was mainly due to an increase in overtime hours paid for.

Persons employed in the central government sector are paid, on average, more than those in other sectors. shows average ordinary time hourly and weekly earnings in the private, central government trading, central government non-trading, local government trading and local government non-trading sectors. In both the central government trading and central government non-trading sectors the average ordinary time weekly wage is over $640 per week as compared with an average weekly wage of $533 in the private sector. The weekly wage for local government lies between that for the central government and private sectors.

Table 14.14. AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS*

 Average weekly earnings
Date of surveyOrdinary TimeOvertimeTotal‡

* Quarterly Employment Survey. Includes allowances and special payments (bonuses, penal and shift allowances, paid leave and commission) earned in the payweek. Payments not earned in the payweek (eg back pay, redundancy and severance pay) and non-taxable payments, such as tool money, are excluded.

Average ordinary time and total weekly earnings are averages for full-time equivalent employees. Overtime weekly earnings are averaged over full-time employees only as it is assumed that only full-time employees work overtime. For this reason, average total weekly earnings do not equal the sum of average ordinary time and overtime earnings.

  $ 
1990—Aug515.1633.41548.57
      Nov521.2536.23557.48
1991—Feb529.4034.07563.47
      May531.7836.17563.22
      Aug537.8831.66565.24
      Nov541.4035.84572.34
1992—Feb549.4435.16579.99
      May550.9433.68580.00
      Aug549.4030.07575.19
      Nov554.7834.68584.42
1993—Feb555.7234.27585.31
      May556.0032.29583.62
      Aug553.6729.83579.02
      Nov558.0235.89588.44

Table 14.15. AVERAGE ORDINARY TIME HOURLY AND WEEKLY EARNINGS, FEBRUARY 1993*

 PrivateCentral government tradingCentral government non-tradingLocal government tradingLocal government non-tradingAll sectors

* Quarterly Employment Survey.

   $   
Hourly earnings      
Male15.3817.9619.7416.2716.1516.20
Female12.1614.5115.1112.5314.2913.15
Total14.0916.8516.9415.5415.5214.86
Weekly earnings      
Male587.13701.08756.57637.22611.88619.40
Female436.49527.42565.57454.36511.97478.01
Total524.44642.46640.20599.42576.81555.72

Real wage rates

The quarterly Real Wage Rate Index (RWRI) was first released for the June 1994 quarter, having been calculated back to the December 1992 quarter. It represents the first stage in the development of a replacement for the Real Disposable Income Index (RDI) which was discontinued in the March 1994 quarter. The two series are not comparable.

The RDI was developed in the early 1980s. This period was characterised by high inflation, considerable fiscal drag effects and a high proportion of centrally negotiated wage settlements.

Recent structural changes in the New Zealand economy, notably the deregulation of the labour market with the introduction of the Employment Contracts Act in 1991, have meant that the methodology used to calculate the RDI is less representative of the current economic environment. As a result of these and other inadequacies, the RDI series was discontinued and in the future a more comprehensive disposable income index will be developed.

The RWRI measures the changing after-tax purchasing power of wages and salaries for a fixed number of hours worked. The index shows the effect that changes in negotiated wage rates, taxation, benefits and the prices of goods and services have on the buying power of wages and salaries. From the index we can see if after-tax wage rates are keeping up with or falling behind inflation. The contributing influences of the RWRI are measured separately by the all salary and wage rates component of the Labour Cost Index (SWLCI), the Ratio of Disposable Income to Gross Income (RODGI), the After-tax Wage Rate Index (AWRI) and the Consumers Price Index (CPI).

The RWRI uses the all salary and wage rates component of the Labour Cost Index to measure changes in salary and wage rates. The Labour Cost Index is derived from the Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) and was first calculated for the December 1992 quarter. The SWLCI measures movements for a fixed number of hours, in salary and ordinary time wage rates and overtime wage rates.

The SWLCI is combined with a Ratio of Disposable Income to Gross Income measure (RODGI) to obtain the After-tax Wage Rate Index (AWRI), designed to measure the nominal after-tax purchasing power of wages and salaries. The RODGI shows changes in the proportion of gross income that is received as disposable income, that is, the effect of changes in income tax, tax rebates (such as family support) and social welfare benefits. The effect of some benefits such as the special benefit and the accommodation supplement are not reflected in the RODGI.

The RODGI is calculated using a computerised system developed by Statistics New Zealand to model the incidence of income taxation. This model, known as ASSET, is based on data obtained from the Household Expenditure and Income Survey (HEIS). The RODGI reflects changes in the tax and benefit system and will generally remain stable as long as tax rates, family support and benefit rates do not alter.

The AWRI is then deflated by the all groups CPI to account for the effects of inflation on the after-tax purchasing power of wages and salaries. The CPI is a measure of retail prices paid by New Zealand households for goods and services purchased in New Zealand. Ideally, the RWRI should use a CPI that is specifically calculated to measure inflation as it affects wage and salary earners, but such an index is not available. In practice, a CPI calculated for wage and salary earners is unlikely to differ significantly from the official CPI.

The movements of the AWRI, CPI, and RWRI are summarised in both the graph and . The graph shows a general trend of declining real after-tax wage rates since the December 1992 quarter. This is primarily due to a deterioration in the RWRI over the June 1993 and September 1993 quarters (decline of 0.8 percent), where the CPI rose at a faster rate than the AWRI over the period (1.1 percent versus 0.3 percent respectively). While, from the September 1993 quarter to the June 1994 quarter, real after-tax wage rates stabilised, a 2.4 increase in the CPI from the June 1994 quarter to the December 1994 quarter contributed to a 1.6 percent fall in the RWRI over the period.

Movements of indexes

Table 14.16. REAL WAGE RATE INDEXES

 Labour Cost Index*†After Tax Wage Rate IndexConsumers Price IndexReal Wage Rate Index

* All salary and wage rates combined. Index measures the change in rates paid for actual hours as overtime in the base period (i.e. the December 1992 quarter). Some of these may have fallen to ordinary time levels in subsequent quarters.

Index provides an overall measure of changes in ordinary time and overtime pay rates (i.e. salary and ordinary time wage rates and overtime wage rates).

Quarterly    
1992—Dec1000100010001000
1993—Mar1003100310011002
      Jun100610041007997
      Sep100810061012994
      Dec101010081014994
1994—Mar101310111014997
      Jun101510151018997
      Sep102010201030990
Percentage change from previous quarter    
Quarterly    
1993—Mar0.30.30.10.2
      Jun0.30.10.6-0.5
      Sep0.20.20.5-0.3
      Dec0.20.202-
1994—Mar0.30.3-0.3
      Jun0.20.40.40.0
      Sep0.50.51.2-0.7
Percentage change from same quarter of previous year    
Quarterly    
1993—Dec10.81.4-0.6
1994—Mar10.81.3-0.5
      June0.90.81.1-0.3
      Sep1.21.41.8-0.4

The RWRI decreased by 1.2 percent in the December 1994 quarter when compared to the December quarter of the previous year. This reflects the failure of after-tax wage rates to keep up with inflation over this period, with the 2.8 percent increase in the CPI being only partially offset by a 1.5 percent increase in the AWRI.

Wage indexes

Prevailing Weekly Wage Rates Index (PWWRI).

This index measured changes in ordinary time wage and salary rates being paid to full-time adult employees whose minimum pay rates were contained in awards or agreements registered with the Arbitration Commission in the base period of the index.

The index was calculated using pay rates for a fixed set of job descriptions obtained by a postal survey of a representative sample of employers, for the pay period in which the 15th of the middle month of the quarter falls.

In addition to an index for all sectors, separate indexes were compiled for the private, local authority and central government sectors. Each of these sectors is further divided into specific occupation and industry groups. Industry groupings conform to the production groups of the New Zealand System of National Accounts, and the occupational groups to the New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations.

Members of the armed forces, most managerial and professional employees in the private sector, and the more senior executive and professional staff in the local authority and central government sectors were excluded from the coverage of the index. Remuneration and conditions of employment for most of these groups have generally been established on an individual-employee basis and have not been subject to the provisions of awards or registered agreements.

Table 14.17. PREVAILING WEEKLY WAGE RATES INDEX: BY SECTOR*

QuarterLocal authorityCentral governmentPrivate sectorAll sectors

* Indexes measure changes in the level of prevailing (actual) rates of pay for full-time employees (those aged 20 years and over, working 30 or more hours per week). Base: December 1985 quarter (=1000).

Indexes    
1990—Sep1491144514111427
      Dec1495146114141435
1991—Mar1506147014261446
      Jun1517147514371455
      Sep1520147514391456
      Dec1521147514401457
1992—Mar1521147714451461
      Jun1526147814501464
      Sep1532147914551469
      Dec1537148314581472
1993—Mar1537148614631476
      Jun1540148714701481
Percentage change from same quarter previous year
1990—Sep5.64.64.44.5
      Dec5.44.64.34.4
1991—Mar4.64.43.23.7
      Jun3.13.82.43.0
      Sep1.92.12.02.0
      Dec1.71.01.81.5
1992—Mar1.00.51.31.0
      Jun0.60.20.90.6
      Sep0.80.31.10.9
      Dec1.10.51.21.0
1993—Mar1.10.61.21.0
      Jun0.90.61.41.2

Labour Cost Index (LCI).

The June 1993 quarter was the final quarter for which the Prevailing Weekly Wage Rates Index (PWWRI) was compiled. The index has been superseded by a new measure, the Labour Cost Index, which provides a more comprehensive and relevant measure of movements in pay rates and other employment costs in today's changing labour market.

The Employment Contracts Act came into effect in May 1991, replacing the Labour Relations Act 1987. Under the old legislation, awards and agreements were registered with the Arbitration Commission. Both the award system and the Commission were abolished under the new Act, and this had major implications for the PWWRI.

By the June 1993 quarter, all but a handful of the 571 awards and agreements in the PWWRI sample had expired. Most employees moved to individual or collective contracts negotiated under the Employment Contracts Act. Clearly there was a need to redefine coverage of the index if it was to continue and to remain relevant.

Furthermore, a committee reviewing macroeconomic statistics in 1990 recommended the development of an index which included other costs of employing labour as well as wages and salaries.

In order to implement the committee's recommendation and address the need to redefine coverage of the PWWRI, it was decided to use the PWWRI as a basis for the development of the Labour Cost Index.

Table 14.18. SALARY AND ORDINARY TIME WAGE RATES: BY SECTOR*

 Local government sectorCentral government sectorTotal public sectorPrivate sectorAll sectors combined

* Labour Cost Survey. Base: December 1992 quarter (=1000).

Indexes     
1992—Dec10001000100010001000
1993—Mar10001001100110031003
      Jun10051002100310071006
      Sep10091003100410101009
      Dec10111004100510121010
1994—Mar10121006100610161013
      Jun10151007100810191016
 Percentage change from same quarter previous year
1993—Dec1.10.40.51.21.0
1994—Mar1.20.50.51.31.0
      Jun1.00.50.51.21.0

Determined to find work, Te Aro Park, Wellington.

The new index covers more employees and occupations than the old wage rates index, taking in private sector managers and professionals, part-time employees and those employees under 20 years of age, so results from the PWWRI and the LCI are not strictly comparable. However, as and show, the two surveys produce similar sectoral changes in salary and ordinary time wage rates. Private sector pay rates have increased more than public sector ones in recent times. Although local government wage rate increases have approached those recorded in the private sector in recent quarters, increases in the central government sector have lagged behind.

There has been a wide range of changes in surveyed pay rates between the December 1992 and June 1994 quarters. About half (51 percent) of pay rates increased, while 48 percent remained unchanged and 1 percent decreased. Of the rates that increased, more than half (58 percent) increased by 3 percent or less.

In addition to ordinary time wage and salary rates, the new index includes overtime pay rates and other labour related costs such as Accident Compensation Commission employer premiums and employers’ contributions to superannuation and medical insurance schemes. Wages and salaries accounted for approximately 83 percent of labour costs in the index's base period, with non-wage labour costs accounting for the remaining 17 percent. presents initial results from the LCI. Between the December 1992 and June 1994 quarters, all labour costs increased by a total of 1.7 percent, the result of a 1.5 percent increase in salary and wage rates and a 2.3 percent increase in non-wage labour costs.

Table 14.19. LABOUR COSTS BY TYPE OF COST*

 Salary and ordinary time wage ratesOvertime wage rates†All salary and wage rates‡All non-wage labour costs§All labour costs\\

* Base: December 1992 quarter (= 1000).

Indexes measure changes in rates paid for actual hours worked as overtime in the base period (i.e. the December 1992 quarter). Some of these pay rates have fallen to ordinary time levels in subsequent quarters.

Indexes provide an overall measure of changes in ordinary time and overtime pay rates (i.e. salary and ordinary time wage rates and overtime wage rates).

§ Indexes measure changes in all surveyed non-wage labour costs (i.e. annual leave and statutory holidays, superannuation, ACC employer premiums, medical insurance, motor vehicles available for private use and low interest loans).

\\Indexes measure changes in all surveyed labour costs (i.e. all salary and wage rates and all non-wage labour costs).

Indexes
1992—Dec10001000100010001000
1993—Mar10039991003982999
      Jun100699810069801001
      Sep100999910089831004
      Dec101099810109861006
1994—Mar1013998101310111013
      Jun1016999101510231017
      Sep10201000102010251020
 Percentage change from previous quarter
1993—Mar0.3-0.10.3-1.8-0.1
      Jun0.3-0.10.3-0.20.2
      Sep0.30.10.20.30.3
      Dec0.0-0.10.20.30.2
1994—Mar0.30.00.32.50.7
      Jun0.30.10.21.20.4
      Sep0.40.10.50.20.3
 Percentage change from same quarter of previous year
1993—Dec1.0-0.21.0-1.40.6
1994—Mar1.0-0.11.03.01.4
      Jun1.00.10.94.41.6
      Sep1.10.11.24.31.6

14.5 Labour relations

Under the Employment Contracts Act 1991 the award system that previously existed under the Labour Relations Act 1987 has been replaced by a more flexible system involving the negotiation of employment contracts. Greater choices are available to both employees and employers in terms of who represents them, how the bargaining system is arranged, and the type of contracts available.

Employment Contracts Act 1991.

This Act removes union monopolies over coverage and bargaining and gives employees the right to decide whether or not they wish to belong to an employees organisation, such as a union, and the right to choose who, if anybody, they want to represent them. It aims to encourage bargaining outcomes that are relevant to the workplace and enables employers and employees to negotiate either individual or collective employment contracts directly.

In particular the Act provides for:

Freedom of association and voluntary membership of employees’ organisations

—employees can determine for themselves whether or not they wish to join any form of employees’ organisation, such as a union, and they are protected from undue influence in making that decision. No one, including employers, is able to compel any employee to join a union or to stop those who want to join from doing so.

Bargaining arrangements

—the nature of bargaining arrangements is negotiable between employers or their representative. In particular:

  • Every employer has an employment contract with every employee, either an individual contract or a collective contract.

  • Employees and employers have the right to authorise another person, group or organisation to represent them in negotiations for an employment contract.

  • Representatives must establish their authority to represent their employee or employer client and that authority must be recognised by the other party.

  • Anybody may act as a representative, provided they have not been convicted of an offence punishable by five years or more in prison, within the last 20 years.

  • Employees are required to formulate, together with their bargaining agent, an agreed procedure for the ratification of any settlement of a collective contract negotiated by the representative.

  • Authorised representatives have rights of access to the workplace to assist the process of negotiation at any reasonable time.

  • Authorised representatives may become party to an employment contract when the employer, employees and representative concerned all agree.

The bargaining arrangements give employers and employees the freedom to negotiate about what type of contract they want, and about the content of the contract, which may include any matter they choose. Thus a variety of contractual arrangements is possible, including individual or collective contracts and contracts which cover a single employer or a number of employers. Collective contracts will bind only those who agree to be included. The parties may agree to include a clause in a collective contract that new employees are permitted to join the contract, with the agreement of the new employee at the time the employment commences.

Procedures for dealing with personal grievances

—an employee may claim a personal grievance against an employer for unjustifiable dismissal, other unjustifiable action by the employer, discrimination, sexual harassment, and duress in relation to membership or non-membership of an employees organisation. All employment contracts must contain an effective procedure for the settlement of personal grievances. This can be the standard procedure as set out in the First Schedule to the Act, or another procedure not inconsistent with the standard one. The application of the procedures is not able to be frustrated by the deliberate lack of co-operation on the part of any person. Depending on the circumstances of each case, the remedy in the case of a proven grievance can include reimbursement for lost wages, reinstatement, and compensation for humiliation, loss of dignity and injury to feelings.

Enforceable rights and obligations

—all employment contracts must contain a procedure for the settlement of disputes about their application, interpretation or operation. It is the responsibility of the individuals bound by any employment contract to enforce their rights under the contract, as well as their rights under the Act. The standard disputes procedure provided by the Act will apply unless other effective procedures are agreed. In enforcing their rights under an employment contract or any other relevant Act, employers and employees may choose an authorised representative to act on their behalf. The Act requires employers to keep a wages and time record for each employee and provides for the recovery of unpaid or underpaid wages.

Penalties may be awarded for any breach of any provision of the Act or for breach of any employment contract. Individuals are liable to a penalty up to $2,000, companies and other corporate bodies can be fined up to $5,000. However, the primary remedy for a breach of any employment contract or of any provision of the Act is an order for compliance. This is an order made by, depending on the circumstances, either the Employment Tribunal or the Employment Court to require someone to comply with their legal obligations.

The Act deals with harsh and oppressive contracts. It enables employers and employees to ask the Employment Court for help if they believe their employment contract or any part of it was obtained as a result of harsh or oppressive behaviour, undue influence, or duress, or is itself harsh or oppressive.

Lawful and unlawful strikes and lockouts

—in general terms, strikes relating to the negotiation of single-employer collective contracts are lawful so long as the contract is not in force. Strikes and lockouts that take place during the currency of a contract are therefore unlawful. In addition, strikes and lockouts in support of obtaining multi-employer contracts (where not agreed), or which relate to personal grievances or disputes over the interpretation, application or operation of an employment contract are also unlawful. Strikes and lockouts in essential industries are lawful provided the required notice has been given. Participation in a strike or lockout is not unlawful if there are reasonable grounds for believing that the strike or lockout is justified on the grounds of safety or health.

The legislation contains powers for employers to suspend striking and non-striking employees. The Employment Court has jurisdiction in relation to torts and injunction actions in relation to industrial action.

Specialist labour relations institutions

—there is a lower order Employment Tribunal and a higher order Employment Court, with exclusive jurisdiction over employment matters. The tribunal has two main functions: mediation assistance and adjudication. Its jurisdiction includes:

  • Providing mediation assistance. Here the parties are assisted to resolve their differences for themselves.

  • Adjudicating on personal grievances, disputes, recovery of unpaid or underpaid wages and recovery of penalties for a breach of an employment contract or of certain parts of the Act dealing with bargaining, personal grievances or disputes.

  • Issuing compliance orders on specified matters.

The tribunal places emphasis on mediation as a first step toward resolution of differences.

The jurisdiction of the Employment Court includes:

  • Hearing and determining appeals from adjudications of the tribunal, and questions of law referred to it by the tribunal.

  • Hearing and determining penalties under the parts of the Act dealing with freedom of association and strikes and lockouts.

  • Issuing compliance orders on specified matters.

  • Hearing and determining any action founded on an employment contract.

  • Hearing and determining proceedings founded on economic torts and hearing and determining injunctions in the event of industrial action.

  • Dealing with harsh and oppressive contracts.

Minimum entitlements.

Certain other provisions, known as the Minimum Code of Employment, provide statutory minimum entitlements which apply to all employees. These include:

  • A statutory minimum wage at two levels: an adult minimum wage applying to employees aged 20 and over, and a youth minimum wage applying to people age 16 to 19.

  • Protection from unlawful deductions from wages.

  • Eleven paid public holidays where the holiday would otherwise be a working day.

  • Three weeks paid annual leave after 12 months employment.

  • Five days special leave after six months employment.

  • Parental leave and employment protection.

  • Equal pay for men and women.

  • Access to procedures for resolving personal grievances and disputes.

Minimum wage.

The Minimum Wage Act 1983 authorises the determination of the national minimum wages for adults and young people, establishing floors for each of these groups below which wages cannot generally fall. The Minimum Wage Order 1994 sets the adult minimum wage, for those aged 20 and over, at $6.25 per hour, $50 for an eight hour day, and $250 for a 40 hour week. The youth minimum wage, for young people aged 16 to 19, is set at 60 percent of the adult minimum wage, and amounts to $3.75 per hour, $30 for an eight hour day, or $150 for a 40 hour week. The rate of pay for these groups in any employment contract cannot be less than the respective minimum rates. The new minimum wages rates came into force in late March 1995. The youth minimum wage was introduced on 31 March 1994.

There are several groups who are not entitled to the minimum wage. They are:

  • Those under the age of 16 years.

  • Trainees undergoing training in the nature of apprenticeship.

  • Full-time university students employed during holidays to obtain practical experience related to their studies.

  • Persons undergoing certain training in some professions.

  • Holders of under-rate workers permits (those with recognised disabilities who are incapable of earning the minimum wage). Such permits are issued by the Labour Inspectorate.

Hours of work.

Hours of work are not directly governed by statute, but are negotiated into employment contracts. The Minimum Wage Act 1983 provides that, unless the parties agree otherwise, every employment contract under the Employment Contracts Act shall fix the working week at not more than 40 hours, exclusive of overtime.

Holidays.

The Holidays Act 1981 contains minimum rights and obligations concerning annual leave, public holidays, and special leave for sickness, domestic or bereavement reasons. They apply to employees whether they are full-time, part-time, permanent, casual or temporary. Employers and employees can not agree to contract out of the Holidays Act, but can agree to better terms and conditions.

Public Holidays

—the Holidays Amendment Act 1991 now ensures that all workers receive 11 paid public holidays as of right, if they fall on days which would otherwise be working days for them. The statutory and public holidays are: Christmas Day (25 December); Boxing Day (26 December); New Year's Day (1 January); 2 January (or another day in its place); Waitangi Day (6 February); Anzac Day; Good Friday; Easter Monday; Queen's Birthday; Labour Day; and the anniversary of the province where an employee is employed. Where employees work on a public holiday, and that public holiday falls on a day they would normally work, they are entitled to a paid day in lieu. There are special exceptions for Anzac Day and Waitangi Day where employees who work for greater than ordinary rates on either Anzac or Waitangi days do not have to be granted a day in lieu. In the case of the Christmas/New Year period falling on either a Saturday or Sunday, provision has been made for the transferral of these holidays to a Monday or Tuesday.

MOVABLE PUBLIC HOLIDAYS
 199519961997199819992000

* The Queen's actual birthday is 21 April 1926.

Source: Industrial Relations Service.

Good Friday14 April5 April28 March10 April2 April21 April
Easter Monday17 April8 April31 March13 April5 April24 April
Queen's Birthday*5 June3 June2 June1 June7 June5 June
Labour Day23 October28 October27 October26 October25 October23 October
ANNIVERSARY DAYS
Region19951996

* Varies. Anniversaries are not always observed as provided for in legislation, i.e. Canterbury observes its anniversary day on the Friday of Show Week and Taranaki on the second Monday in March.

Source: Industrial Relations Service.

Wellington23 January22 January
Auckland30 January29 January
Northland30 January29 January
Nelson30 January29 January
Taranaki13 March1 April
Otago20 March25 March
Southland*20 March25 March
Hawke's Bay20 October4 November
Marlborough30 October4 November
Canterbury10 November16 December
Westland*4 December2 December
Chatham Islands27 November2 December
Annual leave

—after one year's continuous service with the same employer, an employee is entitled to three weeks paid annual leave. At least two uninterrupted weeks holiday must be allowed within six months of the holiday entitlement becoming due. Public holidays are additional to annual holidays.

Special leave

—on completion of six months employment with an employer, an employee is entitled to five days special leave on pay during the next 12 months of employment. Special leave that is unused cannot be carried over. Special leave can be taken if: an employee is sick; the employee's spouse is sick; a dependent child, or dependent parent of the employee or the employee's spouse, is sick; or on the death of an employee's spouse, parent, child, brother, sister, grandparent, father-in-law or mother-in-law, or any occasion on which the employer accepts that by reason of the death of any person an employee has suffered a bereavement.

Parental leave.

Under the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987, parental leave is available to employees who are having a child, and to their partners. It is also available to employees, male or female, who are adopting a child under five years old. To apply for parental leave under the Act an employee must have worked at least 10 hours a week for 12 months at the expected date of birth and for the same employer. Applications for parental leave should in most cases be made in writing at least three months in advance. There are some exceptions for medical or work problems during pregnancy, and special provisions for adoption. A medical certificate is required in that case.

All forms of leave under the Act are unpaid. The four types of parental leave available include:

  • Special Parental leave—leave of up to 10 days is available to a women during pregnancy for reasons connected with the pregnancy.

  • 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 about 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.

Job Protection

—where an employee takes parental leave of four weeks or less, their job must be kept open. Where parental leave of more than four weeks is applied for, the employer may decide that the job is a key position and cannot be filled by a temporary replacement. The employee has a right to challenge this decision. If parental leave over four weeks is taken and the employee has accepted that their job cannot be kept open, the employee will be entitled to a preference period of six months after the parental leave finishes where the employer must offer her or him any available job that is substantially similar to the previous one.

Employers may not dismiss an employee for being pregnant or for applying for parental leave. Employees who are dismissed or given notice of dismissal for either of these reasons have a special right to go directly to the Employment Tribunal and can ask for a temporary order to give them their job back, or cancel the notice of dismissal. Any complaints about other parental leave matters should be taken to the employer first and if still unsettled may then be taken to the Employment Tribunal.

The provisions of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act taken together are a minimum standard. Employment contracts may have different provisions. If the employment contract has provisions which are overall less favourable to an employee than the Act then the employee can claim under the Act instead. If the employment contract provisions on parental leave are better overall, the employee can claim them instead.

Equal employment opportunities.

The objective of achieving an equal employment opportunities (EEO) environment that addresses the needs of those who are vulnerable or disadvantaged in the labour market is supported by anti-discrimination legislation. The Equal Pay Act 1972 ensures that employers cannot differentiate in pay rates between employees on the basis of their sex. Under the Human Rights Act 1993, which replaced the Human Rights Commission Act 1977 and the Race Relations Act 1971, an employer cannot discriminate in hiring or firing, training or promotion because of their employees’ sex, marital status, religious or ethical belief, colour, race, ethnic or national origins, disability, age, political opinion, employment status, family status, or sexual orientation. Discrimination in terms and conditions of employment, training, promotion and dismissal because of the employees’ colour, race, ethnic or national origins, sex, marital status, or religious or ethical belief, and sexual harassment are also grounds for taking a personal grievance under the Employment Contracts Act 1991. Employees may make a complaint under the Human Rights Act or may use the personal grievance procedures under the Employment Contracts Act to enforce their rights in cases of discrimination or sexual harassment. Where both procedures are available, the employee must choose one or other procedure.

In addition to the anti-discrimination legislation, the Government considers that EEO will be most effectively achieved by voluntary promotion of progressive EEO management practices. To facilitate this a two pronged approach has been adopted.

Firstly, a joint private/public sector funded Equal Employment Opportunities Trust was established in 1991 for the development, promotion and research into EEO policies and practices in the private sector. The main aim of the trust is to promote EEO as good management practice. Secondly, the Government has established an Equal Employment Opportunities Fund for the promotion of EEO programmes and practices in private sector workplaces. Projects funded by the EEO Fund which develop EEO resources will be available for wider distribution to employers and interest groups via the EEO Trust.

Employment Related Education Fund.

The Employment Related Education Fund fosters training and education to improve workplace relationships between employees and employers. Under the Employment Contracts Act, direct involvement in the negotiation of terms and conditions of employment, is available to all employees and employers. The Employment Related Education Fund is available to help develop negotiation and other skills of those directly involved in the workplace.

The fund is contestable with applicants bidding for the amount they need once a year for a project which meets the aims of the fund. The intention is not only to assist employment related education in a successful applicant's own area, but also to allow sponsored projects to act as a positive model for other groups.

Work stoppages

The Employment Contracts Act 1991 places restrictions on the ability of employers to lock out and on the ability of employees to strike at will by making strikes and lockouts lawful only in certain circumstances. The right to strike and lock out is recognised but the legislation attempts to minimise the extent and wider economic impact of industrial action.

Participation in industrial action is unlawful in cases where the legislation provides a resolution procedure; that is, where the dispute may concern:

  • A dispute over the operation, application or interpretation of an employment contract.

  • A personal grievance.

  • Issues relating to membership of an employees’ organisation.

Participation in industrial action is also unlawful if it:

  • Occurs while a collective employment contract relating to the employees involved is still in force.

  • Is concerned with the issue of whether an employment contract will bind more than one employer.

  • Occurs in an essential industry (as defined in the schedules to the Act) and the statutory notice requirements have not been complied with.

Participation in industrial action is lawful only if it relates to the negotiation of a collective employment contract for the employees concerned and if it does not fall into any of the above categories of industrial action. Statutory penalties are not imposed in the event of unlawful industrial action. The primary remedy is through a civil action in the Employment Court for an injunction, damages or both.

Work stoppage statistics are compiled by Statistics New Zealand from the ‘Record of Work Stoppage Forms’ submitted by the Department of Labour. Stoppages are identified by scanning newspapers and by regular contact with employee and employer organisations. Labour inspectors in Auckland and Christchurch also pass on any information that comes to hand. Once a dispute is identified in one of these ways, a form is sent to the employer for completion.

For statistical purposes, work stoppages are defined not only as those disputes which result in a complete withdrawal of labour or lockout but also disputes in which an organised ‘go slow’, refusal to work overtime or other methods of passive resistance are clearly manifested. This includes unauthorised stopwork meetings as well as unauthorised delays in resuming work after stopwork meetings. These cases are referred to as ‘partial’ strikes or lockouts.

WORK STOPPAGES: 1921–93
YearTotal stoppagesWorkers involvedWorking days lostAverage days lost per worker involvedEstimated loss of wages
     $(000)
19217710,433119,20811.43180
1926596,26447,8117.6365
1931246,35648,4867.6389
1936437,35416,9802.3126
19418915,26126,2371.7269
19469615,69630,3931.9480
195110936,8781,157,39031.386,223
19565013,57923,8701.76168
19617116,62638,1852.30299
196614533,13299,0952.99878
197131386,009162,5631.892,109
1976487201,085488,4412.4310,840
1981291135,006388,0862.8720,411
1986215100,6331,329,05413.21119,496
19917151,96299,0321.9111,577
19925426,803113,7424.2419,372
19935821,30323,7701.122,863

TOTAL WORKDAYS LOST

Published statistics relate to complete strikes and complete lockouts which involve the equivalent of 10 or more working days lost, and to all partial strikes and lockouts which have been identified. It should be noted that the statistics regarding number of workers involved in work stoppages includes workers who while not participating in a stoppage directly are suspended because of the unavailability of normal work.

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 and salaries(also measuring economic impact). Instances where several stoppages occur over the same issue are treated as one stoppage. From January 1988 coverage of the stoppage statistics has been extended to the public sector as well as the private sector.

Table 14.21 shows that the number of work stoppages has stabilised after falling markedly in recent years. During the 1993 calendar year there were 58 stoppages recorded, four more than in 1992 but less than half the number recorded in 1990. The number of employees involved in industrial action has fallen to the lowest level since 1965. The number of working days lost, the average days lost per employee, and losses in wages and salaries were all well down on levels recorded in 1991 and 1992.

Table 14.2. INDUSTRIAL DISTRIBUTION OF WORK STOPPAGES, DECEMBER YEARS

Industry groupTotal number of stoppagesNumber of employees involvedWorking days lost†Average days lost per employee involvedEstimated loss in wages and salaries‡

* Stoppages which affect more than one industry have been recorded in each of the industries concerned. For this reason the total figures may not be the sum of the industry figures.

Rounded to the nearest whole day.

Rounded to the nearest $1,000.

§ This is a combination of industries. It is necessary to group these industries together to preserve the confidentiality of the statistics.

|| There was only one stoppage in these industries in 1992. Figures are included in the all industries total.

ķ There were two stoppages in these industries in 1993. Figures are included in the all industries total.

* * In addition to the reason given in *, total figures for the number of working days lost and the estimated losses in wages and salaries may not equal the sum of their respective columns due to rounding.

     $ (000)
 Agriculture, mining, electricity and related industries§
199132807840281,250
1992||     
1993ķ     
Manufacturing     
199137189823295223,671
1992275253922961816,821
199319176530142368
 Transport, storage, communications and construction§
199123428788542831
19925364110016
19936478646163
 Finance, insurance, real estate, retail, wholesale, restaurants and hotels§
199110584751165
1992||     
1993542111723135
 Community, social and personal services
199121278294863625,761
199220211062125512,528
199326185331814502,188
Total all stoppages* *     
1991715196299032211,577
19925426803113742419,372
199358213032377112,863

The number of work stoppages decreased steadily during the 1980s. The high point of industrial activity occurred in 1977, when 562 work stoppages were recorded. Apart from a brief increase during the mid-1980s, the number of reported stoppages has fallen each year since. Since 1976 the trend in the number of working days lost has generally been downward, with large increases recorded between 1983 and 1986, and in 1990.

Contributors

14.1Statistics New Zealand; Department of Labour.
14.2Statistics New Zealand.
14.3Ministry of Education; Department of Labour; Education and Training Support Agency; Department of Internal Affairs; Ministry of Commerce.
14.4Statistics New Zealand
14.5Department of Labour; Statistics New Zealand.

Special articles

Statistics New Zealand; NACEW; Industrial Relations Service.

NUMBER OF STOPPAGES

Further information

Employment and Incomes

  • Census of Population and Dwellings 1991; Report CO5: New Zealanders at Work, Statistics New Zealand

  • Household Labour Force Survey: Statistics New Zealand

  • Labour Market Statistics 1993: Statistics New Zealand

  • New Zealand Social Trends: Work; Statistics New Zealand

  • Quarterly Employment Survey; Statistics New Zealand

  • Report of The Career Service Rapuara (Parl paper E 27).

    Work Stoppages Survey; Statistics New Zealand and Department of Labour

Labour Relations

  • A Guide to the Employment Contracts Act 1991, Department of Labour, 1991.

  • The Employment Contracts Act—A Brief Guide, Department of Labour, 1991.

  • Contract—The Report on Current Industrial Relations In New Zealand, Department of Labour, 1992.

The Department of Labour produces a series of pamphlets regarding rights and obligations covering employment contracts.

Chapter 15. Science and technology

15.1 Organisation of science

The new approach to the funding and delivery of state sector research, science and technology has three principal objectives: accountability, enhanced economic growth, and improved decision-making.

A key element of the science reforms has been the organisational separation of government's involvement in science and technology policy, science funding and the carrying out of research and development. This separation has enabled much clearer objectives to be established at all levels in the science system with corresponding gains in the ability of organisations to focus their activities.

The separation of operational activities, such as research, from policy has enabled those operational activities to be given a clearer science focus. The New Zealand science system used to be dominated by a small number of large government departments with mixed roles and direct funding. The new system is characterised by a larger number of more highly focussed operating agencies faced with much stronger and more transparent disciplines for excellent science performance.

Science and technology policy including science priorities and overall funding levels is decided by Cabinet based on the recommendations of a Cabinet Committee. The name and membership of the Cabinet Committee with responsibility for science can change from time to time.

There are presently two ministerial portfolios in the Government with specific responsibilities for science and technology. These portfolios are Research Science and Technology (RS&T) and Crown research institutes (CRIs). The RS&T portfolio includes the Government's interest in both policy and funding (or the purchase of science). The CRI portfolio covers the government's ownership interest in Crown research institutes.

Structures

Ministry of Research, Science and Technology.

The ministry's main purpose is to provide advice to government on science and technology policy, including advice on science priorities and funding. The Office of the Chief Scientist is also based in the ministry and plays an important role in ensuring the provision of technical input into government policy development in general and in maintaining good liaison with the science community.

The ministry is also responsible for gathering and disseminating statistics and descriptive information on research, science and technology activities and for administering government-to-government science relations.

It also acts as the agent of the Minister of Research, Science and Technology in the overall administration and monitoring of science funding.

Foundation for Research, Science and Technology.

The foundation is a statutory authority with an independent board, reporting to the Minister of Research, Science and Technology. It is responsible for almost 50 percent of the gross expenditure on research and development in New Zealand, investing approximately $300 million annually in line with broad priorities set by the Government and more detailed sectoral research strategies. The foundation's roles are to:

  • Invest public funds in research and development and human resources.

  • Provide independent advice to the Government on science and technology.

  • Encourage technological innovation in industry.

The foundation administers the Public Good Science Fund (PGSF) which is a contestable pool of funds for research in science and technology. The PGSF provides about $285 million for research. Public good science is defined under the Foundation Act as that which:

  • Increases knowledge and understanding of physical, biological or social environments.

  • Develops skill bases and expertise important to New Zealand.

  • Generates outputs of future benefit to New Zealand.

  • Is unlikely to be funded adequately from other sources.

The foundation receives bids from Crown research institutes, research associations, government departments, incorporated societies, non-profit private trusts, private individuals, state-owned enterprises and universities, which compete to win contracts to undertake agreed research programmes that reflect national science priorities.

In October 1992 the Government released a Statement of Science Priorities that stated strategic directions and funding pathways in 24 socio-economically defined science areas, and directed the foundation to guide allocation of the Public Good Science Fund in each area through to 1997/98. The 24 Research Strategies or a list of them are available from the foundation. The science priorities and ‘national science strategies’ (for the control of possums and the threat of bovine TB, and for atmosphere and climate research) were selected in consultation with all key stakeholders in science. Funding decisions depend largely on whether research proposals (provided they are excellent science) fit the relevant strategy and meet other criteria, including linkage with science users.

The Technology for Business Growth (TBG) scheme aims to increase the commitment to research and technological development by New Zealand firms by contributing funding to projects with commercial outcomes. The total funds available to all TBG programmes is $10.7 million per annum.

The foundation administers and funds four types of fellowships. The Post-Doctoral and the Graduates in Industry fellowships aim to encourage outstanding researchers and students to further their work either in a research institution or industry. The New Zealand Science and Technology Teacher Fellowship Scheme was established primarily to provide teachers with an opportunity to further their understanding of the role of science and technology in New Zealand's economy and society. The Hodge Fellowship promotes scholarly excellence among social scientists in New Zealand.

Ministerial Advisory Group.

Established in 1992, the MAG provides a consultative forum on issues and policy proposals in research, science and technology. Its members are appointed by the Minister of Research, Science and Technology so as to provide perspectives from major science and technology organisations and interest groups in New Zealand. The group includes representatives from government science organisations, research organisations, universities, the private sector and Maori who engage in significant scientific activity.

Crown Company Monitoring and Advisory Unit.

The unit (CCMAU) was established in 1993 to advise the shareholding ministers and to review the performance of the boards of Crown companies including the Crown Research Institutes (CRIs). The shareholding ministers for CRIs are the Minister for CRIs and the Minister of Finance.

The unit also provides administrative and analytical support for the External Advisory Group for CRIs. This group comprises people with a proven commercial and/or scientific and technical experience. The members are appointed by the Minister of CRIs to provide independent advice on the performance of the CRIs.

At work in an industrial workshop.

Government science agencies

On 1 July 1992 the final organisational changes of government funded science were put in place with the formation of 10 Crown-owned research institutes. These institutes replace the former departmental or ministry science agencies (DSIR, MAFTech, NZ Meteorological Service, Forest Research Institute and Communicable Diseases Centre of the Department of Health).

The organisation of government science in New Zealand comprises a Ministry of Research, Science and Technology which provides policy advice to government in such areas as the priorities for science, and the level of science activity required by New Zealand; and also provide an audit on the quality of science emanating from government research laboratories. The Foundation of Research Science and Technology's main role is to invest public funds in research, development and training. The foundation also has an important role in providing independent policy advice to government and in encouraging technology transfer and technological innovation through the operation of the Technology for Business Growth programme. In the 1994/95 financial year the foundation allocated approximately $239,789,800 from the Public Good Science Fund (PGSF). The universities received $10,668 million from their ‘ring-fenced’ pool of funding (derived from their ‘entry fee’ to bid from the PGSF). Universities will gain full access to the PGSF by 1996/97.

Crown research institutes.

Government-owned science is now structured as 10 autonomous research institutes registered as companies in New Zealand law. Each institute has its own Board of Directors, appointed by the government, and manages its own assets. Ownership of the Institutes remains with the government represented by two shareholding ministers, the Minister for Crown Research Institutes and the Minister of Finance.

The Crown institutes are as follows:

AgResearch (New Zealand Pastoral Agriculture Research Institute Limited)

—AgResearch is an internationally pre-eminent provider of innovative solutions and opportunities to the food, fibre and biotechnology-related industries based on pastoral agriculture. Established in 1992 as a Government-owned company, it has inherited the research capability that has contributed to New Zealand's reputation as an efficient, low cost producer of pastoral agricultural products.

The institute aims to develop, acquire and manage intellectual property to enhance New Zealand's international competitiveness. It has research capabilities of international standing in physiology, genetics, biotechnology and environmental impacts on agriculture. Its research has led to the development of new and novel products including food ingredients, health foods and speciality proteins, and pharmaceutical and industry inputs.

The institute has over 1,000 staff distributed between five research divisions: dairy and beef (Ruakura); sheep, deer and equine (Invermay); forage plant improvement (Grasslands); sustainable production (Lincoln); and animal health (Wallaceville).

Measuring the ph of homogenised meat.

Institute of Environmental Health and Forensic Sciences Limited

—the institute provides research, analytical and consulting services in environmental health and forensic sciences to public health, law enforcement, regulatory, commercial and research organisations.

The institute has a staff of 300 scientists and support staff. The main areas of research are in food and drugs, pharmacology, communicable diseases and environmental health.

Landcare Research New Zealand Limited (Manaaki Whenua)

—Landcare Research is New Zealand's first multi-disciplinary organisation providing a scientific basis for the sustainable management of land resources. It aims to be a world leader in natural resource research and consultancy, covering both production and conservation. Landcare serves national, regional and local government, industry, all land users, and overseas clients through research, consultancy, technical services and technology development.

Landcare Research has a staff of 350, at 20 locations around the country. There are four major science research groups comprising: native plants and animals; weeds and pests; soil and plant processes; and land management.

NZ Institute of Crop and Food Research Limited (Mana Kai Rangahau)

—the focus of the institute is in research for the production and processing of arable crops, vegetables, seed crops, flowers, ornamentals, essential oils, medicinal crops and seafood. The research is strongly market-oriented in its approach. Many of the 331 staff work alongside local and overseas processing and manufacturing companies in joint venture partnerships. Farmer and grower groups are also important clients of the institute, as are other research organisations.

The institute encourages a multi-disciplinary approach to research activities, with staff skills as diverse as plant breeding and soil science, aquaculture and post-harvest physiology, molecular biology, agronomy, entomology and fishing methods.

One of the many dead brier bushes that are being killed off by a mysterious agent in the Wanaka area.

New Zealand Forest Research Institute Limited

—the New Zealand Forest Research Institute carries out research and development so as to enhance New Zealand's advantage in plantation forestry and assist the profitable production of high quality, high value wood products while protecting environmental values. NZFRI has a clear focus on forest and wood products research, and the institute is recognised internationally as a centre of excellence.

The institute has a staff of about 400, with the main laboratories and the headquarters based at Rotorua, and a South Island operation based at Rangiora.

Areas of science activity are: forest technology, biotechnology, wood processing, wood products, pulp and paper research organisation (PAPRO), and logging industry research organisation (LIRO). These divisions align closely with identifiable sectors of the industry through links provided by the Forest Products Research Organisation which seeks to promote forest research through a co-operative relationship between researchers and industry. Each division will capitalise on critical areas of growth—tree quality and breeding, harvesting, wood processing and utilisation and the development of new products.

Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Limited

—the institute undertakes public good research and provides a number of services on a commercial basis. Current activities include resource evaluation within the hydrocarbon industry, geophysical surveys, regional mapping, scientific drilling, engineering geology, natural hazard assessment and mitigation, geothermal processes, groundwater and environmental chemistry, the application of the nuclear sciences to industrial and environmental studies, and resource management.

The institute has inherited over 120 years of scientific research experience. Its research is focused on the earth sciences and the application of nuclear science to scientific, environmental, industrial and health issues. The institute has established five science groups, or Centres of Excellence in Regional Geology, Hydrocarbon Resources, Earthquake and Hazards, Volcanology and Geothermal Resources, and Nuclear Sciences.

The institute has 270 staff and its library collections are of national importance.

Horticulture and Food Research Institute of New Zealand Limited

—HortResearch is New Zealand's nationally focussed horticultural research organisation. The institute is very much a ‘one stop shop’ for the industry. Its research spans molecular biology, plant breeding and crop production, through to food processing transport and the evaluation of consumer preferences.

The institute has over 500 science and support staff, located at 18 regional research centres and orchards throughout New Zealand. It aims to bring the horticulture industry superior plants and novel crops, improved management methods, better plant health without today's dependence on chemicals, and higher quality fresh and processed export produce. The work covers a large range of horticultural crops of economic importance to New Zealand including fresh fruit, flowers, trees, ornamentals and processed foods.

Stump-Cam: a camera probe is inserted down a tube dug in near the trees, enabling the soil and roots to be studied during growth.

Industrial Research Limited

—Industrial Research has a mission to conduct viable world class research that leads to internationally competitive added-value opportunities.

The institute is 400 strong, with a focus on the manufacturing and processing sectors of industry.

The activities of the institute are focused into six broad science areas of: production, automation and control; packaging, storage and transport; measurement, applied mathematics and analysis; communication electronics, sensing and information technology; natural products processing; materials science and performance.

NIWA Taihoro Nukurangi (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Limited)

—has been formed to conduct research and provide related services required to understand natural processes and human influences in the atmospheric, marine and freshwater systems, in order to provide a scientific basis for effective environmental and resource management. Their principal focus is on New Zealand and its territorial waters. However, NIWA has a growing interest in international projects. Environmental consultancy work is carried out in Asia and the Pacific while involvement in the atmosphere and ocean is on a global scale.

NIWA has a staff of 400 with a wide discipline base covering atmospheric physics and chemistry, river hydrology, hydraulic engineering, oceanography, marine and freshwater biology and sedimentology. Staff are committed to cross-disciplinary work for many research and applied science consultancy projects. Servicing and supply of instruments is carried out by NIWA Instrument Systems.

New Zealand Institute for Social Research and Development Limited (Te Kura Kōkiri, Rangahau-ā-Iwi o Aotearoa)

—The Institute for Social Research and Development (SR&D) is a centre for research to monitor, analyse and assess changes and their policy implications in New Zealand society and economy. SR&D is multi-disciplinary and draws on specialists from many fields of social sciences in undertaking social research in the public good, or on a contract and consultancy basis from government, private sector, community organisations and international agencies.

Currently SR&D is the smallest of the Crown Research Institutes.

SR&D’s core research priorities are employment and working life; societal change; and resource use and management. Work includes: policy analysis; social assessment; social surveys; design of research methodology; data analysis and interpretation; action and participatory research; rapid rural appraisal; project management; case studies; and social monitoring.

The government made a decision that the institute would no longer be maintained as a stand-alone entity in the CRI structure. It was subsequently wound down and closed at the end of 1994.

The Royal Society of New Zealand.

The drafting of a Bill reconstituting the Royal Society was finalised during the year and the legislation is likely to be enacted during the 1995 parliamentary session. Over the past year, the society has been functioning in accord with the relevant provisions of the proposed new Act. The governance of the organisation has been vested in an interim board which will ultimately become the council of the new entity, the Royal New Zealand Society for Science and Technology. The interests of the fellowship are represented through a council of fellows and this anticipates the establishment of an academy of science and technology, within the reconstituted society, in terms of the new legislation. Other significant developments have been:

  • The establishment of a democratic electoral process, using representative electoral colleges, to constitute the governing council.

  • The admission of the social sciences and mathematics and information sciences into the membership.

  • Provision was made for the enrolment of individual members of the society.

  • The progressive appointment of standing committees representative of discrete areas of science and technology. At year's end, there were committees covering primary production, geosciences, astronomical sciences, Antarctic science, the science of the environment, marine sciences, social sciences, mathematical and information sciences, education, promotion of science, geosphere-biosphere, climate, energy and biodiversity.

    Science fair entry examining wasps and their nests, MOTAT, Auckland.

  • The development of a draft code of ethical practice for acceptance by scientists and technologists.

  • The extension of activity into the science and technology education and public awareness fields. The society now provides full secretarial services to the New Zealand Association of Science Educators (previously the Science Teachers’ Association), the Association of Science and Technology Centres of New Zealand and it houses the headquarters of the Telecom Technology-Science Roadshow.

  • A comprehensive review of the ECNZ New Zealand Science Fairs was undertaken.

  • The International Centre for Antarctic Information and Research (ICAIR), the Australian and New Zealand Council for the Care of Animals in Research and Teaching (ANZCCART) and the Government's National Science Strategy Committee for Climate Change, operate under the auspices of the society.

  • The society participated in the New Zealand Government's Science and Technology Mission to Japan, South Korea and China, led by Hon Simon Upton.

  • The selection of science and technology post-doctoral and teaching fellows was administered under contract to the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology.

Other organisations contributing to research

There are five main areas in which social science 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, eg 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.

New Zealand Institute of Economic Research.

The institute 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 and is funded from membership subscriptions, contracts and consultancy.

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.

Cawthron Institute.

The only major endowed research institute in New Zealand, the Cawthron Institute was established under the Thomas Cawthron Trust Act 1924. Operations are based in Nelson, with an aquaculture facility near the city. Staff numbers total 74.

Cawthron has successfully combined basic research with commercial activities. The latter range from routine laboratory testing to professional marine and environmental consulting services. Income is derived from three separate sources: Public Good Science Fund, commercial activities and endowment income from investments.

A close relationship exists with Shizuoka University in Japan, in natural products and pharmacology. Cawthron scientists work closely with this group, and researchers at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan, on microalgal toxins.

Cawthron undertakes research into marine and freshwater microbiology and ecology, provides commercial services to the seafood industry; environmental consultancy services to resource managers and users; and analytical and microbiological testing services for monitoring and quality control to a wide range of client groups. Research relating to toxic algae blooms continues to be a major focus for Cawthron scientists.

Lincoln Ventures Limited.

Lincoln Ventures Limited is a company owned by Lincoln University; it has offices located at Lincoln and Hamilton. It provides research, consultancy and product development services to industry, commerce and local and regional government.

These are provided by its own large in-house staff resource with the support of academic and research staff on the university campus and international partners. Lincoln Ventures delivers its services through four divisions: Lincoln Technology, Lincoln Environmental, Lincoln Software and AEI Software. Each has its own market focus.

Carter Observatory.

The Carter Observatory was established by Act of Parliament in 1938 and is named after Charles R Carter, a prominent pioneer in Wellington and the Wairarapa. The Act was amended in 1977 to recognise the Carter Observatory as the National Astronomical Observatory of New Zealand.

The observatory has two main functions: astronomical research and astronomical education. The former is financed mainly from the Public Good Science Fund and the latter by local government, the Ministry of Education and charges for public presentations. In recent years research programmes have been concerned mainly with the study of the structure and evolution of stars.

The education programmes cover all ages and abilities from primary school children to post graduate and mature students. The observatory is well equipped for teaching with an excellent library, a planetarium, computers, two telescopes, a lecture room and a video room.

Other government departments.

A number of government departments carry out research and development to support their own activities. This includes research which supports the development and effective implementation of policy and research that contributes to the performance of a regulatory function. This research is funded through direct allocations of funding to the department concerned. Departments with substantial research capabilities include the New Zealand Defence Force, the Department of Conservation and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

Universities and polytechnics.

New Zealand's seven universities all offer a wide range of tertiary education studies, which includes science in all cases and aspects of technology in most. As well as the education function, staff carry out basic research and make substantial contributions in their applied fields. Areas of speciality in science at the various universities include agriculture and horticulture, biological and physical sciences, earth and environmental sciences, forestry, engineering, medicine and pharmacy. Some of the polytechnics carry out research but only to a minor degree compared with the universities.

Research associations.

Research associations are non-governmental industry linked institutions. They provide capabilities in research and technology transfer which individual companies in the sector may not be able to justify. A key goal of those research associations involved with the primary export industries is to improve the marketability and added value of products from New Zealand's farms and forests.

The 10 research associations are:

  • Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand.

  • Coal Research Association of New Zealand.

  • Building Research Association of New Zealand.

  • Cement and Concrete Association of New Zealand.

  • New Zealand Dairy Research Institute.

  • Heavy Engineering Research Association.

  • New Zealand Leather and Shoe Research Association.

  • New Zealand Logging Industry Research Association.

  • Meat Industry Research Institute of New Zealand.

  • Research Institute of Textile Services.

15.2 Technology services

Patents, trade marks and designs

The Patents Act 1953, the Trade Marks Act 1953, and the Designs Act 1953 are administered by the New Zealand Patent Office, a division of the Ministry of Commerce. 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 20 years, provided that the appropriate renewal fees are paid. 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 which 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.

Following the conclusion of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations the Patents and Trade Marks Acts were amended to implement the Uruguay Round Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, including Trade in Counterfeit Goods (the TRIPS Agreement). The patent term was increased from 16 to 20 years and the rights of a patentee to apply for an extension of term on the ground of inadequate remuneration and war loss were abolished. A new definition of a trade mark was enacted and the right of a registered proprietor to sue for infringement was broadened.

The Patent Office library contains a comprehensive collection of patent specifications from a number of countries. A detailed list is available on request, and the office maintains a mail order service for patents, trade marks and designs.

Table 15.1. APPLICATIONS FOR PATENTS, TRADE MARKS AND DESIGNS

Year ended MarchPatentsTrade marksDesigns

* Year ended June.

Source: Ministry of Commerce.

19894,45512,562630
19904,5828,327656
19914,4888,168637
19924,5348,178606
1993*3,6438,720690
1994*3,19710,258652

Demonstrating how an argon laser machine operates; it is used in the treatment of diabetic eye disease.

The 3,197 applications originated in the following countries: New Zealand 1,278; United States of America 849; Australia 196; Germany 141; United Kingdom 131; Switzerland 127; France 98; Japan 76; Sweden 57; Netherlands 38; Canada 26; Italy 26; Denmark 23; Israel 20; Taiwan 19; Spain 16; South Africa 15; Belgium 9; Austria 8; Norway 7; and the balance of 37 from 16 other countries.

The technical content fell into the following categories: chemistry 1,144; mechanical engineering 956; electrical engineering 344; home science and miscellaneous 390; primary industries 169; and building technology 194.

The range of subjects for which patent applications were filed is similar to last year. Applications relating to genetic engineering, vaccines, the techniques for producing them, enzymes and for human and veterinary antiviral medicines have been maintained. There has been increasing interest in applications relating to edible packaging material. An increasing number of applications have been received for moisture-management absorbent pads, particularly for use with baby linen. Interest in syringes, needles, and catheters has been maintained. There has been an increase in applications relating to prostheses implantable into the human body. Applications relating to fencing, to devices for erecting or removing fences, and to gates and mechanisms for opening and closing them has been maintained. Increasing interest has been shown in modular building elements and modular components for office furniture. Interest in optical signal processing inventions has continued. Applications for computer-related inventions, and for digital, mobile telecommunication systems have been maintained. Other applications include window stays, horticultural methods and devices, milking machine cleaning methods, and various recreational devices.

During the year 3,415 applications proceeded to acceptance after search and examination, and Letters Patent were sealed on 2,550 applications.

Patent Co-operation Treaty.

In December 1992 New Zealand became a party to the Patent Co-operation Treaty. This allows one ‘international application’ to be filed in a member country, which then results in applications in any one or more countries designated from the 55 member states. Although membership has caused the number of New Zealand patent applications to decline in the past two years, it is expected that applications filed by the Treaty route will increase New Zealand applications to above 1991–92 levels in the 1994–95 year.

Trade marks.

The applications for registration originated in the following countries in 1994: New Zealand 4,247; United States 2,323; Australia 1,150; United Kingdom 487; Germany 319; France 231; Japan 256; others 1,236. The number of applications from New Zealand has increased approximately 12 percent and they now represent 41 percent of the total filed.

During the year, 9,713 applications were examined (up 7 percent), 4,850 applications were accepted, 4,510 went to registration.

Designs.

Applications for design registration numbered 710 in 1994, a 3 percent increase on the previous year. There are no examination arrears in this area.

Telarc

Telarc is a user-funded statutory body responsible for ensuring technical standards are met in New Zealand's industrial, technical, commercial, regulatory, health care and administrative sectors.

Amendments to the Testing Laboratory Registration Act 1972 in 1983 and 1988 gave Telarc the functions of the National Quality Management System Certification Authority and the New Zealand Industrial Design Council. These amendments give Telarc the responsibility to assess and certify organisations’ quality management systems and added the New Zealand Designmark programme to its list of accreditations.

Telarc works through training, advisory, accreditation and certification services in product design and development, quality management and the testing of products and materials with the major accrediting agencies of the United Kingdom, Australia, United States, Western Europe and the Far East. Telarc's educational arm is the New Zealand Quality College.

Telarc carries six ‘marks of excellence’ which laboratories, companies and products certified or accredited by Telarc are authorised to use. These are listed below:

Registered Supplier.

This mark indicates that the companies to which it is awarded have implemented quality management systems complying with national and international standards, and this has been confirmed through assessment by Telarc.

Q-Base.

This programme is similar to the registered supplier programme, but it is aimed at small businesses.

Registered Laboratory.

This is intended to provide laboratory users with an assurance of accurate, reliable testing. It indicates that the laboratory has achieved international standards of laboratory practice.

Quality Mark.

This is a mark of excellence awarded to products or services from Telarc registered suppliers. The supplier must have an accredited quality system and the product or service meet quality standards.

Designmark.

This is a symbol of excellence in industrial design. It is awarded on the basis of assessment by industrial design specialists, on the basis of a product's aesthetic, functional and engineering design. Both Designmark and Quality Mark symbols are shown on products, packaging, advertising and point of sale material.

Environmental Choice NZ.

Authorised by the Minister of Commerce in 1990, this label is awarded to products that take account of environmental factors.

Standards New Zealand

Standards New Zealand operates under a charter from the Standards Council, the body responsible for the administration of the national standards system. The aim of Standards New Zealand is to develop partnerships with the business community and government, to advance national prosperity by harnessing quality and and technology through the development of efficient and effective standards and certification services.

Standards New Zealand's objectives include maintaining its position as the pre-eminent developer of standards and provider of standards-related services in New Zealand by:

  • Establishing partnerships with all sectors of the community that can contribute to development of national, regional and international standards.

  • Continuously identifying its markets and customers and precisely determining their needs for information and certification services.

  • Promoting the use of standards in the interests of the economy and elimination of barriers to trade.

  • Facilitating improved public health and safety, and care for the environment through the application of standards.

  • Prompting the use of product service and quality certification systems as assurance of compliance with standards.

The principal services of Standards New Zealand are: standards development and design; ISO 9000 series certification services; ‘S’ mark product certification; New Zealand representative on the international standards bodies ISO and IEC; GATT enquiry point; and supplying specialist advice concerning overseas standards, regulations, codes of practice, and testing and approval procedures in foreign markets.

Contributors

15.1Royal Society of New Zealand; Ministry of Research, Science and Technology; Federation of Scientific and Technological Societies; Foundation for Research Science and Technology; Crown Research Institutes; New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, Cawthron Institute; Lincoln Ventures Limited; Carter Observatory.
15.2Ministry of Commerce; Telarc New Zealand; Standards New Zealand.

Special articles

The Royal Society of New Zealand; IPENZ; Industrial Research Limited; Standards New Zealand.

Further information

  • Patent Office Journal. New Zealand Patent Office (monthly).

  • Standards. Standards New Zealand (monthly).

  • Report of the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology (Parl paper G50).

  • Report of the Foundation of Research, Science and Technology. (Parl paper G53).

The Foundation of Research, Science and Technology publish a number of discussion, occasional and position papers.

Chapter 16. Land and environment

Endangered shorebirds’ nesting grounds.

16.1 Land resources and ownership

Surveying, mapping and land information

The Department of Survey and Land Information is the principal government (civil and military) survey and mapping and land information agency. The major functions of the department include the maintenance and extension of the survey control system; examination of all land title surveys; development of the digital cadastral database; co-ordination of government aerial photography requirements; the publication of topographical, cadastral and special maps; the production of cadastral data in digital and paper formats; investigations into the status of Crown land and Maori land; maintenance of records related to the unregistered lands of the Crown; and promotion of land-related data integrated through the national Land Information System (LIS).

Surveying.

New Zealand's land survey system provides the basis for security of land ownership and enables the integration of the various land information records and data sets. The positional, or spatial, foundation is the national survey control network of trigonometrical stations (trigs) and other geographically located points. All survey and mapping activities which use the survey control network and then capable of forming part of an integrated geographical information system. Typically, the control network provide the positional base for property boundary definition, land development, resource management, marine licences, engineering and construction projects, communications, map production, scientific studies, the located of marine and air navigation aids, and the determination of New Zealand's national and economic zone boundaries. The department provides the infrastructure for the cadastral survey system which includes, in addition to the survey control network, custody of and access to survey records, a computerised spatial database which displays the current subdivisional pattern (DCDB) and a survey examination and approval system which validates all property surveys. Through its spatial records the department is able to provide support for the electoral system and the production of electoral maps.

Aerial photography.

Extensive use is made of aerial photography in support of New Zealand's national mapping programme. This programme consists of two components, i.e. the mapping of regions not previously covered and the revision of existing mapping. The department holds and maintains the national air photo library which provides a comprehensive national source of land information data. The department also receives and holds multispectral imagery collected by earth resource satellites. This data is available to the public.

Mapping.

The metric 1:50,000 topographic map series which is now reaching completion, provides a reliable and authoritative inventory of the physical resources over all of New Zealand. This series is in constant demand for planning, construction, development, environmental assessment, local government and defence purposes. A start has been made on converting data from the 1:50,000 maps into digital form. In addition, the Department of Survey and Land Information maintains a 1:250,000 digital topographic database of New Zealand, a regularly updated series of street maps over all urban areas, and publishes a wide range of maps for recreation purposes. Its map holdings include maps for all national parks, plus miscellaneous and general maps of New Zealand, the Pacific, Antarctica and the world. The department produces maps (in both hard copy and digital form) to service specific needs of other national agencies. These include the charts needed for military and civil aviation use and those required for meteorological use. The department uses photogrammetric methods to produce a range of other digital map products to support energy investigations, hydraulic modelling for flood control purposes, forest management activities and the needs of the New Zealand land information industry.

Land Information System.

Stage one of a core LIS is a computer system linking the survey, title and valuation records of three government departments:

  • Automated Land Transfer Journal—the automated processing of documents received for registration.

  • Automated Index to Certificates of Titles—a computerised index to records held in the Lands and Deeds Division of the Department of Justice.

  • Maori Land Court Titles Index—an index to Maori land administered by the Maori Land Court of the Department of Justice.

  • Digital Cadastral Database (DCB)—the digitised boundaries of all land parcels and their identifiers in the Department of Land Survey and Information.

  • Parcel Plan Index—an automated index to every survey plan and every parcel ever created and recorded by the Department of Land Survey and Information.

  • Valuation Roll System—standardisation of components of the Valuation New Zealand database to make it more compatible with other core systems.

Stage two of the LIS envisages the linking of statistics, topography, utility and land use data with the ‘core’ cadastral land data.

The LIS Pilot.

In November 1992 the Government directed the three departments (the departments of Justice and Land Survey and Information and Valuation New Zealand) to co-operatively demonstrate a prototype of the LIS in the Auckland region. The developments are sponsored by the Department of Survey and Land Information. They will demonstrate the benefits of the adoption of standards for land records management, co-ordinate maintenance of land data records and enable on line computer access to a central index of key data from the core land departments.

Registration of land ownership

Land and Deeds Division.

All property rights in New Zealand are derived from the Crown and title to land in private ownership is a matter of public record. The creation of new rights and termination of existing rights in land, providing certainty of title to interests of land with a state guarantee, is the function of the Land and Deeds Division of the Department of Justice, as is the keeping of title records.

Almost all privately-owned land in New Zealand is held under the land transfer system, presently embodied in the Land Transfer Act 1952. The principal features of the system are title by registration and guarantee of that title by the state.

Successive governments have charged the Land and Deeds Division with duties of surveillance under the laws relating to the subdivision and aggregation of land, overseas ownership 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. Maori land, when vested in any person for a freehold estate, comes automatically under the land transfer system. In recent years new technology has been progressively introduced into Land and Deeds offices throughout the country in order to improve customer services, streamline processes, and contribute to an overall Land Information System.

The first stage in the automation of the land titles register has been the development of the Automated Land Transfer Journal (unregistered documents file). This application holds details of all documents lodged for registration and is essentially a work-in-progress file to provide notice of unregistered dealings to conveyancers who are settling new property transactions.

Over the past year a computerised plan journal was introduced providing details on new land subdivisions. This includes a tracking facility and allows early allocation of new title references for land parcels in new subdivisions of land.

A major new application is the Automated Index, which allows enquiries to be made on owners’ names, legal descriptions, certificates of title reference or what purpose land is held for (eg esplanade reserve) and displays the relevant data. An inventory of land held for up to 370 public purposes can now be categorised. As at 30 June 1994 details on over 2.04 million titles were in the database. The Auckland District Office of Land and Deeds is utilising the Automated Index as a first step in the establishment of a core Crown land information system, which matches the title index data (text) with the survey data (graphic) from the Department of Survey and Land Information. Data from the Maori Land Court and Valuation New Zealand has been added to form a central (common) index.

In recent years the creation of moveable marginal strips, the sale of Crown Forests, Irrigation Schemes and the issue of title to state-owned enterprises have been significant areas of work undertaken by the division. The issue of title for Housing Corporation units will be a significant driver of work levels for the next three to four years. The Resource Management Act 1991 has had a wide-spread effect on the processing of documents, plans of subdivision and new titles in all offices. Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993 introduced changes for dealing with the registration of Maori land.

Table 16.1. LAND TRANSFER DOCUMENTS PROCESSED

Year ending 30 JuneInstruments receivedCertificates of titlePlans lodgedGuaranteed searchesTitle searchesDocument searches
Source: Department of Justice.
1988921,64250,83816,41566,5901,051,535283,141
19891,029,68847,25816,88982,1921,176,421306,599
19901,007,62053,98718,00090,6031,109,663283,376
1991869,86453,56218,21487,552919,900255,932
1992819,01550,33416,06593,125966,078263,045
1993775,63142,05114,11499,211936,805258,389
1994863,74342,94716,019137,7131,024,426282,013

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 the land and its resources are used to the best advantage of the community as a whole. Legislation prevents, where there is an operative regional plan or district scheme, the acquisition by overseas interests of land of 4,000 square metres or over designated or zoned as ‘reserve’ for recreation or other purposes, any islands or parts of islands within 150 kilometres of the mainland or any land on the Chatham Islands.

The legislation also 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 residence, are met. The Land Valuation Tribunal is the judicial authority which controls the sale and lease of land. Before purchase is approved, the tribunal must be assured of the intention of the purchaser to reside in New Zealand and conduct experimental or research work on the land beneficial to New Zealand, and that the purchaser has the ability and means to sustain their work. The tribunal must also be satisfied that the land is not required for any reserve purpose. All the conditions are set out in the Land Settlement Promotion and Land Acquisition Act 1952.

There is a relatively small percentage of land transfers involving leasehold property as opposed to freehold property. The majority of the urban transfers are in the ‘under 2 hectares’ size-group, which is 94 percent of the total. Besides normal residential properties, this size-group includes many business, commercial, and industrial properties, and blocks of flats.

Any land transfer data should be used with caution owing to the great diversity of property transactions covered. These transactions may 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 given in section 22.2, House purchase and mortgage finance.

Recent figures for freehold open-market sales of farmland are shown in . Family sales are excluded, as are leasehold sales and sales for uses other than primary production.

Table 16.2. MARKET SALES OF FREEHOLD FARMLAND

Half year endedNo. of salesTotal sale priceIndex number*Percentage change from previous half year

* Base (=1000) half year ended December 1989.

Source: Valuation New Zealand.

Dec 19892,249531.81000+7.2
Jun 19902,347652.51163+16.3
Dec 19901,939483.91188+2.1
Jun 19911,735422.51169-1.6
Dec 19911,750390.71181+1.0
Jun 19922,392735.41300+10.1
Dec 19921,951514.41358+4.5
Jun 19932,546952.91601+17.9
Dec 19931,510469.21696+5.9
Jun 19942,222 P1,020.3 P1988+17.2

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 usage. 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 or 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 the latter two processes 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 Maori in addition to their holdings of Maori freehold land. Maori freehold land is subject to the jurisdiction of the Maori Land Court pursuant to the Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993 and some general land owned by Maori is subject to certain provisions of that Act.

Maori Land Court.

The purpose of the Maori Land Court is to contribute to the administration of Maori land, the preservation of taonga Maori and promoting the management of Maori land by its owners. The Maori Land Court achieves its purpose by servicing the Maori Land Court and related tribunals, maintaining the records of title and ownership of Maori land and providing information from the Maori Land Court record and the records of Crown and other agencies.

The Maori Land Court, during 1993/94 continued with the development of an Information System Strategy. The strategy recommends implementation by way of two separate programmes. These are:

  • Update the compiled list of owners. This programme will provide for the creation of a computer database of ownerships of Maori land for each title automation of the application process and will simplify many of the manual steps involved in receipting and processing applications of the court such as the typing of minutes and orders and the updating of existing records.

  • Protection of the physical record. This programme will see the conversion of the records of the court to image, either traditional, microfiche or electronic, allowing for the transfer of these valuable documents to the National Archives.

Table 16.3. LAND ADMINISTERED BY MAORI LAND COURT 1993*

Maori Land Court districtsSurveyed blocksTotal blocks administered

* As at 30 June.

Source: Department of Justice.

Whangarei3,4715,124
Hamilton1,0263,465
Rotorua3,0624,795
Gisborne2,8465,051
Hastings1,1211,268
Wanganui3,2723,756
Christchurch1,3401,734
      Total16,13825,193

Maori land development.

The development and use of Maori land for the benefit of Maori owners is a function of Te Puni Kokiri. The role of Te Puni Kokiri in Maori land development is the facilitation of the return of all development schemes under the ministry's control to the owners of the land themselves.

MAORI LAND COURTS, 1994

Year ended 30 June

Source: Department of Justice.

Crown-owned lands

Prior to 1987, Crown-owned lands were administered by various Crown agencies pursuant to the Public Works Act 1981, Land Act 1948, Reserves Act 1977, National Parks Act 1980 and the Forests Act 1949. Significant reconstruction of the public sector commenced in 1987. This reconstruction included the reorganisation of the government's environmental and public work administrations. Much of the Crown's commercial or productive land was subsequently transferred to state-owned enterprises. Land currently remaining in Crown ownership now comprises land administered by the Department of Survey and Land Information operating through the Commissioner of Crown Lands, service delivery departments and the Department of Conservation.

Lands administered by the Commissioner of Crown Lands.

The Commissioner of Crown Lands is responsible for the administration of residual Crown-owned lands pursuant to the Land Act 1948, Public Works Act 1981 and Crown Forest Assets Act 1989.

Land administered pursuant to the Land Act 1948 comprises unalienated Crown land, pastoral leasehold land, other Crown leasehold lands and endowment leases. At 1 July 1994 there were an estimated 3,630 parcels of unalienated Crown land, 370 pastoral leases/licences, 383 other Crown leases and 131 endowment leases.

Land administered by the Commissioner of Crown Lands pursuant to the Public Works Act 1981 comprises land no longer required to be held by the Crown for the public work purpose for which it was taken. It includes surplus government properties formerly held by the Crown for hydro-electric power development, post offices, public work depots and government office accommodation. At 1 July 1994 there were an estimated 3,000 surplus government properties in the process of being disposed of by the Commissioner of Crown Lands.

Land administered by the Commissioner of Crown Lands pursuant to the Crown Forests Act 1989 comprises Crown forest land over which Crown Forestry licences have been issued. At 1 July 1994 there were some 99 Crown forestry licences.

All Crown Forest lands and a significant number of the other lands administered by the Commissioner of Crown Lands are required to be held in Crown ownership pending the Crown's resolution of Maori land claims lodged pursuant to the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 or the completion of direct negotiations between the Crown and claimants. The commissioner also administers Treaty of Waitangi landbanks, pending completion of negotiations between the Crown and claimants.

Lands administered by service delivery Crown agencies.

A significant quantity of Crown-owned lands are held by service delivery Crown agencies. These lands are held for government works pursuant to the Public Works Act 1981 and other functional legislation including education, defence and law and order.

Lands administered by the Department of Conservation.

The department administers national, forest parks, world heritage areas, wilderness areas, marginal strips around lakes and rivers and more than a thousand other reserves of different kinds. It also protects privately owned land under special arrangement with the landowner. The department is responsible for conservation in New Zealand's sub-antarctic islands and the Ross Dependency in Antarctica. For more information see section 16.3 National parks and reserves.

Records of lands of the Crown.

Information on the status of, and administrative responsibilities for, lands of the Crown is a matter of public record. Where such lands are registered under the provisions of the Land Transfer Act 1952, current records of registered interests in that land are held by the Land and Deeds Division of the Department of Justice. However, where such lands are unregistered the most comprehensive records available are held by the Department of Survey and Land Information.

Records relating to the new status and administration of unregistered lands of the Crown are also held by the Department of Survey and Land Information. These records are in the form of plans and schedules prepared to record allocation decisions taken by Government. A set has also been prepared and certified correct by Chief Surveyors pursuant to section 62 of the Conservation Act 1987. These plans and schedules will remain the prime records for these unregistered lands until such time as they are registered under the provisions of the Land

Transfer Act 1952. Records of the allocated lands which were subject to the Public Works Act 1981 are also held by the Department of Survey and Land Information.

Land Corporation.

Land Corporation Limited (Landcorp) came into being on 1 April 1987, primarily to handle the Government's commercial farming and land management operations previously undertaken by the Department of Lands and Survey. It now operates largely in the private sector. The corporation has two main operating subsidiaries, Landcorp Farming and Landcorp Property, an investment subsidiary, Landcorp Investments and a property development subsidiary, Landcorp Property Holdings. These are supported by the parent company which incorporates finance and other activity.

The farming subsidiary is responsible for the corporation's farming operations involving some 1.6 million stock units on 156 properties spread throughout New Zealand. Among other projects, the corporation is involved in animal breeding schemes covering a range of animal species.

Landcorp Investments is responsible for some 3,830 leases, licences, and other financial instruments taken over from the Crown. Landcorp Property Holdings owns some 50 property development projects. The majority of these are residential or rural lifestyle subdivisions.

Landcorp Property is a fee-based property portfolio management and land consultancy company. It is responsible for the management of a number of government and private sector contracts, the development and sale of properties owned by the corporation and other clients, and the provision of consultancy services in both the rural and urban fields to a wide variety of corporate and individual clients.

The corporation's head office is in Wellington. There are also 18 property district offices and four farming regional offices.

Valuation of land

Equitable land values are needed for:

  • Levying rates by local authorities.

  • Apportioning rating levies over contributing local authorities.

  • Lending money on mortgage by government agencies and by trustees under the Trustee Act 1956.

  • Assessing stamp, estate and gift duties.

  • Fixing prices for transfers of land to or from the Crown.

Valuation New Zealand assesses values of real estate for taxation and other central government purposes, and for local rating. The work of Valuation New Zealand is directed by the Valuer-General. The actual work of valuing is done by valuers under the supervision of district valuers. Valuers examine each property and estimate:

  1. The capital value of the whole property (land and buildings plus other improvements);

  2. The value of the land as if it were vacant; and

  3. The value of the improvements (if any) upon the land.

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 or locality. ‘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, currently every three years. Objections can be lodged against revaluations, and taken to the Land Valuation Tribunal. Special valuations are made for particular purposes such as loans by government agencies or trustees and the assessment of stamp, gift and estate duties.

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. A third major rating system is the annual (rental) value system, and 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. Valuation rolls for annual value rating are prepared either annually or three-yearly.

The Rating Powers Act 1988 makes provision for equalisation of values as a basis for the equitable adjustment of rates and levies between a number of local authorities or between parts of a territorial or regional authority if they have been revalued at different times.

Valuers Registration Board.

The Valuers Act 1948 provides for the protection of the public through the registration of valuers of land. There is a registration board under the chairmanship of the Valuer-General, which sets standards of education and practical experience for registration. The board maintains a register of those valuers who meet the required standard and issues annual practising certificates to public valuers. In addition the board exercises disciplinary power, where a valuer is charged with incompetent, improper or unethical behaviour. Of the 1,695 valuers registered as at 31 August 1994, 1,019 held annual practising certificates. The remaining 676 registered valuers are either retired, overseas, or do not make valuations for members of the public.

16.2 Environmental and resource management

New Zealand occupies approximately 27.1 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 of the total area (21 million hectares) 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 16.4. LAND USE TODAY*

Type of landAreaPercentage of total area

* These estimates are approximate only and at slight variance with those given in , which gives a more accurate estimate of the total land area of New Zealand.

Source: Ministry of Forestry.

 hectares (million) 
Total forested land7.527.4
Pasture and arable land13.950.7
Other land use5.620.4
Minor islands0.10.4
Lakes, rivers, etc0.31.1
      Total area of New Zealand27.4100.0

Vegetation, wildlife and other aspects of the New Zealand environment are described in chapter 1 Geography.

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. Climate varies from 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 equally varied, with 50 percent of the land classifiable as steep, 20 percent as moderately hilly, and only 30 percent as 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.

Headwaters of the Taieri River, Lammermoor Range, Otago, featuring a sequence of stepped tarns or string bogs.

Table 16.5. 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-Thames-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 on 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 diarying 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-country 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.

Environmental planning framework

In October 1991 the Resource Management Act became law in New Zealand. The Act is, first and foremost, a means of planning how the people of New Zealand are going to use, distribute or preserve natural and physical resources. These resources include rivers, lakes, coastal and geothermal areas; land, including soils, forests and farmlands; the air; and the constructed environment—buildings, bridges and other structures in cities and towns.

The Act calls for a new attitude to law. Instead of prescribing what activities should or should not be allowed, the Act places the emphasis on the effect a proposed activity will or might have on the environment. The Act also provides for the community to become involved in making decisions about resource management.

The purpose of the Act is to promote the sustainable management of natural and physical resources. This means the environment is looked at as a whole when authorities are planning and making decisions. The focus of the legislation is on the effects proposed activities will have on the environment—not, as was in the past, on whether an activity was or was not allowed.

The Act says that, to the greatest extent possible, people should be allowed to make their own choices as to the development, use or protection of natural and physical resources. But they must do this with the purpose of the Act in mind. That purpose is to promote sustainable management. Therefore the key role of planners and decision makers should be to minimise adverse effects so that the sustainability of New Zealand's resources is not jeopardised.

It is in the process of formulating these plans and policies that members of the community have an important opportunity to have their say about what they want to happen in their area. The Act encourages councils to seek the views of their residents, iwi and business people when developing resource management plans.

National policies.

In the preparation, implementation, and administration of regional policy statements, regional plans and district plans the following matters—which are declared to be of national importance—must be recognised and provided for:

  • The preservation of the natural character of the coastal environment (including the coastal marine area), wetlands, lakes and rivers and their margins, and the protection of them from inappropriate subdivision, use and development.

  • The protection of outstanding natural features and landscapes from inappropriate subdivision, use and development.

  • The protection of areas of significant indigenous vegetation and significant habitats of indigenous fauna.

  • The maintenance and enhancement of public access to and along the coastal marine area, lakes and rivers.

  • The relationship of Maori and their culture and traditions with their ancestral lands, water, sites, waahi tapu, and other taonga.

There is no priority suggested in the order of this list.

Those exercising functions and powers are required to have particular regard to other matters in achieving the purpose of the Act. These matters are as follows:

  • Kaitiakitanga (the exercise of guardianship);

  • The efficient use and development of natural and physical resources;

  • The maintenance and enhancement of amenity values;

  • Intrinsic values of ecosystems;

  • Recognition and protection of the heritage values of sites, buildings, places or areas;

  • Maintenance and enhancement of the quality of the environment;

  • Any finite characteristics of natural and physical resources; and

  • The protection of the habitat of trout and salmon.

Again, there is no priority suggested in the order of this list.

The Minister of Conservation will provide a management framework for the coast through New Zealand coastal policy statements. The minister's functions and powers also include approval of regional coastal plans and, in certain situations, a consent-granting function.

Sustainable management.

In the Act, sustainable management means ‘managing the use, development, and protection of natural and physical resources in a way, or at a rate, which enables people or communities to provide for their social, economic and cultural well-being and for their health and safety while:

  • Sustaining the potential of natural and physical resources (excluding minerals) to meet the reasonably foreseeable needs of future generations.

  • Safeguarding the life-supporting capacity of air, water, soil and ecosystems.

  • Avoiding, remedying or mitigating any adverse effects of activities on the environment.

An important aspect of this definition is that sustainable management should not be compromised by social or economic goals.

Regional policies and plans.

Regional councils have a pivotal role in resource management administration. Each region has to prepare a regional policy statement, which sets out the objectives for managing all resources of the region in an integrated manner. Regional plans deal with specific resource management issues. They are not compulsory, yet there may be more than one.

Regional councils have been given primary responsibility for the management of water, soil, geothermal resources and pollution control. In addition, regional councils will have responsibility for regional aspects of natural hazards mitigation, soil conservation and hazardous substances. The latter does not affect existing functions of other bodies under legislation not affected by the Resource Management Act.

They also have joint control (with the Minister of Conservation) of various resource management issues in the coastal marine area.

District planning.

Territorial authorities (district and city councils) have primary responsibility for land use management (including those on the surface of water, subdivision and noise control). They complement the role of regional councils on some issues such as natural hazard mitigation and hazardous substances.

Matters to be considered by the territorial authority in preparing district plans include the preservation and conservation of the amenities of the district, and buildings, trees, bush, plants, landscapes, objects, or areas of architectural, historical, scientific, wildlife, visual, or other interest. Each territorial authority must have one district plan to help them carry out their functions. The plan must be consistent with any national policy statement or the regional policy statement. The district plan may include rules which prohibit, regulate or allow activities.

Resource consents.

A resource consent gives a person or organisation permission to develop a natural or physical resource, and/or carry out an activity that affects the environment in some way for a stated period. Resource consents replace the many different permissions granted under the previous law.

Under the Resource Management Act there are five types of resource consent:

  • Land use consent (granted by district and sometimes regional councils).

  • Subdivision consent (district).

  • Water permit (regional).

  • Discharge permit (regional).

  • Coastal permit (regional).

All applications for consents follow the same procedures. The basic rule is that the applicant, whether a landowner intending to subdivide, or a farmer needing water for irrigation, should check to see if a consent is required, and if so what type and category. The applicant will also need to work out what impacts the proposal is likely to have on the environment and submit this assessment to the consent authority. The applicant may also have to explain what consultation has taken place with any persons who may be affected by the proposal.

Some of these resource consent applications will require public notification. This gives the community a chance to consider the application and make a submission if they wish.

Public involvement.

The Act provides for members of the community to take part in managing the resources of their area. Therefore getting involved with the local authority planning process at the right time is a crucial matter if a person wishes to have an input into the decisions.

Some of the places where a person can have an input are:

  • Initial consultation by local authorities when they are preparing policy statements and plans.

  • Submissions to local authorities after they have notified the public about policy statements or plans, plan changes and resource consents.

In addition many councils provide opportunities for input in the initial stages of preparing policy statements and plans before they formally notify.

Use of land.

The Resource Management Act 1991 requires councils to address the effects of activities rather than the activity itself. The presumption is that people can use their land in the way they wish provided there are no adverse environmental effects. These constraints must be clearly identified in policy and plans. The Resource Management Act also seeks to address past errors in the destruction of areas of natural beauty, the loss of historic areas of cities and the destruction of neighbourhood communities. A key to this is the inclusion of ‘amenity values’ in the definition of ‘environment’. By providing for amenity values it is possible for policies and plans to consider ‘those natural or physical qualities and characteristics of an area that contribute to people's appreciation of its pleasantness, aesthetic coherence, and cultural and recreational attributes’. It is over to councils to identify the appropriate ways to maintain those qualities and characteristics, of which controls on the built environment may be one.

Similarly, by identifying as a ‘matter of national importance’ the relationship of Maori to their ancestral lands, water, sites, waahi tapu, and other taonga (treasures), it is possible for policies and plans to cater for Maori-related uses on Maori land. The most prominent of these are the marae and papakainga housing. In the first instance, rules in a plan could allow for the construction of the marae itself. Other rules for papakainga housing would provide for residential development on Maori land which is generally in multiple ownership.

‘Reasonable use’ of land is covered in section 85 of the Act. The phrase carries its commonly understood meaning plus an extension under this section. This extension ensures that uses which do not impact on people, other than the landowner, or the environment are classed as reasonable uses. Those whose land has been rendered incapable of reasonable use can challenge the provision during plan review or on an application for a plan change.

Hazardous substances and new organisms.

The Resource Management Act provided for the reform of laws regarding the management of hazardous substances and new organisms and for the establishment of an agency to administer the reformed legislation. It has since been decided this is to be a regulatory authority to be called the Environmental Risk Management Authority.

The reform was considered necessary because the existing legislation was recognised as being outdated, complex or, in some cases, non-existent. The intention is to both minimise the risk from hazardous substances and new organisms while retaining their benefits, and to improve the efficiency of current assessments of controls for hazardous substances and new organisms.

The principles for the new legislation require that all hazardous substances and new organisms are assessed prior to their introduction, development or manufacture in New Zealand, and that they all will follow a similar assessment process. Assessment is to be publicised and open to public input, and the decisions made will also be publicised.

Management focuses on the adverse effects of hazardous substances and new organisms on the health and safety of people and the environment rather than just on the end use to which they may be put. Hazardous substances are to be controlled at points in their life cycle where the environment and health and safety of New Zealanders are at risk. The legislation will also ensure that New Zealand's obligations under international agreements relating to hazardous substances and new organisms are adhered to.

Waste management.

The production of waste and its impact on people, the economy and the environment is a matter of long-standing public concern in New Zealand. The Resource Management Act provides a framework for dealing with these impacts and the management of all wastes to meet the objectives of sustainable management of the environment. As well, the Government has recently agreed to a waste policy which is focused on reducing resource use and waste generation.

New Zealand's waste management policy is to:

  • Ensure that as far as practicable, New Zealand's waste generators should meet the costs of the waste they produce; and

  • Encourage the implementation of the internationally recognised hierarchy of reduction, reuse, recycling, recovery and residual management by all involved in waste generation and management in New Zealand.

The Ministry for the Environment is the lead agency for waste management policy at central government level, and in performing this function the ministry will co-ordinate waste management policies produced by other agencies in meeting their responsibilities. A national database to provide statistical information on waste is being established by Statistics New Zealand.

Waste reduction targets are to be negotiated with business sectors to encourage voluntary initiatives in waste reduction and resource recovery to achieve the targets which will focus this year on used oil and plastic packaging. Investigations (carried out in consultation with relevant government departments) are to be made into regulatory and economic mechanisms to back up the voluntary initiatives in the event that they fail to result in adequate internalisation of the costs of waste. Cleaner production methods have already been implemented by a number of companies and organisations. ‘Cleaner production’ means:

  • Avoiding or reducing the amount of waste produced.

  • Using energy and resources efficiently.

  • Producing environmentally sound products and services.

  • Achieving less waste, fewer costs and higher profits.

The links between cleaner production principles and enhanced economic performance are well documented. Cleaner production, therefore, offers New Zealand businesses the opportunity to improve their competitiveness in New Zealand and international markets.

The ministry has developed cleaner production guidelines to help local authorities and business implement these approaches. A handbook has also been produced to assist managers dealing with hazardous waste.

Mineral exploitation

The impact of mining, prospecting and exploration of minerals is controlled through the Resource Management Act 1991 by local authorities. Controls are imposed through plans and resource consents established by that Act. They control the environmental impact of mining activities, including the rehabilitation of land.

The Minister of Energy issues permits allocating Crown-owned minerals, or the rights to search for such minerals, under the Crown Minerals Act 1991. These permits will include provisions relating to rentals and work programmes. The basis for these rules may be set out in a Minerals Programme prepared by the minister.

The Crown Minerals Act provides for land access arrangements to be made with the owner of the surface estate in order to access the minerals.

Legislative control of Crown-owned mineral production is contained in the Crown Minerals Act. The administrative agency is the Resource Allocation Agency in the Ministry of Commerce. Other environmental consents from the local authority may also be required under the Resource Management Act.

Water and soil management

The administration of water and soil resources is being achieved through the Resource Management Act, with protection against flooding and erosion control provided by the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act 1941. Both Acts are administered by the Ministry for the Environment.

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 regional councils. Government subsidies are provided to assist a limited range of regional council resource management activities. This assistance is targeted in terms of regional ability to pay, and focuses on new and devolved functions under the Resource Management Act; the development of environmental quality standards; and the assessment of options for risk management associated with contaminated sites, natural hazards and waste management.

Water resources.

It has been estimated that New Zealand's consumption of water approaches 2,000 million cubic metres per year. Households use 210 million cubic metres, industry 260 million cubic metres, livestock 350 million cubic metres, and irrigation 1,100 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 7,000 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, such as Milford Sound, annual rainfalls of over 10,000 mm have been measured, while in others, such as Alexandra, as little as 340 mm may fall in a year.

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 concern of regional councils in these areas.

Water quality.

Maintenance of water quality is also the responsibility of regional councils within national standards. The Resource Management Act controls contamination of water (as well as discharges onto or into land and into air) through a discharge permit. A schedule to the Act also establishes a classification system based on water use (eg recreational activities). Regional policy statements and regional plans are the statutory vehicle for water quality policies, objectives and rules. Water permits may be restricted or suspended in order to maintain minimum standards of quality and water flow.

The Resource Management Act continues earlier legislation which provided for water conservation orders to be placed over rivers, streams or lakes to protect outstanding wild and scenic, recreational, fisheries, scientific or other in-stream values. An order can preserve a water body in its natural state, or it can protect certain features by placing restrictions on the issue of future water permits. Orders have been placed over the Motu, Rakaia and Manganui-o-te-ao Rivers, and Lake Wairarapa.

Irrigation.

Irrigation was initially practised in New Zealand as a drought protection measure and was concentrated in such areas as Central Otago and South Canterbury where high soil moisture deficit is experienced during summer, due to hot drying winds. More recently, irrigation has been used as a beneficial farm management tool with schemes in North Canterbury and Nelson and in parts of the North Island suitable for horticulture, particularly Northland, Waikato 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 were 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. All the public irrigation schemes have now been sold and central government is no longer involved.

There are 20 older schemes in Canterbury and Central Otago, which have been operative for many years.

Private irrigation undertaken by individuals or groups of farmers has been practised over much of the country, often with the assistance of concessionaire interest rates. 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.

Installing new irrigation and drainage system, Victoria Park, Auckland.

River control.

River control projects carried out by councils often serve both the objectives of preventing damage by erosion and protecting property from flood damage. 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.

A catchment-wide approach to water and soil problems is encouraged. 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. Increasingly, flood plain management planning is being adopted to identify and mitigate risks associated with flooding.

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.

Successful techniques 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.

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.

The problems of water pollution are being addressed by regional councils through the Resource Management Act 1991. 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. Both air pollution and noise control are included in the Resource Management Act. 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 cleaning up oil pollution in coastal waters and on the shore. Marine pollution management will be transferred to regional councils under the Resource Management Act. The new Maritime Safety Authority will be responsible for marine pollution outside the territorial sea and for the co-ordination of responses to oil spills.

Pollution of rivers and lakes can be caused by soil erosion, farm run-off, industrial waste, or domestic sewage. The Resource Management Act 1991 provides for the control of waste discharges through discharge permits. 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. The ministry is currently developing a national strategy to address the impacts of agriculture on water quality. Sewage and farm run-off add nutrients to the water, which in some lakes (eg 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 food processing 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.

The Resource Management Act provides for the making of national environmental standards. Statutory standards can be inflexible and inappropriate for New Zealand's diverse aquatic environment. Guidelines allow regional councils discretion in the development of local standards. The ministry has produced water quality guidelines on nuisance growths (nitrogen, phosphorous and organic matter) and colour and clarity (suspended solids and other visible material).

Organic chemical pesticides and herbicides are widely accepted as essential for efficient agriculture and horticulture. The use of such chemicals is controlled by the Pesticides 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.

New Zealand's geography is, in general, favourable to the dispersal of air pollutants. Yet population, the level of industry and the standard of living are all increasing. As the standard of living improves, energy consumption, vehicle use and kilometres travelled overall increase. Air quality can be adversely affected as these pressures continue to mount.

During 1994 the Ministry for the Environment established guidelines for several air pollutants. The guidelines specify levels of pollutants which should not be exceeded if human health is to be protected. Guideline levels have been set for particulate matter, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, lead, fluoride and hydrogen sulphide.

Global environmental issues

Some of the most pressing environmental problems extend beyond national borders. They are known as global environmental issues and include climate change as a result of the enhanced greenhouse effect and ozone depletion. No one country is responsible for them, but all countries ultimately suffer the consequences. New Zealand's comparative isolation does not make it any less vulnerable.

Greater awareness of the importance of global action on environmental matters has led to increasing international activity in recent years. The international debate involves striking the right balance between the twin imperatives of environmental protection and economic activity, in order to provide for future generations and to protect the Earth's resources and biodiversity. The goal is to achieve sustainable development.

Since 1990 the focal point for international consideration of these issues has been preparations for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 1992. At a series of preparatory meetings and in negotiations on conventions on biodiversity and climate change, the full range of environmental and economic development issues were addressed.

UNCED brought together governments, business, non-government organisations, indigenous people, women and youth in unprecedented numbers. The Earth Summit, a two-day meeting of political leaders during UNCED, brought together the largest number of heads of government or state and senior politicians ever assembled at a meeting of this kind.

UNCED produced the Rio Declaration, a list of principles for governments, individuals and the world community to follow; Agenda 21, a forward looking action plan setting benchmarks for behaviour and identifying directions in which the world community should move; and a statement of Forest Principles for the protection and sustainable management of all of the world's forests. The Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity were opened for signature by governments, with over 150 countries doing so at Rio de Janeiro.

New Zealand played its full part in the UNCED process. The development of the New Zealand approach involved consultation with a wide range of interests, including government departments, environment and development groups, business interests and Maori. New Zealand's delegation, led by the Minister for the Environment, also reflected this diversity of interest in UNCED issues.

As the UNCED process demonstrates, New Zealand has wide-ranging interests in international environmental work which it vigorously pursues. Priority issues have included climate change, ozone depletion, Antarctica, forestry, waste issues, driftnet fishing, the protection of marine mammals, sustainable resource use and South Pacific environment matters.

Environmental policy development, which is led by the Ministry for the Environment and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, involves a wide range of government agencies and, as highlighted by the UNCED process, appropriate wider consultation. The Environment Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade advises government on international aspects of global environment issues, including representation of New Zealand interests and concerns in negotiations. The Ministry for the Environment provides advice on the scientific and domestic aspects of global environmental issues, as well as on purely domestic matters.

New Zealand ratified the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention of Biological Diversity in 1993. It was the third country (and first developed nation) to ratify the London Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. It agreed to contribute around NZ$10.4 million to the 1994–1996 replenishment of the Global Environment Facility which provides funding for projects which address four global environmental problems (climate change, biodiversity loss, ozone depletion and international waters). New Zealand is actively engaged in negotiations on amendments to the London Convention of the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes, 1972. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade has told Parliament that he expects that New Zealand will ratify the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal by the end of 1994.

New Zealand plays an active conservationist role in the International Whaling Commission (IWC). It was a major proponent of the creation of a circumpolar southern ocean whale sanctuary agreed at the 1994 IWC meeting. The sanctuary extends from the Antarctic ice edge to points between 40° and 55° south latitude, and includes much of New Zealand.

New Zealand has been particularly active in questions relating to trade and environment including discussions held at the OECD and in GATT. This will continue especially in the new World Trade Organisation Committee on Trade and Environment.

New Zealand recognises the special vulnerability of South Pacific countries to global environment problems. Through the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the South Pacific Forum and other international environmental negotiations New Zealand has sought to support Pacific Island countries and to ensure their concerns are heard. It was particularly active in the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States which was held in Barbados in April/May 1994. New Zealand is also involved in negotiations for a regional convention which will ban the import of hazardous and nuclear wastes for outside the region into forum island countries, and control the movement of such wastes within the area.

Domestic implications.

The Ministry for the Environment, in addition to its Resource Management Act work, deals with the domestic implications of global environmental issues through the Environment Policy Directorate (EPD).

EPD co-ordinates the inter-related work of sustainable management of energy and climate change, and has a prime role in providing advice to government on moves to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Having ratified the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) in September 1993, New Zealand, along with other party nations, has an obligation to reduce its greenhouse gases.

The Government's first steps towards achieving the target of returning CO2 emissions to their 1990 level by the year 2000 and holding them there, were announced in July 1992. That CO2 Action Programme incorporates measures designed to reduce CO2 emissions and enhance carbon sinks. Among these measures are voluntary agreements with industry to reduce CO2 emissions, the encouragement of more efficient energy use, the use of the Resource Management Act 1991 to consider CO2 emissions in plans, policy statements and resource use consents, and legislative and regulatory reform in the energy sector to encourage more competitive gas and energy markets. The Government has also foreshadowed the introduction of a low-level carbon charge to be introduced in 1997 if, by then, industry has not voluntary lowered CO2 emissions by 3 percent on what they would have been under 1990 ‘business as usual’ conditions.

Advice to government on achieving sustainable provisions and use of energy, including policies relating to energy and the environment, is also provided by the directorate.

The Ministry's Pollution and Risk Management Directorate is responsible for implementing New Zealand's obligations under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Through the Ozone Layer Protection Act 1990, and its subsequent revisions, New Zealand's imports of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), methyl chloroform and carbon tetrachloride will cease by the end of 1995. Imports of CFCs in 1993 have already been reduced by 70 percent from their 1986 levels.

The Ministry for the Environment is currently consulting with affected parties and is developing policies to phase out the import of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), the low ozone depleting alternatives to CFCs and methyl bromide, a gas used widely to fumigate soils and items being imported and exported.

EPD is also responsible for the State of the Environment Reporting (SER) project which aims to develop regular monitoring and reporting systems on the nation's environment. Government has recognised that such a system is necessary to help New Zealand meet international environmental obligations and to enable high quality environmental decision-making. The SER project's main tasks are the production of the nation's State of the Environment Report and the development of a set of core environmental indicators. This latter task involves collaboration with Statistics New Zealand and the Department of Survey and Land Information, as well as the large number of regional and territorial organisations which have monitoring responsibilities under the Resource Management Act.

The Ministry for the Environment will be responsible for following up the domestic work generated by UNCED, in particular the implementation of Agenda 21.

Adult Royal Albatross and chick at Taiaroa Head Nature Reserve, Dunedin.

16.3 National parks and reserves

The Department of Conservation administers the majority of publicly-owned land in New Zealand that is protected for scenic, scientific, historic and cultural reasons, or set aside for recreational purposes. More than 8 million hectares—nearly 30 percent of the nation's total area—are administered by the department.

There are 12 national parks, covering more than 2 million hectares, 20 forest parks covering some 1.8 million hectares, and nearly 4,000 reserves, including some 3,000 hectares of protected private land that have been set aside for scenic, scientific or ecological reasons. In April 1994 the Minister of Conservation announced that a new national park, Kahurangi National Park, would be established in the north-west of the South Island. Incorporating the existing North West Nelson Forest Park, Kahurangi will cover over 400,000 hectares. The area is currently being surveyed for formal establishment in 1995. The department also has responsibility for the preservation and management of wildlife, and has a role in management of the coastal marine area.

National parks

The National Parks Act 1980 provides for the establishment of national parks or reserves in areas where the scenery is of such distinctive quality, or the natural features or ecological systems so important scientifically that their preservation is in the national interest. The Act also provides for the public to have freedom of entry and access to the parks, though this is subject to such conditions and restrictions as are necessary for the preservation of native plants and animals or for the welfare of the parks in general. Access to specially protected areas constituted under the Act is by permit only.

The Act states that National Parks are to be maintained as far as possible in their natural state so that their value as soil, water and forest conservation areas is maintained. Native plants and animals are to be preserved and introduced plants and animals are to be removed if their presence is seen to conflict with the aims of the Act. Development in wilderness areas established under the Act is restricted to foot tracks and huts essential for wild animal control or scientific research. The Act allows the Department of Conservation to provide houses for park staff, accommodation houses and other buildings, hostels, huts, camping grounds, ski tows and similar facilities, parking areas, reading and tracks within the parks. Accommodation, transport and other services at entry points to the parks are provided by the department, other government agencies, voluntary organisations and private enterprise. Some services within the parks, such as guided walks and skiing instruction, are provided by private firms under concessions from the department.

New Zealand's national parks are listed, from north to south, below.

Tongariro National Park.

(79,598 hectares, established 1887), was New Zealand's first national park. It includes the three active volcanoes, Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe and Tongariro.

Urewera National Park.

(212,675 hectares, established 1954), together with neighbouring Whirinaki Forest Park, is the largest remaining area of native forest in the North Island. Lake Waikaremoana is noted for its scenic shoreline.

Egmont National Park.

(33,543 hectares, established 1900), comprises all the land in a 9-kilometre radius of the Taranaki/Mount Egmont summit and some outlying areas to the north. The symmetrical cone of the dormant volcano is a provincial landmark.

Whanganui National Park.

(74,231 hectares, established 1986), borders the Whanganui River. It incorporates areas of Crown land, former State Forest and a number of former reserves. The river itself is not part of the park.

Abel Tasman National Park.

(22,541 hectares, established 1942), has numerous tidal inlets and beaches of golden sand along the shores of Tasman Bay. It is New Zealand's smallest national park.

Nelson Lakes National Park.

(101,753 hectares, established 1956), is a rugged, mountainous area in Nelson Province. It extends southwards from the forested shores of Lakes Rotoiti and Rotoroa to the Lewis Pass National Reserve.

Paparoa National Park.

(30,560 hectares, established 1987), is on the West Coast of the South Island between Westport and Greymouth. It includes the celebrated Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki.

Arthur's Pass National Park.

(114,357 hectares, established 1929), is a rugged and mountainous area straddling the main divide of the Southern Alps.

Westland National Park.

(117,547 hectares, established 1960), extends from the highest peaks of the Southern Alps to a wild remote coastline. Included in the park are glaciers, scenic lakes and dense rainforest, plus remains of old gold mining towns along the coast.

Mount Cook Park.

(70,728 hectares, established 1953), is an alpine park, containing New Zealand's highest mountain, Aoraki/Mount Cook (3,754m), and longest glacier, Tasman Glacier (29 km). A focus for mountaineering, ski touring and scenic flights, the park is an area of outstanding natural beauty. The Mount Cook and Westland National Parks have together been declared a World Heritage Area.

Mount Aspiring National Park.

(355,531 hectares, established 1964), is a complex of impressively glaciated mountain scenery centred on Mount Aspiring (3,036 m), which is New Zealand's highest peak outside Mount Cook National Park.

Fiordland National Park.

(1,251,924 hectares, established 1952), is the largest national park in New Zealand and one of the largest in the world. The grandeur of its scenery, with its deep fiords, its lakes of glacial origin, its mountains and waterfalls, has earned it international recognition as a world heritage area.

World heritage areas

New Zealand has two World Heritage sites, Te Whaipounamu (South-west New Zealand) and Tongariro National Park. World heritage areas consist of about 400 sites listed in UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention as the most outstanding natural and cultural places on the globe. Te Whaipounamu is one of the world's great forest and mountain wildernesses. It consists of 2.6 million hectares (10 percent of the area of New Zealand) of the south-west of the South Island, including Fiordland, Mt Aspiring, Westland and Mt Cook national parks and the coastal swamp kahikatea forests of South Westland. Tongariro National Park is one of a limited number of sites accorded world heritage status for both its natural and cultural values. It is considered to contain some of the most continuously active stratovolcanoes in the world and it was the first national park in the world to be freely gifted to the nation by an indigenous people, the Ngati Tuwharetoa, to whom the mountains are sacred.

Forest parks

The Department of Conservation administers 20 forest parks formerly administered by the New Zealand Forest Service. Their primary purpose, in most cases, is to protect the catchments of forested mountain ranges throughout the country, but they also provide a less restricted range of recreational activities than national parks and reserves, including tramping, camping, fishing, and shooting for a variety of game.

The forest parks contain a varied landscape including coastal areas, lakes, mountains, tablelands and tussock grasslands within an approximate area of 1.8 million hectares.

Reserves

Reserve land includes scenic, nature, scientific, historic, national and recreation reserves, wildlife reserves, protected private land and land protected under various conservation and open space covenants.

Scenic reserves

—there are more than 1,200 scenic reserves with a total area in excess of 300,000 hectares. They include areas of scenic interest such as native forests, limestone and glow-worm caves, thermal areas, coastal areas, lakes, rivers, waterfalls and scenic vantage points.

Nature reserves

—are established for the preservation of native plants and animals and generally consist of areas where rare plants are growing or which supply a suitable habitat for rare birds or other animals. Some of the 50-odd reserves in this category are on the mainland but most are on offshore or outlying islands.

National reserves

—protect areas of outstanding natural beauty or scientific or ecological importance. They are second only to national parks in the degree of protection they offer. The Snares Islands, Auckland Islands, Campbell Island, Antipodes Island and the Bounty Islands together form the Subantarctic Islands National Reserve of approximately 74,885 hectares in area. They are the major breeding places for several species of birds and animals, including the yellow-eyed penguin, the royal albatross and the Hooker's sealion. The threat of rats or other predatory animals accidentally being introduced to the islands has led the Department of Conservation to allow access by permit only. Previous experience has shown that one pregnant rat arriving on a previously rat-free island could lead to the extinction of a vulnerable species.

Scientific reserves

—are generally smaller areas reserved to protect examples of rare or endangered plants or animals or unique geographic features for scientific research or education. Entry may be prohibited if this is considered necessary to prevent disturbance.

Historic reserves

—include Maori rock drawings, the sites of prehistoric fortifications, the landing places of Captain Cook, the sites of engagements during the New Zealand Wars, and buildings of historic importance. The Department of Conservation and the New Zealand Historic Places Trust co-operate closely in the investigation and administration of sites and buildings of historical or archaeological interest (see section 12.2 The national collection).

Recreation reserves

—include public domains, camping grounds and other public recreational areas administered by the Department of Conservation.

Wildlife reserves

—may be proclaimed over land of any tenure, prohibiting certain actions in respect of wildlife, but without affecting land ownership.

Marine reserves and parks

At present there are 11 marine reserves protecting a variety of marine habitats (marine resources may not be extracted from marine reserves). The Kermadec Islands Marine Reserve is the largest at 748,000 hectares. Located approximately 400 nautical miles north-east of Auckland, the area has an interesting mix of subtropical, temperate and endemic species. The Cape Rodney—Okakari Point Marine Reserve (518 hectares) was the first gazetted in 1975, followed by the Poor Knights Islands (2,410 hectares) in 1981. All the remaining reserves: Wanganui-A-Hei (84 hectares), Tuhua/Mayor Island (1,060 hectares), Kapiti (2,167 hectares), Long Island (619 hectares), Westhaven Te Tai Tapu (536 hectares), Tonga Island (1,835 hectares), Te Awaatu Channel (93 hectares) and Piopiotahi (690 hectares), were all gazetted in the years since 1990.

There are two marine parks Mimiwhangata and Tawharanui, protected by fisheries regulations. The Sugar Loaf Islands, previously a marine park, are now protected under their own Act as a marine protected area.

Fire prevention

The Department of Conservation is responsible for fire protection in national parks and reserves, forest parks, unalienated Crown land and other state-owned areas, together with a 1,500 metre fire safety margin adjoining all these lands.

Protected Natural Areas Programme

In addition to administering areas which are already under some form of protection, the Department of Conservation is responsible for augmenting the network of protected areas through the Protected Natural Areas Programme. The programme operates in two phases. First there are district surveys to identify the unprotected areas that best represent the range of natural ecological diversity characteristic of the district. This is followed by an implementation phase, working towards effective protection of these areas, under either public or private ownership.

Helping with repairs to the weather-ravaged Routebum Track.

Forest funds

The Forest Heritage Fund and Nga Whenua Rahui were established as part of the Indigenous Forest Policy. Both these funds are aimed at the permanent protection of conservation value forest on private and Maori land. With the Forest Heritage Fund this is achieved through gifting, covenanting and outright purchase. The Nga Whenua Rahui Fund uses a range of mechanisms with covenanting being the most suitable. Iwi perceive the use of covenants acceptable in lessening the sense of alienation from the land. Nga Whenua Rahui in particular aims to facilitate the voluntary protection of forests on Maori-owned land, while honouring the rights guaranteed to Maori landowners under the Treaty of Waitangi, and affirming the status and tino rangatiratanga of the tangata whenua.

Both funds are contestable. Anyone can apply to the Forest Heritage Fund. Nga Whenua Rahui is restricted to Maori landowning interests. Applications to each of these funds are considered by the two advisory committees who make recommendations to the Minister of Conservation.

Statutory and associated committees

New Zealand Conservation Authority.

Under the Conservation Act, the Conservation Authority (established in 1990) provides advice to the minister on departmental policy development including Maori customary use, Treaty issues and section 4 responsibilities, and other conservation matters of national importance. The authority approves conservation management strategies (CMS), strategic plans currently being prepared in conservancies.

The authority will maintain close involvement in ecosystem protection, including animal and weed pests and the use of 1080 in animal control, the development of strategies and plans to protect New Zealand's biodiversity, monitoring, auditing and community involvement. It also has a particular interest in recreation and tourism and is concerned that the department plans for tourism, develops performance measures and carries out research on physical and social impacts.

Under the National Parks Act, the authority approves national park management plans and investigates additions to, and new, national parks. Currently the authority is investigating a proposed kauri national park in Northland and additions to the Whanganui National Park.

Conservation Boards.

Seventeen conservation boards carry out the above functions at a regional level. Te Ao Marama is the quarterly newsletter of the New Zealand Conservation Authority and the Conservation Boards.

There are 17 regional conservation boards also serviced by the department. Boards work closely with conservancies in the development of CMSs, management plans, conservation advocacy, walkways and a wide range of other conservation issues.

National Fish and Game Council.

This council represents nationally the interests of anglers and hunters and provides co-ordination of the management, enhancement and maintenance of sports fish and game. The council may give advice to the minister and develop, together with regional fish and game councils, national policies for carrying out its functions. It oversees the effective implementation of any general policies established by the minister. Other functions include an advocacy role in statutory planning processes and the fair distribution of revenues between the Regional Fish and Game Councils.

Regional Fish and Game Councils.

There are 12 Regional Fish and Game Councils, whose functions include assessment and monitoring, promotion and education, planning, representing the interests of anglers and hunters in planning processes, and the issuing of licences to fish or hunt.

Taupo Fishery Advisory Committee.

This committee provides advice to the Department of Conservation and the minister on the day-to-day management by the department of the Taupo Fishing District, and on the allocation and expenditure of money.

Queen Elizabeth II National Trust.

The trust encourages and promotes the provision, protection and enhancement of open space for the benefit and enjoyment of the people of New Zealand. The trust most often deals with land in private or non-government ownership, as an independent and permanent trustee. A principal function of the trust is protecting privately-owned land through purchase, open space covenants and acceptance of bequests, donations and gifts of land. Open space covenants are legal agreements between the trust and a landowner or leaseholder to protect a special landscape feature for a specified time or, more usually, in perpetuity. Covenants so far negotiated include wetlands, lakes, coastline, tussock lands, tracts of rural landscape and forest remnants.

Other activities of the trust include landscape awareness projects, demonstration farms, and the protection of wild and scenic rivers. The trust also has educational and advisory responsibilities.

New Zealand Historic Places Trust.

This is a non-profit organisation which exists to identify, record and preserve New Zealand's historic buildings and archaeological sites and to encourage public interest in the nation's past. The trust is described in more detail in section 12.2, The national collection.

Waitangi National Trust Board.

This board administers the Waitangi National Reserve which includes the Treaty House. The Minister of Conservation is administrator of the trust, and is an ex officio member of the board. Other members of the board are the Governor-General (chairman), the Prime Minister, the Minister of Maori Affairs, and nine others representing those with a close association with the Treaty of Waitangi.

Wild Animal Recovery Service Appeal Authority.

This tribunal considers appeals lodged by unsuccessful applicants for wild animal recovery service licences.

A number of other boards have been set up to aid the Government and the department in administering specific responsibilities. These include: Guardians of Lakes Manapouri, Monowai and Te Anau, and Lake Wanaka, Te Roaroa Waipoua Archaeological Advisory Committee, Forest Heritage Fund, South Westland Environmental and Community Advice Group and Nga Whenua Rahui.

Non-governmental conservation organisations

New Zealand has many private organisations actively involved in conservation and environmental issues. These vary from local clubs concerned to preserve some feature of the local landscape to national societies concerned to preserve the environment for its ecological, scientific, recreational or scenic value.

Contributors

16.1Department of Survey and Land Information; Department of Justice; Valuation New Zealand; Land Corporation Limited.
16.2Ministry of Forestry; Ministry for the Environment; Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
16.3Department of Conservation.

Special articles

Ministry for the Environment; Maori Trust Office; Department of Conservation; Consumers’ Institute.

Further information

Land resources and ownership

  • The Conveyancing Bulletin. Butterworths (eight times a year).

  • Listings of rural, commercial, and industrial sales. Valuation New Zealand (quarterly).

  • Residential Sales Summary. Valuation New Zealand (quarterly).

  • Report of the Department of Justice (Parl paper E5).

  • Report of the Department of Survey and Land Information (Parl paper C14).

  • Report of the Valuation Department (Parl paper G26).

  • Rural Property Sales Statistics. Valuation New Zealand (six-monthly).

  • Urban Property Sales Statistics. Valuation New Zealand (six-monthly).

Environmental and resource management

  • Report of the Ministry for the Environment (Parl paper C11).

  • Statistics of the Forests and Forest Industries of New Zealand. Ministry of Forestry (annual).

National parks and reserves

  • Report of the Department of Conservation (Parl paper C13).

  • Report of the New Zealand Conservation Authority (Parl paper C10).

  • Report of the Queen Elizabeth the Second National Trust (Parl paper C2).

Chapter 17. National economy

Dealers watching progress of the dollar on the money markets.

17.1 The economy

Describing and analysing the New Zealand economy requires considerable subtlety. In comparison with some of the economies with which we interact most, New Zealand's is small and simple, yet in comparison with many others, the value of activity in New Zealand is large and complex. The goods and services produced and consumed in New Zealand have many characteristics in common with those of other economies (indeed they are often identical) and yet the New Zealand economy must be understood in its own context and nature rather than merely fitted into international classifications.

New Zealand's cultural, political and social institutions are much indebted to our Maori heritage, by what was brought by the predominantly British immigrants and to what has been developed within New Zealand by local activity shaped by a continuing inflow of ideas and people. The economy, however, owes very little to the Maori heritage. Rather, Maori have had to adapt to participate in the economy, and current efforts to rectify departures from the provisions of the Treaty of Waitangi owe a great deal to the injustices that accompanied that process, most of them being unintended.

A pastoral colony

The modern New Zealand economy was developed almost entirely to participate in the 19th century economy centred on Europe and North America. Some natural resources were valuable once they were recovered and transported internationally, such as goldmining, which was (for a while) a major component of the New Zealand economy.

But the principal resource of New Zealand was the combination of land and climate which provided a long grass-growing season and made it possible to rear farm animals cheaply. Wool grown in New Zealand could compete successfully in the North Atlantic economy while providing incomes in New Zealand which were high in relation to those which could be earned elsewhere. From the end of the 19th century, wool was joined by refrigerated products, predominantly butter and cheese and frozen lamb. These exports financed a wide range of imports, allowing New Zealanders access to much the same pattern of consumption as was available in the industrialised countries of Europe and North America (and in other similar economies, such as Australia).

The New Zealand economy was therefore built around trade, and around trade in agricultural products. The relatively high incomes which could be earned in New Zealand attracted a continuing inflow of immigrants and induced a high rate of natural population increase. Most people did not work directly on farms but in urban centres. Agriculture required many services and inputs, and especially with the development of refrigerated products, some processing before being exported. Some imports could be transported more cheaply in bulk or as components, with the final packaging or assembly being done in local industries or services. New Zealand towns, while small in an international perspective, supported economic activity for which both production and consumption were entirely within New Zealand.

The New Zealand economy was one where ‘modernization’ was significantly different from the kind of ‘industrialisation’ elsewhere. This is the sense of the description of New Zealand as a ‘born free’ economy, one which achieved high income levels without industrialisation, although the term is misleading if it suggests that those high incomes were available without hard work.

Because Britain did not restrict imports and had a strong demand for the products which New Zealanders could produce most efficiently, it was overwhelmingly important among New Zealand's export markets. Because the settlers mostly had British ancestry and because the continuing inflow of newspapers and magazines was mostly from there, British goods largely satisfied consumption demand in New Zealand. This was also convenient for firms which could organise both exporting and importing. The political relationship between Britain and New Zealand was of secondary importance—New Zealand very early gained de facto control of its own trade relations—and while New Zealand governments provided some tariff preferences for British goods, they were not very important either.

By country of origin

By destination

Government intervention in the economy

Governments did, however, have an important economic role. In the 19th century, there was little interest anywhere in the idea of real income per capita, but New Zealanders were aware that their standards of living were better than those of Britain. The prevailing implicit economic objective was to maintain that position while building a larger population.

‘Development’ had the sense of (and which would now be attributed as) extensive growth, subject to the constraint that average real income should be maintained. Contemporary discussion was much more in terms of concrete examples of new railways, new industries, or newly farmed land rather than in any abstract terms. Whenever the government apparatus was judged to be useful in furtherance of this objective, there was little resistance to its use. There was little interest in the ‘majesty’ of government; in the economic sphere, it was readily accessible, as, when the population was small, it was in a personal sense.

Government was directly responsible for building and operating railways, and when gaps in the institutions available were not otherwise filled, as with insurance companies and some forms of financial institutions, a government agency was created. Governments depended heavily on customs duties for their revenue, and in designing tariffs, preference was given to activities which were established in New Zealand although, as far as possible, not at the expense of exporters. The government's role was largely supplementary to the private sector rather than seeking to control it.

In 1930s New Zealand, as elsewhere, government's economic responsibilities increased. Unemployment increased in the 1920s as more and more work was organised on the basis of continuous employment rather than relying on contract labour, but in the 1930s, unemployment rose to unprecedented levels. The problems were international in scope, and were transmitted to New Zealand through lower export prices. In New Zealand, both the government and the private sector found it very hard to respond other than by waiting for the problems to be solved overseas, although there were some determined efforts at local initiative. Despite the growth of beliefs that New Zealanders had drawn together in the face of a malevolent international economy, the experience of the 1930s was actually one of very considerable social tension. Recollections of the impact of unemployment played a key role in thinking about the economy for many years thereafter. Furthermore, the traditional belief that if the power of the state was useful it should be employed, was reinforced by changed international thinking which held that governments should be responsible not only for their own direct economic activities but for ensuring that the economy as a whole be as productive as possible.

One particular event joined with this historical background to shape the economy which emerged into the years after World War II. As incomes in New Zealand recovered from depression levels, the country's demand for imports rose. In December 1938, faced with a balance of payments crisis, the Labour Government introduced import and exchange controls. Unwilling to restrain imports by deliberately cutting incomes because a recurrence of unemployment would be unacceptable, the Government attempted instead to protect overseas reserves by licensing commodity imports and instituting exchange controls for other items involving overseas payments.

Import and exchange controls varied in severity from time to time and gradually declined in importance before their abolition in 1984. They survived largely because of the protection they afforded particular industries. Although they were introduced mainly because of a balance of payments crisis, their protective implications were quickly recognised. Politicians were apt to defend them in terms of their ability to promote industrial growth, even though they were well aware that New Zealand's real income was reduced if local industry grew only because cheaper imports were excluded.

The profits and jobs of many firms came to depend on the shelter afforded by import controls. The fear that these might be jeopardized made it politically difficult to manipulate the controls to contain foreign exchange payments within the limit of export earnings. And yet the workers in protected firms might have contributed more income in other occupations. In retrospect, the 1938 measures can be seen as a crucial component of the post-depression policy of ‘insulating’ the New Zealand economy from overseas influences. As such, they marked a significant discontinuity in the country's economic history.

Government would, in any case, soon have had many more direct economic responsibilities, as all countries use controls in wartime. What was unusual in New Zealand is that controls were associated with deliberate government policy and extension of the welfare state rather than with a wartime emergency. After some false starts, a ‘Stabilization Commission’ moderated price and income increases and in later years was often looked back upon with nostalgia. It was less often noticed that the success which was achieved owed a great deal to the strong discipline of fiscal policy which accompanied stabilisation. (The whole structure also depended on a willingness of sectional groups to subordinate their interests to the overwhelming objective of military success.) Because war created strong demand for New Zealand's exports, the balance of payments crisis was overcome, but controls were entrenched.

At the end of the war, many controls were dismantled but not import and exchange controls. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the basic structure of the economy depended on them, although precisely how was far from clear at the time. Import controls did not work through limiting the total value of imports but through ensuring that imports were mostly materials and equipment used in New Zealand activity. Businesses in New Zealand knew that they would be protected from competing final goods while generally being able to acquire needed inputs. Domestic investment was thereby enhanced since entrepreneurs could be confident about their markets. Even if they had misjudged the level of demand, errors would not be greatly penalised since population and income growth would, before long, enable the investment to be utilised.

High levels of private investment ensured that demand for labour would be high and New Zealand maintained a remarkably low level of unemployment. High levels of employment and aggregate demand meant that there was always a tendency for the demand for imports to run ahead of what could be financed from export receipts; the economy experienced a foreign exchange constraint. Bank credit was subject to direction by the Reserve Bank and was a major instrument in reducing demand when necessary. The government's own substantial investment programme could also be used to some extent.

The low level of unemployment was a major benefit of this structure. Not only was aggregate employment high, but a wide variety of jobs could be provided to suit the aptitudes and interests of individual New Zealanders. The value of this was realised only when it was lost in more recent years. The costs of the structure were that resources in New Zealand were not directed towards their most valuable use and incomes were lower on average than they could have been. This also was not fully realised at the time. It was noted that in relation to other countries, New Zealand got a lower return from its high level of investment, but even more attention was directed to the way that consumer goods available overseas were excluded from New Zealand or available only to customers who were somehow able to get themselves into a preferential position. (This was especially true of motor vehicles.)

Growth and diversification of exports

The structure gave a special role to exports. But while the New Zealand economy grew at a rate which was quite high in relation to earlier periods of history, it was soon apparent that export growth was not going to facilitate growth at a rate equal to what was being achieved by other countries. At the same time, growth of average or per capita real incomes was much more prominent than it had been in earlier years.

In the world generally, measurement of economic growth was more common: the growth and development of the world's relatively poor countries was a major topic of international economic and political discussion; and relative growth rates were used to assess the strengths and weaknesses of countries and their economic systems. While New Zealand's indigenous idea of ‘development’ in terms of expansion at a constant average income did not die overnight, it gradually became less important than growth of average incomes.

The market in Britain for New Zealand's exports did not offer scope for faster growth. Britain was growing less rapidly than many other countries, it was becoming concerned about its own farmers and wanted to protect their domestic market, and from the late 1950s onwards, there was always the prospect that Britain would eventually join the European Economic Community (EEC) and accede to its protectionist regime for agriculture. So the objective for New Zealand became diversification—diversification of both markets for traditional exports and diversification of the range of goods exported.

There was considerable success in this endeavour. Whereas in the early 1950s, under the particular stimulus of high commodity prices during the Korean War, Britain took about 90 percent of New Zealand's exports, by the time it actually joined the EEC in 1973, it took less than 20 percent. Over the same period, New Zealand's exports became more varied than the traditional frozen lamb, wool, butter and cheese. Much of the diversification was within agriculture, most obviously in the widening range of dairy products and the growth of beef exports. Furthermore, forest products became an important export. There were even moves towards exporting of manufactured goods (with government incentives being used for this purpose) but in the 1960s success was limited in scope, being mainly confined to aluminium processing.

Nevertheless, towards the end of the 1960s, there were many hopes that the constraint on New Zealand's growth rate was being removed. In 1967, the Government took the opportunity created by a realignment of British Sterling with other international currencies to devalue even further than sterling. New Zealand production became more competitive, especially for manufactured goods in Australia. Further, international commodity prices boomed, mainly in response to the impact of the Vietnam War on the United States economy.

The oil crisis and stagflation

The hopes proved to be misplaced. There were many reasons, but the main one was that in 1973, Middle East oil producers succeeding in implementing and sustaining a very sharp increase in the price of oil. In effect, a significant slice of world income was redistributed away from oil importers to oil producers, and New Zealand's export markets, although markedly more various than they had once been, were overwhelmingly oil importers. Diversification proved to be no answer when all markets contracted together.

The Government responded with the ‘growth’ or ‘think big’ projects, especially after a further rise in the relative price of oil in 1979. It was sensible to seek to use New Zealand's hydrocarbon resources which had become more valuable in line with the world price of oil. Unfortunately, this was presented in the readily-understood but misleading rhetoric of increasing New Zealand's self-sufficiency rather than as an element in a positive adaptation to a changed world economy. The real key was the competitiveness in the light of international prices, of New Zealand's industries whether they were growth projects, suppliers to growth projects, or only indirectly linked with the growth projects.

At the same time, reduced real incomes intensified sectional conflict and fed inflation. New Zealand's experience of inflation had previously been in line with international trends but became much larger, making it more difficult to evaluate investment projects and diverting attention from production to securing shelter against the impact of inflation. Unemployment began to grow. The government borrowed overseas, initially in line with international recommendations for dealing with the increased financial reserves of oil producers, but the borrowing was maintained for too long. It was subsequently defended as a sensible way to develop New Zealand's resources, but in fact it was supporting domestic consumption at a level above what was justified by production. Assistance to exporters was extended to agriculture, with the result that producers were given no incentive to look at trends in world markets, while much of the support was captured by urban suppliers of inputs to farmers. Some farmers gained, less by increasing output of marketable produce than by selling farms at prices which included capitalisation of government support.

There were achievements during the 1970s. Exports of manufactured goods (to Australia and other markets) did grow. Some of the agricultural sector developed markets in horticultural products and kiwifruit. The transport sector was significantly rationalized. The Closer Economic Relations (CER) Agreement with Australia provided exciting new opportunities for manufacturing and initiated a reorientation towards the international economy. But by 1984, it was clear that existing policies were leading New Zealand into increased overseas debt while not removing the disparity of incomes compared with other countries. The mechanisms which had produced full employment in the 1950s and 1960s had been lost; the fundamental problems remained. The election of a new government in July 1984 (which had resulted from a snap election and therefore had given few hostages to particular interest groups), provided an opportunity for an unusually sharp change of direction.

The economic achievements of the years between World War II and 1984 should not be overlooked. But while it is important to recognise the efforts of the diverse groups of people who grappled with policy issues, managed business enterprises of all kinds in the environment of the 1960s and 1970s, and worked diligently and intelligently at all kinds of employment, it is nevertheless true that New Zealand's average income was falling relative to what was being achieved in other countries. And while New Zealand's gross domestic product grew quite strongly in the late 1970s and early 1980s, an increasing share of the gains was returned to overseas lenders rather than to New Zealanders, and internal problems were suppressed rather than resolved.

Restructuring the economy

From 1984, there was therefore a major change in policy and in the basic structure of the economy. Economic policy was focussed on efficiency and equity. Both elements were controversial, and merely initiate enquiry rather than provide policy conclusions. But throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, there was continual and searching scrutiny of what government should try to do in the economic and social fields, and what instrument would best promote the objectives of the government. To describe this as a crusade is not misleading, especially for the Labour Government of 1984–90 which wanted to be seen by historians as a reforming government, comparable with the governments of the 1890s and of the later 1930s.

Changes were introduced in both the direct activities of the public sector, and the legislative and regulatory environment within which the private sector operated. In the former respect, particularly important innovations were the commercialisation and privatisation of government trading activities, and the reform of public sector management in which a key element was a change from funding programmes to purchase by ministers of defined services from government departments. Furthermore, the Reserve Bank was granted a high level of autonomy and charged with controlling inflation, a responsibility which it discharged with great success.

The importance attached to providing an environment in which other decisionmakers were induced to respond to market signals is shown most clearly in the removal of producer subsidies and the reduction of protection. Encouraging decisionmakers to respond to opportunities also necessarily promoted efforts to remove barriers in the way of their doing so, and the Government therefore implemented a process of regulatory reform. The intention was to remove inappropriate regulations, not all regulation. However, as the process started from a position where official controls were excessively detailed, it was not easy to maintain that distinction in popular discussion.

Governments accepted the argument for ‘transparency’—that if there are reasons for government to facilitate the operations of some group in society, they should be exposed for public scrutiny and debate. Ironically, the governments involved, both the Labour Government of 1984–90 and its successor National Government, 1990–93, were widely criticised for breaking electoral commitments. There is weight in this argument, which had a part in the 1993 decision, by referendum, to change the electoral system, but it underestimates the difficulty of telling people what they do not want to hear. Whatever is the final verdict on that issue, successive governments really did engage in an unusually searching analysis of what they were trying to do, making academically honest judgements about income transfers of all kinds.

The whole of the process of ‘restructuring’, the reorientation of New Zealand firms and enterprises towards being international businesses rather than providers to a protected domestic market, and the reform of the public sector, had to be managed within an overall stance of fiscal policy. It was not easy for the Government to manage its revenue and expenditure so as to support the ‘restructuring’ it wished to promote. On tax policy, the key actions were to implement a switch from direct to indirect tax (recommended by various bodies since at least 1967) and broadening the tax base so as to obtain a given total revenue from a lower average tax rate. The switch to indirect tax was achieved through the wide-ranging goods and services tax, (GST), a value-added tax implemented with unusually few exemptions and now widely recognised internationally as a model.

Tax policy was controversial enough, but it was the general stance of fiscal policy which attracted most dissent. The Government chose to withdraw from dealing in foreign currency and to allow the exchange rate to be determined in a free market. It gave up direct controls on wages, prices and interest rates, but made a determined assault on inflation. Such changes were radical, and far from understood. Nor did the Government secure immediately the outcomes it wanted. The need to borrow required it to offer attractive interest rates, and these attracted investors from overseas as well as from within New Zealand. As investment funds flowed into a free foreign exchange market, the exchange rate rose, and exporters, both agricultural and otherwise, found their returns from overseas sales worth less in New Zealand currency. Consumers gained from cheaper imports, but the loss of jobs from industry was more visible and painful. While there were some apparent countervailing gains by 1987, the international stock market crash of that year impacted heavily, revealing the unstable nature of some companies which had seemed to prosper in the new environment.

The background to all fiscal policy decisions was a level of overseas debt that was regarded as undesirable. There was never any prospect (after the election campaign of 1984), that New Zealand would not be able to meet its obligations, but the level of overseas public debt was high. It was expensive to service, and would become more so if international rating agencies decided that the riskiness of existing instruments had increased. Interest payments, on the total debt and not only on the overseas portion, constituted a significant fraction of total government spending, and reduced the Government's freedom of manoeuvre.

The lessons of the 1930s had not been forgotten, but government's management of its own affairs had become markedly more important than it was in the 1950s and 1960s. There was therefore always concern with the level and nature of its expenditure. But that expenditure was critical to activities which were seen by many as essential to the social life of New Zealand (although criticised by others.)

The quest for efficiency and equity

The thrust of government policy was towards securing ‘quality’ of government expenditure, ensuring that public assets and public funds were used as effectively as possible for the objectives towards which they were directed. And those objectives still reflected the overriding aims of efficiency and equity. It was, however, difficult to persuade people that such aims are different from reducing government expenditure for its own sake. People tend to think that fiscal pressures can easily be resolved by reducing spending which is other than that which supports their particular interests.

Economists think naturally of income maximisation, not because they are materialists but because incomes provide people with choices. Even for policy objectives, which are usually expressed in terms like ‘participation in society’ and which are therefore thought of as ‘social’ rather than ‘economic’, the experience of most people depends on their ability to make decisions about the disposition of household incomes. This is especially true of incomes earned in the labour market, which is a principal reason why employment levels have such social significance. But participation in society extends to collective activity, to the sense of belonging or social cohesion which follows from sharing in joint endeavours. Society may want to allocate some goods or services according to ‘need’ rather than according to income. It then has to find some means of judging ‘need’ and some process for ensuring that responsible institutions satisfy their mandate rather than use resources for their own purposes.

The essential policy decision was one with as many social as economic dimensions: the relative share of adjustment costs to be borne by those dependent for employment and incomes on the tradable sector and those similarly dependent on government expenditure. Most social of all was the judgment that existing New Zealanders should rely less on forcing succeeding generations to finance current consumption. Discussion of the budget deficit and the general strategy of fiscal policy is often regarded as technically demanding and of interest only to economists, but it is at the core of a social strategy.

The whole structure of policy was aimed at satisfying community aspirations, both social and economic. But those community aspirations are diverse and inconsistent so that no government can ever be entirely successful. And criticism of the government grew as unemployment levels climbed. New Zealand was not an attractive place for investment. The sharemarket crash of 1987 had a deep impact, especially in the property sector, and the climate of opinion (most obviously in Auckland) remained pessimistic. While a careful review of the evidence shows that experience is highly variable within all sectors of the economy, with firms which were able to adapt to changed circumstances finding areas of expansion, the news media remained dominated by the negative aspects of economic restructuring. And while their picture was misleading, it was undoubtedly true that growth of GNP was more difficult to secure than the Government expected and intended. The shift from ‘insulation’ to ‘international orientation’ was difficult.

It is conventional now to say that after 1984, the Government took the right actions but in the wrong sequence, that it should have moved first on labour and goods markets and only later deregulated the financial markets. There are obvious intellectual attractions in timing policy interventions according to the relative responsiveness of private sector participants, but such a choice was never available to policymakers. In 1984, exchange controls were breaking down anyway, as they were widely seen to be both ineffective and inappropriate in the face of technical change in communications. In a particular example, officials were well aware that there were dangers in floating the exchange rate when the budget deficit was high. They recommended reducing the deficit as much as possible, and then faced the question, given that political judgement set a limit on how rapidly the deficit could be reduced, was it wise to float the exchange rate in order to gain monetary control? Advising them that it would have been even better to first further reduce the deficit is hardly helpful.

An international competitive economy

The New Zealand economy has been changed into one with an international orientation. Especially since the CER Agreement with Australia, exports of manufactured goods to Australia have been a major activity. But manufactured goods are also exported to North America, Europe and Asia. They may depend on niche marketing (where manufacturers have narrowed their range of activity in which they can be internationally competitive), often relying on some expertise related to the agricultural and forestry sectors but sometimes relying on skill, knowledge or some other aspect of human capital. For an economy which is small in relation to Australia let alone Japan, the European Community or Europe, (but not relative to a great many of the 170 or so members of the United Nations), something which looks like a niche to others can be a major market. There are many examples such as the supply of windscreens to the builders and restorers of vintage cars in the United States. But the basis of manufactured exports is not always so bizarre. It may simply be a well developed human skill, as in the case of control systems sold to Narita airport, or to the manufacturers of noodles or fish-farm feed in Korea. At the same time, agriculture and forestry are still the uses of New Zealand resources which are most valuable, in that they provide the best return in international markets. The New Zealand economy is a complex one, in which the key elements are the use of the skills and aptitudes of New Zealanders in securing high average incomes through international competitiveness, and the balancing of individual initiative with collective provision of services which contribute to a unique social and political community.

17.2 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 Statistics New Zealand are all integrated into the system, as are the inter-industry studies. 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 published each year. Provisional estimates are prepared for the latest March year only for the consolidated accounts of the nation (see below). Revised estimates for previous years are also prepared and detailed breakdowns of some of the main aggregates are also published for these years. The information used to compile the accounts becomes available progressively over a long period, and for some 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.

Tables in this section contain data for the latest available five years. For the consolidate accounts of the nation, data is provided for the years ended March 1988 to 1992, while some detailed breakdowns of the main aggregates are included for the years ended March 1987 to 1991.

Explanation of the terms gross domestic product, gross national product and gross national income are given below. Definitions of other national accounting terms can be found in the glossary at the back of this book.

Table 17.1. PRINCIPAL AGGREGATES OF THE NATIONAL ACCOUNTS

 Year ended March
Aggregates1989–901990–911991–921992–931993–94
   $(million)  
Gross domestic product71,41073,12672,90976,11180,864
  Plus, net factor receipts from rest of world-4,769-4,243-4,425-3,042-3,220
Gross national product66,64168,88268,48473,06977,644
  Less, consumption of fixed capital6,1686,5256,9207,2307,482

National income at market prices

60,47362,35761,56465,83970,162
  Plus, net current transfers from rest of world390336367397343
National disposable income60,86362,69361,93166,23670,506

Table 17.2. NATIONAL ACCOUNTS: 1962–1994

 Gross National ProductGross Domestic ProductNational IncomeGDP at 1982/83 prices†
Year ended March*** 

* Excludes stock valuation adjustment.

Includes stock valuation adjustment.

   $NZ(million)   
19622,857 2,872 2,626 17,270
19633,096 3,114 2,847 17,779
19643,377 3,397 3,112 18,884
19653,699 3,721 3,412 20,038
19663,981 4,012 3,664 21,259
19674,148 4,190 3,775 22,065
19684,328 4,375 3,938 21,875
19694,610 4,642 4,184 22,341
19705,092 5,133 4,626 23,469
19715,791 5,832 5,268 24,338
19726,834 6,871R 6,276 24,957
19737,846 7,887R 7,223 26,063
19749,162 9,181R 8,455 27,933
197510,049 10,107R 9,226 29,059
197611,579 11,712R 10,604 29,548
197713,936 14,162R 12,820 29,591
197815,21414,63415,511R14,97014,00813,46728,775
1979 16,549 16,958 15,25228,835
1980 19,335 19,795 17,86729,571
1981 22,557 23,068 20,88529,888
1982 27,401 28,016 25,47631,357
1983 30,703 31,561 28,45631,558
1984 33,774 35,049 31,08632,422
1985 37,675 39,677 34,43434,022
1986 43,257 45,777 39,43134,284
1987 52,257 55,024 47,76535,005
1988 59,267 62,536 54,03735,471
1989 63,909 67,228 58,14535,212
1990 66,641 71,410 60,47335,800
1991 68,882 73,126 62,35735,589
1992 68,484R 72,909R 61,564R35,129R
1993 73,069R 76,111R 65,839R36,169R
1994 77,644P 80,864P 70,162P38,157P

Consolidated accounts of the nation

The consolidated accounts of the nation comprise four accounts as follows:

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 production, and the categories of the final expenditure on the available goods and services.

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 paid 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 portion of income which was saved.

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 replacement of capital equipment) gives a residual to be borrowed from (or lent to) the rest of the world.

External transactions.

This account brings together all transactions with the rest of the world. The residual ‘surplus of nation on current transactions’ (when adjusted for net capital transfers) records New Zealand's net borrowing from the rest of the world.

Table 17.3. GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT AND EXPENDITURE

 Year ended March
Item1989–901990–911991–921992–931993–94
$(million)
Compensation of employees32,96433,53133,01033,63434,663
Operating surplus21,63722,13922,28924,50727,625
Consumption of fixed capital6,1686,5256,9207,2307,482
Indirect taxes10,84811,13510,87010,95611,300
Less, subsidies206205180216205
Gross domestic product71,41073,12672,90976,11180,864
Final consumption expenditure—general government11,72812,52912,46412,57212,530
private43,45545,64245,78246,72548,467
Value of physical increase in stocks2,0837093721,7532,176
Gross fixed capital formation14,30313,83711,64312,56414,856
Gross national expenditure71,56872,71870,26173,61478,028
Exports of goods and services19,15419,93521,51923,76425,030
Less, imports of goods and services18,97219,52719,20121,77522,642
Expenditure on gross domestic product71,75173,12572,57975,60380,417
Statistical discrepancy-340 330508448

Table 17.4. NATIONAL INCOME AND OUTLAY

 Year ended March
Item1989–901990–911991–921992–931993–94
   $(million)  
Final consumption expenditure—government—central10,34010,90810,83610,90810,825
  government—local1,3881,6211,6291,6641,704
  private—households42,73444,82144,90845,85347,629
  private—non-profit organisations serving households720822874872838
Savings5,6814,5223,6856,9399,510
Appropriation of national disposable income60,86362,69361,93166,23670,506
Compensation of employees32,96433,53133,01033,63434,663
Compensation of employees from the rest of the world, net-----
Operating surplus21,63722,13922,28924,50727,625
Property and entrepreneurial income from the rest of the world, net-4,769-4,243-4,425-3,042-3,220
Indirect taxes10,84811,13510,87010,95611,300
Less, subsidies206205180216205
National income60,47362,35761,56465,83970,162
Current transfers from the rest of the world, net390336367397343
National disposable income60,86362,69361,93166,23670,506

Table 17.5. CAPITAL FINANCE

 Year ended March
Item1989–901990–911991–921992–931993–94

* Includes all government-owned producer enterprises.

   $(million)  
Value of physical increase in stocks2,0837093721,7532,176
Gross fixed capital formation—private10,95610,3039,16110,22612,799
  central government*2,4972,7751,7061,4601,177
  local government*850760777877900
Purchase of intangible assets from the rest of the world, net-----
Net lending to the rest of the world-3,728-2,789-8642061
Gross accumulation12,65811,75711,15114,52317,033
Savings5,6814,5223,6856,9399,510
Consumption of fixed capital6,1686,5256,9207,2307,482
Capital transfers from the rest of the world, net469710876862489
Statistical discrepancy340--330-508-448
Finance of gross accumulation12,65811,75711,15114,52317,033

Table 17.6. EXTERNAL TRANSACTIONS

 Year ended March
Item1989–901990–911991–921992–931993–94
   $(million)  
Exports of goods15,03115,68617,02918,87919,645
Exports of services4,1234,2484,4904,8855,385
Compensation of employees from the rest of the world-----
Property and entrepreneurial income from the rest of the world-246417-23520556
Other current transfers from the rest of the world9971,0821,1401,1791,154
Current receipts19,90521,43422,42425,14826,240
Imports of goods14,87115,23814,48216,53417,809
Imports of services4,1014,2894,7195,2424,833
Compensation of employees to the rest of the world-----
Property and entrepreneurial income to the rest of the world4,5234,6604,1903,2473,276
Other current transfers to the rest of the world606746773782811
Surplus of nation on current transactions-4,197-3,499-1,740-656-488
Current disbursements Capital19,90521,43422,42425,14826,240
Surplus of nation on current transactions-4,197-3,499-1,740-656-488
Capital transfers from the rest of the world, net469710876862489
Capital receipts-3,728-2,789-8642061
Net lending to the rest of the world-3,728-2,789-8642061
Capital disbursements-3,728-2,789-8642061

Inter-industry studies

Inter-industry input-output analysis is a powerful tool for studying national economies. It defines and measures in money terms the relationships between the industry groups in the economy, or between the commodities that are supplied and used by different units 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 processing 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. Using the commodity relationships, 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. The aims are to:

  • Provide an overall view of the economy.

  • Trace the probable effects of major rises or falls in one industry's demand throughout the economy.

  • Enable the effect of actual or hypothesised 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.

  • 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 concepts used in the study are reconcilable with those in the national accounts.

The study also provides information on the ‘primary input’ required by each industry. These include labour, imports and profits. Similarly, the disposal of the outputs to consumption, capital formation and exports can be traced. Statistics New Zealand undertakes full-scale five-yearly inter-industry studies periodically covering over 100 industry groups. These are supplemented with updates, containing less industry detail, made between the full studies. The most recent full study is for 1986–87, with an update for 1990–91.

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 government as a producer when it carries out its conventional role of the provision of administrative, health, education, defence, and other services. Similarly, the large number of organisations which provide services on a non-profit basis—such as religious orders, schools, hospitals, and sporting clubs—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.

, 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. Industry details for 1992–93 are not yet available.

Table 17.7. CONTRIBUTION TO GDP BY PRODUCTION GROUP

 Year ended March
Production group1984–851985–861986–871987–881988–891989–901990–91
    $(million)   
 Market production groups
Agriculture3,1383,0603,0783,7044,1564,5703,909
Fishing and hunting130177218232258254237
Forestry and logging6318921,0391,1371,3691,4151,505
Mining and quarrying4225826285896418301,014
Manufacture of food, beverages, and tobacco2,6502,5703,2843,5933,9104,0154,259
Textiles, apparel, and leather763856970923800866814
Manufacture of wood products621718734700715752720
Manufacture of paper products, and printing1,1241,2061,3411,6591,6731,8261,965
Manufacture of chemicals, petroleum, rubber, plastic9981,3181,7511,5031,6021,7751,524
Manufacture of non-metallic mineral products402401413405427413424
Basic metal industries359350333253298459423
Manufacture of fabricated metal products2,1792,3682,6272,8002,6912,8482,601
Other manufacturing102134121128144151142
Electricity, gas, and water1,1161,4421,7121,7651,9822,1102,099
Construction2,2222,5512,7912,9382,9913,2182,808
Trade, restaurants, and hotels7,2748,4949,6159,80710,41210,09311,391
Transport and storage2,1432,3722,8103,1003,4623,7083,666
Communication1,0341,1561,6002,0912,1262,1992,384
Financing, insurance, real estate, and business services4,8175,9817,7319,49610,26810,74010,574
Ownership of owner-occupied dwellings1,9292,7563,4054,0604,9075,2755,914
Community, social, and personal services1,4861,7661,9032,3312,6142,6842,846
Nominal industry (bank service charge)-1,285-1,553-2,162-2,847-2,818-2,996-3,000
      Total, market production groups34,25439,59745,94150,36854,62857,20358,217
 Non-market production groups
Central government services3,9144,6025,7756,5707,1537,6427,890
Local government services474534584625720777885
Private non-profit services324377450518577630697
Domestic services of households27293548676872
      Total, non-market production groups4,7395,5426,8447,7618,5179,1169,544
      Total, all production groups38,99245,13952,78558,12963,14666,32067,761
Plus, GST on production--1,5013,3503,4804,4004,741
Plus, import duties604535570847507604556
Plus, other indirect taxes81103168210958767
Gross domestic product39,67745,77755,02462,53667,22871,41073,126

In , 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 surplus of all producers, and GDP is unaffected.

Gross fixed capital formation

outlines gross fixed capital formation. It records purchases of capital assets, reduced by the value of sales of such assets, plus the value of construction work done by an establishment's own employees; no deduction is made for assets used up during the period of account. Land purchases and sales, but not land improvements, are excluded by definition.

The table, which analyses gross capital formation by asset type, is a summary of detailed tables, which include separate series for private, central and local government sectors.

Table 17.8. GROSS FIXED CAPITAL FORMATION BY TYPE OF CAPITAL GOOD

Year ended MarchResidential buildingsNon-residential buildingsOther constructionLand improvementsTransport equipmentPlant, machinery, and other equipmentTotal
    $(million)   
1988–892,7972,9241,5161629704,52312,892
1989–903,3412,8111,4771751,6374,86114,303
1990–913,4192,4341,5631541,4434,82413,837
1991–922,9401,7091,6081681,2693,94811,643
1992–933,1631,6021,2722201,7254,58212,564
1993–943,8951,8881,1652452,1845,47814,856

Increase in stocks.

shows the value of the physical increase in stocks of raw materials, work-in-progress, and finished goods by production group. This excludes the capital gains and losses caused by holding stocks purchased at prices higher or lower than those ruling during the year.

Table 17.9. INCREASE IN STOCKS

 Year ended
Production group1986–871987–881988–891989–901990–91
   $(million)  
 Market production groups
Agriculture4513933191126
Fishing and hunting254512
Forestry and logging8389421,0861,0801,079
Mining and quarrying1-413-27
Manufacture of food, beverages, and tobacco62-16287-6
Textiles, apparel, and leather-6-7-151410
Manufacture of wood products25-274729-37
Manufacture of paper products, and printing-4311-204-15
Manufacture of chemicals, petroleum, rubber and plastic-5523-326-50
Manufacture of non-metallic mineral products-5-16-154-17
Basic metal industries8264070-54
Manufacture of fabricated metal products-13886-209194-108
Other manufacturing-18273
Electricity, gas and water26-25-232-9
Construction-10-23-36-37-2
Trade, restaurants and hotels251-489-211541-253
Transport and storage5-15-1512-1
Communication-10539-14-203
Financing, insurance, real estate and business services-9-1916-9
Ownership of owner-occupied dwellings-----
Community, social, personal services-151139-2314
      Total, market production groups8805047642,082707
 Non-market production groups
Central government services7-23--
Local government services-1113
Private non-profit services-----
Domestic services of households-----
      Total, non-market production groups7-1213
Total, all production groups8875037672,083709

Bowen House, Turnbull House, The Treasury, the Reserve Bank and the Ministry of Commerce, Bowen Street, Wellington.

Final consumption expenditure of households

Final consumption expenditure of resident households is available by purpose and type. The series are calculated for the years ended 31 March 1983 onwards. Points to note are:

  • In the tables total expenditure by households in the domestic market (including expenditure by non-resident individuals) is analysed by purpose and type. This total is then adjusted to obtain final consumption expenditure of resident households, by deducting expenditure of overseas visitors in New Zealand, and adding that of New Zealanders overseas.

  • (A), expenditure by purpose, classifies expenditure on goods and services by their use, that is, the analysis distinguishes between the purposes for which households purchase goods and services. Accordingly, a mixture of goods and services may be combined in a single category, for example, the hotels and restaurants item includes expenditure on food, alcohol and accommodation.

  • (B), expenditure by type, classifies expenditure on goods and services by durability. Non-durable goods are defined as those with an average useful life of less than one year. Durable goods are expected to last one year or longer.

Table 17.1. FINAL CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURE OF RESIDENT HOUSEHOLDS (A) BY PURPOSE

 Year ended 31 March
 1989–901990–911991–921992–931993–94

* Included in ‘hotels and restaurants’ is the expenditure on alcohol consumed in chartered clubs, hotels, taverns and licensed restaurants. Purchases from bottle stores and wine shops are included in ‘beverages’.

Includes fringe benefits received by households.

   $(million)  
 Food and beverages—
  food5,3085,6795,6435,7685,822
  beverages*1,6131,8681,8471,8861,867
Clothing and footwear2,1842,1982,1812,2432,364
 Housing—
  imputed rent of owner-occupied dwellings6,7457,3257,5547,5137,704
  rental payments and associated costs1,7311,8621,8881,9412,022
Household goods and services—     
  fuel and power9841,0661,1631,1851,254
  furniture, floor coverings and appliances1,9031,8251,7911,9072,126
  textiles and tableware685673675719779
  other goods and services1,0971,1611,2271,2791,398
Health services2,4952,6862,8663,0883,292
 Transport—
  cars, motorcycles and vehicles1,9931,7341,4701,2901,478
  vehicle operation3,3823,4563,3753,4113,493
  public transport1,4321,5391,5971,6041,662
Recreation*3,5653,7123,6883,9094,158
Hotels and restaurants*3,2083,2423,2513,3563,579
 Other goods and services—
  tobacco1,0661,1421,1431,1491,152
  personal1,4511,5441,6101,6431,714
  post and telephone1,0001,0571,0861,1301,156
  other services†1,3071,4241,2841,3951,366

  Total expenditure by households in New Zealand

43,14945,19245,34046,41448,387
 

Less, non-resident households’ expenditure in New Zealand.

  Plus, resident households’ expenditure overseas

-415-371-432-561-758

  Final consumption expenditure of resident households

42,73444,82144,90845,85347,629
 

(B) BY TYPE

Total non-durables12,65413,68913,77914,12914,392
Total durables10,63110,44010,15410,27711,132
Total services†19,86421,06321,40722,00822,863
  Total expenditure by households in New Zealand43,14945,19245,34046,41448,387
Less, Non-resident households’ expenditure in New Zealand.     
  Plus, resident households’ expenditure overseas-415-371-432-561-758
  Final consumption expenditure of resident households42,73444,82144,90845,85347,629

Gross domestic product and expenditure at constant prices

Gross domestic product (GDP) and expenditure on GDP at constant prices is calculated by removing the effects of price changes from the current price production accounts and expenditure aggregates respectively.

contains production-based GDP statistics. That is, estimates of value added for each industry are expressed in the average prices of the base year and are summed to give total GDP. In most cases, the estimates of constant price value added are prepared by extrapolating base year value added by indicator series representing the quantities of output produced.

The series of expenditure on GDP in constant prices is an alternative measure of economic activity within New Zealand. Conceptually, both the production and expenditure-based GDP series are the same. However, as each series uses independent data and estimation techniques, some differences between the alternative measures do arise. Expenditure on GDP statistics are shown in and .

The constant price series are valued at 1982–83 prices.

Table 17.11. INDEXES OF GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT AT CONSTANT PRICES*

 AgricultureFishing, hunting, forestry, miningManufacturingElectricity gas & Construction waterTrade, restaurants, hotelsOwner occupied dwellingsTransport, communications†General government servicesGDP 

* Quarterly indexes are shown as annual equivalents. Base: 1982–83 (= 100.00), Stock valuation adjustment is included.

Includes business and personal services.

Calculated as the average of the four quarterly indexes.

Actual
March year‡
1986116132R107R116117R101106124R100108.6R
1987116R137R109R118113R104109132R100110.9R
1988138R131R105R119114R102110R140R99112.4R
1989128R154R103122104R99R112R143R98R111.6R
1990122R166R103R126109R101114R148R96R113.4R
1991143R163R98R12792R99R116R149R95R112.8R
1992132R176R96R132R72R98R118R154R96R111.3R
1993135R183R102R12175R100119R159R97R114.6R
1994143R186R108R13186R107120R168R96R120.7R
Actual
Quarterly
1992 Mar149186R99R125R65R95R118R156R91R112.0R
     Jun88R156R102R115R76R99118R158R99R110.1R
     Sep115R184R96R11569R97119R157R99R110.4R
     Dec182R214107R12980R107119R161R97R112.0R
1993 Mar156R178R104R126R74R98120R162R93R115.9R
     Jun91R154R106R125R84R102120R162R98R113.5R
     Sep125R173R105R145R90R103R120R165R99R118.2R
     Dec194R224R113R123R93R115121R170R95R128.4R
1994 Mar162R195R108R133R77R108121R175R92R122.8R
     Jun931581111199811312117696120.8
Seasonally adjusted
Quarterly
1992 Mar132182R100R131R72R98R118R156R96R112.8R
     Jun134R186R101R119R73R99R118R158R96R113.7R
     Sep133R187R100R107R69R98R119R157R96R112.6
     Dec135R183R102R12975R100R119R159R96R114.8
1993 Mar138R175R105R13181R101120R162R97R116.6R
     Jun139R185R106R129R82102R120R163R96R117.5R
     Sep145R178R110R13590105R120R165R96R120.7
     Dec142R192R107R12188108121R169R95R120.8R
1994 Mar144R191R109R13885R111121R175R94R123.3R
     Jun1441911111239511312117694124.9

Gross domestic product at constant prices.

The production-based gross domestic product at constant prices series was developed from 1977–78, replacing the previously published Index of Real GDP. Historical statistics linking the two series have been calculated and are available from 1954–55. The quarterly series is only available from the June quarter 1977.

Both actual and seasonally adjusted indexes of GDP at constant prices by industry group are shown in . The seasonal adjustment process removes the effect of regular seasonal events, eg, the increase in consumer spending in the December quarter due to Christmas.

Actual and seasonally adjusted quarterly indexes of GDP at constant prices are shown in the graph below.

Table 17.12. EXPENDITURE ON GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT AT CONSTANT PRICES*

 Final consumption expenditure        
 PrivateGeneral governmentIncrease in stocksGross fixed capital formationGross National ExpenditureExports of goods and servicesLess imports of goods and servicesExpenditure on GDPIndex of expenditure on GDPIndex of production based GDP

* 1982–83 Prices; year ended 31 March 1983.

Actual
March year    $(million)    
198721,5715,9864138,81936,78911,44411,82836,405114.8110.9R
198821,9076,049229,35437,33212,21712,96136,588115.4112.4R
198922,3276,044689,11137,55012,36912,85437,065116.9111.6R
199022,4436,0408979,93639,31612,11014,75636,670115.7113.4R
199122,3986,1782229,58338,38113,02615,04336,364114.7112.8R
199222,0496,174-2478,12036,09613,86514,53535,426111.7111.3R
199322,1186,1746408,78237,71414,20515,74636,173114.1110.0R
199422,7946,06392510,34640,12815,40317,62437,907119.6120.7R
Quarterly
1989 Mar5,2481,4904962,1489,3823,1233,1789,327117.7111.0R
     Jun5,8141,522-3422,4619,4553,2913,4969,250116.7110.3R
     Sep5,5521,499-2602,4769,2672,7733,8658,175103.1111.5R
     Dec5,8361,5411,0092,69211,0782,8983,9929,984126.0119.7R
1990 Mar5,2411,4784902,3079,5163,1483,4039,261116.8112.2R
     Jun5,6111,679-5192,4329,2033,4443,7158,932112.7109.8R
     Sep5,5991,519-672,5079,5583,1374,1388,557108.0111.2R
     Dec5,9881,5435862,52210,6393,1283,72210,045126.7119.5
1991 Mar5,2001,4372222,1228,9813,3173,4688,830111.4110.5R
     Jun5,4811,694-7321,9308,3733,6203,4488,545107.8106.1R
     Sep5,4851,501-5052,0318,5123,4103,7018,221103.7101.0R
     Dec5,8901,5365472,16610,1393,4133,7819,771123.3118.4R
1992 Mar5,1931,4434431,9939,0723,4223,6058,889112.1112.0R
     Jun5,4641,688-4372,1198,8343,9183,7409,012113.7110.1R
     Sep5,4791,512-3562,2268,8613,3194,1578,023101.2110.4R
     Dec5,9681,5507532,30310,5743,4254,1719,828124.0122.0R
1993 Mar5,2071,4246802,1349,4453,5433,6789,310117.5115.9R
     Jun5,5851,625-4302,4359,2153,8834,1108,988113.4113.5R
     Sep5,6551,515-2562,6689,5823,7384,6078,713109.9118.2R
     Dec6,1271,5049702,73811,3393,7684,65510,452131.9128.4R
1994 Mar5,4271,4196412,5059,9924,0144,2529,754123.1122.8R
     Jun5,9021,593-6003,0039,8984,2894,8279,360118.1120.8

Table 17.13. EXPENDITURE ON GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT AT CONSTANT PRICES*

 Final consumption expenditure      
QuarterPrivateGeneral GovernmentIncrease stocksGross fixed capital formationGross National ExpenditureExports of goods and servicesLess imports of goods and servicesExpenditure on GDP

* 1982–83 prices; year ended 31 March 1983.

Seasonally adjusted
$(million)
1989 Mar5,6021,5132192,2719,6053,1383,4179,326
     Jun5,8101,5221882,4599,9793,1013,5159,565
     Sep5,5411,5332432,4339,7502,7993,6978,852
     Dec5,5021,5433912,59710,0332,9973,8839,147
1990 Mar5,5881,5801172,4579,7423,1803,6599,263
     Jun5,6031,54722,4349,5863,2673,7409,113
     Sep5,6091,5515552,47010,1853,1903,9569,419
     Dec5,6161,545-1692,4229,4143,2823,6009,096
1991 Mar5,5431,534-1992,2649,1423,3553,7608,737
     Jun5,4911,563-1801,9278,8013,4043,4808,725
     Sep5,5001,529401,9909,0593,5023,5309,031
     Dec5,5151,540-1342,0638,9843,5493,6658,868
1992 Mar5,5341,539212,1519,2453,4513,8758,821
     Jun5,4751,5611332,1119,2803,6863,7709,196
     Sep5,5091,5381312,1779,3553,3713,9708,756
     Dec5,5721,5521052,1919,4203,5334,0388,915
1993 Mar5,5711,5202482,3169,6553,5643,9779,242
     Jun5,6021,5041672,4309,7033,6694,1409,232
     Sep5,6911,5402782,60610,1153,8184,4119,522
     Dec5,7141,5053032,60010,1223,8654,5139,474
1994 Mar5,8121,5151272,73410,1884,0144,6019,601
     Jun5,9141,475322,99610,4174,0794,8579,639

17.3 Balance of payments

New Zealand's balance of payments statements are records of the value of New Zealand's transactions in goods, services and income with the rest of the world, and the changes in New Zealand's financial claims on, and liabilities to, the rest of the world.

The balance of payments summarises all New Zealand's international transactions over a given period of time:

  • Exports and imports.

  • The cost of transporting New Zealand exports and imports internationally.

  • How much New Zealanders spend holidaying overseas and how much foreign tourists spend holidaying in New Zealand.

  • How much is spent servicing the overseas debt.

  • What countries are invested in and which invest in New Zealand.

  • How much is earned from New Zealand investments overseas.

  • How much foreign investors earn from their investments in New Zealand.

  • All the government's international transactions.

In short, it is a statement summarising income and expenditure and the investment decisions with the rest of the world. The current account records the day to day income and expenditure while the capital account records the investment decisions.

Principally, balance of payments data is designed for macro-economic analysis. The Government and their advisers use it in determining future international and trade policies and assessing the effectiveness of existing policies.

International credit rating agencies use balance of payments and overseas debt statistics in assessing New Zealand's ability to service and repay the overseas debt. Both are key statistics in determining our credit rating.

The balance of payments shows New Zealand's history as an international borrower. It provides companies with a view of what they earn and spend internationally in relation to the whole of New Zealand. In short, it provides a picture of international New Zealand.

Statistics New Zealand compiles New Zealand's balance of payments statistics in accordance with recommendations contained in the fourth edition of The Balance of Payments Manual, produced by the International Monetary Fund. A fifth edition of the manual was published in September 1993. The effect the new edition will have on New Zealand's balance of payments statistics has still to be determined.

Essential principles guiding the compilation of New Zealand's balance of payments statistics are:

  • Balance of payments statistics include transactions between residents of New Zealand and residents of other countries.

  • Transactions are recorded at the time ownership changes, or in the case of services when the service is performed.

  • Transactions are recorded at their market value. Foreign currency transactions are converted to their New Zealand dollar equivalent.

Balance of payments statements are published quarterly and annually (year ended 31 March) by Statistics New Zealand. Both quarterly and annual statements show a full current account. The annual statement shows the capital flows of both the private and official sectors while the quarterly statements show the capital flows of only the official sector.

Most of the data we use to compile the balance of payments statement comes from the companies undertaking international transactions. In some instances alternative data collections, official records or models are used rather than directly surveying companies or individuals.

With annual balance of payments statistics available back to 1950/51 and quarterly estimates back to June 1965, historical trends can be mapped with a view to seeing where the future lies given different assumptions.

Table 17.14. ANNUAL BALANCE OF PAYMENTS STATISTICS SUMMARY OF MAJOR COMPONENTS

 Year ended March
 19921993P1994P
ItemCredit Debit CreditDebit CreditDebit

* For the year ended March 1994, data is for the official sector only.

$NZ(million)
Exports/imports (fob)16,835 13,24318,690 15,19219,498 16,382
Balance on merchandise trade 3,591  3,498  3,116 
Exports/imports of services4,488 6,0524,884 6,7155,305 6,359
Balance on services -1,564  -1,832  -1,054 
International investment income-406 4,369-37 4,031441 4,979
Transfers2,232 9892,254 9951,854 1,022
Balance on invisibles -5,096  -4,641  -4,760 
Balance on current account -1,505  -1,143  -1,644 
Direct investment2,026 7284,745 -2,304   
Portfolio investment-606 83-472 -20   
Other capital*-2,064 377-2,175 -422-1,907  
Reserve assets -1,502  62  737 
Net errors and omissions1,832  -3,639  4,288  
Net apparent capital inflow3  1,205  2,381  

Table 17.15. ANNUAL BALANCE OF PAYMENTS STATISTICS CURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCES

Year ended MarchMerchandise tradeInvisiblesCurrent account
$NZ(million)
19830-1,914-1,914
198479-1,994-1,915
1985-734-2,558-3,292
1986-651-3,348-3,999
1987709-3,532-2,823
19881,697-3,933-2,236
19893,319-3,591-272
19901,350-3,746-2,397
19911,561-3,132-1,571
19923,591-5,096-1,505
1993P3,498-4,641-1,143
1994P3,116-4,760-1,644

Table 17.16. ANNUAL BALANCE OF PAYMENTS STATISTICS DIRECT INVESTMENT STATISTICS

Year ended MarchForeign direct investment in New ZealandNew Zealand direct investment overseas
 $NZ(million) 
1983364604
198420554
1985456349
1986745166
1987402949
1988238938
1989725226
19902,8243,961
19912,9322,546
19922,026728
1993P4,745-2,304
1994  

17.4 Overseas debt

New Zealand's overseas debt statistics measure, at specific points in time, the outstanding total gross liabilities (excluding equity capital) of New Zealand located organisations to all overseas located organisations and individuals.

Statistics New Zealand's measures New Zealand's overseas debt four times a year: 31 March, 30 June, 30 September and 31 December. It uses the results from two surveys to do this, the:

  • Quarterly Total Overseas Debt Survey conducted by Statistics New Zealand.

  • Monthly Survey of Nominee Companies conducted by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. This is used to obtain information on domestically issued securities.

New Zealand's overseas debt includes the liabilities of New Zealand companies to their overseas parents, subsidiaries or branches, but does not include the liabilities of the overseas subsidiaries and branches of New Zealand companies. Three other types of liabilities are excluded. They are:

  • The overseas liabilities of New Zealand persons and households.

  • Equity capital.

  • Contingent liabilities.

The first type is excluded due to the difficulty in collecting that data, while the other two are excluded for conceptual reasons. Debt is not an obligation to pay, but an obligation to repay. Equity capital does not represent an obligation to repay the owners and is therefore excluded from the overseas debt statistics. A liability must represent an actual claim that is legally in existence and hence contingent liabilities are also excluded.

Debt can be raised in any currency and only has to be owed to a non-resident of New Zealand (a foreigner) to be included. It may be held in a variety of instruments; either as loans, bills, bonds, deposits, accounts payable or as domestically issued securities. Domestically issued securities taken up by foreigners either directly or through nominee companies have been included in the overseas debt statistics since 31 December 1992.

The following tables show details of New Zealand's overseas debt. Information is available on the:

  • Amount of the debt held by each economic sector.

  • Term structure of the debt.

  • Main currencies in which the debt is denominated.

  • Types of liability instrument used to raise the debt.

  • Repayment schedule of the debt based on time to run to scheduled maturity.

Table 17.17. OVERSEAS DEBT

 30 Jun 9330 Sep 9331 Dec 9331 Mar 9430 Jun 94
$NZ(million)
Private41,70237,98038,14940,69738,888
Official government23,03925,04624,08426,28923,865
Other government3,3503,0283,1073,0813,076
      Total68,09166,05565,34070,06865,828

Table 17.18. OVERSEAS DEBT BY LIABILITY TERM

 30 Jun 9330 Sep 9331 Dec 9331 Mar 9430 Jun 94

* Includes imputations for non-response and a constant estimate for the known non-surveyed firms.

$NZ(million)
Current liabilities22,80721,10921,86125,68122,816
Current portion of long-term liabilities5,3075,5934,6405,1264,769
Long-term liabilities33,31830,74929,84528,20728,009
Domestically issued securities5,2267,1117,5409,6308,672
Unallocated estimate*1,4331,4931,4541,4241,562
      Total68,09166,05565,34070,06865,828

Table 17.19. OVERSEAS DEBT BY CURRENCY OF DENOMINATION

 30 Jun 9330 Sep 9331 Dec 9331 Mar 9430 Jun 94

* Includes imputations for non-response and a constant estimate for the known non-surveyed firms.

$NZ(million)
US Dollars24,52922,98423,20927,28724,498
NZ Dollars22,90923,49023,67724,49423,702
Japanese Yen8,1597,1646,3716,2935,459
Australian Dollars3,3802,9963,2513,4753,991
Pounds Sterling3,2253,2043,1463,1282,728
Deutschemarks1,3941,3991,2961,3321,330
Swiss Francs1,4461,4831,245911888
Other currencies1,6171,8431,6931,7231,670
Unallocated estimate*1,4331,4931,4541,4241,562
      Total68,09166,05565,34070,06865,828

Table 17.2. OVERSEAS DEBT BY DEBT INSTRUMENT

 30 Jun 9330 Sep 9331 Dec 9331 Mar 9430 Jun 94
* Includes imputations for non-response and a constant estimate for the known non-surveyed firms.
$NZ(million)
Loans25,66723,24423,45323,10221,438
Bills and bonds19,62219,26519,68419,056 
Deposits15,29113,90313,03415,55514,427
Accounts payable735682595674672
Domestically issued securities5,2267,1117,5409,6308,672
Unallocated estimate*1,4331,4931,4541,4241,562
      Total68,09166,05565,34070,06865,828

Table 17.21. OVERSEAS DEBT BY MATURITY PROFILE

 30 Jun 9330 Sep 9331 Dec 9331 Mar 9430 Jun 94
* Includes imputations for non-response and a constant estimate for the known non-surveyed firms.
$NZ(million)
At call7,3956,1003,8214,5795,631
2–89 days12,61513,49115,34619,71417,651
90 days and under 1 year9,5269,41810,4219,8708,406
1–5 years17,78617,52916,78116,26816,667
Over 5 years19,33518,02417,51718,21215,911
Unallocated estimate*1,4331,4931,4541,4241,562
      Total68,09166,05565,34070,06865,828

17.5 International investment position

New Zealand's international investment position statement is a statement showing the value of all New Zealand's international assets and liabilities at specific points in time. By also including international assets their scope is wider than the overseas debt statistics.

International investment position statistics are relatively new in New Zealand. An international investment position statement shows the value of a country's international assets and liabilities. In an international investment position statement, the value of the assets and liabilities of a country, are recorded at a given point in time.

The difference between the total value of a country's international assets and its international liabilities is its net international investment position. The net position of an economy, is often used to characterise an economy as either a ‘net creditor’ or ‘net debtor’.

Statistics New Zealand's first attempt to measure New Zealand's complete international investment position was published in October 1992. This initial statement reported the value of New Zealand's assets and liabilities as at 31 March 1989, 1990 and 1991. Annual statistics are now published regularly each year.

The framework used in compiling New Zealand's international investment position statement was designed by the International Monetary Fund. There are two approaches that may be used in producing international investment position statistics:

  • A balance sheet basis, showing assets and liabilities.

  • A balance of payments basis, showing foreign investment in New Zealand and New Zealand investment abroad.

Whichever approach is used, the same net international investment position results.

The second approach, the balance of payments approach, is the one recommended by the International Monetary Fund as it represents the stock or level of investment shown in the capital account of the balance of payments statement. International investment position statistics can be linked to the financial transactions shown in the capital account of the balance of payments via a reconciliation statement.

Theoretically the difference in the level of international assets and international liabilities between two points in time can be due to either:

  • Transactions (recorded in the capital account of the balance of payments).

  • Changes in market prices.

  • Exchange rate variations.

  • Other adjustments, such as write-offs and reclassifications.

Despite not being recommended by the International Monetary Fund, the first approach (the balance sheet basis) is still useful. It represents the stock or level of our international assets and liabilities on a gross basis consistent with that used in the overseas debt statistics.

New Zealand international investment position statistics are derived from data collected from three sources, the:

  • Annual capital investment survey, conducted by Statistics New Zealand;

  • Quarterly total overseas debt survey, conducted by Statistics New Zealand; and

  • Official overseas reserves statistics, produced by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

The major data source is the annual capital investment survey. This is a census of about 5,500 New Zealand companies which engage in international transactions. This survey collects information on the:

  • Market value of New Zealand's shareholdings in overseas located companies;

  • Value of New Zealand's other financial claims on foreigners;

  • Market value of foreign ownership of New Zealand companies; and

  • Value of New Zealand's other financial liabilities to foreigners.

Companies in New Zealand's annual capital investment survey are asked for the value of their international assets and liabilities as at 31 March each year. When companies can not provide valuations as at 31 March each year, they are asked to provide valuations as at their balance date immediately prior to 31 March.

Analysis of the survey data suggests that at the total level, the data published for New Zealand investment abroad and foreign investment in New Zealand is fairly representative of March year valuations. However, there is some variation when looking at individual component series.

The accepted basis of valuation for an international investment position statement is market value although in practice this is not always possible to obtain.

Table 17.22. NEW ZEALAND’S INTERNATIONAL ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

 At 31 March
Item19891990199119921993
$NZ(million)
Assets—
 equity5,4607,83313,56916,54716,426
 lending3,6787,9469,3459,3127,092
 other1554769081,4662,033
 official reserve assets4,0335,6126,6085,7896,171
     Total international assets13,32621,86730,43033,11531,721
Liabilities—
  equity9,79013,85415,06018,47223,248
  borrowing47,52853,26561,92260,82662,761
    Total international liabilities57,31867,11976,98279,29886,008
Net international investment position-43,992-45,252-46,552-46,183-54,288

Table 17.23. NEW ZEALAND’S INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT POSITION

 At 31 March
Item19891990199119921993
$NZ(million)
New Zealand investment abroad—
  direct investment8675,64910,14912,6919,005
  portfolio and other investment6,4889,58311,65712,13812,690
     Total investment abroad7,35515,23221,80524,82821,694
Foreign investment in New Zealand—
  direct investment9,68513,72018,34922,50928,407
  portfolio and other investment41,66146,76350,00848,50347,574
      Total foreign investment51,34660,48468,35771,01175,982
Net international investment position-43,992-45,252-46,552-46,183-54,288

17.6 Business statistics

A linked series of collections provide a comprehensive coverage of business in New Zealand. At regular intervals economic censuses are held, these cover all businesses within specified industry groups. In the intervening years an Annual Enterprise Survey collects business information from a representative sample of these while the Annual Update of the Business Directory collects information on the size and industry of all businesses. Quarterly business surveys such as economic surveys of manufacturing and distribution, provide information on short term activity, while the Quarterly Employment Survey offers a broad picture of activity across the economy.

Voting at the first annual general meeting of Energy Direct, Wellington.

The 1987 Economy Wide Census gathered data on most non-farming businesses for the 1986–87 financial year, covering over 130,000 separate businesses and more than 500 different industrial activities. The information gained is used in the national accounts, price indexes, inter-industry tables, and several major econometric models, as well as by businesses themselves. The present census strategy is to cover all industries at regular intervals, but not all in the same year (as was done in 1987). In 1992 the censuses of distribution and mining and quarrying were conducted, while the next Census of Manufacturing is scheduled for the 1994/95 financial year.

The Annual Enterprise Survey supplements the census. It samples more than 20,000 businesses to provide an overview of the economy in the interval between five-yearly censuses. In addition to the financial data from this survey, the department also brings its Business Directory up-to-date annually. The directory is the basic register for surveys and censuses and also provides a source of non-financial data about businesses, such as their location, number of persons engaged, type of activity and degree of overseas ownership.

Definitions of terms used in the presentation of business census data are included in the glossary at the back of this book, although these may vary according to the year in question.

Further details, including results of all censuses at sub-group (industry) level of the New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification, are available in Statistics New Zealand's series of business census publications.

The statistics on activity units in are derived from the Business Directory Update. An ‘activity unit’ is a separate operating unit engaged in one (or predominantly one) kind of economic activity from a single physical location.

Table 17.24. BUSINESSES AND NUMBERS EMPLOYED BY INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION

   February
NZSIC* description  1991199219931995
* New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification
112Agricultural contracting services   Activity units3,1803,2453,3513,764
  Persons engaged12,16212,49312,23813,639
113Hunting trapping and noxious animal control   Activity units95857984
  Persons engaged171185217239
120–12300Forestry and logging   Activity units1,4433,4073,2813,498
  Persons engaged5,6396,7477,2299,015
131Ocean and coastal fishing   Activity units1,5301,5181,4901,596
  Persons engaged3,6613,7393,7103,948
132–133Other fishing   Activity units322357370395
  Persons engaged7238308531,007
21Coal mining   Activity units70676262
  Persons engaged939959891854
22Crude petroleum and natural gas   Activity units76888885
  Persons engaged797834748882
23–29Other mining and quarrying   Activity units559535509541
  Persons engaged2,6072,6822,5392,787
3111Slaughtering and meat   Activity units338339336349
  Persons engaged26,49726,58627,91625,480
31122Manufacture of milk   Activity units42424035
  Persons engaged895843858792
31123Manufacture of ice cream   Activity units20202125
  Persons engaged707546469507
31125Manufacture of dairy products   Activity units85827977
  Persons engaged5,8496,0356,0256,440
3113–3122Manufacture of other foods   Activity units1,4461,5351,5641,711
  Persons engaged22,83422,90422,72026,381
313Manufacture of beverage   Activity units155156178205
  Persons engaged3,1052,7142,6492,912
314Manufacture of tobacco   Activity units6988
  Persons engaged611557481511
321Manufacture of textiles   Activity units805824837902
  Persons engaged10,0699,6169,71510,334
322–324Manufacture of wearing apparel and footwear   Activity units1,4911,4961,4971,645
  Persons engaged17,97916,62517,18517,952
33Manufacture of wood processing and wood products   Activity units3,0933,1223,1783,574
  Persons engaged21,23020,82122,01824,722
34110Manufacture of pulp paper and paperboard   Activity units31283033
  Persons engaged5,0224,4794,0103,838
3412Manufacture of paper and paperboard containers   Activity units77766468
  Persons engaged3,1163,0543,0573,028
3419Manufacture of pulp paper and paperboard nec   Activity units65666872
  Persons engaged1,5701,4561,6181,729
342Printing and publishing   Activity units1,3971,4241,4621,571
  Persons engaged17,13816,33816,49217,227
3511Manufacture of basic industrial chemicals   Activity units50554957
  Persons engaged755953764838
3512Manufacture of fertilisers and pesticides   Activity units58606468
  Persons engaged1,1421,1581,162992
3513Manufacture of synthetic resins and plastics   Activity units928892113
  Persons engaged2,3272,0912,2152,454
252Manufacture of other chemicals and pesticides   Activity units338381373392
  Persons engaged5,7035,7235,6305,715
353Petroleum refineries   Activity units131132
  Persons engaged810827668585
354Manufacture of petroleum and coal products   Activity units36374243
  Persons engaged322309422434
35513Manufacture of tyres and tubes   Activity units47454344
  Persons engaged1,1541,0101,0231,081
3559Manufacture of rubber products nec   Activity units75838085
  Persons engaged863766835869
356Manufacture of plastic products   Activity units456474440459
  Persons engaged7,2037,1167,1967,577
36Manufacture of non-metallic mineral products   Activity units851849874967
  Persons engaged6,1915,6775,9386,473
37Basic metal industries mineral products   Activity units187194193231
  Persons engaged6,6426,0146,1066,562
381Manufacture of fabricated metal products   Activity units2,5802,6272,6332,834
  Persons engaged20,41518,84019,08421,188
382Manufacture of machinery   Activity units2,9323,0052,9273,228
  Persons engaged15,96115,28415,48717,705
383Manufacture of electrical machinery   Activity units679680646712
  Persons engaged10,2159,4259,57910,812
384Manufacture of transport equipment   Activity units1,0741,0531,0651,127
  Persons engaged14,47112,95612,97713,534
385Manufacture of professional equipment   Activity units102918693
  Persons engaged9919741,013603
390Other manufacturing industries   Activity units9069861,0301,171
  Persons engaged3,8603,9203,8784,709
41010Electricity generation and distribution   Activity units447406389354
  Persons engaged11,13910,0818,8588,820
4102Gas treatment and distribution   Activity units35394237
  Persons engaged1,0441,0061,005960
41030,42000Steam and hot water supply water work and supply   Activity units180148137147
  Persons engaged1,5361,2761,0461,126
51 & 53Construction of buildings and ancillary services   Activity units23,44723,81123,42525,927
  Persons engaged62,47156,93255,99964,530
52Other construction   Activity units3,0973,1242,8442,972
  Persons engaged17,85616,09015,97316,445
61111–61215,6122Wholesale primary products   Activity units1,1901,2211,2391,382
  Persons engaged8,0137,9908,0638,804
61216–61219,61231–6139Wholesale food and textiles   Activity units1,5731,6891,6851,970
  Persons engaged10,95411,06710,72811,628
614Wholesale timber and hardware   Activity units1,5131,5041,5161,631
  Persons engaged11,83810,65210,80111,600
615Wholesale household appliances furniture and furnishings   Activity units347376355417
  Persons engaged2,0622,1211,9422,328
616–6181,6199Wholesale other   Activity units4,7615,5015,6796,466
  Persons engaged21,93622,93023,76225,771
6182–6184Commercial and professional equipment   Activity units2,8282,9723,0113,412
  Persons engaged18,78917,68317,48120,210
6185–6189Wholesale motor vehicles and motor cycles   Activity units680677700799
  Persons engaged4,2774,2484,2694,762
6191–6195Wholesale trade nec   Activity units479493508574
  Persons engaged1,8971,7891,8832,107
621–623,626–627Retails primary products textiles paper and pharmaceuticals   Activity units14,95714,73314,34914,602
  Persons engaged65,45962,99963,34166,503
624–625,629Retail paint wallpaper and hardware   Activity units9,87810,14210,37411,390
  Persons engaged35,55735,82836,96141,830
628Transport vehicles and fuels   Activity units6,9386,9916,8267,251
  Persons engaged33,98532,83431,63533,935
63Restaurants hotels etc   Activity units10,69710,91811,03811,741
  Persons engaged54,02656,25557,31462,794
7111Railway transport   Activity units228206205206
  Persons engaged3,3792,6352,5431,956
7112,7113Road transport—passenger   Activity units2,5552,7742,6522,791
  Persons engaged9,3057,8697,8868,172
7114Road transport—freight   Activity units5,1935,3805,2525,370
  Persons engaged16,99917,38017,84319,676
7115–7117,719Pipeline transport and services to transport   Activity units2,2462,4752,5532,810
  Persons engaged12,08311,94812,43313,097
712Water transport paper and paperboard   Activity units269263266325
  Persons engaged6,6035,7355,3696,026
713Air transport   Activity units470505546613
  Persons engaged9,8419,2178,6729,192
72Communication   Activity units2,3582,5212,5462,847
  Persons engaged27,86325,48123,51522,712
811Banking   Activity units1,8771,8511,8611,829
  Persons engaged26,49726,64024,84823,913
812Other financing   Activity units779733635642
  Persons engaged5,9604,7022,7002,537
8131,82301 814 excl 81492Other financing   Activity units1,6301,7811,8401,990
  Persons engaged6,6426,8107,1788,001
81330Holder investing   Activity units3,2913,2743,4913,880
  Persons engaged1,8941,5891,7062,441
8211Life insurance   Activity units318295265240
  Persons engaged3,9983,8473,3263,521
8212Medical insurance   Activity units90857682
  Persons engaged599712697698
8213General insurance   Activity units457394372393
  Persons engaged4,5224,3044,4034,492
822Superannuation and mutual fund operation   Activity units1,0332,3991,8962,099
  Persons engaged4263735863
82302Insurance commission agents   Activity units000442
  Persons engaged000743
8311 (excl 83113)Real estate   Activity units1,8231,8842,0252,128
  Persons engaged9,3269,5686,5087,452
83113,8312Real estate commission agents   Activity units0004,788
  Persons engaged0005,215
83123,83124Commercial property leasing and property developers   Activity units1,5331,7201,7552,304
  Persons engaged1,7311,8632,0242,908
832-834Other business services   Activity units17,78019,71720,45024,030
  Persons engaged77,96178,21480,15691,340
9101(3)Central government administration   Activity units2,3812,5362,3272,334
  Persons engaged64,78464,14965,07864,524
91020Local government   Activity units1,2321,1251,2091,195
  Persons engaged16,06214,50014,13614,064
92Sanitary and cleaning services   Activity units2,2682,3952,4172,583
  Persons engaged12,07411,66611,32412,419
931 (excl. 93105) 932Educational   Activity units5,8846,5606,5757,112
  Persons engaged84,63285,76289,63094,307
9331–9332Medical and dental health services   Activity units6,2676,6236,8287,835
  Persons engaged72,74272,38470,98875,775
9333Veterinary services   Activity units544553582638
  Persons engaged1,9692,0112,0662,345
934 excl 93403Welfare services   Activity units669707747779
  Persons engaged9,60010,19210,91112,428
94 excl 94141,94150 94209,94401 94402Recreation services   Activity units3,8724,3534,6874,990
  Persons engaged17,30418,09119,01421,113
94141,94209Live entertainment and cultural services   Activity units347407431462
  Persons engaged1,1551,0341,0711,218
94150Authors music composer etc   Activity units614756792990
  Persons engaged7559179311,212
94401,94402Sporting and recreation   Activity units70757186
  Persons engaged849788113
9511–9512,9519Repair services   Activity units1,2651,3221,3691,436
  Persons engaged3,3223,1713,3033,511
9513Repair of motor vehicles and motor cycles   Activity units3,0733,1313,0393,192
  Persons engaged9,8839,7469,5719,962
952Dry cleaning and laundry services   Activity units502505498523
  Persons engaged2,6752,4702,9563,049
953(3)Domestic services   Activity units21282627
  Persons engaged7713592282
959Personal services   Activity units3,4633,5823,6773,999
  Persons engaged9,91810,12810,27511,072
 Total   Activity units186,251196,900197,310220,988
  Persons engaged1,157,8321,131,1841,131,9521,222,036

is also based on the Business Directory Update and shows persons engaged by region (working proprietors and paid employees, full time equivalents) as at February 1994. The table is not a measure of total employment. Farms are not included, nor are some other businesses, namely: property owners’, non-profit organisations; and non-trading and dormant companies, religious organisations and sporting and recreational clubs.

The coverage of the Business Directory has been improved by matching it with the Inland Revenue ‘FIRST’ business database. This led to an increase of 8,098 enterprises recorded in the Annual Business Directory Update (ABDU) statistics. A further increase of 5,213 enterprises came from increasing the coverage to include insurance commission agents and real estate commission agents. These are enterprises that had existed previously, but were not recorded in the ABDU statistics. These represent an improvement in coverage rather than an increase in economic activity.

Table 17.25. REGIONAL BUSINESS PATTERNS, 1994

RegionAgricultural services hunting forestry fishingMining and quarryingManufacturingElectricity gas and waterConstructionWholesale and retail trade restaurants and hotelsTransport storage and communicationBusiness and financial servicesCommunity social and personal servicesTotal

* At end of February.

Confidential.

persons engaged
Northland1,7581965,3753612,5108,4651,8902,7839,24332,579
Auckland2,46749785,9652,28324,193101,16930,54361,37988,177396,521
Waikato3,8991,17220,1031,5097,87423,3635,4939,93528,680102,026
Bay of Plenty3,3508711,6265364,87415,9583,8615,85816,41162,560
Gisborne1,046272,0031438962,6416431,0763,55412,026
Hawke's Bay1,6288711,2614492,8579,9242,1503,56611,48943,409
Taranaki6379157,1406522,4707,1701,7622,7987,88231,423
Manawatu1,9889413,1857294,96716,2653,4615,42926,42172,537
Wellington1,58315922,0321,4999,50235,40811,41232,83752,831167,240
North Island total18,3553,233178,6868,15960,140220,36161,212125,638244,686920,471
Tasman776401,7691598582,2534695741,7308,626
Nelson77363,640701,0263,6121,0401,5914,45916,215
Marlborough920742,4471028652,6937218503,26611,937
West Coast6515981,6121507832,5757525882,73510,442
Canterbury2,65815535,7031,21810,63438,22811,06216,16243,080158,899
Otago1,57920512,2465724,66714,8173,5105,43218,59361,620
Southland1,9722107,8254731,9947,7052,0462,4507,60732,280
South Island total9,3271,28665,2402,74320,82771,88119,59827,64681,468300,017
Extra county islands and shipping1203513727191642576
New Zealand total27,8024,522243,97710,90580,975292,26980,829153,300326,1961,220,773

Contributors

17.1Professor Gary Hawke.
17.2–6Statistics New Zealand.

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.

  • Key Statistics. Statistics New Zealand (monthly).

  • New Zealand System of National Accounts. Department of Statistics (various years).

  • New Zealand System of National Accounts, Concepts and Design. Department of Statistics, 1983.

  • 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.

Inter-industry studies

  • Inter-industry Study of the New Zealand Economy, 1987. Department of Statistics.

  • Inter-industry Update 1991. Statistics New Zealand.

Balance of payments

  • Balance of Payments, Concepts, Sources and Methods 1991. Department of Statistics, 1992.

  • Balance of Payments Manual. International Monetary Fund, 4th ed, 1977.

  • Balance of Payments Manual. International Monetary Fund, 5th ed, 1993.

Overseas debt

  • External Debt: Definition Statistical Cover and Methodology. The World Bank et al, 1988.

International investment position

  • New Zealand's International Investment Position 1992/93. Statistics New Zealand, 1994.

Business statistics

  • New Zealand Business Activity Statistics. Statistics New Zealand (annual).

  • New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification. Department of Statistics, 1988.

Chapter 18. Agriculture

Farming and horticulture are major industries, providing a high proportion of New Zealand's export earnings.

Traditionally farming has centred on sheep and cattle to produce sheepmeat, beef, wool, dairy produce and hides, although in recent years new types of livestock have included deer and goats.

Cereal crops are grown mainly for the home market.

Horticulture has always provided well for the home market, but since the 1970s horticultural produce has become an important export earner.

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. Increasing use of coastal flat land for horticulture has been a major development over recent decades.

18.1 Current situation and trends

Agricultural produce make up a large proportion of New Zealand's exports, however they compete with subsidised production from other producing countries.

New Zealand is therefore expected to benefit from the completion of the GATT Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations. After seven years this round was finally signed in April 1994. Implementation of the agriculture agreement will begin in 1995, and continue until 2000.

The result will be a more secure international trading environment. Specifically, New Zealand farmers are expected to benefit from the agreement, as the key provisions include:

  • Reduced spending on domestic agricultural production subsidies.

  • Reductions in export subsidies of 36 percent by value and 21 percent by volume.

  • Conversion of non-tariff barriers to their tariff equivalents to improve market access (in turn, tariffs are to be reduced in line with other export subsidies).

New Zealand access to key markets has increased, with butter exports to the European Union (EU) up from 51,830 tonnes in 1994 to 76,667 tonnes in 1995; sheepmeat to the EU increasing from 205,600 tonnes to 225,000 tonnes in 1995; and beef to the US up from 184,430 tonnes to 213,402 tonnes in 1995.

The value of New Zealand's total agricultural production is estimated to have risen to $9.9 billion in the year to 31 March 1994, an increase of 2.4 percent.

New Zealand's milk production rose in the year ended 30 May 1994, to 9.3 million tonnes; the third consecutive record production year. The average dairy company payout for the season was $3.32/kg of milk solids, a reduction of 9 percent from the previous season's level, reflecting lower world prices for dairy products.

Sheep numbers continued to decline to around 50.1 million at 30 June 1994. Lamb numbers rose in 1994 to 37.7 million, largely because of excellent weather conditions. Sheepmeat production in 1994/95 is expected to expand by about 4 percent to 505,000 tonnes.

The New Zealand beef cattle herd is continuing to expand, and reached 4.95 million head on 30 June 1994—an increase of 4 percent over the previous year. Beef and veal production rose by 6.5 percent to 572,200 tonnes in the year to September 1993—its highest level since the mid 1970s.

For the year ended September 1993 the New Zealand apple industry recorded a record apple crop of 439,000 tonnes, but severe hailstorms in Hawke's Bay and Nelson in early 1994 are expected to lead to a fall of around 13 percent in the 1994/95 apple crop and a drop in apple exports to about 200,000 tonnes. Competition on world markets is expected to intensify as supplies of both apples and competing fruits expand.

New Zealand's export kiwifruit harvest was about 193,000 tonnes, 18 percent below that of 1992, reflecting unfavourable weather conditions and low grower returns, which encouraged some growers not to pick their fruit. Although world kiwifruit production is expected to stabilise, competition from Chile is expected to exert pressure on prices in 1995.

Table 18.1. FARMLAND USE BY REGIONAL COUNCIL AREA AS AT 30 JUNE 1993

Regional CouncilNumber of farmsGrassland, lucerne, tussock or danthoniaHorticulturePlantations of exotic timberTotal land*

* Includes farmland not classified above.

District Council.

County Council.

hectares (000)
Northland8,325679,9625,501131,613981,128
Auckland7,351252,1169,10934,251342,416
Waikato14,1421,322,2898,686412,3412,018,502
Bay of Plenty6,368310,16314,427145,034623,982
Gisborne1,493529,5466,11889,249710,152
Hawke's Bay3,573786,71314,77588,412999,202
Taranaki4,515440,3111,31911,045540,566
Manawatu-Wanganui7,3211,416,2996,02771,7081,603,652
Wellington2,594445,2022,16139,254551,237
      North Island55,6826,182,60268,1231,022,9078,370,837
Tasman†2,196151,7036,69579,663304,576
Nelson‡1638,7511066,20919,606
Marlborough†1,401543,1524,22945,163726,347
West Coast1,284203,3574625,734464,595
Canterbury10,5003,233,68910,42180,0213,469,096
Otago4,6202,436,7673,99990,4372,669,687
Southland5,2821,131,19898645,5111,242,020
      South Island25,4467,708,61726,482372,7388,895,927
Chatham Islands County6854,918211368,767
      Total, New Zealand81,19613,946,13694,6071,395,75817,335,531

Table 18.2. LAND USE BY FARM TYPE, AS AT 30 JUNE 1993

Farm typeNumber of farmsGrazing arable fodder and fallow landLand in horticulturePlantations of exotic timberOther landTotal land

* More than 75 percent of income is derived from these types of farming.

Income derived from the first named activity gives between 51 to 74 percent of income.

Included here are mushroom, hop and tobacco growing, beekeeping, and research and educational farms.

hectares (000)
Dairy farming town supply*52762,056972231,45563,831
Dairy farming factory supply*14,3171,281,4735316,85576,3381,364,479
Sheep farming*10,8973,287,9099057,141135,5083,431,460
Beef farming*9,330928,7913472,136133,7621,065,036
Cropping*78981,5701533031,39083,416
Dairy farming with other†1,866258,8851,1806,26322,267288,595
Sheep farming with beef†4,8973,305,73988513,529259,3803,579,532
Sheep farming with cropping†722148,722557602,047151,584
Sheep farming with other†1,814792,80050715,02373,938882,268
Beef farming with sheep†3,0081,282,2424275,153166,4031,454,223
Beef farming with other†1,805158,6472645,28522,387186,582
Cropping with sheep†503100,7295912981,290102,908
Cropping with other†24929,75144528951230,996
Pig farming80733,8401654564,13338,594
Horse breeding & training2,14056,373698212,51369,037
Deer farming2,115187,0421101,75635,397224,354
Goat farming2653,5262871,0144,575
Small animal breeding215503 284837
Mixed livestock3,8101,406,5671,90241,119160,9171,610,521
Poultry farming3066,452141745797,246
Citrus orchards5132,7482,194965385,576
Pipfruit orchards1,45211,12916,3885061,79629,818
Stonefruit orchards2772,5422,083372474,908
Kiwifruit orchards2,40413,38915,3569623,78133,488
Berry fruit growing3425,6081,8341204398,001
Grape growing3972,9344,850713478,201
Other fruit nec86210,4795,0608752,49818,911
Vegetable growing2,26966,47129,0438212,81999,153
Flower growing74313,0752,2303541,45117,110
Plant nurseries3351,8251,3712214373,854
Plantations2,329137,6471,2531,281,112499,2561919,267
Idle land8,592204,394744 270,270475,417
Other farming nec‡49360,2313,0963,8314,59671,753
      Total all farm types81,19613,946,13694,6071,396,7581,899,98917,335,531

FARMLAND
By type of farm

Table 18.3. FARM EMPLOYMENT, AS AT 28 FEB 1993

 Working owners leaseholders and sharemilkersUnpaid family members assisting on farmPaid permanent employees 
Farm typeFull-time*Part-timeFull-time*Part-timeFull-time*Part-timeCasual workers

* Full-time = 30 hours or more per week.

Part-time = fewer than 30 hours per week.

Other farming includes all remaining farm types.

Dairy farming20,1125,2042,1844,2436,2991,2371,718
Sheep farming7,1003,41914792,9871,399590921
Beef farming4,3583,6708352,273637263381
Cropping492222811511564285
Sheep farming with beef4,3151,2737011,3322,4584691,096
Sheep farming with cropping7121861352281905189
Sheep farming with other1,473611280652442122286
Beef farming with sheep2,2598993187651326273476
Beef farming with other9307702005872456889
Cropping with sheep503145861581942481
Cropping with other193713959621951
Pig farming5522561132423607749
Deer farming1,0021,091252705259100179
Goat farming4710619891310
Mixed livestock3,1141,2225471,2611,654368664
Horticulture7,3194,0121,0812,6126,8582,34912,921
Plantations4066361534102,440156454
Other farming nec‡1,7621,0933797881,296538539
      Total, all farm types56,64924,8868,88519,54226,2766,74920,089

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.

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. Fertiliser usage has increased over the past two to three years, with total fertiliser application increasing by 599,000 tonnes from 1990 to 1993.

Lime is used to correct soil acidity and increase the availability of trace elements. In 1993, 1,025,662 tonnes of lime were applied.

Table 18.4. FERTILISER APPLICATION

Year ended 30 JunePhosphatic fertilisersOther fertilisersTotal
tonnes (000)
19871,1186061,724
19881,1056191,723
19891,2177111,928
19901,2368922,128
19921,3541,0532,407
19931,5171,2012,727

Agricultural production indicators

Statistics New Zealand's Agriculture Production Account is a statistical series that 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 government departments and other organisations 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.

Table 18.5. AGRICULTURE PRODUCTION ACCOUNT: ANALYSIS OF INTERMEDIATE CONSUMPTION*

 Year ended March
Item1988–891989–901990–911991–92

*Some figures have been revised.

$(million)
Purchase of livestock546685592625
Feed and grazing310372368374
Animal health and breeding222250266275
Weed and pest control123151147159
Fertiliser, lime, and seeds533613585663
Fuel and power333343346351
Repairs and maintenance587704695702
Freight144146152150
Other (not elsewhere classified)1,4071,4681,4481,498
Less, capitalised development4,206,124,733,194,599,204,798,19
      Total, intermediate consumption4,1944,7154,5794,799

and show the consumption and production of major categories of products for the agricultural sector over recent years.

Table 18.6. GROSS AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION*

 Year ended March
Commodity1988–891989–901990–911991–92

* Some figures have been revised.

$(million)
Wool1,5081,252832782
Sheep610865885833
Cattle1,1731,1871,3761,423
Pigs101125126124
Dairy products1,9022,1661,6412,203
Poultry products192215208193
Crops and seeds262338313310
Fruit, nuts, and oilseeds549623683821
Vegetables373412414385
Other horticultural products145166160175
Agricultural services657731760742
Other products, nec243259255274
Value of change in livestock—    
  Sheep-32-56-52-62
  Cattle-90826548
  Pigs, deer, goats58703913
Sales of live animals585721671701
Non-farm income114128115135
      Gross output8,3499,2848,4889,100

Farm price indexes

The Farm Expenses Price Index measures price changes of fixed inputs of goods and services to the farming industry. A selection of the published indexes is shown below. Capital expenditure and depreciation are not covered. (For price indexes of capital expenditure, refer to the Capital Goods Price Index in section 26.3).

Farm type indexes from the Farm Expenses Price Index are also used in the agricultural inputs of the Producers Price Index in section 26.2.

Table 18.7. FARM EXPENSES PRICE INDEX*

QuarterSheep and beef farmsDairy farmsHorticultural farmsCropping and other farmsAll farms

*All inputs excluding livestock. Prices used exclude GST. Base: December quarter 1992 (=1000).

1992–Dec10001000100010001000
1993–Mar10021001100210031002
     Jun10041010100010071005
     Sep1003101199010031003
     Dec984984980993984
1994–Mar974974979988977
     Jun972970977990974
     Sep980978984996982

Table 18.8. FARM EXPENSES PRICE INDEX—ALL FARMS*

 Price index for quarter ended
Input typePercentage of base expenditure1993 SepDec1994 MarJunSep

* Base: December quarter 1992 (=1000).

Administration4.910201023102810361040
Animal health and breeding4.110211023102510241048
Dairy shed expenses0.5997999100010001000
Electricity1.61026102199710231024
Feed, grazing, cultivation and harvesting7.610531038103510381036
Fertiliser, lime and seeds9.210141004981983976
Freight1.9984966969964965
Fuel3.8953928892898925
Insurance premiums1.71006101310031001994
Rent and hire2.210461045105510721080
Repairs, maintenance and motor vehicle repairs10.310361031103610321030
Packaging costs3.5952953962952950
Shearing3.79999939919901019
Weed and pest control2.910061008101110181031
Livestock purchases10.711921203125112421216
Subtotal excluding livestock57.910151009100410061010
Subtotal including livestock68.610431039104210431042
Local and central government rates and fees3.610001034101610161016
Interest rates17.3956876855835856
Wages and salaries10.510091010101210151020
All inputs excluding livestock89.31003984977974982
All inputs including livestock100.010231008100610031007

Agricultural organisations

New Zealand has been, and still is, a world leader in agricultural research and advisory services. This reflects the importance of agriculture to the New Zealand economy and exports. There is also a broad range of administrative and special interest organisations in the sector; a network of local, regional and national farmers’ associations to advance the interests of the industry; growers’ and livestock breeders’ associations; produce marketing authorities; and others. Some of these are discussed in the following sections.

Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

The ministry is the main government agency in the agricultural sector. It advises government on policy, administers and develops quality standards, manages agricultural security and provides other services to the agricultural and fishing industries. Its function is outlined in section 3.3, State sector.

MAF Quality Management

MAF Quality Management is New Zealand's “front line” against exotic pests or diseases that could threaten the nation's livelihood as a primary producer. This group also plays an essential role in New Zealand's continued access to existing export markets—and to new markets—through the maintenance of quality standards.

The group's activities are divided into three key areas:

  • Agricultural Security: border protection, quarantine services, surveillance, responding to an exotic pest or disease emergency and animal welfare.

  • Meat Services: meat, fish and game inspection.

  • Quality Services: food hygiene consultancy, seed certification, disease control, animal export management and certification.

MAF Policy

MAF Policy provides policy advice and decision support to the Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries and the government as it develops policies, legislation or regulations affecting agriculture and fishing.

This support is focused in several areas:

  • Policy Services: providing an overview of external and domestic policy; servicing the Minister of Agriculture.

  • Rural Resources: providing management and disposal of community irrigation schemes; responses to major climatic and other adverse events; liaison with rural communities, local and regional government; and monitoring of the effects of government policies on services to rural communities and the performance of the agricultural industry.

  • Science Advice: operational research management, eg rabbit and land management programme, pesticides, Bovine TB and possums; science policy advice and analysis and science input into policy advice.

  • Trade Policy: international policies and structures for agriculture, horticulture, livestock, plants and fisheries, eg under GATT, OECD, FAO, etc; government to government liaison, eg negotiation on technical standards to open the way for market access; market outlook, information and analysis; and international project facilitation and collaboration.

  • Domestic Policy: gathering information and providing analysis and advice on issues affecting the performance of agriculture. These include issues such as sustainability, resource use, and the effects of policies on industry; managing the legislative programme; and facilitating implementation of policy.

  • Fisheries Policy: servicing the Minister of Fisheries; liaising with fisheries interest groups, eg commercial, Maori; providing international fisheries advice (i.e. EEZ issues); and providing policy advice on specific issues including Maori and recreational fisheries and aquaculture.

MAF Regulatory Authority

MAF’s Regulatory Authority is made up of MAF’s four chief technical officers (CTOs) and their staff. The CTOs are the chief veterinary officer, chief meat veterinary officer, chief plants officer and chief dairy officer.

This group works closely with MAF Policy, and assists in the development and promulgation of policy. Within each area of expertise the Regulatory Authority also designs, specifies and promotes standards to protect New Zealand's hard-won reputation as a supplier of safe and pure products.

The authority works in the following specialist areas:

  • Agricultural security: developing standards for border protection, quarantine, monitoring for outbreaks of pests or diseases and response procedures for exotic pest/disease outbreaks.

  • Quality assurance: developing standards for accreditation, licensing and registration, and certification; and inspecting production facilities to ensure compliance with standards.

  • Pest and disease management: developing standards for disease and noxious plants control.

  • Animal welfare: developing new codes of practice.

The Regulatory Authority maintains strong links with its counterparts in other countries, and represents the Government overseas on agricultural security and quality assurance issues.

Agriculture New Zealand

Agriculture New Zealand is a fully commercial agricultural consultancy and technology transfer service, run as a business arm of MAF. Its competitive advantage lies in:

  • Comprehensive, nationwide coverage (32 offices, from Kerikeri to Invercargill).

  • Independence.

  • Experience, based on MAF’s 100-year involvement in agriculture.

  • Access to innovative technology and information.

  • Expertise in all production types and systems.

Agriculture New Zealand's sale is currently pending.

Corporate Office

MAF’s Corporate Office provides the systems and structures essential to the efficient operation of MAF’s business groups and head office units.

The office's functions are grouped into several areas of responsibility, including:

  • Administration: services to head office and MAF Policy.

  • Legal Services: legal advice to MAF businesses, directorate-general and Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries.

  • Corporate Communication: internal and external communications.

  • Financial Services: systems, financial planning and reporting, accounting services, asset management.

  • Corporate Development and Human Resources: industrial relations, organisation development.

  • Secretariat Services: executive support to senior management and board.

18.2 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 with cattle in the hills and in the south of the North Island. There are also areas of intensive sheep farming, the major output of which is ‘fat lambs’ for the meat trade. In the South Island, sheep farming (both intensive and extensive) is the main form of pastoral agriculture, with a sprinkling of beef cattle farmed in the high and hill country and wetter flat areas, and 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 movable electric fencing, which allows rotation of grazing around the farm. Lambing and calving are carefully managed to take full advantage of spring grass growth. A few feed-lot units have been built in recent years to produce table beef for export.

Phosphatic fertilisers are used extensively on New Zealand's predominantly grass/clover pasture. Nitrogen fertilisers are used to a small degree (see ‘Topdressing’, section 18.1).

Livestock numbers and types

Probably New Zealand's best known statistic is that it has more than 20 times as many sheep as people (actually now closer to 15 than 20 times as many). Grasslands have been developed to the extent that the best sheep farms can carry up to 25 sheep per hectare throughout the year. The best dairy farms carry 3.5 cows per hectare throughout the year.

Lines of development are influenced by overseas prices for farm products, including meat, wool, dairy products and, more recently, venison and goat fibre.

Over the last 12 years the sheep population has declined from 70.3 million at June 1982 to stand at around 50.1 million at June 1994. The beef cattle population, which has remained fairly static in recent years at around 4.6 million, increased to 5 million at June 1994. The number of dairy cattle increased to 3.7 million.

Table 18.9. DISTRIBUTION OF LIVESTOCK, AS AT 30 JUNE 1993

Regional CouncilDairy cattleBeef cattleSheepPigsDeerGoats

*District Council.

County Council.

   (000)   
Northland35658385181632
Auckland168192511213817
Waikato1,3908543,7616015964
Bay of Plenty268155731227832
Gisborne43372,0663198
Hawke's Bay195184,55699636
Taranaki5621601,035232011
Manawatu-Wanganui2757507,5523310424
Wellington771972,320232612
      North Island3,1183,74623,383201556235
Tasman*475747153012
Nelson †1324 14
Marlborough*18649978189
West Coast70702371285
Canterbury1694029,65713721348
Otago562387,591237122
Southland711757,8071016218
      South Island4321,00826,783194522117
Chatham Islands County 5132   
      Total New Zealand3,5504,75850,2983951,078353

Sheep.

The most popular sheep in New Zealand is the Romney, an English breed. The Romney in New Zealand has been further developed as a dual purpose breed being carried for both meat and wool production. The Romney has been cross-bred with such strains as the coarse wooled Border Leicester, suited to the wet conditions on many farms. A number of breeds which produce both meat and wool have been developed by New Zealand breeders during this century. There is also considerable regional variation in the types of sheep grazed—to meet different climates and topography.

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. In recent years elk from Canada and deer from Europe have been imported.

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. Red, Wapiti, and fallow deer are the predominant farmed species. Currently there are about 5,200 deer farms registered with the Department of Conservation and they hold over 1 million deer.

Goats.

In the 1980s there was 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. Goat numbers at 30 June 1993 totalled 353,000. Data shows approximately 88 percent were being farmed for mohair, cashmere and cashgora production, while about 13,000 goats were being used for milking and around 31,000 goats were classed as ‘other’. In the 1994 year it was estimated that 110 tonnes of mohair (angora), 15 tonnes of cashgora and 15 tonnes of cashmere were produced.

Sharpshooter lining up a rabbit.

Table 18.1. SHEEP CATEGORIES

As at 30 JuneBreeding ewes including hoggetsOther sheepTotal sheep
  (000) 
198942,49618,07360,569
199042,09715,75657,852
199139,83315,32955,162
199238,39914,16952,568
199336,63813,66150,298

Table 18.11. SIZE OF SHEEP FLOCKS*

 Number of farms
Size of flock19891990199119921993

* As at 30 June.

1–9911,02111,82311,96011,26211,993
100–1992,6922,4002,5882,4922,601
200–4994,1613,9463,8843,8734,006
500–9993,5933,4773,8843,2593,252
1,000–1,4993,2763,1913,1722,9032,729
1,500–1,9993,1523,0572,9632,7622,687
2,000–2,4992,9982,9072,6492,4582,362
2,500–4,9996,1145,8295,5495,2295,016
5,000–9,9991,7681,6751,5811,5171,446
10,000 and over475431439430394
      Total flocks39,25038,73638,08036,18536,486
Average flock size1,5431,4931,4491,4531,379

Table 18.12. CATTLE CATEGORIES

 As at 30 June
Category19921993
Dairy cows and heifers in milk or calf2,722,9392,808,030
Dairy cows and heifers not in milk or calf92,27486,737
Dairy heifer yearlings and calves (including bobby)621,980625,731
Dairy bulls for breeding30,63129,642
Total, dairy3,467,8243,550,140
Beef cows and heifers bred from1,418,9551,462,787
Beef cows and heifers not bred from464,429461,570
Bulls—all ages748,930754,031
Other beef cattle2,044,1832,079,574
      Total, beef cattle4,676,4974,757,962
      Total cattle8,144,3218,308,102

18.3 Meat

Meat industry products are New Zealand's largest export income earner, accounting for around one dollar in every six earned overseas. New Zealand's main meat exports are lamb, mutton and beef. For the year ended September 1993, 92 percent of lamb, 53 percent of mutton and 86 percent of beef animals processed in New Zealand were exported overseas. Increasingly, lamb exports are in a further processed form, particularly cuts. Mutton tends to be exported boneless, and beef as boneless product. The domestic market absorbs around 100 percent of the pigmeat and poultry produced in New Zealand.

Table 18.13. MEAT PRODUCTION*

Year ended September
Carcasses19901991199219931994

* Inspected meat production at meat export works and abattoirs.

Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

   tonnes (000)  
Beef466524523558550
Veal1313141416
Mutton186145158135125
Lamb348383400352380
Pigmeat4343474948
Total1,0561,1081,1421,1081,119

Table 18.14. LIVESTOCK SLAUGHTER AT MEAT EXPORT WORKS AND ABATTOIRS

 Year ended September
Animals1990199119921993
Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.    
  head of stock (000)  
Lambs25,14927,24928,02023,380
Sheep7,6757,2277,6816,693
Adult cattle1,9352,1802,1322,264
Calves and vealers735741779802
Pigs749748807818

Table 18.15. EXPORT MEAT PRODUCTION

 Year ended September
Type of meat19891990199119921993*†

* Figures may not add due to rounding.

Provisional.

Source: Meat and Wool Board Economic Service.

  tonnes (000) shipping weight 
Lamb—carcasses186.5125.2123.9135.779.2
—other137.1135.5162.2176.0184.9
Mutton—carcasses75.952.046.754.922.9
—other28.425.229.928.739.8
 tonnes (000) shipping weight    
Beef—manufacturing215.7185.2207.2219.0242.0
Beef—other84.252.974.075.484.3
Veal7.38.47.27.87.6
Goat2.41.72.32.01.9
Variety meats39.536.931.237.340.8
Inedible meat and offal20.317.019.316.917.3
      Total*797.5640.0703.9753.6720.7

Meat processing plant.

Meat types

Sheepmeat

Lamb

—is a young sheep under 12 months of age or one that does not have any permanent incisor teeth in wear.

Hogget

—is a young male sheep or maiden ewe having no more than two permanent incisors in wear.

Ram

—is an adult uncastrated male sheep having more than two permanent incisors in wear.

Mutton

—includes ewes and castrated males (wethers) with more than two permanent incisors in wear. A wether must not show any ram characteristics.

Beef

Steers, heifers, cows and bulls

—a steer is a male bovine castrated when young. A heifer is a female bovine which has no more than six permanent incisors. Cows have more than six permanent incisors. A bull is an entire male bovine with masculine characteristics.

Veal and bobby calves

—vealer calves include maiden female, castrated male, and entire males which are not showing masculine characteristics that are up to 14 months of age. Bobby veal carcasses are derived from milk-fed bovine calves generally under two weeks of age.

A standard system of classifying meat is used in New Zealand. Export meat is classified according to the type of animal, age, sex, weight, fat content and, in some cases, muscling. The classification standards are established by the New Zealand Meat Producers Board after consultation with the New Zealand Meat Industry Association which are currently under review.

Schedule prices

Some meat processors publish their schedules of stock purchase prices in the weekly Agrifax publication, daily newspapers and in company newsletters. Producers can sell their stock on schedule, on a pool account system, on the hoof, on contract or by auction.

Season average net schedules for the last five years are given in . The schedule prices quoted are inclusive of pelt, slipe wool and hide payments.

Table 18.16. AVERAGE NET SCHEDULE PRICES

Classification1988–891989–901990–911991–921992–93

* Includes skin and one kilogram wool pull.

Prior to 1988–89 steer prices are for P class.

Confusion over hot and cold weights led to over estimation of schedules for beef prices.

Source: Meat and Wool Board Economic Service.

Lamb ($/head)*     
PL 9.1-13.2 kg17.1826.2021.9921.1831.96
PM 13.3-17.0 kg24.8335.9328.1929.1941.08
YL 9.1-13.2 kg16.5024.5321.3423.3431.79
Mutton ($/head)*     
MX 22 kg and under10.4718.8611.7213.1626.34
ML 22 kg and under11.7420.4013.3414.6929.15
Beef (cents/kg)     
P2 Steer 245.5-270 kg†234.0x274.2x261.6x272.1300.5
K2 Steer 245.5-270 kg†226.8x268.2x257.3x268.1294.6
M Cow 145-170 kg187.9x227.4x216.7x211.5221.8
Bull 245.5-270 kg230.3x283.7x272.6x282.0291.2

Red meat production

The New Zealand production season runs from 1 October to 30 September. New Zealand accounts for 1 percent of global beef and veal production, and 8.3 percent of global lamb and mutton production.

In the 1992–93 season increases in average slaughter weights and slaughterings of cattle were offset by decreased lamb and sheep slaughtering to give a slight decrease in total red meat production.

In the year to September 1993, beef and veal production increased by 6.5 percent to 572,000 tonnes (carcass weight), its highest level since the mid-1970s.

Drover taking a mob through the back roads of Hawke's Bay.

New Zealand Meat Producers Board

The purpose of the New Zealand Meat Board Producers Board, as defined by statute, is to maximise the returns to New Zealand meat producers. In the interests of producers, the board's main responsibilities are: licensing of meat exporters; meat classification and quality assurance; research and development; negotiation of freight services and rates; global promotion; market information; market development and trade access.

The board does not directly sell meat, this is undertaken by a variety of licensed meat exporting companies. However, the board does provide market support through its overseas offices in Bahrain, Brussels, London, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Washington.

The board is funded by means of a compulsory levy on stock, a per head charge collected at the time of slaughter. Levy income totalled $24 million in the year ended September 1993.

Table 18.17. MEAT BOARD LEVIES, 1 OCTOBER 1993

Class of meatCents per head*

* Excluding GST.

Source: Meat and Wool Boards’ Economic Service.

Lambs, other sheep and goats47
Bobby calves24
Cows, vealers and other adult cattle420

Export marketing

At 30 September 1993 New Zealand meat was sold overseas by 86 companies licensed by the Meat Board. New Zealand is a major exporter of sheepmeat, accounting for 38.1 percent of the world export trade, but is a smaller player in the global market for beef, accounting for 5.4 percent of all world beef exports.

New Zealand's major meat markets include the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Belgium/Luxembourg, Japan and Saudi Arabia for lamb; the United Kingdom, Germany, South Korea and France for mutton; and the United States, Canada, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea for beef. In 1992–93, 55 percent of all sheepmeat exports went to the European Community. The United States alone accounted for 63 percent of all beef exports in 1992–93. All export figures are in shipped weight.

Sheepmeat.

During the 1992–93 season lamb exports totalled 264,189 tonnes, a decrease of 21.2 percent on the 1991–92 season. Exports to the United Kingdom decreased from 90,210 tonnes in 1991–92 to 74,646 tonnes in 1992–93. Exports to other European Community markets also decreased by 12,583 tonnes, or 15 percent.

Mutton exports decreased by 28 percent to 58,874 tonnes. Shipments to the European Community increased to 33,823 tonnes, the United Kingdom, New Zealand's largest single market for mutton, taking 16,331 tonnes. Shipments to the former USSR decreased 4,325 tonnes to 403 tonnes. All export figures are in shipped weight.

New Zealand's lamb, mutton and goat exports to the European Union are subject to a voluntary restraint agreement.

Beef and veal.

New Zealand's biggest market for beef and veal in 1992–93 was the United States, with shipments totalling 198,143 tonnes. Canada was the next largest market, with 45,589 tonnes. Exports to South Korea increased slightly to 17,756 tonnes. All export figures are in shipped weight.

Imports of beef, veal, mutton and goatmeat into the United States can be subject to voluntary restraint agreements under the US Meat Import Law. Restraints were required in 1992 and 1993.

Meat prices

The International Meat Trade Association in the United Kingdom compiles a weekly London wholesale meat price list. The London wholesale prices in are an indicative measure of world prices for New Zealand lamb.

Table 18.18. LONDON WHOLESALE LAMB PRICES

 P ClassY Class
End of last week in March9–12.5 kg13–16 kg16.5–20 kg9–12.5 kg13–16 kg
Source: Meat and Wool Board Economic Service.
  Pence a kilogram  
1990153.2149.9145.5153.2147.7
1991125.7123.5116.9125.7121.3
1992138.9133.4124.6138.9132.3
1993173.1169.8158.7173.1169.8
1994187.4183.0169.7187.4183.0

gives a measure of New Zealand exported beef prices, derived from the New Zealand Meat Producers Board's weekly price series for imported manufacturing beef to the United States.

Table 18.19. UNITED STATES CIF BEEF PRICES

End of last week in MarchManufacturing bull Manufacturing cow
Source: Meat and Wool Board Economic Service.
US cents a kilogram
1990277.8260.2
1991280.0262.4
1992270.1255.8
1993264.6253.5
1994277.2272.8

18.4 Wool

New Zealand sheep are largely dual purpose wool/meat animals and their wool is predominantly strong. New Zealand is the world's largest producer of crossbred (strong wool), contributing 25 percent of the world total and two and a half times as much as either the CIS or China, the next most significant producers of strong wool.

This type of wool is used mainly in interior textiles such as carpets, upholstery, furnishings, bedding and rugs. It is also used for handknitting yarn and blankets.

In contrast, wool produced in Australia is mainly fine wool for apparel. Australia is the world's largest producer of wool overall.

It is estimated that world-wide 45 percent of New Zealand wool is used in machine-made carpets, 15 percent in handknotted and hand-tufted carpets, 30 percent in apparel, and 10 percent in other uses, primarily upholstery and bedding. Uses vary markedly from country to country.

Wool production.

Although New Zealand's sheep flock ranks fourth largest in the world, the country's total wool fibre production is second only to Australia on a clean mass basis. This is due to the high clip yield per head and lower quantities of grease and other contaminants in New Zealand wool.

Table 18.2. WOOL PRODUCTION*

Season ended 30 JuneFlock sizeYield/headTotal wool production (clean)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: Wools of New Zealand.

 millionkgtonnes (000)cents/kg
198960.65.1233615
199057.95.3227422
199155.25.4221437
199252.64.9193433
199450.35.6214414

Wools of New Zealand

Wools of New Zealand (formerly the New Zealand Wool Board) was established to get the best possible long-term returns for New Zealand woolgrowers. To do this it promotes the use of New Zealand wool in existing or new markets; encourages efficiencies in the preparation, handling, distribution, shipping, and selling of wool; and promotes and undertakes extensive research and development work into wool, sheep and wool products.

The board is entirely funded by woolgrowers and has no government financial backing. The main sources of income for the board are: a 6 percent levy on gross wool receipts ($47.4 million in the 1993–94 season) and interest on investments ($2.8 million for the 1993–94 season). The principal expenditure of the board is international wool promotion ($31.8 million for 1993–94).

Grower services.

Board field staff work with growers to improve wool production, raise the quality of the wool clip, and help growers maximise their returns. In 1993–94 training courses were provided for more than 1,600 shearers and 55 woolhandling and woolclassing courses were held. Education and extension programmes were also held on wool production, harvesting and packaging. The board operates wool price services to help growers establish selling prices and reserves at auction.

Research and development.

The board has a comprehensive research, development and technology transfer programme investing more than $8.2 million in 1993–94. It funds and directs research to help ensure the future of New Zealand wool by increasing demand for wool fibre through improved products and processes. Priorities for on-farm and post-harvest research are established annually, taking into account market signals and woolgrowers’ needs. Research proposals are invited from New Zealand and overseas groups interested in working with the board on the development of new and improved products and processes using New Zealand wool.

The Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand (WRONZ) receives a large proportion of the board's research funding. Established in 1960 at Lincoln, Christchurch, WRONZ conducts fundamental research on wool fibre and applied research on scouring, processing, and performance of New Zealand wools.

Promotion and product development.

The board concentrates on promoting wool within New Zealand, while international marketing is handled primarily by the International Wool Secretariat (IWS) on the board's behalf.

IWS is a partnership of New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Uruguay. Together the four countries account for 80 percent of all wool traded internationally. IWS has its headquarters in Ilkley, England where it has a major process and product development centre, and branches throughout the world. IWS’s role is to increase demand for its partner countries’ wool world-wide.

Most of its work for New Zealand is promoting the use of New Zealand wool in interior textiles such as carpets, upholstery and bedding. Resources are concentrated on the developed markets of USA, Japan and Western Europe. Together these markets consume 70 percent of all New Zealand wool used in interior textiles. IWS mounts international product promotion programmes and works with processors giving technical advice on wool manufacturing, wool styling and fashion trends.

In New Zealand assistance is given by the board to local textile manufacturers through fashion and design services, technical help for new products and processes, and quality control techniques. Consumer marketing programmes are also devised for wool products, particularly Woolmark carpets.

Stocks.

The board manages and sells wool from its stockpile which was built up under market support activities (suspended in 1991). At the end of July 1994 the stocks totalled 173,000 bales.

Markets for wool

The most common way of selling wool in New Zealand is by open auction; 59 percent was sold this way in 1993–94. The auction season runs from July to the following June. Sales are held at three 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 (28 percent of sales in 1993–94).

Table 18.21. WOOL SOLD AT AUCTION

Season ended JuneGreasy and scoured new season wool (clean equivalent)Average clean price per kilogramTotal sale value
Source: Wools of New Zealand.
 tonnes (000)cents$(million)
1990154614.51,009.7
1991153422.0660.6
1992140437.0623.2
1993116433.0517.3
1994125414.056.3

Around 90 percent of the New Zealand clip leaves the country in a greasy, scoured, or slipe form. Eighty percent of exports are scoured. Of the 10 percent of the clip 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 fibre are shown in . During 1993–94 the largest importers were China, Nepal, the United Kingdom and India.

With the exception of China and the CIS, final destinations of end-products made from New Zealand wool have, in contrast, been rather more stable. Much of the wool tends to be used in the same countries as it was years ago, even though the location of the early-stage processing may have changed. Countries such as the United States and West Germany use less wool fibre, but import made-up carpets from other countries. India and Nepal have emerged as large customers for New Zealand wool, mostly for processing into handknotted carpets for export to Europe and North America.

Table 18.22. EXPORT DESTINATIONS OF NEW ZEALAND WOOL FIBRE

Country1989–901990–911991–921992–931993–94
Source: Wools of New Zealand.
   tonnes  
China15,14719,05147,69236,51660,262
Nepal5,9278,67716,59917,71111,907
United Kingdom17,25218,27519,05616,31422,956
Japan21,43924,60419,70615,50314,919
Belgium14,24612,09616,16711,48112,901
India7,91416,10010,40611,19717,228
Germany11,79011,19812,8089,70612,563
Hong Kong3,1603,1079,6598,81911,932
United States9,9337,4769,1758,3988,449
Australia9,0758,4188,6107,68210,761
CIS26,6647,8224,6661,6092,095
Other43,40344,84543,33335,54140,059

DESTINATION OF WOOL EXPORTS

1993–94

Net domestic consumption of wool in New Zealand is among the highest in the world on a per head basis. In 1993 this was estimated at 3.56 kg per head compared with 1.99 kg in Australia, 2.21 kg in West Germany, 1.61 kg in the United Kingdom, and 0.53 kg in the United States.

Because New Zealand wools are predominantly strong they do not compete directly with the output of other major producers. The graph shows the relative positions of the main exporting countries.

Wool product exports.

The most important wool product exports from New Zealand are floor coverings and yarns, particularly carpet yarns. Carpets and rugs accounted for 28 percent of wool product export earnings in 1993–94. Carpet yarn accounted for 20 percent and other yarn for 7 percent. Other wool-based export items include: raw and processed sheepskins, tops, wool waste, blankets, fabrics, knitwear and other clothing.

Total export earnings from wool products increased by 5 percent to $232 million in 1993–94. These exports are summarised in .

Table 18.23. WOOL PRODUCT EXPORT EARNINGS*

Product1989–901990–911991–921992–931993–94

* Year ended 30 June.

Source: Wools of New Zealand.

  $(million) fob  
Carpets/rugs81.165.166.766.063.8
Wool yarn92.775.475.671.463.3
Wool apparel7.97.814.719.011.0
Skeepskin final products 21.922.330.632.2
Sheepskins—raw and processed41.920.629.236.140.9
All other17.814.423.221.320.4
Total241.4205.2231.7244.4231.6

Inspecting a merino ram in the wool breeding programme, Omarama.

18.5 Dairy produce

Dairy product exports constitute some 20 percent of total merchandise trade receipts for New Zealand, and, with the exception of milk and some dairy products for local consumption, the industry is primarily geared towards overseas markets—which account for between 85–90 percent of all milk produced.

There are four major product groupings manufactured from liquid whole milk by dairy factories in New Zealand: milk powders such as skim-milk powder (SMP), whole-milk powder (WMP), and buttermilk powder (BMP); cream products, such as butter, anhydrous milkfat (AMF), and ghee; cheese; and protein products such as casein and caseinates.

Liquid whole milk can be broken down into three chief components: milkfat, solids-non-fat (protein), and water. Skim-milk powder is made from skim milk after the cream (milkfat) has been separated from the liquid whole milk. Whole-milk powder is manufactured directly from the liquid whole milk, without separating of the cream. Buttermilk powder is made from buttermilk, a by-product of the butter manufacturing process. Most of the butter produced is of a ‘sweet cream’ type, and anhydrous milkfat and ghee are further refinements of butter. The predominant cheese variety manufactured in New Zealand is cheddar or cheddar types, although the manufacture of speciality cheese types has recently shown considerable growth. The final product grouping, milk proteins, are derived from the by-products of skim milk and also from the by-products of other dairy product manufacture such as cheese.

Table 18.24. MILK PRODUCTION AND UTILISATION

Product1988–89*1989–901990–911991–921992–931993–94

* New series, includes milk sold for processing only.

Source: New Zealand Dairy Board.

   million litres  
Production      
Total milk production6,9697,3027,5097,8718,0509,003
Utilisation      
Milk sent to dairy factories6,5336,8687,0787,4547,6298,603

Table 18.25. DAIRY FACTORY PRODUCTION

Product1990–911991–921992–931993–94
Source: New Zealand Dairy Board.
  tonnes  
Creamery butter216,291218,351206,606223,182
Anhydrous milkfat34,59043,30245,66148,904
Frozen cream6,080 6,2788,697
Cheese124,773137,405144,521193,348
Whole-milk powder235,383250,105279,179306,448
Infant food16,09424,56328,77826,325
Skim-milk powder147,413136,037126,545140,895
Buttermilk powder24,49623,40223,49626,629
Casein products65,62274,19474,21679,454
Lactose22,52025,60326,22214,853
Whey powders11,88213,70813,97618,698

Dairy organisations

There are presently 15 co-operative dairy companies, which operate around 30 dairy factories for the production of manufactured dairy products. Each company is governed by a board of directors who are elected by farmer suppliers. The co-operatives utilise funds supplied in the form of share capital by the farmers.

The companies produce nearly all dairy products manufactured in New Zealand. On an annual basis the companies convert approximately 8.5 million litres of milk into more than 1,000,000 tonnes of dairy products, of which around 900,000 tonnes is exported. The balance is consumed on the relatively small domestic market.

Milk sold on the New Zealand market, known as town milk, has traditionally been produced by different farmers from those who supply dairy factories. However, during recent years some companies which have interests in both town milk and manufacturing dairy products have ceased drawing milk from separate sources but they have offered a winter premium for town milk supplies to reflect the additional input costs in producing out of season milk.

New Zealand Dairy Board.

The board is the single organisation responsible for marketing dairy produce manufactured for export. As the exporting and administrative arm of the industry, it links manufacturing and industry growth plans with export market requirements.

The board exports to over 100 countries annually and has its own marketing distribution network in all of these countries. With over 70 fully owned subsidiaries, associate companies and agencies the Dairy Board is the largest multinational dairy marketing organisation in the world. The vertical integration of the corporate structure gives the industry a strong international position.

Overseas marketing

The international market for dairy products is characterised by its small size relative to total world milk production, with only about 5 percent of production entering international trade. Because of this the market is especially vulnerable to shifts in climatic, commercial, and political forces. Marginal production changes in the major producers can trigger massive shifts in supplies of, and prices for, products on the international market.

The major dairy exporters are: the European Union; New Zealand; Australia; and to a lesser degree the United States and Canada. These five exporters supply between 90 and 95 percent of dairy products traded on the international market. Relatively smaller quantities are exported by the Nordic countries and from Eastern Europe.

Export markets.

The dairy industry has been working to diversify its markets and product range for many years. Today, New Zealand's major markets vary for different products. There has been reduced access to both the United Kingdom and the European Union butter market; Britain, however, remains New Zealand's most valuable market for butter. In 1995, 76,667 tonnes has been allowed to be exported to the European Union. The Former Soviet Union, the Middle East and North Africa are other important butter markets.

The Uruguay Round was concluded in December 1993 and signed in April 1994. It will mean considerable gains for the dairy industry through the reduction of export subsidies by the European Union and the United States and through more access to existing and new markets.

The primary markets for casein and cheese are the United States, Japan, and the European Union. New Zealand is the world's largest exporter of casein and caseinate products and is also moving forward in its range of other sophisticated and specialised milk protein products. These are highly specialised, high-cost products which are put to a myriad of uses, from automobile manufacture to meat processing and alcohol distillation.

The most important milk-powder markets are in Central and South America and South-East Asia, but there has also been growth in skim-milk powder exports to the Middle East.

Continued diversification of markets, however, is limited as the international dairy market—although free of trading restrictions—is finite and relatively small.

Driving the cows back to the paddocks after milking.

Export markets 1994.

The most important development for international dairy markets was the conclusion of the GATT Uruguay Round negotiations. These have established a much improved framework within which the international dairy trade can be expected to develop and grow.

This new era produced an immediate and crucial dividend in December 1993, with the decision by the European Union to maintain access for New Zealand butter to the European market for 1994 at the same level as 1993 (i.e. 51,830 tonnes). For 1995 and beyond, the Uruguay Round market access commitments will begin to be applied. This will return access for New Zealand butter to the level of the mid-1980s (i.e. 76,667 tonnes).

Restoration of access to the European market will help alleviate the chronic problems which continued to beset international butter markets in 1993–94. Exporters such as New Zealand have been dependent to an uncomfortable degree on a range of volatile markets in the Middle East, North Africa and in the former Soviet Union. Problems of political instability and economic insolvency in these areas have meant low prices and, sometimes, payment problems.

In June 1993 a special exemption to all dairy product exporters from the GATT International Dairy Arrangements minimum export price for butter was agreed to allow butter sales to be pursued in Russia at discounted prices. The minimum price subsequently was suspended for all markets.

In Europe, production is being controlled effectively by quota systems. Consumption has been steady, supported by taxpayer-funded price discounting schemes. In the United States, milk production continued to grow but this was broadly in line with consumption growth, which was especially strong for cheese.

In Australia the strong growth in milk production continued with a 9 percent increase in 1993–94. All the extra production was for export, an especially critical factor for New Zealand because of the identical competitive focus the two countries have for many export markets. Nevertheless, expanded production and export volumes from both New Zealand and Australia were successfully sold.

Dairy produce prices

Dairy farmer suppliers are paid for their milk by their co-operatively owned dairy factories on the basis of dairy product prices on the international market. The system of establishing the price paid to dairy companies for product purchased for export by the board, and hence the price paid to the milk supplier, is set out in the Dairy Board Act 1961.

The Dairy Board Act was amended during 1988 to reflect government's withdrawal from overseeing price setting. Other changes to the Act allowed for the freeing up of the board's accounting and credit-raising practices and the removal of a requirement to hold accounts with the Reserve Bank.

Payments to suppliers for the past six seasons are given in .

Table 18.26. PRICES FOR MILKFAT AND PROTEIN

Season ended 31 MayMilkfatProteinTotal milk whole-milkTotal whole (milk solids equivalent)
Source: New Zealand Dairy Board.
kg
1989264.00356.005303.04
1990269.28413.805803.31
1991164.24275.403703.12
1992232.00388.675202.99
1993254.00423.005653.25
1994198.56413.665052.90

18.6 Pigs, poultry and bees

Pigs

As at 30 June 1993 there were a total of 395,000 pigs in New Zealand, a 4 percent decrease on the 1992 figure of 411,000.

Over recent years there has been a significant increase in pig production, both in terms of numbers of pigs slaughtered and tonnage of pigmeat produced.

In the 1992–93 year ended 30 September, 818,348 pigs were slaughtered, an increase of 10,032 over the previous year. The tonnage of pigmeat produced also increased to 48,567 tonnes, up 1,397 on the previous year. This, together with 2,200 tonnes of imported pork, provided 18 percent of total meat consumed in New Zealand at 14.8 kilograms per capita. In comparison Australian consumption is 18 kilograms per capita, United States 31 kilograms and the United Kingdom 22 kilograms.

Increases in pig production are still occurring at a greater rate in the South Island than in the North Island. This is mainly because most of the grain grown in New Zealand is in the South Island, and this is a major source of feed for pigs.

Table 18.27. PIGS

At 30 JuneBreeding sows one year old and overOther pigs of all ages (including boars)Total pigs

* A shortened Agricultural Census is undertaken every second year.

198847,183366,375413,558
198944,471356,120411,334
199044,665340,013394,701
1991*  407,306
199245,583365,565411,148
1993*  395,117

New Zealand Pork Industry Board.

The board is a statutory body which operates under the Pork Industry Board Act 1982. The industry, however, has had an organisation since 1937, being one of the first farming industries to form a national organisation. Its source of income is from a levy on all pigs slaughtered at licensed premises. The board currently comprises nine members, five of whom are elected by producers and four are appointed by the Minister of Agriculture.

The functions of the board are to promote and organise the orderly development of an efficient pork producing industry in New Zealand. The aim is to provide a stable market-place for efficient producers. To achieve these functions the board is responsible for maintaining and improving the quality of stock produced in New Zealand. This it does by genetic improvement programmes to improve productivity in stock. This role is carried out by the National Pig Breeding Co (NZ) Limited, a subsidiary company in which the board has the major shareholding.

The board has an agreement with the Monogastric Research Centre at Massey University for the provision of technology transfer to the industry and technical support to the board on a wide range of issues. Technology transfer is achieved by means of seminars and workshops for farmers and others involved in the industry. The board also funds research into pig production at the Monogastric Research Centre as well as research into a number of environmental issues, particularly the land application of piggery effluents.

The industry is particularly concerned about the environmental effects of pig production and as a consequence has produced Code of Practice—Pig Farming, which sets out guidelines for the establishment and management of pig farms to ensure the environmental effects are minimised as much as possible. The Environmental Taskforce meets with regional and district councils to ensure that the pig farmers point of view is represented and to allow an exchange of ideas so that sensible solutions to problems can be achieved.

Industry training has been an important facet of the board's work over the last 10 years, and the Pork Industry Training Scheme now operates under the umbrella of the Farm Education and Training Association as its Industry Training Organisation.

The board's marketing is well known, particularly through ‘Trim Pork’ promotion and current projects are looking towards improving the quality of pork and pork products and addressing animal welfare issues which affect pigmeat quality.

Poultry

In the last 10 years, New Zealand has seen the refinement and development of the level of sophistication of its poultry meat industry to the equivalent, and in most cases superior, status to that found anywhere in the world. Improvements in production and processing have been achieved through improved management, nutrition and genetics, greater processing efficiency, and strict quarantine regulations.

In New Zealand, since 1965, annual chicken meat consumption has increased from 1 kilogram per capita to approximately 21 kilograms of chicken per capita and another 2 kilograms of turkey and other poultry. A factor towards this increase is that chicken is now in real terms half the price per kilogram of what it was in 1972.

Chicken's share of the total market-place has increased from 5.6 percent in 1975 to around 22 percent in 1993. There has also been a trend from frozen to fresh chicken. In 1985 frozen chicken accounted for 55 percent of consumption and 45 percent was fresh. It is expected that the fresh product will be 75 percent of the total consumption within five years.

Table 18.28. CHICKEN PRODUCTION

YearBirdsDressed weightFreshFrozen
Source: Poultry Industry Association of NZ Inc.
 numbertonnespercent
198637,709,00046,02746.153.9
198738,925,00047,77747.852.2
198842,146,00052,83549.250.8
198945,583,00058,73251.148.9
199043,469,00055,37955.244.8
199145,891,00059,03653.546.5
199248,187,00062,79255.045.0
199351,000,00069,60052.247.8
199453,800,00074,50058.042.0

A major factor in the growth of the industry has been the advent of new product lines. Over the next five years, development is also predicted in the areas of turkey and duck consumption. Turkey especially, both production and products, is expected to follow the pattern of development in consumption set by chicken.

Ninety percent of the chicken meat industry is owned and controlled by three main companies: Tegel Foods Ltd, Ingham Enterprises Limited and P H van den Brink Limited.

Eggs.

The late 1980s saw the abolishment of both price and production controls in the egg industry, and the disestablishment of the New Zealand Poultry Board. The state of the egg industry and the position of wholesalers has changed considerably due to deregulation.

Many producers now sell direct to the wholesale and retail trade. Consequently there has been a dramatic fall in the wholesale price of eggs and returns to the producer. However, a similarly significant fall in the price of retail eggs for the consumer has been slow and has varied widely throughout the country.

Falling returns have resulted in many producers leaving the industry with the total number of egg producers reduced to 270 in 1991, compared with 2,500, 10 years ago. A further decline in the number of producers is expected, leaving a smaller number of larger operators.

Deregulation has made available to the consumer a wider choice of types of eggs from standard white and brown, to wholemeal, vegetarian and free range eggs, jumbo size and other premium packs and an increase in tray eggs and self-packing in retail outlets.

Dunedin farmer checking out a Shaver Brown hen which is capable of producing up to 300 eggs a year.

During 1991 egg producers, through the Egg Producers Federation of NZ Inc., made efforts to form a national body to represent the egg industry's interests. A levy, under the Commodity Levies Act 1990, has now been approved by the Minister of Agriculture to fund this body.

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 (Trifolium repens) is still the principal type, a number of other New Zealand native honey sources have wide national and international consumer appeal. Examples are rewarewa (Knightia excelsa), tawari (Ixerba brexiodides) and ling heather (Caluna vulgaris) from the North Island. South Island sources include rata (Meterosideros robusta), blue borage (Echium vulgare) and thyme (Thymusvulgaris). As well, honeydew (a non-flora source of honey) is produced from South Island beech forests. This source, with a strong, pronounced flavour, is exported primarily to Europe.

In 1992 researchers confirmed that manuka honey (Leptospermum scoparium) is unusually effective as an antiseptic dressing. Waikato University biochemists have shown that it is particularly useful for wounds, burns and ulcers. Because of this both the demand and the price for manuka honey have risen dramatically.

INCOME PRODUCED FOR BEEKEEPING INDUSTRY, 1993  
 $(MILLION)Percent
Source: National Beekeepers Association.  
Honey (domestic)27.858
Pollination services8.818
Honey (export)7.516
Live bees2.35
Beeswax1.12
Health products0.71
      Total income48.2100

The total saleable crop for 1994 was assessed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries at 11,819 tonnes (40.8 kilograms per hive), a significant increase over the previous year's crop of 7,086 tonnes (23.3 kilograms per hive) and the previous six years’ average of 7,698 tonnes (24.3 kilograms per hive). The 1994 crop has been reported as the largest honey crop ever produced in New Zealand.

The industry's other products include beeswax, pollen, propolis and live bees (package bees and queen bees). While exports of queen bees and package bees are expected to grow, there were major problems with access to the two main markets (Canada and Korea) in 1994, resulting in fewer exports than expected.

With the decline in the production of kiwifruit in New Zealand, the demand for bees for kiwifruit pollination has been reduced considerably in some areas of the country. The number of hives being moved for pollination of other crops (such as apples, stonefruit, berryfruit and squash) has remained reasonably static, but it is expected there will be an increase in the next few years in the number needed for apple pollination as the large areas of young apple trees planted recently reach maturity.

At 30 June 1994 there were 5,565 registered beekeepers in New Zealand with a total of 289,875 hives situated in 25,331 apiaries. There are 67 beekeeping businesses which own more than 1,000 hives and a further 90 with 501 to 1,000 hives. Beekeepers with 50 or more hives who pay a compulsory levy (set at $1.61 per hive for 1994), as well as many hobbyist beekeepers represented by the National Beekeepers Association of New Zealand.

Table 18.29. APIARIES AND HONEY PRODUCTION*

DistrictBeekeepersApiariesHivesHoney production

* Year ended 30 June.

Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

  numbertonnes
1993    
Whangarei1,2643,03330,9671,033
Hamilton5962,98543,185811
Tauranga6063,59353,043958
Palmerston North1,3193,96138,446577
Blenheim4842,03622,448560
Lincoln7655,14358,1161,611
Invermay5884,37352,7771,536
      New Zealand5,62225,124298,9827,086
1994    
Whangarei1,2252,97229,8481,295
Hamilton5843,10043,7491,946
Tauranga5983,69650,2821,524
Palmerston North1,3583,95735,8391,442
Blenheim4742,08321,190493
Lincoln7715,31558,1552,883
Invermay5554,20850,8122,236
      New Zealand5,56525,331289,87511,819

Rescuing bees and hives after a crash, Central Otago.

18.7 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.

After a period of decline in the 1980s the area planted in traditional cereals, such as wheat, barley and maize, is stabilising. This has occurred as the profitability of cereals has improved relative to that of other crops and farm enterprises. There has also been an increase in plantings of pasture seeds and specialist crops.

Major crops for the export market include kiwifruit, pipfruit, stonefruit, onions, squash, flowers and berryfruit. Grapes are grown mainly for the domestic market and for wine production.

Grain, vegetable and seed crops

Stock feed.

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, needs 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.

MAJOR CROPS

Area sown

Table 18.3. GRAIN AND PEAS 1993

 Area sownYields
CropNorth IslandSouth IslandTotalNorth IslandSouth IslandTotal
  hectares tonnes
Wheat5,68635,17540,86127,661191,753219,414
Oats1,41612,76314,1793,84352,95056,793
Barley13,82565,69079,78565,198324,325389,523
Peas2,04117,62219,6636,94956,31963,268
Maize15,54038515,925129,3943,675133,069

Wheat.

New Zealand wheat is primarily grown for domestic human consumption and is milled for flour. Some wheat grain and the by-products of flour milling, bran and pollard are used for stock feed. Wheat constitutes around 24 percent of the area planted in grain crops.

Most wheat is grown in the South Island in the Canterbury Regional Council Area. In the year ended June 1993 this region provided 72 percent of the total production of 219,414 tonnes.

Barley.

Most barley grown in New Zealand is used for the manufacture of stock feed and for malting. Exports of malting and feed barley fluctuate in response to price changes, which reflect international supply and demand.

Barley makes up 46 percent of the area planted in grain crops and peas. The main growing area is the middle and southern parts of the South Island. In the North Island the main growing region is Wanganui-Manawatu, which provided 11 percent of the refined crop of 389,523 tonnes in 1993.

MAJOR CROPS

Production

Maize.

Primarily grown in the eastern North Island, maize is used as poultry feed and increasingly as a supplementary feed for pigs and other livestock. Of the area planted in grain crops and peas, maize makes up 9 percent. In 1993 the Waikato Regional Council Area provided 33 percent of the crop, and the Bay of Plenty 23 percent. The total yield was 133,069 tonnes in 1993.

Oats.

Grown mainly for threshing and green feed, oats are also used to produce milled rolled-oats, oatmeal, and oaten foods. The total yield for oats was 56,793 tonnes in 1993. The main areas for oats are Southern Canterbury and Southland.

Field peas.

In 1993, 74 percent of the total yield of 63,268 tonnes of peas were grown in the Canterbury Regional Council Area in the South Island. Of the total area planted in grain crops, field peas make up 14 percent.

Potatoes.

The production of potatoes is usually adequate to meet home market requirements. In 1993, the total area planted in potatoes was 9,064 hectares. The main growing areas are the Auckland, Manawatu and Canterbury local government regions. Potatoes make up 22 percent of the total area planted in vegetables.

MAJOR CROPS

Yield per hectare

Seed certification.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries operates a seed certification scheme covering all the main herbage and arable species (and participates in the OECD seed scheme). There are considerable exports of certified seed to EC countries, the Pacific Basin, and North and South America.

Plant variety rights. Any breeder of a new and distinct plant variety may obtain a grant of plant variety rights. Such a grant gives the breeder, for a prescribed number of years, exclusive rights of commercialisation for the variety enabling the breeder to recover costs, and perhaps make a profit. The scheme is administered by the Ministry of Commerce. Rights may be obtained for varieties of all plants except algae and bacteria. The New Zealand scheme complies with the 1978 Convention of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV).

Harvesting the new season crop of asparagus, Cambridge.

Fruit

In the year to June 1992, 468,099 tonnes of fresh fruit at a value of $890.9 million was exported. outlines the main types of fruitgrowing in New Zealand.

Table 18.31. AREAS PLANTED IN FRUIT

 At 30 June 
Fruit1989199019921993Main regions

* Areas of grapes planted by activities classified to winemaking are not included here.

  hectares   
Citrus—     
Grapefruit/Goldfruit200204167156Bay of Plenty
Lemons277279334283Bay of Plenty
Mandarins426490544533Northland
Oranges770833826760Gisborne, Northland
Tangelos493475406357Bay of Plenty, Northland
Pip fruit—     
Apples10,25211,33312,28312,937Hawke's Bay
Pears7599039951,068Hawke's Bay
Nashi (Asian Pears)762739590484Auckland, Bay of Plenty
Stone fruit—     
Apricots857854814804Otago
Nectarines1,058946889845Hawke's Bay, Otago
Peaches1,1321,101958869Hawke's Bay
Plums303324309303Auckland, Hawke's Bay
Cherries269283272273Marlborough, Otago
Berry fruit—     
Blackcurrants616703778795Canterbury, Southland
Blueberries495346328340Waikato
Boysenberries365311250223Tasman
Raspberries340285220224Canterbury
Strawberries245313261247Auckland
Subtropicals—     
Avocados1,3141,3541,3081,260Bay of Plenty, Northland
Feijoas255272243226Bay of Plenty, Auckland
Kiwifruit17,69417,50815,25114,099Bay of Plenty
Tamarillos436420353325Bay of Plenty, Northland
Passionfruit75757468Bay of Plenty
Grapes (outdoor)*4,8325,4085,3285,663Hawke's Bay, Gisborne, Marlborough
Persimmons460488415400Auckland

Grape growing and wine production.

New Zealand has an estimated area of 6,110 hectares (ha) of producing grape vines as at 30 June 1994. The major grape producing regions are Gisborne (17,555 tonnes), Marlborough (15,851 tonnes) and Hawke's Bay (15,116 tonnes). In 1994, 13,687 tonnes of Muller Thurgau grapes were crushed, the highest amount for a grape variety that season, next was Chardonnay with 8,786 tonnes, then Sauvignon Blanc (5,083 tonnes) and Chenin Blanc (2,112 tonnes). The 1994 vintage, after two years of low yields, recovered to within 10 percent of normal expectation, producing 54,000 tonnes—a 27 percent increase on the 1993 yield.

Grape production in 1992 and 1993 was reduced by variable weather, low investment in the wine industry during the early 1990s and phylloxera ‘attack’. During the past 12 months, however, a dramatic resurgence in new plantings has transformed the earlier adverse outlook. New plantings during the 1993 season have expanded the vineyards area by 10 percent to 6,700 ha. A further increase of 9 percent to 7,300 ha is predicted in the 1994 planting season.

The shortage of New Zealand wine in the 1992 and 1993 vintages impacted heavily on sales in both domestic and export markets. The industry's total sales were reduced by 21 percent from 45.6 million litres to 35.9 million—their lowest level in more than a decade. Driven by the shortfall, average grape prices rose to $867 in 1994, a 91 percent increase from $453 a tonne in 1991. Rising grape prices have played a key role in stimulating new plantings, but international market returns are unlikely to sustain such prices on a medium-term basis.

Sales of New Zealand wine on the home market were also affected by the stock shortfall, with domestic sales falling to 28 million litres, down from 37.4 million litres in 1993. Export volumes of New Zealand wine dipped in 1994, totalling 7.9 million litres for the year (down from 8.6 million litres in 1993) and were worth $41.5 million (a decrease of 14 percent). Currency movement (the increasing value of the New Zealand dollar) was the primary reason for a decline of 7 percent in average export prices, from $5.64 per litre in 1993 to $5.27 in 1994. Britain is New Zealand's major market for wine, taking 64 percent of total wine exports by volume and 70 percent of value.

The number of wineries in New Zealand has increased from 97 in 1984 to 190 a decade later.

Table 18.32. NEW ZEALAND WINE INDUSTRY STATISTICS

 Unit19901991199219931994*

* Estimated figures.

Source: Wine Institute of New Zealand.

Producing areahectares4,8805,4405,8005,9806,110
Average yieldtonnes per hectare14.412.19.37.18.8
Crushedtonnes70,26565,70855,50042,62154,000
Total productionmillion litres54.449.941.632.540.5
Domestic salesmillion litres39.241.143.6 x37.428.0
Consumption per capitalitres (NZ Wine)11.712.112.811.08.2
Stock: sales ratiosales ratio1.73:11.65:11.28:11.21:11.62:1
Export Volumemillion litres4.05.67.18.67.9
Export Value$(million)18.425.334.748.341.5

Table 18.33. NEW ZEALAND WINE PRODUCTION, SALES AND STOCKS

 19901991199219931994

* Estimates only.

Source: Wine Institute of New Zealand.

  litres (000)  
Production—     
White47.07442.51335.20026.042-
Red5.2985.7464.5003.401-
Sparkling0.4210.3790.4001.613-
Fortified1.6521.2871.5001.385-
      Total54.44549.92541.60032.46240.500
Sales—     
White29.95033.73937.55032.500-
Red3.7004.1004.3004.100-
Sparkling5.3005.3005.6505.500-
Fortified4.3003.6003.6003.500-
      Total43.25046.73951.10045.60035.900
Losses—2.1303.1002.0001.3941.500
Stocks—     
White57.86055.79545.90035.285-
Red8.53911.26410.8507.956-
Sparkling3.1483.3263.2507.625-
Fortified7.4956.6025.5004.281-
      Total77.04276.98765.50055.14658.246

Pipfruit (apples and European/Asian pears).

As at September 1994 a total of 9,500 hectares were planted in apples and 500 hectares in European pears. The main production areas are Hawke's Bay and Nelson. Granny Smith, Red Delicious types, Royal Gala, Braeburn, Fuji and Cox's Orange Pippin are the most commonly planted varieties. European pear varieties are mainly Packham's Triumph, Buerre Bosc, Winter Nelis and Winter Cole.

Apple and European pear export marketing is carried out by the New Zealand Apple and Pear Marketing Board. The board is effectively a grower co-operative, charged with handling the international marketing and sales of all New Zealand's export pipfruit, under the Enza brand. The domestic market for pipfruit is de-regulated.

During the 1994 season a crop of 24 million cartons of fruit was handled by the New Zealand Apple and Pear Marketing Board, with a turnover of $603 million. A total 11 million cartons of fruit was exported in fresh form, which equalled $461 million.

As at September 1994 there were 600 hectares planted in Asian pears (nashi) in New Zealand. The main Asian pear growing districts are Auckland and Bay of Plenty and the main varieties are Hosui and Nijisseiki. Asian pear growing is well organised with this fruit being exported through licensed exporters. However, the New Zealand Apple and Pear Marketing Board shipped and marketed 40 percent of Asian pears exported from New Zealand in 1994.

APPLE CROP

Number of cartons of total paid crop

As at 31 March

Table 18.34. APPLE AND PEAR SALES*

 199219931994

* For year ended 30 September.

Source: Apple and Pear Marketing Board.

  $(000) 
Fresh fruit export523,988450,798461,294
Commercial operations127,171120,178141,643
      Net return651,159570,976602,937

Asian pears are to become a recognised product group under the New Zealand Horticulture Export Authority. The product group will be developing an export marketing strategy.

Summerfruit.

At 30 June 1993 the areas planted in summerfruits were: apricots, 804 hectares; cherries, 273 hectares; nectarines, 845 hectares; peaches, 869 hectares; plums, 303 hectares.

The main summerfruit production areas are Central Otago, Hawke's Bay, Marlborough, Canterbury, and Auckland.

Most summerfruits are produced for local consumption, although there is an increasing focus on exports. In 1994, 2,310 tonnes were produced with a value of $9.2 million compared to 1993 with 2,423 tonnes with a value of $11.6 million. The last two seasons have seen exceptionally low volumes exported primarily because of adverse climatic conditions. Despite the poor season the actual decrease in export volume from last season was only 7 percent.

Most of the decrease was due to the significant decrease in nectarine and cherry exports, yet this was offset by an increase in apricot exports. In 1994 apricots became the single largest summerfruit export. Apricot exports now account for 49 percent of total summerfruit exports in 1994. Nectarines accounted for 37 percent of total summerfruit exports in 1994.

Australia remains the largest single export market, accounting for 69 percent of summerfruit exports in 1993–94. Over the past seven years the industry has diversified into other markets. While Japan and North America have remained constant, other markets have increased to 31 percent; East Asia takes 16 percent of total exports.

Exporting summerfruit comes under the Summerfruit Export Council Limited of the New Zealand Horticulture Authority.

Kiwifruit.

Kiwifruit is one of New Zealand's most important horticultural export earners, accounting for $311 million fob of New Zealand's horticultural earnings in the 1993 selling season. New Zealand is a major supplier of kiwifruit and has led the development of the global industry.

In 1993, the New Zealand Kiwifruit Marketing Board, which is sole exporter except to the Australian market, sold approximately 50 million trays of New Zealand kiwifruit in more than 50 countries

Sales are focused in three major markets: Europe (58.6 percent), Japan (23.6 percent), and North America (6.2 percent). New and developing markets make up the remaining 11.6 percent, with key areas of development in South America, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

While New Zealand growers supply about a quarter of world production, kiwifruit generally accounts for less than 1 percent of world fresh fruit consumption. Other major producers include Italy, Japan, Chile, United States of America and France. The rapid increase in global production, which has now plateaued, and increasing competition from other fruits, has led to declining real prices, although New Zealand has consistently earned price premiums over its competitors.

Kiwifruit is produced in many regions of the North Island, as well as the north of the South Island, but the Bay of Plenty, with more than 75 percent of production, is the major growing area. There are about 3,300 kiwifruit growers in New Zealand. Many orchardists are family operations cultivating five hectares or less of kiwifruit.

Table 18.35. GROWTH IN KIWIFRUIT PRODUCTION

YearAreaExport traysSales trays
Source: New Zealand Kiwifruit Marketing Board.
 hectares(million)
19818,0576.26.2
199015,74472.162.8
199114,98059.854.7
199214,59467.352.3
199310,16150.949.9

Taking technology to the orchard.

Avocados and subtropicals.

Although small in comparison to the kiwifruit and pipfruit industries, export markets are being developed for a large number of these crops.

In 1994, 322,114 trays (or 1,777 tonnes) of avocados were exported at a value of $6.5 million f.o.b.; an increase on last season's 221,479 trays (1,218 tonnes) worth $5.4 million.

Australia accounts for 96 percent of all avocado exports, with the remaining 4 percent taken by Hong Kong, Singapore and Korea. With increasing production in Western Australia and increased plantings and yields in New Zealand, alternative markets are being sought. Japan has been identified as a high priority market in the short-term and Korea in the long-term.

FRESH FRUIT CONSUMPTION, 1992

Major markets

The volume of persimmons exported in 1994 was 952 tonnes, a slight increase on the 951 tonnes exported in 1993. Most persimmons are exported to Asia, with 34 percent going to Singapore, 22 percent to Japan and 17 percent to Malaysia.

Contributors

18.1–18.2Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Statistics New Zealand.
18.3New Zealand Meat Producers Board.
18.4Wools of New Zealand.
18.5New Zealand Dairy Board.
18.6Statistics New Zealand, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, National Beekeepers’ Association.
18.7Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Statistics New Zealand, New Zealand Apple and Pear Marketing Board, New Zealand Kiwifruit Marketing Board, New Zealand Horticulture Export Authority, Wine Institute of New Zealand Incorporated.

Special articles

National Beekeepers Association of New Zealand; Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries; Poultry Industry Association of New Zealand (Inc).

Further information

  • Agriculture. Statistics New Zealand (annual).

  • Annual Review of the New Zealand Sheep and Beef Industry. New Zealand Meat and Wool Board's Economic Service.

  • Census of Agricultural Contracting Services, 1984–85. Department of Statistics.

  • Contacts in Agriculture. Harding McPhail (biennial).

  • Export Levels of New Zealand Wool and Wool Products and Their Current Markets. New Zealand Wool Board (annual).

  • Key Statistics. Statistics New Zealand (monthly).

  • Farm Monitoring Report. Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (six-monthly).

  • New Zealand Apple and Pear Marketing Board Annual Report.

  • New Zealand Beekeeper. National Beekeepers Association of New Zealand (quarterly).

  • New Zealand Dairy Board Annual Report.

  • New Zealand Meat Producer. New Zealand Meat Producers Board (quarterly).

  • New Zealand Meat Producers Board Annual Report.

  • New Zealand Pork Industry Board Annual Report.

  • New Zealand Wool Board Annual Report.

  • Report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (Parl paper C5).

  • Sentinel. National Agriculture Security Service (eight times per annum).

  • Situation and Outlook for New Zealand Agriculture. Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (annual).

  • Statistical Handbook. New Zealand Wool Board (annual).

  • Surveillance. (Reports on animal health). Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (quarterly).

  • Wine Institute of New Zealand Incorporated Annual Report.

  • Wool Market Review. New Zealand Wool Board (fortnightly).

  • Wool Report. New Zealand Wool Board (quarterly).

Chapter 19. Forestry and fishing

Shellfish and other organisms from Manukau Harbour.

19.1 Forestry

Forests cover about 28 percent or 7.5 million hectares of New Zealand's land area. Of this, about 6.2 million hectares are in natural forest and 1.3 million hectares in planted production forests. Of the total planted production forest estate, about 90 percent is radiata pine (Pinus radiata), and 5 percent is Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). Hardwoods comprise about 2 percent of New Zealand's planted production forests. The most important hardwood plantation species are eucalypts originating from Australia.

New planting has been increasing recently from 16,000 hectares in 1991 and 50,000 hectares in 1992 to 60,000 hectares in 1993. It is estimated that new plantings for 1994 totalled more than 100,000 hectares. Nearly all areas which were already in forest were replanted after harvesting.

Although radiata pine is the principal plantation species its properties mean it is not suitable for all uses, especially where decorative features, dimensional stability and surface hardness are important. With the declining supply of timber from natural forests, special purpose species such as blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) and black walnut (Juglans nigra) have been established to meet specialist markets.

The available wood resource from plantations will rise rapidly over the next two decades. Because the domestic demand for timber is not expected to change significantly in the future, the volume of wood available for export is expected to increase dramatically, with about a twofold increase over the next 10 years. However, major increases in supply are not expected until after the year 2000. The increase expected to become available under the assumption of 50,000 hectares of new plantings being undertaken each year is shown in the graph below.

Forestry research is described in section 15.1, Organisation of science, while the role of the Ministry of Forestry is summarised in section 3.3, State sector.

Resources

Planted production forests.

Trees planted in the second boom of afforestation (1961 through to the mid-1980s) are reaching large-scale utilisation. This provides real opportunities to maximise the economic return from tree growing.

Special-purpose plantation species have also been evaluated and these are increasingly being planted by small scale forest growers on suitable sites. Uses for these timbers include furniture, cabinet work, turnery, joinery, veneers and boat-building.

Table 19.1. FORESTRY PLANTING AND PRODUCTION: SUMMARY 1940–1994

 New area planted   
Year ended 31 MarchState PrivateRough-sawn timberWood pulp*Newsprint, other paper and paperboard 
* Chemical and mechanical wood pulp.
 hectares (000)hectares (000)cubic metres (000)tonnestonnes
19403..79322113,079
19451..80315,68120,949
19502..1,13121,78122,136
1955221,45353,01640,917
1960321,638221,408164,255
1965951,739370,499316,104
19701581,803521,654445,976
197521232,086843,244546,834
198018262,0001,122,456673,834
198520362,3061,144,911770,098
19893171,8761,259,005735,207
19901212,1211,233,809757,371
1991 162,2831,348,760822,340
1992-162,3011,343,320780,016
1993-502,6341,271,297756,013
1994P-602,8241,371,364835,584

FOREST PLANTATIONS

Annual plantings by state and private sectors

Natural production forests.

Seventy-nine percent of the natural forests are state-owned, the remainder being freehold and leasehold land. A significant area is Maori land. The vast majority of the state's forests are managed by the Department of Conservation for soil and water, conservation and recreation values. The remaining 164,000 hectares are largely administered by Timberlands West Coast Limited for long-term sustained yield or to meet contractual demands for sawlogs.

Management of the state's 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 standing timber.

Selective harvesting of terrace rimu forest in south Westland is intended to provide a favourable environment for the regeneration of rimu, while in the central North Island harvesting of timber from the state's natural forest is now restricted to removal of totara for Maori cultural purposes, and to recovering dead trees from 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, with areas of mature and immature kauri set aside as sanctuaries and programmes of research and artificial establishment also conducted.

Ownership of forests

Many of the earlier plantation forests were developed by the state, but the impetus for development and ownership has moved increasingly to the private sector over the last decade as the industry's capital and infrastructure has expanded. This led to the sale in 1990 of the cutting rights to 247,000 hectares of the state's planted production forest resource, and the sale in 1991 of a further 97,000 hectares.

Prior to these sales ownership of plantation forests was shared almost evenly between the public and private sectors. Today approximately 80 percent of the resource is in private ownership. The state holds the majority of the natural resource available for wood production.

Sale of state forest assets.

The sale of management and cutting rights to Crown commercial forestry assets was officially launched by the New Zealand Forestry Corporation Limited on 25 October 1989. Rights to about 550,000 hectares of plantation forests were offered for sale in 90 units of varying sizes. The state-owned sawmilling operations at Waipa and Conical Hill were also offered for sale. However, the sale did not include the land or Maori leased forests. Prospective bidders were provided with detailed information on the sale, and bids for the forests were called prior to 30 June 1990. There was no distinction between domestic and overseas bidders. The Government retained the right to remain the owner of the resource if bids received were unacceptable.

Following consideration of the bids, management and cutting rights to 247,000 hectares were allocated to new owners, while the rights to 306,000 hectares remained unsold. Major purchasers of the first sale of state plantation forest resource were the established New Zealand forestry companies Carter Holt Harvey Limited, who purchased 94,000 hectares, and Fletcher Challenge, who purchased 49,000 hectares.

Several foreign owned companies made significant investments in New Zealand plantation forests. Juken Nissho Limited acquired the rights to 43,000 hectares, Earnslaw One Limited acquired 24,000 hectares, and Wenita Forestry Limited acquired 21,000 hectares.

The Conical Hill sawmill was purchased by Earnslaw One Limited, but the Waipa sawmill remains in Crown ownership.

Where management and cutting rights were not sold, plantations were transferred to three new state-owned enterprises: Forestry Corporation New Zealand Limited, Timberlands West Coast Limited and New Zealand Timberlands Limited. The Minister of Finance subsequently announced in the 1991 Budget Government's intention to sell New Zealand Timberlands Limited which manages about 116,000 hectares of plantation forest. American company ITT Rayonier subsequently purchased 97,000 hectares of forest managed by New Zealand Timberlands after the balance of 22,000 hectares was withdrawn from the sale. New Zealand Forestry Corporation Limited, the holding company for the three state-owned enterprises, continued to manage these forests for the Crown.

An agreement between the Crown, the Maori Council and the Federation of Maori Authorities provides security of tenure for purchasers of state plantations and protects the interests of Maori who have claims before the Waitangi Tribunal. Purchasers have the right to use the land for a period sufficient to permit any existing tree crop to reach maturity and be harvested. The right to use the land is automatically extended by one year each year unless notice of termination is given. If notice of termination is given, the purchaser will still have time to harvest tree crops planted prior to this notice.

In the event of a successful Maori claim the Government will issue notice of termination to the purchaser and compensate the claimant for the rights the purchaser retains until the end of the termination period.

Private forestry.

The total area of planted production forests in New Zealand is (as at 31 March 1993) 1.34 million hectares. Approximately 50 percent of the resource is owned by three companies, Carter Holt Harvey Limited, Fletcher Challenge and ITT Rayonier. Juken Nissho Limited, Earnslaw One Limited and Wenita Forestry Limited together own about 7 percent of the resource among them.

PREDICTED FORESTRY HARVEST50,000 hectare new plantings per year

Source: Ministry of Forestry.

Employment and training in forest industries

Employment.

There is a concentration of employment in the forestry and wood products industries near the largest forest areas, particularly in the central North Island. Over half the country's planted production forests are located there, with one-quarter of the regional labour force engaged in forest industries. Forest industries have had a marked effect on regional development. Established towns, such as Rotorua, have expanded, while industrial development has led to the establishment of a completely new town—Kawerau—and the rapid growth of another—Tokoroa. The development of such industrial complexes has also stimulated other industries, especially transport, vehicle repair, building and construction and the tonnage passing through the ports of Tauranga, Napier and Nelson.

Statistics New Zealand's annual Business Directory update recorded a total 28,896 people engaged in timber-related industries in 1994. There were 5,179 people engaged in forestry, 4,533 in logging, 7,342 in sawmilling, 7,335 in timber merchanting, and 4,507 in pulp and paper manufacturing and wholesaling. This compares with 25,837 engaged in the same activities in 1993.

Education and training.

Canterbury University offers a Bachelor of Forestry Science, a Bachelor of Engineering (Forestry) degree, a Diploma in Forestry and other post graduate qualifications. At Waikato University a forestry option has been introduced to the Bachelor of Science (Technology) degree. The University of Auckland, in partnership with the Pulp and Paper Research Organisation, provides a Diploma in Pulp and Paper Technology in order to equip future managers, early in their careers, with a thorough technical knowledge of the industry.

Waiariki Polytechnic operates the Forestry Training Centre and the Timber Industry Training Centre. The Forestry Training Centre holds block courses for the New Zealand Certificate in Forestry, and also offers a wide range of short courses in forestry-related subjects. The Timber Industry Training Centre provides apprenticeship block courses and other types of training in saw doctoring, timber machining, sawmill practice, timber grading and preservation.

Restocking the shelves at the Te Teko Centre for Advanced Forest Biotechnology. Some 1.7 million tiny radiata plantlet sections are stored in growth rooms, where the climate is controlled stimulate growth. The facility produces 9 million radiata pine plantlets and 2.6 million eucalyptus seedlings a year.

Other polytechnics, as well as ACCESS/TOPs courses, provide pre-entry training in forestry, including logging.

Work and safety standards in forestry and logging are set and administered by the Logging and Forest Industry Training Board. The board has developed an accreditation system for forestry and logging skills.

The pulp and paper industry runs a Trade Certificate in Pulp and Paper Technology, as well as a Certificate in Pulp and Paper Technology aimed at the managerial level of employees.

The Forest Industry Training and Education Council (FITEC) was formed in March 1991. FITEC is concerned with co-ordination, policy and funding for various education and training programmes in forestry and solid wood processing. It maintains a regional network of FITEC boards to co-ordinate and implement programmes at a local level.

FITEC, in partnership with the Ministry of Forestry, has embarked on a major project to introduce forestry related materials into schools. This programme is funded through sponsorships.

FORESTRY PLANTING AND PRODUCTION: 1921–1991

 Tree plantings
Year ended 31 MarchStatePrivateRough-sawn timberWood pulp*Newsprint, other paper and paperboard
* Chemical and mechanical wood pulp.
 hectares (000)hectares (000)cubic metres (000)tonnestonnes
19211..726....
192542812....
19302316668....
193558575....
19402..79322113,079
19451..80315,68120,949
19502..1,13121,78122,136
1955221,45353,01640,917
1960321,638221,408164,225
1965951,739370,499316,104
19701581,803521,654445,976
197521232,086843,244546,834
198018262,0001,122,456673,834
198520362,3061,144,911770,098
19893171,8761,259,005735,207
1990....2,1211,233,809757,371
1993....2,6341,271,297756,013

19.2 Timber and forest products

Timber

Roundwood.

In 1993–94 logs from planted production forests supplied 15,606,000 cubic metres, or 99 percent of the total roundwood removals. shows the quantities of roundwood removed from the forests of New Zealand to support approximately 320 sawmills, 6 plywood, and 9 veneer plants, 3 particleboard mills, 6 pulp and paper mills, and 5 fibreboard mills in 1993–94. This roundwood production does not include firewood.

TIMBER PRODUCTIONIndigenous and plantation

Year ended 31 March

Source: Ministry of Forestry.

Table 19.2. ROUNDWOOD PRODUCTION

Year ended 31 MarchNatural forestsPlantation forestsTotal
Source: Ministry of Forestry.
  cubic metres (000) 
19885709,1189,688
198937710,24210,619
199036011,51111,871
199136813,12613,494
199220814,20814,416
199321115,37315,584
1994P23215,60615,838

Sawn timber.

Radiata pine and other pines account for about 94 percent of the total cut of exotics and Douglas fir for most of the remainder. About 3 percent of the country's sawn timber production comes from the natural forests, and this proportion has reached the point where only a small, sustained yield in native timber is possible for special purposes.

Table 19.3. ROUGH-SAWN TIMBER PRODUCTION

 Softwoods fromHardwoods fromTotal
Year ended 31 MarchNatural forestsPlantation forestsTotalNatural forestsPlantation forestsTotal

Source: Ministry of Forestry.

   cubic metres (000)   
1988681,7331,801171181,819
1989601,8011,861151161,877
1990712,0332,104161172,121
1991722,1982,270121132,283
1992542,2372,29191102,301
1993612,5632,62464102,634
1994P722,7402,81275122,824

Table 19.4. SAWN TIMBER PRODUCTION BY SPECIES

 Year ended 31 March
Species19901991199219931994P
Source: Ministry of Forestry.
  cubic metres (000)  
Natural forest—     
Rimu and miro6869515566
Matai----1
Totara----1
Kahikatea32233
Tawa67423
Beech107444
Other-1231
      Total, natural8786636779
Plantation forest—     
Pines1,7991,9501,9972,3792,577
Douglas fir212224221160123
Eucalypts-1124
Other2325192641
      Total, plantation2,0342,1992,2382,5672,745
      Total, all species2,1212,2832,3012,6342,824

Round and split produce.

As with forest products in general, most post and pole requirements formerly met by native round and split produce are now met from plantation growth resources. The effective introduction and maintenance of timber preservation standards has greatly assisted the utilisation of plantation grown roundwood for these users.

Export wood chips.

The export wood chip industry originated in the Nelson region. Other wood chip export ports include Mount Maunganui, Port Chalmers and Southport. Both native and exotic trees unsuitable for sawn timber production were used. The process also uses forest and sawmill residues which would normally be wasted.

Chip exports during the year ended June 1994 totalled 187,000 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.)

Timber preservation.

Over 1 million cubic metres of timber, including roundwood, is preservative treated in New Zealand each year. 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; high levels of quality control; and a research programme carried out by the Forest Research Institute.

Timber preservation has expanded markets for timber products in the building, farming and export sectors.

The Timber Preservation Council is responsible for maintaining standards in the industry.

Timber miller using a portable mill on a farm near Havelock North.

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. Ministry of Forestry timber inspectors inspect and disinfect imported wood and wood products, including dunnage and packaging material, logs, sawn timber and manufactured wood products.

Wood utilisation standards.

There are a number of inter-related standards concerned with the processing and use of timber. These promote the correct processing and use of timber, safety, and provide consumer protection and a sound basis for trading.

Forest products

Pulp and paper.

The pulp and paper industry is mainly concentrated near the big planted production forests on the volcanic plateau of the North Island. Of the eight plants in New Zealand, seven are in the North Island, and four are integrated with sawmills to utilise fully the total input of wood. There are four main pulp and paper companies.

The Tasman Pulp and Paper Company Limited, part of the Fletcher Challenge Corporation has its plant at Kawerau, Bay of Plenty, where wood from Kaingaroa State Forest is utilised.

In 1990 Carter Holt Harvey Limited acquired the assets of Elders Resources NZFP Limited. NZFP Limited operates an integrated pulp mill, paper mill, plywood mill, and a reprocessing plant at Kinleith, near Tokoroa. A corrugating medium machine at Te Papapa produces corrugating medium paper from waste paper.

Whakatane Board Mills Limited, a subsidiary of NZFP Limited, manufactures paperboard from groundwood and from semi-chemical and waste-paper pulp produced on site. A sawmill operates adjacent to the board mill.

Caxton Paper Mills Limited, at Kawerau, also owned by Carter Holt Harvey Limited, manufactures a wide range of tissues and lightweight merchant and processing papers for domestic and export markets.

New Zealand Paper Mills Limited, at Mataura, is also a subsidiary of NZFP. 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.

Pan Pacific Limited operates an integrated sawmill and thermo-mechanical pulp mill at Whirinaki, near Napier.

Winstone Pulp International has a chemical thermo-mechanical pulpmill at Karioi. The plant uses wood from Karioi State Forest, as well as sawmill residues.

Portions of kauri root and gum for export to Britain.

Table 19.5. PULP AND PAPER PRODUCTION

 Wood pulpPaper and paperboard
Year ended 31 MarchChemical*MechanicalNewsprintOther printing and writing paperOther paper and paperboardTotal paper and paperboard

* Chemical includes semi-chemical pulp.

Mechanical includes groundwood pulp, thermo-mechanical and chemithermo-mechanical pulp.

Source: Ministry of Forestry.

1988601,789610,150255,01947,707398,079700,805
1989663,936595,069296,29540,323398,589735,207
1990658,230575,579294,88137,802424,688757,371
1991733,240615,520321,28635,178465,876822,340
1992673,949669,371356,35119,949403,716780,016
1993588,369682,928376,1058,795371,113756,013
1994722,184649,180370,85313,791450,940835,584

FOREST PRODUCTSTotal annual production of major types

Year ended 31 March

Source: Ministry of Forestry.

Wood-based panels.

Five factories manufacture plywood, and the total output for the year ended 31 March 1994 was 86,253 cubic metres. Total production of veneer in the industry in 1993–94 was 140,079 cubic metres. Radiata pine has become increasingly important as a species for peeler-log supply because of the demand for industrial plywood, and constitutes about 96 percent of total peeler-log production.

Manufactured from wood fibre, the different forms of fibreboard (hardboard, softboard, and medium-density fibreboard) have different properties and end uses. Mills in Canterbury, Taupo and Richmond (near Nelson) produce medium-density fibreboard by a dry process for both domestic and export markets. Particleboard is manufactured from roundwood and sawmill residues and is used by the domestic market for interior panelling, flooring and furniture manufacture. Particleboard is also exported to various markets. A triboard plant operates at Kaitaia. Laminated veneer lumber is manufactured at plants near Masterton and at Gisborne.

Table 19.6. VENEER, PLYWOOD, PARTICLEBOARD AND FIBREBOARD PRODUCTION

Year ended 31 MarchVeneerPlywoodParticleboardFibreboard
Source: Ministry of Forestry.
    cubic metres
198889,71463,069170,968301,116
198982,85563,655178,209412,825
199089,37368,479171,621442,603
199174,17960,726159,893463,232
199282,81057,864155,428513,877
1993117,72086,253164,877543,679
1994P140,07997,254174,527552,710

FORESTRY EXPORTS Destination by value, 1994

Overseas trade in forest products

Exports.

Forest products are important earners of overseas funds. For the year ended June 1994 exports of forest products were valued at about $2,468 million. Australia was the largest customer, taking 30 percent (by value) of exports, mainly in sawn timber, paper and paperboard, panel products and wood pulp. Japan was the next largest, taking 28 percent, mainly logs, panel products and pulp. The remaining 42 percent is taken by smaller customers, of which the largest was Korea, taking 14 percent.

Imports.

The main categories of sawn timber imports are tropical hardwoods, Australian hardwoods, and North American softwoods. 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, crossarms, wharf, bridge and constructional timbers, and similar. Oregon pine, redwood, and western red cedar from North America are imported for structural uses, exterior joinery, and weather-boards. Specialty pulps, manufactured articles of paper and paperboard, together with paper and paperboard not produced in New Zealand accounted for 82 percent of the value of total forest products imports in the year ended June 1994. Imports of forest products for the year ended June 1994 were valued at $613 million.

Table 19.7. OVERSEAS TRADE IN FOREST PRODUCTS

Year ended 30 JuneWood and wood productsWood pulpPaper and paper productsAll forest products
Source: Ministry of Forestry.
Imports cif $(000)  
198876,51410,406258,607345,528
198979,68811,861297,367388,916
1990109,16414,682357,089480,935
199193,65610,068373,461477,185
199285,489x16,949440,889543,327
199394,24518,470548,269660,984
1994P114,80612,749485,565613,120
Exports fob $(000)  
1988395,760353,599236,014985,373
1989537,680398,711300,7531,237,144
1990658,759386,817340,2951,385,871
1991843,643389,817343,8001,577,260
19921,028,666x379,168416,885x1,824,719x
19931,549,990352,709421,1092,323,808
1994P1,737,127326,977403,6732,467,777
     

Table 19.8. VOLUME OF TIMBER IMPORTS

Year ended 30 JuneHardwoodsSoftwoodsTotalLogs and poles
Source: Ministry of Forestry.
  cubic metres (000)  
19881818368
19891814327
19902025456
19911425404
19921319323
19931218303
1994P1723413

Table 19.9. VOLUME OF TIMBER EXPORTS

 Sawn timber Natural forest  
Year ended 30 JuneNatural forestRadiata pineDouglas firOther plantationTotal plantationTotalLogs and poles
Source: Ministry of Forestry.
cubic metres (000)
198853366213411416830
1989540867335085141,545
1990444273295445482,170
1991256683306796813,293
1992271586478488503,793
1993389257409909924,734
1994P286832379369384,313

Table 19.1. VOLUME OF OVERSEAS TRADE IN PULP AND PAPER

   Paper and paperboard
Year ended 30 JuneWood pulpFibreboard *NewsprintOtherTotal

* In cubic metres.

Excludes manufactures from paper and paperboard and excludes minor items for which no quantities are given.

Source: Ministry of Forestry.

Imports  tonnes  
198811,26646513,05079,09992,149
198911,2456619,93281,72991,661
199011,6351,3848,73991,10699,845
199110,1341,96416,09494,062110,156
199216,8501,6556,022110,297117,318
199318,4421,7673193,845193,848
1994P17,0372,23687143,912143,999
Exports  tonnes  
1988582,586169,468159,62176,375235,996
1989567,836211,472175,752103,263279,015
1990560,728240,310201,213112,482313,695
1991624,954285,586209,158107,651316,809
1992656,088336,138x271,469x116,825x388,293
1993625,382390,906285,850117,294403,144
1994P628,928320,007251,744117,029368,773

19.3 Fisheries

Fishery resources

New Zealand's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), is one of the largest in the world. At 1.2 million square nautical miles, it covers an area 15 times New Zealand's land mass. In spite of the large size of the zone, the waters are relatively deep and not particularly rich in nutrients and, because of this, the average productivity of the fishery resources tends to be low. Less than one-third of the New Zealand EEZ is shallower than 1,000 metres; this is the fishable area where most fish resources occur. Only one-twentieth of the EEZ is coastal water shallower than 200 metres.

There are over 1,000 species of marine fish in New Zealand's waters, about 100 of which are commercially significant. Species include shallow water shellfish, open water migratory pelagic fish and the deepwater species which live more than a kilometre below the surface. The fisheries range from numerous, but mostly small, resources of subtropical species in the north, through moderate resources of many warm temperate species on the shelves around the main islands, to large resources of a few cool water species on the extensive plateau to the south-east and east of the country.

Much like New Zealand's human population, its diverse marine fish fauna is derived from many parts of the world, with a mix of residents, recent immigrants and seasonal visitors, and is rather thinly spread through the environment with a few areas of high density.

Fisheries management

The fisheries within New Zealand's EEZ are a ‘common property’ resource, and the government has an important role in ensuring their use is sustainable. In practice, this means ensuring the fisheries are not overfished, while balancing the competing demands of various user groups.

The main method used to manage fisheries in New Zealand is a system based on controlling the levels of catch, known as the Quota Management System (QMS). Under this system, catch limits are set for each fish stock and rights to harvest fish for sale are acquired by purchasing or leasing quota. The main goals of the QMS are to set sustainable commercial catch limits and improve economic efficiency in the fishing industry.

The catch limits, known as Total Allowable Catches (TACs) and Total Allowable Commercial Catches (TACCs) are reviewed annually. The review process involves consideration of the latest fisheries research and stock assessments, and consultation with representatives from the commercial fishing industry, Maori, recreational fishing groups and environmental organisations.

The QMS provides security for participants in the fishing industry to invest in harvesting and processing capacity. There has been substantial growth in the seafood processing and marketing sectors since the introduction of the QMS. The QMS applies throughout the New Zealand EEZ for the main commercial species, and new legislation is being developed to bring all commercial fish species into the system.

In addition to the QMS, there are various regulatory controls used to manage aspects of commercial fishing. These include method and gear restrictions, closed areas, closed seasons and restrictions on fishing permits. Recreational fishing controls include daily bag limits, minimum fish sizes, method and gear restrictions, closed areas and closed seasons.

New fisheries legislation

New Zealand's fisheries legislation is being revised in a three stage process. The first stage, which took effect from 1 October 1994, was the introduction of user charges to recover a large part of the costs the Government incurs in managing commercial fisheries. The second stage is the development of a new Fisheries Bill, which is due to be enacted in 1995. The third stage will be a review of aquaculture policy and the development of new legislation, which is also due to be introduced in 1995. The purpose of the new Fisheries Bill is to ensure the sustainable utilisation of New Zealand's fisheries resources. Features include:

  • Explicit standards for environmental protection.

  • New processes for resolving disputes between fishers over access.

  • New rules for bringing species into the quota system.

  • Enhancement of the QMS, including improved reporting procedures.

The new Fisheries Bill also includes provisions to restructure fisheries agencies, including the establishment of a stand-alone Ministry of Fisheries, which will include both policy advice and service delivery functions; and the transfer of all the stock assessment research and associated activities, currently performed by MAF (Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries) Fisheries, into a Crown research institute.

Ministry of Fisheries

The new Ministry of Fisheries, which is to be established by 1 July 1995, will provide the following services:

  • Policy advice on sustainable utilisation.

  • Standards and specifications for all fisheries services.

  • Purchase of contestable services (including research).

  • Management and co-ordination of the TAC/TACC setting process.

  • Monitoring and audit of service delivery.

  • Delivery of non-contestable services, including enforcement and dispute resolution.

The following fisheries management functions (currently performed by MAF Fisheries) are to be prepared for contestable delivery by the private sector:

  • Fisheries management systems administration (including quota/permit registries).

  • Collection/payment of Crown revenue.

  • Satellite vessel monitoring.

  • Observer programme.

  • Catch and effort data management.

  • Purchasing contestable fisheries services.

1994/95 TACCs

The review of Total Allowable Commercial Catches (TACCs) for the 1994/95 fishing year resulted in the TACCs for hoki and several other species being increased, reductions for orange roughy and deferred decisions for snapper and several other stocks. A total of 34 fish stocks were reviewed, but most emphasis focused on snapper, particularly the Auckland East (SNA 1) stock and orange roughy.

Table 19.11. TACC CHANGES FOR 1994/95

  TACC
SpeciesFish stockWas (93/94)Now (94/95)
Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
   tonnes
BluenoseBNS 797150
 BNS 822100
HokiHOK 1202,155220,000
Jack mackerelJMA 18,00010,000
 JMA 310,00018,000
LingLIN 32,1622,800
 LIN 44,4015,720
Orange roughyORH 2A6,6666,999
 ORH 2B1,367820
 ORH 3A2,3001,840
 ORH 3B21,30014,000

Proposals to increase TACCs under adaptive management programmes were also a focus of the review. Adaptive management programmes are intended to be a means of collecting information by increasing the catch limits for particular stocks and then monitoring the effects. Sixteen fish stocks are currently managed under these programmes, but to date only limited information has been gained. The industry proposed a further nine fisheries be considered for TACC increases under adaptive management, but only four of these proposals were approved.

Table 19.12. TOTAL ALLOWABLE COMMERCIAL CATCH, 1994*

Fish or shellfishQuantity

*As at 30 September. Excludes tuna species.

Source: MAF Fisheries.

 tonnes
Alfonsino2,718
Barracouta33,202
Blue cod2,690
Blueraoki404
Blue warehou4,512
Bluenose2,033
Elephant fish638
Gemfish7,470
Grey mullet1,086
Gurnard4,980
Hake13,847
Hapuku/bass/groper2,167
Hoki202,166
Jack mackerel32,547
John dory1,107
Ling19,741
Mixed flats6,670
Orange roughy35,441
Oreos26,160
Packhorse rock lobster40
Paua1,227
Red cod15,931
Rig2,097
Scallop1,100
School shark3,093
Fish or shellfishQuantity
Silver warehouse9,514
Snapper6,884
Spiny rock lobster2,913
Squid123,207
Stargazer5,328
Tarakihi5,991
Trevally3,932
Total580,836

Young salmon being poured into Otago Harbour.

Table 19.13. CATCH BY DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN FISHERS, 1993*

 DomesticCharterForeignTotal

* Calendar year. Greenweight tonnes.

Source: Fishing Industry Board.

Finfish tonnes  
Alfonsino1,740.965.90.01,806.8
Barracouta11,299.619,842.00.031,141.6
Blue cod1,969.42.00.01,971.4
Blue mackerel9,485.01,092.90.010.577.9
Blue moki469.20.20.0469.4
Blue warehou919.72,207.50.03,127.2
Bluenose2,509.867.50.02,577.3
Cardinal fish2,288.282.90.02,371.1
Elephant fish571.60.00.0571.6
Flatfish5,662.60.10.05,662.7
Frostfish98.82,491.60.02,590.4
Gemfish2,488.7619.40.03,108.1
Ghost shark614.5719.40.01,333.9
Grey mullet751.80.00.0751.8
Gurnard3,510.948.80.03,559.7
Hake397.110,096.40.010,493.5
Hapuku1,478.5102.10.01,580.6
Hoki35,177.3143,288.10.0178,465.4
Jack mackerel18,376.631,165.40.049,542.0
John dory753.7100.90.0854.6
Kahawai6,603.20.20.06,603.4
Ling10,300.68,060.50.018,361.1
Orange roughy32,975.62,363.60.035,339.2
Oreo dory22,132.431.40.022,163.8
Other fish6,227.95,218.234.211,480.3
Red cod10,439.13,740.20.014,179.3
Rig1,660.91.60.01,662.5
School shark2,720.280.00.02,800.2
 DomesticCharterForeignTotal
Silver warehou779.87,553.00.08,332.8
Skate2,638.1636,70.03,274.8
Snapper7,409.551.70.07,461.2
Southern blue whiting283.826,766.70.027,050.5
Spiny dogfish3,655.82,332.00.05,987.8
Stargazer2,561.6436.10.02,997.7
Swordfish (broadbill)55.114.323.793.1
Tarakihi4,663.1414.80.05,077.9
Trevally3,415.70.40.03,416.1
White warehou83.11,363.50.01,446.6
     Total finfish219,169.4271,058.057.9490,285.3
      (1992)183,596.0347,629.812.1531,237.9
Tuna    
Albacore tuna3,525.114.367.63,607.0
Other tuna84.640.421.3146.3
Skipjack tuna1,169.720.30.01,190.0
Southern bluefin42.9178.0253.1474.0
     Total tuna4,822.3253.0342.05,417.3
     (1992)4,721.1386.01,282.96,390.0
Eels    
Freshwater eels1,330.50.00.01,330.5
     Total eels1,330.50.00.01,330.5
     (1992)1,493.70.00.01,493.7
Shellfish    
Oysters natural870.60.00.0870.6
Farmed2,020.00.00.02,020.0
Mussels natural15.40.00.015.4
Greenshell mussels farmed47,000.0  47,000.0
Kina825.40.00.0825.4
Other1,277.69.00.01,286.6
Packhorse rock lobster8.50.00.08.5
Paddle crab318.60.00.0318.6
Paua1,041.60.00.01,041.6
Pipi165.00.00.0165.0
Queen scallop111.40.00.0111.4
Scallop1,091.90.00.01,091.9
Scampi925.60.70.0926.3
Spiny rock lobster2,998.30.00.02,998.3
Squid1,056.535,966.40.037,022.9
Tuatua131.60.00.0131.6
     Total shellfish59,858.035,976.10.095,834.1
     (1992)60,629.557,515.30.0118,144.8
     (1992)Grand total285,180.2307,287.1399.9592,867.2
     (1992)250,440.3405,531.11,295.0657,266.4

The Tangaroa heading for its berth at Miramar Wharf, Wellington.

Maori fisheries

Since the passing of the Treaty of Waitangi (Fisheries Claims) Settlement Act 1992, work has continued to implement fully all the provisions of the Act. However, the development of necessary supporting legislation is proving to be difficult and time consuming.

The efforts of officials, in association with Maori, are focused on achieving the following results:

  • The development of drafting instructions for customary fisheries regulations by 1 October 1995.

  • The development of proposals from the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission for a new Maori Fisheries Act to deal with the allocation of commercial fishing rights to Maori.

  • The development of adequate consultation networks to provide for Maori input into management and standards setting processes, for both commercial and non-commercial fisheries.

Aquaculture

Pacific oysters, greenshell mussels and salmon continue to be the mainstay of New Zealand's marine farming industry, and are likely to continue to be so through the late 1990s. While production tonnages may not substantially increase, value-added processing and niche marketing is expected to generate increased income from these products.

The aquaculture industry is expected to diversify into other species during the 1990s, as government investment in biological research during the 1980s starts to pay off. Though industry investment has been limited by general economic conditions, work by MAF on the most promising new species (scallops, paua, rock lobster, dredge oysters and seaweeds) can now be capitalised on by industry. Paua farms are now established, and seaweed pilot projects are under way.

Reseeding, or ‘enhancement’, of the southern scallop fishery by MAF scientists and fishers has been spectacularly successful in increasing catches. Other valuable inshore fisheries, such as paua, rock lobster and snapper, may have similar potential for enhancement but more research is required to evaluate the potential. However, a suitable tenure system needs to be devised to provide incentives for private sector enhancement of fisheries on the sea floor. An amendment to the Fisheries Act is planned for 1995 to allow this type of activity.

bold“>New Zealand control

Since the advent of the Quota Management System, control of New Zealand's fisheries resources has been firmly held by New Zealanders and New Zealand companies. This point has not always been obvious to those not associated with the industry, and the perception still exists that foreign vessels are catching our fish.

The New Zealand domestic fleet, particularly the deepwater fleet, has expanded considerably in recent years, and in 1993 domestic vessels caught 48.1 percent of the total catch. A further 51.8 percent was caught by foreign vessels on charter to New Zealand fishing companies, with the New Zealand companies controlling the further processing and marketing of the product. The catch by foreign licensed vessels was negligible, less than one percent, and these vessels operated solely in the tuna fisheries.

The charter fleet dominates the high volume deepwater fisheries (such as hoki and southern blue whiting) and the seasonal squid fishery. But, even in these fisheries, New Zealand domestic vessels are increasing their share of the catch. This trend is due to the significant investment by the seafood industry in new vessels.

As well as increased ‘New Zealandisation’ of the catching sector, the seafood industry has continued to invest in the processing and marketing sectors.

Table 19.14. REGISTERED COMMERCIAL FISHING VESSELS*

YearForeign licensed vesselsForeign chartered vesselsDomestic vessels

* At 30 September

Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

19901141882,143
19911331602,210
199244792,802
1993251672,707
199432632,569

19.4 Seafood trade

Exports.

Despite difficult trading conditions in international seafood markets, the seafood industries objective to become a $2 billion export industry by 2000 remained on target. Exporters were tested by the recessions in Japan and Europe, abundant supplies of cod and pollack, a strong New Zealand dollar and a fall in catch from the EEZ by 9.8 percent.

The top five export species by value remain orange roughy, hoki, rock lobster, snapper and Greenshell mussels, with hoki falling from its 1992 lead. Orange roughy, rock lobster and paua showed particularly strong gains in 1993, but while the volume of seafood exports from New Zealand increased by 4.9 percent to 305,826 tonnes, the value decreased by 1.5 percent to $1,199 million.

Japan, the United States and Australia remained the largest export markets with these top three maintaining around 66 percent of market share. Several export trends began to emerge more fully in 1993. Reliance on Japan has decreased while other Asian markets were our fastest growing for the second successive year with a volume gain of almost 19 percent. This trend is set to continue with help from GATT agreements which call for significant tariff reductions and removal of quantitative restrictions.

Imports.

A decrease by 700 tonnes from 1992 levels meant a higher cost per unit creating a cost increase of $5.8 million to $72.8 million in 1993. Major imports remain prawns, shrimp, sardines, salmon and tuna, which together account for some 46 percent by volume of imported seafood.

Household spending on seafood showed modest growth in 1993 with regard to actual expenditure but fell as a percentage of total food purchases. Meat also shared this trend; the gap was filled by poultry.

Table 19.15. SEAFOOD EXPORTS

 1990199119921993
Commodity exportedQuantityValueQuantityValueQuantityValueQuantityValue
Source: New Zealand Fishing Industry Board.
 tonnes (000)$(m) f.o.b.tonnes (000)$(m) f.o.b.tonnes (000)$(m) f.o.b.tonnes$
 (000)$(m) f.o.b.(000)$(m) f.o.b.(000)$(m) f.o.b.(000)$(m) f.o.b.
Finfish or wetfish162.2520.8218.0701.0227.5887.7251.7869.1
Rock lobster2.783.62.8101.82.8101.43.3120.8
Shellfish45.8140.340.4158.462.6228.650.2198.4
     Total210.7744.7261.2961.2292.81,217.6305.81,199.5

Table 19.16. PRINCIPAL FISH EXPORTS

19891990199119921993
SpeciesQuantityValueQuantityValueQuantityValueQuantityValue
Source: New Zealand Fishing Industry Board.
 tonnes$(m)tonnes$(m)tonnes$(m)tonnes$(m)tonnes$(m)
(000)f.o.b.(000)f.o.b.(000)f.o.b.(000)f.o.b.(000)f.o.b.f.o.b.
Abalone0.616.50.725.11.137.91.151.20.854.2
Barracouta9.912.211.816.612.917.510.616.117.720.8
Gemfish1.78.41.910.81.411.11.614.91.313.9
Hake2.69.62.79.94.416.94.025.04.021.4
Hoki16.636.133.968.849.2156.357.2202.060.8173.1
Ling3.615.74.016.66.129.09.150.08.242.3
Mackerel, blue3.12.83.02.57.45.57.15.93.82.9
Mackerel, jack10.011.310.710.814.410.121.823.329.122.6
Mussels6.928.88.834.210.742.112.852.414.955.3
Orange roughy14.4167.216.7145.214.3138.612.1165.114.7201.1
Oreo dory4.519.35.318.16.224.55.520.66.923.2
Rock lobster2.782.32.883.72.8101.82.8101.13.3120.8
Salmon1.210.51.814.52.320.22.627.52.626.3
Scallops0.47.80.48.70.615.01.020.11.120.8
Scampi0.10.70.33.90.23.20.611.80.610.5
Snapper6.752.66.749.46.651.57.063.36.561.0
Southern blue whiting8.015.62.72.412.716.614.041.210.314.9
Squid78.7124.934.362.525.247.344.780.230.952.9
Tunas10.023.07.319.88.916.64.214.75.410.6
Warehous4.211.16.318.85.714.36.122.66.317.3

Table 19.17. VALUE OF FISHERIES EXPORTS TO PRINCIPAL MARKETS

 1990199119921993
CountryValuePercentage of total exportsValuePercentage of total exportsValuePercentage of total exportsValuePercentage of total exports
Source: New Zealand Fishing Industry Board.
 $(m) f.o.b. $(m) f.o.b. $(m) f.o.b. $(m) f.o.b. 
Japan279.437.3290.030.2409.233.6347.128.9
United States208.427.8253.726.4291.123.9317.226.4
Australia86.411.5102.710.7121.810.0126.910.6
     Total fisheries exports748.8 961.6 1,217.4 1,199.5 

Within New Zealand, the trend in recent years has been towards greater fish consumption per capita. Imported fish products consist largely of canned sprats, sardines, anchovies, herrings, salmon, crab sticks and prawns.

New Zealand Fishing Industry Board

The New Zealand Fishing Industry Board was formed to promote the interests of all sectors of the seafood industry. It is a statutory organisation with income from an industry levy. Outside its major responsibilities for orderly and profitable development of the industry, the board deals with issues at the request of individual fishers, processors, retailers and fish farmers.

A prickly anglerfish discovered during a deepwater trawling expedition north-west of New Zealand by MAF scientists. The fish has a highly ornamented lure or modified dorsal fin, with large lateral branches and silver patches on the body that are luminescent and used for catching prey and attracting mates.

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 a nominee), two members nominated by the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission and appointed by the Minister of Fisheries 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.

Board staff, stationed in Wellington and Auckland, provide centralised support for the industry in the areas of economic research, information and publicity. The board advises government on sound fishing management policies and practices by providing information, being available for consultation and by direct input into government decision-making. There is also close liaison with the Fishing Industry Training Council, in the provision of industry training at all levels.

1993 saw a significant increase in the proportion of the total catch from the EEZ caught by the New Zealand fleet. A decrease in production from the charter fleet and increasing catches by the New Zealand fleet were the main reasons for this increase. In the period from 1991 to early 1994, New Zealand companies have invested in six deepwater trawlers to replace charter effort, creating 373 crew positions and numerous onshore jobs.

Surveyed employed in the seafood industry dropped 1.6 percent to 8,908 full-time equivalents in 1993. Employment in the catching sector rose slightly, with a decrease of 627 jobs in the processing sector. A possible reason for this decline in processing employment may be the timing of the survey in February 1993, which coincided with the peak of the toxic algal bloom.

The industry also employs significant numbers of seasonal workers unaccounted for in these figures. Numbers employed in the catching sector totalled 4,858, somewhat ahead of processing at 4,050. One of the main premises of the $2 billion by 2000 strategy was that a wider product mix, including increased value added and filleted products, would increase returns from a stable resource. This trend was more apparent in the 1993 export receipts and coupled with expansive aquaculture investments should result in greater employment prospects for the future. Recent training initiatives will serve to assist in capitalising on such expansion.

Fishery statistics

Statistics on fish landed and fish exports are compiled annually by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. A selection of these can be found above, while more detailed information is available from the ministry.

Statistics New Zealand's (formerly the Department of Statistics) five-yearly Census of Fishing has produced broad economic data on the industry. The results of the most recent census formed part of the 1987 Economy Wide Census. The results from the census are updated annually by the Annual Enterprise Survey. Both the censuses and the enterprise survey cover the activities of all businesses classified in Division 13 of the New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification. A summary of results is given below.

Table 19.18. FISHING INDUSTRY STATISTICAL SUMMARY

Statistical item1988–89R1989–901990–91R1991–92P
  Stocks—$(million) 
Closing31.638.726.134.5
Opening27.034.618.127.5
Income—
Sales of goods and services611.3668.0695.5851.3
Interest and dividends received5.311.44.74.4
All other income received34.266.948.554.2
     Total income650.8746.4748.6909.9
     Adjusted for change in stock values655.5750.4756.6916.9
Operating expenditure—    
Salaries and wages66.383.077.655.9
Depreciation28.727.724.327.4
Interest, bad debts, etc.26.230.417.014.0
Indirect taxes0.81.11.91.7
Purchases94.1120.0105.0121.5
All other operating expenditure351.7414.8452.4595.0
     Total expenditure567.7676.9678.2815.3
Working proprietors/partners salaries and wages10.713.114.317.1
Net profit before tax after deducting working proprietors/partners salaries and wages77.160.464.084.5
Fixed tangible assets—    
Purchases during the year141.339.753.764.9
Sales during the year10.714.610.817.6
Balance sheet—    
Shareholders funds, etc.273.9305.5359.8442.5
All other liabilities273.2316.0297.4301.5
     Total capital and liabilities547.1621.4657.2744.0
Fixed tangible assets242.7226.6251.2271.6
All other assets304.5394.9406.0472.5
     Total assets547.1621.4657.2744.0
Ratios— percent  
     Net profit per total sales and other income11.88.18.69.3
     Total salaries and wages per total sales and other income10.211.110.46.1
     Shareholders funds per total capital and liabilities50.149.254.759.5
     Fixed assets per total assets44.436.538.236.5

Contributors

19.1Ministry of Forestry; Statistics New Zealand.
19.2Ministry of Forestry.
19.3Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
19.4Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries; New Zealand Fishing Industry Board.

Further information

Forestry

  • A National Exotic Forest Description. Ministry of Forestry, 1994.

  • Business Activity Statistics 1993, Statistics New Zealand.

  • Economy Wide Census 86–87. Department of Statistics.

  • Forestry Report. Ministry of Forestry (quarterly).

  • Forestry Sector in New Zealand, The. Ministry of Forestry, 1993.

  • Forestry Sector Issues. Ministry of Forestry, 1993.

  • National and Regional Wood Supply Forecasts. Ministry of Forestry, 1993.

  • New Zealand Forestry Statistics 1993. Ministry of Forestry, 1993.

  • Regional Studies. Ministry of Forestry, 1994. (10 regions).

  • Report of the Ministry of Forestry. (Parl paper C16).

  • Statistical Releases. Ministry of Forestry (series).

Fishing

  • Economy Wide Census 1987. Department of Statistics.

  • New Zealand Fisheries Technical Report. Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

  • New Zealand Fisheries Occasional Publication. Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

  • New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research. Royal Society of New Zealand (quarterly).

  • Report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (Parl paper C5).

  • Report of the New Zealand Fishing Industry Board (Parl paper C6).

Chapter 20. Energy and minerals

Geophysicists studying computer models of the strata beneath the Maui fields.

New Zealand depends on a sustained supply of energy and mineral resources to ensure the continued operation of the economy, the maintenance of industrial and commercial activity, and the well-being of its citizens. New Zealand is able to meet a substantial proportion of its energy and mineral requirements from its own resources. However, it is not self-sufficient in a number of key commodities and the shortfall is made up by imports.

The energy and mineral sectors have undergone a series of structural changes over recent years. A strong focus on direct government involvement in the energy sector characterised the early 1980s. In 1987, however, the Crown sold the major part of its interests in the production, transmission and distribution of gas to the private sector company, Fletcher Challenge Limited. Also in 1987, the state's involvement in electricity generation and transmission and in coal production was transferred to two state-owned enterprises established as corporations with commercial objectives—the Electricity Corporation of New Zealand and the Coal Corporation of New Zealand. Since then there has been further deregulation and corporatisation in both the electricity and gas industries to facilitate the development of competition in electricity and gas markets.

The provision of policy advice to the government on the operation of energy markets, energy supply and demand, energy efficiency, management of Crown-owned mineral and energy resources, and safety in the mining and energy sectors is the responsibility of the Energy and Resources Division of the Ministry of Commerce. The ministry also has operational responsibilities in these areas.

20.1 Energy sector

Energy policy

The key element of the Government's energy policy is to ensure the continuing availability of energy to commercial, industrial and household consumers at the lowest cost to the economy as a whole, consistent with sustainable development. To this end, government has taken a range of initiatives designed to ensure greater efficiency of energy use, to increase competition in the energy sector, and to provide greater flexibility in meeting consumer requirements.

The overall policy is outlined in the Energy Policy Framework Statement, issued in 1992. In 1993 a supporting document, the Renewable Energy Policy Framework Statement, was issued.

Energy markets.

Recent initiatives to enhance the performance of energy markets have included the Energy Companies Act 1992, which required electricity supply authorities, the gas trading activities of local authorities and energy boards to transform themselves into companies. The Electricity Act 1992 and the Gas Act 1992 introduced provisions for abolishing area franchises for gas and electricity markets and putting in place information disclosure requirements for the companies involved. These items of legislation also contained provisions for streamlining the safety regimes for the gas and electricity industries.

Climate change.

The Government is actively involved in international co-operation that seeks to address the issue of the greenhouse effect and the possible impacts on global and regional climates. The Government signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. In September 1993 New Zealand ratified the FCCC, and the Convention came into force in March 1994.

The main greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4). Approximately 90 percent of gross man-made carbon dioxide emissions in New Zealand come from the energy sector. These result mainly from the combustion and transformation of fossil fuels and amounted to 23 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 1990. Seven thousand tonnes of nitrous oxide and 35,000 tonnes of methane were also emitted from New Zealand's energy sector in 1990. The agricultural sector is the main source of these two gases in New Zealand.

The Government's primary objective is to return net CO2 emissions to their 1990 levels by 2000 and to hold them there. In ratifying the FCCC, New Zealand has accepted a commitment to limit greenhouse gas emissions and to enhance greenhouse gas sinks, such as planted forests.

In July 1994, the Government announced its climate change strategy. The strategy encompasses a package of measures which will be progressively implemented to reduce New Zealand's carbon dioxide emissions. The package includes: energy efficiency measures; voluntary agreements with industry to reduce emissions; monitoring of emissions; possible strengthening of energy efficiency and renewable energy measures in 1995; and a low level carbon charge to be introduced in December 1997 if emissions are not being adequately limited by then.

In addition to measures to limit emissions, New Zealand is also positively contributing to lowering CO2 levels through new forest planting. This is expected to be the major contributor to achieving stabilisation of net emissions at 1990 levels.

The Government has already taken a number of significant steps which will limit net carbon dioxide emissions, including: a revision of the tax regime to encourage new forest planting; the energy market reforms which provide improved incentives for energy efficiency through prices that more accurately reflect costs and the removal of franchise areas which encourages power companies to compete for customers by providing energy efficiency services; and the establishment of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority.

In addition, government has analysed the resource potential, cost and feasibility of renewable forms of energy, and is committed to periodically updating this work. The Government has also examined whether undue barriers to further development of renewable energy exist. A key concern is that New Zealand should play its part in reducing emissions of greenhouse gases while maintaining its competitiveness in world markets.

Energy efficiency and the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority.

Energy is a significant cost to households, industry and commerce. When properly managed, increasing the efficiency of energy use can reduce the cost of energy to the end user and, from a national point of view, reduce demand. Similarly, improving the efficiency with which energy is produced and delivered can make important contributions. Thus efficiency improvements in the production, supply and use of energy can reduce its environmental impacts, reduce primary energy requirements for a given level of demand, will reduce the amount of primary energy required to meet a given level of demand. Thus energy efficiency can reduce the environmental impacts of energy production and use, and result in a slower rate of depletion of non-renewable energy resources.

In recognition of the importance of energy efficiency and conservation, the Government established the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) in 1992 and has announced an Energy Efficiency Strategy—a long term strategic approach to increasing New Zealand's energy performance.

Implementation of the strategy began in 1993 with an initial package of measures including increased monitoring and analysis, a review of the energy efficiency provisions in the building code, an energy efficient appliance programme, and an expanded Crown loan scheme to fund energy efficiency projects in the public sector.

In June 1994, after further research and evaluation of policy options, the strategy was considerably expanded into a 10 point plan to be implemented over the next three years at a cost of $8.45 million. As well as programmes designed to improve the end-use efficiency in all sectors of the economy, the strategy includes measures designed to overcome barriers to the development of non-traditional renewable resources (such as wind, biomass and solar).

Highlights of the strategy include:

  • An Energy Wise Companies Campaign securing commitment by company executives to better energy management in commerce.

  • Specific programmes to promote improved energy efficiency in hot water use, commercial lighting and industrial motors and drives.

  • A ‘Best Practice’ programme to provide information, motivation, guidance and energy management solutions to industrial energy consumers.

  • Demonstrations of energy efficient and renewable technologies to assist in their commercialisation.

Oil security.

The importance of oil security was highlighted during the 1990–91 Gulf crisis when measures were taken to boost local oil production. This was done in conjunction with International Energy Agency emergency procedures. While the crisis did result in price rises, these were not as great or as long lived as was expected nor were there any problems with continuity of supply. International oil markets are now more flexible than they were in the 1970s, resulting in a reduced likelihood of major disruptions to imported oil supplies. Thus, while oil supply security is still an important issue, it is unlikely to be as crucial as it was in the 1970s.

Unless significant new oil and gas discoveries are made, the contribution of local production to New Zealand's demand for hydrocarbons is expected to decline after 2005 as known oil and gas reserves run down.

Energy research.

In 1992 the Government made decisions on its priorities for public good funding of research for the five years 1993/94 to 1997/98. These were presented in a document Investing in Science for Our Future, issued by the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology. Subsequently, the government funding agency, the Foundation for Research Science and Technology, prepared research strategies to implement the priority research themes.

For energy, funding from the Public Good Science Fund will increase by 43 percent from $4.68 million in 1992/93 to $6.67 million in 1997/98, and greater emphasis will be given to research in such areas as energy efficiency, alternative and renewable sources of energy, and social aspects. The energy research strategy will support the objectives of the Energy Policy Framework and Renewable Energy Policy Framework Statements. The priorities established in 1992 are currently under review for the five years 1997 to 2001.

Trends in primary energy supply and energy consumption

‘Primary energy’ refers to energy as it is 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 wells. Primary electricity is defined as electricity generated from hydro and geothermal sources. Total primary energy is the amount of energy available for use in New Zealand and therefore includes imports but excludes exports. shows the historical sources of primary energy supply in New Zealand. The proportion of total energy supply dependent on oil imports decreased during the mid-1980s, falling from 44 percent of the total in 1980 to 16 percent in 1986, but has gradually risen since, with oil imports 24 percent of total energy supply in 1993.

Petajoules are used to measure energy in a number of tables in this chapter. A joule is a measure of work done or energy expended and allows for standardised comparisons between different forms of energy and between energy supplied or consumed in New Zealand compared with overseas. A petajoule (PJ) which is 1015 joules or a terajoule (TJ) which is 1012 joules are commonly used.

Table 20.1. TRENDS IN PRIMARY ENERGY SUPPLY

Calendar yearCoalWoodsImported oil + productsIndigenous oil netElectricity from hydro + Gas geothermalTotalImported oil as percentage of total
Source: Ministry of Commerce.
    petajoules    
197559.118.5194.18.316.064.0360.053.9
197660.519.1153.022.037.559.7351.843.5
197757.721.4153.731.563.656.6384.540.0
197853.421.7136.226.859.760.1357.938.1
197947.421.1149.917.939.969.6345.843.3
198050.822.6154.215.736.973.2353.443.6
198151.423.9130.721.045.174.1346.237.8
198250.923.3119.332.379.969.2374.931.8
198356.021.9122.831.586.474.4393.031.2
198452.722.2121.040.8109.777.1423.528.6
198552.124.0116.231.4140.174.2438.026.5
198657.722.975.458.6168.583.0466.116.2
198751.422.998.259.4162.782.3476.920.6
198849.424.575.961.7178.286.0475.716.0
198951.325.795.557.0182.886.4498.719.1
199052.425.8113.347.0181.689.0509.122.3
199146.827.3118.446.6197.888.6525.522.5
199249.326.1126.346.3209.882.8540.623.4
199354.527.5134.244.1204.091.7556.024.1

Consumer energy is energy used by final consumers. It excludes energy used or lost in the process of transforming energy into more usable forms and in bringing the energy to the final consumers. Historical consumer energy use of solid fuels (coal and wood), oil, gas and electricity is shown in . The chain of energy supply and demand in the major sectors of the economy during 1993 is shown in . The same data is summarised as percentages of total energy demand in .

PRIMARY ENERGY SUPPLY

Source: Ministry of Commerce.

Possible future trends in consumer energy demand and primary energy requirements are examined in the Ministry of Commerce publication Energy Supply and Demand Scenarios to 2020. The central ‘baseline scenario’ presents a view of the energy sector to the year 2020, taking into account current government policies, observed trends and a range of assumptions regarding future economic and other influences. The baseline is augmented with the exploration of alternative scenarios through varying the underlying assumptions.

Table 20.2. TRENDS IN CONSUMER ENERGY USE

Calendar yearSolid*OilGasElectricityTotal

* Solid fuels include wood.

Source: Ministry of Commerce.

   petajoules  
19545559216132
19644890230170
197441151758257
1984401404883311
1985351365484309
1986411415388323
19874214054105341
1988551475294348
1989571544497352
19907116240100373
19917316041102376
19926917141100381
19937517140106392

Table 20.3. ENERGY SUPPLY AND DEMAND, 1993

 Source of energy
 Solid fuelGasHydro GeothermalElectricityOilTotal
Source: Ministry of Commerce.
    petajoules   
Supply
Indigenous production106.7204.383.899.1-93.0586.9
Imports0.1----185.6185.7
Exports24.8----67.692.4
Stock change-0.3---8.28.5
International transport-----32.732.7
     Total primary energy supply82.0204.083.899.1-170.1639.1
Transformation       
Electricity generation-4.7-69.0-83.8-79.3117.9-0.1-119.0
Liquid fuels production--54.7---27.4-27.3
Losses and own use-2.0-4.4--6.0-11.8-5.2-29.4
     Total, transformation-6.7-128.1-83.8-85.3106.122.1-175.7
Non-energy use--35.2----13.4-48.6
     Consumer energy (calculated)75.340.7-13.8106.1178.8414.7
Demand       
Agriculture0.4---3.816.120.3
Industrial59.128.5-11.242.59.4150.7
Commercial6.75.2--20.34.336.5
Domestic8.24.3-2.638.00.954.0
Transport0.12.3--1.0140.4143.8
     Consumer energy (observed)74.540.3-13.8105.6171.1405.3
Discrepancies0.80.4-0.00.57.79.5

The following points should be considered when examining :

Supply—the supply data is compiled from monthly returns. Solid fuel includes coal, coke, peat and wood. Figures for wood and geothermal are estimated. Approximately 80 percent of geothermal is used as an input to electric power generation. The rest is used directly as a heat source. LPG production is included in indigenous oil production.

Total primary energy supply—total primary energy supply is the amount of energy available for use in New Zealand for energy conversion and end-use. Primary energy = indigenous production + imports-exports +/- stock change-international transport.

Transformation—transformation of energy from one form to another always results in conversion losses. These losses are shown as negative entries in the table. Efficiencies for electricity generation are assumed to be 35 percent for both gas and coal plants. Hydro is taken as being 100 percent efficient and geothermal as 10 percent.

Consumer energy (calculated) = total primary energy supply + total transformation + non-energy use. Total electricity generation in the table includes estimates of the generation by private plants and electricity companies. Energy demand—consumption data is estimated from information about where and how energy is used. Transport refers to road, rail and domestic air transport. Direct use of geothermal energy for commercial consumption is included in the domestic figure.

Consumer energy (observed) = agriculture + industrial + commercial + domestic + transport.

Table 20.4. ENERGY USED BY CONSUMER GROUPS, 1993

 IndustryCommerce and agricultureTransport excluding internationalHouseholdThermal electricity generation
   percent  
Oil6.235.997.61.70.1
Solid fuel (coal and wood)39.212.50.115.26.4
Natural gas18.99.21.68.093.5
Electricity (including own use and direct use of geothermal)35.642.40.775.20.0
     Total100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0

20.2 Electricity

New Zealand is fortunate to have many rivers suitable for generating cheap hydro power. Hydro electricity was first used in New Zealand in the gold mining industry and the first generating station supplying the public with electricity was installed in Reefton in 1887 by the Reefton Electric Lighting Co. The first central government operated station was the Lake Coleridge scheme opened in 1914. The first thermal station was Meremere which opened in 1958. In recent years hydro power has represented 70 to 80 percent of total electricity generation, depending on demand, rainfall and lake storage conditions.

The New Zealand electricity industry is not vertically integrated. Generation is dominated by the Electricity Corporation of New Zealand (ECNZ), a state-owned enterprise, which supplies over 95 percent of all electricity. The operation of the national grid is carried out by Trans Power New Zealand, the former transmission arm of ECNZ that was established as an independent state-owned enterprise on 1 July 1994. Distribution to final consumers—industrial, commercial and household—is carried out by energy companies which have been established under the Energy Companies Act 1992 to succeed the former electrical supply authorities.

Electricity Corporation of New Zealand.

ECNZ has 39 power stations, of which 38 are operational, which range in capacity from 3 MW (Megawatts) to 1,000 MW. ECNZ’s newest power station, Clyde (432 MW), came on stream in 1992 after commissioning was delayed in order to carry out stability work on landslides around the lake margin of Lake Dunstan behind the dam. The final stage of filling the lake was completed in late 1993. The Meremere coal-fired power station was mothballed in October 1991 due to age, operating cost and asbestos and pollution problems.

Significant generation constraints developed in the winter of 1992, caused by exceptionally low in-flows to the major South Island hydro storage lakes in 1991 and early 1992. In the event, major power cuts were avoided by a combination of increased thermal generation, reduced hours of supply for domestic water heating and public street lighting and voluntary savings by consumers. Following the crisis, the Government appointed an Electricity Shortage Review Committee to investigate its causes. The committee recommended a number of changes, which included greater consultation and operational co-ordination between ECNZ and electricity distributors, increased encouragement of energy efficiency measures and that ECNZ should review the standards for security of supply built into its operational planning. A higher standard (allowing a one in 60 years drought as opposed to a one in 20 years drought) has been adopted as a temporary measure pending completion of the review of operational planning, and the remaining measures are progressively being implemented by ECNZ and electricity distributors.

Trans Power operates the New Zealand transmission system. Its high voltage DC link between the South and North Islands has been upgraded from 600 MW to 1,240 MW (South to North) and from 200 MW to 800 MW (North to South). Three new cables were laid in 1991, and commissioned in 1992 complementing the three original cables laid in 1965.

Electricity generation.

The total electricity generated for the year ending 31 March 1993 was 31,248 GWh of which 68 percent was generated by hydro stations, 24 percent from oil and gas, 7 percent from geothermal and the remaining 1 percent from coal.

As at 31 March 1994, the Electricity Corporation had 30 operational hydro-electric stations with a capacity of 4,768 MW (66 percent of total capacity) and eight operational thermal stations (plus Meremere which is currently non-operational) with a capacity of 2,500 MW (34 percent of total capacity). The high fuel cost and operating costs involved in running thermal stations as compared with hydro, generally means that hydro stations are preferred, given satisfactory hydrological conditions, for power production. A small amount of electricity is generated by the Electric Power Companies (EPCs) from 23 small plants. These small plants have capacities ranging from 0.2 to 53 MW and a total capacity of 317 MW.

Table 20.5. ELECTRICITY CORPORATION OF NEW ZEALAND PROFIT STATEMENT

 Year ended 31 March
Item199219931994
Source: Electricity Corporation of New Zealand.
 $(000)$(000)$(000)
Gross income1,631,4841,643,4491,700,141
Operating expenses excluding abnormal costs795,504767,138796,438
Net finance costs214,074345,326332,030
Profit before abnormal costs621,906530,985571,670
Abnormal costs-125,817-
Profit before taxation621,906405,168571,673
Taxation118,94375,567162,385
Profit after taxation502,963329,601409,288
Extraordinary expense53,796--
Profit after taxation and extraordinary expense449,167329,601409,288
Less: Dividends335,034280,436438,445
Transfers from reserves(16,237)(21,313)2,963
Total appropriations318,797259,123441,408
Retained earnings for the year130,37070,478(32,120)
Opening retained earnings225,396314,071535,648
Prior period adjustments-151,099-
Opening retained earnings (restated)334,800465,170535,648
Closed retained earnings465,170535,648503,528

Table 20.6. ELECTRICITY CORPORATION POWER STATIONS

 Installed capacity at 31 March 1994 Energy generation year ended 31 March
StationNumber of unitsMW*Static head1991199219931994

* ‘In-situ maximum’ rating

Source: Ministry of Commerce.

Hydro  metres kWh(million) 
Arapuni817553844905915732
Aratiatia38434393353351262
Atiamuri47925340304303239
Karapiro39630620565569460
Mangahao5112731021099837
Maraetai1036061980882882689
Matahina27261315273266188
Ohakuri411235468424423332
Rangipo2120206543553579400
Tokaanu4210208820792781492
Waikaremoana—       
      Kaitawa234135    
     Piripaua237113525488579393
      Tuai358206    
Waipapa35116284255259219
Whakamaru410038576531535428
Arnold231325272624
Aviemore4220379589797291,007
Benmore6540922,4982,4451,7742,465
Clyde443259  1,2782,283
Cobb632594174195176156
Coleridge935149221222229235
Highbank12510180868464
Manapouri76001774,4404,3713,8874,476
Ohau ‘A’4248581,3281,2908751,201
Ohau ‘B’4212481,0791,0547341,026
Ohau ‘C’4212481,0811,0627421,033
Roxburgh8320461,4941,5571,4141,771
Tekapo ‘A’12530154158102144
Tekapo ‘B’2160146948953700858
Waitaki710521555536392548
     Subtotal, hydro1244,768 21,84521,36919,68222,162
Thermal       
Huntly41,000 5,1525,5255,5775,665
Marsden2114 -8-581-18
Meremere6- 21-3--
New Plymouth5580 3041,0331,530848
Ohaaki5104 851891856856
Otahuhu6135 -15-1865-19
Stratford4198 188372497406
Wairakei9153 1,2171,1741,2571,299
Whirinaki4216 11241
     Subtotal, thermal452,500 7,7118,9709,8879,038
     Total1697,268 29,55630,93929,56931,200

Tonnes of water soaring at the Clyde Dam spillway.

Table 20.7. TOTAL ELECTRICITY GENERATION AND DISPOSAL

Year ended 31 MarchElectricity CorporationSupply authoritiesOther sourcesTotalSold retailNonproductive
Source: Ministry of Commerce.
   GigaWatt hours   
198726,9901,163728,16025,3492,811
198827,4751,1981328,68625,8052,883
198928,1781,2811329,47226,6982,774
199028,9751,1493330,15727,3652,792
199129,5831,1868930,85827,8193,039
199230,33981774931,90528,6093,296
199329,56985682331,24827,7863,462

Table 20.8. ELECTRICITY SUPPLIED BY ELECTRICITY CORPORATION

Year ended 31 MarchHydroGeothermalFossil fuelsTotal
Source: Ministry of Commerce.
  GigaWatt hours  
198820,8911,1835,42427,498
198921,9001,2375,05228,189
199020,8231,8056,37429,002
199121,8452,0685,64329,556
199221,3692,0656,90530,339
199319,6822,1137,77429,569
199422,1622,1556,88331,200

Electrical Supply Authorities.

The Energy Companies Act 1992 provided for the corporatisation into electric power companies (EPCs) and resolution of the ownership of the 48 electrical supply authorities (ESAs) which operated New Zealand's distribution and retail electricity system. Previously they had been local government entities: the 37 electric power boards were special purpose local authorities, and 11 district and city councils had also owned their own electricity supply operation. In those EPCs which are successors to the former electric power boards, the shareholdings have a mixture of local authority, trust, direct consumer and investor ownership. The 11 former municipal electricity departments have been corporatised and the resulting companies are all majority owned by local authorities.

As of August 1994 the corporatisation process was all but complete, with only two vesting orders yet to be made. Some mergers took place as part of the corporatisation process, and additional mergers and takeovers are possible in the future. It is expected that the restructuring will provide a basis for further investment in the energy sector. The EPCs generally buy electricity in bulk from ECNZ and then on-sell it to individual customers. Some EPCs have their own generation capacity, meeting part of their needs. ECNZ also sells power directly to several major industrial users, and to NZ Rail for the electrified portion of the North Island Main Trunk Railway.

Rural Electrical Reticulation Council.

The council has in the past subsidised the cost of electrical reticulation or small scale private generators in remote areas. This was funded by a levy on electricity sales. The extension of supply is now essentially complete and the subsidy scheme ended. The council will have a transitional role in monitoring the impact of the electricity reforms on the rural community, and the Electricity Act 1992 provides for its dissolution not later than 1 April 1997.

Hydro supplies. The New Zealand electricity system is dominated by hydro-electric power. To minimise hydro spill, the total capacity of the system is 146 percent of the reserve peak capacity. The normal reservoir capacity is only around 13 percent of the annual electricity demand, that is equivalent to approximately six weeks of average national demand. The South Island normally has spare hydro capacity which is transmitted to the North Island through the high voltage DC link. Historically, the generation system was planned to provide a 7 percent margin of supply over consumption for years when drought reduced available hydro power to 85 percent of the mean supply (a 20 year drought). As earlier noted this has been raised to a 60 year drought standard as a temporary measure, following the recommendation of the Davison Committee.

Electricity markets.

Use of electricity in the New Zealand economy is shown in . During 1992/93 industrial users accounted for 44 percent of the total demand, household demand was 36 percent of the total and commercial usage was 19 percent.

Table 20.9. ELECTRICITY MARKETS

Year ended 31 March Domestic*Industrial CommercialFarming†Public lighting‡Rail and bus traction‡TotalElectricity account holders

* Includes domestic water heating.

Now included in ‘Industrial’.

Now included in ‘Commercial’.

Source: Ministry of Commerce.

    GigaWatt hours    
19879,42410,4724,7225671333125,3491,488,253
19889,42310,7324,9165661383025,8051,509,209
19899,51011,0655,2506861375026,6981,528,550
19909,82411,1875,4616551166627,3091,547,573
199110,26411,2005,4966871106127,8181,581,879
199210,47412,5845,550   28,6081,599,037
199310,12412,2655,397   27,7861,607,894

Wholesale electricity market.

The Government established the Wholesale Electricity Market Development Group (WEMDG) in June 1993, to provide the government with proposals for developing a wholesale market in electricity that, consistent with sustainable development, would ensure that electricity is delivered at the lowest cost to the economy as a whole.

WEMDG, consisting of representatives from ECNZ, Trans Power, EECA, an independent generator, the energy companies and consumers, released its final report to Government in September 1994. WEMDG’s key recommendations were that steps should be taken to set up a new competitive wholesale electricity market at the earliest opportunity, but on an incremental basis.

In a related development, secondary market trading in ECNZ’s current hedging contracts for wholesale electricity supply has commenced, under the auspices of the Electricity Market Company Limited (EMCO). EMCO is a joint venture between ECNZ and the Electricity Supply Association of New Zealand established to develop the necessary framework to enable the emerging wholesale electricity market to operate efficiently and effectively. The first market is for participants in the energy market to trade wholesale electricity products. This market opened in July 1994.

Karapiro hydro power station on the Waikato River.

20.3 Fossil energy supplies

New Zealand has a wide range of energy resources ranging from coal and hydrocarbons to hydro-electric potential, geothermal energy, wind and solar radiation. Both hydrocarbons and coal resources are not renewable within the human time scale and geothermal resources can only be considered a renewable resource if extraction of energy balances the geothermal systems ability to recover through natural heatflow. Current exploitation of the resource is on a non-renewable basis.

Crude oil, condensate and gas

Crude oil is the primary fuel source in New Zealand and is the basis for most of the country's energy consumption for transportation. New Zealand does not produce enough oil and condensate to meet existing demand and some that is produced can obtain a better price overseas and so is exported. As a consequence, there is a continuing need for imports. Natural gas is New Zealand's largest hydrocarbon resource, but because of constraints in its transportation, its use is confined to the North Island.

All of New Zealand's current hydrocarbons are produced from fields in the Taranaki region. Six fields were producing during 1994 (Kapuni, Maui, McKee, Kaimiro, Ngatoro and Waihapa/Ngaere). The Ahuroa and Tariki fields are expected to commence production in 1996, and the Kupe field two to three years later.

In the 1993 calendar year natural gas production was 230 billion feet3, down from 237 billion feet3 in 1992. Natural gas was produced from the Kapuni, Maui, McKee, Kaimiro, Ngatoro and Waihapa fields with production dominated by Maui (74.7 percent of the total production) and Kapuni (20.5 percent). These were followed by McKee (2.2 percent), Waihapa (2.4 percent) and Ngatoro and Kaimiro (each 0.1 percent).

Condensate production in 1993 was 965,279 tonnes, down 0.8 percent on the 973,188 tonnes produced in 1992. Condensate is produced from the Maui and Kapuni fields, with Maui dominant with around 79 percent of the total.

Crude oil production in 1993 was 898,053 tonnes, significantly up on the 792,480 tonnes produced in 1992. Crude is produced from the McKee, Kaimiro, Ngatoro and Waihapa fields. In 1993 almost 60 percent of total crude production came from Waihapa, around 36 percent from McKee, with Ngatoro and Kaimiro contributing only a small percentage of the total (3 percent and 1 percent respectively).

A second production platform for the Maui field (‘Maui B’) was installed in 1993 off the Taranaki coast. This drilling platform operates as an unmanned facility, connected by pipelines to the main Maui A platform. Production commenced early in 1993.

The average daily production of crude oil, condensate and natural gas and currently identified recoverable resources are set out in and .

The 63 metre high column for the $90 million distillation plant at Motonui. It took five hours and three cranes to erect the 430 tonne structure.

Table 20.1. RECOVERABLE RESOURCES AND PRODUCTION OF OIL AND CONDENSATE*

FieldEstimated reservesEstimated reservesProportion of total†Approximate average daily production

* At 31 December 1993.

Proportions based on energy content (petajoules) of reserve estimates.

Source: Ministry of Commerce.

 millions of barrelspetajoulespercentbarrels per day
Maui71.539650.717,500
Waihapa10.9698.810,500
Kapuni13.6779.95,000
McKee6.5395.06,600
Kaimiro0.640.540
Kupe30.818023.0-
Tariki2.0121.5-
Ahuroa0.740.5-
     Total136.6781100.039,640

Table 20.11. RECOVERABLE RESOURCES AND PRODUCTION OF NATURAL GAS*

FieldEstimated reservesEstimated reservesProportion of total†Approximate average daily production

* At 31 December 1993.

Proportions based on energy content (petajoules) of reserve estimates.

Source: Ministry of Commerce.

 billion feet3petajoulespercentmillion feet3/day
Maui2,0302,20271.0415.0
Waihapa13160.512.6
Kapuni50637612.180.0
McFee901033.315.0
Kaimiro28311.00.8
Kupe2642789.0-
Tariki53662.1-
Ahuroa24290.9-
Total3,0083,099  

Industry

Petroleum imports and refining.

About a third of New Zealand's net petrol needs are produced by the synthetic petrol plant at Motunui. The Motunui plant uses natural gas from the Maui and Kapuni fields to make petrol. Synthetic petrol is either exported, sold directly or blended at the refinery with conventionally produced petrol.

The bulk of New Zealand's petroleum product needs are produced at New Zealand's only oil refinery at Marsden Point. The main refinery feedstocks are imported crude oil and indigenous crude oil and condensate. Locally produced hydrocarbons make up 40 to 45 percent of the refinery's intake. Most of New Zealand's crude oil imports come from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Refined petrol is imported to make up any shortfall in supply. Some refined products are exported from New Zealand, chiefly to supply international shipping and aircraft, amounting to around 19 PJ in 1993, which is equivalent to 10 percent of local consumption.

Indigenous crude oil and condensate production, along with imports and exports are summarised in .

Table 20.12. CRUDE OIL AND CONDENSATE, PRODUCTION AND TRADE

 Crude oil and condensate
YearNew Zealand productionImportsTotal*Exports

* Total indigenous supply and imports prior to exports.

Source: Ministry of Commerce.

  petajoules  
198758.69102.82161.514.66
198870.66112.81183.4714.46
198979.17137.88 x217.0527.56
199081.55143.28 x224.8340.24
199185.28143.84229.1244.88
199280.26 x141.52221.78 x40.50
199384.70158.38243.0847.58

Use of natural gas.

During 1993 around 35 percent of the gas produced in New Zealand was used by thermal power stations at New Plymouth, Huntly and Stratford to produce electricity. Another 27 percent was used to produce synthetic petrol at Motunui and 15 percent went to produce methanol at Waitara and 3 percent to produce urea at Kapuni. Industrial and commercial users consumed around 20 percent. There are a large number of domestic users but, in total, they only use 2 percent of the gas produced. The building industry and secondary production, in the form of dairy factories, pulp and paper mills, and freezing works, make up a large proportion of the industrial and commercial usage. The transport sector directly uses around 1 percent of the gas produced in the form of compressed natural gas (CNG).

Distribution.

Over 30 percent of New Zealand's total supply of petroleum products is distributed via a refinery-owned pipeline linking the refinery with Wiri in South Auckland. The balance is distributed by coastal tankers chartered by the four large wholesalers (Shell, BP, Mobil and Caltex). At the main ports and at Wiri, products are stored in tanks and each wholesaler distributes products to retailers and bulk customers by road tanker.

Natural gas produced in Taranaki is piped south to Wellington, north as far as Whangarei, east to Gisborne and Napier/Hastings, and to Taupo in the central North Island. Much of the pipeline is owned by the National Gas Corporation (NGC). The major exception is the pipeline from Oaonui to Huntly which is owned by Maui Development Limited and supplies gas to the Huntly power station. LPG is transported from Taranaki to other North Island centres by sea and rail and to the South Island by sea. Much of this is used by industry or supplied as bottled gas. LPG is reticulated in some parts of Dunedin. LPG is also used as a transport fuel.

Table 20.13. GAS PRODUCTION

YearNet natural gas production*Manufactured gas productionTotal

* Excludes reinjected gas, LPG extracted, gas flared and production losses.

Source: Ministry of Commerce.

  petajoules 
1987160.090.15160.24
1988174.660.11174.77
1989180.580.10180.68
1990179.65 x0.07179.72
1991195.86-195.86
1992205.96-205.96
1993199.86-199.86

Table 20.14. NATURAL GAS SUPPLY

YearDirect sales* Reticulated salesStock changeTotal production† 

* Direct sales include sales to ECNZ, the synthetic fuels plant and all other customers supplied directly.

Totals do not add due to rounding.

Source: Ministry of Commerce.

1987119.0240.910.31160.24
1988133.1741.290.33174.79
1989139.8140.630.24180.68
1990140.2039.240.26179.70
1991151.7943.640.42195.85
1992164.8340.830.32205.98
1993158.8640.690.30199.85

bold“>Coal

Coal is New Zealand's largest energy resource with 8.6 billion tonnes potentially recoverable. The coal resource is relatively well known because of the New Zealand Coal Resources Survey programme of the 1970s and 1980s. Lignite is located largely in Southland and Otago and dominates New Zealand's recoverable coal resources (82 percent) with sub-bituminous coal comprising 14 percent, and high value bituminous coal located mainly on the West Coast of the South Island comprising less than 4 percent. This is in contrast to current production, of which lignite comprises 6 percent, sub-bituminous coal 62 percent and bituminous coal 32 percent.

The New Zealand coal industry faces competition from alternative energy sources, particularly for use in electricity generation but, despite this, production has climbed steadily since the deregulation of the industry in the 1980s. Production has concentrated on those resources that could be recovered easily or are of particularly high value. The export market for premium grade New Zealand coals has developed rapidly in recent years and international demand for specialist bituminous Westland coals remains good.

Long term, the outlook for coal is good. The introduction of new conversion technologies for coal such as underground gasification and the use of the gas in combined cycle power stations, may allow coal to compete with natural gas as a fuel for power generation on cost and thermal efficiency grounds especially when Maui gas production starts to decline. The newly developing technologies may also help to resolve some of the potential environmental impacts of coal use in thermal utilities, in particular the level of carbon dioxide emissions.

Coal occurs widely in New Zealand. The major areas where coal is found have been divided into seven coal regions (Northland, Waikato, Taranaki, Nelson-Westland, Canterbury, Otago and Southland) with the Waikato, Westland and Southland being the major coal producing regions. The most important producing coalfields, with the class of coal found in each are:

Bituminous coal—Greymouth, Buller, Garvey Creek.

Sub-bituminous coal—Huntly, Maramarua, Rotowaro, Ohai, Kaitangata.

Lignite—Waimumu, Mataura.

Other coalfields with the potential to be major producers are Waikare, Mokau and Kawhia (sub-bituminous) and St Bathans, Roxburgh and Ashers-Waituna (lignite).

Waste paper is used to produce briquettes for home heating.

Table 20.15. RECOVERABLE COAL RESOURCES*

Coal regionMeasuredIndicatedInferredTotal

* Resources do not equate with reserves which are that part of the recoverable resource that can be extracted under current technological and economic conditions.

Source: Ministry of Commerce.

  million tonnes  
Waikato205.32319.64189.16714.12
Taranaki0.15147.0426.25173.44
North Island total205.47466.68215.41887.56
Nelson-Westland32.71220.3290.35343.38
Canterbury0.000.012.172.18
Otago331.75758.7763.721,154.24
Southland0.765,733.31522.406,256.47
South Island total365.226,712.41678.647,756.27
New Zealand total570.697,179.09894.058,643.83

Exploration.

Coal exploration remains at a low ebb. Except for on the West Coast, recent exploration concentrated on extending reserves within existing mining licence areas. On the West Coast, CoalCorp continued its investigations of the Mt Davy/Upper Seven Mile area in Greymouth and intends to investigate the Upper Waimangaroa sector of the Buller coalfield in conjunction with a joint venture partner. Greymouth Coal Limited has been granted a new prospecting licence for its large Rapahoe prospect and is also applying for a mining licence. There has also been a general increase in interest in New Zealand's coal prospects with a number of companies carrying out reviews of New Zealand's potential.

Production and mining.

In 1993 coal production totalled 3.09 million tonnes (MT), a small increase over the 2.98 MT produced in 1992. Opencast operations dominated production nationally with 2.66 MT (86 percent) extracted from opencast mines compared with 0.43 MT (14 percent) produced from underground mines. This is a continuation of a long term trend. In 1980, for example, 69 percent (1.49 MT) of all production was from opencast mines while in 1985, 72 percent (1.74 MT), and in 1990, 78 percent (2 MT) was from opencast mines.

Sub-bituminous coal continues to dominate output with 1.93 MT (62.5 percent) produced in 1993 compared with 0.98 MT of bituminous coal (31.6 percent) and 0.18 MT of lignite (5.9 percent). The value of coal produced in New Zealand was $193.7 million up from $177.45 million in 1992.

Table 20.16. COAL PRODUCTION 1992–1993

Coal regionTotal 1992Opencast 1993Underground 1993Total 1993
Source: Ministry of Commerce.
  tonnes  
Waikato1,560,6621,510,813174,3891,685,202
Taranaki10,208 439439
North Island total1,570,8701,510,813174,8281,685,641
West Coast1,022,822918,622135,4831,054,105
Canterbury2,4502,717 2,717
Otago56,33855,146 55,146
Southland331,531177,564115,606293,170
South Island total1,413,1411,154,049251,0891,405,138
New Zealand total2,984,0112,664,862425,9173,090,779

Coal production in the North Island was 1.69 MT in 1993, an increase over the 1.57 MT produced in 1992. The majority of this was produced in the Waikato region. The number of operating mines increased to 18 in the Waikato, dropping to 17 late in the year with the mothballing of Huntly West following an explosion. The number of mines in Taranaki remains at two. Opencast mines continued to dominate production with 1.51 MT produced by opencasts in the Waikato. All North Island coal produced is of sub-bituminous rank. Waikato remains New Zealand's largest coal producing region accounting for 54.5 percent of total 1993 production. The Taranaki region produced only 439 tonnes of coal in 1993.

Overall, North Island production in 1993 was 54.5 percent of the total and had a value of about $83.44 million, around 7 percent greater than the previous year ($77.75 million). This represents 43.1 percent of New Zealand's total coal production by value in 1993.

In the South Island coal production reached 1.41 MT in 1993, 8,000 tonnes less than in 1992. In the South Island there are 44 operating mines. Thirty-three of these mines are on the West Coast, of which 15 are underground mines and produced 0.14 MT of coal in 1993. This is in contrast to the North Island where, in 1993, four underground mines produced slightly more coal at 0.17 MT. All three ranks of coal are produced from South Island mines. The largest mine producing bituminous rank coal is the Stockton opencast in the Buller Coalfield which produced 375,936 tonnes in 1993. The adjacent Webb opencast was the second largest bituminous coal producer at 356,922 tonnes. The Wairaki underground mine at Ohai was the largest producer of sub-bituminous coal in Southland with 115,606 tonnes mined during 1993, a considerable decrease over 1992 production of 158,559 tonnes. The Newvale opencast near Gore was the largest lignite mine and produced 110,523 tonnes of coal in 1993, a slight increase over the 102,808 tonnes produced in 1992.

South Island production accounted for 45.5 percent of the total production. It was valued at $110.23 million or 56.9 percent of total coal value, an increase of $10.54 million over the previous year. The high value bituminous coal exports represent a large proportion of the total value of production and accounts for much of the increase in value of production over 1992.

Use of coal.

In 1993 industrial usage accounted for 73 percent of coal used in New Zealand. This comprised 33 percent used in basic metal manufacturing and 40 percent in other manufacturing industries (primarily the cement, lime, meat, wool and timber industries). The BHP NZ Steel plant at Glenbrook, south of Auckland, is the largest and most consistent single user of coal in New Zealand. Commercial usage accounted for 13 percent of the total, electricity generation for 9 percent and domestic use for 4 percent.

The demand for coal as a feedstock in thermal power stations has declined in recent years as alternatives, especially Maui gas, have become more cost competitive. ECNZ’s dual-fired thermal power station at Huntly (980 MW) is the only operational station that can burn coal. Small quantities of coal (amounting to around 0.2 MT of coal annually) was currently burned to maintain the operation of coal-handling machinery at Huntly. In 1992 however, because of the power crises, 430,640 tonnes of coal were used to generate electricity at Huntly.

Of the 3.09 MT of coal produced in 1993, approximately 0.8 MT of bituminous coal was exported. Japan, India and China are New Zealand's largest coal export markets accounting for 39 percent, 28 percent and 16 percent respectively of total coal exports in 1993.

Before the first trial shipments of West Coast coal left New Zealand for Japan in the mid-1970s, little was known internationally about the special qualities of New Zealand bituminous coal. International customers and especially those in Japan, however, soon realised that New Zealand export quality coals had qualities which made them suitable for use in the chemical and steel industries. These properties include a consistently low ash and sulphur content, a fixed carbon content of around 60 percent, and a crucible swelling number equal to, or greater than, nine. Today, most of New Zealand's high-quality bituminous export coal comes from the Buller Coalfield. In the Buller Coalfield, CoalCorp's Stockton No 2 and Webb opencast mines currently have an annual production of 732,858 tonnes (1993). The coal is transported from the coal face to a coastal loading facility at Ngakawau by aerial cableway. From Ngakawau, the coal required for export is railed across the Southern Alps to the east coast port of Lyttelton. Over the period 1980 to 1993, coal exports increased significantly from 93,000 tonnes to 788,000 tonnes.

Table 20.17. COAL PRODUCTION BY RANK, 1993

Coal regionBituminousSub bituminousLignite
Source: Ministry of Commerce.
  tonnes 
Waikato 1,685,202 
 Taranaki 439
     North Island total 1,685,641 
West Coast975,10978,996 
Canterbury  2,717
Otago 51,3153,831
Southland 116,105177,065
     South Island total975,109246,416183,613
     New Zealand total975,1091,932,057183,613

20.4 Geothermal energy

Production.

Geothermal steam is used for electricity generation in the Wairakei and Ohaaki geothermal power stations, and is also used for direct process industrial heating, and for commercial and household heating. Geothermal waters are also used for recreational purposes and tourism.

Although geothermal systems occur widely throughout New Zealand, only those in the area between Lake Taupo and the Bay of Plenty (15 high temperature fields), and in Northland (Ngawha field) have the potential to provide a significant energy resource. The information that is available indicates that the geothermal resource is extensive and could comprise between 21,100 PJ and 43,000 PJ which could provide between 2,150 and 4,620 MW of electricity generation capacity.

Table 20.18. GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES OF NEW ZEALAND

 Inferred available heatEnergy estimates
Geothermal systemReservoir temperatureAreaMinimumMaximumMinimumMaximum

* The Taupo field comprises the Wairaki and Tauhara sub fields which are connected at depth.

Source: Ministry of Commerce.

 °Csq kmpetajoulesmegawatts (electricity)
Broadland/Ohaaki265–3075–116001,90060210
Kawerau250–3106–126002,20060230
Mokai280–32412–161,7003,200180340
Ngatamariki270–2806–127001,70080180
Orakeikorako230–28010–127001,70070180
Reporoa240121,0001,000110110
Rotokawa300–33015–182,5003,700270400
Rotorua25010–151,0001,500100160
Taupo*      
    Tauhara265–27918–222,2003,100230330
    Wairakei250–271252,1002,800260340
Te Kopia24165005005050
Tokaanu/Waihi25088008008080
Waimangu/Rotomahana26022–302,5003,400260360
Waiotapu220–29516–189002,90090310
Tongariro28015–201,7002,800180300
Ngawha225–32025–501,6009,800701,040
Total  21,10043,0002,1504,620

20.5 Renewable energy

New Zealand produces a large proportion of its electricity from renewable resources. Hydro resources account for 70–80 percent of electricity generation and geothermal resources contribute a further 7 percent. There is also increasing interest in non-traditional renewable resources (such as wind, biofuels, including biogas, solar, biogas and wave energy) for electricity generation and other uses.

Wind

With present technology, windpower is likely to be the largest non-traditional renewable resource available in New Zealand at reasonable costs in the future. Windspeeds have been measured at 12 potential wind farm sites in New Zealand. The average wind speeds at these sites range from 6.4 metres per second to 10.5 metres per second which is very favourable by international standards.

New Zealand's potential wind resource is huge. However, the cost of converting much of this wind power to electricity is estimated to be above the expected cost of traditional forms of generation for some time. It is nevertheless possible that some wind farms in particularly favourable conditions could produce electricity at costs that are competitive with traditional generation within the next few years. A demonstration wind turbine was installed in Wellington by the Electricity Corporation of New Zealand in 1993.

Wind power is becoming more competitive as technological improvements and economies of scale in production bring costs down, and as the options for further development of traditional forms of energy become more expensive.

Biofuels

Wood residues from pulp and timber processing, forest arisings from plantation harvesting, short rotation fuelwood plantations, domestic firewood, and cereal straw from grain harvests are forms of energy that can be considered renewable if the biomass is replanted to replace each harvest.

Around 50 percent of wood residues are already used on-site to produce energy for industrial processes and it has been estimated that more energy (280 GWh) could be produced annually from wood residues at a reasonable cost. Fuelwood plantations have even greater potential (approximately 2,000 GWh per year) but are more expensive. Some further energy from forest arisings is expected to be available at a similar cost.

Wood makes a small but significant contribution to energy supply for household heating, and several small short rotation woodlots have been harvested for firewood. Woodlots for significant additional amounts of domestic firewood and cereal straw resources are estimated to be more expensive than traditional forms of energy.

Biogas, a mixture of carbon dioxide and methane, can be obtained from anaerobic decomposition of purpose grown crops or waste organic materials such as straw, chicken manure or vegetables. It is produced in biogas reactors or effluent ponds. The number of biogas plants currently in operation is very small. Biogasification plants are operated in the meat, dairy, pulp and paper, fish processing, rendering, vegetable processing, pig and poultry industries in New Zealand. It is estimated that there are several hundred thousand tons of organic material suitable for biogasification produced in New Zealand each year.

Biogas is produced from several municipal sewage treatment plants and is also produced from mixed municipal waste in landfills. Two landfill sites in Auckland, (Greenmount and Rosedale) and one in Wellington (Silverstream), use landfill gas to produce electricity. Several other landfills are being investigated for their methane producing potential.

Solar

Passive solar space heating through building designs that absorb, store and release heat from sunlight are potentially New Zealand's cheapest form of energy. Passive solar features are not explicitly included in most building designs at present. Passive solar design buildings need not cost any more to build than conventional designs and save energy over the life of the building.

Active solar space heating (using mechanical means to move the transport medium to where it is needed to heat rooms) and both active and passive solar water heating are currently more expensive than traditional forms of energy but are commercially available. It has been estimated that at present fewer than 5,000 New Zealand houses have solar water heating.

Solar energy can be used to produce electricity from photovoltaic cells and is used in New Zealand on a very small scale, mainly to provide power for small electronic installations in remote sites. Further use of photovoltaic energy is likely to be limited because of its cost.

Wave

New Zealand's potential energy resource from waves is considerable. Wave energy systems have been developed overseas but face major design challenges before they can be proven to be practicable. The relatively low tidal ranges in New Zealand suggest that there is little prospect of harnessing tidal energy.

20.6 Minerals

New Zealand's mineral resources are diverse, but mining is generally on a small scale. Gold, ironsand, clays, and sand and gravel for construction are the main minerals mined. Total production of non-metallic minerals in 1993 was valued at about $200 million, while the value of metallic minerals totalled about $295 million.

Mineral production and resources.

The legislative control of mineral production underwent a major change in 1991 when the Resource Management Act and the Crown Minerals Act replaced the Mining Act 1971, the Coal Mines Act 1979, the Iron and Steel Industry Act 1959 and the Petroleum Act 1937 on 1 October 1991. This change involved the devolution in responsibility for the assessment and management of environmental impacts to regional and district councils, and the requirement under the Crown Minerals Act for the development of minerals programmes with the objective of ensuring a fair and financial return to the Crown as owner and the efficient allocation of permits to prospect, explore and mine.

Metals

Iron.

New Zealand has a large resource of potential iron ore in the black sands of the west coast beaches, from Westport south in the South Island and from Wanganui to Muriwai in the North Island. New Zealand Steel Limited has two mining operations in the North Island; Waikato North Head and Taharoa. The Waikato North Head deposit is mined using bucket wheel excavators. The titanomagnetite concentrate slurry is pumped through a pipeline to the steel works in Glenbrook where it is smelted in locally developed process smelters to produce a good grade of steel. The operation at Taharoa pumps titanomagnetite slurry to ships moored offshore for export to Japan.

Sinking another gas well at the Silverstream landfill.

Ilmenite and other heavy mineral sands.

The beaches between Westport and Greymouth contain heavy minerals including significant quantities of ilmenite. This is a source of titanium dioxide, which is used as a filler and a pigment in paint, paper, plastics, cloth and rubber. Investigations into the mineral sands at Barrytown and Westport have led to mining licence applications being lodged over the Barrytown Flats where an annual production of 250,000 tonnes of ilmenite concentrate is proposed. These applications are still being processed.

Gold.

Gold is present as alluvial gold in river gravels, as lode gold in quartz veins, and as disseminated gold, finely dispersed through host rocks. The hardrock forms of gold can be mined by underground as well as openpit methods. The majority of current gold mining operations in New Zealand are for alluvial gold, however, approximately 78 percent of total production in 1993 (8.73 tonnes) came from three hardrock mines: Martha Hill at Waihi, Golden Cross at Waitakauri in the Coromandel area and Round Hill at Macraes Flat in Otago. The opening of these mines had resulted in a dramatic increase in gold production from 1.22 tonnes in 1987 to 11.17 tonnes in 1993. Alluvial gold mining occurs dominantly on the West Coast of the South Island, Otago and Southland. Extraction methods range from small hand-held plants worked by up to three people, large floating plants fed by hydraulic excavators to one of the largest bracket ladder dredges in the world. The trend in the industry is away from small plants to those of medium and large size which have a high throughput can mine to greater depths and can efficiently recover the fine gold that characterises the alluvial deposits of the South Island. One such alluvial mine at Nokomai in Southland produced 0.84 tonnes of gold in 1993 and is New Zealand's fourth largest goldmine.

GOLD PRODUCTION By mining operations

Source: Ministry of Commerce.

Silver.

Silver almost always occurs associated with gold in various proportions in the North Island. Historically, the Coromandel area had produced most of the silver mined in New Zealand and with the recent opening of Martha Hill and Golden Cross, production has resumed, reaching 25.8 tonnes in 1993.

Tungsten.

The principal ore of tungsten in New Zealand is scheelite. It has been mined on a small scale in Otago and Marlborough in the past, but there is no production currently. Scheelite is associated with the gold at Round Hill mine, Macraes Flat but it is not currently recovered.

Other metallic minerals.

There are small deposits of manganese minerals in many localities. Uranium minerals occur in Westland but resources have never been fully assessed. Some areas of Northland, Coromandel, Nelson and Westland have potential for base metals (copper, lead, and zinc) but there is currently little prospecting, in part because of uncertainty over land access. Iron ore, stibnite (antimony), orpiment (arsenic), chromite, monazite, nickel and rutile have been mined in the past. Tin is known from Stewart Island, where less than one tonne has been produced. The aluminium ore, bauxite, is found in Northland where reserves of 20 million tonnes have been identified. Molybdenite occurs widely throughout Northwest Nelson but awaits full assessment. Historically, cinnabar, the principal ore of mercury was produced in limited quantities from sinter deposits in Northland. Interest in platinum in New Zealand recently underwent a brief upsurge with prospecting in Southland in the late 1980s.

Non-metallic minerals

Aggregates.

Aggregates are the product of a variety of rocks, gravels and sands used in road works and construction. Aggregates are found throughout New Zealand and are usually mined by small operators to supply local needs. Large numbers of quarries from Kaitaia to Invercargill extracted the 20.8 million tonnes of aggregates, worth around $173 million in 1993.

Macraes Flat Mining Company.

Clays.

Clays are found throughout New Zealand and include bentonite, halloysite and kaolinite. They are used in the manufacture of sanitary ware, ceramics, bricks, tiles, pipes and pottery, and as fillers in the manufacture of paper, paint, pharmaceutical and animal health products. Clay production increased from 83,391 tonnes in 1992 to 156,547 tonnes in 1993.

Bentonite.

Bentonite is used as a bonding agent and for drilling mud. It is found in substantial quantities in Hawke's Bay and Canterbury. 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. Demand is low and in 1993 stockpiles were sufficient to meet demand.

Halloysite.

Halloysite has been mined in Northland for more than 30 years. The clay from the New Zealand China Clay Limited mine at Matauri Bay is recognised world wide as having an excellent colour, very high brightness and translucency when fired. Production in 1993 was 22,919 tonnes.

Dolomite.

Dolomite rock is produced near Collingwood. It is used in agriculture and home gardening and shipped to Whangarei for use in glassmaking. In 1993 around 10,000 tonnes of dolomite, worth around $193,000 was extracted.

Limestone.

Limestone is found throughout New Zealand and is used in cement manufacture, roading, pottery and agriculture. High quality limestone from Te Kuiti and Nelson is processed for export. Limestone is also used in New Zealand as a filler in the paint, glass, rubber, plastic and paper industries. Marble, a crystallised form of limestone, is mined in Nelson. It is used as a filler and in building construction. About 4.3 million tonnes, worth around $28.7 million, were mined in 1993.

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 in New Zealand for salt production. About 60,000 tonnes is produced each year for New Zealand consumption.

Serpentine.

Serpentine is a magnesium-rich rock used as a fertiliser additive. Deposits are mined at Wairere, and at Greenhills in the South Island. About 22,000 tonnes, worth about $500,000 was mined in 1993.

Silica sand.

Northland, North Auckland and Canterbury have deposits of silica sand which are mined for use in glass manufacture, foundry moulds and the building industry. About 49,000 tonnes worth $114,000 were extracted in 1993.

Sulphur.

Sulphur is mined from Rotokawa near Taupo. In 1991,451 tonnes were produced, down from 2,689 tonnes in 1990, with none produced in 1992. Sulphur is mainly used for fertilizer.

Table 20.19. METALLIC AND NON-METALLIC MINERAL PRODUCTION, 1992 AND 1993

 19921993
 QuantityValueQuantityValue
Source: Ministry of Commerce.
 tonnes$tonnes$
Metals    
Gold10249,278,06311264,445,409
Silver225,042,857 5,821,188
Ironsand2,934,11132,187,1982,388,78324,636,248
     Total2,934,144286,508,1182,388,820294,902,845
Non-metals----
Bentonite----
Clay for bricks, tiles, etc55,871407,517130,004691,644
Clay for pottery, etc27,52013,448,75326,54331,912
Dimension stone23,7222,019,27540,0603,394,908
Dolomite for agriculture12,943258,8609,671193,420
Dolomite for industry----
Limestone for agriculture1,310,42716,253,2571,718,87512,479,282
Limestone for industry399,0433,466,824377,8805,867,348
Limestone and marl for cement1,459,4796,888,4681,577,3675,970,200
Limestone for roads523,0924,808,056597,2164,345,191
Perlite2,00030,61281422,792
Pumice112,476526,38869,179377,732
Rock for harbour work, filling, etc1,513,64010,334,8261,679,82710,520,449
Sand for industry427,7143,820,784671,2122,348,199
Sand, rock, gravel for building aggregate3,838,21342,333,1564,942,01148,464,361
Sand, rock, gravel for roads and ballast12,520,311114,414,09713,501,967104,954,408
Serpentine23,786424,74422,386503,575
Silica sand71,9402,068,34948,635113,765
Sulphur   6,600
     Total22,322,176221,503,96625,420,247200,279,186

Greenstone.

Nephrite, popularly known as ‘greenstone’, occurs in north Westland. A deposit of greenstone boulders in Olderog Creek, a tributary of the Arahura River has been the main source of greenstone recently. The boulders are reduced in size by a portable diamond trepan saw and airlifted by helicopter. In 1993 only half a tonne of production was reported to the Ministry of Commerce. There is currently an unresolved Treaty of Waitangi claim over greenstone.

METAL MINING AND PROSPECTING
NON-METALLIC MINERALS

The best known occurrences of bowenite, the serpentine variety of greenstone, are in Fiordland.

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 diatomite (industrial fitration), barite (industrial uses include glassmaking and fillers), asbestos (building material), feldspar (glassmaking, ceramics, enamels), magnesite (used in agriculture), mica (used in electronics), phosphate and sulphur (fertiliser), and wollastonite (insecticide, paper, asbestos substitute and plastics production) and zeolite (animal litter). Pumice is also extracted at present.

Mining and quarrying industry statistics

Statistics New Zealand's five-yearly Census of Mining and Quarrying has provided broad economic data on the industry. The most recent census formed part of the 1987 Economy Wide Census. The results from the census are updated annually by the Annual Enterprise Survey. Both the censuses and the enterprise survey cover the activities of all businesses classified in Major Division 2 of the New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification. A summary of the results is given below.

Coverage.

Mining and quarrying includes the extraction, dressing and purifying of minerals occurring naturally: solids like coal and ores, liquids like crude petroleum and gases like natural gas. Included are underground and surface mines, quarries and all exploration, prospecting and drilling for minerals. Work performed on a contract or fee basis in the development and preparation of mineral properties and sites are excluded. Also excluded are the crushing, grinding and treating of certain earths, rocks and minerals not carried out in conjunction with mining and quarrying activities.

Table 20.2. COAL MINING, CRUDE PETROLEUM, NATURAL GAS AND OTHER MINING STATISTICAL SUMMARY

Statistical items1988–89x1989–90x1990–91x1991–92P
Stocks— $(million)  
      Closing80.086.296.579.7
      Opening69.080.891.284.4
Income—    
;    Sales of goods and services1,406.61,444.11,568.41,993.3
   Interested etc received52.157.2475.766.2
    All other income25.413.911.57.2
     Total sales and other income1,484.11,515.32,055.62,066.7
Adjusted for change in stock values1,495.21,520.72,060.92,062.1
Operating expenditure—
      Salaries and wages144.8145.9148.1145.5
      Depreciation135.4135.8165.0186.8
      Interest, bad debts etc.137.0141.0100.0175.3
      Indirect taxes82.978.869.766.9
      Purchases202.4128.1127.6148.0
      All other operating expenditure590.6537.3509.8530.2
     Total operating expenditure1,293.21,166.81,119.21,252.7
Working proprietors/partners salaries and wages4.67.17.48.4
Net profit before tax, after deducting working proprietors/partners salaries and wages197.4346.9934.3800.9
Fixed tangible assets—    
      Purchases during the year159.9161.0690.6766.8
      Sales during the year45.917.937.7118.3
Balance sheet—    
      Shareholders’ funds etc2,714.42,791.73,923.44,215.3
      All other liabilities1,682.51,550.83,022.82,696.7
     Total capital and liabilities4,396.94,342.46,946.26,912.0
Fixed tangible assets2,061.41,952.63,445.13,921.5
All other assets2,335.42,389.83,501.12,990.5
     Total assets4,396.94,342.46,946.26,912.9
percent
Ratios—
      Net profit per total sales and other income13.322.945.538.8
      Total salaries and wages per total capital and other income9.89.87.27.0
      Shareholders’ funds per total capital and liabilities61.764.356.561.0
      Fixed assets per total assets46.945.049.756.7

Contributors

20.1–20.5Ministry of Commerce.
20.6Ministry of Commerce; Statistics New Zealand.

Further information

Energy

  • Annual Statistics in Relation to the Electric Industry in New Zealand. Ministry of Commerce.

  • Key Statistics. Department of Statistics (monthly).

  • Report of the Ministry of Commerce (Parl paper G40).

  • Wave Power Generation. Ministry of Energy, 1988.

  • Wind Energy Resource Survey of New Zealand. New Zealand Energy Research and Development Committee, 1987.

  • Electricity Corporation of New Zealand Limited. Annual Report, 31 March 1992.

  • Energy Data File. Ministry of Commerce.

  • Energy Supply and Demand Scenarios to 2020. Ministry of Commerce, 1994.

  • Greenhouse Gas Emissions From New Zealand Energy Sources 1990–1992. Ministry of Commerce, 1994.

  • Renewable Energy Opportunities For New Zealand. Ministry of Commerce, 1994.

Minerals

  • Economy Wide Census, Mining and Quarrying 1987. Department of Statistics.

  • Geothermal Resources of New Zealand, Resource Information Reports. Ministry of Commerce.

  • Key Statistics. Department of Statistics (monthly).

  • Mineral Resources of New Zealand, Resource Information Report II. Ministry of Commerce, 1991.

  • New Zealand Annual Mining Review. Ministry of Commerce.

  • Petroleum Resources of New Zealand, Resource Information Report II. Ministry of Commerce.

  • Report of the Ministry of Commerce (Parl paper G40).

  • Resource Information Report 16, The. Ministry of Commerce.

  • Coal Resources of New Zealand, The, Coal Geology Report 4. Ministry of Energy, 1988.

Chapter 21. Manufacturing

Manufacturing environment

Historically, industry policy was largely synonymous with selective sectoral assistance. Today, the nature and form of assistance has changed. A key difference in contemporary assistance policies, not only to manufacturing but to all sectors of the economy, is the provision of stability and greater certainty at the macro-economic level, with supporting reform designed to bring business costs down.

The current policy settings are intended to develop an internationally competitive New Zealand manufacturing sector. The Government's role in this area is not one of direct participation, but rather one of encouraging firms to improve their competitive performance.

Reforms to create this competitive environment have included the termination of import licensing and the decision to maintain tariffs only on imports of goods for which there is no local manufacture of suitable alternatives. By 1988 less than 10 percent of imports by value were subject to licensing, and by 1992 licensing disappeared all together. Tariffs were reviewed in 1987 and a five-step reduction programme was announced. The majority of industrial tariffs were halved over the period 1 July 1988 to 1 July 1992. This was followed in 1992 by the announcement of a further four-step tariff reduction programme to be implemented over the period 1993 to 1996, during which most tariffs will fall by one-third.

A review commenced in 1994 to decide tariffs after 1996.

The tariff reductions have a dual effect on the manufacturing sector: they lower the cost of imported materials, while at the same time opening up the domestic market to international competition.

As tariffs have lowered, the competitive pressure from imports has tended to increase. The 1994 tariff review featured full consultation with a broad range of sector interests to identify the effects of tariff reform so far (in the context of wider economic reforms), and to decide how further tariff reforms should be managed in the medium to long term.

Other general economic policy changes have also had an effect on the manufacturing sector. More disciplined monetary and fiscal policies, lower inflation and interest rates, labour market reform (particularly the Employment Contracts Act 1991) and exchange and interest rate policies are particularly significant. Actions to reduce the costs for businesses have included the corporatisation and privatisation of state-owned enterprises and reform of the regulatory environment. Other business compliance costs are under scrutiny by an interdepartmental officials committee. Major reforms in some infrastructural sectors (notably transport, energy, finance and communication) have had a positive impact on manufacturing. Education and training reforms are also relevant in terms of providing a more skilled workforce. Government has also increased its contribution to science and technology.

Changing industry assistance policies and a greater export focus have encouraged manufacturing to concentrate its efforts on maximising international competitiveness through measures such as quality management techniques and improved development of human resources, including managerial talent. New products and innovation have led to some notable export success. Important improvements have occurred in productivity, marketing and consumer services, information systems, moves to increase exports and in individual companies’ mixes of imports and manufactures.

In the changed economic climate, the manufacturing sector has an increasingly outward focus. Exports, particularly to Australia, have grown significantly. Questions of fair trade, technical barriers to trade, safety and environmental factors are all increasingly relevant. Economic growth and growth in the manufacturing sector have led to increased job creation and a new emphasis on the availability of skilled workers. General economic policies are more critical in the new framework in which manufacturing has to operate.

Growth issues

Over the last two years manufacturing appears to have emerged from a period of contraction and adjustment to the liberalisation of imports and the economic reforms of the 1980s. International competitiveness and confidence in the domestic market characterise the start of what should be a period of sustainable growth.

MANUFACTURING Employment by industry type

Business Directory Update, February 1994.

Manufacturing investment grew by 25.6 percent in the year ended March 1994. Total real manufacturing sales grew by 6 percent in the same year, the strongest performance recorded for several years. The value of manufactured exports rose by $1,021.7 million to $10,514.6 million for the year to March 1994, following a $734.2 million increase the previous year. The manufacturing's sector contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) was 0.6 percent lower for the year ended March 1994 than in the previous year.

If the sector is to consolidate on these results and translate them into sustained growth, it will have to meet a number of medium and long-term challenges. Tariffs will continue to reduce. Under a reduction programme which commenced 1 July 1993, tariffs in 1996 will have fallen to two-thirds of their 1992 levels. Some industries (motor vehicles and components, apparel, footwear, textiles and carpets) are subject to different programmes, but almost all tariffs are reducing.

Much of the manufacturing sector is now operating with low rates of protection in open and highly competitive market conditions. The competitiveness which underlies the sector's current strong performance is largely based on a much improved environment for business, which has created new market opportunities, combined with a level of innovation and enterprise which is enabling manufacturers to take advantage of opportunities on domestic and offshore markets.

The Manufacturing Advisory Group published its second sectoral strategy ‘Manufacturing for Growth’ in October 1993. The strategy emphasised the necessity for a good alignment between the goals and policies of government and the goals and capabilities of firms as a basis for sustainable strong growth. It detailed an action programme which outlined the contributions which manufacturers, government and other agencies could make to the sector's growth.

Increasingly, economic growth objectives are being called on to be consistent with the principles of environmental sensitivity and sustainability. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, in which New Zealand participated in Rio de Janiero in June 1992, adopted a set of 27 principles and a guide for implementation known as Agenda 21. Subsequent analysis by officials indicated that New Zealand was relatively well advanced in the implementation of the Rio objectives. However, environmental questions and the implications for economic growth and trade are likely to be dominant issues, both domestically and internationally, in the 1990s.

The establishment of free trade across the Tasman under the Australia New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (CER) signed in 1983 has been, and will continue to be, a catalyst to the development of internationally-competitive and export-oriented manufacturing industry in New Zealand.

It is in the area of manufacturing that the mutual benefit of CER is most obvious. New Zealand rivals Japan as Australia's largest market for all manufactured goods and Australia is New Zealand's largest market for manufactures. In the year to 30 June 1994 provisional figures indicate that exports from New Zealand to Australia increased by 8 percent to $3.83 billion.

Many manufacturers having established a strong ‘domestic’ base in the combined New Zealand/Australia market, are looking for added growth through exports to the fast-growing economies of east Asia.

Manufacturers should benefit, both directly and indirectly, from expanded market access and fairer international trading rules resulting from the Uruguay Round of GATT multilateral trade negotiations. Tariffs on a range of manufactured products will be progressively reduced or eliminated in many of New Zealand's markets.

Table 21.1. MANUFACTURING SECTOR PERFORMANCE 1990–94

March yearSales, nominalSales, constant 1994Real growth in salesAdditions to fixed assetsInvestment growthManufactured exportsGrowth of exportsContribution to GDP 1982–83 pricesGrowth of GDP contribution
 $(million)percent$(million)percent$(million)percent$(million)percent
198934,458.539,867.6 1,904.8 7,695.4 7,604 
199037,440.340,458.31.51,827.8-4.08,155.86.07,561-0.6
199137,623.339,864.3-1.51,641.2-10.28,148.3-0.17,234-4.3
199237,831.539,834.3-0.11,331.5-18.98,758.77.57,100-1.9
199341,492.942,574.56.91,520.014.29,492.98.47,5316.1
199445,709.645,709.67.41,909.325.610,514.610.87,9445.5

Manufacturing groups

Below is a brief description of some of the major secondary industries in New Zealand. Others, such as meat processing and forest products, which are among the major export earners, are described elsewhere.

Electronics.

This sector has largely transformed itself from a predominant involvement with the manufacture of consumer electronics to a concentration on commercial, industrial, health and communications products and software.

Car shredder plant, Christchurch.

Engineering.

The engineering sector comprises a variety of fabrication, structural and heavy engineering activities. Following extensive adjustment as the large energy-based products were completed in the latter half of the 1980s, the sector switched to serving local needs in areas such as forestry and agricultural production and processing. This experience has also been useful in developing overseas markets and the sector is now committed to export development.

Motor vehicles.

The New Zealand industry, comprising the assembly of cars and light commercial vehicles and the manufacture of certain components, has continued to adjust to the progressively lowering levels of frontier assistance instituted in 1989. The sector has also faced the impact of technological improvement on motor vehicle performance, and has coped with the adverse influences of domestic and international recession. Following falling sales in 1991 and 1992, sales of new vehicles stabilised in 1993 and increased significantly through 1994, as confidence in the domestic economy became more established. Although assembly is dependent on the domestic market, component manufacturing has developed significant export markets.

Plastics.

This sector is now well out of the adjustment phase and operates by providing an efficient quality-based product to end users in a variety of industries. Major concerns are now with certain environmental issues such as the phasing out of ozone depleting substances and questions involving packaging and waste policies, including international developments such as the German ‘Green Dot’ system.

Metals.

Steel and aluminium are the only base metals produced in significant quantities in New Zealand. Brass and copper are made in a number of forms, including downstream manufactures of tubing and plumbing fittings. Steel is produced by the unique direct reduction process using indigenous ironsands at the BHP-New Zealand Steel works at Glenbrook, while Pacific Steel produces rod and bar using scrap. Aluminium produced at the Tiwai Point smelter is a significant export earner utilising raw bauxite imported from Australia.

Timber.

Although international log prices continue to fluctuate there has been a downward trend in prices during the past year which continues to translate through the sector to processors. Domestic processors have, as a consequence, been able to secure better terms of supply than in the past, although prices still remain at a higher level.

With the lifting of the United States Government ban on the logging of federal forests, combined with timber coming on stream from Russian forests, it is expected that log prices will continue to decline over the next few years.

As radiata pine gains further acceptance in world markets and log prices continue to fall, opportunities for timber processors continue to lie in products such as packaging, veneer, mouldings, componentry and laminated timber products.

Food administration framework.

In February 1994, the Government commenced a review of New Zealand's food administration framework, covering all food-related legislation. The review covers laws applicable to primary products and processing, and involving policies administered by the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Public Health Commission as well as the food policy implementation activities of Crown health enterprises and local bodies.

The review recognises the importance of the food industry to New Zealand's economy. Food administration impacts on over half of our overseas earnings, and the competitiveness of New Zealand products on both domestic and export markets is influenced by the efficiency of government regulation. The review aimed to identify and assess the options for re-organising New Zealand's system of food administration to make it more coherent, transparent and efficient. Possible reforms to emerge from the review include the alignment of the Food Act and the Primary Produce Act, and the creation of a better-integrated organisation structure. Producers, processors, traders and consumers would benefit from less prescriptive regulations, more timely responses to desired changes and lower compliance costs.

Food standards harmonisation.

In February 1994, the Government entered into negotiations with Australia to identify and evaluate the options for the harmonisation of New Zealand and Australian food standards and the standard setting processes. Both countries are major food producers and the trans-Tasman food trade is worth close to NZ$1 billion annually. Harmonisation was seen as an effective means of eliminating non-tariff barriers, reducing compliance costs and facilitating New Zealand food exports to Australia and third world countries.

Wine.

In July 1994, geographical indications legislation was introduced as part of the GATT (Uruguay Round) Bill 1994. The legislation establishes a regime for protecting New Zealand and international geographical indications used in relation to specified goods (for example, wine or cheese) from false or misleading use. This is essentially a truth-in-labelling provision.

The geographical indications legislation will provide for geographical indications (regions and localities) within New Zealand to be determined. Applications from producers or others will be considered by a geographical indications committee consisting of New Zealand Geographic Board members and representatives of the relevant industry. The public will be able to make submissions.

In addition, the legislation will provide for international geographical indications to be protected in New Zealand (as required by the GATT:TRIPS Agreement) and will also allow New Zealand to meet its obligations under any bilateral agreement involving the protection of geographical indications.

Stirring hops at a Wellington brewery.

Textiles, apparel, footwear and carpet sectors

These industries were covered by the industry development plans throughout the 1980s. The principal focus of the plans was on frontier control with the basic intent of the plans being to achieve the gradual removal of import licensing and the reduction of tariff levels in a manner which would enhance the competitiveness and exporting potential of these industries.

Textiles and apparel.

Textiles and apparel were amongst the last product groups to retain import licensing (licensing was removed from textiles by July 1991 and from apparel by July 1992). The import licensing regime covering these products significantly restricted the levels of imported textiles and apparel and therefore limited the extent to which the industries were exposed to international competition. The tariff reduction programmes for these industries have also been more gradual than those for most other industries, with tariffs on apparel imports in particular remaining significantly higher than those for most other industrial goods. Under the tariff reduction programme for the period July 1993 to July 1996, apparel non-preferential tariff rates will reduce from 40 percent to 30 percent. A revised regime of alternative specific (dollar value) rates for certain apparel has also been implemented. The provisions are aimed at addressing some of the problems of enforcing appropriate tariff levels for lower-cost apparel imports.

Textiles (a category covering a wide range of products) became subject to the Government's General Tariff Programme. This means that there will be one-third tariff reductions for most products in the period July 1993 to July 1996. However, a number of core textile products, namely fabrics, yarns, blankets and rugs, have been accorded a more gradual tariff reduction regime.

The progressive removal of import licensing and the reduction in tariffs have seen apparel imports from all sources increase significantly in the period 1988 to 1993, from $84 million cif to $323 million cif. This has led to a considerable rationalisation within the industry, with an accompanying reduction in employment levels. However, for the year to February 1993 employment has slightly increased over the previous year. Taken together, the textile and apparel industries remain significant employers. As at February 1993 there were 21,060 people employed in these industries.

During the 1988 to 1993 period export success has been achieved in the apparel sector, with exports of apparel increased from $30 million fob in 1988 to $136 million fob in 1993. Australia is New Zealand's main export market for apparel. However, efforts have been made to diversify export destinations, particularly into Asia. Joint action groups supported by the Trade Development Board and industry bring exporters together to develop strategies to overcome constraints to achieve export success. The range of clothing produced covers all main categories of garments. A substantial proportion of apparel manufacturers are small businesses.

Carpet.

From 1985 to 1990, import licensing for carpet was gradually phased out. The final industry plan review of carpet took place in 1990 and set reducing tariffs for the industry through to 1996. These were revised in September 1991, with the result that carpet has been afforded a more gradual tariff reduction programme and one which is aligned with the Australian tariff regime for carpet. During the July 1993 to July 1996 period carpet tariff rates will reduce from 32 percent to 23 percent.

Tufted and woven carpet production in 1993 increased by 7 percent over the previous calendar year to 8.3 million square metres. Production of wool-rich carpets (80 percent or more wool content) was 7.2 million square metres or 87 percent of total production. The two main players in the New Zealand carpet industry, which produces predominantly wool-rich carpet, are Feltex Carpets and Cavalier Bremworth. As at February 1993 there were 990 people employed in the carpet industry.

Footwear.

New Zealand has a long established footwear manufacturing industry. Historically, high levels of tariff and import licensing protection were reduced as a result of reviews under the Footwear Industry Development Plan in 1986 and 1990. On 1 July 1991, adults’ footwear (the only category still requiring an import licence) was removed from import licence control. Under the current tariff reduction programme for the period July 1993 to 1996 adults’ footwear tariff rates will reduce from 45 percent to 30 percent. Children's footwear tariff rates will reduce from 33 percent to 25 percent over the same period.

Considerable rationalisation of the industry has taken place since 1986, when the first significant reductions in protection occurred. Domestic production has reduced from 8.9 million pairs in 1986/87 to 3.7 million pairs in 1992/93.

The reduction in assistance has also led to a significant increase in the volume of footwear imports. In 1993, imports supplied more than 68 percent (7.6 million pairs) of the New Zealand footwear market, compared with 63 percent (6.8 million pairs) in 1991 and 18.6 percent (1.9 million pairs) in 1986. Exports have decreased from 1 million pairs in 1991 to 678,000 pairs in 1993 (June years). This is, however, still higher than the 300,000 pairs exported in 1986. As with apparel, Australia is the main destination for most of New Zealand's footwear exports.

Manufacturing enterprises

shows the different types of manufacturing businesses recorded by a survey to update the Statistics New Zealand's’ Business Directory at February 1994. The data was among the most recent available at the time of going to press and shows major groupings under the New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification. shows the number of manufacturing activity units (business locations) and persons engaged over the last four years, again using the annual Business Directory update as a source.

Table 21.2. MANUFACTURING ACTIVITY UNITS AND PERSONS ENGAGED, FEBRUARY 1994

   Persons engaged size group
NZSICType of manufacturing 0–56–910–4950–99100+Total
3111Slaughtering and meat processingActivity units15024843358349
  Persons engaged3331572,0592,35720,57525,480
31122MilkActivity units18393235
  Persons engaged2324231231284792
31123Ice creamActivity units113811225
  Persons engaged241915960246507
31125Dairy productsActivity units15424112377
  Persons engaged32315417825,0546,440
3113–3122Other foodsActivity units99326634656501,711
  Persons engaged2,4591,8697,0173,84411,19326,381
313BeveragesActivity units115245457205
  Persons engaged2571751,0293831,0702,912
314TobaccoActivity units222028
  Persons engaged513250468511
321TextilesActivity units5981031562916902
  Persons engaged1,2467163,3732,2102,79010,334
322–324Wearing apparel and footwearActivity units1,10615330061251,645
  Persons engaged2,1871,0676,2754,1394,28617,952
33Wood processing and wood productsActivity units2,61341647151233,574
  Persons engaged5,1172,8899,0843,4904,14224,722
34110Pulp, paper and paperboardActivity units103911033
  Persons engaged2724208773,5023,838
3412Paper and paperboard containersActivity units2212511968
  Persons engaged3886368231,5233,028
3419Pulp, paper and paperboard necActivity units349188372
  Persons engaged87673606425751,729
342Printing and publishingActivity units99619132037271,571
  Persons engaged2,1351,3155,9932,5635,22217,227
351Basic industrial chemicalsActivity units316173057
  Persons engaged82424922230838
3512Fertilisers and pesticidesActivity units456105268
  Persons engaged10146219405223992
3513Synthetic resins, plasticsActivity units51212777113
  Persons engaged1051515235081,1682,454
352Other chemicals, pesticidesActivity unit2244595199392
  Persons engaged5263111,9781,2661,6365,715
353Petroleum refineriesActivity units000022
  Persons engaged0000585585
354Petroleum and coal productsActivity units263131043
  Persons engaged4520317520434
35513Tyres and tubesActivity units177161344
 paper productsPersons engaged4950300606241,081
3559Rubber products necActivity units5112201185
  Persons engaged938145451191869
356Plastic productsActivity units241491292614459
  Persons engaged5083452,7431,6952,2877,577
36Non-metallic mineral productsActivity units71610613087967
  Persons engaged1,4297412,4345431,3276,473
37Basic metal industriesActivity units128365089231
 mineral productsPersons engaged3022561,0145014,4906,562
381Fabricated metal productsActivity units1,91837348044192,834
  Persons engaged3,8582,6359,1172,8842,69621,188
382MachineryActivity units2,45036337231123,228
  Persons engaged4,8132,4946,7632,0491,58717,705
383Electrical machineryActivity units476781161923712
  Persons engaged9605542,2371,4745,58810,812
384Transport equipmentActivity units81011715624201,127
  Persons engaged1,5888073,2701,7266,14413,534
385Professional equipmentActivity units6811121193
  Persons engaged1288122551119603
390Other manufacturing industriesActivity units9818994701,171
  Persons engaged1,7916161,85844604,709
3Total manufacturingActivity units14,9162,5243,56351238621,901
  Persons engaged30,33917,59570,92635,52889,590243,977

Table 21.3. BUSINESS LOCATIONS AND PERSONS ENGAGED BY INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION, 1991–1994

   Persons engaged
NZSICType of manufacturing 1991199219931994
3111Slaughtering and meatActivity units338339336349
 processingFull-time equivalents26,49726,58627,91625,480
31122MilkActivity units42424035
  Full-time equivalents895843858792
31123Ice creamActivity units20202125
  Full-time equivalents707546469507
31125Dairy productsActivity units85827977
  Full-time equivalents5,8496,0356,0256,440
3113–3122Other foodsActivity units1,4461,5351,5641,711
  Full-time equivalents22,83422,90422,72026,381
313BeveragesActivity units155156178205
  Full-time equivalents3,1052,7142,6492,912
314TobaccoActivity units6988
  Full-time equivalents611557481511
321TextilesActivity units805824837902
  Full-time equivalents10,0699,6169,71510,334
322-324Wearing apparel and footwearActivity units1,4911,4961,4971,645
  Full-time equivalents17,97916,62517,18517,952
33Wood processing and wood productsActivity units3,0933,1223,1783,574
  Full-time equivalents21,23020,82122,01824,722
34110Pulp, paper and paperboardActivity units31283033
  Full-time equivalents5,0224,4794,0103,838
3412Paper and paperboard containersActivity units77766468
  Full-time equivalents3,1163,0543,0573,028
3419Pulp paper and paperboard necActivity units65666872
  Full-time equivalents1,5701,4561,6181,729
342Printing and publishingActivity units1,3971,4241,4621,571
  Full-time equivalents17,13816,33816,49217,227
3511Basic industrial chemicalsActivity units50554957
  Full-time equivalents755953764838
3512Fertilisers and pesticidesActivity units58606468
  Full-time equivalents1,1421,1581,162992
3513Synthetic resins, plasticsActivity units928892113
  Full-time equivalents2,3272,0912,2152,454
352Other chemicals, pesticidesActivity unit338381373392
  Full-time equivalents5,7035,7235,6305,715
353Petroleum refineriesActivity units131132
  Full-time equivalents810827668585
354Petroleum and coal productsActivity units36374243
  Full-time equivalents322309422434
35513Tyres and tubesActivity units47454344
  Full-time equivalents1,1541,0101,0231,081
3559Rubber products necActivity units75838085
  Full-time equivalents863766835869
356Plastic productsActivity units456474440459
  Full-time equivalents7,2037,1167,1967,577
36Non-metallic mineral productsActivity units851849874967
  Full-time equivalents6,1915,6775,9386,473
37Basic metal industries mineral productsActivity units187194193231
  Full-time equivalents6,6426,0146,1066,562
381Fabricated metal productsActivity units2,5802,6272,6332,834
  Full-time equivalents20,41518,84019,08421,188
382MachineryActivity units2,9323,0052,9273,228
  Full-time equivalents15,96115,28415,48717,705
383Electrical machineryActivity units679680646712
  Full-time equivalents10,2159,4259,57910,812
384Transport equipmentActivity units1,0741,0531,0651,127
  Full-time equivalents14,47112,95612,97713,534
385Professional equipmentActivity units102918693
  Full-time equivalents9919741,013603
390Other manufacturingActivity units9069861,0301,171
 industriesFull-time equivalents3,8603,9203,8784,709
3 Total manufacturing Activity units19,52719,93820,00221,901
  Full-time equivalents235,641225,609229,182243,977

Muffin cup production.

Business development

The Government's business development policy is aimed at encouraging New Zealand businesses to become more innovative and internationally competitive. The Business Development Programme assists to meet this objective through a number of targeted measures designed to lift the performance of New Zealand firms by increasing their management capability.

Currently the programme comprises a network of 21 Business Development Boards, three grant schemes, the Business Development Quality Awards and the ExcelleNZ quality products.

Business Development boards.

The Business Development boards’ major responsibilities are to administer the Business Development Programme Grant schemes, provide information to the public on other government business enterprise assistance initiatives, provide advice to the Minister of Business Development on matters relating to business development in their region and to encourage business development in their respective regions.

Board members are appointed by the Minister of Business Development and are selected for their business experience and knowledge of their region. The boards are located throughout New Zealand.

Business Development Programme grant schemes.

The Business Development Investigation Grant provides up to $20,000 to firms or individuals towards investigating the commercial feasibility and/or technical viability of a potential commercial activity which is new to a region. For the year ended June 1994, 1,432 grants worth $11.8 million were approved. This represents a 38 percent increase in number and a 37 percent increase in value over June 1993 approvals.

The Expert Assistance Grant Scheme provides up to $16,000 for firms to engage consultants in key management areas where better performance will lead to sustainable improvements in efficiency. For the year ended June 1994, 710 grants worth $3.7 million were approved. This represents a 50 percent increase in number and a 41 percent increase in value over June 1993 approvals.

The Enterprise Growth Development Scheme provides up to $20,000 in a variety of areas to help firms improve their level of competitiveness by becoming more efficient and effective. For the year ended June 1994, 1,737 grants worth $6.5 million were approved. This represents a 26 percent increase in number and a 37 percent increase in value over June 1992 approvals.

For all three grant schemes, recipients are required to meet half the eligible costs themselves.

ExcelleNZ package.

The Business Development Group of the Ministry of Commence took on the responsibility for the ExcelleNZ package in August 1992. The ExcelleNZ initiatives are being promoted as a key component of the Government's business development policy which aims to encourage business excellence and international competitiveness. The ExcelleNZ package currently consists of three initiatives: Total Quality Management, World Competitive Manufacturing and World Competitive Service. These initiatives are franchised from the Australian National Industry Extension Service and are delivered in New Zealand by consultants contracted to the Ministry of Commerce. These consultants are first screened by an assessment panel appointed from the private sector by the Minister of Business Development. If approved by this panel the consultant is required to complete formal workshop training before being offered a contract by the ministry to deliver the relevant ExcelleNZ programme. Training workshops for each initiative are held according to demand. A limited number of places on these workshops are also made available to representatives of enterprises seeking to develop skills in the techniques of business development.

After the first two years of the Business Development Quality Awards, a total of 350 applications were received from all regions.

Business Development Quality Awards.

The Business Development Group of the Ministry of Commerce was commissioned by the Minister of Business Development to develop an award for delivery through each Business Development Board region which would recognise progress in the application of total quality management, best practice and business excellence and to educate businesses to embark on the quality journey. The Business Development Quality Awards are based on the US Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards and are promoted as feeder awards to the New Zealand National Quality Awards (the premier quality award in New Zealand), delivered by the New Zealand National Quality Awards Foundation to an internationally recognised format. The Business Development Quality Awards are proving to be an attractive incentive for New Zealand businesses to apply total quality management principles and to capitalise on the training in business development techniques available through the ExcelleNZ initiatives.

Standards and Business Innovation.

The Ministry of Commerce works to ensure that business is served by an infrastructure which meets its need to be internationally competitive in the area of standards and certification. To this end the ministry has developed a close relationship with Australia aimed at reducing the potential for product standards to become technical barriers to trade and increasing the international standing of New Zealand certification bodies. The ministry serves on the monitoring committee established by the Agreement on Standards, Accreditation and Quality and on the Council of the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand, which was established by treaty in 1991. A recent development with Australia has been the proposal to establish a trans-Tasman mutual recognition agreement for goods and occupations subject to regulation and the ministry is contributing to the assessment of this proposal.

New computerised turret press, Christchurch.

The ministry's role in developing the standards and certification infrastructure extends to the European Union, which has proposed entering into a mutual recognition agreement with New Zealand aimed at recognising each others’ certification bodies. The ministry is an active participant in the standards and conformance work of the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation, where it is working with member economies to develop a common approach to standards and conformance arrangement.

Innovation.

Increased innovation is a goal of the ministry and it has investigated a number of areas relevant to the innovation capability of business, including management competencies, business finance, networking and information flows and a major survey of manufacturing practices and performance. The ministry's activities in the area of business finance contributed to the establishment of the Greenstone Fund, a provider of equity capital for smaller firms.

Tyre factory.

Manufacturing statistics

Statistics New Zealand's Quarterly Economic Survey of Manufacturing (QMS) is designed to give a representative survey estimate of economic activity for each of the New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (NZSIC) divisions within the manufacturing sector. The manufacturing sector is defined under the NZSIC as major division 3 which encompasses the industrial divisions, shown in . For a fuller description of these divisions, refer to the department's NZSIC catalogue.

The survey maintains a sample of just under 2,000 respondents selected from Statistics New Zealand's Business Directory. The unit records are collected at the accounting unit level. The survey asks for predominantly current income and expenditure data although some investment data is also collected. Quarterly results are published in the Hot Off the Press publication and are also available on the department's public database INFOS.

has the data presented in the form of annual series for the March years of 1988 to 1994 for total manufacturing for some of the collected variables. Fuller descriptions of these variables can be found in the glossary at the back of this book. shows the sum of the four quarters for the year ended March 1994 with total manufacturing divided into the NZSIC divisions referred to above.

The survey provides a quarterly sample estimate that is a useful short-term indicator of the manufacturing sector's activity. The Annual Enterprise Survey provides a more in-depth measure at a higher level of financial and industry detail while the QMS provides more timely estimates with less detail. The department performs census surveys also which provide data for a full inter-industry study. The next manufacturing census is scheduled for 1994/95 while the previous was in the Economy Wide Census 1986/87.

The data below is revised from what was published in the 1992 Yearbook as the series have been ‘linked’ into the estimates produced by the December 1992 sample re-selection. This process ensures that the sample selected for the QMS continues to be representative of the ever changing population of the manufacturing sector.

REGIONAL EMPLOYMENT IN MANUFACTURING 1994 - NORTH ISLAND By major types of industry

REGIONAL EMPLOYMENT IN MANUFACTURING 1994 - SOUTH ISLAND By major types of industry

Table 21.4. QUARTERLY ECONOMIC SURVEY OF MANUFACTURING: ALL-INDUSTRY TOTALS

 Stocks*      
Year ended 31 MarchSales and other incomeMaterialsFinished goodsAdditions to fixed assetsSalaries and wagesPurchases and other operating expensesHours worked

* At end of year.

   $(million)   (000)
198934,4582,4952,3851,9056,21225,334479,961
199037,4402,6792,7941,8286,31128,464463,700
199137,6232,6383,1941,6416,41728,479442,586
199237,8312,4123,0321,3316,38528,087419,396
199341,4932,4453,2841,5206,68031,622433,906
199445,7402,4813,5341,9097,18334,908462,798

Casting fibrous plaster ceiling sheets.

Table 21.5. QUARTERLY ECONOMIC SURVEY OF MANUFACTURING, 1994*

  Stocks*    
Industry division (NZSIC)Sales and other incomeMaterialsFinished goodsAdditions to fixed assetsSalaries and wagesPurchases and other operating expensesHours worked

* Year ended 31 March.

   $(million)   (000)
Primary food10,6912327983911,1659,09868,527
Other food, beverages and tobacco6,3933535372917894,86356,250
Textiles, apparel and leathergoods2,916223338836322,08152,393
Wood processing and products3,5431713102805732,59841,766
Paper, printing and publishing4,4402541852409432,97450,859
Chemical, petroleum, coal, rubber, etc5,3113544242207243,99241,576
Non-metallic mineral products1,13048674218677111,378
Basic metal products1,691160183882791,36312,805
Fabricated metal products, etc9,2196496622601,8226,869121,657
Other manufacturing406373014702995,646
     Total45,7402,4813,5341,9097,18334,908462,857

Contributors

21Ministry of Commerce; Statistics New Zealand.

Further information

  • Census of Manufacturing 1983–84. Department of Statistics.

  • The Diffusion of Microelectronics through New Zealand Manufacturing. New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, 1987.

  • Islands of Excellence? New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, 1993.

  • Key Statistics. Statistics New Zealand (monthly).

  • Report of the Ministry of Commerce (Parl paper G46).

  • Research and Development in New Zealand: A Public Policy Framework. New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, 1987.

  • Productivity and Prosperity. Ministry of Commerce, 1989.

  • Productivity and Quality in New Zealand Firms: Effects of Deregulation. New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, 1989.

  • Productivity Trends and Cycles in New Zealand: A Sectoral and Cyclical Analysis 1961–1987. New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, 1989.

Chapter 22. Housing construction

Excavating site for extensions to Canterbury Museum.

22.1 Housing

The housing sector forms a vital part of New Zealand's domestic economy. A good standard of housing is as vital as any of the other factors upon which we rely, such as health and education. Housing fulfils a variety of social roles. It provides shelter and security for the family and for the individual; a physical anchor in our environment. For some, it provides a measure of social status and an expression of lifestyle choices. Housing provides employment and livelihood for a variety of trades, and the maintenance, renovation and improvement of homes is a major leisure-time activity for ‘do-it-yourself’ New Zealanders. In a market-based, property-owning economy, housing is the main area of investment for many.

The total number of dwellings in New Zealand recorded in the 1991 Census was 1,185,700. Of these, 1,164,400 were permanent and occupied, an 8 percent increase from the previous census in 1986. Of the total number of dwellings, 852,400 (74 percent) were recorded as owner-occupied; 267,300 or 23 percent as rented or leased; and the remaining 3 percent were occupied without payment. Fifty-four percent (456,400) of owner-occupied dwellings were owned with a mortgage, while 396,000 or 46 percent were owned without a mortgage.

By comparison with most other western nations, New Zealand has a very good standard of housing and a very high level of owner-occupier dwellings. At the time of the 1991 Census, 99 percent of New Zealanders were living in conventional permanent dwellings (either detached houses or flats). Home ownership is the dominant form of tenure in New Zealand, with 74 percent of households owning their own homes in 1991. This is well ahead of many other western countries (70 percent for Australia, 66 percent for the United Kingdom, 64 percent for the United States, 62 percent for Canada, 55 percent for Sweden, 30 percent for Switzerland). Household amenities, such as electricity, water and sewage disposal, are almost universal in New Zealand, and in 1991 only 1.4 percent of private dwellings had no form of heating. On census night in 1991, just 1 percent of private households were occupied on a semi-permanent basis: baches, cribs, huts, caravans or other temporary premises intended for short-term accommodation. Moreover, the census showed that less than 1 percent of occupied private dwellings had three or more persons per bedroom.

While families accounted for 74 percent of all households in 1991, what was once the typical family (a couple with at least one dependent child) represented only 38 percent of all families and 29 percent of all households.

The average number of persons per household reached a new low of 2.8 people at the time of the 1991 Census, after falling below three people in the 1986 Census. Over half of New Zealand's households now contain one or two people only, and the number of couples without any children at home continues to rise. By 1991, more than a third of families consisted of a husband and wife only (including de facto couples). Single person households now constitute 20 percent of all households: at the time of the 1991 Census almost 236,000 adults lived alone.

The 1991 Census also showed that 51 percent of Maori were owner-occupiers, and 49 percent of Maori were in rental housing. This compares to the population as a whole, where 76 percent were owner-occupiers and 24 percent lived in rental housing. Older people are more likely to be owner-occupiers than tenants, with 84 percent of those aged over 60 years owning their own home compared to 72 percent of those aged less than 60.

The average floor area of building permits issued in New Zealand for new homes between April 1973 and June 1990 was 123 square metres. Although it is not possible to identify the total floor area of all dwellings, given that there are 2.8 people per average household, it is likely the average dwelling area per person is in the vicinity of 44 square metres per person.

Building activity has increased since 1991 due to a combination of economic and demographic factors. In demographic terms, the population and the rate of household formation is expected to grow, as is the level of migration, while households are decreasing in size. These factors will create an increasing demand for accommodation, most of which is predicted to occur in the Auckland region.

House sales.

There has been a significant increase in the number of house sales. The number of freehold open market house sales, as notified to Valuation New Zealand, for the year to June 1994 provisionally totalled 74,550 units. This is a 33 percent increase on the 56,261 units recorded for the previous year.

The number of sales has increased since 1992 and the 1994 figure is the highest since Valuation New Zealand started recording this series in 1973. Freehold open market sales cover approximately 80 percent of all market sales, but exclude forced sales, sales between family members with a gift element, sales of leasehold, and mixed tenure properties.

Residential prices.

The average sale price for houses in the year to June 1994 was $132,104 compared to $123,262 in 1993. This represents a 7.2 percent increase on the average price recorded in 1993. The sale prices are exclusive of chattels and other considerations.

Table 22.1. RESIDENTIAL PRICES

 December year
Average sale price1990199119921993
Source: Valuation New Zealand. Ministry of Housing.
  $  
Sections43,38941,04043,66847,923
Houses115,150115,461120,734125,609
Owner-occupier flats107,416105,839108,626111,806

The Urban House Property Price Index compiled by Valuation New Zealand is designed to measure changes in the average level of prices paid for residential properties 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. The index for the last four June years are shown in . The June 1994 figures are provisional.

shows that prices have been increasing since 1992, and in the year to June 1994 they increased throughout all localities. Prices rose 8 percent over the year to June 1994. The Auckland area recorded the largest increase at 13 percent. Napier/Hastings also recorded an increase in excess of 10 percent. By contrast, the Wellington area had the smallest increase at 2 percent.

The lesser increases in house prices in the Wellington area are, in part, attributable to the location of central government. In recent years the public sector has been undergoing a process of rationalisation which has not been compensated for by the private sector. This is partially due to the fact that many private sector firms are now based in Auckland.

Table 22.2. HOUSE PRICE INDEX †

Locality19901991199219931994

* Base December 1989 quarter = 1000.

Year ended June.

Auckland includes North Shore City, Waitakere City, Manukau City, Papakura District and Auckland City.

§ Wellington includes Porirua City, Upper Hutt City, Wellington City, Hutt City

Source: Valuation New Zealand.

Whangarei District10511063104310671158
Auckland Area‡104210069489691094
Hamilton City10911131109311181223
Tauranga District10591061106111031216
Rotorua District10241046101110371139
Gisborne District11151206120613091499
Napier City10501123115212531420
Hastings District10691170125013711526
New Plymouth District11141183122813141369
Wanganui District11351195116911681180
Palmerston North City11391107113011451179
Masterton District10391065105910821118
Wellington Area§1023987942947963
Nelson City10371125115812741358
Christchurch City10751171118812201281
Timaru District10641161120912731342
Dunedin City10841200124413401384
Invercargill District11171229124212861361
     Total New Zealand10551067104810811171

22.2 Housing loans

Financial institutions which provide housing finance have contributed to the increased activity in the residential building sector. Competition between the major providers of housing finance has helped to keep interest rates down. Customers are now also offered flexible, individually tailored products. For example, some customers can vary conditions attached to their mortgage loans by increasing, or decreasing, the amount of monthly payment, switching to fortnightly payments intervals, altering the type of mortgage or transferring it to another property.

and highlight the source and direction of housing loan approvals. shows that in the year to March 1994 approximately 163,000 loans were approved by all financial institutions. This is an increase of 15 percent over the number approved in 1993 (142,597). Between March 1993 and March 1994, the number of approvals have increased each quarter. At December 1993 mortgage lending represented 42 percent of total bank lending to the non-bank private sector compared with 27 percent at December 1990. Since June 1991, M3 financial institutions (registered banks, savings institutions, finance companies, merchant banks and stock and station agents) have accounted for 90 percent of all approvals. In contrast, the contribution of the Housing Corporation has shrunk as the state has redirected the delivery of housing assistance through the Income Support Service's accommodation supplement.

The level of approvals shown for the June 1994 quarter is lower when compared with the March 1994 quarter due to a change in the series used to monitor the number of housing loan approvals. The old series recorded only approvals, rather than the actual number of loans uplifted, causing over-counting of some loans.

illustrates the increasing percentage of funds being used to construct new houses. In the March 1994 quarter, 22 percent of funds lent were for the construction of new housing. This is the highest since March 1988 quarter when 23 percent of funds were used for new housing. Between March 1988 and March 1994, the proportion of funds used for the construction of new dwellings dropped to a low of 9 percent in the September 1991 quarter.

Table 22.3. SOURCE OF FUNDS

QuarterHousing CorporationM3 Financial institutionsLife insurance officesTotal
Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
1992—no$(m)no$(m)no$(m)no$(m)
Mar1,48533.032,4841,735.552841.734,4971,810.2
Jun1,58836.332,7121,785.147932.634,7791,854.0
Sep70913.333,1151,857.852841.934,3521,913.0
Dec71210.735,5131,982.638528.936,6102,022.2
1993—        
Mar60111.635,8681,946.438726.736,8561,984.7
June65416.036,3692,033.443032.137,4532,081.5
Sep62012.839,5662,170.850343.840,6892,227.4
Dec62212.543,4952,371.251145.544,6282,429.2
1994—        
Mar4417.939,7742,263.246044.040,6752,315.1
Jun  31,8421,896.041339.532,2551,935.5

Table 22.4. DIRECTION OF LENDING

 Percentage of funds for new housingPercentage of funds in first mortgagePercentage of funds in second and subsequent mortgage
Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
1992—no$(m)no$(m)no$(m)
Mar12.210.997.899.12.10.9
Jun13.112.597.998.71.90.9
Sep11.611.797.999.02.00.9
Dec12.012.898.399.31.60.7
1993—      
Mar13.212.798.21.71.1 
Jun13.613.298.399.21.60.7
Sep18.615.698.399.11.50.7
Dec19.715.698.399.21.60.8
1994—      
Mar12.917.098.299.31.70.7

Mortgage interest rates.

Despite rising from the first quarter in 1994, the level of mortgage interest rates has fallen overall since 1987. This trend is illustrated in the graph below using the first mortgage housing rate statistics collected by the Reserve Bank. These statistics are collected on a monthly basis and refer to the prime rate charged for new borrowers. A weighted average is calculated for eight major providers of housing finance. The institutions are weighted according to their level of total outstanding loans for housing purposes.

The highest average prime rate was recorded in June 1987 at 20.5 percent per annum. By comparison, the lowest rates occurred in February and March 1994 when the average prime rate was 7.4 percent. The major factor behind the most recent rises have been the increased cost of raising money on international markets. On the domestic front, the cost of domestic money has been affected by the strong competition for depositor's funds. Counteracting this is the relatively low level of inflation that the country is currently experiencing. One final factor to consider is the level of demand for funds by the Government. This, however, is not a factor in the recent interest rises as the Government has continued to maintain a tight fiscal stance.

Rentals.

During the year to September 1994 the nationwide dwelling rentals component of the Consumer Price Index rose by 14.4 percent. The major contribution to this increase has been the transition from income related rents to market rents for state rentals as part of the housing reforms. Private sector rents increased 2.8 percent over the year to September 1994. Housing New Zealand and local authority rents, by contrast, increased by 46.8 percent over the same period. This increase, however, can be regarded as abnormal. Thereafter, it is envisaged that state rental increases will follow those in the private sector. By 30 June 1994, 70 percent of state house tenants were paying market rents.

MORTGAGES: 1913–94

YearAverage rate of interest on new mortgages*

* Figures from 1913-86 are an average of the previous 12 months. From 1987 onwards they are an end of period average mortgage rate (excluding government).

Source: Reserve Bank.

 percent
19135.76
19155.76
19205.75
19256.30
19306.35
19355.06
19404.69
19454.51
19503.99
19554.69
19605.01
19655.78
19706.77
19758.25
198011.41
198513.20
198616.89
198719.60
198817.90
198915.40
199014.90
199113.70
199210.40
19939.60
19947.40

HOME MORTGAGE RATES Registered mortgages

MORTGAGES Registered and discharged

In the 1991 Census of Population and Dwellings, rental housing accounted for 23 percent of the housing stock in New Zealand. Typically, households on low incomes lived in rental accommodation. At the time of the 1991 Census, 54 percent of renters earned less than $25,000 gross per annum, while 56 percent of owner-occupiers earned more than $30,000 gross per annum. The census also shows a higher concentration of Maori in rental accommodation, recording 49 percent of Maori in rental housing compared with 24 percent of the population as a whole.

Overall in 1991, the stock of rental housing was 0.4 percent lower than in the previous census, although the total housing stock increased by 8.2 percent over the same period.

Maori housing.

There has been a major refocus on the delivery of housing assistance for Maori households. The delivery of housing loans and rental accommodation previously provided by Te Puni Kokiri, has now been mainstreamed for delivery through other agencies. Due to the transfer of the mortgage accounts administered by Te Puni Kokiri to the Housing Corporation of New Zealand, lending activity ceased in the third quarter of the 1993 June year. Most of the rental accommodation previously administered by Te Puni Kokiri has now been transferred to local tribal authorities.

The total lending portfolio of former Te Puni Kokiri loans held by the Housing Corporation as at 31 August 1994 was made up of 9,519 loans for a total of $241 million. Prior to the transfer, as at 31 March 1993, the portfolio was made up of 11,916 loans worth $296 million. The number of loans has decreased as a result of sales to the private sector.

Housing assistance and government housing agencies

Accommodation supplement.

The accommodation supplement was introduced on 1 July 1993 and replaces the subsidised housing assistance delivered by the Housing Corporation, and the accommodation benefit from the Department of Social Welfare. All low income households are eligible to apply for the accommodation supplement, irrespective of whether they live in public or private sector housing, and whether they are renters, mortgagors or borders. The low income threshold is $350 per week.

The accommodation supplement is a cash payment administered by the New Zealand Income Support Service, which is part of the Department of Social Welfare. The supplement is capped on a regional basis and takes account of higher living costs in Auckland and Wellington. A cash assets test is also applied which is similar to the test that was used for the accommodation benefit. An abatement regime assists in targeting the supplement to households on lower incomes. As at 30 June 1994 there were 251,505 current accommodation supplements.

A number of transitional measures were implemented in the period prior to the introduction of the accommodation supplement. These measures were designed to give on-going assistance to Housing New Zealand Limited tenants who lost access to existing housing subsidies after the supplement was introduced. Tenants 65 years of age and over on 1 October 1992 may benefit from tenure protection allowance. Tenure protection may also assist Housing New Zealand tenants who on 1 October 1992 were living in a unit specifically modified to accommodate a disability. As at 30 June 1994 there were 9,398 current tenure protection allowances

Housing Corporation of New Zealand.

The Housing Corporation was established by the Housing Corporation Act 1974. From 1974 until mid-1992 the corporation was responsible for rental housing services, home lending and housing policy advice. Between 1986 and mid-1992 the corporation was responsible for administering the Residential Tenancies Act. From 1 July 1992 the corporation was restructured to leave it with only responsibility for home lending functions, the principal part of which was administration of existing loans.

Model of a new housing development, Christchurch.

With Housing New Zealand Limited acting as its agent, the Housing Corporation provides housing loans for those households who are unable to obtain loans in the private sector.

highlights the amount of loan activity undertaken by the Housing Corporation in the last two financial years. The amount of new lending is small in relation to previous years due to the change in the delivery of housing assistance. As outlined above, the major form of assistance is now the accommodation supplement.

Table 22.5. HOUSING CORPORATION LOAN APPROVALS

 NumberValue
Programme1992/931993/941992/931993/94
Source: Housing Corporation, Ministry of Housing.
 $(million)   
Government home loans1129133441.942.0
Community lending18142.41.9
Papakainga25231.50.9
     Total1172137145.844.7

The number of loan account balances has also fallen. This is due to the sale of almost $2 billion worth of mortgages to the private sector. The first sales took place in July 1992, and the last round was announced in September 1994. The mortgages sold to the private sector are typically those clients who were paying at or above the Housing Corporation prime interest rate. The majority of those still remaining with the Housing Corporation, by contrast, are those who do not meet private sector lending criteria.

Housing New Zealand Limited.

Housing New Zealand is responsible for the management of a state rental housing stock of approximately 70,000 units. It was set up under the Housing Restructuring Act 1992 and is a registered company, wholly owned by the Government. Its principal objective is to operate as a successful business that will assist in meeting the Crown's social objectives by providing housing and related services to low income people. The company has two shareholding ministers, the Minister of Finance and the minister responsible for the administration of the Housing Restructuring Act (currently the Minister of Housing). The shareholding ministers appoint the board of directors and also perform other functions as set out in the Act.

Housing New Zealand has three regional offices and 54 neighbourhood units throughout the country. It competes on an equal basis with other housing providers, charging market rents for most of its tenancies. It is required, however, to rent its vacant units primarily to people on low incomes and to give priority access in allocations to people in temporary accommodation, or in accommodation detrimental to their health or well-being.

summarises activity undertaken by Housing New Zealand in the last two financial years. The total rental stock has not changed significantly, while the number of allocations has increased over the June 1994 year.

The number of community houses has fallen due to the low rate of replacement of these tenancies. In line with 1994 Budget announcements, a new Community Housing Agency has been established as a subsidiary of Housing New Zealand, to manage their existing community housing. Work in the new financial year will focus on the development of appropriate services to effectively deliver rental services to community housing groups.

GOVERNMENT HOUSING Ratio of state/private housing starts

Table 22.6. HOUSING NEW ZEALAND ACTIVITY

 1992/931993/94
Source: Housing New Zealand, Ministry of Housing.
Stock units70,23470,104
Number of allocations13,33515,567
Community houses provided652588
Percentage of allocation to low income households9493

The Ministry of Housing.

Established on 1 July 1992, the ministry's main functions are the provision of high quality, independent and timely policy advice on housing to government, and efficient and effective tenancy bond and dispute resolution services across New Zealand.

Tenancy Services, which is a division of the Ministry of Housing, administers the Residential Tenancies Act 1986. The Act provides for a mediation service and a Tenancy Tribunal to resolve tenancy disputes. Tenancy Services runs the mediation service, while the Tenancy Tribunal is administered by the Department of Justice. The ministry operates a Bond Processing Centre located in Porirua, for the lodgement, processing and refund of all bonds paid to landlords by their tenants.

In the year to 30 June 1994 there were 31,724 applications made to the Tenancy Tribunal. Of these applications, 25,556 were referred to mediation, of which 11,236 were resolved by this method. There were 8,369 applications that were either not resolved or only partly resolved in mediation and these were referred to the Tenancy Tribunal. The remaining 4,937 were withdrawn. The total number of applications referred to the tribunal for a hearing, either directly or after an attempted mediation, totalled 16,222. A total of 12,835 applications were resolved at the tribunal while the others were either withdrawn, adjourned or referred back to mediation.

Community housing.

The delivery of assistance for community housing needs has been restructured as part of the Government's housing reforms. Community housing organisations provide housing to people with special needs, and, like other users of housing, they rent or borrow from whom they choose in order to perform this role.

Housing New Zealand has tenancies available at market rents, and the Housing Corporation makes available special lending at market interest rates for use by community housing providers. The Community Funding Agency (a service of the Department of Social Welfare) is responsible for delivery of funding support for approved community housing providers, to assist them in meeting their rent and mortgage outgoings.

Aerial view of South Dunedin with De Carle Park in the centre.

22.3 Building and construction industry

Building and construction is an important part of the New Zealand economy. For the year ended 31 March 1994 there was $7.2 billion of gross fixed capital investment on building and other construction. For the previous year the equivalent figure was $5.9 billion. The number of full-time equivalent jobs (including working proprietors) in the industry at the end of March 1994 was 89,000, 5.8 percent of the total New Zealand workforce. In addition, tens of thousands are employed indirectly, supporting the industry in manufacturing, material supplies and transport.

Frame of roulette wheel sculpture for roof of Christchurch casino.

The most common construction systems used in New Zealand are light timber framing for housing, reinforced concrete (precast and in situ) for multi-storey buildings and light steel framing for industrial buildings. However, with the introduction of the performance-based building code, traditional systems are slowly being replaced with new methods and products, and with shortages of timber on the local market light steel framing is becoming more common.

Construction standards

Building controls are administered by the Building Industry Authority, a Crown entity established under the Building Act 1991 and responsible for writing the New Zealand Building Code. The code specifies the essential standards for building performance to ensure the health and safety of building users and protection of other people's property. The Building Industry Authority has issued guidance documents which provide one means of satisfying the code, but these are not mandatory, and the building industry is encouraged to develop new materials and systems as alternatives to traditional methods. Important requirements of the code are durability, ease of access for all users and energy efficiency in buildings. Day-to-day administration is the responsibility of the territorial authorities who must confirm that building projects satisfy the code provisions.

Building consents are required for new buildings and for alterations for existing buildings. Any such work must also comply with district plans of territorial authorities prepared under the Resource Management Act 1991. Further information is set out in chapter 16, Land and environment. For completed buildings the requirement for regular maintenance of essential systems, such as fire alarms, lifts and air conditioning, is covered by compliance schedule and annual building warrant of fitness provisions.

New Zealand has developed particular expertise in the design of earthquake resistant structures, in other specialist areas such as hydro and geothermal power station design and construction, and the construction of economic granular-based road pavements.

Building activity

The main official building statistics are Statistics New Zealand's monthly analyses of building authorisations and its quarterly analyses of the value of work put in place. The prime source of these statistics is building consents issued by territorial authorities. Under the new building regulations effective from 1 January 1993, building authorisations are applied for under the building consents system administered by territorial local authorities. Prior to this date, applications were made under the building permits system. The building consents system, however, has wider coverage than the building permits system. The additional coverage includes some government building (particularly work on education buildings) and on-site drainage and reticulation work.

The authorisation 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 or lower because of wage and material price change, the rising cost of materials, etc particularly in the case of larger buildings.

The values of building authorisations for five years to March 1994 are described by types of building in . Consents cover alterations and additions as well as new buildings.

NEW DWELLINGS Dwellings as a percentage of total value

Work put in place.

Statistics New Zealand conducts quarterly surveys of building work put in place. In contrast with the statistics based on building authorisations, 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 authorisation and the commencement of building and the actual work for which an authorisation is issued can be extended over varying periods. Also, the total value of this work may differ considerably from the value estimated at the time of application for the building authorisation, especially in times of inflation.

Table 22.8. LOCATION AND VALUE OF BUILDING AUTHORISATIONS 1994*

 New dwellings  
Main urban areaNumberResidential valueNon-residential valueTotal buildings value

* Year ended 31 March.

Includes alterations and additions.

   $(million) 
Whangarei15915.718.739.2
Auckland (main) urban area5,600707.5378.81,214.1
Northern Auckland zone1,683207.262.3309.0
Western Auckland zone74382.522.6121.5
Central Auckland zone1,824231.9196.7480.2
Southern Auckland zone1,350186.097.2303.4
Hamilton54267.268.5149.7
Tauranga95192.934.0140.0
Rotorua17315.030.449.5
   $(million) 
Gisborne13412.87.623.3
Napier32136.318.862.0
Hastings23122.015.444.0
New Plymouth27929.519.256.1
Wanganui11613.212.230.4
Palmerston North34537.929.876.1
Wellington (main) urban area900104.1219.6368.0
Upper Hutt Valley zone828.817.129.2
Lower Hutt Valley zone17422.717.450.1
Porirua Basin zone12519.15.027.6
Wellington City zone51953.5180.2261.1
Nelson58458.822.287.2
Christchurch2,057228.5150.7414.6
Timaru719.06.918.5
Dunedin35839.833.087.0
Invercargill11613.317.034.8
     Total, 17 main urban areas12,9371,503.51,082.82,894.5

NEW DWELLINGSNumber of building permits issued

Table 22.9. TYPES OF BUILDING AUTHORISATIONS 1994* †

 Type of applicant
Type of buildingProducer enterprisesFinancial intermediariesGeneral governmentPrivate non-profit organisationsHouseholds and foreignTotal

* Year ended 31 March.

Includes alterations and additions.

   $(000)   
Residential1,664-1,9608672,675,1712,679,662
Hostels and boarding houses1,010-27,3002,688-30,998
Hotels, motels, etc.36,752-530660-37,942
Hospitals and nursing homes44,7182,89214,37118,690-80,671
Education buildings2,305-174,64513,510-190,460
Social, cultural, religious and recreational129,745-26,85167,269-223,865
Shops, restaurants, taverns201,4363,2551,1151,701-207,507
Office and administrative117,69236,38234,7287,614-196,416
Warehouses59,358-1,376392-61,126
Factories and industrial241,955208,4602,252-252,687
Farm buildings89,550-384121-90,055
Miscellaneous and multi-purpose72,4071005,493360-78,360
     All buildings998,59242,649297,213116,1242,675,1714,129,745

The high proportion of the total value of building authorisations represented by dwellings 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 dwellings during 1993–94 includes 19,361 permits or authorisations to a total value of $2,172.3 million for new dwellings. This includes authorisations for 33 new government dwellings (value $3.0 million).

Some categories of buildings used in those and other building consent tables require additional explanation. ‘Hostels and boarding houses’, for example, includes barracks, orphanages, nurses’ homes, and boarding school accommodation; ‘hotels and motels’ includes private and licensed hotels, but excludes taverns; ‘education buildings’ includes primary and secondary schools, teachers colleges, technical institutes, university buildings, kindergartens, and play centres; and the broad category of ‘social, cultural and recreational buildings’ includes churches, halls, theatres, cinemas, clubrooms, community centres, and grandstands.

Renovating the old telephone exchange for the Auckland City Art Gallery.

SIZE OF NEW DWELLINGSAverage floor area

HOUSING COSTSAverage building cost per square metre

Otago Polytechnic students adding the finishing touches to a two-bedroomed house, which took three weeks and 19 students to build.

Table 22.1. BUILDING AUTHORITIES

 New dwellings  
Year ended 31 MarchUnitsValueFloor areaResidential buildings (including outbuildings)*All buildings*

* Includes additions and alterations.

 no$(million)sq m (000)$(million)
199022,8512,057.13,029.82,553.63,885.3
199120,8201,997.12,827.02,428.63,537.9
199217,6531,704.12,465.62,117.92,943.8
199317,9051,851.32,746.72,284.83,373.3
199419,3612,172.13,101.72,679.74,129.7

Table 22.11. WORK PUT IN PLACE

 Dwellings
 New dwellings  
Year ended 31 MarchGovernmentOtherAlterations additions and buildingsSubtotal
  $(million)  
199062.41,851.6531.42,445.4
199188.32,000.4487.82,576.5
199257.91,650.5462.42,170.8
199323.61,808.1486.02,317.1
19941.42,229.2561.02,791.7
 Non-residential buildings (including alterations and additions) 
Year ended 31 MarchHotels, boarding houses and nursing homesHospitals and industrial buildingsFactoriesCommercial buildings*Education buildingsMiscellaneous† and multi-purpose‡SubtotalTotal

* Includes shops, restaurants, taverns, offices, administrative buildings and warehouses.

Includes social, cultural, recreational and farm buildings.

Includes shop/offices, office/warehouses, and shop/office/warehouses.

    $(million)   
1990195.6115.2302.61,208.4109.5266.22,197.34,642.8
1991127.095.3354.3965.197.7214.81,854.24,430.7
199232.391.2171.8565.4128.3214.31,203.43,374.2
199339.6115.1167.0480.3106.8244.11,152.93,470.6
199476.3113.2288.9600.2189.8330.51,598.84,390.5

Building and construction price indexes.

Price indexes for buildings and construction are contained within the Capital Goods Price Index. Two series for residential buildings, four non-residential buildings, four other construction and four land improvement price indexes have been produced from the December 1989 quarter.

For the year ended in the June 1994 quarter the index recorded increases of 7.1 percent for residential buildings, 3.2 percent for non-residential buildings, 2.8 percent for other construction, and 2.0 percent for land improvements.

Industry statistics.

Statistics New Zealand's periodic Census of Building and Construction has provided broad economic data on the industry. The most recent census formed part of the 1987 Economy Wide Census. The results from the census are updated annually by the Annual Enterprise Survey. Both the censuses and the Enterprise Survey cover the activities of all businesses classed in Major Division 5 of the New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification. A summary of results is given below.

Table 22.12. BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION: STATISTICAL SUMMARY

Statistical item1989–901990–91R1991–92P
  $(million) 
Stocks   
    Closing602.5547.7632.0
    Opening572.4579.6726.3
   Income—
    Sales of goods and services8,630.68,341.447,119.7
    Interest, etc. received52.059.158.5
    All other income265.1349.9193.6
Total sales and other income8,947.78,750.947,371.8
    Adjusted for change in stock values8,977.78,745.467,277.5
Operating expenditure—   
    Salaries and wages1,434.01,427.61,278.1
    Depreciation175.9178.3184.3
    Interest, bad debts, etc.172.5147.3160.8
    Indirect taxes34.432.639.5
    Purchases3,742.13,812.33,088.9
    All other operating expenditure2,403.62,295.71,771.8
Total operating expenditure7,962.57,893.66,523.8
Working proprietors/partners salaries and wages426.3376.8379.2
Net profit before tax, after deducting working proprietors/partners salaries and wages588.9475.3374.9
Fixed tangible assets—   
    Purchases during the year302.8371.2285.7
    Sales during the year122.489.2123.9
Balance sheet—   
    Shareholders funds, etc.1,375.41,856.81,693.0
    All other liabilities2,862.53,039.82,799.7
    Total capital and liabilities4,237.94,896.64,490.5
Fixed tangible assets1,237.51,608.61,476.2
All other assets3,000.33,288.03,014.3
Total assets4,237.94,896.64,490.5
Ratios percent 
    Net profit per total sales and other income6.65.45.1
    Total salaries and wages per total sales and other income16.016.317.3
    Shareholders funds per total capital and liabilities32.537.937.7
    Fixed assets per total assets29.232.932.9

Contributors

22.1Housing New Zealand; Ministry of Housing; Valuation New Zealand; Statistics New Zealand.
22.2Statistics New Zealand; Reserve Bank of New Zealand; Ministry of Maori Development (Te Puni Kokiri).
22.3Statistics New Zealand.

Special articles

Further information

Housing
  • Annual Report of the Building Industry Authority.

  • Annual Report of the Building Research Association of New Zealand.

  • Annual Report of Housing New Zealand Limited.

  • Annual Report of the Ministry of Housing.

  • Half-yearly Report of Housing New Zealand Limited.

  • Report of the Valuation Department (Parl paper G26).

  • Residential Sales Summary. Valuation New Zealand (quarterly).

  • Statement of Corporate Intent. Housing New Zealand Limited.

  • Urban Property Sales Statistics. Valuation New Zealand (six-monthly).

Building and construction industry

  • Building and Construction and Transport, Storage and Communication 1987. Statistics New Zealand (Economy Wide Census).

  • Building Statistics. Statistics New Zealand (annual).

  • Enterprise Survey. Statistics New Zealand (annual).

Delivering one of 200 loads of concrete to the top of Coronet Peak for construction of the new chairlift.

Chapter 23. Transport

Wellington trolley buses.

The evolution of New Zealand's transport system has been 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 2,000 kilometres.

International air and telecommunication links have helped overcome the country's isolation, but there is still a heavy reliance on sea transport for overseas trade.

Comprehensive railway and road networks have been established over difficult terrain, frequently through innovative engineering, and, taking into account the size of the population, the capital cost has been high.

In recent years the trend of deregulation has brought major changes in the transport and telecommunications sectors. Previously both these sectors were characterised by the various protections afforded to them by being wholly government-owned, and protected by legislation. The costs associated with ownership of industries in these sectors, changes in the marketplace and developments in technology required a new approach to enable them to function more efficiently and to respond to the new challenges.

With this in mind, government has progressively reduced, and in some cases relinquished, state-ownership in different areas, and each area of transport and communications has faced restructuring in some form. This has involved major reviews of, and changes to, legislation to put these industries on a more commercial footing.

Restructuring of New Zealand Railways has centred on the need to improve the efficiency of the organisation. In 1986 the then Railways Corporation became a state-owned enterprise, responsible for managing its resources on commercial lines and rationalising its operations. In 1994 NZ Rail was sold to the public sector.

The road transport industry has also undergone major changes and was largely deregulated by the end of 1989, with the quantitative system of road licensing replacing the qualitative system. As well, a new Crown agency, Transit New Zealand, was established to take over the functions of the former National Roads Board and the Urban Transport Council. The Land Transport Safety Authority, responsible for road and rail safety, was established in 1993, from the former land transport division of the Ministry of Transport.

Civil aviation in New Zealand has undergone tremendous changes in the last decade. In 1983 domestic air services were effectively deregulated by liberalising the licensing regime. Competition was further stimulated by revocation of overseas investment limitations in 1986 and in 1990 qualitative licensing was removed leaving safety certification as the only criterion for market entry.

The Government announced a new liberalised external aviation policy in 1985 which has resulted in an expansion in international air services, 21 international airlines operate to New Zealand. The foreign investment changes in 1986 led to Ansett New Zealand commencing domestic operations in direct competition with Air New Zealand in 1987. Air New Zealand was privatised in 1989. At about the same time the air transport division of the Ministry of Transport, in accordance with overall government ‘user-pays’ policy, began recovering the costs of its operations from aviation operators.

Airports, previously run by local and central government, were encouraged to form companies. Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington international airports have been corporatised as several regional airports have. Other changes have occurred within the aviation infrastructure, such as the creation of the state-owned enterprise, the Airways Corporation of New Zealand Limited, the stand-alone Civil Aviation Authority, and the independent agency, the Transport Accident Investigation Commission.

In 1992 negotiations began with Australia to form a single aviation market, which will eventually enable Australasian airlines to operate freely within, between and beyond the two countries.

Comprehensive reforms of New Zealand's waterfront since 1988 have resulted in cost savings and efficiency improvements. Passage of new marine pollution legislation took a high priority during 1993. The Government's move within new shipping law to allow foreign operators to enter New Zealand's coastal shipping trade aroused considerable debate. Some non-Australasian-crewed ships began to enter trans-Tasman trade, although not in such a quantity of service that has caused the withdrawal of Australian or New Zealand-crewed ships.

The Department of Statistics’ five-yearly Census of Transport, Storage and Communication has provided broad economic data on the industry. The most recent census formed part of the 1987 Economy Wide Census. The results are updated annually by the Annual Enterprise Survey. Both the census and the Enterprise Survey cover the activities of all businesses classified in Major Division 7 of the New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification.

Table 23.1. TRANSPORT, STORAGE AND COMMUNICATION: STATISTICAL SUMMARY

Statistical item1989–901990–91x1991-92P
  $(million) 
Stocks—   
    Closing211.5241.1214.6
    Opening219.9247.2265.0
Income—   
    Sales of goods and services9,617.811,179.411,780.6
    Interest etc received95.397.6161.9
    All other income1,086.4314.4215.8
     Total sales and other income10,799.411,591.412,158.3
    Adjusted for change in stock values10,791.111,585.512,107.9
Operating expenditure—   
    Salaries and wages2,476.92,687.42,557.6
    Depreciation948.31,034.91,094.5
    Interest, bad debts etc575.3583.1581.3
    Indirect taxes201.7208.3229.2
    Purchases992.34,336.94,496.1
    All other operating expenditure4,510.61,753.31,936.5
     Total operating expenditure9,705.310,603.910,890.5
Working proprietors/partners salaries and wages196.7164.5190.3
Net profit before tax, after deducting working proprietors/partners salaries and wages889.1817.11,027.2
Fixed tangible assets—   
    Purchases during the year1,970.32,521.72,330.8
    Sales during the year554.81,325.71,162.0
Balance sheet—   
    Shareholders’ funds etc5,894.75,990.16,493.4
    All other liabilities6,919.66,774.87,255.3
     Total capital and liabilities    12,814.312,764.913,748.7
Fixed tangible assets8,880.59,276.49,476.2
All other assets3,933.83,488.54,272.5
     Total assets12,814.312,764.913,748.7
  percent 
Ratios—   
    Net profit per total sales and other income8.27.08.4
    Total salaries and wages per total sales and other income22.923.221.0
    Shareholders’ funds per total capital and liabilities46.046.947.2
    Fixed assets per total assets69.372.768.9

23.1 Shipping

Over 90 percent of New Zealand exports and imports by value, and almost 99 percent by volume, are carried by sea. This clearly illustrates the importance to New Zealand of efficient and cost-competitive international shipping services. Another consideration is the country's distance from overseas markets. Coastal shipping also provides inter-island links and plays a key role in the distribution of petroleum products and cement.

New Zealand shipping policy has recognised that the country's interests are best served by being a ship-using, rather than a ship-operating nation. It seeks to ensure for New Zealand exporters and others unrestricted access to the carrier of their choice, and the benefits of healthy competition between carriers.

The Government continues to promote the opening of trans-Tasman shipping, to international competition and foreign-crewed ships carrying some cargo. The trade has been effectively reserved for Australian and New Zealand-crewed ships through a maritime union accord. Neither the Australian nor the New Zealand Government supports the accord and both are fully committed to open competition in all international trades, including the trans-Tasman trade.

The Maritime Transport Act 1994 has introduced new law covering ship safety, maritime liability and marine environmental protection. A joint industry-government Maritime Safety Authority was established in August 1993. The authority will be primarily funded from user charges and be responsible for maritime safety regulations and marine pollution functions.

Overseas lines

Conference lines handle much of New Zealand's overseas shipping. These are associations between shipping companies to provide joint service on the following established trade routes. Increased competition in New Zealand's intentional trades over recent years has seen increasing participation by independent carriers, some of whom operate round the world services that call at Auckland. An indication of New Zealand's established trades is set out below:

United Kingdom/Europe.

The New Zealand European Shipping Association plays a major role in servicing Mediterranean and Northern European ports. The P & O group (UK) have the largest trade share in the conference, with the balance held by a number of continental carriers. There is some competition from independent lines outside the conference.

Middle East/Indian subcontinent.

Direct container services are provided in a joint service by NYK Line (Japan), P & O and Blue Star Line (both United Kingdom). Some lines in the New Zealand-United Kingdom/Europe conference trade also offer direct services and a number of other carriers provide container trans-shipment services. Chartered conventional tonnage plays an important role in these areas, particularly for meat exports.

East Asia/South-East Asia.

The Australian and New Zealand Eastern Shipping Conference provides a direct container service between New Zealand, Japan and Korea. Independent services are provided by the China Ocean Shipping Company (People's Republic of China), Tasman Asia (New Zealand), Nedlloyd Lines (Netherlands), The Far Eastern Shipping Company (Soviet Union) and the New Zealand Orient Line (Singapore). The Middle East Container Service of NYK Line, P & O and Blue Star Line also serves Singapore and the Straits area.

North America.

The Australia/New Zealand Direct Line operates between Australia, New Zealand and the West Coast of the United States and provides for the through transport of cargo by road and rail throughout the United States and Canada. Columbus Line (Germany) and Blue Star Line (United Kingdom) ships service both east and west coasts. International Marine Transport Lines operates to the West Coast of North America, ABC Containerline (Belgium) operates to the east coast of the USA, and conventional refrigerated vessel operators from Denmark and Japan carry a significant portion of New Zealand's beef exports to the USA.

Trans-Tasman.

Australian and New Zealand carriers play a prominent role in the provision of trans-Tasman shipping services. The largest market share is held by Union Shipping New Zealand, which operates three ships in association with the Tasman Express Line and the Australian National Line which each run two ships. BHP Transport (Australia) operates two ships on the Tasman, while the Pacific Forum Line provides services to and from Brisbane as part of its South West Pacific trade. South Pacific Shipping (NZ) operates a number of smaller ships on the trade.

South Pacific.

The regionally-owned Pacific Forum Line operates four vessels linking New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Western Samoa. A service to Kiribati and Tuvalu was halted in early 1993 after substantial losses were incurred, despite Australian and New Zealand government subsidies for the service. Sofrana Unilines, Cook Islands National Line, W Islands Lines, Translink Pacific Shipping, NZ Pacific Container Line, and Blue Star Line also operate ships in New Zealand's South Pacific trade and Southern Ocean Container Line and Blue Star Line provide services as part of their North America trades. These operators cumulatively provide New Zealand with services to the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati (transshipment), New Caledonia, Niue (on inducement), Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Tonga, Tuvalu (transshipment), Vanuatu, American and Western Samoa.

Inter-island ferry services

A ferry service across Cook Strait between Wellington and Picton is provided by rail ferries operated by New Zealand Rail's Interisland Line. The Arahura and Aratika carry passengers and vehicles. The Arahanga is confined to the carriage of freight and provides only limited accommodation for passengers. Pacifica Shipping Limited operates the freight-only roll-on/ roll-off vessels Spirit of Competition between Wellington and Lyttelton, and Spirit of Freedom between Lyttelton and Auckland. Strait Shipping runs the livestock carrier Straitsman across Cook Strait. Auckland-based Sea Tow operates three tugs on tramp services around the New Zealand coast, while Wellington-based Southern Tug and Barge have started a timber trade out of the Marlborough Sounds.

The Cook Islands National Line operates a service between Napier and the Chatham Islands as part of its South Pacific service to the Cook Islands and Niue.

In mid-1994 several groups announced plans to introduce high speed Cook Strait ferries capable of carrying up to 100 cars and 600 passengers in half the time of the rail ferries. The first began operating in December 1994.

Bulk shipping

Overseas trade.

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.

Bulk cement distribution is handled by three small cement carriers operated by Milburn New Zealand (2) and the Golden Bay Cement Company (1). Three product tankers operated by Union Shipping New Zealand distribute petroleum products from the Marsden Point oil refinery. Liquigas operates the LPG carrier Tarihiko under New Zealand Line management.

Services to shipping

Ports.

The 1988 port reform programme addressed the administration of ports and the manner in which labour is employed and used in stevedoring operations. Port companies established under the Port Companies Act 1988, operate New Zealand's 13 major commercial ports. These companies are predominantly local government-owned, although four are partly privatised and further private ownership is being encouraged by the Government.

Registration of ships.

As at 31 December 1993 there were 2,783 ships on the New Zealand Shipping Register, with a total gross tonnage of 288,661 tonnes and net register tonnage of 156,449 tonnes. This compared with 2,689 ships totalling 308,397 gross tonnes and with a net tonnage of 178,973 tonnes in December 1992. Under the provisions of the Ship Registration Act 1992, ships not exceeding 24 metres register length are not required to have tonnages registered.

New registrations during this period were the bulk cement carrier Golden Bay, the deep sea fishing vessels, Corvina, Westbay, Cedric Albert, Thomas Harrison, Southern Venture, Koryo, Baldur, Newfoundland Lynx and Atlantic Elizabeth and the diving tender Seaworker.

Vessels removed from the New Zealand Register during 1993 included the tanker Amokura, the fishing vessels San Rakino, Otago Buccaneer and Otago Galliard, the barge Sea-Tow 5 and the tug Herekino.

Table 23.2. REGISTERED VESSELS INVOLVED IN DOMESTIC AND OVERSEAS TRADE*

 Number of vesselsNet registered tonnageNumber of crew

* Ships in overseas trade mainly engaged in trans-Tasman and Pacific Islands trading movements.

The shipping register is not metricated and 1 net register ton equals 100 cubic feet (or 2.83 cubic metres) of cargo capacity.

Crew figures taken from annual manning list as at 1 July 1993.

Source: Martime Safety Authority.

Domestic   
19901351,444409
19911241,346348
19921452,702362
19931231,159313
Overseas   
1990862,043185
1991857,582141
1992849,297145
1993857,582147

Seafarer qualifications.

The Maritime Safety Authority is the licensing body for merchant navy personnel. Such seafarers, after qualifying sea service followed by further training and examination at approved teaching institutions, are issued with certificates of competency as master, mate, engineer or integrated rating. There are different classes of certificates of competency for foreign-going, coastal or restricted-limit ships. The foreign-going certificates as deck or engineer officer are also valid in some other (mostly Commonwealth) countries. Foreign-going certificates, and endorsements for service on special types of ships, meet in full the requirements of the relevant United Nations’ conventions.

The authority issues separate certificates of competency to skippers, mates, engineers and deckhands of deep-sea, coastal and inshore fishing boats. These also require sea service followed by training and examination at approved teaching institutions.

The Royal New Zealand Coastguard Federation looks after pleasure-boat mariners. The federation holds courses and conducts voluntary examinations for certificates of competency as boat master and yacht master.

Ship survey and safety.

The Shipping and Seamen Act 1952 is primarily concerned with the safety of ships and those who sail in them. It contains the necessary authority for implementing the provisions of several international conventions to which New Zealand is party. It also provides for the safety of all ships plying New Zealand coastal waters, and all New Zealand-registered ships on international voyages.

Surveys of ships, as required by the Act are carried out by surveyors recognised by the Minister of Transport. Special surveys are also made for seaworthiness after damage, for efficiency of equipment and for tonnage measurement. In the 12 months to 30 June 1993, 1,770 certificates of survey were issued.

Auckland rail-yards and port.

Marine safety services.

There are 153 navigational aids controlled by the Maritime Safety Authority on headlands, capes, reefs and shoals around 7,000 kilometres of coastline. At September 1994, these aids consisted of 97 automatic lights, 48 day beacons, 6 navigational buoys and 2 radio beacons. There are now no staffed lighthouses in New Zealand.

During 1994 the Maritime Safety Authority upgraded its distress and safety radio services to mariners. A new coast radio station was commissioned providing safety information via High Frequency (HF) and Very High Frequency (VHF) transmissions, and INMARSAT ‘C’ satellites for Safetynet services. The station will eventually be fitted with advanced technologies, such as narrow band direct printing and digital selective calling, in order to become a station which is fully integrated into the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS).

The Maritime Safety Authority's navigational aids and distress and safety radio service are funded by a marine safety charge collected from overseas and coastal ships and fishing boats and by a government payment to the authority on behalf of pleasure-boat users.

Wrecks.

The Maritime Safety Authority investigates the cause and circumstances of any wreck or shipping casualty in order to minimise the likelihood of similar events. In cases of loss of life or serious damage, the chief investigator of accidents, or appointee, carries out a preliminary inquiry. The report 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 can cancel or suspend the certificate of any officer found to be at fault.

Receivers of Wreck, officers of the authority appointed by the Ministry of Transport, have extensive powers for preserving life and protecting property. Contrary to popular belief, a wreck or any article belonging to it remains the property of the owner and it is illegal for others to take any items of wreckage.

Table 23.3. SHIPPING CASUALTIES, 1993*

Ship typeMachinery breakdown and miscellaneousCapsizing and collisionStranding and groundingFounderingFireTotal

* Year ended 31 December.

Source: Maritime Safety Authority.

Passenger322--7
Cargo72--211
Fishing661217445
Dredges, tugs, etc.211--4
Pleasure6310-221
     Total24142517888

Fishing boat casualties during 1993 resulted in the loss of 20 vessels and 10 lives.

Marine pollution.

The Marine Pollution Act 1974 gives effect to a number of international conventions relating to marine pollution, in particular the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by Oil 1954, as amended in 1962 and 1969, and the convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, 1972. The new marine environmental protection measures to be implemented under the Maritime Transport Act 1993 and associated amendments to the Resource Management Act 1991 will enable New Zealand to accede to MARPOL 73/78 (International Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution From Ships 1973, as modified by its 1978 Protocol). This convention supersedes the 1954 convention, providing comprehensive measures for regulating the discharge of oil, other pollutants such as chemicals, garbage from ships and sewage.

The new legislation will also link the convention based controls of discharge and dumping into the controls that are provided by the Resource Management Act 1991. Further changes expected from the new legislation will reinforce present arrangements for marine oil spill contingency planning and the provision and stockpiling of equipment and dispersants to deal with marine oil spills in New Zealand waters.

23.2 Civil aviation

Control of civil aviation

New Zealand is one of the world's most aviation-driven nations, with one of the highest percentages of aircraft fleet per head of population. New Zealand has a civil aircraft register of about 3,075 aircraft—an increase of 100 in the past year. The increase is due in part to the growing tourism industry. There are about 10,000 licensed pilots, engineers and air traffic controllers, and more than 400 organisations engaged in the aviation business ranging from the international airline through to sports aviation bodies. More than 3 million passengers were carried domestically last year.

Overall responsibility for civil aviation lies with the Minister of Transport. Since 1992, the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand (CAA) has operated as a Crown-owned entity separate from the Ministry of Transport, but reporting directly to the minister. The CAA operates under an appointed board with the chief executive responsible for promoting civil aviation safety and security at reasonable cost. This includes developing and providing civil aviation policy and advice, safety and security standards for aircraft operations, airports and aviation service industries, and monitoring their adherence. The CAA performs exit and entry control over participants in aviation, investigates and analyses incidents and some accidents in order to amend standards and regulations and respond to changes in the working environment and technology.

The advent of the authority ushered in a new philosophy which places responsibility for safe operations on the operator instead of the regulator. The authority, as regulator, monitors participant compliance through an audit system. The CAA is funded 25 percent from the Crown for policy advice and other services. The remainder of the $12 million budget is drawn from industry by direct and indirect cost recovery.

A complete rewrite of the rules is being undertaken in consultative partnership with the aviation community and is due for completion in 1996.

The Airways Corporation of New Zealand Limited.

The movement of air traffic in New Zealand airspace is managed by the Airways Corporation of New Zealand Limited. The Airways Corporation provides air traffic services to civil and military air traffic and is responsible for the planning, provision and maintenance of radars, navigational aids and communications. Established in 1987 as a State-owned enterprise, Airways aims to ensure the safe, orderly and expeditious flow of air traffic within New Zealand airspace, which extends over the land mass and the seas and oceans surrounding it. Airways also provides services over 34 million square kilometres of the Pacific region, a responsibility assigned to New Zealand by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). Airways was the first fully commercial national air traffic control organisation in the world.

Aircraft operators and pilots pay Airways for the services they use. These include radar control, landing charges and aeronautical charts and publications. Information imperative to safety in the skies, such as weather forecasts, are also provided. Airways has contracts with airport operators in New Zealand and overseas for the installation and maintenance of technical facilities including runway lighting and navigation aids.

To provide its wide range of services, Airways uses primary and secondary surveillance radars, computerised flight data and radar data processing systems, some 111 navigational aids, air-to-ground radio telephony and an extensive ground-to-ground telecommunications network linking Air Traffic Control (ATC) units both at home and abroad. Apart from its day-to-day operational responsibilities, Airways is engaged in planning the development of the ATC infrastructure to meet the future demands of civil and military air traffic. It also assists in discharging the operational and technical commitments arising from New Zealand's membership of ICAO. All military ATC and radar surveillance is supplied on contract to the Air Force by the corporation.

In order to capitalise on new developments and ever-changing technology, Airways is committed to an investment programme more radical and far-reaching than anything seen before in New Zealand air traffic control. In its first seven years of existence the corporation completed a modernisation of New Zealand's entire air traffic control system, and the replacement and upgrade of the nation's network of navigation aids. Together, these projects have positioned the corporation, and with it the aviation industry, to take full advantage of the next generation of air traffic control technology—satellites.

Airways Corporation is responsible for ensuring the safe and orderly flow of air traffic. It provides extensive ground services including air traffic control and flight information, navigation services, alerting services and telecommunications. The corporation also assists search and rescue and aerodrome emergency organisations. Elements of emergency organisations are provided at most aerodromes.

Airways Corporation provides all air navigation facilities in New Zealand. These navigation facilities include electronic aids such as non-directional medium frequency beacons (NDB), doppler very-high-frequency omni-directional radio ranges (DVOR), instrument landing systems (ILS), primary surveillance radar equipment (PSR), secondary surveillance radar (SSR), 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 NOTAM (Notices to Airmen) and other aeronautical publications. It works closely with the Department of Land and Survey Information in the production of aeronautical maps and charts.

The corporation also maintains an international aviation training centre in Christchurch. Regular courses are conducted in air traffic services and telecommunications.

Domestic air services

The deregulation of domestic aviation commenced in 1983 and was completed in 1990 with the abolition of air service licensing. Air New Zealand and Ansett New Zealand are the major domestic operators. Air New Zealand offers services to the major centres and Air New Zealand Link, the trading combination of Air Nelson, Eagle Airways, and Mount Cook Airlines, provide services to provincial towns, many of which were previously serviced by Air New Zealand's F27 Friendships which were withdrawn from service in 1990.

Although New Zealand has allowed 100 percent foreign ownership of domestic airlines, such as Ansett New Zealand, under the agreement reached with Australia on the single market, New Zealand airlines will not be able to commence operating domestically within Australia until 1994. The advent of a single aviation market will, in due course, see Australasian airlines operating across the Tasman as a domestic sector. This will have a major impact on boarder control procedures and air services in general.

Table 23.4. SUMMARY OF DOMESTIC SCHEDULED AIR SERVICES

December yearSeat kilometres availablePassengers carriedPassengers-kilometresFreight carried (tonnes)Freight (tonne-kilometres)Mail (tonne-kilometres)
Source: Ministry of Transport.
 (000)(000)(000)(000)  
19862,413,6123,4441,652,43365.133,5771,199
19872,540,1933,7851,728,45658.431,461877
19883,165,8134,1741,899,78539.426,4051,292
19893,087,7794,4671,908,43843.027,9881,721
19903,599,2364,5022,101,88247.728,4551,562

International air services

International air services are operated in accordance with formal agreements relating to air transport, usually negotiated between governments. New Zealand is signatory to 25 such agreements and has negotiated another which is awaiting signature. These agreements, and associated documents, outline the routes by which airlines can operate to/from New Zealand and, in most cases, the capacity that can be used on those routes. New Zealand's External Aviation Policy is to maximise the overall economic benefit for New Zealand, taking into account the country's trade, tourism, aviation, consumer, foreign policy and strategic considerations. The policy states that this objective will best be achieved by encouraging the liberalisation of air services to and from New Zealand including moves to minimise restrictions on competition. Twelve international airlines have commenced services to New Zealand since the policy was introduced in 1985.

Table 23.5. SUMMARY OF INTERNATIONAL SCHEDULED SERVICES BY AIRPORT

 December years1987198819891990

Note: This table excludes all transiting traffic.

Source: Ministry of Transport.

Traffic through Auckland Airport     
PassengersIn1,110,0001,240,8371,183,4381,113,276
 Out1,109,3391,248,1171,195,6981,125,679
 Total2,219,3392,488,9542,379,1362,238,955
Freight (tonnes)In43,84948,77955,18350,236
 Out47,65951,08157,49652,772
 Total91,50999,860112,680103,008
Mail (tonnes)In2,4932,6382,6292,413
 Out1,1681,1241,3891,768
 Total3,6623,7634,0184,181
Traffic through Christchurch Airport     
PassengersIn238,392243,549235,078241,035
 Out235,583252,862241,158240,275
 Total473,975496,411476,236481,310
Freight (tonnes)In7,2827,5807,0056,824
 Out8,7668,98211,82510,302
 Total16,04916,56218,83017,127
Mail (tonnes)In366341282279
 Out85128194192
 Total451468476471
Traffic through Wellington Airport     
PassengersIn112,989124,586114,823107,658
 Out112,708126,207116,299107,321
 Total225,697250,793231,122214,979
Freight (tonnes)In5,3294,8554,9883,965
 Out3,0693,1883,7303,474
 Total8,3988,0428,7197,439
Mail (tonnes)In200185199181
 Out7486124118
 Total273270323298

Table 23.6. INTERNATIONAL AIR SERVICES: VOLUMES

 Year ended
 1987198819891990

Note: This table excludes all transiting traffic.

Source: Ministry of Transport.

Trans-Tasman Flight Stage    
      Passengers1,910,2122,132,6911,919,7411,807,364
      Freight and mail (tonnes)76,19182,31692,45284,190
      Kilometres flown (000)26,18230,25631,50634,593
North American Flight Stage    
      Passengers421,167430,234465,135426,241
      Freight and mail (tonnes)19,22917,33919,35117,350
      Kilometres flown (000)15,39816,42418,28717,616
South American Flight Stage    
      Passengers21,72324,2829,9688,256
      Freight and mail (tonnes)19121413081
      Kilometres flown (000)1,1141,0621,3331,250
Asian Right Stage    
      Passengers238,739329,274426,590470,927
      Freight and mail (tonnes)11,48513,93918,73319,780
      Kilometres flown (000)7,82312,73917,52121,453
Pacific Island Flight Stage    
      Passengers 444,202433,965419,044
      Freight and mail (tonnes)15,05719,34420,03517,778
      Kilometres flown (000)8,4048,6629,2478,160

There are currently 21 international airlines operating out of New Zealand, providing links to the Pacific, Asia, the Americas and Europe. It is only in the past five years that 10 of these carriers have begun services to New Zealand.

AIR TRAVELPassengers carried on scheduled international and domestic flights

Year ended 31 March until 1971, thereafter 31 December

Table 23.7. AIRLINE OPERATIONS—DATE OF COMMENCEMENT AND ROUTES OPERATED

DateAirlineRoutes now operated

* Qantas, Canadian Airlines International, Japan Airlines and Mandarin Airlines operate code-shared services in conjunction with Air New Zealand. Canadian Airlines first commenced operating to New Zealand in 1949 but later discontinued its service. In 1985 scheduled services resumed and in 1990 the carrier began code-sharing services with Air New Zealand.

UTA merged with Air France on 31 December 1992 and the new airline retained the Air France name.

Continental Airlines terminated its services to New Zealand at the end of October 1993.

§Cathay Pacific operated between New Zealand—Papua New Guinea and Hong Kong between May 1983 and May 1984.

1 Apr 1961Qantas*Sydney/Melbourne/Brisbane/Perth/Adelaide/Hobart/Cairns–Auckland/Christchurch/Wellington Sydney–Auckland–Los Angeles
4 Apr 1963British AirwaysLondon–Bangkok–Melbourne–Auckland London–Singapore–Perth–Auckland
1 Oct 1974Air PacificSuva/Nadi–Auckland
1 May 1976Singapore AirlinesSingapore–Auckland/Christchurch Singapore–Sydney/Auckland (freight)
25 Feb 1978Polynesian AirlinesApia-Tonga-Auckland, Apia–Tonga–Auckland–Sydney, Apia–Wellington–Melbourne
1 Dec 1979Air NauruNauru–Auckland
1 Jul 1980Japan Airlines*Tokyo–Auckland Tokyo–Christchurch–Auckland Nagoya–Auckland
1 Nov 1985Canadian Airlines International*Toronto/Vancouver–Honolulu–Auckland Toronto/Vancouver–Honolulu–Nadi–Auckland
3 Dec 1985Cathay Pacific§Hong Kong–Auckland
20 Dec 1985Aerolineas ArgentinasBuenos Aires–Auckland–Sydney
11 Feb 1986United AirlinesLos Angeles–Auckland–Melbourne
8 Nov 1987Air CaledonieNoumea–Auckland, Noumea–Auckland–Papeete
5 Nov 1987Thai AirwaysBangkok–Sydney–Auckland
4 Nov 1988Garuda IndonesiaJakarta–Denpasar–Auckland
1 Nov 1989Air VanuatuPort Vila–Auckland
5 Dec 1989Malaysia AirlinesKuala Lumpur–Brisbane–Auckland
13 Jun 1990Solomon AirlinesHoniara–Port Vila–Auckland Honiara–Port Vila–Nadi–Auckland
1 Jul 1991Royal Tongan AirlinesTonga–Auckland
7 Nov 1992Mandarin Airlines*Taipei–Auckland
3 Nov 1993Korean AirSeoul–Auckland
7 Nov 1993EVA AirTaipei–Auckland
24 Dec 1994Premier AirlinesSydney–Auckland, Melbourne–Auckland

Air New Zealand offers services to seven gateways in Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart and Cairns) and also to Norfolk Island. In the Pacific, Air New Zealand operates to the Cook Islands, Western Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Tahiti and New Caledonia. Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Japan (Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya), Hong Kong and Taiwan are served in Asia and the United Kingdom and Germany in Europe. In North America services are available to both the United States (Honolulu and Los Angeles) and Canada (Vancouver and Toronto).

The Tasman route is the busiest air route into New Zealand in both the volume of passengers carried and the number of airlines operating. Seven passenger and two cargo airlines offer services between Australia and New Zealand and for the year ended March 1994 carried a total of 351,469 Australians who travelled across the Tasman, and a total of 416,724 New Zealand residents departed the country, indicating that Australia was the destination in which they expected to spend the greatest time. For the same period 1,213,318 foreigners visited New Zealand. The greatest number of visitors to New Zealand are Australians, followed by the Americans and Japanese.

In order for an airline to operate scheduled services to or from New Zealand, the company must hold a valid air services certificate and an international air service licence. The certificate relates to the technical and safety procedures of the airline, ensuring that all necessary safety standards have been met, and is issued by the Director of Civil Aviation, and the licence, issued by the Minister of Transport, ensures that the services operated are in accordance with the bilateral arrangements.

Code-shared services.

Code-shared services utilise only one airline's aircraft but carry more than one airline's designator. Air New Zealand code-shares with Canadian Airlines, Qantas Airways, EVA Air, Mandarin Airlines and Japan Airlines.

Table 23.8. SUMMARY OF SCHEDULED INTERNATIONAL AIR SERVICES

December yearPassengers carriedFreight carriedMail carried
Source: Ministry of Transport.
 (000)tonnestonnes
19862,45796,8704,153
19873,001117,7694,385
19883,361128,6334,549
19893,263146,1234,936
19903,129134,0745,082

Distances to overseas destinations.

Distances to the Australian cities from the airports at Wellington and Christchurch differ slightly from the Auckland figures given in the following table. The distances are: Wellington-Sydney, 2,235 km; Wellington-Melbourne, 2,589 km; and Wellington-Brisbane, 2,508 km; Christchurch-Sydney, 2,124 km; Christchurch-Melbourne, 2,413 km; Christchurch-Brisbane, 2495 km; and Christchurch-Hobart, 2,024 km.

Table 23.9. DISTANCES FROM AUCKLAND AIRPORT TO SELECTED OVERSEAS DESTINATIONS*

DestinationDistance

* These are airport-to-airport great circle distances.

Source: Ministry of Transport.

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

Airports.

All three international airports are operated by airport companies. The three companies have a mixture of central government and local government ownership. Auckland International Airport Limited, the largest airport company, is majority-owned by central government, as is Wellington International Airport Limited, the smallest. Christchurch International Airport Limited is majority-owned by the Christchurch City Council. Corporatisation has resulted in many changes at the airports, but the airport companies longest established are experiencing increasing profitability as the greater commercial focus made possible by corporatisation brings benefits.

In addition to the international airports, there are now six additional airport companies operating provincial airports ranging in size from Dunedin Airport Limited to the smallest airport company, Chatham Islands Airport Limited. Both the tourist centres of Queenstown and Rotorua now have airports operated by airport companies, resulting in improved levels of service to tourists visiting those locations. The recent moves by the governments of Australia and New Zealand to form a single aviation market brings new challenges to New Zealand's major airports and corporatisation gives the airports the flexibility to make the most from the upcoming changes.

Aerial work

Aerial topdressing is a means of improving hill pastures and checking and preventing soil erosion. During recent years the extent of both aerial topdressing and spraying has varied according to demand by farmers, largely as a result of varying farm incomes.

Table 23.1. SUMMARY OF AERIAL WORK

December years19861987198819891990

* Includes pellets, prills and dusts.

Source: Ministry of Transport.

Solids     
     Number of flights321,077502,262390,655493,785522,728
     Hours flown22,88633,60527,85337,12036,829
     Tonnes dropped:     
     Fertiliser257,350393,284311,241422,978396,796
     Lime47,43956,32237,48545,57253,068
       Seed2,0793,228882605713
       Poison baits3,3853,3843,9115,03711,192
       Other*9071,945611771469
     Total311,160458,162354,130474,963462,237
       Hectares treated1,541,5442,391,9312,260,3122,588,4602,926,835
Liquids     
       Number of flights71,61977,36557,32266,53760,403
      Hours flown11,02811,41410,21211,46611,843
Litres dropped:     
       Fertiliser1,270,1191,737,2441,777,9593,521,0363,927,141
      Insecticides895,604858,989861,6211,118,0911,133,335
       Fungicides4,868,7064,370,9294,177,3004,478,3713,081,663
       Weedkillers21,942,85218,792,26416,303,99317,071,50917,219,098
       Other125,416145,635224,493241,464505,376
     Total29,102,69725,905,06123,345,36526,430,47125,866,613
       Hectares treated528,539690,471712,293892,592976,596
Supply dropping     
       Number of flights32,81110,23810,5744,4322,885
       Hours flown3,9422,8751,956898797
       Tonnes distributed10,6024,4964,2141,8171,060
Fencing materials     
       Number of flights12,9633,0962,8201,8102,539
       Hours flown797489405213224
       Tonnes distributed2,1699581,085650814
Venison recovery     
       Number of flights3,4591,4723,587750652
       Hours flown3,0781,9361,553845808
       Tonnes distributed2,0141761,317240271
Photography and survey     
       Number of flights6,64210,0206,7073,5243,785
       Hours flown6,9206,4776,5645,0638,654
All other work     
     Number of flights33,01828,65532,90334,81632,268
     Hours flown10,4449,55711,9269,5409,012
Total, all aerial work     
Number of flights481,589633,108504,568605,654625,260
     Hours flown59,09666,35360,46965,14568,167
Total, non-productive hours9,5149,14011,7828,6748,578

23.3 Railways

New Zealand Rail has been through a period of transition from a government-owned and operated organisation to a commercial responsible, privately-owned business. For more than a century, railways in New Zealand were run as a government department until, in 1982, New Zealand Railways Corporation was established as a statutory corporation with a commercial mandate. In 1986 it became a state-owned enterprise, and in October 1990 the Government established New Zealand Rail Limited as a limited liability company. During these years New Zealand Rail's staff numbers were reduced from more than 21,000 to around 5,000, productivity improved by nearly 300 percent in the land-based workforce, and the organisation was transformed into a profitable business, a trend which has continued to the present day.

On 20 July 1993 the Government announced the sale of New Zealand Rail to a consortium comprising Wisconsin Central Transportation Corporation and Berkshire Partners (with a 60 percent holding) and Fay, Richwhite & Company Limited (40 percent). The sale was completed on 30 September 1993.

In the year to 30 June 1994, the company's first year of private ownership, New Zealand Rail increased its operating profit to $78.6 compared with $44.2 million during the previous year and the net profit rose to $38.9 million compared with the previous year's $16.9 million return.

Today New Zealand Rail plays a key role in New Zealand's increasingly competitive transport market. It operates a national rail network, an inter-island ferry link and an extensive owner/driver truck network in addition to its traditional line-haul rail services.

Railfreight.

Railfreight provides freight transport by rail, road or sea; it has a road network of more than 120 owner-drivers. It also offers warehousing, distribution and freight management services. It is New Zealand Rail's largest revenue earner, generating 72 percent of the company's total business. In the 1993/94 financial year it carried 9.4 million tonnes of freight an average distance of 300 kilometres and achieved some 2.84 billion net tonne kilometres.

In 1994 new services were introduced, such as 24 South, a 24-hour freight link between Auckland and Christchurch which utilises the new around-the clock Interisland ferry services; the Bay Raider, launched in August 1994, is an inter-modal rail/road operation linking Auckland with Poverty Bay and Hawke's Bay using Rotorua as a freight hub; and a new coastal shipping service The Coastliner to move containerised freight between Auckland, Nelson and the West Coast of the South Island began in March 1994.

Railfreight is made up of five business units:

TRANSPORT PRICES WORLD-WIDE*
CountryTrain ticket per 5 kmBus ticket per 5 kmCab fare per 5 kmPetrol per litre

* Prices are in New Zealand dollars (rounded to the nearest cent), based on exchange rates quoted in the Reserve Bank Bulletin for June 1994. These figures are a guide as to what New Zealand dollars will buy; they are not adjusted for wage rates nor do they indicate relative standards of living.

100 gram size not available, calculated from 150 gram.

Source: Consumers’ Institute.

  NZ$ 
Australia1.963.067.840.81
Austria2.922.9212.381.46
Belgium2.502.0014.261.60
Canada12.361.679.020.72
Chile0.600.484.030.70
Denmark2.622.6214.431.43
Fiji    -0.512.850.98
Finland2.832.8312.571.37
Germany2.464.1012.321.64
Hong Kong0.270.485.851.08
Indonesia0.240.242.600.61
Ireland1.862.357.451.36
Netherlands3.062.0119.671.74
New Zealand2.432.029.060.94
Poland0.770.462.320.85
Portugal0.851.405.001.51
Singapore0.880.884.501.22
South Africa1.840.546.570.82
South Korea0.760.654.781.35
Spain1.431.125.841.31
Switzerland2.414.83-1.37
Taiwan0.920.780.530.98
Uruguay0.760.765.411.41
Zimbabwe3.430.152.790.66
  • Bulkflow moves bulk commodity products such as coal, steel and cement. The majority of coal is transported from the coal mines situated on the West Coast of New Zealand to the export port of Lyttelton and to BHP Glenbrook from where steel is transported to export ports and domestic markets.

  • Cargoflow transports mainly meat and dairy products in bulk containers and conventional loads.

  • Forestry manages the transportation of logs for domestic processing and export and other timber products, such as pulp and paper supplementing its transport services with storage and container packing options.

  • Freight Forwarding is an inter-modal service which operates a nationwide network of freight terminals, utilising the owner/driver network and fleet of RoadRailers, wagons that can travel by road or rail.

  • Distribution Services provides freight forwarding companies with linehaul and delivery services, manages container repair and storage depots and AutoExpress which moves motor vehicles in custom-built rail wagons.

Passenger Group.

Passenger Group operates eight long-distance rail passenger services, urban commuter rail services in Wellington and Auckland and passenger and commercial vehicle services on The Interislander ferry service across Cook Strait. It earned 28 percent of New Zealand Rail's revenue in the 1993/94 year.

Upgraded passenger services brought about a 15 percent increase in passenger numbers on long distance services in the 1993/94 year. Much of this success is based on the TranzAlpine service between Christchurch and Greymouth which is renowned as one of the great train journeys of the world with its spectacular scenery of the Southern Alps. In March 1994, the TranzAlpine carried its 500,000th passenger since it was relaunched in November 1987. Other South Island services include the Coastal Pacific between Picton and Christchurch and the Southerner between Christchurch and Invercargill.

The North Island long distance train services are the Overlander and Northerner which travel between Auckland and Wellington in the day-time and night-time respectively, the Kaimai Express between Auckland and Tauranga, the Geyserland between Auckland and Rotorua and the Bay Express between Wellington and Napier.

Commuter rail services

—Cityrail, a division of Passenger Group, operates urban commuter services in Wellington and Auckland, providing an estimated 10.1 million passenger trips in 1993/94. Wellington has traditionally been a strong rail commuter market with services linking the central city with Johnsonville, Paraparaumu, the Hutt Valley as well as the nearby regions of the Manawatu and Wairarapa.

In Auckland, urban passenger services were boosted by the introduction of diesel multiple units (DMUs) in 1993. Cityrail will expand its services by moving its terminus from the Auckland Railway Station to Britomart Place, in downtown Auckland, a move expected to be completed by early 1996.

The Interislander

—The Interisland Line provides a vital link between New Zealand's North and South Islands uniting the rail network into a national transport system. Three conventional roll on-roll off vessels comprise the Interisland Line fleet. Arahura and Aratika are multi-purpose roll on-roll off vessels carrying passengers, rail wagons and freight, whilst Arahanga caters mainly to the rail freight and commercial vehicle markets. New Zealand Rail introduced round-the-clock sailing across Cook Strait for both freight and passenger customers in October 1994.

On-board facilities for passengers include movie theatres, restaurants, food courts, bars, shops, study rooms and children's play areas.

Between 1 July 1993 and 30 June 1994, The Interislander's three vessels, Arahura, Aratika and Arahanga, made 3,968 sailings carrying 966,000 passengers, 181,000 cars and filling 26,000 commercial vehicle lane metres.

In July 1994, New Zealand Rail announced it was to operate a new high speed ferry, The Lynx, which was introduced in December 1994.

Operations.

Operations supports the Railfreight and Passenger groups by providing infrastructure and support services, including freight handling, train crewing, maintaining the rail network and rolling stock, managing the yards and designing new wagons and carriages. Operations Group has two heavy engineering workshops, Hillside in Dunedin and Hutt, which build and upgrade freight and passenger rolling stock as well as tendering for outside business. Daily servicing of the rolling stock is carried out at 20 depots throughout the country.

In 1994, operations began a major upgrading of the company's wagon fleet, to develop customer-specific designs and high-capacity wagons. The company is progressively rebuilding its fleet of DF and DX locomotives to improve power and fuel efficiency.

New Zealand Rail holds a lease from the Crown to occupy land for its railway operations.

Rolling stock and structures.

New Zealand Rail Limited operates a railway network extending over 3,973 kilometres. There are a number of short private railway sidings mainly serving collieries and other industrial undertakings.

To carry the railways across the many gorges, rivers, and streams in New Zealand, 2,330 bridges and viaducts have been built with a total length of 75.45 kilometres. The longest railway bridge is that over the Rakaia River, in Canterbury, spanning 1,743 metres. The highest viaduct is the Mohaka, standing 97 metres above the Mohaka River on the Napier-Gisborne Line. Twenty-one viaducts carry the rails more than 33 metres above the rivers and streams they cross.

The TranzAlpine en route between Christchurch and Greymouth.

There are 150 railway tunnels in New Zealand, the three longest tunnels are Kaimai (8.9 km) between Tauranga and Morrinsville, Rimutaka (8.8 km) between Upper Hutt and Featherston, and Otira (8.5 km), between Otira and Arthur's Pass. The Otira Tunnel has a gradient as steep as 1 in 33 and the line running through it is electrified.

New Zealand Rail's track and rolling stock includes 282 diesel and electric locomotives, 7,546 freight wagons, 269 passenger carriages and commuter units, three rail ferries, one high speed ferry and plant and support equipment.

Technology.

New Zealand Rail has invested in an electronic data interchange (EDI) system which creates an electronic link to customers, initially for the transfer of waybills and invoices, and later for wagon ordering, cargo tracking and payments. EDI allows fast, paperless transactions of information between the Company and its customers.

This will complement the state-of-the-art AMICUS computer system, which combines electronic waybilling with a wagon-tracking and weighing system. Further developments include an integrated freight management system to allow customers to track their freight movements along the network.

Environment and safety.

Rail can carry higher tonnages with greater fuel efficiency, ensuring less disturbance to road travellers. For example, one log train can carry as much as 65 truck and trailer units. The urban commuter services also remove traffic congestion from the city highways and reduce carbon emissions. New Zealand Rail recently joined the Energy-wise Companies campaign, promoted by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority which, in conjunction with the Government and energy supply authorities, aims to maximise industrial energy efficiency over the next five years.

‘Operation RailSafe’ a children's rail safety programme, was launched in early 1994. This programme teaches and shows children the dangers of playing near railway tracks or trains. During the programme's first eight months more than 20,000 children learnt to behave safely around trains and tracks.

New Zealand Rail is a major sponsor for rescue helicopters based in Palmerston North and Taupo.

Table 23.11. NEW ZEALAND RAIL—SUMMARY OF OPERATIONS

  As at 31 March
CategoryUnit19871989199019931994
Source: NZ Rail Limited.
Route—      
      North Islandkm2,5552,5552,5782,4812,481
      (electrified)km139510510510510
      South Islandkm1,7111,711149214921492
      (electrified)km1414141414
Bridgesno2,3032,3032,1882,3302,330
 km68.7168.7164.6375.4575.45
Tunnelsno165165153150150
 km91.5391.5389.698888
      Locomotives—      
      diesel/diesel-electricno416270259257252
      electricno528272727
      steamno22---
Rolling stock—      
      freightno18,30512,39610,0678,8598,072
passenger (incl. motorised)no171212256269269
      Passengers carried—      
long distanceno845,202....391,000450,000
      suburbanno14,203,287....10,000,00010,000,000
Total freight carriedtonnes9,003,5168,570,0008,295,0008,451,0009,444,000

23.4 Road transport

Capital investment in New Zealand's roading and road transport system exceeds that in all other forms of transport. There are about 92,300 kilometres of formed roads and streets, and over 2.3 million motor vehicles. The most recent employment statistics available on the transport industry, the Statistics New Zealand Annual Business Directory update of February 1994, recorded 8,173 persons engaged in the provision of road passenger transport, and 19,678 persons engaged in providing road freight transport.

Transport licensing

The Transport Services Licensing Act 1989 replaced the sections in the Transport Act 1962 relating to transport licensing as the main legislation governing road transport licensing. The Act provides for a system of road transport licensing which operates on a qualitative basis for goods, passenger, rental and vehicle recovery services. A quantitative licensing system for road transport operators was replaced with a qualitative system. (Qualitative licensing means that based on minimum standards of service rather than the number of vehicles to be licensed.) As of 1 November 1989 the concept of ‘a fit and proper person’ was adopted as the principal criteria for road transport operators.

The mosaic floor of the Dunedin Railway Station. The floor is created from 725,760 squares of Royal Doulton porcelain. It was assembled in 1906 and relaid in 1965.

ROADINGTotal length by type of road surface

Land transport

Under the Transit New Zealand Act 1989, Transit New Zealand has the responsibility for developing a national land transport programme.

Every regional council is required to establish a regional land transport committee for its area. Each year every territorial authority must submit to that committee, and make available to the public, a district land transport programme for the next year. This programme comprises the territorial authority's recommendations concerning the land transport needs of its district and must include local roading, safety (construction and maintenance), passenger transport, state highways, research, administration and safety (administration).

Each year the Transit New Zealand Authority is required to submit to the Minister of Transport for approval, a national land transport programme for the next year, which must include the authority's recommendations; proposed funding for those recommendations; and a statement of intent.

Transit New Zealand

Transit New Zealand took over the responsibilities of the National Roads Board and Urban Transport Council and became the new organisation to represent the interests of all New Zealanders in the planning and funding of the land transport system.

Transit New Zealand works in close partnership with local authorities and the Ministry of Transport to develop a land transport system that meets the needs of local communities and New Zealand as a whole (see above text).

Transit New Zealand is directed by a central authority, made up of between seven and 10 members, appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Ministers of Transport and Finance.

Transit New Zealand is responsible to the Minister of Transport for meeting its financial and management reporting requirements under the Transit New Zealand Act 1989.

The principal objective of Transit New Zealand is to promote policies and allocate resources to achieve a safe and efficient land transport system that maximises national economic and social benefits.

The functions of the Transit New Zealand Authority are to:

  • Prepare an annual national land transport programme and revise it where necessary.

  • Control all aspects of the state highway system and monitor and assist with local roading.

  • Advise and assist local authorities on all aspects of the Transit New Zealand Act 1989.

  • Make payments from the Land Transport Fund, and monitor the collection of revenue for the fund.

  • Advise the Government on all aspects of the land transport system.

Roading

There are 74 national and provincial state highways in New Zealand, comprising 10,438 kilometres of roading. This network includes major routes that carry the greatest volume of traffic between residential communities, commercial and industrial areas. In addition, there are 14,943 kilometres of urban roads and 66,925 kilometres of rural roads, making a total of 92,306 kilometres of developed roading, which includes 15,612 bridges.

Main North Road, Christchurch.

The operation and management of the strategic roading network is, in most cases, affected by the laws embodied in the Transit New Zealand Act 1989. As far as possible, these laws enable freedom of use of land, while ensuring that the roading network is able to provide for the safe and effective movement of people and goods.

Table 23.12. FORMED ROADS AND STREETS

 Local authority roading  
Nature of surfaceUrban areasRural areasState highways and motorwaysTotal
Source: Transit New Zealand.
  kilometres 
At 30 June 1993    
Paved or sealed14,487.329,811.810,277.854,576.9
Metal or gravel455.537,113.7159.837,729.0
     Total, maintained roads14,942.866,925.510,437.692,305.9
At 30 June 1994P    
Paved or sealed14,618.530,183.310,331.655,133.4
Metal or gravel421.436,717.3113.437,252.1
     Total, maintained roads15,039.966,900.610,445.092,385.5

Roading taxation is described in section 28.2, Taxation.

Table 23.13. EXPENDITURE ON STATE HIGHWAYS

Class of expenditure1991199219931994P

* Excludes motorway structures.

Maintenance figures include the cost of flood damage repairs when applicable.

Source: Transit New Zealand.

  $(000) 
Construction and improvement59,94868,21995,367110,639
Bridges and other structures *7,9316,4538,0612,861
Maintenance, repairs, etc.†228,888225,499205,547223,775
     Total296,767300,171308,975337,275

Table 23.14. PUBLIC ROADING EXPENDITURE

Item199119921993X1994P

* Previously known as the National Roads Fund.

Source: Transit New Zealand.

  $(000) 
State highways expenditure296,767300,171308,975337,275
Special purpose roads1,6932,1711,9902,638
Local authority roading expenditure—From Land Transport Fund*205,359226,312230,703244,080
     Total503,819528,654541,668583,993

Transporting wool bales, North Canterbury.

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. The country's more than 2.4 million vehicles are relicensed progressively throughout the year.

The annual relicensing charges are: ordinary motorcars, $197.47, subject to transport licence fee, $207.47; motorcycles, $71.44 (60cc or less) or $183.30; rental cars, $208.99; trucks, vans and utilities from $197.47 to $208.99; and tractors, $92.82. All figures include goods and services tax.

The various types of motor vehicles registered and licensed are itemised in the following tables.

MOTOR VEHICLES Number licensed

Year ended 31 March

Source: NZ Post.

REGISTRATION OF NEW MOTORCYCLES*: 1926–93
YearNumber

* Over 60cc.

Includes army cycles.

Source: NZ Post.

19265,637
19274,667
19284,619
19294,400
19303,611
19311,925
19321,074
1933837
1934856
19351,062
19361,675
19372,366
19381,676
19391,085
1940712
1941334
1942+2,271
194317
194433
194545
1946716
19471753
19487,419
19491,864
19502,622
19514,611
19524,304
19532,978
19543,110
19552,134
19561,862
19572,784
19583,255
19591,447
19602,664
19613,761
19623,865
19633,186
19642,957
19653,079
19663,285
19672,432
19682,15
19692,334
19705,529
197112,881
197214,763
197325,760
197424,156
197520,838
197615,435
197714,028
197814,522
197921,558
198029,957
198124,571
198222,306
198316,938
198415,975
198513,425
198613,372
198712,609
19888,968
19895,796
19904,897
19914,042
19922,469

Table 23.15. LICENSED MOTOR VEHICLES

 At 31 March
Type of vehicle199219931994

* Discontinued, October 1993.

Begtm October 1993.

Source: NZ Post.

Cars1,542,9121,562,1341,600,499
Rental cars8,4389,63111,350
Goods services cars*2,3532,117 
Light trucks, vans, utes242,644254,332271,316
Heavy trucks64,29365,95168,945
Taxis3,5723,8034,079
Buses and service coaches7,3288,2278,657
Trailers369,048368,846372,859
Caravans†......1,251
Motorcycles65,44260,09957,805
Mopeds1,2341,1461,256
Tractors†......20,173
Trade plates D4,5884,4604,667
Trade plates C574573592
Miscellaneous16,68716,4227,026
Exempt vehicles22,755216767,040
     Total, all vehicles2,351,8682,379,4172,437,515

Table 23.16. REGISTRATIONS OF NEW VEHICLES

 New cars and stationwagons-c.c rating
December year850 and under851 to 13001301 to 16001601 to 20002001 to 50005001 and overTotalCars previously registered overseas*New motor cycles

* Included in total.

Source: New Zealand Post.

198684717,90718,23230,21812,39841980,0213,94613,372
198774618,56620,51029,16019,71792989,62812,12912,609
198869017,79627,31028,30614,08440388,58917,3728,968
198988021,49644,06650,00018,137309134,82850,9665,796
199068319,75156,43884,18118,391302159,74685,3244,897
199180610,52335,36141,60114,497178102,96647,3514,042
19925927,20930,24136,67917,17420592,11039,1462,469
19934536,67430,94338,70120,73415897,66343,8412,601

Table 23.17. REGISTRATIONS OF NEW COMMERCIAL VEHICLES

 New commercial vehicles by gross weight in kilograms
December year2500 or less2501 to 45004501 to 90009001 to 14,50014,501 and overOmnibus and service coachesTotal commercial vehicles
Source: New Zealand Post.
198916,1733,96891859286176323,275
199018,3058,2999185031,03738329,445
199114,9897,47783136978453524,985
199211,9008,7841,30240194643923,772
199312,97210,3371,9304841,15053227,402

Not included in the above tables are new tractors, of which there were 907 in 1989, 863 in 1990, 752 in 1991, 779 in 1992 and 1,075 in 1993.

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 23.18. 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.

19902.291.77
19912.241.74
19922.211.72
19932.211.72
19942.181.69

Motor Vehicle Securities Register

A motor vehicle securities register is administered by the Department of Justice under the Motor Vehicle Securities Act 1989.

The register was established to help buyers avoid the situation of their vehicles being repossessed because money is still owed on them. It also provides protection for the party having an interest over the vehicle. The ‘Autocheck’ service opened to the public on 1 April 1990. As at 30 June 1994 there were 197,153 current security interests registered over vehicles. The Autocheck means that a consumer considering buying a vehicle can phone the register toll free to check if any security interest is registered against the vehicle.

The register includes vehicles such as private and commercial motor vehicles, motorcycles, trucks, trailers, caravans and farm vehicles. It does not cover boats, trains or aircraft.

The Autocheck service is not connected with the change of ownership or registration of vehicles. This is handled by New Zealand Post.

Transport to work

shows the main means of transport used by those persons employed in the full-time labour force to travel to work on the day of the 1991 Census of Population and Dwellings.

A large section (50.0 percent) drove a privately-owned car, truck or van to work, while a further 14.6 percent drove a vehicle owned by the employing company. The public transport system serviced only 4.7 percent of those travelling to full-time work, with buses contributing 3.8 percent and trains only 0.9 percent.

Among the less common employment related means of transport are walking (7.3 percent) ‘other’ (1.1 percent), travelling as passengers in cars, trucks or company buses (7.7 percent), by bicycle (4.7 percent) and as riders of motorcycles or powercycles (2.6 percent). The remaining 7.3 percent worked at home.

Significant patterns of travel to work at the 1991 Census relate to male-female differentials in means of transport. Males showed a much greater tendency than females to drive company vehicles, or ride motorcycles, powercycles or bicycles to work. Females, by contrast, tended to make greater use of the public transport system (public buses and trains), drive private vehicles, travel as passengers in cars, trucks and company vehicles, and walk more than their male counterparts. This male-female structure of transport use reflects a combination of demographic and economic variables including living arrangements, household composition and income, number of household income earners, access to household vehicles, distance travelled to work, occupation, industry and employment status.

Table 23.19. TRANSPORT TO WORK, 1991 CENSUS

 Employed in full-time labour force*
 MalesFemales 
Means of transportNumberPercentageNumberPercentageMales as percentage of total

* Population resident in New Zealand aged 15 years and over working 30 or more hours. Excludes those unemployed and seeking full-time work. Excludes those who did not go to work on the day of the census.

Includes jogging or running.

Public bus16,4852.423,5866.241.1
Train5,4660.84,4791.255.0
Drive private vehicle310,36245.8217,88157.558.8
Drive company vehicle138,15020.416,6654.489.2
Passenger in car, truck or company bus39,2945.841,62511.048.6
Bicycle38,4365.711,6643.176.7
Motorcycle, powercycle24,2973.63,1680.888.5
Walk†46,6356.930,3428.060.6
Other8,8531.32,7450.776.3
Work at home50,0527.426,7397.165.2
Not specified10,887-6,135-64.0
     Total688,920100.0385,023100.064.1

Road safety

Since 1993 road safety has been under the control of the Land Transport Safety Authority (LTSA). The LTSA is the government's chief advisor on land transport safety and suggests policy, develops stands and reviews land transport safety systems in full consultation with industry groups.

Road laws are enforced by the New Zealand Police following their merger with the Traffic Safety Service of the Ministry of Transport in 1992. In addition they investigate serious and fatal accidents; enforce the laws regarding heavy traffic, allowable weights of vehicles and loads; and assist with the licensing of road transport services (such as taxis, buses and tow-trucks).

Driver licensing.

A driver's licence is 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 and, from age 76, practical tests must be taken every second year.

A graduated system for obtaining a driver's licence involves a number of restrictions on learner drivers to ensure 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 applies to all first applicants for licences under the age of 25. The new system has three stages: learner stage; restricted stage and full licence.

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 August 1987 and less than six 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. 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. From 1994 Vehicle Inspection Certificates (VIC) have been phased in to replace Certificate of Fitness and Warrant of Fitness stickers. From 1 September 1994 a VIC has been needed before people can relicense their vehicles. This will make it more difficult to re-register stolen vehicles and improve the safety of vehicles on the roads.

REGISTRATION OF EX-OVERSEAS* CARS: 1936–93
YearNumberPercentage of total registrations of new cars

* Ex-overseas vehicles are those that have been registered in another country before entry into New Zealand.

Source: NZ Post.

19366943.0
19371,6165.4
19381,6335.9
19391,0504.7
19401842.5
1941491.5
1942183.8
194322.5
19441421.2
19453223.7
194612925
19472511.6
19483152.2
19495435.4
19509845.7
19511,2784.9
19521,9605.9
19531,2245.3
19541,0312.9
19551,1652.6
19561,1823.1
19571,3123.2
19581,2744.1
19591,3204.9
19601,5584.6
19612,9037.7
19623,8228.9
19633,1295.4
19643,1914.9
19653,6835.5
19664,2436.6
19674,3907.8
19683,1716.5
19693,1145.5
19703,7385.3
19714,2305.7
19724,7585.3
19735,2905.2
19745,4165.4
19754,8636.2
19763,2764.4
19772,7504.4
19782,6814.0
197926823.8
19802,7013.4
19811,9072.1
19821,8122.1
19831,7662.3
19842,0192.1
19852,9183.5
19863,9464.9
198712,12913.5
198817,37219.6
198950,96537.8
199085,32453.4
199147,35146.0
199239,14642.5
199343,84144.9
REGISTRATION OF NEW TRACTORS: 1947–93
YearNumber
Source: NZ Post.
19472,526
19484,187
19495,130
19505,384
19516,145
19525,944
19536,112
19545,982
19555,485
19565,918
19576,157
19584,531
19593,236
19603,944
19614,249
19623,302
19633,757
19644,604
19654,210
19664,990
19673,390
19683,181
19693,583
19703,193
19714,366
19725,072
19736,171
19744,894
19753,392
19763,129
19773,035
19782,811
19792,694
19802,600
19812,747
19822,449
19832,201
19842,218
19851,793
1986887
1987741
1988711
1989907
1990863
1991752
1992779
19931,075

Seat-belts.

Wearing of seat-belts is compulsory for drivers and front-seat passengers in most classes of light vehicle registered after January 1955. All cars 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 with regard to children wearing restraints is being progressively amended. From 1 April 1994 all children under two were required to be in approved child restraints—from 1 April 1995, this is to be extended to all children under 5 years. Other children must be in seat-belts but approved child restraints are preferred in all cases. If there are no seat-belts in a vehicle, a child must travel in the back seat.

All motor cyclists and pillion riders must wear safety helmets at all speeds. Bicycle helmets have been compulsory since 1 January 1994.

Alcohol impairment.

Police officers have a wide range of tests available to them to deal with drivers affected by alcohol or drugs or a combination of the two. Any driver may be required to give a breath screening test at any time. This may be administered after the officer has detected alcohol on the driver's breath using a passive alcohol detector. If this screening test is positive the person may be required to give an evidential breath test. If this is also positive, the person has the option of either accepting the breath test reading or providing a blood sample for analysis. An exception to this rule is made if the person has been tested using more sophisticated equipment and achieves a result one-and-a-half times the legal limit.

A driver commits an offence and is liable for prosecution if either:

  • His/her breath-alcohol concentration as recorded on an evidential breath-testing device exceeds 400 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath in the case of a licensed driver, or 150 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath in the case of a person under the age of 20; or

  • His/her blood-alcohol concentration exceeds 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood in the case of a licensed driver, or 30 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood in the case of a person not holding the appropriate licence or under the age of 20.

Speed limits.

The maximum speed limits for highways and motorways are: 100km/h for cars, motorcycles, 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 all closely populated areas. 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.

Insurance.

See section 8.5 Accidents and section 24.3 Insurance and superannuation.

Road safety education.

Details on road safety campaigns are given in section 8.5 Accidents.

TRAFFIC CONVICTIONS Rate per 10,000 population

Traffic offences

Re-building the road after major flood damage caused by the Haast floods.

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 people convicted of driving offences.

The director of the Land Transport Safety Authority has the power 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 is received within two years. A new scale of graduated demerit points is shortly to be implemented.

Breaches of certain laws are dealt with under an infringement system whereby a motorist may pay an infringement fee within a certain time to avoid court proceedings.

Table 23.2. TRAFFIC OFFENCES AND INFRINGEMENTS*†

Type of offence19931994Percent variation

* Includes traffic offences reported to the police but no prosecution initiated.

Year ended 31 December.

Traffic offences   
Drink/drive offences29,98529,9960.04
Dangerous/reckless driving3,7424,0748.87
Careless/inconsiderate driving/overtaking offences22,66525,40812.10
Speeding offences1,7521,428-18.49
Speeding-trailer, towing, heavy motor vehicle1,033940-9.00
Speeding offences—speed camera offence45216380.00
Failure to stop/give way1,1631,162-0.09
Failure to obey officer/fulfil duties7,8308,0312.57
Vehicle licence offences1,6781,7222.62
Driving while disqualified offences12,28612,062-1.82
Driver licence offences13,80015,0889.33
Certificate of fitness offences730724-0.82
Driver hours/log book2,2433,05035.98
Passenger/recovery/rental service vehicle offences4955398.89
Other transport licence offences22-__
Vehicle condition offences273209-23.44
Vehicle safety offences505612.00
Vehicle noise/loading offences49254210.16
Bicycle offences736182-75.27
Cycle helmet offences-__314-__
Pedestrian and other offences9662-35.42
Stock and vehicle bylaw offences3724-35.14
Other traffic offences36347330.30
     Total101,496106,3044.74
Traffic infringements   
Unsafe use of vehicle10,13311,25411.06
Speeding infringements43,67138,850-11.04
Speeding infringements—speed camera offences39,740315,577694.10
Speeding—trailer, towing, heavy motor vehicle22,76823,9745.30
Failure to stop/give way15,54519,49725.42
Failure to obey officer/fulfill duties33557471.34
Vehicle licence/overloading infringements11,76512,3555.01
Driver licence infringements70,62585,62621.24
Certificate of fitness infringements60,61266,86910.32
Seat belt and miscellaneous infringements8,51210,91428.22
Safety helmet infringements8108707.41
Passenger/recovery/rental service vehicle infringements34239114.33
Vehicle condition infringements4,0154,1052.24
Vehicle noise/loading infringements1,3571,4909.80
Bicycle infringements3,2553,4766.79
Cycle helmet infringements-11,281-
Pedestrian and other infringements13525185.93
Local body bylaw infringements314366.67
     Total293,623607,368106.85
     Total395,119713,67280.62

Contributors

23.1Ministry of Transport.
23.2Ministry of Transport; Airways Corporation of New Zealand.
23.3New Zealand Rail Limited.
23.4Transit New Zealand; Ministry of Transport; New Zealand Police; NZ Post.

Special articles

Airways Corporation of New Zealand, Transit New Zealand; Consumers’ Institute; New Zealand Post.

Further information

Transport—general

  • Annual Enterprise Survey. Department of Statistics.

  • Census of Transport, Storage and Communication 1984–85. Department of Statistics.

  • Key Statistics. Statistics New Zealand (monthly).

  • Report of the Transport Committee (Parl paper 12B).

  • Report of the Ministry of Transport (Parl paper F5).

  • Report of Transit New Zealand (annual).

Shipping

  • Shipping and Cargo Movements. Department of Statistics (annual).

Civil aviation

  • New Zealand Civil Aircraft Accidents. Transport Accident Investigation Commission (annual).

  • New Zealand Register of Aircraft. Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand.

  • Annual Report of Air New Zealand Limited.

  • Annual Report of the Civil Aviation Authority.

Railways

  • Report of the Railways Corporation (Parl paper F7).

  • New Zealand Rail Limited Annual Report.

Roads

  • Breath Tests in New Zealand. Land Transport Safety Authority (annual).

  • Motor Accidents in New Zealand. Land Transport Safety Authority (annual).

  • Report of the New Zealand Police (Parl paper G 6).

Chapter 24. Commerce and services

Credit Union delegation from Thailand.

Over recent years a new emphasis in the New Zealand economy has been brought about by change in several of the country's major export markets towards more competition. New Zealand's export industries are having to compete more in international markets, rather than relying on traditional alliances and arrangements.

Government's response has been to encourage structural change within the economy through deregulation, and the process of change has been rapid since 1984. Both the Labour Government of 1986–1990 and the present National Government have followed a programme of industry assistance reform (notably a significant across-the-board tariff reduction programme), a continued move away from import licensing (which disappeared completely on 1 July 1992, 54 years after it first came into force), the removal of restrictions on the operation of financial markets, and the reorganisation of state trading enterprises on a more competitive basis. Among specific sectors deregulated to allow greater competition are the telecommunications, transport and petroleum industries.

The resulting withdrawal of subsidies and import controls has exposed large areas of the domestic economy to new levels of competition. The result has been reorganisation and, in some cases—notably in manufacturing—attrition.

These policy changes have made it necessary to review the legal environment in which business is conducted.

Like virtually every developed market economy New Zealand has a law which is aimed at protecting the competitive process. The Commerce Act 1986 is a key piece of legislation in a less regulated business environment. In general terms, the Act rests on the premise that the existence of open and competitive markets will ensure the efficient allocation of economic resources. It includes prohibitions on anti-competitive collusive and unilateral behaviour, and upon mergers that create or strengthen a dominant position in a market. The Act also constitutes the Commerce Commission as a public enforcement agency and provides scope for private remedies. The Commerce Act was reviewed in 1992 to ensure that its provisions are consistent with other government policies promoting economic growth.

A comprehensive review of New Zealand's company and securities law is in progress, to ensure that it achieves the best balance between providing flexibility and encouragement for business and investment on one hand, and safeguards for the interests of shareholders and creditors, on the other. This should ensure that New Zealand's capital markets are internationally competitive. Areas of law covered include companies legislation (Companies Act 1955), securities legislation (Securities Act 1978), financial reporting, takeovers, insider trading and insolvency.

As the economy has become more market-oriented, traditional controls in the retail sector have also been reviewed. The laws controlling both shop trading hours and the sale of liquor have been reviewed and relaxed in some areas to encourage competition and provide the structures to compete with imported products and allow businesses to meet consumer demand.

Legislation to protect the interests of consumers in the increasingly competitive domestic market has been introduced in the form of the Fair Trading Act 1986, administered by the Commerce Commission. A Ministry of Consumer Affairs was also established in 1986.

Up-to-date summary information on distribution is provided by the Annual Enterprise Survey, which covers the activities of all businesses classified in division 6 of the New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification.

Table 24.1. DISTRIBUTION: STATISTICAL SUMMARY

Statistical item1989–901990–91x1991–92
  $(million) 
Stocks—   
    Closing8,560.38,600.38,232.1
    Opening8,511.98,549.08,264.8
Income—   
    Sale of goods and services65,847.365,603.463,154.6
  $(million) 
    Interest, etc received551.2556.1367.3
    All other income763.1913.9893.8
     Total sales and other income67,161.667,073.464,415.5
      Adjusted for change in stock values67,210.067,124.764,382.8
Operating expenditure—   
Salaries and wages5,190.05,229.84,943.3
    Depreciation816.3821.6784.7
    Interest, bad debts, etc.1,636.71,642.21,242.6
    Indirect taxes209.7211.5170.8
    Purchases48,301.448,307.846,489.9
All other operating expenditure8,759.08,841.28,726.6
     Total operating expenditure64,913.065,054.062,357.8
Working proprietors/partners salaries and wages1,033.11,040.9915.8
Net profit before tax after deducting working proprietors/partners salaries and wages1,263.91,029.81,109.2
Fixed tangible assets–   
    Purchases during the year1,991.51,995.21,243.2
    Sales during the year588.9588.6524.1
Balance sheet—   
    Shareholders’ funds, etc.11,873.111,956.012,080.9
    All other liabilities19,326.019,363.718,114.5
     Total capital and liabilities31,199.131,319.630,195.0
Fixed tangible assets8,259.28,279.47,562.6
All other assets22,939.923,040.322,632.4
     Total assets31,199.131,319.630,195.0
Ratios—   
    Net profit per total sales and other income1.91.51.7
    Total salaries and wages per total sales and other income7.77.87.7
   Shareholders’ funds per total capital and liabilities38.138.240.0
    Fixed assets per total assets26.526.425.0

24.1 Controls on trading

Consumer affairs

Fair Trading Act 1986.

This Act came into force on 1 March 1987. It is important for all consumers and businesses in New Zealand as it:

  • Consolidates the laws on misleading advertising.

  • Prohibits deceptive or misleading conduct and ‘false representations’ about the provision of goods and services.

  • Prohibits certain unfair trading practices.

  • Provides for new consumer information and product safety standards.

Any person (including those who may not be directly affected by a particular breach) can take action if he or she believes the Act has been contravened.

Those breaching the criminal provisions of the Act can be fined up to $100,000. Damages can also be awarded against businesses. Enforcement of the Act's general provisions is undertaken by the Commerce Commission.

Ministry of Consumer Affairs.

The ministry exists to help New Zealanders prosper by promoting a fair and informed market-place for consumers. Its purpose will have been met when:

  • Consumers are protected by law and/or practice from deceptive, misleading or otherwise unreasonable and objectionable practices, and unsafe goods.

  • Consumers are well informed, discerning and able to exercise choice.

  • Business and consumers find mutual benefit and satisfaction in their fair dealings with one another.

  • Legal rights and obligations are known and used/met.

  • Access to redress and enforcement is easily available and fully effective.

Policy advice is provided to the Government on consumer law reform, in particular the operation of the Fair Trading Act 1986, Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 (which comes into force on 1 April 1994 consumer credit legislation, Weights and Measures Act 1987, product safety standards, and market-place regulation issues. In formulating policy, consultations are held with consumer/community groups, government departments and traders.

Consumer awareness is promoted by a consumer education resource programme in schools and teaching institutions; consumer education resource programmes in the community; and consultation with the community in developing education materials. Consumer representation on statutory and governmental boards is encouraged.

The ministry's Consumer Advice Service, with toll-free lines based in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, handles general enquiries from consumers about their legal rights and assists consumers to resolve their own complaints.

The Trade Measurement Unit aims to ensure that goods and services are exchanged on the basis of fair and accurate measure, in accordance with the relevant legislation or regulation, thus contributing to the economic welfare of both consumers and traders. The unit has offices in Auckland, Palmerston North, Wellington and Christchurch. An accreditation programme has been introduced to enable private sector firms to certify weighing and measuring equipment.

The ministry was established in 1986. It operates as a division of the Ministry of Commerce but its head reports directly to the Minister of Consumer Affairs.

Consumers’ Institute.

The institute is an independent and impartial consumer protection and publishing organisation. It conducts comparative tests and surveys of consumer goods and services, and researches financial, legislative, health, food, safety, environmental, welfare, gardening, home improvement and do-it-yourself subjects.

Its findings are published in the monthly magazine Consumer (which has over 82,000 subscribers) and the quarterly Consumer Home & Garden (over 32,000 subscribers). These publications are unique in reporting by name on products, services, companies, traders, professionals and government and other organisations. Survey results are sent to named parties before publication, and draft articles are checked with expert commentators.

Subscribers to either or both magazines are members of the Institute. It has operated with no income except that received from its subscribers since 1989 when it ceased to be a statutory body with some government funding. Consumers’ Institute has one of the highest ratios of membership to population of any consumer organisation in the world. Despite the comparatively small number of households from which to draw membership, it maintains research and magazines equal to those of overseas groups (with whom it co-operates).

While no longer a publicly-funded body, the institute continues to work on behalf of all New Zealanders. It represents consumers before and on a wide range of bodies and liaises with many organisations to promote the consumer interest.

A board elected by the subscribing members governs the institute. The day to day work is carried out by a small staff, all except two in Wellington.

Shop trading hours

Traditionally, retailers have been restricted by legislation in the hours they can open their shops. On 1 August 1990 all such restrictions were removed with the repeal of the Shop Trading Hours Act.

Now shops can open every day of the year, 24 hours per day, except Christmas Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and up to 1 pm on Anzac Day. There are exceptions to this which allow certain shops to open on any day, i.e.: dairy/mixed businesses, service stations, takeaways, souvenir and duty free shops, shops at public passenger transport terminals and genuine exhibitions and shows.

Sale of liquor

On 1 April 1990, the Sale of Liquor Act 1989 came into force, replacing the Sale of Liquor Act 1962.

The object of the new Act is to establish a reasonable system of control over the sale and supply of liquor to the public with the aim of contributing to the reduction of liquor abuse, so far as that can be achieved by legislative means.

The Sale of Liquor Act 1989 provides that the sale of liquor to the public, or any member of the public requires a licence.

There are four kinds of licences under the Act: On-licences; Off-licences; Club licences; and Special licences.

An on-licence authorises the holder of the licence to sell and supply liquor on the premises or conveyance (such as a ship or aeroplane) for consumption on the premises only. Examples of this include taverns, licensed restaurants and nightclubs.

An off-licence authorises the holder of the licence to sell or deliver liquor on or from the premises to any person for consumption off the premises. Examples of this are wine resellers and others formerly known as wholesalers.

A club licence authorises the holder to sell and supply liquor on the premises for consumption on the premises by a club member or guest of a member. A ‘club’ in this instance means a chartered club; a club that participates in or promotes any sporting or other recreational activity, other than for gain or; any group of people combined for any purpose other than gain.

A special licence enables the holder of the licence to sell and supply liquor on the premises, for consumption on the premises to any person attending a particular occasion or event and is the only licence granted by district licensing agencies.

Drinking age.

The legal drinking age has not changed, and the sale of liquor to persons 20 years of age or under remains prohibited except in certain circumstances.

Hours of sale.

Under the new legislation the hours liquor is permitted to be sold or consumed are not spelt out.

Each application is dealt with on its merits. Application for liquor licences are made to the appropriate district licensing agency in the first instance and then referred to the Liquor Licensing Authority for determination.

Liquor licensing.

The central licensing body is the Liquor Licensing Authority consisting of a District Court judge, as chairperson, together with three or four members, appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice. It considers and determines applications for on, off and club licences, and for managers’ certificates. It also decides on appeals against decisions by district licensing agencies.

There are 74 district licensing agencies, which are essentially the local authorities for each district or city throughout New Zealand.

The district licensing agencies are able to grant special licences and renewals where there are no objections. The agencies also receive all applications and objections, gather reports, and forward complete files to the Liquor Licensing Authority for determination. They may also consider applications for temporary authority to carry on the sale and supply of liquor.

Liquor outlet, Dunedin.

24.2 Commercial framework

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 1993. 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 1993. This is by far the most usual form of business operation in New Zealand.

Registered companies.

A company registered under the Companies Act 1993 must have a least one shareholder. There is no limit in the number of shareholders a company can have. The distinction between private and public companies under the Companies Act 1955 no longer applies under the new Act. 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. This means 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. A shareholder's liability is limited to the amount, if any, unpaid on that member's shares.

Table 24.2. COMPANY REGISTRATIONS

Year ended 30 JuneNew companies registeredCompanies dissolved or struck offCompanies on register

* Year ended 31 March.

Source: Department of Justice.

1989*12,3469,390160,988
1990*11,28912,377159,922
199110,95314,984153,275
199212,33011,144154,526
1993R14,16011,884156,925
199417,2639,711168,391

New companies legislation.

Until 1994 New Zealand's business environment was regulated through the Companies Act 1955. It was an old piece of legislation that had been substantially amended over the years and was not only hard to follow but also, in some places, out of step with current business practice. The legislation needed to be streamlined and simplified to make it more intelligible and accessible to those who use it.

In 1993 a new company law reform package was enacted which came into force on 1 July 1994. The package comprises 22 pieces of legislation, the principal ones being: Companies Act 1993, Companies Amendment Act 1993, Financial Reporting Act 1993 and Takeovers Act 1993.

The Companies Act 1993 requires companies to satisfy a solvency test in certain circumstances (eg before making a distribution in respect of shares). It enables companies to repurchase their shares (previously not permitted under company law) subject to safeguards. It reforms directors duties and for the first time states them in the statute. It also reforms the remedies available to shareholders and simplifies the law about liquidating companies.

The company law reform package provides a three year transition period when the Companies Act 1955 and the new Companies Act will both exist. New companies will be able to be formed only under the new Act but existing ones will have three years in which to re-register. The package sets out the procedure for the re-registration of existing companies. It also separates from the Companies Act the law about receiverships and places it in the Receiverships Act 1993.

The Takeovers Act establishes a Takeovers Panel. The main job of the panel is to formulate and recommend a takeovers code. The Act sets out the objectives of a takeovers code, being to encourage the efficient allocation of resources, competition for corporate control, assist in ensuring shareholders are treated fairly, promote the international competitiveness of New Zealand's capital markets, recognise that ultimately it is for shareholders to determine the merits of a takeover and maintain a proper relation between the costs of compliance with the code and the benefits from it. The panel is in the process of formulating a new takeovers code. Once recommended, the takeovers code does not come into force until approved by the Governor-General. Until the new takeovers code comes into force, the present legislation in the Companies Amendment Act 1963 continues to apply.

NEW COMPANY REGISTRATIONSRelated to size of population

Year ended 31 December

LIQUOR LICENSING: 1894–1989
YearPublicansTaverns*

* Excludes premises of licensing trusts, established in 1944.

Appendices to the Journal of the House of Representatives figure.

New class of license ‘hotels’.

§ Sale of Liquor Act 1990 introduced 1 April 1990; data no longer collected in comparable format.

Source: Department of Justice.

 no 
18941,719..
18951,579..
19001,526..
19051,415..
19101,257..
19151,207..
19201,156..
19251,115..
1930....
1935....
1940....
19451,038†..
1950....
19551,126..
19601,107..
19651,102..
1968‡1,05727
1970929133
1975796294
1980703379
1985672403
1986669416
1987655412
1988653433
1989653432
1990§....

The Financial Reporting Act establishes an Accounting Standards Review Board to approve financial reporting standards. Companies (other than exempt companies) must prepare their annual financial statements in accordance with approved financial reporting standards. Companies that are public issuers (listed companies and those seeking investment from the public) and companies with 25 percent or more of their shares held by persons domiciled overseas must file their financial statements with the Registrar of Companies. Exempt companies (local companies with assets not exceeding $450,000 and a turnover not exceeding $1 million) must prepare their annual financial statement in accordance with regulations made under the Act and are not required to file them with the Registrar of Companies.

Partnerships.

A partnership is defined in the Partnership Act 1908 as the relationship 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.

Company practices

In the process of freeing up the economy and reducing government regulation of markets, legislation has been introduced to prevent large companies and industries from dominating markets by, for example, buying out their competitors, and creating a monopoly of the supply of goods and services.

Commerce Commission.

The commission investigates companies for compliance with and enforces the provisions of the Commerce Act 1986. This Act exists to promote workable and effective competition in markets within New Zealand.

It prohibits a range of anti-competitive activities called ‘restrictive trade practices’. These apply to all individuals and commercial organisations including state-owned enterprises and government departments. Restrictive trade practices include:

  • Arrangements between competitors that substantially lessen competition in a market or reduce the competitiveness of another rival.

  • Arrangements that lead to prices being fixed among competitors.

  • A company, dominant in a market, using its position to prevent competition.

  • Suppliers fixing the prices at which goods may be resold by other businesses.

Parties planning to be involved in business practices which may be restrictive trade practices can apply to the commission for authorisation. Authorisation will be granted if the commission believes the public will ultimately benefit from the business practice, even though there is a lessening in competition.

The Act prohibits the acquisition of assets of or shares in a business if the acquisition will result in a dominant position being acquired in a market or the strengthening of a dominant position in a market.

Under the Act, those acquiring assets or shares can apply to the commission for clearance or authorisation. The commission will grant a clearance if it is satisfied an acquisition will not result in the acquiring or strengthening of a dominant position in a market. It will grant an authorisation if the acquisition results in the acquiring or strengthening of a dominant position in a market but there is sufficient public benefit to outweigh the detriment to competition. If granted, clearance or authorisation exempts the business practice or acquisition from the Act's prohibitions and protects the business from action by the commission and private individuals.

The Act allows the commission to recommend to the Minister of Commerce that goods or services be subject to price control. Price control may be imposed only where there is limited competition in the market for particular goods or services and control is seen as necessary or desirable in the interests of users, consumers or suppliers. The last price control, over natural gas, was lifted on 1 April 1993.

The Commerce Commission also has responsibility for enforcing the Fair Trading Act 1986.

Securities Commission.

Established under the Securities Act 1978, the fundamental purpose of the commission is to facilitate private capital investment in New Zealand by: improving the efficiency and fairness of the markets for the securities of entities which raise funds from the public in New Zealand; and enhancing public and institutional confidence in these markets both in New Zealand and overseas, while minimising the need for (and the cost of) intervention in these markets by government and by agencies funded by the government.

To achieve this purpose the commission directs its work towards:

  • Ensuring that investors and prospective investors are informed reasonably, fairly, truthfully and promptly of: the nature of their investment contracts,. the financial position and performance of the entities in which they have invested or propose to invest, and of the material interests of the persons who direct these entities or promote any offerings of their securities.

  • Encouraging improvements in the law relating to securities and bodies corporate.

  • Encouraging improvements in the standards of ethics and business practices in the markets for securities.

  • Encouraging improvements in the procedures for transacting business in the markets for securities.

  • Improving public understanding of the law and practices of securities of public issuers.

  • Achieving closer economic relations with companies and securities regulators in other countries and contributing to the harmonisation of business law and regulatory practices between countries for the purpose of improving efficiency and of reducing malpractice in across border securities transactions.

The commission aims to achieve these objectives by the exercise of its statutory powers, by review and comment on business law and practices, and by the promotion of the public understanding of business law and practices.

Serious Fraud Office.

The Serious Fraud Office is a specialist, inter-disciplinary department established to facilitate the detection, investigation and expeditious prosecution of serious or complex fraud offenders. The office is composed of chartered accountants, investigators and lawyers and multi-disciplinary teams are used in the investigation and prosecution of cases.

The powers given to the office are to be found in the Serious Fraud Office Act 1990 which came into effect on 3 July 1990.

For the purposes of determining whether an offence involves serious or complex fraud, the Act provides mat the director may, among other things, have regard to the following four factors:

  • The suspected nature and consequences of the fraud.

  • The suspected scale of the fraud.

  • The legal, factual and evidential complexity of the matter.

  • Any relevant public interest considerations.

The director's decision to investigate or take proceedings in relation to serious or complex fraud or proceedings under the Act is discretionary and not subject to review.

Essentially, however, the Serious Fraud Office specialises in the investigation and prosecution of all serious and complex fraud, leaving other enforcement authorities to concentrate their resources on the prosecution of other offences.

In the long term it is hoped that the establishment of this new, specialist government department will make a significant contribution towards the combating of serious and complex fraud offending.

COMPANY STATISTICS: 1930–93
 Origin of companies listed on the Stock Exchange 
YearOverseasNew ZealandShare price*

* Department of Statistics index 1926–66, Reserve Bank Share Price Index 1967–86, New Zealand Stock Exchange Gross Index 1987–89.

Source: Stock Exchange.

   index no
1930....309
1935....341
1940....306
1945....413
1950....506
1955....554
1960....854
1965....1060
1970833001361
1975793051159
1980752751599
1985813164964
199074171-
1993511382561.18

Stock exchange

There are three broad categories of stock that are bought and sold on the New Zealand 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 bulk of trading.

New Zealand Stock Exchange.

This central exchange was established by the Sharebrokers Amendment Act 1981, and is governed by a board of directors comprising members, independent directors and one exchange executive (managing director). Its office in Wellington is responsible for granting of listings, supervision of listed companies as regards their compliance with the listing requirements and the collection and promulgation of all market information and the operation and supervision of the trading system. It is also responsible for the membership of the exchange.

The exchange is financed by the payment of annual fees by listed companies and by levies on its members.

The New Zealand Stock Exchange is made up of members (sharebrokers) who assist companies to raise capital through issuing securities on the market, providing investment advice and acting as agents on behalf of their clients in the purchase and sale of securities. To become a member, a person must obtain a sharebrokers’ licence and be approved by the board which is guided by qualifications, financial standing and experience. No entry fees are required but trading members are subject to extensive capital adequacy requirements and regulations governing the operation of their sharebroking businesses.

There were 145 New Zealand companies and 56 overseas companies listed with the exchange at 1 August 1994.

New technologies, changed management and regulatory approaches continue to have an impact on the way the New Zealand Stock Exchange operates and the way the market conducts its business. These changes include the introduction of a computerised trade matching and settlement system in 1988, a Market Surveillance Panel in 1989, an automated screen trading system in 1991, and the FASTER system of electronic transfer of securities in August 1992. They have improved the conduct and efficiency of the market, reduced the risks associated with the activity of trading and have enhanced the openness and fairness of market activities.

SHARE PRICE INDEXGross index

Market surveillance panel.

The Market Surveillance Panel was established by the New Zealand Stock Exchange to administer and enforce the new listing requirements implemented in 1989. The listing requirements provide rules for the behaviour of listed companies on the exchange.

The panel has proved extremely successful, and there has been full acceptance by companies and investors alike. This has reinforced the view that self-regulatory measures can operate to the overall benefit of market participants.

A new Companies Act 1993 replaces the Companies Act 1955. Securities laws are under general review and a formal reporting regime has been announced, including the establishment of an Accounting Standard Review Board. The implementation of new legislation in these areas has necessitated new listing rules which came into force on 1 September 1994. These introduce new provisions for share buy-backs and takeovers.

Insolvency

Bankruptcy.

The term bankruptcy usually refers to the financial insolvency of individuals. 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. Not less than $200 in total must be owing by the debtor to any 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, enforce debts due to the bankrupt's estate or 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 deducts expenses incurred, pays any debts given statutory priority and then 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.

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 and public examination of the bankrupt may be demanded. 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 for the assignee to be appointed as a receiver/manager of the property prior to the hearing of the creditor's petition.

Another form of financial failure is covered by private assignments, which are not included in official bankruptcy statistics.

The general bankruptcy statistics do not cover assignments and compositions, but relate only to cases dealt with by official assignees.

Table 24.3. OCCUPATIONS OF BANKRUPTS

Occupational group19881989199019911992*1993

* Figures for 1992 are not comparable to previous years figures due to the New Zealand Standard Classification 1990 being used from the September 1992 quarter onwards.

Professional, technical, and related workers84886487142152
Administrative and managerial workers142185211249348455
Clerical and related workers255435614333
Sales workers23518319424816530
Service workers161116901157957
Agricultural, animal husbandry, and forestry workers, fishers, and hunters167145811068194
Production and related workers, transport equipment operators, and labourers447437313455493492
Not actively engaged/unknown613714815108910891007
     Total bankruptcy petitions1,8741,9221,8032,4102,4402,320

Source: NZ Stock Exchange.

BANKRUPTCIESRate per 100,000 population

Year ended 31 December

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, the Companies (Winding Up) Rules 1956, and the High Court Rules.

Companies with heavy debt loads and cash-flow problems often have a receiver appointed over their assets, either by the court, or more usually under an express clause in a mortgage or debenture. Debentures often 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 function of a receiver once appointed is to realise the assets charged by the debenture, that is to sell what is necessary to recover the amount owed to the debenture-holder (plus costs), and then get out. No property of the company is actually vested 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. Receivership is quite distinct from liquidation, as a receiver acts for the benefit only of the debenture-holder who appointed him or her.

Table 24.4. COMPANY INSOLVENCIES

 Company liquidations
Year ended 31 MarchCompanies placed under receivershipCourt orderVoluntary
Source: Department of Justice.
19891,1038311,063
19908401,0122,597
19916561,033707
19926601,063759
19934251,004436
1994222888641

24.3 Insurance and superannuation

Operating environment

The insurance industry in New Zealand, both life and non-life, has a number of unique characteristics which make international comparison difficult. In taking an overview of the New Zealand industry it is necessary to identify and understand those characteristics.

Regulation.

The New Zealand insurance market is currently one of the least regulated in the world, a circumstance that applies to both fire and general insurance and life insurance. However, the Insurance Companies (Ratings and Investigations) Bill currently before Parliament will require fire and general insurance companies (not life insurance) to obtain and maintain a claims paying ability. Until this legislation is passed most important regulatory legislation is the Insurance Companies’ Deposits Act 1953, which requires any person or company carrying on the business of insurance in New Zealand to lodge approved securities with a market value of not less than $500,000, with the Public Trustee.

There is a similar provision for deposits under the Life Insurance Act 1908 but the deposit requirement has been for securities with a market value of not less than $500,000 for many years. The deposits are held by the Public Trustee as security for policyholders or claimants in respect of policies or other contracts issued, granted or entered into by the person making the deposit. The value of deposits held by the Public Trustee under the Insurance Companies’ Deposits Act 1953, was $39.1 million ($36.6 million in 1991), and $29.2 million under the Life Insurance Act 1908 ($30.7 million in 1991), at 31 March 1992.

Statutory reporting is required only in terms of the Life Insurance Act 1908. The Insurance Companies’ Deposits Act 1953 was amended in 1983 to require detailed annual reports and statements of financial condition to be provided to the Department of Justice. New Zealand has no insurance commissioner or equivalent public official and there are no statutory solvency requirements or controls, nor is there any restriction or control on re-insurance.

Life insurance companies may apply to the Securities Commission on an annual basis to be ‘authorised’ in terms of the Securities Act 1978, which gives certain exemptions from the requirements of that Act. The life insurance industry is also required to comply with all consumer protection legislation such as the Fair Trading Act 1986 and the new Consumer Guarantees Act 1993.

There are no fiscal regulations designed to direct life or fire insurance investment funds to particular investment sectors. There are some limited reporting and disclosure requirements contained in the Marine Insurance Act 1908.

The Mutual Insurance Act 1955 provides for the establishment of mutual insurance associations which were intended to provide insurance primarily for farm owners and certain rural industries and their employees. Other insurance companies are subject in the ordinary way to the provisions of the Companies Act 1993 and comply with New Zealand company law in the same manner as other business enterprises.

The current regulatory position can be summarised by saying that the size and closely knit nature of the New Zealand insurance market has meant that regulation of the industry has proceeded through a combination of rather loose government supervision coupled with a measure of self-regulation. Competition has also been an important factor in regulating all parts of the insurance market. During 1990 the Insurance Council of New Zealand adopted self-regulation in order to provide greater information to consumers. In 1989 the Life Office Association became a self-regulating organisation with an independent review authority and a defined relationship with the Securities Commission.

Insurance intermediaries.

The Insurance Intermediaries Act 1994 establishes insurance brokers client accounts, limitations on how premiums received by brokers may be used and 50 days terms of credit. Traditionally, the insurance needs of the community have been served through a network of agents established by each insurance company. This agency network is now reinforced by other networks of international and local insurance brokers, the former servicing the major commercial accounts and providing access to international insurance services, and a growing network of independent insurance agents selling fire and general insurance.

The life insurance agency system has substantially moved away from a tied agency system with individual agents contracted to a particular life insurance company and multiple agency agreements with different companies are now common.

Government's role in the insurance market.

Some classes of insurance which make a substantial contribution to the premium pool outside New Zealand do not feature in New Zealand at all because of the different legal climate and background. For instance, the accident compensation scheme effectively removed many classes of liability insurance in New Zealand. This Act is comprehensive ‘no fault’ legislation which abolishes all common law actions in tort for negligence and provides a system of compensation and rehabilitation in respect of accidental injury. The current Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Act 1992 is administered by the Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Corporation (ACC) which also has statutory responsibilities in the field of accident prevention. The system of accident compensation in place is described in section 7.4, Accidents.

New Zealand has a high degree of susceptibility to losses arising from earthquake and other geophysical events, so insurance in respect of earthquake and volcanic activity has presented a considerable problem. The Earthquake and War Damage Commission Act 1944 established a government guaranteed fund to meet losses by natural disaster or war. The Act was recently replaced by the Earthquake Commission Act 1993 bringing several changes to the original scheme. Under the new Act the Earthquake Commission (EQC) provides coverage of up to $100,000 for replacement of private dwellings and $20,000 for domestic contents. Perils covered are earthquake, natural landslip, volcanic eruption, hydro-thermal activity and tsunami; cover is also provided for residential land in the case of storm or flood; and all properties are covered in the event of fire occasioned by or through any insured peril. The land cover provided is additional to the $100,000. War damage has been removed as an insured peril. The commission is currently phasing out cover for non-residential property and the maximum amount of cover being offered in 1995 is 25 percent of the indemnity value of a property. From 1 January 1997 the commission will no longer cover non-residential property. Premiums, for residential property, at the rate of 5 cents per $100 cover are collected by insurance companies and paid to the commission.

Historically, government has also been involved in both fire and general and life insurance through government-backed life insurance and mutual funds, but in recent years has withdrawn from these activities.

The taxation regime in New Zealand in respect of both life insurance, non-life insurance and reinsurance includes the imposition of goods and services tax on non-life insurance services, and income tax in respect of both life and non-life insurers and insurance transactions. A major review of life office taxation was undertaken several years ago.

Fire services in New Zealand are funded through a levy upon all fire insurance policyholders. The role of the New Zealand Fire Service Commission is outlined in section 7.6, Civil defence and fire safety.

Each of these interventions in the insurance market by government affect the size of the premium pool by influencing the cost and perceived level of insurance required from the private sector by businesses and private individuals.

Insurance and Savings Ombudsman.

Plans are well advanced for an ombudsman to be established in early 1995 covering the life insurance and savings industry, fire and general insurance and health insurance.

Development of an insurance industry

The life insurance industry in New Zealand assumes major importance as an investor and savings vehicle. New Zealanders, per capita, are among the five largest purchasers of life insurance in the world. The life insurance market is dominated by three large mutual societies (AMP, National Mutual and Colonial Mutual), New Zealand Insurance Life, Tower Corporation and Prudential which between them write about 75 percent of the country's life insurance/superannuation business, measured by annual premium income in force. Statistics New Zealand's Annual Business Directory update recorded 40 life insurance enterprises as at February 1994.

The non-life insurance market is divided amongst 128 enterprises which have made deposits under the Insurance Companies’ Deposits Act 1953, but many of these depositors are not now active in the New Zealand market. Some deposits are made to support placements overseas by brokers, or by international reinsurers, and some are retained to support the runoff of workers’ compensation business by insurers no longer active in New Zealand. Some New Zealand insurance business is directly placed offshore with Lloyds and the company market in London. Statistics New Zealand's Annual Business Directory update, recorded 50 medical and 80 general insurance enterprises operating in New Zealand as at February 1994.

The New Zealand premium pool is divided approximately: 16 percent commercial fire business, 26 percent domestic fire, 40 percent motor, 14 percent general accident, 1 percent marine hull and 3 percent marine cargo.

The Annual Business Directory update recorded 8,711 persons employed within the industry as at February 1994. The premium pool as at 31 December 1993 was:

  • Life (including superannuation) $2,190 million.

  • Non-life $1,550 million not including the EQC premium.

The EQC premium for the 15 month period ended 30 June 1993 was $297,912,000.

Considerable change is taking place in the insurance industry in New Zealand and is likely to continue. The number of direct underwriters is reducing, with amalgamations and withdrawals. This process is accompanied by an increase in the number of reinsurers establishing a place of business in New Zealand.

It is also probable that the number of major international brokers will be reduced but that there will be a growing number of brokers operating on a local or regional level to service small businesses and the domestic market.

In the life insurance and superannuation fields it is generally anticipated that market growth will increase to compensate for the reduced government commitment to the provision of New Zealand superannuation. The appointment of a Retirement Commissioner will give a boost to public education on the need for New Zealanders to save for their own retirement.

Loss prevention

The Accident Compensation Corporation has the statutory duty to promote occupational safety and accident prevention, and this activity has had some indirect benefit to the insurance industry.

The Insurance Council of New Zealand along with the Fire Service Commission, is active in fire prevention and fire safety education. Most other activity in the field of loss prevention and accident prevention is undertaken by government or quasi-government bodies which are wholly or partly public funded.

The Building Research Association of New Zealand undertakes some work in respect of the assessment of building materials and methods of construction and the Automobile Association and similar organisations are active in the field of prevention of motor vehicle accidents. Much of New Zealand's effort in loss prevention has traditionally been organised and financed through the insurance industry, in areas such as electrical safety and registration, research into fire prevention and fire safety equipment, and the approval of passive fire protection and alarm systems.

Industry organisations

Several industry organisations are maintained. The principal ones are:

  • The Insurance Council of New Zealand Inc (fire and general insurers).

  • The Life Office Association of New Zealand Inc (maintained by life insurers).

    Sorting damaged books for a sale.

  • The Corporation of Insurance Brokers of New Zealand (made up of brokers).

  • The Independent Insurance Agents Association (representing independent brokers and agents).

  • The Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters and The Institute of Loss Adjusters of New Zealand Incorporated (comprising adjusters and assessors).

  • The Insurance Institute of New Zealand Inc (the educational body of the industry).

The Insurance Council operates a disaster emergency scheme. Both the Insurance Council and the Life Office Association operate consumer inquiry facilities.

Government superannuation

For many years central 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. More than one-third of all New Zealand taxpayers contribute to superannuation schemes, making provision for retirement income. Many of these contributors belong to schemes into which the employer pays a subsidy, and the two largest organisations are state-run.

The Government Superannuation Fund's revenues consist of members’ contributions, subsidies from the Crown, state-owned enterprises trading departments and other bodies, and interest earned on investments. The National Provident Fund was established as a superannuation scheme for the general public providing superannuation for the employees of local authorities and other approved bodies as well as private companies. It maintains an investment pool in which local bodies may invest their surplus funds.

Government Superannuation Fund.

The Government Superannuation Fund administers six superannuation schemes: the general scheme for employees in government service; and the five sub—schemes for specialised occupational groups-the armed forces, police, prison service, members of Parliament and judges.

The Government Superannuation Fund is administered by a board comprising 15 members, with the Minister of Finance as statutory chairperson and representatives from various state departments and agencies.

As at 30 June 1994 there were 52,554 contributors to the Government Superannuation Fund and they paid $148.98 million into it during the year ending 30 June 1993. At the same time there were 46,287 beneficiaries who received $479.07 million during the period.

Total assets at 30 June 1994, which amounted to $3,076.87 million included investments in government stock of $1,443.69 million and $24.73 million in members’ mortgages. The average effective interest earning rate before tax of the fund was 4.96 percent for the year.

National Provident Fund.

With approximately $3 billion in total assets, the National Provident Fund is New Zealand's largest superannuation fund and provides superannuation schemes both for employer/employee groups and for individual members.

In 1991, under the provisions of the National Provident Fund Restructuring Act 1990, the National Provident Fund was split into 17 separate superannuation schemes, each with its own scheme trust deed. These schemes were closed to new members on 1 April 1991. The board of trustees of the National Provident Fund, which is appointed by the Minister of Finance, is the trustee for each scheme.

The Act also required that the board of trustees determine the most appropriate future management arrangements for the National Provident Fund schemes and assets. To this end, the board conducted an international tender process, and new management arrangements were put into place from 1 April 1992.

The assets of the 17 schemes, which were previously administered as an omnibus fund, were restructured and are now managed through a Global Asset Trust. Twelve separate specialist fund managers manage these funds. An international global custodian, State Street New Zealand Limited, accounts for and reports on the investments of the funds. Jacques Martin Hewitt, a subsidiary of Melbourne-based Jacques Martin Pty Limited, administers the schemes. A small executive office has been maintained to assist the board with monitoring the new management arrangements and to ensure that the monitoring processes are operating effectively and to the benefit of members.

The changeover in management arrangements has not changed National Provident Fund members’ rights and benefits. Existing scheme members may remain in their schemes, and the benefits provided through the schemes continue to be government guaranteed.

In 1993, an amendment to the National Provident Fund Restructuring Act led to a number of new provisions being incorporated into National Provident Fund schemes. Under certain circumstances, members may now rejoin a National Provident Fund scheme of which they were previously a member (if they withdrew from that scheme after 31 March 1991), join another National Provident Fund scheme, or transfer from their National Provident Fund scheme to another registered superannuation scheme.

Table 24.5. GOVERNMENT SUPERANNUATION FUND ALLOWANCES, AT 30 JUNE 1994

Source: Government Superannuation Fund.
Qualification for allowanceNumber
Retired for age, length of service or medically unfit35,068
Spouses11,100
Children119
     Total allowances46,287

Table 24.6. CONTRIBUTORS TO GOVERNMENT SUPERANNUATION FUND

Branch of serviceAt 30 June 1994Percentage of total

* Includes state-owned enterprises which were formerly part of the Public Service.

Source: Government Superannuation Fund.

Armed services8,63016.42
Judges1390.27
Parliamentarians780.15
Police5,0999.70
Prison officers6121.16
Public Service*37,99672.30
     Total52,554100.00

Table 24.7. GOVERNMENT SUPERANNUATION FUND: SUMMARY

Year ended 30 JuneNumber of contributorsAnnual contributionsInterest received from investmentsSubsidy from government trading departments and othersAnnual value of allowances†Accumulated fund at 30 June

* Year ended 31 March.

Tax exempt.

Source: Government Superannuation Fund.

   $(000)  
1991*55,403140,059362,532450,908422,990†2,563,934
1992*56,709149,437385,074413,715453,5312,804,582
199357,925196,388422,703536,545580,5663,031,503
199452,554148,983149,116435,316479,0663,076,876

Because each of the National Provident Fund schemes is now reported on separately, a financial summary of the aggregated fund is no longer applicable.

Insurance industry statistics

The results of the 1987 Economy Wide Census are supplemented annually by the Annual Enterprise Survey. Both the census and the enterprise survey cover the activities of all businesses classified into division 82 of the New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification.

Life and medical insurance.

The provision of life insurance, life re-insurance and other life insurance including mortgage repayment insurance; includes superannuation and mutual fund operation not separately administered. The provision of medical, hospital and dental insurance, funeral benefits and the operation of benefit funds includes employee benefit funds, welfare societies and friendly society funds not elsewhere classified.

General insurance.

The provision of fire insurance cover for commercial and domestic purposes, marine, aviation and other accidental insurance.

Table 24.8. LIFE AND MEDICAL INSURANCE

Statistical item1990–91x1991–92P
Income—$(million)
    Interest and dividends received895.9768.8
    Premiums and contributions received1,802.21,907.6
    All other income326.7279.0
Total sales and other income3,024.82,955.4
Operating expenditure—  
    Salaries and wages181.9149.4
    Depreciation33.128.0
    Interest, bad debts, etc18.221.4
    Claims and benefits paid2,029.94,116.5
      Indirect tax17.312.9
    All other operating expenditure625.1625.1
Total operating expenditure2,905.54,953.2
Balance of income over expenditure119.3-1,997.8
Plus net gains on extraordinary items, transfers and tax-779.163.0
Equals increase in policy-holders funds-659.8-1,934.8
Plus total funds at beginning of year11,525.610,849.5
Equals total funds at end of year16,865.38,914.6
Fixed tangible assets  
     Purchases during the year94.542.3
     Sales during the year333.655.1
Balance sheet  
     Shareholders funds, etc11,225.99,515.8
     All other liabilities1,229.4998.4
Total capital and liabilities12,455.310,514.2
 $(million)
Fixed tangible assets2,083.31,387.9
     All other assets10,372.09,126.3
Total assets12,455.310,514.2
RatiosPercent 
     Balance of income over expenditure per total sales and other income3.9-
     Total salaries and wages per total sales and other income6.05.1
     Shareholders funds per total capital and liabilities90.190.5
     Fixed assets per total assets16.713.2

Table 24.9. GENERAL INSURANCE

Statistical item1990–91x1991–92P
Income—$(million)
    Interest and dividends received122.0106.0
    Premiums and contributions received1,160.41,257.5
    All other income29.239.2
Total sales and other income1,311.61,402.7
Operating expenditure—  
    Salaries and wages150.6140.9
    Depreciation24.323.2
    Interest, bad debts, etc8.30.6
    Claims and benefits paid903.7858.8
    Indirect tax2.32.4
    All other operating expenditure277.9270.9
     Total operating expenditure1,367.11,296.8
Working proprietors/partners salaries and wages0.00.0
Net profit before tax-55.5105.9
Fixed tangible assets  
    Purchases during the year41.739.1
    Sales during the year21.99.1
Balance sheet  
    Shareholders funds, etc781.6842.7
    All other liabilities1,208.21,155.7
     Total capital and liabilities1,989.71,998.4
Fixed tangible assets320.5232.5
    All other assets1,669.31,765.9
     Total assets1,989.71,998.4
Ratios—Percent
    Net profit per total sales and other income-7.5
    Total salaries and wages per total sales and other income11.510.0
    Shareholders funds per total capital and liabilities39.342.2
    Fixed assets per total assets16.111.6

24.4 Retail trade and services

Retailing embraces retail businesses, hotels and restaurants, and businesses providing household and personal services. Retail trade is one of the most telling barometers of economic activity, as it constitutes a large proportion of personal expenditure on consumer goods and services.

Retail trade survey

The retail and trade survey is held monthly, although no monthly survey was carried out between July 1991 and June 1992. Data is collected on the sales of goods and services each month, together with the value of stocks held as at the last day of each quarter. The sample of businesses surveyed is drawn from Statistics New Zealand's Business Directory, a comprehensive and up to date list of all businesses in New Zealand.

The retail sales figures were revised in November 1993 back to December 1990 to correct an error in the sample weighting program. The result of these changes was to reduce estimates of quarterly sales over this period. The revisions were largest in storetypes characterised by frequent changes of ownership.

Retail sales trends

The major trends in the retail sector in the year ended March 1994 were:

  • Total actual retail sales increased by 6.4 percent to $31,695 million compared with $29,793 million in the year ended March 1993.

  • The most significant increases were recorded by household appliance stores, up 16.8 percent; furniture stores up 14.9 percent; and automotive vehicle sales outlets, up 10.1 percent.

  • Easy credit deals and lower interest rates have impacted on both the furniture and household appliance storetypes which show strong increases following decreases in earlier years. Increases in the number of new dwellings being built is also being reflected in increased purchases for these storetypes.

  • Butchers and other food stores were the only storetypes to record decreases in the level of sales for the year ended March 1994. Butchers recorded a 4.8 percent decrease, and other food stores recorded a 7.5 percent annual decrease.

The following table shows annual sales for retail trade storetypes.

Table 24.1. ANNUAL ACTUAL RETAIL SALES

 Year ended 31 March
Store type1988198919901991199219931994
$(million)
Butcher495.3479.4479.9426.9363.0347.7331.1
Supermarket3,181.93,667.44,100.94,442.64,535.44,810.05,033.0
Other food1,996.11,949.51,985.41,978.71,880.91,771.71,639.0
Footwear286.9270.3269.5282.0267.6253.8262.5
Clothing and textiles1,282.81,227.81,382.51,350.71,352.41,390.11,435.3
Furniture905.7852.1859.3777.4673.1702.7807.6
Household appliances1,238.31,237.11,349.71,219.51,260.31,305.91,525.6
Hardware506.6529.6553.6596.6648.6717.3769.1
Chemist749.7821.4820.5882.4906.3957.91,016.7
Department and general stores1,364.71,301.51,328.21,294.71,278.21,385.51,466.6
Restaurants and takeaways1,245.01,197.11,244.11,375.51,420.71,536.71,688.3
Liquor and accommodation2,775.02,839.42,940.92,795.92,751.72,751.02,878.2
Other stores1,805.02,000.52,028.82,217.42,330.12,440.82,680.9
Subtotal17,833.018,373.019,343.319,640.419,668.320,371.221,534.0
Automotive—       
vehicle sales7,235.56,169.46,450.05,653.65,114.25,576.96,141.7
fuel and repairs3,167.43,314.43,542.53,668.13,657.53,884.94,019.4
      Total all stores28,535.927,856.929,335.828,962.028,440.029,792.931,695.1
Per head of population8,530.88,394.78,792.48,586.48,325.68,629.69,077.8

Revealing the wide range of merchandise available at a Wellington haberdasher.

Regional sales.

Sales by urban area are one again increasing, following general decreases during 1991 and 1992. For the year ended March 1994 compared with 1993, Auckland recorded the strongest growth in sales, up $810.8 million (9.4 percent), with sales in Christ-church up $230.5 million (7.7 percent). The increase in total sales in New Zealand was $1,902.2 million (6.4 percent).

Table 24.11. ANNUAL SALES BY GEOGRAPHICAL REGION*

North IslandSouth Island
 Combined Auckland urban areaCombined Wellington urban areaRemainder of North IslandTotal North IslandChristchurch urban areaRemainder of South IslandTotal South IslandTotal New Zealand

* March year.

 $(million)    
19889,153.12,813.59,745.621,712.12,400.54,123.36,523.828,235.9
19898,647.02,831.49,789.821,268.12,511.24,077.66,588.827,856.9
19908,658.93,127.210,416.622,202.72,717.84,415.27,133.129,335.8
19918,400.02,992.610,505.121,897.72,588.24,476.17,064.328,962.0
19928,171.72,908.010,216.621,296.32,732.64,411.17,143.728,440.0
19938,656.42,915.010,665.922,237.42,981.94,573.67,555.629,792.9
19949,467.22,839.911,340.923,648.03,212.44,834.78,047.131,695.1

Seasonal adjustment.

To allow direct comparison between figures from different periods, seasonally adjusted values of retail sales have been prepared. Retail trade activity changes during the year in a manner not directly related to economic trends. These changes can simply be due to climatic effects (eg ice-cream sales drop in winter) or calendar effects (eg retail sales increase at Christmas). These effects, which are called seasonal effects, occur every year and can easily mask the often smaller effects of economic trends.

Seasonal adjustment is an attempt to remove seasonal effects, leaving what is called a seasonally adjusted series. This is what we would expect of no climatic or calendar effects were present.

Price indexes have been prepared for the purpose of deflating the retail sales figures to give series in dollars of constant purchasing power, i.e. the adjusted series show the changes in the real volume of retail sales. The principal source of the prices used for these indexes are the commodity prices used in the Consumers Price Index. The prices have been appropriately weighted and the whole index expressed on the base: March quarter 1990 (=1000), so that application of the index to the original figures gives a series in constant March 1990 dollars.

The following table summarises the actual, seasonally adjusted and constant price series for quarterly retail sales and sales per head of population. The graph below illustrates the long-term retail trade series. There is an obvious peak in sales prior to the introduction of GST in October 1986.

Table 24.12. RETAIL SALES SUMMARY BY QUARTER*

 Total retail salesRetail sales per head of populationTotal value of retail stocks
 ActualSeasonally adjustedSeasonally adjusted at March 1990 quarter pricesActualSeasonally adjustedSeasonally adjusted at March 1990 quarter pricesActual

* All previously published figures are subject to revision when the seasonal adjustment program is run each period. Figures are exclusive of GST.

  $(million)   $ 
1992—Jun7,036.57,218.6 R6,983.6 R2,0492,102 R2,033 R2,740.4
Sep7,183.37,368.6 R7,055.7 R2,0982,152 R2,061 R2,852.8
Dec8,159.87,568.9 R7,209.0 R2,3592,188 R2,084 R2,926.0
1993—Mar7,413.27,617.3 R7,220.4 R2,1242,183 R2,069 R2,950.8
Jun7,485.07,693.7 R7,256.9 R2,1552,216 R2,090 R2,943.2
Sep7,646.17,843.2 R7,384.6 R2,2092,266 R2,134 R2,989.8
Dec8,639.58,003.8 R7,536.9 R2,4702,288 R2,155 R3,054.9
1994—Mar7,924.58,145.7 R7,689.8 R2,2432,305 R2,176 R3,098.8
Jun8,101.78,332.57,862.02,303 P2,369 P2,235 P3,132.4 P

RETAIL TRADETotal sales

Table 24.13. RETAIL STOCKS BY STORE TYPE*

 Year ended 31 March
Store type1988198919901991199219931994

* Figures are exclusive of GST.

    $(million)   
Butcher10.410.410.89.15.96.55.5
Supermarket147.0158.6159.9169.4180.5184.4213.4
Other food88.885.182.892.789.685.584.7
Footwear77.069.775.183.474.975.476.1
Clothing and textiles312.9295.1291.5299.0265.4288.7297.1
Furniture164.3169.5160.2134.6112.4117.9132.7
Household appliances208.5179.4181.6178.4189.3176.8203.4
Hardware116.3129.4128.7126.3132.1160.0152.5
Chemist92.197.297.8106.6112.7113.7117.1
Department and general stores256.2265.1271.5232.5258.2279.2275.4
Restaurants and takeaways23.822.423.725.227.131.734.6
    $(million)   
Liquor and accommodation126.5122.9129.6125.1113.1120.3120.7
Other stores381.3412.7435.8475.7477.2508.9537.4
Subtotal2,000.52,017.42,049.02,058.02,038.02,149.02,250.8
Automotive—       
vehicle sales864.8784.1716.8629.0584.7663.1703.6
fuel and repairs119.7123.9132.4124.2139.3138.6144.4
Total all stores2,989.52,925.42,898.22,811.22,762.32,950.83,098.8

Credit sales

Hire-purchase.

Instalment credit trading in New Zealand has grown steadily since this type of credit was introduced in New Zealand. 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. Included in the Act are provisions which prevent oppressive contracts, and ensure the disclosure of the cost of credit on a uniform basis.

Credit card sales.

Credit cards were first introduced in New Zealand in 1981. The use of credit cards for purchases has been steadily increasing, to reach the highest level so far recorded in the year ending December 1993.

The following table gives the annual value of sales by credit cards issued by registered banks, American Express and Diners Club.

CREDIT CARD USETotal advances outstanding

Table 24.14. VALUE OF CREDIT CARD SALES

Billings
Calendar yearTotal advances outstanding*NZ. cardholders spending in New ZealandNZ. cardholders spending overseasTotal

* As at 31 December.

Source: Reserve Bank Bulletin.

$(million)
1987692.51,778.7433.12,211.8
1988790.12,050.7524.72,575.4
1989881.92,238.4571.52,809.9
1990951.12,549.9610.23,160.1
19911,027.8--3,574.7
19921,055.7--3,851.3
19931,129.23,118.9598.54,124.2

Contributors

24.1Ministry of Commerce; Consumers’ Institute; Department of Labour; Department of Justice.
24.2Department of Justice; Ministry of Commerce; Securities Commission; New Zealand Stock Exchange; Statistics New Zealand.
24.3Insurance Council of New Zealand; Treasury; National Provident Fund; Statistics New Zealand.
24.4Statistics New Zealand.

Special articles

Ministry of Consumer Affairs; Consumers’ Institute.

Further information

Controls on trading

  • Report of the Department of Labour (Parl paper G1).

  • Report of the Ministry of Commerce (Parl paper G46).

  • Report of the Licensing Control Commission (Parl paper E8).

Commercial framework

  • Current Issues in New Zealand Competition and Consumer Law. Commerce Commission (series).

  • Report of the Commerce Commission (Parl paper G34).

  • Report of the Department of Justice (Parl paper E5).

  • Report of the Securities Commission (Parl paper E25).

  • Report of the Law Commission (Parl paper E31F).

  • Report of the Serious Fraud Office (Parl paper E.40).

Insurance and superannuation

  • Economy Wide Census: Finance, Insurance and Business Services 1987. Department of Statistics.

  • Report of the Earthquake and War Damage Commission (Parl paper B11).

  • Report of the Government Life Insurance Corporation (Parl paper B22).

  • Report of the State Insurance Office (Parl paper B21).

  • Report of the Government Superannuation Board (Parl paper B20).

  • Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the National Provident Fund.

Domestic trade and services

  • Key Statistics. Statistics New Zealand (monthly).

  • Reserve Bank Bulletin. Reserve Bank of New Zealand (quarterly).

Key statistics and information regarding the sharemarket in New Zealand are produced in daily, weekly, monthly and annual reports.

Chapter 25. Overseas trade

Dragon dance, Wellington Botanical Gardens.

New Zealand is heavily dependent on overseas trade. The 12-member European Union is New Zealand's largest export market, while Australia, Japan and the United States are the most important national markets for exports. Imports to New Zealand have been steadily rising. Australia, the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom are the major suppliers, while imports from Germany, the Republic of China and Taiwan have significantly increased over the last two years. Over recent years New Zealand has tried to diverse its trading markets so as not to depend heavily on the top four trading partners. Many of New Zealand s’ exports are now sent to Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

25.1 Administration and development of trade

New Zealand Trade Development Board

The New Zealand Trade Development Board (Tradenz) is New Zealand's primary export development agency. The board's main function is to foster the development and expansion of New Zealand's foreign exchange earnings, by providing a wide range of services to exporters both domestically and in overseas markets. These services include not only the direct export of commodities and manufactured goods, but also such diverse activities as the sale to overseas buyers of New Zealand services, expertise and technology.

Uniquely placed between the private and public sectors, Tradenz works to stimulate and promote conditions that will help New Zealand businesses compete internationally. To achieve this goal, Tradenz works at two levels: with individual exporters, and in partnership programmes with industry sectors through joint action groups (JAGs).

Its interests extend to encouraging expenditure in New Zealand by tourists and other visitors; the use of New Zealand educational facilities and services by foreign students; and the international marketing of New Zealand talents and skills in the arts and entertainment fields.

Other aspects of the board's activities include a programme of special export awards and commendations given to companies which are identified as outstanding foreign exchange earners.

With its head office in Wellington, Tradenz has three New Zealand regional offices supported by an international network of 33 offices in localities chosen to have the most impact for New Zealand exporters. These offices provide a range of services for exporters in New Zealand, from market research to special product promotions, as well as advising on such local requirements as customs, labelling and health regulations.

Largely government-funded (but with a board of directors drawn mainly from the private sector), Tradenz earns some revenue from exporters who contract services.

Customs and excise

The New Zealand tariff is based on the international Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (Harmonised System). The advantages of the Harmonised System include its widespread use by other countries, among them New Zealand's major trading partners, its convenience for statistical purposes, and greater efficiency in administering duties at the border. An update of the international Harmonised System is to be implemented in 1996.

The tariff has a major role in assistance to industry and is the administrative basis on which New Zealand operates its customs controls and collects duty. The tariff of New Zealand is manual which contains a comprehensive, itemised list of every type of commodity that might be imported. The structure of the list breaks commodities down into broad categories, which are then further refined into very specific, detailed classification of goods. Against each item the tariff indicates the appropriate duty payable depending on their country of origin. A range of goods obtain preferential rates of duty when they originate in certain countries, eg Australia, Canada or least-developed countries. The various types of duty used in tariff include as valorem duties (a straight percentage of the value for duty of the goods), specific duties (set at a fixed sum of money for a given quantity irrespective of value), or combinations of the two, and concessionary duties (including duty free items, such as travellers’ baggage concessions). Ad valorem duties range from duty free to 39 percent. There is limited use of specific duties in the tariff. The trend of policy is in favour of ad valorem duties. Items whose manufacture is outside the scope of local industry are normally duty free.

The following extract from the tariff gives an example of an ad valorem duty:

 Statistical KeyRates of Duty
NumberCodeUnitGoodsNormal TariffPreferential Tariff
2008.602008.60.0100FkgCherries: Cooked and preserved by freezing, not containing added sugar12Au Free
    7/94,11CA Free
    7/95,10LDC 9.5
    7/96,8.57/94,9
     7/95,8
     7/96,7
     LLDC Free
     Pac Free

The left hand columns give identification and statistical codes for the category and sub-category of goods in the example, the middle column gives the relevant description, and the two right hand columns give the normal and preferential rates of duty. For the specific item, cooked and preserved cherries, the standard duty is 12 percent of value progressively phasing in subsequent years as shown. These goods are duty free if they originate in Australia, Canada, least-developed countries or Pacific Forum countries. There is a preferential duty of 9.5 percent and phasing if they originate in a less developed country. The tariff of New Zealand, as well as protecting local industry, has trade policy and development assistance objectives, and is a way of meeting obligations under international trade agreements as well as encouraging trade with less developed countries.

Alcoholic beverages (including beer, wine and spirits), tobacco products and some petroleum products are subject to excise duty. Excise duty is a tax on the manufacture and removal of selected goods from licensed manufacturing areas (which are licensed under the Customs legislation). An excise duty equivalent is also paid on imported goods of a like kind. See chapter 28, Public sector finance, for information on customs and excise revenue.

All goods imported into New Zealand are liable for goods and services tax (GST). The tax is normally payable to the Customs Department at the time of importation. The GST rate effective from 1 July 1989 is 12.5 percent.

Customs Department border operations

The Customs Department border operations provide protection at the border by managing the import and export of goods and the movement of international passengers, aircraft and vessels in accord with customs, immigration, quarantine and other statutory requirements.

Three main activities are involved in border operations: surveillance at New Zealand's airports; the collection and processing of intelligence on potential breaches of the legislation the Customs Department has a responsibility to enforce; and the protection of air, sea and postal borders against the entry of prohibited persons, illicit drugs and other contraband goods.

Overseas trade statistics

New Zealand overseas merchandise trade statistics measure the value and quantity of New Zealand's merchandise exports to and imports from other countries. The statistics are compiled monthly based on entries lodged with the Customs Department by exporters and importers.

Exports are all material goods which leave New Zealand for other countries and are valued ‘fob’ (free on board). The fob value is the market value of the goods at the New Zealand port of loading. It includes all value added in bringing the goods to the port of loading but excludes international freight and associated insurance.

Imports are all material goods which enter New Zealand from abroad and are valued ‘cif’ (cost, insurance and freight) and ‘vfd’ (value for duty). The cif value is the market value of the goods at the New Zealand port of unloading. It includes the value added for cost of international freight and associated insurance. The imports vfd value is the value assessed for duty. It is a close approximation of the fob value at the overseas port of loading. Unless otherwise stated, all imports value quoted in this chapter are the cif value.

Balance of merchandise trade

An important analytical result of New Zealand overseas trade is the ‘balance of merchandise trade’. This is calculated by deducting the import value from the export value for the same period of time. An excess of exports over imports is a ‘surplus’ and is normally indicated by a positive number. Conversely, a ‘deficit’ occurs when imports exceed exports and is normally indicated by a negative sign or brackets.

In the June 1994 year, New Zealand achieved a balance of merchandise trade surplus of $1,339.4 million, compared to the $1,638.0 million surplus for 1993. The lower surplus is due to a 6.6 percent rise in the value imports which was partially offset by a 4.4 percent rise in the value of exports.

Table 25.1. OVERSEAS MERCHANDISE TRADE

Year ended JuneExports (fob)Imports (cif)Balance of merchandise trade
  $(million)
19848,623.99,020.1-396.2
198511,315.812,472.6-1,156.8
198610,571.711,467.0-895.2
198712,107.211,800.2+307.0
198812,451.511,606.5+845.0
198914,905.412,491.4+2,413.9
199015,163.515,770.5-607.0
199115,768.415,325.1+443.3
199217,840.315,483.4+2,356.9
199318,970.817,332.8+1,638.0
199419,808.318,468.9+1339.4

OVERSEAS MERCHANDISE TRADE

25.2 Exports

Exports are valued at fob (free on board), which represents the transaction price of goods and includes costs incurred in delivering the goods on board ships and aircraft at New Zealand ports of export. In this chapter the export values include re-exports which are goods imported into New Zealand and then exported later without being significantly altered. Typical re-exports are aircrafts and heavy machinery.

Exports in the June 1994 year totalled $19,808.3 million, 4.4 percent higher than the June 1993 year. The major commodities contributing to the rise were wool (up 17.0 percent), wood and articles of wood (up 12.7 percent), dairy produce (up 6.3 percent) and fish, crustaceans and molluscs (up 3.7 percent). New Zealand still relies on its primary products, although there has been increases in exports of mechanical machinery (up 15.7 percent), electrical machinery (up 13.7 percent), raw hides and skins (up 11.5 percent) and aluminium (up 2.3 percent).

Table 25.2. MAJOR COMMODITIES EXPORTED*

Value of exports† (fob)Percentage of total exports† (fob)
Commodity199219931994199219931994

* Year ended June.

Includes re-exports.

$(million)
Meat and edible meat offal3,002.23,057.52,873.616.816.114.5
Dairy produce; birds’ eggs; natural honey; edible products of animal origin, not elsewhere specified or included2,377.32,666.32,831.013.314.114.3
Wood and articles of wood; wood charcoal976.71,487.81,676.05.57.88.5
Wool, fine or coarse animal hair; horse hair yarn and woven fabric1,179.9992.61,138.56.65.25.7
Fish and crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates1,077.71,073.41,113.06.05.75.6
Fruit and nuts, edible; peel of citrus fruit or melons854.6745.0762.54.83.93.8
Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof550.7655.3758.23.13.53.8
Aluminium and articles thereof695.1662.4677.73.93.53.4
Raw hides and skins (other than furskins) and leather554.7581.4648.13.13.13.3
Albuminoidal substances; modified starches; glues; enzymes509.3595.8638.92.93.13.2
Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral waxes501.3486.7455.52.82.62.3
Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers parts and accessories of such articles314.2392.7446.31.82.12.3
$(million)
Paper and paperboard; articles of paper pulp, of paper or paperboard429.1436.0423.42.42.32.1
Pulp of wood or other fibrous cellulosic material, waste and scrap of paper or paperboard385.9361.1335.52.21.91.7
Natural or cultured pearls, precious, semi-precious stones, precious metals, metals clad with precious metal, articles thereof; imitation jewellery; coin203.7288.8335.31.11.51.7
Vegetables and certain roots and tubers; edible262.3246.3314.51.51.31.6
Iron and steel314.6306.3288.81.81.61.5
Animal originated products; not elsewhere specified or included285.5263.5265.51.61.41.3
Works of art; collectors’ pieces and antiques312.3276.3258.31.81.51.3
Plastics and articles thereof169.9219.7242.31.01.21.2
Others nes2,883.33,175.93,325.416.216.716.8
Total exports17,840.318,970.819,808.3100.0100.0100.0

MAJOR COMMODITIESExports

Meat and edible offal

In the June 1994 year exports of meat and edible offal were worth $2,873.6 million, 14.5 percent of total exports. This is the lowest value recorded since the June 1991 year and is 6.0 percent lower than $3,057.5 million in the June 1993 year.

Table 25.3. MEAT AND EDIBLE OFFAL EXPORTS* †

Product1991199219931994

* Year ended June.

Fresh, chilled or frozen.

  $(million)
Beef1,283.81,450.81,418.71,384.2
Sheep1,149.61,347.81,389.01,250.7
Goat4.95.55.35.2
Offal139.2189.1234.4224.5
Other8.06.34.73.4
Total meat and edible offal exports2,588.33,002.23,057.52,873.6
Percentage contribution to total exports16.416.816.114.5

New Zealand relies heavily on its traditional markets in Europe and the United States. In the year ended June 1994 New Zealand's exports to the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and France declined significantly, down 18.6 percent, 11.2 percent, 11.8 percent and 11.6 percent respectively. Import restrictions imposed by the United States and a high domestic kill in the States have forced meat exporters to find alternative markets. As a result exports to Canada, Japan, Korea and Mexico have increased markedly, rising 23.1 percent, 6.4 percent, 57.8 percent and 85.4 percent respectively.

Table 25.4. DESTINATION OF MEAT AND EDIBLE OFFAL EXPORTS*

Destination1991199219931994

* Year ended June.

$(million)
Asia370.9389.9419.9469.2
European Union789.3929.21050.2967.7
Canada143.0147.3184.9227.6
United States923.31067.8965.7785.8
Other361.8468.0436.8423.3
Total meat and offal exports2588.33002.23057.52873.6

In the June 1994 year the European Union took 33.7 percent of New Zealand's meat and edible offal making them New Zealand's top customer followed by the United States, Asia and Canada. New Zealand's exports to Canada and Asia have increased significantly, rising 23.1 percent and 11.7 percent respectively.

The majority of New Zealand's meat and edible offal exports to Asia went to Japan ($190.4 million), the Republic of Korea ($87.0 million), Taiwan ($75.0 million) and Hong Kong ($42.5 million).

Dairy produce

In the June 1994 year New Zealand exported $3,379.1 million worth of dairy products, an increase of 6.3 percent from the $3,179.7 million exported in the June 1993 year.

The major types of dairy products exported are milk and cream, butter, casein and caseinates and cheese. The value of all these exports have increased, milk and cream (up 8.2 percent), butter (up 4.7 percent), casein and caseinates (up 6.9 percent) and cheese (up 6.0 percent).

Table 25.5. DAIRY PRODUCE EXPORTS*

Product1991199219931994

* Year ended June.

$(million)
Casein and caseinates411.9443.8522.9558.9
Milk and cream1,047.91,182.51,290.91,396.9
Buttermilk and yoghurt50.263.661.949.1
Whey and other products10.110.49.412.2
Butter542.1701.6796.5834.0
Cheese358.0412.1498.0528.0
     Total dairy produce exports2,420.22,814.03,179.73,379.1
Percentage contribution to total exports15.315.816.817.1

New Zealand dairy products are sold all over the world. Countries such as Angola, Austria, Lithuania, Russia and Taiwan enjoy New Zealand's cheese, butter, milk and cream. New Zealand's top export markets for dairy produce are the United Kingdom and the United States. These countries bought 21.0 percent of New Zealand's dairy produce in the year ended June 1994 compared with 20.5 percent in the year ended June 1993.

Table 25.6. DESTINATION OF DAIRY PRODUCE EXPORTS *

Country of destination1991199219931994

* Year ended June.

Algeria173.974.4146.6133.8
Argentina0.070.724.121.1
Australia68.287.098.8113.9
Belgium6.831.527.321.4
Canada13.313.321.222.9
Chile9.717.323.742.6
Dominican7.113.321.521.0
Egypt7.721.134.840.2
El Salvador5.710.929.10.6
Germany82.175.1112.0121.2
Indonesia47.352.053.153.6
Iran34.016.549.139.3
Jamaica14.012.920.115.3
Japan216.5286.9272.4254.5
Republic of Korea25.332.938.936.9
Kuwait3.38.521.518.4
Malaysia162.8203.7217.5218.2
Mexico114.1155.8197.9199.1
Morocco4.128.526.727.8
Netherlands20.512.532.453.9
Peru36.843.059.287.3
Philippines79.2101.1163.2148.1
Russia--92.096.8
Saudi Arabia61.961.570.873.9
Singapore41.247.753.540.7
Sri Lanka33.547.956.260.6
Taiwan67.3101.2134.0138.3
Thailand60.160.676.975.3
United Kingdom274.1376.7381.5383.1
United States of America266.3288.8269.5325.4
Venezuela86.790.681.093.2
Other397.0370.1273.1401.0
      Total exports of dairy products2,420.22,814.03,179.73,379.1
Contribution to total exports15.315.716.817.1

DAIRY PRODUCE EXPORTS

FOREST PRODUCE EXPORTS

Forestry products

Forestry products exported in the June 1994 year rose to $2,434.8 million, an increase of 6.6 percent compared with $2,284.8 million in the 1993 trade year. This increase is due to a 12.7 percent rise in exports of wood and wood articles.

Table 25.7. FORESTRY PRODUCT EXPORTS *

Product1991199219931994

* Year ended June.

$(million)
Wood pulp, etc398.0385.9361.1335.5
Paper and paperboard368.2429.1436.0423.4
Wood (rough)338.1377.4702.3783.0
Sawn or chipped wood208.9275.2400.0486.4
Fibreboard128.1162.6193.2180.2
Other123.5161.5192.2226.4
Total forestry product exports1,564.81,791.62,284.82,434.8
Percentage contribution to total exports9.010.012.012.3

The majority of New Zealand's forestry products were exported to Australia, Japan and the Republic of Korea. In the June 1994 year forestry products increased to Australia, Japan and the Republic of Korea by 6.2 percent, 7.4 percent and 4.3 percent respectively.

Forestry products include wood and wood articles, paper and paperboard and wood pulp. In the June 1994 year paper and paperboard exports declined 2.9 percent. This decrease was caused by decreases in exports to Hong Kong and Malaysia which are our second and third major buyers of paper and paperboard after Australia. Wood pulp exports also declined, down 7.1 percent to $335.5 million in the 1994 trade year.

Table 25.8. DESTINATION OF FORESTRY PRODUCT EXPORTS*

Country1991199219931994

* Year ended June.

$(million)
Australia484.9621.2680.4722.8
Japan454.6471.5636.9683.9
Korea, Republic of163.3195.3328.5342.6
Taiwan92.9113.3132.3114.4
China, Peoples Republic of46.244.190.898.0
Hong Kong39.049.464.762.6
Singapore28.634.332.724.7
United States of America10.627.570.0145.5
Other244.8235.0248.6240.4
     Total for forestry products1,564.81,791.62,284.82,434.8
Percentage of total exports9.910.012.012.3

Fish, crustaceans and molluscs

Exports of fresh, frozen and chilled fish, crustaceans and molluscs were $1,113.0 million, up 3.7 percent compared with $1,073.4 million in the year ended June 1993. Orange roughy retained its position as the industries top fish earner, up 1.3 percent to $184.1 million, followed by hoki $139.7 million and snapper $56.7 million. Mollusc exports rose sharply, up 49.4 percent to $210.1 million. This increase was influenced by the end of most of the shellfish bans. Another large increase occurred in squid exports rising 96.7 percent to $111.3 million. Squid exports significantly increased to, the United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea rising 77.5 percent, 572.3 percent and 54.2 percent respectively.

Table 25.9. FISH, CRUSTACEAN AND MOLLUSC EXPORTS*

Product1991199219931994

* Year ended June.

Fresh, chilled and frozen    
Orange roughy135.5163.0181.8184.1
Snapper46.364.161.556.7
Hoki92.5208.0170.7139.7
Surimi23.836.843.425.8
Crustacea87.6118.0114.8129.0
Molluscs112.9155.5140.6210.1
Other fish249.8332.2360.6367.6
      Total fresh, chilled and frozen748.41,077.71,073.41,113.0
Preserved and prepared    
Fish16.726.936.132.3
Crustacea and molluscs24.835.648.161.6
Total preserved and prepared41.562.584.293.9
      Total fish, crustacean and mollusc exports789.91,140.21,157.61,206.9
Percentage contribution to total exports5.06.46.16.1

The fishing industry launched a major campaign to develop exports to Europe and Asia, to reduce New Zealand's potentially dangerous over-exposure to the Japanese market. Exports to Japan decreased from $365.6 million in the June 1993 year to $344.2 million in the June 1994 year, a decline of 5.9 percent. New Zealand fish, crustacean and mollusc exports to Australia, Spain, the Republic of Korea, Netherlands, Hong Kong and Taiwan have all increased.

SEAFOOD EXPORTS

Table 25.1. DESTINATION OF FISH, CRUSTACEAN AND MOLLUSC EXPORTS*

Country1991199219931994

* Year ended June.

$(million)
Australia92.7111.7121.6129.0
Japan261.4364.6365.6344.3
Spain10.720.721.537.2
Taiwan5.415.327.539.8
Thailand13.423.026.020.0
United Kingdom19.526.918.215.7
United States of America218.4298.9294.7290.9
Other168.4279.1282.5330.1
      Total exports of fish, crustaceans and molluscs789.91140.21157.61206.9

Wool

New Zealand's exports of wool (not carded or combed) has had a very successful year in 1994. In the June year wool exports increased 17.0 percent, valued at $1,054.2 million. Wool exports contributed to 5.3 percent of New Zealand's total exports in the June 1994 compared with 4.7 percent in the year ended June 1993.

China's return to the wool market helped boost New Zealand's wool exports. Wool exports to China increased 53.2 percent from $186.9 million in the year ended June 1993 to $286.2 million in the year ended June 1994. Other countries contributing to the rise were India (up 60.6 percent), Australia (up 34.4 percent), the United Kingdom (up 27.4 percent) and Hong Kong (up 21.0 percent).

Table 25.11. DESTINATION OF WOOL EXPORTS*

Country1991199219931994

* Year ended June.

Australia44.040.837.049.7
Belgium69.386.662.565.5
China90.6222.7186.9286.2
Germany71.473.555.854.3
Hong Kong13.644.546.456.1
India74.643.344.671.6
Italy52.643.841.548.4
Japan129.697.374.968.5
Korea28.915.35.39.7
Nepal39.374.983.152.6
Turkey18.225.027.317.5
United Kingdom80.281.771.390.8
United States of America39.344.342.340.5
Other211.0187.7121.9142.8
      Total for wool962.61081.4900.81054.2
Percentage of total exports6.16.04.75.3

Fruit and nuts

In the June 1994 year exports of fruit and nuts were valued at $762.5 million, 2.3 percent higher than the $745.0 recorded in the June 1993 year. New Zealand's fruit and nut exports in the June 1994 year are lower than in both the 1991 and 1992 June years.

Kiwifruit is New Zealand's top fruit export accounting for 50.0 percent of fruit and nut exports. Kiwifruit exports have increased 13.9 percent in the June 1994 year to $381.1 million, this value is still 16.4 percent lower than the June 1992 year but 13.9 percent higher than the year ended June 1993 when kiwifruit prices were at an all time low in Europe and Japan. New Zealand's fresh apple exports were worth $311.1 million in the June 1994 year, declining 9.1 percent compared with $342.2 million in the June 1993 year. The varieties of fresh apples contributing to the fall were Sturmer (down 63.5 percent), Granny Smith (down 49.9 percent), Red Delicious (down 48.5 percent) and Gala (down 22.1 percent).

Table 25.12. FRUIT AND NUT EXPORTS*

Product1991199219931994

* Year ended June.

$(million)
Kiwifruit437.7456.0334.6381.1
Apples297.3325.9342.2311.1
Berries7.810.810.29.7
Pears7.99.37.29.2
Nuts0.10.30.40.5
Other (including dried and preserved)41.152.650.550.8
      Total fruit and nut exports791.8854.6745.0762.5
Percentage contribution to total exports5.04.83.93.8

Countries receiving the majority of our fruit exports are Japan $133.2 million (up 23.1 percent), the United Kingdom $77.6 million (down 17.7 percent) and Australia $37.3 million (down 17.1 percent). In many cases our fruit exports are sold on consignment whereby the fruit is not sold when it leaves the country. These fruit exports are classified as ‘Destination unknown’. In the June 1994 year the fruit and nut consignment goods collated to $304.1 million.

WOOL EXPORTS To China

FRUIT EXPORTS

Table 25.13. DESTINATION OF FRUIT AND NUT EXPORTS*

Country1991199219931994

* Year ended June.

$(million)
Australia41.848.345.037.3
Hong Kong7.010.315.216.9
Japan140.2136.3108.2133.2
Singapore10.914.517.622.3
Taiwan8.811.013.410.3
United Kingdom81.596.794.277.6
United States of America103.3114.473.279.2
EC but country unknown333.4342.9312.5304.1
Other64.980.265.781.6
      Total fruit and nut exports791.8854.6745.0762.5

25.3 Imports

In this chapter imports are valued at cif (cost, insurance and freight) which is the cost of buying the goods and bringing them to a New Zealand port.

Statistics on imports valued at vfd (value on duty) are also available. This is the value used to assess customs duty and equates approximately with the fob (free on board) value used for exports.

Imports are valued in New Zealand dollars. Foreign currency values are converted to New Zealand dollars at the time an import entry is lodged with the New Zealand Customs Department. The exchange rate used for the conversion is set on a two weekly basis.

Total imports for the June 1994 year exceeded the $18 billion mark, reaching a record value of $18,468.9 million, an increase of 6.6 percent compared with $17,332.8 million for the 1993 trade year.

Table 25.14. MAJOR COMMODITIES IMPORTED*

 Value of imports† (cif)Percentage of total imports† (cif)
Commodity199219931994199219931994

* Year ended June.

Includes re-imports.

$(million)
Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof2,119.12,506.72,958.013.714.516.0
Vehicles; other than railway or tramway rolling stock, and parts and accessories thereof1,515.81,797.62,200.89.810.411.9
Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders an reproducers parts and accessories of such articles1,527.61,663.01,786.49.99.69.7
Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral waxes1,093.51,176.11,068.27.16.85.8
Plastics and articles thereof682.3807.4843.34.44.74.6
Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; parts and accessories492.0567.5612.03.23.33.3
Pharmaceutical products445.7500.8519.82.92.92.8
Paper and paperboard; articles of paper pulp, of paper or paperboard440.9548.3485.62.83.22.6
Aircraft, spacecraft and parts thereof549.6618.5434.33.53.62.4
Iron and steel267.3325.8376.11.71.92.0
Inorganic chemicals; organic and inorganic compounds of precious metals; of rare earthmetals, of radio-active elements and of isotopes442.2363.5364.62.92.12.0
Printed books, newspapers, pictures and other products of the printing industry; manuscripts, typescripts and plans291.6316.5326.21.91.81.8
Organic chemicals229.6252.0299.41.51.51.6
Iron or steel articles312.6243.9269.92.01.41.5
Chemical products nes218.2233.6264.41.41.31.4
Rubber and articles thereof198.9245.6256.01.31.41.4
Toys, games and sports requisites; parts and accessories thereof151.4183.8186.41.01.11.0
 $(million)     
Apparel and clothing accessories; not knitted or crocheted140.6175.8181.20.91.01.0
Fertilizers109.8148.8178.80.70.91.0
Aluminium and articles thereof180.9179.8176.91.21.01.0
Other nes4,073.84,477.84,680.626.325.825.3
Total imports15,483.417,332.818,468.9100.0100.0100.0

MAJOR COMMODITIES Imports

Mechanical and electrical machinery

Imports of mechanical and electrical machinery were $4,744.4 million in the June 1994 year, up 13.8 percent from the previous year. The main types of machinery imported in 1994 were computers ($562.1 million), parts and accessories ($255.1 million), telephone and communication equipment ($178.6 million), records, tapes etc ($171.7 million) and turbo jets and propellers ($154.1 million).

The United States of America is the largest supplier of machinery to New Zealand, followed by Japan and Australia. In the June 1994 year imports from the United States, Japan and Australia increased 14.8 percent, 16.6 percent and 2.9 percent respectively.

Table 25.15. MAJOR SUPPLIERS OF MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL MACHINERY *

Country1991199219931994
* Year ended June.
$(million)
Australia458.9451.1482.0495.9
Germany268.4199.1231.9275.3
Japan726.7668.5728.2848.9
Taiwan122.8147.3184.5219.8
United Kingdom278.3248.1293.1317.7
United States894.3949.11,137.51,305.8
Other1,236.9983.51,112.61,281.0
Total imports of electrical and mechanical machinery3,986.33,646.74,169.84,744.4
Percentage contribution to total imports26.023.624.125.7

Vehicles

In the June 1994 year 113,257 vehicles were imported into New Zealand compared with 94,460 in 1993, an increase of 20.0 percent. The value of the vehicles imported also rose from $1,080.0 million to $1,342.2 million in 1994, increasing 24.3 percent.

Japan is the major supplier of vehicles to New Zealand. In 1994 imports of vehicles from Japan numbered 94,738, up 20.7 percent from 78,467 imported in 1993. The value increased from $726.3 million in 1993 to $902.9 million in 1994.

The number of unassembled new vehicles imported decreased to 30,709 from 31,331 imported in June 1993 and assembled new vehicles rose 33.6 percent to 26,288. Used cars imported rose 29.5 percent to 56,260 in 1994 valued at $289.9 million.

Unloading Japanese used cars at Port Chalmers.

VEHICLE IMPORTS From Japan

Table 25.16. VEHICLE IMPORTS*

 19931994
Commodity$(million)Quantity$(million)Quantity
* Year ended June.
Imports/vehicles    
Unassembled—new442.131,331434.730,709
Assembled—new434.919,673617.526,288
Assembled—used203.043,456289.956,260
      Total unassembled and assembled1,080.094,4601,342.2113,257
Vehicle imports from Japan    
Unassembled—new400.029,048434.730,706
Assembled137.36,895205.99,796
Used189.042,524262.354,236
      Total imports from Japan726.378,467902.994,738

Mineral fuels

In the June 1994 year imports of mineral fuels were $1,068.2 million, down 9.2 percent from $1,176.1 million in 1993. Mineral fuels accounted for 5.8 percent of all imports compared with 6.8 percent the previous year. Crude petroleum oils makes up 72.3 percent of all mineral fuels with non-crude oils 21.6 percent. The value of crude and non-crude petroleum oils has declined 10.2 percent and 13.5 percent respectively.

Table 25.17. MINERAL FUEL IMPORTS*

Commodity1991199219931994
* Year ended June.
$(million)
Crude petroleum oils954.9801.0860.7772.6
Non-crude petroleum oils256.3237.5266.3230.2
Petroleum coke, bitumen and residues39.629.623.639.3
Other26.025.425.526.1
     Total mineral fuel imports1,276.81,093.51,176.11,068.2
Percentage contribution to total imports8.37.16.85.8

Saudi Arabia supplied 46.6 percent of crude petroleum imports in the June 1994 year and the United Arab Emirates, 26.2 percent. The decrease is influenced by world oil prices. Australia was the top supplier of non-crude mineral fuels, providing $182.1 million in 1994, 79.1 percent of these imports.

Table 25.18. MINERAL FUEL SUPPLIERS*

CountryCrude petroleumNon-crude petroleumOtherTotal
* Year ended June.
$(million)
Saudi Arabia360.20.04.0364.2
Australia70.5182.14.9257.5
United Arab Emirates202.1-0.0202.1
Other139.848.156.5244.5
     Total mineral fuels imports772.6230.265.41,068.2

Plastic and plastic articles

In the June 1994 year New Zealand imported $843.3 million of plastic and plastic articles compared with $807.4 million last year, an increase of 4.4 percent. Since 1990 imports of plastic and plastic articles have increased 29.1 percent.

The two main suppliers of plastics are Australia and the United States, who collectively supplied 47.4 percent of all plastic imports in 1994. Other major suppliers of plastics to New Zealand are Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom and Taiwan.

Table 25.19. PLASTIC AND PLASTIC ARTICLE IMPORTS*

Country1991199219931994

* Year ended June.

 $(million)
Australia144.4164.5198.3199.8
Canada21.620.820.820.8
Germany32.539.849.152.5
Japan60.266.672.469.8
Korea, Republic of10.018.926.833.1
Netherlands16.514.120.221.2
Taiwan29.634.745.545.4
United Kingdom44.344.147.451.3
United States of America165.3167.4187.8200.0
Other107.8111.4139.1149.4
     Total plastic and plastic article imports632.2682.3807.4843.3
Percentage contribution of imports4.14.44.74.6

25.4 Major trading partners

New Zealand's pattern of trade reflects the country's efforts over the last two decades to diversify both its markets and its range of products. Although Australia, the European Union (EU), Asia and the United States of America still account for the majority of New Zealand's overseas trade, important trade links have been developed with other nations in Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

Exports to Asia (including Japan) now account for nearly 35.1 percent of all New Zealand's exports. Imports from Asia made up 30.1 percent of New Zealand's imports.

Table 25.2. TRADE BY GEOGRAPHICAL REGION AND COUNTRY*

 Exports (fob)Imports (cif)
Country199219931994199219931994

* Year ended June.

Includes re-imports.

$(million)
Africa      
Angola0.00.03.90.00.0-
Benin--0.00.00.0-
Botswana0.91.94.10.10.1-
Burkina Faso--0.1---
Burundi0.00.0----
Cameroon, Republic of0.00.00.0--0.1
Cape Verde--0.0---
Comoros--0.1--0.0
Congo0.00.30.00.00.00.0
Cote d’Ivoire0.00.90.00.10.10.2
Djibouti0.00.00.1---
Ethiopia0.01.00.00.00.10.0
Gabon--0.0---
Gambia0.10.0-0.00.00.0
Ghana0.11.30.50.50.40.6
Guinea--0.0---
Kenya0.60.51.02.02.63.3
Lesotho---0.00.00.0
Madagascar0.00.10.40.10.10.2
Malawi0.81.40.73.93.42.9
Mali0.00.0-0.00.00.0
Mauritania0.00.00.0--0.0
Mauritius32.228.729.20.70.80.5
Mozambique0.30.20.70.00.00.0
Namibia0.00.00.20.00.20.1
Niger0.00.0-0.00.0-
Nigeria2.74.92.10.00.00.0
Reunion2.94.55.2---
Rwanda0.00.00.2---
Sao Tome and Principe0.00.10.1--0.0
Senegal0.41.71.20.00.00.0
Seychelles0.10.20.20.00.0-
Sierra Leone0.00.00.00.00.00.0
Somalia0.00.30.0---
South Africa27.937.540.119.726.148.0
St Helena---0.00.0-
Swaziland0.20.0-1.00.60.1
Tanzania United Republic of0.53.20.31.10.61.4
Togo--0.1---
Uganda0.00.20.00.00.00.0
Zaire0.00.0-0.00.10.1
Zambia0.10.20.10.00.00.0
Zimbabwe0.61.13.14.05.53.4
      Total for Africa70.690.394.033.240.560.9
Percentage of total exports/imports0.40.50.50.20.20.3
Antarctica      
Antarctic, USA0.00.00.1---
      Total for Antarctica0.00.00.1---
Percentage of total exports/imports0.00.00.0---
Asia      
Afghanistan0.00.00.10.20.30.2
Bangladesh5.710.511.96.19.96.1
Bhutan0.00.00.1---
Brunei Darussalam6.55.314.40.00.00.0
Cambodia0.01.80.10.00.00.0
China, Peoples Republic of361.5368.1528.6354.1506.7570.1
Hong Kong362.8412.7481.9207.7231.2218.7
India97.4139.1163.358.881.488.2
Indonesia232.8246.5210.187.0125.0145.4
Japan2,715.12,759.12,886.82,375.12,652.62,928.1
Korea, Democratic Peoples Republic0.00.31.40.00.00.0
Korea, Republic of766.6857.1928.6242.9280.1297.4

MAJOR TRADING PARTNERS 1994

$(million)
Lao, Peoples Democratic Republic0.00.80.00.00.00.0
Macau0.32.60.42.92.21.9
Malaysia470.5382.6392.8151.0238.5222.5
Maldives0.31.00.90.00.00.0
Mongolia---0.00.00.1
Myanmar (formerly Burma)0.20.00.20.10.10.2
Nepal75.283.954.00.10.30.5
Pakistan25.126.519.540.549.049.8
Philippines135.9205.3202.124.134.946.0
Singapore286.6289.7269.6357.2238.5296.5
Sri Lanka52.463.967.510.811.610.5
Taiwan, Province of China430.8486.7507.3428.6483.1518.1
Thailand177.0208.5192.2116.4135.7147.8
Viet Nam7.212.527.61.01.53.4
     Total for Asia6,209.96,564.36,961.64,464.65,082.75,551.7
Percentage of total exports/imports34.834.635.128.829.330.1
Eastern Europe      
Albania---0.00.00.0
Armenia--0.00.00.0-
Azerbaijan---0.00.00.0
Bosnia/Herzegovina---0.00.0-
Bulgaria0.40.40.20.40.30.3
Croatia0.00.11.10.00.30.6
Czech Republic0.00.92.10.04.59.2
Czechoslovakia2.41.2-7.14.0-
Estonia--0.0--0.0
Georgia--0.00.00.00.0
Hungary1.11.21.63.33.32.5
Kazakhstan--0.30.00.00.3
Kyrgyzstan-----0.0
Latvia--0.00.00.00.0
Lithuania--74.1---
Macedonia-----0.1
Poland2.42.72.13.75.54.7
Romania0.20.00.01.11.51.6
Russia0.0107.6134.40.05.76.3
Slovakia, Slovak Republic0.00.10.4--0.1
Slovenia0.00.00.10.01.52.5
Tajikistan--0.2---
Turkmenistan---0.00.10.0
U.S.S.R99.50.0-4.10.0-
Ukraine0.00.52.90.06.00.0
Uzbekistan0.02.2----
Yugoslavia0.10.21.73.31.40.0
      Total for Eastern Europe106.1117.2221.123.034.328.4
Percentage of total exports/imports0.60.61.10.10.20.2
Latin America-Carribean      
Antigua and Barbuda0.30.30.3---
Argentina88.164.836.721.320.824.5
Aruba0.10.10.3---
Bahamas2.02.51.91.30.80.7
Barbados13.311.412.00.00.10.1
Belize1.40.30.00.00.00.0
Bermuda3.94.94.70.30.21.1
Bolivia0.10.52.80.00.10.0
Brazil18.4111.920.167.068.874.6
British Virgin Islands---0.00.0-
Cayman Islands--0.00.10.00.1
Chile30.538.357.211.610.512.0
Colombia4.57.41.13.04.14.3
Costa Rica0.30.10.30.40.30.4
Cuba79.813.311.331.39.00.0
Dominica0.20.00.00.10.00.1
Dominican Republic13.321.521.00.10.00.1
Ecuador0.90.412.053.135.528.5
El Salvador11.029.20.70.10.00.0
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)0.10.00.00.00.0-
French Guiana0.70.60.8---
Grenada1.61.42.1---
Guadeloupe7.47.07.7---
Guatemala1.82.932.40.30.80.9
Guyana1.43.33.81.11.50.0
Haiti0.00.10.60.00.00.0
Honduras1.70.10.20.50.50.4
Jamaica14.322.217.35.55.75.6
Martinique5.95.85.9---
$(million)
Mexico187.9246.8279.613.415.919.6
Montserrat0.00.1----
Nicaragua0.80.00.60.10.00.2
Panama10.813.613.56.624.420.8
Paraguay0.10.30.00.00.00.0
Peru43.560.188.43.59.77.1
Puerto Rico3.35.31.820.720.624.4
St. Kitts-Nevis0.10.10.2---
St. Lucia1.11.42.2--0.0
St. Vincent and Grenadines0.10.00.20.00.00.0
Suriname0.00.00.10.00.0-
Trinidad and Tobago13.918.012.30.20.10.1
Turks and Caicos Islands0.00.0----
U.S. Virgin Islands0.60.20.60.10.0-
Uruguay1.02.23.70.20.10.1
Venezuela91.281.594.41.31.00.9
      Total for Latin America-Carribean657.7779.8750.9242.9230.7226.7
Percentage of total exports/imports3.74.13.81.61.31.2
Middle East      
Algeria78.7146.6133.8---
Bahrain15.712.815.51.53.23.5
Egypt29.748.050.93.67.07.4
Iran (Islamic Republic of)183.8131.672.818.130.351.5
Iraq0.30.0---0.0
Israel1.92.44.540.943.751.3
Jordan36.747.631.81.06.325.1
Kuwait13.226.524.4---
Lebanon0.81.51.00.00.00.1
Libyan Arab Republic4.62.75.0---
Morocco32.128.528.324.928.527.4
Oman14.017.115.89.722.529.3
Qatar4.84.43.30.51.30.2
Saudi Arabia205.6227.7215.9507.9397.5375.6
Sudan1.30.00.00.00.00.3
Syrian Arab Republic5.417.75.2--0.0
Tunisia10.94.05.10.10.00.0
United Arab Emirates42.344.840.4183.5252.2202.4
Yemen21.618.217.9--0.1
      Total for Middle East703.4782.0671.6791.6792.5774.2
Percentage of exports/imports3.94.13.45.14.64.2
North America      
Canada266.4311.9361.9262.2267.5300.5
United States of America2,293.02,256.62,228.72,808.03,198.83,321.5
      Total for North America2,559.42,568.52,590.63,070.23,466.33,622.0
Percentage of total exports/imports14.313.513.119.820.019.6
Oceania      
American Samoa30.729.533.30.00.10.3
Australia3,387.93,785.24,143.43,426.73,747.33,942.2
Christmas Island--0.00.00.0-
Cocos (Keeling) Islands---0.00.00.0
Cook Islands41.146.250.33.02.82.7
Fiji178.5220.8215.767.050.146.2
French Polynesia100.6100.897.70.50.40.7
Guam20.513.219.70.00.00.2
Kiribati4.33.34.40.00.00.0
Marshall Islands3.62.12.40.00.10.1
Micronesia0.40.40.40.00.00.0
Nauru8.117.43.535.940.638.7
Netherlands Antilles1.02.41.4--0.0
New Caledonia54.473.365.50.20.11.3
Niue6.05.05.30.00.40.3
Norfolk Island8.67.95.80.00.00.0
Northern Mariana Islands3.12.11.30.00.00.0
Palau0.10.20.3---
Papua New Guinea97.597.5122.77.040.741.8
Pitcairn0.20.40.10.00.00.0
Samoa88.397.686.86.69.65.8
Solomon Islands14.216.718.51.21.21.1
Tokelau0.10.10.50.00.00.0
Tonga30.632.239.02.51.61.5
Tuvalu1.10.90.90.00.00.0
US Minor Outlying Islands--0.4---
Vanuatu11.112.913.90.10.20.2
Wallis and Futuna Islands4.25.85.1---
      Total for Oceania4,096.24,573.74,938.53,550.83,895.24,083.0
New Zealand wholemilk powder available in the Middle East
$(million)
Percentage of total exports/imports23.024.124.922.922.522.1
Western Europe
Andorra--0.1---
Austria11.313.617.443.855.643.8
Belarus--0.20.00.60.1
Belgium227.3224.8239.1105.6108.1133.7
Cyprus4.86.19.10.10.00.0
Denmark34.731.337.476.287.488.2
EU but country unknown343.0313.0304.2---
Faeroe Islands0.30.70.60.00.01.4
Finland9.19.27.944.284.683.6
France217.3221.6211.6270.3305.5318.6
Germany, Federal Republic415.4488.8490.8639.3728.9807.1
Gibraltar0.30.30.20.10.6-
Greece76.968.470.53.76.67.6
Greenland-----8.4
Iceland0.20.20.30.30.33.1
Ireland16.223.018.044.184.257.3
Italy213.7200.3265.3351.3389.1481.4
Liechtenstein0.00.00.00.00.20.3
Luxembourg0.30.00.26.613.99.3
Malta3.54.56.40.10.10.0
Monaco0.00.00.20.10.20.3
Netherlands93.092.8123.1169.0195.7213.2
Norway6.36.66.1102.269.750.7
Portugal44.938.825.122.619.218.4
Spain98.668.290.849.657.158.3
Sweden48.646.143.5187.2232.9317.4
Switzerland51.267.558.1162.5192.1208.4
Turkey52.584.3121.812.710.310.7
United Kingdom1,165.11,216.81,182.3938.51,061.41,111.6
Vatican City State---0.10.00.0
      Total for Western Europe3,134.33227.13,329.93,230.03,704.24,033.0
Percentage of total exports/imports17.617.016.820.921.421.8
New Zealand (re-imports)---77.186.589.0
Percentage of total imports---0.50.50.5
Not allocated -      
Bunkering206.9144.4126.0---
Passengers’ baggage33.779.394.2---
Ship's stores61.944.029.8---
      Total not allocated302.6267.8250.0---
Percentage of total exports/imports1.71.41.3---
      Total exports/imports17,840.318,970.819,808.315,483.417,332.818,468.9

Discussing the translation of the Wild South documentaries into Japanese.

New Zealand's top 10 export trading partners have changed ranking compared with the order in 1993. China has leaped to sixth position followed by Taiwan, Germany, Hong Kong and Malaysia. New Zealand's top 10 import trading partners have also changed ranking, Italy is now in eighth position followed by Saudi Arabia and France.

In June 1994 New Zealand's top 10 trading partners purchased 69.5 percent of its total exports and supplied 77.8 of its imports. Australia, Japan, the United States of America and the United Kingdom are the top four major trading partners. These countries collectively bought 52.7 percent of New Zealand's exports and supplied 61.2 percent of its imports in the June 1994 year.

Table 25.21. TOP 10 COUNTRIES FOR EXPORTS*

 Value of exports† (fob)Percentage of total exports (fob)
Country199219931994199219931994

* Year ended June.

Includes re-imports.

Includes bunkering, ship stores and passengers’ baggage.

 $(million)
Australia3,387.93,785.24,143.419.020.020.9
Japan2,715.12,759.12,886.815.214.514.6
United States of America2293.02,256.62,228.712.911.911.3
United Kingdom1,165.11,216.81,182.36.56.46.0
Korea, Republic of766.6857.1928.64.34.54.7
China, Peoples Republic of361.5368.1528.62.01.92.7
Taiwan430.8486.7507.32.42.62.6
Germany415.4488.8490.82.32.62.5
Hong Kong362.8412.7481.92.02.22.4
Malaysia470.5382.6392.82.62.02.0
     Total for top 10 countries12,368.713,013.513,771.469.368.669.5
All other countries† ‡5,471.65,957.36,036.930.731.430.5
      Total exports17,840.318,970.819,808.3100.0100.0100.0

Table 25.22. TOP 10 COUNTRIES FOR IMPORTS*

 Value of imports (cif)Percentage of total imports (cif)
Country199219931994199219931994

* Year ended June.

Includes re-imports.

  $(million)    
Australia3,426.73,747.33,942.222.121.621.3
United States of America2,808.03,198.83,321.518.118.518.0
Japan2,375.12,652.62,928.115.315.315.9
United Kingdom938.51,061.41,111.66.16.16.0
  $(million)    
Germany639.3728.9807.14.14.24.4
China, Peoples Republic of354.1506.7570.12.32.93.1
Taiwan428.6483.1518.12.82.82.8
Italy351.3389.1481.42.32.22.6
Saudi Arabia507.9397.5375.63.32.32.0
France270.3305.5318.61.71.81.7
      Total for top 10 countries12,099.713,470.814,374.478.177.777.8
All other countries†3,383.83,862.04,094.521.922.322.2
      Total imports15,483.417,332.818,468.9100.0100.0100.0

Australia

Australia, New Zealand's top trading partner, bought 20.9 percent of New Zealand's exports and supplied 21.3 percent of its imports in the June 1994 year. Trade with Australia continues to rise, with both exports and imports reaching record levels for the June 1994 year.

The strong growth in trade with Australia is underpinned by the Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (ANZCERTA), which provided for free trade in goods between the two countries from 1 July 1990. This agreement was signed in 1983.

The main commodities exported to Australia were wood and wood articles ($394.4 million), Mechanical machinery ($391.7 million) and Pearls and precious stones (mainly gold) ($312.2 million). In the June 1994 year these exports to Australia all rose, 12.3 percent, 27.8 percent and 14.3 percent respectively. Vehicles, mechanical machinery and mineral fuels were the main imports from Australia.

Table 25.23. MAJOR COMMODITIES TRADED WITH AUSTRALIA*

Commodity1991199219931994

* Year ended June.

 $(million)
Exports    
Wood and wood articles231.9294.0351.1394.4
Mechanical machinery280.4255.3306.5391.7
Pearls, gold etc97.2187.2273.2312.2
Paper and paperboard202.6264.2257.9264.7
Mineral fuels310.6300.6259.5260.5
Electrical machinery161.5163.3171.2190.9
Iron, steel and articles125.2144.8173.9162.7
Plastics and articles89.7111.8141.2157.3
Other1,438.31,666.61,850.72,009.1
      Total exports to Australia2,937.43,387.93,785.24,143.4
Percentage contribution to total exports18.619.020.020.9
Imports    
Vehicles220.5283.8298.6347.3
Mechanical machinery254.1233.4242.1264.1
Mineral fuels181.0237.3260.2257.5
Electrical machinery204.8217.7239.9231.8
Inorganic chemicals269.5293.8219.4221.8
Plastics and articles144.4164.5198.3199.8
Paper and paperboard107.5138.8197.5143.7
Printed books etc86.895.2105.7113.8
Other1,648.71,762.11,985.62,162.4
      Total imports to Australia3,117.23,426.73,747.33,942.2
Percentage contribution to total imports20.322.121.621.3

IMPORTS FROM AUSTRALIA

TRADE WITH USA

Table 25.24. TRADE WITH AUSTRALIA

Year ended JuneExports(fob)Imports(cif)Balance
 $(million)
19841,291.41,809.6-518.2
19851,835.72,304.0-468.3
19861,821.81,898.0-76.2
19871,794.92,119.8-324.9
19882,073.82,468.3-394.6
19892,603.82,672.9-69.1
19902,980.23,257.3-277.2
19912,937.43,117.2-179.7
19923,387.93,426.7-38.8
19933,785.23,747.337.8
19944,143.43,942.2201.2

United States of America

The United States of America is New Zealand's third largest export market, behind Australia and Japan, and the second largest supplier of New Zealand's imports.

Exports to the United States of America were worth $2,228.7 million in 1994, decreasing 1.3 percent compared with $2,256.6 million in 1993. Meat and edible offal (down 18.6 percent) was the main contributor to the decrease.

Imports to the United States in the June 1994 year were $3,321.5 million, up 3.8 percent compared with 1993. Imports of mechanical and electrical machinery, vehicles, plastics and organic chemicals all increased.

The major commodities exported to the United States of America are primary and agricultural based produce. In the June 1994 year the main commodities exported included $785.8 million worth of meat and edible offal, $286.6 million of fish, crustaceans and molluscs, and $267.3 million worth of albuninoidal substances such as casein.

Imports from the United States consisted of mechanical and electrical machinery worth $1,305.8 million, optical and medical equipment worth $209.8 million, plastic and plastic articles worth $200.0 million and vehicles worth $118.7 million.

EXPORTS TO AUSTRALIA

Table 25.25. TRADE WITH UNITED STATES

Year ended JuneExports(fob)Imports(cif)Balance
 $(million)
19841,095.91,349.0-253.1
19851,636.02,047.8-411.9
19861,612.21,953.5-341.3
19871,944.81,872.172.7
19881,803.01,827.4-24.4
19891,975.32,049.7-74.4
19901,979.02,797.9-818.9
19912,047.22,609.5-562.3
19922,293.02,808.0-515.0
19932,256.63,198.8-942.2
19942,228.73,321.5-1,092.7

Japan

Japan is New Zealand's second major export partner after Australia and third major supplier of imports behind Australia and the United States. Exports to Japan in the June 1994 year totalled $2,886.8 million and imports from Japan were $2,928.1 million.

Exports to Japan rose 4.6 percent in the 1994 June year, commodities contributing to the rise were wood and wood articles (up 11.8 percent), aluminium (up 4.4 percent), meat and edible offal (up 6.4 percent) and fruit and nuts (up 23.1 percent). Imports from Japan leapt up 10.4 percent reaching a record level of $2,928.1 million. Mechanical machinery and vehicle imports rose 36.1 percent and 18.0 percent respectively.

Table 25.26. TRADE WITH JAPAN, 1994*

ProductExports(fob)Percentage of exports

* Year ended June.

 $(million)
Wood and articles589.720.4
Aluminium and articles360.412.5
Fish, crustaceans and molluscs343.811.9
Meat and edible offal190.46.6
Dairy produce165.45.7
Vegetables151.85.3
Fruit and nuts133.24.6
Wood pulp93.13.2
Casein and caseinates89.13.1
Other769.826.7
      Total exports to Japan2,886.8100.0
 Imports(cif)Percentage of imports
 $(million)
Vehicles1,303.744.5
Mechanical machinery479.816.4
Electrical machinery369.012.6
Optical and medical equipment137.64.7
Iron, steel and articles129.74.4
Plastics and articles69.82.4
Other438.615.0
     Total imports to Japan2,928.1100.0

APEC

On 6 November 1989 the first regional meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) for government ministers was hosted in Australia. APEC, an Australian initiative, provides countries in the region with a forum to promote economic interaction and policy coordination to ensure regional economic growth.

In May 1994 New Zealand hosted the seventh meeting of the APEC working group on the review of trade and investment data. Delegates from Australia, Canada, the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand and the United States of America, including their respective experts and representatives from the APEC Secretariat, participated in the meeting. Also present was prospective member Chile and observers from Papua New Guinea.

Trade with APEC countries continues to increase steadily with exports at $13,750.9 million in 1994, 69.4 percent of total exports. In 1994 Mexico and Papua New Guinea were voted in as new members. Exports to Mexico and Papua New Guinea were, respectively, $279.6 million and $122.7 million in the June 1994 year.

Table 25.27. EXPORTS TO APEC COUNTRIES*†

 Value of exports (fob)Percentage of total exports
Country199219931994199219931994

* Year ended June.

Includes re-imports.

Includes bunkering, ship stores and passengers’ baggage.

$(million)
Australia3,387.93,785.24,143.419.020.020.9
Brunei Darussalam6.55.314.40.00.00.1
Canada266.4311.9361.91.51.61.8
China, Republic of361.5368.1528.62.01.92.7
Hong Kong362.8412.7481.92.02.22.4
Indonesia232.8246.5210.11.31.31.1
Japan2,715.12,759.12,886.815.214.514.6
Korea, Republic of766.6857.1928.64.34.54.7
Malaysia470.5382.6392.82.62.02.0
Mexico--279.6--1.4
Philippines135.9205.3202.10.81.11.0
Singapore286.6289.7269.61.61.51.4
Taiwan430.8486.7507.32.42.62.6
Thailand177.0208.5192.21.01.11.0
Papua New Guinea--122.7---
United States of America2,293.02,256.62,228.712.911.911.3
      Total exports to APEC countries11,893.312,575.013,750.966.766.369.4
Other countries‡5,947.06,395.76,057.333.333.730.6
      Total exports17,840.318,970.819,808.3100.0100.0100.0

Table 25.28. IMPORTS FROM APEC COUNTRIES*

 Value of imports (cif)†Percentage of total imports
Country199219931994199219931994

* Year ended June.

Includes re-imports.

$(million)
Australia3,426.73,747.33,942.222.121.621.3
Brunei Darussalam-0.00.0-0.00.0
Canada262.2267.5300.51.71.51.6
China, Republic of354.1506.7570.12.32.93.1
Hong Kong207.7231.2218.71.31.31.2
Indonesia87.0125.0145.40.60.70.8
Japan2,375.12,652.62,928.115.315.315.9
Korea, Republic of242.9280.1297.41.61.61.6
Malaysia151.0238.5222.51.01.41.2
Mexico--19.6--0.1
Philippines24.134.946.00.20.20.2
Singapore357.2238.5296.52.31.41.6
Taiwan428.6483.1518.12.82.82.8
Thailand116.4135.7147.80.80.80.8
Papua New Guinea--41.8--0.2
United States of America2,808.03,198.83,321.518.118.518.0
      Total imports from APEC countries10,918.012,226.413,105.370.570.571.0
Other countries4,565.45,106.45,363.529.529.529.0
      Total imports15,483.417,332.818,468.9100.0100.0100.0

Table 25.29. MAJOR COMMODITIES EXPORTED TO APEC COUNTRIES*

 Value of exports (fob)†Percentage of exports
Year ended 30 June199219931994199219931994

* Year ended June.

Includes re-imports.

  $(million)    
Wood and articles of wood; wood charcoal948.61,451.21,626.88.011.511.8
Meat and edible meat offal1,621.71,581.81,611.213.612.611.7
Dairy produce; birds’ eggs; natural honey; edible products of animal origin, not elsewhere specified or included979.61,081.91,284.78.28.69.3
Fish and Crustacea, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates926.2928.3939.57.87.46.8
Aluminium and article thereof675.7640.1655.45.75.14.8
Wool, fine or coarse animal hair; horse hair yarn and woven fabric578.7495.1623.04.93.94.5
Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof398.3494.6597.63.33.94.3
Albuminoidal substances; modified starches; glues; enzymes384.5416.3470.63.23.33.4
Paper and paperboard; articles of paper pulp, of paper or paperboard376.0376.9371.33.23.02.7
Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation bituminous substances; mineral waxes501.3400.8363.44.23.22.6
Raw hides and skins (other than furskins) and leather344.6352.9344.32.92.82.5
Fruit and nuts, edible; peel of citrus fruit or melons358.1296.3330.93.02.42.4
Pulp of wood or other fibrous cellulosic material, waste and scrap of paper or paperboard371.2350.6328.03.12.82.4
Natural or cultured pearls, precious, semi-precious stones, precious metals, metals clad with precious metal, articles thereof; imitation jewellery; coin190.0280.6327.91.62.22.4
Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers parts and accessories of such articles236.0261.6305.42.02.12.2
Iron and steel269.9270.1263.22.32.11.9
Vegetables and certain roots and tubers; edible187.5179.8240.11.61.41.7
  $(million)    
Plastics and articles thereof137.2181.0204.91.21.41.5
Animal originated products; not elsewhere specified or included203.2181.8194.71.71.41.4
Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; parts and accessories86.1127.9116.80.71.00.8
Other nei2,118.92,225.42,551.017.817.718.6
      Total exports to APEC countries11,893.312,575.013,750.9100.0100.0100.0

Table 25.3. MAJOR COMMODITIES IMPORTED FROM APEC*

 Value of imports (cif)Percentage of total imports
Commodity199219931994199219931994

* Year ended June.

Includes re-imports.

  $(million)    
Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof1,590.61,759.42,072.814.614.415.8
Vehicles; other than railway or tramway rolling stock, and parts and accessories thereof1,344.01,559.31,840.112.312.814.0
Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers parts and accessories of such articles1,162.21,266.81,413.210.610.410.8
Plastics and articles thereof504.3589.4612.74.64.84.7
Aircraft, spacecraft and parts thereof403.9485.8298.03.74.02.3
Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral waxes381.9448.0409.33.53.73.1
Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; parts and accessories343.9401.5428.93.13.33.3
Paper and paperboard; articles of paper pulp, of paper or paperboard295.7377.4297.22.73.12.3
Inorganic chemicals; organic and inorganic compounds of precious metals; of rare earth metals, of radio-active elements and of isotopes389.3316.6319.93.62.62.4
Iron and steel223.4272.2313.02.02.22.4
Printed books, newspapers, pictures and other products of the printing industry; manuscripts, typescripts and plans199.2219.9229.01.81.81.7
Pharmaceutical products189.2210.6237.41.71.71.8
Rubber and articles thereof155.5190.8203.51.41.61.6
Iron or steel articles258.5183.3205.32.41.51.6
Toys, games and sports requisites; parts and accessories thereof127.2158.3163.41.21.31.2
Organic chemicals143.8153.0193.41.31.31.5
Aluminium and articles thereof148.4148.9139.71.41.21.1
Apparel and clothing accessories; knitted or crocheted105.3148.5153.01.01.21.2
Apparel and clothing accessories; not knitted or crocheted111.3147.4153.01.01.21.2
Chemical products nes127.0138.9147.21.21.11.1
Others nei2,713.33,050.73,275.124.625.025.0
      Total imports from APEC countries10,918.012,226.413,105.3100.0100.0100.0

European Union

The EU (previously the European Community) grew out of the desire of European governments after World War II to avoid future conflicts and to promote peaceful economic development. It was established in 1957 under the Treaty of Rome as an essentially economic grouping of six members: France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Italy. There are now 12 countries in the EU which includes the original six plus Denmark, Spain, United Kingdom, Greece, Ireland and Portugal. Austria, Finland, Norway and Sweden hope to join the EU by 1995. Several Eastern European and Mediterranean countries are also candidates.

In the June 1994 year the EU took 15.4 percent of New Zealand's total exports worth $3,058.2 million. New Zealand imported $3,304.8 million worth of produce in 1994, an increase of 8.1 percent compared with $3,057.0 million in 1993.

Table 25.31. EXPORTS TO EU*

 Value of exports (fob)Percentage of total exports
Country199219931994199219931994

* Year ended June.

Includes re-imports.

Includes bunkering, ship stores and passengers’ baggage.

  $(million)    
Belgium227.3224.8239.11.31.21.2
Denmark34.731.337.40.20.20.2
France217.3221.6211.61.21.21.1
Germany415.4488.8490.82.32.62.5
Greece76.968.470.50.40.40.4
Ireland16.223.018.00.10.10.1
Italy213.7200.3265.31.21.11.3
Luxembourg0.30.00.20.00.00.0
Netherlands93.092.8123.10.50.50.6
Portugal44.938.825.10.30.20.1
Spain98.668.290.80.60.40.5
United Kingdom1,165.11,216.81,182.36.56.46.0
EU but country unknown343.0313.0304.21.91.61.5
     Total for EU2,946.32,987.93,058.216.515.715.4
Other countries‡14,894.015,982.916,750.183.582.384.6
     Total exports17,840.318,970.819,808.3100.0100.0100.0

Table 25.32. IMPORTS FROM EU*

 Value of imports (cif)Percentage of total imports
Country199219931994199219931994

* Year ended June.

Includes re-imports.

Includes bunkering, ship stores and passengers’ baggage.

  $(million)    
Belgium105.6108.1133.70.70.60.7
Denmark76.287.488.20.50.50.5
France270.3305.5318.61.71.81.7
Germany639.3728.9807.14.14.24.4
Greece3.76.67.60.00.00.0
Ireland44.184.257.30.30.50.3
Italy351.3389.1481.42.32.22.6
Luxembourg6.613.99.30.00.10.1
Netherlands169.0195.7213.21.11.11.2
Portugal22.619.218.40.10.10.1
Spain49.657.158.30.30.30.3
United Kingdom938.51061.41111.66.16.16.0
     Total for EU2676.83057.03304.817.317.617.9
Other countries‡12806.714275.815164.182.782.482.1
     Total imports15483.417332.818468.9100.0100.0100.0

Table 25.33. TRADE WITH EU

Year ended JuneImports (cif)Percentage of total importsExports (fob)Percentage of total exports
 $(million) $(million) 
19852588.320.82258.920.1
19862562.922.42086.319.7
19872792.423.72635.820.8
19882620.522.62589.220.8
19892297.218.42721.918.3
19903157.920.02785.518.4
19912908.719.02702.917.1
19922676.817.32946.316.5
19933057.017.62987.915.7
19943304.917.93058.215.4

Table 25.34. MAJOR COMMODITIES EXPORTED TO EU*

 Value of exports (fob)Percentage of total exports
Commodity199219931994199219931994

* Year ended June.

Includes re-exports.

  $(million)    
Meat and edible meat offal929.21,050.2967.731.335.231.6
Dairy produce; birds’ eggs; natural honey; edible products of animal origin, not elsewhere specified or included417.0440.3464.714.114.715.2
Fruit and nuts, edible; peel of citrus fruit or melons468.2417.9403.415.914.013.2
Wool, fine or coarse animal hair; horse hair yarn and woven fabric348.8269.8297.111.89.09.7
Raw hides and skins (other than furskins) and leather152.1152.3199.35.15.16.5
Albuminoidal substances; modified starches; glues; enzymes97.9134.4152.23.34.55.0
Fish and Crustacea, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates108.999.3120.33.73.33.9
Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof56.452.961.61.91.82.0
Animal originated products not elsewhere specified or included68.365.357.22.32.21.9
Vegetables and certain roots and tubers; edible42.236.650.31.41.21.6
Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers parts and accessories of such articles29.536.338.71.01.21.3
Beverages, spirits and vinegar28.839.932.61.01.31.1
Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; parts and accessories23.025.132.50.80.81.1
Oil seeds and oleaginous fruits; miscellaneous grains, seeds and fruit, industrial or medicinal plants; straw and fodder23.923.124.20.80.80.8
Pharmaceutical products17.316.412.30.60.60.4
Aircraft, spacecraft and parts thereof9.96.310.30.30.20.3
Plastics and articles thereof6.48.59.90.20.30.3
Furskins and artificial fur; manufactures thereof9.28.38.60.30.30.3
Trees and other plants, live; bulbs, roots and the like; cut flowers and ornamental foliage4.15.65.60.10.20.2
Wood and articles of wood; wood charcoal4.85.73.20.20.20.1
Others nei79.693.4106.42.73.13.5
     Total exports to the EU2,946.32,987.93,058.2100.0100.0100.0

Table 25.35. MAJOR COMMODITIES IMPORTED FROM EU*

 Value of imports (cif)Percentage of total imports
Commodity199219931994199219931994

* Year ended June.

Includes re-imports.

  $(million)    
Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof425.9603.8679.715.919.820.6
Vehicles; other than railway or tramway rolling stock, and parts and accessories thereof152.2210.1304.35.76.98.7
Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers parts and accessories of such articles281.1280.4286.910.59.29.2
Pharmaceutical products182.4199.4200.66.86.56.1
Plastics and articles thereof139.6167.7178.55.25.55.4
Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; parts and accessories117.2133.8147.44.44.44.5
Printed books, newspapers, pictures and other products of the printing industry; manuscripts, typescripts and plans102.7111.7119.03.83.73.6
Chemical products nes83.583.5106.13.12.73.2
Printed books, newspapers, pictures and other products of the printing industry; manuscripts, typescripts and plans90.093.995.23.43.12.9
Aircraft, spacecraft and parts thereof124.2110.289.34.63.62.7
Organic chemicals66.176.483.72.52.52.5
Beverages, spirits and vinegar61.665.164.82.32.12.0
Iron or steel articles44.148.051.91.61.61.6
Tanning or dying extracts; tanning and their derivatives; dyes, pigments and other colouring matter; paints, varnishes; inks43.352.549.31.61.71.5
Essential oils and resinoids; perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations43.650.748.51.61.71.5
Pearls, semi-precious stones, precious metals, imitation jewellery; coin40.146.744.61.51.51.3
Rubber and articles thereof34.140.840.61.31.31.2
Iron and steel30.734.740.41.11.11.2
Glass and glassware35.136.340.01.31.21.2
Inorganic chemicals; organic and inorganic compounds of precious metals; of rare earth metals, of radio-active elements and of isotopes40.937.630.81.51.20.9
Other nei538.4573.8603.120.118.818.2
      Total imports from the EU2,676.83,057.03,304.8100.0100.0100.0

Asia

Exports to Asian countries (other than Japan) have increased 7.1 percent reflecting New Zealand's campaign to diverse and develop exports to Asia. Exports to Asia exceeded the $4 billion mark and totalled $4,074.4 million compared with $3,805.2 million in 1993.

In the June 1994 year imports from Asian countries increased 8.0 percent to $2,623.6 million compared with $2,430.0 million in 1993. Major commodities imported were mechanical and electrical machinery.

TRADE WITH ASIA

Table 25.36. OVERSEAS TRADE WITH ASIAN COUNTRIES*

Year ended JuneExportsPercentage of total exportsImportsPercentage of total importsBalance
*Excluding Japan.
 $(million)percent$(million)percent$(million)
19841181.813.71113.212.368.5
19851473.313.01555.212.5-81.9
19861304.312.31273.811.130.4
19871722.214.21336.811.3385.4
19881848.314.81279.811.0568.4
19892559.417.21548.912.41010.5
19902189.214.41764.311.2424.9
19912752.417.51743.111.41009.2
19923494.819.62089.513.51405.3
19933805.220.12430.014.01375.2
19944074.720.62623.614.21451.1

25.5 Overseas cargo

Overseas cargo records all goods, the value and gross weight, loaded or unloaded at New Zealand's seaports or airports.

Overseas cargo statistics, like overseas merchandise trade statistics, are sourced from customs entries. However, there are some conceptual differences between overseas trade statistics and overseas cargo statistics.

Some items are included in overseas cargo statistics, but not in the overseas merchandise trade statistics. These include:

  • Goods being returned after repair or modification in New Zealand.

  • Goods on short-term loan or lease.

  • Service transactions, eg computer data tapes and drawings.

  • Goods consigned to New Zealand forces or diplomatic representatives.

  • Returnable containers and samples.

Table 25.37. OVERSEAS CARGO LOADED AT PORTS

 Value (fob)Gross weight
Year ended June199219931994199219931994
Seaports $(million)  tonnes (000) 
Auckland4,099.54,788.84,956.91,510.41,749.11,905.7
Gisborne37.053.367.8138.9178.1269.8
Napier1,137.21,182.81,251.01,226.91,188.01,152.4
New Plymouth900.1888.5913.02,051.41,813.32,208.3
Taharoa23.128.625.01,118.21,345.01,232.5
Tauranga2,661.82,854.52,981.54,419.04,753.04,543.0
Wanganui--
Wellington1,901.81,902.61,880.9659.3765.0633.0
Whangarei370.3334.3387.4870.8746.9914.4
     Total North Island11,130.712,033.312,463.411,994.912,538.312,859.2
Dunedin1,369.81,336.41,267.5698.1776.7615.0
Bluff716.8638.7637.1704.4678.4661.2
Lyttelton1,363.01,451.41,585.91,210.01,170.01,480.6
Nelson506.6546.8674.0848.6820.6842.8
Picton5.222.927.843.392.585.6
Tarakohe392.0400.0416.4277.5311.4362.2
Westport0.24.85.31.828.929.1
     Total South Island4,353.84,400.94,614.03,783.83,878.64,076.4
     Total all seaports15,484.516,434.217,077.415,778.616,416.916,935.5
Airports
Auckland1,985.52,190.42,384.264.567.973.9
Christchurch297.4415.0499.711.011.413.7
Ohakea0.1
Wellington156.5143.9158.43.14.04.9
Whenuapai0.40.60.1   
     Total all airports2,439.92,749.93,042.378.683.492.5
Parcel post10.511.910.9
      Total cargo loaded17,934.819,196.020,130.715,857.316,500.417,028.1

Tight squeeze at Port Chalmers with a container ship, two cruise ships and a logging ship docked at the wharves.

1994 OVERSEAS CARGO - LOADED By weight (thousand tonnes) and value (fob $million)

year ended June 1994

1994 OVERSEAS CARGO - UNLOADED By weight (thousand tonnes) and value (cif $million)

Year ended June 1994

Courtesy Port Of Wellington

Port of Wellington.

Overseas cargo loaded at New Zealand ports totalled 17,028.1 thousand tonnes, an increase of 3.2 percent over the June 1994 year. The value rose to $20,130.7 million, an increase of 4.7 percent. Tauranga again loaded the most overseas cargo, 4,543.0 thousand tonnes, 26.7 percent of the total overseas cargo loaded, with a value of $2,981.5 million. Auckland loaded 1,905.7 thousand tonnes, under half the amount loaded at Tauranga but valued at $4,956.9 million.

Seaports loaded 16,935.5 thousand tonnes, 99.5 percent of all overseas cargo loaded in the June 1994 year. Just over half of all seaports showed increases in the amount of cargo loaded in the June 1994 year, notable exceptions were Tauranga and Wellington, decreasing 4.4 and 17.3 percent, respectively.

International airports handled 92.5 thousand tonnes an increase of 10.9 percent from the June 1993 year. The value increased by 10.6 percent to $3,042.3 million. Auckland airport loaded the most cargo, handling 79.9 percent by weight, 73.9 thousand tonnes, and 78.4 percent of value, $2,384.2 million.

Table 25.38. OVERSEAS CARGO UNLOADED AT PORTS

 Value (cif)Gross weight
Year ended June199219931994199219931994
Seaports $(million) tonnes  
Auckland6,640.17,885.38,705.21,724.01,997.42,393.8
Gisborne0.40.517.32.13.51.9
Napier254.0339.4329.6262.5362.9456.7
New Plymouth271.560.785.9231.5225.4279.4
Tauranga285.3362.7351.1718.1865.11,016.5
Wanganui0.10.30.1
Wellington1,250.01,281.61,192.9431.0479.7498.3
Whangarei927.7950.2865.63,378.13,452.13,979.6
     Total North Island9,629.010,880.311,547.76,747.37,386.08,626.3
Dunedin192.5217.0208.8124.6173.1182.5
Bluff338.9279.0275.5812.4723.5790.5
Lyttelton927.51,090.41,152.0479.1514.3577.6
Nelson114.2127.5132.765.255.456.3
Picton-0.2-0.1
Timaru94.696.8112.162.282.294.9
Westport-0.20.2-
     Total South Island1,667.81,811.11,881.21,543.51,548.51,701.8
     Total all seaports11,296.912,691.413,428.98,290.98,934.610,328.2
Airports
Auckland2,945.73,564.64,028.245.454.365.2
Christchurch272.1380.1425.85.86.78.1
Ohakea--68.3--
Wellington230.0134.7160.74.03.55.5
Whenuapai----
     Total all airports3,447.84,079.54,683.155.164.578.8
Parcel post65.870.876.40.30.40.8
     Total cargo unloaded14,810.516,841.818,188.48,346.38,999.510,407.7

Overseas cargo unloaded totalled 10,407.7 thousand tonnes with a value of 18,188.4 million. Tonnage increased 15.6 percent while value increased 8.0 percent. Whangarei unloaded 3,979.6 thousand tonnes, valued at $865.6 million, while Auckland loaded 2,393.8 thousand tonnes valued at $8,705.2 million.

Seaports unloaded 10,328.2 thousand tonnes, or 99.2 percent of all overseas cargo unloaded. North Island ports unloaded 8,626.3 thousand tonnes, with South Island ports unloading 1,701.8 thousand tonnes.

New Zealand airports unloaded 78.8 thousand tonnes, valued at $4,683.1 million, those were both increases of 22.1 and 14.8 percent, respectively. Auckland was the busiest airport unloading overseas cargo worth $4,028.2 million, but weighing only 65.2 thousand tonnes.

Coastal shipping

Coastal cargo statistics records the number of arrivals and departures made by New Zealand vessels to load cargo destined for another New Zealand port and unload cargo from a New Zealand port. Statistics include the gross registered tonnage (weight of the ship excluding cargo), gross tonnes (weight of the cargo carried), number of arrivals and departures.

In the 1994 June year 41,709.4 thousand tonnes of cargo was handled by New Zealand ports. Coastal cargo was 34.2 percent of that total, cargo loaded being 7,165.9 thousand tonnes and cargo unloaded being 7,107.8 thousand tonnes. Vessels made 14,802 visits to New Zealand ports in the June 1994 year, an increase of 9.1 percent. Ships carrying coastal cargo made 10,175 of those visits. The busiest ports were Wellington at 3,369 visits by vessels carrying coastal cargo, followed by Picton with 2,322 visits and thirdly Port Taranaki with 613 visits.

Whangarei handled the most coastal cargo in the June 1994 year, loading 2,782.8 thousand tonnes and unloading 1,105.0 thousand tonnes. Port Taranaki was the second largest port loading coastal cargo, at 1,933.5 thousand tonnes, while Lyttelton unloaded the second largest amount of coastal cargo at 917.0 thousand tonnes.

Petroleum products was the largest commodity of coastal cargo loaded and unloaded at New Zealand ports, 4,586.9 thousand tonnes was loaded and 4,359.8 thousand tonnes was unloaded. Whangarei and Port Taranaki loaded 95.8 percent of petroleum products. The second largest single commodity handled at New Zealand ports was cement, 675.7 thousand tonnes was loaded while 803.0 thousand tonnes was unloaded. Westport loaded 59.9 percent of cement and Auckland unloaded 54.6 percent.

Table 25.39. COASTAL CARGO LOADED AND UNLOADED AT SEAPORTS, 1994*

SeaportMotor vehiclesContainer goodsPetroleum productsCementCoal and cokeSand and shingleGrainOther goodsTotal
Year ended June.
gross tonnes
Loaded
Whangarei  2,491,879270,80520,126--2,782,810 
Auckland28,669125119,660----33,132181,585
Tauranga-554-----1,6392,193
Gisborne-------103,826103,826
Port Taranaki-1881,901,064----32,2761,933,528
Napier-81-----41122
Wellington168,01335,565-----641,217844,795
     Total North Island196,68136,5134,512,603270,805-20,126-812,1305,848,859
Nelson1,43030947,453----6,84756,039
Picton155,68999,895 -7,772--355,580618,935
Westport-901-404,89239,601--14,446459,839
Lyttelton4,950-4,725----111,754121,429
Timaru-32---2,00022,3453,48427,861
Otago-29-----938
Bluff36-21,825-394827-6,18729,269
Chatham Islands1542,484279----6713,588
     Total South Island162,260103,64874,282404,89247,7672,82722,345498,9741,316,995
     Total loaded New Zealand358,941140,1614,586,885675,69747,76722,95322,3451,311,1057,165,854
Unloaded         
Whangarei--1,104,997-----1,104,997
Auckland30,607-226,901438,463-138,087-57,617891,675
Tauranga-6,638562,55779,290---935649,418
Gisborne-2,89643,4864,830---3,36154,573
Port Taranaki--129,66216,00217,118--3,841166,623
Napier-1,463247,35745,973----294,793
Wellington162,805101,403512,27474,567---453,6061,304,654
     Total North Island193,412112,3992,827,234659,12517,118138,087-519,3584,466,733
Nelson1,9491,072266,13117,725---26,204313,080
Picton155,32135,013-46,06540,240--479,414756,053
Westport1663------79
Lyttelton10,052-706,83330,825  -169,275916,985
Timaru-21138,348---16,41321,889176,671
Otago2357231,00249,243361---280,965
Bluff22 190,202-40237-4,052194,553
Chatham Islands181,926-- --7162,659
     Total South Island167,38038,4521,532,516143,85840,64123716,413701,5482,641,047
     Total unloads New Zealand360,794150,8504,359,750802,98357,759138,32416,4131,220,9067,107,779

25.6 Overseas trade indexes

The overseas trade indexes measure changes in the levels of prices and volumes of New Zealand's imports and exports. The index numbers which reflect the percentage rise or fall of price and volume levels, are expressed on a base of the year ended June 1989 (= 1000).

Data used in calculating the export and import price and volume indexes is derived from Statistics New Zealand's overseas trade data, which is in turn processed from import and export entry forms lodged with the Customs Department.

The indexes cover all commodities classified as merchandise trade, although the export indexes exclude re-exports, bunkering, ships’ stores and passengers’ effects. Import indexes use ‘cost including insurance and freight’ (cif) values, while export indexes are calculated using ‘free on board’ (fob) values (see glossary).

Import and export price indexes

provides a summary of the Import Price Index, and 25.41 of the Export Price Index.

Table 25.4. IMPORT PRICE INDEXES*

Non-food manufacture goods
 Food and beveragesPetroleum and petroleum productsNon-fuel crude materialsPlastics and plastic articlesTextile yarn fabrics related productsIron and steelNon-electrical machineryElectrical machinery and apparatusTransport equipmentTotalTotal imports

* Base: year ended June 1989 (=1000).

Excludes manufactured articles of iron and steel.

Includes commodities not listed.

June year           
19879871223913787996736100812281026990999
198890510998788419607049681030994937941
198910001000100010001000100010001000100010001000
19901052126910148331025105210421006102710171034
19911038157010328581046999988988106410041044
19921078139210497981100107010561052122610651086
19931098146610278041100102711051107138311111129
19941054 P1171 P957 P737 P1023 P949 P1069 P1110 P1448 P1089 P1086P
Quarterly           
1992 Mar1112139410367971098107010551076126110801099
Jun1088139110657901132104711471097130511121126
Sep1071152010538031092102710981091135211051126
Dec1109147510478141099104111121104135511061127
1993 Mar1135141710278221145104611001148141211251139
Jun10781456982780107099511091095144311121124
Sep10631299974765104295710801155146611181118
Dec10471217943743100694410671117144910801082
1994 Mar1041110095772198995010551127143810801071
Jun1064 P1087 P965 P718 P1048 P942 P1073 P1053 P1435 P1075 P1071P

Selling New Zealand's clean and green image in Lima, Peru.

Table 25.41. EXPORT PRICE INDEXES*

 All pastoral and dairy productsNon-food manufactured goods
Meat, wool and by-products
 Dairy productsMeatWoolTotal†TotalFish and fish preparationsFood and beveragesForestry productsNon-fuel crude materialsAluminiumTotal†Total exports†

* Base: year ended June 1989 (=1000).

Includes commodities not listed.

19877579248078848851142892850856708802864
1988741874916936901962846888978812868888
1989100010001000100010001000100010001000100010001000
1990116411899491098109910331130102910278649881064
1991103911936979759951055107710008488569591004
1992110812246399821037121011569958347219461031
199312811309675105411231330125211449557269711115
19941154 P1233 P635 P1006 P1052 P1242 P1157 P1275 P1005 P672 P928 P1065P
Quarterly            
1992 Mar11531260627100510541197117110008436909461041
Jun11891227666100310731284118910068777629651067
Sep1260129068610411110 P14031248 P10218937599681096P
Dec1283129570810551129 P12901245 P10809277439721106P
1993 Mar1300132767010721146 P13161270 P11409597359881133P
Jun1275131263210461108 P13231246 P130910216779601121P
Sep1228132460410341083 P12801208 P142410706809391109P
Dec117912396229921047 P12161158 P12509736469251058P
1994 Mar1143122563110021053 P11991153 P12399856509321059P
Jun1081 P1180 P677 P1002 P1033 P1275 P1126 P1206 P1002 P712 P927 P1046P

Overseas terms of trade index

The Overseas Terms of Trade Index measures the changing volume of imports that can be funded by a unit volume of New Zealand's exports. The index is calculated as the ratio of the total export price index to the total import price index.

An increase in the terms of trade index indicates that the real purchasing power of exports has increased, while a decrease indicates a drop in the purchasing power of exports.

The Overseas Terms of Trade Index is expressed on a base of the average of the 10 years ended June 1989 (=1000). An index value above or below 1000 indicates the terms of trade are either more or less favourable than the average for the 1980–89 base period.

Table 25.42. EXPORT AND IMPORT PRICES AND OVERSEAS TERMS OF TRADE INDEXES

 Export price index *Percentage change from preceding periodImport price index*Percentage change from preceding periodTerms of index†Percentage change from preceding period

* Base: year ended June 1989 (=1000).

Base: average of ten years ended June 1989 (=1000).

June year      
19878646.8999-0.39857.2
19888882.8941-5.810749.1
1989100012.610006.211396.0
199010646.410343.411722.9
19911004-5.610041.01095-6.6
199210312.710864.01081-1.3
19931115 P8.1 P11294.01125 P4.1P
19941065 P-4.5 P1086 P-3.8 P1117 P0.7P
Quarterly      
1992 Mar10412.710991.810790.9
Jun10672.511262.51079-
Sep1096P2.7P1126-1108P2.7
Dec1106P0.9P11270.11117P0.8P
1993 Mar1133P2.4P11391.11133P1.4P
Jun1121P-1.1P1124-1.31136P0.3P
Sep1109P-1.1P1118-0.51130P-0.5P
Dec1058P-4.6P1082-3.21113P-1.5P
1994 Mar1059P-0.1P1071-1.01126P1.2P
Jun1046P-1.2P1071P0.0P1112P-1.2P

TERMS OF TRADE INDEXBased on ratio of exports to imports

Import and export volume indexes

provides a summary of the import volume indexes, and of the export volume indexes. These indexes are expressed on a base of the year ended June 1989 (=1000). In and the quarterly index numbers are given as annual equivalents.

Table 25.43. IMPORT VOLUME INDEXES*

Non-food manufactured goods
 Food and beveragesPetroleum and petroleum productsNon-fuel crude materialsPlastics and plastic articlesTextile yarn, fabrics related productsIron and steelNon-electrical machineryElectrical machinery and apparatusTransport-equipmentTotal‡Total imports‡

* Base: year ended June 1989 (=1000).

Includes commodities not listed.

June year           
1987844936943113211791880941723942943945
198893298610671093101220891015824904986987
198910001000100010001000100010001000100010001000
199010911194116012971074123811121164160612411221
1991109012431045121997594611711405119911941175
19921090119811701414101591910751103104611441142
199312261226118416601099116712151142103012381230
19941405P1391P1350P1890P1166P1458P1482P1224P1060P1362P1364P
Quarterly           
1992 Mar95013601157138794693212561011132811971185
Jun10751112129915641035922941108187010821090
Sep11741275121717151169112912661237137913751341
Dec14491005105116531102118512911273112813131285
1993 Mar11001318125215799941180110691472610771098
Jun1184130512181695113211731198114288811881196
Sep13961419140118841193159315201196126614331427
Dec16191105133919641164134515671325100014031393
1994 Mar1286156013261850110314691318102390412271255
Jun1320P1481P1236P1868P1211P1430P1522P1346P1069P1384P1378P

Table 25.44. EXPORT VOLUME INDEXES*

 All pastoral and dairy productsNon-food manufactured goods
          Meat, wool and by-products
 Dairy productsMeatWoolTotal†TotalFish and fish preparationsFood and beveragesForestry productsNon-fuel crude materialsAluminiumTotal†Total exports†
          

* Base: year ended June 1989 (=1000).

Includes commodities not listed.

Excludes live animals and tobacco, from the September 1989 quarter onwards.

§ Series was named industry group—forestry, prior to the revision effective from the September 1989 quarter.

          June year
19871037100710761018992782979714949815923948
19881034948985928958789982879908898928945
1989100010001000100010001000100010001000100010001000
199095080677279286886791310878449731043942
19911037899769856960100293612761148102410331033
19921147101795296610391151112314751064107712971152
19931112968751875960P10621072P16341010P101114161136
19941311P970P930P920P1054P1190P1172P1562P1052P1082P1615P1248P
Quarterly            
1992 Mar100210731029104410211128106112871096109611701104
Jun11331342877116612781045138015761105109713891296
Sep8568645517527981018928152384787713901026
Dec130663390367284313579881629994102614801098
1993 Mar1250114582410201050P925112415761071103712821133P
Jun1036123272610571150P9501248P18071128110315141288P
Sep982820697755852P1204998P1434868108315521103P
Dec15796351027698927P14481081P1476P974113516531191P
1994 Mar13221198101011091139P9861196P1591P1169102915081264P
Jun1360P1224P986P1119P1297P1117P1412P1736P1191P1080P1732P1430P

EXPORT VOLUME INDEX

Contributors

25.1New Zealand Trade Development Board; Customs Department; Statistics New Zealand.
25.1–25.6Statistics New Zealand.

Special articles

TRADENZ; Te Puni Kokiri.

Further information

  • Tariff of New Zealand. Customs Department.

  • Export News. New Zealand Trade Development Board (monthly).

  • Key Statistics. Statistics New Zealand (monthly).

  • New Zealand Standard Classifications. Statistics New Zealand.

  • New Zealand Harmonised System Classification.

  • New Zealand Standard Classification by Broad Economic Categories.

  • New Zealand Standard Trade Classification.

  • New Zealand Standard Country Codes (NZSCC).

  • Overseas Trade. Department of Statistics (annual).

  • Report of the Customs Department (Parl paper B24).

Chapter 26. Prices

Prices of a large number of goods and services are collected periodically by Statistics New Zealand to compile price indexes for retail prices, farming inputs, capital expenditure, and producer prices (input and output prices). Overseas trade indexes are also calculated from trade data, and a summary is contained in section 25.4, External trade indexes. Farming indexes can be found in chapter 18, Agriculture.

Price indexes are constructed from prices weighted to reflect the importance of each item to the sector as a whole. Changes in the importance of individual items to a sector or the introduction of new items or the deletion of items which have no future significance require periodic revisions of weights.

26.1 Consumer prices

The Consumers Price Index (CPI) measures changes in the level of prices of goods and services purchased by private New Zealand households. It is the best available measure of the effect of changes in retail prices on the average household budget. The basket of goods and services for which prices are regularly surveyed is kept constant in quantity and quality over time, so that only ‘pure’ price movements are recorded. The CPI is possibly New Zealand's best known statistic and is used to derive measures of inflation. It has assumed a high profile in recent years with the Government setting an objective of low price inflation and asking the Reserve Bank to form monetary policy to achieve this target. Another use of the CPI is to deflate or convert other statistical series into constant dollar terms in order to compare statistics over time. Payments such as those from superannuation funds may be indexed to the CPI.

Index regimen.

Since 1914, when the CPI was first calculated spending patterns have changed considerably as new goods and services appear on the market and as lifestyles and consumer tastes alter. The CPI is revised regularly (approximately every five years) to keep up to date with changing expenditure patterns. The revisions change the composition of the basket of commodities which are price surveyed, and adjust the relative emphasis given to each commodity.

The CPI was last revised in 1993. The regimen is now divided into nine groups, 20 subgroups and approximately 319 published regimen items (excluding fresh fruit and vegetables) reflecting the range of goods and services available in New Zealand. The latest revision changed the CPI in a number of areas:

  • ‘Credit services’ was introduced as a new subgroup of the CPI. It includes mortgage interest (previously included in the home ownership subgroup), hire purchase and credit costs.

  • ‘Home ownership’ now includes the price of purchasing or building new dwellings, altering existing dwellings and residential sections.

  • The treatment of fresh fruit and vegetables was changed to reflect the longer availability of fruit and vegetables once considered seasonal.

Commodity weighting.

The commodity weighting pattern incorporated into the CPI is based on the average expenditures of the population as measured by Statistics New Zealand's Household Economic Survey (HES). This survey covers a large, statistically-representative sample of private households and provides comprehensive details of all their expenditures. This sample provides the weights used in the CPI for the nine groups, 20 subgroups and items. In some areas the HES data does not provide adequate information, so surveys of businesses and government organisations are also used to supplement the HES. gives the weights for each group.

CONSUMERS PRICE INDEX: 1914–94 ALL GROUPS*
YearMarJunSepDec
Base December quarter 1993 (=1000).
1914 21  
1915....23..
1916....24..
1917....27..
1918....30..
191932..33..
192035..38..
192139..37..
192234..33..
192333..33..
192434..33..
192533..3434
192634343434
192734343334
192834343434
192934333434
193033333332
193131313030
193229282727
193327272727
193427272727
193528282829
193628292930
193730313132
193832323232
193932333334
194034343535
194135363637
194236373738
194338383839
194438383939
194539393940
194639394040
194739404044
194843444444
194944444545
195045474849
195150525355
195256565757
195358595961
195461626262
195563636464
195664656666
195766676768
195868687272
195972727373
196073737374
196174747576
196276767777
196377787879
196479808182
196583838484
196685858686
196789919292
196893949597
19699899100101
1970103104106111
1971113116118121
1972123124126127
1973130134137140
1974144147153158
1975163169175183
1976191199205211
1977217227235243
1978248255261268
1979274287301312
1980324338350363
1981374389404420
1982433455471484
1983488493497501
1984505516531548
1985572601618632
1986647664686747
1987765790802819
1988834840848858
1989867877908919
1990928944954964
1991970971974973
1992978980984986
19939879939981000
19941000100410161028

Table 26.1. COMMODITY GROUP WEIGHTING

GroupWeight in the CPI
 percent
Food17.76
Housing19.50
Household operation14.92
Apparel4.50
Transportation14.58
Tobacco products and alcoholic drinks8.46
Personal and health care6.27
Recreation and education7.50
Credit services6.50

The base weights represent expenditure allocated from similar commodities as well as the expenditure on each commodity for which prices are surveyed. Certain types of expenditure are, for various reasons, excluded from the index:

  • Consumption from own production, goods received as income-in-kind and goods and services supplied free of charge.

  • Direct tax and commodities which represent savings and investment.

  • Goods and services for which prices cannot be satisfactorily measured, nor can the price movements be represented by those of other commodities which could be priced, eg art work, catering charges for private functions, and pets.

Price surveys.

Retail outlets and organisations are selected for price surveys for the CPI so that they correspond as closely as possible to the buying patterns of private households. The sample of outlets is updated to reflect changes in market trends and household buying behaviour. The prices for a wide range of commodities are collected, where possible, monthly for food and quarterly for other commodities at each outlet. These are compared against the previous periods results and price changes are recorded. Prices are surveyed by specially trained field staff in retail establishments in 15 urban areas throughout New Zealand.

In addition to pricing at outlets, Statistics New Zealand conducts a number of postal surveys. These surveys are continually being developed and adapted to meet the changing variety of goods and services available to New Zealanders. The postal surveys cover most items that are heavily weighted in the index including mortgage interest rates, rentals, sports club subscriptions, vehicle licensing and insurance, used car prices and contractors’ charges for dwelling and maintenance, eg electrician and plumber.

Geographic coverage.

Prices are surveyed in 15 urban areas: Whangarei, Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Rotorua, Napier-Hastings, New Plymouth, Wanganui, Palmerston North, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, Timaru, Dunedin and Invercargill. Indexes are compiled for all regions and a number of combinations of regions. These indexes do not show if it is more expensive to live in one city than another, or in the North Island or the South Island. The indexes, however, can be used to show where prices of goods and services are rising or falling.

EXPENDITURE WEIGHTSBy CPI group

Analysis of price movements

The following section discusses prices in New Zealand and compares the movement in prices to some other countries. The movements in domestic prices, as measured by the CPI, are for the June 1994 year compared with the June 1993 year—but at times the analysis extends to previous June years.

Table 26.2. CONSUMERS PRICE INDEX—ALL URBAN AREAS COMBINED BY GROUP

Year ended JuneAll groupsFoodHousingHousehold operationsApparelTransportationTobacco and alcoholic drinksPersonal and health care Recreation and educationCredit services
1984505529..564548607396......
1985563588..606588710451......
1986640657..690664781504......
1987747757..814773864637......
1988824818..867855920709......
1989862865..892890906771......
19909259628909409259288627998701245
19919659939409629629639048539301297
19929769869419749799739719499601147
1993988100295298798999598610109811029
19941001100010081000994996100110031006992
Quarter—          
1991          
Mar9709939449739659709088659371308
Jun9719919469689789599178899471276
Sep9749959469729729599588949521220
Dec9739849419709799719758949601162
1992          
Mar9789849379759789779769989591117
Jun98098394198098898397610119671089
Sep98499994398398698697710179741049
Dec986100294798598899398610239791025
1993          
Mar987101095098698399699010119751014
Jun993997968993100010059929919951028
Sep99810049909999949999979989961023
Dec1000100010001000100010001000100010001000
1994          
Mar100010031011999989989100110051010984
Jun100499310301001993997100710091019960
Sep          
Dec          

CPI - PERCENTAGE CHANGE, 1994 Annual comparison of groups

In the mid to late 1970s the CPI recorded annual increases of between 10 percent and 18 percent. These high increases continued through the 1980s (except in 1984 when the CPI increased only 4 percent—corresponding to the deregulation of the economy). In 1989 the annual increase in the CPI fell to 5 percent marking the beginning of single digit increases. These lower increases have continued through the 1990s with the CPI rising 7 percent in 1990, 4 percent in 1991, and just over 1 percent in each of the last three June years.

Food.

Food prices remained stable this year compared with the June 1993 year. However, the price of fruit and vegetables fell nearly 6 percent. This fall was offset by small rises in the prices in the other subgroups, i.e. the meat, fish and poultry subgroup; the grocery food, soft drinks and confectionery subgroup; and the restaurant meals and takeaway food subgroup.

The graph shows that the price of fruit and vegetables (fresh in particular) fluctuates depending on the time of the year. The price of fresh fruit and vegetables are given special treatment to reduce the influence of normal seasonal price fluctuations, this treatment does not completely eliminate the effects of seasonal fluctuations if shifts in seasonal patterns occur.

shows food prices in each of the June months for the last five years. These weighted average prices of selected items are used in the calculation of the CPI and provide reliable movements in price levels when compared with average prices for earlier periods. They are not designed to give a statistically accurate measure of absolute average transaction prices as the quantity and price of any good will differ from shop to shop and over time.

To compare prices over time the most popular quantity bought by the New Zealand consumer is selected as a standard. Prices of these typical sizes are collected and if the* quantity is not available other sizes are scaled to calculate an equivalent price. Significant consumer cost benefits can sometimes result from the purchase of larger quantities (eg special prices for two products). Therefore, price movements of individual items on the table can sometimes result solely or partly from changes to the quantities of a good that consumers typically buy and may not reflect only the price movements of quantities stated.

Housing group.

The housing group includes rents, costs of purchasing and maintaining a home, insurance and local authority rates. In the June 1994 year the housing group rose 6 percent with increases in both dwelling rentals and home ownership.

HOUSING Change from previous quarter

Household operation.

The household operation group of the CPI includes energy, household appliances, furnishings, supplies and services. This year the household operation group rose by just over 1 percent, mainly due to electricity prices which have been continually rising since 1990.

HOUSEHOLD OPERATION Change from previous quarter

Choosing cheeses.

Table 26.3. RETAIL PRICES OF SELECTED FOOD ITEMS

June month
ItemsUnit19901991199219931994
1994—1 kg.
    $  
Apples, eatingkg2.182.172.021.971.13
Bananaskg2.582.592.312.131.46
Orangeskg3.343.353.243.282.70
Cabbageskg1.060.651.110.621.18
Carrotskg1.261.081.071.010.98
Potatoeskg0.820.810.760.770.66
Peaches, canned452 g1.891.931.901.881.80
Peas, frozenkg2.552.302.102.042.02
Beef, blade steakkg9.679.759.689.889.49
porterhousekg14.5514.3814.7215.5615.17
rump steakkg12.2412.2612.3111.6812.09
prime rib rolledkg7.958.018.118.558.37
mincekg7.036.996.807.266.80
Hogget, forequarter chopskg5.956.126.247.477.45
Pork loin, chopskg10.8410.9910.6611.2010.39
Bacon, middle rasherskg17.4317.3616.9516.6814.65
Sausages, beefkg4.174.104.154.304.10
Salmon, canned210 g3.432.942.423.372.48
Chicken, frozen no 8each8.267.977.637.246.94
Milk, plastic bottle211.181.191.191.211.18
Butter500 g1.841.911.851.871.88
Cheese, cheddarkg8.308.428.007.986.91
Bread, white sliceeach1.681.771.821.791.55
Cake, light fruit450 g3.774.043.974.023.98
Breakfast—flake biscuitskg4.034.214.044.103.81
Flour, white1.5 kg1.961.891.821.781.50
Rice, white long grain500g0.880.860.840.811.37
Honey, creamed500 g2.522.412.262.292.27
Coffee, instant100 g3.323.353.213.093.01
Tea bags100 g2.352.422.312.292.58
Margarine500 g2.052.071.861.821.75
Tomato sauce, canned600 g2.202.272.232.242.22
Spaghetti, canned440 g1.421.451.401.401.28
Sugar, white1.5 kg2.361.961.951.961.88
Lemonade1.51kg1.641.801.751.721.51
Ice cream, vanilla213.503.513.253.243.07
Chocolate, block275 g3.213.553.353.393.29
Hamburgereach2.422.362.522.382.4
Meat pieeach1.541.961.641.631.95

Apparel.

Prices of clothing and footwear remained at similar levels to the 1993 year, reflecting a slight rise in the price of women's, men's and boys’ clothing but a slight fall in girls’ and infants clothing. The retail prices of clothing fabrics, sewing and knitting materials reflects a fall in the price of imported fabrics and materials.

APPAREL Change from previous quarter

Transportation.

The price of purchasing and running a vehicle fell slightly during the year, but the cost of catching a domestic aeroplane, bus or train rose. Although, the CPI does not show if it is cheaper to travel by public or private transport, it does show the difference in the price movements.

International air fares fell by 1 percent while domestic air fares rose by more than 4 percent. In comparison, the cost of running and maintaining a vehicle fell. Prices of insurance and vehicle parts and accessories contributed to the declining price but the major player was falling petrol prices—a result of lower import prices. However, the price of imported passenger motor cars rose in the June 1994 year and with this increase came a rise in the price of both used and new cars.

FOOD Change from previous quarter

TRANSPORT, 1994 Change from previous June quarter

June years

TOBACCO & ALCOHOL, 1994Change from previous June quarter

June years

Tobacco products and alcoholic drinks.

The price of tobacco and alcohol rose 1.5 percent during the year with prices of wine, beer, spirits and liqueurs rising despite a fall in the price of imported alcohol.

Personal and health care.

Prices in the personal and health care group fell slightly during the year. Although prices within the personal goods and services subgroup rose by just over 2 percent (this subgroup includes hairdressing, cosmetics, personal accessories and services etc), this rise was offset by falls in both medical and health services and supplies.

Recreation and education.

The price of recreation and education services rose by nearly 3 percent over the year—the biggest rise for the CPI groups. This group includes many leisure-time activities including reading, sports, toys, musical instruments, computing and education.

Credit services.

Credit services includes mortgage services, with a far lesser weighting given to credit and store cards and hire purchase. In the June 1994 year credit services fell by 3.6 percent, reflecting a fall in mortgage interest rates in late 1993 and early 1994. However, credit services have begun to rise as lending institutions are raising their interest rates on residential mortgages.

Lunch-bar food.

Table 26.4. CONSUMERS PRICE INDEX SUBGROUPS—ALL URBAN AREAS COMBINED

 Fruit and vegetablesMeat, fish and poultryGrocery foods, soft drinks and confectioneryRestaurant meals and ready-to-eat foodDwelling rentalsHome ownershipEnergyHousehold appliances and furnishingsHousehold supplies and servicesClothingFootwear
Quarter 1989 Mar1055793862858853832794951891883927
Jun1058812887869867841801956881888937
Sep1200895927904884866819978926898956
Dec1149959936922892875820991949910971
1990 Mar1077950951934901889823991959913974
Jun1138954972947916921828989964939981
Sep1158965985957931935833986971935975
Dec1143965982964942936854990978956981
1991 Mar1113960988975946944875996999961981
Jun1069952994980949945882994983973993
Sep11139509949829619418859801007967993
Dec1115939976984947938898982992973998
1992 Mar1069939983986948934916982997976985
Jun10509389849909539389199919999861001
Sep112395899199495593892499210029821001
Dec108999099099595694392999310049831008
1993 Mar11609909929939649459369941003981990
Jun100298899799797596697310029959971012
Sep1046100299610019899899931004999993994
Dec10001000100010001000100010001000100010001000
1994 Mar106298299710021029100610131000990990982
Jun101896699210041086101410341004981992998
Quarter 1989 Mar8709016398558186557728795171215 
Jun8739066938588296687798875671222 
Sep8939127298998677048249115721224 
Dec9059207499148807108379135801223 
1990 Mar9069277589278957218459306721257 
Jun9349267789379087328559328721276 
Sep9579257879489177458699398741299 
Dec9829718079459317338859498751305 
1991 Mar9979538169589407948919639031308 
Jun10199348379599468359179669171276 
Sep10269389299739488439279709181220 
Dec10129599739779458489569709201162 
1992 Mar103596197497694610489419749231117 
Jun104296497697695510659659828951089 
Sep100698198397596710669829858951049 
Dec98199898598697610689869928981025 
1993 Mar966100599299098010429639939081014 
Jun99110099949929859989889989961028 
Sep992999100099699510029969969971023 
Dec1000100010001000100010001000100010001000 
1994 Mar9709929991002999101196510021093984 
Jun101499399910101001101699510041094960 

Table 26.5. RETAIL PRICES OF SELECTED ITEMS

June quarter
Commodity19901991199219931994
   $  
Paint, white, 4169.8270.8769.6563.6860.08
Concrete blocks, per 100252.86262.38265.98272.77274.72
Gib-type board, per sheet17.0417.1617.6717.4518.08
Spouting/guttering, per 3 m15.6815.7315.6115.7316.94
Electric range1291.011312.871313.501325.281361.47
Plug box14.3614.2514.5016.0415.48
Television set, colour1372.431224.881145.151044.05992.99
Electric hand drill, cordless175.51169.20174.30170.53231.96
Carpet, 100 percent wool144.63136.04125.33122.19111.50
Sheet, single29.3031.2930.1429.9923.17
Household broom17.4519.6118.2218.3418.80
Garden hose, 20 m25.5926.4323.3821.7421.71
Bleach, 1.512.692.762.602.622.60
Detergent, dishwashing, 900 ml2.993.233.073.102.82
Soap powder, 1 kg3.813.983.944.053.90
Cling food wrap, 15 m1.561.591.531.471.47
Electric light bulb, 100 watt1.071.141.101.091.03
Batteries, D size, twin pack2.892.972.852.892.83
Postage, letter, standard post0.400.400.450.450.45
Public broadcasting fee110.00110.00110.00110.00110.00
Veterinary services, cat68.3468.9468.9068.1666.82
Sweatshirt, men's33.7833.2530.7331.2836.52
T-shirt, men's14.1714.2013.5914.4114.25
Trackpants, men's62.6164.7964.5561.3138.55
Socks, men's7.377.497.777.488.17
Slip, half23.1925.6826.5123.7023.98
Pantyhose, 15 denier4.164.284.474.404.25
Jeans, boy's48.2648.2749.2146.9535.99
Shorts, boy's13.7115.3116.0716.2215.08
Wool, 50 g4.344.664.594.544.06
School shoes68.9268.8869.6272.6880.31
Warrant of fitness13.0113.2213.8114.4419.18
Petrol, premium9.269.749.9010.169.35
Cigarettes, filter4.204.505.265.376.53
Whisky, 1125 ml44.5141.8042.5841.7740.21
Toilet soap0.770.770.710.720.63
Razor blades, cartridge, five pack4.605.035.305.725.61
Tissues, facial2.522.662.612.662.55
Toilet paper, four rolls2.842.952.982.822.81
Hairdressing, men's12.3013.5213.8913.8713.31
Hairdressing, women's28.0229.9430.3130.1431.51
Soluble aspirin, packet of 242.262.302.372.382.30
Envelopes, packet of 201.361.471.481.441.47
Newspaper0.480.510.560.570.58
Developing and printing film, 24 colour prints16.3617.1216.6116.9617.86
Audio cassette, from top 1019.2320.4720.7821.1820.83
Tennis balls, can of four18.1219.3019.5219.8619.49
Rugby club subscription, annual69.5671.0473.7975.0270.22
Tennis club subscription, annual142.26156.26159.38164.51169.28

PERSONAL & HEALTH CARE Annual change

Year ended June

CREDIT SERVICESChange from previous quarter

North and South Islands

Although prices do not always move similarly throughout the country, the North and South Islands and the main centres showed an increase in the all group index and the housing subgroup.

During the 1994 year the CPI rose by 1.3 percent compared with 1993. Prices rose 1.3 percent in the North Island mainly due to rises in housing (up 6.1 percent), recreation and education (up 2.7 percent), tobacco and alcohol (up 1.4 percent) and household operation (up 1.2 percent). However, the credit services and food subgroups both fell 3.4 percent and 0.3 percent respectively.

Prices rose 1.3 percent in the South Island; while there were price increases in food (up 0.03 percent), housing (up 5.3 percent), recreation and education (up 2.5 percent) and transportation (up 0.2 percent), credit services fell 4.3 percent.

Prices rose 1.3 percent in the South Island. While the food (down 0.15 percent), housing (up 6.1 percent) credit services (down 3.7 percent) and recreation and education (up 2.7 percent) subgroups moved similarly to the North Island, the transportation subgroup rose slightly in the South Island compared with a slight fall in the North.

Table 26.6. CONSUMERS PRICE INDEX—REGIONAL MOVEMENTS

GroupAll centresNorth IslandSouth Island
Food-0.2-0.30.0
Housing5.96.15.3
Household operation1.31.21.4
Apparel0.50.50.7
Transportation0.10.10.2
Tobacco and alcohol drinks1.51.41.6
Personal and health care-0.7-0.7-1.0
Recreation and education2.62.72.5
Credit services-3.6-3.4-4.3

International comparisons

In the early 1980s New Zealand, like many other countries, experienced a rapid increase in prices of consumer goods and services. By the end of 1982 many countries had experienced some reprieve from rising prices, but New Zealanders continued to suffer large price increases until the end of 1987.

It is a different situation in the 1990s, with New Zealand showing annual increases below 4 percent in 1991 and below 3 percent in 1993 and 1994. Similar increases have been recorded in Australia and Japan but prices in Canada, United Kingdom, United States and West Germany have risen by more than in New Zealand in the 1993 June year.

Table 26.7. INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON OF QUARTERLY CONSUMERS PRICE INDEX

QuarterNew ZealandAustraliaCanadaJapanWest GermanyUnited KingdomUnited States
1990 Mar917890893928890827880
Jun930905900941894850889
Sep937912910944896862902
Dec949939923960905879921
1991 Mar956939953965912885927
Jun957942962975919922933
Sep965951966973933931938
Dec968962962986938943946
1992 Mar978966966981950949950
Jun982966973994958966960
Sep988970977988960965966
Dec992977980992969972976
1993 Mar995986988991985975983
Jun9979899911000994995990
Sep9999959951006996998992
Dec1000100010001000100010001000
1994 Mar99910049941001101410041004
Jun1001101199010051019..1011

CONSUMERS PRICE INDEXInternational comparison

Although the table shows direct comparisons between the movements in price levels experienced by domestic consumers in each country, the indexes do not show how expensive it is to live in one country compared with another.

STAPLE FOOD PRICES WORLD-WIDE*
CountryBread 700 gmRice 1 kgSugar 1.5 kgFlour 1.5 kg

* Prices were correct at 31 January 1994 and were converted to New Zealand dollars at the exchange rate published on 18 March. These figures are a guide as to what New Zealand dollars will buy; they are not adjusted for wage rates nor do they indicate relative standards of living.

Source: Consumers’ Institute.

  NZ$  
Australia2.161.462.051.61
England1.382.232.762.84
Fiji1.141.122.831.40
Germany3.584.152.901.33
Hong Kong1.742.172.221.64
Indonesia1.070.661.491.24
Ireland1.543.033.321.91
Netherlands1.863.722.721.26
New Zealand1.901.502.101.91
Singapore2.741.231.681.34
South Africa0.842.032.102.13
Spain1.791.792.491.82
Sweden3.853.342.482.53

26.2 Producers prices

Producers Price Index

The Producers Price Index (PPI), compiled by Statistics New Zealand, is a series of quarterly economic indicators designed to measure changes in the prices of non-labour inputs paid for by producers in the economy, as well as the prices that they receive for their outputs.

The format of the PPI is based on the economic activities assigned in the New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification. Indexes of changes in input prices are provided for 24 industry groups, which correspond to the industry groupings of the New Zealand National Accounts. Output indexes are published only for the 21 market-oriented industry groups.

Data from economic censuses and surveys of business activity undertaken by Statistics New Zealand form the basis for determining the relative importance (or weights) of commodities within the index. This data is supplemented by information obtained from many other sources. The specifications of commodities to be price-surveyed are determined in consultation with the suppliers of the goods and services to ensure that they are representative. The index weights and price-surveyed commodities are revised periodically to reflect changes in purchasing and production patterns.

The weights assigned to the industries to obtain the all-groups index are based on data from the 1983–84 national accounts.

The prices used to calculate the output indexes are those prevailing at the factory door, the farm gate, or as close to this point as possible. Sales taxes, excise duties, subsidies and GST are excluded. Input prices included sales taxes prior to the December 1986 quarter, and excise duties, but generally exclude GST. (GST is, however, included for exempt industries as it is not recoverable.) Imported commodities include freight, insurance and customs duty.

The PPI can be used in the analysis of inflationary trends, in economic forecasting and in estimating economic growth, i.e. as deflater used to derive constant price (or, effectively, volume) indicators. In addition the index is widely used to determine the increases allowable under escalation clauses in commercial contracts.

Table 26.8. PRODUCERS PRICE INDEX—INPUTS*

Quarter ended
Industry groupMar 1993Jun 1993Sep 1993Dec 1993Mar 1994Jun 1994

* Base: December quarter 1982 (=1000).

Includes industry groups 5 to 13.

Includes industry groups 1 to 21.

1 Agriculture171517381742174617511751
Sheep and beef farming175417701789178318011802
Dairy farming171517601783176417561759
Horticulture farming167716771666166516681666
Cropping and other farming158416271648165116451643
All farming171817421757175117561757
Agricultural contracting159716051609160916021599
2 Fishing and hunting148014031401140014191527
3 Forestry and logging175518011873188118281824
4 Mining and quarrying157815701574158415751573
5 Food, beverages and tobacco168216611697169616911667
Primary food processing169716611685170017051655
Other food processing154815551609157815611582
6 Textiles, apparel and leather148714511439147014871542
7 Wood and wood products189521122281228122982316
8 Paper, printing and publishing172016941745175017411727
9 Chemicals, petroleum and plastics131413131277125412201224
10 Non-metallic mineral products174117391757175917671765
11 Basic metals160215591561154815431566
12 Machinery and metal products176317851803180918211825
13 Other manufacturing161316161620163216221622
14 Electricity, gas and water183818441829183018351802
15 Construction175117561774178517911798
16 Trade, restaurants and hotels196919721983199719981997
Wholesale and retail trade201520212028204420502051
Hotels, restaurants, takeaways184718421866187518651858
17 Transport and storage167317181723172017091749
Road transport152215221528151115021505
Transport and storage other than road173317961801180317911844
18 Communication155315451556158515701573
19 Insurance and financing223222302234227322762271
20 Ownership of dwellings210821742256227022602265
21 Community and personal services187118861890191219021909
22 Central government182118311833184918431851
23 Local government176117661774177217761783
24 Private non-profit services195419731980199520011992
All manufacturing groups†163116321653165416501654
All market groups‡176817761792179917981801
All industry177217801796180318021806

Charging in on the opening day of book sale, Auckland.

Table 26.9. PRODUCERS PRICE INDEX—OUTPUTS*

Quarter ended
Industry groupMar 1993Jun 1993Sep 1993Dec 1993Mar 1994Jun 1994

* Base: December quarter 1982 (=1000).

Includes industry groups 5 to 13.

Includes industry groups 1 to 21.

1 Agriculture162015701596163216531630
2 Fishing and hunting191518351986187419022124
3 Forestry and logging316241204604440442784336  
4 Mining and quarrying133712991291126212301235
5 Food, beverages and tobacco18061803797180118021790
Primary food processing172117101685168816881672
Other food processing190319131939194719471943
6 Textiles, apparel and leather150114781475449315041514
7 Wood and wood products186020082195219121902180
8 Paper, printing, and publishing176217621760176617741787
9 Chemicals, petroleum and plastics143614271426141715851359
10 Non-metallic mineral products169016941700170617181724
11 Basic metals148414511462143614401474
12 Machinery and metal products182618731900191019121942
13 Other manufacturing163516461651166116611677
14 Electricity, gas and water185418691881188718951892
15 Construction170417081729174617541766
16 Trade, restaurants and hotels177717761781176317961799
Wholesale and retail trade172417251729170517431747
Hotels, restaurants, takeaways197819791985199119992000
17 Transport and storage157615721572158015701579
Road transport170916951690169516911687
Transport and storage other than road149714981499150914961510
18 Communication150315081500150215051505
19 Insurance and financing242624032406243724142498
20 Ownership of dwellings277427772793281128172849
21 Community and personal services208920972100211221192138
All manufacturing groups†170217151730173417311736
All market groups‡182718361853185718601873

Stacking fireworks display.

26.3 Capital goods prices

The Capital Goods Price Index (CGPI) reflects the price movements of fixed capital assets purchased by New Zealand businesses and government. In addition 60 separate indexes are produced for different types of assets, ranging from residential and non-residential buildings to food processing machinery and commercial vehicles. Quarterly index numbers for these asset-type indexes are available from the December 1979 quarter. Six group indexes and the all-groups index have been produced from the December 1989 quarter.

The relative importance (or weights) of the commodities within each of the asset-type indexes has been derived from statistics on external trade, manufacturing, and building and vehicle registrations. This data has been supplemented with information obtained in discussions with manufacturers, importers, wholesalers and retailers. Generally data for several years has been used, as expenditure on capital goods can be irregular. The prices used in the calculation of the quarterly indexes are those paid by the final user. Sales tax was included prior to the December 1986 quarter, but GST is excluded—for registered persons it is recoverable.

Table 26.1. CAPITAL GOODS PRICE INDEX*†

 Quarter ended
Asset groupDec 1992Mar 1993Jun 1993Sep 1993Dec 1994Mar 1994Jun 1994

* Base: December 1989 quarter (=1000).

This index does not purport to reflect all price changes in building work because of measurement difficulties, particularly with respect to discounts on labour and material prices.

Residential buildings1056105610711102111711331147
Non-residential buildings1011100810131026104110411045
Other construction1053105910531054106210711082
Land improvements1076108510891116111211161111
Transport equipment1128114711661177118311891192
Plant, machinery, and equipment1104110711081112111811161114
All groups1077108210881096110511071110

Contributor

26.1–26.3Statistics New Zealand.

Special articles

  • Statistics New Zealand; Consumers’ Institute.

Further information

  • Key Statistics. Statistics New Zealand (monthly).

  • Report of the Consumers Price Index Advisory Committee (Parl paper G28a, 1988).

Chapter 27. Money and banking

Roulette wheel, Christchurch casino.

27.1 Financial institutions

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. Following the change of government in that year, direct controls on the financial sector were largely 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, particularly in the area of foreign exchange; the development of a sizeable secondary market in government securities, the introduction of a range of new financial instruments, including forward contracts, options, 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 and subsequent legislative amendments to make financial markets more contestable have resulted in significant institutional changes within the finance industry. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1989 established a framework for the registration and supervision of banks, and for the disclosure by these banks of financial information. This Act contained provisions enabling suitably qualified financial institutions to become ‘registered banks’. At the end of July 1994 there were 16 registered banks, four of which were the former trading banks. The remaining 12 banks have been registered since the legislation came into force in 1987. The Trustee Banks Restructuring Act 1988, and the Building Societies Amendment Act 1987 also removed distinctions between various types of financial institutions.

Reserve Bank of New Zealand

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand, the central bank, was established in 1934 as a privately-owned institution, but became fully state-owned in 1936. The bank has a board of directors comprising the Governor, the two Deputy Governors, and between four and seven non-executive directors.

Under the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1989 the main functions of the Reserve Bank are:

  • To formulate and implement monetary policy to achieve and maintain stability in the general levels of prices;

  • To promote the maintenance of a sound and efficient financial system, including monitoring the prudential soundness of registered banks;

  • To manage the note and coin issue; and

  • To act as the central bank of New Zealand;

Other important functions undertaken by the Reserve Bank include:

  • Collecting information and data relating to the business of financial institutions;

  • Providing policy advice to the Minister of Finance;

  • Acting as a lender of last resort; and

  • Implementing exchange rate policy.

The Reserve Bank is required, under the 1989 Act, to prepare a monetary policy statement once every six months. These statements review the conduct of monetary policy over the previous six months and outline how monetary policy is to be implemented over the next six months, consistent with the bank's inflation objective.

Bank registration and supervision.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1989 confers on the Reserve Bank the function of registration and supervision of banks for the purposes of:

Budding business tycoons, winners of a sharemarket game designed to improve understanding of investment, computer and accounting skills.

  • Promoting the maintenance of a sound and efficient financial system.

  • Avoiding significant damage to the financial system that could result from the failure of a registered bank.

Accordingly, the bank supervision and registration framework operated by the Reserve Bank does not aim to protect depositors or individual banks. Instead the main focus is on ensuring that the banking system as a whole continues to operate effectively and efficiently, since any major disruption in the provision of financial services or any lack of efficiency in the way services are delivered could potentially impose significant costs on other sectors of the economy. In the event that a bank does fail, the Reserve Bank has crisis management powers which allow it to take steps to minimise any flow on effects to the rest of the financial sector.

Registered banks are required to meet certain minimum standards which are designed to reduce, but not eliminate, the probability of a bank failure. However, the approach to supervision is generally less regulatory in nature than is the case in some other countries where supervision has more explicit and direct depositor protection objectives. There is a strong emphasis on ensuring that market disciplines facing depositors, bank management and boards are not undermined, in view of the important role they have to play in encouraging prudent behaviour.

There is a fairly open policy on the entry of new registered banks in New Zealand, with no upper limit on the number of banks which can be registered. This policy recognises that competitive forces encourage efficiency and innovation and that overseas banks coming into New Zealand can bring valuable expertise to the local market. Applicants for registered bank status must satisfy the Reserve Bank that they are primarily involved in providing financial services. In addition, when considering an application for registration, the Reserve Bank is required to have regard to:

  • Incorporation and ownership structure.

  • Size of the business (a minimum capital of $15 million is normally required).

  • Standing or reputation in the financial market.

  • Ability to carry on business in a prudent manner.

  • Law and regulatory requirements in the home country if the applicant is an overseas bank.

Registered banks are the only financial institutions able to use the word ‘bank’ in their name. Apart from this there are no restrictions applied to non-bank financial institutions, which are able to carry out any of the functions normally conducted by banks. Registered banks are required to satisfy conditions of registration which include minimum requirements in respect of capital adequacy, exposure concentration and separation of business from other interests of the owner. Other conditions applied relate to ownership and internal controls. The Reserve Bank monitors the financial condition of registered banks and their adherence to minimum requirements by way of regular prudential returns. In addition it holds regular consultations with individual registered banks in order to obtain a good understanding of relevant developments affecting each bank and the financial market as a whole.

Over recent years there has been a move towards greater international co-operation among supervisory authorities. New Zealand has acknowledged the principles of the ‘Basle Concordat’ promulgated by the Basle Committee on Banking Supervision which sets down a broad framework for the supervision of banks operating internationally. The Reserve Bank maintains close relationships with other supervisors, particularly the Reserve Bank of Australia which acts as parent supervisor of some of the major banks operating in New Zealand.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1989 makes provision for the Reserve Bank to require registered banks to disclose a range of financial information. Under a proposed change in the supervision regime, banks will be required to publicly disclose information enabling independent assessment of the performance and relative soundness of a bank. Bank directors will be required to attest to the accuracy of the disclosed information, and to the adequacy of banks’ internal control systems. As a consequence of this comprehensive public disclosure regime it is proposed that some mandatory risk limits will be removed. This new regime is expected to come into effect in 1995. The Reserve Bank Act gives the Reserve Bank wide powers in relation to banks which are conducting their business in a manner which is prejudicial to the soundness of the financial system, which are insolvent or likely to become insolvent, or are about to suspend payment. These include the ability to give advice and directions, the power to appoint a person to investigate the affairs of the registered bank and the power to appoint a statutory manager.

Table 27.1. ASSETS OF THE RESERVE BANK

 Denominated in foreign currencyDenominated in New Zealand dollars
Advances
As at 30 JuneCurrent account and advancesMarketable securitiesIMF holdings of SDRsForeign assetsSettlement institutions*Crown Settlement accountAdvances to Treasury

* Includes government stock buy backs, one day interbank advances and accrued interest.

Government bank accounts.

Includes marketing board loans, marketable securities and accrued interests.

§ Includes small amounts of foreign currency banknotes, staff loans and sundry debtors.

Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

    $(million)   
19911,8652,21712668-1,032
19921,5052,81222743-1,124
19931,6742,9491-1,285-1,082
19941,2542,900--850-1,176
 Denominated in New Zealand dollars
 Investment in NZ
As at 30 JunGovernment securitiesOther ‡Fixed assets and inventoriesOther assets §Total assets
   $(million)  
19911,3033987277,240
19921,2963266197,601
19931,280272128,359
19941,247-70117,508

Table 27.2. LIABILITIES OF THE RESERVE BANK

 Denominated in foreign currencyDenominated in New Zealand dollars
As at 30 JuneCurrent*Long termAllocations of SDRsReserve billsGovernmentStabilisation account

* Overseas liabilities.

Domestic liabilities.

Includes Crown settlement account.

§ Includes IMF number 1 account.

Includes accounts payable and staff deposits.

Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

   $(million)   
1991283,733322990397-
19921103,8303751,127517-
19933463,9113671,056833-
19942603,4563471,132264-
 Denominated in New Zealand dollars
As at 30 JuneSettlement institutionsOther§Currency in circulationOther liabilitiesCapital and reservesTotal liabilities
   $(million)   
199166481,22694217,240
19921401,28383587,601
19933651,283324628,359
19941741,413304417,508

The New Zealand financial system.

After the banking industry was deregulated in the 1980s the number of registered banks increased significantly, partly as a result of non-bank financial institutions obtaining registered bank status and partly due to an inflow of foreign banks. Non-bank financial institutions declined in importance following deregulation as most of the larger ones became banks, while some of the banks which owned separate finance companies consolidated those operations within the bank itself.

More recently there has been some rationalisation in the banking sector, with a number of banks acquiring other banks, in some cases with the intention of ultimately merging the operations of the two entities. In addition, a number of the overseas banks which entered New Zealand in the 1980s have subsequently withdrawn from the market or scaled back their operations. The number of banks has declined as a result of this process (falling from 20 as at June 1993 to 16 as at July 1994). The number of banking groups has also declined from 15 in June 1993 to 14 in July 1994. However, the number of banks per capita is still relatively high by intentional standard, despite rationalisation. In part this reflects the open nature of the registration regime. The non-bank financial sector has continued to decline in importance and is small compared with that in Australia, for example.

The New Zealand banking system is characterised by a high degree of foreign ownership, particularly Australian ownership. As at March 1994 around 90 percent of the assets of the New Zealand banking system were under the ownership of a foreign bank parent, with approximately 60 percent being under the ownership of an Australian bank parent. This provides a source of strength for the system, providing local banks with access to capital resources and banking expertise.

The registered banks operating in New Zealand as at July 1994 are:

  • Multi-purpose banks—ANZ Banking Group (New Zealand) Limited; Bank of New Zealand; The National Bank of New Zealand Limited; and Westpac Banking Corporation.

  • Wholesale banks—Bankers Trust New Zealand Limited; Banque Indosuez; Barclays Banks PLC; BNZ Finance Limited; Citibank NA; Primary Industry Bank of Australia; and The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.

  • Mainly retail banks—ASB Bank Limited; Countrywide Banking Corporation Limited; Post Office Bank Limited; Trust Bank New Zealand Limited; and TSB Bank Limited.

Eleven of the 16 registered banks are members of the New Zealand Bankers’ Association, a professional industry association established in 1891. The association represents and promotes the interests of the banking industry and delivers to its members those services effectively undertaken on an industry basis.

Senior banking representatives on tour of manufacturing sites around Wellington.

Access to branches and services.

Between them, New Zealand's 16 banks operate more than 1,540 customer service outlets throughout the country. There are banking outlets at either end of New Zealand from Kaitaia in the north to Stewart Island in the south. These extensive branch networks were originally developed in response to the nature of New Zealand's geography and its scattered population. While some banks are now looking to replace full branch operations in remote areas with third-party agencies or with more cost-effective outlets incorporating electronic services, other newer entrants are expanding their branch networks.

An electronic banking system enables customers to access their accounts outside normal banking hours, without going near their branch. The first automated teller machines (ATMs) were introduced into New Zealand in mid-1979. By the end of 1982, all the major New Zealand trading banks offered ATM services. The number of machines steadily increased through the 1980s, as new retail banks emerged after deregulation. There has been a slight rationalisation of ATM networks recently as a result of mergers and the steamlining of bank operations. There were 1,178 bank-owned automated teller machines in New Zealand at 31 March 1994.

In 1984 Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale (EFTPOS) was introduced in New Zealand as a means of payment for retail goods and services. The banks agreed in 1990 to integrate their EFTPOS services and the growth of the network has since been rapid. There are currently between 4,000 to 5,000 EFTPOS terminals in use in New Zealand at supermarkets, service stations, liquor markets and a range of other retail outlets. There are approximately 3.9 million payments transacted through EFTPOS per month, at an average value of $43 per transaction. The average total value of EFTPOS transactions per month is estimated at $500 million.

Credit cards provide an increasingly popular means for people to buy goods and services without having to handle cash. It is estimated that there are up to 1.4 million cards on issue nationally and that more than 60,000 merchants in New Zealand accept credit cards as a form of payment. Banking industry statistics to 31 December 1993 indicate an average transaction amount of around $100 per transaction.

Industry self-regulation.

In 1992 the New Zealand Banker's Association introduced two related self-regulatory measures. From March 1992, a Code of Banking Practice establishing minimum standards of practice to be observed by banks in their dealings with personal customers and covering the responsibilities of banks and their customers (including the protection of customer information), the use of EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) cards and guidelines for customer complaints procedures, came into force. The code is linked to an independent external complaints review process, the Banking Ombudsman scheme, which was operational from July 1992. The Banking Ombudsman is empowered to rule on complaints involving claims of not more than $100,000 related to the banking services and products of participating banks, which have been considered by the internal complaints procedures of banks and remain in dispute. All 11 current members of the New Zealand Bankers’ Association are participants in the Code of Banking Practice and the Banking Ombudsman scheme.

Industry performance.

Aggregate banking system capital adequacy has been above minimum requirements since the introduction of Basle-based reporting in 1989. Average capital adequacy of New Zealand banks at March 1994 was 11 percent.

Net profit after tax as a percentage of total assets employed for New Zealand banks was 0.8 percent for the March 1994 year. Banks recorded growth in total assets of 7.3 percent over the year compared to 3.6 percent in 1993.

Staff numbers for registered banks stood at 25,917 as at December 1993, compared to 27,819 for December 1992.

Table 27.3. LIABILITIES AND ASSETS OF M3 FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

 As at June quarter
Item199219931994

NB: Detailed data is not available prior to 1991 as recent revisions nave not been backdated.

* Includes trade creditors/debtors, accounts payable/receivable, and items in transit, timing and statistical adjustments.

Any two entities, i.e., companies, organisations or individuals with the same shareholders and/or any company which holds 20 percent or more of the paid up capital of another company (the associated). A subsidiary is an associate.

Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

Liabilities— NZ$(million) 
NZ dollar funding—   
NZ residents57,094 x60,887 x65,622
Non-residents7,827 x9,778 x8,732
Unallocated---
     Total, NZ$ funding64,921 x70,665 x74,353
Foreign currency funding—   
NZ residents2,7542,3912,149
Non-residents6,6598,246 x10,967
Unallocated---
Total9,41310,637 x13,116
Capital and reserves6,073 x6,549 x6,390
Miscellaneous*1,985 x1,633 x3,137
     Total liabilities82,392 x89,483 x96,996
Funding from associates   
Unused committed borrowing   
Lines and standby facilities available to surveyed institutions647870422
Assets— NZ$(million) 
NZ Government securities8,777 x9,114 x8,632
(includes Treasury bills)   
NZ currency262299279
Balances with the Reserve Bank1,1661,0591,185
NZ dollar claims—   
NZ residents64,868 x70,458 x78,019
Non-residents1,078 x784 x959
Unallocated---
     Total, NZ$ claims65,946 x71,242 x78,978
Foreign currency claims   
NZ residents2,1642,9362,984
Non-residents718884964
Unallocated---
Total2,8823,8203,947
Foreign (currency) fixed assets and equity investment1,154266259
Shares (in NZ companies)1,3071,5811,292
Fixed assets (in NZ)1,5971,5181,499
Miscellaneous*-698 x583 x926
     Total assets82,392 x89,483 x96,996
Financial claims on associates†2,7903,5222,584

Other financial institutions

Prior to 1984, a range of regulatory distinctions existed between different types of financial institutions. Aside from trading banks, there were also private savings banks, building societies, merchant banks, stock and station agents and finance companies. The activities that each of these institutions could engage in was prescribed by regulation. Since 1984, however, the removal of most distinctions between types of institutions has seen a marked change in the operations of many of these institutions. There are currently only two formal categories of financial institutions—registered bank and other financial institutions. These other institutions operate in a range of areas, and can provide full banking services or a sub-set of such services as they choose.

Many institutions have become registered banks, even if they do not offer a complete range of services to both the business and household sectors. Consequently, the share of the total banking business that registered banks have has increased in the past few years. In addition, a number of offshore institutions have set up operations in New Zealand as registered banks—offering either a full or partial banking service. Distinctions between other types of financial institutions have become blurred in recent years, with institutions able to compete more or less on an equal footing.

Traditionally, the financial institutions other than trading banks have specialised in a particular area of banking. Private savings banks were bankers to the household sector—accepting deposits and making loans to individuals. Building societies specialised in providing home mortgage services; merchant banks were largely involved in corporate financing activities and trade financing; finance companies tended to specialise in hire-purchase finance, but were also involved in corporate finance; while stock and station agents operated in the provision of retailing, brokering and financial services to the rural sector.

Work in progress at the Auckland casino.

Shareholders voting at an annual general meeting.

In recent years, however, institutions have been free to develop in those areas where they believe they have a competitive advantage. Consequently, while some institutions have remained focused on their core business activities, others have endeavoured to diversify their operations.

Banking and finance industry statistics

The Reserve Bank publishes some statistics on financial sector activity while Statistics New Zealand publishes information on economic activity. Financial information is provided in the quarterly Reserve Bank Bulletin, and (following) provides a summary. Economic statistics on the banking and finance industry are collected by Statistics New Zealand as part of two broad economic surveys of New Zealand businesses and industries—the five-yearly Economy Wide Census and the annual Enterprise Survey (see section 17.1, Business statistics).

Coverage:

Banking finance and investment. The operation of the central bank, trading banks and recognised savings banks which are empowered to issue cheques, accept demand and time deposits and extend loans. Also non-bank enterprises holding or dealing in finance and investments activities (excluding holder investing).

Table 27.4. FINANCE (EXCLUDING HOLDER INVESTING): STATISTICAL SUMMARY

Statistical item1988–891990–91x1991–92P
Income— $(million) 
Sales of goods and services882.51,791.91,681.4
Interest, etc received11,702.912,923.610,385.6
Profit on sales of investment and financial assets--674.2
All other income755.4431.9173.7
     Total sales and other income13,340.815,147.412,914.9
Operating expenditure—   
Salaries and wages1,296.21,379.01,340.0
Depreciation176.8201.7199.2
Interest, bad debts, etc.8,008.29,658.17,335.8
Indirect tax35.623.317.7
Purchases18.04.13.5
Loss on sales of investment and financial assets--192.1
All other operating expenditure2,693.42,599.82,575.0
     Total operating expenditure12,228.213,866.111,663.3
Working proprietors/partners salaries and wages45.753.555.3
Net profit before tax, after deducting working proprietors/partners salaries and wages1,066.91,228.31,196.3
Fixed tangible assets—   
Purchases during the year355.2337.5270.6
Sales during the year199.6336.2121.6
Balance sheet—   
Shareholders’ funds, etc.7,081.29,077.27,000.1
All other liabilities89,860.297,483.1100,480.6
     Total capital and liabilities96,941.4106,560.9107,480.7
Fixed tangible assets1,543.71,447.51,358.7
All other assets95,397.7105,113.3106,122.0
     Total assets96,941.4106,560.9107,480.8
Ratios—percent  
Net profit per total sales and other income8.08.19.3
Total salaries and wages per total capital and other income9.79.110.4
Shareholders’ funds per total capital and liabilities7.38.56.5
Fixed assets per total assets1.61.41.3

27.2 Money

Currency

The present decimal currency system was introduced in 1967, when the dollar as the monetary unit replaced the previous system of pounds, shillings and pence.

The Reserve Bank has the sole right to issue banknotes and coin in New Zealand. Issue is affected by both seasonal and general economic influences, notably changes in the level of economic activity and in domestic prices. Demand for currency is also influenced by changes in methods of payment, such as the increasing use of credit cards and the automatic crediting and debiting of payments to cheque account balances.

Notes and coin form only a relatively small part of the public's holdings of money balances, amounting to about 13 percent of the narrowly defined money supply (M1) and roughly 2 percent of the broad money supply (M3). The total value of notes and coins on issue from the Reserve Bank as at 17 August 1994 was $1,507 million.

During 1992 the Reserve Bank commenced introduction of a new series of notes, incorporating the first substantial changes to notes since the introduction of decimal currency in 1967. The new notes contain additional security features. Portraits on the notes are: $5, Sir Edmund Hillary; $10, Kate Sheppard; $20, Her Majesty, The Queen; $50, Sir Apirana Ngata; and $100, Ernest, Lord Rutherford of Nelson. The Queen also features on the watermark of all the notes. Rare New Zealand birds are featured on the backs of the notes. The $5 note was released on 10 July 1992, the $20 on 1 September 1992 and the $50 and $100 on 3 November 1992 and the $10 on 18 May 1993.

Five dollar note signed by Sir Edmund Hillary.

Monetary policy

Monetary policy is implemented by the Reserve Bank under the terms of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1989 and the Policy Targets Agreement between the Governor and the Minister of Finance. The bank's objective is to maintain price stability (0 to 2 percent annual CPI increases). In the event of clearly identifiable one-off shocks caused by factors such as changes in interest rates, government charges and taxes, and export or import prices, inflation may deviate temporarily from the 0–2 percent range. Consumer price inflation is currently within the 0 to 2 percent range (see section 26.1 Consumer prices).

Since 1985 monetary policy has operated primarily by controlling the level of the monetary base (liquid claims on the Reserve Bank). The definition of the ‘monetary base’ currently used by the Reserve Bank is ‘primary liquidity’. Since late 1988, this aggregate has comprised the cash balances held by settlement banks at the Reserve Bank plus those Reserve Bank bills (of 28 or fewer days to maturity), which the Reserve Bank is prepared to repurchase at a discount at any time, and which therefore constitutes 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 and other financial institutions. By controlling the supply of settlement cash and primary liquidity relative to demand, the Reserve Bank can influence short-term interest rates and other variables which affect inflation: most notably, the overall interest rate structure, money and credit growth and the exchange rate.

The Reserve Bank controls the supply of settlement cash, through its daily open market operations (for example the purchase or sale of Treasury bills, government stock or ‘sell-back’ agreements, i.e. short-term loans secured against Treasury bills or government stock). The supply of Reserve Bank bills is controlled through twice-weekly tenders. By selling securities the Reserve Bank takes settlement cash out of the system and this in turn affects interest rates and the exchange rate. These in turn influence nominal economic activity and inflation. The other instrument used to affect interest rates is the discount margin—the penalty incurred by institutions when forced to sell their holdings of Reserve Bank bills before maturity. When making its assessments of monetary conditions, the Reserve Bank monitors a wide range of indicators, including the exchange rate and the level and term structure of interest rates.

Price stability was effectively achieved at the end of 1991 and has been maintained since then. The new Policy Targets Agreement signed in December 1992 formally orientates the Reserve Bank towards maintaining rather than achieving price stability. Monetary conditions have remained consistent with the maintenance of price stability over much of this period, apart from a brief period at the beginning of 1993. A sharp fall in the exchange rate in January 1993, which followed several instances of exchange rate weakness over the latter part of 1992, threatened the inflation target, and led the Reserve Bank to tighten monetary policy. As the exchange rate subsequently recovered, the bank was able to return monetary settings to their pre-January levels.

Table 27.5. MONEY SUPPLY AND CREDIT AGGREGATES

As at 31 March
Selected aggregates199219931994

* Readily available money supply.

Broad money supply, including term deposits.

Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

  $(million) 
Monetary—   
Notes and coin held by the public1,0201,0811,217
Transaction account balances8,500 x8,522 x9,547
Less, inter-institutional transaction balances156480 x271
Less, government deposits102118
      M1*9,354 x9,102 x10,475
Other funds55,204 x58,907 x62,217
Less other inter-institutional funding6,827 x5,884 x6,815
Less government deposits-818 x546
      M357,731 x61,307 x65,332
Credit—
Gross claims—
(a) Surveyed institutions66,694 x70,990 x79,915
(b) Other20163
 66,714 x71,006 x79,918
Less inter-institutional claims8,075 x7,2297,856
      Private sector credit58,639 x63,777 x72,062
Marketing and stabilisation2711
Claims on government—
(a) Surveyed institutions7,907 x8,154 x7,332
(b) Reserve Bank2,3861,5181,732
(c) Coins in circulation139149160
     Total10,432 x9,821 x9,224
      Domestic credit69,098 x73,599 x81,287

KEY MARKET RATES Weekly averages by type

Government securities market

The Government currently sells three types of debt instruments to meet its core financing requirements:

  • Government stock, which is a medium-term (generally three to ten-year) instrument paying a fixed coupon interest rate, and aimed at the wholesale market (mainly large institutional investors). Since September 1983, government stock has been sold through regular, competitive tenders, whereby the price, or the effective yield, is determined by market bids.

    Displaying the design of the University of Otago credit card.

  • Treasury bills, which are short-term (usually less than 14 months to maturity) wholesale debt instruments. They are used to meet the Government's seasonal financing needs during the year and, also as part of the Government's baseload funding requirement. (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 bill.) Bills have been sold through regular weekly tenders since January 1985; previously being sold by tap issue.

  • Retail stock, which is aimed mainly at small savers. (Since November 1985, the sole retail instrument on issue has been ‘Kiwi Bonds’. This is a fixed-interest instrument which is transferable, i.e. may be sold by the holder to another party. Changes made in 1988 also mean that the bonds are now more readily redeemable prior to maturity. Kiwi Bonds are issued with six-month, one-, two- and four-year maturities. The interest rates on new issues are related 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 since 1984, with transactions usually in multiples of $1 million with settlement on a two-day basis.

The Reserve Bank Registry maintains registers of stock for government, local authorities and other public bodies and several state-owned enterprises.

At 31 July 1994 the value of total government securities registered was $27,712 million. Of this total $27,163 million comprised Treasury bills and other wholesale government stock while government retail stock of $549 million was also on issue. These figures do, however, exclude securities issued by state-owned enterprises. In recent years several government departments have changed their status, and as a result no longer rely on funding from government stock.

Table 27.6. GOVERNMENT SECURITIES ON ISSUE

 As at
 September 1992March 1993September 1993March 1994
Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
  $(million)  
Ordinary government stock, by maturity:    
Less than or equal to 1 month3.9---
More than 1 month, up to 3 months28.52.91,404,3107.9
More than 3 months, up to 6 months52.7328.1-151.2
More than 6 months, up to 2 years2,836.95,171.73,455.05,652.2
More than 2 years, up to 5 years10,281.87,815.910,709.77,983.1
More than 5 years4,554.65,911.65,394.06,942.7
Treasury bills by maturity:    
Less than or equal to 3 months3,743.02,714.02,283.03,045.0
More than 3 months, up to 6 months1,560.0980.01,590.01,720.0
More than 6 months, up to 1 year300.0950.01,260.01,205.0
Unclassified678.4624.11,040.3248.9
Index linked stock133.9125.456.039.3
Government stock coupons212.7221.2222.0170.7
Kiwi stock8.07.87.77.5
IASBs203.2192.4180.9171.3
ONZ Bonds7.26.96.56.3
Kiwi Bonds753.8712.6570.1538.4
     Total internal public debt25,358.625,764.628,179.527,979.5

Foreign exchange

Since March 1985 the New Zealand dollar has ‘floated’, with its value against other currencies determined by demand and supply in the foreign exchange market. This contrasts with 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 a predetermined rate. The Reserve Bank continues to monitor the market. It also purchases some of 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, there is no impediment to foreign exchange dealers dealing with their customers in currencies at negotiated rates. Monetary policy, however, has a significant indirect impact on the exchange rate.

Recent changes in exchange rates.

After declining since late 1990, the value of the New Zealand dollar stabilised in 1992, before gradually appreciating in 1993 and early 1994. The trade-weighted index measure of the exchange rate (TWI) appreciated by around 8 percent between December 1992 and July 1994. The TWI averaged 57.4 over July 1994, and despite the recent appreciation, is still more than 6 percent below its level in early 1990.

Over 1993 the New Zealand dollar strengthened relative to the United States dollar, the Australian dollar, the pound sterling and the German deutschmark. Over the same period, the New Zealand dollar declined in value against the Japanese yen. The pattern continued in the first half of 1994, except that the New Zealand dollar also depreciated against the deutschmark.

The ‘real exchange rate’ is defined as exchange rates as traded, adjusted for price levels at home and abroad. Movements in the real exchange rate indicate changes in the competitiveness of the traded goods sector. (A rise in the real exchange rate indicates reduced competitiveness.)

Between 1992 and 1992 the ‘real exchange rate’ declined by over 15 percent, resulting in a gain in competitiveness for those sectors of the economy which compete on international markets. Since then the real exchange rate has appreciated a little. Movements in the real exchange rate largely reflect changes in the nominal exchange rate. However, because New Zealand's inflation rate is below that of our trading partners, the loss in competitiveness from the appreciation in the nominal exchange rate is not as great as would otherwise have been the case. Our lower inflation rate has partly offset the impact on competitiveness of the higher TWI.

EXCHANGE RATE Trade-weighted index

At and of month. March years

Table 27.7. FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES*

Exchange Rate Index†
Month§USA mid-rate US$/NZ$1UK mid-rate Stg/NZ$1Aust. mid-rate A$/NZ$1Japan mid-rate Yen/NZ$1Germany mid-rate DM/NZ$1Switz mid-rate Fr/NZ$1Base Jun 1979 = 100Year to percentage changeReal‡ Exchange Rate Index

* All exchange rates from April 1991 are representative market mid-rates at 9am.

The exchange rate index is as calculated at 9am on the basis of representative market rates for the currencies in the basket. The currency weightings used in calculating the Exchange Rate Index are revised approximately quarterly. Effective from 1 August 1994, the weightings are US 0.2411, Stg 0.1005, Aust 0.3486, Yen 0.2544 and DMK 0.0554. The scale factor is 6305.

This real exchange rate index is calculated by the International Monetary Fund. The index is based on a global weighting system that calculates trade weights separately for manufactured and primary product exports and imports. It uses quarterly average nominal exchange rates adjusted by the consumer price inflation rates of New Zealand and its main trading partners and trade competitors.

§ Representative market mid-rates on the final working day of each month.

Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

1993—         
Jul0.55220.37260.810258.810.95940.844055.63.590.3
Aug0.55160.39690.823057.250.92220.812255.34.190.6
Sep0.55090.36440.852057.870.88890.778155.95.390.2
Oct0.55460.37270.832460.000.92900.820056.34.190.9
Nov0.54490.36600.828159.530.93100.812755.74.390.7
Dec0.55880.37780.827262.570.96970.827757.17.392.1
1994—         
Jan0.56740.37960.799662.420.98950.833556.75.493.9
Feb0.57740.38800.803160.450.98820.825056.75.894.5
Mar0.56250.38020.802357.860.94220.798055.42.8 
Apr0.57620.38070.808758.370.95760.814256.14.3 
May0.59000.39090.802261.680.97140.829257.36.1 
Jun0.59470.38470.816458.720.94320.793356.84.6 
Jul0.60140.39380.814260.120.95690.811357.43.2 

Contributors

27.1–27.2Reserve Bank of New Zealand; Statistics New Zealand; New Zealand Bankers Association.

Further information

  • Explaining Inflation (pamphlet). Reserve Bank of New Zealand, 1989.

  • Finance, Insurance and Business Services, 1987. Statistics New Zealand.

  • Financial Services Industry: Effects of Regulatory Reform. New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, 1986.

  • Financial Statement (‘Budget’, Parl paper B6).

  • Monetary Policy and the New Zealand Financial System. Reserve Bank of New Zealand (2nd ed, 1983).

  • Monetary Policy Statement. Reserve Bank of New Zealand (six-monthly).

  • Key Statistics. Statistics New Zealand (monthly).

  • Report of the Registrar of Friendly Societies and Credit Unions (Parl paper B18).

  • Report of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (Parl paper B16).

  • Reserve Bank Bulletin. Reserve Bank of New Zealand (quarterly).

  • Weekly Statistical Release. Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

  • 1993 Survey of New Zealand Financial Institutions. KPMG Peat Marwick, 1993.

Chapter 28. Public sector finance

28.1 Central government finance

Expenditure

New Zealand has a centralised form of government developed from the Westminster style. Unlike more populous Canada and Australia, New Zealand does not have a system of state or provincial government. The Cabinet proposes the acquisition of goods and services from departments and other bodies, and the required expenditure is subject to Parliament's approval and control.

In recent years, legislative reviews have brought about several changes in Parliament's traditional forms of control over the financial activities of central government.

Historically, parliamentary control has applied to the financial activities of the Crown, either through agencies of the Crown itself or through agencies possessing separate legal status.

Types of organisations.

The following four types of central government organisations have evolved:

  • Government departments as defined by Section 2 of the Public Finance Act 1989. The ‘Crown’ reporting entity includes Her Majesty the Queen in right of New Zealand, all Ministers of the Crown and all departments, but does not include offices of Parliament, Crown-owned entities or State-owned enterprises.

  • Offices of Parliament as defined by Section 2 of the Public Finance Act 1989. Offices of Parliament include the Office of the Ombudsmen, the Audit Office, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment and the Privacy Commissioner.

  • Crown entities, which are bodies corporate other than State-owned enterprises. These have been defined primarily by a new Schedule to the Public Finance Act 1989.

  • State-owned enterprises as listed in the First Schedule to the State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986 and amendments. State-owned enterprises operate under the Companies Act 1955 with legal status separate from the Crown and the only legal authority that can be exercised by the Crown is that conferred by its ownership of shares in the enterprise.

The appropriation process.

Parliament authorises the expenditure of public money by Ministers departments and offices of Parliament through the appropriation process. This authority can take the form of annual appropriations or a standing statutory authority (permanent legislative authority). Permanent appropriations are used where some independence from Parliamentary control is constitutionally desirable (such as judges’ salaries) and for debt servicing.

Annual expenditure is appropriated by an act of Parliament and the authority to spend or to incur costs lasts only to the end of the financial year to which the appropriation relates unless otherwise authorised. The appropriations are included in the annual Estimates of Appropriations. These estimates are presented to Parliament and show the costs of producing the goods and services (outputs) for individual ministerial votes. They are tabled in Parliament as part of the Budget papers at the beginning of the financial year.

However, the Budget covers much more than the expenditure proposals contained in the Estimates. It is also concerned with the whole range of the Government's financial and economic policy. It details—through tables—taxation and other revenue sources, expenditure patterns, assets and liabilities and the cashflows of the Crown. Within Parliament, the Estimates and Departmental Forecast Reports are reviewed by select committees and debated in the House each year.

As well as reporting to Parliament on their requests for annual appropriations, departments also submit annual reports to Parliament. Departments are required to produce annual financial statements under the Public Finance Act 1989. The financial statements include similar information on financial performance to that provided by the private sector, including a statement of financial position (balance sheet) and an operating statement.

Departments also report on their service performance comparing the services they proposed in the Estimates with the services they actually produced during the year. The chief executives of departments are also being held increasingly accountable by reforms such as those in the State Sector Act 1988.

Chief executives of state-owned enterprises are accountable to their respective boards in the same way as other public companies. Each state-owned enterprise is required to manage and report on the investment of shareholders’ funds, as is the case for public companies. This involves tabling in Parliament financial statements which outline corporate objectives, performance targets and dividend policy. Parliament and its committees exercise influence over the achievements of these enterprises by scrutiny of their reports, and the Crown, through its ministers, has the authority to direct the enterprises on any recommendations arising from examination of such reports in Parliament.

Legislative regime.

The Public Finance Act 1989 is the legislation governing the way the Crown, government departments and Crown entities manage and report on expenditure. This legislation was part of the Government's strategy to improve the overall efficiency of the economy and was the culmination of substantial reform in the public sector.

Just as the State Owned Enterprises Act 1986 and the State Sector Act 1988 made organisations more accountable, while providing the necessary powers for decision-making, the Public Finance Act 1989 addresses the financial management and reporting elements of public sector management.

As owner, the Government is concerned about the efficiency with which departments use the resources it has invested in them, and whether those funds could be better invested elsewhere. As purchaser, the Government is interested in the quality and quantity of departmental goods and services (outputs), and whether better or cheaper outputs could be purchased from other suppliers. Chief executives are responsible for both types of performance.

By distinguishing these two interests, the Government can compare the financial performance of its investment in different departments and entities, and compare the cost of outputs from different sources. This has opened the way for increased competition within the public sector. Also, where government departments operate in competition with private sector suppliers, the management system helps ensure that departments operate with neither advantages nor disadvantages compared with that competition. Public sector managers are able to demonstrate the quality of their performance in comparison with other suppliers of goods and services.

An important element of the financial management system is the cash management procedures which give departments significant control over their own finances. Departments operate their own departmental bank accounts into which annual appropriations are disbursed. As well, where they have delegated authority to make payments or collect receipts on behalf of the Crown they operate a subsidiary bank account comprising one of a suite of accounts within the Crown Bank Account.

The Public Finance Act 1989 provides the basis for the appropriation and management of public financial resources. It provides for the provision of information to Parliament on which to base its decisions on how public money should be spent, and to assess afterwards whether the money has been well spent.

Financial reporting.

The ownership interest of the Government requires similar financial reporting to that used in the private sector. This includes distinguishing capital and current expenditure and the use of full accrual accounting to monitor the performance of the Crown's investment. The purchase interest requires the same type of information as private sector sales contracts: quantity; quality; time and place of delivery; and price. As decisions about output pricing and production require information about total resources used (costs), not simply cash outlaid, accrual accounting is required.

Accrual accounting.

Since 30 June 1991 all departments have been required to produce financial statements prepared on an accrual accounting basis.

The financial statements include a statement of objectives and a statement of service performance as well as an operating statement, statement of cashflows and statement of financial position.

The departmental financial statements along with information on financial transactions undertaken on behalf of the Crown were consolidated in 1992/3 to produce the first set of accrual financial statements of the Crown for the year ended 30 June 1992.

The new system allows departmental managers more flexibility in choosing the resources (inputs) they use to produce goods and services for the Government. Controls such as those which required departments to acquire office supplies, office space, computing services and other inputs from designated government agencies have already been removed.

This higher level of discretion for managers is balanced by much tighter accountability. The Public Finance Act 1989 specifies the minimum information to be presented in the Estimates of Appropriations and Departmental Forecast Reports and requires both the Crown and departments to present to Parliament annual audited financial statements.

These accrual statements form part of the Financial Statements of the Government of New Zealand, also known as the Crown financial statements, which from the year ended 30 June 1993 cover Ministers of the Crown, government departments, offices of Parliament and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, and the Crown's share of the net assets of State-owned enterprises and Crown entities (see pages 609 and 610 for a list of the organisations covered). The Crown Financial Statements are tabled in Parliament for the six months ended 31 December (unaudited) and the year ended 30 June.

Crown banking arrangements.

The former system of public accounts has been replaced by two main types of bank accounts for public money—departmental accounts and a Crown Bank Account—and a third account, a Trust Bank Account for trust money.

Departmental bank accounts may contain the following types of revenue; money disbursed to the department by the Treasury; receipts from departmental revenue; and receipts from the disposal or sale of the department's assets. A suite of Crown Bank Accounts is used to collect all receipts other than departmental revenue. Examples of Crown revenue are: taxes, fines, duties, levies, etc. Payments from the Crown Bank Account include benefit payments, disbursements to departmental bank accounts and debt servicing.

A Trust Bank Account may include either unclaimed money or money used to pay a third party or settle a transaction or dispute. The Treasury is responsible for managing trust money but can delegate responsibility for this to departments. If this occurs the department(s) concerned is required to establish and maintain a Trust Bank Account to hold money separate from public funds.

The Crown's central treasury function (the New Zealand Debt Management Office in the Treasury) is responsible for managing the Government's overall cash balance, including an overnight offset of the Crown's departmental balances to make most effective use of any net surplus or to minimise the cost of any shortfall.

By moving government's operating accounts to the private sector, the new system also distinguishes the management of the Crown's own finances from monetary policy, which is implemented by the Reserve Bank (see section 27.2 Money).

Presenting the financial highlights.

Table 28.1. EXPENSES

 Years ending 30 June
 1993 actual1994 actual1995 forecast1996 projection1997 projection
Source: The Treasury.
$(million)

By input type

Subsidies and transfer payments (see analysis below)11,95310,80911,22311,50311,701
Operating expenses (see analysis below)10,38911,82712,02512,26612,391
Personnel     
Personnel expenses (excluding pensions)2,3952,3362,3202,2962,269
Pension expenses1,320748678693663
Depreciation839799764767786
Rental and leasing costs220214207201196
Loss on sale of assets5616(58)  
Finance costs (see analysis below)3,9613,7883,7473,6173,342
  $(million)   
Foreign-exchange (gains)/losses on liabilities324(1,340)(319)  
Foreign-exchange losses/(gains) on assets(28)442127  
Supplementary estimates provision  50150150
New policy provision   200200
     Total expenses31,42929,63930,76431,69331,698

Analysis of subsidies and transfer payments

     
Social assistance grants     
New Zealand superannuation4,9854,9314,9775,0545,065
Unemployment benefit1,5721,4831,3791,3221,283
Domestic purposes benefit1,1921,2041,2641,3411,409
Family support580645732764781
Student allowances238247269288298
Other social assistance grants1,8031,9302,2262,3522,475
Subsidies1,427206195196194
Other transfer payments
Official development assistance141130155165175
Other1533262121
     Total subsidies and transfer payments11,95310,80911,22311,50311,701
Analysis of operating expenses     
Education purchases
Early childhood education196212216231246
Primary and secondary education2,2932,2912,3442,3572,382
Tertiary education and training1,2851,3461,3801,3951,399
Health purchase2,6774,3954,6434,7714,833
Science purchases272279285288298
Sealord Maori fisheries claim168    
National Provident Fund Board indemnity 273   
Other operating expenses3,4983,0313,1573,2243,233
     Total operating expenses10,28711,82712,02512,26612,391
Analysis of finance costs     
Interest
New Zealand dollars2,3792,4202,7332,7362,510
Foreign currencies1,5371,2421,003863807
Other finance costs45126111825
     Total finance costs3,9613,7883,7473,6173,342

Table 28.2. GOVERNMENT FINANCE: FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

 Years ending 30 June
 1993 actual1994 actual1995 forecast1996 projection1997 projection
Source: The Treasury.
   $(million)  

Revenue

     
Levied through the Crown's sovereign power     
Direct taxation16,59117,58519,95821,36622,401
Indirect taxation9,22110,12010,29210,77511,202
Compulsory fees, fines, penalties and levies151190210227229
     Total revenue levied through the Crown's sovereign power25,96328,89530,46032,36833,832
Earned through the Crown's operations     
Investment income1,6461,3681,9131,5111,737
Unrealised gains/(losses) arising from changes in the value of commercial forests766(292)......
Other operational revenue791518491397391
Sales of goods and services669694665623623
     Total revenue earned through the Crown's operation3,8722,2883,0692,5312,751
     Total revenue29,83530,18333,52934,89936,583

Expenses

     
By functional classification     
Social security and welfare12,07111,47911,63812,01612,153
Education4,5394,6274,7534,7974,844
Health4,1684,6024,9105,0295,087
   $(million)  
Core government services1,4641,7231,4271,5661,537
Law and order1,0541,1501,1871,2081,214
Defence1,1731,0499939931,044
Transport and communications781815758758761
Economic and industrial services744711780705702
Primary services372299286268268
Heritage, culture and recreation310241258228222
Housing and community development26039504239
Other23614119116114
Finance costs3,9613,7883,7473,6173,342
Net foreign-exchange losses/(gains)296(898)(192)....
Supplementary estimates provision  50150150
New policy provision   200200
     Total expenses31,42929,63930,76431,69331,698
Revenue less expenses(1,594)5442,7653,2064,885
Surplus attributable to State-owned enterprises and Crown entities1,3528537561,0741,223
Dividends and other distributions(577)(642)(1,203)(686)(826)
Net surplus attributable to State-owned enterprises and Crown entities775211(447)388397
Operating balance(819)7552,3183,5945,282

Table 28.3. GOVERNMENT FINANCE: CASH FLOWS

 Years ending 30 June
 1993 actual1994 actual1995 forecast1996 projection1997 projection
Source: The Treasury.
   $(million)  
Cash flows from operations:     
Cash provided from     
Direct taxation     
Individuals12,72913,72614,94315,70516,449
Companies2,3203,1704,0044,4914,781
Withholding taxes1,0511,0561,0951,2191,171
Other direct taxation8635333
     Total direct taxation16,18617,98720,04521,41822,404
Indirect taxation
Goods and services tax5,9106,2656,8657,2647,607
Excise duties1,8591,8181,8511,8651,884
Other indirect taxation1,3551,5011,5801,6361,692
     Total indirect taxation9,1249,58410,29610,76511,183
Compulsory fees, fines, penalties and levies151155194211215
Other receipts
Interest, profits and dividends1,2311,1302,3311,4491,655
Sales of goods and services669626657619619
Other operating receipts851610552415319
     Total other receipts2,7512,3663,5402,4832,665
     Total cash provided28,21230,09234,07534,87736,467
Cash disbursed to     
Departmental outputs4,0764,0553,9053,7933,743
Other outputs10,35410,46211,57711,42211,608
Finance costs3,8863,4433,8793,5653,321
Subsidies153295203191182
Current transfers     
Social assistance grants10,60810,39610,78311,06311,263
Other transfers336182183186197
Supplementary estimates provision  50150150
New policy provision   200200
     Total cash disbursed29,41328,83330,58030,57030,664
Net cash flows from operations (carried forward)(1,201)1,2593,4954,3075,803
Cash flows from investing activities:
Cash provided from
Sale of physical assets3,05014425814792
     Total cash provided3,05014425814792
Cash disbursed to     
Net increase/(repayment) of advances2,0873512,157(758)(358)
   $(million)  
Purchase of physical assets6878291,050934917
Net purchase/(sale) of investments326335(533)3,241649
     Total cash disbursed3,1001,5152,6743,4171,280
Net cash flows from investing activities(50)(1,371)(2,416)(3,270)(1,116)
Net cash flows from operating and investing activities(1,251)(112)1,0791,0374,687
Cash flows from financing activities:     
Cash provided from     
Net issue/(repayment) of Government stock2,8211,026353935(1,427)
Net issue/(repayment) of other New Zealand dollar borrowing(449)7991,656(914)(310)
Issue of circulating currency6112983  
     Total cash provided2,4331,9542,09221(1,737)
Cash disbursed to     
Net repayment of foreign currency borrowing1,3611,8373,0801,0742,948
Major project refinancing797102....
Other items7........
     Total cash disbursed1,4471,8443,1821,0742,948
Net cash flows from financing activities986110(1,090)(1,053)(4,685)
Net movement in cash held(265)(2)(11)(16)2
Opening cash balance34277705943
Closing cash balance7770594345

28.2 Taxation

The following summary of the New Zealand tax system takes into account all relevant amending legislation effective at 31 March 1994. The tax year is from 1 April to 31 March. A number of legislative changes to tax law came into force on 1 April 1995.

The principal legislation is the Income Tax Act 1976.

Personal income tax

Income tax is levied under the Income Tax Act 1976 and is charged on most forms of income including business profits, employment income, royalties, interest, dividends and pensions.

The rates of tax for the 1994–95 year are:

Income up to $30,87524c for every dollar
Income over $30,87533c for every dollar

‘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—PAYE is deducted from these at the time of payment.

At the beginning of each tax year, employees complete a tax code declaration form (IR12). This becomes a tax deduction certificate when it is returned to the employee at the end of the financial year or when the employee leaves the job. The certificate will show the total amount of income the employee has earned, the tax deducted, any extra pays, tax-free allowances and the period of employment. The employee uses this information to complete a tax return at the end of the tax year (31 March).

Most salary and wage earners file an IR 5 tax return each year. The due date for the completed return to reach Inland Revenue is 7 June each year.

The Inland Revenue Department assess salary and wage earners on their total taxable income. Any rebates and taxes already paid are deducted from assessed tax. The resulting figure will be either a refund or further tax to pay.

Business, farming, and professional incomes—With these incomes, tax is not deducted at time of receipt but the taxpayer pays ‘provisional tax’. A provisional taxpayer is any taxpayer who is liable for paying residual income tax of more than $2,500. ‘Residual income tax’ is basically the amount of the tax assessed (including any New Zealand Superannuation surcharge), reduced by any tax deductions made from source deduction payments, tax paid overseas, tax paid by trustees, etc.

Provisional tax is payable in three instalments. For taxpayers whose balance date is 31 March, payments are made in July, November and March each year.

Provisional taxpayers use the return form IR 3, which must reach the Inland Revenue Department by 7 July for the majority of taxpayers. Expenses are deducted from the gross business, farming or professional income and tax is calculated on the net income. 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. In some situations interest is charged or paid on the under or overpayment of provisional tax.

Deductions from tax

Deductions for expenses.

For 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.

Exempt income.

Income is exempt from tax in New Zealand only if provision is made in the Income Tax Act.

Some of the more common items exempt from tax are: maintenance or alimony payments; some war pensions and service disability pensions; income derived by charitable and certain non-profit organisations and also lottery and raffle prizes.

Rebates.

Rebates are deducted from the total tax payable.

Table 28.4. REBATES: YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 1995

RebateAmount
Source: Inland Revenue Department.
Income under $9,880This rebate is available to low income earners who are in paid work for more than 20 hours a week. The maximum rebate is $728, which would apply to someone who worked more than 20 hours each week and whose income was less than $6,241. The rebate can’t be claimed for any week where less than 20 hours was worked.
Income under $30,875Broadly, the maximum rebate for an assessable income of $9,500 or less is $855. This rebate is reduced by 4 cents in every dollar over $9,500. This rebate is not available to taxpayers earning $30,875 or more.
Child care or housekeeperThis applies to working parents, or to disabled persons who pay for help with child care or housekeeping. The rebate a family can claim is limited to the smaller of 33 cents for each complete dollar of payment made or $310.
Child rebateA taxpayer who was under 15 years or under 18 years and still at school may claim this rebate. Taxpayers who turned 18 on or after 1 January 1994 also qualify. The maximum rebate is $156 for income over $1,040. For income less than $1,040, the rebate is 15 cents in the dollar.
Special farm, or fishing-vessel ownership accountThe rebate is 45 cents for each $1 of annual savings increase in a special farm ownership or fishing vessel ownership account. The maximum rebate is $2,250 ($5,000 savings increase).
DonationsThe rebate is 33.3 percent of all qualifying charitable donations, with a maximum of $500. The minimum qualifying charitable donation is $5.

Residential qualifications to pay income tax

New Zealand residents.

New Zealand residents are liable for New Zealand tax on all income including income from overseas. Credit is allowed for any tax paid overseas, but this is limited to the New Zealand tax payable on that income.

Non-residents.

Non-residents are taxed in New Zealand only on income with a New Zealand source. If the income is interest, dividends or royalties, the person is liable for non-resident withholding tax (NRWT), unless the approved issuer levy is paid. NRWT is deducted by the bank or other paying institution.

For tax purposes, individuals are considered to be resident in New Zealand when they fulfil one or more of the following criteria:

  • Individuals must have been in New Zealand for more than 183 days in any 12 month period.

  • Individuals who have an enduring relationship with New Zealand. This means having strong financial, personal or other such ties with New Zealand. Each case is considered on its own facts.

  • Individuals who are away from New Zealand in the service of the New Zealand Government.

An individual ceases to be resident in New Zealand if they are:

  • Absent from New Zealand for more than 325 days (about 11 months) in any 12-month period and during that time they do not have an enduring relationship with New Zealand.

Any part of a day in New Zealand is considered as a full day for working out residency status.

Pensions.

Pensions paid to New Zealand residents 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, up to the amount of New Zealand tax payable on that income.

Double taxation agreements.

Agreements to avoid double taxation have been entered into between New Zealand and Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, 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.

Capital brought into New Zealand.

Capital brought into New Zealand is free from tax, and there is no limit on the amount which may be brought into the country. However, income earned from investing that capital is taxable.

Checking out tax facts with a new kit for schools.

Family Support

Family Support is a tax credit designed to help low income families with cash help. It is paid either by the New Zealand Income Support Service with a benefit if the recipient is a beneficiary or fortnightly by Inland Revenue to the main child-carer in the family.

In the 1994 Budget, the Minister of Finance announced a new threshold and new rate for Family Support. From 1 October 1994, low income families will only start receiving less Family Support when their income goes over $20,000. Previously this threshold was $17,500. The new rates for Family Support are:

First child$42 per week ($2,184 pa)
Each other child up to 12 years of age$27 per week ($1,404 pa)
Each other child aged 15 years and over$35 per week ($1,820 pa)
Each other child born before 30 September 1977$42 per week ($2,184 pa)

Guaranteed Minimum Family Income.

GMFI is a tax credit which is paid in addition to Family Support. It ensures that all New Zealanders in full employment with dependent children have a set minimum weekly income. GMFI is available to all families with children whose gross yearly income is less than $18,363. A family with such an income will receive $275 per week in hand.

Child Support

Providing financial support for children is part of the role of a parent even if living apart from the child or children.

The Child Support Agency (CSA), which is responsible for administering the Child Support Act 1991, aims to make sure that all children receive support from their absent parents.

The agency assesses and collects Child Support from people who are liable for paying (liable persons) and pays out Child Support to people caring for children (custodians). Where the custodian receives a benefit from the New Zealand Income Support Service (NZISS), Child Support collected is paid to the Crown to offset the cost of the benefit.

Most Child Support is assessed using a formula based on the liable person's taxable income from two years ago. A living allowance based on New Zealand Income Support Service benefit rates is deducted and the resulting figure multiplied by a percentage, according to the number of children the person is liable for.

Sometimes parents have particular circumstances which the formula doesn’t take into account. From July 1994, administrative reviews of formula assessments were introduced to consider such circumstances. The Child Support Agency administers the review process, although the actual reviews are carried out by qualified people contracted by the agency.

Custodians not receiving an NZISS benefit can choose whether to be involved in the scheme or not. They can apply for a formula assessment or apply for the agency to administer an agreement they have made with the liable person.

The minimum Child Support payable is $520 a year.

There were approximately 111,000 liable persons and 114,000 custodians at 30 June 1994. The total amount of Child Support collected from 1 July 1993 to 30 June 1994 was $135 million.

New Zealand superannuation surcharge

From 1 April 1994 National Superannuation became known as New Zealand Superannuation. The superannuation surcharge is an extra tax paid on top of ordinary income tax. Everyone who receives New Zealand Superannuation and gets more than a certain amount of other income at the same time must pay surcharge. The surcharge rate is 25 percent. Half of any pension from a superannuation fund or a life insurance annuity is included in other income when calculating surcharge.

Single superannuitants can receive up to $80 per week before tax ($4,160 per year) of other income without having to pay any surcharge. Married superannuitants can each receive up to $60 per week before tax ($3,120 per year) of other income before paying any surcharge.

Student loans

The Student Loans Act was passed in December 1992 and from 1 April 1993 employers began collecting loan repayments from staff who had taken out student loans.

Students have to file a tax return every year until the loan is repaid even if they are not earning. Inland Revenue will assess students’ repayments every year based on the students’ tax returns. The interest rate on loans is currently 7 percent. This is made up of base interest (5.7 percent) and an interest adjustment rate (1.3 percent)

Students earning over $13,520 in their main job must fill in a new IR 12 using the tax code G ED. They will then begin making repayments at the rate of 10 cents out of every dollar earned over $13,520. Students who have another job and are earning over $13,520 must use the tax code SEC ED, and pay 10 cents out of every dollar earned.

The employer pays these deductions to Inland Revenue and the deductions are credited to the borrower's account. When the loan has been repaid the employee will change tax codes.

The total amount of student loan repayments collected up to 30 June 1994 was $22 million.

Accident compensation premiums

The Inland Revenue Department collects earner and employer premiums and pays them to the Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Corporation.

The earner premium covers the cost of non-work-related injuries but not motor vehicle-related injuries. All earners (employees and self-employed people) must pay the earner premium. This premium is a set percentage of the earner's income. For employees, the premium is deducted from their salaries or wages. People who receive withholding payments and self-employed people must calculate their earner premium at the end of the financial year.

The employer premium goes to the cost of work-related injuries. Employers pay this premium for their employees. Employers work out their premium when filing their end of year reconciliation forms. The employer premium rate varies according to the type of business activity. Self-employed people calculate their premiums in their end of year tax returns and pay the premium out of their self-employed income.

The total amount of accident compensation premiums collected up to 30 June was $246 million for employees, $722 million for employers and $224 million for self-employed people.

Tax on interest and dividend income

Interest and dividend income has tax deducted at source, as is the case with wages and salaries.

Resident withholding tax.

This tax (RWT) is deducted from interest and dividends before the net amount is credited to the recipient. The tax is at a rate of 33 percent for dividends and 24 percent for interest.

Certain recipients of interest or dividends (such as charitable/non-profit organisations, sports clubs and others) may claim exemption from RWT. The leaflet RWT on Investments, available from Inland Revenue offices, has more information on RWT.

All the credits attached to interest and dividends are deducted from the tax payable on the total income when the appropriate return is filed each year, in the same way as PAYE on income from employment.

Imputation.

Dividends received from a New Zealand company may have imputation credits and/or withholding payment credits attached. An imputation credit is a portion of the tax paid by the company on its taxable profit, and it thus avoids the double payment of tax (i.e., by the company and the shareholders) on the same income. Withholding payment credits arise when a New Zealand company receives overseas dividends.

The imputation system integrates personal and business tax with respect to company income distributed as dividends, and allows a credit for tax paid by the company on that income.

Entertainment expenses

The 1992 Budget introduced changes to the tax treatment of business entertainment expenses. These changes generally took effect from 1 April 1993. Business entertainment expenditure is now 50 percent deductible.

Business entertainment is defined as food, beverages, recreation, accommodation and transport provided in connection with specific business transactions. The new rules for business entertainment expenses do not apply to a number of different situations. These include:

  • Entertainment provided to paying customers for gain. The cost to a restaurant in providing meals to patrons is fully deductible.

  • Entertainment which is part of the taxable income of the person to whom it is provided. A taxable entertainment allowance is fully deductible to the person who pays it.

  • Sponsorship of a recreational activity for promotional or advertising purposes.

  • Entertainment provided outside New Zealand.

There is a $25 per person per day exemption for food and drink while attending an ‘eligible’ conference or on deductible business travel. The $25 exemption is GST exclusive.

Fringe benefit tax

This is a tax at 49 percent of the value of fringe benefits provided by an employer to an employee. It is payable by the employer on an annual or quarterly basis. Taxable fringe benefits include:

  • The private use of a business motor vehicle by an employee.

  • Low-interest loans.

  • Free, subsidised or discounted transport and other goods and services.

  • Employer's contribution to certain employee's superannuation funds and accident, sickness or death benefit funds and insurance policies.

The total fringe benefit tax collected up to 30 June 1994 was $293 million.

Company taxation

Company taxation is also levied under the Income Tax Act, although companies in New Zealand are taxed in a different way from individual taxpayers. The main differences are that:

  • A company does not get any of the special exemptions or rebates that individuals are entitled to.

  • Certain dividends paid by a company are exempt in the hands of recipient companies.

  • The rate of tax is different.

Companies

A company resident in New Zealand is assessable on all income, whether derived in New Zealand or elsewhere. A company is a New Zealand resident if any of the following apply:

  • It is incorporated in New Zealand.

  • It has its head office in New Zealand.

  • It has its centre of management in New Zealand.

  • Control of the company by its directors is exercised in New Zealand.

Resident companies pay tax on their income at the flat rate of 33 cents in the dollar.

Special types of companies.

There are various types of companies that have specific methods of assessment. They are: overseas shipping companies, life insurance companies, mining companies and overseas contractors.

Non-resident companies.

A company not resident in New Zealand is only liable for tax on income derived from New Zealand. Non-resident companies are taxed at 38 cents in the dollar.

Dividends, interest and royalties paid to a non-resident company are subject to withholding tax at a rate specified in the double taxation agreement with the country within which the company is resident. Generally this is the final liability.

Goods and services tax

Goods and services tax (GST) is a tax charged at 12.5 percent on supplies provided in New Zealand by a registered person in the course of a taxable activity.

Anyone with an annual turnover of $30,000 or more must register for GST. Persons registered for GST must charge and collect GST from their customers. GST-registered suppliers of goods and services pay GST on purchases and expenses made in the course of their business but may claim it back later. Registered persons must account for and pay all GST they have collected to the Inland Revenue Department.

GST is charged on the supply of goods and services. Some activities such as salaries and wages; hobby activities; and private sales of personal or domestic items are not taxable. GST is not charged on exempt supplies. Exempt supplies include all financial services, renting of residential property and the sale of donated goods and services by a non-profit organisation. By August 1994, there were 413,243 registered persons in New Zealand.

The total GST collected up to 30 June 1994 was $4,806 million not including GST collected by Customs.

Small Business Tax Information Service

Small businesses make up 95 percent of Inland Revenue's business customers and many of these small businesses, particularly the new ones, have difficulty understanding their tax obligations. To remedy this problem, Inland Revenue launched a service in June 1992 aimed at providing information for new small business operators. The service also provides information for existing small businesses about record keeping, GST and employer taxes such as PAYE, fringe benefit tax and employer premium.

The Small Business Tax Information Service comprises 37 officers in Inland Revenue offices nationwide who are available to talk to small business operators about their tax obligations. The service is free and available on request. The business person can meet the Small Business Officer either at Inland Revenue's offices or at their own premises.

For the year up to the end of June 1994, the Inland Revenue's Small Business Officers advised 13,434 small business operators. The officers offer a follow-up visit within six months of the initial contact.

Problem Resolution Service

Occasionally some people have problems in their dealings with Inland Revenue that require special attention.

These problems include letters or phone calls not replied to by Inland Revenue, computer error and delays in paying Family Support or refunds. To help solve these problems quickly and effectively, Inland Revenue launched the Problem Resolution Service in May 1989.

The Problem Resolution Service has an experienced officer in every Inland Revenue office. It is their objective to resolve 90 percent of problems referred to them within five working days and the balance within 10 working days.

This officer will only get involved in a case when Inland Revenue's services have failed to provide a satisfactory solution for the customer. In the year up to 30 June 1994, the Problem Resolution Service successfully dealt with 1,428 cases.

Taxes relating to property and transactions

Sale of property.

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. Profits on sale of other property may be subject to income tax (in terms of section 67 of the Income Tax Act 1976) where the owner either:

  • 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.

  • 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.)

Dumping seized gambling machines at a Christchurch landfill.

Stamp duty

Stamp duty is a charge on certain legal documents (sometimes called instruments). Documents that are liable for stamp duty will not usually be recognised by the Land Transfer Office or the courts until the duty has been paid.

The Inland Revenue Department charges and collects stamp duty on property transactions documents, such as:

  • Conveyances and leases of commercial land.

  • Sales of shares in a company that owns flats or offices, except for those shares which carry the right to occupy a dwelling house.

  • Variations of commercial leases.

Following are the rates of duty for transactions:

Table 28.5. STAMP DUTY

Sale price of propertyRate of duty
First $50,0001 percent
$50,000 to $100,000$500 plus 1.5 percent of amount over $50,000
Over $100,000$1,250 plus 2 percent of amount over $100,000

Lease duty is payable at the rate of 40 cents per $100 or part of $100 on the maximum annual rental including GST. If the consideration is other than rent, lease duty is payable at the rate of $1 per $100 or part of $100 of the total consideration.

The total stamp duty collected in the year up to 30 June 1994 was $107,183 million.

Excise duty

Due to the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax Act and the repeal of the Sales Tax Act on 1 October 1986, the excise regime was reviewed. Goods which had previously been liable to sales taxes became liable for excise duty. Due to successive budgets and economic statements since 1986 only alcoholic beverages, tobacco products and specific petroleum fuels are subject to excise duty.

Another change introduced in 1986 was the abolition of storage or bonded warehouses and the introduction of licensed export warehouses and licensed manufacturing areas. Licensed export warehouses are premises licensed for the deposit of imported, excisable or other such permitted goods, and generally include duty free premises and ships’ provedors. Licensed manufacturing areas are premises where excisable goods are manufactured.

Recent changes to the rates of excise duty are set out below.

Petroleum fuels.

Super and regular grade petrol, LPG and CNG are now the only fuels that remain subject to excise duty. The rate of motor fuel excise duty on super and regular grade fuel is 32.2 cents per litre plus 8 cents per gram of lead, while the rate on LPG is 8.4 cents per litre and $3.17 per gigajoule on CNG.

Alcoholic beverages and tobacco products.

There is a uniform level of duty on all alcoholic beverages with an alcoholic content of less than 23 percent. The rate of excise duty on these products (beer, wine and other such alcoholic beverages) was $17.533 per litre of alcohol in March 1994. The higher uniform rate for spirits was $31.93 per litre of alcohol.

Tobacco products are taxed on their tobacco content.

The rate, set in June 1994, was $137.09 per kilogram of tobacco. For cigarettes weighing less than 1.1 kilograms per 1,000 the excise duty is levied at an equivalent rate per 1,000 cigarettes.

From 1 September 1993, the excise legislation was amended to allow the annual indexation of alcohol and tobacco rates of duty when the Consumers Price Index change is 1 percent or less according to the formula contained in the legislation prior to 1 September in respect of alcohol, or 1 December in respect of tobacco products.

In any case where the excise rates are not indexed on 1 September (alcohol) or 1 December (tobacco) the next indexation adjustment will take account of the full years Consumer Price Index movement.

Roads taxation

The Road User Charges Act 1977 provides for the payment of road use fees by all vehicles over 3.5 tonnes and smaller vehicles powered by a fuel not taxed at source. Motor spirit excise duty is paid on all petrol, LPG and CNG used on the roading network.

The road user charges vary depending on the number of axles, number of wheels, and weight of the vehicle. The motor spirit excise duty rates are: petrol, 32.2 cents per litre plus 8.0 cents per gram of lead; LPG, 8.4 cents per litre; and CNG, $3.17 per gigajoule. In the case of petrol excise duty, 9.4 cents per litre of the excise duty, and the total excise duty for CNG and LPG, is paid into the Land Transport Fund. All road user charges revenue collected is paid into the Land Transport Fund.

The Land Transport Fund also includes fees paid by motorists under the Transport (Vehicle and Driver Registration and Licensing) Act 1986. It pays for maintenance and construction of New Zealand's roading network, a contribution to public passenger transport, traffic enforcement and road safety education and publicity.

Racing taxation

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 2.5 percent of the first $100,000 of the gross investments received by the club in any one year.

Totalisator duty totalled $50.1 million net during the year ended 31 July 1994.

Taxation review authorities

The Taxation Review Authorities Act 1994 provides for the establishment of one or more taxation review authorities. There are three authorities. Each consists of one person who is either a District Court judge, a barrister or a solicitor of the High Court of not less than seven years practice, 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.

Last day at Khandallah TAB.

Tax revenue

Table 28.6. DIRECT TAXATION

 Years ending 30 June
 1993 actual1994 actual1995 forecast1996 projection1997 projection
Source: The Treasury.
   $(million)  
Income tax     
Individuals     
Source deductions10,52810,90111,60812,22512,859
Other persons2,8232,9203,5203,7003,820
Refunds(603)(588)(530)(540)(530)
Fringe benefit tax390294290295300
     Total individuals13,13813,52714,88815,68016,449
Companies2,3943,0013,9744,4614,781
Withholding taxes     
Residents’ interest income640642715831770
Non-residents’ income264344331352359
Residents’ dividend income8263454040
Foreign-source dividends103411
     Total withholding taxes9961,0521,0951,2241,170
     Total income tax16,52817,58019,95721,35622,400
Other direct taxation     
Estate and gift duties8312444
Land tax(20)(7)(3)(3)(3)
     Total other direct taxation635111
     Total direct taxation16,59117,58519,95821,36622,401

TAXATION PER CAPITA Adjusted for inflation*

Year ended 31 March; from 1990, year ended 30 June

* Inflated by CPI. Base: December quarter 1993, 1994 is estimated actual.

Table 28.7. INDIRECT TAXATION

 Years ending 30 June
 1993 actual1994 actual1995 forecast1996 projection1997 projection
Source: The Treasury.
   $(million)  
Goods and Services Tax6,0006,7796,8447,2707,621
Excise duties     
Petroleum fuels832809827838841
Tobacco products587599600599609
Alcoholic beverages437421427429435
     Total excise duties1,8561,8291,8541,8661,885
Other indirect taxation     
Customs duty587658708717732
Road user charges321352360370385
Motor vehicle fees140147157170180
Stamp, cheque and credit card duties118144154160168
Gaming duties102114122128136
Energy resources levies9797939495
     Total other indirect taxation1,3651,5121,5941,6391,696
     Total indirect taxation9,22110,12010,29210,77511,202

CUSTOMS AND EXCISE RECEIPTS As a percentage of total Consolidated Account taxation

Table 28.8. COMPARISON OF PUBLIC ACCOUNT TAXATION AND NATIONAL DISPOSABLE INCOME

Public account taxation
Year endedNational disposable income*TotalPercentage of national disposable income

* National Disposable Income is calculated on a year ended 31 March.

From 1992 accounts prepared on an accrual basis.

  $(million)percent
   31 March—
198639,655R14,235.935.9R
198748,014R17,408.136.3R
198854,326R21,528.139.6R
198958,485R22,863.939.1R
199060,863R26,198.143.0R
199162,693R25,797.641.1R
199261,931R23,901.038.6R
199366,236R25,812.0R39.0
199470,506P27,705.039.3

Table 28.9. GOVERNMENT FINANCE: STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

 As at 30 June
 1993 actual1994 actual1995 forecast1996 projection1997 projection
Source: The Treasury.
   $(million)  
Assets     
Current assets     
Cash and bank balances7770594345
Investments7,1417,5615,9677,4417,638
Receivables and advances4,8925,1425,0474,6044,373
Inventories448340339335339
     Total current assets12,55813,11311,41212,42312,395
Non-current assets     
Investments8766147142,5172,915
Receivables and advances2,2142,4534,1403,6193,516
   $(million)  
State-owned enterprises and Crown entities15,92916,56916,71617,19417,623
Physical assets20,61221,64821,75521,69721,679
Intangible assets1822141414
     Total non-current assets39,64941,30643,33945,04145,747
     Total assets52,20754,41954,75157,46458,142
Liabilities     
Current liabilities     
Payables and provisions2,4713,3582,5592,5582,539
Pension liabilities451423490505510
Borrowings15,03616,36215,15215,96517,673
     Total current liabilities17,95820,14318,20119,02820,722
Non-current liabilities     
Payable and provisions713780726770815
Currency issued1,4001,5291,6121,6121,612
Pension liabilities7,3897,5287,4817,4797,448
Borrowings32,44230,06729,94528,19521,883
     Total non-current liabilities41,94439,90439,76438,05631,758
     Total liabilities59,90260,04757,96557,08454,480
     Total assets less total liabilities(7,695)(5,628)(3,214)3805,662
Crown balance
Accumulated operating balance(8,269)(7,539)(5,212)(1,618)3,664
Revaluation reserve5741,9111,9981,9981,998
Crown balance(7,695)(5,628)(3,214)3805,662

28.3 Assets and liabilities

Public debt

The money comprising public debt is borrowed on the security of the public revenues of New Zealand. The principal legislative measure relating to the management of Crown assets and liabilities is the Public Finance Act 1989. Most of the present public debt was borrowed for national development. Prior to March 1985, successive Governments had borrowed under a fixed exchange-rate regime to finance the balance of payments deficit. Since the adoption of a freely floating exchange-rate regime, the Government has borrowed externally only to rebuild the nation's external reserves and to meet refinancing needs.

Gross public debt, as referred to in the tables in this section, consists of total financial liabilities of the Crown. Net public debt consists of gross public debt less total financial assets of the Crown (excluding equity).

The level of gross public debt as a proportion of gross domestic product (GDP) fell from a peak of around 77.1 percent at 31 March 1987 to 63.1 percent as at March 1988 and has fluctuated between 59.8 percent and 63.5 percent until 1992/93. The relative stability between 1987/88 and 1992/93 reflects several offsetting influences. The major factors contributing to a reduction in gross public debt were the Table 2 surpluses achieved through asset sales. In some years (1987/88 and 1989/90) currency appreciation reduced the size of the debt. Offsetting factors included the continued refinancing of major project debt, the assumption of responsibility for New Zealand Railways and Tourist Hotel Corporation debt in 1990, the exchange of some Housing Corporation debt for government stock, and changes in accounting treatment. Currency depreciation in 1988/89, 1990/91, 1991/92 and 1992/93 also increased the level of gross and net public debt.

Table 28.1. SALES OF STATE ASSETS

BusinessSale priceSettlement date

Note: Sale price includes any subsequent purchase price adjustments.

Source: The Treasury.

 $(000) 
New Zealand Steel Limited327,22422 March 1988
Petrocorp801,05931 March 1988
Health Computing Service4,2507 November 1988
Development Finance Corporation111,28018 November 1988
Post Office Bank Limited678,47828 February—31 October 1989
Shipping Corporation of New Zealand31,7343 March—30 June 1990
Air New Zealand660,00017 April 1989
Landcorp financial instruments77,00020 March 1989—5 February 1990
Rural Bank687,50031 October 1989—30 September 1992
Communicate New Zealand648 December 1989
Government Printing Office38,5811989/90—1992/93
National Film Unit2,50023 March—21 September 1990
State Insurance Office735,00028 June 1990
Tourist Hotel Corporation71,85015 June 1990
New Zealand Liquid Fuel investment(203,000)6 July 1990
Maui Gas254,0006 July 1990
Synfuels stocks and current assets201,8386 July 1990—30 July 1993
Telecom Corporation4,250,00012 September 1990
Forestry cutting rights1,027,05524 July—26 October 1990
Export Guarantee Limited19,7813 October 1990—24 June 1993
Housing Corporation mortgages904,02825 November 1991—29 March 1993
Government Supply Brokerage3,20030 January 1992
Taranaki Petroleum mining licences121,1366 April 1992—1 March 1993
New Zealand Timberlands Limited366,00015 May 1992
Bank of New Zealand849,9469 November 1992
New Zealand Rail Limited328,19130 September 1993
Fletcher Challenge shares421,50825 November—16 December 1993
GCS Limited46,99118 November 1994

As it was projected to run a surplus on its operations in the 1994/95 fiscal year, the Government budgeted to use the proceeds from its domestic bond programme to finance maturing domestic bonds and some on-lending activities. In December 1992, the Government announced that its operating surplus would be larger than previously forecast. It decided to maintain the domestic borrowing programme at its budgeted level and use the excess cash generated to repay foreign-currency debt. The proceeds of any asset sales in 1994/95 will also be used to repay foreign-currency debt.

As of 31 December 1994, 24.5 percent of the net public debt of the Government was repayable in foreign currencies down from 43.7 percent as of 31 December 1992. In December 1994 the Government announced its intention to reduce its exchange-rate risk by completely eliminating net public foreign-currency debt.

Quantifiable contingent liabilities of the Government, including the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, state-owned enterprises and Crown entities, amounted to approximately $5,719 million.

The Government's medium-term fiscal policy with regard to debt management is that it should reduce public debt-to-GDP ratios by continuing to run operating surpluses.

The Government's approach includes on-going tax reform, measures to reduce and get better value from government spending, and a programme of relinquishing state ownership of assets. Income from asset sales which had been finalised at the time of going to print is outlined below.

The New Zealand Debt Management Office of the Treasury manages the Crown's debt and related interest-bearing assets. The Reserve Bank acts as agent for the Debt Management Office in sales of government stock, Treasury bills and Kiwi Bonds.

The following statement shows the movement in loans and swaps raised by the Crown, and the balances as at 30 June 1994.

Table 28.11. STATEMENT OF BORROWINGS

 As at 1 July 1992IncreasesDecreasesMovements in out-standing FX* contractsCurrency realignmentAs at 30 June 1993Loans excluding swap and FX* contracts

* FX = foreign exchange.

Source: The Treasury.

    $(million)   
Outstanding debt       
New Zealand dollar debt       
Government stock19,0673,600(2,772)293 20,18820,188
Treasury bills6,138253 21 6,4126,412
Reserve Bank bills1,05676   1,1321,132
Earthquake Commission deposits 879 13 892892
Retail stock1,150216(422)(213) 731731
Loans and FX* contracts20178(83)14 210210
     Total New Zealand dollar debt27,6125,102(3,277)128 29,56529,565
Foreign currency debt       
United States dollars9,5143,609(3,732)406(919)8,8787,577
European and other currencies4,7281,126(1,144)(501)(193)4,0165,356
Japanese yen5,6241,575(3,255)187(161)3,9703,713
     Total foreign currency debt19,8666,310(8,131)92(1,273)16,86416,646
Net effect of swaps and FX* contracts     218 
     Total outstanding debt47,47811,412(11,408)220(1,273)46,42946,429
Marketable securities and deposits       
New Zealand dollars1,388387(432)3 1,3461,346
United States dollars3,3181,185(624)518(378)4,0193,466
European and other currencies1,100784(100)(468)(17)1,2991,731
Japanese yen1,428136(406)(138)71,0271,155
Special drawing rights (IMF)272 (16)  256277
     Total marketable securities and deposits7,5062,492(1,578)(85)(388)7,9477,975
Net effect of swaps and FX* contracts      (28)
     Total marketable securities and deposits7,5062,492(1,578)(85)(388)7,9477,947

Foreign exchange dealer.

Table 28.12. TYPE OF PUBLIC DEBT

   Total debt
 Foreign currency debtDomestic currency debt  
Outstanding atAmountPercentage of total debtAmountPercentage of total debtAmountPercentage increase on previous year

* Forecast for 1995 and projections for 1996 and 1997 included in 1994 Economic and Fiscal Update.

Source: The Treasury.

 $(million) $(million) $(million) 
31 March—      
198614,72646.017,27654.032,00213.3
198721,72851.220,74448.842,47232.7
198816,97143.422,09756.639,068(8.0)
198916,47041.523,25158.539,7211.7
 $(million) $(million) $(million) 
30 June—      
199020,58646.423,76153.644,34711.6
199120,49146.623,44453.443,936(0.9)
199220,72744.026,37856.047,1057.2
199319,86641.827,61258.247,4780.8
199416,86436.329,56563.746,429(2.2)
1995*13,48529.931,61270.145,097(2.9)
1996*12,47428.331,68671.744,160(2.1)
1997*9,59424.329,96275.739,556(10.4)

Table 28.13. GROSS INDEBTEDNESS OF CENTRAL GOVERNMENT

As at 31 MarchAmountPer head of population
 $(million)$
198632,0029,776.44
198742,47212,933.77
198839,06811,780.60
198939,72111,933.96
As at 30 June  
199044,34713,204.26
199143,93612,936.58
199245,91813,174.38
199347,47813,565.14
199446,42913,166.12

Table 28.14. INTEREST PAYMENTS

Year endedInterest OverseasNew ZealandTotal*Interest on overseas debt as percentage of exports of goods and services†Recovery of interest from government enterprises and investments‡;Net interest cost‡;Net cost as a percentage of total taxation

* Includes interest on New Zealand Railways Corporation debt from 1990 onwards.

Exports of goods and services from Department of Statistics annual GDP expenditure series.

‡; Revised to include interest credited to the Crown Settlement Account.

    $(000)   
31 March—       
19861,026,4272,275,9533,302,3807.41,485,8371,816,54312.8
19871,292,1312,777,3074,069,4388.51,664,6442,404,79413.8
19881,477,7763,469,9964,947,7728.91,940,4033,007,36914.0
19891,371,9623,115,3114,487,2737.61,366,8823,120,39113.6
30 June—       
19901,525,0003,200,0004,725,0007.9922,0003,803,00014.5
19911,692,0002,932,0004,624,0008.4879,0003,745,00014.5
19921,691,0002,456,0004,147,0007.9695,0003,452,00013.9
19931,537,0002,379,0003,916,0006.5630,0003,286,00012.6
19941,242,0002,420,0003,662,0005.0518,0003,144,00011.1

Collector with some highly sought after phone cards.

Table 28.15. MATURITY PROFILE AS AT 30 JUNE 1994

1994/951995/961996/971997/981998/991999/002003/042004/05 and afterTotal
Source: The Treasury.
    $(million)    
Outstanding debt        
New Zealand dollar debt Government stock2,6522,6002,9182,1052,5477,366-20,188
Treasury bills6,412------6,412
Reserve Bank bills1,132------1,132
Earthquake Commission deposits892------892
Retail stock40114313354---731
Loans and foreign-exchange contracts12121013191323210
     Total New Zealand dollar debt11,5012,7553,0612,2902,5567,3792329,565
Foreign currency debt United States dollars2,8684489741882,2874391,6748,878
European and other currencies1,1894451,0023642452864854,016
Japanese yen8042052594912471,4235413,970
     Total foreign currency debt4,8611,0982,2351,0432,7792,1482,70016,864
     Total outstanding debt16,3623,8535,2963,3335,3359,5272,72346,429
Marketable securities and deposits        
New Zealand dollars1,252--94---1,346
United States dollars2,69741322331648239834,019
European and other currencies47512914335138131321,299
Japanese yen429 9827500-1,027
Special drawing rights (IMF)256------256
     Total marketable securities and deposits5,109542375843938701157,947

REVENUE AND FINANCIAL NET EXPENDITUREPercent of GDP

28.4 Local government finance

Since November 1989 local authorities have undergone substantial change. The number of authorities has been reduced to 86 by amalgamations and boundary changes as well as absorption of ad hoc authorities (such as pest control boards) into district, city and regional councils.

There has been a separation of activities into regulatory type functions and those which are run along the lines of a normal business. To facilitate this, councils have set up business units which compete with outside businesses for council contracts. Previously, the work was normally done by council employees without going through the tendering process. The main activities undergoing this process are roading, works and maintenance and refuse collection. Financial information covering business units and the councils is shown in below.

In addition to business units, councils often have majority shareholdings in electrical supply companies as well as companies which operate ports, airports and bus transport.

Table 28.16. LOCAL AUTHORITY STATISTICS—NON-TRADING ACTIVITIES*†

 1991-921992-93

* Coverage: all activities of local authorities not classified as trading activities, eg local government administration, provision of water supply, roading, parks and reserves, town planning and regulation.

June balance date.

 $(million) 
Income—  
Rates (including water rates)1,592.71,568.2
Petroleum tax26.133.2
Grants, subsidies and levies296.5280.3
Fees and fines98.896.8
Sales and other income648.0584.4
Investment income155.1178.1
     Total current receipts2,817.22,741.1
Operating expenditure—  
Employee expenses863.5785.2
Interest253.1224.6
Depreciation287.0351.1
Purchases and other expenditure1,365.81,379.9
     Total operating expenditure2,769.42,740.7
Surplus before extraordinary items47.80.4
Gains from extraordinary transactions4.1109.6
Surplus after extraordinary items52.0110.0
Additions to fixed assets446.7474.4
Disposals to fixed assets122.5103.9

Definitions

Rates.

All forms of rates including penalties and grants in lieu. Includes water rates, but excludes rates collected on behalf of other local authorities. Water sold by meter and connection fees is excluded.

Grants, subsidies and levies.

Includes grants, subsidies and levies from central government, other local authorities and organisations. Grants treated as equity contributions are excluded.

Petroleum tax.

Total tax received for use by all authorities.

GOVERNMENT FINANCE: 1880–1994
 Receipts*Public debt
YearPopulation‡;From taxationOtherPayments*InternalOverseasTotal

* Consolidated Fund 1876–1964, Consolidated Account thereafter. Frequent changes in accounting practices from 1920s mean statistics are not strictly comparable.

Year ending 31 March except for 1876–79, year ending 30 June and from 1990 onwards.

Year ended 31 December.

 no  Ģ(000)   
1880528,4591,4481,6873,845  23,958
1885619,3231,8162,1404,101  32,195
1890667,4772,0902,1774,257  38,668
1895740,6992,3002,1484,352  40,387
1900808,1322,8912,8085,1404,39343,48147,874
1905925,6053,7543,5936,6369,32350,58959,912
19101,050,4104,1815,0588,99113,04361,84774,890
19151,152,6385,8816,57112,38019,67180,389100,060
19201,257,61116,2529,83023,782102,07799,094201,171
19251,401,23016,17212,47127,399104,044123,771227,815
19301,506,80919,4715,87925,201116,526150,857267,383
19351,569,68920,1765,95024,500117,425136,965254,390
19401,633,64532,81114,10946,600164,165132,551296,716
19451,728,44145,68914,23958,714403,274133,953537,227
19501,927,629103,85321,143120,689565,11278,768643,880
19552,164,734162,50928,708184,376630,80497,789728,593
19602,403,567276,44638,402314,217707,787136,729844,516
19652,663,843391,61360,241447,248904,393165,3991,069,792
    $(million)   
19702,857,8601,102.0170.51,275.12,351.3535.82,887.1
19753,148,4002,760.5285.53,034.93,336.9862.84,199.7
19803,176,4005,880.51,655.07,529.16,778.93,567.510,346.4
19853,271,50011,579.54,591.416,162.415,836.812,409.528,246.3
19903,362,50026,198.14,592.429,606.223,760.720,585.844,346.5
19943,526,40028,2031,39529,17429,56516,64746,429

Fees and fines.

Includes items such as parking fines, building consents, dog registration, etc. Admission and parking charges are excluded from this category as they are treated as a sale of goods and services.

Investment income.

This predominantly consists of income from interest and dividends.

Sales and other income.

Includes trading receipts such as admission charges, water sold by meter and other miscellaneous operating income. Excluded are any sales of goods and services charges within the authority.

Employee expenses.

Gross earnings during the accounting year of all paid employees in the authority. Included are such items as overtime, sick and holiday pay, benefit allowances, value of free supplies, sales commission paid to own employees, and severance and redundancy payments. Levies paid to the Accident Rehabilitation Compensation and Insurance Corporation and employer contributions to superannuation, pension and welfare schemes are also included in this category.

Interest.

Interest paid on public debt and other liabilities.

Depreciation.

Depreciation on fixed assets including infrastructural and restricted assets, buildings, mobile equipment, other plant, machinery and office equipment.

Purchases and other expenses.

Includes rent, insurance, fuel, postage, repairs and maintenance, contracts for services and overhead charges from the separate council trading enterprises are also included. Excluded are purchases of goods and services charges within the authority, and contract payments for capital works. Other expenses includes grants and donations to other organisations, bad debts and income tax. Also excludes loan repayments, purchases of fixed assets or contract payments for the construction and development of fixed or community assets.

Gains from extraordinary transactions.

Includes gains on items outside the normal course of local authority business such as the sales of assets above or below book value, gains or losses on revaluation of capital assets, and gains or losses on extraordinary exchange transactions. Also includes any surplus transferred from the trading division of local authorities that do not fall within the coverage of this survey.

Fixed assets.

The purchase and sale of fixed assets during the financial year including the purchase and sale of new and second hand operational, infrastructural and restricted assets and including capital work done by own employees. Excludes expenditure on intangible assets such as goodwill, and land and buildings held for resale.

Contributors

28.1The Treasury.
28.2Inland Revenue Department; Customs Department; Ministry of Transport; The Treasury.
28.3The Treasury.
28.4Statistics New Zealand.

Special articles

The Treasury.

  • Further information

  • Annual Financial Statements of the Government of New Zealand (B11).

  • Annual Report of the Treasury (Parl paper B27).

  • Budget Policy Statement (Parl paper B1).

  • Budget Speech and Fiscal Strategy Report (Parl paper B2)

  • Corporate Plan. Inland Revenue Department. 1994.

  • Departmental Forecast Report of the Treasury (Parl paper B27 FR).

  • Economic and Fiscal Outlook and Budget Tables (Parl paper B3).

  • Economic and Fiscal Update (Parl paper B6).

  • Estimates of Appropriations (Parl paper B5).

  • Financial Statements of the Government of New Zealand. The Treasury (eight times a year).

  • Fiscal Results for the Government of New Zealand. The Treasury (six times per year).

  • GST Guide. (booklet) Inland Revenue Department, 1994.

  • Half-yearly Financial Statements of the Government of New Zealand (B10).

  • Key Statistics. Statistics New Zealand (monthly).

  • Local Authority Statistics, Non-trading Activities. Statistics New Zealand (annual).

  • National Superannuation Surcharge. (booklet) Inland Revenue Department, 1993.

  • Report of the Inland Revenue Department (Parl paper B23)

  • Report of the Local Authorities Loans Board (Parl paper B17).

  • Report of the Treasury (Parl paper B27).

  • Retiring Allowances and Redundancy Payments. (booklet) Inland Revenue Department, 1993.

  • Road User Charges. (booklet) Ministry of Transport, 1989.

  • Superannuitants and Surcharge. (booklet) Inland Revenue Department, 1994.

  • Supplementary Estimates of Appropriations (Parl paper B7).

Appendix A. Weights and measures

All the statistics in this volume are in metric (SI) units, except for ship tonnages (not cargo).

Metric to Imperial

Length

  • 1 millimetre (mm) = 0.04 inches (in.)

  • 1 centimetre (cm) = 0.39 inches (in.)

  • 1 metre (m) = 39.37 inches (in.)

  • = 1.09 yards (yds)

  • 1 kilometre (km) = 0.62 miles

Metric multiples

  • 1 centimetre (cm) = 10 millimetres (mm)

  • 1 metre (m) = 100 centimetres (cm)

  • 1 kilometre (km) = 1,000 metres (m)

Area

  • 1 square metre (m2) = 10.76 square feet (sq. ft) = 1.20 square yards (sq. yd)

  • 1 hectare (ha) = 2.47 acres

  • 1 square kilometre (km2) = 247 acres = 0.39 square miles

  • 1 hectare (ha) = 10,000 square metres (m2)

  • 1 square kilometre (km2) = 100 hectares (ha)

Volume and capacity

  • 1 cubic centimetre (cm3) = 0.06 cubic inches (cu. in.)

  • 1 cubic metre (m3) = 35.31 cubic feet (cu. ft) = 1.31 cubic yards (cu. yds)

  • 1 litre (1) = 1.76 pints = 0.22 gallons

  • 1 cubic metre (m3) = 10,000,000 cubic centimetres (cc)

  • 1 litre (1) = 1,000 millilitres (ml)

  • 1 millilitre (ml) = 1 cubic centimetre (cc)

  • 1 cubic metre (cm3) = 1,000 litres (1)

Mass (weight)

  • 1 gram (g) = 0.04 ounces (oz)

  • 1 kilogram (kg) = 2.20 pounds (lb)

  • 1 tonne (t) = 2,204.62 pounds (lb) = 0.98 tons

  • 1 kilogram (kg) = 1,000 grams (g)

  • 1 tonne (t) = 1,000 kilograms (kg)

Velocity

  • 1 kilometre per hour = 0.62 miles per hour (mph)

  • (km.h)

Pressure

  • 1 kilopascal (kPa) = 0.15 pounds per square inch (psi)

  • 1 megapascal (MPa) = 0.06 tons per square inch (tons psi)

  • 1 megapascal (MPa) = 1,000 kilopascals (kPa)

Temperature

Energy

  • 1 kilojoule (kJ) = 0.95 British thermal units (Btu) = 0.24 calories (cal)

  • 1 megajoule (MJ) = 1,000 kilojoules (kJ)

  • 1 kilowatt hour (kWh) = 3.6 megajoules (MJ)

  • 1 gigajoule (GJ) = 1,000 megajoules (MJ)

  • 1 terajoule (TJ) = 1,000 gigajoules (W)

  • 1 petajoule (PJ) = 1 million gigajoules (GJ)

Power

  • 1 kilowatt (kW) = 1.34 UK horsepower

  • 1 kilowatt (kW) = 1,000 watts

  • 1 megawatt (MW) = 1,000 kilowatts (kW)

  • 1 gigawatt (GW) = 1,000 megawatts (MW)

Glossary of statistical terms

Statistical terms defined here are those frequently used in censuses of population and businesses, and other data and index series referred to in this book.

Accounts payable.

Non-marketable liabilities arising from deferred payment for imported goods and services (i.e. trade credit), overdue interest and the acquisition of financial assets.

Activity unit.

A separate operating unit engaged in New Zealand in one (or predominantly one) kind of economic activity from a single physical location or base from which work is carried out— includes an ancillary activity unit.

Additions to fixed assets.

Purchases of new and second-hand 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.

Ancillary activity unit.

An administrative or general 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.

Balance of payments conceptual adjustments.

Adjustments to the external trade statistics to bring the value of exports and imports in line with the balance of payments concepts. Imports are adjusted from cif to fob value. Exports are adjusted for goods shipped and sold on consignment.

Balance on current account.

The balance on merchandise trade plus the balance on invisibles. Commonly it is referred to as the balance of payments deficit/surplus which indicates the extent to which the economy in question is paying its way in the world. A negative figure indicates a deficit which represents the amount that New Zealand has to either borrow from abroad or run down on its foreign assets.

Balance on invisibles.

The balance on services, plus the credits, less the debits for international investment income and transfer items.

Balance on merchandise trade.

This is calculated by deducting imports (fob) from exports (fob).

Balance on services.

This is calculated by deducting the total debit entries from the total credit entries for the transportation, travel, insurance, other services and Government current transactions items.

Bills.

Marketable, written promissory agreements, in which one party promises to pay a stated sum on demand or on a specified date to the legal holder of the document. They are usually issued and traded at a discount from the face value. This category includes bills of exchange, commercial paper, including eurocommercial paper, euronotes and certificates of deposit.

Birth rate (crude).

The number of births per 1,000 of total mean population.

Bonds.

Written promissory agreements, usually marketable, in which one party promises to pay a stated sum on demand or on a specified date to the legal holder of the document. It also involves a promise to pay stated interest at specified intervals over the term of the bond. This category includes debentures, convertible notes and medium term notes issued by private placement.

Bone-in weight.

Dressed carcass weight, including bone.

Capital expenditure less disposals.

The amount spent on the purchase of new and second-hand fixed assets, less the proceeds received from the sale of any such assets.

Capital transfers from the rest of the world, net

(national accounts). The excess of the value of capital transfers by non-residents to New Zealand residents over the value of similar transfers by residents to non-residents. 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.

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. Statistics New Zealand carries out a range of censuses at regular intervals, such as the Census of Population and Dwellings, at five-yearly intervals, and other regular censuses. (See also Sample survey.)

Cif

(cost including insurance and freight). 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.

Compensation of employees

(national accounts). 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.

Compensation of employees to/from the rest of the world

(national accounts). 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 does not permit estimates of these items.

Consumption of fixed capital

(national accounts). 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.

Current liabilities.

Those obligations which have an original maturity date of 12 months or less.

Current portion of long-term liabilities.

The portion of original long-term liabilities required to be met within one year of the survey date.

Death rate (crude).

The number of deaths per 1,000 of population.

Density (of population).

Usually expressed as the average number of persons per square kilometre (or hectare) in a particular locality.

Deposits.

Funds placed by an overseas client in the care of a New Zealand organisation, usually a bank/financial institution, to be kept in their client's account. Inter-bank deposits are a part of this category. These are accounts in credit from overseas banks held by New Zealand banks and the overdrawn accounts of New Zealand banks held by overseas banks.

Deposit money banks.

The net international flows of foreign exchange through the banking system as a result of all international transactions. This occurs through the bank accounts financial institutions have with other financial institutions, commonly referred to as Nostro and Vostro accounts.

Depreciation.

As charged in books of account on fixed tangible assets owned by the establishments and ancillary units.

Direct investment.

Investments that are made to acquire a lasting interest in an enterprise located in an economy other than the resident economy of the investor, the investor's purpose being to have a significant influence in the management of the enterprise. The criterion adopted by Statistics New Zealand to determine ‘significant influence’ in the direct investment enterprise is that the investor must hold at least 25 percent ownership of the enterprise.

Direct investment income.

Income earned by investors who hold 25 percent or more of the equity of an enterprise. The income includes dividends (including bonus issues of shares), interest, earnings of branches and direct investors’ portions of the earnings of direct investment enterprises that are not distributed.

Domestically issued securities.

Domestically issued securities consist of domestically issued bonds and bills which are taken up by non-resident organisations and individuals through New Zealand organisations acting as their nominee. They have been included in New Zealand's overseas debt statistics from 31 December 1992.

Employer contributions.

Payments to superannuation, pension and welfare schemes, and accident compensation levies.

Employment, Status in.

A respondent's employment status within the labour force. This applies to persons in the full and part-time labour force. Employment status categories are: working for wages or salary; self-employed and not employing others; employer of others in own business; and unpaid worker in a family business.

Enterprise.

A business or service entity operating in New Zealand as a company, partnership, trust, local or central government trading organisation, incorporated society, producer board, voluntary organisation or self-employed individual.

Errors and omissions-balancing item.

A balancing item in the balance of payments statement which represents errors and omissions in the measurement of the statistics. It is also referred to as the ‘residual’.

Ethnic origin.

The ethnic origin, or origins that a person specifies on a self-determination basis.

Ex-nuptial birth.

Birth of a child out of wedlock, including from a de facto relationship.

Exports of goods and services

(national accounts). All goods and services produced by New Zealand residents and purchased by the rest of the world. Exports of merchandise are valued fob.

Fertility.

The actual reproductive performance of a population. Often measured in terms of the number of live births per 1,000 women aged between 15–44 years.

Final consumption expenditure

(national accounts).

  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 government on behalf of households, and the imputed rent of owner-occupied dwellings.

  2. Producers of general (central and local) government services and private nonprofit 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).

Foreign direct investment in New Zealand.

Changes in foreign direct investors’ claims on and liabilities to their New Zealand located subsidiaries and branches.

Fob

(free on board). 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.

Full-time.

Persons working 30 hours or more a week.

Government current transactions.

The expenditure abroad of New Zealand embassies, consulates, and defence forces. Similarly, the expenditure of foreign embassies and consulates, etc, in New Zealand is included as a credit item.

Gross domestic product

(GDP national accounts). 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 fixed capital formation

(national accounts). The outlays of producers on durable real assets, such as buildings, motor vehicles, plant and machinery, 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.

Gross national expenditure

(national accounts). 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

(national accounts). 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.

Gross output at producers’ values

(national accounts):

  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.

Gross tonne.

The unit of actual weight of cargo, including packaging but not including the weight of a reusable container.

Harmonised system.

The classification adopted by New Zealand on 1 January 1988 for processing customs entries and publishing statistics on external trade. It replaces the Customs Co-operation Council Nomenclature (CCCN) based tariff and the SITC statistical classification.

Imports

(balance of payments). All goods and services purchased by New Zealand residents from non-residents. (See also Merchandise trade and Invisible (trade)).

Imports of goods and services

(national accounts). All goods and services produced by the rest of the world and purchased by New Zealand residents. Imports of merchandise are valued cif (cost, including insurance and freight).

Income

(total). Income before tax which a person aged 15 years and over receives for a financial year from all sources, eg, wages, salary, social welfare payments, interest, dividends, commission, pre-tax business or farming income (less expenses).

Increase in stocks

(national accounts). 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.

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 all held constant so that 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:

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Data on the current prices of the commodities in the base are then obtained at three-monthly intervals.

  • 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.

Taxes not based on income, includes land tax, road user charges, licence fees, rates and GST.

Insurance

(balance of payments). Premiums less claims for insurance other than insurance of merchandise exports.

Interest, etc.

Interest, bad debts, donations, royalties, insurance claims paid or received and patent fees.

Intermediate consumption

(national accounts). The value of non-durable goods and services used in production. Valuation is at purchasers’ values.

International investment income.

Income earned by foreigners from their equity and financial assets invested in New Zealand (the debit or expenditure item), and the income New Zealand earned from equity and financial assets invested abroad (the credit or income item).

Invisible

(trade). Export and import of services such as transport, travel, and insurance.

Labour force.

Consists of persons aged 15 years and over who regularly work for one or more hours per week for financial gain, are unpaid working in a family business, or who are unemployed and seeking either full or part-time work. The full-time labour force comprises persons working 30 hours or more per week, including unemployed persons seeking full-time work. The part-time labour force comprises persons working 1 to 29 hours per week, including unemployed persons seeking part-time work.

Loans.

Direct agreements between borrowers and lenders, involving the transfer of funds to the borrower and the repayment to the lender over time. This category includes secured and unsecured loans, trade related loans, overdrafts, roll-over loans, revolving credit advances, advances from overseas parent and/or subsidiary companies, the use of swingline facilities and non-market debentures and notes.

Long-term liabilities.

Those obligations which are not expected or are not required to be met within one year of the survey date. The sum of the current portion of long-term liabilities and long-term liabilities is equivalent to the previously published statistics on New Zealand's long-term overseas debt.

Main activity.

The main activity in which persons aged 15 years and over are involved, includes: home duties, looking after children, full time student, retired, unemployed, paid job—business farm or profession, unpaid work in a family business, other, eg hospital patient.

Main urban areas.

The criterion for defining a main urban area is a population of 30,000 or more.

Maturity profile.

Time to run to scheduled maturity, i.e., the residual maturity at the survey time point.

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.

Median.

The value which divides a distribution or array so that an equal number of items is on either side of it.

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.

Minor urban areas.

Towns with a population of 1,000 or more, not already classified as a main or secondary urban area.

National disposable income

(national accounts). The total income of New Zealand residents from all sources available for final consumption or savings.

National income at market prices

(national accounts). 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 from the supply of factors of production in New Zealand and overseas, plus net indirect taxes.

Net acquisition of foreign financial assets

(national accounts). 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.

Net apparent capital inflow.

The net amount of capital flow into or out of New Zealand over a given period. It is derived by deducting total debit entries from total credit entries for items in the capital accounts. A negative figure indicates a net outflow of capital.

Net incurrence of foreign liabilities

(national accounts). The change in actual indebtedness of New Zealanders to non-residents. 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 profit.

The difference between total income and total expenditure, less working proprietors/partners salaries and wages and before extraordinary items, gains/losses from sales of capital assets, exchange losses and revaluation of assets and tax.

New Zealand direct investment abroad.

Changes in New Zealand's direct investors’ claims on and liabilities to their overseas subsidiaries and branches.

NZSNA.

New Zealand System of National Accounts.

Official government sector.

Reserve Bank, Treasury and all other Government departments.

Official investment income.

Income on the government's earnings on its international investments (credit) and the interest burden on its overseas debt (debit).

Operating surplus

(national accounts). 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.

Other current transfers to/from the rest of the world

(national accounts). 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. Firstly, 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. Secondly, 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.

Other income.

Gross income from renting and leasing of land and buildings, direct government cash grants and subsidies, plus all other income (excluding proceeds from the sales of capital assets, exchange gains, revaluation of assets, and other extraordinary items).

Other capital.

All other foreign claims and liabilities of New Zealand. It excludes claims and liabilities associated with direct investment, portfolio investment and reserves.

Other government sector.

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and local government organisations.

Other investment income.

Income earned by investors in which their equity holdings are less than 25 percent of the enterprise and interest payable and receivable between unrelated companies.

Other operating expenditure.

All other operating expenses excluding salaries and drawings by working proprietors/partners and expenses of a capital nature.

Other sector.

Private sector and other central government organisations.

Other services.

Transactions in goods, services and incomes not included elsewhere.

Overseas trade—exports and imports.

The Customs entries relating to goods cleared. Overseas trade statistics show exports valued fob and imports valued cif.

Paid employees.

See persons engaged.

Part-time.

Persons working less than 30 hours a week.

Persons engaged.

The number of full-time equivalent persons engaged. This equals the number of full-time employees and working proprietors plus half the part-time employees and working proprietors. The resultant value is then rounded up to the nearest whole number at the activity unit level and is taken as 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.

Portfolio investment.

Investments in long-term bonds and corporate equities which are not direct investment or reserves.

Private sector.

Companies, financial institutions and producer boards.

Property and entrepreneurial income to/from the rest of the world

(national accounts). 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.

Provisional

(statistics). Statistics which are derived using preliminary or incomplete data and released before final data becomes available.

Purchase of intangible assets from the rest of the world, net

(national accounts). 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.

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. In the Quarterly Economic Survey of Manufacturing this term excludes exchange losses and extraordinary terms, eg losses on sales of fixed assets, sales tax, beer and excise duty and fringe benefit tax.

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.

Re-imports.

Goods, materials or articles, imported in the same condition as they were exported from New Zealand, one third of re-imports are made up of live animals, principally racehorses and dogs.

Rent and leasing.

Total expenditure on or income from the rent and leasing of land and buildings and of plant, equipment and vehicles.

Reserves

(balance of payments). Foreign reserves assets of government. The changes in reserves due to transactions equates to the balance on current account plus the net apparent capital inflows. The ‘counterpart’ to valuation change shows the change in the value of total foreign reserve assets arising from exchange rate changes.

Revised

(statistics). In this volume, any data which is different from that printed in the last edition.

Rural areas.

Those areas not specifically designated as ‘urban’. They include towns of fewer than 1,000 population plus administrative district territory where this is not included in an urban area. Rural areas include offshore islands.

Salaries and wages.

Gross earnings during the accounting year of all paid employees (full-time, part-time and casual) in any enterprise included in a census. Included are such items as overtime, sick and holiday pay, bonuses, payments under penal-rate schemes, severance pay, value of free supplies and sales commission paid to own employees, and excluded are drawings of working proprietors or partners.

Sales of goods and services.

Goods and materials manufactured from purchased materials; includes repairs and other services provided and sales of goods purchased for resale.

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.

Savings

(national accounts). The residual item in the National Income and Outlay Account after all current receipts and disbursements have been accounted for.

Seasonal adjustments.

Adjustments made to statistical time series (usually monthly or quarterly) to provide a refined series in which the fluctuations due to seasonal variations have been removed.

Secondary urban areas.

Areas with populations which range between 10,000 and 29,999.

Sector of employment.

Refers to the industrial sector in which an employing organisation is engaged. This was introduced at the 1981 Census and now includes: producer enterprises; financial intermediaries; general government; private non-profit organisations serving households; households and rest of world.

Statistical areas.

Broad geographic regions not conforming to any legal or administrative boundaries with no pre-determined population size. There are 13 statistical areas.

Statistical discrepancy

(national accounts). 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 product 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.

Statistical divisions.

Statistically defined areas introduced at the 1971 Census to cover the seven main population centres of the country. The basic requirement is a minimum population of 75,000 within a relatively compact area, including rural residents.

Stocks.

This includes materials, such as components, stores, fuels containers, and other packaging materials as well as finished goods and work in progress, such as goods purchased for resale without further processing.

Subsidies.

Direct government cash grants and subsidies, other than for capital purposes.

Surplus of the nation on current transactions

(national accounts). The excess in the External Transactions Account of current receipts over current disbursements.

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 extraordinary items, adjusted for difference between opening and closing stocks.

Transfers

(balance of payments). Special counter entries for one-sided transactions such as gifts of goods, services, and financial assets.

Transportation

(balance of payments). Exports and imports of services associated with the international carriage of goods and passengers. Includes freight, air fares, merchandise insurance, port services, and stevedoring.

Travel.

Goods and services sold to foreign travellers in New Zealand and vice versa.

Turnover.

Total sales and other income, less: interest; dividends; donations; grants; royalties; insurance claims received. Capital work done by employees is included.

Urban areas.

Comprises a three-part classification consisting of main, secondary and minor urban areas which constitute the ‘urban’ population of New Zealand. Main and secondary urban areas are centred on a major city or borough and include neighbouring boroughs, town districts and parts of counties which are regarded as suburban and belonging to that centre of population.

Vfd

(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.

Work status.

Refers to the full-time labour force (persons working 30 hours or more per week plus unemployed and seeking full-time work); the part-time labour force (persons working 1 to 29 hours per week plus unemployed and seeking part-time work) and persons not working.

Statistics New Zealand publications

The following publications are available from offices of Statistics New Zealand, which are located in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. Addresses are given at the front of this book.

General

  • A Guide to Good Survey Design

  • Annual report of the Government Statistician (Parl paper G28)

  • Facts New Zealand

  • Half-yearly report of the Government Statistician (Parl paper G28 HY)

  • Hot Off the Press—Information releases

  • Key Statistics (monthly)

  • New Zealand in Profile 1995 (annual)

  • Statistics Catalogue 1995 (annual)

  • The Challenge of Change Pacific Island Communities in New Zealand 1986–1993

  • Women and Part Time Work in New Zealand

Business and economic

  • Agriculture 1992 (annual)

  • All about the Consumers Price Index

  • Analysis of the Crown Accounts, Fiscal Years 1991/92

  • Balance of Payments: Concepts, Sources and Methods 1991

  • Business Activity 1994 (annual)

  • Consumer Expenditure 1994 (annual)

  • Overseas Trade 1993 (annual)

Social and demographic

  • All About Women in New Zealand

  • Demographic Trends 1994 (annual)

  • Documenting the Environment

  • Elderly Population of New Zealand

  • Incomes 1992

  • Labour Market 1994 (annual)

  • Making Provision for Retirement

  • Measuring Up

  • New Zealand Life Tables 1990–92

  • New Zealand Now

    • People and Places

    • Maori

    • Families

    • 65 Plus

    • Children

  • New Zealand Social Trends—Education

  • New Zealand Social Trends—Incomes

  • New Zealand Social Trends—Work

  • Pacific Island Profiles

    • Samoan People in New Zealand

    • Tongan People in New Zealand

    • Tokelauan People in New Zealand

    • Fijian People in New Zealand

    • Cook Island People in New Zealand

    • Niuean People in New Zealand

  • Population, Labour Force and Household Projections 1991–2031

  • Testing Time

  • Tobacco Statistics 1991

  • 1991 Census of Population and Dwellings reports (five-yearly)

  • Location and Increase of Population and Dwellings

    • Final Local Authority Population and Dwelling Statistics

  • Regional reports

    • Northland/Auckland

    • Waikato/Bay of Plenty

    • Gisborne/Hawke's Bay

    • Taranaki/Manawatu-Wanganui

    • Wellington

    • Nelson-Marlborough/West Coast

    • Canterbury

    • Otago/Southland

    • Regional Summary

    • Electoral Profiles (1987 Boundaries)—

    • Electoral Profiles (1992 Boundaries)

  • Topic reports

    • Iwi Population and Dwellings

    • National Summary

    • New Zealand's Multicultural Society

    • New Zealanders at Work

    • New Zealand's Social Structure

    • New Zealanders at Home

    • New Zealand Maori Population and Dwellings

    • Pacific Island Population and Dwellings

    • Population Overview

  • Reference reports

    • Concepts, Definitions and Classifications

    • Range and Availability of Statistics

Statistical classifications and standards

  • A Guide to New Zealand Standard Statistical Classifications

  • Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC)

  • New Zealand Standard Areas Classification Manual

  • New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (NZSCO)

  • New Zealand Standard Country Codes (NZSCC)

  • New Zealand Standard Institutional Sector Classification Manual (NZISC)

  • New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (NZSIC)

  • New Zealand Standard Classification by Broad Economic Categories

  • New Zealand Harmonised System Classification (NZHSC)

  • New Zealand Standards for Financial Statistics

Reviews of statistics

  • Report of the Review Committee on Health Statistics, 1992

  • Report of the Review Committee on Income and Wealth Statistics, 1991

  • Report of the Review Committee on Macroeconomic Statistics, 1991

Statistics New Zealand keeps many of its published series on microfiche. You can get a list of the information stored in this way from any office of the department.

Index

Names of people, places and geographic features are generally not indexed separately, but can be found on pages listed under the relevant headings, eg Cities; Mountains; Population. Exceptions are names of countries, and inhabited islands. Individuals are indexed only where there are articles solely about them or they come in for particular attention in the text.

Acts of Parliament 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 (eg National Film Library; New Zealand Dairy Board).

Individual commodities or products are indexed separately only when they are unusually significant, eg Wool. Where there is no individual entry, look on pages listed under the appropriate general index entry:

  1. General commodity or product headings, eg Crops, Dairy products, Minerals, Meat; or

  2. General economic and business activity headings, eg 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.

A

Abortion, 199–200
ACCESS training scheme, 327, 329
Accident Compensation Corporation, 205–7
Accident compensation premiums, 603
Accidents, 205–13
cases of, treated in public hospitals, 203
fatal, 211–3
at home, 203, 212
motor vehicle, 203, 207–9, 211–3
prevention of, see Safety
water, 210–1
Accommodation supplement, 490
Accommodation, tourist, 309
Achievement Initiative, 225
Action TV, 271
Acts of Parliament, 53
Adoption, 178
Adult education, see Continuing education
Advertising, 275–6
Aerial topdressing, 409, 508–9
Africa, relations with, 92, 549
Age distribution,
by ethnic group, 127–9, 151
by sex, 125–7
of population, 120–3
of prisoners, 261
of new mothers, 117–20
at death, 121
AgResearch, 345
Agricultural land, 408–9
Agricultural costs, price index, 409–11
Agricultural Production Account, 409–10
Agricultural production (see also Dairy products, Meat and meat products, Wool),
crops, 428–9
indicators of, 410–11
marketing, of products, 417–8, 419–20, 422–4, 424–5, 426, 427, 431, 432
Agriculture and Fisheries, Ministry of, 67, 351, 411–2, 429, 443–4
Agriculture, aspects of, 407
capital expenditure, 411
cattle, 407, 408–9, 413–5, 415–6
costs of, 409–11
crops, 428–9
current situation and trends, 407
dairy farming, 407, 408–9, 413–4, 424
deer farming, 408–9, 413
farm employees, 409
goat farming, 408, 413
irrigation, 367–8
numbers and types of farms, 408–9
pig farming, 408, 413, 424–5
production indicators, 409–11
quarantine, 411
sheep, and sheep farming, 407, 408–9, 413, 414, 415, 419–21
Aid, overseas, 92–7
Air force, 108–9
Air freight, 505–6, 508
Air mail, 280, 505–6, 508
Air pollution, 189, 368–9
Air transport, see Aviation
Airways Corporation of New Zealand Ltd, 504–5
Alcohol (see also Beer, Wine and winemaking), consumption, 194–5
excise on, 606
and health, 194–5
legal aspects of consumption, 522
Alcohol Advisory Council, 195
Alexander Turnbull Library, 295–6
Amenities, of dwellings, 139
Animals and plants, see Vegetation and wildlife
Animals, farm, see Livestock
Anniversary day holidays, provincial, 337
Antarctica, 101, 105
Antiquities, protection of, 291
ANZUS (Australia, New Zealand and United States) Treaty, 88, 103
APEC countries, trade with, 89, 557–9
Apiaries, 426–7
Apples and pears, 431–2
Appliances, in dwellings, 139
Apprentices, 238–9, 326
Aquaculture, 446–8
Archaeological sites, protection of, 291
Area, total land, 1, 361–2
Armed forces, 106–9
community assistance, 105
New Zealand Army, 107–8
overseas, 103–5
Royal New Zealand Air Force, 108–9
Royal New Zealand Navy, 106–7
strength of, 106
Arrivals, in country (see also Immigration), 123–5
Art galleries and museums, 289–93
Arts and cultural activities, 285–7
support of, 285–7
Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa, 286
Arts Council (Queen Elizabeth II), 286–7
ASEAN (Association of South-east Asian Nations), 88–9, 103, 549–50
Asian countries, relations with, 88–9, 562
Asian Development Bank, 99
Assistance to developing countries, 92–4
Audit Office, 73
Australia New Zealand and United States Treaty (ANZUS), 88, 103
Australia New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (CER), 88, 554
Australia, relations with, 88, 554–5
Autocheck, 514–5
Average retail prices, 577–8
Aviation, civil, 504–9
aerial work, 409, 508–9
air mail, 280, 505–6
airlines, 499, 505, 506–8
airports, 499, 508
distances to overseas destinations, 508
domestic, 499, 505
freight and passenger volumes, 505–8
international, 506–8
licensing and control of, 504–5, 507

B

Balance of payments, 396–8
summaries, 397
Bankruptcies, 527
Banks and banking, 583–8
finance institutions, 585–6, 587–8
hire purchase, 536
merchant banks, 587
registered banks, 585
Reserve Bank of New Zealand, 583–5
savings institutions, 585
statistics, 587
Beef, 415–9
Beer, consumption per capita, 194–5
Bees and beekeeping, 426–7
Benefits and pensions (see also Superannuation, Family assistance), 167–73
accident compensation, 205–7
accommodation, 490
child care, 170
current rates, 168–9
dental, 187, 195
disability allowance, 171
domestic purposes, 169
emergency, 170
expenditure on, 167, 168, 171
family support, 170, 602
funeral, 172
handicapped child, 171
health, 186–8
hospital, 187
invalids, 169
maternity, 187
New Zealand superannuation, 171, 606
orphans, 170
pharmaceutical, 187
population receiving, 171
reciprocity agreements, 174–5
sickness, 169
special, 172
special needs, 172
training, 170
training incentive, 172
transition to work, 172
unemployment, 170
unsupported child, 170
veterans, 173
war pensions and allowances, 173
widows, 169
Betting, 304–5
Bilateral assistance, 93–4
Bills, passing of, 53
Birthplaces, of population, 151
Births and birth rates (see also Childbirth), 117–20
ex-nuptial, 119–20
Maori, 120, 127
stillbirths, 198–9
Bookmaking, 304–5
Books and libraries, 294–7
British sovereignty, 21–2
Broadcasting, 267–73
Commission, 267–8
policy, 267–8
public broadcasting fee, 267
radio, 271–3
Standards Authority, 268
television, 268–71
Building and construction (see also Housing), 492
activity, 493–6
permits issued, 494–6
Buildings,
construction standards, 493
historic, 290–1
Bursaries,
school boarding, 230
for tertiary study, 221–2, 226, 236
Buses, 445, 514, 515
school, 231
Business development, 479–81
Business Directory, 401–5
Business statistics, 401–5
Butter, 422–4

C

Cabinet, 57–9
Cable television, 271
Cadet forces, 105
Campbell Island, 1
Canada, relations with, 89, 551
Cancer, deaths from, 197, 198
Capital Goods Price Index, 581–2
Capital Finance Accounts, 388
Capital gains, tax on, 605
Careers Service, The (Quest Rapuara), 218, 239, 327
Cargo, air, 505–6, 508, 563–7
handled at ports, 502, 563–7
Carpet industry, 477
Cars, 137, 475, 513–4
Carter Observatory, 349
Casein, 422–4
Cattle, 407, 408, 413, 414–5
Cawthron Institute, 349
Cellular phones, 277
Censorship,
administration, 288
classification, 288–9
Census of Population and Dwellings,
ethnic origins, 127–9, 149–51
households and dwellings, 133–6
employment, 317–8
incomes, 330
labour force, 313–23
Maori population, 127–8
Pacific Island Polynesian population, 129
religious professions, 149
social welfare payments, 168–9, 171
total population, 111–3
travel to work, 515
unemployment, 323–5
Central government finance, 595–606
accrual accounting, 596–7
appropriation process, 595–6
crown banking arrangements, 597
expenditure, 595–600
financial reporting, 596
legislative regime, 596
public debt, 609–14
revenue, see Taxation
securities on issue, 536, 538–9, 590–1
CER (Australia New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement), 88, 554
Cereals, 428–9
Chatham Islands, 1, 79
CHE see Crown Health Enterprises
CHEAC see Crown Health Enterprise Advisory Committee
Cheese, 422–4
Chemicals, poisonous, 215–6
Childbirth, 117–20
births and birth rate, 118
infant mortality, 198–200
maternal deaths, 199
maternity benefits, 187
parental leave, 338
Childcare and pre-school education (see also Kohanga reo), 221, 222–4
Child support, 172, 602–3
Child Support Act 1992, 602–3
Children, adoption of, 178
in care of Department of Social Welfare, 177, 178
custody and guardianship of, 177, 178
day care for, 221, 222–4, 241
deaths of, 198–9, 212–3
health of, 192–3
and justice system, 178–9
Children and Young Persons Courts, see Youth Courts
Children and Young Persons Service, 176–9
Children's health camps, 192
China, relations and trade with, 88–9, 549, 562
Chiropractors, 186
Chronology 1994, 82–4
Churches and religious organisations, number of adherents of, 149
Cinema, 285, 287, 288, 291–2
Cities and city councils (see also Urban areas), 78–9
population of, 115
Citizenship, 152–3
Civil aviation, see Aviation, civil
Civil defence, 213
Civil jurisdiction of courts, 247–8
CLANZ see Community Learning Aotearoa New Zealand
CLEAR Communications, 276–7, 278
Clerk of the House of Representatives, 52, 56
Climate, 6–11, 370, 453–4
Coal, 455–6, 462–4
Coastal shipping, 499–500, 502, 566–7
Coat of arms, ii, 82
Coins and coinage, 589–90
Colleges, secondary, 225–7
of education, 219, 231–3
Commerce Commission, 519, 524–5
Commerce, Ministry of, 67, 267, 351, 453, 480–1
Commissioner, for the Environment, Parliamentary, 74
Privacy, 51
Commissions of inquiry, 63
Commonwealth of Independent States, relations with, 91, 550
Commonwealth, relations with, 99
Community boards, 79–80
Community care, 258–9
Community centres, 239–40
Community Corrections Division, 258–9
Community Employment Group, 329
Community Funding Agency, 175–6
Community housing programmes, 492
Community law centres, 249
Community Learning Aotearoa New Zealand, 239
Community service, 259
Community Services Card, 171
Community Support Groups, 265
Community Taskforce, 328
Community welfare services, funding of, 175–6
Maori, 159–61
programmes, 175–6
Companies, 523–5, 527–8
insolvencies, 527–8
mergers of, 524–5
practices of, 524–5
registration, 523
taxation of, 604–5
Compensation, accident, 205–7
Complaints Review Tribunal, 246
Conservation Authority, New Zealand, 376
Conservation boards, 376
Conservation, Department of, 67, 351, 359, 371–2
Conservation of cultural property, 291
Conservation of natural resources (see also Environment), forests, 435–6
legislative reform, 362–3
of water and soil, 366–7
Consolidated Accounts of the Nation, 388–90
Constitution, 49–52
recent reform, 50–2
Construction, see Building and construction
Consumer protection, 520–1
Consumers’ Institute, 521
Consumers Price Index, 571–9
all groups, all urban areas combined, 573
expenditure weighting, 571
geographic coverage and published series, 572
geographical variation, 578
groups, 573–6
index regimen, 571
international comparison, 578–9
North and South Islands, 578
price movements, 572–7
price surveys, 572
selected items, 577
Continuing education, 233, 239–40
Controller and Auditor-General, 73
Convictions, non-traffic offences, 250–4
traffic offences, 256–7
Cook Islands, 87, 99
Cook Strait rail/ferry service, 501, 510
Copyright, 287–8
Corporations, government, see State-owned enterprises
Corrections system, 257–63
Community Corrections Division, 258–9
Penal Institutions Division, 259–63
Psychological Services Division, 263
community–based sentencing, 258–9
detention, 260–1
census of prison inmates, 261–3
Corrective training, 260
Correspondence School, 229–30, 240
Cost of living, (see also Consumers Price Index, Retail prices), 571–9
Council for Maori and South Pacific Arts Te Waka Toi, 286
Country of birth, 151
Court of Appeal, 243–4, 248, 250
Courts (see also Tribunals), 243–6
of Appeal, 243–4, 248, 250
District, 224, 248, 250
Employment, 244–5, 245
Family, 144, 245
High, 244, 247–8, 250
Maori Land and Appellate, 245, 324–5
Youth, 177, 245
CPI (Consumers Price Index), 571–9
Craft, 286
Credit cards, 536
Crime, 249–57
compensation for, 257
reported offences, 249–50
CRIs, 343, 345–8
Crop and Food Research, 346
Crops, fruit, 430–3
grains, 428–9
seeds, 429
Crown health enterprises (CHEs), 183, 200
Crown Health Enterprise Advisory Committee (CHEAC), 183, 200
Crown land, 358–60
Crown Lands, Office of, 358–9
Crown Law Office, 67
Crown-owned entities, 72, 609–10
Crown Minerals Act 1991, 366, 467
Crown Research Institutes (CRIs), 343, 345–8
Cultural activities, 285–7
Cultural Affairs, Ministry of, 67, 285
Cultural sites, protection of, 290, 291, 363
Currency, 589
Curriculum framework, 224
Customs Department, 67, 540
Customs tariff and revenue, 539–40

D

Dairy farming and products, 407, 408, 413–5, 422–4
butter, 422–4
casein, 422–4
cheese, 422–4
exports, 423–4, 542–3
marketing of, 422–3
milk and milk products, 422, 424
prices, 424
production index, 410
Dance, 286
Data communications, 281
Day-care, 221, 222–4, 241
Daylight saving, 14
Deaths and death rates, 121–3, 130–1
accidental, 207–13
from cancer, 197, 198–9
of children, 198–9, 212–3
infant, 198–9
maternal, 199
major causes, 197
Maori, 122, 158
stillbirths, 198–9
Debt, overseas, 398–9, 609–14
private, see Credit, Mortgages
public, 609–14
Deer farming, 408–9, 413
Defence, 101–9
agreements, 102–3
expenditure, 105–6
Force, New Zealand, 67, 101–2, 105–6, 351
Ministry of, 67, 101–2, 105–6
relationships, 102–3
White Paper 1991, 101–2
Demography, see Population Dental benefits, 187, 195
Dental health, 195
Dentists, 184
Department of Conservation, 67, 351, 359, 371–2
Department of Internal Affairs, 69
Department of Justice, 69, 258, 356, 514
Department of Labour, 69, 214–5, 313, 316, 323
Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, 70
Department of Social Welfare, 70, 167
Department of Statistics (Statistics New Zealand), 70
publications, 622
Department of Survey and Land Information, 71, 355–6, 359
Departments, government, (see also State sector) chief executives of, 66
expenditure by, 598–600
functions of, 67–72
Departures, from country, 123–5
Deportation, 155–6
Depression, 31–3
Design, industrial, 352, 353
Developing countries, relations with, 92–4, 549–52
Dietitians, 185
Diplomatic representatives overseas, 87, 90
Disability allowances, 171
Disabled persons,
assistance and services for, 171–2, 175
benefits for, see Benefits and pensions
Disaster relief, 105, 213
Diseases,
treated, 202
Displaced persons, see Refugees
Dissolution of marriage, 144–5
Distribution of population, 113–7
District Courts, 224, 248, 250
District planning, 246, 364
Districts councils, 78
Divorce, 114–5
Doctors, 184
Domestic purposes benefits, 169
Domestic trade and services, 533–7
Domestic travel, 311
Dominion status, 31
Drinking, legal aspects of, 515
Drivers’ licences, 515
Driving offences, 256–7, 517
Drownings, 210–11
Drugs,
legal, control of, 189
offences involving, 251, 253
Dwellings (see also Households, Housing), 133–6
tenure of, 135, 136
types of, 133, 136

E

Early Childhood Development Unit, 217
Earnings, 330–1
Earthquake Commission, 213
Earthquakes, 5–6
EU (European Union), 90–1, 560–2
Economy, the, 379
international competitive, 387
restructuring the, 384
government intervention in, 380
Economy Wide Census, 402
Education (see also Examinations, Schools, Students),
administration of, 217–22
agencies, 217–9
attainments, 225–8, 234–6, 238
bodies, 219–20
continuing, 233, 239–40
curriculum, 224–6
funding of, 221, 236
health, 193–5
international links, 222
information technology, 282–3
Maori, 220, 226–7, 228, 240–1
Maori language, 220, 227, 240–1
Ministry of, 68, 218, 221–2
polytechnic, 219, 237–9
pre-school, 217, 221, 222–4, 241
public expenditure on, 221
Review Office, 68, 218
rural, 229–30, 240
Service Centres, 219
special, 217–8, 221, 231
student allowances, 221–2, 236
teacher numbers, 230, 233
teaching resources, 233
teacher training, 231–3
technical, 237–8
transition, 239
university, 234–6
women and, 148
Educational Research, New Zealand Council for, 219–20
Education and Training Support Agency, 218, 238, 325–7
EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone), 105, 443
Eggs, 425–6
Eggs Producers Federation, 426
El Nino, 11
Elections, 59–63
local body, 80–1
parliamentary, 52–3, 55–7
referenda, 50
Electoral reform, 50, 63
Electorates, parliamentary,
listed, 56–7
maps of, 60–1
review of, 60–2
Electricity, 455–6, 457–60
consumption of, 455–6, 459–60
generation of, 458–9
markets, 460
reticulation, 459
supply authorities, 459
Electricity Corporation of New Zealand, 457–60
Electronics industry, 474
Embassies, 87, 90
Emergency benefits, 170
Emigration, 123–5
Employment (see also Labour force, Labour relations, Occupations, Unemployment), 313
assistance, 328–9
farm, 409
and human rights see Human Rights Commission in manufacturing, 477–9
recorded by Business Directory, 402–5
Service, New Zealand, 327–8
status, 315, 317–9
surveys of, 313
and training programmes, 325–9
of women, 148, 315–7
Employment Contracts Act 1991, 335–7
Employment Court, 244–5, 336–7
Employment Related Education Fund, 339
Employment Tribunal, 245, 336–7
Energy, 453
biofuels, 467
consumption, 455–7
demand and supply, 456
efficiency, 454
fossil, 460–5
geothermal, 465–6
policy, 453–5
primary, 455–7
renewable, 466–7
review of energy research, 454–5
solar, 467
supply, 455–7
wave, 467
wind, 466
Energy, forms of, coal, 455–6, 462–4
electricity, 455–6, 457–60
gas, 455–6, 460–2
geothermal, 455–6, 465–6
oil, 455–6, 461–2
renewable, 466–7
Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA), 454
Engineering industry, 475
Enterprise Allowance, 328
Enterprise survey, annual, 402
Environment (see also Conservation of natural resources, Planning), 361
global issues, 369–70, 474
and mineral exploitation, 366, 467–71
Ministry for the, 68, 365, 369, 370–1
Parliamentary Commissioner for, 74–5
Resource Management Act 1991, 362–6
Environmental,
health, 188–9
issues, 369–71
labelling, 353
planning, 362–5
Environmental Choice NZ, 353
Environmental directorates, 370–1
Environmental Health and Forensic Sciences, Institute of, 345
Entertainment expenses, 604
Equal employment opportunities, 66, 147, 338
Equal Employment Opportunities Trust, 338–9
Equal Opportunities Tribunal, 147, 246
Equal Opportunities Tribunal (Complaints Review Tribunal), 146, 246, 338
Equal pay, 338
EECA see Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority Erosion, control of, 368
Ethnicity, 127–9, 149–51
Maori, see Maori population
Pacific Island Polynesians, see Pacific Island
Polynesians
Race relations and racial discrimination, (see also Treaty of Waitangi), 146
European
exploration, 18
settlement, 22
trade and religion, 19–20
European Union (EU), 90–1, 560–2
European countries, relations with, 90–1, 550, 552, 560–2
Events, chronology of, 82–4
Examinations, 218, 225–7, 234–5
Exchange rates, 592
Excise duties, 539–40, 606
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), 105, 443
Executive Council, Cabinet and, 57–9
Ex-nuptial births, 119–20
Exotic forests, 361, 435, 439–40
Export Prices Index, 568
Export Volume Index, 569
Exports, 541–6
agricultural, see Marketing, of agricultural products dairy produce, 542–3
Export Price Index, 568
Export Volume Index, 569
fish, crustaceans and molluscs, 544–5
forestry products, 544
fruit and nuts, 545–6
growth and diversification of, 383
major commodities exported, 541–2
meat and edible offal, 542
Terms of Trade Index, 568–9
wool, 545
External migration, 123–5
External Relations and Trade, Ministry of, see Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ministry of
External trade (see also Exports, Imports, Shipping), 539
balance of merchandise trade, 540–1
exports, 541–6
imports, 546–8
major trading partners, 549–62
overseas cargo, 563–7
overseas trade indexes, 567–70
External transactions account, 390

F

Factories (see also Manufacturing industry, Occupational safety and health), 214–6
Fair trading legislation, 519, 520
Families (see also Households), 117–20
Family assistance, 170–1, 602–3
Family Courts, 144, 245
Family group conferences, 177, 179
Family health, 191–3
Family law, 144–5, 176–8
Family planning, 191
Family support, 144–5, 170, 602
Farm employment, 409
Farm Expenses Price Index, 410–11
Farming, see Agriculture, Livestock Farms, numbers and types, 408–9
Fauna, see Vegetation and wildlife
Ferries, 501, 510
Fertiliser (see also Topdressing), 409
Fertility rates, 117–20, 130–1
Fiji, relations with, 87–8, 551
Film, 285, 287, 288, 291–2
Film and Literature Board of Review, 288
Film and Literature Classification, Office of, 288
Films and video recordings, 288–9
censorship of, 288
New Zealand Film Archive, 291
New Zealand Film Commission, 287
Financial institutions, 585–6, 587–8
Fire and general insurance, 529–30, 533
Fire fighting and prevention, 214, 375
Fish,
catch, 444–6
exports, 448–9
processing and marketing, 449–50
species, 444–6
Fisheries,
management, 443
resources, 443
Ministry of, 443–4
Fisheries legislation, 443
Fisheries resources, 443
protection of, 105
Fishing,
by foreign vessels, 445–6
Industry Board, 449–50
recreational, 303
research, 346
Fishing vessels, 445–6
Five Power Defence Arrangements, 102
Flag, New Zealand, 82
Flora, see Vegetation and wildlife
Fluoridation, 196
Food,
expenditure on, 137–9
industry, 475–6
prices, 573–4
standards, 190
Food and Agriculture Organisation, United Nations (FAO), 96
Footwear industry, 477
Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ministry of, 68, 87, 90, 222, 227–8, 235, 370–1
Foreign aid, 92–4
Foreign exchange market, 592
Foreign policy (see also Official Development Assistance (ODA)), 87, 92–7
Foreign trade, see External trade
Forest funds, 375
Forest parks, 372, 374
Forest products, see Timber and forest products
Forest Research Institute, 347, 439
Forestry,
exports, 441–2, 544
Ministry of, 68, 440
Forestry and logging, 435–42
employment in, 437
private, 435, 437
products, see Timber and forest products
research into, 346
state, 435, 436–7
training in, 437–8
Forestry Corporation Ltd, New Zealand, 436–7
Forests, 13, 14, 435–7
conservation and protection, 371–5
exotic, 361, 436, 438–40
native, 361, 436, 438–40
ownership of, 436–7
planting of, 435–6
FOSTS see Federation of Scientific and Technological Societies
Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, 343–4
Freight, see Cargo
Fringe benefit tax, 604
Fruit, 430–3
Fuels,
coal, 455–6, 462–4
gas, 455–6, 460–2
oil, 455–6, 461–2

G

Galleries, art, 289
Gambling, 304–7
Gas, 455–6, 460–2
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), 97–8, 407
General Assembly see Parliament General elections, 52, 55–6, 59–63
Geographical features, 1–2
glaciers, 1
lakes, 2
mountains, 1
rivers, 2
Geological and Nuclear Sciences, Institute of, 347
Geology (see also Minerals and mineral products), 2–6
Geothermal power, 455–6, 465–6
Geriatric hospitals, 187, 190, 201
Glaciers, 1
Global warming, 369–71, 453–4
Glossary of statistical terms, 618
Goat farming, 408, 413
Gold, 468
Gold rush, 25–6
Goods and services tax (GST), 540, 605
Government, the, 57
Government departments (see also State Sector),
chief executives of, 66
expenditure by, 598–9
functions of, 67–72
Government finance, see Central government finance
Government stock and securities, 590–1, 611, 613
Government Superannuation Fund, 68, 532–3
Governor(s)-General, 49, 52
Graduates, university, 234–5
Grains, 428–9
Grape growing and wine production, 430–1
Greenstone, 470
Greyhound racing, 304–5
Gross domestic product, 388–9, 390–2
in constant prices, 394–6
index of, 394–6
by production group, 390–1
Gross fixed capital formation, 392
GST, 531, 540
Guaranteed minimum family income, 602
Guardianship, 144

H

Handicapped child allowance, 171
Handicapped persons, see Disabled persons Harbours, see Ports
Harmonized System, 539–40
Hazardous substances, 365
Health, 183
and causes of death, 197–9
education, 193–5
environmental, 188–9
expenditure, 184
family, 191–3
and hospitals, see Hospitals
Information Service, 196
information technology, 282–3
insurance, 530–3
mental, 190–1, 203–5
Ministry of, 68, 183, 187, 189–91
occupational, 214–6
practitioners, 184–6
promotion, 193–5
research, 196
sector reforms, 183–4
services structure, 183–4
statistics, 196
voluntary sector, 190
women's, 148
Health benefits, 186–8
Health camps, 192
Health education, 193–5
Health inspection, 188–90
Health Research Council, 196
High Court, 244, 247–8, 250
Higher School Certificate, 226–7
Highways, 511–3
Hillary Commission for Sport, Fitness and Leisure, 299–300, 301–2
leisure industry, 301
sport participation, 301–2
Hire purchase, 536
Historic places, 290–1
Historic reserves, 291, 374
History, 17–47
New Zealand before 1840, 17–22
European and Maori, 22–8
development and depression 1890–1935, 28–34
mid-20th century, 34
chronology of main events, 46–7
Hocken Library, 297
Holidays, 337
Home appliances, 138–9
Home ownership, 135, 136, 488–9
Homeseekers lending, 488–92
Homicide, 211–2, 249, 251–2
Honey, 426–7
Horse racing, 304–5
Horticulture and Food Research, 347
Horticulture (see also Crops), 430–3
Hospital benefits, 187
Hospitals, (see also Psychiatric hospitals), 200
administration, 200–1
geriatric, 187, 190, 201
patients treated, 201–3
psychiatric, 203–5
public, 201
Hotels and restaurants, 522, 533–6
Hours of work, 337
House of Representatives, see Parliament
Household Economic Survey, 137–9
Household Labour Force Survey, 313–23
Households, 133–9
amenities of, 139
composition of, 133, 135
expenditure by, 137–8
incomes of, 137
transport, 137
Housing, Ministry of, 69, 492
Housing (see also Buildings, Dwellings),
community programmes, 492
construction, 492–6
costs of, 488, 494–5
home ownership, 135, 136, 488–9
loans for, 488–92
Maori, 135–7, 490
market, 487–8
Pacific Island Polynesians, 135–7
rental (see also Rental housing), 489–90
state, 490–2
Housing Corporation, 69, 490–1
Human rights, 145
Equal Opportunities Tribunal, 147, 246, 338
Equal Opportunities Tribunal (Complaints Review Tribunal), 147, 246, 338
promotion of equal opportunity, 66, 147, 338
Housing New Zealand Limited, 491–2
Human Rights Commission, 145–6
Hunting, 303
Hydro-electric power, 445–6, 457–60

I

IBRD (World Bank), 98
IMF (International Monetary Fund), 396, 400
Immigrants, 153–6
Immigration, 153–6
current provisions, 153–6
and demography, 111, 123–5
recent policy, 153–4, 156
Immunisation, 193
Import Prices Index, 568
Imports, 546–8
Import Prices Index, 568
Import Volume Index, 569
major commodities imported, 546–7
mechanical and electrical machinery, 547
mineral fuels, 548
plastic and plastic articles, 548
Terms of Trade Index, 568–9
vehicles, 547–8
Imprisonment, see Prisons and prisoners
Income support, 167–75
Income Support Service, 167–8
Income tax,
companies, 604–5
personal, 600–1
revenue from, 607–8
Incomes, 330–3
of companies, 604–5
of households, 137
Independent Broadcasting Association, 273
Index of Gross Domestic Product, 390–2
Indexes, explained, 619
Indexes, listed,
Capital Goods Price Index, 581–2
Consumers Price Index, 571–9
Export Prices Index, 568
Export Volume Index, 570
Farm Expenses Price Index, 410–11
Import Prices Index, 568
Import Volume Index, 569
Index of Gross Domestic Product, 394–6
Labour Cost Index, 333
Prevailing Weekly Wage Rates Index, 333
Producers Price Index, 579–81
Real Wage Rate, 332–3
Terms of Trade Index, 568–9
Industrial accidents, 215–6
Industrial design, 351–2, 353
Industrial relations see Labour relations
Industrial Research, 347
Industrial safety, see Occupational safety and health
Industrial structure of labour force, 319–20
Industry, see Manufacturing industry
Industry Labelling Body, 288
Industry training strategy, 326
Infant mortality, 198–200
Inflation, see Consumers Price Index
Information, privacy of, 51, 73–4
Information technology, 281–3
education, 282
health, 282–3
industry, 281
policy, 281
Inland Revenue Department, (see also Taxes and taxation), 69
Insolvency, 527–8
Institute of Environmental Health and Forensic Sciences, 345
Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, 347
Insurance, (see also Superannuation), 528–33
accident, 205–7
earthquake damage, 213
fire and general, 529–30, 533
life, 529–30, 532–3
medical, 530–3
regulation, 528–9
Integrated Digital Network, 277
Interest rates, see Monetary policy, Mortgages
Inter-industry studies, 390, 401–2
Internal Affairs, Department of, 69
Internal migration, 114–5
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), 98
International comparisons, 139–40
abortion rates, 200
consumer prices, 578–9
defence expenditure, 106
infant mortality, 199
life expectancy, 122–3
motor vehicle accidents, 209
standards of living, 139–40
International Development Association (IDA), 98
International Finance Corporation (IFC), 98
International Monetary Fund (IMF), 369, 400
International organisations, participation in, 94–8
International relations, 87
International Whaling Commission (IWC), 370
International Wool Secretariat, 420
Internet, 281–2
Invalids benefit, 169
Iron (see also Steel making), 467–8
Irrigation, 367–8
ISDN (Integrated Digital Network), 277
Islands, outlying, 1

J

Japan, relations with, 88–9, 556–7
Job Plus, 328
Judges and judiciary, 243–6
Jury service, 248–9
Justice, Department of, 69, 258, 356, 514
Justice,
convictions, 250–4, 256–7
sentencing, 254–6, 256–7
system of, see Courts

K

Kura kaupapa Maori, 241
Kermadec Islands, 1
Kindergartens, 221, 222–4, 241
Kiwifruit, 433
Kohangareo, 161, 221, 227, 241
Korea, relations with, 88–9, 549, 557–9
Korowai Aroha-Aotearoa Inc, Te, 144

L

Labelling, environmental, 353
Laboratory technologists, medical, 186
Labour Cost Index (LCI), 333–4,
Labour, Department of, 69, 214–5, 313, 316, 323
Labour force (see also Employment, Unemployment), 313
employment status, 319
Household Labour Force Survey, 313–25
industrial structure, 319–20
occupational structure, 320–3
part-time, 315, 317–8
participation rates, 314
Quarterly Employment Survey, 313, 318, 330–1
survey of, 313
women in, 148, 315–7
Labour Party, 52–3, 56–7, 62
Labour Party, 34
Labour relations, (see also Trade unions, Work stoppages), 335
bargaining arrangements, 335–6
disputes, 244–5, 245
hours of work, 337
minimum entitlements, 337
minimum wages, 337
personal grievances and disputes, 336
public and annual holidays, 337
rights and obligations, 336
specialist courts, 244–5, 245
strikes and lockouts, 336, 339–40
Lakes, 2
Lamb, 407, 408, 413–4, 415, 416
Land,
agricultural, 361–2, 408–9
area, total, 1, 361–2
controls on acquisition, 357
Crown, 358–60
leasehold, 358–60
Maori, 357–8
recreational, 370–5
registration of ownership, 356–7
surveys of, 355–6
transfers of, 356–7
use of, 361–2, 370–5
valuation of, 360
Landcare Research, 346
Land Corporation, 360
Land Information System (LIS), 355–6
Land tax, 605
Land Transport Fund, 512, 607
Land Transport Safety Authority, 207–9, 515
Latin America and Caribbean, relations with, 90, 550–1
Latitude and longitude, 1
Law Commission, 246–7
Law, sources of, 246
Laws, see Legislation
Leasehold land, 358–60
Legal Services Act 1991, 249
Legal systems, 243–9
Legal tender, 589
Legislation, 53
Leisure activities, outdoor, 303–4
Liable Parent Contribution Scheme, 602–3
Liberals, 28–30
Libraries, 233, 294–7
Life expectancy, 120, 121, 130–1
Life insurance, 529–30, 532–3
Lighthouses, 503
Lincoln Ventures Limited, 349
Liquidation, of companies, 528
Liquor, see Alcohol
Liquor licensing, 522
LIS see Land Information System,
Literature, 288, 294–7
Livestock, 407, 408, 412–5
cattle, 407, 408, 413, 414–5
deer farming, 408–9, 413
distribution of, 413
goat farming, 408, 413
health services for, 411–2
pigs, 408, 413, 424–5
poultry, 425–6
quarantine of, 411
sheep, and sheep farming, 407, 408–9, 413, 414, 415, 419–21
Local authorities (see also Local government), 75–81
population of, 116–7
rating and valuation, 360, 614
roading, 512–3
statistics, 614
Local government, 75–81
boundaries, 76–7
community boards, 79–80
election and membership of, 80–1
organisation, 75–8
regional councils, 78–9
special purpose local authorities, 80
territorial authorities, 78–9
Local Government Commission, 81–2
Local government finance, 614–5
Local government regions, population of, 116–7
Lotteries and lotto, 305–7
funding from, 285, 305, 307

M

Maatua whangai, 161
Magazines, 274
Mail services, 278–80
Major trading partners, 549
Mana Enterprises Scheme, 329
Manufacturing industry, 473–84
assistance to, 479–81
enterprises, 477–9
geographical distribution of, 482–3
growth issues, 473–4
groups, 474–7
quarterly survey of, 481, 484
sectors, 476–7
Maori (see also Maori population), 156–62
agriculture, 17
community services, 159–61
early childhood education, 241
education, 220, 226–7, 228, 240–1
employment and training of, 327, 329
fisheries, 446
housing, 135–6, 490
justice, 261, 358
kura kaupapa Maori, 241
land, 357–8
language, 161, 220, 227–8, 240–1
tertiary education, 241
tribal developments and locations, 159, 165
social organisation, 17
pre-European, 17
broadcasting, 268
Mangai Paho, 269
women, 157–8
Maori and Pacific Islands Arts, Council for, Te Waka Toi, 286
Maori Congress, 160
Maori Council, New Zealand, 159–60
Maori Development, Ministry of, Te Puni Kokiri, 69, 158–60, 358
Maori Education Foundation, 220
Maori electorates, 61
Maori fisheries, 446
Maori Heritage Council, 291
Maori society, 20–1
1840–6–, 23–44
to 1890, 27–8
1890–1935, 33
1935–72, 38–9
since 1972, 43–44
Maori Land Court and Maori Appellate Court, 245, 358
Maori population (see also Maori)
age and sex of, 127–8, 156–8
birth and death rates of, 128, 156–8
geographical distribution of, 128, 156–7
households, 135–6
infant mortality in, 122, 198–9
life expectancy, 122, 158
Maori wardens, 161
Maori Women's Welfare League, 161
Mapping, 355
Marine pollution, 368, 503–4
Marine wildlife, 375
Marital status, 140–2
Maritime parks and reserves, 372, 375
Maritime Safety Authority, 502–4
Marketing authorities for agricultural products,
apples and pears, 431–2
dairy products, 422
kiwifruit, 432
meat, 417–8
wool, 419–20
Marriage and marriages (see also Marital status), 117–20, 140–5
age at, 118–9, 142–4
dissolution of, 144–5
guidance, 144
rates of, 119, 140
Maternal deaths, 199
Maternity benefits, 187
Maternity leave, 338
Meat and meat products (see also New Zealand Meat Producers Board), 415–9
beef, 416
chicken, 425
exports, 418–9
pigmeats, 424–5
prices, 416–7, 418–9
processing, 415–6
sheepmeats, 416
veal, 416
Media, 268–76
advertising, 275–6
magazines, 274
newspapers, 273–4
radio, 271–3
television, 268–71
Medical benefits, 186–8
Medical Council, 184
Medical insurance, 530–3
Medical laboratory technologists, 186
Medical practitioners, 184
Medical radiation technologists, 186
Medicines, control of, 189
Members of Parliament, 52–3, 56–7
listed, 56–7
salaries and allowances, 55
Mental health, 190, 203–5
Merchant banks, 587
Merchant navy qualifications, 502
Mergers, 524–5
Metals, 467–8
gold, 468
industry, 471
iron, 467–8
Meteorology, see Climate
Middle East, relations with, 91, 551
Migration,
external, see External migration, Immigration
internal, 114–5
Military pensions, 173
Milk and milk products (see also Dairy products), 422–4
Mineral exploitation, 366, 467
Minerals and mineral products (see also Mining), 467–71
coal, 455–6, 462–4
metallic, 467–8
non-metallic, 468–71
production, 467, 471
Minimum wage, 337
Mining (see also Minerals and mineral products), 462–5, 467–71
and quarrying statistics, 471
laws on, 366, 467
safety and working conditions, 214–6, 335–7
Ministers of the Crown,
list of, 56–7, 58–9
salaries and allowances of, 55
Ministry for the Environment, 68, 365, 369, 370–1
Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, 67, 351, 411–2,429, 443–4
Ministry of Civil Defence, 213
Ministry of Commerce, 67, 267, 312, 351, 453, 480–1
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, 519, 520–1
Ministry of Cultural Affairs, 67, 285
Ministry of Defence, 67, 101–2, 105–6
Ministry of Education, 68, 218, 221–2
Ministry of Fisheries, 443
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 68, 87, 90, 222 227–8, 235, 370–1
Ministry of Forestry, 68, 440
Ministry of Health, 68, 183, 187, 189–91
Ministry of Housing, 69, 492
Ministry of Maori Development, Te Puni Kokiri, 69, 158–9, 358, 490
Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs, 70, 164–6
Ministry of Research, Science and Technology, 70, 343
Ministry of Transport, 71, 209, 499
Ministry of Women's Affairs, 72, 147–8
Monetary policy, 589–90
Money, 589, 590
Monopolies, 524–5
Mortality, see Deaths and death rates
Mortgages, 488–9
Housing Corporation, 490–1
interest rates of, 489
Motor fuel, duty on, 606
Motor vehicle industry, 475
Motor Vehicles Securities Register, 514
Motor vehicles, 513–5
registration and licensing, 513–5
inspection, 515–6
Mountaineering, 304
Mountains, 1
formation of, 3
Multilateral assistance, 93–4
Murder, 249, 251, 252
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, 290
Museums and art galleries, 289–90
Music, 286, 287

N

1990s, 42–3
Narcotics, see Drugs
National Accounts, New Zealand System of (NZSNA) 387–96
development of, 387
National Advisory Committee on Care Health and Disability Support Services (NACCHDS), 183
National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women, 315–7
National anthems, 82
National Archives, 292–3
National disposable income, 388–9
National Drug Intelligence Bureau, 265
National emblems and anthems, 82
National Fish and Game Council, 376
National income and outlay, 388–9
National Institute of Atmosphere and Water Research (NIWA), 348
National Library of New Zealand, 69, 295–6
National parks (see also Forest parks, Reserves), 372–4
National Party, 36, 52–3, 56–7, 62
National planning, environmental, 362–3
National Provident Fund, 69, 531
National superannuation (New Zealand superannuation), 171, 603
Natural gas, 455–6, 460–2
Natural increase, of population, 117–20
Nature reserves, 374
Navigational aids, 503, 505
Navy, Royal New Zealand, 106–7
New society, 44–5
New Zealand Apple and Pear Marketing Board, 431–2
New Zealand Army, 107–8
New Zealand Australia Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (CER), 88, 554
New Zealand Bibliographic Network, 295
New Zealand Certificate, 238
New Zealand Children and Young Persons Service, 176–9
New Zealand Community Funding Agency, 175–6
New Zealand Conservation Authority, 376
New Zealand Council for Educational Research, 219–220
New Zealand Dairy Board, 422–3
New Zealand Defence Force, 67, 101–2, 105–6
New Zealand Employment Service, 328–9
New Zealand Film Archive, 291–2
New Zealand Film Commission, 287
New Zealand Fire Service, 214
New Zealand Fishing Industry Board, 449–50
New Zealand Forestry Corporation Ltd, 436–7
New Zealand Government, the, 52–3, 58–9
New Zealand Government stock and securities, 590–1, 611, 613
New Zealand Health Information Service, 196
New Zealand Historic Places Trust, 290–1
New Zealand Household Economic Survey, 137–9
New Zealand Income Support Service, 168
New Zealand Institute for Social Research and Development, 348
New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, 349
New Zealand Kiwifruit Marketing Board, 432
New Zealand Lotteries Commission, 305
New Zealand Lottery Grants Board, 285, 307
New Zealand Maori Council, 159–60
New Zealand Meat Producers Board, 417–8
New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association, 303
New Zealand Patent Office, 351–2
New Zealand Police, 70, 263–5
New Zealand Pork Industry Board, 424–5
New Zealand Post, 279–80
New Zealand Qualifications Authority, 218, 238
New Zealand Rail Ltd, 509–11
New Zealand Sports Foundation, 302
New Zealand Stock Exchange, 526
New Zealand superannuation, 171, 603
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, 287
New Zealand System of National Accounts (NZSNA) 387–96
Consolidated Accounts of the Nation, 388–90
New Zealand Time Service, 14
New Zealand Tourism Board, 71, 311–2
New Zealand Trade Development Board, 71, 539
New Zealand Wars, 24–5
New Zealand Wool Board (Wools of New Zealand), 419–20
New Zealand Workers Educational Association (WEA), 240
New Zealand's overseas posts, 87, 90
Newspapers and magazines, 273–4
Niue, relations with, 87–8, 99
NIWA (National Institute of Atmosphere and Water Research), 348
North Island, population of, 113–4
Nurses, and nursing services, 184–5
NZ On Air, 267–8
NZSNA (New Zealand System of National Accounts), 387–96

O

Occupations, 320–3
Occupational safety and health, 214–6
reform, 215
Occupational therapists, 185
OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), 99
Office of Crown Lands, 358–9
Office of Film and Literature Classification, 288
Official development assistance (ODA), 92–4
Official information, 73–4
Oil, 455–6, 461–2
crisis, 383
security, 454
Ombudsmen, 74
Open Polytechnic of New Zealand, The (TOPNZ), 237
Optometrists and opticians, 185–6
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 99
Orphans benefit, 170
Outdoor leisure activities, 303–4
Outlying islands, 1
Overseas,
cargo, 563–7
trade indexes, 567–70
Overseas aid, 92–7
Overseas balance of payments, 396–8
Overseas debt, 398–9, 609–14
Overseas exchange transactions, 592
Overseas students, 222, 227–8, 235
Overseas trade, see External trade

P

Pacific countries, relations with, 87–88, 99, 551
Pacific Forum Line, 88
Pacific Island Affairs, Ministry of, 70, 164–6
Pacific Island Polynesian population, 129, 163–4
age distribution of, 129, 163–4
employment and training, 329
geographical distribution, 164
households and dwellings, 135–6
Pacific Islands Industrial Development Scheme (PIIDS) 88
Paper, 440
Parental leave, 338
Parks (see also Reserves)
forest, 372, 374
marine, 372, 375
national, 371–4
Parliament, (see also Elections, parliamentary), 49–50, 52–4
members of, 56–7
opposition, 52, 56–7
proceedings of, 53–4
salaries and allowances of members, 55
sessions of, 53
Parliamentary Service, 54
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, 74–5
Parliamentary Library, 296
Parole, 259, 263
Partnerships, 524
Part-time work, 315, 317–8
Passports, 154
Patents and trade marks, 351–2
Paternity leave, 338
Patients, hospital, 201–3
PAYE tax, 600–1
Penal Institutions Division, 259–63
Pensions, see Benefits and pensions, Superannuation
Performing arts, 285, 286
Perinatal mortality, 198–9
Periodic detention, 259
Permits, building and construction, 493–6
Petroleum, consumption, 455–6, 461–2
imports and refining, 461
processing and distribution, 462
prospecting and drilling, 461
Pharmaceutical benefits, 187
Pharmacists, 186
Physiotherapists, 185
Pigmeats, 424–5
Pigs, 408, 424–5
Pinus radiata, 435, 439, 442
Planning, 362–5
district, 364
environmental, 362–8
national, 363
permission for building, 403–6
regional, 363
Planning Tribunal, 246
Plants variety rights, 429
Plants, see Vegetation and wildlife
Plastics industry, 475
Podiatrists, 186
Police Complaints Authority, 265
Police, New Zealand, 70, 263–5
Political parties, 52–3, 62
Pollution, air, 189, 368–9
water, 189, 367, 368–9, 503–4
Polynesians, see Pacific Island Polynesians
Population (see also Census of Population and Dwellings), 111–3
age distribution, 121–3, 125–7
change in, 117–25
ethnic groups in, 127–9, 149–51
fertility of, 117–20
geographical distribution of, 113–7
growth of, 111–3
of local government areas, 116–7
Maori, see Maori population
marital status of, 140–5
of North and South Islands, 113–4
Polynesian, see Pacific Island Polynesians
projections of, 130–1
religious professions of, 149
rural, 114–5
sex ratio in, 125–7
urban, 114–5
Ports, 501–2
Postal services, 278–80
Poultry and eggs, 425–6
Pre-school education and childcare, 217, 221, 222–4, 241
Kohanga reo, 161, 221, 227, 241
Preventive detention, 261
Prevailing Weekly Wage Rates Index, 333
Price indexes, Capital Goods Price Index, 581–2
Consumers Price Index, 571–9
Export Prices Index, 568
Farm Expenses Price Index, 410–1
Import Prices Index, 568
Producers Price Index, 579–81
Real Wage Rate Index, 332–3
Terms of Trade Index, 568–9
Prices, 571
exports and imports, 567–8
housing, 488
international comparison, 578–9
retail, 575
Privacy Commissioner, 51
Primary schools, 222–3, 224–5
Prime Minister(s), 56, 58
Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, 70
salary and allowances, 55
Prisons and prisoners, 260–3
age and ethnicity, 261
classification and treatment, 263
institutions, 260
major offences, 261–2
numbers of prisoners, 260
offending history, 262
sentence length, 262
traffic offenders, 262
Privacy Act 1993, 51
Privacy Commissioner, 51
Privacy of information, 51, 73–4
Private schools, 227–8, 229
Privy Council, Judicial Committee of, 243
Probation, 258–9
Problem Resolution Service, 605
Producers Price Index, 579–81
Production accounts, 390–2
Protected Natural Areas Programme, 375
Psychiatric hospitals, 203–5
deaths, 205
patients and diagnoses, 203–5
Psychologists, 185
Public accounts, 597–600
Public broadcasting fee, 267
Public debt, 609–14
interest on, 612
maturity of, 613
per capita, 612
securities on issue, 590–1, 611, 613
transactions, 611–2
Public health, 188–200
Public Health Commissioner, 183, 189
Public holidays, 337
Public lands (see also Forest parks, Reserves), Crown land, 358–9
national parks, 371–4
Queen Elizabeth the Second National Trust, 376
walkways, 304
Public service see Government departments, State sector
Public Trust Office, 70
Publishing, books, 294
newspapers and magazines, 273–4
Pulp and paper, 440, 441–2
Puni Kokiri, Te, 69, 158–9, 358, 490

Q

Qualifications Authority, New Zealand, 218, 238
Quarantine, 411, 440
Quarries and quarrying, see Mining
Quarterly Economic Survey of Manufacturing, 481, 484
Quarterly Employment Survey, 313, 318, 330–1
Quarterly Survey of Retail Trade, 533–6
Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council (Arts Council Of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa), 286
Queen Elizabeth II National Trust, 376
Quest Rapuara (The Careers Service), 218, 239, 327

R

Race relations and racial discrimination (see also Ethnicity), 146
Racing, 304–5
horse and greyhound, 305
taxation, 607
Radio, 271–3
Radiocommunications, 271–3
Radiographers, 186
Railways, 509–11
construction and engineering, 510–11
New Zealand Rail, 509–11
passenger services, 510
Rainfall, 7–10
Raoul Island, 1
Rates, local authority, 614
Real wage rates, 331–3
Receivership, 527–8
Recreation and sport, 299–307
Hillary Commission for Sport, Fitness and Leisure, 299–300, 301–2
participation in, 301–2
Recreation reserves, 372–374
Reform Party, 30
Refugees, 129, 155
Regional councils, 78–9
migration between, 114–5
population of, 117
Regional Fish and Game Councils, 376
Regional health authorities, 183, 200–1
Regional planning environmental, 363
Regional television, 270
Registered banks, 585
Rehabilitation, 191
after accidents, 205–7
of war veterans, 173
Religious professions of population, 149
Renewable energy, 466–7
Rental housing, 489–90
Reparation, 256, 257
Representation Commission, 61–2
Reproduction rates, 117–20, 127, 130–1
Research associations, 351
Research, scientific, 345–8
Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, 343–4
Ministry of Research, Science and Technology, 70, 343
Reserve Bank of New Zealand, 583–5
Reserves, land, 371–4
marine, 372, 375
Residential Tenancies Tribunal, 246
Resource conservation, see Conservation of natural resources
Resource management, 362–8
Act 1991, 362–71, 467
Restaurants and hotels, 522, 533–6
Retail prices, 575
Retail trade, 533–6
credit sales, 536
shop trading hours, 521–2
Rivers, 2, 267–8
Roads, 511–3
expenditure on, 513
safety, 207–10, 513–6
speed limits, 513
taxes for, 606–7
Transit New Zealand, 512
Rocks, types of, see Geology
Rogernomics, 41
Ross Dependency, 1, 101
Royal commissions, 63
Royal New Zealand Air Force, 108–9
Royal New Zealand Navy, 106–7
Royal Society of New Zealand, 348–9
Rural education activities programmes (REAPs), 233
Rural Electrical Reticulation Council, 459
Rural population, 114–5
Russia, relations with, 91, 550

S

Safety, 213–6
fire, 214
occupational, 214–6
of ships, aircraft, cranes, 503
road, 209–10, 513–6
water, 210–1
Salaries, see Wages
Salt, 469
Satellite links, 277
Savings institutions, 585–8
other financial institutions, 587–8
Scenic reserves, 372, 374
School Certificate, 225, 226–7
School Dental Service, 195
School Journal, The, 219
Schools, (see also Education, Students, Teachers and teaching), boards of trustees, 219
correspondence, 229–30, 240
curriculum, 224–5
hostels, 230
primary, 222–5, 227–30
private, 227–8, 229
pupils of, numbers, 227–8, 230
secondary, 222–3, 224–30
terms of, 223
transport to, 231
Science and scientific services (see also Research, scientific), 343–51
recent changes, 343–5
Scientific reserves, 374
Seafood trade, 448–50
Search and rescue operations, 105, 264
Secondary schools, 225–8
Securities Commission, 525
Securities, government, 590–1
Security Intelligence Service (SIS), 109
Seismic activity, 5–6
Sentencing, community–based, 258–9
non-traffic, 245–6
traffic, 256–7
Serious Fraud Office, 70, 455
Share market, 526
Sheep, and sheep farming, 407, 408–9, 413, 414, 415, 419–21
Sheepmeats, 415–6
Shipping, (see also Cargo, Ports) 500–4
bulk, 501–2
coastal, 502
ferries, 501, 510
fishing vessels, 448
register of, 502
overseas, 500–2
services to, 562–4
Shipwrecks, 503
Shop trading hours, 521–2
Sickness benefits, 169
Sixth Form Certificate 226–7
Skiing, 303
Sky Television, 270
Small Business Tax Information Service, 605
Smoking, 194
Social Policy Agency, 179–80
Social Research and Development, New Zealand Institute for, 348
Social sciences, 348, 349
Social services, 175
Social welfare, 167–81
benefits, see Benefits and pensions
computing systems, 181
Department of, 70, 167
funding, 67, 175
SOI see Southern Oscillation Index,
Soil conservation, 368
Soil types, 361–2
South and Central America, relations with, 90, 550–1
South Island, population of, 113–4
South Pacific Commission, 88
South Pacific countries, relations with, 87–8, 99, 551
South Pacific Forum, 88
South Pacific Regional Trade and Economic Co-operation Agreement (SPARTECA), 88
Southern Oscillation, 11
Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), 11
Soviet Union (see also Russia, Commonwealth of Independent States), relations with, 91, 550
Speaker of the House of Representatives, 52, 56
Special education, 217–8, 221, 231
Special purpose local authorities, 80
Special Tactics Group, 264
Sports, 299–307
Olympic and Commonwealth Games, 303
participation in, 301–2
Sport, Fitness and Leisure, Hillary Commission for, 299–300, 301–2
Stagflation, 383
Stamp duty, 606
Stamp, postage, 280
Standard of living, international indicators, 139–40
Standards Council, 354
Standards New Zealand, 354
Standing Orders of the House of Representatives, 52
State forests, 372, 435–7
State-owned enterprises, 72, 609–16
sales of, 610
transfer of land to, 359
State sector (see also Government departments, State-owned enterprises, central government finance), 63–72
policy changes, 65
reform, 64–5
State Services Commissioner, 65–6
Statistics, Department of, 70–1
Statistics New Zealand, 70–1
publications, 622
Statutes, 49, 53
Steelmaking, 475
Stewart Island, 1
Stillbirths, 198–9
Stock change, by production group, 390
Stock exchange, 526
market surveillance panel, 526
Storms, 8–10
Strikes, 336, 339–40
Student Loans, 221–2, 236, 603
Students, allowances, 221–2, 236
Maori, 220, 226–7, 228, 240–1
numbers, 227–8, 230, 234, 236, 239, 241
overseas, 222, 227–8, 235
part-time, 228
primary school, 222, 227–8, 230
teachers’ college, 230, 231–3
technical, 237–9
university, 234–6
Sulphur, 469
Superannuation, 531–2, 603
Government Superannuation Fund, 68, 531–2
National Provident Fund, 69, 531
Supervision, 259
Survey and Land Information, Department of, 71, 355–6, 359
Surveys, hydrographic, 105
land, 355–6
Symphony Orchestra, New Zealand, 287

T

TAB (Totalisator Agency Board), 305
Tariff (customs), 539–40
Taupo Fishery Advisory Committee, 376
Taxation review authorities, 607
Taxes and taxation, see also Customs tariff and revenue, 600–9
company income tax, 604–5
deductions, 601
excise duties, 539–40, 606
fringe benefit tax, 604
goods and services, 540, 605
on interest and dividends, 603–4
land tax, 605
personal income tax, 600–1
racing taxation, 607
retirement tax and superannuation surcharge, 603
revenue from, 607–8
roads taxation, 606–7
stamp duty, 606
Teacher Registration Board, 219
Teachers and teaching, 219, 230, 231–3
registration of, 219
Teachers colleges, see Colleges of education
Technical education, 237–9
Telarc New Zealand, 352–3
Telecom Corporation of New Zealand, 277–8
Telecommunications, 276–8
Telegrams, 278
Telephone services, 277
Television, 268–71
Temperatures, 7, 8–10
Tenancy, 489–90
Tenancies Tribunal, 246
Terms of Trade Index, 568–9
Territorial authorities, 78–9
finances, 614–5
population of, 116–7
Territories, New Zealand, Ross Dependency, 1, 101
Tokelau, 1, 99–100
Tertiary education funding, 221–2, 236
Textiles (see also Wool), 476–7
Think Big, 40–1
Timber and forest products, 438–42
exports of, 439, 441–2
imports of, 441
pulp and paper, 440, 441–2
Timber industry, 436–7, 475
Timber preservation, 439
Time, 14
Toi Aotearoa, Arts Council of New Zealand, 286
Tokelau, 1, 99–100
Topdressing, 409, 508–9
TOPNZ (The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand), 237
Totalisator Agency Board (TAB), 305
Tourism, 307–12
accommodation, 309
Board, New Zealand, 71, 311–2
domestic, 311
facilities, 308
international, 310
promotion, 90, 311–2
Tourism Facilities Development Grants Programme, 308–9
Town milk supply, 422
Town planning, 363, 364–5
Trade, domestic, see Domestic trade
external, see External trade
Trade marks, 351–2
TRADENZ (New Zealand Trade Development Board), 539
Trade practices, 520–2
Trade representatives overseas, 87, 90, 539
Trade routes, maritime, 500–1
Trade training, 237–9
apprentices, 238
technical education, 237–9
Trade unions, 335–6
Trading banks, see Registered banks
Trading legislation, 519, 520–2
Trading partners, major, 549
Traditional sites, protection of, 291, 363
Traffic, convictions and sentencing, 256–7
offences, 256–7, 262, 517
Training benefit, 170
Training, vocational, (see also Trade training), 218, 239, 327
Transit New Zealand, 512
Transport, 499
air, 504–9
household, 137
Ministry of, 71, 209, 499
rail, 509–11
reform of industry, 499–500
road, 511–7
sea, 500–4
to work, 515
use by tourists, 309–10
Travel, domestic, 311
Treasury, The, 71
Treaties, defence agreements, 102–3
trade agreements, 87–92, 97–8, 540
Treaty of Waitangi, 49, 158, 246, 357
Tribunals, 245–6
Complaints Review, 246
Disputes, 245
Employment, 245
Equal Opportunities (Complaints Review), 246
Planning, 246
Residential tenancies, 246
Waitangi, 158, 246, 357
Tritec, 181
TV3, 270

U

Unemployment (see also Labour force), benefit, 170
ethnicity and age of, 324
growth of, 323
policies and programmes, 323–5, 328–9
school qualifications and, 323
Unions, of employers, 335–6
Unions, of workers, 335–6
Unitary authorities, 78–9
United Kingdom, trade with, 552, 560–2
United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), 96
United Nations, New Zealand membership of, 94–8
United States of America, relations with, 89, 103, 555–6
Universities, 219, 234–6
enrolments, 234, 236
extension programme, 239
graduates from, 234–5
scholarships and bursaries to, 226–7, 235
staff in, 235–6
students in, 234
Urban areas (see also Cities and city councils), 115
population of, 115–7

V

Valuation New Zealand, 71–2, 357, 488
Valuation of land, 360
Valuers, registration of, 360
Vegetation and wildlife, 11–4
Video, 286
Video recordings, classification, 288–9
Visual arts, 285, 286
Vital statistics (see also Births and birth rates, Deaths and death rates, Marriage), 120
Viticulture, 430–1, 476
Vogelism, 26–7
Volcanoes, 3–5
Volume indexes of external trade, 569–70
Voluntary welfare organisations, 190
Voting, see Elections

W

Wages, 331–4
minimum rates, 337
Prevailing Weekly Wage Rates Index, 333
Waitangi National Trust Board, 376
Waitangi, Treaty of, 49, 246, 357
Waitangi Tribunal, 246, 276
Waka Toi, Te, 286
Walkways, 304
Warrant of Fitness, 516–7
War pensions and allowances, 173
Water and soil conservation, 366–8
Water pollution, 189, 367, 368–9, 503–4
Water supply, 367
fluoridation of, 196
irrigation, 367–8
WEA (New Zealand Workers Educational Association), 240
Weather, 6–11
Weights and measures, 617
Western Samoa, 87–8
Widows benefit, 169
Wild Animal Recovery Service Appeal Authority, 376
Wildlife, see Vegetation and wildlife
Wildlife reserves, 372, 374
Wine and winemaking, 430–1
Wine industry, 431, 476
Women, 147–8
economic development, 148
education, 148
health of, 148, 191–2
income, 148
in politics, 55–6
international liaison, 148
in the labour force, 148, 315–7
Ministry of Women's Affairs, 72, 147–8
Pacific Island, 148
ratio in population, 125–7
training and employment, 328
violence against women, 148
Wood, see Timber and forest products
Wool, 419–21
exports, 420–1, 545
International Wool Secretariat, 420
New Zealand Wool Board (Wools of New Zealand), 419–20
prices, 419, 420
production, 419
Wools of New Zealand, 419–20
Workers’ compensation, 205–7
Work stoppages, 336, 339–40
Working conditions (see also Occupational safety and health), 335–8
Working hours, 318, 337
World Bank, 98
World Health Organisation, 96, 197
World War I, 31
World War II, 35–6
Wrecks, 503

Y

Youth Affairs, Ministry of, 72
Youth court, 177
Youth justice, 178
Youth, programmes, see Community welfare services

Special articles 1995

A

Accrual accounting, 599, 600
ABN (Asian Broadcasting Network), 271
Agriculture facts, 408
Alcohol, 194
Alcohol consumption, international, 195
Amphibians, reptiles and, 12
Anniversary days, 338
Asia-Pacific focus 1993, 556
Asian Broadcasting Network see ABN
Average household spending, 139

B

Beekeeping, 426
Beekeeping income, 427
Beer, prices world-wide, 195
Benefits and pensions, number of, 170
Benefits and pensions, expenditure on, 172
Benefits and pensions, 170
Biodiversity, 369
Budget dates, 596
Bungy, safety, 354

C

Cars, imported, registrations, 515
Cash accounting, 599
CCMAU (Crown Company Monitoring Advisory Unit), 72
Censorship, 289
Changing times, 14
Chronology of major reforms, 386
Climate extremes, 8
Commonwealth Games, 303
Commonwealth Statisticians Conference, 401
Company statistics, 525
Consumer Guarantees Act 1993, 521
Consumer Research Trust, 520
Consumers Price Index, 572
Consumption by beverage type, 195
Controlling merchandise imports, 382
Convention on Discrimination Against Women, 96
Cooper, Whina, 83
Council for Educational Research, 220
CPI, 572
Cricket, 300
Crime prevention, 254
Crown Company Monitoring Advisory Unit see CCMAU
Crown entities, 610
Crown reporting entity, 609

D

Depression of the 1930s, 381
Disability and illness, 190
Discrimination Against Women, Convention on, 96

E

Early Maori exporting, 553
Education, 410–2
Educational comparisons, 232
Efficient fishing, 443
Employment, OECD comparisons, 322
Energy and mineral production, 466
Environment 2010, 364
Ex-overseas cars, registration, 515

F

Family health, 191
Farming, international, 410–2
Feature films, 292
Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand see FRSNZ
Films, 292
Fingerprinting, 264
First flag of New Zealand, 83
Fiscal management, 598
Fiscal Responsibility Act 1994, 597
Fish facts 1993, 449
Fish figures, 445
Fish stock, 444
Fisheries management past and present, 447
Flag of New Zealand, first, 83
Food prices, world-wide, 579
Forestry, 438
Forestry, international, 442
Fowl talk, 425
FRSNZ (Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand), 350
Full-time labour force, 316
Foundation for the Blind, 146
Fifty years of UN, 95

G

Gaming, 305
Gene typing, 256
Government Buildings, 64
Government finance, 615
Governors see Vice-Regal representatives
Guide Dog Centre, 146

H

Hakituatahi o Aotearoa, Te, 83
Hazards, volcanic, 4
Health, family, 191
HES, 138
Historical, benefits and pensions, 170, 172
climate extremes, 8
company statistics, 525
consumers price index, 572
cpi, 572
education, 229
energy and mineral production, 466
ex-overseas cars, 515
feature films, 292
forestry, 438
full-time labour force, 316
general elections, 52
government finance, 615
Governors see Vice-Regal representatives
imported cars, 515
labour force, full-time, 316
liquor licensing, 523
mortgages, 489
motorcycles, 514
offences, 249
pensions, benefits and, 170, 172
planting and production, 438
postal services, 279
Premiers and Prime Ministers, 58
Prime Ministers, Premiers and, 58
sovereigns, 49
tractors, 516
vice-regal representatives, 49
work stoppages, 339
Holidays, 337
Honours, 82
Household Economic Survey see HES